If you are in any type of business that requires you to cast a wide net to reach clients and customers, you have probably become aware of the Internet’s usefulness as a marketing tool.
But it goes deeper than that, says Michael Westafer, president and CEO of Roger West Creative and Code, an eight-employee subsidiary of Roger West LLC. Westafer says that with the increasing variety of options for Internet marketing and promotions, you need to craft a strategy that will yield maximum results for your business.
Smart Business spoke with Westafer about how you can utilize your Web site, blogs and social media to increase the profile of your business and how to train your employees to increase their handle on Internet marketing trends.
What elements make for a standout Web presence for a business?
What makes a good Web site is that in a short period of time, you really need to know what a company does, how they’re different from everybody else and have clear paths to predefined goals. You have to go beyond just the text and stock photos to what is the messaging, what is the identity of the company. What do you want to do and where do you want to go?
How do you message what you are and where you are going? It kind of goes with the brand and identity and basic marketing. Who are you, what are you, what makes you different? It’s the internal questions that set tone of all your marketing materials. What makes you different? Is it quality, customer service, price or how you are competing? The Web site needs to talk about that. If it’s quality, the Web site and marketing and everything end to end should be top notch. If it’s customer service, you should have testimonials and customer quotes. Your Web site is part of the messaging that should be going throughout all of your marketing materials.
How can business leaders find the type of Web fixtures that suits their needs?
The big thing is where is your target audience and who is your target audience? Who are you trying to reach? If you’re in the business-to-business market and your target is the directors and top-level executives, where are they, what are their typical search patterns? You need to do some research and find out where you need to be, because you need to be where they are and where they’re looking.
For instance, I read some stats that said over 50 percent of Fortune 500 clients block Facebook and Twitter. They block employee usage of those services during the day. If you’re targeting B-to-B clients, I’m not sure if spending your money on Twitter is the best thing, because the executives you want might not be on Twitter or Facebook or any other social media sites along those lines. You have to find them in the places where they are.
