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Marketing

Electronic Marketing is Marketing

I have been working with some new clients this month.  Not only are they new to me, but they’re new to using the Internet for their own business.

My task has been to reassure them that everything they thought they know about marketing and sales still applies.  The medium may be unfamiliar, but the basics of marketing are constant.

Stamps.com Home Page

"Get Postage" is the Winning Phrase


It’s been fun explaining to them that nothing fundamental is different.  Here’s a great example from Inc.com.

Stamps.com found that using the phrase “sign up” was actually a negative; customers saw it as a high-pressure sales tactic. Once the site replaced that phrase with “Get Postage,” sales increased.

When the web site was focusing on what Stamps.com wanted (a new subscriber), visitors resisted.  When the wording was rephrased to focus on delivering what the clients wanted (postage), people responded.

This is basic, brick-and-mortar, pre-Internet, pre-electricity marketing.   You focus on meeting a need of your potential client and not on the needs of the business owner. Getting the prospect to sign-up will follow naturally once you’ve addressed his or her needs.

Your prospect’s time is valuable! They want to see that you’re going to solve their problem with little or no risk to them. They want to see this quickly.

So, on the Internet, just like in print, be direct, be catchy, and don’t waste anyone’s time or space.

“Welcome to our Website” is a very common — and very stupid — sight on the Internet. It’s like buying an ad in Time magazine that shouts in big type, “Welcome to our Ad”. Instead, spend your valuable screen real estate grabbing the prospect by his needs.

Don’t “welcome” or talk about yourself. Instead, make your visitors an offer they cannot refuse. Something like:

Let your web site earn you money!
Contact Ozdachs for a FREE site analysis.

We’re at www.ozdachs.biz and 415.347.6479.
By |2010-03-16T06:48:21-07:00March 16th, 2010|Marketing|0 Comments
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Get More Newsletter Readers: Answer the Spam Challenge

Spam challengeMore and more people are trying to cut down on the spam that floods their in-boxes. Some Internet Service Providers like Earthlink and Web Hosting Services like Webmasters.com offer built-in spam challenging logic to their email accounts. Because I have several active email accounts I use Spamarrest to limit what gets passed along to my inbox.

These spam-limiting features all work by finding out who sent the email to you and then doing one of three things.

  • If the sender is someone you know of and approve, the message will be forwarded to your inbox.
  • If the sender is someone you know of and have blocked, the message is deleted.
  • If the sender is someone you don’t know, the sender is sent a request to verify that they are a human and not an automated spammer (see example at the right). If the sender responds to the challenge within 7 days, I get their original message and they are put on my list of approved correspondents. If the sender does not respond, their message is deleted in 7 days.

A huge majority of my email, over 95%, is in this third category. And, a huge majority of those messages are from automated spammers who never answer the spam challenge and whose messages are deleted in a week.
Spam statistics

Occasionally I look through the hundreds of messages from unknown senders. Whenever I do, I usually see a newsletter or group mailing from someone I wouldn’t mind hearing from.

But, they didn’t answer the spam challenge.

This failure to respond is a wonky waste of time. Their business has spent hours of time — and therefore lots of money — preparing the mailing to me. But, after they mail their message, they don’t go through the replies to the newsletter to see that my automated service didn’t recognize the newsletter’s email address and wanted to verify that there were people behind the message.

All the newsletter writer would have to do would be to click on the link in the challenge email and then fill in a CAPTCHA or answer a question. They would only have to do it one time, because the the email address would be added to the approved list and future editions of their newsletter would be delivered automatically.

Worse, in my experience sending newsletters, a fair number of clients and prospects will reply to the newsletter itself with questions or even orders. If the sending business hasn’t assigned anyone to read the replies, then it is missing business in addition to readers.

It’s simple. If you send out an electronic newsletter, give someone in your organization the task of reading replies sent to the newsletter address. Have them answer the spam challenges. Tell them to answer the messages placing new orders, too!

By |2009-09-22T07:01:57-07:00September 22nd, 2009|Marketing|0 Comments
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AT&T Requires Opt-Out Contracts

I act as the Director of Marketing for one of my consulting clients, and every year about this time AT&T calls about their “Real” Yellow Page ad.  The protocol is that the sales rep sells, we agree on a package for the next 12 months, and then the sales rep calls a recording number so that my agreement to the proposal is formalized.

old phoneToday’s ritual went okay until we were together on the recording device.  The sales rep started reading the boilerplate contract which I would agree to at the end of his spiel.

But, wait a minute!  In his rapid-fire speech I heard some new wording, something like, “This contract is for 12 months and will automatically renew unless the client notifies AT&T in writing that the client wishes to Opt-out of renewal.”

I stopped him.

We have to opt-out in writing?? Huh?

I said that the rep and I had only talked about a contract for the next year.  I was happy to commit my client’s firm for a one-year period, but I the term had to end in 12 months. AT&T could sell to us again next year, if they wanted, but I didn’t want it to be our responsibility to talk to them next year before the renewal date.

At first the rep assured me that my agreement would only cover the next 12 months — apparently he wasn’t listening to himself, though.  Otherwise, he was being untruthful.  At any event, when I said into the taped line that I was happy to authorize the service for 12 months but for no further, the rep said he would have to check with someone on his end.

When he came back on the line he said that he could not alter the wording and we would have to accept automatic renewal.  I replied that we couldn’t place the ad now with  automatic renewal, and unpleasantness ensued.  (Him: “You’re telling me  don’t want your ad to continue after November, 2009?” Me: “No, I am not saying that. Please do not put words in my mouth.  I am not able to commit for period longer than 12 months.” Him: “You’re telling me want your ad to stop this November?” Me: …)

The bottom line is that I did not commit my client to a renewal of the ad.  Their ad will stop in November.  And, my client is okay with it.

The AT&T online ad costs $105/month and, even according to AT&T’s own stats, only 6 people clicked on the ad in the month of July.  That’s $17.50 a web visitor.  Moreover, nobody has told my client all year that they found my client on AT&T real Yellow Pages.

But, what a cautionary tale!  It sure makes me wonder if AT&T doubts the value of its own service:  can’t it stand an annual customer review of the online Yellow Pages’ cost effectiveness?

By |2009-08-27T16:50:48-07:00August 27th, 2009|Marketing|0 Comments
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Google Ranking Tip: You Get Just One Phrase Per Web Page

I am working with a frustrated client who is concerned that her site is not visible on Google’s search engine results.

I asked what search terms she was having problems with, and she said, “All of them. My site isn’t in the top for ‘aaaa’, ‘bbbb’, ‘cccc’, … ‘xxxx’, ‘yyyy’, or ‘zzzz’. Each of those terms are valid synonyms for the service she offers.

Aha!

To help her site, I’ve asked her to pick the ONE most important search term she wants her site to show up for. “All of them” is not something I can tune a web page for. Even if all the terms mean the same thing.

The reason I cannot tune a single page for all the terms is simple. Google’s method of ranking pages is to read a web page and to then count the placement and frequency of the words on that page. Then, based on its secret algorithm, Google decides what that one page is about and how valuable the content of that page is likely to be to a visitor searching for any particular set of words.

In order to tune a page to make Google think it is a good resource for, say for example, “San Francisco accountants”, I have to put “San Francisco accountants” in the page’s title, headers, photograph descriptions, and paragraph text. I have to emphasize that one phrase, “San Francisco accountants” in order to convince Google of the page’s focus.

To tune for “San Francisco accountants” the words I use are “San Francisco accountants”, not “SF accountants” nor “San Francisco CPAs”. A human reader may know that those three phrases talk about the same professional service, but Google does not.

Similarly, “vacation rental” may mean “vacation lodging” to a human being. You may search for “vacation rental” and be happy finding a page talking about “vacation lodging”. But, to computer-minded Google the terms have only “vacation” in common.

To Google “apartments” and “apt” are also unrelated as are “tennis shoe” and “sneaker”. (At least they are at the time I write this blog entry.) Google deals in words and phrases and is ignorant of topics and meaning.

A thorough optimizing of a site to show up highly on Google requires individual pages for each keyword phrase. Each of these pages will emphasize that particular keyword, and each page must also have unique content on it.

A business that has 10 “money words” for which it wants high Google ranking will have to have at least 10 pages in the site, one for each phrase. This requirement is, of course, one which many small businesses cannot meet. Creating text and graphics for each of these pages can be a burden!

Therefore, for a first step I advise my clients to pick the one phrase they most want to show up for in Google. I then tune their home page for that most important phrase. As time, energy, and money permit we can, over time, create separate pages for each of the desired money phrases.

If you’re not showing up as high as you want on Google results, start with this simple tip. Look at your home page. Edit it to highlight the ONE phrase that you most want to show up for. Your home page should focus on that phrase like a laser and not throw out all your keyword goals like a shotgun.

Next Up: Picking the One Phrase that Will Get Your Site the Most Visitors

By |2009-08-26T14:19:36-07:00August 26th, 2009|Marketing, Search Engine Optimization|2 Comments
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Contact Galen

Please email Galen your comments or questions.

Telephone: 415.347.6479

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