Santa’s judgement isn’t only reserved for little boys and girls, rumor has it he’s moved on to websites. Let’s take a look at a couple of things that can make your website land on the naughty or nice list.
Naughty
Having a website to simply “build awareness.” Even Santa would put coal in your stocking for putting this as your top priority when building a website. What do you want to build awareness for? Your non-profit? Then your goal should be raise money or cause people to take a specific action. What about your business? Then you, obviously, would want to sell more.
Heavy Flash animations: Most of the time Flash isn’t needed. Always ask yourself, “Does this help the customer make a purchasing decision?” If not, scrap it. Flash slows down your computer, can’t be viewed on many mobile devices, and most of all, isn’t necessary.
Never changing your website. Your website should be growing and changing all the time. After all, your customers are. You should always be testing new ways to reach your customers and tell your story better.
Focus on the “experience.” You hardly ever want to have an experience on the web, you usually want to get to the information as quickly as possible. While your website should match your brand, the experience should be about your product or service and not about your website. If a visitor to your site can’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll jump off - no matter how good the “experience” is.
Make all of your ads point to the homepage. If you have someone clicking an ad about “Red Socks” (maybe Santa is shopping), send them to a page with red socks - not the homepage. You already know what the customer is searching for, give them that information.
Nice
Use open-source tools. No one should be tied to a “proprietary” anything if your goals can be accomplished without them. There is an open-source solution for almost anything. Since no one owns open-source (hence the “open” part), you don’t have to worry about the company going belly-up or deciding to increase their prices.
Have an awesome Q&A/FAQ section. Think about the way you would make a purchase and the common questions that your customer service people receive. Those questions should be on the website, and be easy to find.
Focus on your content. The design of the website is great, but most people forget to focus on the content - after all, that’s the meat of why people visit your site. Amazon.com is one of the ugliest sites ever, but its sales top billions of dollars a year - because they focus on the content.
Use analytics. There is no excuse for not having analytics on your website (Google Analytics is even free). This will give you more information than you could possibly imagine about the visitors to your website.
Find a way to keep in touch with your customers. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter or email, you should give customers a way to keep in touch with your company. This will allow you to communicate with them about new products, offerings and discounts.
Reuters just published an article that interviewed "old school" advertising and media big-wigs. They proclaimed that they understood Twitter and Facebook, but didn't have time for it.
Maurice Levy, chief executive of advertising group Publicis, said, "I hate the idea that I would have to share things which are not for sharing or which are superficial." Evidently, he's never looked at Twitter before.
Levy also said "I understand how to wash dishes. I don't do it regularly." He's right. But housekeeping isn't his job. Selling products is.
Martin Sorrell, of WPP (who owns companies like Ogilvy and JWT), said, "I have enough to do answering your emails...I'm 66 years old. I'm almost in the glue factory."
Saying that you understand Twitter but don't have time for it, is like saying you understand sleeping but you don't have time for it - you will eventually die. Like sleep, to truly appreciate Twitter, you need to experience it.
Do these executives need to be on Twitter 24/7? No, but they at least need to understand that it is more than sharing who you're eating with, as Hearst Magazines president David Carey thinks Twitter was all about. He wouldn't think that way if he spent any time on Twitter.
It's no surprise that old media company's stocks, like Publicis are down about 45% from 10 years ago. It takes mergers and acquisitions for this companies to innovate, not from within.
It's a stark contrast to companies like VaynerMedia, headed by business hustler Gary Vaynerchuck. Gary is actively engaging with his audience on Twitter, take a look at his stream. VaynerMedia has landed client like the New York Jets and Pepsi.
So, do you you really understand social media? Or do you just think you do?
I love great advertising. Sometimes great ads are touching, like "Hair." Some ads get your attention, like the Ikea ad. Others, like the biker stunt, are just brilliant.
Sure, the internet is used for amazing, society-changing movements like #OccupyWallstreet and the Egyptian revolution. But I'm just as thankful for all of the other great aspects of the internet. Particularly, I'm thankful for internet memes.
Don't know what a meme is? Urban dictionary describes it as the following: In blogspeak, an idea that is spread from blog to blog OR an internet information generator, especially of random or contentless information.
You know what a meme is, even if you've never heard of the phrase. Heard of planking? That's a meme. Heard of Rick-Rolling? Another meme.
A couple recent meme's have popped-up that I absolutely love. One of the most recent is Tebowing. The official description is: to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different (obviously, a play off of controversial quarterback Tim Tebow). There's even a whole website dedicated people Tebowing.
Another internet meme I love is "#FirstWorldProblems." As you might guess, the official description is: First World Problems are frustrations and complaints that are only experienced by privileged individuals in wealthy countries. It is typically used as a tongue-in-cheek comedic device to make light of trivial inconveniences.
It is typically described as a problem, then followed by the hashtag on Twitter. Here are some of my favorites:
Chipotle charges a whole $1.80 extra for guacamole. #FirstWorldProblems
The first day it snows, and the seat warmers in my Lexus go out on me. #FirstWorldProblems
You get the idea…
Why do I love these? Because life if tough, work is hard and sometimes you need a little break. I like to laugh, a lot (as my co-workers can atest to) and the internet helps.
That's what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving: internet memes.
If you've ever been east or west of DFW, you'll likely run into some of these small towns that the world has become. Everyone knows everyone's business. There are no secrets.
The world of social media has made the whole world a huge small town.
In Gary Vaynerchuck's book, The Thank You Economy, he lays out this idea. Before Wal-Marts and Targets, there could two butcher shops in a small town. If Joe the Butcher screwed something up (maybe he promised you meat at a certain price, and then when you showed up, he insisted on charging you more). Soon, everyone in the town would know that Joe was dishonest and the people in the town would no longer go to Joe the Butcher. Everyone would go to Bob the Butcher. The old equation was caring = business.
Even though we don't have butcher shops anymore, where everyone knows your name, we now have the amazing power of social media.
Before, I didn't subscribe to the "Corporations don't care about me" idea. That all changed today. Long story, short, I had a terrible experience with American Airlines customer service (both on the phone and Twitter). The telephone representative said, "There's nothing I can do. Sorry." I said, "Well, thanks for nothing." He said, "You're welcome," and hung up before he completed the world "welcome."
Is that how we really treat customers? We should be so grateful for our customers and bend over backwards to help them. First of all, because we (as companies) care. But secondly, in today's small world of social media, we'll talk about these bad experiences. I'm not a celebrity, but I tweeted out the message to my around 2,000 Twitter followers and 1,000 or so Facebook fans. Some people replied, some liked it on Facebook. Everyone didn't read it, but would you want something bad going around about your company? If you owned a small business, wouldn't you reach out to make everything right?
What if American Airlines went the other way and offered me some help? Or even said, "We can't help you today, our hands are tied, but next time you fly with us, here's a pass to the Admiral's Club." How different would the experience be? I probably would be writing a post talking about how they did a great job, instead of a lackluster job.
Gary's company, Wine Library, does an incredible job at practicing what he preaches. They call people just to thank them for their order. No upsells, no cheesy surveys, just a "Thank You." When's the last time a company did that for you? I bet many of those customers are customers for life, simply because of a "Thank you." There's your ROI.
If you haven't already, pick up a copy of The Thank You Economy. It will (hopefully) change the way you look at your customers. We have a lot to be thankful for, especially our customers.
Several years ago, we all got married to social media. Things were great - we were finding old friends we haven't seen in a while, growing our Facebook fans leaps and bounds and it was all a beautiful thing. There were butterflies and rainbows all around. We were in the honeymoon phase with social media. Back then, it was OK if Social Media didn't really "work."
For most of us, we just were happy to have it around. We got excited about the possibility of posting something on Facebook and jumped for joy whenever someone @ replied us on Twitter.
Awww…those were the good ol' days... How cute.
Like any relationship, it seems like the honeymoon phase is over and it's time to roll up the sleeves and get to work.
It's time to listen One of the biggest flaws in any relationship is listening. Are you listening to your customers? Be honest with yourself: Are you REALLY listening - or just acting like you are? Only talking (or in some cases, yelling) to your customers is not the way foster any relationship.
Imagine if your significant other texted you, and you didn't respond for days. You'd be in trouble, wouldn't you? Over 70 percent of companies ignore customer complaints on Twitter. Whoa. Can you imagine ignoring what would happen if you didn't reply to 70 percent of the text messages your received?
Here's the good news: 83% of the complainants that received a reply liked or loved the fact that the company responded, regardless of reply.
Lesson: Listen and respond.
Be a pleasant surprise Every woman loves flowers. They love them even more when they are a pleasant surprise. Everyone likes a great surprise. In fact, some researchers even place creativity as the top reason relationships stay together.
Be creative. Offer your fans a special discount code. Be like WineLibrary.com and simply call to thank your customers. Don't try to sell them something. Just say thanks.
If you're feeling really adventurous, see what they are passionate about (since you follow each other on Twitter) and blow them out of the water. Do they like the Rangers? Then buy them tickets to the World Series. You'll have a customer to life.
Lesson: Get creative to show the love.
Is it time to get a counselor? A good counselor can solve a lot of problems. Social media is no different. Maybe it's time to bring an objective third-party in to discuss the details of your relationship. They'll be able to see pain-points that you can't. They'll have the experience of working with other companies and know what works.
And yes, this means paying someone money to do so.
Lesson: Hire someone to get your through the funk.
Like most, I've been touched by the death of someone I don't know. By any measure, an amazing man who has left his thumbprint on the earth he left today. Of course, I'm talking about the one and only Steve Jobs.
I'd like to take you through a brief journey of my life and talk about how the life of a stranger has changed my own life.
I wasn't always an Apple fanboy Believe it or not, I used to think Apples were stupid. I thought, why would someone pay so much for a computer? I've always been a bit of a nerd, so this thought was in about 5th grade. I even remember mocking a family friend who was an Apple fan, back in the early 90s.
It wasn't until High School that I was forced to use a Mac (besides playing Oregon Trail on an Macintosh LC carrying III, which was awesome).
Enter Journalism Class In Journalism class, I was forced to use a Mac to write all of the stories and lay out the pages for the school newspaper. I remember one of the biggest reasons we used it was because the server was so easy to use. It was just like inserting a disk, but it was a server. It was easy to find, easy to set up and just worked. I still don't know how to set up a server on a PC.
I slowly learned more and more about Apple and the Mac, and I grew to enjoy it a lot. My senior year, I was the Editor of the newspaper and spent probably more time on a computer (thank goodness it was a Mac) than any other high school student. I'd have to wait for writers to write, page designers to design and proofers to proof. Really, producing a 8 - 24 page school newspaper every other week was no small task.
It was during that time as Editor that I learned I wasn't like most of the other kids. Today, I'm proud to say that, but in High School it's tough to be a bit geeky. I was more excited to make a newspaper than a touchdown. I learned that I could write stories, people would read it and react to it. It's where I first started to understand the power of media and really was my first tip-toe into marketing.
I still wasn't convinced Back to how this relates to Steve...I promise I'm getting there...
Even after spending countless hours behind a Mac, I still didn't think Macs were the right choice for college. After all, I could get a much better Gateway Computer (remember those?), with a larger screen, faster processor and more RAM for much, much less. So, I got the Gateway.
I entered TCU has a Journalism major, with an undeclared emphasis. Shortly after meeting Mike Wood, my advisor, he asked, "What emphasis are you going to be?" I said, "What do you think I should be?" He didn't miss a beat, and said, "Advertising. No question." From then on out, I was an Advertising Major.
Everyone in Advertising works on Macs, including the whole department at TCU. I started to play with the revolutionary OS X (I even remember using version 10.1 in the Library for a while). I started to play with ads. I started to mess around with videos. I started to understand that Macs gave me a way to create things that could change the world around me.
I finally converted I pulled a lot of shifts at Chili's and finally purchased my first Mac - A PowerBook G3. It even had a backlit keyboard - that blew my mind. That Powerbook allowed me to access Facebook for the first time, allowed me to sync my first iPod, write my first columns for the school newspaper, create my own movies and produce my own ads. I was forever changed.
I learned that Apple's job was to give me advanced technology, previously only available to professionals with gigantic budgets, to really make earth-changing things.
Life changes when you learn the power of Jobs Somewhere between my Junior year at TCU and graduation, I became a huge Apple fan. I'm talking card-carrying member of the Cult of Jobs. I've waited outside of a store for almost every major product release since the original iPhone.
It wasn't until I really started to listening to Jobs that my life changed. Watching his first keynote really changed the way I approached not only business, but life. There was something different about him. He spoke clearly. He had an odd confidence to him. He described things differently. He looked at the world as a canvas instead of a remodeling job. He practiced what he preached.
After that first keynote, I went back and watched everything that he produced. Then I came across this commercial:
The ones that are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do.
That line has stuck with me forever. Ever since I saw that, created by a man who has changed the world, I've thought to myself, "I can change the world." I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Wherever you are, Steve, I want you to know that you have reached a generation of misfits that are ready to take the torch where you left off. Your life, legacy and company will live on.
I'm a person. You are a person. A CEO is a person. A mom is a person. A college student is a person.
This might seem like a simple idea, but once we understand this, it will change the way we do marketing.
Let's dive a little bit more into this, first looking at a Business-to-business purchase, then a Business-to-consumer purchase.
B2B
At the end of every purchase is a person making that decision. Companies don't just decide to purchase something from another business by magic.
Think about how you would make that decision if you were in the purchasers' shoes and your perspective will instantly change.
Would you make a final decision by getting a piece of Direct Mail? Probably not.
Would you research the product by going to Google? Definitely (and may even search in Bing).
Would you like to get a SPAM email? Heck no.
Would you care if the company had 100,000 Facebook fans? Probably not.
Would it help you make the purchase if the website showed you how it could save your company money and make your life easier? Absolutely.
Would honest reviews of the product help? You betcha.
Do you want to see a boring ad with two people shaking hands? No way, José. You want to have some emotion connected with the ad, rather than indifference.
B2C
We're all consumers, yet sometimes we even forget this. Want to have your eyes opened? Here's some homework: write down how you make your next three purchases, especially for something you've never purchased before.
I was looking at a nutritional supplement at Walgreens yesterday. Here's what I did, in the middle of the isle:
I looked at the ingredients and compared it to some products right next to it.
I pulled out my iPhone and Googled the brand name of the product to look at reviews. The reviews were, generally, very positive.
I looked on Amazon to see if the product could be purchased cheaper.
I was still unsure about what some of the ingredients were, so I Googled those, and ended up on WebMD, to get more information.
After researching all of this, I ultimately made the purchase.
Think I'm unique? Sorry to be harsh, but, you're wrong. 70% of customers now look online before making a purchase. Customers are searching online for small ticket items, too. Google is seeing huge swells in people searching for reviews on smaller items, such as pens and shampoo. (source)
Before you start your next marketing campaign, put yourself in your consumer's shoes. After all, you are a consumer, too.
For those without the fortunate blessing of having nerds in your life, yesterday Facebook reinvented itself - again. It's no doubt that Facebook feels pressure to keep innovating on their already life-changing product (trying going a week without checking Facebook and tell me it's not life-changing). TechCrunch has a great rundown of the actual new features, but I thought it would be helpful to talk less about the features and more about what this means for you and I going forward.
Facebook wants to be the online version of your life. Take a look at Timelines (the new profile, mine is show above). This is a scrapbook for your life. As you scroll, you can see what happened in 1989, for example: My little brother was born and Facebook shows a picture, automatically, of both of us together. Facebook wants to be involved in the major moments of you life. My co-worker even put an injury in her Timleline, and associated a picture with it. This will forever be in her Timeline. Looking back at this month, it showcased my recent vacation, which is much more important to remember than some random posts.
Facebook wants sharing to be automatic. Facebook is no longer about sharing, it's about what you're doing. Their music launch has been incredible. I listen to Spotify at work all day and the tracks I'm listening to are automatically shared on my Facebook profile. I've gotten tons of comments about songs I'm listening to, and even had a friend join in on the music I was listening to. Facebook is expanding this to reading, watching, cooking, eating - you get the idea. Once you connect an application, like Spotify, it automatically shares everything you listen to. There is now no more barrier to sharing.
Facebook wants more of your time. I've had the chance to play with the new features today and yesterday (they'll be rolled out to everyone soon) and I have to admit, it's addicting. I've probably spent more time on Facebook in the past 24 hours than I have in total over the past 2 weeks. By sharing more, the internet is about to get a whole lot interesting and powerful.
Facebook is the glue that holds the internet together. If you had any doubt that Facebook had staying power, those were erased yesterday. Every new app you download on your iPhone, every website will be integrated (even deeper, if they aren't already) with Facebook.
Facebook is getting smart. Very smart. Facebook is even stepping into the recommendation game (and, I'd argue, search game) with their new product called Graph Rank. Are you sick of Farmville invites? Graph Rank will recognize that and not show you any other similar games. Do you like to read news in the morning and listen to music during the day? Graph Rank will recognize that and show you news stories (and stories you are interested in) and show you what your friends are listening to during the day. Pretty amazing.
Will this frustrate people that hate change? Absolutely. Will this ultimately make Facebook a larger part of our life? Yes. Will people have to be more careful about what they share online? You better believe it.
We forget that the internet is all about change. We wouldn't be where we are without innovation and we'll eventually be better for all of these changes. There's no doubt that the next generation of the internet will be built using these amazing tools.
It's true, I have a man crush on Gary Vaynerchuk. Just so we're clear, here's how Urban Dictionary (the only dictionary in my world) defines a man crush: "When a straight man has a 'crush' on another man, not sexual but kind of idolizing him." Here's why I have a man crush:
1. Gary practices what he preaches. For those of you that don't know Gary, he's a well-known expert in Social Media and wine. Unlike most "experts" in social media, he is extremely engaged with his fans. I've tweeted several of the other "experts" and I get no reply. It's ridiculous that you preach engagement to companies, but don't even reply to your own fans.
2. Gary is a hustler. Like him, at a young age I started hustling. I once got busted in middle school because I was selling bubblegum. I would go to Costco, buy the gum in bulk and sell the gum for less than the Spirit Store (the store inside the school). The principal got mad that I was undermining the profits of the store. Gary has a very similar story about selling people flowers he just picked from their own lawn.
3. Gary is real. When I've tweeted him before, his tweets aren't perfectly crafted (most don't even have proper capitalization). But that's ok. That's Gary. If you ever see him give a talk, he's exactly the same as if he were in a huge corporation's board room. I once heard a story of him being hounded on the ROI of social media. He replied, after having enough, "What's the ROI of your mother?!" That's being real.
4. Gary can win over any audience. I had a friend who didn't really care for Gary after reading some of his work. I finally convinced him to come to a Gary talk and he was instantly won over. My friend even tweeted him yesterday (and, of course, Gary replied).
5. Gary has big goals. Gary wants to own the Jets. Almost anyone that knows something about Gary, knows his lofty goal. Having big goals and making them public pushes you harder to meet those goals.
6. Gary has passion. Passion trumps experience or knowledge. End of story.
