Question

Topic: Website Critique

More Persuasive Web Content Needed To Impove Sales

Posted by Anonymous on 9/30/2009 at 2:28 PM ET 250 Points
Walkodile is currently the UK's most decorated invention having won many awards including "UK Invention of the Year".

(www.walkodile.com)

We are not convinced the website uses the most appropriate and persuasive language for teachers/kindergarten owners/local govt education officers.

Most people think the site looks very good/professional but we need to make it work harder for us to generate more sales.

Devised by a teacher, Walkodile increases safety on outdoor educational walks for 3-7 year olds, and improves the management of the walk for teaching staff.

Because the trip is more manageable, more outdoor education is encouraged.

Users say learning is improved and teaching opportunities are maximised. The children themselves love it and their parents are very happy for their child to use it.

Currently the website talks a lot about the safety advantages and perhaps sells too much on the negative aspect - i.e. your pupils will be safer if they use this. Perhaps we should dilute the safety message a little and focus more on the positive aspects of better outdoor trips and more learning outside the classroom and advantages for staff.

We are also considering having a clip of the movie on the homepage and perhaps offering the product on a free 10 day "test drive" via the website. There is also a walkodile song which we don't make much of on the website.

The three website pages visited most are

Homepage (43% of all visitors)
Product Page (13%)
Order Online Page (11%)

There is not a lot of money in education, and word of mouth is the best sales vehicle in the education sector. Walkodile is certainly a very visible product when out and about.

We are in talks with distributors in the US and one in Europe to take it outwith the Uk and are looking for more distributors. We sell it in the Uk ourselves - the website is the main vehicle for this.

We realise this is a true invention and we have to create a category for it which does take time. It has been on the market for 2.5 years but we are a tiny company and awareness is an issue for us - even though my wife - the inventor - has appeared in many papers/tv progs here in the uk. Awareness is high in our own area, but low elsewhere. We have very positive feedback on it from users.

We make no use thus far of blogs/twitter etc.

Grateful for any thoughts you have.
p.s. in case you're wondering... if one child falls the rest don't all fall over - its to do with the laws of physics. (we are thinking of addressing this on the homepage as this question and its answer is with FAQ section)
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 9/30/2009 at 2:49 PM Accepted
    At this stage, I would be seeking endorsements from the like of the NEA and such... Perhaps an article on the device in their house organ? Perhaps a donation for each unit sold through them.

    Commission Junction would be another suggestion to drive traffic to your site.

    Provide evaluation units to municipalities for testing.

    Testimonials are powerful.
  • Posted on 9/30/2009 at 3:41 PM Accepted
    You need to start by identifying not just the target audience, but also the way they heard about the site ... why they showed up there and what they were promised to motivate the click (or typing in the URL). It's not likely they will find the site with a simple search, but if they do, you need to understand what terms they entered that delivered your site as a possible target.

    You also need to segment your audience. The benefits for the teacher are not the same as the benefits from the headmaster or principal or purchasing agent. Start with the source of the site visit and work forward from there.

    Hope this is helpful. The goal of the site should not be to win accolades for the novelty of the invention or the pretty pictures on the site. It's to sell stuff.
  • Posted by steven.alker on 10/2/2009 at 1:48 PM Accepted
    Hi

    Is it just a coincidence that this question was preceded by quite a bit of feedback on FaceBook in response to a posting from Juliet Robertson who is also amongst the top 100 experts here (Juliet)? She also ran a longer blog on her own website which included a summary from FaceBook. Whether the two are connected or not, you are in the right place to get assistance.

    My initial reaction was typical, so you’ve probably got a job to get on with. I answered the FaceBook entry with a rather sarcastic comment about it being a Health and Safety version of a chain gang, to satisfy parents who don’t understand risk and who want 100% safety at all times regardless of it not being possible.

    Next I actually saw one being used in Horsham - I still thought that it looked to be unnecessarily restrictive but I had to admit that it wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be. Then I went on to read further about the Walkodile and given the chance, I came round to seeing that there just might be some value in it after all. I’m probably hard to please in this respect having been schooled in running up and down mountains without anyone fussing over me when I was about 5. And my father was chairman of Kendal Mountain Rescue Team and had no time for the cotton wool approach.

    That said, I’ve always prided myself on listening to the debate about something and not sticking to an initial judgement if other have changed my mind.

    The point behind that ramble is that I suppose that I am a little unusual in not taking fixed positions about many things and certainly not taking first impressions as my view of the truth.

    That’s the issue which comes over most to me – your website just doesn’t convey enough benefits about the Walkodile, it bangs on about its features. It doesn’t mention how it can facilitate adventure, enquiry and inquisitiveness but goes on in the manner of a local government health and safety officer wanting to avoid all possible risks but to do so in as restrictive a way as possible.

    From the previous blogs I know that I am not alone in my first impressions, and neither will be your intended customers, but they are unlikely to give it the benefit of the doubt and move on from first impression.

    That’s my starting point – convey benefits and the enabling side of the Walkodile (If anyone uses the word Empower I will personally shoot them!) and not those which allow it be seen as the product of a risk averse world which is safer for children by about 1% but 90% less interesting.


    Here’s hoping you get the feedback you need


    Steve Alker
    Xspirt
  • Posted on 10/3/2009 at 8:59 AM Author
    Thanks so much for your replies.

    RWhite - can I just ask what the NEA is?

    Mgoodman - yeah you are right - awards are fine but selling stuff is the real objective. I do try each time to find out how customers or enquirers found out about us. Great point about different benefits for different segments.

    Hi stevea - yeah I know Juliet and she told me about this site - first time I've used it. I have to admit I also thought it was a crazy idea until I went on a normal walk with a school class and the teacher gave me four of her pupils to look after. I was now looking after someone else's precious bundle. Its a massive responsibility. SO in that sense I think that our potential customers are different somewhat in their fist impressions compared to the general public, because the general public are not faced with the same problem.

    Anyway good points about making it more about enjoying the outdoors etc. and we're gonna dilute the safety aspect somewhat and be a bit more positive in the way we talk about it and its benefits.

    Fist time I've used this site so again sincere thanks for your time. Hopefully I can reciprocate. Cheers.
    John.

  • Posted on 10/3/2009 at 9:20 AM Accepted
    Welcome, John.

    The NEA is the National Education Association, a teachers' union or advocacy group here in the United States. From their website:

    We, the members of the National Education Association of the United States, are the voice of education professionals. Our work is fundamental to the nation, and we accept the profound trust placed in us.

    Our vision is a great public school for every student.

    Our mission is to advocate for education professionals and to unite our members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world.

    I'm not sure how this product relates to the NEA's mission except that it's used to restrain children who might also attend a public school. Maybe rwhite had some other educational value in mind. (I guess the device might teach interdependency and thus prepare students to succeed in an interdependent world, right?)
  • Posted on 10/5/2009 at 4:14 AM Author
    Thanks Judith - great summary of our position and good ideas to move forward with.

    Again many thanks to everyone who posted.
    J.
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