Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, January 23, 2012 5:55 pm

I’m annoyed this afternoon and I thought it was worth a blog post. WHY would you ever send an email that could not be replied to – especially if that email is in response to a customer support issue? This practice continually both amazes and infuriates me.

Case in point, web hosting companies that send you email updates on a support issue but if you try to email back a response to their update, put your message in the great void. How do you think you are making your customers feel when they are trying to communicate with you and they get an email back that says something like this:

Thank you for contacting Company X Customer Support.
The mailbox that your message was sent to is unmonitored, and as a result your e-mail will not receive a response.

If you require support for problem A go here: www.companyx.com/problemA
If you require support for problem B go here: www.companyx.com/problemB
If you require support for problem C go here: www.companyx.com/problemC
ETC…

So, now I have just spent time writing my message in response to the email you sent me (usually telling me how you have not yet solved my problem) and now I can’t just reply to the email to continue the thread and get my issue resolved. Why must I wade through 10 options to figure out where I should go next? How is this servicing your customer? The answer – it is not.

Even companies who are well-known for their customer service can fall into this trap. Southwest Airlines, which is generally a fantastic example of customer service, uses this same type of system for Customer Service emails. We had an issue on a recent flight experience and after receiving a long and thoughtful reply from their Customer Service Department, with a case reference number, I had to go back to the web site and fill out their comment form again, to send a follow up to their reply – not very user-friendly!

We could probably all benefit from taking an objective view of our communication and customer support practices. Try to put yourself in your customers’ shoes – is your customer service department easy to contact and quick to respond OR does it function more like a complicated choose-your-own-adventure story?

It is worth taking a look at your process and discovering if you’re treating your customers the way you’d want to be treated if you had an issue. If we all took the time to follow the golden rule when designing customer service responses, the world would be a much less frustrating place!

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, January 11, 2012 12:00 pm

Have you seen the ad campaign the NFL is running these days for its women’s apparel? If you watch any football at all, they would be impossible to miss, even if you DVR the games! As a lifelong football fan, who happens to be a woman, these spots drive me nuts.

If you haven’t seen the ads – they all go something like this:

1. Woman having argument with her boyfriend or husband as she angrily throws NFL apparel at him, and often storms out
2. “You Don’t Own Me” plays in the background
3. Boyfriend or husband arrives at girlfriend or wife’s door to find her looking adorable and happy in her very own female sized NFL apparel
4. Joy to the world!

Does the NFL have any women working for them in their marketing department? Seeing these ubiquitous ads, it is hard to imagine that they do! Who are they marketing this stuff to – men or women? I assume it is being marketed to women, as they are the ones who purchase the actual items in the ads? If this is the case – how does this premise sell to female NFL fans (who make up a solid 40% of the fanbase and purchase 46% of official NFL Merchandise*)? It is problematic on several fronts:

1. It assumes that women are only football fans if their husbands or boyfriends are – and that you root for the same team!
2. Why the fake fight then about the men’s jerseys – is it not a strong enough premise to let women know that they now have options beyond men’s sized apparel or the awful pink and/or bedazzled NFL apparel previously marketed to women?

This ad campaign is a classic example of not knowing your audience. If women are your target audience, then these ads do not understand what would motivate said audience to take the desired action – in this case, purchasing NFL women’s apparel. Why is it cast as an act of defiance to buy your own jersey or t-shirt? I’m thrilled to know that the NFL is finally starting to make licensed apparel that is actually sized for women and not pink or glittery. But these ads make me not want to buy any and I’m pretty sure I’m in their female demographic sweet spot.

Lesson for all businesses, large and small – take the time to get to know your audience(s) and create offers that genuinely speak to their needs. I guarantee you’ll be pleased with the results!

* From she-conomy.com.

View the ad on YouTube here.

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, September 29, 2011 1:14 pm

The web does not need to be homogeneous. Usability is important and making sure your site is meeting visitor expectations is critical, but I think we are losing our ability to create sites that are appropriate for OUR audiences. Case in point – the redesign of the Slate web site. Haven’t seen it yet?

Here’s a look at the new home page layout:

Not so bad or different from how it used to be, but scroll down further and it is a disaster:

I don’t even know where to look?

I am getting a little exhausted by what seems lately like every web site’s attempted reinvention into some type of social media experience. Not everything needs to look or feel or function like Twitter or Facebook. Twitter and Facebook are great tools and can play a really important role in your relationships with your customers and potential customers. A web site is not a social media outlet – why do we keep trying to make them into one?

Even Facebook is arguably trying to turn itself into some strange Facebook Twitter hybrid with its new design.

Enough already.

Today’s web sites should be about integrating your web site proper with your social media efforts. Turning your site into a real time experience with constantly refreshing content and comment streams, well, takes away from the experience most visitors are looking for when they choose to visit your web site – instead of your Twitter feed or your Facebook page. There is still room for a well designed, user-centric web site in your internet strategy. Let’s make the most of what a web site can be and stop trying to make it do everything.

The comments about the Slate redesign have been overwhelmingly negative. Look, I know people aren’t generally great with change, but the criticisms of this redesign really resonate with me. And they should resonate with anyone who is still designing and developing web sites for clients in today’s climate.

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, September 20, 2011 9:46 am

So, obviously I know the importance of positive reviews on the web – especially for businesses that are consumer driven. I work with a number of clients to help them manage their online reputation, create positive buzz and address the inevitable negative rant that will appear online about them or their business. So, imagine my surprise when I recently wrote two stellar reviews for places I love on Yelp only to find that my reviews had been filtered and were not displaying in either business’ listing? What gives?

According to Yelp’s FAQ:

Does the filter only target positive reviews?

No. The software applies the same analysis to everyone. It sometimes affects more positive reviews simply because Yelp users write more positive reviews in the first place. In other cases, it affects positive reviews that appear to have been solicited by business owners (a practice which may seem like a good way to generate more reviews, but which tends to create an unintentional bias). In any event, the filter affects both positive and negative reviews — feel free to check out a random sampling of businesses listed on Yelp to see for yourself.

In my experience with Yelp, it does filter or remove positive reviews much more frequently than negative reviews. To me, this is nuts. Trust me, you do need to encourage people to take the time and go online to post positive reviews. Customers may rave about your business in person, but we’re all busy and very few people will take the time to go online and write up their positive experience. Contrast that with the speed and ease with which an angry customer (or non-customer!) can post a nasty rant about you or your business? An angry individual can post right from your place of business when armed with a smartphone. Talk about no filter! Their complaint doesn’t even have to be true to be posted.

So, why does Yelp penalize businesses who have customers who love them? I don’t get it. Should I not be truthful in my praise for a place I love? That seems nuts and like it would make their site less useful, not more. Congratulations Yelp, I won’t be posting any more reviews on your site for the businesses I want to promote. I will write my glowing reviews on Google Places instead. I also won’t be using your site to find reviews either.

You can read more about their Review Filter here.

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, September 1, 2011 10:58 am

I haven’t addressed this topic in a while, but it is critically important. Who controls your web site – you or someone else? Are you even sure? I’m reminded now, as I am working with several clients to reclaim control of their domains and web sites, just how important this issue is… You must be in control of your web properties, period.

What do I mean by this? When you have a web site, there are several components that you should control – the domain(s), the hosting account and the web site itself (design & content). Let’s look at each of these elements and why they need to be under your control.

Your Domains

A domain is a web site address, such as www.neptunemoon.com. Are you or your organization the registered owner of your domain(s)? Do you know how to find out? At the most basic level, you should make sure that your organization, not an outside provider, is the registered owner of your company’s domains. Only the registered owner can make changes to the account. Only the registered owner gets the renewal notices. You spend lots of time and money building your web site and brand online – make sure you control the domain.

How can you tell if you own the domain? If you don’t have your domain registration account information on file, a quick search at Network Solutions’ WHOIS tool will show you who is the registered owner of the domain. If you are not the registered owner, contact your provider who is listed as the registered owner and ask them to transfer the account to you. They will need to authorize the transfer as the account holder. Do this now, while relations are good between you and the provider. It is your brand, you should own it and control access to it, not an outside party.

Web Site Hosting Account

Every web site has to be hosted somewhere. Do you know who your hosting company is? Do you control the hosting account? Many web design and development firms insist on setting up and managing the hosting for their clients. I could not disagree with this policy more! Again, your web site is mission critical to YOUR organization, not the design firm’s. The hosting account should be in your or your company’s name. You should control access and grant it to your chosen providers, not the other way around.

When you let an outsider control your hosting, you are setting yourself up for unnecessary potential problems. If you don’t control your hosting account, you could find yourself in any of the following situations, with little recourse:

1. Your web site could be taken offline at any time and not be accessible to customers or clients
2. Your vendor could fail to pay the hosting bill and your site could be suspended
3. You cannot end your relationship with an unsatisfactory provider because they won’t relinquish control of your site to you
4. Your provider could cease to exist and it is very difficult to get control of an account set up by someone else without their cooperation

What can you do? If you don’t know where your web site is hosted, find out now. Ask your provider for all hosting account access credentials. Ask them to work with you to transfer the hosting account ownership to you or your organization ASAP. You should have control of the account and make sure you keep the access credentials on file. If your provider refuses to transfer the account to you – you might be in trouble. If you followed our advice about the domain, you can always set up a new hosting account and copy the site to the new account.

Your Web Site – Design & Content

Who owns your actual web site – both the visual design and the content? Don’t assume that the answer is you. Your original web site project contract should clearly spell out who owns what. In general, most reputable firms will transfer ownership rights to you, the client, after the project has been approved and its invoices fully paid. Not all firms do this, so make sure that you have a clear understanding of what you own and what you don’t.

Assuming that you own the site, design and content, you should be free to move it wherever you want. Sometimes firms make it difficult for you to move a site – that should be a warning that they are not putting their customers first. I’ve worked on projects where the previous firm made it really difficult for the client to get access to their web site components. I don’t understand this behavior. I understand wanting to make sure that the hosting environment is a good one and that it has all of the technical components that the site will need to run smoothly. I don’t understand locking a site down so that a client cannot access it or move it away from you.

If you need to lock your clients in that tightly so that you retain them, perhaps you want to take a look at your business model and customer service practices? Clients should be free to do whatever they want with a site once they have paid for it. Be wary of a firm that insists on total control and refuses to allow you access to the actual site files. You could find yourself in a hostage situation.

Web Site Common Sense

No one likes to go into a new relationship planning for it to fall apart. And, I’m not suggesting that you have that pessimistic of a view. I am, however, suggesting, that you make sure that you and your organization are fully in control of your web properties so that the choice of where you host your site and who works on the site is always yours. It’s your business – protect it!

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, May 11, 2011 9:30 am

Some really interesting data from a Lightspeed Research study on the role of search, social media and online reputation in purchasing decisions. The debate about how much direct influence social media channels like Facebook and Twitter have on actual consumer purchasing actions has been a topic of hot debate over the last year. While it can certainly be difficult to quantify the exact impact of your social media efforts as they relate to actual sales, this survey sheds some light on the role that different types of content play in our buying decisions…

A few highlights from Lightspeed’s survey about pre-purchase behaviors in the past 6 months:

• 62% of respondents said they read reviews online
• 49% have checked the sites of competing retailers, brands and service providers
• 49% saying they have checked price comparison sites
• 19% said they have read online reviews of bricks-and-mortar stores or online shops
• 27% had not conducted online pre-purchase research

Where are people seeking product and review information in their pre-purchase research:

• 64% via search engines
• 58% on shopping sites
• 54% on Consumer Reports web site
• 47% on company web sites
• 32% on specialist web sites, with reviews
• 21% shopping comparison sites
• 7% have sought product review information via social networks

And, if we didn’t already know that online reputation management has become a critical part of any business model – and especially for business to consumer companies:

• 21% of respondents said two bad reviews about a product or brand can lead them to change their minds about a potential purchase
• 37% saying their threshold is three bad reviews
• Only 3% don’t look for any kind of reviews

What does this mean for you and your business?

My two takeaways are that search still matters – two thirds of people still use search as a tool when doing pre-purchase research. The idea that SEO no longer matters, simply is not true today. Second, your online reputation has become a mission critical business priority.

If you have not started to address online reputation management, you need to at least start thinking about it. This data is a small sample (1500 people), but the behavior trends are quite stunning. Pretending that online reviews don’t matter is a recipe for disaster. You can take control of your online reputation – it just takes knowledge, a plan and time. You can’t afford to ignore it any more.

Need help? Get in touch, we’d be happy to help!

See the full Lightspeed Research survey results here.

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, April 27, 2011 4:38 pm

I’ve been noticing a trend lately in email marketing. More and more messages seem to be comprised of one or more large images and no actual text. Using this technique, there is no way to preview what is in the email – the only way to see the information is to open it. I find this annoying.

First of all, not giving someone the option to preview what is in your message is kind of inconsiderate. We are all bombarded with too many emails these days. If I can’t get an idea of what’s in yours from a preview pane, I’m generally not going to bother with it… which got me thinking – why are people doing this?

Here is an example of the type of email I’m referring to (the name of the organization has been blurred by me):

This is an example of the type of email I'm describing.

The only answer I could come up with is that either (a) they are getting terrible advice from an email marketing firm or (b) said firm is trying to artificially bump up their email open stats by putting EVERYTHING into a single image. Either way, it is a bad plan.

Ask yourself, what is the point of email marketing? It is not, as some would have you believe, just about your “open rates”. Rather, it is about engagement. If you have 100 people open your email, but no one clicks through to anything, is that an effective email message? I’d say no.

Email, to be used effectively, should be a tool to engage recipients and move them toward some type of trackable action. Having a high open rate that does not translate into actual engagement is pretty worthless. Be wary of any firm that focuses on open rates only as a measure of their email marketing campaigns’ “success”.

Email is like anything else these days, you need to have a plan and it needs to be part of your larger web and social media strategy to have the most impact.

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, February 25, 2011 10:27 am

Search engines are going social – at least in the results you might see. Both Google and Bing have recently announced changes to their search results algorithms that will start to include “social” results. What are social results and what does this mean for you SEO and social media strategy?

Both sites describe social results as including links that have been publicly liked, shared or commented on by people in your social networks. What does this mean in a practical sense? For some searches, it won’t impact your results at all and for others, you will start to see links endorsed by friends throughout the search results for your queries. Both Google and Bing are banking on the idea that knowing what your friends like is valuable data in your decision-making process. Looking for a restaurant for dinner this weekend? Now you can see more links from your friends. Need a plumber or contractor? Now you can see who your friends like (and dislike) right in the search results.

I tried several searches myself and did not see any social results. I expect that this will change over time though.

So, what does this mean for your SEO and Social Media strategy? It is not completely clear at this point, but what does seem clear is that the convergence of your brand controlled web properties and social media activity will likely become even more intense as this type of search matures. We will be following this story as it develops so we can keep you up to date on the ever-changing social and search landscapes!

Have you noticed a difference in your search results? Let us know, we’d love to hear about your experiences.

Here are the announcements about this from:
Bing
Google

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, November 22, 2010 3:58 pm

If you pay close attention to Google – and most people probably don’t like I do – you may have noticed some changes in the way Google displays search results. The map has moved! It used to be in the main area of the page, right below the first three sponsored listings. Now, it is in the right column, above the column of paid listings and the locations on the map? They are now mixed in with the organic results in the main area of the page:

Google's new search results screenshot

What, if anything does this mean? It means different things to different users. For instance, for the average Google searcher, it probably doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot. You’ll still see a combination of paid/sponsored results, Google Places results (the map) and organic results. But for businesses and marketers, the change in how Google displays results is more significant.

Google is clearly trying to make its Places more important by taking up more space on the first results page. By making each Places listing it’s own quasi-organic search result, Google’s Places listings now account for a lot more of the results on page one of a Google search. The many local/review sites have been taking over the first page of Google’s results for the past couple of years – Yelp, InsiderPages, MerchantCircle, DexKnows, YellowPages, etc. and it seems that Google really wants a piece of that action.

What should you do for your business? Making sure you have created and/or claimed your Google Places page is great place to start. As these results are served more often and as search becomes more local every day, you’ll want to make sure you’re listed. How will this impact traditional SEO – the jury’s still out. It is definitely a topic we will be monitoring in the coming months! Stay tuned…

Comments (0)

By Neptune Moon, September 13, 2010 3:20 pm

Google rolled out its new “Google Instant” search this week and it’s got the the online world buzzing. The main chatter is about what it means for PPC (pay-per-click) or AdWords advertisers… but before we dive into that, what is Google Instant anyway?

We’re all familiar with search engines guessing what we’re searching for as we type in our search queries… start typing phila and you’ll have philadelphia in there in no time – along with popular recent search terms beginning with philadelphia! Whether you search directly in your browser’s toolbar or if you go to a search site like Google, Yahoo, or Bing, you’ve likely already experienced the drop down list of search term choices the search engine shows you based on what you’ve typed. It’s usually pretty handy!

How does the Instant service differ from this search term completion/suggestion function? It starts to populate the search screen with results even as you’re still typing, whereas the old way waited until you’d chosen your term and clicked search/pressed enter. Seems like a minor change, right?

For the end user, it probably is. Google claims that this new service saves 2 to 5 seconds off of a typical search, which they estimates takes an average of 25 seconds to execute. But, for AdWords advertisers, it raises a whole lot of new questions…

1. How will the Instant service impact keyword diversity? If the autofill function is pre-selecting options, how will this impact Search Engine Optimization and choice of keywords?
2. Will long tail keywords become less relevant as this technology builds more and more of our searches?
3. How will this technology impact impressions rates in AdWords campaigns?
4. Will we need to rethink our benchmarks for impressions vs. clickthroughs for PPC ads?
5. How will PPC and AdWords strategies need to be adjusted to maximize return with this new search dynamic?

Lots of questions… stay tuned in the coming weeks and months as we work with our clients to figure out the answers and create effective strategies to work with this new search dynamic!