In the Web 2.0 age, companies can no longer be happy with a simple website. In any case, that’s the message from Levacomm, a Lille-based company which has just launched a corporate blog platform.
“Don’t let other people do all the talking for you”. Coming from Christine Lecomte, co-founder with Christian Bodier of Levacomm, the little phrase sounds like a slogan. Their idea is simple. To adapt one of the biggest web successes to the world of business: the blog.
Of course, companies follow the digital age, but not really in the right way. “It’s not enough to have an ecommerce website, a Facebook page and a Twitter account”, says Christian Bodier, who previously worked for CapGemini. Regardless of the size of the company, whether it’s a major group or an SME - if there is a message to get across “you have to speak up”. OK, but why? Because this is not simply about brand “image”. There are many reasons, to do with creating a “special relationship” with the Internet user. As well as offering content (articles, videos, interviews, etc.) about issues affecting the company or the sector in which it operates, a blog also provides a platform for customers who want to express themselves through comments. According to a study by the Benchmark Group, one Internet user in every three in France would like companies to make an interactive space available on their sites.
7,000 comments
A good blog, in other words one which is regularly updated and which uses key words, very quickly goes beyond a simple “showcase” website referenced by the giant Google. Internet users are much more comfortable with it.
And its effects are sometimes surprising. “30% of comments on our clients’ blogs are about requests for catalogues, price estimates or other sales information” says Christian Bodier. “It’s a reactive type of media. People know that they are going to get a response”, adds Christine Lecomte. “They can express themselves 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” It’s easier than calling customer services at a set time. What’s more, the travel agent Marmara, one of Levacomm’s clients, also takes into account Internet users’ reactions to gauge the quality of its services. It’s more complete and more precise than a simple telephone survey.
In just three years, several companies (Odopo, Carrefour, etc.) have been convinced by the Levacomm concept and in 2010 it recorded 1.4 million hits and 7,000 comments.
The powerful platform which they have developed, entitled “PoolMédias” provides the complete package: interface, hosting, content provision, strategic overview, indexing, etc. The two founders are already starting to think about the international scene.
OUTLOOK
After Web 2.0, it’s time for … Web 3.0
The new web revolution isn’t quite here yet, but Levacomm are already working on Web 3.0. What is it? The most revolutionary thing about Web 2.0 was its sociological dimension, with content provided by Internet users themselves. Web 3.0 will, above all, bring with it technological innovation. This is based on the concept of the “semantic web”, or “meaning”, says Christian Bodier. Today when we use search engines, the results are listed in terms of the key words we have typed in. Loads of results, which often have very little to do with what we were originally looking for. Semantic analysis allows these results to be grouped according to rules of meaning. Consequently, an article would no longer be selected simply because it contains a key word, but because its meaning will have already been analysed, allowing it to be linked with other articles on the same theme. In sum, this is the dawn of an “intelligent web”, according to Christine Lecomte.
An article written by Morad Belkadi and published in Nord Eclair on 11/08/2010