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Six Questions to Determine Your Rich Media Readiness

August 2006 By Hallie Mummert
One of my top pet peeves on Web sites is a cumbersome checkout process that requires me to flip back and forth between Web pages as I try to determine whether I filled out all fields properly, which shipping method is best for my needs and how to get a printable order confirmation form. If all these tasks could be fulfilled from one checkout page, I would shop online a great deal more often.

According to a new whitepaper from Resource Interactive, an interactive marketing and technology firm in Columbus, Ohio, my online shopping future looks to be much brighter. In The Tipping Point for RIAs, emerging technologies are discussed that already are creating a more intense online environment. RIA stands for rich Internet application, or Web applications that allow visitors a “more desktop application-like experience,” writes Resource Interactive. For example, any application that allows Web pages to be updated without requiring a page refresh or a call back to the Web server to get the next data set required is an RIA. Or, the retailer Gap Inc.’s QuickLook preference-based pop-ups and the “My Bag” drop-down windows that reduce its online customers’ need to scroll or to leave product pages when placing items in their shopping carts. Such technologies create a more user-friendly, speedy and productive Web site experience for visitors, which greatly enhances an online vendor’s chance of success in data collection and e-commerce activities.

But just because RIAs are here, doesn’t mean every Web site should employ them immediately. Resource Interactive offers the following litmus test to help you determine if your business and audience necessitate such an investment in your online offerings:

Answer the following six questions; give yourself the number of points assigned to each option:
a) Definitely—3 points;
b) For the most part—2 points; or
c) Not at all—1 point.

Question #1: Does my site include multistep processes that could be shortened or streamlined utilizing RIAs?

Question #2: Are my products or services highly configurable or customizable?

Question #3: Are my products or services a high-consideration purchase?

Question #4: Are my competitors implementing RIAs?

Question #5: Is my industry sector adopting RIAs at a pace that is impacting consumer expectations?

Question #6: Can my developers, designers, information architects and content creators take advantage of what RIAs enable? Do we have the requisite skill sets?

Tally your points, and see what your score indicates:
More than 15 points: Your business is ready for RIAs
 

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FROM THE BOOKSTORE

<P>“Blanchard is demanding. He won’t allow you to flip through this book, nod your head, and leave. If you’re in, you’re going to have to invest to get your rewards.” <BR><STRONG>--Chris Brogan</STRONG>, president of Human Business Works <BR><BR>“Social media isn’t inexpensive; it’s different expensive. The human effort required to do it right is significant, and not knowing precisely how social media helps your business and how to gauge that progress is a dereliction of duty. In <EM>Social Media ROI</EM>, Blanchard provides the missing playbook for sensible, sustainable, profitable social communication. It’s about time.” <BR><STRONG>--Jay Baer</STRONG>, coauthor of <EM>The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter, and More Social <BR></EM><BR>“<EM>Social Media ROI</EM> gets down to the heart of the matter: How will social communications positively impact my organizational goals? Olivier takes us through a journey starting from the start, creating a strategy to achieve objectives, and in turn, the means to measure return on investment. If you want to get serious about online communications, you can’t go wrong with <EM>Social Media ROI</EM>.” <BR><STRONG>--Geoff Livingston</STRONG>, author of <EM>Welcome to the Fifth Estate</EM> and <EM>Now Is Gone</EM> <BR><BR>“Olivier explains the intricacies of building a social media-influenced company for every layman to understand. It is important to understand reach, attention, and influence for social media ROI. This is the book to help with that understanding.” <BR><STRONG>--Kyle Lacy</STRONG>, principal at MindFrame (yourmindframe.com) and author of <EM>Branding Yourself <BR></EM><BR>“Ladies and gentlemen, the social media code has officially been cracked. In <EM>Social Media ROI</EM>, Blanchard reveals how companies can apply the massive power of social media to achieve equally massive results. Incredibly practical, yet supremely enjoyable, this book offers a clear roadmap to growing your revenue in the dizzying world of tweets and retweets, likes and shares, connections and comments.” <BR><STRONG>--Sally Hogshead</STRONG>, author of <EM>Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation</EM> <BR><BR>“If you know Olivier, you know he goes beyond the bullshit. He ‘gets it.’ This book will put you in the mindset to successfully plan and achieve real business objectives with social media. It’s a hard fact that good business decisions depend on real results. Olivier avoids the fluff with clear-cut ideas that will help you produce results.” <BR><STRONG>--Brandon Prebynski</STRONG>, social media strategist <BR><BR><STRONG>Use Social and Viral Technologies to Supercharge Your Customer Service! <BR></STRONG><BR>Use this book to bring true business discipline to your social media program and align with your organization’s goals. Top branding and marketing expert Olivier Blanchard brings together new best practices for strategy, planning, execution, measurement, analysis, and optimization. You will learn how to define the financial and nonfinancial business impacts you are aiming for--and achieve them. <EM>Social Media ROI</EM> delivers practical solutions for everything from structuring programs to attracting followers, defining metrics to managing crises. Whether you are in a startup or a global enterprise, this book will help you gain more value from every dime you invest in social media. </P> Social Media ROI

“Blanchard is demanding. He won’t allow you to flip through this book, nod your head, and leave. If you’re in, you’re going to have to invest to get your rewards.”
--Chris Brogan, president of Human Business Works

“Social media isn’t inexpensive; it’s different expensive. The human effort required to do


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