Oct 29 2009
New Advertising = Research + Transparency
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
-Steve Jobs
In the past product makers and marketers could selectively show product information of their choosing. It took an effort for potential customers to find more information - reviews, tests, and other relevant info. Now, all information is available instantly through hyper-accessible channels; consequently there is very little effort needed on the customer’s behalf to find out all there is to know about the product, whether they are shopping online or at the actual store.
(NOTE: Illustrations below have been adapted from the “Secret of the Conversion Funnel“.)
What Does this Mean?
New type of advertising is here, it’s called research and transparency. You have to present all information about your products that you know of, show what social networking buzz our products generate, provide 3rd-party reviews and “how-to” visual guides on product usage and, very important!, keep this information up-to-date.
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Is This a Must or a Nice-to-have?
I think it is a must, and here is why: if we don’t provide all the research and transparency information right there, on our site, then others will. That presents one big problem - if there is some OTHER place where our customers need to check or get a second opinion, they will leave OUR site. In other words, we will have the mother of all e-commerce problems: b-a-a-a-d conversion funnel (more on that here: http://bit.ly/6pNos).
Click to enlarge
What’s more, in the world where thousands of content creators (bloggers, twitterers, etc.) compete for people’s attention, as soon as they find something “unofficial” about your product, it will be posted everywhere, instantly. Why? Because it is a story. It may not be a big story, but it is a story nevertheless, and when “monetizing the eyeballs” any story is worth money, which means people will do it.
The Good News
The wonderfully good news is that both the information and technology are available (sorry, had to plug SmartSymbols here). And if you use this correctly, then you will be ahead of the game and maybe even become a “go-to” site for the product relevant information. Not to mention, people will buy more of your products. After all: more engagement = more customers = more conversions.
