Is anyone else secretly glad that the holidays are over? Yes, the holidays bring parties and family get-togethers and cards from people you care about...and don't you love the lengthy, typed-out annual family "record of events" holiday card? Twelve months of detail about Johnny and Susie, the family's many accomplishments, birthdays, real estate purchases and many other milestones of great importance - all marking the family's unfettered success. Done well - these letters offer interesting, informative glimpses into the lives of treasured friends and family. It is information you want and need. Done poorly - these letters are dreadful as they package the family into a product that is being sold and marketed as the "perfect, successful All-American family."
Since I am not the first person to mock the lengthy holiday missives, I want to be the first to draw a comparison between the "dreaded" holiday letter and your website. Maybe not YOUR website, but MANY websites alienate visitors because they are too self-centered. Too self-absorbed and "puffed-up."
When people visit a "self-centered" site, they leave it quickly and do not retain valuable information. Valuable information will be overlooked if it is embedded in a long-winded, one-sided "conversation." To understand what makes a website selfish and arrogant, try to recall your last conversation with a self-serving and arrogant individual. Can I safely assume that most of the words spoken included: I, me, my, myself and mine? A startling number of websites commit this same crime.
THE ARROGANT SELF-SERVING WEBSITE
The New Year is underway and for many medical service companies, their websites are another year older, another year out-of-date. Digital Strength is top of mind while the world-wide web continues to grow, becomes more expansive and to some - more of a mystery. Last week, a friend and Director of Creative Services for a large advertising agency, called the Internet "The Big Mystery." Her clients are terrified of it - and understandably so.
Medical service companies with a limited understanding of the role, purpose, expectations and usage associated with a website, adopt a "do no harm" mentality. With this timid and reactive approach, the website is created solely as a credibility-building tool missing major opportunities to help, inspire and re-assure. Self-serving online applications (such as patient registration) and generic content purchased from a third-party, like Band-Aids, are not permanent solutions. These options do not build your brand or customer loyalty. The website address is being used on every piece of collateral, advertisement and marketing as a "call to action." However, when people go to the website, it does not help, inspire or re-assure; therefore, it disappoints. It is self-serving rather than serving the needs of the visitor.
In the medical industry, trust is a key issue. Peoples' health, sometimes their lives, depend on shared knowledge and timely, relevant information. If the website is going to be the hub of that knowledge, then our focus needs to be on distributing that knowledge in the most effective way possible.
This means that the message cannot be "all about me." The information must be accessible to multiple audiences through channels, or the stages that correlate with their ability/desire to seek understand and accept the information. Websites have a mind, body and a spirit. Having a great body without a strong mind or spirit is the basis of many jokes. All joking aside, this newsletter is focused on "the mind" of your website. Building the strength of your website's mind refers to the idea that your interactive (website) strategy needs to clearly articulate tactics for each stage of acceptance in the buying cycle. If it does not, you will end up being successful in talking to yourself about yourself and nobody else will care what you are saying - no matter how "beautifully" you are portrayed.
TIME FOR CHANGE
James O. Prochaska (University of Rhode Island) and Carlo C. DiClemente (University of Houston) introduced the Behavioral Change Model into clinical psychology in 1982. Among a host of successful applications to industry, interestingly, this model has been the basis for developing effective interventions to promote healthier habits through behavioral change.
Applying the fundamentals of this model to business development, and more specifically to digital technologies such as websites, bestows a colossal amount of clarity. The "Stages of Change" describe how people modify a behavior or acquire a positive behavior.
The central organizing concept of the model focuses on the decision-making steps taken by the individual. The fundamentals as applied to your target audience are these:
- Your target is on a journey through the "Stages of Change"
- There are processes that influence change
- The stages are easily detected and assessed
An ideal website allows users to qualify themselves, as the site quickly and intuitively guides them into the appropriate region of the website. As the visitor moves through the "Stages of Change", they move from "unaware" to "advocate." Along the way, you help them advance through the stages by providing the appropriate tools and access to information that align with their needs.
For the web, these "stages" translate into "Phases of Engagement™". Let me be clear by stating that medical service websites need to be tools of inspiration and re-evaluation. Websites need to help the unaware, inspire the interested and reassure intent. Yet even today, as commonplace as they have become, most websites still make the mistake of talking primarily about themselves. The processes of change suggest that websites need to speak to people during each phase of the entire journey, based on their timing - not yours.
JDANTHONY'S PHASES OF ENGAGEMENT™
Typically, trust and advocacy take time to build. A person who is completely unaware of an organization goes through a series of stages before they reach true acceptance. Subsequently, a significant amount of work is involved in converting the unaware person into an advocate.
When someone comes to your website, he or she falls within roughly six different Phases of Engagement™. At one end of the spectrum, your visitor may be uninformed or completely unaware of your organization. At the opposite end is the "Advocate," which is a former or current client who becomes an activist for your brand, refers colleagues only to you and would not dream of taking their business elsewhere. In between, there are a host of intermediary steps.
Your target falls into one the following six Phases of Engagement™ when they come to your site:
When an unaware person visits your website, they are self-seeking. Their interests lie only in what you can do for them. They do not have interest in working with you yet. While unaware visitors are not ready to commit, an action-oriented visitor may want an option that allows them to begin a relationship with you on-the-spot. The point is this: your website needs to build on a strategy that supports the needs of both as it helps the unaware, inspires the interested and reassures intent.
To help the unaware, for instance, you want to provide fact-based, unbiased information. A press release, news story, referral, testimonial, and yes - newsletters work well for the uninformed. These tools help to raise their consciousness and provide a level of comfort through social influence (such as referrals).
BACK TO THE BASICS
A fifty-thousand foot view on the situation reveals exactly what the Internet is doing - the Internet is changing the behaviors of patients, practitioners, buyers and sellers. In its most raw form, a website should support behavioral change by helping the unaware, inspiring the interested and reassuring intent.
A website that focuses mainly on building credibility and self-serving applications ends up serving no one. If your website tells your story from your point of view at your assumed phase of their engagement - you are likely to be speaking to the wrong person about the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong place.
In the next issue of the Digital Strength Newsletter, we will examine the customer journey, clearly articulate the Phases of Engagement™ and the role your website can and should play in that journey. Until then, your feedback on this article is welcomed; please feel free to share your experiences, thoughts and insights.
Rick Cancelliere
Principal and Creative Director
JDAnthony Medical Marketing
rick@jdanthony.com
800.983.6792 USA
412.682.2522 International
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800.983.6792 
