When asking “who visits your website?” the response typically falls in two categories:

1. Visitors are identified by their what – a C-level executive, VP of _________, Manager of such-and-such; or,
2. Visitors are identified by what they do on the site (how they arrived at the site, how many pages they visit, etc.)

Your poor site visitor! They probably thought they were more to you than a page view or a title.  And no wonder your website stinks – do you know how hard it is to write compelling copy for a title who visits 1.9 pages in 32.6 seconds?!

Don’t get me wrong.  I love the website whats.  You’d be hard pressed to find a bigger fan of Google Analytics at Canyon.

So I will ask again, do you know who your site visitors are?  Not who you want them to be; but who they are really.  Do a little digging, and I promise, sometimes the answers will surprise you.

If you’re in the majority of business-to-business marketers, you are likely in the early stages of moving from outbound marketing to inbound marketing.  And the reality is you may not know who your visitors are.  And without knowing the whos, how can you:

1. Know if you are reaching your target audience; or
2. Optimize your site for conversion?

But enough of my bad guy act.  The good news is discovering your website whos can be simple and quick thanks to Bizo – a business targeting platform of rich, anonymous business demographics of 85 million worldwide web users.

• Sign up to get your free Bizo Analyze site tags
• Put the Analyze tags on the pages of your site you want to track
• Within 24 hours, you’ll know the whos of your web audience- by industry, job function, company size, seniority and education.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOAPWBaavJM&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Soon you too can be wowing your peers with your audience insights and pretty charts.

And even more importantly, you will be empowered to think of your website visitors as more than just another title.

Understanding the business demographics of your web site visitors empowers crucial next steps in optimizing your site for conversion.  Our discussions will quickly migrate to:

• Personas
• User Stories
• Information Architecture
• Content Strategy
• Micro and macro conversion paths

And most importantly, you begin to make strides transforming your marketing (from outbound to inbound) and dramatically increasing marketing ROI.

Aren’t you glad to be speaking to your whos and no longer just the whats?

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Being the “old lady” amongst the Canyonites, I got a few odd glances when reviewing my headline. Sigh. Then I attempted to explain the adage about the Cobbler’s Children having no shoes which didn’t really help make me appear any younger – or more relevant.

Whether you know what a cobbler is  or even understand the reference, as a social marketer I am sure you’ve experienced times where you were not as connected or prolific as you ‘should be’. I am having one of those times. Canyon has been moving at an accelerated pace for all the right reasons – new clients, increased scopes, community engagement (BMA and Arizona Technology Council) –  yada, yada (now I am really giving away my age with a Seinfeld reference) – that we’ve neglected our blog.

So what is a digital marketer to do?

1. Name it and claim it. Do not hide under the covers. Use the communications tools at your disposal. Respond and engage with authenticity and transparency – as you would in any face-to-face interaction when inadvertently putting your foot in your mouth. Affirming concerns, admitting uncertainties and promising to follow are better than deafening social media silence!
2. Rebuild the relationship. It may be appropriate to start with an apology. Then refocus on the values that built the (social media) relationship in the first place.
3. Get back on the horse and back to basics. Pay due attention to quality and consistency to reassure the relationship continues and prospers.

It is comforting to know that we are not alone in our social media missteps. Kenneth Cole, the Red Cross and Southwest have all recently had some social media growing pains. Even savvy businesses and skilled b2b marketers -armed the best tools and social media playbooks- cannot 100% mitigate our collective humanity. And that’s ok.

The reality is that those embracing social media are going to make mistakes. And while it may be painful at times, the risk is worth the reward.

Since pleading mea culpa publically is our first step, I invite you to confess your social media gaffe –or call out someone else’s if you feel called. Come on…this is a community of peers, you are safe here. Besides, nobody can digitally hear you giggling (at our misstep).

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