Where your digital marketing is going wrong

“ It’s not working…I’ve got a brand new website and I’m getting bugger all enquiries.”

“WHY?”

The frustration in Shane’s voice was clear. As the owner of a bathroom renovation business he was looking to his new website to generate the enquiries that would take his business to the next level.

He sat down and over a ½ hour consult I systematically deconstructed his website. Showing him where it was going wrong and what needed to change (see end of article for the full-story).

As I said to Shane: it’s straight forward. “Your web designer created you a new website. However were you clear about what you wanted your website to do?”

It is simple – start with the fundamentals

In reality it’s quite simple – it all goes back to first principles of strategic marketing:

1. Why do you want a website?
   1. Is it because everyone else has one; your competitors have one?
   2. Is it just a staid on-line brochure twitched by the occasional e-newsletter?
   3. Do you want it to generate enquiries
      1. from new qualified, interested prospective clients?
      2. from your existing clients wanting to know about your other services?
   4. Do you want it to be a publishing platform building your on-line reputation; generating greater awareness of your expertise & services?
   5. Do you want it to sell products?

1. Who is it for?
   1. You; your staff; your competitors?
   2. Or maybe it’s for visitors who might be interested in what you have to say, or offer? Talking in their language, meeting their needs, their value drivers and designed with them and the outcomes you want in mind.

1. How is it going to work?

If you want enquiries, to sell products or to build your online position and awareness.

Simple questions, almost facile, but they underpin all good strategic thinking.

And the success of your digital marketing.

Yet it constantly surprises us how little thought business owners put into this.

It DOES matter

• Depending upon the research you read, 68% – 83% of buyers of services research the business on-line and visit their website before making contact with the business.   They are checking you out long before you know about it.

• 5 billion people are on Facebook every day.

• In Newcastle alone there are 560 Google searches each month for mechanics; 480 searches each month for accountants and 518 searches each month for kitchen renovations.

There are numerous other factoids but the key point is: the world is going digital – it’s time to catch up.

WHO TO PARTNER UP WITH?

Once you are clear on the purpose of your website then it simply is a matter of choosing who to work with.

The key selection criteria is results.

You will want to see evidence that the business you partner up with has done it before. That they know how to create or transform your website to achieve the outcomes you want.

1. That they fully research your business, your market, your clients, your competitors.
2. That they understand buyer personas and buyer journeys; customer value propositions.
3. That they use Analytics to measure how visitors are using your website.
4. That they test and optimise the site’s performance.
5. That they understand how design, navigation, copy and images all inter-play to make it a user friendly and successful site.
6. That they know the importance of good copywriting.
7. That they have created valuable, measurable results for their clients.

With these criteria met and clarity of purpose, your website can become a powerful business tool.

If you want any help in this area just call me, Alex, on 0459 320 999 and I will happily set up a ½ hr consultation in which we can review your digital marketing to make it more successful.

And if you want some evidence about the successes we’ve had in generating enquiries and more sales for our clients just look below:

[285% increase in new leads for a US mortgage broker on the same level of ad spend – they had to put on 10 new loan officers]

[47% increase in conversion of visitors to enquirers for a regional accountant business – they achieved a 137% return on investment in just 4 months]

[49% increase in sales for a health service business in Australia simply by re-designing & writing their website – all from the same level of visitors]

[from 0-23,000 visitors a month in just under 12 months for a health supplements business]