Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

The site is very nice. I would add a sentence that says what you are controlling. It isn't clear in 5 seconds. The tag line is very hard to read.

Since you already have subscribers perhaps a friends and family promotion would work. Get customers to recommend the product, go to the web site, etc and they get something. It could be a chance to win something, free service for a period of time etc.

I would also give visitors to you page a way to "send to a Friend". It is an interesting product.

Too bad the Radio Shack website has ratings. You have 3 stars because of one rating.

The landing page looks good. When I click "how does it work?" I was expecting a text explanation, but immediately jumped into a slick promotional videotape. I'd prefer to offer the video as an option from a text and graphics page that clearly and briefly outlines the way the technology works. The relationship between the green homesight page and the blue corporate pages is a little awkward, and it would add credibility for the company to think that through and making the whole site visually compatible. The homesight page is much snappier-looking than the corporate pages.

When you click on the "order from Radio Shack," you get to an RS screen offering a "motorola homesight" device; the identity of your company got lost in the transition, and by the way, Radio Shack doesn't let me go back to your site once I'm there, which isn't very nice.

But I had to go to the RS site to find out that your starter kit is $99. I was guessing your price would be much higher, and others might think that, too. So there might be a tasteful way of including the minimum investment in a benefit statement on your home page. Something like: "Keep an eye on your home even when you're away. Homesight's starter kit is just $99 and can be installed in an hour or less." Making it immediately clear that this is not complicated or expensive could increase your hit rates.

As far as increasing traffic, you've identified 3 markets for your device. Each of these markets needs its own strategy; and maybe you've prioritized those so that you're really working on the home market first, for example. Since your device is something people might not know they need (or that it's available), I'd think a PR-based approach would be one good tack to take. Could you be included in HGTV technology reviews, provide content and/or advertise on hgtv.com and similar sites? Just a few ideas. You'd need to work up a plan for each market based on its unique characteristics.

Good luck,
Marge

Thinking about a PR approach to attract families, how about supplying first-person experience articles to the parenting magazines, including the working woman titles? Newspapers also devote regular space to parenting tips as well as technology articles. Write the article in the voice of a customer -- How I know what's going on at home, and how I set up the system myself, etc. Find someone who'll let you use their name and include a bit about themselves. Include a summary box with brief product info including the url. And could you get a promo card included with those "gift baskets" someone send to new parents? I understand that you're thinking of online marketing, but everything starts offline. There are also lots of baby-focused sites that might appeal to new parents; some of those accept advertising.

Marge