OPENING: More and more brand interactions are happening online, but what does that mean? Too many marketers are still using vanity online metrics (impressions, traffic) to measure their online marketing. Today, that’s not an accurate picture of what’s happening online.
The real metrics brand marketers should be looking at are bounce rates, page views, time on site, and vies of pages with a “call to action.” Senior brand managers shouldn’t have to ask for these metrics; their analytic people should be providing them. The one area where marketers are really falling is interrupting what online metrics are telling them.
Today most marketing people are drowning in data, but I would argue that 90% of it is worthless. Brands need people who can look at data and tell a story that includes opportunities. However, to do this, brands need to act fast and be prepared to fail sometimes.
Here’s a great example. A supplement brand decided to launch a major online advertising program featuring some of their top-selling products. Their key product difference is that their supplements are tested for purity, and they will only market supplements that have proven positive wellness for customers.
After running their online ads for two weeks, traffic to the website was up, but the bounce rate was an astounding 92%. Also, page views were 1:10, and time on site was:54. What was going on?
After reaching a company’s website via a referral site, 50% of visitors will use the navigation menu to orient themselves.
KoMarketing
The first thing I noticed about the site was that it looked like a college dorm bulletin board with too many messages and images. The site also had a black background, and navigation was hidden in a drop-down menu. The site had been created by a local business that had minimal experience in making branded websites.
“38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive”
Adobe
I convinced the owner that he needed to spend some money to get a better online brand experience. The new website was clean, simple and had a great image of a couple walking with a bottle of their best product in the background. We also called out the key message about product testing on the homepage.
“Judgements on a company’s credibility are 75% based on the company’s website design.”
Web Credibility Research from Stanford
A call to action was also developed. We decided to give first-time customers 20% off their first orders if they subscribed to the MONTHLY newsletter. We included a PDF of the newsletter, which was more about wellness and supplements than advertising.
70% of small business websites lack a Call to Action (CTA) on their homepage and across their website.”
GO-Gulf web development
The results were dramatic. The bounce rate declined to 48%, average time on the site was a staggering 4:30 with 6.7 page views. Orders increased 380% and almost everyone subscribed to the newsletter. The open rate for the newsletter was over 75%!
Email has a median return on investment of 122 percent.
Hubspot
His business is doing so well that he has asked for suggestions on making his website better. He also received a call from a major retailer asking about whether he would like to sell his products at retail. To say he is happy would be a huge understatement.
I was able to read his analytics and tell him a story with specific examples. I also convinced him to hire a full-time digital marketing person.
