Rhythm and Lead: The Music of a Website
If your website was a song, could your customers sing along?
So I know it’s been a while since I wrote here. But I have a reason… two of them.
Firstly because I’m working on launching PsychEval, and secondly because I got the role to head up the ecommerce department at TLE Records and Maker’s Faire (Tender Loving Empire).
All is exciting stuff.
But first off… what is PsychEval?
PsychEval is, well, a psychological evaluations for businesses. It is legitimately the most interesting framework to help brands rethink their brand and marketing… imho
It is almost ready, and I will update you on that shortly…
As for TLE, I got back into managing a website and applying all the fun psych stuff to. And that has focused my attention on websites, what makes them work, and what hurts their performance.
So I want to share my thoughts on that, and how we can conceptualize websites… and since I am working at a record label, music is on my brain.
Hopefully it strikes a chord!
All Lead but No Rhythm…
In January this year, I was reviewing 2 websites. Both companies were fairly large in terms of revenue (8-figures), but new to ecommerce, or better put, new to driving growth via the website. They have sales were coming in from other ways.
One of these websites was for a manufacturer who produces small batches of cosmetics for startup brands. They wrote a very innovative plan to grow this year, and their website is key to it.
But it sucked.
Not my words. Those were from someone in the company. At first I thought they were being too hard on themselves. It wasn’t that bad as I went through it for a few minutes. There was a lot of information, and it wasn’t organized well. But not unfixable.
It has potential.
The other was for a DTC brand whose website looked fantastic. It had a custom theme, and branding was on point. Great images and product photos. It was impressive at first glance.
But it also sucked.
Not because it looked bad. It is way better than most DTC websites. It sucked because it underperformed. Visitors were not buying. Visitors were not staying around very long. The conversion rate was low low. It was surprising actually.
And then it stuck me… these websites were all lead and no rhythm.
If they were songs, they’d be playing all the notes, of the whole song, all at the same time, and all at the same volume. It’s mentally loud.
As a listener, it would be up to you to figure out which notes should be listened to first and second and so on… which is not how we listen to songs…
…or how we shop online.
The Lead
When I was younger, I was destined to become Slash. Not the part of Slash that (allegedly) received a blood transfusion because his heart was pumping more Mr. Brownstone than blood, but part of Slash that is the lead guitarist.
I wanted to play the lead. Shred guitar solos at Wembley. I liked the wow factor and how it accentuates a song. And how there are infinite ways you can play lead on a single song. Fretboard is your oyster (or something like that).
It can always be different, and always interesting.
But lead guitar is layered on top of song. On top of the rhythm. There is only one song ever written that is only lead guitar. Eruption by Eddie Van Halen. And guess what? No one plays it on repeat.
No one can tap their foot to it.
No one can sing along.
If you only have the lead, you get bored.
Van Halen’s most memorable song is not Eruption, but rather Jump… the one that starts with the synth laying down the catchy rhythm.
The one that you can tap your foot to.
The one that you can sing JUMP to.
In business, the lead is the branding. It is layered on top of the rhythm that is the core of the business and customer experience.
The Rhythm
The rhythm is what actually leads the listener through a song. It establishes a cadence and walks you through each part of the song.
In the case of Van Helen’s Jump, you can probably remember the tune right now… Might as well jump, JUMP, go ahead and jump. But I bet you a hundred bucks you can’t remember how the guitar solo sounds.
Without the rhythm, there is no song.
In business, the rhythm is your business and customer experiences.
Make it Sing…
I like this analogy because it can be applied to further to your marketing and your business growth.
Ecommerce is dynamic. Websites, promos, ads, etc… the whole lot is constantly changing and evolving. It is easy to fall behind and get stuck playing catch-up.
It is easy to chase down sales and holidays and random promos to a revenue boost at the end of the month.
But if you have a rhythm, you stay on beat. You stay in tune. Your customer pick up on that tune. And the peasants rejoice…
Rhythm is not something that you find naturally. Just like any good song, it is written, it is engineered. It’s not by accident, but determined.
Rhythm is strategy in action.
Websites are often constructed by plugging in “copy” into content blocks with accompanying photos, branded with a logo, font, and color scheme, and then uploading product pages.
That is how Shopify (and other website builders) lead merchants to think. Which is not helpful. It sets us up for failure by making it all seem so frickin’ easy. As if business has always been plug-n-play.
What I see from the website that out-perform their competitors is that the rhythm was created first and implemented on their website afterwards.
Then they get to lay the lead on top… like Slash in November Rain.
I have used Rhythm-Lead method, and it works because it is not a templated, or step-by-step process anyone can copy. It works because every brand has their own tune, and that specific tune is what attracts their customers.
So go listen to your favorite rock anthem from the 80’s or 90’s. It is good for the soul. And it might help you think of the rhythm your website and brand is looking for.
Alrighty, until next time…
Rock on!
Stay tuned for PsychEval, and share this article with a friend! If you want to be a beta tester for the Brand Personality test of the PsychEval, reply to this email.