For the most part, this client has great organic traffic for their core offerings, so their adwords campaigns are focused on targeting markets that could benefit from their services, but who are searching for different means to solve their problems. Not a bad strategy, overall.

The problem can arise that if you drive traffic to your website to show the user a different solution that what they we’re looking for the bounce rate can be very high. Many users will see that what they searched for is not exactly what is on the page and immediately hit the back button. In this case the clients fears were justified.

So whats the right course of action? Shut down or reduce the budget on the campaigns because they don’t produce a good conversion rate? That defiantly would reduce the advertising budget without  reducing the overall number of measurable conversions. Normally that sounds great, especially in this age of accountability, but there is an underlying problem here. Sometimes the conversions cycle is so long that you can’t track it.

When we asked this client about their users and how they come to start using the program the organization offers, the most common story is “I heard about you guys, but tried other means of reaching my goals. After they all fail and I realize that there is no magic bullet to solve my problems, then I remember you guys and get signed up.” The average time between first being exposed to this client and the end user signing up for their services is 3 to 5 years. If their initial exposure to the brand is online (which most often it is) and then it takes 3 to 5 years for a “conversion”, how do you measure that? Answer: You can’t.

This is very similar to the argument of direct advertising over brand advertising. Most often you can’t directly measure how well a branding campaign works. Good branding can influence behavior, but it happens over time. On the web we like to think that everything can be measured, and we can tie it all to ROI. If something isn’t performing in black and white numbers by the end of the month, we kill the program. Unfortunately, we can’t measure everything, and we can tie less to ROI that we wold like to believe. As in this case, with a cycle of 3 to 5 years, we can’t measure it accuratly, and definatly not by the end of the month.

If we look at their bounce rate and the cost it has on their conversion rate, we would cancel the program. That’s what the numbers tell us to do. But what the customers? The people who are behind all the numbers tell us if we stop the campaigns then that initial exposure won’t exists. Without that exposure, their unmeasurable conversion cycle could be disrupted, and we wouldn’t know it for 3 to 5 years.

Number are numbers. They don’t tell us to do anything. Its the interpretation of the numbers that has meaning. Make sure your brand story and customer perspectives are taken into account when “Reading the Numbers”.

At this event, which was organized by Mick Thompson and sponsored by Northern New Mexico Connect, there was 13 presenters. I was the 5th and did an abridged version of my Better Online Sales presentation. This was truly a unique experience, mainly because this format was hard for me, but also because there really wasn’t a bad presenter in the line up. It was great. You can check out more of the videos on the Ignite NM website.

Ignite NM – Reid Givens: Better online sales, tips and tricks to improve sales from David Thompson on Vimeo.

Wasn’t that touching? Sheila got just the right laptop for her to do her film making. Or so everyone thinks.

Disclaimer: I am a Mac guy. I’m not a Mac guy because I think they make me look cool and hip. I am a Mac guy because I need real computer, not a Windows box that fails on me constantly. It is safe to say I have a serious Mac bias. I truly believe that there is no universe where buying a PC is ever a better idea than getting a Mac. This fact will not stop me from criticing this ad (you might be surprised at what I have to say) but this is important to note for a few reasons:

1. You should know I strongly dislike PC’s before we start
2. You should realize that having an opinion is the best way to critique an ad campaign, because people in the real world have opinions, and that has a lot to do with my critique
3. I will try to be as objective as possible, but you should expect me to get on my Mac soap box before the article is over. It’s my blog and I’ll do what I want

Strategy

Microsoft is a software company, not a hardware company. Microsoft doesn’t care if you buy a Toshiba or an HP laptop. They only care that it is a Windows-based computer. That’s how they make money. This ad campaign would be too confusing if they had people comparing PC brands against each other. If you took two PC laptops from different brands that had the exact same specifications, the laptops will perform the same. They utilize the same hardware architecture. Macs however, do not. If you found a PC laptop and a Mac laptop that had the same specifications, the Mac would be faster. This is one of the reasons I like Macs, but for the purpose of this post, it is completely irrelevant. Why?

The Consumer

The average computer user doesn’t have the slightest idea how computers work. Almost all don’t even care. The vast majority doesn’t understand the differences in hardware architecture. To them, a computer is a computer. If the PC and the Mac laptop both have a 2.2 gig processor and 4 gigs of ram, then the consumer believes they are the same.

There are really only two games in town, PCs and Macs. I don’t think anyone goes into Best Buy to buy a laptop with Linux already installed, but if they do, your ad isn’t going to change their mind. These ads need to convince people not to buy the Mac. Because most of the computer buying population doesn’t really understand how computers work, you cannot advertise effectively with hard computing facts. It is also hard to convince people you have a better operating system. History shows that the Windows OS is full of security holes, and generally has a poor track record as operating systems go, except in sales. So what does Microsoft have left to advertise?

Microsoft’s advantage is that they are huge and hold the largest market share, but saying that makes people think of big faceless corporations. Not the image you want to send nowadays. Instead, Microsoft did something smart. They acknowledged what everyone else has been saying for years. Ask a Mac guy or a Linux guy why Microsoft has the largest share of the market when, in their opinion (and mine) PCs are such an inferior product. They will tell you either because they are cheaper to buy or because the market is ignorant. Bingo. There’s the ad strategy.

They may be on to something…

Most of the professionals in the world go to work everyday and sit behind a PC. They have probably never even seen a Mac desktop, and as we discussed above, they have no idea how computers work. All the average consumer knows is that most of the world uses PCs. That has to mean something, right?

Apples ads have been targeting the ways that Macs are better and blowing holes in the Windows perception, but Microsoft can’t battle that head one. They tried in a previous campaign and got a lot of flack for it. The “I’m a PC” campaign was seen by most as Microsoft responding to Apples ads like a 5 year kid with its arms crossed screaming “Nuh-uh!” The ads didn’t do much more than make Apple’s commercials more credible. This time around Microsoft ignored the Apples ads and embraced what everyone already knew. You can buy a PC for cheaper than you can buy a Mac. When you can’t tell computers, hardware and operating systems apart, what do you have left to base a purchase decision on? Price.

Microsoft has really gone down the right path here. I am a Mac guy, and I see these commercials and say “Yeah, PCs are cheaper for a reason.” These ads are never going to get the Mac folks to switch to PCs. Microsoft knows that. Microsoft isn’t even going to try to get people to switch. What Microsoft can and should be doing is giving the average consumer ammunition to justify their decision not to buy a Mac, and with these spots they’ve done it.

Congratulations Microsoft

Not only has Microsoft hit on a successful strategy, the execution was pretty spot on as well. The ads show people, people you can relate to buying a computer with their own money. Yes, the Microsoft guys gives them the money back, but these people have to buy a computer with their own money first, then pretend to be surprised when Microsoft gives them their money back. This setup is as close as you can get on TV to sharing the experience that Microsoft wants you to have. When the average consumer goes to the store to pick out a new computer, they can do exactly what the people on TV did. They can go look at the Macs, see there price, then go find a PC that seems equivalent for less. These spots have all the makings of an authentic and credible experience. My final judgment is that Microsoft hit a home run on these ads.

Now… The soap box.

Every company wants to get there customers to become rabid (loyal) fans. Microsoft is finally going down the right path to get there with ads like these. However, Mac got me first and I feel it my duty to point out a few things about these ads that are not being said.

I did some shopping

The laptop that Sheila got was a HP HDX 16t.  Lets find a “comparable” Mac.

The HP HDX  has a 16″ screen, 2.53GHz processor and 4 gigs of ram (you must have 64 Bit windows for this). Lets compare that to the 15″ Mac Book Pro which sports a 15.4″ screen, 2.53GHz processor and 4 gigs of ram.

Price of the HP HDX – $1,219.99 ( as configured above with the current $250 instant rebate – normally $1,469 )
Price of the Macbook Pro – $1,699.99

I guess Sheila could of got the Mac for under $2,000 like she wanted to in the commercial, but either way, this is a $480 difference. This makes the PC much cheaper. That’s great for the Video Editing Sheila, now let’s go get some software.

If Sheila only needs some basic software for video editing, then she could get Adobe Premier Elements 7 for $139.99. Then for audio, she could go with Adobe SoundBooth CS4 $199. So far that’s only about $340. But the Mac comes with iMovie, iDVD and Garage Band at no extra cost. Maybe Sheila needs professional software.

On the PC she could get the Adobe Production Premium that has Premier Pro, After Effects and Soundbooth for $1,699. If she got the Mac she could get Final Cut Studio with Final Cut Pro, Motion and Soundtrack for $1,299.

Now, let’s assume that Sheila will need to create production schedules, track expenses in a spreadsheet and use email to coordinate her shooting schedule. Looks like she will need some productivity software.

In the PC world she could get Microsoft Office 2007 Student Edition for $149.99. On a Mac she could get iWork 09 for $79.99.

Oops, almost forgot the anti-virus and anti-spyware stuff. The guy at Geek Squad recommended the Trend Micro stuff, but he said to get the expensive one. We’ll just grab AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2009 for $39.99. I think we’re done, lets look at the totals.

Wow. It turns out the Mac would be cheaper after the software. Good thing HP has a $250 discount right now or this could have been expensive. I’ll get off my soap box now.

FireFox

OK, so you probably already have this one, and it’s not really tool, but for the web developer tool bar, you’ll need FireFox to run it. Besides, 3.5 just came out and its pretty nice.

1. Web Developer Tool Bar

This is a FireFox plugin, so get FireFox. The Web Developer Toolbar is extremely helpful because it allows you to disable or enable css and images, highlight elements and has quick links to the HTML and CSS validators built in. There are a ton more tools, so check it out. Very handy stuff.

2. XRay

XRay is a javascript bookmark that when clicked,  gives you a really cool floating box over the currently opened webpage. When you click on anything on the page you can see its id and class information, its element type, its borders, padding and margins. This is super helpful for finding those wacky display issues. It also shows the current element in the DOM tree so you can back out of that element one parent at a time to see where problems might be occuring.

3. FireBug

I hear there is more than on way to use firebug, but I just got the FireFox plugin. FireBug gives you some really great tools like a javascript console for the page you are on, information about the page loading, a full DOM tree with details and even an HTML outline so you can drill down through your content to get to a specific item to see its properties. It will even show you what CSS styles are applied to that element, what assigned it  and any other CSS declaration that were overwritten to product the final results.

1. Website Grader – This is a tool form hubspot that will go through your site and identify the seo problems you have. If you’re missing meta tags or headers the website grader will tell  you so you what to focus on.
2. W3C Validator – This tool is not really intended for SEO, but rather to validate your markup (the code that makes your site show up). This tool, like Website Grader only requires you to put in a url and it will chech it out and return a report. This can be helpful for on-site SEO, because if your site has bad markup, then the search engines might have a hard time reading it.

These tools will not get you the results that an SEO, or better yet an SEM (search engine marketing) professional can get you, but it will take care of the easy stuff you can do yourself to increase your search rankings.

As of 1999, the above is the internationally recognized sign to cancel all your appointments for the next few hours and get a cup of coffee. Nothing makes you feel like a number more than being told to wait your turn in line. This is doubly so if you are calling a governmental agency. To the government, you are a number. In the US they give it to you at birth.

Customer service is becoming one of the most important parts of an organizations success. As the name implies, it is where you service your customer. If you can’t shine there then what else is there?

In this new world, you have to be on your game. There is too much competition and conversation going on not to. 20 years ago if a front line employee of yours fell asleep in your customer’s home, only a handful of people will hear about it. It would become a running joke over turkey and stuffing every year when the extended family gets together to drink—I mean, celebrate the holidays. Your company’s embarrassing botch will only be know by about 20 people. Fast forward to now, and if the same thing happens, it gets posted on YouTube and is watched by millions of people. How’s that for brand building?

A companies success lays in its reputation. Its part of the brand. If you perform well, then all goes well. If you fail and can’t recover, the word spreads. This isn’t new. This is word of mouth. The difference is now not only can you share your experiences with friends and family, you can also share it with 1,000,000 of your closest strangers.

Building a brand is done by ensuring that the customer’s expectations and experience match. If the customer expects good service and gets it, they remember you, prefer you and will do business with you again. If the customer expects bad services and gets it, at least they will remember who you are. The world as they know it is still intact. If your customers expect good service and your technician falls asleep on the couch you get a shocked customer. Shocked customers love to share their stories. The best stories in the world start with “You’re not going to believe this!” Those stories spread fast.

In the always-on world we now live in, everyone is sharing their story with the world. A world full of potential customers. This makes getting customer service right paramount. So why do most companies fail at it?

There is a problem with the system. The internet has not only made communicating with friends and expanding networks of people simple and easy, it has made us all impatient and time-starved. The world moves faster now that it did before but most customer service plans have not. If you had a problem 15 years ago, you would call the customer service line and wait to talk to someone. If you have a problem today, you still have to call the customer service line and wait. You also have the added complexity of navigating through a convoluted telephone system just to get in line to talk to a human being. In today’s super-charged world, this process takes too long.

We don’t want to sit on hold for any amount of time. Sitting on hold slows down our day. What do we do while we wait on hold? We complain to someone else. Someone who will hear us now. We’ll tweet it, or we’ll blog about it. We will make a video and post it online. By the time its our turn to talk to a customer service representative 10,000 people have heard of our problem. Then when we explain our problem to the customer service representative who schedules an appointment for a technician to come out and look at the problem. They tell us that the service tech will be there at some time within a 4 hour window. Now half of tomorrow is gone as we wait for the technician to show up. That’s decades in internet time. So we tweet about it again. We write another blog post. Now another few thousand people hear our story, and more often than not, one of them knows how to solve the problem.

GoldCorp opened its business up to the outside world and became one of the world’s largest and most successful gold mining operations. Linux was completed by a group of mostly anonymous programmers just to make a better operating system.  Wikipedia has more data than the Encyclopedia Britannica, and it was created by a bunch of amateurs. In the new web, we can solve our own problems, and most often its faster than waiting on hold for a customer service rep. We can and we do. Then we wonder where the companies that are supposed to be there for us are. The companies we gave money to. And then we stop wondering. Then we forget about those companies.

We have become tired of waiting for everything to be run up the chain of command for approval. We have become tired of waiting for a response to be vetted by legal. We want to know where the smiling salesman we bought from went, the one that made us feel like a person. We wonder when we became a number. We wonder why we talk to robots when you call the customer service line, then we wonder if it would be faster to cancel our business with that company and solve the problem ourselves.

We stop calling customer service. We complain online, we get our problems solved online and slowly the company that used to provide our services becomes less important. Most often, the company doesn’t even know there is a problem because we stopped telling them. It’s not that we stopped talking about it, we just don’t do it the way they want us to. We do it the way we want to. The fast way. Online.

Fortunately, when the internet closes a door it opens a window.

The tools and services we all use online to live our lives are open to everyone, even the people in charge of customer service. After the Comcast fiasco with the sleeping technician, Comcast got the message. They found out how poor their customer service had become. They found out in a very public and embarrassing way, but they did find out, and then set out to fix the problem using the very tools that were used to point out the problem in the first place. If you have a problem with Comcast service or equipment, just post your problem on Twitter. Comcast will see that post and contact you. For the user, nothing has changed. They still get to complain about their service if it goes wrong, but now instead of calling the 800 number and waiting 16 internet years to talk to a person the company that is responsible for the problem will contact you. You get to keep on living your life away from the sterile hold music and constant reminders of how important your call is to the company.

If I need to call my cell phone company, and there is a long wait, they don’t tell me to get in line. They tell me to leave my name and they will call me back. It may not seem like much, but being asked for your name is a lot better than assigning you a number. The rules of customer service are changing. It’s getting better for the consumer, and will be better for the companies that decide to hear the challenge, as they start to engage with their customers. Those that don’t will get left behind. It’s all free market. Evolve to add value by the customer’s definition and live. Resist the change, and go the way of the dodo. Unfortunately, we won’t wait around for the answer. We have other things to do.

This post is part of the Cluetrainplus10 Project. This project is to celebrate the book The Cluetrain Manifesto, written by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls and David Weinberger and what has happened in the 10 years sence it was published.  The Cluetrain Manifesto is 95 theses published to direct orginations into the new world the internet is creating. I choose “85. When we have questions we turn to each other for answers. If you didn’t have such a tight rein on “your people” maybe they’d be among the people we’d turn to.”

Twitter

Blogging has been growing at a very steep upward rate for a few years now and there are millions of bloggers out on the web creating content. Some of it doesn’t interest me at all, like photos and a daily account of the family cat (unless its a lol cat), but there are many others out there creating content that is exactly what I am interested in. The problem is that there are so many blogs, it can be hard to find all the good stuff. Additionally, I don’t want to clog up my rss reader with a bunch of blogs that only have good content for me every blue moon while the rest of the time I have to read enough of the authors post in the stream just to find out I don’t care and move on. I prefer podcasting and audio formats over text formats, its easier for me to listen than to read to absorb content, so I want my rss reader only full of the stuff I really want. I still read a lot of posts from a lot of places, but I don’t subscribe to the feed until I see repeated good stories (for me).

Twitter isn’t much different. You find people who post about all sorts of things, some I’m interested in and some I’m not. I am much more likely to follow a person on twitter that I am to subscribe to their blog feed because on twitter each message can only be 140 characters. Its much faster for me to digest the information and decide if this person is adding value. It seems like less of a commitment, I suppose.

What I really like about twitter is that most of the posts I like, and therefor most of the people follow, tend to share what they find online that they find interesting. Most often its a blog post. Twitter is allowing me to find longer form content online that I normally wouldn’t, and becuase I follow people on Tiwtter that are interested in the same things I am, most of the time the posts they provide are interesting to me. It’s almost like the interent is prequalifing content just for me.

I also enjoy the witty remarks that people post to twitter, or quotes that my twitter “friends” have heard from other people, both funny and silly, but over all, twitter is a community based content finder and filter, and the best thing to happen to the blogsophere so far.

What do you use twitter for?

By the way, if your interested, you can follow me here: @reidgivens

Often, this process is done the other way around. Someone gets an idea that they “need” something, and then put together a Request For Proposal (RFP) to find out how much it will cost by getting bids on it. This doesn’t seem bad on the surface, except that most of the RFPs I come across are copies of some other RFP for someone else, or an old one that is reused with only a few words changed in it. To say the least, these RFPs have missed the whole point of an RPF.

This happens most with technology related purchases. It seems that some companies base their decision to buy something on some technology that is hot, or that other companies like them are buying. “Well, XYZ company just got a new widgetizer 5000, and they are doing good, we should get a widgetizer 5000, too.” This line of thinking does not a good strategy make.

A new technology foundation for your website (read CMS) or a new shopping cart will not increase the value of your website on its own. A good web strategy is not defined by what software packages you put on the back end. You can run a website on anything if your strategy is sound. If your strategy is not, no software package in the world will help you out.

Magento is an open source shopping cart and storefront that seems to be getting a lot of attention lately. I’m in the midst of working with Magento right now for a few clients myself. It has some really great features, but it is not the greatest thing to hit the internet. It will not improve your conversion rate. It has ton’s of features, but that also means its very complicated. One client requested it from the C-suite, and when the employees that actually have to run the software found out, they go scared. “We have seen Magento, and we don’t get it.”

We have been shown time and time again that sometimes what makes a technology so successful and useful is by what it DOESN’T do, not what it does do. Don’t buy bullet points on a box. The only way to know what features you need and what features you don’t is by understanding what you need to accomplish, and why. Start with the strategy. Plan it out, make charts. Understand as much as you can about the outcomes you want, and then work backwards to arrive at what you need. When all that is done, then go software shopping.