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The Simpler The Better
As communications designers, it’s our job to create materials that present information and messaging in the clearest and most compelling possible way. As such, we believe that there is such a thing as providing too much content, which can overwhelm your target audience. We’re advocates of simplicity and conciseness, which is why we wanted to share a link we found chronicling 40 examples of impressive websites where you never have to leave the homepage. Sometimes that’s all you need to communicate a message.
Here are some of our favorites:
See the full list HERE, and get inspired.
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Gethuman Saves Brand Experience
I completely understand why many large companies adopt automated phone systems to handle their incoming inquiries. These systems work 24 hour days without complaining, they don’t call in sick and you don’t have to worry about them asking for a raise. That said I’m not sure there’s anything more frustrating in the world for a consumer than when they call hoping to have someone help them through a question or concern only to get stuck in “hit 5 for more options” hell.
It’s one thing to have an automated system efficiently direct you to the proper person to answer your question; however, too many companies have adopted systems that make it nearly impossible for you to find a human being that can take care of you. I just went through this with a large cable/internet provider and as a result have spent the last several days complaining to whoever was listening about their poor service. Can you imagine how many people are doing the same thing—especially with the explosion of social media services (like Twitter) that make it simple to tell the world about a poor experience?
So here’s a free marketing tip to any forward-thinking business that’s listening: If you must use an automated phone system to answer calls, that’s fine, but PLEASE, give me the option to speak to a human being if I can’t find exactly what I’m looking for. After all, marketing isn’t just about gaining a new customer. Often, it’s about making sure that the company ALWAYS delivers on the brand promise—before, during and after the original purchase (especially important for service businesses).
If you’re reading this and you also despise automated phone systems, I encourage you to check out http://www.gethuman.com - a consumer-driven Wiki that allows humans to share tips and tricks on how to find other humans when calling businesses with automated systems. I just tested it and it works flawlessly!
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Lessons On Doing Business w/Large Integrators
Recently I sat in on a call with the Director for Supplier Diversity for Lockheed Martin, Nancy Deskins (@LMsupplier_div on Twitter). She, in partnership with MySBX, was holding a webinar for small businesses looking to do more work with large integrators and since we often do businesses with companies that sell directly to the government, or small to medium sized businesses that seek to do business with large integrators (like Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Raytheon, or Lockheed Martin) we thought it was worth our time.
I learned a great deal from the call about the protocol of doing business with these large “prime” vendors, but one of the greatest lessons that came out of the call was something that reinforced something that we’ve always told clients and prospects: According to Nancy, almost without fail, the first thing these integrators or the government does when contemplating vendors is go to investigate the company’s website.
She noted that one of the most important things when awarding a contract or solidifying a partnership is that the prime can trust that the company they choose is going to deliver on time, on budget and without complications. She went on to say that SBLO’s (small business liaison officers) look for cues on a company’s website that indicate whether they have what it takes to perform. They want to see proven results, attention to detail and a clear demonstration of mastery in a given field.
So take a look at your own website and if you’re not proud of what it says about your company to potential partners and customers, you can’t afford not to call us.
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Quality Over Quantity
There are a number of people in the social media scene that would tell you that it’s of the utmost importance to maximize the number of people you interact with in order to be successful. They may even try to sell you on a magical system that will increase your follower count on Twitter overnight. Ugh.
These people are missing the point. Social media is so much more than just broadcasting a message to as many people as you can. The real value comes from meaningful interactions, each of which together allow consumers to formulate conscious and subconscious opinions and feelings toward a brand, product, service, organization, person etc.
If you place the focus on the quality of these interactions (content), you give your message an enormous opportunity to go viral. A perfect example is the post I wrote about KFC using guerilla tactics instead of mass media to extend their brand. I wrote that post after reading a news article because I thought it was worth sharing with our prospects and clients as an example of innovative marketing strategy—inspiration if you will.
After writing the post I sent out a tweet to my 1900 or so followers, mainly in the Washington DC / Maryland area, inviting them to read all about it. The result – over 5,000 hits on our blog in one day, and nearly 20,000 that week from all over the world (we typically have about 200 hits per day). Had I written a blog post about what I ate for breakfast that morning, my message would have only been heard by the people that regularly read this blog and those that follow me on Twitter. Instead, people loved what I wrote about and wanted to share it with others, so they either Re-tweeted me or submitted the page to social bookmarking sites like Digg and Stumbleupon. By placing the emphasis on good content, my message reached ten times more people than I originally communicated with.
Looking for a firm to help you harness the power of consumer conversation? CLICK ME
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Namechk
I’ve talked before about how important it is to reserve your name or your company’s name on social media sites, regardless of whether or not you decide to participate in the conversation. I just found out about a new site that makes the process of checking the availability of your desired name incredibly easy.
Namechk allows you to type in your desired username once and does the work of searching all the popular social media sites for you. Use it to see what outlets your favorite brands are using to communicate, find the right username for you, or to remind you of sites you should probably visit to grab your name.
Judging by all the green on this page, it looks like I’ve got some work to do to reserve “GarretOhm.” ; )
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