If you’re frozen by all the confusion related to this new era and digital marketing buzz, you need to thaw and get going. There is no time like the present to begin the process. You’ve already waited too long. Your competitors may be taking your business already! You probably lost and existing or prospective client today…possibly both.
If your current marketing company, consultant, agency, specialist, or ___________(fill in the blank) has not adjusted strategies to utilize digital marketing, there may be no hope for them. It’s time to flush dead weight and get on with the program. Let’s face it; “the way we’ve ALWAYS done it” is just not effective anymore and will never be effective again in today’s digital, interactive world. Let go…turn loose…flush! Ah…feels better already, right?
But, beware of the traps. There are social media marketing traps popping up everywhere. While social media should be part of your marketing strategy, it is just that…a portion of the necessary steps to ensure maximum exposure for your brand and message. Some may profess you need nothing else. They would be wrong! The advent of facebook marketing companies, twitter specialists, and every other imaginable (or unimaginable) form of social media opportunist/consultant is evidence of confusion in the industry. We’re not saying not to hire these people, but don’t put all your eggs into any basket.
The number one comment we hear from prospective clients is, “We know we need to do something, we’re just not sure what.” We fully understand the confusion. There is plethora of “noise” in the industry right now and the social media buzz may be a big part of the confusion…it is certainly part of the noise. We’ve actually recommended to some clients to avoid facebook. “Really,” you ask? How on earth could that be? Depending upon your company’s products, services, and staff, facebook may be nothing more than a costly distraction. “Costly,” you ask? “I thought it was free!” Hmmm. Your time is more valuable than ever before. Avoid the waste. Twitter may be the most effective social media platform to date, but building an adequate following will take hours…possibly hundreds of hours…maybe thousands. Be sure you are doing what you need to do, to best market your brand and message.
The effort to determine the strategy best for you begins with assessing your company’s most effective interface to the world, your website. Were you thinking your telephone was still the most effective? My favorite analogy for a merchant not maximizing digital marketing (and website management) is like not answering the phone. The world is certainly calling and if your website is not up to speed, you’re missing the call and the business. Your forward thinking competitors are ready to intercept the call.
One of our clients was recently being pressed by a friend (a facebook marketing consultant) to direct his website traffic to his facebook page and to post ALL his messages there. What!? There could not be worse advice. He has a very active website constructed to capture “update” requests / subscriptions from his patrons. Capturing 2500 updates subscriptions would result in 2500 people getting the message (from his website) they requested to receive. Posting the same message on a facebook page with 2500 likes would result in the “unsolicited” message (most likely) appearing on 100 to 250 pages without knowing if it was actually seen by any of them. That is, unless you pay for facebook’s “promotion” or you message. Don’t hold your breath while that drives a return either. Not a bad idea to use facebook ( in most cases), but a terrible idea to miss the impact of developing and utilizing the proper tools, in the most efficient manor, for the most effective delivery.
Being found is the key. Being found when folks are searching for content relative to your message is the challenge. Continually creating original content on YOUR website is your best tool. Knowing how to recognize trending search terms relative to your message is a skill you must have, learn, or hire. Including those trending search terms in your website content is a must. If you can (afford to) hire an employee who possesses this skill and has knowledge of social media marketing, you’re ahead of the game. If you are not there yet, and do not personally have those skills, just be sure the company or person you hire has an understanding of the whole process, not just part of it. Or, if you decide to employee a team of experts, be sure you have all the positions covered with the best players.
Another trend that is negatively impacting the effectiveness of your website is the improper use of mobile websites. If your current website is not mobile ready, consider all the options before accepting an offer for FREE mobile website…or even one you must purchase. Rather than to rehash this topic here, CLICK HERE for a recent article we wrote on mobile websites, the good and the bad.
We certainly hope this and other articles we provide help you to be more aware of the emerging need for digital marketing and the pitfall that may lie before you. If you would like to speak to one of our representatives, leave your information on our contact form HERE.
Cheers,
The Zeus Team