Posts Tagged ‘web presence’

As a marketing and brand strategy person, one of my chief responsibilities is to stay up to date on trends, techniques, and news in the industry. In the course of my Internet travels I run across all kinds of companies that have invested in some kind of Web presence…and that turn me off.  Here, in no particular order, are three mistakes that belong on the wall of shame:

The lights are on, but nobody’s home.  Have you ever gone to a fancy-schmancy website, only to get the feeling that it was designed and implemented by ghostly phantoms who disappeared soon after they hit “publish”?  Over the years, I’ve come to respect marketing as a living, breathing entity, much like a company’s business plan or the business itself.  If you’ve never bothered to update the age-old news on your home page or fix the multitude of broken links, the time is now!  You can’t afford to lose a client who gets bored by stale or broken content.

I don’t care.  You’d be surprised how many marketing pieces are shamefully inaccurate or boast horrid typos and grammatical errors.  I was recently at a workshop sponsored by a highly respected community organization and presented by a company that boasts a long client list and a great pedigree.  Surprise!  The collateral they left on my desk had not one, but four simple typos that, frankly, made the company descend a few notches in my estimation.  Is anyone perfect?  No.  Does spell-check exist for a reason?  Yes.

You’re gonna have to find the baby somewhere in the bathwater.  There’s a reason designers love white space.  It helps point the eye to important information, creating a pleasant user experience.  If your site is so cluttered with badges, feeds, useless graphics, widgets, ads, and irrelevant text that I can’t figure out who you are or why your services can benefit me, I’m gonna move on along with my now pitifully addled and confused impression of your business.  As Dorothy Parker said, “Brevity is the essence of lingerie.”

Photo courtesy of bolobilly

You’ve learned how to assess your brand’s strengths and weaknesses.  What now?

Remember the DEVO song “Freedom of Choice”?  People can get really overwhelmed at the embarrassment of riches that is free choice.  I encourage my clients to start SMALL.  Eensy-weensy, tiny even.  Know why?  Because small = manageable in a real world full of real-world distractions and setbacks.

It can seem like a huge bummer to think small when you’ve just gotten the macro view of your brand health.  However, small steps are what will bring you to your destination.

Example:  You’ve discovered that while your Web presence rates a 95%, your sales is coming in at a mere 25%.  You’ve delved into the details and realized that your sales and marketing need to be better integrated, perhaps through the use of a CRM system, a double sales/marketing plan, or a weekly check-in meeting.

Instead of plunging in and doing all three, prioritize.  Which one looks like it will have the biggest return on investment?  How quickly can you get going?  Can it be broken down into manageable tasks?  Who will take care of each one?  Most importantly, how will you measure and evaluate your success?

If you repeat this process, calendar in hand, you should quickly get a feel for which baby steps you’ll take first.  Voila — a direction for your brand!

This sounds simple, but it’s really as complex as you make it.  Go focus on the here and now…just make sure you check in with reality and strategy on a regular basis.

Happy New Year!