- Google Adwords
Another excellent method of testing web ideas is Google Adwords. In Google Adwords, you can test two ideas at the same time through split testing. You can put up an ad on a keyword and, if somebody clicks it, you know that the customer is interested in what your ads says. If you use two different ads and you split test if one gets twice as many clicks as the other, you are then on your way to creating the best ad to get the customers clicking. The next thing is, if they click on your ad, they go to a website. If that website asks them a question and offers to give them something if they answer that question, it is like doing a survey. So, what is the point? Not only are you testing different headlines in your Google Adwords, but you are also getting a survey that tells you what customers are likely to want. You now not only have a list of what people want, but also an idea of what headline might attract them in the first place. That is very powerful and it is very cheap.
- Appealing to Women
Another, even more cost effective survey is to pitch any new ideas for the business to your partner. If you haven’t got a partner, ask a female acquaintance, and pay attention to what she says. From my experience, you are likely to get a really accurate answer, but you may not like it. If so, don’t get upset, she is probably right. Studies show that in almost all buying decisions it is women who have the last word. I don’t care what type of business you have, somewhere down the line it is most likely a woman who will make the final buying decision.
I can almost hear you say, “Well, that is not true. I buy the car and I buy the house.” Be truthful. Did you make the decision without their influential input? Not likely. In any case, it’s right in the broad view, and it pays businessmen to take that fact into consideration. Design everything you do in your business to be attractive to women.
Now, you are thinking: what about a car mechanic or any other male-oriented industry? Perhaps, but what harm is there in making your premises attractive to women. Car mechanics certainly have to deal with as many women as men dropping off their cars for repair. In addition, any such service facility worth its salt will have a clean and tidy waiting room with as many women’s magazines in the rack as there are men’s. The point of all this is to convince you that you can’t go wrong designing your business with a female perspective in mind regardless of what business you’re in. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everything is in shades of pink. It just means clean and attractive enough to make a woman feel relaxed.
As an example of businesses adopting a female perspective, one of the areas that I have been heavily involved in is in customer service call centers. They have large staffs with a high percentage of women. It sounds strange now, but back in 1997 or ’98, I was laughed at when I suggested that all the bathrooms should be cleaned at least twice a day. I insisted that especially the women’s restrooms be spotless with hand creams and even fresh flowers. It certainly kept the women happy, and that goes a long way to keeping everybody happy. It also helped keep staff turnover at an industry low.
“Murray Priestley has 25 years of commercial and asset management experience having served in board, CEO and senior executive positions with a number of global public and private companies.”