Most companies begin their branding materials with their website. However, most don't realize it is another form of an elevator pitch-it's just the beginning of a conversation.
The reality is that people are too busy to go through a website to figure out what your company does. Just like an elevator pitch, you have seconds to grab someone's attention—or lose them completely. Those great flash intros that you had made to dazzle visitors to your site are often bypassed or ignored by visitors.
In an age of information overload, people want to get right to the point. Marketing materials and sales pitches with too much jargon can leave potential prospects confused and overwhelmed. Is this the brand impression you really want to make?
Is it easy to understand what your company does from your site, without drilling down several pages? Senior-level execs want the short version---a quick fact sheet. It should be right at the top level, ready to be accessed by even the most casual visitor.
Consider how many junior folks and interns are tasked with searching online for the type of service your company may provide. If the people doing the preliminary research can't understand what it is you do, they certainly won't take the effort to mention you to the higher ups that you need to reach.
Keep it simple. Leave out the jargon and complicated language. If they want more information, they'll ask. That's where your marketing materials, sell sheets, and white papers come in!
One of the easiest and most overlooked ways to get better results from marketing efforts is to treat a web site home page as an ad, which leads us to one of the toughest challenges in advertising: writing concise and compelling copy.
Take Google ads for instance; it's tough to write an ad using 8-12 words. It's a great exercise.
What 10 words describe your company's services? Now, think about the person who is developing your key word ads. Is it a tech person? Is your marketing agency involved? Online advertising is a primary source of leads for many companies. It's a super cluttered, competitive environment. Yet you'd be surprised how far-removed the marketing and brand stewards are from the process.
The funny thing, it's just the opposite when it comes to traditional outdoor advertising. Outdoor billboards are one of the greatest tests of advertising. If you find just the right words and imagery that enables your audience to "get it" in seconds, then you've found the magic you're looking for.
I've suffered over countless agency/client meetings where it could take days, weeks and even months to get one simple line of copy for a billboard approved. Of course you need to consider that people would be driving at 60 MPH and would need to see and process the ad in a split second…
Given that the challenges are similar online and even in person, it's a shame that the same level of attention is not always given to all sales and marketing elements. Wherever you connect, whether it's in-person, online, on a highway or an event, if it's not clear what your company does in seconds, your prospects will whiz by quickly.
Website is an Ad - To learn more about this author, visit Michele Harris's Website.
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Michele Harris
(Visit Michele's Website)
Founder and President of SMARTi Solutions
(www.get
smarti.com), industry veteran Michele
Harris has spent 17 years developing
savvy, revenue-rich marketing and business
development programs for a client
portfolio that reads like a veritable
"Who's Who" among Fortune 500 companies
and the nation's premier advertising
agencies.
In 2001 Michele launched SMARTi Solutions,
a company that—in the span of five
years—has become the leading agency search
and business development firm for the
mid-size marketplace. Additionally, the
firm has received recognition, and a Small
Business Award, by the New York City
Mayor's Office for entrepreneurial and
business success.
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