Because of what we do, our team gets a lot of requests for prepackaged website solutions. We understand that individuals and companies looking for website marketing are often unsure of exactly what they need and how much it should cost, which is why it might seem like the best approach is to review existing packages and their pricing. However, we feel differently. Our issue with pre-made packages is they are cookie cutter and don’t necessarily work for everyone.
Here Are 5 Reasons Why Your Website Needs A Custom Marketing Strategy
1. Your Industry, Products, Services, Company and Geographical Locations Are Unique
Each industry is represented differently on-line. For example, some industries have a stronger online presence than others, causing unique levels of difficultly per vertical. The same can be said for specific products and services. If you happen to offer a nationwide service, such as website design, for example, you are going to be competing with a lot more websites than say someone who offers a local service like AC repair to only a few nearby cities.
Because there are so many unique variables in the make-up of your company, a custom approach to marketing is the only thing that makes sense. You don’t want to be underdoing it OR overdoing it. You need a professional marketer to assess your needs based off of how you are and who your competitors are so they can make a realistic suggestion for your needs specifically.
2. Your Website History Is Unique
Your current website and its online history plays a huge role in determining what your marketing approach should be. A new website, for example, is going to have to work a lot harder to build a foundation for organic marketing than an older, more established site.
A professional marketer should evaluate your website history, including things like: age of the domain, number of existing indexed pages, number of existing backlinks, current domain authority, website crawlability, etc. This ensures all important and existing foundational website elements are being considered when determining what type of marketing approach you should take.
3. Your Marketing History Is Unique
Similar to your website history, assessing your marketing history is equally important. If your website is old but you’re new to online marketing, you have to approach organic marketing like you are a new site. On the other hand, if you are an older site with a long history with organic marketing, you can be a lot more aggressive in your approach.
Before we create a custom marketing proposal for a new prospect we always look at their organic marketing history. We specifically look at things like: what methods of marketing you deployed previously, what you are currently doing to market your site/brand, what types of backlinks your website has (as well as how many and the associated anchor text used), what social platforms are in place that can be leveraged, etc. If we find something is wrong or done poorly we know we need to address those issues before we begin marketing, otherwise your marketing dollars might be spent in vain.
4. Your Budget Is Unique
Let’s face it, not everyone has the budget to do everything they need or want to do for their business. If you come in with a smaller budget but we determine your website needs more than you can afford in order to be successful, we aren’t going to simply sell you a package in your price range. That only sets you AND us up for failure.
Instead, skilled marketers should be able to assess everything that needs to be done and then, if budget is limited, prioritize the “to-do” list. We work with our clients to create short term and long term strategies in the form of monthly phases that allow us to work on the priority list one month at a time without blowing the budget.
5. Your In-house Team Is Unique
A website needs a lot of work in addition to the marketing in order to ensure continued visibility and conversions. For example, Google won’t value and rank a site that has server issues, duplicate or outdated content, broken links, etc. On that same note, users won’t trust your site if when they visit, the content is poorly written, the design is out of date, the pages take too long to load, etc.
If you already have a team in-house that manages the technical elements, writes content, manages social media, etc. then your custom strategy can be built with that in mind. However, if we find that your team can’t handle the website work or you simply don’t have the bandwidth or know-how to complete the work, we can build these important management and maintenance services into your custom proposal.
The Nutshell:
You, your business, your website, your products and services, your budget and your team are unique! Shouldn’t your website marketing strategies ALSO be unique?
Let us help you develop a custom approach to your organic marketing campaigns. We will get to know you, your business and specific needs and then, after auditing your website and marketing history, we can provide you with a solid plan that will produce a real ROI.
Is there any other way?
Learn more about our Custom Marketing Strategies here… or just pick up the phone and call us to get started: 800.871.4130.
Well said, Jenny. Very important points. Especially the way that each industry and product is represented differently online. The difference in a local marketing strategy and a global one can be really huge!
Thanks Chris!
I’m amazed at the amount of people that still believe you can simply pick a number of target keywords for your marketing. I get reseller requests all of the time for pre-made packages that include a set number of keywords for the budget and I have to explain that it just doesn’t work like that anymore! It’s a lot to explain so this blog post really only scratches the surface… but we’ve got to start somewhere!