1
Online marketing – top tips – part 1
Posted by Adam
on
Monday, June 22, 2009
in
build trust,
increase traffic,
Online marketing top tips,
promote your website
As discussed in previous posts, it is a given that the old models for, well pretty much everything, have been swept away by the online revolution, and Google in particular. The biggest challenge that businesses both large and small have to face is not from their competition, but from this new online order.
It used to be the case that customers were local and what you told them they either believed or didn’t – either way, they would have had a tough job sourcing an alternate supplier or proving you wrong or right. Now, when you offer your services to a prospect they can go online, establish the truth and find 50 suppliers who offer exactly the same service as you in a matter of a few seconds.
If you’re writing a book you can buy the computer from America, get it proofed in England, get it printed in China and get it shipped globally without ever even getting your hands on it…so how exactly can an old established publisher compete in this global market which is only ever a click away?
Like the publisher we could of course pretend that the internet isn’t there, and hope that the problem goes away. Or we can think about how we can use the internet to add value to our offer, how we can exploit what it’s best at – spreading ideas and sharing information.
1 – Is your website really just a brochure online? Before the internet, a brochure was the vehicle used by organisations to talk about themselves. It was an opportunity to explain what they did, and why.
Does this sound like your website? The problem is that nobody wants you to tell them how good you are, to be credible, they want you to show them. So if your website is a collection if pages which simply detail you products and services, your history, and your contact details you’re simply making noise, not adding value. All of your competition is saying the same thing: great service, 10 years experience, unparalleled industry knowledge… there is no point of difference. I’ve never been to an Indian restaurant which doesn’t proclaim “Finest Indian Cuisine” on the menu – and because they all say it, nobody believes any of them.
To be believable you must show people why you’re good – package-up some snippets of your knowledge and give them away to visitors to your site. It will help you win their trust and it will establish you as an expert.
|
It used to be the case that customers were local and what you told them they either believed or didn’t – either way, they would have had a tough job sourcing an alternate supplier or proving you wrong or right. Now, when you offer your services to a prospect they can go online, establish the truth and find 50 suppliers who offer exactly the same service as you in a matter of a few seconds.
If you’re writing a book you can buy the computer from America, get it proofed in England, get it printed in China and get it shipped globally without ever even getting your hands on it…so how exactly can an old established publisher compete in this global market which is only ever a click away?
Like the publisher we could of course pretend that the internet isn’t there, and hope that the problem goes away. Or we can think about how we can use the internet to add value to our offer, how we can exploit what it’s best at – spreading ideas and sharing information.
1 – Is your website really just a brochure online? Before the internet, a brochure was the vehicle used by organisations to talk about themselves. It was an opportunity to explain what they did, and why.
Does this sound like your website? The problem is that nobody wants you to tell them how good you are, to be credible, they want you to show them. So if your website is a collection if pages which simply detail you products and services, your history, and your contact details you’re simply making noise, not adding value. All of your competition is saying the same thing: great service, 10 years experience, unparalleled industry knowledge… there is no point of difference. I’ve never been to an Indian restaurant which doesn’t proclaim “Finest Indian Cuisine” on the menu – and because they all say it, nobody believes any of them.
To be believable you must show people why you’re good – package-up some snippets of your knowledge and give them away to visitors to your site. It will help you win their trust and it will establish you as an expert.
|
Posts
