Monday, May 07, 2007

The Right Channels to Your Customer

The Pew Internet & American Life project has published a new study about the growing digital divide across America. According to John B Horrigan, 31% of America fit into the Elite tech user category, but almost half (49%) fall into the category of 'few Tech Assets'. So for all the hype about Web 2.0, many still do not use it or even care to use it.

Obviously age and other demographic differences play into how people slot into the different groups, but still, in an age where internet advertising is growing rapidly, are companies leaving a large portion of their consumers on the advertising table? There are more channels than every before to reach consumers. As a business, its important to not just follow the hype about internet growth. Be sure you understand who your customers are and how you can best reach them. Second - treat this as an opportunity do draw these customers into a meaningful conversation through new media channels. If they see value in using more interactive channels provided through Web 2.0, they they will begin to use them.

2 comments:

Justin Beller said...

Lately I've been wondering if the problem is too many channels and the digital divide is out of choice and not so much economics or accessibility. Businesses are using the same channels to reach perspective clients and their messages are cancelling each other out. It's overcrowded. There's too much noise. They key isn't to be on every channel, but to be on one or a few and use them effectively to create those meaningful conversations you mention in your post. If your message has value, your customers will seek you out. That's the power of the Web 2.0 world we now live in.

Kevin Donaldson said...

You've got it - fragmentation is killing advertising, both from a dilution perspective as well as customer annoyance. There are statistics out there about the number of adds people see in any given day - staggering. Finding the right channels is key.