When was the last time you had 5 minutes without someone trying to sell you something? As soon as I get in my car I turn on the radio and hear commercials. As I drive down the road, I get behind a bus and see an advertisement, drive by where bill boards are flashing messages, and see restaurants and signs on every corner. I even see people dressed up in their costumes waving their signs (Boy do I feel sorry for those people), hoping I'll see their message over the 15 they are standing in front of.  I try to relax in my home and the TV has commercial after commercial (T-Vo finally gives me some of my time back). I go through my mail, just to throw half of it away. Finally, I sit down online to check my mail and research my next buy and now at least I have more control over what I look at. Navigating the Internet is like navigating through a sea of advertisements to reach my destination. It is a new skill we have acquired, some still much better at it than others!

So, how do you stand out online in a sea of advertisements, where at least you know your audience is shopping…actually seeking you out?

Some helpful tips in marketing to your audience in 2010:

Where’s Waldo?

When searching through websites, I am looking at 100 companies who do the same thing. You have to differentiate! Be clear, concise, and consistent with who you are, and make it unique and different from your competitors. Depending on what you do, don’t just look at the local companies either. Know what your industry is doing and stand out in that school of fish.

What’s Your Claim? What’s My Gain?

Tell me what you are going to do for me and then what I am going to get out of it. Most companies think they have to write a technical document about their product and it gets so BORING! While this information is good and valuable, make me click on it to read that. Most people don’t care about your features; they only care about what you are going to do for ME! We are made to be self-centered, so speak to me and I will listen. Make it clear to me what you are going to do and how wonderful my life is going to be when I use your product.

Say it with a Picture.

While we come to the Internet to expand our knowledge and communicate with others, we need to be engaged. Time is a valuable resource I can never get back, so I don’t have time to read! When sifting through those 100’s of pages and advertisements, an image that says it all is something I can comprehend in seconds and decide if I want to learn more or move on.

Tell Me What To Do!

Your website is NOT just a one page marketing brochure. It is a portal into your office, storefront, or factory. Guide your audience through your sales process so they end up at the confirmation page because they just bought your product, or maybe it is at a PDF Download of your products specifications, or just the Thank you page because they contacted you through the web.

These days we are bombarded with advertisements and the Internet is no different. People have mastered the ability to selectively view the advertisements they want to see. How can You stand out in a world of advertisements? The Internet has only made it more challenging. I love it because you can compete with any size company anywhere! No longer are you restricted to only those people who walk by your store. But I hate it because now I have to compete with EVERYONE! There are over a trillion different websites (OMG)! How can YOU differentiate?