How to Deliver a Powerful Marketing Message
with Your Website
Do you want to turn prospects in to customers on your website? Do you want to stand out from the crowd? Then, say something important to your audience.
What’s the visitor / buyer thinking when they land on your site? Most people searching the internet are looking for solutions to their problems. Have you ever searched on the internet for a solution, a product or service? When you land on a site that delivers the solution, how do you feel? Relief?
Advertising experts estimate that we are exposed to over 1600 advertisements daily. To protect ourselves from information overload, we just filter out most of the messages that we’re exposed to.
Give the prospect a compelling reason to do business with you. If you want visitors on your site to become customers, you’ve got cut through the noise of all the advertising they’ve been exposed to. You’ve got to tell them what you can do for them, quickly, and in a clear and simple manner – in both your written and visual content.
Website Marketing Checklist
__ 1) Copy is written with the reader’s interests in mind – it talks to what the reader really wants.
__ 2) Questions are asked of the reader. Copy is personal and engages the reader.
__ 3) Headlines and keywords are related to the problem the visitor is trying to solve.
__ 4) Copy is persuasive, and explains the benefits (not the features) of your product / service.
__ 5) Copy educates prospects about your product/industry to help them make an informed buying decision.
__ 6) Benefit statements are clear and prominent (more prominent than graphic elements).
__ 7) You tell/show the prospect how your product or service stands for something important to them – which inspires the prospect to take action (or want to do business with you).
__ 8) You offer the prospect something of value to them for free (a coupon; a free service, product sample, or valuable information).
__ 9) A “call to action” is included, asking the reader to contact you immediately via telephone or email. It’s easy for the visitor to take the next action (call you or buy your product).
__ 10) Includes other “calls to action” such as asking the reader to bookmark the site for future reference, recommend the site to a friend, or signup for a newsletter, etc.
__ 11) Reader can easily find your contact information from any page on the site (include your telephone number on every page header, and bottom of every page). If you do business only in your local area, your HOME page makes it quickly clear what towns/areas you serve.
__ 12) If you’re selling a product for immediate sale online, you include a money-back guarantee.
__ 13) Your web pages load fast. Flash animation and large slow-loading graphics can turn visitors away. Your website may load fast in your office with high speed internet service – but remember that many people now access the web remotely, in open wifi networks, on PDAs and cell phones, where graphics and flash animation will frustrate and turn away users due to their slow loading speed. P.S. Studies show that older and more educated users of the internet do not appreciate animation and fancy graphics. They prefer easy to read copy, simple visuals, and ease in quickly finding the information they are seeking.
__ 14) Your website provides you with a way to capture leads, via a short email form the prospect can send to you with a quick question or request you contact them.
__ 15) Page header graphics are consistent on every page and do not distract the visitor from reading your page content and marketing message.
__ 16) Your website is search engine optimized for specific keywords, and your business name.
__ 17) Social networking sites referenced as appropriate for your business.
__ 18) Identify and implement your key internet marketing strategies.
Keep it Simple. Your website must be easy to navigate and easy on the eyes. Keep the visuals to a minimum and use a lot of white space. A visually distracting site with too many images, graphics, and flash animation can overwhelm readers and muddle your message. You have your readers attention for just moments. So your message must be presented in brief, catchy chunks of information.
Engage readers and speak to their emotions. If your marketing message doesn’t speak to what your reader really wants, you won’t keep them on your site long enough to hear your message, let alone make a new customer.
People buy based on emotion, not logic. What’s the last big purchase you made? A car? A television? How about the newest piece of expensive clothing you bought? Think about how you made the decision to buy. You bought it because you wanted it, right? You wanted the feeling you thought you would get from owning the item you purchased. You then made your buying decision by justifying the purchase with practical and logical rationalizations.
Since people buy based on emotion, you’ve got to appeal to the emotions of your audience. They need to feel good about buying your product or service. People won’t buy your product or service simply because you provide the most features for the lowest price.
Is your BRAND message clear? Does your website include your company’s branding and story? A good brand message includes these basic elements:
1) Why are you in this business? (Or, why did you create this product/service?)
2) What do you promise to deliver to the customer (include benefits)?
3) How does your product or service make your customer’s life better every day?
Make it easy, entertaining, educational, and personal. Connect with your reader by telling a story. People like stories, and it’s how people pass information around. What’s your company story? Why are you in this business and what can you tell me about why I absolutely must have your product or service? What will you do for me that your competitors can’t – or won’t – do?
Use multimedia. The best sales message appeals to all of our senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling. Tell your story in an even more powerful and engaging way by using video and audio messages on your website. When your story is meaningful and entertaining, not only will your message be heard, your audience will share it with others. Your website may not make the sale for you, but it can be your virtual sales assistant.
In summary, build your website to communicate your powerful marketing message – and turn prospects in to customers. If you design your website and content in a way that it cuts through the clutter and engages readers, you’ll keep people on your website long enough to hear your marketing message. And, you’ll more likely turn those prospects in to customers.
