Originally published on the MediaPost Online Publishing Insider
By: Kory Kredit
How social do we really want to get? It's
a question I've been wrestling with as it relates to our company Web
site and one that Jerry Seinfeld wrestled with as well. In a "Seinfeld"
episode titled "The Kiss Hello," Kramer decides to post the photos and
names of every tenant in the building to foster a friendlier living
environment. Rather than passing anonymous neighbors in the hallway and
giving the obligatory head nod, tenants would be able to greet each
other by name and even offer a warm embrace. The social experiment goes
too far for Jerry's liking when he is greeted by a kiss on the cheek
from every female in the building, and a solid lip lock from Kramer himself.
Whether you're Cosmo Kramer in an apartment complex, or a consumer brand launching a Web site like Skittles.com,
sometimes you can be too social. I'm all for engaging customers in the
social media space, but I'd just as soon kiss Kramer myself as use
Twitter or Facebook as a company home page. That said, when assessing
one of our company Web sites recently, it was evident that it needed an
overhaul that includes some social elements. The site's shelf life as
an effective communication tool was expiring and it needed more than
just a fresh coat of JavaScript.
As I've begun working with
our team to layo ut the new structure of the site, I've had to wrestle
with the question: how social should it be? Gone are the days of a
company site that's simply a static media kit filled with overhyped
marketing copy written by marketing people like me. The five-page
online brochure has given way to the Skittles Web site that turns over
the marketing message to anyone with a Twitter account and the ability
to fit "Skittles" into a semi-coherent 140 character tweet. For
example, @mattfurukawa just tweeted that he is "at dinner with two
awesome people, my pastor and skittles." While the "skittles" Matt is
referring to could be a spiritual mentor -- which is great for Matt --
it doesn't really do much for the brand message of the sugar candy
version of Skittles.
So, should our new site become a
full-blown social media hub, or a more traditional corporate Web site
with social media elements? As I look to invite our customers into an
online conversation, is it really beneficial to make that the central
theme of the Web site?
For inspiration, I took at look at a
recent blog post on Webdesigner Depot titled "50 Excellent Corporate
Website Designs". Of the 50 Web sites featured on the blog, here is the
breakdown of the integration of social media into the design (includes
Twitter, company blog, Facebook, etc.):
Social media content integrated into the home page: 15
Includes a link to social media content on home page: 25
No social media content whatsoever: 10 The
most common social media integration was a blog feed on the home page
with a small number of sites adding a twitter feed. Ironically, the
site named "PimpMyTwitter" has no Twitter content and doesn't even list
the Twitter address (although I am giving them extra credit for their
company name). While company blogs, Twitter feeds and links to Facebook
and LinkedIn pages were common, it was somewhat surprising that 10 of
these newly designed Web sites (20%) had no social media content at
all. The selection of these sites obviously isn't a scientifically
accurate cross-section, but does provide a good selection of
well-designed corporate Web sites.
For our Web site, I am
choosing to start out with a middle-of-the-road approach to adding
social media. The site will include links to our social media
connection points (blog, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, social
media press releases) and possibly pull in our blog feed into the home
page. I'm not willing to go as far as opening up the unfiltered social
media fire hose like Skittles, but it is a step in the right direction
to move our Web site forward with more a Web 2.0-like approach. For our
company, this is a good middle ground between the anonymous head nod of
the static marketing brochure site and the kiss hello approach that is
too social. Think of it as the bro hug of social media integration.
