More Thoughts about SES

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by Paul Boisvert

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Tuesday, August 15th, 2006

I attended a bunch of sessions last Tuesday and Wednesday at the Search Engine Strategies conference. I came away with a lot of information and insights to share, but these topics are so important that it’s going to take me a while to get to them.

However, I wanted to share one quote from one of the presenters, Brian Mark, CTO of Toolbarn.com. During the SEM Retailer session, Brian was showing screenshots of various search marketing ads his company ran and how subtle tweaks to the wording saw dramatic increases in conversion rates. He was trying to explain how his company really wanted to emphasize the value proposition of the products they sell (mainly tools). What was it he said?

Our customers don’t want [to buy] a drill, they want a hole.

If a big light bulb didn’t go off in your head, re-read that sentence. Customers are not so much interested in the products themselves, but rather how the product or some aspect of how you will fulfill the order is a solution to a problem or a need. (Of course there may be exceptions to this so feel free to take issue with my interpretation of his comment.)

What This Means to You

• Consider carefully how your search marketing ads (or any copy on your site) are speaking to the needs of the customer. Are you solving their problem be it by offering more variety, a better value, or unmatched service?
• Anyone can likely come along and match you on price. You can gain a competitive advantage by solving other problems such as shipping orders sooner than the mega merchants, offering phone support, or building a community of visitors.
• As soon as you know what your value proposition is, make sure your customers know as well. Use this test: Show your store to a stranger for 5 seconds and then ask them if they can tell you what you sell and why they would buy from you. If they can’t do this, you’re not making it clear enough to them.

So tool merchants, start selling those “holes”, and non-tool merchants, start figuring out what the “holes” are for your market.

Paul Boisvert
Yahoo! Small Business

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