Recently in the news was the announcement of the new Amazon “Brick and Mortar” bookstore in Seattle.  This strategy in itself is worth an entire blog post, but I’d like to focus on one interesting component of the new store… All the books are shelved facing outward with the covers showing.

Why would they do this?

It’s clearly not “efficient” in the terms of housing more titles for the customer to choose from.

Simply put: people DO judge books by their covers!

We judge almost everything we see by how it first appears to us. Does this book appeal to me? Is it what I’m looking for? Is it engaging and does it peak my interest to “read more”?  This all happens in just 2 seconds, according the The 60 Second Marketer.

This is as true for a book as it is for your company. What impression does your company’s “cover” give?  Is your website engaging? Does your business card stand out? Does your eblast inspire someone to “read more?”

Think about it… When you land on someone’s website, you’re instantly given an impression. If it has been designed well – it will be the impression the company wants you to have – from a small mom and pop shop to a large scale powerful enterprise. There is nothing worse than your customer being confused by poor messaging and design.  So, take a good look at your company’s “cover” and think – would I pick it up…and buy it?

Books are filled with wonderful content, but if the cover doesn’t captivate and draw readers in, it will stay on the shelf.

(Photo Credit: Amazon Press Photo)