More than half of firms are planning to adopt Web 2.0 technologies next year, but many are still failing to offer a consistent customer experience across online and offline channels, according to new research by internet marketing specialist E-consultancy.

The 2007 Customer Engagement Report, sponsored by web communications specialist cScape, found that although most firms surveyed are planning to use technologies like blogs, podcasts, videocasts and user-generated content in their web sites, nearly two-thirds lack any advanced tools for monitoring customer experiences.

In addition, although half of respondents said that consistent online and offline experiences are essential for engaging with their audience, 37 percent are not providing this, the research revealed.

“Businesses should be applauded for their appetite for Web 2.0-type technology but there is also very much a need for companies to focus on the basic experience they provide and making sure there’s a consistency across different channels,” argued E-consultancy analyst Linus Gregoriadis.

He added that customers are now more internet-savvy and expect a higher standard of service from web sites, and so firms that fail to “meet or exceed expectations will find customers go elsewhere”.

Major barriers to delivering a good customer experience included lack of resources and skills, disconnected systems and a lack of boardroom buy-in, the survey found.

“For a lot of organisations the will is not there [at board level]; but to provide an end-to-end experience for the customer it needs to be,” said Gregoriadis. “It is not necessarily the right thing for all organisations to have all of these cutting-edge technologies; it’s more important to have a consistent and well thought-out approach.”

Neil Morgan, European vice-president of marketing for web analytics firm Omniture, agreed that corporate adoption of Web 2.0 is set to take off, but added that firms need to measure the success of implementing such technologies to avoid risking “a repeat of the untethered investment that lead to the dotcom crash”.

“Firms are trying to sort through the hype; the leading-edge people have done this now and the mass-market should pick it up next year,” he argued. “But if they are to avoid a backlash they’d better show results.”