We’d only just got used to Web 2.0 when along came Web 3.0. What is this clever new addition to the digital family and, more importantly, what can it do for business?
Web 2.0 gave us all the ability to contribute content to the web and interact with other users, leading to the phenomenal rise of social media networks like YouTube, Facebook and MySpace; Web 3.0 is the natural next step.
While Web 2.0 gives people new ways of sharing experiences, and businesses new opportunities of engaging with consumers, Web 3.0 – otherwise known as the semantic web – improves that communication by bridging the gap between computers and human web users. How? Through the use of technology that enables software applications to interpret and understand data expressed in natural language.
With the recent launch in the UK of two new semantic products by Expert System, and Microsoft buying into semantic search, the stage is set for an unprecedented upsurge in interest in this latest, evolving extension of the web.
My search tool doesn’t understand me
It is semantic technology’s ability to make sense of the immense amount of information out there that makes it such an extremely powerful business tool.
Language is a rich and wonderful thing but computers, unlike humans, struggle with complex concepts, such as the same words with different meanings, different words with the same meaning, and words that change their meaning according to context.
That’s why simple search tools, that use key words to ‘guess’ at meanings, throw up such long lists of unhelpful results, which human users then have to trawl through. As our store of knowledge grows, traditional keyword searches become increasingly unable to cope.
The unique strength of semantic search is that it can interpret, not only dictionary definitions, but also the relationships between those definitions.
New-generation semantic technology is particularly useful in helping marketers make better use of the huge amount of consumer and product data available to them, enabling them to build brand loyalty and gain a competitive edge.
Business implications
How does this translate into business benefit and ROI? Because semantic technology can understand the context of words and interpret everyday language, it greatly increases the accuracy and relevancy of search results. The positive marketing implications are colossal.
Take web research, for example. No sensible business today can afford to ignore the online buzz about its brands and its competitors. How else can you find out what people really think about your company and your offerings? Research into unprompted online conversations, such as blogs, social networks, forums and review sites, is one of the fastest growing areas of marketing.
But until now it has had one major limitation. It is expensive and time consuming to use human researchers to monitor, assess, measure and report on the vast amount of information generated online.
Semantic search tools provide a fast, consistent and accurate way of tracking, assessing, interpreting and reporting on online brand conversations, bringing it within the reach of many more organisations, enabling them as well as the multinationals to fine-tune their ongoing marketing strategies and develop future campaigns.
Take contact centres. By interrogating information from a variety of internal and external sources, semantic help tools can answer consumer queries accurately and reliably in seconds. And that goes for telephone, email, sms and web-based enquiries.
Think of the benefits. Semantic monitoring tools have been proved to produce results that are more consistent, reliable, immediate and flexible than human-based web research. Semantic search tools – used either in a self-help environment or via a contact centre advisor – ensures customers’ issues are dealt with quickly and correctly, improving aftersales standards, leveraging customer satisfaction and, ultimately, building brand loyalty.
Timing is everything
Is this the right time to be investing in new technology? As every experienced marketer knows, in difficult economic periods what is needed is not less marketing but smarter marketing. Semantic technology offers a way of getting the most out of squeezed budgets.
The Internet is the world’s biggest store of information but its sheer size is becoming a barrier. Semantic technology offers marketers the best way of breaking through that barrier and truly capitalising on the vast wealth of information available. And, as every marketer knows, information is the lifeblood of business.
