Brettology

This is a repost of an article I wrote a few years ago…

Today people just have so many choices, so many bright and shiny things begging for their attention. How do you get those people to pay attention to you? How can you shine brighter than someone else standing right next to you? How can you get attention, and better than that, actual use, for what you’re offering?

Maybe you have a great web site and you know that if people just stopped by to check you out that they’d love what you have and sign up and join. But how many people really want to sign up for yet another web site? How many people will take the time to sign up for something new without really knowing what they’re in for? The answer is not many will.

So how do you get the attention you want? You can spend tons of money and “buy” traffic. Or you can join the conversation that’s probably already going on.

When it comes to conversations, it’s all about social media and social marketing, and there it’s all about the users; the community. It’s about making people as comfortable as possible and engaging with them where things are familiar, easy and predictable. Not all people use things the same way or at the same time, so why would a business present its message in only one way?

Some people are totally mobile. They have their entire world right on their iPhone and like it that way. Some people are addicted to sites like Facebook and they find everything they want right there and have no need or desire to look much farther. And let’s not forget that user expectations are different in each of the places they interact with information.

On a mobile device people tend to expect a certain fluid way to consume content; often on the go and in between doing other things. It’s about easy access to relevant information and usability. It’s also about fun, games and having an outlet to distract them from the rest of the world for a moment or two.

When someone’s on a social networking site they tend to expect more interaction with other people and look to friends for recommendations. It’s all about trusted community.

When visiting a niche or business web site people will often expect to interact within a bit of a tunnel, with fewer outside distractions than on a social network.

The interesting thing is that all of these can be the exact same person; wanting different things at different times and in different ways, even if it’s all basically based on the same information. It’s the presentation that creates the expectation.

So the answer is to get in front of users in all of the different ways they like to interact. You create a plan to give them the right amount of content and interaction in the right place, right where they expect it. If you understand how your users think in each of these different ways and create content outlets with all of this in mind, you stand a much better chance of getting the results you’re looking for.

You could, for example, have a web site that is deep and wide and showcases all the cool things you have to offer. Your iPhone application can pull in the right content pieces from the web site and mixed with a little iPhone “fun” and “interaction” create a whole new way for people to see you. And when users are happy, are the chances that they’ll find their way to your web site better than they would otherwise? And are the chances that when they do find your web site that they’ll be likely to hang around and participate? It typically works out just that way.
The same holds true for creating an application on a site like Facebook. It doesn’t have to be everything you have to offer. It has to be what that person is looking for in that place and at that time and in that mindset.

What we do is study more than just the business our clients are in; we also study the conversations people are already having about those businesses. From those community conversations we learn what and how real users interact with a business and what they like or don’t like – in other words, we learn about their expectations. We never try to control the conversation, all we want is to be part of it – to be aware, to learn, adapt and communicate.

The idea is that each of these content outlets; web, mobile and social, speak to users in a way that they expect, present their message in a way they expect and that each one can drive users to each of the others. When that happens you have met your user’s right where they’re comfortable, no matter where that might be. And that’s a pretty good place to be.