In this episode I look at

Why they are useful?

• Very focused
• One simple goal, easy to direct
• Easy to track
• Convert better
• Easier to build a campaign than off a major site
• An opportunity to “test” a sub-brand, or rebranding

Possible Examples

• Focus on a green product
• Focus on a new specific line of a service
• Use in print / offline media, better tracking

Drawbacks

How to do one effectively

Like it or not all websites try and sell something. It might be a product, a service, registration for a forum, sign up for a newsletter, or even just subscribe to your RSS feed. Once you acknowledge this you can start building what is called “the sales funnel” in which you help appease the needs of a prospect in order to increase conversion rate.

The sales funnel can be broken down into the following cateogries:

• Prospecting
• Discovery
• Qualification
• Conversion

Listen in to learn how to build a sales funnel and increase conversion.

This is one of the key elements to a successful web campaign, yet so few people actually do it! One of the first principals in marketing is a method in which you figure out your placement in the market, figuring out your placement is achieved by examining your competitors and seeing what you provide that sets yourself apart from them. Guess what? That same method applies in web design.

A competitive analysis is an in depth look at what your competitors are doing on their website. After recording in detail all aspects and features of the site, you must reflect and see if you are able to provide the same but better. If not, you should focus your attention elsewhere, so that your site has features that outshine your competitors.

What do your competitors provide on their website?

The first step is to make a list of what your competitors content focus is. Do they talk about their experience? how about the size of their company? low cost? customer service?

If you have evidence, reasons, and compelling copy as to why your product/company/service is a better choice in an area of your competitor then you want to include it on your website. If not however, it is best to focus elsewhere. For example, if your competitor has testimonials of fifty happy customers and you only have five, posting the testimonials on your site is just proving that your company is not established enough, or doesn’t have enough customers to obtain that level of testimonials.

Customer Specials

What about special offers? Printable coupons? If you can offer a better deal, or if your customers don’t have these features this is a great way to set yourself apart when it comes to the web.

Free Information / Content

Can you provide a newsletter, discussion, articles, games, or tools that your competitor can’t? Each of these will help visitors decide which site offers more reason to stay, which is better at what they do, and who to ultimately buy from.

Design

The sad truth is many people buy simply based on which website is most aesthetically pleasing to them! If you can afford a better designer, it is a significant way to edge yourself in front of competitors.

Visibility

A lot of these factors can be outweighed by visibility. If your competitor has no visitors to their site, it doesn’t matter if they provide discounts, newsletters and have a better design. Search engine optimization is a strong method of staying ahead of the competition, however be warned that search engine results are not permanent. If another site with better content and marketing starts to rank and you have done nothing to place yourself apart from the competition then your are in trouble.

Sure enough, not all marketing is done directly through your website. There are many other outlets to get brand recognition before users even come across your website. Most of these are inexpensive, if not free, and can be essential in getting your name out in both the industry and to your potential clients.

The Goal

The goal is to get your name/brand recognized, if someone is looking for a product or service that you offer they are more likely to pick a company that they have herd of, recognized, or done business with before. So the better you can instill your company’s name, values, and abilities into the potential client the greater chance you have of actually getting them to contact you (and hopefully convert). This is why companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on prime time television advertisements that do little more than tell the viewer something about their brand. (Nike comes to mind!). Studies show that it takes an average of 3 - 5 exposures to a name before the average person will remember and recognize you.

How can we do this?

The trick is to simply get your name anywhere that a potential customer might be looking. This can be both actively searching for your product/service, or even passive methods like the sites they go to for fun/entertainment/work.

Let’s look at some examples

Actively Searching

Search Engine Results - This is the obvious one. People actively searching for your product/service should see you come up in multiple different key phrases related to the service. People like to shop around, and online it is extremely easy. If you show up at the top time and time again, it improves your credibility. After all google believes your credible and relevant.

Adwords - Here is a little known tip. You can run an adwords campaign with the intention of getting zero clicks. That’s right, it can serve a cost effective and powerful purpose. If you have the focus of your ad the name of your company, users might not be likely to click it - however if they read it, it is one more time that they have seen your company name. I even buy ads for key phrases I rank top 3, because I want the user to see me several times on the same page.

Local Listings - Yahoo local, google local, and again you can buy advertisements in both. If you have a location, plus a paid location, that is more attention to your company for those who are looking for it. Some people search these listings before they do an online search, and some will do both. While the price ranges from extremely expensive (yellowpages.com) to free (google/yahoo), the more you can afford to do the better.

Targeting them at home

Local News/Blog Sites - many larger areas have a local news site, a popular blogger, etc. If your targeting a local market this is an excellent way to get business and name recognition. Even if no one on the site is directly looking for what you do, curious individuals are likely to click on your link, hear about what you do, and pass your name on if someone they know.

Niche Sites - too many people simply hang out on the blogs, forums, and websites that are related to their industry only. The chances of building a worthwhile reputation where your competition is recommending you is pretty low. Instead spend time on the sites where your target market hangs out. Sell car parts? Post on car forums and blogs, provide high quality information, and people will trust you and your products/services. Buy links on sites that your target market reads, target sites with google adwords, use some pay for post services that target your market. Hell do all three.

Ask to write a guest column, do an interview, or a giveaway. Anything to get those niche sites to link, post, or talk about you. It is easier than it sounds, and you are getting your name in front of everyone who matters most.

Web 2.0 - There are tons of opportunities to post comments in flickr, join local groups (yahoo/google) and participate in your target markets interest. Even twitter presents an opportunity to know and update your target market with little reminders that you will be there when they need your help.

Summary

There are hundreds of ways to get your name in front of people online, however so few companies actually do it. The fact of the matter is, that if everywhere someone looks there you are, they are going to get the impression that you are so prominent because you are the best. Now go out, and shine.

In our last podcast I discussed why it is important to market to a specific group. Today I am going to discuss targeting baby boomers. I picked baby boomers first because they tend to have the most spending power, and are one of the largest groups at this point in time. (Ages 43 - 61).

The spending power of this generation in both consumer and services is hard to ignore.

Some of the things they respond to:

• Status / Heros
• Iconic Authority
• Trailblazers
• Items that are earned
• Comfort
• Perks
• Anti-Aging

Baby Boomer Attitude

Baby boomers tend to be marketing influenced. This means that they are much more likely to believe what marketing material tells them compared to the younger Generation-X. They tend to be more resistent to technology, but have high desires for anything that shows that they have earned luxury and status. They are beyond their midlife and are starting to think about death and retirement, so anti-aging is very important to this group.

Example: Limo Service

• Stress Free, better mental health
• Status, you have archived enough to ride in a limo
• Iconic: You are much like the rock and roll stars, Donald Trumps, etc

Use this in your copy, and in your photos! Pictures of people living the lifestyle that you want to convey. Explain how simple it is, how easy, how stress free. Don’t worry about driving from the airport. Imagine the status you achieve when you show up in a Limo.

Your target marketing is one of the essential elements to marketing your website. Too many people feel that their services are broad enough where they can target everyone! After all, targeting one group would simply be cutting our possible clients down. However, the truth is that if you market to everyone you market to no one.

Imagine these three advertisements

1. A woman is driving a nice luxurious car on a sunny day. She is dressed in a business suit, with a briefcase next to her but she is smiling and relaxed. The phone rings, with out having to do anything the hands free answers it. Her baby sitter is letting her know that dinner is prepared and in the stove.
2. A man is wearing a stylish suit, accompanied by an attractive woman at a night club. He goes to leave, and the valet pulls up a sexy and shiny new BMW. Everyone watches as he leaves.
3. There are ten shots of men, women, children, all driving a BMW. They are all happy and enjoying the car. Weather is nice, they are problem free.

The first two strike an emotional connection with specific audiences. The third one doesn’t really say anything about a BMW other than that people like them. At this point we all pretty much know that a BMW is a nice car, and it fails to target anyone.

The podcast talks about how to find your target market, and how to incorporate that into your website.

Every site is selling or marketing something. Even this blog, I am trying to convince readers that it is worth their time to come back and read additional articles. On the business side of things, you literally have items/services to sell or leads to generate.

Even though many designers are playing the roll of marketers by developing and designing websites, most websites lack marketing polish. This podcast is a quick and easy way to get tips on how to make your website more effective in generating business, leads, and sales. Intended for both web designers and website owners, I will be going over practical tips on how you can help your website work for you.

Calls to Action How / Why?

Simply put calls to action answer the question “I am interested, but now what do I do?

It is extremely easy for users to get confused or misunderstand where you intend them to go or do next, after they have read over a page of your content. You might understand it because you designed it, own the site, or have been through it a hundred times, but not all users will.

Does it work? Just look at late night infomercials. How many times do you hear “Call now with your credit card ready” ?

Show goes over tips, examples, and best practices.