Digital stuff: keeping it simple

Recently I got really excited about some cool digital stuff I'd seen at a conference and alluded to some interesting projects we were working on.

Well, we're live with those projects as we speak.

One of them we've worked on is has been with the wonderful folks at WWF-Canada.

We're using a mixture of paid online search and email marketing to individuals who have some (non-financial) relationship with WWF.

If you visit the micro site here, you'll see we present people with two simple options - fill in a short survey or make a monthly gift (in fact for the 'tepid' people we're contacting they are presented with just one option, fill in a survey).

We're less than two weeks, and whilst I can't right now share results, what I will share is what is working really well, and a few key reasons why.

What's working is the survey.

Why?

- The call to action throughout all of the media is very, very clear. Share your view with WWF, tell us what you think about environmental issues.

- It's simple. It takes less than 3 minutes to complete. The questions are easy to understand, and even easier to fill in. No barriers.

- There are no distractions. Remember the Ikea theory I talked about? In other words, keeping the website focused, keep people in one spot. Don't make it easy to get out. Much like a visit to Ikea.

- The language throughout is warm, endearing and inviting. People feel like they want to share.

- The site is clean. Easy on the eyes.

- We're asking people to do something really easy. Something small. And we've provided an incentive to do so.

The key overall is signing up new monthly donors. You'll notice we do have the option to sign up immediately on the site, but we know this is a tough sell. So we're in the main focused on survey completion.

Then it's all about the conversion process (phone and email) afterwards. Watch this space for more on that later.

Just remember, simplicity works. The mechanics and the back end may be complicated, but the key to getting people to 'do something', regardless of the channel, is make it so bloody easy they can't help but do what you're asking them to do.

Jonathon