In our modern world, we’re all accomplished in our fields of expertise. As business people we have progressed and climbed up the proverbial corporate ladder by making good decisions and revisiting our company strategies to maintain our focus…haven’t we?
All the great business cliches have been hammered into us every step of the way, but they’ve become white noise and even smart, thinking people have forgotten how to apply common sense to things that matter in their daily lives.
You just have to look at fad diets and how much money is generated year-on-year on the promise that taking a pill will give you the body of the most popular celebrity currently sporting the covers of best-selling magazines. Really? Thinking people believe this stuff? Sadly, yes, the numbers prove it and people continue to fall for the golden promise of results without appropriate action.
It’s no different with web sites, in my opinion. Executives believe that a web site is the diet pill of the business world. Just put up a web site and you can consider yourself ‘digital’. “Build it and they will come” echos from the boardroom.
The reality is that while online marketing is far more cost-effective and has far wider reach than any other form of marketing, it is neither free nor cheap. It is not a quick solution and it certainly does not happen without planning, effort, focus and tenacity.
Online Marketing is still a very young business discipline, relatively speaking, and many business people are missing out on golden opportunities by not fully embracing it. While it is not rocket science, it does take a shift in thinking and a move away from the traditional approach. You have to accept that this is a field of constant flux. Nobody will ever be ahead of the curve. You have to dedicate yourself to ongoing change and education.
The rewards, however, are tremendous. Being able to measure and improve your skills based on real facts and figures are tremendous.
So put in the effort and reap the real rewards – it’s simple really when you do it properly, just stick to the basics and don’t shy away from putting in the required amount of planning.
Think about what you hope to achieve by going digital. Which channels and social media platforms are best suited to your objectives and target audience? What resources do you have available to you and how much time do you have to launch? How much money do you have to spend? Will you need to use external resources for specialist areas?
Still thinking? Not good enough…you really need to write this stuff down. That helps you to focus better and will stop you from dreaming and rather get you to commit.
And since we’re referencing the diet analogy, don’t forget that if you want to lose weight, you really do want to keep it off. Likewise, if you’re going to build a site, you need to maintain it. Whatever you do don’t continually change your mind about your strategy. You need to give your online presence a chance to grow some roots. While certain aspects will require constant change for obvious reasons, your core strategy, choice of platform and other ‘foundation’ aspects should be solid.
