Would you be surprised to learn that, on average, a person spends only 30 seconds on your home page? Discouraging? Maybe. But not if you turn your home page into a launching pad — one that drives visitors deeper into your site. If you accomplish that, then 30 seconds is more than enough time.

Keep it lively. This is NOT the place for a mission statement or, worse yet, CEO bios. Visitors just don’t care. If they want that information, they’ll look for it in the “About Us” section. On the home page, hit them with your main point in the very first sentence —  “here’s what we can do for you” — and pack that sentence with keywords. Support that claim with a few facts in the remaining paragraph. Then send them packing — to the exact landing page where their needs can be met.
•    Avoid animation. If you must use animation, make it brief. Never, ever open with animation that makes them sit and wait — because they won’t. A “skip this intro” button on the home page is simply an invitation for them to look elsewhere.
•    Use bullet points and bold phrases that address their needs and how you meet them. Provide contextual links within the bullets that drive them deeper into your site.

Keep it real. Use a conversational tone that engages them. Don’t use jargon or hype. Keep copy clean, useful and to the point  — give visitors the facts and let them draw their own conclusions. If you have testimonials — use them in a sidebar. Also be sure to provide a link to case studies or testimonials that grow your credibility and build trust. And make it easy for them to see where you’re located and how to contact you.

Keep it short. Visitors aren’t interested in scrolling a home page — so be certain everything essential is on one screen. If that’s just not possible, be certain your most important points are above the fold.

Keep them moving. Provide links — contextual and within the navigation bars — that drive them right where they want to go. Include a search function and site map. And don’t get “cute” with the names of links. Assume the person visiting your site doesn’t know the first thing about you or your business. Use phrases that make it painfully obvious where they’re headed.

Now, just be sure to change it up frequently. How long do you think someone would subscribe to TIME Magazine if the cover was the same every week?

Michelle Rothmeyer is the Senior Public Relations Specialist at TMA+Peritus: A Strategic Interaction Agency.

One degree of separation might be an interesting discussion in social settings, but 360 degrees of integration is the marketing discussion that matters most.

If it were me, and I had direct responsibility for overseeing a marketing department, working with an advertising or public relations agency, or even prepping for a future relationship with an agency, I’d ask for one thing — and you should, too.

Ask for a list of 150 off-line and online marketing ideas — 75 traditional ideas and 75 interactive and digital ideas. Accept nothing less.

Work with your team to flesh out the very best strategies; perhaps five of each. Then take the 10 concepts, drill them down, write a two-page brief on each one of them, and spring into action.

Integration is essential, but the love-fest we have with the Internet sometimes causes us to forget that you still need to drive online traffic with offline activities. Yes, I know that 2008 was the first year we spent as much time in front of a computer or handheld screen as we did a television screen, but guess what? I still receive catalogs, my mailbox is still full of junk, I subscribe to newspapers (this one) and magazines, I notice billboards, watch television and listen to the radio.

And here’s the kicker: I actually know other people who do this, too.

The point is, you need to look at all the possibilities. Even the largest e-commerce-only companies do massive amounts of public relations. And conversely, the largest manufacturing and service companies — who rely on traditional spend — have some of the most sophisticated and comprehensive Web presences.

At TMA+Peritus, we have three brand principles that guide us:

–Our point of view. We spend too much time and money trying to be understood, and not enough time understanding

–It’s not about breaking through, it’s about being invited in

–The more your customers interact, the more they’ll transact.

So, take your 10 terrific ideas and ask yourself if they meet these time-tested principles. If the green light still is on, go for it.

Integration, at least in the marketing world, is not complicated. It’s enjoyable, productive and profitable. Best of all, it flat-out works.

Tom Marks

What is Strategic Interaction and How Can It Drive Sales and Business Relationships?

Presented by Tom Marks and Dave Neelsen of TMA+Peritus
Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 11:30 a.m.
at the Edgewater Hotel, Madison

There are three fundamental principles to Strategic Interaction:

• Focus on Understanding – We spend so much time and money trying to be understood and not enough time understanding
• Engage your Audience – Don’t about breaking through; it’s about being invited in
• Foster Interaction – The more your customers and prospects interact, the more they’ll transact

In this session Tom and Dave will discuss the importance of these principles as he details the elements of Strategic Interaction and offers various strategies and tactics that can help you succeed in a down-turned economy.

Thomas Marks & Associates and Peritus Design (TMA+Peritus), a strategic interaction agency specializing in the interaction between businesses and customers through branding, public relations, print, web 2.0 and social media marketing, will be presenting recession-appropriate marketing strategies to the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in Madison. The presentation, “What is Strategic Interaction and How Can It Drive Sales and Business Relationships,” will be given by Tom Marks, President and Managing Partner of TMA+Peritus, and Dave Neelsen, Senior Business Strategist at TMA+Peritus.

“Despite the economy, we’ve had an upswing in the number of new clients,” notes Marks. “Businesses need to stay in front of their customers — no matter the economic climate —  and they’re looking to us to help them do so in a cost-effective manner. This presentation will focus on how businesses can better come to understand their customers and how they can use that understanding to interact with them to grow sales and prospects.”

IABC Madison is a network of business communication professionals, including public/community relations and public affairs, corporate communications, investor relations, advertising/marketing communications, and human resources personnel. IABC’s mission is to facilitate successful communications and to provide professionals with opportunities to learn from each other and experts in their field.

The presentation and luncheon will take place at the Edgewater Hotel in Madison on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. Interested parties can register via email at iabcmadison@verizon.net. The deadline for registration is Friday, June 19. Cost is $17 for IABC members, $23 friends and guests, $12 student members.

Public relations — it’s the darling return-on-investment marketing tool of the recession. Why? It’s measurable — you can track how many pick ups your press releases receive or how popular your blog is. You can interact with a wide variety of audiences on their terms — using language and platforms, like Facebook or email , they’re most comfortable with. And you can engage with people and get their thoughts and feedback — giving you direction that helps you grow your business.

The problem is most people think PR simply consists of press releases. Yes, this “push” tactic still has a valid place in PR, but press releases alone are simply a monologue. You need to start a PR conversation — engaging with your audience by integrating “push” and “pull” PR tactics. Here’s an example.

Push. It started with the client’s business goals — reaching C-level executives. A series of monthly press releases (sent to C-level-specific publications and news sources) were planned, starting with a release concerning the recent in-house personnel promotion that addressed clients’ recession concerns and how this newly promoted person would help address them.

The first release scored. An editor of an online publication asked if the newly promoted person would be interested in submitting an online article that — you guessed it — reached C-level execs. Pull.

That article led to a monthly online column — effectively pulling in readers who could link from the article to the client’s site. Does this happen with every release? No. But if you start with a business goal, carefully select your media outlets and address the concerns of your audience, you at least have a chance.

The “push” press release becomes part of a conversational PR web that allows audiences to “pull” in the information they want. The client’s press release morphs into an article, then a column, a Facebook posting, the inspiration for a blog, the impetus of an online survey, the basis for a white paper, the stimulus for a case study, the conversation piece of a webinar and the theme of a trade show presentation.

It’s all PR — the vital sharing of information — that your audiences can choose from, share and talk about using the platforms they’re most comfortable with. Choice empowers them. And when you give them voice through blogs, forums, online surveys or group pages, it helps empower you. A little push, a lot of pull and — heave ho — you’re engaging in conversations and sharing insights that can help grow your business and brand presence.

Michelle Rothmeyer is the Senior Public Relations Specialist at TMA+Peritus.