Nearly half of all online businesses plan to add “Web 2.0” online capacities to their sites in the next six months, and over 93 percent plan to do so within the year, according to a recent survey.

Web 2.0 isn’t a new version of the web, rather it’s a new way for software developers and end users to interact on the web. It encompasses weblogs, social netmarking, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds, and social software, and marks the transition of websites from isolated information silos to interlinked computing platforms. For businesses, this all translates to a rise in the economic value of your site, as users stay online longer.

New features expected to have the biggest jump in implementation include:

• Mobile Commerce: M-commerce, also known as u-commerce, owing to the ubiquitous nature of its services, is the ability to conduct business while using a mobile device—e.g. a cell phone, PDA or smart phone—while on the move. Nearly 25 percent of businesses plan to offer this feature within the next 12 months, while only 5 percent currently offer this.
• URL/Widget Sharing: Widgets are mini-applications that let you perform common tasks and provide you with fast access to information—real time weather, stock tickers, flight information and more—instantly.
• Personalized messaging: Imagine integrating personalized messages uniquely targeted to each and every customer or end user. Capitalizing on an existing, on–going customer touch, marketers can personalize each message with up–selling/cross–selling incentives, service promotions, new product announcements and other customized messaging.

Other popular features planned for 2008 are user rankings and comments; videos, including merchandising, advertising and demonstrations; and blogs.

Since online commerce growth rates are predicted to decline, companies that continue to differentiate themselves through their site’s interactivity have a better chance of gaining/maintaining market share over their competition.

Here at Hodgson we have spent years persuading our clients that interactive communities are the key to happy loyal visitors – to that end we have found that the majority of tools needed to create such environments come in a box – the Ekron CMS box to be exact – Ektron not only provides all the Content Management horsepower you are looking for, but also bundles 90 percent of the Web 2.0 features and functions ready to go. If you want more information on this, check this out.

About the Survey: The Scene7 Web 2.0 Experiences 2007 and Beyond Survey was designed to identify and analyze how online businesses are planning to enhance their user experience in the coming year. The results were compiled based on responses from 347 companies representing a broad cross section of product categories and selling channels.

Looking to succeed in the marketing arena this year? A recent survey says the key lies in offering effective online marketing services, driven by an integrated database and analytics foundation.

Alternian’s 2007 Annual Survey shows that the need for database marketing and analytics is far greater than it ever has been. Today’s marketers have more access to data than ever. The challenge is, so do their competitors. As marketers look to the future, they see the battle as less about product, price and promotion, and more about how to turn the connected world and its vast amounts of data into value for the company and the customer.

To maintain a competitive advantage, sixty–seven percent of the marketers surveyed stated that database marketing and analytics were the areas most in need of investment. Digital skills were next on the priority list at 42 percent, followed closely by operational marketing skills (39 percent).

Marketing spending is following marketing priorities. Almost half (45 percent) of marketers are now spending over $500K on online marketing, compared with 37 percent in 2006. Given that marketing budgets are not growing as fast as this online spending increase, the growth is being fueled by shifting dollars within existing budgets, not increases in overall marketing spending.

As online marketing grows more competitive, developing a strong competency in database marketing and analytics will not only make your online strategies (and increased spending) more effective, but could give you your most competitive marketing weapon today.

The beauty of the web is that it allows you to gather every possible metric you need to understand how your users are behaving and how you can better reach the goals you set for yourself and your company. Here at Hodgson we analyze our clients’ online campaigns and recommend needed changes in approach or activity. Often, these changes are small in nature, but large in impact. If you are interested in knowing more about how we audit and assess user behavior, follow this link.

About the Survey: The 2007 Alterian Annual Survey was conducted among 852 marketing professionals throughout North American (89.4 percent), UK & Europe (6.6 percent) and Asia Pacific (3 percent).