Netconcepts

Interview with Persuasion Architect, Bryan Eisenberg

Stephan Spencer — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:46:52 +0000

Persuasion Architecture is based on Bryan’s idea that, “everybody does things for their own reasons.” These reasons translate into four, distinct preferences, the how and why people do the things that they do. Once you understand the four basic personality types — emotional, logical, fast-paced, and disciplined — you can build perspectives or snapshots that give you insight into how your customers might want to purchase your products. Once you understand the “how,” then you can build the “who.” Who is buying your products from your site? That’s where profiles come into play, small pictures to what Bryan says will “give us a little better understanding of who that grouping or that mode of behavior is going to be — and then ultimately two personas.”

Listen to Stephan Spencer’s interview with Bryan Eisenberg for more about how to boost your site’s conversion rate.

Getting Personal

Stephan Spencer — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 +0000

Why are the vast majority of websites generic and static, when the web is an interactive medium? A website isn’t just a collection of pages; it’s something you do, not view. It’s time website managers dusted off their log files, databases and other untapped goldmines of demographics, psychographics and clicko-graphics (how your visitors traverse your website), and tailored their sites to each visitor’s needs.

Wellington-based auction site TradeMe is a good example of mass customisation done right (and no, they aren’t a client). For a start, trademe.co.nz has a personalised welcome message offering users the ability to add auctions of interest to their own “watchlist”. There’s an easily customised “quick links” navigation bar, and simple ways to review past purchases, jump directly to auctions and update details. Unlike many similar sites, Trade Me is successful. This customisation - and the loyalty it engenders - is one reason.

It doesn’t have to be expensive, either. Try these tips:

Greet registered users by name.
Don’t make your registered users regurgitate the same information on different forms. Prefill forms with the details you have.
Don’t try to extract too much information when users first register. Allow them to “express register” and add further information later.
Every time someone looks at your site you get an opportunity to update your visitor database. For example, when someone downloads a product datasheet, that fact should be noted in their profile.
Personalization has to deliver benefits. When you collect information, present a good value proposition to the user so they feel they’re getting the best end of the deal. Provide a prominent link to your privacy policy from the registration form. You’ll be surprised how forthcoming many visitors will be.
Give your registered users the option to automatically log in using cookies rather than keying in their user name and password on every visit (unless information needs to be secure).
Don’t make the mistake of building multiple areas of information that aren’t connected. It’s frustrating for the user to log in to their shopping cart only to find they must log in again at your discussion forums.
Remember the user’s shopping cart contents on their next visit if they didn’t complete the purchase.
Provide a wish list so users can add items of interest, without requiring purchase.
Monitor which products or services your visitors are looking at, then feature similar products on the home page on future visits. Analyzing visitor behavior can lead you to cross- and up-sell opportunities.
Do a thorough cost-benefit analysis. Just because the technology allows you to do something, that doesn’t mean you should do it.
If doing it yourself, create personalized web pages that interact with your databases using a programming language like PHP or ASP. Help yourself to thousands of prewritten web programs at HotScripts.com.

Stephan Spencer is founder/president of Netconcepts, a Madison, WI-based Web marketing agency that offers search optimization services.

This article first appeared on Unlimited in August 2002.

Does Your Web Site Make It Easy For Customers To Do Business With You?

Brian Klais — Tue, 12 Feb 2002 00:00:00 +0000

Through the Internet, your competition is just a click away from the customer. As a business executive, you need to assess whether it’s easier for customers to do business with you - or your competitors - online. The problem is, you may be too close to your site to most objectively analyze it.

You need practical recommendations that can help decrease abandonment rates while boosting traffic, leads, and online sales. By conducting an independent website evaluation, you can gain a fresh perspective and key insights for a competitive online advantage.

Brian will share his insights into what makes a website work. He’ll
explore website strengths, weaknesses, and best practices; touching on categories like usability, security, visibility, content, legal exposures, e-commerce, public relations, and customer service.

Bring your questions and a notepad for a timely and information-rich session.

Strategies for Customer Promotions

Stephan Spencer — Sat, 16 Jun 2001 00:00:00 +0000

Outbound e-mail marketing
Testing and measuring response
Website considerations
Search engines, keywords, and "landing pages"

How to Build a Food Portal in Four Easy Steps

Stephan Spencer — Fri, 21 Jan 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Providing your consumers with a “portal” to a plethora of online information about food and cooking is a great way to make your web site “sticky” and generate loyal repeat visitors to your site. Four key ingredients for a successful food portal include:

Content( both home-grown and aggregated)
Community
Customization
Commerce

In this presentation we will analyze from an insider’s perspective both the BirdsEye.com site and the Recipefinder.com site, comparing and contrasting their two differing approaches to creating a food portal, and reviewing their results.

Doing Damage Control in Online Forums

Stephan Spencer — Tue, 16 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Discussion forums in the forms of Usenet “newsgroups”, email- based “lists” and Web site “virtual communities” can be a powerful tool for branding. However, seldom are companies really “in control” of these online forums. The tide can quickly turn against your company: one solitary message triggering a flood of negative comments from disgruntled users. One doesn’t have to be “on the Net” to suffer the effects of negative branding on online communities. In one of the most powerful demonstrations of the influence that Usenet wields over large corporations, the “Pentium bug” PR fiasco stemmed from a college math professor’s posting to several discussion groups that he discovered a calculation flaw in Intel’s Pentium chip.

Learn:

proactive and reactive techniques for dealing with negative posts
how innocent company postings can backfire
participating vs. moderating

Special Luncheon Workshop

How does my web site stack up to my consumers’ expectations? Can he/she easily maneuver through the site? Delegates will enjoy a brainstorming and open discussion assessing the effectiveness of a select number of attendees’ sites over lunch.

When Customers Take Their Problems to Online Forums: Doing Damage Control

Stephan Spencer — Wed, 15 Sep 1999 00:00:00 +0000

If your customers are having problems with your products or services, and if an e-mail to your support desk and/or a visit to your web site don’t give them immediate solutions, they will frequently turn to discussion forums (in the forms of e-mail-based “lists,” Usenet “newsgroups,” and Web site “virtual communities”) for answers to vent their frustration.

Unfortunately for you, seldom are companies like yours ever “in control” of these online forums. The tide can quickly turn against your company; one solitary message triggering a flood of negative comments from disgruntled users. One doesn’t even have to be “on the Net” to suffer the effects of negative branding on online communities. In one of the most powerful demonstrations of the influence that Usenet wields over large corporations, the “Pentium bug” PR fiasco stemmed from a college
math professor’s posting to several discussion groups that he discovered a calculation flaw in Intel’s Pentium chip.

Learn:

Proactive and reactive techniques for dealing with negative
posts
How innocent company postings can backfire
Participating vs. moderating

Post-Conference Workshop, September 17, 1999:
“Killer” Customer Service Over The Internet
This is the workshop you’ve been waiting for - a LIVE Internet connection so you can see what the buzz is all about, while an expert is Internet-based customer service explains what it all means! Customer service departments looking to “get on the Net” need to prepare for the opportunities, pitfalls, and competitive market niches that are being created in Cyberspace.

This in-depth, half-day workshop specifically designed for non-technical customer service and marketing professionals prepares you to more fully participate in the marketplace. Basic concepts, terms, practices, and directions will be clearly defined and demonstrated. A number of successful online customer service centers will be closely examined, as we analyze in detail the characteristics of their success. We’ll illustrate exactly how these companies are creating satisfied customers and reducing operational costs. And most importantly, you’ll learn in this interactive workshop how to apply those techniques to your own online customer service venture.

Demonstrations and discussions will include:

Auto-response email
Following up with personal email
Answering their questions before they ask them!
Frequently Asked Questions with answers
Getting customers to help each other: online discussion groups
Getting your data out there: online libraries of technical
specifications, ties with corporate system, (e.g. FedEx)
Putting it at their fingertips: using search engines and hierarchical indices
Personalized web pages and automated personal notification
services by e-mail

Get a jump on your competition and get the solid foundation you need to succeed in this exciting new customer service venue by joining us for this one-of-a-kind workshop!

Turning Online Content, Consumers, and Competitors Into a Competitive Advantage

Stephan Spencer — Sun, 15 Aug 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Birds Eye strives to find new and innovative ways to help consumers plan tonight’s dinner (their primary marketing objective). To this end, we’ve taken some common online marketing strategies - content aggregation, virtual communities, and personalization - and applied them in rather unconventional (and, we’re happy to say, successful) ways. We’ll discuss how Birdseye:

Aggregates content through a Worldwide Recipe Search Engine
Personalizes content through a Personal Recipe Box and Personal Shopping List
Creates virtual communities through a Recipe Exchange

Birds Eye Brings a Little Wow! to the Internet

Netconcepts — Wed, 07 Jul 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Adding to its online recipe search engine, the new Birds Eye website offers visitors a personalized online experience. From meal planners, recipe box and shopping lists, to entertainment for young visitors like vegetable characters and colouring book pages, to nutritional news and product information, the new Netconcepts-designed website went live today.

Turning Content, Consumers, and Competitors Into Competitive Advantage

Stephan Spencer — Tue, 18 May 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Birds Eye strives to find new and innovative ways to help consumers plan tonight’s dinner (our primary marketing objective). To this end, they’ve taken some common online marketing strategies — content aggregation, virtual communities, and personalization — and applied them in rather unconventional (and, we’re happy to say, successful) ways.

In this session we will discuss how Birds Eye:

Aggregates content through their Worldwide Recipe Search Engine
Personalizes content through their Personal Recipe Box and Personal Shopping List
Creates virtual communities through their Recipe Exchange and Web forums