You Aren't Reinvent the Wheel | Engagement in a Multichannel World

I read an article on Luxury Daily this morning, it wasn’t revolutionary in it’s content however it did a good job of explaining what I “do”. I work for a wide variety of clients that range from local Ottawa shops to large scale national institutions as an e-marketer/project manager. Well, what does that mean? Good question, it seems to shift every 6-8 months depending on the direction that the industry is moving in. E-marketing is the same thing as marketing simply taken online, in my experience this can be quite frightening for companies.

[Online] marketers need to manage user-generated content and other social features, rich media, gadgets for end-user personalization, delivery to multiple online endpoints including thousands of mobile device types, and provide a relevant, engaging and optimized experience for site visitors that will keep them happy, loyal and purchasing. 

Online engagement optimization requires comprehensive management of the site visitor’s experience. This includes social interactions, customization of site content, targeting content so that it is contextually relevant for visitors, and analyzing and optimizing the online experience. 

The goal is to provide a rich and engaging experience for the site visitor across all channels of interaction.

The concept of social niche networking {the why, the how, the where}, the dynamic real time content and the fact that your brand is no longer “your” brand {it’s now ours} is new and intimidating to some veterans of the marketing world. My view on the entire thing is pretty simple. Online marketing channels {Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, Youtube, Flickr, Foursquare etc..} are nothing more then new mediums each with their own rules and their own unspoken etiquette. The biggest differentiator between these new mediums and the more traditional mediums {TV, print, radio} is the facilitation of community that these social networking sites bring to the table. Now let's pull mobile into the mix.

Over the next few years, the number of people accessing the Web from mobile devices will overtake the number accessing the Web from traditional browsers. 

The mobile Web promises to extend the engagement capabilities offered by traditional Web sites to every customer’s mobile phone, and thereby increase the touch points and frequency with which an organization can interact with customers and constituents.

This means that marketers need solutions that empower them to deliver an online experience that it is consistently compelling for visitors regardless of what type of device they are using to access the site...

...In addition, key requirements for an engaging Web site, including support for social computing, integration with external social networks, and use of video and rich media, are critical tools for engagement via the mobile Web as well. 

Thus, marketers must be able to deploy these important capabilities no matter what Internet-enabled device type a visitor is using. 

This is where online engagement optimization comes in.

Online engagement optimization requires comprehensive management of the site visitor’s experience. This includes social interactions, customization of site content, targeting content so that it is contextually relevant for visitors, and analyzing and optimizing the online experience. 

The goal is to provide a rich and engaging experience for the site visitor across all channels of interaction.

My focus is delivering information to users online, my interest lies in the way user interact and adopt with the new. These channels aren't scary, after all we aren't reinventing the wheel here. The reinventing comes in how you use these new channels... all of this to say I am a quasi dork.