UK internet penetration continues to rise
Whats all the fuss about?
UK internet penetration continues to rise, mobile web access was 45% in 2011.
Amongst 16 – 24 year olds 71% use mobiles to connect to the web.
Growth in e-commerce sales are up 17%, Christmas 2012 v 2011, representing 12% of UK retail trade (£50.34 bn). Trip Advisor, reviews such as Trust Pilot and social media all lead to greater consumer knowledge and confidence. For brands it raises challenging questions.
How can the web be used to maximise your brand’s exposure, interaction and accessibility?
A brand is what your audience tells you it is i.e. a cocktail of perceptions and attitudes about your business and its products and services. For well known high-profile brands these perceptions are a result of careful and deliberate communication programmes, honed, orchestrated and developed over many, many years. Messages are agonised over and tone of voice perfected to create the desired take out.
So the web offers brands (big and small) huge potential whether through one of the many and diverse social media channels or through a more controlled website environment. One thing is for sure, consumers and business people demand that content is relevant and up to date. The days of static web sites are long gone.
Sites must engage and provide relevant real time information. As consumers, our expectation is that websites will contain up-to-the-minute details of what’s happening now. They are a shop window to current and potential customers and so it’s incumbent on us as marketers to ensure, when they visit us online, these customers receive a warm welcome. Dates, images news stories must be up to date.
For as long as I’ve been in marketing we’ve talked about wanting to engage with customers and encourage a dialogue.
I therefore find it quite staggering that some businesses still haven’t embraced the web and don’t treat it with the utmost priority. All sites should contain an easy means of contacting the brand, response to queries should be prompt and websites should integrate with all of the different social media platforms. This will provide consumers with a choice of ways to engage with the brand, so putting them in the driving seat.
