What goes into your digital marketing budget?
Chances are that social media tops the list.
In the U.S. alone, online ad spend is projected to reach whopping $76.4 billion. Moreover, B2B companies spend 20.3% of their budgets on “everything and anything” social media. That’s a big chunk of change!
However, pouring all your resources into social media is like putting your eggs in one basket. That’s a vulnerable place to be considering you don’t “own” these digital properties.
While socials provide an interactive playground for conversation and customer engagement, these platforms are pillars. They are a step on the staircase—one part of the marketing funnel—directing folks to your website.
And website marketing is, indeed, where the real magic happens.
A well-built website allows people to fully experience your brand, chat with your team, and buy your products. In short, website marketing is the central hub that draws customers in and seals the deal.
How Can B2Bs and B2Cs Use Website Marketing to Their Advantage?
- Maintaining Ownership
Though you have control over your business’s social media pages, the platform’s larger policies are out of your hands. This can put your accounts at risk.
Say, for example, Instagram bans promotional content from businesses. If that’s the only platform you use to market your products, your sales pipeline will dry up immediately. Or if a platform temporarily goes down—as Facebook did this March—your marketing will be at a standstill.
But when you create a website, essentially, you own that digital space. Unless the hosting platform (or the entire Internet) goes dark, your site stays up and running. Plus, you decide on your wireframe: content, navigation, calls-to-action, services, and how customers coalesce with your brand.
This is freedom at your fingertips, with a personal URL that’s a keyboard—and a click—away.
- Showcasing Your Brand’s Style
Social media lets you upload cover photos and change backgrounds based on pre-set templates. Yet, when comparing One Part Social’s Facebook page to our website’s homepage, the latter is prominently customized (colors, images, fonts).
Website marketing also houses a myriad of content: user reviews, squeeze pages, and blog posts, for instance. All that differentiation boosts engagement, giving customers a full taste of your brand’s essence.
- Boosting Discoverability
How do most people find new businesses nowadays? You guessed it—search engines. And when it comes to Google ranking, a website with solid SEO (search engine optimization) allows for such synchronicity.
Website marketing is an absolute must for local businesses. Nearly half of monthly Google searches involve local intent. So it’s no surprise that plastering your location front-and-center on your site boosts discoverability.
Last but not least, a website elevates your social media presence. Just the same: social media drives your website’s organic traffic. It’s a win-win: your site draws people in, while an active social presence elicits fanfare and a loyal following. This push and pull precipitates a continuous loop of interest, traction, and conversions.
- Increasing Analytics Tracking
Coupling your social media presence with website marketing gives you more metrics to track. Google Analytics relays:
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- Amount of site visits
- Per page traffic
- Bounce rates
- Conversion rates
Such information can help drive your marketing decisions. It lets you know how customers engage at critical moments in the buyer’s journey and allows you to adjust user interfaces, encouraging more transactions, including sales.
- Enhancing E-commerce
Social storefronts are nice…but limited and cookie-cutter. Your company’s site ultimately personifies every inch of your brand.
Craft detailed product descriptions, showcase glowing reviews, and don’t be afraid to get even more creative.
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- Interactive quizzes to help guide purchases?
- Virtual dressing rooms/try-on capabilities (e.g., clothes, accessories)?
- Personalized recommendations based on browsing history?
The possibilities are endless.
Plus, get streamlined inventory and sales data all in one place. Even if e-commerce isn’t a huge part of your operation, don’t count it out! A small, online storefront draws in new customers and provides product information when folks can’t access your physical store.
- Maximizing Credibility
Anyone can whip up a social media page. A well-designed website, however, takes effort and investment to signal one’s credibility.
Websites also enable longer-form content: blogs, whitepapers, and reports. These materials display your depth of expertise, position your brand as a go-to expert, and highlight your industry knowledge. In other words, you have complete control over your reputation, purposefully shaping your narrative and unique value proposition.
- Controlling Content
Once you’ve posted content on social media, you lose a lot of control. Original text and images can be reused and reshared without your permission. Content display and reach across social media are also algorithm-dependent. Posts move down your timeline, compressed by user feeds and competing noise. So, inevitably, the most visible content is determined by timeliness rather than importance.
On your website, you dictate what content is visible on each page. It only changes when you say it should. And while social posts get buried over time, your site is an evergreen vault for static, SEO-optimized content.
- Sustaining Your Brand’s Longevity
Social media trends come and go, and platforms, too, fade in and out of vogue. Website marketing offers stability amidst the fads, sheltering your business from constantly chasing new platforms.
Unlike social media feeds prioritizing the latest, hottest content, your website serves as an archive. Though posts or pages don’t initially gain traction, each becomes “bookmarked” via search engines. And in doing so, it gradually leverages ROI for years to come.
Is Your Website Marketing Going the Distance?
While website marketing should be the cornerstone of your digital strategy, don’t abandon social media completely! Integration is key. Include clickable links on your social media profiles that lead customers to your site. And encourage readers to share your web content through affiliated buttons and social icons.
Ready to elevate your digital presence? Let the #TrueBlueMarketers take your website to the next level. Contact us today for customized strategies that drive results on the web, across social media, and beyond.