I’m a huge advocate for a well-optimized website, but y’all….the most perfect website alone is not going to help you make meaningful connections.
It’s unhealthy for marketers to obsess over their websites and not engage with their audience through other digital channels. (ahem, social media…not anti-social media…)
A solid website alone is not going to get you the success you’re capable of reaching.
If you are hiding behind your website, or dealing with marketing perfectionism, this post is for you.
You need to engage with your audience beyond your website. This can include leveraging the power of email marketing, online advertising and creating on-brand, on-purpose content on your blog social media.
You can’t grow your business if you’re not willing to branch out (it IS called the WEB for a reason!), so with that in mind, here are a few pointers to get you seen and heard:
Start With a Digital Marketing Audit
A marketing audit gives you a clear idea of the digital channels you already have, what needs to be fixed, where you could branch out to, and even which accounts or types of content to get rid of. A digital marketing audit isn’t an exercise in negative self-criticism, though. Instead, it’s an opportunity to find new ways to optimize your content strategy and start more conversations.
Evaluate Where To Start
Don’t be a hoarder when it comes to web marketing. You may have accounts for Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Tumblr, YouTube, LinkedIn, and numerous others, but put your time and energy into the ones that really count. There’s no point in branching out if you’re doing it in a place where your target audience isn’t hanging out. Once you’ve identified the appropriate channels for starting conversations, clear out the rest and move on.
Lean on Others, But Know How to Function Solo
I am all about “do what you do best, have others do the rest” but it’s scary when I have clients who have no idea how to log into their various accounts because their username and password lived with an intern, a past vendor or old employee. While everyone could do with a little help from time to time, have the keys to your website and know your usernames and passwords for web and social media. Understand how your newsletter software functions. It’s wonderful when you can have multiple people supporting you. Just don’t fall into the vulnerable position of being useless when they’re not around.
Spend Your Time Wisely
Digital marketing takes a lot of time and patience, and those resources are best spent on projects you know are going to pay off — either literally or in the form of more audience engagement, better metrics, or even more fulfillment around what you do. Be wary of projects that require mountains of work but have no obvious point. Website redesigns are a classic example. I have seen clients pour weeks of their life into redoing a website that didn’t need an update in the first place. I loooooove a new website, but only if there is a need. Time is money…invest, don’t loosely spend…
Especially for those newer to digital marketing, this branching out can seem intimidating at first. But as with most things in marketing, the more you do it, the more comfortable you become with using your entire digital toolbox and starting conversations with your audience they will actually remember. Start small and you’ll be amazed at how quickly your strategy grows over time.
