How to optimally communicate your capacities in online marketing

Capacities? Why should that be important in online marketing? As Online Marketing Agency in Munich I can explain it to you. Try to find a carpenter or plumber in Munich. Or a psychotherapist. Or to buy an electric Audi. In all cases, the next possible appointment is about six months away, sometimes much later. What does that mean for Content Strategy on your website?

Capacity as a building block of trust

Competence describes whether someone is capable of doing something. It is one of the six main building blocks for communicating your trustworthiness. Competence is made up of expertise, process knowledge, experience, passion and capacity. Of course, if you don’t have the capacity, you’re not in a position to do anything. What is the use of the most skilled installer if he is fully booked for the coming months?

Many companies work with bogus capacities. Agencies, for example, by stating their number of employees, let’s say there are 50, suggest that they can implement a lot quickly. But the number itself says almost nothing. If 45 of the 50 employees are permanently scheduled for the two largest customers, the current capacity is low. Especially since only the lowest qualified employees are available at short notice.

Therefore, it makes sense in many industries to talk about the real capacity the potential customer can expect on the website.

Exemplary implementations

If you went to a website last year to make an appointment with a doctor (to get a vaccination, for example), you may have been confronted with Doctolib. This is an ingenious tool from my point of view. Hereby the doctor has the possibility to manage his capacities, i.e. free appointments, directly online. Customers or, in the case of doctors, patients can see quite transparently which appointments are free and can immediately select and make an appointment. I much prefer this to having to wait for an appointment via waiting melodies and, understandably in this day and age, stressed-out medical assistants.

Similar tools exist for numerous industries, though not yet as widely used as for physicians.

Waiting times when buying a car also show what the car manufacturer is currently capable of. They are usually noted on the website, be it at the manufacturer or then at the dealer. Great for the manufacturer when demand is high. Frustrating for the buyer if he has to wait months for his new car. Even if it is understandable that a new car plant cannot be built just like that. Even Tesla has its difficulties in Grünheide.

Another example is the delivery times of delivery services. When I order from Flaschenpost, I expect delivery within 120 minutes. That is enormously impressive in itself. The other day it happened to me that directly during the order it was displayed that due to currently many orders the deadline unfortunately has to be extended to 180 minutes. Great. Of course, no problem if I know it right away. And it's a great achievement to have the current capacity communicated so directly.

Outlook

In times of advancing digitalization, the possibilities for displaying current capacity are limitless. Basically, every component, every product and the utilization of employees can be available in real time at any time. For many companies, this is still the music of the day after tomorrow. However, more and more of our B2B customers are already setting up impressive systems. Every incoming package and every product is labeled, scanned and digitally tracked to its storage location and later to production.

Time recording is an age-old technology, formerly with time cards, today on the computer. However, to further use this data to indicate capacities is still far away. The data is there, but it is not being used. All service providers, whether they are consultants or cleaning services, could communicate via their websites when how many employees are available for which services. Sooner or later, this will find its way into many areas.

For customers, such an ad is a great service. A chance for companies to acquire new customers. Many shy away from contacting because they instinctively assume that no one is available for them in the short term. But maybe a customer has just cancelled or a project has been postponed? The display of highly competent (!) experts available at short notice makes it easy for new customers to reach the phone or send an email.

Summary

Take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitization. Show your potential customers what capacities you can make available to them. You'll thank them with more inquiries - especially for gaps that arise at short notice.