{"id":1804,"date":"2011-04-08T08:42:25","date_gmt":"2011-04-08T08:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sanctuarymg.com\/academy\/?p=1804"},"modified":"2024-08-15T17:33:28","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T21:33:28","slug":"application-product-marketing-conversion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sanctuarymg.com\/academy\/content\/application-product-marketing-conversion\/","title":{"rendered":"Speak the Language of the Consumer: Application vs. Product Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Application-Marketing\"By Tom Murphy – Online Marketing Strategist, Sanctuary Marketing Group<\/p>\n

Now in the year 2011, it\u2019s a pretty safe bet that nearly every company has some sort of website.\u00a0 The question is, how much are they taking advantage of that website?\u00a0 It has become glaringly apparent that a common weakness in many websites that I\u2019ve come across is a roadblock between their company and the consumer.\u00a0 That is, they don\u2019t speak the language of the consumer.<\/p>\n

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Think of the last time that you visited a website and thought to yourself, \u201cwhat the heck does this company do!?\u201d or “What would I use that for?”\u00a0 My guess is that it probably wasn\u2019t very long ago.\u00a0 You see product photos and all these product numbers but don\u2019t have a clue what they’re used for or how they’ll solve a problem. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Common Mistake<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lets be honest, companies love their products and love all the industry jargon that goes along with those products, but it\u2019s not practical information for the consumers looking for a solution. Consumer\u2019s go to the web because they are looking for something in particular – they’re looking for solutions.<\/p>\n

For example, let\u2019s say I need to start packaging golf tees.\u00a0 Your company might have the perfect product for me to package golf tees, but I will never know it unless you tell me that product can do it.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m on your website, more than likely I see \u201cthe G9000\u201d and \u201cthe r4500\u201d and all the specs that go along with those machines.\u00a0 Nowhere do I see it boldly stated \u201cthis is what the G9000 is used for and what problem it solves.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does this relate to conversion and sales?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the proliferation of web searching and the shrinking of corporate and government structures, many web searches are no longer performed by engineers and experienced product managers.<\/p>\n

Often times, especially in the manufacturing and building industries these searches are initiated by staffers whose expertise may be in accounts payable, or administration \u2013 not engineering or manufacturing. We can\u2019t discount the everyday Joe Shmoe that hops on the web to go surfing for something that caught his attention while sitting on the couch at night.<\/p>\n

The goal is to first, create traffic by having a well-optimized site that includes useful content that the consumer is looking for, and second (and most importantly) convert<\/span> that traffic into revenue. Companies need to stop creating websites that just act like a brochure of product codes. Speak to the customer in their language.<\/p>\n

Companies that understand this concept are the ones converting the traffic from their websites to actual revenue in their pockets.\u00a0 Unless someone is very familiar with your entire product line, they probably aren\u2019t going to search the web by product name or number.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where in-depth keyword research and optimization play a huge role in the success of a website.\u00a0 A company might think they know what regular consumers will look for, but most often this is not the case. If you own or run a business, you may be the one that finds yourself in this predicament.<\/p>\n

So what’s the solution?<\/strong><\/p>\n