Today’s post about a successful website strategy was written by guest blogger: Reena Kapoor. I worked with Reena on the project she describes. It was successful on many levels.
Recently, I advised a consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand on their website strategy. This is a non-trivial question because often what gets lost is not just the content but also the true audience for such a website.
How many times have you looked for the website of your favorite consumer good brand and arrived there only to find that, while it has an abundance of information, you simply cannot find what you need? Often this is because the website is trying to say too many things to too many people. A website offers a tempting podium to tell the whole world about how fabulous you are and it’s hard not to get distracted.
The role of a CPG website is to help build, extend and reinforce the brand’s equities — products, benefits, brand character, experience — at this key user touch-point with the brand’s most valuable target audience. A successful website strategy is crafted to achieve this goal by targeting this key audience.
Typically this comprises heavy users of the category. These are truly the 80/20 folks – remember to meet their needs and they will reward you and stick with you through thick and thin. They are the people who know what makes your brand great — even if you forget sometimes. Brand websites may choose to address secondary audiences too (e.g., retailers, influencers, etc) but the challenge is to truly treat these as secondary and not lose sight of your most valuable audience.
It should be noted that brand websites address visitors who are arriving at this destination largely by choice. As such, they should not be treated like an audience that is being “targeted” in a media context. They are arriving there primarily through organic search and/or via targeted campaigns that appeal to them. That, by definition, makes them users who are involved and interested in the Brand, the specific category or sub-category. This is important because such an audience is presumably open to the brand/category and more likely to respond to a well-defined and ownable brand message.
For these reasons the brand website should not try to speak to every audience the brand may wish to address; other interactive marketing strategies employing tactics such as dedicated microsites, etc are typically more appropriate for such purposes.
Reena Kapoor is the founder of Conifer Consulting a new product strategy & marketing consulting firm in the bay area. She brings over 18 years of new product development & brand management work experience from companies such as Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods and several Silicon Valley software companies.
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