The esteemed Jim Forbes writes a good essay on how notebook vendors should use their online presences to drive web sales. The punchline: get away from spec sheets and speeds-and-feeds and talk to the customer in terms they understand, telling them, if you want to do this, in this environment, then you want this model. Hit them with legal disclaimers, engin-nerding, and what I call “drag-net” marketing (“Just the facts, mam”) and you will stun them in the headlights of too many choices. Jim says Apple is best, followed by HP.
“In today’s fast-paced notebook market, the way to turn clicks into sales is to move away from static data sheet based web pages and jump with both feet into online displays that show how a portable can be put to work immediately, solving real world problems by providing a useful and highly targeted out-of-the box experience.”
