“Every interaction, every conversation, every exchange of ideas has an effect on others and presents for us an influencing opportunity” (Mackin, 2006). Using persuasive communication theories such as the Cognitive Dissonance theory (Fistinger, 1957) and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) I’ll show you how you can make your website a whole lot more influential.

Trust has been identified by many researchers as one of the most important issues for Internet users. According to Whitty and Joinson (2009) this can almost always be attributed to the degree of uncertainty and the element of risk that individuals experience online. As sites provide, request and gather information, and also try to influence behaviour, support and process online purchases, and even strive to form strong relationships that would result in favourable outcomes for the site owner, getting visitors to trust you and your site is of very high importance. Using research in the area I’ll offer some ways that you can ‘build’ trust through your website.

Facebook has proven to be an efficient and effective communications platform for its users to connect and stay in touch with friends and family. However, its usage goes far beyond just satisfying communication needs in this sense. Here’s a simple way you can leverage the psychology of Facebook to engage your online audience.

I know some of you struggle to come up with solid proof for using social media in your respective organisations usually due to a sceptical boss or perhaps company culture. Of all people, I know that IT personnel sometimes are not sold on the idea either and they’re the people who are relied on to implement these things. However, as I don’t agree with this practice, that is, asking for IT’s permission (rather than advice) to make a final BUSINESS decision, this simple pitch is to help you win over your boss, especially if you’re in the company’s marketing, PR or communications department or even just consulting. In particular, I’ll be focusing on Youtube in this post.

Often when we talk about social media we focus on its ability to help us develop relationships with others and build communities surrounding our cause. Though at first glance this seems achievable, a deeper look at the requirements of these processes is warranted. Does research in the area really support the idea that social media is redefining how we do business and interact with our clients/customers?