Practical guidelines and examples to market effectively on your website. Three key themes: be strategic, use a marketing lens, and target the old part of the brain.

1. Turn
your
website
into
a
marke1ng
machine!
Marsha
Sanders
Principal,
Koi
Marke1ng
Solu1ons
February
6,
2014

2. How can you turn your website into a
marketing machine?
Be strategic.
Use a marketing lens.
Target the old brain.

3. Searching
for
help
on
the
web?
 You find a long list of professionals
 You give each site about 4 seconds to spark your
interest
 One of two things happen
 You are engaged with the site and want to know more
 You are not interested in anything you see, and move on to
the next site
 You find a site called “Phoenix Healing Arts”

5. Impressions?

6. Search
for
“pain
relief
specialist
boston”

7. 1
3
4
2

8. Phoenix
Healing
Arts
A"er
applying
strategy
and
using
a
marke3ng
lens

11. View your site through a marketing lens.
Close your eyes.
Imagine your website home page.
Apply the 4 second rule (no cheating).

12. The
importance
of
branding

17. Be strategic.
Tac1cs
Strategy

18. Building
blocks
for
your
marke1ng
strategy
 Customer definition
 Demographics
 Psychographics
 Critical needs
 Defining services
 Features
 Benefits
 Differentiators
 Competitors
 Competitive position
 Competitive differentiation

19. Building
blocks:
The
posi1oning
grid
Audience
Cri1cal
need
Your
compe11ve
posi1on
compe1tors
Need
compe1tors
compe1tors
Want
Benefits
Services
Differen1ators

20. Building
blocks:
Messaging
Audience
Cri1cal
need
compe1tors
Your
compe11ve
posi1on
compe1tors
compe1tors
Need
Want
Benefits
Services
Differen1ators
Messaging
is
driven
by
your
compe11ve
posi1on:
• Key
message
• Tag
line
• Headline
• Elevator
speech

21. Building
blocks:
Target
clients
 You will probably have more than one client group in
your market
 Know as much as you can about each client group:
 Demographics – age, sex, geography, college education,
profession, etc.
 Psychographics – interests, fears, preferences, etc.
 Degree of need for your services – wants, needs, and
critical needs (pain)
“If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts,
feel my feelings, and speak my words.”
Cicero,
Roman
orator
and
statesman

22. Landscape
design
clients
–
Kathleen
Coss
Primary
audience:
Affluent
home
owners
 Demographics
 Local to Carmel
 Middle-aged and older
 Well-educated
professionals
 Wealthy – can afford
high-end landscaping
 Mostly internet-savvy
 Psychographics
 Appreciate beauty
 Proud of their
achievements
 Want to impress others
 Want to enjoy their
outdoor space
 Do not want to do the
work themselves

23. Landscape
design
clients
–
Kathleen
Coss
Primary
audience:
Affluent
home
owners
 Critical needs
 Trust
 Just make it happen for
me (“I don’t want the
headaches)
 Someone to manage the
process and crew
 They want to love the
results
 Where do they get their
information?
 Garden tours
 Signs in front of gardens
 Other vendors
(architects, builders)
 Magazines – like Sunset
or Architectural Digest

24. Landscape
design
clients
–
Kathleen
Coss
Secondary
audiences
 Realtors
 Homeowners needing “curb appeal” before selling
 New homeowners wanting to make improvements
 Contractors
 Architects/designers/builders
 Make recommendations as they plan their property
development
 Generally like to partner with one landscaper
 They often need landscapers for city and county inspections

25. Cri1cal
needs
and
compelling
events
 Learning about your prospects
 Interview your customers – why did they choose you?
 Develop a composite of your ideal customer – with as
much detail as possible – give a name, photo
 Many critical needs follow a compelling event
 Knowing what the compelling event is provides insight into
customer motivation, timing, and pricing
 This knowledge can help you close the sale

26. Building
blocks:
Your
services
 Features
List all the details of what you will offer clients
 Benefits
What benefits will your clients experience as a result
of using your services
 Differentiators
How can you stand out from the
competition?
 Tie a benefit or
differentiator to
each feature
 Don’t expect
prospects to connect
the dots

27. Building Blocks: Benefits and differentiators
 Benefits
 A benefit is something of real or perceived value to the
audience
 A benefit is usually not unique to one organization or
service, but is offered by many groups in the same category
 Differentiators
 A benefit that is unique to the service or organization is a
differentiator
 What makes you different from others in your group?
 All differentiators are also benefits
 Differentiators can be tangible (location) or intangible
(friendliness)

28. View your site through a marketing lens.
Differentiation.

29. Differen1a1ng
a
landscape
design
prac1ce
 Differentiate on strengths that relate to client needs
 Impressive client base
 Process – how you work
 Established partnerships
 Specialized landscape design
 Your office location
 Sometimes the differentiator is simply you – what
you are passionate about, your own stories
 Thought leadership – speak at conferences, submit
articles to relevant publications

30. View your site through a marketing lens.
Positioning.

31. Building
blocks:
Compe11ve
posi1on
 For each audience in your marketing plan, match up:


The audience critical need or pain, with
Your differentiated offerings
Audience
Cri1cal
need
Your
compe11ve
posi1on
compe1tors
Need
compe1tors
compe1tors
Want
Benefits
Services
Differen1ators

32. Why is positioning important?
 Every organization or service has a de facto
position in the mind of their audience
 Positioning drives consistent, effective messages
 Positioning must be honest and credible to your
prospects
 Positioning means standing for one thing which
means you must sacrifice
 A narrow focus often creates more opportunities
 The narrow focus could mean
 Focusing on just one market
 Tailoring a giveaway that appeals to your key audience
segment

33. How
to
create
your
posi1oning
statement


A positioning statement describes what you want the world to
think – you want to control your position in your prospect’s mind.
It is an internal statement. Messages derived from it are external
 Who: John’s Driveways in Malden
 What: A small driveway sealer company
 For whom: that serves smaller clients - homeowners - who want pretty



good quality but do not want to pay, for the services of a larger company
Against whom – Bigger and better known competitors with broader
geographic range
Where is the difference : John Doe is smaller, does a good job for less
money than the big guys because he stays local
“John’s Driveways is a small driveway sealer company working
with homeowners in the Malden area who want the job done well
for a reasonable price.”

34. When
your
prospects
are
your
compe11on
 Most small companies are not battling real
competitors, their competitors are their potential
clients
 Your prospect faces 4 options – using your service,
using a competitor’s services, doing it themselves, or
doing nothing at all

35. View your site through a marketing lens.
Content – Messages and Copy.
Provide proof to build trust.

36. View your site through a marketing lens.
Content
Messages
Written copy

37. Why
do
we
create
messages?
 Focus attention
 A succinct way to summarize large, complex ideas in
one or two sentences
 Gain awareness and mindshare
 Targeted messages cut through the noise
 Set client expectations
 Establish your expertise
 Messages must be
honest
 Messages must be
clear and consistent

38. Messages
must
be
tested
 Disconnects can occur between
 The encoding and
decoding process
 Between your
intention
and audience
understanding
Message
 Test with
 Colleagues
 Family and friends
 Focus groups
Speaker
Audience

39. Copywri1ng:
The
1-­‐2-­‐3-­‐4
Formula
 A compelling headline – address a strong benefit, or
even better, client pain
 Followed by
1.
What I’ve got for you
Address the client pain (headline) with your solution
2.
3.
What it is going to do for you
What is the benefit for the client
Who am I?
Build trust
4.
What you need to do next
Tell prospects what action to take

40. Web
wri1ng
basics






Good writing is simple writing: a relevant idea delivered
clearly and directly
Choose simple words (“use” instead of “utilize”)
Write short sentences – don’t add extra words unless
they are needed for meaning
Write short paragraphs
Use bullets – they attract the eye and can be skimmed quickly
Use the active voice: subject – verb – object;
passive voice is boring

41. Web
wri1ng
basics,
con1nued

Be specific
 I grow lots of flowers in my back yard.
 I grow 34 varieties of flowers in my back yard, including pink
coneflowers, purple asters, yellow daylilies, Shasta daisies, and
climbing clematis.
Which is more interesting? Which helps you envision my back yard?



Edit out fluff words that don’t add meaning
Teasers are effective
 “The three most damaging and expensive mistakes new homeowners
make with their yards”

42. Your
elevator
speech
 An elevator pitch communicates the unique services
you deliver to your target audience succinctly and
memorable
 I am a <job title> working with <key audience> to deliver/
help/provide <benefits> with <differentiators>(through
<delivery method>).
 I am a marketing consultant working with small businesses
to help them grow their business with strategic
communications tools through my company, Koi Marketing
Solutions

43. Your
compelling
headline
 The power of a good headline – print ad tests have
shown that 75% of sales are based on the headline
alone (Gerber, eMyth)
 Turn the headline into a promise – supported by
proof later in the text
 Base it on your successful clients who have realized the
benefits of your offerings
 Proof can be in the form of simple tools available for
download
 Research reports
 Seven steps to a great fire pit in your backyard

44. Your
tagline
or
descriptor
 Build your tagline with benefits – or ideally
differentiators – for your primary client group
 You can use a descriptor (a phrase that describes your
services) instead of, or in addition to, a tag line

45. View your site through a marketing lens.
Provide proof to build trust.

46. Different
types
of
proof
 Customer stories – 80-100% proof
Stories, testimonials, and case studies all demonstrate that you
understand your client needs and have met them to your clients
satisfaction
 Portfolios – these demonstrate how your solutions provided
benefits to your clients
 Before and after comparisons
 Videos of happy customers
 Demos – 60-100% proof
 Data – 20-60% proof

47. Customer
stories

48. Landscape
design
proof
–
your
work!

49. Data

50. A
note
on
videos
and
building
trust
 Videos establish credibility, establish you as an expert
 Videos help web visitors engage with you quickly:
 Focus on the face – we are hardwired to pay attention to faces
 Your voice – Our minds are more stimulated by hearing a
person tell a story rather than reading it ourselves
 When we watch people express emotion, we have a greater
connection with them
 Movement – We are drawn to things that move; cave men
survived by watching things move (hunters versus gatherers).

51. Target the decision-maker in the
prospect’s brain.
The old brain or lizard brain

52. Only
seven
s1muli
reach
the
old
brain
1. Be visual
2. Create contrast
3. Use beginnings and endings
4. Keep it simple
5. Make it concrete
6. Make it personal
7. Use emotion

53. Be
visual
 Of the five senses, the Old Brain responds most
strongly to the visual sense
 Processing things that you see takes up about half of
the resources of your brain at any one time
 Impact for marketing
 Use graphics, visual symbols, photos, videos
 Use in addition to, or instead of, lists and lots of text

54. Create
contrast
 Clear contrasts speak to the old brain
 Fast/slow, before/after, risky/safe, simple/complicated
 Contrast allows the old brain to make quick, risk-free
decisions – otherwise it can be confused and slow
 Impact for marketing
 Try not to use statements such as “we are one of the leader
providers of….” without adding contrast
 Neutral statements not lead to a quick sorting of
information, and do not trigger a quick decision
 Try to contrast where prospects are now, with how great
things could be if they use your services

55. Use
beginnings
and
ends
 The Old Brain is also strongly influenced by firsts
and lasts, beginnings and endings
 It is always looking for the unexpected – things that
break the pattern that it’s used to
 Impact for marketing
 Put your most important messages at the beginning and
repeat at the end of every prospect communication
 If you have a choice, be the first presenter because the old
brain is more attentive when in a state of anticipation

56. Be
simple
 Too much information may make prospects
 Unable to respond quickly
 Get irritated or bored
 Start to develop a “why are you telling me this? Response
 Suffer information overload leading to indecision
 Impact for marketing – simplify your content
 Focus on critical needs and your differentiators
 Use metaphors and analogies

57. Be
concrete
 The Old Brain prefers concrete language to abstract
ideas
 The old brain cannot process concepts like “a flexible
solution,” “an integrated approach,” or “scalable
architecture”
 It does react to simple and easy to grasp concepts like
“more money,” “unbreakable,” “24-hour service”
 Impact for marketing – use familiar, simple wording
and lots of graphics

58. Make
it
personal
 The old brain is only concerned with its own wellbeing and survival
 Lesson for your marketing
 100% of all your message as a business owner needs to
focus on the prospect and customer, not you
 Use the second person, i.e., “you” not “we” or “I”
 Content should not be first about you, your business, your
services
 The old brain will not listen until you tell prospects what is
in it for them

59. Use
emo1on
 The old brain is only triggered by emotion
 Emotions create electrochemical responses in the
brain – this impacts the way we process and
memorize information
 We remember events better when we experience them
with strong emotion

60. Summary
-­‐
Marke1ng
to
the
old
brain
 Diagnose the client pain
Listen to prospects; their pain is often below the conscious level
 Differentiate your claim


Use clear contrasts in differentiating your services. Don’t say “we are one
of the leading…,” say “we are the only….”
Your prospect is thinking, how does this compare to other options, and
how does this compare to doing nothing
 Demonstrate the gain
The old brain needs tangible information, needs proof that your solution will
address their need or pain
 Deliver to the old brain
Keep the seven stimuli top of mind

61. Marke1ng
services
versus
products
Make your services visible and tangible.
Make your prospects comfortable.
“It is harder to market services than products
because they are intangible.
Communications for services make them more tangible,
and give prospects something firm to evaluate.
Unlike communicating about products,
communicating about services must make the
service more tangible and real,
and must soothe the worried prospect.”
Harry
Beckwith,
Selling
the
Invisible

62. A final note on marketing.
Give it attention.
What you pay attention to GROWS!

63. When
paying
a^en1on
to
your
marke1ng:
Be
strategic.
View
from
a
marke1ng
lens.
Target
the
old
part
of
the
brain.

64. Resources.

65. Some
of
my
favorite
marke1ng
books
 Selling the Invisible, Harry Beckwith, 1997
A classic on services marketing
 Unthinking, Harry Beckwith, 2013
 Neuromarketing, Patrick Renvoise and Christophe
Morin, 2007
 Positioning, Reis and Trout
 The eMyth Revisited, Michael E Gerber, 1995

66. Online
marke1ng
resources,
con1nued
 Data: Pew Research – www.pewresearch.org
 Demographics of social media users, 2/14/13
 Social networking, 2012
 Developing content – www.copyblogger.com
 How to develop content when you don’t have a clue
 How to blog – www.blogtyrant.com/how-to-blog

A guide to quickly start blogging
 Marketing – www.marketingprofs.com
 Web marketing – www.marketo.com

67. THANK YOU!
Contact me at:
marsha@koimarketingsolutions.com

69. View your site through a marketing lens.
Branding
All of the above, plus visual identity

70. Fit
by
June
brand
Authen3c,
athle3c,
healthy,
informal,
clean
brand
Messaging
is
simple
and
memorable:
Work
out.
Be
fit.

71. Resolu1ons
brand
• Professional,
established,
helpful,
energe1c
• Communicates
emo1onal
benefits
of
service
well
• Messaging:
The
Link
to
your
Organized
Future

73. 1
Ask
about
our
guaranteed
results!
Before
Acer
• Reduced
stress
from
clu^er
• Empty
next
downsizing
• Estate
cleanouts
• Reduced
1me
spent
looking
for
lost
items

74. Search
for
“financial
advisor
boston”

75. Music
metaphor
has
no
real
meaning

76. Li^le
informa1on
about
services,
quality

77. Rota1ng
images
show
different
types
of
clients
Good
posi1oning
of
his
services,
great
key
message,
differen1ators
Boston
Magazine
–
Top
five
financial
planners,
2
years

78. Eric’s
services:
Graphics
and
lists
Graphics
are
more
impacEul
and
interes3ng
than
lists
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