It is inevitable that I end up explaining the evolution of the web several times a week. Whether with clients, prospects, peers, family or friends, the web and social media have hit a point of intersection where advertisers and consumers are now in the same dialog. Even Googling and facebooking are terms my seven year old uses regularly.

In times past, the “mother-in-law test” as I called it (no offense, Grandma C.), was a litmus test to determine how simple an idea was. I would just ask, “Would your mother-in-law get that idea?” If the answer was “No.”, then the concept was either bad or overcomplicated. Well, here is my “mother-in-law test” for the state of marketing on the web today, so tell me if I have passed my own test.

Websites have evolved from a brochure, to a book, and now to a magazine.

The brochure was early on. Just get your company brochure online so that you could say that you have a Website and be sure to have the phone number and directions to the office on there. Not much. Not meant to be read. And if so, maybe once and never again. “They will call us if they really need us,” was voiced by sales staff in marketing meetings.

Then came the book. For someone willing to engage, they could stare at the flash intro and read the animated text if they were into that sort of thing. But if they did judge the book by the cover, they hit the site and bounced because you wanted them to read cover to cover and they wanted the cliff notes. The book offered no user control, and honestly, most were really bad stories wrapped in a bright, glossy cover.

Today is all about content. Relevant content to a targeted audience. And content that changes frequently. So we have gone full circle and come all the way back around to our ink and paper heritage. Magazines are about great imagery and content, engaging stories, and current trends published regularly. We love magazines because we can consume as much or as little as we want. Whenever we want. And however we want. We can read the back first, skim the pictures, or do the crossword puzzles. Magazines are content-rich, engaging and stick around for a while. We may even pick the same one up over and over and always find something new. And only the best earn that primo spot on the coffee table when our guests come over. Oh yeah, the coffee table is social media and those yellow sticky notes are your social bookmarks.

So I ask, “Would your mother-in-law understand why your Website needs to be a magazine?”

8 Responses to “Is your website a brochure in the trash, a book on a shelf, or a magazine on the coffee table?”