Social media, or so-called “Web 2.0,” is all the rage, having migrated from whispers among technophiles in cubicle towns to missives in the C-suite. Many CIOs have rushed to develop a Web 2.0 strategy before asking the fundamental question: Does Web 2.0 really matter?

The toothbrush on Myspace

The much-heralded “revolution” of Web 2.0 claimed that Internet content would shift from websites that presented information, such as traditional news, informational sites, or blogs, to sites where visitors would generate content through online sharing and collaboration. MySpace is the most cited example of the phenomenon, in which site owners provide templates and associated features, and maintain the site’s backend, but the vast majority of the content is user-generated. In a few minutes, even those with rudimentary technical knowledge can create a “myspace” with information and images, and then link to their friends. After reaching the mainstream, marketers begin to cling to MySpace, with everyone from fictional characters like Burger King’s “The King” to up-and-coming musicians creating a MySpace page and encouraging users to add their entity, real or imagined, to a friends list.

Conceived as a viral marketing effort, initial product placements on social networking sites seemed fresh and innovative for a few moments, but in just a few months everyone from spammers to dental company toothbrushes now have a MySpace page. Instead of gaining instant customer appeal, having a MySpace page used for marketing purposes has quickly become hackneyed. Other efforts to integrate Web 2.0 into a corporate Internet strategy have faced similar obstacles. News sites that rely on user feedback or feature it prominently dilute their brand. Would you really want your favorite news outlet to prominently feature witty comments from CoolDude1234, whose only qualification is the ability to log into a website? Are customers really the best spokespersons for your latest product, and is there measurable value in hiring the small army required to sanitize and maintain a social networking component on your website? Do you really think customers are looking forward to adding a toothbrush to their friend list?

Back to Basics: Web 0.0

Much of the conversation about Web 2.0 has presented it as a solution to a problem that most companies have never had. A social networking site is a great way to keep in touch with colleagues or friends, but it may not be the best way to sell a cheeseburger. Internally, tools like wikis and web portals can be very effective if applied to a specific target group or purpose. Like many of the “next big things” in technology, Web 2.0 is a tool, rather than a solution itself. A carpenter looking to improve his skills will not automatically buy a new drill, especially if what he really needs to do is drive nails. Similarly, a company striving to improve the effectiveness of its customer-facing website will not find a panacea by putting in some flashy forums and interactive features, when the content provided is not relevant or useful to the customer.

While most executives would instantly see the folly of expecting new phones to miraculously improve the sales power of an ineffective telemarketing group, they somehow believe that applying “Web 2.0” will revitalize their Internet pipeline and miraculously generate new business. The ability of a CIO to dispel this myth and see the web as just another channel of communication with the customer is the key to Web 0.0.

Web 0.0 is distilling its customer-facing web efforts to answer the question “how can I most effectively serve visitors who want to use this communication channel?” The same basic concepts apply to any other communication channel. Nice design and functional navigation are as essential to a website as quality printing, and no missing pages are to a brochure or book. At the same time, a flashy brochure cover or a healthy slice of Web 2.0 technologies won’t grab a customer’s attention if the content in question doesn’t meet their basic needs. Take a look at existing visitors using your company’s Internet tools and ask the following questions: Who are they? Why are they visiting? What information are they looking for? They find? How hard was it to find?

Focusing on these questions will poke holes in what once seemed like good ideas. Clients rarely visit a private sector website to read flowery missives about missions and values, rather they want something. Maybe it’s the product information, which some companies hide behind so many layers of email forms, test screens, and irrelevant facts that it almost screams at customers to look elsewhere. Maybe it’s support or contact information, which could leave a lasting positive impression or send the customer running into the open arms of a competitor. Never look at your web strategy as something designed to shout a monolithic message to one type of customer, rather make sure it meets the needs of the customers you are most interested in attracting and retaining.

There may be a new generation of customers who have found it too expensive to sell to or service in the past, but a revised Internet strategy could accommodate them at very low cost of sale. For example, many small businesses purchase software in low volumes, but volume nonetheless. They go to a software company’s website with checkbook in hand and are forced to navigate through forms and irrelevant information, wait for a sales representative or channel partner to call, and are given weeks to reconsider their purchase when a simple self-service tool would have provided higher revenue and instant gratification to a customer who was likely to make additional purchases in the future.

Web 2.0 can be a great tool to enhance an already successful Internet strategy, but until you’ve perfected Web 0.0, you’re likely chasing technology rather than customers.