Harvest the Growth of Using the Internet as an Effective Marketing Tool

Content is King

Many Businesses were told to get their product catalogue onto the Internet and watch the orders come flowing in. That was untrue for just about everybody. The Shopping Cart is NOT the answer for effective web marketing. It is in fact only a small facilitator in the overall scheme of things. I believe this.

• The Product Catalogue is secondary to quality “Soft Sell” information!

The Product Catalogue solution was fine for some Marketers like the Airlines and Amazon.com – the major players with the resources to spread the word using mass media advertising. Ebay did well too, but they were the exceptions. For every success story there were countless failures. There still are. Just plonking a shopping cart on your website guarantees nothing but poor sales. This is a type of “self-serve” or Supermarket approach. But little, unknown supermarkets, don’t do so well unless they put colour catalogues in the letterboxes of the local area. Then again they tend to survive selling well known National Brands which are not only familiar but are promoted by every other supermarket, as well as on Television and Radio etc. No, the Product Catalogue alone will not ensure that pot of gold at the end of the Internet Rainbow.

The other sin is just as deadly. This is known as the flat page website. We have all seen them, a page that might say what they do and how to contact the business, an impotent sort of Business Card approach that provides little information and certainly no call to action. Not subtle Soft Sell and not Hard Sell and is probably best described as No Sell at all. While this might represent the other end of the scale, and there are many points in between, just as ineffective. I don’t know why people have this approach. It is like having just your name and phone number listed in the Yellow Pages and expecting to get business while competing against larger, colour display adverts which provide a lot more information regarding the services and products offered. Hell, I believe in the David and Goliath stories too, but remember that David had a tool. David’s Sling was not just any tool, it was an effective tool, and David was skilled in using it.  

A Link in the Chain

Business Web Sites are not the total answer but they are a very important piece of the Marketing Mix “Jigsaw Puzzle” It doesn’t replace all of the other forms of promotion and communication that a Business utilises but it is a very powerful compliment to other forms of Advertising, particularly Directorial Advertising. The problem with Directory style advertising like the Yellow Pages, City Search and Newspaper Classifieds, is that the prospective purchaser may see your advert, but will also see all of your competitors as well.

Not only is your message diluted, but space and placement is determined by spend. This is great for the big guns with big pockets, but what about the little guy? Well the little guy can practice their Guerrilla Warfare marketing campaign by having a smaller and more affordable advert that directs prospects to a well thought-out website. There, they can fight their marketing battle on more even ground. In fact as part of the overall Marketing strategy, all advertising from Business Cards and Letterheads to TV, Radio and Yellow Pages should channel as much traffic as possible to their well prepared website. Most prospects would rather be dealt with by a well conceived and comprehensive website then an untrained person at the other end of the phone.

Don’t get me wrong, there really is no substitute for a well-trained Sales Professional, with lots of product knowledge, dealing with your prospective customers. Trouble is they are in short supply. They are hard to find, hard to keep and sometimes hard to keep motivated. They are also very expensive.

A good website is the next best alternative as they are inexpensive, need no motivation and can have the persuasive power of sound, vision and motion if so desired. They work 24/7 and are great for country callers or people who find it difficult to just pop in for a look. A good website can be a very powerful tool particularly when prospects are in the Information Search stage of the Buying Process. The customer can get as much or as little information as they want, in an interactive and non threatening environment. Some people will choose to do business with you because of your willingness to educate them and volunteer information that they had not found anywhere else.

(see article titled The Buying Process)

Like me, you have probably come across many businesses that would have been far better off directing me to a good website rather then let their staff answer my phone enquiry.

Cost Effective Marketing Hub

Remember that Content is King so make sure you website is promoted everywhere from sign writing on company cars through to signage at the premises and on ALL ads large and small and ALL stationery. But make sure the website is up to snuff. You don’t have to spend a fortune as glitz and glamour does build a customer base – however content DOES! The process is a simple formula, build traffic to your site and encourage them to join your community where you can market to them more effectively, generating new sales, repeat sales and even Advocates . (see the article on the Loyalty Ladder) Although some people will purchase quite quickly, and that may not be online, others will join your Community as they move towards the Purchasing Decision.  

(see Article on the benefits of establishing your own community)

A Powerful web presence can be a very effective, low cost Marketing Hub and should not only contain fresh and up-to-date information, hints and trips etc but also an area where visitors can join as a member and receive regular Email Newsletters from an in-built email management utility, which informs and entertains, a Forum, where members of your community and visitors alike can share ideas and experiences as well knowledge and opinions. Of course it should have the capability to present a product catalogue with Shopping Cart and Links to some sites of interest. To keep the whole site relevant and current there should be Information and Content Management ability which is very easy to use and not require a lot of expensive additional Software along with powerful tracking and reporting features to analyse Orders and Sales, Web traffic, Members and visitors viewing habits.