Web Content - Say It Like It’s Never Been Said Before

As the ecommerce world becomes more competitive you will have to stay far ahead of the pack in order to succeed.

Original. Dynamic. Savvy. Compelling. User friendly. Hopefully, those adjectives aptly describe your web site. If they don’t you are probably losing money even as we speak. With the online business scene steadily outpacing brick and mortar storefronts, it is no wonder that vast numbers of people are scrambling to join the ranks of the web business world. The statistics are in favor of ecommerce. In the fourth quarter of 2006, US online sales exceeded $25 billion, a full 22.1 percent increase over last year.

Ecommerce includes a diverse list of endeavors from basic marketing strategies in email messages to international transactions that can range from pennies to millions of dollars. And even though ecommerce operates in a virtual world, the money is very, very real.

As the ecommerce world becomes more competitive you will have to stay far ahead of the pack in order to succeed. While professionals in the offline world are defined by their resume, their attire, calling cards, affiliations and swanky offices, in the virtual business world your web site is your sole identity. It is your portfolio, it is your business card and it is your salesman. Add to that the fact that you have to grab your visitor’s attention in a matter of seconds and the challenge becomes even greater. With millions of other web sites just a click away, you have to give visitors a compelling reason to hang out at your online store.

So how do you go about differentiating your ebusiness in this massive virtual world?  It pays to listen to the experts. The late great William Bernbach was a highly successfully and well respected icon in American advertising for more than four decades and his legendary marketing principles were both sophisticated and simple. He was the mastermind behind hundreds of wildly successful advertising campaigns including the “We Try Harder” Avis car rental campaign, the “Mikey” Life Cereal campaign and the “You Deserve A Break Day” McDonald’s campaign.

Bernbach believed that marketing messages should convey an impression of honesty, using everyday language to communicate simple messages. One of his most famous quotes was: “All of us who use mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can lift it to a higher level.”

A well balanced mix of savvy and simplicity will keep your visitors coming back for more. Make your shopping site easy and intuitive. Install a high-visibility and easy to use shopping cart that allows customers to add to the cart without leaving the page. Include a detailed navigation bar either on the left side or the top of each page. Don’t hide the “back” button. Invest in robust site-search capability so your customers can find the products they seek quickly. 

The decision on how much text to include on your site is a balancing act. Too much text and you risk boring (and losing) potential customers. They’re at your site to shop, not read. At the same time they do require a certain amount of information. Choose the right language and tone to provide sufficient information without weighing down the page.

Select font sizes, colors and contrasts that are easy on the eye. If your product requires extensive information or details provide a “Learn More” link or pop-up option that will redirect customers without being intrusive. Talk to your web host for more ideas about how to make your site read smoothly while still keeping the sizzle.

Bernbach, who was disciple of simple syntax, once crafted an extremely long sentence in a tongue-in-cheek attempt to break his own rules. It goes like this:
“The truth isn’t the truth until people believe you, and they can’t believe you if they don’t know what you’re saying, and they can’t know what you’re saying if they don’t listen to you, and they won’t listen to you if you’re not interesting and you won’t be interesting unless you say things imaginatively, originally and freshly.” 

Even his attempt at humor teaches us valuable lessons. The sentence is long but message is simple: If you want to set yourself apart from the competition, say something of substance and say it like it’s never been said before.