Ever since the popularity of eBay has eclipsed the popularity of card shows and shops, this hobby has been one destined for online domination. Not only is the world a smaller place, but the internet has evolved into a collective water cooler for everything – not just cards. Of course, for cards, the internet is a place where everything is reported, discussed, criticized and supported, thus creating a relative tornado of available information. Aside from the enormous popularity of social media in our culture, I think this could not be a better situation for a struggling industry and history laden hobby. The only challenge faced by the people who facilitate the growth of the hobby is how to use this new media to their advantage.

Here is what I would do.

Company Website Overhauls

When reviewing the official websites of Amazon, Apple, Target or any of the other major retail outlets, they are amazingly intuitive in their design. There is huge focus placed multi-function in that each of the sites provides buying opportunities and information in a one stop shop. In this industry, the company websites are some of the worst I have ever seen. Where places like google are designed to be easy to use, these sites are poorly organized and serve very little function at all. In fact, for an internet presence champion like Panini, their blog is more of their company site than the actual site.

The redesign of the website would need to come in a few stages. The first would be centered around the information dissemination portion of the website. There should be a place for both collectors and for dealers/shops, and it should include everything from product solicitation and previews, to checklists. In fact, Im incredibly surprised that product previews and solicitation are as little a focus as they are. Panini has done a tremendous job hauking their wares on their blog, but there is little information in other places directly associated with the company site. I would put the products on a visual calendar where anyone can click and see every piece of available information on a product. No more piecemeal offerings in fifty different places. Consolidate and organize to make everything more user-friendly.

In terms of checklists, I would go back as far as possible. Right now, Beckett is the leader in checklist organization, and I find that extremely odd. You don’t see Macworld magazine being the place where users can trace back through past Apple products and what they were capable of. Photos, lists, anything that was covered on the blogs, and whatever else. I would also say redemption expirations would be a good piece of info for people who are still buying boxes.

The second piece of the overhaul would come in a few other spaces.

Collector participation – when a product comes out, the companies should not rely on sites like Beckett and the blogs to post reviews and results. There should be solicitation of video testimonials and product breaks from actual collectors who pay for the boxes. Not only that, but more collector participation should inspire some rewards from the company themselves, as more swag will equal more submissions. Give out prizes for creatively exhibiting the products of the week, and make it interesting for everyone to get involved in the release of a set, similar to a street team.

Collection Gallery – If there is one thing collectors love, its showing off their stuff. Otherwise, how would photobucket be such a force? I would guess that a place where collectors can submit collections for display would be awesome. Showcasing loyal customers should get more loyal customers to join up, right? In fact, some of the bounty contests that Topps has run were great ideas, I would like to see an expansion for people to show off more collections of a certain type of card or set.

Forums – I think message boards are the new cardshop meet ups that used to happen around a cash register at the local store. Because the local card shop is dying out due to the internet, I think it would be awesome to give the collectors of a manufacturer a place to talk. Its also a place to gather some free market research on any issues or successes that result from any number of products

History – All three of the major card companies have a history behind them, and I think there should be a way to view a virtual museum of what has happened in the past. The Topps vault has some majorly cool pieces to show off, and I was very interested to hear about some of them when I was in Chicago for the national. Bottom line, the history of the sports and our country are contained in the supply closets of a lot of these companies, and we should be able to appreciate it.

Blog – Every company needs a blog, and it needs to be updated daily. There is no excuse not to have this element as a major force of the company website. They need to hire someone who is entirely focused on information gathering and putting it out there for the world to see. Panini is at the top of the mountain by a mile and a half with this, and I think there is still room for improvement. The others might as well be irrelevant, as the Topps and UD blogs are rarely even touched. I would even say that blog and news updates should be front page links on the company site at all times, as the site has the potential to be the face of the company to collectors who stumble on an internet presence.

Customer Loyalty Programs – I get that the big case breakers probably get a lot of attention from the companies to begin with, but there are a lot of medium sized fish that should also be rewarded. Collectors who were able to enter codes from boxes or packs should maybe be offered special sets or coupons to be used on the website. Maybe offer a VIP program that allows them to get special previews before anyone else. Im not a marketing ad wizard by any stretch of the imagination, but this could be a really cool thing.

Redemption Replacements – There is no more prominent source of negative PR than redemption replacements gone bad. I have said before that this is something that needs to be a focus for the industry, and I think using the company website to give collectors the opportunity to choose what they get for a replacement would mean a lot less headaches for a lot of people.

Patch Database – I have talked about this at length, and for higher end sets, this is becoming a growing need every day.

Social Media

Twitter and Facebook are the forefronts of collector interaction in a lot of ways, as are message boards. There needs to be a huge force present by every company in every one of these medias. Topps and Panini had and have it right with something like what Tracy Hackler currently is responsible for. The Topps social media division has taken a hit since their guy left, and that has hurt them quite a bit. Mark Sapir does a pretty good job getting it done with the pictures and info he posts, but there needs to be much more.

Facebook is already a pretty big factor in soliciting collector involvement, but Im not sure how well it lends itself to what I would hope to accomplish. All the giveaways and contests should be publicized on facebook, and I would even go so far as saying that collectors should have the opportunity to get something special for paying attention to the social media presence. Why weren’t giveaway codes given out on twitter and facebook when the Million Card Giveaway was going down? Lost opportunity.

Questions submitted through social media have a chance to be a great win for a lot of companies, especially in the way they communicate with their customer. Its time to have more attention on answering questions that come directly from the customer base, because customers already deserve more than they are getting currently. There is too many people that get the cold shoulder after spending a lot of money with a specific product.

General Web Promotion

There needs to be more of an effort in the card shops and other retailers on the ground to alert collectors that the online community is the place to be. I think there are enough people out there that no nothing of the many resources that are available, and I would hope that the manufacturers will eventually understand that they need to promote better if and when their sites are more directed towards establishing an online presence. I know that Panini wants everyone to get back to the shops, but I cant see this as a good strategy. Shops should be getting onto the net with every chance they get. Promote the site on packs, on boxes, on standups in the store. Give customers a reason to visit with promotion in the spots they already go.

In the end, this will cost money, but its money that would be well spent. I promise that I would value a manufacturer website if it were actually designed correctly, but so far, none of them are. I don’t think I ever go onto Panini or Topps’ actual site anymore, and that is bad. We need more focus on information and less of a focus on the other extemporaneous crap.