RetailBX.sg - #1: The more you say, the more people tune out your message

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#1: The more you say, the more people tune out your message

Hello everyone,

Just found this forum and I can see that it's quite active. I thought I might share some advice with those just starting out selling stuff online. If the sharing sucks, just tell me and I'll shut up. :p

Sharing #1: The more you say, the more people tune out your message.

Some websites tend to have a lot of witty, funny or interesting descriptions so that visitors can find out more about their products. These large amounts of text is sometimes called "marketese".

It is also commonly found on the homepage of a website.

Example 1

Quote:

"Welcome to [my website]. Take your time to browse through and I hope you enjoy your time here....."

Such text is redundant and obvious. (Who wouldn't want to take their time and enjoy? :laff: )

Example 2

I randomly got this example off a live website,

Quote:

"We believe that human behaviour should shape technology, not the other way round. The success of a web design or web application ultimately comes down to how well the needs of its intended audience are met. The same goes for any piece of artwork or design....."

In my experience as a usability engineer, most of such "marketese" is known as junk.

No one reads it.

Get rid of it.

People come to your site to see what you have to offer, not listen to you talk about yourself.

Read about it
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/intro-text.html
http://www.webmonkey.com/webmonkey/0...html?tw=design

Cheers,
QiCheng

Re: #1: The more you say, the more people tune out your message

woah.. nice picece of advice,,,:clap:

Re: #1: The more you say, the more people tune out your message

Heyz QiCheng, sorry but I don't quite agree with you. (Just my opinion)

[ Sharing #1: The more you say, the more people tune out your message.]

In any form of marketing, it has been proven that the longer the prospect looks at your advert, the higher the chance of converting him into a buyer because he allows the words to sink it willingly.

["Welcome to [my website]. Take your time to browse through and I hope you enjoy your time here....." ]

This is really personal opinion. Different sites have different themes. Personal,commercial etc, Big commercial website definitely do not do it and small sites do it .... well just because they think it is friendly. I don't really think people will mind a friendly greeting.

[People come to your site to see what you have to offer, not listen to you talk about yourself.]

I think you should have a blog right? Being personal in your IS HOW you make money. People buy stuff from people they may not see in person but yet they can feel thru a blog. The more personal your blog is, the higher the viewers.

Hope you don't mind me just sharing my 5 cents. Thanks

Re: #1: The more you say, the more people tune out your message

Thanks for your comments, Theinternetenterprise,

Quote:

Originally Posted by theinternetenterprise (Post 3952)

This is really personal opinion. Different sites have different themes. Personal,commercial etc, Big commercial website definitely do not do it and small sites do it .... well just because they think it is friendly. I don't really think people will mind a friendly greeting.

In fact, I'm with you on having a friendly greeting.

I'm not recommending removing ALL welcome text. As with all things, moderation is the key. Some people write a whole big chunk of text, which is what's not recommended.

Quote:

Originally Posted by theinternetenterprise (Post 3952)

In any form of marketing, it has been proven that the longer the prospect looks at your advert, the higher the chance of converting him into a buyer because he allows the words to sink it willingly.

Do share the proof you mentioned? I'd also like to read about it too :)

Ah, the issue then, is how long is the prospect willing to look at the advertisement, yeah?

Many, many usability studies on normal browsing behavior concludes that you don't have much time to keep your viewers.

Taken from [Usability Issues - 5 Factors to influence your web site design]

My own emphasis is in red...

Quote:

1) Where Do Eyes Go First When Your Homepage Comes Up?
... Seeing as most web users look at a web page for only 3-15 seconds before deciding whether to stay or move on. The fact that they look at copy first has massive implications for your website. Fancy graphics won't make a prospect stay on your website. But a really strong headline and strong sub-heads will.

2) How Much Of Your Copy Do Users Actually Read?
The fact is that online users, on average, read 75% of the length of any given page. This is big news because most web pages will have the important conclusions, calls to action, and order information on the bottom 25% of any given page. That's a big no-no. Because it will never get read.

5) Are Your Web Page Users Not Getting The Whole Picture?
If you haven't made your web page truly scannable, prospects to your site may only be getting part of the sales message. Only 21% of online users read word-by-word. The other 79% scan a web page headline to headline. Sub-head to sub-head. Picking up only the larger, bolded or italicized copy.

Your sales message has to be read both by scanners and word-by-word readers. Therefore all your major selling points, benefits, call to action and order info must be in easily scannable type.

Otherwise your website will only generate 21% of the sales it could be. And for the money you put into your website, that's not good enough.

For those lazy to read everything, Point 5 is the important thing to note. Don't fall for the "Build it and they will come"-type thinking, because very few people read everything you will be writing. Keep it short and sweet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by theinternetenterprise (Post 3952)

I think you should have a blog right? Being personal in your IS HOW you make money. People buy stuff from people they may not see in person but yet they can feel thru a blog. The more personal your blog is, the higher the viewers.

Mmm, I agree. There's actually very little studies done on blog shops. I'm wondering how good blog shops balance between getting their products on the first page versus personal entries?

Having high viewing numbers don't necessarily mean that they will be converted to buyers though.

Good points, hope to read more of your own insights :)

Happy New Year everyone!

Cheers,
QiCheng

Re: #1: The more you say, the more people tune out your message

Hi Qi Cheng, I'm sorry that I am unable to "show" you the proof literally. What I meant was that in sales letters, it first shows you that you "need" the product, then leads on to let you think it is a great deal, then lastly the price. Any uninterested customer would have stopped halfway, not to mention 75%. However, if the "customer" really thinks the product is a good deal, he will read till the end and find out the price right? It just works that funny way, really can't show it to you with a piece of paper or website. As for how long the propect is willing to view the advert, it isn't easy to come to a conclusion too. It depends on how strongly the prospect "feel" inside themselves while viewing the advert. If the sales letter is unable to bring out those feelings, then it most probably will not convert the reader.

[ Having high viewing numbers don't necessarily mean that they will be converted to buyers though ]

Yupz agree with that too. but what I meant to say is that if you had 5000 readers and I only had 5, your blog logically speaker has higher chances of conversion.

Cheers

Re: #1: The more you say, the more people tune out your message

this thread is a good read!

though with a dip in marketing, i realise many things cannot be apply right as it state. and as people, society change, many ideas need to be innovated as well.

but thats what i like about marketing though i think i am doing a sh*tty job with marketing my site. definitely dropping by to hear from you experienced people!