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Surveys show that the one great challenge people
have found -- as both online marketers and consumers -- is the lack of
tangibility in transacting over the web. In other words, how does one
sell let alone buy something that one can not touch, feel, taste, hear
or smell (or even see in person)? When one comes to think about it,
it's a great challenge indeed.
The benefit of buying from a retail store and in person is surely the
ability to inspect products, let alone the ability to meet the people
with whom one is doing business. Rapport can be easily developed when
meeting clients face-to-face, and products can also undergo their
close scrutiny. But on the web, ecommerce changes all that. Those
abilities have disappeared.
So one of the Internet marketer's greatest
tasks is to market a product online in such a way that people can
simply and easily buy it with the mere information they receive --
which in many cases is not a whole lot. More important, that task is
multiplied since a marketer must also develop a certain level of trust
with their customers. Merchant fraud, from spams to scams, is just as
common as consumer fraud. Building trust online is critical.
In face-to-face encounters, one has the ability to provide answers to
client questions, give product demonstrations, offer references at the
snap of a finger and handle objections. Online, those opportunities
are often nonexistent. So how does one sell in this virtual world
without the benefits provided by personal contact? And more important,
how does one build a certain level of trust that only face-to-face
encounters can create?
Beyond the common methods of reducing skepticism around the purchase
of a product or service (such as with the help of testimonials,
guarantees and good sales copy), there are other elements that can
help to add dimension to an often dimensionless online offering. They
are pictures, samples and answers to frequently asked questions. Let's
a closer look at each one.
Pictures
Whether it's books, cookware,
vitamins, jewelry or even software, pictures talk. As the old
saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." So turn your
website into a three-dimensional catalogue. Add a scan of your book's
cover (like
http://Amazon.com does), thumbnail pictures of your necklace
line, a shot of your software package (like
http://www.paintshoppro.com/ does, even if it's downloadable)
or a graphic image of your vitamin bottles.
In short, give something people can visually appreciate.
In "Personal
Selling" by Marks and Clymer (a college textbook), the authors
state that computer-generated sales presentations -- with a mix of
text, graphics, photos, animation and sound -- capture attention and
arouse interest more effectively since they appeal to all the senses.
In fact, the authors also claim that, with multimedia presentations,
prospects are 43% more likely to be persuaded, will pay 26% more
attention, learn 200% faster and retain knowledge 38% better. Learning
time is also reduced 25-40%.
Look at it this way: Texts tell but pictures sell. However,
don't load your site with graphics -- there must be a balanced mix of
text and pictures. Use thumbnails (smaller-sized pictures that can be
enlarged when clicked). Your graphics should be small and compressed
(using a software or web-based services like
http://gifcruncher.com or
http://jpegcruncher.com) for quicker downloads. A page should
be no more than 30-40 kilobytes in size.
But what if you sell a service? Graphics can also help. Adding a logo
that represents your intangible product and especially its main
benefit gives it an element of tangibility. In addition to logos,
graphs and charts also help to make the service more appealing because
they can help to emphasize the benefits that your service offers. Take
for instance the raging bull logo and the graphs that appear on
Merrill Lynch's site at
http://www.merrilllynch.com/.
Samples
Can your product or service be
sampled somehow? Free trials help consumers to get a taste of what is
being sold before they make their decisions to actually buy. Samples
sell too, not only because they're free but also because they help to
reassure the client about the value of what is being considered.
Virtually all products and services can, in some way, be sampled.
Because of their nature, web sites offer a plethora of possibilities.
For example, a software program can be
turned into a time-limited shareware download. A free online media kit
can be presented to a potential advertiser. A free online consultation
can show potential clients the value of a consultant's expertise. A
publisher can offer a few free chapters (or even a simple copy of the
table of contents) from the book(s) they are selling. A real estate
agent can offer free online property assessments. A site selling
exercise equipment can offer a free ebook on how to exercise more
effectively. Ad nauseum.
But what if you really have nothing to offer for free? If so, offer an
economical alternative. In reality, they are paid samples of the more
expensive one (often called "lead generators"). They help to entice
customers, with a cheaper version of what is being offered, into
buying the central product or service. Sampling aside, these lead
generators also help to isolate the true prospects from the suspects.
In fact, it is more effective to market subsequent (and larger) offers
to an audience that has identified itself as being more qualified.
FAQs
A page offering stock answers to
common questions, or in other words a "Frequently Asked Questions"
page, is a great sales tool as well. Ask yourself, "What are the most
common questions asked about my product, service, company or web
site?" "What are the most common misconceptions about my product or
service?" and "What kinds of objections would I get (and how would I
answer them) if I sold my product or service in the offline world?"
Offering an FAQ offers three important benefits. 1) It helps to allay
any concerns the customer may have about your product. 2) It may
answer questions that a customer may not have at that time, which
helps to strengthen the sale and reduce post-purchase remorse (what
psychologists call "cognitive dissonance"). And 3) it reduces the
greatest killer of sales…
Procrastination.
FAQ pages are also great places to
preemptively handle potential objections a customer may have about
your offer, especially those regarding usability, warranty, guarantee,
customer service, privacy and security issues (privacy and security
policies should have their own, respective pages). Such answers should
also address the 5 W's and 2 H's ("who," "what," "when," "where,"
"why," "how" and "how much") that were not answered anywhere else on
the site. They can link to pages in which further details are
provided.
Finally...
Of course, it goes without
saying that an ecommerce-enabled web site should definitely offer
those common (and truly effective) sales tools mentioned earlier:
Testimonials with full names and not just initials; strong,
hassle-free guarantees with effective follow-up product support; good,
benefit-laced marketing copy; easy-to-find contact information in
order to reach the people behind the site; and clear, straightforward
privacy and security policies.
But pictures, samples and FAQs are also quite effective in giving form
to this formless shopping medium. People hate parting with their
hard-earned money. And the buying process in this invisible world can
be a hurdle for most customers. But by giving something customers can
appreciate, the hurdle can be removed or, in the very least, lowered
to some extent.
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