Released in 2001, Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is a dinosaur in the browser world and it’s causing problems for users and web developers alike. Not surprising, then, that there is a growing campaign by some in the Internet community to get rid of it.

At eight years old, IE6 has problems adjusting to new Web programming languages and practices. For example, IE6 doesn’t support advanced CSS and XHTML, key tools of today’s Web developer. Designers and programmers who see their pages display beautifully in more modern browsers (IE7 & IE8, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera) often have to spend hours programming hacks so that the pages also display correctly in IE6. “It’s like having to build a special rail track for older, out-of-date rail cars that are still in service,” says Quicksilver developer Lakshmi Jayaraman.

We know that IE6 will be phased out eventually – and because it restricts innovation in terms of layouts, display and interactivity, major players like Google, Facebook and YouTube are pushing for that to happen sooner rather than later. For example:

    •    Facebook provides a decidedly lesser experience for people using IE6, and also offers links to download more modern browsers

    •    IE6 doesn’t work well with Google Mail, and fails to run at all with some other Google products

    •    YouTube is gearing up to limit support for IE6.

As an aside, YouTube already demonstrated its clout by requiring Flash Player 9 for viewing all video content; this contributed heavily to users worldwide upgrading their computers to Flash Player 9 from older versions. Could a boycott of IE6 by leading technology companies lead to a similar scenario? We can certainly expect to see entities such as email providers, news sites, and development companies ending support for this browser before too long.

If this browser has so many limitations, why does it keep hanging on? There are a number of factors, including:

    •    15-20 percent of Internet users worldwide still use this browser as their primary window to the Web.

    •    Windows 2000 is not capable of running anything newer than IE6, and some businesses have not upgraded their computers to a newer operating system.

    •    There are businesses that have invested in custom applications that require IE6.

Despite these factors, the way to move IE6 towards the exit lies in the democratic nature of the Web – the fact that if enough people make similar choices, then the environment as a whole evolves in that direction. It’s likely that a lot of IE6 users don’t really think about upgrading their browser, and are not aware that their online experience could improve if they did. In fact, I saw a vox populi report on television recently where people on the street were asked, “What is a browser?” Fully 50 percent of those interviewed couldn’t answer the question.

All the more reason to push the alternatives – provide links to downloads of better browsers. We must get rid of the expectation that the Web experience should be the same for IE6 users as it is for those viewing the Web with better software.

However, if a site really must cater to IE6 because of who its audience is (and an analytics program perusing your web site logs can tell you what percentage of your visitors is using IE6), then you have a couple of choices:

    •    Accept the browser’s limitations, understanding which design elements and functionality will not display or work correctly. And communicate those limitations to your visitors. Provide them with links for upgrading, and tell them about the better experience that awaits.

    •    Plan to spend a little extra for programming hacks. 

Note that while some people can upgrade, a Digg survey found that 77% of the sample simply had no upgrade option. Of course, those with administrator rights to their PC's could always download Firefox or Chrome and do an A/B comparison test – which can be quite revealing!

If you think you can influence the remaining 23% in the Digg survey, then you may find this page useful – paste the code into your own site page to provide a visual link to downloads for four modern browsers. Or follow these links to upgrade to a modern browser:

Firefox
Internet Explorer 8
Safari
Google Chrome

Yesterday I attended the latest edition of Crain’s long-running forum, and listened to an expert panel share their insights with a room full of business people about how to approach digital marketing and social media.  One of those speakers was Matt Moog, founder of the Viewpoints Network, and a serial entrepreneur  (he was previously CEO at CoolSavings/Q Interactive, an interactive marketing services company). Matt decided to use the Crain’s event to demonstrate how quickly buzz can be built. Before he arrived, he posted some of his planned remarks on his blog, using the name of the event in the title. The idea being that within a day or so, anyone searching for information about the event would also find his post.

I’ve extended the experiment by doing the same thing in my own title here. Let’s see how that goes.

What I liked about this panel was that they showcased a pragmatic approach to the topic, even as they made suggestions about how to think creatively to generate an army of fans. Moog’s first point was  the continuing importance of email – he still sends out monthly updates (essentially a newsletter) to a list he has built over a number of years.  And Nancy Munro of KnowledgeShift stressed the importance of press releases, using one or more of the low-cost online distribution options that now exist.  

So if email and PR are still in the top five, what has changed in digital marketing from 10 years ago, when these Crain’s forums got under way amidst the “irrational exuberance” of the dot-come era? Part of that answer is the explosion of online tools, including social media that help us communicate, connect, and analyze. And yes, many of these innovations are free, or close to it. By the end of today, for example, I could publish a blog or create a simple website.  Yikes – as an Internet solutions professional, am I staring obsolescence in the face? Well, no. As Julie Roth Novack of Razorfish, another panel member, made clear, some things haven’t changed: the online solutions that do most for your business begin with definition of business objectives, listening to customers, and paying attention to the competition. There are still no instant solutions for that.

Just to round out this post, here’s some interesting data published this week by Marketing Sherpa about how marketers see the impact of social media over time:

Do You Agree or Disagree That Social Media Will…

Social Media has become a topic at many marketing meetings.  As an individual, you may be actively interacting with others online through blogs, discussion boards, or social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook.  But should your organization be actively participating in social media too?  

There are many types of social media:
•    Multimedia Social Media - Sharing photos and video on Flickr or YouTube
•    Collaboration and Opinion Social Media - Adding content to Wikipedia or sharing your opinion on Yelp
•    Communication Social Media – Blogs, Twitter (a.k.a. micro-blogging), and social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook

Organizations are most often utilizing Communication Social Media.

Determining if your target audiences are actively using any of these forms of social media is the first step. For example, an audience made up of business professionals is likely be using professional connection sites like LinkedIn or Plaxo rather than a more personal site like MySpace.  Wherever you decide to focus, build connections and relationships first, and then use the features of the site (such as LinkedIn and FaceBook groups) to expand the value of each site. Start small; don’t try to cover too many sites at once.

Using social media to market your organization can create a positive buzz and help build awareness of your organization, but it does open your organization to negative messages as well.  You risk losing control of the messages being posted about your organization, since anyone can add a positive or negative message, anonymously in some cases, to many social media sites.  If you are concerned about the messages being posted, a blog is a good way to get started.  

If you do decide to make social media part of your marketing efforts, make sure once you start to keep the effort going. While one of the benefits of this activity is attracting individuals to your organization, keeping their attention depends on the generation of new and up-to-date information. As the Harvard Business Review reported recently, most Twitter users send messages (or tweets) very rarely. The top 10 percent of those using the service represent 90 percent of the messages sent – so if you add Twitter to your social media plan, you want to be sure you are in the 10 percent that attracts followers.  Looking across all your social media initiatives, it is important to create a schedule to ensure you keep posting information. You will lose opportunities to interact with potential visitors if you invest in a blog but post very rarely.   

Another decision to be made is whether to advertise on a social media site.  These sites generally have low click-through rates when compared to advertising on a search engine such as Google.  You will have a better return on your resources by building awareness virally through social media, and investing in advertising via search engines and other proven channels.

By determining your social media goals, and focusing your effort and available resources, you can use these viral channels to increase your organization’s brand awareness and your ability to build new connections within target markets.