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SIMple solutions to enhancing web presence
Created in 2000, SIMalliance is a non-profit industry association made up of the world's leading SIM card manufacturers responsible for nine in every ten SIM cards sold worldwide. Its role is to promote the SIM as a secure and flexible multi-application device for the deployment of pioneering mobile multimedia and communications services and educate the market about the technology; issue guidelines and specifications to advance interoperability between SIM, Handset and OTA Platform; and consolidate and communicate annually an overview of market SIM shipments.
It also produces the SIMposium annual and international conferences, where the mobile eco-system meets the SIM Industry.
Brief
It is essential for every company to have an attractive and engaging internet presence. As websites and social media platforms increasingly become the focus of wider marketing activities, from customer service to partner collaboration, those qualities become even more essential.
SIMalliance required a powerful, flexible software platform to manage and further expand its online presences. It also wanted to incorporate a social networking function that would benefit both its members and customers, featuring pioneering web 2.0 functionality. Furthermore, the integrated portal had to be easy to manage and integrate with other systems.
SIMalliance also needed a striking and well-structured website, to provide personalised and controlled access to a variety of content areas and tools, including social media applications and virtual events. Everything had to be centrally managed and bundled in one easy-to-use and integrated package which didn't require a team of people to run.
Strategy & Execution
SITEFORUM and SIMalliance set about redeveloping and redesigning the existing web presence, prioritising social media functionality and enhanced usability. The content of the website did not need an overhaul, meaning the new design should incorporate existing content and a complex menu structure whilst easily integrating with the social media function, through one portal. Specific aspects of the portal can now be controlled individually and the website layout can be 'dragged and dropped' easily without disrupting the content or disturbing other functionalities. The hierarchy of news and special events on the home page can be altered easily, to drive traffic to priority content, and is fed through LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, widening its reach.
The new integrated platform also included a content management system (CMS) and customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities. With many different profiles of website visitor, SIMalliance was also able to apply a business model that manages user access to information. SITEFORUM's integrated platform allows SIMalliance to provide different levels of access to members, management, and external users. The online experience each user has with SIMalliance can therefore be personalised to include topics that are directly relevant to each individual.
SITEFORUM and SIMalliance also worked to develop a quarterly newsletter which automatically publishes recent news and results from the regular poll that is featured on the website.
Results
Using the SITEFORUM integrated CMS platform has enabled Stephanie de Labriolle, Marketing Consultant SIMalliance, to single handedly manage, update and improve SIMalliance's web presence. Stephanie can now create different groups for different users allowing her to provide a variety of functionality to individual users, confident that the correct information is shared with the intended user.
Stephanie comments, "The website is effectively my office, I am able to control and organise everything at the touch of a button; from issuing press releases to managing the social network, which has made my job much easier. The integrated platform is simple to use and manage on my own, without the need for a team to help me keep up-to-date with any changes I need to make. Moreover, the platform is unique in its combination of CMS, CRM and social networking capabilities and is very easy to integrate into other systems - something which, in my fifteen years of marketing experience, I have never seen before."
SIMposium 2010 is also scheduled to be streamed via webcast using the new SITEFORUM platform so that visitors have the option to watch the event live and after it has happened.
Bob Pike, COO SITEFORUM, comments: "At this year's SIMposium, the topic of how 'Identity Management' (IDm) may be offered as an extension and managed for the development community, using Social Collaboration tools and applications, will be trialled. SITEFORUM plan to take its learning into the cloud platform in future releases."
Next steps
SITEFORUM and SIMalliance are working to bring in a virtual event element to next year's SIMposium.
Stephanie comments: "People shouldn't be apprehensive about virtual events, rather they should be actively integrating them with live events; a process which is much easier than you might think. This broadens the reach of the event or exhibition and extends the potential for increased attendance."
The event will be available to attendees online for a single session, one, or both days depending on individual requirements.
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