What Does The Utah Government Have to Do with Web 2.0 Marketing Tools or Strategies?

Deep in the spirit of Web 2.0 Utah State has plunged into a grand Web 2.0 strategy to connect with the community. Unveiling its official state Web site, www.Utah.gov has moved towards a fresh design. The essence of this web 2.0 business marketing strategy is to engage and encourage community users to increase their state and local government participation.  Very Web 2.0, don’t you think?

No different to companies of all sizes attempting the same objective and trying to find the best web 2.0 business model. And out of this connectedness a number of things can happen; some things are predictable while others are more organic or less predictable, often revealing community desires not even the community is aware of. And if you listen the solutions are very close behind.    

But putting up a site isn’t a guarantee for success as most of you know. You need a few other things in the mix before real community connectedness can develop and mature.

Leading social networks have:

1. Trust is a major issue particularly where there is a transfer of information.

2. Security is a priority for any individual, government, business or company engaging in transparency while protecting best practices.

3. Accessible information in itself does not instantly manufacture a two way dialogue. Unless a format, environment and community spirit is activated the dialogue can remain one sided.

4. Crowd sourcing the public effectively to deliver ideas, solutions and practical policies with the belief these will be used constructively to help the community at large and not just the Government.

Doing this without giving up total control is an issue some can’t get their heads around.

With this in mind Utah.gov Web 2.0 tools provide users with:

1. Geographical location software displaying location-specific information, schools and libraries, parks, local meetings and government Web sites for each use

2. Search facilities for government agencies, online services and 50,000 government forms.

3.  Access to 27 state blogs and over 100 Twitter accounts.

4. Access to Utah.gov Facebook page

5. Access to Utah.gov Flickr photo group to view and upload photos,

6. All state RSS feeds.

How this will evolve for the Utah Government is yet to be seen. So far many businesses have been shy about fully committing themselves to Web 2.0. They’re using all sorts of defences such as security, Web 2.0 best practices and Web 2.0 return on investment without getting to the real issue. Control.

But can they survive without delving into Web 2.0? Can you? Not just a website, video or Facebooking but the essence of Web 2.0? They won’t find the perfect web 2.0 business model, next generation marketing or become the leading social network without connecting with their crowd, taking their observations, experience and desires and creating something from it.

This goes way beyond a questionnaire, market research or loyalty cards. This is fluid, flexible and reactive to the now of the crowd. And built the right way the costs are neglible and the returns are very high.

Crowd sourcing within public institutions is starting to catch on. Take the example of the Smithsonian Museum of Art which used an impressive model using Web 2.0 features. 

"Fill the Gap" challenged "citizen curators" to find replacement works of art for the gaps in Luce Foundation Center display cases when collection pieces are on loan sometimes for more than twelve months.

The Museum staff generated assistance from an underestimated resource; its public.

By opening the process, staff turned to online communities for help. Using Flickr they shared photos of cases that need replacement artwork, provided information about the other works in the case, and challenged their community to search their collections for substitutes.

It’s proven a brilliant strategy to engage with their die hard audiences, find what they like while revealing some behind-the-scenes museum activities.

What’s so clever about this model is that it’s a repeating challenging contest that the public is dying to solve with prizes at no expense to the Museum but carries a high perceived value to the winner, who becomes part of the museum’s process along with an unforgettable experience. The success lies with transforming a mundane task into a special opportunity finding the best solution in the shortest time.

The benefits to any individual, business or enterprise that can do the same will find their measurable returns in hours, solutions, dollars and publicity.

Anyone who doesn’t think it will work for them should learn more about Web 2.0; the process, the underlying intention and then apply it. More important than a bigger budget for Web 2.0 platforms is a change of perspective. Find the mindset that goes with Web 2.0 territory.

Without this there will always be some issue standing in the way between a meaningful dialogue between individuals, businesses and their audiences.

See you next time

Christine

If you would like to learn more about Web 2.0 consider reading my book Web 2.0 Traffic Demolisher