Posts from — June 2009

What do these three companies have in common:

1) An environmental engineering firm that wants to put a cartoon frog on their site because it stands for a religious acronym.

2) A real estate broker who has filled his Web site with his religious beliefs.

3) A car company brochure for a new commuter truck emphasizing the “Duratec 2.0 liter dual overhead cam” and the “split-rear doors [which] open at a standard 180 degrees or an optional 255 degrees”. (The truck sounds great for deliveries, once you translate the features into benefits; more on that at The New York Times business blog)

What’s the connection? They’re all focusing on what THEY like, rather than what’s important to their customers.

The engineering firm’s clients probably aren’t interested in that poor, lost frog. They just want to know that the company can save them from worrying about water contamination, environmental hazards, and lawsuits.

The real estate broker’s customers want to find a home they can fall in love with (and afford), not a sermon or indoctrination in religious beliefs they may not share.

And, car buyers would undoubtedly prefer to be told what that overhead cam will do for them (it gives the truck extra pep, so it goes fast and handles well). The angle on the doors means that they swing out of your way, so its easier to load or unload the vehicle.

That ad for a coal sifter looks pretty silly in the 21st century, but if you click on it, you’ll see that it does have clear benefits to the consumer (save money and keep your clothes clean). Unfortunately, some modern-day companies have forgotten this.

People buy when you show them how your product helps them (not how it helps you).

Photo: Library of Congress

1. Autoplay video.

Let your visitors make the decision whether they want to watch or not. The videos can also slow down your site.

2. Pages that load slowly.

Cut the Flash presentations and the splash pages with “enter” buttons; they slow people down. People want information, not commercials. The exception to this is if you’re a filmmaker, film editor, or web video producer. In that case, you’ll need Flash to show off your skills. Just make it a voluntary click (not an auto play), and put it on a clips page (rather than the home page).

3. Sign in forms.

Don’t make it harder for visitors to find information. If you want to keep paid content separate, or need a user login for accounts, that’s fine, but don’t try to capture information from everyone who visits. You’ll drive people away.

4. Hard to find contact information.

If it looks as if you’re hiding, your trust level will go down. Put your address, email, phone number, etc. where people can find it easily.

5. Poor usability.

If visitors have trouble finding what they want, and your web site search is broken, they’ll leave in frustration.

Photo: orin obtiglot

Want to know more about SEO (search engine optimization)?

If you don’t already know, it’s the science (and art) of making your Web site more appealing to search engines. Find the search terms that best describes what your customers are looking for, optimize your site to fit those terms, and you’ll rank higher when people search for products or services like yours. The easier it is to find you, the more traffic, leads, and customers you’ll get.

Today’s Freebie Friday offers some help. It’s an e-book by Dan Theis, with help on mapping out a keyword strategy, optimizing the way your site is constructed, and measuring results.

Update: The 2009 Edition is now live.
Get your copy here.

Peter Tran (on Marketing Professionals Know-how Exchange Forum) wanted to follow up with the leads his company had gathered at a conference. He wrote this email and posted it to the forum for review:

“Hello Mr/Ms. Blank,

I am Peter Tran from _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ . You spoke with one of our representatives at the Sapphire Conference and I would like to follow up with you regarding your SAP Security. As you learned at the conference, our security design strategy and products can help you reduce security administration costs, improve Sarbanes – Oxley compliance, simplifies and streamlines approvals, and stops fraud. Our tools will save you money and make your job 20 times easier.

I will contact you tomorrow just in case this email does not find its way to you. If you have any immediate questions, please do not hesitate to reach me a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . In the mean time you can visit our website at www._ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _.com. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Respectfully,
Peter Tran”

My first thought was that it sounded more like a phone script than an email.
But the real problem is that it’s a sales pitch, instead of a problem-solving pitch. I don’t know what subject line he was planning to include, but why would a prospect open this?

It’s just another email from a pesky salesman trying to sell something. He hasn’t given a good reason why the recipient would want to talk to him, or even given them a choice about it. He’s going to call tomorrow (convenient or not). Ouch!

Trust First, Pitch Later

It’s not clear what his product does, or why anyone would want to buy it. He’s got some buzzwords that sound vaguely financial (Sarbanes-Oxley, stopping fraud), but they’re buried and there’s no clear benefit.

Give the Prospect Clear Reasons to Talk to You

Pique their interest so they WANT to talk to you. How does it make their jobs 20 times easier? Does it save time? Minimize paperwork? Reduce the stress of complying with complicated financial reporting requirements?

Offer them something they’ll find useful, such as a special (free) report: “Cut Your Sarbanes-Oxley Paperwork by 25%”

Market with Permission

Get consent on the date and time. Tomorrow may be convenient for you, but not for them. Offer a choice. Gauge their interest before wasting their time (and yours).

They have to know, like, and trust you first, before they’ll buy.

Photo: http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/bramus/3249196137/  bramus

People have been arguing since the invention of advertising and direct mail over which is the most important: list, creative (design and copy), or offer (what the people who respond get).

It sometimes gets to be a bit like the proverb about the blind men and the elephant: if you’re a direct marketer you say it’s the list, copywriters insist it’s the words, sales people say it’s the offer, and designers are adamant that it’s the color and graphics that count.

At the risk of being denounced by designers and my fellow copywriters, the answer is the list. Without the right list the entire campaign collapses.

Here’s why:

A bad list will sink everything else.

A great list can boost an unappealing offer and poor creative, but award-winning copy and design won’t help you sell vodka to teetotalers.

The mailing will fail if the list is wrong (sending hamburger coupons to vegetarians), the offer is unappealing (free sewage!), or the creative is poor (it talks about you and what you want, rather than the customer: buy from me so I can go on vacation).”

Target the right audience (the list), make an appealing offer (the price, quality, and value), and use compelling words and design (the message, the testimonials, and the referrals, plus the colors, the format, and the images).

Photo: brenda starr