A/V Manufacturer websites - why are they getting worse and not better?

I will not proclaim myself in expert in marketing or website design, but I would like to make this post an open letter to anybody who is involved in website design for a company that makes hardware and/or software for the A/V industry. Overall, as an industry, you are failing me and those like me and it is getting worse not better.  There are notable exceptions and to those of you who are doing it well I thank you.

I will base the rest of this article on the following assertion:  in the Pro A/V industry, a large volume of products that are sold are driven by the dealer and/or consultant community.  In my experience, only a very small percentage of projects are driven by a manufacturer, and if so it is usually only a portion of the project.  So... who are the REAL customer's  the Pro A/V manufacturer websites should be focused on?  I think it is me and people similar to me that help gather requirements and design solutions to meet the needs of the customers that want great A/V solutions. 

Should a website help influence brand awareness, help "end customers" become better educated about the products you make, and drive home whatever marketing message you want associated with your brand?  Sure.  But it is my contention that for the most part this has become the exclusive focus of manufacturer websites, and they have forgotten about their other set of customers... those of use that are in the channel and are reselling or distributing the products.  I would also argue this is a critical mistake.

We all do business with other people.  We usually can choose these people and we tend to do more business with people we like.  This is not earth shattering news.  Why don't website designers understand that the same thing applies to their websites?  Do any of us want to go to a site that is cumbersome and difficult to navigate? 

As your customer, I will tell you what I want and I am pretty sure that I am not alone here.  Here is the list:

• A section of your site that allows for FAST and EASY product information gathering based on product type
• Product landing pages that give me a quick summary of the core capabilities (# and type of inputs/outputs, core feature set)
• Accessory information tied to your products (kits, power supplies, cards)
• A search tool that actually works
• Quick indication of product status (current, end of life, estimated availability if a new product)
• Specification sheets and user guides
• Dealer and MSRP price

These sound simple and yet so many sites get these things soooooo badly wrong.  I get that you may want to bundle up solutions by vertical market or applications for the end customer facing side of a site.  That is not how your dealers think.  If you make products, how about just simply arrange them by product type (Speaker>Speaker Type>Speaker Models). 

The main point I want to get across here is that most of the time I go to a manufacturer's site, I am looking for information about a product.  I may need to validate that it will meet a specification, or I am looking for a specific type of widget that will do an odd job, or I need to get a spec sheet for a product to submit with a proposal.  Sometimes this is a quick and painless process but the trend in websites is all style and no substance and this simple task of finding info about your product takes minutes instead of seconds.

A growing number of websites are beautifully crafted with pictures and backdrops and video and I can't find any real information.  Or, almost as bad I find info and I get such an overload I have to sift through this to get the one basic piece of info I need... it is great to list a table of every resolution you can possibly support - but could you provide a summary of the key info at the top?  Like how many inputs and outputs and what types?

Not all manufacturer's publish a list or suggested retail price, but most of you do.  Why is this information a secret?  Isn't this the point of a published price?  I cannot count the number of times that I had to search a product and leave a manufacturer's site just to locate the MSRP.  In particular those sites that have a dealer login, how about publishing it there next to the dealer price?  Could this possibly cause that much confusion?

I want to take a brief interlude to lavish a bit of praise on the website that has been my favorite for over 10 years running, and that is Extron Electronics.  A titan in our Pro A/V market that makes one of the most diverse product lines in the industry.  Their website is not flashy.  It does not bowl you over with video and content.  It gives you some quick highlights about what their site can do for you, but it is primarily built around their product offerings that are grouped in meaningful ways.  Once you get to products you can drill down through an image based section or through an expandable tree on the left that always remains.  Once you find the product you want, they summarize the core features and have tabs to let you drill down into specifics and another to get downloads such as spec sheets and user manuals.  They give you what accessories work for the part.  If you use their search box it is intelligent and start auto populating options that fit your description and it includes pictures.  This site is the gold standard and it helps you navigate thousands of products in seconds.  This site was made for people like me.  In this case they know who their customer's are.  Now if only we could get them to come back to InfoComm (that is a rant for another day).

I will wrap up my post about websites with this thought.  If you agree that the people driving your sales are your extended workforce consisting of re-sellers and consultants, why do you make your websites target to our customers and not us?  I will concede that some end customers drive standardization and specify certain manufacturers, but I would suggest that most of those customers didn't get to this by looking at a website.  They bought something from someone like me and had a great experience and want to ensure that they continue to have great experiences.  Arm your re-sellers with effective tools and we will be your champions.  Hobble us by making it difficult to find useful information quickly and easily, and we will be champions for your competition. 

- Brad Orme