marketing | Aqua Vita

2.19.2010
Marketing Alchemy

Leveraging Word-of-Mouth in the Digital Age

Published by Jessica Cox under Marketing Alchemy

Have you ever listened to one of your friends rave about a person they’re really excited about? After hearing them talk, you might say to yourself “Wow, they sound really great.” You’re looking forward to seeing them. You can imagine how great it will be to finally meet this person.

But when you get to that first introduction, their handshake is limp. Their eyes dart nervously around the room. They can’t string a coherent sentence together. They smell funny. Within seconds, you’re looking for the nearest available exit.

What happened? Your friend was completely sold on this person. But if your experience didn’t match up to their word-of-mouth, that praise turns to dust.

Word-of-mouth leads to research

Word-of-mouth is only the first step towards earning a customer. Have you thought about what they do after they hear a recommendation?

In the past, they might’ve looked you up in the Yellow Pages. These days, phone book usage has plummeted as more and more people look for instant information online.

The Internet allows people to research word-of-mouth recommendations within seconds. That’s right. People can hear about your business from their friends, colleagues, relatives, neighbors, and jump online to research you.

This is a significant shift. Before they ever step into your store, before they ever pick up the phone, they are checking you out online.

Take a moment to think about what impression your website gives potential clients. Are you satisfied with this or embarrassed?

Your website is your handshake to the world

Many times, your website hosts the first interaction between potential customer and your company. Make sure you’re sending the right message. Website design, content, usability, everything has to work for your clients.

Think of your website as your first chance to provide great customer service. Make sure you’ve done everything in your power to satisfy their needs for information, education, and convenience. What questions do people have about your company? What information do they need to do business with you?

Constantly think of ways you can improve their experience. This is a good faith promise that you will be there to help them every step of the way. Remember, these first online impressions can convert word-of-mouth recommendations into a customer, or drive them into the arms of your competition.

Word-of-mouth can echo across the web

The good news: word-of-mouth spreads just as fast online as it does in the real world. Review sites are springing up all across the Internet, and these opinions can make or break a prospect’s opinion about your business.

Yahoo! Local, Google Local, Yelp.com, InsiderPages, and a host of other sites are dedicated to providing consumers with information about your company. Make sure your information is updated, and encourage your happy customers to share the news about your company. And of course, make sure you post testimonials and reviews on your website as well.

Press releases and articles are another way to boost your credibility. People searching for your company can see a wealth of information about your success, philosophy, and business practices. Everything they need to feel secure doing business with you.

Word-of-mouth is still a powerful tool to drive business to your company. Your website can help convert these recommendations into satisfied customers.

Need help making that first impression? Give us a call; we can help.

2.09.2010
Eureka!

Good Site, Bad Site: Edition 1

Published by Jonathan Cox under Eureka!

The other day, I began researching branded jump drives for AVC. Nothing says “I love you” to clients like a stylish, pocket-sized piece of technology that makes their lives a little easier, right?

But alas, this path was filled with far more peril than I had realized. Here’s how it went down:

The first step, of COURSE, was to Google it.

Holy thorough search query, Batman! This is a good lookin’ list. Time to check out the holy grail of search engine results: the first link. Man. I can’t wait. First stop, geeks.com! Off we go…

GAAAAAAH! It’s hideous! Putting aside the psychotic guy in the top left whose body is being consumed by an army of green Pac-men, the site is a wreck.

When I clicked on this link, I was promised flash drives. Instead, I get whacked over the head with giant ads for laptops, mice, laser pens, and let’s not forget the tabs crammed in to the header navigation. I spent all of 10 seconds trying to figure out where I could find a selection of jump drives, or if they even offered custom jump drives before getting a headache. Bad website! Bad!

Let’s move on to the second link: lexar.com.

Ahhhh, thank you, Lexar. After geeks.com, this site is like a cool glass of water after 40 years in the desert. The first thing I see when I arrive is the nice USB Flash Drives header graphic with an attractive spread of flash drive products. The tagline beneath it isn’t bad, either: “Portable storage and backup for everyone.” *sniffs* How beautiful.

At a glance, this site boosts my consumer confidence. They prominently display the subject matter I was interested in, and they’ve put some thought in to the sales copy and layout. It answers the question “why am I here?” for me, and then gets right down to business with a clean list of USB flash drive categories they carry.

I just have one complaint. This is what happens when you click on one of the USB flash drive categories:

I had hoped to see some prices at this point. Instead, I have to continue to drill down through the site, and what I find when I get there is a moderately confusing order page. I think I’ll continue to look around a bit.

Let’s continue on to our next stop: tigerdirect.com.

Visiting this page was like being hit in the face with a pie. You don’t really get the full effect of this page with a screenshot, but basically, every ad on this page is animated in the most annoying way possible. The second you arrive, you’re being bombarded by flashing neon signs and long lists of model numbers that mean nothing to me.

*BUZZER SOUNDS* Bad site! Moving on.

We’re going to jump down a few links for our next stop: www.customjumpdrives.com

Wooooo, pretty…

I really like this site. It grabbed my attention from the get-go. Why?

Well, first of all, the tagline says is great: “Print your company logo on bulk promotional Lexar jumpdrives.” That’s EXACTLY what I wanted, and it’s not just WHAT they said, it’s HOW they said it. The header graphic uses soothing colors. They’ve manually sized and spaced the text in the tagline so that the sides are justified, and that’s hard. The font they’ve chosen has nice lines, and it’s easy to read.

Better still, they’ve got a big, fat picture of a sexy-looking jump drive with the words “your logo” imposed on it. I can’t help but imagine Aqua Vita’s logo there, dang it!

These guys know what they’re doing, if the front page is any indication, but we’re not done yet. Let’s see what a product page looks like:

Oh man. I’m in love. Not only does this page contain the pricing, they have color options, a button to get an estimate, further customization options, the ability to add this product to my cart, product details, delivery info…you want it, it’s on here.

And hey, if I’m not happy with this, no problem! They’ve got a nice photo grid of other hot-looking jump drives in the right sidebar. Gorgeous.

If there’s one fly in the ointment, it’s that clicking on a product link took me to a different site: printusb.com. I suspect this is the parent company, and they use customjumpdrives.com because of the keyword-optimized nature of the site address.

And hey, there’s a quick way to see how effective that strategy is. Let’s do another search, this time for the phrase “custom jump drives”:

Boom. By using this custom URL in their marketing, they’ve landed themselves the first AND second spots in Google search results for “custom jump drives.” Just for kicks, let’s try Yahoo!, same keywords:

Yep. They’ve got the first and second slots again.

We’ve got a clear winner here. Thank you, customjumpdrives.com. You were easy to find, easy on the eyes, and you put a lot of thought in to your customer’s experience on your website. You just earned yourself a customer.

Have a “good site / bad site” example you’d like for me to write about? Comment below! I read and appreciate each and every one of your comments.

2.02.2010
Marketing Alchemy

Get the Facts on Facebook: 22 Tips & Statistics

Published by Jessica Cox under Marketing Alchemy

Facebook has become a powerhouse platform for businesses looking to connect with their customers and prospects online. With over 350 million users interacting online, it’s easy to see the appeal of getting face time on this popular social network.

Facebook user statistics:

Facebook claims more than 350 million active users.
Fifty percent of active users log on to Facebook in any given day.
The average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook.

That’s a lot of people spending quite a bit of time in one place online. Do you have a stake in that game?

What about Facebook for businesses?

More than 700,000 local businesses have active Pages on Facebook.
There are more than 1.6 million active Pages on Facebook.
Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans.

If your target market is spending time on Facebook, you should start thinking about how to reach them.

Think tribal:

“Dunbar postulated that the typical human being can only have 150 friends… You might be able to stretch to 200 or 400, but no, you can’t effectively engage at a tribal level with a thousand people. You get the politician’s glassy-eyed gaze or the celebrity’s empty stare. And then the nature of the relationship is changed.”
– Seth Godin

Who are your 150 people? Who are the influencers you REALLY need to pay attention to?

This is important because you can’t be all things to all people. You can’t reach everyone intimately. You probably don’t want to. But you can be relevant, engaging, and useful to a small group of people. Get some traction going there and build momentum.

Facebook friend stats:

Average user has 130 friends on the site
Average user sends 8 friend requests per month
Average user is a member of 12 groups

Eternal welcome mode:

“Every day, new people show up at your blog, on Facebook, everywhere.”
– Seth Godin

Thousands of people are still learning the ropes of social media and Facebook. And even if they’ve been around the block a time or two, they may still be new to your blog, your Facebook page, or your Twitter feed.

Make it easy for new users to interact with you. Lay out the welcome mat and show them around. Help them get to know you. Be sure to integrate your social profiles on your website and in your email campaigns, and use every opportunity to invite people to follow you.

Facebook stats:

Average user becomes a fan of 2 pages each month
Average user is invited to 3 events per month

It’s all about interaction:

“Now Facebook mostly displays items that got engagement. You know, comments. Likes. Tagging. Etc. …you only see the items that your friends have found important enough to comment on or ‘touch’ in some way.

“Overnight my news feed went from something that looked pretty cold and lame to something that has tons of ‘warmth.’”
- Robert Scoble

Social media users delight in connection, interaction, sharing. Your goals should be to stimulate conversations, comments, and life on your pages. Because if your content is worthy of comment, you could be showing up on radar screens for not only your fans, but their friends as well. Look for ways to create these opportunities, and keep the conversation rolling when they happen.

Facebook Interaction Stats:

Average Facebook user clicks the Like button on 9 pieces of content each month.
Average Facebook user writes 25 comments on Facebook content each month.

Create worthy contributions:

“One of the keys to success in building a fan base with your Facebook efforts is to consistently add great content and engagement.”
- Robert Scoble

More than 3.5 billion pieces of content are shared each week on Facebook. What are you contributing? Links, articles, blogs, how-to’s, news, profiles, photos, podcasts, videos: you can find a hundred different ways to dazzle your audience on Facebook. What are their burning questions? What is it they truly desire? Is anything confusing or worrying them?

You can be the voice they turn to for guidance, hope, inspiration, or a good laugh. Above all you must be worthy of their time and attention.

Facebook content creation stats:

More than 35 million users update their status each day
More than 55 million status updates posted each day
More than 2.5 billion photos uploaded to the site each month
More than 3.5 million events created each month

Deliver the goods:

“Social media only accelerates the inevitable”
- Bryan Eisenberg

Social media can form connections with clients and prospects. After that, it’s up to you to keep them satisfied, and build long-lasting relationships. The best social media campaign in the world won’t make up for bad service. But engaging your customers and prospects online can open the door for them to do business with you.

1.25.2010
Marketing Alchemy

14 Web Design & Marketing Tips from Paul Newman, Pt. 1

Published by Jessica Cox under Marketing Alchemy

As an actor, entrepreneur and humanitarian, Paul Newman found numerous ways to dazzle an audience, from the silver screen to the kitchen table. Before his rise to stardom, those baby blues overlooked a lifetime of hard work.

After working his family’s sports store, Newman served as a radio operator in WWII, and sold encyclopedias in between visiting agents. From these humble beginnings, he went on to donate hundreds of millions in profits from his “Newman’s Own” company to numerous charities.

A man of many talents, Newman’s old-school advice rings true through the world of web design and Internet marketing.

1. “I picture my epitaph: ‘Here lies Paul Newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned brown.’”

Understand what makes you special. You don’t want your site to end up looking like Template Site 101. Are you playing up your strengths?

Take careful inventory of what your customers love most about you. Incorporate it into every aspect of your web design and marketing, both online and off.

Do you know what your top selling points are? Why not ask your customers? You might pick up a good set of testimonials in the meantime. Also ask your sales staff what really turns clients on about your product or service.

2. “If you don’t have enemies, you don’t have character.”

If you set out to please everyone, you’re guaranteed to reach no one. Focus on your best target demographic. Create a web design that speaks to them. Build your navigation and structure with them in mind, align your website design to their taste, and don’t worry about the people who can’t or won’t do business with you.

3. “The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is outgrossing my films.”

When you’re considering a website redesign, or looking for ways to develop your site, be sure to keep an eye on what turns a profit. With the analytics available for websites, email, and online advertising, you can get a bird’s-eye view of popularity shifts, positive and negative.

Keyword research, website traffic trends, and purchase history offer a gold mine of insights. Without this information, you may be overlooking opportunities and changing winds for your business.

Google Analytics is a great tool to discover these hidden gems. If you find one of your web pages generating five times the traffic as the others, you may want to expand your offerings, or punch up the promotion for that item. Follow the traffic.

4. “Who’s to say who’s an expert?”

With a website design, you may hear conflicting opinions from every member of your staff. This can lead to confusion and fuzzy-mindedness, and even worse, an unfocused site. Marketing may want more product offerings, the CEO may just LOVE lens flares, and IT may want to dump in as many bouncing, scrolling scripts as possible.

Take all advice with a grain of salt, and choose a designer you can trust. They can help you prioritize and make sense of all that input. It’s their job to focus on the “expert” that really matters: your customer.

5. “If you’re playing a poker game and you look around the table and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.”

Know what the competition is doing online. Only very rarely will you be alone in your given niche. You need to find out where the bar is set in terms of website design, search engine optimization, site content, technology, and social media integration.

Study what the other players are doing, and find a way to position yourself uniquely. For example, if your competition has “lowest prices,” consider playing up the importance of quality and the dangers of cheap products or services.

6. “The most important ingredient was not taking ourselves too seriously.”

If your site looks and sounds as dry as cardboard, then your odds of keeping a customer’s attention are pretty slim. Give your design a spark of life, and use a voice that will keep your visitors’ attention.

Don’t take yourself so seriously, but take your customers VERY seriously. People respond to authenticity. They expect transparency and personality online. You need to strike a balance between professional and boring in your website design, language, and focus.

7. “You can only put away so much stuff in your closet. Give something positive back to our society.”

Become the go-to resource for your customers and prospects. Answer their questions, help them make the right decisions, and they will trust you with their purchases. Give away free content and resources that help them save money, avoid mistakes, do a better job, or improve their quality of life.

You can require a registration for some of these to capture contact information, but be sure you have a wealth of free information available as well. This show of faith gives visitors a reason to trust you with their information. They know it will be worth it.

Check back in on Tuesday for the second half of this series!

1.08.2010
Marketing Alchemy

Online Marketing: Google Adding Click to Call in Mobile Ads

Published by Jessica Cox under Marketing Alchemy

The wildly successful PPC giant Google AdWords unveils yet another addition to their arsenal of online advertising options.

In Google’s words:

We’re pleased to announce that beginning in January, your location-specific business phone number will display alongside your destination URL in ads that appear on high-end mobile devices.

Users will be able to click-to-call your business just as easily as they click to visit your website.

How will phone numbers appear in my ads?

Based on the customer’s geographic location, the phone number and closest business address will appear as a fifth line of ad text when the ad appears on mobile devices with full HTML browsers (e.g. iPhone, Android, Palm WebOS).

Where will I be able to see the results?

At launch, you’ll be able to view calls from your ads on your Campaign Summary page within AdWords from the “click type” segment option under the “Filter and Views” drop down.

How will I be charged for phone calls I get from my ad?

For now, the cost of a click to call your business will be the same as the cost of a click to visit your website.

Personally, I see prices increasing as the feature gains popularity and acceptance, then leveling off eventually. It’s fair to say this might take time: AdWords prices are still climbing, and these types of phones are still approaching market saturation.

Phone calls initiate much more personal contact. Clicking “back” on your web browser to close out of a website is one thing, but hanging up on a live human is quite another. The value of the contact is potentially higher.

What actions should I take?

If you’d like your ads to show location-specific phone numbers when displayed on mobile devices, make sure that your campaign is targeting iPhones and other mobile devices with full HTML browsers. You must also include phone numbers with your business addresses in the locations under your Campaign settings.

Aqua Vita Creative - Mobile Online Ads - Push to Call

If you would prefer your ads not show phone numbers, simply remove the numbers from your ad campaign locations or un-check mobile devices under the Campaign Settings tab.

Apparently they’ve been working on this feature for several years, filing a patent for click-to-call or “call on select” in 2004. They experimented briefly with the technology in 2007 with Google Maps, which was wildly popular with a small crowd of mobile users at the time.

In fact, Google’s wildly successful growth and innovations have driven Marketing Pilgrim to speculate on “intervention” from either competitors or government who view the search giant as “too pervasive and too powerful”.

Odds are, this new incarnation will be well worth watching! More good news for businesses interested in mobile advertising; you don’t even need a mobile-specific site to use these ads on smart-phones.