After 23 years in digital marketing – last month was our anniversary! – we’ve seen and heard a lot. Like the “content is king” mantra alluded to in the headline above.
And we’ve heard just about every possible reason from clients for why they want to build or update a website. Some have wanted to change the world. A few have be dead certain that once their site launched, riches and retirement would follow, probably within days. (And we could build the site for free and get in on the action if we wanted …)
But for most clients, the reasons boiled down to wanting to win more clients for their business.
And that phrase – win more clients – really does need to animate every conversation you have about your website and your marketing overall.
What Do We Really Want Our Websites to Do?
Is the content you’re publishing designed with winning clients in mind? Will it help attract them and nurture them as they progress through their buying process?
Does your website meet audience expectations for performance and organization?
Have you tied all of your channels together so that they reinforce your efforts elsewhere? Social media supports your website which helps your email marketing which drives traffic back to your website and so on.
I’m not sure there ever was a time that websites stood on their own as productive marketing tools. Sure, a particularly interestingly designed or informative site could generate word of mouth the way an especially inventive menu might for a restaurant. But most of us, particularly in the B2B world, need more than word of mouth to break through the noise. We need websites that nurture relationships. We must create the level of trust that allows prospects to suspend their disbelief and feel that we can help them.
Is your website helping you do that? That trust – the conversion of a prospect who may never have heard of you into a person willing to trust you with an important part of their business – is what is needed for your website to help you win more business.
