The Complexity of Conversion

In a web-centric world, the challenge of converting browsers to buyers is fraught with uncertainty. Today we rely on our sites to do all things - educate, entertain, enlighten, sell, create community, and cement our company's reputation in the marketplace. The number of opportunities we have to capture a prospect and convert them into a customer is very limited. Site bounce rates are generally very high, meaning that most people don't make it past the first page of the site. That goes hand in hand with time-on-site metrics that, by and large, are pretty fleeting. It's as if our buying decisions must be made within moments of arriving on the site.

With that kind of challenge, is it any wonder that retailers are suffering, with many mortally wounded, in this economy? Not only are they maintaining expensive brick and mortar outlets, but their "low cost" web store fronts have perhaps only seconds to convince shoppers to part with their dough. What can you hope to communicate in twenty seconds? Can it be anything more than price alone? It seems increasingly like your site's design can only do things to drive customers away - to help them "de-select" you. It's kind of like your resume - during the initial pass-through the screener is more interested in finding a reason, any reason, to move beyond your resume so they can get down to a more manageable number.

And like job searches, perhaps waiting to make the sale with a resume or your website means that you're missing the point. The more effective method may be to try to make the sale before the customer even arrives - by building an identity that makes your site's design somewhat beside the point, within reason. Having the customer arrive with the intention of buying means that website design need not carry so heavy a load - an impossible load by the looks of things.

Black Hats Are Better Armed

I suppose this is just part of the natural progression of things, but it seems as if the bad guys of web marketing have way better tools than the good guys. What I mean is that if you have a competitor out there willing to use any available tools to smear your business on the internet there is precious little you can do. Sure, I've read all of the articles that discuss reputation management, successful response strategies, yada yada yada. But the reality is that it is excruciatingly difficult to get negative mentions off of the web regardless of their veracity.

I'm actually a big believer in the power the web gives consumers to speak out about problems. The reality, however, is that you can't believe the negative or positive ratings given by the "public" -- ever. That's because you have absolutely no idea who wrote the review and what their agenda was/is. A competitor, or just someone out to cause trouble, can always be one step ahead, publishing negative (or positive) reviews using a variety of writing styles, in differing lengths, from different ISP addresses. The casual reader will never know something nefarious is happening. They'll just read that your product is junk or that your service is a scam. Next time you're out buying a product, think about the online reviews you see. There are typically so many good buying options that any negativity surrounding one option simply means you'll likely move on to the next one.

So far, I've found only one really good solution to this "black hat" assault. From the beginning, go out of your way to build a vocal, loyal, and energetic legion of customers to defend you in the marketplace. You want the kinds of people who'd shout the good news of your product from the rooftops more than just once, but every single time they get the chance. The only way to fight the spectre of negativity is to have such a positive aura around your product that any new customer is already aware of the shininess of your brand and when they see negative postings they'll likely default to giving you the benefit of the doubt.

It's a very dangerous competitive world out there, with unscrupulous snipers out there just looking for a chance to kill your brand's reputation. They only safe way to travel through the online world is to be surrounded by your friends. Do you have enough friends yet? Has your company made any new ones today?

MacWorld 2009 Apple's Last

In what's got to be a surprise move, Apple has announced that this will be the last MacWorld event they attend and that Steve Jobs will forego his usual role as keynote. Apple says that they have many alternate ways of reaching customers and the press and that they don't need the show anymore.

Sure, Apple gets press out the wazoo anytime it wants it. A few cryptic words in an otherwise throwaway press release and the entire world is abuzz. And sure, they must spend millions on each show. But did anyone over there stop to think, even for a moment, that sometimes it's not all about them. Sometimes it's about the galaxy of products that orbit the MacWorld. Sometimes it pays to support the developers of hardware and software that help make the products the hit(s) they've become.

Apple goes out of its way, seemingly, to step on those that seek to enrich the Mac/iPod universe. Heavy-handed actions with the AppStore on iTunes on top of this latest Bronx Cheer to the industry seem to send the signal that since they've become so powerful, they don't need anyone else to succeed and thrive. Their success is 100% attributable to their own genius. Yikes. If that's not the kind of hubris that comes just before the inevitable butt-kicking, I don't know what is.

Show a little humility Apple. Sure, you can reach the customers in other ways, but what about everyone else in the ecosystem when MacWorld goes belly up? How do they reach customers? Through Apple.com? As a Mac owner, iPod owner, iPhone owner, I've got to say I'm not feeling too good about what's on the horizon. The way they're acting, you might almost think that Balmer is in charge of Apple instead of Microsoft.

New, Improved, and Cyberlicious!

As a practicing marketing guy, I find myself overcome with both opinions and questions about this great big wacky world of marketing, and more broadly, business, that we live in. Rather than simply rant about bad strategy, execution, or Britney Spears, I'd like to weigh in from time to time on critical topics related to the evolution of how businesses sell. I'm likely to come with as many questions as answers, but my goal is to highlight the challenges I face in my profession so as to generate a bit of dialog and maybe even a little consensus. Thanks for reading and for commenting. I'd like to hear what you have to say, too!