Sometimes it's amazing how much I can take for granted that people understand websites. I don't mean that in a snobby way, and I truly believe that a lot of professionals fall into that trap...it's something you do every day, so it becomes second nature to you. It's a habit. It's part of your world. Looking up your company's AOV and conversion from the previous day always happens right after you pick up your Starbucks. Everyone does it, right?
Then you'll get questions from people that are fascinated by one of those things...those things that you glance at and pay no more mind to than the junk mail you flip through when you walk into your house in the evening. Those things that jerk you back into the "real world" and not just the online one that you work in daily.
I was presenting a marketing plan in regards to the website for my employer today. The company I work for is very good at what they do, but they're very old school, and the Internet isn't something they'd ever had to rely on previously. They've never had a person whose sole responsibility was web strategy, which makes it a very gratifying position to be in. It's new to everyone, so I can make the sandbox the way I want it...build some sandcastles in this corner, maybe a moat around certain parts, decorate it with shells...you get the idea.
And really, that high level stuff is the fun stuff. Focusing on that all day just intensifies that nasty habit of assuming everyone is on the same page as you. You assume you're all playing Monopoly, and suddenly the questions you're getting are way back in the realm of Connect Four.
Today, that question came from someone that said, "So are you saying you can measure how long someone stays on the site?"
It's such a simple question, but it taught me a lot in two seconds. Many people I interact with every day want to "understand more about the Internet" but they don't know what they should ask, and obviously I have no clue where to start.
But questions like that are an extremely good wake-up call. My hunch is there are MANY businesses out there that run a site because they know they're "supposed to" but they don't understand what it should be doing. (As is the case with my current employer.) They don't know how to portray their business, sell their widgets, let alone look at what's going on with their site to figure it out...because they don't understand the capability.
If I could teach that stuff full-time, I would. Running my own business doing something along those lines would make me a very happy marketer. Someday, perhaps.
For right now, I have to nod and reply, "You'd be amazed at the things we can measure." You've gotta start somewhere, and it's not always with building hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk.
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