Points to Ponder for Successful Web Advertising

You would think that everyone in business would be able to tell you what they do and why you should be doing business with them; unfortunately the sad truth is many business executives can't. In fact one of the biggest problems in designing websites has always been getting appropriate raw material that can be turned into meaningful presentations: a handful of badly written brochures and a few out-of-date photographs are not going to make much of an impression.

And now that the Web has involved into a sophisticated communication platform, able to deliver audio and video content, the problem has become even worse; not only do websites need to deliver appropriate copy and image content, they need to present audio dialog and video performances that demonstrate how products and services improve the business or personal lives of website visitors.

As a company we are good at what we do, we can turn the mundane into the memorable but we can't do it if clients don't know or can't express their own marketing story, or are unwilling to allow their multimedia advisor to develop that story for them.

At the heart of the problem is fear, fear of making a definitive statement, declaring loud and clear what you do, and why anyone should care. It's no longer good enough to apply technical solutions to marketing problems: you are not going to engage your audience with SEO, XML, CSS, or PHP. You must have a story to tell and you can't be afraid to tell it as boldly as you can.

Do You Know Who You Are and What You Really Do?

We know who we are and what we do: we deliver our message knowing that some people are just not going to buy into what we have to say, but those that do get it, really get it, and they are our potential clients. As far as the others are concerned, well, there's lots of business for everybody, and nobody is going to get it all.

You can't be afraid to loose a customer you never had in the first place. In our case our job is clear: we deliver marketing stories using Web-video and audio in memorable Web-presentations. We are not afraid to tell clients that they need multimedia, and that an over dependence on search engine optimization or any other technical answer is a mistake - a big mistake.

Are You Doing All You Can To Attract Business?

There are many methods that can be employed to drive appropriate traffic to your site: search engine optimization is only one. Have you written and published articles and advice on what you do, have you created a blog or a MySpace page to create a community of interest, or have you issued press releases on new developments and product releases? If you're relying solely on search engine optimization as a substitute for marketing, you are not doing everything you can to attract new business.

Even if your search engine tactics are attracting large numbers of visitors to your site, what is your conversion rate, how long are people staying on your site, and do you have enough compelling content to get them to come back?

If you're in the business of selling banner and text ads on your site, if that is how you make your living, then lots of random traffic may serve your purpose; but if you are in the business of providing something useful to people, then you better pay more attention to what your visitors see once they arrive on your site. After all, all the traffic in the world is useless if those visitors don't get your message. It all starts with the message, so what's your message?

What's Your Story?

Crafting your marketing story is not as easy as it sounds, and you may have to let go of some outdated thinking in order to bring your story to life.

Web-videos are not feature films or even viral videos intended to show how clever you are. You are making a commercial: special effects may be cool but they are not a substitute for a finely crafted script delivered by a professional performer.

Websites Don't Close Sales, People Close Sales

Web-videos are designed to make a statement: "this is who we are, and this is what we do, so contact us to find out how we can change your life." Websites create leads, not sales; so don't expect your Web-video to make the sale, that's your job.

Now you know the purpose of your website presentation, it is time to figure out what you want to say.

For more detailed article, check out this article, titled,
Six Questions That Produce Successful Web Advertising

About the Author: Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design firm that specializes in Web-audio and Web-video. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads, http://www.136words.com, and http://www.sonicpersonality.com. Contact at info(a)mrpwebmedia.com or telephone (905) 764-1246.

Turn Customer Complaints into Assets

Virtually every organization encounters customer complaints from time to time. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the complaints and to lose track of how many satisfied customers say nothing at all. Even worse, sometimes it is hard to remember just how valuable a customer complaint can be to the organization. Contrary to how it may feel to be the recipient of a customer complaint, it is a wonderful opportunity if embraced with commitment and integrity. You can turn customer complaints into valuable assets.

First, it is important to recognize that the majority of customers who complain are loyal customers who care about your business.

Customers who take the time to complain are also taking the time to tell you what went wrong with your process, your product or your communication. It takes some effort for a customer to contact you and tell you how the product, process or communications did not live up to expectations. This is an opportunity to reward the customer for taking the time to contact you and to learn how you can make internal improvements. If you can fix the problem for one complaining customer it may help many other customers, including the ones who never contacted you.

Loyal customers believe that you want to know what went wrong, and trust you to make it right. Loyal customers give you a chance to fix the issue. If one customer complains, it is typically an indication that there are several more with the same experience. If a complaining customer is irate, it is because the customer is disappointed. If there are other disappointed customers who do not call, you can bet that those customers have already given up on you. Customers who are disappointed and do not complain are already lost, but you have a chance to save the ones who are loyal enough to give you the opportunity to respond.

The complaining customer trusts you to care.

The complaining customer trusts you to care, this is why the customer contacted you. Don't avoid them, embrace them. If a customer does not contact you, it does not mean that they did not experience a similar issue. The customers who to not trust you, or do not believe that you will care, do not take the time to contact you. Customers with similar issues who do not contact you are already lost. The customers who do take the time to complain are the most loyal customers because they believe in you, in spite of the problem that they are experiencing.

Remember that the customer is not complaining about you, they are expressing the dissatisfaction to you. You are not the problem, you are the solution. Rather than perceiving the customer frustration as a personal attack, think of yourself as a person that the customer is coming to for help. How you respond to the complaining customer will determine the long term loyalty of the customer. Take care of a customer who takes time to communicate with you, and you may preserve the loyalty. Let them go, and they will communicate the experience to many other potential customers.

Turn complaints into assets.

Fix the customer and then fix the problem. Your first priority should be to understand the personal impact of the problem with your customer. It may be that the frustration expressed by the customer is the result of some dynamic impact other than the issue itself. The customer may feel mislead by communications, betrayed by the organization, or suffered some other impact as the result of the original problem. Listen to the underlying message of the complaint so you can identify what it will take to reassure the customer and address the specific needs.


Once you understand the root cause of the complaint, you may have an opportunity to implement changes that could avoid a reoccurrence of the problem. This may be your opportunity to increase customer satisfaction at an exponential rate.. If you can not eliminate the problem, at least you can use the experience to prepare a responsible solution for other customers who may have the same complaint. If it can not be eliminated, at least you can plan and prepare.

Preserve loyal customers who take the time to complain. Use the experience to eliminate defects, plan for countermeasures and responses.

How much money is invested in sales efforts, marketing, advertising and the acquisition of new customers? How much are you prepared to invest in the customers who have experienced a problem due to your organization and still trust you enough to take care of them?

Words of Wisdom

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." - Bill Gates

"Too many people think only of their own profit. But business opportunity seldom knocks on the door of self-centered people. No customer ever goes to a store merely to please the storekeeper." - Kazuo Inamori

"The customer doesn't expect everything will go right all the time; the big test is what you do when things go wrong." - Sir Colin Marshall

About the Author: John Mehrmann is a freelance author, industry expert and President of Executive Blueprints Inc, an organization dedicated to developing human capital and personal growth.