"The internet is a shopping mall.
The vendor, who advertises his wares well, attracts shoppers."
If you’re a modern day Sales or Marketing Director who is reading this piece, you will probably ask yourself ‘so what exactly does he mean by “advertising” here? Is he talking about Youtube advertising, or facebook advertising, or Search Engine advertising, or what? What does he mean by advertising?’
What we mean by advertising is; to pass on important information regarding your product or service offering in a manner that will educate your shopper about the superiority of your value proposition with regard to your competition. This is also known as the provision of compelling content that will arouse the interest of information thirsty shoppers who are browsing around the internet.
The Content marketing model of e-business development follows a simple, age tested theory known as AIDA.
Attention – Interest – Desire – Action.
The first step is; gain the attention of a potential customer (someone who is need of the solution you are offering, and also has buying power) on the internet. This can be done through the use of creative and original attention grabbers such as youtube video ads, twitter promos, promoted posts on facebook or targeted emails.
Once you have gained your viewers’ attention, the next stage is to seamlessly transition to arouse the interest of the viewer. This is usually best done if you are able to use your offering itself to arouse interest (instead of the use of a pretty gal). For example, you could show off your superior value proposition to create interest. This usually works because, when people who are interested in a certain line of goods and they come across a product that is superior to what exists in the market, their natural curiosity begs to know more.
The next step is to create ‘desire’ in the hearts of the viewer. Your product must be likeable. You should put it across that way. At this stage, talking about your product design or displaying its styling usually works. Because at this point the viewer is pretty much convinced your product is the best (if you have communicated your superior value proposition effectively). So now the viewer’s mind is making a decision as to whether your product is something he wouldn’t mind being seen with. So find an angle that makes your product or service likeable.
The last stage is the Call to Action. This is the stage where you reap the rewards of the ad. Where internet businesses are concerned, there are many of types of ‘Call-to-Action’. Some vendors want the viewer to subscribe, some to make a purchase, some to download a file, some to spread the word (virality), and so on.
But here, let’s talk about the hardest of them all. The call-to-action that drives sales. The ‘Buy Now’ button.
If you have done your marketing homework well and have studied your market behavior thoroughly, you would have identified where you market exists. Most markets exist on facebook and google, largely due to the sheer numbers of users on these two platform. But there are other niche markets as well that aren’t so densely populated, yet are a teeming hive of activity for your specific market. Some examples are reddit, pinterest, instagram and other niche social networks. So do your homework well before you engage in advertising on the internet.
So let’s say you’ve done your marketing homework and you’ve successfully managed to hold your viewers’ attention up to the ‘call to action’ stage.
What do we do next, right?
Well, first of all make sure that your site or page can facilitate a transaction. In Sri Lanka, receiving online payments is a bit tricky because for some reason (that most people don’t understand) the major Internet Payment Gateway services aren’t allowed (for some reason). So it’s best you talk to your bank manager as to how your bank could facilitate this for you. Thankfully most banks have a
workaround solution to this problem.
If your viewers still aren’t clicking the buy now button as well as you hoped, creating a sense of urgency might help them. Something like ‘20% off on the first week’ or ‘receive your complimentary gift’ or ‘free delivery’ usually helps.
If you have successfully gotten your viewer through the AIDA tunnel and into your list of paying customers, then congratulations! You’re a successful e-marketer. Share your experiences with us, we’d love to know how you did it.
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