What’s the key to successful internet marketing? Content sure is king. Getting traffic and conversions sound about right. Creating a website that your customers like and can use…check. So, what’s the secret sauce? Don’t talk to yourself. Before you invest time and money in redesigning your website or get serious about attention, consider this. Successful communication is about building relationships. It takes two to tango. Attitude is everything. When you communicate but are divorced from any real understanding of your customer’s thoughts, feelings, or needs; you’re alone in your own mind. When this happens, everything you say screams “it’s all about me!”
What does this look like in practice? Maybe your website copy was borrowed from some product brochures completed in the 90’s. Every other paragraph boasts about your quality features, superior customer service, or best this or that. You consider website interactivity to be the ubiquitous contact form with lovely submit button. Perhaps your email marketing campaigns consist of an onslaught of promotional offers reminiscent of the conquering Roman armies. Forget about unsubscribe requests, these emails just keep coming and coming. How about using social media as just another promotional tool? I think you catch my drift. Moving on…
Here’s the attitude behind successful internet marketing. Picture it as a process of ongoing conversation with your customers. By reaching out and listening to their needs and opinions, you create trust and respect. On a practical level, your customer research doesn’t have to be expensive or extensive. Just engage in a way that makes sense with your time constraints and resources. Your customers want the valuable ideas represented in your product or service offering minus the hard “sell, sell, sell” approach. Think about what information you can provide to educate them about your expertise. Ask questions, listen, and act on the feedback. Then, share information freely without expectation. That’s right. Be a giver. Build all your internet marketing activities around sharing using your website as a content distribution hub, or cdh for short. Your content will be relevant and desirable. You will save time and money, too.
