Making Your Website Convert Better

I was sent this newsletter by Jayne Reddyhof of Adword Advisor. I liked it so much I asked her permission to blog it and she kindly agreed so here it is!

The key point for me was this - do the work for them!

If you want to contact Jayne her email address is jayne@adwordadviser.com

Give Them What They Want

According to experts, only one out of every hundred visitors to your website converts to a sale. Sounds like bad news, but look at it this way: if you increase your conversion rate by only 1 percent (which doesn't sound much does it?) you will double your sales!

How do you do it? Your customers' watchwords are, "don't make me think" and "don't make me do any work – do it all for me"! So what does this mean for your website design?

Some key tips:

Make sure your visitors know what you do, the instant they land on your website. Don't make them have to guess; tell them right up front with a benefits-laden headline.

Help them find what they are looking for. Don't send them to your home page, or a link deep within your site, and expect them to do all the work. They were nice enough to click on your search ad - return the favour with a landing page that speaks directly to their interests and needs.

Be specific: the more relevant and specific your website is to your visitor, the more they'll buy from you. If they want to buy a toaster and they land on your homepage, which forces them to navigate around before they get to the right section, they'll give up. Either get people straight onto a relevant landing page, or simply have more, smaller, websites that are specific and relevant. You're better off with lots of smaller websites - one of which would be just about toasters and sandwich makers for example - than trying to be Argos!

Sell on emotion, NOT logic: people don't buy the sausage - they buy the sizzle! We are an emotional species and make 80% of our decisions about something on an emotional level. We then back up the decision with logic. So appeal to people's emotions via your website. Remember Apple's "Think different" marketing campaign; most people aren't buying just a computer when they buy an Apple, they are buying into a whole concept.

Your customers only want to know "what's in it for me?" If your website details how your grandfather set up the stationery business in a coal cellar, and that now you have 5 branches, you're wasting a selling opportunity. If it offers useful advice - "How to save 50% on your printer ink supplies...", then you'll score.

Keeping relationships alive during bad times

When times get tough, and for some times could not be tougher, one of the pieces of received wisdom that I hear all too frequently is to look after existing clients. This generally elicits a chorus of “Hear, hear”. Rightfully so as we all know that we need to look after existing clients. For most however that chorus is about all they will be heard contributing to building the client relationship.

Experience of dealing with creative agencies suggests that the message about building relationships with existing clients is somehow being corrupted as they frequently do the opposite of what has been suggested. Rather than make contact to establish a stronger working relationship, the typical response is to begin a process of getting in new business via new contacts. Various methods are tried such as Word of Mouth, networking, cold calling and Direct Marketing. All are good at generating contacts and all have general support. The problem is that they are being considered out of context.

When times are good, clients are willing to take risks, open up new channels, try new agencies, and experiment with radical approaches. We have all experienced it. Clients calling in to say that they are willing to hear that sales pitch, give you a piece of work to see if the chemistry is right, open up new avenues to market.

When the road starts to get a bit rocky however, the average client moves from proactive to reactive. They move from venturesome to risk averse. And understandably so if the cost of the investment is high and the risk of failure is also high. Any attempt to persuade them to try new things or move agencies will be seen by them as counter intuitive given their mindset. At worst it could signal the end of the relationship.

In times of shortage or when times are tough the answer must be to work even harder on existing relationships. Even if they do not generate revenue today, it will in the future.

You have to be prepared to adapt to tough times. Profits will ease; turnover will be down, but only for a season. When the tough economic climate eases, those agencies that have built deeper and stronger relationships will see the fruit of their labours.

So call that client, carry out client satisfaction surveys, invite them out for meals, invite them over to meet the team, go and pay a visit and ask to be introduced to their team. Have a think about what you could be doing to help them and then make that call.

Don't fix what isn't broken

Miles Templeman, The Director General of the Institute of Directors made a very telling comment recently at the Annual Convention. Tucked away in all the various bits of spin, soundbites and home spun philosophy was an excellent quote that made attending the Convention memorable.

Miles said this - "Don't repair the bits that aren't broken". A simple statement but one that resonated with me for the rest of the day.

The reason why it resonated is that in all my years of consultancy it had not occurred to me to separate out the bits that worked and the bits that did not. I typically would have looked at the whole and sought solutions that included the fixed and the broken. How much easier to separate out the two parts and then focus on the broken bits.

Just occasionally you come across what appears to be a soundbite but on reflection turns out to be a paradigm shift in ones approach. This was an epiphany for me.

The moral of this tale - you are never to old to learn

Lovemarks - good theory or snake oil?

Kevin Roberts, Global Chief Executive of Saatchi and Saatchi, speaking at the IoD Annual Convention outlined his agencies' approach to marketing based on the concept of Lovemarks.

It is based on a traditional two by two matrix with the axis labelled Respect and Love as shown in the image.

Anything in the lower left hand quadrant is simply a commodity with no respect and no love. The top left is where most brands belong. They have respect but little love. Fads are in the lower right hand quadrant. They are loved but not respected. Lovemarks in the top right quadrant have both respect and are loved.

The key according to Roberts is to engage your client's emotions. The Return on Investment argument is replaced with Return on Involvement. Move from irreplaceable to irresistible to overcome the Weapons of Mass Distraction.

All heady stuff that had most of us marketeers salivating. BUT, is it the new marketing paradigm that Roberts believes it is?

Entertaining it most certainly is and Kevin argues it with the ferocity of an All Black. But I can't help but think that it is not a paradigm shift but the traditional marketing ideas repackaged.

After all doesn't every marketeer start with the idea that their products are perceived by the client in such a way as to generate loyalty? Don't we all start with the intention of building the relationship with clients in such a way that they are delighted and as such become irresistible?

So I believe it is not so much in the theory that it works but in the implementation. Getting the product or service packaged in such a way that it helps clients to remain loyal.

Roberts has successfully argued that Lovemarks is the best game in town but in my book it is simply a way to package sound marketing theory in a way that makes it inaccessible to most and as such a premium based service. Which is not bad marketing when you think about it!!

The importance of "outcomes"

I recently completed a sales pitch and am waiting to hear if I was successful. That is a bit beside the point of this blog but I wanted to share it with you.

One thing kept going through my mind - what are the outcomes?

Traditionally we are all told to use the FAB methodology - Features, Advantages and Benefits.

For most products this seems entirely logical and intuitive, which might explains its almost universal appeal.

For services it is not quite so valuable. What are the benefits of employing a coach, a mentor, a consultant, a creative agency, a PR agency? These do not fit readily into the FAB concept.

For services the key must be to establish clear and definable outcomes. An x% increase in profits, traffic, interviews. Or a y% improvements in client satisfaction, employee satisfaction and so on.

Without outcomes the engagement wins will be difficult to quantify. So start at the end - what is it that you want to achieve? You will be surprised how it gets clients to engage in the consultancy process.

How to get through the credit crunch - keep the focus

I will start by admitting that I do not understand the losses made by the banks as a result of the sub prime lending in the US. In the Daily Telegraph it stated that the losses to the British banking system of more than £20billion are equivalent to 3% of our GDP. The US expect to lose £72billion, Japan £5billion and Europe will lose £61.6billion.

These are huge figures. But as I say I don't really understand how they made such a hash of it. It would appear that there are humungous numbers of payment defaulters in the US.

Moving on however is the impact it will have on our economy. The DT Business section highlights a downturn in M&A activity as a direct consequence of the credit squeeze. Banks no longer have the money to fund them or if they do it will be at very high interest rates.

So what does the creative agency do to get through this turmoil? Are there any benefits that can be gleaned from this situation? The answer is a most emphatic yes - we will all have to become leaner and fitter!

I believe that the answer is to go back to basics.

• Build a strong reputation - become famous for something
• Deliver value laden services or products - exceed client s expectations
• Build long and strong relationships - people work with people they like, know and trust
• Manage the cash - do everything that is legal, decent, honest and truthful to manage cash
• Look after the talent - Good ones go, the poor ones stay. Make sure you give them no reason to move
• Promote yourself as widely and as effectively as possible - internet marketing affords cost effective new ways to get in front of new clients
• Be innovative - what got you there wont keep you there so be on the alert for new ideas
• Get the processes right - efficiency means using the scarce resources where they generate the best returns
• Watch the profit line - winning on price is the fools way to grow. Keep the margins high!
• Enjoy yourself - get some harmony back into your life!

Simple stuff but hard to implement. Done well they will ensure you get through the crisis.

See you on the other side!

Persistance versus Persecution!

"Life is difficult" according to the opening line to the book "The Road Less Travelled" by Scott Peck

But is is not the only thing that is difficult

Selling is difficult.

And one of the most difficult things to balance is the need to make contact with the client without appearing to stalk them.

It is a fine line to tread. Too many calls and emails and the client will think that they are being stalked and will eventually kick you out, not for any rational reason to do with your offer or the sale but because they cannot stand the bombardment of emails and telephone calls.

However, leaving them alone and not communicating with them will almost certainly mean that they drift off to other projects or worse still to your competitors.

The secret is to keep in contact by offering relevant information. Keep them posted with updates, news items, feedback. The headline in the communication could be - "I saw this and thought of you" as it summarises what you might tell them.