Web marketing concepts: part 9

9. Think focus not confusion

There you go again, telling everyone who will listen all the wonderful things you and your company can do. Trouble is, telling them all those things just confuses them.

What is the product or service that is most important to your company, the one you are determined to sell to your audience? That’s the one you want to talk about. That’s the one you want to devote your marketing effort to promoting. That’s the one you want people to think about when they hear your name or see your logo.

Focus your communication ,else your message will just be a forgettable, incomprehensible blur.

Courtesy of Jerry Bader 

Web marketing concepts: part 8

8. Think stories not pitches

Did you hear the one about the farmer’s daughter and the search engine optimizer? Stories, everyone loves stories. In fact, before the invention of the Gutenberg press, oral storytelling was the way knowledge got passed down from one generation to the next, and how news was sent from one region to another.

Now that we have this multimedia Web environment, we can continue the tradition of real people who deliver creative audio and video presentations that capture the imagination and drive home the marketing message so your audience won’t forget who you are.

Nothing informs, engages, and entertains like a good story: Sounds to me like one heck of a way to sell to an audience desperate for meaningful communication.

Courtesy of Jerry Bader

Web marketing concepts: part 7

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve update. Sorry but I’ve been busy with work and life. But enough of that, on to the tip!

7. Think stickiness not hits

It’s not about how many hits you get on your Web site, it’s about how long people stay. If visitors remain on your site long enough to get your marketing message, then you must have said something worth listening to; and if visitors get the message, your site has done its job.

If your Web site delivers the message, then you can expect the email inquiries and phone calls to start flowing, but it’s still up to you and your sales staff to close the sale: People close sales, not Web sites.

Courtesy of Jerry Bader

Base your wording on your target audience

Today’s edition of Get to the Point took on the topic of using five-dollar words. Two copywriters, Simon Glickman and Julia Rubiner, claim that using a five-dollar words is OK because “people actually love the audacious use of language.”

Then there are people who claim that you should use only every day words, 50-cent words. Why? Because big five-dollar words alienate customers and sound elitist.

I disagree with both points.

There’s not just one rule to follow. You can’t use big words or every day words and expect great results. It just doesn’t happen like that.

You have to tailor your wording to your target audience. If your target audience is highly educated and love and understand industry buzz words, then use those five-dollar words. If your target audience is your every day Joe, then go with simple words.

The only magic formula is to know your target audience.

Web marketing concepts: part 6

6. Think marketing not SEO

Okay, here’s one you’ve heard from us before: Think marketing—not search engine optimization.

Sure you’ve got to drive as many people to your Web site as possible, but if your marketing message is so confused, unfocused, and hard to comprehend because of all the keyword density and SEO tricks, then what have you really accomplished other than wasting people’s time? And people get really upset when you waste their time.

Courtesy of Jerry Bader

Web marketing concepts: part 5

5. Think memories not promotions

Most animals live in the moment, whereas human beings live in the past. Our here and now and our plans for the future are based on our experiences, our histories, and our memories.

We take pictures of our kids, holidays, and special events; we commemorate birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, and milestones of all kinds. Even the significance of our prized possessions is centered on the fact that those mere objects represent memories of the people, places, and events that shaped our lives.

Real marketing, the kind that creates long-term clients and customer relationships, is not about coupons, sale promotions, or deep discounts; it’s about delivering memories.

Courtesy of Jerry Bader

Web marketing concepts: part 4

4. Think emotion not logic

Think you’re a logical person, always making rational decisions based on practical criteria, and bottom-line results? So tell me what was the functional thinking that went into the purchase of those leather pants you bought last year, or that 60-inch plasma television you bought just to watch the big game?

Let’s get real. You make purchasing decisions based on what you want, and then justify them with seemingly sensible rationalizations, just like everybody else. So stop trying to appeal only to the practical, logical aspects of bean-counter sales, and start pushing the feel-good aspects of emotional marketing.

If you’re trying to appeal to an audience that gets its only satisfaction out of acquiring the most features for the least cost, then you’re marketing to the wrong audience.

Courtesy of Jerry Bader

Web marketing concepts: part 3

3. Think experiences not features

Bought any good features lately? Didn’t think so. You would think the way business pushes them that features are exactly what people are looking for; but nobody buys features, they don’t even buy solutions (doesn’t that whole solution provider nonsense really get to you after a while?).

What people really buy are experiences: hopefully, positives ones. Whether it’s soft ice cream or a new accounting program, what people are paying for is the experience your product or service provides.

Does your Web site offer an experience? Does it explain the experience your product or service delivers? If it doesn’t, then you really haven’t got anything anybody wants.

Courtesy of Jerry Bader

Web marketing concepts: part 2

2. Think people not customers

You know all those visitors you attract to your Web site with your brilliant search engine optimization schemes? How many actually purchase anything? Stop treating visitors as if they are already customers and start treating them like what they are—people. That’s right, people. You know, the two-legged funny creatures with wants, needs, desires, and maybe even a few bucks to spend.

Customers are always looking for a deal and they’re leery of Web sites that only want to take their hard-earned cash. Treat your Web visitors like people who can satisfy their wants, needs, and desires with your assistance… and guess what? Maybe it will make a difference: one small step for Web credibility, one giant leap for Web success.

Courtesy of Jerry Bader

Web marketing concepts: part 1

 

I love it when I read a book or article that makes me look at things differently. That’s exactly what happened when I read Jerry Bader’s article 18 Web Marketing Concepts That Make A Difference. Jerry is a senior partner at MRPwebmedia and he knows his stuff. In his article, Jerry discusses topics that all marketers are very familiar with, there are no secrets revealed. But what Jerry caused me to do was to look at these topics through a new set of eyes, which jump-started my mind. Now I have a whole new path and exciting vision of how my departments online marketing should look.

I liked Jerry’s article so much, I’m going to post it in full – one section a day for 18 days. Hopefully it will cause you to look at your marketing or business differently too. Below is part 1.

1. Think audiences not markets

What’s your market? Hire a consultant to help you with your Web-business problems, and one of the first questions he or she will ask is, What’s your market? How about 18-34-year-old, single male college graduates with a dog named Spot; or maybe 45-59-year-old married women who hate their husbands and can’t get their adult children to move out of the house. Maybe, just maybe, they’re asking the wrong question.

The Web isn’t about markets, it’s about audiences. Audiences need to be entertained, enlightened, and engaged; and if your Web site doesn’t, you’re never going to achieve what you want.

Time to rethink how you’re delivering your marketing message. Start treating Web visitors like an audience, not a market, and you might just find what it takes to be successful on the Web.