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Send this newsletter to a friend June 2005 Issue
Idiocy Makes for a Good Object LessonDon’t blow your customer relationship for a quick buckI’m annoyed with the Dr. Martens company. When people ask me how to manage an email newsletter or an online marketing campaign, the first thing I always tell them is that the trust of their customers is sacrosanct. Newsletter subscriptions should be opt-in; you should never send a customer any email marketing material without explicit permission. Why? Because spam is utterly out of control. According to organizations such as Spamhaus, unsolicited commercial email is responsible for about 75 per cent of all email traffic around the world, and could possibly increase to 95 per cent by the middle of 2006. People are also fearful of losing control of their online identities. They don’t want to be profiled, stamped, indexed, or numbered. At least, not without permission. Which brings me back to the Dr. Martens company. Some months ago, I wanted to buy a new pair of shoes, and I contacted the company through their web site to get a list of local resellers. As I always do, I used a unique email address when sending the message. This was a deliberate anti-spam measure on my part. Whenever I deal with a company online, I use a unique (and disposable) email address that includes the company name. That way, if I begin to receive spam at that address, I know from where it originates, and I can block it easily at the mail server. It also tells me something about the business ethics of the company in question. Lately, I’d been wondering if this measure was a bit paranoid. It had been several years since I had received any spam through my disposable addresses. Well, shortly after I received an official reply from Dr. Martens, I began receiving spam at the very same address that I used for my correspondence with them. It was gutter-class stuff, too, including ads for quack medications and black-market software. It seems clear that the marketing people at Dr. Martens are engaging in a practice that I thought had long since disappeared: selling email addresses wholesale to spammers. They seem to think that the few dollars they earn on the sale is worth violating the confidentiality of their paying customers. Despite the fact that I love their products, I have serious reservations about ever giving this company my money again. And as someone who earns a living helping people direct their online marketing, I’m aghast at the sheer idiocy of a reputable company willfully exposing their clientele to even more spam. What Should You Expect from a Web Designer?Understanding who and what you’re hiringBuilding a web site is a multidisciplinary job. And the skills required vary widely depending on the task at hand: The staff you’d need to hire to create a glittery media-rich web site for a rock group would be very different from the people you’d need to build an e-commerce site. However, in many companies, the job is often handed down to one person, who — regardless of his actual background — is invariably referred to as “the web guy.” So what should you expect from your web guy? The most important skill for a web designer is the ability to organize information for an audience. You might find this surprising, as many people assume that web design means the same thing as graphic design – that is, the ability to make things look pretty. But from where I sit, the appearance of a web site is secondary to its prime function, which is to deliver information to your customers when they need it. I tell this to most of my clients on first meeting: An ugly web site that allows people to find what they need about your services is infinitely preferable to a pretty web site that cannot be used effectively. Or to put it another way: Design is not about appearances. Design is about how things work. Your web designer should have a firm grasp of your company and its goals, your products and services, and most importantly, what your customers expect from you. This last part is the most vital, because if the web designer does not understand the needs of your customers, how can he possibly create an effective tool for them to learn about you? A web designer who asks questions about your customers and their needs is on the right track. If he’s instead spending the planning phase of the project on the graphical appearance of the site, then you need to take a step back and evaluate the direction of your web site. The first deliverable that your web designer should present to you is a breakdown of the flow of information on the site. This breakdown should answer questions such as:
Once these things have been locked down, only then should your web designer move on to the graphical design. I’ll discuss that next issue. More Goodies for Download from Digital WindMore original photography and desktop backgroundsAnother trip to the west coast, and another batch of yummy photographs. I spent part of April and May in Vancouver. Took some great photos, but this is why there was no May 1 newsletter. As I’ve mentioned before, the more stuff you give away, the more you get back. This applies to all areas of life, and it applies to your business. Your company web site is a great place to slowly build up a library of free advice articles, or other little goodies related to your business. So visit the Digital Wind Goodies page to see the new shots. Beluga whales!
And if you like them, tell a friend! Contact and Subscription InformationDigital Wind's newsletter is a periodic mailing about the business of branding in the digital age written by Jim Royal. It is sent to subscribers only. If you find this information valuable, please pass it on to a friend. Past IssuesArchives of the Digital Wind newsletter can be found at http://digitalwind.com/subscribe/ FeedbackHave a complaint? Want to tell us we're doing a great job? Contact Jim Royal at Digital Wind with your comments and suggestions. We'd love to hear from you. About Digital WindMontreal-based Digital Wind can manage your company's entire public image, from logo design to web design to corporate email newsletters. SubscriptionsTo subscribe to the Digital Wind newsletter, visit http://digitalwind.com/subscribe/ If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe in one of two ways:
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