The Corporate Website of the Future

Social media has helped to filter the good corporations from the bad. Corporations who have set up a web site, for both customers and employees to engage in conversation appear to be the most honest, loyal, and invested in their brand. POM Wonderful represents the ideal corporation website of the future. Customers can easily navigate the web site to join the POM community and write and read about it. By doing so, they've created an open, trusted, and genuine relationship with their customers. It seems obvious that all companies would want to take advantage of social media platforms to build loyalty. But why haven't more corporations jumped on the conversation train by now?

If, in the future, all corporate websites are not consisted of fake marketing and one-sided views and evolve into credible sources of fact and opinion, what will happen to the other conversation platforms? Will people still use Twitter and Facebook to criticize once corporate websites are equated with community resources? If everything becomes integrated, why would customers engage in conversation on other social sites when they can share their opinions directly with the corporation?

On another note, online communities across all companies, niche networks, and online projects epitomize human relations and acts of love. "Our social tools," according to writer Clay Shirkey, "is turning love into a renewable building material." Corporations need to embrace this love, have no fear, and prepare for negative criticism too--because the voice behind those written words is a real person who will forgive! Just as in human relations, if we show a real interest in listening and responding we'll absolve those mistakes and move forward. Loyalty to your brand might even grow!