Your Website's Missing Ingredient
"My mechanic told me he couldn't repair my brakes so he made my horn louder."
—Steven Wright, comedian
We all want our websites to be more effective, and if you're like most businesspeople you are constantly searching the Web for anything that will help.
What you find is a cabal of experts armed with statistics, analysis, charts, and graphs all pointing to how they can get you high up on the search engines and drive more traffic to your site. But like Steven Wright's mechanic, those guys are adjusting your horn when it's your brakes that need fixing.
There is no point in attracting more visitors to your site if your site has little of interest to say. Even if your site is jam-packed with useful products, services, and solutions, , readers will never invest the time necessary for you to make your case if your site doesn't connect with your audience.
When websites fail, most often it's because they do not function effectively as your primary communication tool. The Web is overcrowded with options, and unless you're prepared to deliver a compelling, differentiating presentation you will be quickly dismissed as irrelevant. Let's face it: Business is tough, probably tougher than it's ever been before.
Something Is Missing
You've made technical tweaks and responded to all the research and analytics. You're blogging, micro-blogging, social-networking, and search-optimizing, but still something is missing. What's the missing ingredient? You know it's out there, but you can't for the life of you figure out what it is.
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Comments
Thank you, thank you for this article! As a freelance copywriter, I'm constantly preaching to clients to tell stories, be emotional, fit their message to their customers' worldview...and it is so hard for them! Thank you for validating my approach and philosophy!
Congratulations Jerry! Your point of view is right to the point and 100% true. It is encouraging to read once in a while so inspired articles. Learned a lot today. Could not describe the situation on web better than you!
Thank you for this great article, Jerry. Your definition of a brand is spot on, and I love your logline concept example. There are some great lessons here we can all use!
I really like the "ConceptCreator" under the premise of valuating emotion, engagement, and ultimately finding a brand's reason for being.
This more intuition-focused approach to advertising is certainly a dose of what advertising (not only in digital, but across all disciplines) is in dire need of understanding.
Richie Cruz
AgencyNet
ANidea.com
@agencynet
Very true, emotional and psychological values works very well in almost all products and services. Regards...
Jerry - You hit the nail on the head! Underlying all the logic and objectivity we try to employ as 'professionals' in our work life, we humans are, at our core, emotional creatures. And we respond most strongly to stimuli that tug at our emotions, be it a desire to spend more time with our families or a cause we deeply believe in. Also, you are right that most people who give advice about marketing don't touch on the emotional and psychological value proposition at all - which, as you suggested, may be the most important ingredient.