Why Your Website Should Be The Star Of Your Show
Let me preface this with the usual warning: Everyone is different as is every business and every ideal client. So I’m generalising big time here. But still, for businesses who have a website, then why not make the most of it.
Understanding the role that your website plays in your marketing will shape your strategy and give it focus.
Most of us business people have several marketing streams, including:
Social media;
Mailing lists (newsletter);
Networking;
Print Media;
Website;
Search engines;
PPC (Pay Per click - paid advertising)
But I want you to think about all of these and ask this question - which of these is yours and only yours? Which do you have the most control over? Well there are two - mailing lists and your website. Sure, they need platforms to work - whether that’s your website platform or a third party mailing supplier such as Mailchimp but otherwise you have total creative control and if that’s important to you, then your website should be the HUB of all your marketing efforts.
Here are some other VERY good reasons to be sending people back to your website at every marketing touch-point:
If your website is well designed, it will take someone through the whole sales process - from first enquiry to sale.
When you post on social media or meet you at a networking meeting, all people see is a snapshot of what you offer. But from landing pages to enquiry forms, from FAQ’s to buy it now buttons and calendars - all of the information that your audience needs to be able to book or buy is on your website - without any to-ing and fro-ing of emails with questions, setting dates etc. In today’s fast world, people like things to be easy and quick.
Your website allows you to capture people’s data so that if they aren’t ready to buy yet, you can nurture them with a newsletter or other free incentive.
You can also do this through social media groups but ultimately, that platform controls what you post and who sees it. By sending content to someone’s mailbox, you are deciding what they receive and there is only one person making that decision whether to see it and that’s the recipient. If they decide not to open their email, perhaps they’re not your ideal client - yet.
Your website allows you to cross promote your content.
By linking from blogs to social media and vice versa, from a relevant page to another, from another relevant site to yours, you can get more eyes on what you do and increase your following right across your marketing platform.
You can use tools such as search engines to promote your content.
The first thing that people do when searching for a provider is go to Google. It’s an iterative process - the more your website is viewed, the easier it is to find. And you can help it along with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and reviews.
Here’s an illustration of the process as a whole - not exhaustive but you should get the gist. By making a diagram like this for your own business with all the activities around your hub you should be able to create some amazing lead generating systems.
