Pictured above: Claire McKee
Many businesses are letting down their own advertising and
marketing efforts by having poor or ineffective websites, warns a
Midlands-based marketing expert.
Businesses are spending thousands on press and media
advertising, without stopping to think what will happen after the
ad appears. When potential customers follow up the ad by looking
for a non-existent or poor web site they go away, and the
advertising spend is wasted, said Clare McKee, managing director of
new marketing agency Malvern Marketing.
She said many businesses's advertising strategy didn't go much
further than "wait and see."
"Understanding the customer journey is critical to advertising
success and improved return on investment. Gone are the days when
someone sees your ad and jumps into the car to visit you. Now they
simply see your ad and jump on the computer to check you out and
find out more. But what if your offering is let down by a poor web
site, or worse still, no website at all?" she said.
Clare McKee added, "What will the customer do once on the
computer harbouring an interest in your product or service but
faced with your uninspiring web site? Quite simply, they'll look at
competitors' sites for a similar product or service. So you've
created and paid for awareness for someone else to pick up
sales!"
She said press and media advertising were important for building
and maintaining awareness, but that should be in tandem with a
strong web presence.
"While advertising in the press creates awareness and interest
it's impossible to know if the time is right for your target
market. Your website can elaborate on your offering and be there
whenever the customer is ready to buy," she said.
"And that doesn't mean a website thrown together for the sake of
being there. A good website doesn't begin with design. It begins
with a coherent marketing strategy. The most attractive web site
won't work unless you've worked through objectives, usability and
conversion tactics," she added.
"It's no longer about pushing information out randomly. It's
about customer empowerment. Many businesses I have spoken to admit
that their first port of call when actively seeking a product or
service is the web, yet they haven't got round to sorting out their
own web presence," she said.
Malvern Marketing was set up in the summer by Clare McKee to
give businesses in the three counties of Worcestershire,
Herefordshire and Gloucestershire a personal bespoke marketing
service tailored to grow or protect their organisations.
Malvern Marketing has already won a number of website management
contracts for companies in Worcester and Hereford.
Clare Mckee, who has an MA in Creative Media Practice, runs two
successful online internet marketing consultancies and the Best
Marketing Quotes lead generation service. Her background is in
marketing, sales, customer relationships and advertising for a
number of major companies.