In my post last week about redoing my Web site, newsletter and blog, I promised to write about why companies should consider all three tools in the marketing mix. Each performs a different role for the company; together, they tell the whole story.
Web site: Your Web site is your selling vehicle. It’s where you lay out your offering and value proposition, clearly, succintly, and yes, promotionally, for your target audience. Your goal is to take interested prospects and move them along the sales continuum to become leads and eventually closed business. For some products and services, and particularly business-to-consumer, the Web site does it all — interest to close. We buy online, and the Web site should make that as easy as possible. For most business-to-business offerings, the sale is more complex; the Web site’s job is to inform, entertain and yes, sell, the prospect so she wants to engage further with the company.
Your blog: If the Web site is where you sell, your blog is where you tell. But not about product features. The blog is about thought leadership, not full-on sales. It’s where you show your expertise in the subject, or talk to customers about their experiences, or explore ideas in your chosen field. It can help your community — customers and colleagues — understand you and your company, and certainly that can have a positive effect on your business. You might even get leads from it. But if it is overtly promotional, it won’t work. See above. That’s what the Web site does.
Done right, your blog is one way to bring people to your Web site.
But, blogs aren’t the right tool for everyone. If the company isn’t ready to engage with its community with honesty, it is better off NOT blogging. There are other ways to engage with your customers, and it is far worse to do something wrong or half-baked than to not do it at all.
By honesty, I do not mean lifting your skirts and showing all the goodies. No company can or should be totally transparent. Nor can or should people but that’s a story for another time.
Honesty does mean being clear about your intentions, the role of the blog, what you will and won’t share, and then sticking to it. And never lie. Mistakes can be forgiven, but lies are never forgotten. I also believe you have to walk the talk. If you come out in favor of something on your blog, your company’s, and your, actions had better be consistent. It’s okay to change your mind. It is not okay to say one thing and do another.
Enewsletter: Newsletters are the key to a good lead nurturing campaign. Not every prospect is ready to buy right away. You need to stay in front of them. Customers may buy something, or do a project, and then go silent for a while. You need to stay in front of them. But you don’t need to do costly direct mail packages to nurture prospects and customers. Save the big bucks programs for when you are trying to cut through the clutter at a trade show or build a list of new prospects from a purchased list. The people that already know you want information, not glitz.
Your newsletter is a regular drip feed of information that reminds them of your company. Most of the articles should be in the general area of interest represented by your products, but not explicitly about your products or services. It is perfectly okay to have articles about your products, announcements of new features, reports from events and so forth. But that should not be the bulk of the content. If it is, your prospects and customers will see right through you, and the effort will not have the intended effect.
For an example, check out Driving Sales Success, a newsletter I write for my client GuideMark. GuideMark implements CRM systems. The newsletter is about sales and marketing tips, the area of shared interest. We do mention the products and services, and from time to time, we have a product article. But the bulk of the newsletter is tips that any sales and marketing professional could benefit from, whether they use our product or not.
I’m sure many readers will say that the blog can do all of this just as well, if not better. And that is true, if everyone you want to reach is a regular blog reader. Of your blog. The truth is, there are very few segments for, and very few blogs about, which this is true. Use of RSS is still less than 10% of Internet users last I checked. For most of us, the best way to be sure our prospects and customers are regularly reminded of us is with the enewsletter.
Here’s how I use the three tools.
My Web site is very compact — less than 10 pages. The goal is to get the prospect to take the offer of a free hour of consulting. I am planning some major changes to the content, which has been up for about two years, but the general goal will be the same. Tell them what we can do for them and let them try it out for free. Hopefully, what I do with the free hour will make them want to pay for quite a few more.
On this blog, I write about marketing, public relations and sales. In that this is also my business, the blog is loosely associated with GetGood Strategic Marketing, however, I don’t market the business too strongly on the blog. I do regularly mention client projects, which of course has a dual effect – it spreads the word about the client, and illustrates what I do. When I redesign the blog, I expect to have a few more explicit links to getgood.com than I do now, but not too many more.
I firmly believe that this blog needs to remain a personal intellectual outlet and conversation among people of like (and sometimes not-like) minds, not an explicit marketing site. If my thoughts lead someone to consider hiring me, great, but I won’t change what or how I write in some attempt to turn the blog into a lead generation vehicle. All that said, I believe that the blog has had a positive effect on the business and my reputation. It has certainly been a great conversation, and for that I thank all my wonderful readers.
On the other hand, my newsletter, Marketing Roadsigns, is explicitly linked to GetGood Strategic Marketing. All clients and prospects are added to the list automatically, and getgood.com hosts the archive of past issues. While I write about the same topics in the newsletter as I do on the blog, the newsletter tends to be more practical, covering evergreen sales & marketing issues like lead generation and customer loyalty. The blog, not surprisingly, is more reactive, timely and philosophical, although I do make an effort to give practical advice as well. For example, this post. The newsletter also has a specific call to action; it reminds the reader of my free hour offer. Softly, but it is there. I’m also planning to promote my workshops more heavily in the newsletter this fall. Not in your face, but much more explicit than I would ever be on the blog.
About half my newsletter subscribers read the blog. For this reason, I try to put a significant amount of new or exclusive content in the newsletter. And half of my newsletter readers do not read my blog (or any blogs) with any regularity. Over time they will, but now, the way to reach them is through their in-box.
So, Web sites and newsletters and blogs… that’s why.
And coming this fall, a podcast. Oh my.
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Good Technology update: Still no word from anyone at Good Technology. Maybe we should keep track of the calls and emails, and send them a support bill?
Tags: Web site, Web sites, blog, blogging, newsletter, PR, public relations, sales, marketing, blog marketing, lead nurturing
Kami Huyse says
Great outline of the purposes for each vehicle. It comes at a good time since right now I am redoing my Website. I like the one free hour idea. I usually do this, but I hadn’t institutionalized it.
Courtney says
Really all you NEED is the web site. That’s where so many people go wrong. They fail to see the larger picture and the benefits of the other vehicles. They see what can go wrong, not what can go right.
Well done blogs give you credibility and show goodwill. You get a personal touch from blogs that you can’t find in the other vehicles. Podcasting will capture even more character. The web site and the e-newsletters can be seen as a “hook,” but blogs create loyalty. They keep people around. You can’t beat the loyal customers that typically spend more and are less price sensitive.
E-newsletters seem to be for those that aren’t sold on blogging. It’s effective now, for sure. Would it ever be phased out?
Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide says
I agree with your advice. Combining our website with our Safari Journal weblog has been an effective way to introduce a new niche to luxury travelers. Hybrid social media is the way forward for companies interested in creating a higher level conversation.
Susan Getgood says
Thanks for the comment. I checked out your site, very cool.
The only thing is – I want to know more about YOU!!!!! I couldn’t find the people on your site, and that always bugs me 🙂
You also get points for appropriate blogger outreach. Even though you are a commercial venture, your comment was totally on topic. And anyone who has read my blog for any length of time would know that the philanthropic nature of your tours would appeal to me.
Appropriate to the topic, appropriate to the blogger. Well done.