Are you stuck in broadcast mode?

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, May 23, 2011

Online communication is exploding. We have numerous ways to connect with people online through tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, video, websites, mobile, and blogging. When used strategically and responsibly, these tools can be a great way to grow your business, connect with others, and drive leads.

I've seen numerous examples of these online tools being used effectively to drive sales, build relationships, and generate referrals. Many of our clients and referral partners have seen great benefit from providing value and helping others via these tools.

Unfortunately, I see a lot of businesses and organizations (more specifically the people in those organizations) jumping in and getting stuck in what I call broadcast mode.

What is broadcast mode? Simply put, it is applying old-fashioned advertising tactics to new media. Broadcast mode is when organizations and the people within them simply spit out announcements, sales pitches, and links while spending little to no effort on actually talking to other people. We are exposed to thousands of advertising messages every day. Because of this, it is becoming much more difficult to cut through the noise and be heard.

People want to do business with people they know, like, and trust. This makes it especially important to approach online communication from the perspective of personal communication, rather than broadcasting. Some announcements are fine but the organizations who get the most attention online are the ones who encourage their employees (and leadership) to do things like:

• Ask questions
• Answer questions
• Talk about their hobbies
• Talk to other people about common interests
• Be funny, entertaining, or a little bit edgy

This is the type of interaction that generates awareness and a following. Take a look at your online activity. Are you spitting out nothing but announcements, links, and advertising? If so, try thinking of social media as a communication medium, rather than a marketing medium. Start actually talking to other people and you may be pleasantly surprised at how much more interesting you will become!

Why your email subject line sucks and how to fix it

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, May 16, 2011

How many email newsletters do you get on a daily basis? Three? Five? Ten? More? If you're like me, you get at least that many. Some are legitimate and some are spam as a result of my chamber memberships. In most cases, I notice one thing that is a recurring theme in email marketing: subject lines that suck.

Since approximately 69% of email recipients report email as Spam based solely on the subject line and 35% of recipients open email based on the subject line alone, hopefully it's easy to see how significant the subject line is to your email marketing strategy. It's possibly the most important factor in determining the open rate of your compaigns. Yet even with this data, so many organizations still fall into the trap of lame, uncreative subject lines.

What are some examples of subject lines that suck? Let's take a look:

• "Chamber E-News"
• "May Newsletter"
• "News from XYZ, Inc."

Boring!

So what's wrong with these subject lines? Let's break it down.

1. These subject lines are vague and bland. When you receive an email newsletter with a subject line like "May Newsletter", do you rush to open it because you can't wait to see what's inside? Me, neither. A bland subject line tells the recipient nothing about the content and therefore gives that person no reason to open it.

2. These subject lines are like everyone else's. Since so many organizations send newsletters with the same style of subject line, your newsletter will just blend in with all the other lifeless subject lines competing for attention in the recipient's inbox. This means there is very little chance it will get any attention.

3. These subject lines are selfish. No one wants to hear more news about the Chamber, your non-profit, or the latest news at company XYZ. They are subconciously asking the question "what's in it for me?" They want to know how your email will help them, entertain them, or teach them something. Boring "latest news" subject lines do nothing to appeal to the need for value that your consituents are measuring your content against.

So how to you fix it? It's very simple: be specific. Take the main point of your newsletter and use that as your subject line. Use your value proposition as the subject line. Tell your constituents exactly what they are getting and what to expect. If your email newsletter is properly built around content marketing, this should be easy because you will simply use the title of your main article. Now let's look at what is happening.

1. Your constituents know what to expect. They no longer have to worry about whether your message is spam. Instead, they know what type of content it contains and are more likely to open it.

2. Your email newsletter now stands out. Amidst a sea of emails that say "May Newsletter" and "Chamber E-News", your email looks unique and is more noticable.

3. Your email is now constituent-focused. While all the other organizations blather on about their "news", you are sending a newsletter that clearly states the value of the content. Your subject line tells your constituents that you will be helping them, entertaining them, or teaching them something. This dramatically increases the likelihood that it will get opened and read.

As a bonus, also try branding your subject line by placing your organization's name in brackets at the beginning, like this: "[Acme Widgets] Title of newsletter article". This helps reinforce your brand and develop a recognizable format for your constituents.

Do your subject lines suck? If so, the great news is that it's very easy to fix! Analyze your content, figure out the value proposition, and try getting specific. Track your open and response rates over time and I think you will be happy with the results.

Comments and feedback are welcome below!

Can associations use Twitter as a member resource?

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, May 9, 2011

What is one of the biggest challenges facing associations today? If you said "communicating value to members" then you win a cookie. Associations are consistently working to provide clear benefits to members and give them value in return for their investments.

A lot of associations are still trying to figure out how to leverage social media for marketing, communications, and support. Some are very successful and some are struggling.

However, instead of looking at social media as a marketing tool, what if associations used it as a member resource? Let's look at Twitter, for example. Most associations simply spit out event information, press releases, and remain in broadcast mode. This is not necessarily "bad" but it does lack value. It's mainly a firehose of announcements.

What if the association's Twitter account were designed to be a resource, however. What if association members could ask direct questions via Twitter and get direct answers that would help them in their businesses or professions?

Twitter is the perfect tool for this because it encourages quick, direct messages that can be answered with links to blogs and other information online. It also shares the information with others who are following the association which benefits the larger community.

What if the association's Twitter account were used to make connections between members or between members and prospects? What if the association's Twitter account became one of the most useful resources in the profession because of the value provided?

I think a lot of associations are scared of showing too much personality or giving out too much information. I think it's time we moved past that and started looking for ways to become a resource.

Some of you reading this are association professionals and most of you probably belong to a professional association. You might consider starting this conversation with your association and see how you can start using Twitter and other social tools as a resource, rather than a marketing tool.

Do you have any examples of associations doing a great job with their Twitter accounts? Please highlight them in the comments!

Storytelling: creating web content that will engage your audience

Posted by: Cole Farrell, Copywriter in General on Monday, April 25, 2011

When I was nine years old, I swallowed a thumbtack. I was hanging pictures on a bulletin board, and I tried to save time by holding an extra tack between my teeth. Something startled me, so I turned quickly and the tack went in my mouth. I panicked and swallowed, only to feel the sharp pin scrape its way down my throat. I ran to the living room to share the bad news with my parents, and before I knew it, I was being rushed to the hospital.

This is a true story. You probably have several questions about what happened next. Did I have to undergo surgery? What kind of parent allows a nine year-old to have thumbtacks? Why on earth would I put them between my teeth?

Stories naturally compel us to ask questions. We fill our time with them: they help us relate to one another, figure out where we've been and map out where we hope to go.

As web users, we are all familiar with robotic-sounding press releases and boring "about" pages that are merely a list of dates. As web content creators, we should set aside the marketing buzzwords and superlative jargon we've relied upon for so long and work on telling better stories.

Here at SpinWeb, we know that a lack of web page content is the most common cause of a delayed website launch. We also know that careless, boring web content that has been quickly thrown-together is the easiest way to alienate your visitors and ensure that they don't return. Here are some things to consider about the power of storytelling:

1. People are hungry for narrative. Last year, in the United States alone, nearly 1.5 billion movie tickets were sold--that's roughly 5 tickets for every person. Was it because people like spending money to gather together in a large, dark room? No! It's because they are eager to hear a good story. Every website can use phrases like "award-winning!" and "best ever!", but how many are making the effort to spin a richly detailed, fully-realized narrative that captivates audiences and fulfills their desire for intriguing stories?

While the internet has made life easier in many ways, it also cheats us out of some sensory experiences. I cannot smell the cupcakes that were just pulled out of the oven at the bakery, or hear the endearing whimper of the cute little dog at the shelter. Detailed stories allow these things to come to life.

2. You can't tell a story you don't know. If you don't understand the story you're trying to tell, how do you expect your target audience to receive it? Attempting to write a concise story of your business or nonprofit is a great way to separate the things you clearly understand from those you're not so certain about. What questions come up during the writing process? Is it smooth sailing, or do you keep hitting "walls?" Every snag you hit in the writing process can help you refine your business model or consider your next logical step.

3. Your story is bigger than you. The best stories are always shaped by communities—in fact, storytelling is how some cultures stay alive. You probably have a surprisingly abundant number of resources that can help you as you tell your story. What kind of input can your clients give? Your employees?

4. The best stories are honest. We've all heard the news coverage about authors of supposedly-true stories who are forced to admit that they fudged the details. Don't leave this kind of a blemish on your brand. Be truthful about what you do well, where you can improve, and what makes you unique. Even in fictional stories, the things we cling to are universal ideals: that good triumphs over evil. Tap into the elements of your story that have universal appeal and allow your clients to find all the best things you have to offer.

5. The best stories are always being revised. As a writing student, I always heard the same advice: "revise, revise, revise." I would often roll my eyes, until I had my first piece published in print. There, within the first three paragraphs, were a handful of silly mistakes that could have easily been corrected had I been more careful. Although the web is much easier to edit, your visitors can tell the difference between content that has been carefully crafted and junk that has been thrown together. As you write your story, the majority of your time should go toward revision.

Finally, every good story has a moral. What is the lesson you are trying to teach? Don't just say "I want people to buy my product." Think about the values of your organization, the passion that drives your team. What is the point of all your hard work?

And in case you were wondering, yes, I had to have surgery, and yes, I'm fine. But that's a story for another time.

What advice do you have for telling powerful stories? Please share your ideas in the comments!

Word docs or web forms?

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, April 11, 2011

One significant priority for many websites is to gather information. Both corporations and non-profits typically have a need to create forms for their constituents to fill out and return, such as surveys, application forms, and registration forms.

A disturbing trend that I still see with many organizations is the usage of Microsoft Word documents as a method of distributing forms.

Compared to web forms, Word documents have a number of disadvantages when used as forms. For this reason, web forms are a much better way to collect data. A web form is a form that is accessible online, usually as part of your website, that allows your constituents to fill in data directly online. Web forms have a number of advantages over Word documents.

1. Web forms convert better than Word forms. The easier it is for someone to complete a task, the more likely that person is to do it, which means a higher rate of conversion. If a form is distributed as a Word document, then the user must download the document, open it up in Word, fill out the form, save the form, and then email it back to someone. This is five separate steps. Alternatively, if a web form is used, all the user has to do is fill out the form and click "submit" and the process is complete. If you want people to actually fill out your form, decreasing the steps required to do it will help.

2. Web forms are more accessible to Mac users. StatCounter Global Stats estimates that approximately 15% of computer users in the U.S. are Mac users as of February 2011. This number is growing every day. While Microsoft Word is available on the Mac, it is also expensive and unnecessary. For this reason, many Mac owners use Apple Pages or Google Docs for document management. While both of these applications can open Word documents, they typically cannot accurately render the layout the same way Microsoft Word can, which means that forms typically end up looking jumbled and messy. Even if they do end up rendering correctly, there are still extra steps to convert it back and forth between document formats. Hopefully, it's easy to see why Mac users hate Word documents. All of these problems go away with a nice, clean, web form.

3. Web forms are more accessible to everybody. Even Window users like web forms better than Word documents because they are more accessible in a variety of situations. While your constituents may be able to open up a Word document from a computer, what about on an iPad or a mobile device? Blackberry, iPhone, and Droid users will not be able to use your form if it's a Word document, which means a potentially lost opportunity to collect data. If your form is available online as a web form, however, your constituents can fill it out from any device with a web browser, including mobile devices. It's even more user-friendly with a mobile version of your website.

4. Web forms create more consistent data. Letting someone download a Word document means that they now have the ability to edit it and manipulate the format. This means the form that gets returned can end up getting messy or mis-formatted depending on what the user did with it. This can cause difficulty for the person reading the forms and collecting data. A web form, however, will ensure that all the information that gets submitted will get sent in a consistent format which makes it much easier to analyze.

5. Web forms allow more flexible reporting. Getting a Word document back as a form means that the only way to analyze the data is basically to manually review the forms one by one. However, a web form allows information to be collected in a database, which then allows more complex analysis via spreadsheets or other applications. The data consistency facilitated by a web form makes analysis much more efficient. It also means the information can be formatted in a variety of ways, which means it is more flexible for reporting and internal distribution.

As you can see, web forms have significant advantages over Word documents. They are more user-friendly, accessible, and efficient and result in cleaner data. If your website is built on a modern Content Management System, building web forms should be a snap. Deploying them as web forms should actually be quicker than building them in Word.

The next time you have a form to create, try making a web form rather than a Word document. Your constituents will thank you.