 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
We specialize in helping printers and print buyers embrace new technologies, work efficiently, and effectively market themselves. We provide consulting, training, and seminar services to some of the most progressive printers and print buyers in the country. |
|
Web StrategiesYour website is your brand. Is it conveying the right message to customers and potential customers?
Smart Marketing and Your Company WebsiteIs your website a digital brochure? Is it directed inwardly to your business or outwardly to benefit your customers? Is it information-oriented to your company products and services or relationship-oriented directed to your customers? These are questions you should be asking yourself because your website should be generating business, not just sitting there like last year’s holiday card. Your website should be an integral part of your selling strategy, a “fifth” wheel on your selling team. Why, because it has reach, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. None of your sales staff is available on that basis so you should think of your website as the fifth wheel that pulls the other wheels along. The Webs growth in users is exponential, 19% per year worldwide. Television is in 99% of U.S. households, while the internet is only in 54% of U.S. households so you could do television ads, but the cost of production and time slots is astronomical and television really doesn’t target your market. Plus television is not interactive and a website can be. So how many of your customers and potential customers have internet access, both at work and home, probably 100% or they would not be creating digital files. The Web has marketing strengths no other media offers. The Web is interactive and users are proactive in using it. This feature has been over-hyped, but it is true. The user searches for your site and then decides what to look for when they are there and how much time they will spend on each page. The better and more compelling the website, the longer they will spend and the better chance you have of converting them from a potential customer to a paying customer. As a marketing strategy, the best part is with a Web or path analysis, you can track their activity and see exactly what is working on your website and what is not. No other form of media offers this analysis capability. The Web is targeted to market segments, your potential customers. By using specific keywords and meta tags built into your site, search engines can find your site for those customers. Once they are there, it is up to you to keep them there with interesting content and sell your competitive advantage. The cost of your website is small by comparison to other forms of media. You are already paying to have a website, now it is a matter of making it worth the visit. It’s all about me, not you. Think of a Web browser/potential customer as a two-year-old. Small children haven’t learned many social graces and want what they want, when they want it, and do not really care how that affects anyone else. Web browsers are similar. They have limited time and will only spend time on a site that provides interest and benefit to them. Therefore your site needs to be more than a digital brochure, it should provide interesting content, be a rewarding experience and develop an on-going dialog between you and the customer. Ideally you want them to bookmark your site as a favorite, because them more time they spend the more opportunity you have to convert them to a paying customer. Even if you have compelling content, if you do not establish two-way communication you might as well have a digital brochure and not expect to convert browsers to paying customers. You need to provide incentives to capture their email address and other contact information. Such incentives could be registration for an email newsletter, registration for premium content, registration for a “help desk,” registration for a contest, registration for a “deal” on their next printing job, registration for a call about their printing needs, or any number of other ways to establish a dialog. Registration implies follow-up so in one form or another. You must be prepared to follow up on the list you are building. From a sales standpoint, it’s much easier to follow up on an interested party as opposed to cold calling. The best place to start is a thorough review of your website from your customers prospective. How do they find it? Once there what will they find? Remember, it is all about me, so is there a reason that benefits me the customer to spend time there? A negative experience can do more harm than not having a website at all, so take a hard look. Funk & Associates can help you develop a successful, sales driving, website strategy and turn your site into a profit center. Contact us for a Web review and strategy session. To have Funk & Associates review
your Web strategy, |
|
© 2002 Funk & Associates |
|
 |
||
EXtensible Markup Language (XML) is taking the printing and publishing industry by storm! Publishers across the country and around the world are adopting XML workflows for all types of publications. Funk Associates is now offering customized training for XML workflows using Adobe InDesign! Call today for more information and to schedule training!
|
||
|