The reason that marketers need to be aware of all this is that it’s being driven by their customers and regardless of whether the mechanism is digital or physical, the principals of marketing still apply: know your audience and give them what they want. 

Today’s digital audience wants to hold the power, they don’t want to be talked to they want to have a dialogue; they want to use the internet as a social rather than transactional tool; and they want it to look and feel slick and easy to use. They are a demanding bunch.

These ideas are fundamental for the likes for YouTube and Amazon whose businesses are built on Web 2.0 principles. But it is important that marketers realise that they are not exclusive to publishers, retailers or FMCG businesses. Banks, professional services companies and utilities vendors could all benefit from websites that are engaging, inclusive and interactive.

Imagine checking your bank statement and being able to regroup your payments to see how much you spent on food or petrol and then compare that to your spending the previous month. Or checking your energy bill online and getting tips from people on how much they saved by switching to storage heaters. 

It’s all relatively simple stuff, and not always an instant money making exercise, but if you’re in an industry desperately fighting churn it could be just what you need to gain some competitive edge. Or if your operational costs are too high, then empowering your customer to handle their accounts themselves is going to have a dramatic impact on your bottom line.

In most organisations it’s not the investment in Web 2.0 that is stopping them from embracing it, its point number one in our list of customer demands: dialogue. Many businesses fear losing control of their messages and damaging their brand.

The FT research states that only 23 per cent of marketers feel that customers will use online product reviews. The respondents are kidding themselves. Any good marketer knows that customers are 50 per cent more likely to buy based on a recommendation rather than an advert. But there is a resistance to apply this logic online. Many businesses are terrified of negative feedback. This too is understandable, but we’re living in an age where everyone thinks they are AA Gill, and if you don’t provide an outlet for them then someone else – probably one of your competitors – will.  

If you still need convincing then consider the fact that even the B2B world is starting to wake up to Web 2.0. LinkedIn is a business oriented social networking site that now has more than 9 million users! 

I’m not suggesting that the CEO of Vodafone should have his own MySpace page or that Barclays opens up a branch in SecondLife, but start really considering how your customers want to interact with your business.