Another conference come and gone. SIM Tech 09 was just as good as HighEdWeb. Great people doing great things with not so great amount of money. There was so much information going back and forth that it was hard at times to absorb it all.
But, during presentations something small would be said and it would trigger a line of thoughts and tweets that would get attendees to collaborate on an issue. Or something would be said that would trigger and "ah ha" moment. Many times these "ah ha" moments were just clarifying and reinforcing what we already knew.
One of the biggest take aways was:
Create great usable content that will drive your audiences to the predetermined goals you wish them to get to through the tools that target them.What does this mean?
Content, Content, Content. Create content that is engaging and of use to the audience. Draw them in and make the call to action. After you draw your audience in, give them the option for the outcome you have decided you want them make. But don't broadcast your message everywhere.
Do your research and find out where your audience is.
There are reasons why certain television shows are aired on certain stations. While there is some over lap in audience, different demographics go to different places. If you think about Websites, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. as different television stations you'll start to see the that each is geared towards different audiences.
Make them make the choice you want them to. Don't send someone to buy milk in the chip aisle.
No matter what tool we use, we want our audience to do something. Unfortunately, there are so many options for them to take they miss the one thing we want them to do. If you send someone to a landing page to request information, don't give them 20+ options to navigate from the page. If you want someone to apply, don't bury the info 3+ links into your website.
So what can you do?
Re-evaluate your tools. Are you broadcasting on the right channels? Make sure your audience is making the choices which align with the goals you have set forth for them
3 Comments:
Well said, partner. And never underestimate the amount of mischief created when you get a bunch of fun and like-minded individuals together in one place. That may actually be my favorite takeaway.
Really like this sentence: "If you send someone to a landing page to request information, don't give them 20+ options to navigate from the page."
Organizations tend to spend so much time thinking about, planning, and implementing landing pages, that they often lose sight of the initial purpose of the page. Pick a goal and stick to it. Simplify. Your users will thank you for it.
Great post. It was awesome to meet you too!
@devinmason
@Tim: Thanks! There was a bunch of mischief we all created but there was a bunch of great late night conversation that I think I ended up take the most away from.
@Devin: I wish organizations would take the amount of time they put into landing pages to put them into the "Thank You" page. If they already did what you wanted them to, chances of them wanting to stick around are good. Put some links there.
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