The state of the U.S. economy has hit many small businesses hard. Some of them could stem the damage by selling in international markets, but many don't know how to open their doors to overseas buyers. Linda Rigano, director of strategic alliances at ThomasNet, teaches small industrial supply firms how to overhaul their online marketing strategies. ThomasNet, formerly the Thomas Register, has a Web site that connects industrial buyers and sellers worldwide.
Rigano outlined some of her online marketing tips recently for Business Week's Smart Answers columnist Karen E. Klein. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow.
Q: A lot of entrepreneurs can see the value of adding international clients, particularly with the value of the dollar recently, but they don't know how to get noticed by far-flung customers. What do you tell those people?
A: In today's market, industrial buyers are product-focused, not brand-focused, or limited by geography. If a part will fit into their machines and it's readily available, that's far more important than a supplier's location. We've found that 99 percent of the industrial world is now buying online. And we're finding that most small companies already have Web sites. We show them how they can attract more buyers, including international buyers, by overhauling their sites, tweaking their content, and getting picked up by search engines for specific, relevant search terms that apply to their products. The problem, of course, is that a lot of those Web sites are still brochure-ware that is not effective in increasing sales or penetrating new niche markets.
Q: Is that the biggest mistake small companies make in creating their sites?
A: The biggest mistake is that they design their Web sites based on what they think their customers want, instead of what their customers actually want. Business owners need to get in touch with buyers and figure out exactly what they're looking for, then give it to them. For instance, when a buyer comes to your site, they want to verify that your company makes what they're looking to buy. You get five to eight seconds to convince them, or they'll hit the back button. So you've got to have all the important information right up front. You don't want a big picture of your facility or an American flag or a welcome sign on your front page.
Another problem is that companies are hiring run-of-the-mill Web designers who are thinking more about design than about functionality. A good Web site in the industrial world doesn't have to be sexy. Entrepreneurs are looking to get orders, not win design awards.
Q: Have you investigated what's causing the disconnect between existing small business sites and ideal content and design?
A: Mostly, it's that entrepreneurs are experts at running their businesses; they're not marketing experts. What buyers tell us they want is detailed product information in a searchable format immediately available on the site -- not in a .pdf format where they have to look through 30 pages to find what they want. They also want to be able to contact the suppliers for more information or to request a quote on their order.
Q: What basics do you advise small suppliers to include in their Web sites?
A: They've got to have solid content that speaks to their market. At the end of the day, the sole mission of the Web site is to deliver relevant information to a user inquiry. That means the navigation has to be intuitive. I tell my clients to think about how people used to find their companies offline, maybe through the yellow pages or through the Thomas Register. What did they do when they found you? They'd pick up the telephone and ask questions about your products and you'd answer them, then you might ask some questions back about their needs, and probably some action would take place.
The same dynamic is now occurring at your Web site -- except you're not there anymore. Potential buyers want to ask questions, so you need to give them answers on the site and you need to ask questions of them about what they're looking for. You can design some functionality where the customer fills out a form and they get dropdown boxes asking them about specifications, special needs, dimensions. The company knows that their clients often need drawings, so they should enable a process where the client can upload CAD drawings. We've found that in 80 percent of cases when drawings are uploaded, the client follows through with an order.
Q: You mentioned contact information, which is so often lacking even on large company Web sites.
A: And it's so important! More than half of your buyers still want to pick up the telephone and make a call before they submit a purchase order. You need an 800 number -- or at least your phone number -- and your e-mail address in the upper right-hand corner of every single page on your site. Give them the ability to request a quote right on your site, allow them to place an order online or fax you a purchase order.
You also want to make sure clients can save the page they're working on, print it out, and e-mail it to their colleagues. The other thing we advise is to put in tracking software on the site. Not because companies need "hits" -- they need action. But you can't manage what you can't measure.
Q: What are some of the specific challenges of attracting international buyers?
A: Translation is always a challenge. Native translators are best and they're often also very cost-effective. Electronic translation services may be acceptable sometimes, but suppliers run the risk of inadvertently offending a buyer by ignoring a linguistic or cultural nuance.
© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Cos. All rights reserved.
© 2008 ECT News Network. All rights reserved.
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