This isn't the first time I have written about the benefits of inserting a human voice or presence into your online communications. And I make no excuse for writing about this again.
Site visitors crave the sense that someone is there, within and behind your Web pages, your emails and newsletters.
Dealing with the bare technology of online interactions is a cold experience for many, or even most of us. It makes us feel anxious. Technology isn't warm. It has no heart. It neither understands us, nor cares for us.
For many Web sites, whether for businesses or organizations, we simply plug in and play the bare technology - the super-duper means of information delivery. All the site visitor sees and feels is the design, the interface, the links and the clicks. The experience is about as warm and human as banking with an ATM machine.
And then we sit in our expensive offices and wonder why it is that we get such terrible conversion rates on our sites, why so few people continue to open our emails or read our newsletters.
Well, perhaps it's because we're bringing an 'ATM' style to the most interactive, vibrant, networked, warm and essentially human communications space imaginable.
But what if you enabled your visitors to catch just a faint scent of humanity in your site? What if you did a few small things to show that your business is more than just a cold room, filled with servers? What if you showed that the heart of your business is about people, and not technology?
Would that be such a bad thing?
In fact, it would be a very good thing. Your readers, prospects and customers will feel relief, they will smile, feel reassured. And they are more likely to sign up, to register, to buy and come back.
Can I prove this? No, not with certified, verified figures, charts and signed affidavits. But I have corresponded with and listened to so many business people who know very well how 'being there' and 'being human' has helped them online. They have seen how conversion rates, sales and levels of customer loyalty can rise and fall in response to the level of 'humanity' expressed through their sites.
Here are a few, very simple examples of how different businesses have sneaked a little humanity into their sites and emails.
- A second level page at 1800Flowers.com features a photo of the CEO Jim McCann, and a personal message to his customers. (You might consider this to be an unoriginal and mundane idea. Well, do you have an equivalent page on your site? Would it harm you to give it a try?)
- At iQVC.com you can see how they have included images of and short messages from a variety of hosts and experts. (Are you too cynical to believe that visitors can really relate to paid 'hosts'?)
- At Foolmart.com they use simple words and phrases that tell you right away that a 'real' person wrote that content. Have a look at the text for their Customer Service Pledge. See how the word 'leap' and the phrase 'burning questions' transforms this from corporate-speak to something very human and a lot more credible.
It's not hard to take a few steps that will add a sense of humanity to your sites, emails and newsletters. You can do this with images, a few carefully chosen words or a combination of the two.
And if that works for you, take an audit of all your online communications. Take a look at all the places where you could add a more human voice.
Nick Usborne is a copywriter, author, speaker and advocat of good writing. You can access all his archived newsletter articles on copywriting and writing for the web at his Excess Voice site. You'll find more articles and resources on how to make money as a freelance writer at his Freelance Writing Success site.
....there's much more to Google than you thought:With the wealth... Read More
Business to business e-commerce is on the rise! Worldwide B2B... Read More
Are you familiar with Froogle? If you are an online... Read More
Participation in B2B Exchanges is increasingly becoming one of the... Read More
If your business features products or services for sale, undoubtedly... Read More
This isn't the first time I have written about the... Read More
Why time spent on your site is importantAll websites regardless... Read More
The days of easy money are overIn these post-dot-com days... Read More
Drop Shippers, the manufacturers or distributors who are willing to... Read More
An internet business is by far the best way to... Read More
Once you decide which products you are planning to sell... Read More
1. Combine a few of your articles into a free... Read More
Having a successful member only, paid membership site is one... Read More
With consumers purchasing billions of dollars of merchandise online each... Read More
The Internet has changed the way people do business today.... Read More
We all know that accepting credit cards is the key... Read More
When shopping for e-commerce hosting there are a lot of... Read More
Business processes are the building blocks of an enterprise. If... Read More
The Internet brought a great deal of benefits to our... Read More
Can you encounter the number of times where a Credit... Read More
All of the long, grueling nights and an unknown number... Read More
You did it again, didn't you? Forgot until the last... Read More
Being able to accept credit cards and other online payments... Read More
Only a few manage to sell everything under the sun... Read More
When it comes to e-commerce, the time-tested cliché is, "Content... Read More
Pakistan with highest growth rates in 1960s and bad politics... Read More
What is the Internet?In order to provide a discussion on... Read More
The key difference between an (old-fashioned) Intranet and a PortalWhat... Read More
Ten great tips to turn online holiday shoppers into eager... Read More
Fraud is a huge issue when it comes to the... Read More
Often the simplest Web stores have the most success. But... Read More
Shopping online has become more and more popular in America... Read More
Last time, we started to take a look at the... Read More
A year ago, I had big plans to re-vamp my... Read More
Simply put, business plans can make or break your business.... Read More
The Internet may not be useful for all businesses, nor... Read More
To obtain more local customers for your business, consider expanding... Read More
Because of this encouraging surge in activity, many individuals are... Read More
Selecting the right emarketplaceAlthough, IT spending has been staying flat... Read More
Having a successful member only, paid membership site is one... Read More
Too often we charge ahead and treat the web as... Read More
Maybe no business requiring little or no capital pays as... Read More
If you're a writer, researcher, subject matter expert, enthusiastic hobbyist,... Read More
You did it again, didn't you? Forgot until the last... Read More
Businesses, which are still sitting on sidelines and not doing... Read More
Most people who get into business know what's involved. They... Read More
Some people do not understand the Internet idea of online... Read More
To conduct business on the Internet, whether informal, one-time only... Read More
The European market is a multi-billion $ sector which you... Read More
Internet now days became a real marketplace and many many... Read More
ClickBank is the Internet's most popular payment processor for online... Read More
Shopping Cart Installation And SetupShopping cart technology has evolved to... Read More
What a loaded question! Let's narrow that down a bit... Read More
I registered with a B2B site but what's next?This is... Read More
Choosing an online shopping cart is a big decision. Unlike... Read More
When your eCommerce business grows to the point where you... Read More
If you are serious about selling on the world wide... Read More
So you want to start a business? Good for you.... Read More
This isn't the first time I have written about the... Read More
In Part One we talked a little bit about what... Read More
Online shopping can be a little frightening to people who... Read More
The virtual corporation is the emerging organisational form, which best... Read More
Have you ever gone to the store and thought you... Read More
Making profits with your existing website design or creating a... Read More
When I first got my web site built, I thought... Read More
Ecommerce use to be about spending thousands of dollars on... Read More
E-commerce |