Every Customer is a Beagle in search of a Scent

When a beagle finds a scent, he will follow it until he finds what he’s looking for. If he happens to lose the scent along the way, he will return to where he first found it and start his search again. People do the same thing when searching for information on your website. They will expect to see continuity and relevance from page to page; otherwise, they will lose the scent and begin their search again on a competitor’s website.
 
Jared Spool conducted a study and found that when people didn’t see the same trigger words on the landing page that they saw on the banner ad they first clicked on, the success rate would drop from 72% down to 6%. They lost the scent trail.
 
So how do you create a scent? First, you need to connect each click-through experience. You can create a scent through trigger words, graphics, colors or any other means that provides continuity. Tie-in images and words throughout the click process, from the banner ad to the landing page or from the keyword search to the landing page. You need to verbally and visually connect each experience.
 
Next, provide continued relevance. Scent helps people “stick” better. Without scent your visitors will tend to disappear.
 
Lastly, ask yourself what other questions your visitors might have. Think of the other possible scent trails they might be in search of. What was their motivation for visiting your site?
 
Bryan Eisenberg, a friend of mine and a great influencer in my life, said in an interview:
 
“The purpose of every link is to move users forward. Each link needs to give off just enough “scent” to clue the user into the content to follow. That scent comes from trigger words.”
 
Remember, scent directly affects your website’s conversion rate. So does your website have a scent from beginning to end?

Morty Silber, CEO

Mad Strategies Inc.
a Wizard of Ads Partner

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