I make it a habit to tell every client that designing and building their web site is the easy part. Once their site launches, the hard work starts.
The look I typically get suggests they think I’m joking. I’m not…
Once that site launches, the marketing starts
Back in the day, just having a site was all you really needed. Today, not so much. You have to start telling everyone about your new site and all the shiny new products and services you’re offering. There are Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc… There are email and content marketing. There are all the various off-line marketing channels like radio, print and TV if your marketing budget allows as well. And we can’t ignore the big elephant in the room, Google. If you’re not on the first page of Google (at least the second) for your ideal keyword phrases, you’re all but invisible.
Like any asset your business has, if you don’t utilize your web site, it won’t create value for you. It takes money, time and expertise to utilize that asset.
Here is an example
Say your business is selling custom parts for cars. To help you make more elaborate parts quicker, you purchase a new CNC (milling) machine. That machine doesn’t make the parts by itself though. Your team has to learn how to program the machine. You need the material to make the parts. You need a designer to design the parts. A web site is no different; it is a tool that, used and promoted properly can do amazing things. Alternatively, if it just sits there, never getting promoted, never getting used, it will die a slow, expensive death.
Now what?
I said a dirty word above, did you catch it? That word is money.
You need a marketing budget, a number that you can afford to spend each month to market your business and drive traffic to your web site so you can convert your visitors to customers.
What that number is will be different for every business and to be honest, very difficult to determine without any historical data anyway. It also depends on the following:
- Who your target audience is
- What you’re trying to sell
- What you’re currently doing
- How long you’ve been in business
- How large your current customer base is
- How large your potential customer list is
What we suggest doing if a client is starting from scratch is to start small for 3-6 months and see what happens. If anybody tells you they can generate immediate results, they are lying. Even using PPC (pay-per-click) for search results doesn’t magically just work. Unless you have a large budget and marketing team and most importantly, an amazing product or service (think Uber), the chances of you getting immediate recognition and buzz just isn’t possible.
What is small? Small is something around $1,500 a month for us. That would include a mix of social media, email and content marketing. Our initial goals are to build brand recognition, educate your target audience about your business and grow your marketing reach. None of these things can happen over night.
Your Cheapest Employee
If it hasn’t hit you yet, your web site is the cheapest employee you’ll ever have. It works 24/7/365. It doesn’t need insurance. It doesn’t complain when you’re mad at it. It can reach the world regardless of where you’re located. It is always available to take customer orders and payments. It is the perfect employee.
With all that said though, you still need to nurture it and give it time and attention. That’s where we can help. If you need help marketing your business using social media, email and content marketing, please contact us.