The Web's future: a $0.22 piece of felt

I was diagnosed with tendinitis in my left thumb three weeks ago.  My doctor fitted me with a stylish black brace that keeps me from moving my thumb.  The wrist brace isn't too bad.  I can still type very well -- almost as fast as usual, since the left thumb doesn't do a whole lot on a keyboard.  But my main annoyance is the Velcro on the brace.

As you can see in these pictures, the manufacturer decided to sew one long strip of Velcro (the scratchy kind, not the soft kind) onto the length of the brace, where the three straps connect.  But the Velcro area is bigger than it needs to be, so there's lots of exposed "scratchy" Velcro to catch onto other things.  I keep getting my hand stuck to my sweaters!  It's already caused minor damage to a couple pieces of my clothing.  So to solve this problem, my wife and I stopped at Wal-Mart to buy a piece of black felt.  $0.22 out the door, tax included -- quite possibly the cheapest Wal-Mart trip ever!  This little add-on to cover up the excess Velcro should keep it from snagging.

As I was reading my friend Nate Riggs' post about the prospects of a Web 2.0 crash, as well as the Seth Godin post he links to about oversaturation, it made me think about how my $0.22 piece of black felt relates to the Web's future:

• Content is like my brace's Velcro.  The right amount is wonderful, but having too much is simply annoying.
  

• Web 2.0 has made everyone publishers.  From Facebook to Twitter to YouTube, an enormous amount of information is being churned out every minute by so many people.  The more content that's added, the harder it becomes to separate the wheat from the chaff.  Having too much Velcro on your brace (too much content to digest) gets your hand stuck to your sweater (paralyzed with too much information).
  
  
• The future of Web 2.0 will come from filtering all this information.  Too overwhelmed with thousands of unread items in their RSS feeds, the next generation of Web visionaries will find a way to filter this information to make it more manageable.  If today's social media is Web 2.0, this filtered subset of information will be Web 2.1.  It will be equivalent to a piece of felt being placed over the excess Velcro on my brace.  The "filters" of Web 2.1 will hide the information that isn't adding value for that particular end user -- just like the felt is covering up the excess Velcro.
  

Social media is here to stay.  It'll evolve, and it might even face some setbacks as people struggle with how to deal with too much information, and as companies like Facebook and Twitter try to put profitable business models in place.  But once the right filters are in place, the trait that made Web 2.0 a success to begin with -- giving everyone the ability to be a publisher -- will sustain it for the long term.

How NOT to promote your webinar through banner ads or e-newsletters

When you're trying to generate a lead through a webcast, make sure your initial offer isn't too intimidating.  Many companies buy web ads or e-newsletter ads to directly promote a webcast, which I believe can be a big mistake that causes your campaign performance to take a hit.

Here at IndustryWeek, I get to see the click-through rates of many different types of advertising campaigns.  And over the years, I've consistently seen the click-through rates for webcast-specific ad campaigns getting worse and worse -- to the point where they're now lagging far behind other non-webcast ads.  So for the typical non-webcast campaign from XYZ Company, where they might see a click-through rate of 0.8% (just making up numbers here), the click-through rate falls to 0.2% or 0.3% when they run a campaign promoting a webcast.  This is a pretty consistent occurrence across most campaigns.

I think these results are due to the time commitment involved.  Asking a brand new prospect to give up an hour of their time to attend a webcast is a large commitment to communicate in a small ad, and that's why the ads often generate such a weak click-through rate and response.

For a campaign of this type, I'd recommend trying a different approach.  Develop an intermediate offer to promote in the web ad or e-newsletter ad, then offer the webcast later.  For example, offer a free research report within the ad.  Once the prospect has clicked on your ad and responded to that low-commitment offer, then you can invite them to your webcast.

Your ad click-through-rates will increase dramatically.  And while adding an intermediate step into the process sounds counter-intuitive, with this tactic you should see an increase in overall registrations -- because you're bringing more people into the first stage of the marketing funnel.

Last chance to sign up: "Webinars as Part of a Digital Marketing Strategy"

Edited 1/5/09:  Here's a link to the archive of this webinar, which you can view for free on Adobe.com


Don't forget to sign up for Adobe's event on webcast marketing, featuring me as one of the presenters.  You only have a few more hours -- it takes place later today! 

Wednesday, December 17, 2008
1:00 P.M. EST / 10:00 A.M. PST
Ken Molay, president of Webinar Success, and Michael Madej, General Manager of eMedia Sales & Marketing at IndustryWeek, present how web seminars can help you make your overall marketing strategy more effective and productive. Learn the right way to include web conferencing in your marketing mix, with an emphasis on integrating different digital marketing channels.

Electronic orientation for new names on your list

How many times have you heard someone say, "I didn't know that about your company!" or "I didn't realize you offered that product or service!"?  For as many times as you hear it, you can safely assume dozens of other people might feel the same way, but they just haven't vocalized it to you.  That can add up to a lot of missed opportunities!

Here's a simple but effective way to welcome new people to your email list, and get them up to speed on some of your most essential offerings:  Do a series of "electronic orientation" emails.

It's pretty typical for companies to send a confirmation email as soon as you've signed up for their list.  But how many companies follow up with regularly-timed additional messages, specifically crafted for new people on the list?  You probably should.

This is a great example of one message in a series of welcoming emails I received from MarketingProfs.  After signing up for one of their enewsletters, I received one of these emails per week for the next four weeks.  Note how they quickly and simply highlight a number of their different offerings I might be interested in.

You can't see this in the screenshot I've included here, but at the bottom of the message, there's a way to opt out of these "new member emails" without opting out of the list I signed up for.  That's important, since even though most people will be interested in learning more about your company's offerings, there might be some who only want what they've requested.  By offering a separate unsubscribe, you respect the user's preferences without endangering the new subscription you've picked up.

This idea seems so simple -- and that's because it is.  But how many companies are using this type of welcoming email tactic?  Not many.  And I don't understand why not, because the best time to engage a new member to your list is within the first month after they sign up!

A webcast on webcast marketing: Featuring a presentation by yours truly

Edited 1/5/09:  Here's a link to the archive of this webinar, which you can view for free on Adobe.com
 
I've been invited by Adobe and by Ken Molay of Webinar Success to speak on a webcast on Dec. 17.  It's part of Adobe's "Luminary eSeminar Series."  Here's the full description:

Webinars as Part of a Digital Marketing Strategy
Wednesday, December 17
1:00pm Eastern / 10:00am Pacific
Duration: 1 hour
Cost: None

Web seminars (webinars) are being used more and more to generate sales leads, stimulate awareness and interest, or impart information to prospects. Unfortunately, many companies view webinars as a stand-alone activity, divorced from other marketing activities. You can improve your marketing results by integrating webinars into an overall digital marketing strategy that includes email, banner advertising, search optimization, and other activities.

This seminar gives you valuable information on how to attract prospects to your company’s products and services by using webinars in a multi-channel eMarketing strategy. You will learn best practices for making sure that webinars and other digital marketing approaches support and reinforce each other. Find out how to target the right audience with webinar marketing that gets results.

You will get the benefit of two industry experts sharing their complementary areas of expertise. Michael Madej is the General Manager of eMedia Sales & Marketing for IndustryWeek. Michael will share his knowledge of how to build and manage a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that includes webinars.  Ken Molay, president of Webinar Success, gives you additional tips on how to make your marketing and lead generation web seminars more productive.

The one-hour seminar includes time for an interactive question and answer session with both speakers. The information is appropriate for all business marketers using or considering webinars as part of their campaign strategy.

You will learn:

1. Strategies for promoting and marketing webinars
2. How to use webinars to reinforce digital marketing campaigns
3. Common mistakes in lead generation webinars
4. Intelligent campaign add-ons that maximize the reach of your webinar