Branding Ad Vice

My Customers Are Different And Other Fairy Tales

Are you keeping track of what your potential customers are doing in the privacy of their homes and offices?  If you aren’t, it’s time to do so.  I’m surprised how many times business owners will tell me that “My customers are different, they don’t use the Internet,” or “Our customers wait for our ads to come out in the newspaper.”  Whatever.

According to a recent Harris Interactive study cited by Wall Street Journal Online, the profile of online users is looking more like the profile of the overall population. Approximately 77% of Americans are now online, up from 74% in the previous poll in 2005, and compared with 57% back in 2000. In 1995, only 9% of U.S. adults reported they went online.

Let’s break it down by age:
Adults 18 to 29 make up 21% of the population and 24% of Internet users
Adults 30 to 39 make up 18% of the population and 22% of Internet users
Adults 40 to 49 make up 20% of the population and 22% of Internet users
Adults 50 to 64 make up 22% of the population and 22% of Internet users
Adults 65+ make up 16% of the population but only 8% of Internet users

The results also show that adults with higher education and income levels represent a greater share of the online population than the population at large. 

So unless your customer is over 65 with less than a high school education making less than 25k per year it’s a pretty good bet that they’re online.  And whether or not you are personally on line your business needs to be.

At a recent advertising seminar in Asheville North Caroline I asked an audience of 100+ business owners how many subscribed to the daily newspaper.  You could hear the gasp when less than a dozen hands went up.  Might be one of the reasons that newspapers are increasing their online presence. 

I’ve had the extreme good fortune to travel the country meeting with business owners in towns and cities big and small.  People in America are more similar than you might imagine.  If you still believe your customers are different, you might start asking them how often they’re online.  The answer might surprise you.

A Picture's Not Worth A Thousand Words

Have you ever sat in quicksand?  I was sitting on my drafting stool working on a few ads the other day, when suddenly the seat began to sink.  When you write on a 36” high workspace, a 22” chair is jus this side of useless.  Picking my chin off the table, I Google” heavy duty drafting stool” and get 143,000 results in .48 seconds.  This should be easy.

Wrong.

When you get right down to it, all gosh darn stools look pretty much the same.   I found plenty of pictures but not much in the way of useful information.  I needed to know if the “Buttomatic 2500 HD” takes more abuse than the “Task Master 20,” but it seems no one shares such useful data online. 

Now a normal person might say, “Why don’t you just call someone and ask?”  I’m a stubborn son-of-a-gun on a mission.  That's why.  After wasting a half hour on this project it wasn’t about finding a replacement stool, it was about finding the information. 

Forty-five minutes later I was ready to throw in the towel.  Sitting low on the horizon, hands straining to reach the keyboard I decided to see what Office Max might have available locally (Office Max didn’t show up on the first 10 or 15 pages of search results so I hadn’t been to their site).  Suddenly, The Holy Grail of information appeared before my eyes; sizes, fabrics, descriptions of how much use each chair could handle. Feeling a bit like Goldilocks, I narrowed my choices based on  Office Max's incredible search function.   Now, the only thing I needed to know was whether $219 was a good price. 

Office Chairs Unlimited had the same chair “open box,” for $40 less and I figured that as long as I was there I might as well see what else they carry... And there it was, the drafting chair of my dreams, sturdier, with arms and a better warranty than the Office Max chair for $10 less.  Cahloo! Cahlay!  Only one problem, I didn't know anything about Office Chairs Unlimited.  Back to Google “Office Chairs Unlimited Reviews.”  The 500 people who reviewed OCU on BizRate gave them a green smiley face.  Sold.  The chair should be here Monday or Tuesday. 

What do people need to know when they come to your website?  More often than not they need more than a picture and a brief description.  “Waiting For Your Cat To Bark,” the incredible new book from Wizards Of The Web Brian and Jeff Eisenberg provides fantastic insight into the new world of empowered consumers.  It’s great reading that even technophobes can understand.

A final note:  I do not know much about the technical aspects of websites, so all I can say is that it must be magic that without registering the Office Chairs Unlimited checkout page had my billing and delivery address along with my email address already listed.  Now isn’t that convenient? 

There Will Be A Test On This Material

It will be interesting to see if Virgin Mobile USA’s “Earn Airtime in Your Spare Time” incentive service gains enough traction to matter.  Three national advertisers have signed on for the initial rollout; Microsoft with Xbox; Pepsi-Cola North America, with Diet Mountain Dew; and the American Legacy Foundation‘s truth® youth smoking prevention campaign.

Virgin’s Pay-As-You-Go customers will be invited to watch a streaming video advertisement then answer questions to show they watched the segment and understood key takeaways.  Correct answers earn free airtime minutes.  Subscribers may also earn airtime by opting-in to SMS messages containing advertisements or discounts.

Virgin's program is a new twist on the video-on-demand model from ultramercial.com that grants users “free” access to premium content if they choose to watch full-screen multi-page commercials as an alternate form of payment. 

Time is money - the more you spend of one the more you'll save of the other.   It might be easier and less intrusive to pay a couple bucks for direct access to the content you want than sit through commercials.  That's one of the reasons we pay to see movies in the theater isn't it... hey wait a minute!

The Web - Ammunition For The Bargaining Challenged

Sales at car dealerships are like buses – don’t worry if you miss one, another will come along.  During the past few years, I’ve asked a few thousand people if they believe ads that imply such and such a car sale will be the last best chance to save on a vehicle.  I haven’t found anyone yet who believe the hype and it would seem that people most interested in saving money on an automotive purchase turn to the Internet.  At least that’s one of the conclusions of a study cited in the Journal Of Marketing Research.

The study matched transaction data on 1500 car purchases in California with responses to a survey that asked buyers detailed questions about their Internet usage, attitudes toward information search, bargaining, and demographics.

The most important piece of information consumers learn on the Internet is the dealers’ invoice price.  While Internet information does not help consumers find low-price dealerships, online buying referral services helps consumers obtain lower prices. The results show combined information and referral price effects of –1.5% or 22% of dealers’ average gross profit margin per vehicle.

Now here’s the interesting finding.  Buyers who weren’t effective negotiators but researched the specific car they purchased paid 1.5% less than they would have otherwise. However, buyers who like the bargaining process did not benefit from such information.  So it seems retailers not only have to deal with dyed in the wool transactional negotiators, but with nice folks armed to the teeth with data. 

While the study only looked at the automotive industry it would be a fairly safe assumption that information available on the web puts downward price pressure in virtually every industry. 

But it's not always about price.  Here’s your homework assignment.  Are you offering real value beyond price to your prospects?  Are you sharing that information in your advertising and on your website, if not why not?  I can help you figure it out.

Any Website Is Better Than No Website

The tension spring on my garage door broke this week while I was out of town.  One look when I got back home and I knew I probably didn’t want to mess around trying to replace it myself.  What to do what to do?   Naturally I Googled “garage door repair Racine Wisconsin.”  A few listings popped up – but only one listing had a website.  Jim’s Garage Door has a very weak website.  The text is poorly written.  The layout is cumbersome.  But it’s better than nothing, which is what his competition has. 

I didn’t feel like calling three or four places shopping price.  I was hoping to see prices posted - no luck.  So I typed in “repairing broken garage door springs” and came across truetex.com, which provided two essential pieces of information.  First, even if I wanted to replace the spring myself it was going to take too long to track down everything I’d need.  Second, the article gave me an idea of what it might cost to have the repair done.

I have no idea if the author, Richard Kinch, knows what he’s talking about.  But he looks friendly, his information seems reliable and he provides a price range based on his experience.  Unconditional trust – hmmm.  According to Richard, replacement ran about $150 - $180 back in 2000.  I figured that with inflation and the price of gas I was looking at about $200 - $225 in 2006. 

Armed with this knowledge I went back to Jim’s Garage Door website, found the number and dialed.  I wasn’t interested in the Yellow Pages.  Yellow Pages don’t have the information I need – prices and justification for not doing-it-yourself.  The lady at Jim’s asked about the door and said it would be $180 plus tax to replace both springs (according to Richard, when one fails the other is sure to follow). 

“When can you come out?”
“Between noon and two.”
“Can I give you my credit card number?” 

Did I waste money by not calling around?  Do I care?  The price was consistent with what I read online ($190.23 including tax) and the fact that Jim’s has a website gave me just enough confidence that they know what they’re doing.

I don’t usually name names, but the repair guy from Jim’s came early, completed the repair in about a half hour with springs that should give me 1000 more turns than the springs he replaced.  If Jim and I are both around in 8 years when the new springs wear out he'll likely to get another call unless someone gives me better information on their website.

You only have to be slightly better than your competition to have a competitive edge.  If your competition doesn’t have a website – you can get away with putting up a single page (contact me for affordable help with the text).  However, if your competition has a site you’ll want to contact someone who can make yours better.  Wizard Partners Dave Young and Thomas D. Tucker are both experts in effective website design. 

Creepy Stores And Websites

From time to time I’ve come across retail establishments (usually jewelry stores) that keep their doors locked.  You have to press a button to get inside.  This always seems a little unfriendly and very creepy.  Are the doors locked to keep things out or to keep them in.

I had a similar experience online today when I went to an auto dealer’s website to check out his inventory.  After I clicked the “check our inventory” button, a page opened that required me to give my full name, email address and home telephone number before they’d show me the 85 cars that matched my search requirements.  A little unfriendly and very creepy.  I thought, “What the hell is this nonsense?  I’m only looking.  I'm not giving personal information so some salesperson start bugging me.” 

The Internet allows customers to anonymously research, and compare.  And while I appreciate the value of capturing names and addresses for sales leads, my guess is that this dealer is loosing business.  I’m sure the dealer wouldn’t require me to provide identification before looking at cars on his lot (for a test-drive maybe – but not to look).  Why is he trying to invade my privacy online?

Your website is a storefront – just like your physical locations. It allows potential customers to learn more about you and to see what you have to offer.  In most cases, prospects will not jump through hoops just to look at your merchandise.  If they can’t find what they’re looking for quickly, easily and anonymously on your site, they’ll quickly, easily and anonymously go somewhere else. This dealer has locked the doors, pulled the shades, turned off the lights and turned off who knows how many prospective buyers.

Today's New Word "Videopinion"

This was going to be a post about the brilliant ad campaign for Tag® Body Spray.  But as I searched for the new “Strip Poker” ad I came across a site called Expo Television, devoted to online video opinions, reviews and product demonstrations and buying tips.

According to Expo’s Homepage:

Videopinions is another way Expo TV wants to make you a smarter shopper!

A Videopinion is YOU, showing and telling us in FULL MOTION VIDEO what you love and hate about the products and services that make your world go round. Show us everything from why you love your iPod Shuffle, to the essential baby swing that every mom needs, to the pros and cons of your electric razor.

Videopinions allows our viewers to share their own unbiased, personalized experiences with other consumers.

The reviews are hokey, crudely produced but they are real.  And real people have often been known to topple the mighty.  Here’s the review of Tag® Body Spray.  Madison Avenue it ain’t, but what would someone say if given the opportunity to upload a videopinion of your product or service?  With the low cost of cameras everyone can become a producer. 

In today’s brave new world of virtual communities it’s vital that you deliver what you promise and to keep your eyes and ears open and your fingers on the pulse of what people are saying behind your back.  If you aren’t “Googling” your business every couple of months you may miss what someone says about you good or bad.

But that’s just my opinion.

Yoohoo Yahoo Leave Me Alone

Like many, I’m not fully functional when I first wake up in the morning.  Rather than fixing a cup of coffee, I generally check out the news headlines on my Yahoo® home page.  This is “my special time” to be left alone in order to focus on the tasks ahead.

This morning a most annoying thing occured.  I was attempting to read about golf ball sized hail in Milwaukee when I accidentally touched the trackpad and the arrow moved over an ad for Mercury.  The article disappeared, the Mercury ad expanded, a video started and a very loud voice started yakking at me about things I didn’t want to know.

At this particular moment I’m not interested in buying or leasing a Mercury.  I’m not interested in buying or leasing any vehicle.  I want to read the story  about the hail storm but I can’t get it back.  Even after stopping the video the news story remained hidden.  My morning was been hijacked by a crummy commercial.

I make my living trough advertising and marketing, but I resent someone intruding on my space.  But not  allowing me to get back to what I was doing before the intrusion is inexcusable.  Who needs a clueless pest at five in the morning?

Internet advertising is a different beast. I'm supposed to be in control, blocking pop-up ads and  clicking display ads I find interesting.  The Mercury ad has violated the rules – and I’m not the least bit happy about it.  Maybe I'll go back to coffee and find another way to get my news.

UPDATE:

The offending Mercury Ad cited in Yohho Yahoo Leave Me Alone - appears to be a problem with the Mozilla Firefox Application. The problem does not occur with the Apple Safrari Program. We now return you to our regularly scheduled rant.

Don't Attempt To Do This On Your Own

A few weeks ago I reported on the record number of U.S. based web searches.  In case you are still among the unconvinced the numbers for January are out.  It’s a new month and a new record.  5.7 billion searches.  Read Report.

Every day you go without a web site is another day of lost potential.  But before you try to build your own site or hire your best friend’s son or daughter to build a website – breath into a brown paper bag and consider your options. 

Surfing is instinctual not calculated.  Your site either makes a quick impression or you don’t.  If you don’t you lose.  I am not an expert on Websites but I know three Wizard Of Ads® Partners who are.  Depending on what you need to accomplish and your budget may I recommend contacting one of the following:

Brian and Jeff Eisenberg’s client list is a who’s who of major companies including: GE, Leo Schachter Diamonds, Overstock.com, Disney, NBC Universal, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Volvo International to name a few.  These guys have written the book on “Persuasion Architecture” (literally) and forget more about how to make websites work than just about anyone. 

Dave Young is a student of the Eisenberg’s and a licensed Persuasion Architect®.  He works with smaller companies and may be a bit more accessible than Future Now but Dave’s work is impressive.

Finally, Thomas Tucker at Hover Studios has figured out a way for just about anyone to affordably improve their web presence. 

The web knowledge of these Wizard of Ads® Partners is enough to make your head spin – but throwing money away on an ineffective web site will give you a headache. 

If you contact them – tell them Uncle Walter K sent you – no one can pronounce Koschnitzke.