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I was reminded today of a running joke I have with my wife. Occasionally, she will ask me to do some odd job or another and then immediately proceed to tell me just how to do it.
My reply is to generally remind her that she gets to - 1) tell me what to do, or 2) how to do it - but not both. Sometimes she thinks this is funny, most times she ignores me.
The interesting thing about this lesson (assuming you didn’t think my personal story was riveting) is that as marketers, particularly online, you must do both - you must tell your readers and visitors what to do and then tell them how to do it.
Don’t assume that since you have a lovely picture of your widget on your homepage that they know you want them to buy one. Tell them, ask for the order. Also don’t assume that since you have this shiny “Order Here” button at the bottom of your page or a big honking 800# in your ad that they will know how to order - explain the process - tell them scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the order here button and they will be magically transported to your secure shopping cart.
Even if you feel like you are going overboard with instruction, you must understand that people scan, so you can’t give too much instruction. One of the primary reasons people abandon shopping carts or don’t convert is tiny little seeds of confusion that place doubt.
And, while you’re at it, put some urgency in the message. (Yes, dear, I’m on it!)
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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at Mar 20, 08 | 9:43 am and is filed under Marketing Materials, Marketing Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Great metaphor, I just might have to borrow it to help cut to the chase when explaining to my clients why I write “Dick & Jane” instructions on my websites. Keep up the great blogging.
-Roman Bills
Good points here, no matter how much instruction is given, there will always be some unasnwered questions, however.
There needs to be a balance between covering all the basics and anticipating every little question.
Thanks,
Dan
http://marketersrelief.com
Heres’ how to order, Call 800-BUY MORE still works.
eBay’s Buy Now and PayPal process is elegantly simple; an integral part of their success.
John your story was riveting.
I have had the same experience and have told the same story many times - the difference was that the topic was mowing the lawn. My wife wanted to tell both when to mow the lawn and how to mow the lawn - I told her that she could have one or the other but not both. We compromised by hiring someone else to mow the lawn.
Thanks for putting the lesson in business terms.
I concur. Especially when another site is always a click away, it is important to make the process smooth and easy once a consumer has decided to buy.
A lesson in marketing from my dear sweet wife | Duct Tape Marketing Blog…
We can learn from anybody sometimes. Nice guy says his wife is sweet…
Well said John. It is important to provide instruction or marketing messages at a 5th grade reading level. It isn’t that people can’t read, it is the lack of clarity in our world today.
You are so right and it does not only pertain to blogging it pertains to life. My day job is selling commercial real estate investments..plazas, apartments etc. And I continually have to remind people you have to ask for the sale. I don’t care if its a car or a product…be consistent and ask. And I’ve been told not once try to make the point at least three times. Of course in different ways. Great post..
Dorothy from grammology
remember to call gram
http://www.grammology.com
John:
Who wouldn’t want to see inside your personal life? That’s why there are 20 different versions of “People” magazine!
My experience with an association’s new registration process is great reminder (for me) of ‘explain, explain, and then explain again.’ I’m ON THE BOARD and still don’t understand it. None of us do except the implementer. I’ve beseeched her to write some instructions and email and mail them out to our list — and include them in our monthly event promos — but my request has gone by the wayside. I wonder how many people we’re losing at the point of registration.
A client sent me this article on 10 principles of effective web design (I’m sure there are plenty of similar articles out there).
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/index.php/2008/01/31/10-principles-of-effective-web-design/
Jakob Nielson (the “usability expert”) has a good site on usability as well http://www.useit.com.