Here’s the quandary. . .
We always chase the next big thing. That new way our customers and prospects consume information. Yesterday we focused on email and websites. Today it’s Twitter and the rest of the social media sphere. That’s fine. We need to be where our customers are, which always changes.
But human nature doesn’t.
As a marketing consultant I need to be conversant in all the new media. But as a consultant I also find myself reminding clients that BEFORE people take the time to consider why you’re the best choice, they still need to understand who you are, get to know you and feel comfortable about you.
Any conversation about your website, search marketing and social media better address this. . .or something will be missing from the result. Like, maybe, sales!!!
So, what can you do, right now? Answer these three questions-
What are you communicating about your company before you start asking people to buy what you sell?
Hello, my name is Hamilton, nice to meet you, will you go out on a date with me? That’s probably not the best way to get a date. Or make a sale. The other person doesn’t have enough information, isn’t comfortable enough, to say yes.
Take another look at your website, brochures, emails or direct mail pieces. If you have 1,000 words, use 500 convincing the reader you understand their problem/situation, 250 giving them background on why you can solve it and 250 explaining how what you sell does solve it. Are you asking for the date too soon? Ask for something easier, a smaller commitment. Download a white paper, watch a video, go to our website, click here for more information.
Are you too focused on the medium or the tool and not the message?
New CRM software won’t fix a mediocre sales process, it just makes a mediocre sales process more efficient. Tweeting an hour a day doesn’t equal engagement with your market. Remember, you have to get your message right too.
Are you keeping it simple?
The average visitor session on a website is under three minutes with less than three pages visited. That, “in a nutshell,” is my argument for simplifying things. Nifty navigation on your site? You probably don’t need half the pages up there. Click here to learn more? You just lost half your audience. Keep it simple.
Remember, whatever cool new tool we’re playing with, there are still humans at the other end.
By the way, the image I’m using for this post is of a Native American story teller doll. Without written languages, communities relied on individuals to tell the stories that passed along history and values. I’ve heard and read some translations. They kept it simple and were very persuasive.
