I was recently reviewing corporate FMCG / CPG websites and what a shock I got! These are organisations with the consumer in their name, so they should be consumer-centric, right? Well yes of course!
However, very few of them seem to have taken the consumer’s perspective when creating their websites and even fewer delighted me sufficiently to make me want to return to their website, at least any time soon!
From what I have seen so far, it appears that most organisations build their websites to share information with their customers. However it is the information THEY want to share, not the information their customers might want to have. So I thought about what would be important from a customer’s perspective. Here is my list, but please share your own ideas or additions:
The 7 things that MUST be on your website
- A clear structure that is intuitive – but still include a sitemap for those that need further help or are less logically minded
- Contact links or details on the home page, including telephone numbers, email, postal and street addresses and social media account links; it is why many of your customers will go to your website in the first place.
- A list of your products, br ands and services you offer, with details of ingredients, limits to usage, distribution or other details that might be of interest and relevance to your customers
- An About section showing the company details, including its management, geographical areas covered, mission statement, values, strategy and culture, as well as the latest news, both for investors and customers
- Valuable content from the customers perspective, which is regularly updated and has cross-browser compatibility with web-friendly images. Since videos are one of the most popular elements researched on the web, it is a good idea to include them, as well as your latest TVC and print advertising – people love to watch and comment on them.
- A FAQ section with most often asked questions, which should be constantly updated with new information as customers connect with queries
- Utilities such as search, sign-up, subscribe and RSS feed for them, tracking and statistical analysis for you
A good example for inspiration
One of the better ones I recently came across, and which is also a lot of fun to interact with, is the corporate site of Reckitt Benckiser. It really interested and engaged me for quite some time and in many different areas. For example, instead of the usual list of its br ands and their logos, it shows what it calls its Powerbr and line-up displayed on a retail shelf or in the rooms of a virtual home (I admit the supermarket bell irritated me somewhat but you can turn it off). You then click on the picture of the product to get more information on it, including its latest advertising. яндекс
This way of inviting interaction actually made me want to click on all the br ands to find out more about them. There are also interactive demonstrations of the corporate world, through games and challenges, that add further appeal not only to their consumers but also their employees, past, present or potential.
Take a look at their site – it’s linked to their name above – and then compare it to your own corporate website. Which would you like to spend time on? Is your site a corporate or customer-centric one?
If you have your own favorites of most customer-centric websites, then please share them below. If yours is less than perfect then share what you will be changing so that we can go back and check in the near future.
For more ideas on how to better connect with your customers: https://c3centricity.com/home/engage/
This post first appeared on C3Centricity Comments page on September 1st 2011
