I recently received the following question from a fellow marketing consultant on LinkedIn:
Do you think that the website of a small and medium business should include the physical address and photos of the owners? In other words, should you provide personal touches? Or do people just want a professional, fast and valuable service in today’s world without customization?
To answer this question, I think you first need to recognize what your prospects deal with on a daily basis in terms of promotional messages. Estimates of the number of advertising messages Americans are exposed to on a daily basis range from several hundred a several thousand depending on the source you read. consumer reports The magazine estimates that we receive 247 commercial messages each day. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists the average American is exposed to about 3,000 advertising messages a day.
With all the websites and marketing messages we’re bombarded with, I think a more intimate approach is needed to break through the clutter and grab attention. A photo is a great start to establishing trust and credibility and can help you develop what is called privacy marketing with your prospects.
If you’re a website promoter, it’s all too easy to hide behind your domain and email address. A photo associates a real person with messages on a website and tells the world that person trusts your product or service. This increases credibility and trust. To establish even more intimacy, you can add a Flash audio player below your image and benefit from the synergy of your voice and image together. For example: “An important message from our president…” audio clip with a nice photo of you in a business suit. This can go a long way in establishing marketing intimacy and trust with website users and potential customers. Even in a world of “give me now” instant gratification, personal touches add value to your company’s image, if not consciously or unconsciously.
So how else can you personalize your website and establish marketing intimacy with your prospects?
Well, according to marketing guru Alex Mandossian, you engage your prospects and customers in so many sensory levels as possible (audio… visual… tactile) in order to build rapport, trust, credibility, and ultimately a positive and lasting business relationship. Mandossian believes that the most important principle at work in establishing marketing intimacy is the power of the human voice. I agree.
By using personal photos, audio and video presentations on your website, you are reaching your prospects in a way that regular websites cannot. Let’s face it, text is text. Reading volumes on the Internet can quickly become boring and tedious. Audio and video are an easy and fun way to consume information. For evidence of this, just consider the huge success of sites like YouTube. The new era of online marketing represents an opportunity for savvy web operators who can deliver information, products and services to consumers in the formats they want. This is not just the future of internet marketing, it is now.
Other means and methods you can use to establish marketing intimacy (without being physically there) include interactive website features such as chat and forums, teleseminars, webcasts, video conferences, and webinars. You can also use social networking sites.
Regarding the physical address, I strongly believe that it should be published on your website. Again, this relates to trust and credibility. When I can’t find a physical address on a website that wants to get into my wallet, that worries me. I immediately feel that the operator wants to hide behind an email address. By including your physical address, you help prospects overcome some of the uncertainty about you and what you offer.
And, for email marketing, you should definitely have your physical address on your site and in emails because it will help reduce potential spam complaints when someone forgets they signed up for your list. The physical address is an essential credibility booster. Be sure to include it on your website.