Copious Blog

Recently Media Inc. requested that regional executives in the advertising field answer some questions that clients often wonder, but don't necessarily want to ask directly. It was a fun chance to put my thoughts down and here's a few of the questions and my answers.

Q:
In what areas would an agency complement an in-house marketing, design and Web department that feel they do a good job already but is a bit overwhelmed?

A:
An agency can help plan and facilitate overflow work by partnering with the internal team. As opposed to bringing on a freelancer, we have an established workflow and process that supports projects large and small, resulting in a significantly higher level of execution and accountability.

Q:
What should I expect from a good agency as far as service, time and financial investment?

A:
On the service side, the agency should start to feel like part of the company team. We're here to support brand and business growth, and to do so, we have to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of your projects or services.

The time/financial investment is best judged on a situational basis. It's often true that you get what you pay for...and it's important that what you're paying for will meet both the company's short-term and long-term goals.

Q:
How will you educate yourself about my company and my competition?

A:
Time and research. We like to establish an active dialogue with each company. If you've got a product, we want to get our hands on it, use it, understand it. We take the same approach with services: We want to experience the internal process and also understand why your customers buy from you and what we can do to leverage your current relationships and create new ones. The only way this can happen is to know your company and know your customers -- and since, as an agency, we're neither, we can offer perspectives and ideas that facilitate the relationship between the two.

Q:
What kinds of things can be used to quantify the results of an ad campaign, and what time frame should be used?

A:
Goals should be established on a campaign-by-campaign basis. Depending on the execution, we need to establish a base point and decide what the goals are: brand awareness, sales, etc. The time frame depends on what you're advertising and your typical sales cycle.

When clicks convert to cash

Let's say you need a new widget for your gadget. You walk into Widgetmart and begin your search. After a few minutes of looking around you give up and ask an employee for help. Then you get in line to checkout. However, it seems your item is actually not in stock. The one in your basket is only a display model. And in the meantime, you're being asked to fill out a complicated new customer form.

Let's be honest, if the above happened in the real world, the company in question wouldn't stay in business long. So why is it so many e-commerce sites are okay with poor usability and haphazard experiences? Is it because consumers are used to it? Or is it simply that many companies feel that being online is enough - that if the customer really wants something, they'll figure it out?

Online Retail is the New E-Commerce
Smart companies are realizing that what works in the real world, such as intuitive store layout, well-crafted displays, perfectly placed loss leaders and convenient checkout, can work online, too.

Your customers want to find things quickly. They want to be cross-sold items they might not have considered and up-sold if the item they've picked won't meet their needs. Plus, they want to be told about amazing offers from manufacturers they know and trust either while shopping your site or via a newsletter from your company. 

To tap into this profitable online world, all you have to do is give customers what they want. Chances are, you do it already at your physical locations, or if you don't have a physical store, you understand when it's done right. Take that sort of approach online and you're almost guaranteed to attract happy, repeat customers.

It's Time to Rethink the Web
Companies will spend millions researching and designing the perfect retail experience that meshes the company's brand with the customer's expectations. The same care and attention should be given to an online retail store. When a company goes into the planning and development of a site with clear goals in mind, the end result is almost always positive.

How To Create an Online Retail Experience

Some things to consider when creating the perfect online retail experience are usability, imagery, and simplicity.

1. Your home page should take no more than five seconds for a new user to successfully navigate. This means usability throughout the site will need to be incredibly clear and intuitive.

2. Your search feature should look through your inventory, not your About Us page. Yes, your company history is important, but consumers want to buy something from you, not learn about your founders.

3. Keep your store as fresh and up-to-date as you would a physical location. Update displays (banners, features items, etc.) to reflect current holidays or national events, ensure your promoted items are selling as you expect (if they're not, move them to a sub location), and tell your shoppers about closeout deals and new products.

4. Make sure your checkout processes aren't slow, confusing or overwhelming. After all, checkout is where the rubber meets the road. 

These crucial elements will help ensure that you are making the most of your online investment.

Welcome to the updated Copious site. We've been working hard over the last few months on a new look and feel...and more importantly a new renewed focus as a company. When we really come down to what a brand is, it's about a lot more than just a logo, tagline and business collateral. It's about something that reflects who you are internally and externally in a real way that helps to set your place in the market and communicates what you are all about.

We're all about interactive. Copious has always had a core team of designers, programmers, developers and strategic thinkers who loved the power of interactive. We've worked directly with clients large and small and partnered with agencies across the country, all in an effort to deliver meaningful experiences that resonate with our clients' customers.

Take a look around the site and check back as we roll out more content and features in the coming weeks. If you're interested, drop us line and let's chat about open source, social networks, emerging media and your interactive needs.

Online Security Policies Are Essential
Create a game plan today to avoid an ulcer tomorrow

It's okay to be paranoid when it comes to your company's online security.

Ask a Chief Security Officer (CSO) what keeps them up at night, and they'll go on and on about logins and passwords. They understand, even if others don't, just how vulnerable a company is. Let's say one disgruntled employee posts their username and password online days before quitting. Or a worker who was just fired goes home, logs in and deletes company data, images and consumer information from "secure" servers. Chaos ensues. Websites go down. Sales stop.

There is an alternative. Your best bet is to listen to your CSO, hire a security consultant, or work with a smart interactive agency to help put a security policy and procedure in place. The policy should cover data back-up initiatives for both disaster recovery and direct attacks and detail how to get your website back online if it's taken down. The important thing is that you get everything working again in minutes rather than days.

Constantly scrutinize all passwords. Think about how many employees you have. That's how vulnerable your servers really are. Keep things a bit safer with password education and mandatory bi-annual password changes. According to the experts at Microsoft, your employees' passwords should be at least 14 characters long, and include a combination of uppercase and lowercase numbers, letters and symbols.

Want to test your own password strength? Visit http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/checker.mspx and follow the directions. If you're like most busy business people, your password is probably lacking.

Take action with every exiting employee. If a person leaves your company, whether on good or bad terms, remove all of their access before they leave the building. It's a smart way to keep them honest and your data secure.