A program advertisers should use is YouTube. YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos. It allows Internet users to able to create their own accounts and channels with profiles and plenty of favorite videos. Anyone who goes to the site can view the videos that are posted on this site. Youtube Channel offers fans a brand platform to comment and share their opinions of the products.

Here is a video smallbiztrends.com/2009/08/youtube-small-businesses.html that demonstrates how to use YouTube.

Youtube also allows businesses to show off their products. It offers high visibility for their brands to connect to consumers. The Nielsen Company reports that YouTube reached 87.7 million unique visitors a 22% year over year jump in June. In addition, it is a great way to increase brand awareness by natural search, which allows for videos to be picked on search results with site links, images, videos, and news links.

Polls (surveys) are a well known, effective way of measuring information/opinions. More formally known as opinion polls, polls ask various groups of people questions related to a certain topic. In the past, polls were only done through mail or telephone, however the power of the internet has brought new methods of polling as well as new types of polling altogether.

A poll using the internet is known as an online poll. Here are some of the many advantages to using a poll to capture opinion, especially an online one:

1. Information is Provided Directly by the User
   Because the user interacts directly with the poll, there is no need for a middleman. This reduces costs, and ensures that the data is as close to accurate as possible.
2. Cost
   The cost of an online polling system is extremely low in comparison to a phone based or mail based polling system. This is because there is not a high requirement for employees to complete tasks such as recording information, compiling information, etc, because it can all be complete by a computer.
3. Size
   The size of an online poll can be as large, or as small, as you want it. The survey will only run however long you want it to collect data.
4. Sampling
   Online surveys allow you to target the survey to whichever demographic you see fit. Here is an example, someone may fill out some preliminary information, such as their age or location, and then the software will determine if their answers match the demographic you are looking for.
5. Results
   Survey software is automatically able to compile & analyze the results, both while the survey is running and when it is finished. Because the analysis is done by a computer, there is no need for a statistician to analyze the results for you, so you save both time & money.
6. Incentive
   Many times you can offer an incentive to a user for completing a survey, such as being entered into a drawing to win a coupon, gift card, etc, which gives a better chance of people giving information.
7. Speed/Timing
   Because computer transactions are instant, you are able to see instantly the results of a survey, as well as the exact time the survey was filled out. Also, the creation and use of surveys is extremely short when they are online.

Now that you know some of the benefits to online surveys/polls, here are some of the companies that provide online surveys:

• Survey Monkey
• SurveyGizmo
• PollDaddy

Go to one of these sites, sign up, and then create your first survey and spread the link. Some sites will spread the link for you. If you aren’t sure of the best way to create and manage a survey, let a company like RP Design do it for you.

According to an Opinion Research Corporation, July 2008, online product reviews and evaluations were cited by 83% of shoppers as influencing their purchasing decisions at some level.

An October 2008 study by Forrester shows that nearly one half of adults in US read ratings and reviews at least once per month.

A Nielsen Online research study in December 2008 demonstrates that eighty-one percent of online shoppers reported consulting reviews at web site during the holiday season in December 2008.   The research shows that 63% felt that having multiple reviews for products was significant.

Examples how User Generated Content Impacted Conversions

A BazaarVoice Case Study of 30,000 monthly SearchVoice visitors of a  large electronic retailer web site showed that visitors landing on user review pages spent 50% more time on site, viewed 82% more pages, and converted 60% more often than visitors landing on other pages.

User Generated Content for SEO

A report by Nielsen Buzz Metrics shows that 26% of search results link to user generated content.

Enable an advanced User Generated Content Frequently Asked Question hub can increase the number of purchases due to easy to question-response decrease product returns, since customers will know more about a product before they purchase.   Consumers want to find information online.   Offer a full FAQ port where people can not only find answers that are actually frequently asked, post specific questions for publication and follow up by the company.

Use the feedback from customer reviews to add to your Frequently Asked Questions page.   This will provide a more positive experience to the customer and reduce the load for customer support and technical people.

Have a live Question & Answer with a technical specialist who answers all FAQ and support issues should be enabled allowing the option to allow the question published online.