How Difficult is it to Sell Cookies to your Mother?

The answer is not difficult at all. Now let’s take this logic to the Internet.

One area that concerns me about many B2B companies is while they shout to the rooftops about how important growth is; they fail to see the illogic of their website platforms which can be one of the biggest mediums in the world to capture this directive if managed properly.

How many times do you see corporate websites that are really glorified Extranets? Unfortunately, all too often this is the case. While this may be good for their existing customer base and employees -- your mother -- does it speak to those who don’t know the company by their name and/or brands?

I think not.

What I see happening quite often is that corporations tend to configure their website to solely speak to the Known rather than embracing the Unknown. The Known would be their existing customers -- which while important -- cannot be the only focus of this platform. The area that many times is overlooked is to capture the Unknown (new customers) and/or up-sell to existing customers.

One way to uncover whether this is happening is to research the web metrics referral data. If a majority of the visitors are coming to your website via the company name, website name, and/or brand names, then you may have a problem. Your website most likely is being driven by offline branding tactics, which are vastly different from online methods and many times much more expensive.

Please understand that while I am all for offline branding tactics (trade shows, print ads, and direct mail); they are heavily reliant on the One Factor. One trade show. One page within One magazine during One given time-frame. Or One direct mail piece that is sitting among Many competitors direct mail pieces. I classify this One Factor as a passive tactic. What you need to start doing is reaching out to the Active and/or engaged audience that is seeking out knowledge.

Where do you find those individuals? The Internet, which is a global 24/7 portal.

It is a known fact that most individuals research information online. Whether it is at home or the office, the Internet is a medium where individuals can research topics rather anonymously and come to their own conclusions based on the data that they uncover. This is the Unknown factor. The customers are Unknown, and their habits and preferences are Unknown. Therefore, it is up to companies to make sure that they have data about their products and services that can be found -- easily, but most importantly in the manner in which the Unknown wants it.

The way to do this is with various Internet tactics that reach out from the screen via search marketing (organic and paid), community building, article marketing, WEBinars, podcasts, and social networking. Once this has been put in place, the next step is to watch visitor behaviors via your web metrics. You will see patterns emerge and can leverage your future tactics on conclusions you draw from the output. While this may seem daunting, it can be handled with a well though out plan.

Sound difficult. Perhaps. Will it work? Absolutely.

The best part about it is that your mother can relinquish her position as your One Factor.

Linda Stacy