5 Tips for Connecting With Customers Online

Making a connection with your customers is crucial to the success of your business, no matter what you're selling. Its one thing to do that in person—in a store, for example—and quite another to do online.

Having a winning product and excellent customer service will take you a long way, even on a so-so Web site. But today's Internet experts will tell you that's not enough. Connecting with customers online requires a different set of strategies that might not seem intuitive to the average small business.

Being aware of these connection-facilitating ideas can be as important to your company as the Internet itself. A 2007 survey by AMI-Partners found that more than 40 percent of U.S. small and midsize businesses are using Web 2.0 applications to connect with their customers through blogging, social networking, and other kinds of online interactivity. In other words, they're reaching out to their customers in new, innovative ways more than ever.

With that in mind, here are five strategies for establishing a long-lasting relationship with Internet users.

1. By all means, tailor your content to the Internet. Many small-business Web sites are little more than digitized brochures featuring rudimentary print-and-fax order forms. That's a mistake, says Lena Dmitrieva, a usability consultant at Bentley College near Boston. In order to connect with customers online, he says, you need to "provide users with the information that they need, rather than what you're trying to push in a way that makes sense to you."
   

   What works? Write text that is easy to scan on the Web. "People don't usually read long paragraphs of text online. Instead, they tend to scan the text to see if it has anything of interest," Dmitrieva says. That means simple language, lots of bullet points, and order forms that actually take orders.
   

2. Challenge customers with information that provokes a response. Newt Barrett, founder of Bonita Springs, Fla.-based marketing consultant Succeeding Today and the co-author of an upcoming book about marketing through Web content, says actionable site content is critical to connecting with customers. "Compelling content generates highly qualified leads," he says. "Compelling online content begins an ongoing dialogue with your best buyers from the very first moment they land on your Web site."
   

   What works? Contextually relevant content: anything from a chart depicting the growth in demand for a certain product to a short paragraph summarizing the benefits of a service. Barrett recalls one example of a custom publisher that launched a quarterly white-paper series. Most of the promotion was simple —just a short Web site blurb and a few ads. The papers were only about eight pages each, but the information was relevant and valuable to the user. And it sold well.
   

3. Converse with your users on their terms. In earlier days of the Internet, most communication with customers went one way. There were ads, direct mailings, and e-mail newsletters that pushed content to a mass audience, mostly without an invitation for direct feedback. Now, with Web 2.0 applications such as blogs, wikis, and online forums, it is truly more of a dialogue. That's an opportunity to connect with customers, and it's one that your business shouldn't pass up, experts say. "A two-way conversation isn't one-dimensional," says Robb Hecht, a marketing consultant and adjunct marketing professor at City University of New York. "Online users today are feeling more engaged with brands, connected to and informed about new products and services based on the community-generating effect of these social networking tools."
   

   What works? Creativity and passion for the customer, and a genuine interest in his or her point of view. These conversations are now happening in forum posts, wiki entries, and blog comments. Don't limit yourself. But remember: Each medium has its own rules of etiquette that must be understood.
   

4. Customize the experience. One size doesn't fit all on the Web. People want to be able to interact with their sites in a way that they're comfortable with. "Customization is definitely underutilized by small businesses," says Marc Ohmann, president of Digital Solutions, an IT company based in Bloomington, Minn. Why? Because they don't think it's possible. But Ohmann begs to differ. His company has worked with small home builders that have used simple applications that allow visitors to create designs for customized homes when they're online.
   

   What works? Start small. Formatting an e-mail newsletter to greet a subscriber by name is pretty easy these days. But plan to expand your site beyond that. Large sites such as Amazon.com have taken customization to new levels, creating lists of book titles or CDs that they predict you might enjoy.
   

5. Refresh your content periodically, test new approaches, and stay fresh and creative. Web users aren't easily impressed, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. "More and more Web sites need to engage people and provide information in unique ways," says Brent Leary, a partner with CRM Essentials, a marketing consulting firm in Stockbridge, GA.
   

What works? Anything that can be used to set your site apart from the crowd will help you connect with customers—and win their business. For example, one service, SitePal, creates virtual characters that interact with your visitors, answering questions, and driving sales. The larger point, though, is that there are many applications that can give your site an edge, and many more that will be developed in the future. Be adventurous.