click to see the full-size webpage:
$12,000,000,000.00 Waste Management Corporation, #196 on the Fortune 500 list, treats their leads like trash.
We’re so glad they’re getting into recycling.
I could spend several pages throwing rotten tomatoes at Waste Management’s warm and fuzzy “Look At Me Mommy, I’m Green Like Everyone Else” initiative above. Instead of ranting, let me give you the naked truth that Mommy Dearest never told you: “Honey, if you flash everything you got outside the front door, why will the sailors go inside when they’ve already seen it all?” Or in Australian, Never give it away for free, mate.
What’s the lesson here? Whatever you do, DO NOT FOLLOW THE BIG BOYS AND BIG GIRLS.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I think I see your point: The front page ad copy should be enticing enough to get the lead to sign up for an email newsletter without giving away the company’s operating techniques for free. That way, the lead is now open to a more detailed pitch with a value proposition for their money.
Tony,
You’re in the game: it does include copywriting (the words) … and getting a newsletter signup and offering the prospect value in exchange for their money…
… but the ballpark is a little different. Tony or anyone else who wants to guess (hint: think of the difference between Major League Baseball and “AA” and “AAA” professional baseball teams.
So you’re not specifically addressing Waste Management’s Upstream site or program, right?
They don’t seem to have a newsletter sign-up on the page, so it doesn’t seem to be about them per se.
Dry description of what they provide… not particularly enticing; kinda reads like it was written by scientists…
A Visitor would have to already want what they offer in advance, cuz they’re not “selling.”
Is that part of what you’re talking about?
(The web site itself is very functional in its Flash scripting, menus, etc.)
Ian,
You’re right on with each of your comments above in describing items that could use improvement… as was Tony with his comments above.
Even if Waste Management was doing everything fantastically here, why would they still be poor examples for you and me to follow?
With all due respect to Waste Management, there is a lot of room for improvement with this one page alone:
1. First, the copy is too small to read easily.
2. THEY DO NOT STATE THE VALUE PROPOSITION OF WHY ANYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT GOING GREEN. For the WM prospects that arrive at this page, the question “SO WHAT” is not answered by Waste Management. And worse, they only talk about themselves, not how they can help their prospects.
3. WM generally targets businesses with their services, and in this market, they have to emphasize and articulate the BUSINESS VALUE they provide to their customers by helping them GO GREEN. They must state how it will help their prospects INCREASE REVENUE, DECREASE EXPENSES and/or MINIMIZE BUSINESS RISK because of Waste Management’s services. None of which was explained on this page.
4. Lastly, IF YOU ARE GOING TO OFFER A WHITEPAPER, CAPTURE THE PROSPECT’S CONTACT INFORMATION AND GET THEM TO AT LEAST SINGLE-OPT-IN, but ideally double-opt-in by having them also subscribe to your newsletter.
If I were genuinely interested in Waste Management’s offerings, they would NEVER KNOW it because I just downloaded their Whitepaper (which actually has some good information inside) and they have no record of me doing so.
Companies spend thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars putting a website up to capture leads for the sales team. This is a perfect example of a company that not only can’t measure its Marketing ROI from this web page, but is wasting money and some pretty good thought leadership with NOTHING to show for it!!
Best regards,
Kevin A. McCann
Kevin A. McCann
President & CEO
Executive Strategy Group, LLC
Office: 603-319-1736
Cell: 603-498-7145
kmccann@executivestrategygroup.com
http://www.executivestrategygroup.com
“Value Defined, Value Delivered” ™
Kevin,
You hit all points bang-on!
They forgot that people listen to that radio station called WII-FM (what’s in it for me) –
and they’re just broadcasting static:
1. What money can I make or save by greening my company?
2. Why would I want to download your whitepaper when I’m overloaded already? What’s in it?
3. Why would I want to contact you after downloading it? (”we hope they’ll contact us”)
Thanks for your good comments, Kevin.
How long-realistically- does it take most customers clicking to your site- irregardless of how your website looks- before they decide to buy anything? i just start my online business and i am getting good traffic there but no business yet- i have revised and revised by website so far using different marketing tips and strategies ( and have since stopped before i go insane!) I’ve added bonuses and free trails to some of my products- i have a sign up/contact us page- yet can’t get the customer to even try something…..is it just the economy right now to blame or am i just that bad at having an online business already? How much do you realistically have to spend for advertisement and website construction to make it appealing- or is it just people in this economy, if they don’t already want your product ,they just don’t have the money right now to try any sale or promotional gimmick? does it mean in this bad economy you could have the best website out there and they are still picky and hesitant to shop-really I would like some insight into what’s going on out there?
Aloha Rev. Sara,
First, it never has anything to do with the “economy,” because there are always wealthy people with great storerooms of gold during the “down” times — including prospects for your services right now.
How long until they buy? It can be immediately, but remember that a ravenously hungry shark will circle its prey several times before going in for the razor-sharp, flesh-tearing chomp, your visitors need to do so before whipping out that credit card.
You’re spending time and money to get folks to visit you. But what’s happening is they’re scanning and scooting. Now you need a way to bring them back without continuing to spend a mountain of money.
Here are my quick suggestions to keep the sharks circling and eventually get them to go in for the kill:
Mahalo and Namaste,
Bill (a Hawaii boy)
I have been on the WM website for a totally different reason and you hit the nails (plural) right on the head about their lack of “come back and see how we can help YOU’ approach.
Likewise my blog does not put enough emphasis on this although I provide a great deal of information and resources.Like they say: “bookmarked and forgotten.”.With a ton of free products that I could give away to entice people to not just read but sign up so that my auto responder can encourage them to come back and get more no-cost items and eventually buy something they really need or join me in one of my other ventures on my web site.,I have failed to use the obvious solution to get return visitors.
Rev.Sarah;the other ‘bill’ gave you the solution to some of your and my woes.Let us take action.
But first let’s get more info from Kevin.
I worked at the advertising agency that had the WM account over 25 years ago (but I did not work on the account). The big deal then was their new tagline “A man is what a man does”.
They basically just showed garbage collectors (refuse engineers) doing their job and tried to glorify the work ethic of getting up before dawn to do a dirty job. They did not have a real message then either, so nothing has changes in all these years.
It was called “image advertising” at that time, but there never was a way to measure ROI for the ad bucks spent then or now.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
In the comment above, you just heard from your fellow Ripper Marketing reader (”Create Your First Website”) who actually worked at the ad agency that had the Waste Management account:
they couldn’t measure the return on investment for their client. In short, they had to treat their clients’ money like trash, too.
really appreciate YOU — thanks a lot!