Scent Trails
Bryan Eisenberg on Websites That Stink (in a Good Way)
Is it really such a bad thing to have a website that stinks?
In the second and final installment of Bryan’s interview with Ralph Wilson — recorded at February’s Search Engine Strategies conference in London — the two shift their focus from personas (as discussed in Part 1) to improving landing page conversion by creating better “scent” for the visitor.
In the video, Bryan talks about a study conducted by usability guru Jared Spool that shows, among other things, that…
- When visitors found the “trigger words” — keywords that either get stuck in their heads, either consciously or subconsciously, often from advertising — on the landing page they’re sent to, they were content with what they found a whopping 72% of the time.
- When these same visitors didn’t see their trigger words on the landing pages they found, their search was only successful 6% of the time.
(If video doesn’t load, click here.)
Despite all the heady research that analyzes how people actually search for — and find — things on the Internet, it’s so obvious that it’s almost funny: We sniff around for relevant info like animals on the hunt. We go where the scent takes us. If we find what we’re looking for, great. Game over. If not, we retreat to home base, regroup and go out on a slightly more refined path until we see it in the corner of our eye. Then we pounce.
. .
Want Bryan’s advice on how to make your website stink (in a good way)? Meet him at FutureNow’s Call to Action seminar on June 3rd in Manhattan.
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Written by:Robert Gorell
Why Virgin’s Banner Ads Work, Even on Facebook!
Traditional banner ads can be frustrating. They’re easy to ignore. And all too often, the landing page on the other side of the click doesn’t fulfill the promise of the ad.
So why not try something new, like placing an ad on Facebook, where captive users are forced to see it right there in their news feeds?
That’s Virgin America’s strategy. But is it anything new?
Despite the hype, social media ads are rarely different than traditional banner or pay-per-click ads. The landscape has changed slightly, but the need for fundamental persuasion and conversion tactics remains. As always, better planning makes all the difference. Let’s take a look…
A Smooth Takeoff
Here’s Virgin’s latest “sponsored news feed item” — i.e., fancy contextual banner ad that targets only certain demographics:
As you can see, the language is simple and engaging. A time limit (March 28) is set, thus creating a sense of urgency without drilling it into the customer’s head.
Nobody likes to be yelled at, especially not on an airplane. So why yell at them to “BUY NOW”? Virgin knows better, and this ad’s subtlety makes it that much more click-worthy.
A Soft Landing (Page)
The landing page continues the scent trail that started with the banner ad. Notice how the exact wording carries over.
See that? Change may be “in the air,” but Virgin was smart to stick with their original verbiage.
What’s even more interesting is that this landing page is actually the VirginAmerica.com homepage. It was the homepage last week, when the March 28 promotion was happening, anyway. This week, there’s a new promotion, and a new homepage message to match.
Consistency across channels is what ensures the success of Virgin’s ad buys. By adjusting the homepage to match their current campaigns, they’re capitalizing on the persuasive momentum of their various banner ad campaigns. (This screen shot proves that Virgin’s Facebook ads are no different than any of their other banners. Would they change the company’s homepage just to match a persuasion scenario that starts at Facebook? Nope.)
Persuade → Qualify → Convert
Virgin America continues the momentum from click-to-click by keeping it simple and keeping visitors engaged on the active window. By showing all March 28-related promotions on a single page, they’re reduce friction in the buying process.
Virgin uses this page to reinforce the visitor’s original interest while introducing a few more offers, thereby qualifying our needs. We click through, and it’s off to the booking engine.
Like most e-commerce shopping carts, it seems flight-booking engines were made to confuse us. Not Virgin’s. Theirs is intuitive and straightforward. As you can see, several steps are combined into one. It’s the website usability equivalent of the magical airplane stall door lock (which doubles as a light switch, and triples as a switch for the fan).
The only downside to having a site that works this well is that now Virgin needs to make sure people enjoy the flight as much as they enjoyed booking it. But if the real experience is anything like the one online, it looks like they’ve got you covered.
CMO’s should take notice.
While there’s no such thing as a perfect website, you should still try to convert like a Virgin.
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Written by:Peter Lee
When a Banner Ad Becomes a One-Click Stand
Holidays are a great time to advertise. Because of the emotional context, marketers know people will be especially attracted to holiday-themed ads. Valentine’s Day is no exception: You can almost set your clock to the sudden rush of banners strewn with cheesy hearts, bears and candy kisses.
Banner ads, once clicked, usually evoke the confusion of Alice’s rabbit hole more than the come-what-may optimism of Forrest’s box of chocolates — either way, you don’t know what to expect.
Grabbing attention is tough, and most of us are jaded from past letdowns. So, to work, a banner campaign must direct traffic, showing visitors what they’ll get and why they’ll want it.
Who You Lookin’ At?
One way to get attention is by showing models. TracFone is an example of a company that puts on a human face (albeit a scowling one). Let’s take a look at one of their banners to see how they might improve conversion…
The Valentine’s Day motif grabs attention, as do the girls’ faces, which seem to be looking straight at you. But eye-tracking studies show that we’re drawn to models’ eyes. We end up mesmerized, ignoring the critical parts of the ad.
The folks at TracFone should read Bryan’s post, “How a Pretty Face Can Push Visitors Away.”
Since our attention stays on the faces and eyes, TracFone’s benefits are lost in the background. The all-caps name “XOXOFONE” frames the faces, further keeping the eyes on the upper left-hand side. A simple change in the direction of the eyes to the lower-right side of the ad would direct visitors to the call to action and company logo. (Besides, it might make these girls look like they’re not going to yell at the first guy who invites them to Prom via TracFone.)
Oh, No They Di’int…
From the banner ad, visitors are sent to this busy landing page:
Tracfone presents big, bright red hearts as a marker to connect the visitor. Yet they fail to build persuasive momentum. At this critical stage, the visitor isn’t brought deeper into the buying process. Instead of continuing the scent trail [define] of information, TracFone introduces new information and visuals that create a disconnect with the banner ad it was designed to support.
If TracFone were a Future Now client, here are a few things we’d have them test:
1. Don’t Look at Me! — When using models, make sure the eyes aren’t the focal point. Use an image that directs the visitors’ eyes toward the call to action. Let the copy drive the click.
2. Buy When? — Don’t propose marriage on the first date. There’s almost never enough info on a banner ad to convince someone they should actually “buy now.” Try flirting instead.
3. Consistency is Key — Build on the information and images on the landing page. Help would-be customers make the connection. People will quickly lose momentum to move forward if you present different prices, copy and images than they saw in the ad.
[Editor’s Note: Tired of one-click stands? Sick of hiring gold-diggers who don’t return the investment? Bring home a conversion analysis your CFO would approve of.]
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Written by:Peter Lee
Can I Please Have the “Mac Guy” Back?
It was a bad moment. I felt like “PC Guy” from the “Get a Mac” commercial was trying to sell me an Apple product. It gave me the heebie-jeebies.
It all started when I checked my email and found an email from Apple with a subject line that said, “The new Mac Pro. Now with 8 cores standard.”
Like many email users, I don’t automatically enable HTML images. So, I have to click to allow the images to be shown. The result: The Apple email looks like a fancy design of gray and black with absolutely nothing there.
The subject line (”The new Mac Pro. Now with 8 cores standard.”) means nothing to me. How is that a benefit? It certainly doesn’t excite me enough to explore further, but since I’m an Apple fan, let’s say I decide to keep going.
When I did finally enable the image, I see the computer tower…
The call to action above the fold is “Configure now.” Wow, that’s really exciting!
I’m a Humanistic type (as opposed to Spontaneous, Competitive, or Methodical), so the word “configure” holds no scent for me — it sounds like something really technical you do with a graphing calculator. No thanks.
But for argument’s sake, let’s say I’m curious enough to continue and see this landing page:
Could they possibly use more techno-speak? There isn’t a word here of that wonderful, personal, easy-to-understand Apple language.
If this were designed for Methodical types, I’d give it high marks. Even if she didn’t have her images enabled, the Methodical customer might scroll down and see there was indeed some text in the email. She would probably like the word “configure” and appreciate all those wonderful technical specs, and a subject line like, “Now with 8 cores standard.”
But for the other types, this scenario bombs.
Spontaneous customers who don’t have images enabled on their email will likely not even open it with that subject line, and if they see nothing but a black and gray design with nothing in it, they’re gone.
Humanistics won’t often get past that subject line, either. Where’s the wonderful everyday language and engaging images? I’d like to see that nice guy from the TV commercials telling me why this new Mac Pro would be great for me. I bet he could do a good job of putting it into plain English and making me feel good about the product.
Competitives might like the subject line, but they want benefits, not features. How will this help them do more, be better, have a superior computer to what they have today? They also will bail if they don’t have images enabled. They are almost as impatient as the Spontaneous folks. Here’s the sad thing: There’s actually great copy for Competitives like, “Once reserved for the top of the line, 8-core processing power is now at the heart of the Mac Pro.” Same feature, but delivered in a benefit-oriented fashion Competitives would love — yet it’s below the fold where, unlike the Methodical customer, they may not scroll to see it (they’re much too fast-paced).
Bottom line: The whole scenario feels like it was designed by that “PC guy.” I want my Mac guy back.
[Editor’s Note: Do your landing pages speak to customers in their own language? If you’d like to optimize your landing pages and improve customer focus, we can help.]
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Written by:Holly Buchanan
Just a Bit Off Target With Pay-Per-Click
Even giant e-tailers like Target.com can miss the mark now and then. Despite big budgets, keeping track of everything can be a nightmare to manage. But if you’re going to place Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads, it’s absolutely critical to follow though and check the links. The customer experience should be as effortless as possible, and if PPC ads don’t bring the visitors where they intended to go, they’re just one click of the “back” button away from your competitors. And if you don’t fulfill their expectation on a landing page, it’s less likely they’ll click your PPC ads in the future.
Nice ad placement
Here you can see that Target is paying for their ad to show up on top of the list for my search for “Logitech Harmony Remote.” Target is a company I trust, and it looks like they have exactly what I’m looking for, so I click the link.
Looking good, until…
Instead of taking me to the Logitech-branded page from the text ad, I’m taken back to square one: Target’s homepage.
The more logical choice
This is more like it. Although you can’t quite see from this last screenshot, the remote I had searched for was just below on this landing page (click the image to go to the page). Actually, I found it by typing in “target.com/logitech” since I’d already seen it in the text ad. But my job is to analyze these types of things. And that’s just it: Even if they remembered the web address from the ad, most customers wouldn’t bother.
While this may seem like nitpicking, these types of oversights show how a missing link can ruin an otherwise decent scent trail.
(If you’d like to see more examples like this, check out Bryan’s screencast on conversion-boosting tips for Target.com.)
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Written by:Daniel McGuigan
A Simple A/B Test Suggestion for Puma.com
While searching for new sneakers, I decided on a pair of Pumas. I love their style and color options, and they always have the newest selections. The same goes for their website. It’s chock full of flash — literally. I normally don’t mind the extra attention to design — in fact I appreciate a beautifully designed website — but Puma.com has made it difficult to find any products.
Landing on the homepage, I was hypnotized by the Flash and interactive design, which must have taken months to program. It showed. (I was on slow connection and had to endure an excruciating load time.) Finally, I was shown one measly, dull-gray shoe. I gave it the benefit of the doubt and clicked on the shoe, expecting to be presented with more colors and styles to choose from. Instead, a new window popped up with no sneaker or link to the online store in sight. They’d sent me to Mongolian Shoe BBQ; a micro-site for a campaign I was unaware of. And although I noticed a trace of copy next to the gray show (after going back to the homepage to figure out what happened), it still felt like the e-tail equivalent of Outer Mongolia.
I started to wonder about Puma’s online business strategy. (Did they even want me to purchase anything? Where the heck are the sneakers or online store? Where am I supposed to go now?) What did they want visitors to get out of their website? As a retail company, the obvious goal of the site would be both branding and e-commerce. In other words, to get visitors excited about their products and brand and, eventually, make a sale. I was ready to purchase, but there were too many usability issues that forced me to browse aimlessly.
A major roadblock for Puma.com com is that it’s top-heavy with (beautiful) design. It’s very image and Flash-oriented and, despite the demand of would-be customers in search of Puma’s sneaker-line, the visitors’ eyes are immediately drawn to the center Flash animation, then to the bottom icons. The small red bag representing the online store is lost amid all the colors and commotion, and the link to the online store in the left navigation is effectively hidden because it’s surrounded by colorful banners. The small, light-gray text — although cool-looking — makes it difficult for visitors to shop.
Current Homepage:
So, what can Puma.com do to be a more effective e-commerce site? They need to provide a clearer driving point (define) to their online store. A simple A/B test on the homepage will have a big impact. How simple? Well, Google makes it free for all and the only thing you’ll lose is time spent learning a valuable advantage over competitors and opportunity cost of course. To be most effective when making changes to a website, proper A/B testing on Google Website Optimizer is recommended.
My Test Page Suggestion:
Which page do you think would convert better?
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Written by:Peter Lee
“Click Here” Works (Better Than Other Generic Terms)
Marketing Sherpa recently tested click-through rates for anchor text links in email. They found that “Click to continue” works far better than “Continue to article” or “Read more”. But why?
Copyblogger’s Brian Clark concludes, “Not only should you use actionable anchor text if you really want someone to click, but you should also tell people to take the exact action you want them to perform in order to get the best response.”
Sure, but there’s more to this story than just telling people to “click here” all the time. Absolutely. Keep in mind, though, that just because “Click to continue” won this time, in this particular context, doesn’t necessarily mean using “Click [whatever]” works best in all cases. Clark’s point about using “the exact action you want them to perform” serves as a solid guideline — and a strong place to start when deciding which verbiage to test.
Here’s what Jared Spool, CEO and Founding Principal of User Interface Engineering (UIE), has to say about links:
UIE research showed that when a link and its associated text comprised seven to twelve words, people could successfully follow the links 50 to 60% of the time, with the optimal length being 9 to 10 words. Jared quipped, “One of the things you do in a usability test is you try to use your psychic powers to get people to do things.”
However, he said, “It’s not just the size of the link.” Links should include trigger words or “they’ll fail. …You have to be careful what words you choose. A one-word link is fine if you know it’s a trigger word.”
Whereas “click here” can work as a call to action — or anchor link, as it’s often used — these one-trigger-word links Spool’s referring to are called Points of Resolution (define), and the greater context has a lot to do with how effective they are. The context is what we call “scent,” and it’s up to you to provide your visitors with a scent trail worth following. As Spool explains, “when they are on the right track to finding their content—they follow the scent of information.”
As an aside, AdvertisingLab hints at one of our favorite factoids: Adobe ranks #1 for the term “click here“. (It is hard to resist even though you know the answer, isn’t it?)
Oh, and here’s a link to the Marketing Sherpa study, if you’re interested. (Just mind the persuasion gap with that extra free trial sign-up step they don’t warn you about if you’re not already a member.)
If the links on your website suffer from bad scent, don’t wait around as would-be customers politely excuse themselves. Test the verbiage, and see what converts best. We can help.
[P.S. — Tim, does this answer your question?]
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Written by:Robert Gorell
Brands & Landing Pages: A Neanderthal Challenge
This week — thanks to some of you being in town for our Persuasive Online Copywriting seminar and a staff training — our team had some great insights while examining online and multi-channel marketing campaigns. Eventually, we got to thinking about one of today’s more compelling brands: Geico.
But first, a little background…
One of our seminar attendees helped us notice something interesting about “Corporate DNA”. Something wasn’t “write” with her company’s messaging. They’re large, well-known, and have spent decades projecting themselves as a Humanistic culture, with massive, ongoing radio and TV ad campaigns. So, the first thing we noticed on their website was that the copywriting was tailored for Methodical types. (To read more about how we classify personality types into Competitive, Spontaneous, Methodical, and Humanistic, click here.)
Where did this disconnect come from? Were they really a Methodical company, after all? According to our guest, they were. OK, then why not just say so in the TV and radio ads? It’s a bit jarring to have one impression of a brand through its multi-channel advertising, only to go to their website and find it’s something completely different. This is the friction that causes customers to bail. Customers want a consistent relationship and tone from their brands, whatever the channel may be.
When I came across this banner on Technorati this past week, I was intrigued:
Step #1 — The Banner / Advertising Campaign
Since we’d been talking about how to create messages that appeal to different personality types, I thought it would be a good idea to see what my team had to say about the experience Geico created from banner ad, to landing page, to getting an insurance quote.
Over email, I asked my fellow Future Now consultants what they thought about the campaign:
1. The banner appeals to which personality type(s)?
“The fast-paced types; Spontaneous first, then Competitive.” –Cinde Johnson
2. Would the brand itself cause other personality types to click through anyway?
“Geico is a brand that’s known and trusted. People who recognize that it’s a Geico ad, and have a positive association with them, will likely click.” –Dan McGuigan
“Humanistics will like the friendliness of the gecko from other ads they may have seen/heard, and the cup of tea makes it a bit more personal, more human. A Methodical, on the other hand… I’m not so sure. There’s not a lot for a Methodical to go with in the banner, except that it says that it’s ‘easy’. But they’re generally too deliberate to be moved by branding alone.” –Cinde Johnson
3. How does this banner connect with their brand, and your expectations of it?
“The little lizard with the Aussie accent (using “mate” in the messaging) helps us connect with a brand we already know. Their branding has always expressed how Geico makes it ‘easy.’ so this is continuing that perception.
“The problem is I forgot what they did; I just knew they made it easy! Although I like the banner, and it probably connects well with the other marketing communication spots that they have out there, I actually don’t know anything about Geico besides seeing this lizard on ads — and that he’s got an accent. I’m probably not the typical American, but I actually forgot what they did.” –Melissa Burdon
“Geico positions itself as the easy way to save money on insurance in 15 minutes, so this ad does reinforce their branding.” –Ron Patiro
4. What’s your overall impression of the banner?
“Not bad. I’d say a solid B.” –Anthony Garcia”
“One of the only times I’ve seen ‘click here’ work in a Call to Action. People can’t say it, but well-branded talking geckos can.” –Ron Patiro
“If I just saw this banner ad, and didn’t know they offer insurance, I wouldn’t be enticed to click. Even changing it to ‘Geico makes insurance easy,’ would have cleared that one up for me. They need to be thinking of the different stages of the buying process as well.” –Melissa Burdon
Step #2 — The Campaign’s Landing Page
I am glad Geico continued the scent from banner and landing page by reinforcing and repeating the logo, the imagery, and copy tone. Remember, our friend the talking gecko has promised us it would be easy. But once I clicked through, I had even more expectations.
Here’s what they had to say about the landing page:
5. Does the landing page reinforce the banner’s message?
“If one were to ‘think’ about the connection — which most people don’t do consciously — they would see that ‘Would you like cream…” does inject a message of how easy Geico makes getting a quote or rate.” –Peter Lee
“I didn’t notice the little mug and tea bag in the banner. I actually wondered what was in the lizard’s hand, but, when I clicked, I noticed the mug. Instead of just telling me Geico can save me money, they specify they could save me ‘hundreds,’ so I have a better idea of what we’re talking about. ‘Would you like cream or sugar with that?’ tells me it’s a commodity; something we need in our everyday lives. We treat ourselves well without Starbucks, so how are we treating ourselves with insurance? We could also be saving some money on insurance to put toward our coffee fund!
“I’m going off on a tangent, but there are quite a few messages that could be taken out of this add.” –Melissa Burdon
6. Would you do anything to improve this page?
“They might want to provide a bit more information for Methodical types. People often switch to a methodical choice when shopping for something like insurance.” –Mal Watlington
“The ‘continue’ button gives me no sense of what I get if I enter this information. What’s the payoff? How much more information am I going to have to give you? My inner Methodical side isn’t happy at all.” –Holly Buchanan
Be prepared. Geico chose the the word “just” fill in your zip code. That word has meaning. As in there is really nothing much more to this than “just” filling in your zip code.
Finally, let’s see what happens when we click through to get an insurance quote…
Step #3 — A Disconnected Form Process
When a Spontaneous type lands on this page, one of the first things that stand out is the big “0% Complete” in the progress indicator. They don’t jump right to the form. Instead, their eyes scan the progress indicator, thanks to the disconnect between the first landing page/banner and the green “0%” — and everything else on the form.
Here are their impressions of this crucial third step:
7. What would the personality type(s) you chose — the ones driven by the banner — think of this first step in the quote process?
“I’ve already given you my zip code. You mean, there’s a lot more to getting this quote!? This isn’t easy.” “You said this would be easy, but I’m not sure this is going to be easy.” “Why do you need my name and phone number to give me a quote?” “Wow–six pages of forms to complete to get a quote! This is easy?” (”Where’s my little gecko buddy and his little cup of tea?”) –Cinde Johnson
“Then complete disconnect. I hit a page with a completely different design, asking for lots of information. I’m looking for the lizard, but instead I see the typical white chick, offering help. I don’t want to talk to the white chick. I want to talk to the lizard.” –Holly Buchanan
8. What would you do differently to appeal to each of the personality types on this page?
The primary persona driven by the ad, the Spontaneous, most likely never spent the time filling out a long form like this - they just don’t have the time. They might call, but like everyone else in the world, the would never admit they “need help.” What if they had the Gecko right there and in his tone said something like, “If filling it out ain’t easy, call me.”
“The Competitive is going to think “OK, you said you can save me money, but now you’re asking for information, and there’s nothing to tell me how much more you’ll need or how filling out this form is going to accomplish that goal. All I see is “continue” (really weak Call to Action). What’s the benefit in continuing?
“The Humanistic, like me, is going to feel like “I want to talk to the lizard, not that white chick. What happened to my milk and sugar? You went from warm and fuzzy to cold and impersonal. You just lost that wonderful rapport you worked so hard to establish.
“The Methodical is going to think (since they don’t feel) “How many steps are involved? You don’t indicate the exact number of steps involved in this process. What is this process? Exactly what information do you require? How long will this take? How will you use this information to save me money? Will I be here for a minute, or two hours? I can’t plan ahead because you give me no way to understand the process, how long it takes, or what the process even is. And what’s with that annoying icon with a foreign accent about, anyway? My 3 year-old daughter thinks it’s cute. Want to sell car insurance to 3 year-olds, do you? Great. Want to sell car insurance to me? Get a life.” –Holly Buchanan
The Brand & Landing Page Campaign Challenge:
Perhaps it’s not so easy…
Please let us know what you think of the Geico brand, its ad campaigns, and its landing pages. How would you answer the above questions?
Is creating the right brand and landing page experiences so “easy” a caveman, of any personality, could do it? What will you do to insure your brand and landing pages connect with customers? Let us know if you need help.
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Written by:Bryan Eisenberg
Screencast: Hunting for Early Bird Persuasion, Part 3
Now that you’ve seen Parts 1 and 2, where we found that the smartest way to persuade early-stage customers is to educate them, let’s focus on how to provide a consistent experience for them.
As we look at how Cabelas.com and BassProShops.com prepare to catch the Early Bird customer, consider the following:
- Relevance — If they’re not ready yet, don’t get carried away. (Is your website proposing marriage on the first date?)
- Screen Space — Early Birds need to know that they’re welcome, right from the homepage. Give them enough space, and combine relevance with scent to lead them in the right direction. (Use the battleship grid to protect the Early Bird from winding up in irrelevant worm holes.)
- Scent Trails — Not even the brightest of basset hounds can help you with this one, but creating the right scent for the customer to follow is key; particularly when they’re early in the buying process, and may not even have the vocabulary to know what they should be asking. If they come in with the wrong questions, and don’t buy, they should at least leave with the right ones. Help them find their way.
- AIDAS — Awareness. Interest. Desire. Action. Satisfaction. If customers aren’t aware of you, there’s no place to move forward. If you haven’t grabbed their interest, forget it. If there’s no emotional desire to lure them in, they won’t bite. If it’s difficult for them to take action, they’ll run away. And if they’re not satisfied, they won’t return.
- Inside-the-Bottle Syndrome (the other “IBS”) — “When you’re inside the bottle, you can’t read the label.” This is the biggest challenge marketers face. They know too much about their own products, too much about their own companies. It’s the “Curse of Knowledge” and you must overcome it to persuade.
Once again, it’s time to go huntin’ for Early Birds…
(If you’re viewing this in an RSS reader, click here for video.)
If you have a moment, share one of your early-stage buying experiences with us in the comments. Which sites have done a particularly good job of persuading you to buy, or turning you off, when you were only pecking around?
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Written by:Dave Young
Screencast: Hunting for Early Bird Persuasion, Part 2
Now that you’ve seen Part 1 — you did see it, right? — you should have a handle on the basics of selling to early-stage online shoppers. They may not be ready to “Buy Now!” but giving these Early Birds the information they need, when they need it, will ensure they come back once they are ready. One of the smartest ways to persuade early-stage buyers is to educate them.
Take hunting, for instance. While an experienced hunter may know exactly what she’s looking for in terms finding the right gear, a novice hunter might be more worried about his friends laughing at him for not knowing the first thing about it.
As we look at how Cabelas.com and BassProShops.com prepare to catch the Early Bird customer, consider some of these finer points:
- Scent Trails — Not even the brightest of basset hounds can help you with this one, but creating scent for the customer to follow is key; particularly when they’re early in the buying process, and may not even have the vocabulary to know what they should be asking. If they come in with the wrong questions, and don’t buy, they should at least leave with the right ones. Help them find their way.
- AIDAS — Awareness. Interest. Desire. Action. Satisfaction. If customers aren’t aware of you, there’s no place to move forward. If you haven’t grabbed their interest, forget it. If there’s no emotional desire to lure them in, they won’t bite. If it’s difficult for them to take action, they’ll run away. And if they’re not satisfied, they won’t return.
- Inside-the-Bottle Syndrome (the other “IBS”) — “When you’re inside the bottle, you can’t read the label.” This is the biggest challenge marketers face. They know too much about their own products, too much about their own companies. It’s the “Curse of Knowledge” and you must overcome it to persuade.
Once again, it’s time to go hunting for persuasion…
(If you’re viewing this in an RSS reader, click here for video.)
Check out Part 3 to learn how to catch the Early Bird before the competition does.
In the meantime, share one of your early-stage buying experiences with us in the comments. Which sites have done a particularly good job of persuading you to buy, or turning you off, when you were just trying to educate yourself?
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Written by:Dave Young
