With the titanic rise of the Internet as the all dominant promotional platform it should now be easier than ever to instigate marketing strategies that deliver genuine results. The availability of Google AdWords, strategically positioned banner advertisements and carefully placed digital PR, presents the theory that virtually any company could be drowning in sales leads generated for a relative pittance.
Well, you can kiss that theory goodbye if you do not embrace and remember the time-honoured rules of pure marketing. As an agency, Impress manage hundreds of websites; it is a frustrating experience to study many sets of barren traffic statistics which highlight dismal visitor numbers.
After investing in the design and build of a site, most clients believe that the job is done, that Google will somehow jettison their site to the top of page one bringing hordes of eager visitors with wads of cash in hand. With the first ten years of the noughties coming to an end, it really is time for companies to get real; to think about the digital arena in a different light, to understand that Internet channels are just one facet of a wider promotional mix, and to realise that marketing is only about generating a memorable response.
As we hurtle towards 2011, I posit that we are entering a new era and I coin the phrase “the emotional age!!” The digital age has been and gone and we all know now that the technology finally bloody works and consumers are lapping it up. We are now binning the faceless and transactional nature of most websites in favour of interactive apps, personalised sales offers and content-rich blogs or sites which we actually choose to access. Social Media is, quite simply, exploding….
Even the very concept of the Search Engine is evolving. We can no longer be bothered to trawl through pages of irrelevant sites just to find a product or a piece of information. If site-owners do not have the wit or vision to put their sites in the faces of potential net-savvy customers, then they deserve their online invisibility. The tools are now so prevalent that there is simply no excuse…
Content is vital also. The sites with no traffic are invariably the sites that have nothing new to say. Stale news pages, out-of-date portfolios, last year’s prices and nothing for visitors to do. The online brand trip is no different to real-life experiences; love me and I will love you back; ignore me and I’m gone!
The word ‘love’ is the big one here and perhaps this is why Impress launched the ‘Love Your Site’ initiative to help clients keep their sites alive. Not a sales pitch, but just a statement of fact and massive thanks to www.racsgroup.com and www.thermaglaze.com who have both pressed the Love Your Site button. It’s no coincidence that both businesses are run by inspirational entrepreneurs who refuse to stand still, embrace our agency offering and put their money where their mouths are…
These are businesses that use the web to support a wider marketing strategy; both companies have dedicated sales teams, advertise heavily and offer their customers added value in the form of loyalty schemes, discounts and other incentives. These hard-earned initiatives build trust, develop relationships and ultimately generate new sales which are the whole point of marketing in the first place.
Back in the day we had Green Shield stamps, coupons in fag packets and even plastic submarines in cereal boxes to inspire an emotional connection with brands. Just because we now make most of our buying choices online, it doesn’t change the fact that emotion will always be the driving force behind every decision we ever make…