Ripple Effects Interactive's EVP of strategy and marketing offers a new approach to boosting website conversions.
Confucius once said, "Eating is the utmost important thing in life." To their credit, the Chinese have honed a distinct philosophy that foods should be balanced in flavor, color, and texture. A Chinese meal is composed of sweet, sour, spicy, salty, and mild foods, combined to harmonize the experience and punctuated by a fortune cookie that provides words of wisdom and the numbers for the Powerball. It is the epitome of something for everyone-- the perfect meal.
I believe that a modern day Confucius would say that we are witnessing the evolution of the web into the perfect medium. A bold statement, but like the perfect Chinese meal, the web delivers something for everyone.
More than an immense source of content, the web is growing in its capacity to combine a variety of media-delivery mechanisms on a single page to engage consumers in their preferred manner. Until Enhanced TV gets a grip on our living rooms, the web holds a monopoly as the only "full-service" medium.
For example, on a recent ESPN story, I was able to read a full-length article, watch a video, hear audio snippets from nationally recognized ESPN radio commentators, participate in a poll, and browse content about the player in question. It was all there: an in-depth article, the visual benefit of television, sound clips from experts, consumer-generated content showing me what my peers thought, and scanable data supporting the story. Sweet, sour, spicy, salty, and mild tastes-- all mixed on one plate. It was the perfect media meal, a well-balanced diet of content in all its wondrous forms.
Right now, only media leaders like ESPN, CNN, and MSN are providing this range of content, but companies that have a website should be asking themselves, "How can I integrate the perfect mix of media on my site?" because the consumer is starting to expect it. Good ol' broadband is driving this behavior, and traditional media silos are dissolving.
The web continues to blossom as 68 percent of users connect via broadband, spending over 30.5 hours per month online. For a richer experience that combines all media, consumers are turning to the internet. As a company, you need to get searchers to their requisite data quickly and build a full-bodied experience for surfers who want to browse and interact with the brand by harnessing both ends of the online experience with creative use of tools afforded by the web.
To start, you should think about your industry and product offerings to determine how to better leverage the possibilities of the web by matching the needs of your customers against emerging media opportunities. Put simply, a few lines of text and thumbnail images aren't going to increase sales anymore. You need to invest in the resources, assets, infrastructure, and analytical reporting capabilities that today's market demands.
Here are seven important tips to help you optimize your site for the biggest return.
- Change your mind. Your mind set that is. Old habits die hard, but it's time to shake up your advertising mix. Remember that your site is where the conversation truly begins, and you need to control it. How about shifting some of your traditional media budget into the web development and online marketing buckets to test the impact? Or shoot a TV ad that allows the web team to leverage the video assets on the site to promote a product? Think differently. Revamp your structure, and find ways to shift resources to benefit your site.
- Know what you are doing. Start with web objectives. As with any marketing endeavor, your approach must be rooted in sound strategy. If your website is about conversion and sales, your tactics will be different than if your site is about building brand loyalty and long-term relationships. Take a moment to prioritize the objectives of your website, and then work from there.
- Mix and match. It's time to select the tactics that will help you achieve your goals. Evaluate technologies that correspond well with your objectives. If you can't do it all, focus on what will make an immediate impact. There is a wealth of possibilities, from video and podcasting to consumer-generated content and gaming. Brainstorm, and then go with what's realistic given your budget and resources.
- Hire a chef. Your "chef" is an online editor, someone who can manage the content and flow of your site, be savvy enough to leverage back-end technologies and tools, and whose primary focus is marketing. He/she should be a writer at heart, and have the creative vision needed to showcase your brand online.
- Pin up a calendar. Establish a living, breathing calendar that outlines content rotation, promotional efforts, product launches, and public relations initiatives. Keep content fresh, enticing, and action-oriented. It's cyclical in nature, meaning you should be evaluating a campaign that just finished, launching a new campaign, and planning a future campaign based on lessons learned-all at the same time.
- Give 'em a bullhorn. This is scary, but it's time to embrace the customer and give them a voice on your site by facilitating consumer-generated content. Ratings, comments, blogs, wikis, surveys, polls, and discussion boards are only some of the possibilities. Consumers want transparency, and the credibility you gain will far outreach the negative comments they post. If you don't believe me, when was the last time you bought a book on Amazon.com without checking out the reader reviews? Consumers trust their peers more than they trust standard marketing fluff.
- Wear out your measuring cup. Everyone touts the web as the most measurable advertising medium, but how often do you actually look at the numbers? It's time to invest in the right analytical technologies and plan for regular reviews of your site traffic.Get a thorough understanding of the click-paths and stop-off points that foster brand-interaction. Determine how people meander through your site and how you can improve that process. There are a variety of tools to help you optimize your site and sales process if -- and that's a big "if --" you invest your time and efforts into actionable analytics.
This whole change is part of a basic belief that media fragmentation and the use of broadband are altering customer behavior. Leaders are recognizing a shift, and they're running to embrace it by upgrading their ability to deliver a richer experience. The early adopters are already out there, and the business benefits are becoming clearer-- increased brand interaction and customer loyalty, which lead to improved revenue.
It's time to consider how you can cook the perfect online meal to feed your media-hungry customers. But beware! Don't ponder your menu too long because your competition is struggling with the same questions and may develop the right recipe to steal your customers before you have a chance to get your entrée out of the kitchen.
David Heidenreich is Ripple Effects Interactive's executive vice president of strategy and marketing. Read full bio.