Facebook is hiring video codec engineers. LinkedIn (News - Alert) uses a third party tech provider to let you video conference with your connections on your iPad.

For these leading Internet ecosystems and companies like them, video is starting to look like where the action is. For any kind of business, it’s important to understand why.

Video shapes your Internet environment

Let’s go back in time a little. Why do you think Apple (News - Alert) won the MP3 race, even though it was one of the last ones out of the gate with a product?

The answer was iTunes. That program was one of the first attempts to create an electronic ecosystem. It let you organize your music, calendar and contacts, so you could shape your electronic environment all in one place. No one else came close.

Social media ecosystems are based on that same idea. All social media companies want you to spend as much time as possible in their ecosystem. That’s why they give you so many apps, games, quizzes, and access to news. They let you shape your Internet environment the way you want it.

When Facebook first started competing with MySpace (News - Alert), analysts named this idea of spending time on a platform as “stickiness.” The name has, well, stuck.

With social media’s current interest in video, we could be looking at the ultimate stickiness. Video lets you have a real connected experience, face to face with other users – and you don’t even have to leave the ecosystem to do it. That’s good for business.

Your Web site is your ecosystem

Even if you’re not in a social media business, you should start thinking like one. Your Web site should be your Internet ecosystem.

Why? Let’s look at enterprise sales, for example. Enterprise sales are relationship based, and relationships grow stronger face-to-face. People need to spend all the time they can with you and your product before they make a buying decision.

It’s just not possible to spend all that time with everyone in the flesh. So your Web site has to be more your company’s ecosystem. You need to think about how employees, partners and customers can shape their environment when working with you.

Social media thought leaders are putting their money on video as the next powerful innovation in developing compelling ecosystems. If that’s where the smart money is, take a page from their playbook, and find ways to build video into your own online presence.

Creating your own ecosystem

To create a sticky ecosystem out of your web site, remember that you’re making an industry neighborhood. Your website has to reach many stakeholders, including partners, your supply chain, your customers, analysts, students, even direct competitors.

A true ecosystem lets people discuss topics that make a difference to your industry. At the very least, it has to provide the tools so that almost anyone can lead some part of that discussion.

Here are three simple ways to create those opportunities for discussion:

Create a collaborative space: We’ve seen that video on your Web site is one of today’s stickiest technologies. Many video conferencing companies also let you do file sharing for real collaboration on projects. That’s supremely useful – the more ways people can work together, the better.

Create venues for expression. Plan regular events, preferably through your web site, like state-of-the-industry talks and trend discussions. Anything that gives you a chance to connect with your users will also keep them coming back for more.

Don’t be afraid of a little controversy. Make sure your blog posts allow comments, whether you agree with them or not. Some interesting discussion topics come up in comment threads. You’ll come across as leading the discussion if you let people express themselves.

Make your site work the same for mobile and desktop users. In the next 10 to 15 years, most of our workforce will have been brought up on smart phones and mobile devices. These folks want to work wherever they are – and they don’t want to be tied down to a clunky computer. Make sure that everyone can do whatever he or she needs, on any version of your site.

When you put a few of these ideas to work, your Web presence will become stickier. You’ll create an ecosystem for decision makers in and around your industry. Most importantly, you’ll raise your profile at the same time.
 

Megan Lueders’ marketing philosophy is pretty simple – integrate your brand mission into all facets of the organization, from product deployment to the sales team, on to the partner community and even into the operational groups that make the company tick.  When everyone drives with the same belief in mind, the customer experience will be beyond great; it will be exceptional.  The second philosophy is to cultivate a team of marketers who have an integrated approach into everything they do, who recognize trends and adapt quickly to them and who learn from one another every day. 

Megan and her team dedicate themselves to understanding what our customers really want to know about our video conferencing solutions and industry.  She then leads the development of honest content and programs to show customers how to derive the most value from their investments in video communication.