Published April 2001

Use site content, e-mail
to bond with customers

By Debra Malmos
Columnist

All successful salespeople have one thing in common: They understand the value of getting to know their customers one-on-one. The power of the Web can be harnessed by creating a relationship with each individual who comes to your site. By building a relationship — and having compelling reasons for prospects to return — you can improve the success of your Web site and increase the return on your Internet marketing investment.

Think of the content on your Web site as the beginning of your conversation. The primary objective is to capture the visitor’s e-mail so you can keep the conversation going.

You can generate interest with a conversational site aimed at different levels of interest or expertise. This can be as simple as categorizing information on your Web site by different skill levels and topics. You can learn more about your visitors by providing a specific free offer or service (by topic) throughout your site. Then require the visitor to give his or her name and e-mail address.

Leading-edge marketers use “personalization technologies” to move business forward into the 21st century.

For example, Content Management System software can provide a 360-degree view of the visitor’s interactions on your site, build a database of visitor information and control knowledge management. Pages are created “on the fly” based on the visitor’s interaction.

E-mail addresses can go into a database for ongoing communications. E-mail products such as GT/Mail and UnityMail use a profile database and a set of rules to determine which pieces of text to include in each person’s message.

A smaller business, whose Web site may not employ the latest technology, will have to work harder to compete.

Remember, your very best potential customer, the one who deserves some serious attention, is the visitor who already has made a purchase from your site. In absence of shopping-cart software that automatically creates a database with the e-mail addresses of your buyers, create an address “group” through your e-mail program (i.e., Outlook, or Outlook Express) as a means of simplifying group mailings.

There are several ways to have conversations with people on the Internet. The technology you use is not as important as how well you engage the other person on a one-to-one basis.

Communicate regularly, providing information about new products and pricing. Create a limited-time incentive for visitors to revisit your site. And with every product that goes out the door, include a promotional incentive to come back to your Web site: for a future discount, connection to customer service, news about product updates or instructions for its use.

Creating a sense of community also can work for you in the selling process. Prospects want to gather with people like them. It also works because they trust similar people in the community regarding the product being considered.

You can create a sense of community on your site by offering interactive discussions or a customer-support bulletin board. Provide information about industry events and links to reliable references to related products and services.

Give some thought to why you come back. Is it for the latest report, the latest product, weather or daily horoscope? Answer the “what’s in it for me” question from both a business and personal point of view. Your ultimate success will relate to how well you can answer the question, “Why should I come back to your Web site?”

Debra Malmos, AAP, is President and CEO of iFull Enterprises, an Internet services provider for access and hosting, Web-site development and Internet marketing. She can be reached by phone at 360-321-6242. Her Web site is www.ifull.com.

Back to the top/April 2001 Main Menu