Don’t Try This on Your Website!
Be Customer-Centric, Not Company-Centric
If you are in the business of getting people to buy things from you…or even if you are a non-profit that depends on contributions to survive, you’d better take a different online approach than the now defunct Southwest Florida advertising firm, Devious Designs.
They saw themselves as renegades who did marketing with an edge. They created a website designed to shock with an attention-getting, changeable home page. One unfortunately memorable image is that of a bullet-riddled white background with the all-about-the-company phrase, “There’s a new sheriff in town.”
That’s just not the kind of message and image designed to persuade visitors to become buyers. This self-absorbed approach is not something you should emulate. You will alienate visitors rather than attract them. And you’ll have very little chance to turn them into customers.
Here’s where they went wrong, what they should have done, and what you should do to create an effective web presence.
What they did wrong:
The Devious homepage featured just a “business tip”, such as ‘Tip #3: It’s always nice to take your competition out for a cocktail,’ which was accompanied by a single graphic image; in this case, a molatov cocktail. The implication that you want to blow up your competition. That’s a pretty blood thirsty approach.
What they should have done:
A much better approach would have been to show examples of their very best work with proof statements that indicated why it was effective. For example, they created a gorgeous website for a Fort Myers restaurant, Cru Food and Wine, which features gorgeous shots of gourmet offerings that are certain to intrigue web visitors and make them want to reserve a table at Cru.
Instead, Devious chose to take a more self-absorbed approach with their home page. Although it ostensibly offered ‘business tips,’ the home page was more about showing how clever the Devious geniuses are. They missed a big opportunity to showcase great work which would also have provided extra PR for their best clients.
What you should do to create a website that works:
- Make it obvious that you have solutions to the problems you know your clients face.
- Combine relevant graphical elements with benefit-centric text.
- Make it easy for your visitors to know within 8 seconds exactly what you do that will benefit them.
- Provide a direct path to purchase for visitors who are ready to buy.
Don’t be devious. Be direct.
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[...] If you are in the business of getting people to buy things from you…or even if you are a non-profit that depends on contributions to survive, you’d better take a different online approach than the now defunct Southwest Florida advertising firm, Devious Designs. Read more to learn what not to do with your website. [...]
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Comments [16]
Newt,
Thanks for shedding some light on this Web site and company. I think their tips, while self-involved, were good marketing tools when distributed via email. People responded and were interested in what the next tip would be. However, I agree, that on a Web site, something else would be more suited.
It’s an axiom that any communication with a customer or client should be about the client or customer. That is what they are most interested in. Go to a cocktail party and see who gets the most attention and respect. The people who ask sincere questions. My wife has this quality. Inevitably, people will come up to me after talking with her and proclaim how “interesting” she is. All she does, however, is ask people about themselves. The same thing happens in commercial communication. A company that is self-absorbed leaves little room to be absorbed by their target audience. That said, Devious had a strong plan and strategy. They knew what kind of clients they wanted and they geared their promotional approach to attract those kinds of clients. The irony of it is that the clients they attracted were among the first to dip with the housing economy. I don’t think it was cause and effect. But it is ironic.
Newt,
I love the spin you took on this. Don’t be devious, be direct. Your emails are so cool, thanks so much for sharing! Good work.
Samantha,
That’s a good point about the difference between an edgy email campaign and a customer-centric website. It is a challenge to write a good headline that will get people to open your message. The difference, of course, is that on a website your visitors want to know WIIFM–what’s in it for them?
Newt
Bill,
Samantha made a great point about the Devious ‘tips’ being an effective,if somewhat over the top, email campaign. But I don’t think it extrapolates that well to the web. After all, the Cru website is great looking, very appealing, and very customer-centric. It doesn’t reflect the molatov cocktail spirit of blowing up the competition.
Newt
Mona,
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. I do try to be direct–and hopefully helpful. I’m delighted that you’re getting benefit from my eNewsletter.
Newt
Newt: Nevertheless, there are clients that have the Molotov cocktail additude – not many of them, at least when it comes to THEIR advertising. They respond to the edginess of companies that differentiate themselves from the great sea of sameness that is populated by most advertising agencies.
It should be no surprise that an agency that calls itself “Devious” might be devilish in their self-promotion. To me, the greater error is to ignore the need for a web site be search engine friendly AND persuasive.
Newt: I’m always very hesitant to criticize competitors, existing or no longer, for a lot of obvious reasons of politics and class. That said: it’s a classic example of me-centric versus customer-centric marketing, which misses lesson number one in Advertising 101: Don’t talk features, talk benefits.
Bill, you’re right on the money with the last point you make in your 2nd comment–a home page with a giant graphic and a tiny(literally) bit of text is not search engine friendly–or especially persuavive.
John,
Of course, we’re all excited about our own offerings. Sometimes it’s hard to take the customer’s point of view instead of our own. I try to imagine that when I communicating with my customers/prospects/readers that they are all wearing baseball caps with a big “So What?” on the front.
Newt: I like that. I’ll have to remember that tomorrow when we present to a prospective client.
I’m with John on this one…me-centric versus customer-centric marketing. Almost anyone can do nice work but is it on strategy, does it convey a benefit, et all. No, no one is perfect and while we strive for perfection at D&A, I’m first to admit we don’t always deliver (we do settle for execellence). One last comment with regard to Devious…certainly talented folks but guilty of drinking too much of their own Kool Aid. Their unfortunate outcome didn’t surprise me, and is almost “straight out of central casting/scripting” as to why many folks don’t respect those of us in this profession (THE oldest because before the first trick was the first to market)
Excellence. See! One should PROOF, even when blogging…
Sal,
Thanks for the comment. I think that it’s especially critical to be content-driven on the web, because your visitors have already found you. You don’t need to shock them. They are looking for help and want to belief that they can trust you to provide it.
As to excellence, if you were perfect no one could afford you.
Newt
G’day Newt,
“So What?” caps! That’s great… maybe we should get some of those made up…
Great article, great content and great comments from your readers too!
Brett,
G’day right back at ‘ya. Perhaps you could grab the Aussie franchise for ‘So What?’ caps.
Thanks very much for the positive feedback. I really struck a nerve with this post, that’s for sure.