Adding marketing impact to your website

If you are looking for something to lift your website and add some serious impact, then you should consider using a website presenter. They provide a nice personal touch, and as long as they aren't over used, can prove to be a very valuable marketing asset.

Some of these presenter services aren't cheap, but you don't have to pay the world to get a presenter on your site. I suggest taking a close look at www.yaoti.com, they actually offer some free options for you to take advantage of.

Yes, they are only basic welcoming messages, but they are free. You also get a decent choice of accents to choose from, so you may be able to find a decent enough welcome message in the tongue you prefer.

If you want something more tailored, then you can of course develop your own script. That said, there are far cheaper options around for custom scripts than these guys, so shop around.

www.model2web.com are about the cheapest I am aware of if you do want a custom option. Only US models, with the exception of one UK female. She has a very mild accent and would suit an Australian site I think. Not much of a range, but you can get something small custom done for around $50.00 USD, and that's seriously good value for this type of tool.

Of course a custom option will always be better, but I suggest you at least take a look at these free options. Not much out there for free these days, and this can add a nice personal touch to your site without any expense at all.

This is an interesting idea but frankly, I always try to find the 'turn off' button when one of those images pops up!

Maybe it's me but I find them a distraction since they don't really 'tell' me anything (at least the few I have listened to don't really seem to be 'saying' anything).

If the people who do marketing studies say they work though, hey, I'm all for whatever the general public sees as important for building trust.

I would have thought that those 'live operator is available' links/buttons/boxes would be something that people find more compelling on a website.

Have you started to use either one yet and have you noticed improved success with either method?

Hi Roni,

The biggest problem when using these types of secondary marketing techniques is that people don't have a firm idea on how to use them, so they tend to just use the technique for the sake of having it.

In regards to a web presenter, just having one talking about nothing can be very annoying and completely undoes what it is you are trying to do in the first place, as you have pretty much pointed out from your experience.

This type of marketing as to be pointed, just like any other form of good marketing. If it's not pointed, then it's usually dollars down the drain with marketing.

Just to quickly answer your question, I am not currently using a web presenter, however it is an option I have been considering and one that I am going to go ahead with in regards to a couple of ventures I'm involved in.

For me, the best way to use a marketing tool like this is one of two ways. A short, but warm welcome to your site, that involves inviting the customer to contact you if they require further assistance.

Secondly, to highlight certain aspects about what it is you offer and why they should purchase from you.

Those are the two areas where I see the value in a tool such as a web presenter. Having said that, I think it is important for the customer to have control over the presenter, in so much as having to option to turn it off if required, especially if your site is all about getting repeat customer visits.

These types of tools can get very old, very quickly, when a customer is visiting more than once, so always bare that in mind.

Really, you pretty much have a bank canvass with a web presenter. You can choose their dress style, the way they enunciate phrasing and so on. So if anyone is going to use this type of tool, make sure you fine tune it to meet your target demographic to get maximum bang for your buck!

Hi Mark,

Very interesting topic and you have presented it well enough that even a noob like me can learn from it.

Once again, the education has been well worth the price of admission.


John

Cheers John