How are you speaking to your visitors?
As I was thinking of topics to address for this particular blog, I feared I’d used all my material and thoughts in my e-debut two weeks ago. Kind of like Chumbawamba did on their first album. I hope I don’t suffer the sophomore jinx… you will never keep me down, internet.
Moving right along, the e-Commerce-online marketing world is a funny one, right?
What is the average marketer or e-Com director planning over the next 6-12 months for their respective websites? Search engine optimization, personalization, platform upgrades, search engine marketing, post-click marketing, or just general optimization – whatever that means? Is it possible the term optimization is more over-used than personalization? The first rule about optimization: don’t talk about optimization. Whenever someone says to me, “we’re looking into optimization” I have no idea how to react. Optimizing what? Landing pages, Content Spaces (*cough, Sitebrand, cough*), Videos, Search, E-mail (*cough, Sitebrand, again, cough*), etc… Sounds like those general statements I make at awkward parties “I like stuff”. But in all seriousness, I like optimizing, too and that’s the point of what I’m getting at. What are we optimizing?
Lately, we’ve seen another quick shift with the rise of m-Commerce. Although interesting, I’m confused. Don’t get me wrong – I get it’s a new and direct market, recent claims to fame include Barack Obama using text messaging to announce Joe Biden as his running-mate in the now historic 2008 US Elections. To me, m-Commerce, although viable and important seems like a small branch of e-Commerce. You still need targeted content, market segmentation and wait for it… optimized messaging that can speak to visitors, regardless of whether it’s e-Commerce, m-Commerce or any other commerce. Mobile messaging will help drive traffic to your website and I think it’s important to be ready and prepared for those visitors.
Internet marketing is a vast space, but I see value in dynamic webpages. Right now, Sitebrand has begun a series of first time visitor landing pages with specific calls to action for a few clients in different markets and have seen tremendous results. We’re talking conversion rates doubling the site average (let me know what would that mean to you) resulting directly from Sitebrand’s Segment&Serve. The scary part of all this: the results and lifts in conversion come from running one or two campaigns. It takes less time to create these campaigns than it does to get sick of that Chumbawamba song (so not very long at all!). Remember, that’s just one campaign. Imagine the impact of running 10-15 thorough behavioral targeted campaigns, addressing other e-Commerce challenges you may be having or trends you are noticing.
The big thing I keep going back to, something I read recently from Sean Carton’s blog: conversations are king. And that’s exactly what these first time visitor landing page experiments are proving. We are talking to new visitors, explaining options, values and news about the company. Something interesting to chew on, majority of the time, the content on these pages don’t include any specific product to buy. Either “see shipping information for your State/Country”, “see hottest sellers” or “learn more about the company” are the messages helping drive sales.
How are you speaking to your visitors?
Stay classy, internet.
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Posted in Conversion, Kevin Butler, Optimization, Personalization, Segment&Serve, Sitebrand, Social Media, eCommerce, online marketing
1 Comment
Kaila at 6:22 on November 21, 2008
Hi Kevin,
Hilarious post, and good points too. I think what’s interesting is not just how sites are speaking to their visitors, but in what language?
There are so many non-English speakers on the internet now (nearly 3/4 of internet users, in fact, don’t speak English!).
Many big name brands have been coming to us since they have realised the potential in diversifying and taking their brand into foreign markets.
It’s not just about translation, either - brands need to optimise their sites for different cultural search behaviours (because not all countries search in the same way).
You mention that dynamic webpages are important, and this is just as important for international search engine optimisation. The only difference is, the conversation takes place in a different language, and the tone will reflect cultural preferences.
It is very important to keep this idea of cultural differences in mind for any international marketing plan.
As more and more brands realise the potential for e-commerce in places like China and Russia, this is becoming increasingly important.
Cheers!
Kaila
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