Web Marketing Basics: The DESK Method

A well-conceived strategy will guide your decisions, inform your tactics, and educate customers to buy from you for reasons other than price.

Before we dive into the DESK method, there's a more fundamental question that only you can answer . . .

Who is your ideal customer?

The deeper you think this through, the better you can design your site and your entire business around the expectations of your core customers (it can't be everybody!)

Customers are asking two key questions:

How does this product or service solve my problem (or meet my desires)?
Why should I buy from you?"

Even if you don't use the more advanced techniques we offer, just going through the process of defining your customer's profile, and structuring your site to these underlying concerns will give you a true advantage.

Your goal is to distill the unique, core characteristics of your business and differentiate your business, products, and services from your competitors.

Don't be mysterious . . . weave those core characteristics into the fiber of your site—and all your other marketing—so your customers really know who you are, and can understand why your business is the best choice.

Suddenly, you're no longer competing on price alone, or as just one of many similar choices. You are unique, with a clear identity that customers will remember.

The DESK Method

Now that you clearly understand your ideal customer, what's next?

Use the DESK method as a conceptual framework underlying your online marketing strategy. DESK describes the process of drawing visitors to your site, educating them, establishing a match, and motivating them to take action.

The overall aim is to guide your visitors through a conversion process—from uninvolved visitor to committed customer—building presence of mind and a permanent stream of repeat business.

You need all of the DESK components to succeed, but not in a rigid, linear fashion. The components are more fluid than that; they interrelate and cumulate over time.

We use many tactics that are only available to our clients. Generally, they all flow from the central strategic concepts of the DESK method:

(D) Drive targeted traffic. Assuming you have basic content in place, cast a wide net for potential customers in your niche. The primary ways to do this are search engine optimization, online ads, e-mailings, joint venture marketing, link campaigns, offline mailings, and offline ads including radio and television. [For more, Paid Advertising Alternatives ]
(E) Educate your customer. Always provide enough information so your visitors feel comfortable taking action. Answer every potential question and reservation. Do not assume your visitors have a working knowledge of your industry, products, service, or jargon. Many of them will not. Tell them what they should be looking for and how you provide it. Offer solutions, advice, tips, and guidance. Always remember that your site must be designed and built from your customer's point of view—not yours.
(S) Sell your product. This step is your chance to build credibility, and to displace uncertainty.

You must answer these questions: What does your business bring to the table that is different from your competitors? How does that help the customer? Why should they buy from you?

Help your potential customers decide if there's a good "match" between you and them, and if your products or services are the solution they are looking for.

Your site is your 24/7 representative. It works tirelessly on your behalf. Make it represent you well and serve your customers. Make full use of benefit statements, customer-centered descriptions, comparisons, testimonials, online tools, articles, interviews, and easy navigation.

Integrate plenty of detailed images, audio, and video to make your best case. Flash technology works well for this. With Flash, there are no downloads or external players. And no reason for your visitors to lose focus by leaving the page.

Flash players can have full controls or simple buttons.

If you are not selling directly on the web, but rather inviting customers to your physical location, this DESK component could viewed as a "pre-selling" phase that helps visitors become strong candidates before they even walk in your door. The same principles apply, it's just a matter of timing.

Solid information will help your customers overcome the "paradox of choice" problem—indecision brought on by too many options, and too little information. Indecision is the enemy. Do whatever it takes to inform and guide your customers about your products or service, and explain why you are best choice as the provider.

If you have a service business, your site should communicate your company's personality and philosophy, again, to establish "fit" and to build trust and confidence.
(K) Close the sale. The close is your call-to-action—What do you want visitors to do? Come in for a free consultation? Sign-up on your mailing list? Buy your downloadable product? Visit your store?

Think this through and then provide an easy and fast way for your visitors to take that action. This point alone can make the difference between getting the business or losing it to a competitor.

Here are some ideas to sweeten the deal . . .

For downloadable products, offer a strong guarantee, and a restatement of the value of what the customer is getting. And it doesn't hurt to include an incentive package or bonus in the form of low-cost, high-value information products.

For services, consider complementary consultations, introductory training, and downloadable information guides.

For retailers, provide special offers, painless pick-up and delivery, comparisons, and a guarantee.

You must keep the communication going.

It's especially important to not let visitors "touch" your site just once, walk away, and forget about you forever—you need multiple encounters to make an impression.

Offer something of high perceived value in return for your visitor's contact information and use an autoresponder (automated email program) to review and underscore your offer and benefits. Invite your visitors into a long-term mutually-beneficial exchange.

Lastly, be sure to track all activity on the server. Today's analysis software like Google Analytics makes it easy to see trends and to get feedback on improvements you make.

The first step of the DESK method (driving traffic) brings visitors to your site. The next three steps (educating, selling, closing) convert those visitors into customers. This is Web marketing in a nutshell: traffic + conversion = sales.

Part II: How the DESK method also optimizes your site . . .