02.06.08 Conversion
My former manager, Glenda, and I are meeting this morning about an artist she’s working with these days. I’m giving her a primer on putting an artist on-line. We’ve been trying to meet for months but I’m glad it didn’t work out until today because I’ve only recently had some very important revelations about the whole artists on-line thing. Here’s one that most folks miss and that I, arrogantly, think is something you’ve got to understand before taking the first step on-line: Conversion.
Every page on the web, whether it’s creator knows it or not, is working to convert a visitor. When converted, the visitor…
From a record company’s and manager’s perspective this conversion goal and measurable progress toward it makes the investment in web presence “worth it.” If this goal can be met without diminishing at all the fan’s experience on-line, then visiting the artist’s page is worth it. If either the fan or the powers that be don’t get what they want out of the on-line plan, it’s not good enough to launch yet.
A web page should never be a pamphlet (Churches, listen up). If it’s worth investing in, it converts visitors. And, more specifically, a blog is most beneficial to the reader and the writer when it’s more than a road diary.
So, this morning I’m simply asking my old friend Glenda what kind of conversion she wants. She may not need a blog, youtube channel, facebook page or any other newfangled on-line contraption. Answering this same question is helping me do less on-line and yet be more productive.
What are you converting folks to?
Shaun Groves said:
The meeting went well. Her artist’s audience is 15 and female so I had no specifics to contribute but the general and very basic ideas we talked about I think are good for anyone with an on-line presence to consider:
1. Why are you on-line? What are you trying to accomplish? What does “conversion” look like to you?
2. Build the landing page with #1 in mind.
3. Measure your success at accomplishing #1. Build measurement into the site. How many folks are clicking that button you want them to click? How many people are spreading that widget you built? How may are finding that page you hoped they would? If the conversion you want is less tangible (I want people to think about the horizontal aspects of our faith, for example, and then act on that thought. That’s one conversion goal of mine.) you’ll have to be very attentive and available to your readers to get a sense of how well you’re doing.
4. Consider your audience. 15 year-old won’t download your eBook, but a marketing guy would download a book on SEO. A mom of five probably won’t subscribe to your text mob through Mosez, but that fifteen year-old might.
5. Be you. Don’t copy the message and the essence of another in your industry. What makes you unique? Be sure and include that in your on-line presence. That thing that makes you different lets me choose whether I visit your site instead of the next guy’s. And yes, it lets me choose not to also. The middle is boring. the edges are interesting and create loyal, even if sometimes fewer, “fans.” This applies to razors and books, churches and artists.
Got any other things to keep in mind when building an on-line presence?