Description: Conduit toolbar platform is geared for client engagement. It is a contemporary marketing tool for tech savvy marketing departments.

So, you have a brand spanking new website. Your site has that minimalist and sleek design that has become so popular over the past couple of years and your SEO specialist has optimized your crisp and well-written content to organic perfection. Targeted traffic is coming in from all over the world. These users are the very ones that hold the potential of being converted to paying clients.

The question now is how to keep them happy enough to hang around for a while and see what you have to offer. Aesthetic appeal and captivating content are simply not enough to hold the attention of a generation that is immersed in technology. Contemporary consumers have greater demands than what your gorgeous new-fangled site can offer. Although they probably spare a thought along the lines of “Oh, what a lovely site,” or “Interesting, I may come back to that,” your potential clients need more than fleeting moments of being impressed to whip out their credit cards and line your pockets. They need to be engaged to be converted into actual, paying clients. In a market flooded with equally fantastic websites offering the same products at the same or cheaper prices, marketing strategies have changed drastically. American marketing author, Phillip Kotler said: “Over the past 60 years, marketing has moved from being product-centric (Marketing 1.0) to being consumer-centric (Marketing 2.0).”conduit

Moving Away From the Product and Towards the Consumer

We have established that, instead of striving for a greater product range or cheaper prices, the focus is now entirely on the consumer. Online marketing methodology has adapted to suit this shift and consumer engagement is now the buzzphrase. Thanks to technology moving forward at lightning speed, more up to date marketing methods and technological advances geared to achieving consumer focused engagement have become available. From social media sharing tools like Twitter and Facebook, to loyalty schemes and cross-device sharing mechanisms, technology certainly is developing in leaps and bounds to accommodate the market. Toolbar platforms are one of these new technological marvels that are making waves in the marketing world; professionals in the field have fast realized the benefits of this rising trend and are jumping on the bandwagon. I experimented with one of the available toolbar platforms (the Conduit platform) with marketing in mind and made some interesting discoveries.

100% Geared Towards Engagement

The first obvious benefit of using a toolbar platform is the fact that it is a highly customizable piece of kit delivered complete with a control panel. A lot can be achieved with basic usage, and powerful APIs allow further customization by developers. There are no issues with scalability and the Conduit toolbar holds TRUSTe certification that pledges security and privacy. Once installed, the toolbar becomes an integrated part of the browser, useful and enjoyable to the user without the frustration of it slowing down normal browser functionality – something that often comes hand-in-hand with installing third-party applications. A slight annoyance I experienced was that by installing the Conduit toolbar, my homepage changed. This can, however, be prevented at the time of installation or changed easily afterwards. For those that are not tech savvy at all, simple step-by-step, browser specific instructions are available from a range of online sources.

Behind the Scenes

Superior analytical tools and reporting functionality is a must-have when looking at a toolbar platform from a marketing perspective. Although the Conduit toolbar appears to have a sophisticated control panel, it does not appear to update automatically—so it is possible that enhancements will be lost unless the user takes the initiative to go and find out if anything is available.

The control panel of the Conduit toolbar platform makes it possible to distribute and customize the toolbar with relative ease. From this area, it is possible to send notifications to end users. There is also an App Marketplace to explore further marketing possibilities.

The role that analytics plays in online engagement is considerable and analytics and reporting features have a lot of marketing potential with shrewd application. The Conduit toolbar links with Google analytics for greater diagnostic capabilities. The digital metrics provided by Conduit and Google are translated into usable data through accurate and concise reporting. A nifty function allows clients to receive scheduled reports in their email inbox. Accurate and clearly presented information allows marketing teams to strategize more effectively for future campaigns and to make necessary changes for improvement, with engagement as objective.

In Your Face, But in a Nice Way

Marketing and advertising strategists worldwide agree that familiarity is an excellent ingredient for effective marketing. However, this familiarity has to be achieved without being ‘in your face’ in an annoying way; there is a reason why browsers come equipped with pop-up blockers. Consumers are inclined to be receptive to a more inconspicuous approach and relate greatly to familiarity. With toolbar platforms, familiarity is not only created through brand awareness, but also through the brand awareness of other incorporated products. This leads the average consumer to a digital comfort zone, so to speak. When engagement is a pleasurable and useful experience, confidence is instantly instilled. A positive experience online will result in brand trust, returning traffic and ultimately, increased revenue.