Are You Getting Enough Customer Complaints?

That’s right. Are you getting enough customer complaints? Well no business wants complaints and all businesses should strive to deliver levels of performance and service that satisfy or delight their customers. But sometimes, even the best companies fall short.


Discover how to turn customer complaints into a strategy that helps grow customer lifetime value and transform business performance. Read more...

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Seth Godin & 'Angry People Are Different'

In the post Angry People Are Different Seth Godin says how important it is to acknowledge customer anger and take action to make it go away to have any chance of continuing to have a relationship that the customer and you both value. Here is a great example of how First Direct (a UK bank) prevented me from moving from being a brand advocate to a brand terrorist.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Does your web marketing consistently communicate your brand thought?

Having a powerful brand thought is an essential component of profitable web marketing. It's about owning a thought (or story) in your target consumers' mind that is: credible; clear, distinctive; consistent and compelling.

For Disney, the brand thought might be 'making people happy'. For Apple, it's 'think different'. Developing the brand thought is a crucial step but on its own it is not enough. It has to be effectively communicated or demonstrated at every customer touch point. Your prospect or customer might see your website, your email, use your product or service, call sales or customer services, see your advertisement or some direct marketing. You don't know whether they will experience one or all of these touch points and probably will not be able to control the order. Most businesses fail to effectively communicate a brand thought. If you send mixed messages, you have zero chance of owning a brand thought in your target consumers' mind.

Yesterday, I received an unsolicited email from a marketing company (Intelligent Data Services) that sells prospect lists. I do not know what their brand thought is but can make a guess based on their company name 'Intelligent Data'.

Given it was an unsolicited email to an address I do not use, it first made me wonder about the list quality and how intelligent they really are. 

The email subject title is really important and heavily influences whether people are likely to read the email or not. In this case it was 'May Madness Countdown'. Given they sent the email on May 28th, it was a little late for a May countdown. They were using a tried and tested sales tactic (made popular in supermarkets) of 'Buy one, get one free.' There are hundreds of ways they could have communicated this offer. They could have chosen one that reinforces the brand thought which is one of the requirements for successful marketing in the medium / long term. Although 'May Madness' is often used to communicate 'big sales' the word madness doesn't reinforce 'intelligent' to me.

The copy also says 'This offer is only valid until the end of January.' Further down the copy says the 'offer is only valid until 29th May.' Even the best businesses can make a mistake but if your brand thought is about 'intelligence' you are setting yourself a 'high bar'.

They may be a great business and offer a terrific service to their clients but for me the key point is:-

If a business sends mixed web marketing messages that compromise their brand thought, in a business world with lots of competitors, don't be surprised if your target consumer goes somewhere else.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Effective web marketing is not about using 'weasel words'

I have a problem whenever I see 'weasel words' used in marketing. Having been in the marketing business for over 20 years, for me marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably. It's about helping to give target prospects what whey want. It's not about conning people into doing something they would regret later.

A few days ago, I received an email from TomTom. I used to use one of their early navigation products on a PDA many years ago. I suspect they are a major player in navigation 

devices and probably offer a good range of products. However, I was disappointed that the email copy said 'Don't forget, roads change no less than up to 15% a year. A good reason to check your map version.'

What does 'no less than up to mean'?

The basis principle of contacting customers and ex-customers to offer them upgrades is a good web marketing strategy, especially when the old product becomes less useful over time. But for me, the clumsy copy is inappropriate. I suspect the initial copy writer said '...roads change no less than 15% a year.' Possibly after a legal check, they may have been concerned they couldn't substantiate it and added the unhelpful 'up to'.

I would be surprised if a major brand like TomTom were intentionally trying to con people, but that's how I felt after reading the copy. Why didn't they say something like, 

'Last year, our UK maps received over x,000 changes. These changes included x,000 new roads like the Mxx & Axxx. x,000 road numbers also changed. e.g. The Byyy became the Bxxx. So if you want to make sure you have up to date data then  ..........'

They must know how many navigation changes were made in each country last year. This would allow them to say 'Over x,000' rather than up to y,000.' They also should be able to supply dynamic emails with examples of changes based on say 20-50 miles from the individuals postcode. This would reinforce their expert knowledge and prompt some to think, 'I didn't know that, and it's only 30 miles away. What about all the other changes further afield?'

The message here is always find a positive way of communicating a message that your target audience are likely to find genuinely helpful. If you can't find something to say that is genuinely helpful, perhaps it is time to change what you do. Don't resort to weasel words. It doesn't pay off in the long term. and will damage your Web Marketing ROI

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Using Video As Part Of The Web Marketing Message

In  a recent blog, I commented that 90% of the UK online population now have broadband and this means that using audio and video is less likely to be a user experience issue than it used to be.

I heard a story on BBC radio yesterday about dog cloning that attracted my intention. Best Friends Again is a website that offers to clone your dog. 

This is clearly a controversial area and many people will not approve of cloning. Putting the ethics to one side, what struck me was the marketing approach taken by the company which was to make the message more family / folksy and less white coat / petri dish. The home page has an appealing picture of a lovely dog with a headline 'What if you could be best friends...again?'  It is a great headline that works really well with the image. 

It also has a video clip that is an example of how video can effectively communicate a compelling message. In the clip, the CEO explains how he produced 3 clones of Missy, his family dog that died in 2002. He is not in a lab with a white coat. He is at home in front of a log fire stroking one of the cloned dogs. 

If cloning a loved dog is of interest, there is an opportunity on the home page to bid to be 1 of only 5 people to win a unique opportunity to clone your dog. On the BBC, the CEO said that he expected bids to be in the 6 figure region!

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Does your web marketing strategy take account that 90% of the UK online population now have broadband?

According to market research agency BMRB, 90% of the UK online population now have broadband. Over half (54%) of broadband users have connection speeds greater than 2MB compared with 28% just 18 months ago in November 2006. Download speed is clearly much less of an issue today than it used to be when modem speeds were just 28KB. 

So what use are you making of the faster download speeds available? Does your website incorporate images, audio or video? If not, download speed should no longer be a barrier to considering their use.

However, just because you can incorporate images, audio & video doesn't mean you should. The key driver for all your website and web marketing content has to be whether it effectively communicates your brand thought to your target audience. 

The inclusion of images, audio & video is no longer primarily a technical or speed related issue. Inclusion should be based on whether you can develop creative ways of effectively communicating your brand thought to your target audience as part of your web marketing strategy to attract and keep valuable customers.

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Does Search Play A Big Enough Role In Your Web Marketing Strategy?

New data from comScore shows that in March 2008, 221 million Europeans did 24.5 billion internet searches, averaging 111 each. The UK had the highest number of searches in Europe with 4 billion searches, an average of 124 per user.

The market is dominated by Google who had a 79% share of European searches with Yahoo & Microsoft each having just a 2% share.

Does your web marketing strategy reflect the huge demand for UK internet searches? 

I am still surprised that too many companies (big or small) do not have a strategy to attract website visitors. I use 6 different web marketing attraction strategies which include SEO & Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. 

Often, clients say that PPC is not right for them because they think it's not right for their sector or that they personally ignore PPC ads, believing everyone else must do too. I usually respond by saying "Let's give it a try" and set up a test campaign with a small budget. So far, the trials have always successfully demonstrated improvements in Marketing ROI

One recent example was for a Business to Business company who was pretty sceptical about PPC. Initial results are showing a significant uplift in attracting targeted prospects at a very low cost per click.  I am particularly encouraged that we are attracting 'high quality' prospects who searched using their competitor brand names, (i.e. enticing competitor prospects) following the recent change in Google's Trade Mark Policy. 

If you have a website, make sure you have a web marketing strategy in place to attract targeted prospects. As the new data proves, SEO & PPC both have an important part to play. 

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and keep valuable customers online.

Can another business help your web marketing strategy?

In an earlier blog Is your web marketing timely?, I talked about an English Heritage email advertising a 'joint programme' on The History Channel. This is a great example of 2 brands getting together to do something mutually beneficial. It is likely that the target audiences are similar and there is a good brand fit:-

• members of English Heritage are likely to be interested in watching history programmes on The History Channel
• people who watch The History Channel are likely to be interested in becoming members of English Heritage
  

This association is more than just a joint promotion. Although, I didn't watch the programme, I suspect the product (i.e. the programme) would have been better as a result of the association. The TV programme makers should have got great access to the site (Stonehenge) as well as special insight from experts at English Heritage. English Heritage was able to showcase one of their 'flagship' sites to an international audience which will inevitably boost visits to the site, other sites and their website.

This is a good example of 2 brands working together to attract valuable customers and increase customer lifetime value. This 'joint promotion' principle could also be applied to your business (whether it is large or small.) 

Here is another example. A gym could do a joint promotion with a sports drink brand or a company promoting healthy eating as the target audiences are likely to be similar and there is a good brand fit i.e. helping you stay fit and healthy.

What other (non-competitor) brands are targeting the same audience as you business?

Could you develop a joint initiative to promote to each others audience that is mutually beneficial?

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.

Is your web marketing timely?

Let's assume that you have developed a great marketing message and know your target audience. How do you ensure that the message gets to the target at the right time?

If your objective is to influence a purchase, then the right time will depend on numerous factors including the product and purchase cycle. 

Yesterday at 4pm, I received an email from English Heritage announcing a new TV series on The History Channel starting 8pm that night. The email grabbed my attention by using a large image (which showed in my preview pane) of comic Bill Bailey with Stonehenge in the background. 

Although the History Channel is not one of the 5 or 6 TV channels that would normally be on my short list, this would have been an 'appointment to view' programme for me as I like Bill Bailey and we did a family trip to Stonehenge a few weeks ago. I would like to find out more about about how it was built and how it aligns with the sun on the Summer solstice.

However, I was out yesterday & only saw the email this morning, so it was too late and I missed a programme I would have watched or recorded. English Heritage presumably took the view that it was best to email people 4 hours before the programme started i.e. close to the 'purchase ' decision time with the target audience probably still at work with access to email. 

I don't know English Heritage's target audience profile but I suspect it is older and may not all work. Although internet users, I suspect many would go online in the evening. 

One of the great things about email marketing is that English Heritage should be able to identify how the campaign worked e.g. how many people opened the email, read it, clicked on a link, interacted with the micro site, watched the programme etc. They may well already know this & I might just be an exception!

I think it would have been better if they had sent the email a few days earlier to get people like me to make a note to watch the programme with a reminder on the day of the programme. 

What do you think?

Remember...web marketing is about solving customers' problems profitably.

Peter Hawtin is an internet marketing specialist with Brand New Way, a UK web marketing agency which helps companies to attract and retain valuable customers online.