Webnames.ca StaffDo you know that I have missed parties because I am not on Facebook?! I don’t get the invite and nobody thinks to email me or, heaven forbid, pick up the phone and call me to tell me about it.
If people are spending their time working and connecting within Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc., is the expectation that they want to be contacted via those mediums as well?
Do I want Air Canada to have my Twitter name and they can DM about my point status? I view Twitter on my mobile phone and I am on the road a lot. This could be very handy.
What happens when I use an aggregator like Flock for all my social media? Could I give Air Canada my Flock account and they can update me and it passes into any number of application streams that I am watching?
I feel that all of these are very real possibilities, but I bet your “Create an Account” process is not up to the task. Sure it can take a first name, last name, email address, phone number and that old dinosaur, a fax number, but does it take anything new?
Here at Webnames.ca, one of the problems we have is that people don’t update their phone numbers or addresses when they move. Not only do we get a lot of returned snail mail, we also get bounce backs on email addresses that no longer work.
We are in the process of redoing our shopping cart and account creation and have the opportunity to create new fields to capture social media account names as well as people’s .TEL names.
We won’t be ready to contact you by Twitter/FaceBook/Insert Brand New Social Media Site Name Here this year, but we want to let you tell us what your preference is on how to be contacted in the future.
For those who think Web 2.0 is just a bandwagon that people jump on and off, that may be true. Today’s Twitter might be tomorrows’ Friendster but I guarantee you that something new will take its place and you better be ready to capture that information.
A company can risk alienating a target market or demographic by refusing to engage with them in their preferred way. I know I am always outraged when sites won’t take a credit card and only take PayPal. They just lost a customer. Don’t you lose one too.
Image: e-clips marketing blog