You,
Sources, and Getting the Most Out of the Internet
Including Six Internet Fictions to Consider
By
Barrie Zwicker
The
Internet is remarkable - perhaps as important as the book in its
eventual impact on civilization. It is also in its early days.
Current Internet technology can be compared to 1950s television
technology.
We've
been promoting the Internet for years. Dean's
Digital World has been running since the Summer 1993
edition of Sources. SOURCES SELECT® Online - featuring this
directory, Parliamentary
Names & Numbers, the Connexions
directory, and more - launched more than a year ago. Our Internet
site (www.sources.com)
launched in January. Through our ISDN line we're a budget-priced
Internet provider as well.
It's
a truism that no one knows how the Internet and its most visible
current manifestation, the World Wide Web, will evolve. The potentials
appear major but there are pitfalls that are not minor. Questions
are more appropriate than answers. Nevertheless, in working our
way through our developments we've gained some ideas for getting
the most out of the Internet, and have encountered some of the
pitfalls.
Organizations
reaping net benefit from the Internet will be those that use it
as a new element in a multi-media strategy and follow the evolving
mix closely. To look upon the Internet as a do-it-all communications
medium is the main danger for an organization.
Another
widespread misconception is that money will be made on the Internet.
This will be true for a small fraction of those with sites. But
increasing evidence shows it's prudent to proceed on the assumption
that the Internet will constitute a net cost indefinitely for
most organizations with sites.
The
cost of launching a site that really works, and maintaining it,
is usually much higher than at first budgetted. The famed Hot
Wired site employs 200. Most of their pay comes from revenue from
advertising in the print parent, Wired magazine.
With
the help of suppliers that know the ropes you can, however, come
out a winner in terms of the aims and objectives of your organization.
We recommend the Internet-knowledgeable organizations named at
the end of this article. All are listed in sources and therefore
can be found through the Internet at our site, SOURCES SELECT
Online (SSO) at www.sources.com.
From
our many customer organizations we hear a variety of "takes"
on communications activities in general and the Internet in particular.
We hear:
*
Most organizations are carrying out their communications strategy
with less money. We've can appreciate the re-thinking that this
forces; we've undergone our own cost-cutting.
*
With computers and other new information technology, organizations
are trying to accomplish more, with a given number of people,
than they did before.
*
Scarce resources are increasingly being diverted to development
of Internet sites or home pages.
Over
the long run, successful sites will be those that:
*
Provide excellent content: particular, accurate, and up-to-date
useful and/or entertaining information. Useful or entertaining
to the user, that is.
*
Are timely: provide information on current or emerging topics
of growing interest to large or increasing numbers of people.
Examples: bicycling, spirituality, investing, the environment.
And combinations of such topics (e.g., green investing).
*
Are easy - and fast - to use.
*
Provide meaningful interaction, including transactional opportunities
(that is, provide the user with an ability to access more information
right away [as with hot links], buy something, order something,
leave a message, leave a query, etc.).
*
Tend not to be over-designed. The Internet is not TV, something
a lot of page designers appear not to understand. Graphics slow
downloading. Eventually people either become impatient enough
to feel like skipping over-designed sites, or they turn off the
graphics.
Ottawa-based
Michael Strangelove (Michael@strangelove.com) is publisher of
the excellent Internet Business Journal. In the April 1996 edition
he concluded an article on the myths of the Internet: "The
killer application of the Internet is not Mosaic or Netscape.
It should be plain to anyone not accessing the Net over a T1 line
that the major contribution of new browsers and related multimedia
applications has been acute boredom. Over-designed Web pages have
spread through the Net like a virus. In a simple twist of fate,
Netscape is killing the Net. Most Web developers are still treating
the medium as if they wished it were television. The reckless
disregard for the person on the other end of the commercial Web
site is now responsible for a high turnover rate among surfers."
For Internet Business Journal subscription information phone (613)
241-0982 or fax (613) 241-4433.
Some
assertions we hear are mistaken enough, we think, to be called
fictions. See what you think.
Fiction
#1: "We're on the Internet. We're reaching the world."
*
Those of us who have hung out our digital shingles on the Internet
aren't reaching the world. We can reach certain target groups.
But the Net is not essentially a broadcast medium. Some people
reach us.
*
A new home page is launched every four seconds, notes Julian Sher,
an Internet trainer and a producer with CBC-TV's the fifth estate.
Lately the Web has been doubling every 50 days. Who could keep
up? No one is "reaching" all these home pages. It's
probably technically impossible. If it was possible, it wouldn't
be desirable for any organization we can think of.
Fiction
#2: "We're doing all our marketing on the Internet."
*
It's extremely unlikely that all customers, let alone prospective
customers, of any organization would even have access to the Internet,
let alone use it exclusively. On that score alone all the marketing
of an organization cannot be done through the Internet.
*
As Mark LaVigne, Senior Associate with Toronto-based McMaster
Communications and a former radio journalist, notes regarding
media releases: "Many journalists are not on the 'Net. A
lot of journalists who are on it hate E-mail news releases, although
you can send out a one-liner, ask who wants to see the full release,
and wait for reply."
Fiction
#3: "Everyone knows us. And now they can reach us on the
Internet."
*
The "everyone knows us" claim has been around since
long before the Internet. This alone does not make it mistaken,
but consider:
*
How does one find all the organizations that believe everyone
knows them? "Organizations everyone knows" will hardly
work as a search query.
*
How, exactly, does one find even one organization that believes
everyone knows it?
*
What does "finding" an organization mean? In the context
of niche marketing, say, or in the context of serious information-seekers?
*
In the case of a nationally-known brewery, for instance, how does
a reporter reach the right person in the brewing organization
on a weekend it's staging a sporting event or festival?
*
How many World Wide Web sites list home phone numbers of key people?
*
When sites do, how will reporters who don't have access to the
Internet learn those numbers? What about serious inquirers who
normally have Internet access but are away from that access when
they need to reach your organization or a particular person in
it?
*
If any organization can make stick the claim being known by everyone
(meaning everyone on Earth), it must be Coca-Cola. Why do Coca-Cola
and other almost equally-well-known corporations continue to invest
millions on non-Internet advertising, marketing and promotion?
Why do Coca-Cola and other major organizations - as well as a
thousand medium-sized and small organizations -- maintain their
listings in sources? Because they know the Internet is, and will
continue to be, one communications medium among others, not suddenly
the only communications medium there is.
Fiction
#4: "We're on the Internet, so we don't need anything else."
*
How do people learn our Internet URLs? By Web browser searching.
Yes. But there are and will inevitably continue to be limitations
to such searches. Internet research trainer Julian Sher says that
if he does not get on the trail of what he's seeking after five
to 10 minutes on the Internet, he turns to non-Internet resources.
Those
who are not aware of the limitations may miss our sites because
they think they have conducted a comprehensive search, but haven't.
*
Why do TV networks such as CBC and CTV run their Internet addresses
at the end of their nightly newscasts? (And maintain listings
in sources?) Why do radio programs announce their Internet addresses
repeatedly? Because non-Internet communications promote meaningful
Internet hits.
*
Why do a growing number of newspapers run their Internet addresses
on their front page folio lines? Because non-Internet communications
promote meaningful Internet hits.
*
Why do periodicals (including Maclean's, The Globe and Mail, Masthead
and Sources) promote their Internet addresses? Because non-Internet
communications promote meaningful Internet hits.
*
Why are organizations of all kinds increasingly including their
WWW addresses in print ads, in brochures and flyers, on their
TV and radio spots, on billboards, and elsewhere? Because non-Internet
communications promote meaningful Internet hits.
*
Perhaps most tellingly, why do the most successful Internet-based
organizations invest heavily in non-Internet communications (for
instance, in books, manuals, radio programs, print advertisements,
non-Net directories, and more)? Because non-Internet communications
promote meaningful Internet hits.
*
To say "We have a Web site" is comparable to saying
"We have a phone number." The phone won't ring unless
steps are taken to attract calls, starting with a listing in the
white pages directory and an ad in the Yellow Pages, then going
on to a variety of other marketing activities..
Fiction
#5: "We're getting (fill in the blanks) hits a day/week/month.
It's amazing."
*
We're as proud of the rising number of hits to SSO as is the next
site of its hit count. But hit counts are not body counts, as
Rick Broadhead, co-author of The Canadian Internet Handbook told
a packed Internet seminar at the recent Magazines '96 conference.
Included are multiple hits for text and graphics, a large number
of casuals, and repeats. They conceal more than they reveal. Until
we can identify who visits our sites, what they're looking at,
and how long they're staying, we don't have very useful hit information.
Fiction
#6: "We have a World Wide Web site, as everyone knows."
*
Consider conversations we had recently with communications people
in three organizations - a national trade association headquartered
in Ottawa, a private firm with marketing headquarters in Mississauga,
Ont. and an Ontario professional association.
All
three individuals told us they were switching their communications
efforts virtually entirely to the Internet. Each went on to suggest
to us that Sources "should go on the 'Net." We are not
making this up. Each, including the one who called us "a
dinosaur," were surprised to learn we have a World Wide Web
site. (We weren't surprised, even though we've announced it by
mail, in sales and promotional literature, in house ads and on
the cover of this directory.)
The
point they seemed to miss: if they didn't know we're on, why should
others know they're on?
Currently,
the Internet Business Journal notes, domain names are being registered
at the rate of 25,000 a month. A lot of sites have hard-to-remember
names such as this one we saw advertised recently:
http://www.iiasa.ac.at/docs/Admin/INF/AR95/IIASA_AR95.html.
The
more your address is like www.[YOURNAME].com, the better.
All
of which is not to attempt to downgrade the value of the Internet
and its fastest-growing facet, the World Wide Web. As we said
at the beginning, we were early boosters.
It
is, rather, to suggest that those who will reap the most benefit
from the Internet are, those who keep it in perspective. As Mark
LaVigne says: "The Internet is another medium. It is a big
mistake to abandon previous avenues of communication."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * *
Effective
Media Relations
Nurturing
your relationships with reporters
Your
relationships with the journalists who cover your organization’s
issues are some of the most vital ones to your success. All too
often however, we only think of these relationships as something
to call upon when we need them. However, like any living thing,
our relationships with journalists need to be maintained over
time in order to be fruitful.
Journalists
turn to you for information if they know they can rely on you
for credible, accurate information, not self-serving advertorial.
By forwarding interesting news about research, developments and
ongoing trends in your industry - not necessarily directly about
your organization - that you pick up at conferences, events or
from colleagues, you can nurture a mutually beneficial relationship
with journalists that will reward you hundred-fold.
Take
the time to get to know the reporters you want to reach. Do a
search through their publications archives, now usually available
on the Internet. Read articles they have written that relate to
your organization. Each reporter has a different interests and
priorities. By tailoring your approach to a reporter, you can
greatly increase your chances of coverage.
The
basics always apply. All the relationship nurturing in the world
won’t benefit you if you fail to return journalists’
calls within the day, don’t provide clear, concise, relevant
story information, and don’t have additional graphic, video
and print materials.
With
proper care, the relationships you and your organization develop
with journalists can last a lifetime - and benefit all of you.
MediaInfo.ca
Phone: 416-964-1830
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