Research the voice of your user

My original plan was to finish my recap on OMS, but I feel that this is an important topic to touch on.

The success of your company depends on how you are able to align your business to the needs of your audience, The best way to do that is to make sure it's in a way that they understand. Sounds simple doesn't it? Well it's harder then most people think because they don't take the time to research their audience. The easiest thing you can do is tap into your current customer base. You already won them over, and they will be happy that you value their opinion. Find out what they like or dislike about what you have to offer, and how can you do it better. Too many companies don't do this because they are scared of negative criticism. If we all agree that everything should be about the user, they should be the first person you turn to when you need feedback. They are the ones buying your product. Not only do you have to listen to their needs, but you also have to put it in a way that they understand it. On Saturday I got to hear a session on Business Intelligence by Doug Lenos, and he said you need to harvest the voice of the user. Well how do you do that you might ask. When you are doing your keyword research you need to find out what types of keywords that your users are searching on to get to your site, and use those keywords to write your copy. You don't want to make it hard on them, because you would have lost them before they even got to your door. The reason why this topic is fresh on my mind is because I had a friend come up to me and ask me to help him do some research on a product that he wanted to buy. I sure no sweat, and spent an hour or so on google, and sent him a whole list of links to check out. He was shocked to see that I was able to find so much "useful" information. He was shocked to hear that all I did was search on google. I asked him what resources did he use when he was researching, and he said google. Then I asked him what keywords did he use. The keyword phrases that he used were very broad. He told me that he didn't spend much time, and was hoping to find something rather quickly. He also told me that not once did he go past the first page. When I told him what phrases, and techniques that I used he said he would have never thought of that. This is a perfect example of how end users search. If you do your homework, and research what keywords and phrases your customers are using to get to you and provide them with relevant information you will get them every time. Sometimes I forget that figuring out keyword combinations is what I do, and this is not something that the average user does.

When we are marketing our product a lot of the time we don't take the time to view it from the eyes of the user. I guarantee you this: If you take the time to research the voice of your user, and align your business around them you WILL be rewarded.

Greatings from the Online Marketing Summit!

Today was day 1 of the Online Marketing Summit here in San Diego. I feel that this is one of the best marketing summits of the year. It's a place were marketers from all markets could get together and talk about best practices, strategy, and get feedback on marketing ideas. It is a vendorless environment, and the sponsors that presented provided advice and case studies on what worked. In fact if they plug their company we are encouraged to boo them. =oD Leading up to the event we were asked to participate in the OMS forums so that we could get the ball rolling, and give the presenters an idea of what what we wanted to learn about. Some of the topics of discussion were Social Media, SEO, Paid Search, and Email Marketing. I am a big advocate on education, and I think the topic is excellent. If we all get together and go over the issues we can work things out, and build a better environment for the user.

With that said I will step off my soapbox, and get to the good stuff. The day started out with a panel discussion on Social Media and it should be leveraged by marketers. The big idea from that discussion was Social media is still too new to pinpoint the best ways to provide ROI. When it comes to Social Media ROI shouldn't be the focus. The focus should be more on building connections, and providing a platform for communication between you and your end users.

In the SEO session, lead by Ray "Catfish" Comstock we went over SEO best practices. The highlights from the session included using Goggle's Webmaster tools to better understand your organic positioning. Also the best way to optimize your site is to provide authoritative content. Finally the end result for all your SEO efforts should be about the end user.

In the Email Marketing session they covered that you should treat your different subscribers different. You shouldn't market to your new users as the same as you would frequent buyers or lapse visitors. Also you should consider your subject line early in the process.

After lunch I got to lead a round table discussion on online conversion. It was refreshing to know that even though we are all in different markets we all share similar challenges. Some of the challenges included being able to bring in targeted leads, and dealing with internal politics.

The advanced tactics in paid search provided the Ah-ha! point of the day. You should include your channel partners in your search efforts in order to take over the google ad space. Also you should work with dayparting and geotargeting, to increase clicks, and provide a more targeted campaign.

At the end of the day we had another panel discussion where the gurus gave insight on the future of marketing. We all agree that the web should be the epicenter of all your marketing efforts. All of your marketing activities should point back to your website.

Finally we had a town hall meeting were we got to get everything off of chest, and go over what worked for the day.

Day one was awesome, all the panelist had an excellent insight on all the issues, and where the market is headed. The day ended on a high note with cocktails and dinner.

I'm excited to see what's on deck for day 2!

Ease of use for your users should come first...

Even if it means it takes a bit of work on your end.

Yeah I know it's been ages since my last post, but when you are a busy marketeer sometimes personal blogging takes the backseat. With that said on to my topic.

One of my biggest pet peeves is a site that is hard to navigate. If I can't get what I need within 3-5 clicks I feel like I am wasting my time. In a world where everyone is trying to get things done quickly and efficiently you can not afford to have a website that is hard to use. Being a designer I understand the need to have a website that is well designed, but if your design makes your site hard to use then your site is worthless.

Here are my top 5 tips that will improve your users experience on your site

1. Have a good Navigation Structure
Your nav bar is how your user moves through your site. Take the time to make sure that your navigation scheme is orginized which makes for fast travel through your site If your website is large you might want to consider putting like items into sections and having a sub nav.

2. Develop a Sitemap
Other than assisting in the area of SEO, your sitemap is a place that users turn to when they need to find something in a hurry or when they get lost. Organize the links in a way that's easy to follow.

3. Make it easy to get back home
I know this seems like a no brainer, but I still run across sites that make it hard to get back to the homepage. I don't think just making your logo a link back to the homepage is enough. Also at the very least sdd a link in your nav that goes back to the homepage. You might want to consider adding a breadcrumb trail to your site. Breadcrumbs are becoming more popular they help the user understand the hierarchy of your website. It also gives them a way to jump up to higher levels of your site.

4. Allow the user to search for what they want.
This is a big one for larger sites, but consider adding an internal search feature on your site. This will give the user another tool to find what they are looking for. Adding a search bar is not hard, and very inexpensive. Sites like google will allow you to have a search bar on your site in minutes by just adding a bit of code that they provide to your website.

5. Ask for feedback
Just like a car it's always good to fine tune your website. Have some outside users go though and QC your websites navigation and usability. Give them a list a things to find and see if it takes them more then 2 clicks to find it. Take their feed back and use it to improve your process.

Freebie! Make a custom 404 page
I couldn't cut the list down to 5 so you get one for free. No one likes getting the ever so hated "page not found" page. To fix that create a custom 404 page. Have your 404 page redirect to the sitemap, or provide a group of common links. This way you will help those users that get a bad link or try to access an old page find their way.

I know there are many more areas that I could cover, but I feel that those are some of the major points. If you have those points covered you know that your users will have a good experience on your site, and be able to find what they need with ease.

Will the iPhone sink or swim

After Steve Job's Keynote speech at Mac World there has been much talk about the future of the iPhone. In the world of PDA's and smart phones will the iPhone outlive all the hype? Marketing Guru Steh Godin announced an iPhone Challenge. He wants everyone to give their prediction on the future of the iPhone, and a year from now we will review.

I feel strongly that the iPhone is going to revolutionize the cell phone just like the iPod did with MP3 players. In the initial release loyal mac users, and tech geeks will flock to the iPhone, while others will wait till the price drops a bit, and any bugs are worked out. Since the iPhone syncs via iTunes; PC and MAC users will have no problem using the iPhone. I do think that Apple needs to let the iPhone be available on phone networks other then Cingular. With the cost of the phone, and the cost to switch networks the iPhone will range from $750-$1000. By alowing the iPhone to be availible on more networks will put the iPhone up there with the BlackBerry, and Treo Smart Phones.

My prediction is this: When Apple launches the iPhone there will be the initial spike in sales just like with any new product, then they will plateau. Apple's ability to fix any bugs, resolve price and provider issues will determine the future of the iPhone. If Apple can resolve all issues within the 6 months to a year after the release of the iPhone I don't see any reason why the iPhone can't be one of the best selling Smart phones on the market.

It pays to know your target demographic

Here is an article about how Scion ranks above Amazon and Best Buy for the top rated online customer experience for shoppers that are 35 and under. This was passed to me by a fellow interactive designer, Steven Alcala

Scion has 80% name recognition among young buyers
Cisco's second annual e-commerce study ranks Scion above Amazon.com
and Best Buy in building a top-branded customer experience for the
under-35 online shopper.

Leading the survey at No. 1, despite not having even ranked last
year, Scion's "spectacular success with their target market is the
interactive and community-oriented nature of the Scion online
experience," the survey finds. Key aspects of Scion's online strategy
include:

Clear customer focus: Scion customers are music fans, and Scion.com
features a boom box where users can listen to "Scion" music while
browsing the site. The site also promotes artists and lists concert
information.

Sophisticated customization tools: Users can build their own cars while on the site and save their choices at "My Scion."
Integration between online and offline channels: Once a user
identifies the features and model of a particular car he or she
likes, that information can be sent to a local dealership, which will
then locate that specific vehicle and coordinate for the customer to
come in for a test drive.

Social networking and community participation: A section of Scion.com
is devoted solely to registered users, most of whom are Scion owners.
There are also special events for Scion customers around the country,
creating a sense of exclusivity

Get people hyped on your product and they will turn into walking billboards

Earlier this week I was asked what my favorite search engine was, and without a doubt I said google. As I thought back I realized for the 10 years that google have been around I have used them for 9. An old design teacher of mine introduced me to google. I needed to do research on a project, and he said use google.com, because they have better results then yahoo, and excite. He told us that he found them through a friend. Ever since that day I used google and never stopped. This proves that word of mouth advertising is extremely powerful. As humans we react better to human interaction, and we are more likely to believe someone that we speak to over something that we read. If someone is excited about a product or service they give off a vibe that you can't always pick up from reading about it. So if get people hyped on your product it will sell itself. In order to get people hyped you first have to have a product that will fit the needs of your target demographic, then you have target your loyal customers. Give them the opportunity to preview your product first, and make them feel special for hanging in there with you. In turn they will spread the word.

At the company that I work for we do not sell directly to the end user; we rely on our channel partners to sell our products. For us our channel partners are our customers and they are who we cater to the most. We know that they have a choice on what company's product that they sell, so we make them feel special for selling our product. We ask for their feedback, and take that into consideration when we upgrade, or design new products. We give them in give them discounts and benefits that they can pass on to their customers. Because the service and dedication that we give to them they aer eager to sell our product and promote our brand.

In the April edition of Wired, they had an article on 2-Way Talk. They call it the era on nonstop two-way business. They also list a number of companies from Amazon to Apple that gets their customers involved with their products. It gives them a sense of ownership, and it makes them want to spread the word.

Get out there and get your customers involved and those customers will bring you new customers.

Do you have a blog and want more traffic?

Do you have a blog that has cool content, and do you want more traffic? You should submit you blog or feed to MySpace News. Earlier this week MySpace announced that they will be providing a news section on their site. How are they getting the feeds you ask? Well I'm sure they have some sophisticated web crawl tool, but they are also allowing you to submit your blog or feed and choose which category your blog falls in. Submit your blog to mySpace! Once your site is submitted they will review it to see if your blog is right for their site.

Are you remarkable?

As you my discover from reading my blog that I am a big fan of Seth Godin. He is an incredible marketer, that has an eye for marketing. While reading his blog I came across a recent post where he shows the video of the first time he presented the "Purple Cow" concept. This video is the overview of his Purple Cow Book

The "Purple Cow" concept is the very concept that got me hooked on marketing. He talks about how we are in the world of mass media and inorder to succeed you need to have an idea that is remarkable. You need to think outside the box and come up with an idea that jumps out at people. Before that I hated marketing, and I thought marketeers are people who force thier products down EVERYONE'S throat. Seth talks about targeted marketing, and how you should market you product to people that are listening to your and in turn they will tell others. In my opinion word of mouth is the best form of advertising. If you can get a small group of loyal customers hyped on your message they will tell their friends, and from there the idea virus has begun. We are in a world where the traditional methods are not working. People don't watch TV, and read magazines like they used to. We don't move in a linear fashion, we watch our TV programs when we want to, and we read blogs and news feeds. So if you are to spark the intrest of a potential buyer you have to come up with an idea that is remarkable

The Macine is Us/ing Us.....A guide to Web 2.0

What is Web 2.0 you ask?


Check out this video




Point here for preview!

A big thanks to Steve & Lynsey for sharing this with me!

Asking people to add a link to your site will increse your site popularity

If you see a site that that has a product or service that would work well with your product or service you might want to ask them to link to your site. The owner of the site might ask for you to link to their site in return or have you pay a fee. Link Building or Co-operation is a good way to increase your site popularity. You can also send link request to blog owners that talk about topics related to your industry. Below is an example of a link request to a blog owner.


Steve,
I really enjoy reading your Web Marketing Blog, and I feel that you are an excellent asset to the Web Marketing community. I am a subscriber to numerous internet marketing related blogs and I feel that your content is top notch and extremely knowledgeable.

I noticed that you link to a lot of industry related blogs, and I wanted to know if you could link to my blog garyware.blogspot.com. Since we talk about a lot of the same topics it might be a benefit to your readers to get multiple points of views. It would be a privilege to be linked to your site, and in return I will link back to you

Thanks,
-Gary Ware