As featured in Crain’s by Viva’s Laura Sheridan: Leave your website alone…at least for now.

Companies all over the country are spending money updating their websites.  Unfortunately, they’re putting the proverbial cart before the horse.  Everything you do on your website needs to affect three outcomes:  increase revenue, reduce cost, and improve customer loyalty.  Making your site more attractive won’t accomplish any of these results.  Revamping the messaging will.

At Viva La Brand, we’ve developed an efficient process to gather customer insights about our clients’ products and services.  We couple these valuable learnings with competitive intelligence and hone their brand strategy and messaging.  Time after time, we’ve observed how this process changes how our clients talk to their customers.  That in turn results in incremental sales and increased customer loyalty.

It’s far more efficient to identify the brand messages that resonate with customers and potential customers first, and then revamp your site.

Based on our experience, we’ve created this list of messaging mishaps to help you develop hardworking copy for your website.   

Messaging Mishap #1:  Guessing what’s important to your target audience

Consider your perfect prospect.  What’s important to them?  What could you tell them that would make them want to do business with you?  What information do they require before they’d be willing to contact you?  These are just some of the questions that need to be answered before you start drafting copy for your site.

Don’t guess.  Find out what’s important to your prospects.

 

Messaging Mishap #2:   Talking about you 

The key to an effective website is turning curious browsers into serious buyers.  A common mishap is using copy that fails to connect with your audience.  Companies often use their sites to promote their accomplishments rather than frame them in such a way that their audience believes the company is in business to solve their problems. 

Tell your customers and prospects how you can help them.

 

Messaging Mishap #3:  Lacking a “reason to believe”

While some websites are well-designed and deliver great content, they fail because they don’t provide enough reasons for visitors to engage and read the copy in the first place.

 

Messaging must clearly articulate why the product or service is superior to others.  It must answer four basic “whys”:

«  Why should potential customers care about your product/service?

«  Why is it perfect for them?

«  Why is the offer so valuable?

«  Why should they act now?

Tell them why.

 

Messaging Mishap #4:  Lacking a clear call to action

What exactly do you want your visitors to do once they’ve visited your site?  It’s a simple question that’s often forgotten.

 

An effective website starts with a clear objective that will lead to a specific action or outcome.  Do you want visitors to “buy now”? “call today”?; “sign up for a demo?”  Pick one offer and make it irresistible.  Then, repeat it on every page of your site. 

Tell them what you want them to do.  Then, tell them again.

 

Messaging Mishap #5:  Addressing a crowd versus an individual

Marketing messages directed toward masses reach no one.  People are individuals and want to be treated as such.  Thus, copy that is conversational and written as if it were a one-to-one interaction is effective toward establishing a relationship with the person.

Make it a one-to-one conversation.

 

Messaging Mishap #6:  Uninspiring copy

You may offer a truly remarkable and unique solution but describe it in an unenthusiastic, lengthy way that’s a turn off.   If you’re not passionate about what you have to offer, how can you expect to get prospects and customers excited about it?

 

Write in the active versus passive voice, and use short, snappy sentences.  Make the experience of reading about your product a fun, inspiring one.

Show your passion.

 

Messaging Mishap #7:  Stressing features, not benefits

Don’t just list the features of your product.  Flip it.  Take all those features and translate them into how they most benefit your audience. 

Talk benefits, not features.

 

Messaging Mishap #8:  Not including a keyword analysis in the process 

Use Google’s free keywords tools to see what words and phrases people use to search for your products.  Then, make sure you include the most popular ones in your messaging.

Include popular keywords.

Sure, many websites need to be redesigned to improve the look and navigation, but the messaging should be revamped first.