Who’s Talking?

Posted on February 2nd, 2011 by Larry Chase

I’m always amazed by wishy-washy Website copy that never makes it clear who is behind the copy on the page. I find myself fixated on trying to figure out who is talking and what their agenda is. This undermines the copy because I’m not focused on what, but rather, who.

The same is true for lots of solo email “from” fields. I have to look at the extended header or the email service bureau or some sub-domain to guess who is trying to convince me of what. Again, this sort of communique loses credibility because it isn’t up-front in what is normally a pretty transparent medium.

The Internet isn’t one medium, but rather a bundle of media that employs different modalities: Web pages, emails, blogs, RSS feeds, Twitter streams and so on. The variety will only increase in time, and there will be some confusion about who is talking in any one of these channels for some time to come. It can’t hurt to be more clear about who you are and your intentions. LC

The Internet Marketing Tip above originally appeared in Larry Chase's Web Digest For Marketers which you can subscribe to at no charge at www.wdfm.com.