Website Hangover
It’s a bit crazy to think that it was only 10-15 years ago that we all rushed out and got a website because everyone was doing it.
At the beginning of this digital gold rush we all knew we had to be on the Internet because everyone was going to be there. The problem was that most of us didn’t really have a strategy. The strategy started and ended with a website. Even then, the website strategy didn’t go much beyond what we did with a brochure.
When we created brochures the idea was to get all the information about our business on to one piece of paper. A series of pages in a booklet for those that really had a lot of information to say about their business became the solution. Those that were even more strategic than this, they created multiple brochures because they knew that it was too much information for 1 brochure and people would get bored with so much information. That was the world that we experienced.
Unfortunately, we took that same mindset to the Internet. We all rushed out and created websites to give information about our companies, divisions, etc. If our company was a bit more diversed then we purchased more than 1 domain name and had several sites. Each site was focused on its targeted audience(s) and was a better solution that just one huge site.
Now the our website was built came the real fun. Now what? Oh yea, we need to go out and promote it. We did not have Google yet, Yahoo was just an email provider and AOL and Eworld were still sending out discs. The direct mail industry loved the Internet. It was suppose to kill the “ink on paper” industry but it seems to put millions and millions of dollars onto print presses because these new technology companies had to do direct mail to promote their new online services. Unfortunately, we all followed their example and started back with all of our traditional marketing mediums of direct mail, trade shows, ads in industry periodicals, etc. but this time we included our new WWW. As prominent as we could make it, we put the web address all over our new advertising and marketing materials.
“Send them to our website” was the motto for most advertising and marketing strategies. But, why? What was our website going to do that we could not do with our brochures. I would rather have a personal conversation with my sales staff in a trade show both rather than sending them to a 2 dimensional website and the famous “hope & pray” method of lead generation. “I hope and pray that they click Contact Us or call us.” The few smart people started to track their visitor traffic patterns and responded to increase their overall experience on the site. Most of us, however, just wondered why the Cure All Pill of the Internet was working up to the promises.
Ok, enough of the reminiscing let’s fast-forward to the now. Unfortunately the website hangover is a long and painful experience. Our pain reliever is not yet working and we are still grasping our temples and trying to figure out “why did I do this?”
Its time that we all start to use the Internet for what is offers us rather than just projecting our “Old School” offline mentality to an online world.
Your website no longer needs to be an online brochure.
• Your web presence can be a strategic, interactive, multi-faceted lead generation and sales generating tool.
• You can quantify your visitor’s experiences so that you can continually make their experience better, more focused and therefore more valuable to your revenue line.
• You can use create targeted advertisements using sociographic information about your various targeted prospect groups.
• You can use your web presence to Pull prospects who are looking for your products while simultaneously utilizing Push strategies with prospects who should know that you exist.
• You can communicate personally with clients as well as give prospects a targeted, direct experience that makes them feel that you are the solution for their problems.
• You can have multiple Landing Pages that function as a sales rep in a trade show booth and it can even ask for the deal, give a definitive next step for the prospect to follow.
• You can speak directly with our clients and prospects routinely in a non-threatening manner to remind them that you are their solution.
It’s time for everyone to move to the next generation of websites and start thinking about your Web Presence.
You have to ask yourself, when did a brochure close a deal? Rarely. That is why your website can’t close a deal either.
Brandon Lee
A seasoned entrepreneur who has built and sold 3 companies, Brandon knows that sweet success is wrapped entirely in leads and sales.
COMMENTS