Sell Softly on the ‘Net

Sometimes a little back porch advice can go a long way, according to officials at a number of e-commerce sites that have added “ask-the-expert” forums to their marketing mix.

Based on the premise that friendly answers to Web cruisers’ questions can lead only to new business, some catalogers created online advice forums that add a human voice to their Web images, while also growing revenues.

As you’ve probably surmised, ask-the-expert forums — Q&A pages where customers go to post questions and get answers from a company expert — are simple to set up. A Web designer posts a picture of a company expert on an ask-the-expert page, adds a little background text detailing the employee’s knowledge, and an online virtuoso is born. Web site visitors are invited to post questions, and before you can say “return on investment,” the domain is off and running.

While setting up such a service for your site takes relatively minimal resources, your payback can be substantial. According to Internet marketing analysts, the best ask-the-expert services can generate multiple, ever-growing communities around a Web site — communities that represent an enthusiastic following of pre-qualified, potential customers who often become volunteer catalog evangelists in the process. Following are some examples:

NB Web Express (www.nbwebexpress.com), a Web site that sells New Balance athletic gear, offers a sophisticated, multi-step, ask-the-expert domain that considerably narrows a shopper’s questions before the queries are e-mailed to a company expert for answering.

Conney.com, an online cataloger specializing in workplace safety products, sports an ask-the-expert domain that enables shoppers to get answers by e-mail or via a supplemental online archive.

CablesToGo.com, a connectivity solutions provider, offers live and e-mail ask-the-expert help.

How to Get Started

Often, ask-the-expert services start out as extremely low-maintenance projects, with the Web designer manually uploading questions and answers onto Web pages every few days. But once traffic starts building, companies generally upgrade to bulletin board software designed to automatically maintain such forums. By using such software and services, people can come and go, post questions and answers, and start conversations based on the ask-the-expert Q&A — all with virtually no intervention from your IT department.

You can try out bulletin board packages at the Free Bulletin Board Software Directory (www.emailaddresses.com/email_bb.htm), where you’ll find free software and services such as Quicktopic (www.quicktopic.com), Bravenet (www.bravenet.com/ samples.forum.php), and Everyone.net’s Plug-In Community (www.everyone.net).

Or you can sample sophisticated, fee-based bulletin board solutions, including Web Crossing (www.webcrossing.com) and Akiva Idea Technologies’ WebBoard (www.akiva.com). Such programs offer options such as a full-text search of all posts with phrase and Boolean searches; automatic suffix matching; real-time instant messenger add-ons; and the ability to import and export large groups of users onto mailing lists.

Marketing Benefits

A more intimate connection with your customers: While sites often are designed to impress visitors with a company’s technological prowess on the Web, ask-the-expert forums enable you to get up close and personal with customers and online prospects. You’ll establish an informal relationship with your forum base, and over time, you may be seen as friends first and company reps second.

A way to reiterate your company’s branding message: Catalogers with especially adroit online experts realize that the personality of that expert and the company’s identity, mission, and culture often are perceived as one in the same — whether it’s freewheeling or conservative, progressive or prudent. Tip: Select an online expert who reflects the identity you want to create and maintain.

An easy technique to spike mailing list subscriptions: Web consumers appreciate straight advice about products that interest them. Establish a reputation for offering those straight answers in an ask-the-expert forum, and you’ll have no problem signing people up for a mailing list that weaves in a little news on new products, discounts and promotions.

A tool to sharpen your company’s marketing message: Over time, your marketing department will be able to distill flaws in its communications simply by studying the underlying pattern in the questions consumers are asking your experts. Repeated inquiries voicing confusion about the same thing will highlight what you need to change.

A way to take the pulse of consumers’ needs and wants: Ten years ago, most companies would’ve loved a virtually cost-free service that would automatically monitor and store data on consumer sentiment regarding products and services. And they probably would’ve done cartwheels for a system that also could feed those sentiments into a manipulable database that could analyze information based on a combination of variables. Such systems are here: ask-the-expert domains tied to everyday company databases.

Moreover some basic Web-authoring programs such as MS Frontpage allow you to easily create online forums that can automatically capture and store Q&A information for later manipulation and analysis. If you want to get a bit more sophisticated, use programs such as the aforementioned Web Crossing and WebBoard.

Higher search engine returns: One of the primary ways to gain the attention of search engines is to offer deep insight into a very specialized interest area. Design your ask-the-expert domain as a clearinghouse of information on a special interest, and you’ll find your site appearing higher in search engine returns.

Enhanced industry credibility: In time, you’ll have built a thorough knowledge base that will begin generating its own traffic. Simply by stopping at your ask-the-expert forum, trading partners will be reassured that your company truly knows its stuff. Ditto for journalists looking for credible news sources to quote as recognized industry authorities.

Online advice forums not only add a human element to a Web site, but they also grow revenue. Friendly, informative responses won’t hurt your company; they can only improve business.

Joe Dysart is a business and Internet consultant and speaker based in Thousand Oaks, CA. You can reach him at (805) 379-3673; by e-mail: joe@joedysart.com.