Do web sites work for marketing?

Of course we, like most companies, have a Web site. We use it for marketing
and -- perhaps more importantly -- we provide useful information to current
customers. I think customers have come to expect this information to be
available on company Web sites.

My question is do Web sites work to help attract new customers?

If so, what are some principles that can help with this? What is good to do
and not do?

--
Robert Anderson

Robert,

We get a healthy number of enquiries and new clients via our website
(so much so, that we stopped bothering with other forms of marketing
long ago). So, it works for us. However, we have had a web presence
for a long time and the site is popular.

It is not a panacea for lack of leads, however, as the visitor to lead
ratio can sometimes be very small. Eg: one website I'm aware of has a
contact/visitor ratio of less than 1 in 10,000, so it can take a lot of
effort to build up the volumes required to generate leads.

Most of the business managers that I know in 'real life' use their
website to reinforce their company image with existing clients/leads
rather than generate new leads.

Steve

In article <cv0gq202b5r@enews4.newsguy.com>,
"Robert Anderson" <rbanderson@nospamnwlink.com> wrote:

> My question is do Web sites work to help attract new customers?

My question is why do you have to ask? You should always be
asking new customers how they found you, and keeping track of
the answers. That is basic marketing research. The idea is
that you focus more time and money on the streams that are
successful, and stop spending in areas where it doesn't make
sense.

Start asking your customers how they found you, and see
how many say they found you from the web. I am willing
to bet that the answer is about 0.01%. My experience is
that web sites are good for tech support, and you have to
have one just to be in the game, but they don't drive
sales or customers to your location. Not unless you
advertise in such a manner that you drive people to you
web site.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

In article <cv0gq202b5r@enews4.newsguy.com>,
"Robert Anderson" <rbanderson@nospamnwlink.com> wrote:

> My question is do Web sites work to help attract new customers?

My question is why do you have to ask? You should always be
asking new customers how they found you, and keeping track of
the answers. That is basic marketing research. The idea is
that you focus more time and money on the streams that are
successful, and stop spending in areas where it doesn't make
sense.

Start asking your customers how they found you, and see
how many say they found you from the web. I am willing
to bet that the answer is about 0.01%. My experience is
that web sites are good for tech support, and you have to
have one just to be in the game, but they don't drive
sales or customers to your location. Not unless you
advertise in such a manner that you drive people to you
web site.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

"Robert Anderson" <rbanderson@nospamnwlink.com> wrote in message
news:cv0gq202b5r@enews4.newsguy.com...
>
>
> Of course we, like most companies, have a Web site. We use it for
marketing
> and -- perhaps more importantly -- we provide useful information to
current
> customers. I think customers have come to expect this information to be
> available on company Web sites.
>
> My question is do Web sites work to help attract new customers?

Of course.

>
> If so, what are some principles that can help with this? What is good to
do
> and not do?

Proper text and promotional language. The same you would use in any
advertising. You just get to put in more detail on the web and try to answer
customer questions and concerns before they ask.



--
McWebber
No email replies read
If someone tells you to forward an email to all your friends
please forget that I'm your friend.

"John A. Weeks III" <john@johnweeks.com> wrote in message
news:cv2klh01a04@enews4.newsguy.com...
>
> In article <cv0gq202b5r@enews4.newsguy.com>,
> "Robert Anderson" <rbanderson@nospamnwlink.com> wrote:
>
>> My question is do Web sites work to help attract new customers?
>
> My question is why do you have to ask? You should always be
> asking new customers how they found you, and keeping track of
> the answers. That is basic marketing research. The idea is
> that you focus more time and money on the streams that are
> successful, and stop spending in areas where it doesn't make
> sense.

I am asking to start a conversation. I enjoy it.

>
> Start asking your customers how they found you, and see
> how many say they found you from the web. I am willing
> to bet that the answer is about 0.01%. My experience is
> that web sites are good for tech support, and you have to
> have one just to be in the game, but they don't drive
> sales or customers to your location. Not unless you
> advertise in such a manner that you drive people to you
> web site.

We do ask them. We are trying to improve the effectiveness of our Web site
for marketing and tech support as well (though we are going to separate the
two).

--
Robert Anderson

John,

You challenged Robert's question about websites and why he asks -
suggesting instead that he should start by asking new customers how
they found his organisation.

His question seems very sensible to me (assuming they have not already
developed the website as a lead-generation channel). This is because
asking new customers how they found you helps to maximise performance
of *existing* channels, but reveals little or nothing about new or
hitherto undeveloped channels. To explore the potential for lead
generation via something new, they need to use research methods other
than consulting their existing supply of customers.

Steve

"Robert Anderson" <rbanderson@nospamnwlink.com> wrote in message
news:cv0gq202b5r@enews4.newsguy.com...
>
>
> Of course we, like most companies, have a Web site. We use it for
> marketing
> and -- perhaps more importantly -- we provide useful information to
> current
> customers. I think customers have come to expect this information to be
> available on company Web sites.
>
> My question is do Web sites work to help attract new customers?
>
> If so, what are some principles that can help with this? What is good to
> do
> and not do?
>
> --
> Robert Anderson
>
>
Robert,

Since your company is B2B, a quality website can successfully fill in the
rest of your marketing program in a number of ways. First, getting found.
If you are appealing to a large (big and geographically diverse) market
segment or segments, it can be very expensive to use mailings to establish a
presence and begin positioning your organization and its products/services.
Personal selling (as a marketing function) is also an expensive solution.
On the other hand, your website provides both presence and positioning as an
enormous audience of influencers and instigators look for solutions via the
Internet. Working with one company (pre-web), we found that most lost
business happened because prospects purchased inferior products because they
simply didn't know about something better. Today, people have a much more
powerful tool to find your product/service, but only if it is there to be
found.

Second, product information. Sure, you have a basement full of
company/product/service brochures, product description sheets, ffb
comparison matrices, etc. A basement full of materials that have to be
printed, and reprinted every time there is a change in your product/service.
Your website can be updated much faster and much cheaper than reprinting a
full suite of materials. In addition, many interested parties try to find
information without going through sales - they want to know something about
the product/service, the benefits conferred, etc., without feeling hounded
by a persistent salesperson. So a well-thought-out block of product/service
information (benefits, demonstrations, case studies, white papers,
testimonials, FAQ, etc.) can bring these individuals closer to a trial or
sale in a comfortable state.

Third, product demonstrations. I mention these as separate from the product
information area because they are very difficult to get in front of people.
Either a salesperson must breach the prospect's walls, get an interview,
etc. to show one, or you have to compete with all the other bells and
whistles at a trade show to get yours seen, or suffer the expense of
advertising and hosting a tour to get the demo in front of prospects. If
your product/service can be demonstrated via the web (and there are some
very powerful products available today to help with this), you can once
again position your product and organization for potential buyers,
influencers, and recommenders in a (for them) non-threatening way.

Fourth, depending on your product/service, is the warm fuzzy - short term
trials delivered via the website. This can extremely well to move an
interested party from thinking about your product/service to actually
getting their hands on it. If you have a top product/service, the trial can
do most of the selling for you. A website integrated with your distribution
system can move sample or trial versions of your product/service into
prospects' hands with little or no staff/sales involvement - a great cost
savings, and a speedy way to expose your product/service to your target
segment(s).

Fifth, again depending on the nature of your product/service, a website is
an excellent way to show off customer support (not just the crew on the
telephones, but your regional and national user conferences, update
bulletins, user tips, implementation guides, and the like. Again, this sort
of material goes a long way to position any company, even a small one, as a
serious contender in the marketplace - worthy of the attention of a
prospective buyer.

Finally, none of the above is true unless the website is carefully planned -
starting with the company objectives for the site. I don't mean look and
feel, or the pretty pictures, or the content to go in. All of that follows
from a careful consideration, by upper management, of what they need/want
the website to do, and what resources are available (personnel, money, etc.)
to commit to the project. All of the what and how will be a lot easier, and
the site will get done a lot faster, with this sort of examination to begin
with. And, of course, establishing measurable objectives and time frames
for the website to accomplish those objectives.

Best of luck.

George King
G.E. King Marketin

"George King" <news@geking.com> wrote in message
news:cv3qm102p36@enews3.newsguy.com...
>
>
>
> "Robert Anderson" <rbanderson@nospamnwlink.com> wrote in message
> news:cv0gq202b5r@enews4.newsguy.com...

> Second, product information. Sure, you have a basement full of
> company/product/service brochures, product description sheets, ffb
> comparison matrices, etc. A basement full of materials that have to be
> printed, and reprinted every time there is a change in your
> product/service.
> Your website can be updated much faster and much cheaper than reprinting a
> full suite of materials. In addition, many interested parties try to find
> information without going through sales - they want to know something
> about
> the product/service, the benefits conferred, etc., without feeling hounded
> by a persistent salesperson. So a well-thought-out block of
> product/service
> information (benefits, demonstrations, case studies, white papers,
> testimonials, FAQ, etc.) can bring these individuals closer to a trial or
> sale in a comfortable state.

Good points all.

Interesting on the salesperson thing. I think that our Web site knows more
than our salespeople -- well, our Web site has almost all of the information
you could need.

One thing we are really trying to improve in our sales process is dealing
with -- answering -- objections. If this means getting an engineer involved.
Do it. If this means saying, "I don't know but can get back to you". Do it.
Don't ever gloss over an objection. Make sure they are all met. A
salesperson can resolve objections, whereas a Web site can't do that. Well,
if the customer is willing to look for the missing information (that seems
to be the heart of most objections).

Yes, it seems most objections are a missing piece of information that
concerns the prospect. And you cannot put everything on the Web site --
well, you can put it all there but it still would require work to search for
it. And even then it might not be apparent where to find the information
that succinctly deals with the specific objection.

I am thinking out loud here but perhaps a sales FAQ on each product and
service would be useful. The 10 most common concerns addressed.

> Third, product demonstrations. I mention these as separate from the
> product
> information area because they are very difficult to get in front of
> people.
> Either a salesperson must breach the prospect's walls, get an interview,
> etc. to show one, or you have to compete with all the other bells and
> whistles at a trade show to get yours seen, or suffer the expense of
> advertising and hosting a tour to get the demo in front of prospects. If
> your product/service can be demonstrated via the web (and there are some
> very powerful products available today to help with this), you can once
> again position your product and organization for potential buyers,
> influencers, and recommenders in a (for them) non-threatening way.

Demos are key. I agree. Basically, with no demo, we are asking a prospect to
buy something sight unseen -- based on trusting what we are saying in our
marketing and sales efforts. Show me is a reasonable response to this.

Good points all...

--
Robert Anderson

"Steve" <spmyers@teamtechnology.co.uk> wrote in message
news:cv3qli01dol@enews2.newsguy.com...
>
> John,
>
> You challenged Robert's question about websites and why he asks -
> suggesting instead that he should start by asking new customers how
> they found his organisation.
>
> His question seems very sensible to me (assuming they have not already
> developed the website as a lead-generation channel). This is because
> asking new customers how they found you helps to maximise performance
> of *existing* channels, but reveals little or nothing about new or
> hitherto undeveloped channels. To explore the potential for lead
> generation via something new, they need to use research methods other
> than consulting their existing supply of customers.

Agreed.

Also, something else I have been thinking about Web sites -- and marketing
of all sorts -- is it is a one way communication. With a Web site the
prospective customer can change the channel in a split second. He can voice
concerns to himself that you never have a chance to address.

That is a tough challenge.

--
Robert Anderson