ADVICE, TIPS & INSIGHTS
It's a fact - Traditional methods of marketing (TV, Radio, Newspaper, Magazine Ads, Trade Shows, Direct Mail, Etc) have become less and less effective. These "push" tactics are intrusions that people have become numb to or developed defense mechanisms for. There will always be a need for some "push" tactics in marketing but it is giving way to the new paradigm of "pull" marketing...
No website is an island! Left alone, a website is not much more than a little billboard on the information superhighway, so for it to be effective it's important that you weave it and other digital efforts frequently into your overall marketing activities. And like any marketing activity, the purpose should be to generate qualified leads...
I've been in the web business for over ten years and in that time I have seen way too many website design projects where money and resources were wasted because of over-engineered solutions that wouldn't provide the client or their audience much benefit. This is the dirty little secret most web design companies don't want you to know about. They're agencies and like any agency they want to bill you for their time and often for building solutions they wouldn’t even consider taking the risk building for themselves. In addition, if a fancy solution is proposed most agencies are likely trying things for the first time and billing you for the time it takes them to learn how to do it. Sure, it’s cool to have an intensive site and pour tons of money into design…if you aren’t into making money.
This is the third installment regarding posts that are inspired by the Art of Marketing Conference that I went to in Calgary on June 14th. This post explores how companies need to get back to the basics of customer service by showing genuine appreciation, because word of mouth is now "world of mouth"...