As part of my first ??Question A Day? series, I??m giving my thoughts to some questions Kris Hoet has pointed to. He’s asking the the community to answer eight FAQs advertisers have about social media and online marketing.
Yesterday??s QAD can be found here.
Here??s today??s question:
Does online advertising make sense without a decent website?
If your website is a detriment to closing the deal, then don??t advertise. And that stands whether you??re trying to close the deal online or off.
Think of your website as your retail location or office space, many of the same rules apply. If your site isn??t welcoming, organized, clean, or well designed, ultimately, you??re not taking the necessary steps to move your customers along the purchase cycle. You??re not leaving them with a positive impression.
In addition, if you??re selling your product online and it??s difficult to navigate along to your checkout area, then pushing people to your site doesn??t make sense either. Essentially, it all boils down to the visitor??s experience. So let??s rephrase the question:
Does online advertising make sense without a website that creates a positive experience?
It??s like that old advertising adage: Nothing kills a bad product faster than great advertising. Well, today, nothing kills online sales faster than a website that creates a negative experience. Strive for the most positive experience, just as you would offline, and you can go a long way to making your online advertising efforts pay off.
Of course, the questions then becomes: just how are you planning to advertise online? Because interruption tactics ?? pop-ups, banners, etc. ?? are just as ineffective online as they are off. But that’s topic for another day.
Other questions:
- How far should I go in the dialogue with the users? Can I accept controversy on my website? What moderation level is acceptable?
- Are there examples of 2.0 initiatives made by traditional brands that went totally out of hand?
- How can impressions be compared to television GRPs?
- How intrusive should I be? (expandable formats, videos with sound on by default)
- What does interaction rate (only available for rich media formats) tell me about the impact of my campaign?
- Does the long tail change anything to the way I should communicate with my target group?
- Why on earth do people use sites like Second Life?
Back on Monday with Question 3.
April 14th, 2007 at 4:06 am
I disagree on this one.
I believe that you can be efficient online with a good pre-click experience:
http://badideaindeed.wordpress.com/2007/04/02/69/
April 14th, 2007 at 9:33 am
I like the research you point to, Phillippe. Two excellent reads in there. I also agree with the angle you’ve taken on this question.
But I still stand by my first point: “If your website is a detriment to closing the deal, then don??t advertise.”
I look at the question from the perspective of the site being tied to the online advertising component, essential to closing the deal.
Your response is an excellent rebuttal to my last point: “just how are you planning to advertise online? Because interruption tactics ?? pop-ups, banners, etc. ?? are just as ineffective online as they are off. But that??s topic for another day.”
While I’m still would never advocate an interruption-based campaign, the numbers you point to certainly do provide food for thought.
April 14th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
and then comes the (very difficult) question: what’s a good website? :)
I was surprised to read a report about what (belgian) people expect from a food brand website. The expectations are pretty simple: price, composition, how to use to product and where to find it… this can hold in one single page.
Of course, simplicity is probably one of the pillars of the positive experience you evoke.
April 14th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Design the site with a simple site structure and don’t have too much copy. Additionally, make sure any hurdles such as registration steps and total clicks in a particular process, are kept to a minimum. Usability is paramount; graphics and multimedia are secondary considerations.
April 15th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Totally agree with Mario on this one. Simplicity is the key.
Don’t make me think. http://www.sensible.com/buythebook.html