Saturday, April 28, 2012

Master of Your Own Domain

Recently, in the New York Times, there was an article published about an unfortunate small business owner who invested a large sum of money in a domain name (already taken) that was related to his business, only to see his site traffic drop off dramatically from the domain name he had been using.

I posted a response on the New York Times "You're the Boss" blog. Here's what I said:

As an online and offline marketing consultant, I advise my clients not to become too obsessed with their domain names. Far more important is how you build your brand and plug your website into your brand. And even when your website is your brand, there are always plenty of variations that will work just fine. Let’s face it, the only people who see intrinsic value in domains are re-sellers, squatters and those registrar companies that want you to snatch up those must-have .co’s “while they last.”

When it comes to organic search, what you do on and off page and how fresh you keep your content (blogging) probably carries a lot more way than the domain name (although I’ve seen an advantage for local search, so if he was trying to sell nuts in Newark, Newarknuts.com can have value). And besides, the search term (nuts) was already in the domain name, so that wasn’t even an issue.

Beyond organic search, using social, paid search and plugging into the so-called Web 2.0 dynamic are better places to focus your efforts and resources than going after the rare “four-letter domain name” which, with all due respect to the people quoted in the article, is pretty much nonsense.

All I can say is "buyer beware."

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Brain Power of Words


A recent article in the New York Times discussed how reading words, in this case as it pertains to fiction, actually stimulates areas in the brain in the same way as real-life experiences. In other words, being exposed to descriptive language, and to a lesser extent evocative multi-media, broadens and enriches our lives by exposing us to new and different perspectives.

This got me thinking: this could be the reason why evocative print, direct mail or brand advertising can have, when done well, an extremely powerful, visceral and emotional effect. There's a lot to be said for behavioral targeting (where for instance you target people who are looking in a search engine for the product or services that you offer) demographic profiling (as with direct mail targeting) or self-descriptive profiling (using someone's Facebook profile to anticipate a want or need) to better target who you're sending your message to. But especially in the case of online search or display advertising, you don't have the time or space to really capture someone's imagination or draw a compelling picture that inspires people to think of new possibilities and take action.

Years ago, before the advent of online marketing, I created an innovative direct mail campaign promoting new car loans for a financial services institution. Not only did it describe in evocative detail the visceral pleasure of owning a new car, we created a "new car fragrance" and subtly embedded it in the letterhead. The mailing beat the control that included the same targeting used to identify potential new car buyers by more than 300 percent in response rate. Clearly, the evocative language and the visceral sensory experience did map areas in the brain that inspired recipients to take action.

Keep in mind the power of language when building your brand or any marketing campaign. Check back for the four key questions to ask when building your brand.