Make Your Site SELL!

1. Make Your Site SELL! by Ken Evoy, M.D. Presented by Anne Demme MKTG 450 10 November 2009

2. About the Author • Dr. Evoy is a native of Montreal, Quebec • He graduated from McGill University with in 1979, and went on to practice as an emergency medicine physician for over a decade • Evoy left the medical profession in 1990 in order to pursue entrepreneurial ventures full-time. He and his wife, Janice Isomura, established a game design company that produced more than 20 toy creations between 1985 and 1998 • Evoy’s business background helped him in the creation of SiteSell, Inc., a “web business building system” that aids small companies in internet marketing design

3. About MYSS! • MYSS! is an absolutely horrifying book to behold • Three books in one, and each page is not words but two screencaps’ worth of information • The writing is colloquial and the tone is friendly, but there’s just so much STUFF and visual clutter that it becomes overwhelming. • Content is a lot of what we have learned from Monte this semester, just dated and more drawn out (apologies in advance for beating a dead horse)

4. The Big Three • The Big Three to Succeed on the Web • Develop a great product • The product should go above and beyond,exceeding customer needs and wants • Evoy advises us to be “customer-crazed” every step of the way • Write a website that sells with deadly effectiveness • Write the site for your consumer, not for yourself • Give only information that consumers want and need; be honest and keep it simple • Attract targeted consumers (i.e., traffic) to the site • Don’t waste marketing on consumers outside of your target audience • Understanding your consumers will ultimately be the key to helping them find you

5. Most Wanted Response (MWR) • Set your Most Wanted Response • The all-important FIRST TASK • Do this before you do anything else—you must identify your expectations and what you are seeking as a result of your website. • Everything you include on your website thereafter should increase your chances of getting the MWR • The MWR is essential if for no other reason because it focuses you in a task that can become overwhelming • Evoy claims that “if you don’t set your MWR, there is no way to design an effective website that SELLS!” (Evoy 37).

6. Write to SELL! • Know your customer • Write for your target’s personality type • Aim the design, language, look and tone of your copy to the dominantpersonality type of your target market • Understand your consumers’ perceptions—will they feel as if you’re trying to talk them into something? Or will they perceive you as authentic and trustworthy? • You:Me ratio should be AT LEAST 5:1 • Headlines account for as much as 90% of your site’s effectiveness in getting MWRs • Headlines should be strong, pithy, hard-hitting, and explanatory of benefits. They should motivate consumers to read more. • Headlines are also used to break up text, making your site more “scannable”

7. Write to SELL! • Write a benefit-laden opening paragraph that will stay with readers throughout the duration of reading the rest of the page • Stir emotions! Like almost nothing else, emotions SELL. Emotion provides motivation. • THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT WORD CHOICE! Use high impact verbs and descriptive adjectives. • Write as if you were speaking with a good friend. Let the consumer into your world and show him or her that you’re human. • Let personality shine through, but be careful that you don’t offend, and ALWAYS write with the MWR in mind.

8. The You-Focused Opener • Fire your biggest gun first • Don’t bother with welcome messages—cut to the chase if you want to keep customers interested in what you have to offer • Match your opening message to consumers’ strongest motivators—let them know what they have to gain by staying, and what they stand to lose by clicking through to someplace else • Your opener should answer the ultimate consumer question: “what’s in it for me?”

9. Build Trust and Likability • It Starts with look and feel • Web design is your version of visual merchandising/retail ambiance. Choose design elements carefully and accordingly. • The look of your homepage will be a make-it-or-break-it point for many visitors, as design indicates personality, product quality, validity, etc. • Make your web design represent your brand and your product to a ‘T’ • Your goal in creating atmosphere on the internet is to overcome the inadequacy that comes with the lack of material/physical aspect of conventional business

10. Boost Consumer Confidence • Web Consumers are the ultimate skeptics • Let consumers take a peek behind the curtain of your life and your business • Provide contact information in order to indicate an open channel of communication • VERIFY all of your claims with hard evidence. If you and your product are good, prove it beyond all reasonable doubt • Give free samples or trial downloads • Provide specifics wherever possible—numbers of satisfied customers, etc. Avoid vague generalizations. • Certification—register with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to show that your operation is legitimate and safe, not an infamous online scam or rip off.

11. Make Your Site Usable • The #1 Usability Principle • SIMPLICITY! Findinga balance of simplicity is extremely difficult, but very effective for boosting sales/achieving MWRs • Anything that reduces consumer effort increases the chances of them staying on your site for a longer period of time, so… • …Do some thorough idiot-proofing. If a complete moron can successfully navigate your website, you’ve done a great job of making things easy for your consumer • Example: “The Rule of 7” • Do not include more than 7 main links in a table of contents. If you do, you risk the consumer becoming overwhelmed.

12. Meandering = Lost Sales • Surfing the Web  Anyone who has actually surfed knows that this phrase is a very accurate representation of how people use the Internet • DO NOT distract consumers with unimportant links as they travel the path to sales in your website. • The internet is, by nature, an extraordinarily distracting place. We flow from link to link to link. • This is where literal “surfing” comes in—you ride the waves wherever they take you. Always remember that the current is strong, and consumers will more likely than not end up in a place that they hadn’t even considered going when they originally sat down at their computers. Your job is to keep them focused in order to avoid this outcome.

13. Two Critical Sales Builders • Testimonials • Testimonials must be verifiable (i.e., some form of contact information must be included), and they should always make specific statements. • Success stories are always helpful, but… • …YOU HAVE TO KEEP IT REAL. If a testimony isn’t believable, it will not only NOT help you sell, it might hinder/negatively impact your future sales potential and brand image • Guarantees • Give consumers time to sample and evaluate the product • Refund absolutely everything if they are dissatisfied • Again, BE SPECIFIC. This is one place where consumers will not tolerate vague claims. • Finally, be sure that you have a product that delivers and satisfies. Then your personal risk becomes superfluous!

14. Build Community to Build Sales • PEOPLE LOVE TO BELONG. Humans have an intrinsic need for inclusion and acceptance. • Providing opportunities for consumers to relate to one another and “bond” over your product and related issues can only help your site SELL. • Consumers will appreciate you for giving them a way to be involved. This appreciation builds trust, which in turn translates into consumer loyalty. • Newsletter • Forums • Social Networking (not listed in MYSS of course, but obviously the biggest factor now)

15. The Closer Page • How to make an offer they can’t refuse • This is where you convert consumers’ desire for your product into an MWR • Offer the right price, sweeten the deal with discounts and/or promotions, and subtly create time anxiety that pushes consumers more quickly towards the point of sale (find a balance here, as you don’t want them to feel as if they were pressured into buying and have regrets later). • How to create “buy now” anxiety • Use expiration dates for promotional prices or offers • Offer bonuses, price reductions, or hint at limited availability to spur consumers into ordering NOW

16. Consumer Behavior Analysis • Analyze visitor behavior to boost conversion rate • It is essential to recognize and understand how consumers behave when they visit your site. This information will be very helpful in improving your site’s ability to SELL! • Entries – What are the most common entry pages? • Popularity –Which pages are most popular? Where is the most time spent? • Exits – Why do consumers leave? Where do they go when they leave? • Most Common Pathways – What are the most common path sequences through your website?

17. Sites that SELL! • How small companies SELL! • Small, unknown businesses need to be active, savvy, and willing to do everything they can to increase credibility in the eyes of consumer • How big companies SELL! • Consumers arrive with preconceived notions about large companies. This often means that they do not have to work as hard at creating excellent copy and knock-your-socks-off headlines. • Large companies gain advantage on the web through fast downloads, easy navigation, and eye-catching design.

18. After the Sale • Nurture your customers to grow the relationship • Treat each customer like he or she is your only one. If satisfied, he or she will come back and buy from you again—this is a good thing! • It is far easier to maintain customer relations than to initiate & establish them. Keep this in mind when you deal with your consumers, post-point of sale. • Long-term success is based in repeat business and customer loyalty, so make maintenance of customer relations a priority • Examples: Follow-up e-mails, superior customer service, maximizing consumer support, follow-through on guarantees and promotions.

19. Well, That’s Done…NOT • Bottom line: it’s never done! • There’s no other way to say it: YOUR SITE IS NEVER DONE • To stay competitive, you must constantly seek ways to improve your site and stay current • Long term/ongoing goals should be to attract more (targeted) traffic, increase conversion rates (CRs), and increase MWRs • In addition to this, ensuring that your website is dynamic is a huge priority. Static, out of date pages are obvious and unfortunate. They do nothing to increase your opportunities to SELL!

20. The Top 6 Rules to MYSS in 17 Words • Feel customers’ needs • Make navigation clear • Load fast • K-I-S-S • Write actively and clearly • Ask for “the order”

21. Pros and Cons of MYSS! • PROS • A good go-to guide for the essentials of IMD, web page design, and effective copywriting • Dated—but much of the book does remain relevant as it it based on winning business strategies • Advice comes from a highly successful businessman with experience in creating websites that sell • Readable; very colloquial and certainly full of personality. • CONS • Dated! Published in 1999, and therefore partially lacking in relevance • The book was a bit of an assault on the eyes and quite repetitive, which contradicted Evoy’s love of simplicity • Content has been entirely covered by Monte this semester, not much was fresh going through it • Awkward shape and weird formatting (yes, this does matter!!)

22. Questions?