How to give a site a personality and convert it into sales

Writing copy is one thing, but being able to connect with your audience and speak directly to them is another.  Very few sites write to an audience and not many of the ones who try really do an effective job.  Speaking in a language that directly relates to the shopper and using slang, breaking proper English or even using nursery rhymes are things that can do this, but many many marketing departments and legal teams will not allow the copywriters or marketing firms to do.  That is why some of the smaller or privately owned companies have better luck, can convert more sales and get more engagement with their audiences.  Here are some of the things to think about when creating a personality for your site and an example of a site with an awesome one.

Steps to building a personality:

1.  Make sure all of the copy has a consistent flow, tone and matches everything.  This includes product descriptions, titles, the blog or forums and anywhere else you have content.
2. Make sure the images and design match the personality and image you are giving the site.  Think about the shapes, products, people and fonts you use on them.
3. Don’t use a spokes person or you are stuck with them and their personality.  This is especially bad if you fire them or end up not liking them after a while.
4. Train your customer support on the personality and make sure they reflect it.  This should be with live chat, customer service, returns and shipping, etc…
5. Match your email templates, marketing messages and other channels like PPC, CSEs, Banners, etc…  to the personality so you have a consistent flow.
6.  Have fun with it and make sure you are happy with it.

Once you’ve given your site a personality, matched everything (including the shopping path, upsells, recommendations, etc…) to it, you are stuck with it if it starts to work.  Make sure you don’t end up changing your mind because when you build your customer base with this personality, they will be used to it and changing it could really hurt your sales, customer loyalty, and SEO if you need to change your copy and design.

Here is a site that developed an amazing personality and is a great example for you to look at.

Bachelorette.com

This site is amazing for targeting brides who are about to get married and people who are planning bachelorette parties.  The design of the homepage is fun and looks like a pin board that you use when planning events or are in college and ready to have fun.  The images and design are cut to look fun and playful.  They also help to keep you happy while you are looking through and at the site.  The colors are light and energetic to get you excited for the products you are going to find, and they feature a ton of popular items that almost everyone has seen before so you know you can find everything you’ll want or need.  The navigation of Bachelorette.com is also done extremely well.

Some SEOs will complain about no copy above the fold, a non clear and distinct layout, but in this case this doesn’t matter.  The navigation is broken up with images of the products you are going to find and they are clearly labeled.  The images are clearly targeted to the audience who is supposed to find this store and by looking at the images, you know exactly where to click because of the playful writing next to the main image.  Even though the fonts and images layout, colors and styles change, the shop now features remain consistent.  That consistency can help to guide people through the shopping process easily so even though the actual images don’t match on the home page, the sales funnel is awesome and continues to guide you through it.  The thing that stands out for me the most though is their descriptions.

Click through any of the sections and read them.  They are fun, playful and they cause you to think about how you and your friends would use them at your bachelorette party.  This is one of the things that I was talking about in my post about how to pre-sell products.  The descriptions and images match the playfulness of the site and can close the sales by themselves (without price reductions, retail vs. sale price being displayed, etc…), not to mention cause you to click on the recommended products which are easily matched because of the way everything is written.  The copy is perfect and can easily increase your AOV.  There are a few things I would change for SEO, sales funneling and to increase AOV, but this site is awesome and I love it.  I am also one of their Affiliates, but I don’t do much anymore with bachelorette things anymore.

You can join their Affiliate Program here.  (It is an awesome one that doesn’t allow adware or coupon poaching.  It is also managed by the owner Tom who kicks ass and is extremely attentive.  Please use my link since it is my Affiliate link for the program.)

Even if you don’t think the navigation is good, think about why the owner may have had it designed this way.  Look at the age of the site, the company and the traffic volume.  If it is old, established and grew from nothing, there is probably a reason and a ton of testing that went into the design.  You’ll also want to check archives.org to see how long the design has been in place.  If it has been a while, it is probably there because it works.  Feel free to share any other sites below that have a personality that you like and why.