When you’ve got a new business, or project that needs a launch, it’s often the case that the budget is focused on a shiny new website.
The marketing often gets overlooked, yet, this is arguably more important.
I often sit with clients during our free initial consultation and the conversation is driven by the client on the website, and particularly how it’s going to look.
By the end of the meeting, we’ve actually spent more time talking about the marketing, then the functionality, then the aesthetics.
You see, the most important element is how are you going to find people to come to the website, and then how will we get them to convert – the look of the website is further down the list of priorities. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important that the website is on brand, looks good on mobiles, tablets, laptops, desktops and you’re proud of it, but the key to success that I’ve seen over the years is how good the marketing is.
A lot of people focus on making an amazing website that they can show to their friends because it looks so good, and then plan to promote it for free using social media and e-mails, but you really do need to invest in the marketing.
Not purely financial, but invest time too. It’s fine to use the free elements of Digital Marketing, but often budget is needed for paid advertising, or buying data to market to and it’s common to spend at least the same on the initial launch marketing as you do on the website.
If the client is on a budget, I’d much rather see them spend half, or two thirds on the marketing, than they do on the website.
When you next plan the budget for a new website, don’t forget the marketing costs, and if you want to talk it through…
