Thursday, December 13, 2007

Why Direct Response Media Beats Brand Advertising Online

In the offline world of multimedia, I editing direct response marketing videos along with brand advertising media that was suppose to build awareness and brand loyalty. One reason why brand advertising is done offline is because we always see these brands, whether it is a gas station or a store. In the online world, it is completely different. Consumers don't always see brands. They see websites. When they see your website, they aren't stuck in check-out lines at the store. Online, consumers have the option to click off your site, never to be seen again or viewed on their computer.
What does that mean for you?
Assuming your website is part of the overall sales funnel, one of your main goals is to have consumers take action on your site immediately and show them how to get exactly what they want without a ton of hoops to jump through in an efficient, educational and clutter-free way.
Why?
The reason why direct response media online wins over is because it tells the consumer (who can click off your site at any second) to do something, whether to subscribe, buy now or anything that else that gets them to the side that you wanted to get them to.
Most websites completely lack this and guess that the consumer will know what to do. This practice comes mainly from the offline world, where consumers are bombarded with brand advertising and with the flow of traffic offline, businesses thrive on location. You'll notice successful small businesses offline always have signs or ads with specials, deals, discounts and other promotions that will get consumers inside.
To have any business online, you need to have those signs and ads that allow the end user to take action. Don't assume your visitor knows what to do, tell them with the specific keyphrases that will give them a call-to-action within your direct response website media. The power of direct response video and other forms of multimedia marketing online is becoming one of the fastest trends online because e-commerce businesses know that to get a lead or sale for their business, they must retain the attention span of whoever is on their website.
Multimedia direct response marketing such as video or audio allows consumers to connect with the message you are delivering in a very clear and professional way and most importantly, bypassing the noise of the internet by telling your customers what's in it for them immediately so they don't have to guess or become skeptical. Consumers are really appreciating this more than ever as it accommodates their attention span and they become thankful for you not bothering them with the irrelevant info such as "Welcome To My Website" and related unnecessary clutter.
The next time you look at your website, ask yourself it has the right direct response video, audio or content that triggers your viewer to do what they want. With the right formula, they'll want to stay on your website rather than searching again, only to find your competitor.

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