What does social networking mean for your company? It changes how people can and will talk about your brand. It changes how you can and hopefully will create community and value around your brand.
Is this important? Review the report below and decide for yourself…
At BrightCite, we’re always on the lookout for products and services that exemplify our guiding principles. Here is one such example: MILK.
It’s an elegant, solution rich work desk . It features customizable boxes that hold everything from fish tanks to your garbage can in discrete, space saving and productive ways. It’s a great example of design simplicity without sacrificing function or usability. Just like a great website.
Here’s an innovative marketing idea a personal fitness trainer uses to get noticed.
His business card is actually a piece of fitness equipment.
Not only does the texture of the card incite you to pull it apart to read it - when you do, you get a taste of the actual experience behind using the fitness trainer’s services. Brilliant!
A website could transition the reader’s attention from the novelty of the card to the action of becoming a client quickly.
Interest Diminished
Instead, the reader of the card is forced to use the phone.
This more than likely leads to a "We’ll get back to you message" that diminishes the reader’s motivation for the services.
Untapped Potential
What if the reader of the card is directed to a strong website with solid copy and design?
Chances are it will turn the spark of interest the card stimulated into a flame of purchase motivation.
The picture below represents a visitor to your website. She’s your potential customer. She is the same person, yet a different age in each picture. How does her age shape how she perceives your company? At one age she may be your customer. At another she may purchase your products or services for her children. What is her lifetime value to your company? How many people will she refer to you? How can you keep her loyal to your business for life? I suggest the place to start is making your company the same yet different for her.
How To Become the Same Yet Different
1. Define your brand promise. What is the essence of your brand? How do you define its value in words? Walmart is Low Price, Always. Disney is Happiest Place On Earth. What’s yours? This is what will always remain the same.
2. Create customer segments around consumption similarities. How do customers consume your brand? Create different segments using their needs, frustrations and preferences as a guide. For instance you can group segments by:
3. Define the Needs, Frustrations and Preferences of each segment. How does your product, service and company need to be positioned to accommodate the main customer differences that represent each segment? This is how your company becomes different for the customer.
A health club can provide the SAME cleanliness, high quality instruction and convenient hours of operation for members YET DIFFERENT results, programs and music for membership segments.
A museum can offer the SAME diversity of exhibits, effective layout and design, YET DIFFERENT audio tours, tour guide presentation approaches and length of tours based on their visitor segments.
A Plantscaper can provide the SAME streamlined service, invoicing and money back guarantee for their maintenance services YET DIFFERENT methods of client service interaction using, e-mail, phone, fax, in-person based on their customer segments.
What would happen if you applied these same yet different insights to the design and content of your website?
Distance your business from competitors. Increase qualified leads and make more profit per customer by creating a web presence designed to be the same, yet different for visitors. Contact BrightCite™ to learn how.
By: Curt Conrad
President, BrightCite Inc.
Great websites have a purpose. In business that purpose should be tied to measurable results. Many small businesses don’t measure the results of their website. Those that do typically quantify results by transactions made on the site.
While transactions are an important metric they often fall short of providing overall website performance results. Why? Online transactions do not represent how your website influences business done with your company through other channels.
Do You Measure Money Page Views?
At BrightCite, we feel a key measure of overall website performance is the viewing of "Money Pages". "Money Pages" are those that require a specific action from the visitor. It may be - buying, registering, contacting, referring, submitting or any other relevant transactional verb.
It Doesn’t Matter If They Convert
A high number of "money page views" indicates your website is functioning in a healthy way even if the money page is abandoned before a transaction is made. It shows interest in your offering as evidenced by a visitors willingness to follow an information trail (click stream) to the end. Analyzing this trail provides plenty of insight on what’s working on your site and what’s not.
If your money page views are strong but are not converting that’s easy to fix. Test adjusting the offer, reducing the number of registration fields, etc. Getting people to the money page is the much more difficult task.
The Hidden Value Of Money Page Views
Another reason money page views are a strong indicator of your website’s performance is they can usually be traced to a visitor doing business with your company offline. Many people use the web as a research and information tool. They want to learn, compare and get comfortable with your offering. Once done they prefer to transact with you on the phone or in person. However, your website was still a key part of their sales cycle. Money page views show you that prospects are consuming your information.
An example can be seen with a recent client we redesigned. They are making an online offer for a free week membership. One of their money pages was a five field registration form They were disappointed the registration form was not producing the results they expected. I explained that the form was only one results indicator of the online offer.
At that point the client said their walk-in traffic was picking up. A quick look at their analytics showed their money page as the number two most visited page on the site. I asked the client to ask every walk-in if they had been on the website.
The Answer Was Not Surprising.
90% of the walk-ins had visited the site and commented positively on it. They used the site to gather information but preferred to get their free membership in person at the club.
Time and Money Never Lie
One way you can be sure about a consumers behavior is when they pay you. They have essentially voted with their dollars. Their vote was for doing business with you.
The second way consumers vote is with the clock. If someone spends time on your site it shows a commensurate level of interest - they are voting with their time. Money page views let you measure those votes .
So focus on guiding your website visitors to your money pages. Remember, when it comes to "money page views" - time means money for you.
By Curt Conrad
President, BrightCite Inc.
Your point of view can have a big impact on how many online visitors your small business web site converts into customers. Here’s a quick check. What do you believe about the people visiting your small business website? Do you think these visitors:
1. Know what your business is?
2. Are willing to click around, search and dig to learn about your business?
3. Understand how your business is different from competitors?
4. Want to do business with you and be your customer?
5. Came as a result of a recommendation or sought you out directly?
6. Know what you want them to do or "get" from your web site?
7. Understand the distinctive vocabulary and industry jargon you use in your business?
8. Care at all about you or your business?
While a few of these questions may be answered yes, many times the answer is no - meaning if your web site point of view comes from false assumptions, your web site may be losing customers at hello. I believe a small business web site will convert far more visitors into paying customers if it’s built from the following assumptions and corresponding point of view. Your business web site needs to:
1. Clearly explain why your business is special right from the start.
2. State simply what business you are in so a 10-year-old-would "get it"!
3. Provide all the information a user needs to do business with you. Provide a simple way to get in touch with someone at your business. Identify them by name and even a picture. Make it ridiculously easy for someone to do business with you.
4. Provide an easy way visitors can refer your web site to a friend. This means not just providing your domain name but by giving them a special link that takes visitors to a specific page (or landing page) that clear explains the unique value your business provides. Don’t make the mistake of directing someone to a page within your site that doesn’t represent your business well to someone unfamiliar with your company.
5. Give visitors a reason to act now. Make a clear call to action. Provide can’t miss instructions for "next steps".
6. Eliminate privacy concerns by clearly informing users that you won’t abuse their personal information. Show you are credible. Offer secure transactions. Prove you can trusted.
7. Conduct a simple usability test for your site by asking a few people to find specific information on it. Observe carefully how long it takes them to get what they need. Ask them if it was a comfortable or frustrating experience. Apply what you learn.
Assuming that your users know nothing about your site gives you a powerful mindset that can increase your conversion rates. It forces you to take nothing for granted. It helps you make smart design and content choices. And that will make your customers happy and your bank account swell.
