Web strategy and prospecting for gold
I always think about the “gold rush” when I think of web marketing and client expectations.
As soon as the word is out that gold is being made there is a big rush, despite the fact that the main bulk of the gold has already been taken… it doesn’t stop that rush of anticipation.
And so, expectations of return from web marketing also tend to be equally unrealistic. Why? Because most of the big profits are made at the beginning when there is little competition and lots of opportunity.
But they did it…
The initial gold rush is what gets the press attention, showing what is possible, setting the average Joe’s expectation to an opportunity that has already passed.
Google Adwords is becoming saturated, E-Mail marketing doesn’t deliver the results it used to. Unfortunately, this is what people are looking to for their web marketing now but not getting the expected results.
Try a Different Commodity
Some online marketing and advertising, such as pay-per-click, is very tangible: You paid ‘X’ and you got ‘Y’.
But, the measurement is usually focussed on the wrong thing - mainly visitors, rather than an actual tangible result, ie. sales leads. Costs are becoming higher and higher - the gold is getting scarcer.
My belief is that there is one clear-cut way of creating long-term, sustainable web traffic that adds value to your business… and that, is quality content.
- Content-rich sales pages with customer benefits
- White papers, articles, industry commentary
- News and views, regularly updated
- Useful, relevant tools (budget permitting)
It won’t deliver immediate traffic, but, if you continue to build it, they will come… and natural listings of your quality content, after the initial investment, is free.
Comment by Garri January 14, 2008 @ 6:45 pm
Spot on Craig! (as per usual!)
Your assessment has made me reflect on my own web project which is going according to plan. Apart from building something worthwhile, one of the great things about actually ‘doing it’ has been the amount of statistical data I’ve collected since it started in September 2005.
I always envisioned that the information gleaned from the stats is where the real gold lies because it now allows me to identify a few ideas, in certain niches, worth exploring with possible domination going forward.
The challenge for me is how to implement those ideas quickly and simply, and with my main website firmly established and fairly mature, that should be easier than it was in September 2005!
Well, in theory anyway. Time to get to work!
Comment by Craig Killick January 14, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
The other value being that you have over two years of quality (trusted( content, attracting traffic and links… and plaudits as well.
Like you say, the key now is to monetise it.
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Comment by zowoco April 22, 2008 @ 9:56 am
Craig, I couldn’t agree more! PPC is all visitors orientated but what is the good of visitors if they don’t 1. stay focussed, 2. opt-in, 3. buy!
Crazy ppc prices and all you get is resultless clickthroughs! I don’t want a clickthrough, I don’t want a website visitor: I want a lifetime customer, a golden, solid friend of a trusted buyer!
Maybe if one’s marketing stayed centred entirely on this priceless end goal, those ppc prices would fall!
After all, how often have you clicked through to meet a 404 error page, a page of bad, sloppy or pointless graphics, a page with nothing to offer and no one to contact, an inappropriate site, the list is endless.
Most marketers need to get off ppc advertising and take a good hard look at their landing page! What do they want visitors to do? Opt-in? Read? Subscribe? Buy? What is their ultimate goal for the visitor - to convert them to become a repeat visitor, a lead, an email list prospect, a lifetime customer? What does the website offer? What is the webmaster’s ultimate offer? In all probability none of these questions are ever asked or probed.
Everyone hears “make money with adwords!” So they rush in and point their ppc ad at something - anything! And get zero result. But that is what comes of supposing you can just put money down and buy your traffic! No, I say do everything by hand, make a good job of it, review what you have to offer, what a site visitor means to you, what you intend offering 3 months from now, a year from now.
Let your marketing have a reason! Fools rush in…