November 2006

You and the web revolution
Dear GetMoreCustomers Reader:

There's a revolution going on.

In case you haven't seen the signs (and who outside the tech industry has time to watch?), you might not realize that the Internet is growing up. Like a teenager winning over her parents on a too-early curfew, the web is working its way towards a new maturity in which increasingly users themselves are contributing the material that makes websites valuable.

Blogs and wikis are becoming mainstream. As the new interactivity spreads, it means your users are more engaged--with you and with each other. It means online communities, it means user-generated content, it means interactive web-hosted applications that have drag-n-drop, resize and other functions we take for granted in our desktop applications. It means that instead of just sitting there and reading web pages, your visitors are more often going to be doing something when they visit websites.

An early example is Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia of everything. It's far more extensive than any book could ever be and is created solely by users. Have you seen Google's online calendar? You and your colleagues, coworkers, and staff can review each other's schedules online, anytime, without any special program installed. Google has also introduced an online Documents and Spreadsheets application--create, edit, collaborate, review documents between team members, clients, and any other concerned parties. You can save docs both online and on your computer simultaneously--a handy feature. People are paying money for these functions--they're f*r*ee at Google.

Target has just started advertising its food section with a campaign that lets you pick from hundreds of 30-minutes-or-less recipes, click to get a complete list of ingredients needed to make it (available at Target, of course), and then--get this--click to select the number of servings you want to make, and the website automatically adjusts the quantities. THAT's what you call user-friendly, interactive, got-the-picture marketing.

Your challenge as a business owner or executive is to figure out how to leverage this expanded technical capability to engage your users. What can you invite your customers and prospects to interact with? A few starter ideas:

• If you're a financial services company, how about an interactive spreadsheet in which people can list their assets (in general terms, not necessarily actual), input their financial goals, and click to get a list of possible suitable investment vehicles?


• If you're a manufacturer who sells widgets, maybe give them a form to fill out to describe exactly how they will use the widgets and then with a click show them every variety of widget that might work for that application.


• If you're a training company, wouldn't your customers like to be able to put in their top training-related challenges and see your website deliver a curriculum that could address those issues?

You're not giving solutions away; you're giving f*ree tips that help establish you as the expert. Use your imagination. Your customers want to help you make your offerings more valuable. It's up to you to issue the invitation.

Sincerely,
Barbara

P.S. Questions about getting started with a corporate blog? Check out Work.com for my Guide to Writing a Successful Corporate Blog - 5 Steps.

October 2006

Power up your print ads--5 tips for driving readers to your site
Dear GetMoreCustomers Reader:

Your website is your living, breathing contact with your prospects and customers. Meaning--it's fluid, it's alive, it can change almost instantly to reflect your thoughts. It's the only place your visitors can have an interactive experience with your company. It's the only place you can have an ongoing detailed dialog with them--tell them what's going on (your corporate blog), make new offers, introduce new services, tell them about your people, your mission, your vendor relationships, and on and on.

And what's more, it's the most cost effective medium you have--do all of this at little or no additional cost beyond what you're already spending. Contrast this with the cost and effort for sales calls, trade shows, direct mail, and print advertising, each of which costs you--and often costs you big--every time you want to say something.

Now you don't have to throw the other channels out the window--they can be extremely valuable sources of exposure in themselves. And when it comes to print, the most important thing it can do for you is send readers to your website, where--if you're doing it right--you have lots more time and space to deliver your important messages.

So how do you do that with your print advertising? Arresting graphics and white space are important but, as always, copy is critical. It must capture readers' attention by demonstrating value in the shortest possible time. And nowadays, the most successful ads use copy and concept to drive readers to where they can find the answer, the solution, the deal--to a specific URL on your website!

Here are 5 tips for designing ads that will encourage readers to take that action:

1. Of course, the headline must be compelling and your copy must support the concept.


2. Don't put that all-important URL in the the bottom lefthand corner--that's the deadest space on the page.


3. Make your graphic elements point (even literally with, say, an arrow is not overdoing it) to the URL.


4. Use a strong call-to-action--even better add an incentive (an interactive survey, free tips, etc.)--and place them together in the spot with the greatest visual magnetism--the lower right corner.


5. For an even more powerful effect, take a page from the Microsoft marketing book and put the URL in the headline itself!

Next, of course, make sure the content at that URL is well written and delivers all the value--or more--that your print ad promises.

Sincerely,
Barbara

P.S. I appreciate your interest in my newsletter--if there's ever any topic you'd like me to address, please let me know.