The strengths of social media are personalization, immediacy, relevancy, use of images (think color, maps, videos), and the ability to share information in real-time. The Association of Legal Administrators advises law firms to become aware of these strengths and leverage them. "More than 75 percent of potential clients will use the Internet to find and research them before making a call," according to the Association of Legal Administrators. "In the Internet age, your website has become extremely valuable real estate. It should look and feel unique. One way to do this and set you apart from the competition is to adopt the look, feel and navigation techniques made popular by social media." This is good advice for anyone with a website.Characteristics of a great websiteContent is refreshed regularly to keep the site interesting and relevant.Social media buttons appear on every page for instant access.The visual brand is distinctive. Even if a template is used, it is highly customized to present a unique image.Visuals (diagrams, photos) color, motion and sound are used to capture attention.Videos focus on action, not talking heads.Content informs, rather than sells. It respects visitors' intelligence to make a good decisionand then gives them the information and evidence to do so.This integrated consumer engagement strategy is possible because traditional boundaries separating marketing, public relations, consumer relations, and market research have disappeared. That's good news for you, because consumer engagement can be measured, providing valuable business insight.The Harvard Business Review blog recently explored this topic with Joe Tripodi, CMO and chief commercial officer for Coca-Cola, who said, "Impressions only tell advertisers the raw size of the audience. By definition, impressions are passive. They give us no real sense of engagement, and consumer engagement with our brands is ultimately what we're striving to achieve. Awareness is fine, but advocacy will take your business to the next level." Think of your website as a 24-hour open door that welcomes customers to your organization and encourages them to tell you what they need, when they need it, what they like and why they like (or don't) like it. Use it to create a memorable brand, lasting consumer loyalty, and a broader and well informed market for your products or services. About Support Unlimited, Inc.Founded in 1997, Support Unlimited is a Minneapolis based website development company. From start to finish we will guide you through the website design process, helping you create a web presence that fits your company. Our website design process centralizes its focus on developing strong relationships with our clients by getting to know and understand the unique aspects of each business to design and implement a web presence that leads to business growth.Contact Support Unlimited to create or enhance your website so that it is attractive, engaging and supports your overall marketing strategy.
