Growing Wealth
1/1/2008
Web 2.0 may sound like software, but it's really a term to
describe a new way of developing and optimizing Web sites using
wikis, blogs, RSS or Web feeds, videos, and forums. Understanding
and harnessing the marketing power of these tools can provide a
significant boost to your business.
"Organize your paper. Simplify your life." It's a memorable
catchphrase in today's timepressed society. But Philadelphia-based
NeatReceipts - the creator of scanning devices for receipts and
business cards - doesn't bank on the slogan alone for its
sales.
Thanks to the latest Internet marketing technologies,
NeatReceipts can demonstrate its products anywhere and at any
time.
Visit neatreceipts.com, and you can watch a receipt fly through the
scanner while numbers simultaneously appear on a laptop
spreadsheet. See business card data zip across the screen of a
mobile phone. And if you miss something while watching, you can
start the demo again - even fast-forward through the parts you want
to skip. You control theaction.
Plus, it's not only video. You can read blogs and peruse the
"staff advice" section. You can talk with other users on the RSS
feed. NeatReceipts is harnessing the power of Web 2.0 technologies.
If you want to survive and thrive in today's environment, you'll
jump on the bandwagon.
1. Create a dialogue
Adam Deringer, chief digital officer of Brownstein Group, a
Philadelphia marketing firm, hesitates to label these new Internet
marketing strategies as advertising. "I think that word insinuates
that a company is speaking to people," Deringer says. "Instead,
we're trying to engage in a dialogue with audiences."
Blogs and forums enable a company to establish these dialogues.
When NeatReceipts launches a project, it receives immediate
feedback on its forum, which garnered 1,300 members within six
months of its debut. The company asks what customers like and
dislike. There is no censorship. "We let people get angry," says
Jeff Vogel, director of marketing. "It's that transparency that we
hope to achieve. If we start cutting comments, what is the point of
having it?"
Indeed, companies that attempt to control blogs and forums can
experience serious fallout. Consider Wal-Mart, which in 2006 came
under fire because the company was feeding information to bloggers,
who posted it nearly verbatim.
Wikis also encourage a dialogue. Think Wikipedia, which lets users
create and edit entries. Ideally, the audience polices the content
to ensure it's accurate.
2. Give them a reason to return
It's important for a forum, blog, or Web site as a whole to have a
"stickiness" factor, Vogel says. NeatReceipts has a profiles
section, created by users. If you need a tax attorney in Phoenix,
you can search for one on the site. The company also runs
customer-of-themonth contests. Winners, who receive $250, are
featured on the site's "Community" section.
Widgets, third-party code added to your site, can also encourage
repeat visits. Real estate agents and mortgage companies, for
instance, can post mortgage calculators that keep visitors coming
back.
3. Choose your words wisely
"The coin of the realm is still keywords," says Howie Jacobson,
author of AdWords for Dummies. And the bank is Google's AdWords. A
pay-per-click service, AdWords takes the guesswork out of choosing
the keywords that will bump you to the top of the standard search
list. Instead, Jacobson says, AdWords helps companies test
keywords.
Based on the words you choose, your ad will appear in a column
to the right of a page of Google's search results. And with AdWords
Starter Edition, Google gives you the option of building a Web
page, which it hosts. "The wizard is extremely intuitive, so anyone
who can create a word document or send an e-mail can build a
Google-hosted page,"Jacobson says.
Plus, you're only charged when someone clicks on your ad, and
you can set a limit as to how much you want to pay per day. Because
AdWords measures the results - and you can monitor your payment -
you'll see which keywords bring in the desired audience. In a
sense, AdWords can also help you test domain names or words to use
on billboards or in print ads. "The feedback is virtually
instantaneous," says Jacobson, who tests several thousand
keywords.
Rapport Online, an Internet marketing company in Sedona, Ariz.,
features a "Cost-Per-Customer Acquired Calculator." The device
helps you measure the potential "conversion rate" - the number of
sales or sales leads per 100 visitors to a site - and other
statistics that help determine how much you should bid for keywords
that will land your ad on the first page of search results.
4. Have a clear goal
Jacobson suggests determining a measurable goal for each Web site
page. Pay attention to buyers' surfing behavior and optimize the
site to encourage visitors to move toward the end result you
want.
"For example, if you know the majority of your buyers read the
testimonials before purchasing, make the testimonial page
prominent," he says. "If you know that the video introduction is an
effective sales tool, design your page to make the video
introduction the obvious thing to watch."
Since many Web sites can't achieve a sale on the first visit,
use offers and sign-ups to prompt visitors to leave an e-mail
address so you can contact them again via e-mail or any
cost-effective means, he says.
5. Reconsider your Yellow Pages ad
In the past, selling locally meant buying an ad in the Yellow
Pages. Not anymore.
"It's my observation that a local store or company with a local
marketplace is better off going to Yahoo and Google," says Miki
Dzugan, president of Rapport Online. "Most people are finding that
their Yellow Page listing is becoming less effective."
Adding a listing to Google and Yahoo is easy. Say you're a
hot-tub dealer. In Google, type in your town and "hot tub" in
Google's search box. At the top of the search results, Google Maps
will display local hot-tub businesses. Click the "More Results"
option.
Then, at the bottom of the page, click on "Information for
Business Owners." You can then create, edit, or remove a listing of
your own. It's free, and to verify the listing, Google will call
you - it's an automated call - or send you a postcard.6. Show,
don't tell Like NeatReceipts, many company sites now showcase
video, which entertains your customers and captures their
attention. These displays also give you the opportunity to provide
more insight into your company, whether it's via a demonstration or
a video of principals, customers, or staff in action. Real estate
agents, for instance, use video to give prospective buyers a
"virtual tour" of listings on the Web rather than in person. In
addition to using video to highlight a product, NeatReceipts
provides demo videos with voice-overs that walk customers through
the operating process.
7. Go viral
In the same way that a virus spreads from person to person, so does
information on the Internet. We've all witnessed the contagiousness
of jokes and YouTube videos. If you create an online video or
commercial that people find amusing, you're heightening your brand
recognition every time it's viewed and forwarded to others.
You can also use viral marketing proactively to reach
prospective customers. TakeSendio, whose products serve as
gatekeepers to client inboxes. The system recognizes an unfamiliar
e-mail address and asks the sender to reply to a verification
e-mail, which protects Sendio clients from automated e-mails. It
then confirms that the sender's message was sent. On every e-mail
it sends, Sendio includes information about how the recipient of
the e-mail can receive protection, too. A link in the e-mail brings
these potential customers to the Sendio Web site.
Stay ahead of the curve
Whether it's viral or video, blog or forum, Internet marketing is
often cost-effective, says Ed Moran, director of product innovation
for Deloitte Services in New York, a global firm focusing on audit,
tax, consulting, and financial-advisory services. Moreover, if you
don't open a dialogue with your customers about your business,
someone else might.
"Communities self-assemble, and that's a beautiful thing," Moran
says. "Eventually, through search engines, they will find a blog or
community and weigh in on your car, vacuum cleaner, or weight-loss
drug."
So why not be proactive and benefit from this inevitable
business trend, rather than playing catch-up after it passes you
by?