Having trouble viewing this newsletter? Click here. |
||||||||||||
April 2005 Issue
Are You Lying to Your Customers?In the effort to spin a good marketing story, are you telling the truth?There is absolutely no need to lie to your customers in order to market your product effectively. But too many companies do it nonetheless. The other day, I stopped at one of the new juice bars in downtown Montreal to get a blended fruit juice. I didn't expect that the company's marketing would lie to me. Let me describe the place: Colourful decor, piles of fresh fruit, posters that claim their products are low in fat, and a menu containing a bewildering array of cutely-named juice products, which had descriptions such as "The zing of raspberries, naturally sweetened with bananas and swirled with cranberry orange taste sensations!" I looked at the array of choices, and asked the girl at the cash register: "Can you tell me exactly what is in the Blue Banana?" "Bananas and blueberries," she said. "Sounds good. I'll take one," I replied. "Large or small?" "Large." "With the large, you get a free booster. Which one do you want?" The booster, she explained, was an additive that contained herbs or protein, or ingredients such as echinacea and ginseng. I declined. I paid, and a minute later, I was presented with a half-litre cup and a straw. I turned and walked away. Then I took a sip. It was ice cream. Or more precisely, sorbet. I was stunned. Consider the disconnect between the company's marketing and the product handed to me: Juice bar. Fresh fruit. Naturally sweetened. Low fat. Protein, echinacea and ginseng. And they handed me half a litre of a high-calorie dessert treat. (I checked the company's web site. This page lists the nutritional breakdown of their products. Some of them have more calories than a Big Mac.) I went back to examine their menu more closely. Nowhere is it spelled out that their drinks contain ice cream or sorbet. And recall that I even asked the girl at the cash register for the ingredients. Did this company intend to sell me a frozen treat when what I wanted was juice? No. But their marketing is a lie all the same. In an attempt to spin a pleasant story about the supposed healthy benefits of their product, they managed to obfuscate the nature of the product itself. And they lost me as a customer. So what is the moral of the story? Look at your own company's products and services, and at your marketing and web site. Do they match? The Internet provides a powerful way for your customers to talk to each other about you. And when people get lied to, boy do they talk. It is vital that the story you're telling about your company be true. Give Your Customers a Reason to Visit Your Web SiteContent is king. Always has been.Here's an old joke: Question: What are TV shows for? Answer: They fill in the gaps between commercials. Looking at some Web sites, you'd easily assume the same rule applies to the Internet. But it doesn't. On the 'Net, real content is the most precious commodity. In last month's issue, we talked about getting good rankings for the Digital Wind site on search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. What we forgot to mention is how good content — actual, interesting, well-written content — is vital to that task. Search engines work by scanning your pages for relevant text. Suppose you run a pet shop. If a person types "red-footed tortoise" into Yahoo!, pages that contain this phrase appear. But pages that discuss these animals in great detail will tend to rank better in the Yahoo! search results than pages that contain just a name and a price. What works for search engines also works for real flesh-and-blood people: A Web site that offers something interesting to read is a valuable Web site. Here's where good content becomes vital: Once the visitor arrives at your pet shop's web site, a well-written, informative article about the feeding, habitat, and care of red-footed tortoises can help convince the visitor to buy. He may even add your page to his favorites, and revisit in the future. Or he might forward the page to another potential buyer. It seems obvious: Write at length about what you are good at. But so many companies fail to do this, instead offering insincere marketing-speak or highflown mission statements. The reason is because writing is not easy. Producing clear, concise prose about your company's expertise is hard. If you're serious about making a web site that will draw customers, you should consider hiring a professional copywriter with experience in Web writing to work with you. But a copywriter is not a panacea. The business is yours and the expertise is yours. Find a writer with whom you can have a working relationship, who can help shape and refine your own personal message. Downloadable Goodies at Digital WindOriginal photography, desktop backgroundsWe firmly believe that the more you give away, the more you get back. This applies to business as well as to personal life. So we're giving away some great photography for you to put as desktop backgrounds on your computer screen. Visit digitalwind.com/goodies/ to download a variety of unique images from around the world. Some samples:
All these photos were taken by Digital Wind's Jim Royal. Enjoy! And if you like them, tell a friend! Contact and Subscription InformationDigital Wind's newsletter is a periodic mailing about the business of branding in the digital age sent to subscribers only. If you find this information valuable, please pass it on to a friend. Past IssuesArchives of the Digital Wind newsletter can be found at http://digitalwind.com/subscribe/ FeedbackHave a complaint? Want to tell us we're doing a great job? Contact Jim Royal at Digital Wind with your comments and suggestions. We'd love to hear from you. About Digital WindMontreal-based Digital Wind can manage your company's entire public image, from logo design to web design to corporate email newsletters. SubscriptionsTo subscribe to the Digital Wind newsletter, visit http://digitalwind.com/subscribe/ If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe in one of two ways:
|
||||||||||||
