Larger organizations invest heavily in developing brand and leadership image within their markets. Using the internet, smaller organizations can now build their brands using an effective internet message strategy.

Many company websites are the main conduit for information exchange between customer and provider and between seller and prospect. Effective use of the internet requires understanding client behavior as well as an appreciation for how current customers use the web. Skilled internet marketers understand the level of internet skill used by customers and prospects and have taken the time to build a consumer profile that outlines behavior and buying habits of the current customer base.

Newer enterprises or those just beginning operations may not have this information, but the strategy can still work. With a little creativity, new companies can find information about the target market and compose material more general in terms of market need and product/service usage. Research time is well spent, though, and will greatly help focus web page copy and blog content to address the issues customers want to know about.

SEO Consultants in Denver has successfully implemented internet communication strategies using this information to achieve top search engine rankings as well as to help clients convert readers into customers.

In all, a good message and communications strategy will establish: Credibility Leadership Depth of knowledge Confidence

Understanding how your current customers use the web, you can build your messages to address points that establish you as the leader in your line of business. Here are a few techniques.

Credibility: Providing information helpful to prospective customers is always a good idea. Blogging or posting common questions that consumers in the field frequently face can establish the company as one that is effectively \”on the same side\” as the customer. Including little known industry facts are also useful. Purchasers new to the industry will appreciate knowing the experiences of others – particularly as they navigate unfamiliar territory.

When future questions arise, these readers will remember your ability and willingness to provide useful help and information. If your customers frequently use the web to research product features or location, you can address concerns about product reliability, ease of acquisition (shipping or delivery features that you provide). Understanding the reasons your customers use the internet is important to structuring the credibility message.

Leadership: Leadership image is validated by stories from current, satisfied customers. These stories should also include validation of the value proposition. References are also useful in proving that the organization delivers the promised value through its products and services. New companies with no established customer base may find this problematic, but most new business owners have contacts willing to state that the company is committed to customer service and delivering value.

Story telling is a proven method of delivering information. Focusing on how clients realized the value of the product or service should be included on the company website or blog. New companies won\’t take long to acquire a few of these stories. Maintaining a log of these customer experiences is necessary to build into the message strategy as the company matures.

Depth of Knowledge: Too many details of course risks losing readers. However, details are necessary to establish a depth of knowledge required by customers before making a purchase decision. Publishing case studies and customer stories are again useful, but some readers want more product detail than is practical to include within a client success story. Detailed product pages can be built elsewhere on the website to handle these types of inquiries, leaving the main pages to focus on how customers find value in the service or product offering.

Questions that customers asked in the past are also useful to include in the web page content. These questions are relevant to future customers. Providing answers and solutions in advance allows the company to build brand image around its depth of knowledge.

Confidence: Nothing establishes consumer confidence more than successfully delivering value. Defining that value is a useful technique here. For instance, if you provide a business service, find out from your customers exactly what using your service meant. Did you deliver a solid Return on Investment? If so, what percentage? In what time frame? Making bold statements on the results you deliver are important, but must be backed-up by facts and by customers willing to validate your claim.

Prospective customers are willing to invest in products and services if value is delivered. The message strategy needs to minimize the perceived risk held by the prospect. Telling stories that communicate the results other customers received reduces the level of perceived risk.

By focusing on one of these objective areas in each blog post, you can keep your page fresh and accomplish at least one communication strategy objective. In the next few days, we will review techniques to keep your communication strategy organized, discuss a good structure and volume for each individual post and review ways to post your information to attract the most possible traffic from the search engines.

SEO Consultants Denver assists clients across the country attract new business income streams and earn new sales using established Search Engine Optimization and internet market communication processes and methods. Specializing in article market communication and link building, the company serves both service and manufacturing companies.

One of the oldest rules in business is that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients. And so you should focus your efforts on that 20% to get the biggest \”bang for your buck\”.

But it\’s also the most misunderstood and misused rule in sales. Slavishly following the 80:20 rule could cause you big, big problems.

Does the 80:20 rule actually work in the real world?

Often it does. But not always. Yes, there are many sectors where sales do have a very uneven split – 80:20 or 70:10, etc. But there are also some sectors where they are much more even across customers. It\’s vital that you understand how the numbers pan out in your sector and don\’t just mistakenly focus on a few customers when they don\’t make up such a huge % of your sales.

More importantly, the question that\’s often overlooked is: is the 80:20 split persistent. It may be that 20% of my customers make up 80% of my business every year. But is it the same 20% or a completely different 20%?

In this case, the answer is very often \”no\”. And this can be a huge trap for sales people who focus their efforts too heavily on today\’s big customers. In very many situations today\’s big customers may not be tomorrow\’s. Takeovers, changes of management or changes of strategy often result in big changes in the amount of products and services being bought – and in who they are bought from. And in many industries there is a natural cycle of peaks and troughs in purchases. For example, if you sell PCs and your top customer is one who has just bought new equipment for all its employees this year, then the chances are that it won\’t be buying so much from you next year – no matter how much effort you devote to selling to it. Not that you won\’t sell anything – but the big round of purchasing is done, and you really need to be looking at other customers to drive your growth for the next year.

It\’s crucial to analyse your 80:20 to see if it\’s actually the same 20% year-on-year, or whether the composition changes significantly over time. If it does, then rather than just focusing on today\’s 20%, you need to find and nurture next years 20%.

One final question: \”Even if you know who your 20% is going to be – should you focus all your efforts on them?\”

Mostly the answer is \”yes\” – but there are exceptions. Sometimes you can already be investing the optimum time and effort into a client, and putting more investment in won\’t produce any higher returns. If you do face-to-face sales calls, for example, will doubling the number of calls really double the sales? Or will the customer being to feel pressured and over-sold? In contrast, are there some customers who are not in your top 20%, but who are being visited so infrequently, and who have enough potential, that an extra visit or investment will produce a big increase in sales?

The secret in all three cases is not to over-simplify the 80:20 rule. Look beyond it to ask: * Does 80:20 really apply for me? * Is my 80:20 consistent, or do I need to focus on rising stars instead? * Will extra focus on the top 20% really work – or are they already getting all the attention they need?

Now clearly, the 80:20 rule applies in many cases. And it can be very helpful as a simple initial guide. But you must think beyond the simple rule to figure out whether it really works for you and what you can do to best take advantage of it. If you do this the rewards can be very high.

Ian Brodie helps professional service firms to find clients and win new business. He provides consulting and training services to help firms improve their Professional Services Marketing.