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What Is The Best Way To Build Demographic Profiles Of Site Visitors?
Posted By: sales* on 6/28/2004 1:09 PM (CST) 50 Points
We are looking to build a demogrphic profile on our customer base and would like this to include those who may or may not have purchased anything from us. We are looking for the best possible way or strategy to go about gathering visitor's to our sites emails and demographic info.

Also any tips on writing web page content to optimize a site?

Posted by: Jett* Accepted Answer
6/28/2004 1:12 PM (CST)
For your fisrt question, create a menbership and/or a newsletter in order to capture data. Check out www.bcentral.com and www.constantcontact.com as a good place to start.

Your second question requires so much more detail..there is not enough roon to type it all. I recommend running a Google search on SEO.

Good Luck!
 
Posted by: gavin.dowling* Accepted Answer
6/28/2004 11:23 PM (CST)
Make them want to become a member. People don't want to give you anything unless they feel that you are going to give them something of value in return.

Membership / subscription must be seen to be of value - a well-written newsletter, discounts, competition etc. There are many ways, but the most important thing is the make sure they get something worthwhile, that you protect their privacy and that you make the mechanism for gathering info on them easy (don't expect them to fill out a huge questionnaire just for a crappy newsletter!)

Very general advice, but without knowing more about the company it's hard to be more precise.

Gavin
 
Posted by: FCN* Member Response
6/30/2004 12:21 PM (CST)
GIVE VISITORS SOMETHING FOR FREE.

People love to get stuff for free. Giving away one of your products, services, or even something interesting but totally unrelated (such as an iPod) to "10 lucky winners" or however many you want, will make people more likely to fill out a detailed questionaire. Even just for a chance to win.

If you just wanted to get an email address and a name, a newsletter might work.

My experience, however, is that newsletters really don't work that well unless you are targeting an audience that likes to stay informed and the information you provide is useful to them. For example, this site's newsletter would be inviting to us, but "Widget's Incorporated's" newsletter might not be interesting because we just want to BUY widgets, not learn more about them every week.

If you sell something and you want people to sign up for the newsletter, offer "Newsletter Only" discounts or sales.

As to optimizing web content, search Google (www.google.com) for:

SEO
Search Engine Optimization
Website Development Resources

etc.

Good Luck and happy marketing.

Josh
 
Posted by: MRowland* Accepted Answer
7/9/2004 10:31 AM (CST)
The number one area that web teams forget is you MUST sell the benefits of your offering upfront, not three pages back. The home page must compel visitors to go deeper. Then the benefits must be reinforced with an offer to exchange information for something useful.

Also, consider adding message boards that allow prospects and customers to exchange ideas or discuss your products. Require registration and you will have more data and insight into your customers than ever before.

The ideas above regarding newsletters and whitepapers are solid. Just remember to put your privacy statement out in full view with opt-in and opt-out information as well.

I am not a big fan of giving away items that don't relate to your offerings; however, they do tend to get attention. The question is, are you getting true leads for your database or just individuals who want the prize and don't care about your offering? That's why I always start my clients with newsletters, message boards (with registration), or whitepapers.

Good luck!

Regards,

Mike
 
Posted by: pat.divilly Accepted Answer
7/14/2004 10:37 AM (CST)
There is a direct relationship between the amount of demographic data you look for and the number of people you get to sgn up — the more info you look for the fewer people you get to sign up.

I would use a two step process. Initially I would get them just to give me their name and email address and permission to send them something of value such as a white paper or newsletter.

Remember, if I don't get them to signup in the first place any talk about demographic data is purely theoritical. Having got their email address I would implement a strategy of entering into a email dialog with them — building brand and product awareness. As the dialog progresses and trust is built up I would then find reasons to ask them for additional demographic data "we need to better understand your needs so that we can provide a more tailored service, etc. " Over a reasonable period of time you can build up a very good demographic picture of your customer base with a much higher opt-in rate that if you try to do it all at once.

I hope this helps

Regards
Pat Divilly
CEO MarketWare International
 
Posted by: Val (Moderator)* Moderator Response
7/18/2004 3:32 PM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question, since its more than 2 weeks old. We do this to make sure members' contributions are rewarded in a timely manner and to improve the visibility of newer questions. Thanks, so much, for participating!

Val (Moderator)
 


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