In the context of this post, "Web 2.0" means what David Pogue uses it for here - a mechanism that allows sunlight into a company, and also allows feedback from people outside the firm:

When a company embraces the possibilities of Web 2.0, though, it makes contact with its public in a more casual, less sanitized way that, as a result, is accepted with much less cynicism. Web 2.0 offers a direct, more trusted line of communications than anything that came before it.

It's not just blogging, either. It could be podcasts. Or videos. (One blender company has quintupled its sales by posting hilarious amateur videos at WillItBlend.com.) Permit the public to make mash-ups using your company's characters, logos, music or products. Let's have some more inside looks: at your product design cycles, your focus groups, your rejected designs, your employee cubicle videos.

Yes, you'll have to moderate this stuff. Yes, it means spending money with no immediately visible return on investment. Yes, it's more work for everyone.

But you'll gain trust, goodwill and positive attention. You'll put a human face on your company. And you'll learn stuff about your customers that you wouldn't have discovered any other way.

Which is exactly right. The old closed style works for a very small number of firms (only Apple comes to mind) - and most likely, your firm doesn't have a Steve Jobs clone running the ship. Given that, it's a good idea to let people in and show them that you aren't a "big, faceless company".

Take us, for example - head over here. We have a lot of people blogging on our site, many of them not Cincom employees. We like the idea of getting the Smalltalk community involved and engaged, and this is one of the ways we're doing that. While that particular approach might not work for you, it's a good idea to find something that will.

Technorati Tags: social media, marketing, web2.0