A quick thought. Create a webpage for your actual customers - the people who actually visit and use it. Find out what's relevant and important to them and then go and give it to them. Don't build a site that will help you, your marketing department, your sales team or anyone else at your organization. Take this mentality with you and see how it changes things - both online and off.

Tags: Bob Hazlett, Customers

Radio Head is the first band that finally "gets it". Forget that they're only selling their new album through their online site and not piecemealing it through services such as iTunes and Amazon. Forget that they believe that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The most important lesson you can learn from this whole article is that they understand that the CD is no longer a money maker, but rather a marketing tool and a gateway to the consumer. They understand that if you make good music, people will support you.

Congrats Radio Head for being the first to break the mold! You're gonna make tons of money from this.

Tags: Community, Customers, Download, Bob Hazlett

As the internet becomes more and more ingrained in our everyday lives, a new breed of consumer has emerged - Consumer 2.0. Who is this person? What makes them tick? How can you improve your social media and search engine marketing efforts to build your brand around their needs?

Who is Consumer 2.0?

• Addicted to Leisure - They work hard, but they also expect a certain amount of work/life balance. They expect products and brands to conform to both aspects of their day. They want their phone to sync with Outlook while also keeping tabs of their Facebook profile.
• Create and share content - In their own eyes, they're a rockstar. They twitter, pownce, blog and YouTube everything in their life. If they like it, they share it.
• Always connected and love information - They subscribe to hundreds of RSS feeds, have thousands of friends online, never leave home without their iPod or their web-enabled phone. These consumers can find what they're looking for in a drop of hat (and expect it as well).
• Hypertaskers - Forget David Allen, these consumers chat online, play games, stream music and send text messages all while watching TV. In a survey produced by Yahoo!, 60% of 18-34 year olds said they surfed the web while watching TV.
• Love to be part of communities - They have multiple social network accounts and use them all on a regular basis.

As I've blogged about before, there are many things you can do to conform and mold your brand to meet Consumer 2.0's expectations. It's important to treat them with respect and dignity as they can make or break a good portion of your business.

• Listen to them. - They are more than willing to tell you what they think of your product, if you simply ask. Use them as your guinea pigs for new ideas and improvements on old ones.
• Collaborate with them. Just as Stromhoek, a small vineyard who collaborated with bloggers to create a grass roots initiative, so should you. Respond to their online posts and comments, answer their emails one at a time and take the initiative to create 'wow' experiences in your store. If you scratch their back, they'll scratch yours as well.
• Give them the tools to share. Create an online toolbox in which users can remix your brand to meet their style. Include RSS feeds, pictures, videos, music, Facebook applications, custom t-shirts and everything else they could use to evangelize your product.

So how does Search Engine Marketing tie back to Consumer 2.0? Well, because Consumer 2.0 is so intrenched and dialed in on a regular basis, they've developed a small case of ADD. Nearly 72% of people answered that they cannot recall URL's that appeared on TV spots. Therefore, not only should you do the things I've mentioned above to gain attention online, but you should also work to control those things you do have power over.

Your search engine marketing must include using appropriate keywords so Consumer 2.0 can find your brand, creating lots of relevant content, making sure your pages are user-friendly and have appropriate titles and descriptions just to name a few. Consumers expect brand leaders to consistently be in the top results of search and I can guarantee that many will look at a site because it was one of the first results regardless if it was what they were looking for or not. Great search engine marketing increases your brand familiarity, pumps up your brand consideration, improves customer satisfaction and results in a better brand experience.

Integrating Consumer 2.0 into your marketing plans and tweaking your search engine marketing will allow you to close the loop on your customers and engage advocates. I guarantee that if you implement the above to a tee, you will see much success online and off.

Additional Resources:
CASH courtesy of *mgwinc

Tags: Search Engine Marketing, Community, Customers, Bob Hazlett

I've always been from the school of thought that you're never to discuss religion or politics on a first date. Stay with me here, this isn't a post on either, but simply used as a vehicle to get my point across.

More than ever our country is ready for a change. A large majority of people have been dissatisfied with the way our country has been run the past 7 years. The candidates we've elected in the past are no longer working. These people (customers) are ready for a dramatic change. When things get pushed to the brink as they are now and people decide they can no longer take it, they are more open for dramatic change. That's why I truly believe that Hillary and Barack have such a great chance at winning the Democrat bid (and Presidential election) more than any other time in history.

It's not about race or gender anymore (regardless of what people say...don't get me started on this), but rather the person who is so far removed from your current situation and who is willing to represent your interests the best and can get the job done. Voting for these two Democratic front-runners is no longer a stretch. Voters are asking themselves how much worse can things get?

How does this relate to your business or industry? Are your customers fed up with you and looking for a dramatic change or are is your business that change they are seeking? If its the former, then chances are you're already dead in the water, but if you are the latter, then I suggest doing whatever you can to get people on your side. Break down the barriers of entry. Make it easy for people to leave their current situation. Don't make them stretch.

Try these four steps to allow for easy customer adoption to your product or service:

• Flatten and shorten the learning curve customers require to get instant gratification out of the box. Take for example the iPod. Most people can open the packaging and begin using the device without even looking at a manual.
• Include a manual that is well written, indexed and contains many pictures. Understand that people learn in different ways.
• Make not only converting to your product or service easy, but also switching from your product. Users that don't have to take the leap of faith just to use your product will be more likely to adapt and bring friends along with them.
• Test your product on your Grandma.

Additional Resources:
Guy Kawasaki - The Art of the Start

Another Great Wave courtesy of Chinup

Tags: Customers, Community, Bob Hazlett

In a recent survey, 56% of U.S. and U.K. online retailers indicated that their overall sales conversion rates increased over the past year simply by adding product reviews to their site. Giving customers a voice can really pay dividends. 77% indicated that their site traffic increased (along with better search engine optimization) and 42% found that average order value increased because of the reviews.



How do you improve customer retention and loyalty? Do you customers have a voice? If that's hard for you to answer, go to Google and search for terms such as "I love", "I hate", "I like", "I didn't like" including your brand in the query (i.e. " I love One Half Amazing"). If they're not venting on your site, then it's probably coming out in public.



Additional Resources:
eMarketer - Customer Reviews Increase Web Sales
Church of the Customer Blog

Tags: Community, Customers, Web Usability, Bob Hazlett

Why some customers choose certain brands to become fanatical about and others to totally hate isn't completely clear.

The one thing that is clear is the communication that these 'popular' brands have with their customers. So how do you create customer evangelists representing your brand that are willing to shout your message from the top of a mountain? How do you fill you house people knocking down the door rather than throwing eggs at your windows?

These are the customers that comment on nearly every article you post to your blog, are the first to sign up for beta testing and are constantly e-mailing you about your product. Evangelists believe in your product just as much as you do and would gladly spread your gospel, so your first priority is to get up the gumpshun and simply ask them to take on and represent your endeavor. Being as transparent as possible ensures that everyone is represented fairly and intentions are layed out prior to actions. The last thing you want to do is turn an evangelist into an opponent over a small misrepresentation.

Each person will have a little different style about them that may not always mesh with the standard manner your Communications department could like to be represented - THIS SHOULDN'T MATTER! In my opinion, the key is that they utimately believe in you and your cause or mission. Their background, popularity or influence can be ignored. Beggars can't be choosers as the old adage states.

Building customer evangelists isn't a one-stop shop, but rather a relationship that must be respected and nurished. Ensure that you nuture these relationships. Give them things that they will value. Respond to their desires by modifying your product or service from the feedback they give you. Showing that you actually value them and their hard work along with responding to their concerns will only add fuel to the evangelizing fire.

Additional Resources:
Brains on Fire - Cycle of a Fan
Church of the Customer Blog - Corporate Evangelism vs. Customer Evangelism
Jackie Huba 2003 keynote presentation on Creating Customer Evangelists

Tags: Customers, Community, Bob Hazlett