In reality, it’s nothing new and nothing revolutionary – but I thought it was appropriate to come up with a nice, memorable (?) acronym that puts everything in order.  I think there is a tendency for many budding website owners and operators to do the steps out of order, which can result in costly changes down the track.  Best to get everything right from the outset by following the BPADCOSM steps!

BPADCOSM stands for: business case; platform; architecture; design; content; optimisation for search engines; social media and on-site content production; and marketing.

Why ‘web presence’ and not just ‘web site’? A web presence implies a wider existence on the web than just a website – for example, many organisation now have a presence on Facebook and Twitter and these act as an ‘extension’ of their websites.  Hence, I use ‘web presence’ rather than ‘website’.  In some circumstances an organisation’s social media assets are more important than its website and this is likely to become increasingly so on the web.

Here’s an explanation of the BPADCOSM steps:

STEP 1: Business case – why get a web presence in the first place?

This step is frequently overlooked – most people’s mindset is: ‘I’ve gotta get a website for my business’ without really thinking about the reasoning behind it.  In some cases, it is not appropriate for a particular business to have a website at all and the money spent on a website could be better directed elsewhere.

In many cases, businesses hurriedly engage a web designer with a portfolio of attractive websites to design something that looks pretty.  But ultimately the final website doesn’t achieve the desired outcome because no thought has been given to the underlying ‘business’ needs (not to mention the fact that most designers know little about copywriting, search engine optimisation and content strategies)

The business case should consider the following three elements:

-          People – who will you be targeting with your web presence?

-          Objectives – what do you want to achieve through your web presence?

-          Strategies – how will your web presence achieve your objectives?

This business case step is drawn from Forrester Research’s POST methodology (see http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2007/12/the-post-method.html)  for implementing a social media strategy, but it can equally be applied to the development of a ‘web presence’.

STEP 2: Platform – the foundation upon which the web presence is constructed

Like building a house, it’s necessary to build a strong foundation for your web presence.  If you get the foundation wrong, then it’s mighty hard to dig it all up and start again, so it’s necessary to think carefully about this step before proceeding.  The foundation stones include:

-          Domain name – important to consider up front because it’s hard to change it later on.  The domain also has implications for search engine optimisation.

-          Software – eg. A content management system, email marketing software, dynamic scripts, contact form scripts, etc

-          Hosting – fast and reliable?  Can it cater for the software required?

STEP 3: Architecture – how it all fits together

Now we have a business case for our web presence and the underlying platform upon which our base website is going to be constructed.

It’s time to consider the components, assets and functions that our website will contain, and where they will all go.

-          Information architecture – how information is ordered and ‘discovered’ on the website; what goes where

-          Pages and page hierarchy – what content do you want to display and how will the pages be arranged

-          Navigation structure – top level navigation, subordinate level navigation, footer navigation

-          Page elements and included content (content that appears across the site) – eg. News feeds, buttons, widgets, graphics, banners, columns, textual content, etc.

STEP 4: Design – what it looks like

Unfortunately, this is where most web designers start – without thinking too deeply about the business case, platform or architecture.  Design is extremely important, but no more important than the three preceding steps.  In this step, we look at the following:

-          Corporate logo, colours, fonts and styles

-          HTML/CSS templates – the ‘look and feel’ of the pages

-          Fixed graphical elements – banners, page graphics

-          Rich and dynamic media – video, Flash animations, etc

STEP 5: Content – what people will read

Another thing that designers aren’t very good at – copy writing.  Compelling copy is critically important for your website.  And not just for human visitors, but also to ensure that your website figures prominently in the search engines.

STEP 6 – Optimisation for search engines – how the website will be found

You can have the most attractive website in the world – but in most cases, how it looks won’t guarantee a steady stream of visitors to your site.  Websites need to be optimised for search engines so that your site can be found by prospective visitors.

Over 90% of web traffic in Australia is referred by search engines, so it is imperative that your website figures prominently in Google, Yahoo! and Bing.   Optimisation involves:

-          Keyword analysis – working out which keyword combinations people should use to find your site

-          On-page optimisation – tweaking the textual content, metadata to ensure keyword relevancy

-          Inbound link building – obtaining links  from authority websites and thematically-linked websites, providing the search engines with a ‘vote of approval’ for your website and a subsequent elevation in search engine results.

-          Directory submission – submitting your site to the world’s biggest and best web directories

-          Technical optimisation – implementation of sitemaps, 301 redirects, etc – you might need some assistance with this step!

STEP 7: Social media and on-site content production – keeping the website fresh

These days, it’s not enough to simply publish a site on the web and just let it sit there.  To maintain relevance and ensure a constant stream of traffic, it’s important that organisations use their website as a ‘channel’, constantly adding and updating content.  Organisations should consider:

-          News / article production – regular contributions via a content management system

-          Blogs – a simple way to contribute and syndicate content

-          Facebook – consider a Facebook Page as a content delivery and two-way communication mechanism

-          Twitter – consider a Twitter stream as a content delivery and two-way communication mechanism

-          Online video – consider regular uploading of online video using YouTube or similar

-          And others… Slideshare, Flickr, MySpace, Wikipedia, etc.

STEP 8: Marketing – attracting more visitors

Once your web presence is perfect, then it’s time to start actively marketing the site.  To this point, it’s best that you don’t spend any money marketing.  Only when you are satisfied with the end product should you dip into the pocket to spend money on advertising or other marketing initiatives:

-          Search engine marketing (SEM) –pay-per-click advertising on Google or Facebook

-          Email marketing – an often neglected form of advertising; it’s free and it’s targeted

-          Offline marketing – traditional marketing channels if you have budget

http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php

If your organisation is using social media in any way, then it’s important that you have appropriate policies in place to guard against internal misuse, fraud, defamation/slander, security issues and the multitude of other problems that go along with an open social media strategy.

Here are the slides:

socd

A response device is very useful because it allows you to acquire new business, to capture prospective client details, and it gives you an indication of whether your mail campaign has been successful or not.  Indeed, you can determine a response ratio if a response device is included in your communication.

Here are some tips for good response devices:

• Incentivising your prospect to respond is a good idea – eg entry in a competition, a free brochure will be mailed out
• Reduce the amount of work that the recipient must do to respond – eg. include a reply-paid envelope, pre-populate all known fields on the contact details coupon so that the prospect doesn’t need to fill them out
• Make the response device easy to find and apparent.
• Provide clear instructions and clear choices on the response device.
• Ensure that you capture the necessary information with your response device.
• Make sure that you response device is consistent with the creative attached to it.
• Include a closing date to instil ‘urgency’ in your prospect.

The source wasn’t attributed.

NEVER USE

• Access
• At this point in time
• Define
• Despite the fact that
• Due to
• Etc.
• The fact is
• For (instead of because)
• Frankly
• Has got/have got
• However
• I mean,
• Impact
• Importantly
• Indeed
• In terms of
• Meaningful
• Muchly (didn’t even know that was a real word myself!)
• Needs
• Prioritise
• Remember,
• Thusly (is that a word?)
• Utilise
• What’s more
• Wise
• You know

AVOID USING

• Available
• The fact that
• In fact,
• Feature
• One of the most
• Quality
• Receive
• Value

1. Is there a letter?
2. Does it read like a letter?
3. Does it look like a letter?
4. Does it waffle?
5. Is it simple?
6. Does it use boring jargon?
7. Are there too many words?
8. Can you edit?
9. Is it active (not passive)?
10. Is it complete?
11. Are you worthy?
12. Is it warm and friendly?
13. Is there proof?
14. Does it ask for action?
15. Is it idiot-proof?

This is a useful checklist to run through prior to sending out those thousands of marketing letters.

I was very pleased when the course convenor approached me during a break and asked whether I was the one who had been blogging about the course the previous week.  He said that a prospective client had seen the blog posts on the web and had engaged him in discussions about running the same courses in Victoria and New South Wales.  The power of blogs!  A great case study.

The second workshop was all about producing great letters and copywriting.  Research shows that letters are the best medium for direct mail because they look and feel very much like personal letters and there is a greater chance that the recipient will read mail if it is enclosed within an envelope.  So the first lesson is: always use letters!

Your letters need to be REAL:

• Relevant
• Easy to read
• Australian
• Logical experience

Why Australian?  Well, Australians are culturally and socially different.  Most Americans receive 8-10 times as much direct mail as we do here in Australia, so they suffer from cognitive overload.  Australians enjoy reading mail and we enjoy stories and scenarios that we can relate to – that said, Australians are also generally more sceptical (less gullible?) than our friends from the US of A.  Our letters need to nuanced especially for Australians if they are to be read and achieve ‘cut through’.

Copywriting is all-important.  David Barratt identified some of the leading figures in copywriting and I have provided some links to there here:

• Siimon Reynolds – he’s the guy who created the award-winning Grim Reaper ads in the late 1980s
• Drayton Bird
• Herschell Gordon Lewis

Here are some of the lessons that came out of the seminar in relation to copywriting:

• Always write to ’somebody’, not ‘everybody’ (Drayton Bird)
• Organisations don’t write letters, individuals do – make your communications personal
• Use clarity, benefit and versimilitude (Herschell Gordon Lewis).  Verisimilitude is the appearance or semblace of truth – that is, your copy should include stories that may not be 100% factual, but which seem to be so.
• Pretend you are writing to a person you know – that way you will ensure that the copy is appropriately worded.
• Use you, you, you – not I or we
• Use active voice, not passive voice – subject verb object, rather than object verb subject (eg. ‘you get a money back guarantee’, rather than ‘a money-back guarantee is provided’
• Ask yourself what you want the reader to do?  The follow-up action needs to be clear, apparent and easily actionable
• Get rid of the big words – replace them with simpler words
• Use serif fonts (fonts with ‘feet’, like Times New Roman) – studies prove that serif fonts are more comprehendable – see this book by Colin Wheildon
• Younger audiences are more visual and can cope with ‘busy’ creatives
• Include a response device (eg a mailback coupon) and reduce the amount of work for the recipient)

So, what is the best type of media to send?  Think about the types of mail that you like to receive.  The odds say that you prefer to receive personally addressed letters in envelopes, rather than unaddressed brochures or loose leaf flyers.   And so, too, do the majority of your prospects.

In general, letters are much better than brochures for direct marketing purposes, but make sure that you follow these rules:

• Try to make your letter appear like a normal letter – normal letters are well received, whereas letters that are blatantly for marketing purposes are often discarded.
• Choose envelopes over no envelopes – enveloped letters have a better read rate
• The envelope is the first impression – make it look good
• Make sure that the envelope is addressed correctly.  Errors in the address detail will likely see it discarded before being opened.
• Personally address your envelopes and letters – a salutation like ‘Dear Valued Customer’ is an immediate turn off.
• Handwritten envelopes, salutations and signatures will be well received and improve the chances of your communication being read and acted upon (even more so if the CEO or boss signs the letter).  Obviously this strategy might not be appropriate for large campaigns where handwriting will be too time consuming.
• If printing your envelopes, make sure the the address is printed parallel and perpendicular to the edges of the envelope – it will look tacky if the address appears crooked.
• Include a return address on the envelope so that undelivered letters are returned to you – use the returned envelopes to update your database.
• Consider the tactile experience of your creative – try to think of ways to engage the senses of your reader.
• Keep the textual content to a minimum – we don’t read, we scan.  Short and snappy is best.  Paragraphs should be no more than 4 lines.
• Use amplifiers and fixing points, such as underlining, bolding, headings and sub-headings to draw attention.
• There is a natural ‘reading curve’ that most readers follow when scanning a letter.  The ‘reading curve’ starts at the top right then top left of the letter (who is this from?  Is it for me?), then progresses to the title beneath the salutation (what is this about?), down the right hand side of the letter, to the signature block (Who signed it?  What is in the PS area of the letter?) and then back to the top.    The eye typically lingers over the  address area, the title area, the first few words of the first paragraph, key words on the right hand side of the letter body (particularly the last paragraph), the sender’s signature, and the PS area.  It is proven that a PS message is often the first thing read and this is where the question ‘What’s in it for me?’ is commonly answered!
• Include a response device (eg. response slip with a postage paid return envelope)  in your letters so that recipients can act upon your letter easily and quickly.  Most people are time strapped and disinclined to act if too much time and effort is required – make it easy for them.  Including the word ‘YES!’ in bold caps draws attention and acts as an amplifier.
• Pictures in letters and brochures are good, but they should have captions and the benefits of the offer must be contained with the picture. Use pictures sparingly for best effect.  Steer clear of incongruous stock images that add nothing to your overall message.