Commentary

Don't Overlook Site Optimization In Online DR

From time to time I get the opportunity to present philosophies and tips for online marketing to clients and peers in the industry. I really enjoy doing this, because it helps everyone get smarter and the more smart people operating in our industry, the better things are.

During a recent discussion, we talked about direct marketing online and the various tools at our disposal to drive immediate, accountable results. We spent a lot of time on such topics as search and affiliate programs but we ended on one of the most basic tools and one of the tools that gets overlooked the most: site optimization.

This topic gets overlooked because most agencies aren't allowed access to site-side data, and therefore they focus on bringing qualified people to their clients' sites. However, optimizing the destination to provide the most immediate path to conversion is the most effective element of your campaign.

In traditional direct marketing there's a mantra I once heard that states, "If you give the customer too many choices, they'll choose not to choose one." This tongue-twister sounds fun, but it's more important than we realize. Take a look at the best sites for conversion online. What you will see is a limited number of links, and copy focused on funneling the customer directly through to a desired goal. In addition, you'll find offers that have been tested and are most likely to provide the customer with the unique set of opportunities most relevant to their needs. Entire business categories such as behavioral targeting exist simply based on this concept: only offer customers a limited number of choices that are most likely to get them to convert.

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The philosophy is simply that direct marketers want to incite a conversion quickly and allow customers to get back to what they were doing. The faster a customer makes a purchase, the less time he has to consider it! If you speak to an immediate want or desire and supply a solution for a perceived need, then conversion occurs and you are successful. The longer a customer needs to take to decide, the more factors they will weigh in, the more likely a product will move from an impulse buy to a considered purchase, and the higher percentage you have of losing them.

When you are developing a recommendation for your clients where you identify an audience and bring them to a location for the purposes of converting them, you need to be sure you also allocate time to optimizing the landing page or the landing site. Identify the actions you want them to take and remove the other opportunities, within reason. Don't overlook these elements and don't shift the responsibility over to someone else. As a true direct marketer, you need to look at the entire picture. Don't give them too many options and focus on the conversion.

Any other direct marketing tips you can think of for our readers? Please let us know!

Thanks.

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