And when organizations of any size take that next step of optimizing their online communication through social media avenues, they quickly learn that success is all about two-way conversations with their target audience.
The development of Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) through the years has delivered added benefits to those conversations, giving companies the tools needed to improve the way they market information to their audience.

With applications such as embedded videos and interactive graphic media files, RIAs allow businesses to communicate their product offerings or services more clearly to existing, as well as potential, customers.
Below are a few key areas in which RIAs can increase social media interaction.

Engage and Retain Customers
When customers experience content through social media interaction, they need a unique experience to walk away from. The more intriguing the content, the more engaged customers will become. Creating an application like an embedded video can increase a user’s interest. This type of application can also be highly viral throughout social media outlets such as YouTube, Twitter, and online bookmarking sites like delicious and StumbleUpon.

Once viral through social media, these applications increase the visibility of an organization and draw customers to its Web site; looking for further information, and keeping that company’s products and services top-of-mind.

Stay a While
Implementing RIAs is a means to opening the door to a broad range of supported, interactive media. Multiple fonts, animated content, online video and audio are common media that can be utilized to create a unique experience for customers, which will keep them on a company’s site longer.

An example is our client, Declare IT. Declare IT offers an interactive experience that provides clients the tools they need to track personal or professional goals. The appealing design and ease-of-use allows customers to input their progress and obtain results graphically. Each user’s progress is also shareable with others, making it socially interactive and motivating.

Ensure Ease-of-Use for Repeat Business
Using RIAs to bring increased ease of ordering products online increases the likelihood for repeat business. DigiTrack (a RIA client) hosts an automobile ordering tool that comes complete with full customer engagement. One of its features includes a patent-pending automated technology that tracks auto purchasing leads and markets directly to those customers via the Internet using personalized communications each time. This, in turn, creates a unique, two-way interaction with potential customers.

Are you ready to optimize your online offerings with RIAs? Let’s chat.

Being an organization that prides itself for taking on unique entities, we recently came across a potential project, Declare IT, which definitely whet our whistle. (*Please note, the official Declare IT site will soon be live!)

Our client had an idea to develop a Web site that would allow users to set goals for themselves, be it personal or professional goals. What makes this project different form others is how the goal-creator user would have friends, family members or employees get involved by offering a reward to the user if the goal was achieved. Those who offered rewards would also be able to track the day-to-day or weekly progress.

Once we got started on this project, we knew using Adobe Flex would allow our client to stand out from other goal-setting sites and also make it more user-friendly. Whether they are personal or professional goals, the sleek looking Web site lets you track your progress and display results graphically and analytically in real-time. Once Declare IT went live, our client received instant feedback about how helpful it was not only to track the progress for the goals set but also for letting others observe and comment throughout the duration of the goal.

I recently used Declare IT to help myself and my now wife to lose weight before our wedding. We let our families and bridesmaids and groomsmen set rewards for us and I am proud to say that we both achieved our goals thanks to Declare IT!

Check back soon for our post highlighting the soon-live Declare IT site.

RIA Chicago’s team members often collaborate with other members of The Plum Tree Group’s core competencies in:
* Visual Communications and Design
* Consulting
* Information Technology
* Business Process Outsourcing
* Micro Venture Support

We’d love to use this blog as a catalyst for discussion and information-sharing. We look forward to hearing from you.