I spent the day researching the websites of local marketing companies, hoping to find some that might be interested in my research services. My mission was two-fold: First, I wanted to get a sense of what they do and for whom. Second, I wanted their mailing address, because I planned to send them a direct mail letter. As reviewed website after website, and ran into road block after pothole, I realized I was simultaneously shopping for a company to help me with my own marketing. (I expect that after I send out my plaintive direct mail missives, at least one of the recipients will respond by telling me my direct mail letter sucked and I seriously need their marketing help. I’d be OK with that.)
After reviewing 40 or so websites, I’m so frustrated I could spit. All I can say is, Marketers, your websites really suck. With a few exceptions, I found your electronic personas to be illegible, impersonal, inaccessible, and anonymous. Who do you build these websites for? Each other? Because you sure aren’t building them for me. Hi, remember me… the potential customer?
Here are some irritations and annoyances that make me not want to call you:
Your fancy pages load too slowly. You probably have superfast broadband, so your videos load lickety-split. Poor me, the poor startup, I’m embarrassed to admit until I get some work, I am limping into the not-so-new millennium on quasi-slow DSL. (I assume your videos are awesome.) Do I have to have superfast Internet to work with you? If so, you should state that on your website (in plain text so I can read it).
You don’t tell me what you do. I look at your site and wonder to myself, what on earth does this company do? Sometimes I saw a lot of verbiage, sometimes I saw no verbiage… none! Am I supposed to look at the photos of your Spartan studio and guess what you do? Obtuseness is a feature that has no benefit, as far as I can tell. It’s not entertaining, it’s just perplexing. The best sites don’t try to be clever. Just spell it out for me, so I don’t waste my time hunting around your website to find out what you do.
You don’t tell me who you are. Anonymity is only good for 12-Step programs. Show yourself! Don’t assume I know who you are. And don’t hide behind your work, thinking that your work speaks for you. Your work may be the reason I want to learn more about you. But if you don’t tell me who you are, all I’m left with is a bunch of photographs, videos, and images of things you’ve done. I don’t want a relationship with those images. I want to know who you are, so I can decide if I want a relationship with you. And for all you one-person shops (and don’t think I can’t tell who you are), what’s with the royal “we”? “We can do this, we can do that…” I know you want to sound like you are a large agency, buzzing with activity, but if you aren’t, don’t pretend. Authenticity doesn’t go out of style. Be real. Even if you are big, you should seem small.
You make it hard to reach you. Sometimes you don’t disclose an address, not even a P.O. Box. Are you so virtual you work from your car? There’s no shame in working from home. (Don’t worry, I won’t come to your house and see how you really live, for fear you might do the same to me.) I can live without knowing your mailing address, but sometimes you don’t even tell me your name. What is up with that? What do I call you? Chief? Keemo Sabe? I’m not a particularly brave person. The idea of calling you without even knowing your name makes me feel a little like, I don’t know, like I’m calling one of those “Unknown Callers” who occasionally call me from a foreign country to tell me that my computer has a virus. (I’d almost rather go back to the days when everyone put Hi! I’m Tiffany. Welcome to my Web site! at the top of the homepage.) Maybe your clients find you through referrals: They already know how great you are because someone they trust recommended you. If so, lucky you! I hope to be there someday. But what about those of us who don’t know you? How do we know we can trust you, if you don’t tell us who you are?
You don’t tell me how you are the solution to my problem. I’m not even sure you understand my problem. You have a lot of skills, that is clear. Some of you do just about anything for anybody, which doesn’t inspire much confidence. But I want to know how all those fancy things you can do will help me achieve my business objectives.
Right now there are small business owners like me trolling the Web for marketing companies like yours. We are stumbling upon lists of agencies and clicking on URLs, searching for information, shopping for a good fit. We are checking you out, website by website. What are we finding? Your website is lovely, but I get the feeling you designed it for you, not for me. If I were your client, is that the kind of website you would build for me? Why would I want that? In my business (I’m a researcher), I need people to know me, so they can like me, trust me, and hire me. Isn’t it the same in your business?
I’m going to review my own website to see how I am blocking potential clients. Am I being obtuse? Is it clear what I do? Do I seem like a real person? Does my website suck? Feel free to let me know.
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