Web 2.0 Online Marketing: Marketing in the 3-D Internet

I keep hearing that Web 2.0 is going to have a negative impact on online marketing specifically search engine optimization efforts. While this may be true for search engine optimization, marketing in web 2.0 means marketing through the use of web applications and potentially marketing in 3-D. (More on this in a moment…) Before we get ahead of ourselves, we should evaluate exactly what Web 2.0 is.

What is Web 2.0?

The concept of "Web 2.0" began with a conference brainstorming session between O'Reilly and MediaLive International. Web 2.0 is a phrase that was developed by O'Reilly Media in 2003 that describes the second phase or generation of how the Web/Internet will be used as much more of a platform. Web 2.0 consists of web-based communities and hosted services including services such as social-networking sites, wikis and widgets that will facilitate collaboration and sharing between users.

Tim O’Reilly posted this fantastic piece that describes Web 2.0 from September of 2005. Here is a nice comparison between Web 1.0 versus Web 2.0 that Tim describes:

What does Web 2.0 mean for online marketers? Marketing in the Web 2.0 era could very well mean “marketing in 3-D”. Here is a perfect example of what we mean by marketing in 3-D. Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world, that has recently generated some attention from mainstream media marketers after IBM, Dell, American Apparel, Adidas, Nissan and other top brands developed a presence or bought islands in the virtual world that is Second Life.

In fact Eric Kintz, Vice President of Global Marketing Strategy & Excellence for HP recently discussed his Top 10 Reasons as to why I still need to be convinced about marketing on Second Life. On the other side of the fence, representatives from Dell discussed how they entered Second Life as a method to explore new ways they could extend their direct relationship with customers, and learn new ways to interact with virtual communities. As we can see, the idea of marketing on these “Web 2.0 formats” is something that is starting to be debated by many marketers.

The fact is that in the Web 2.0 world, marketing in 3-D is definitely something that all online marketers will seriously need to look at if they expect their companies to have a presence in the online world. Personalization of search results from Google, ASK, Yahoo and the like will mean that search engine optimization, syndication of content, blogging, social media marketing, widget marketing will become all that more important. While having a presence on sites such as Second Life may not be beneficial for everyone, it may be a viable marketing option for others.

For more on Web 2.0 check out the Web 2.0 Summit site.

Labels: online marketing, web 2.0, web 2.0 marketing