Canadian Music Trade - October/November 201 | Page 62

BUSINESS MATTERS
Creating
Better
Web Content
BY MICHAEL RAINE
he purpose of an MI store’s website is pretty
straightforward, right? You give visitors the standard
information – address, contact info, brands carried,
new arrivals, lesson registration, etc. – and maybe
spruce it up with some fun photos and a few drop-
down menus to navigate the site and, voila! Job done.
Not quite, says Will Mason, owner of the four Mason Music
locations in Alabama, who, along with his colleague Nicole Patton,
presented the “Practical Tips for Better Website Content” Idea Center
session at this year’s Summer NAMM.
“I think one of the big [misconceptions] is that the purpose of
the website is to only inform the visitor – like give the information
– and they’re missing the opportunity to actually create some sort
of meaningful connection,” says Mason. “It sounds touchy feely, but
relationship and emotion play a big role in creating customers who
don’t just shop for the lowest price, but who are looking for a brand
that they can trust and a company that they might want to do
business with again in the future versus just looking for, ‘What’s the
bottom dollar place for me to get this?’”
Compared to in-person encounters, it’s difficult to foster
meaningful connections with customers through a website, Mason
concedes, but it can be done if you have the right content and
execution. What is needed is content people want more of, that will
have them coming back looking for more and not just visiting the
site to find out what time the store opens on Sundays.
Of course, the website must work in conjunction with social
media, where the former is the “hub,” as Mason puts it, which hosts
the content, and social media is the distributer of that content.
“We’re trying to guide people to that website,” Mason says,
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before referencing social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk’s book
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. “The idea is just that, especially with social
media, you’re not always selling. You’re giving content and creating
value for your visitors and then when you do come across with
that right hook – when you are selling something – they’re already
engaged with your content and they’re already interested in what
you’re doing and they like you and they’re more likely to want to
buy whatever it is.”
The way this works with regards to website content is that
the blog, for instance, is a resource of practical and useful content
that you give to visitors. It provides content on a regular basis that
is informative, entertaining, and/or useful. Importantly, this content
does not serve as a direct sales pitch; it is there to be helpful and
foster a sense of community.
“For us, the jabs are showing stories of our students who are
learning how to play instruments, or maybe giving away content
on a blog post like, ‘Six Tips for Beginner Guitar Players’ or ‘How to
Tune Your Guitar,’” says Mason. “So those are jabs that we can put
out on social media and, again, they’re bringing people and they’re
driving traffic to the website where then the website is designed to
get people to engage with as much content as possible so that if
they come across a blog post like that, then I know for a fact we’re
having a songwriting clinic in December that is a product that
somebody can buy. So there will be links to register for that class on
that blog post. You’re giving something for free. You’re not requiring
any sort of payment or email address or anything like that, and the
people who really appreciate the value of that content are going
to be more likely to say, ‘Hey, I want more and I realize the value of
what they’re giving so I’ll gladly pay a couple hundred bucks to go