Question

Topic: Strategy

Spend Marketing Dollars On Pr Or Website?

Posted by Anonymous on 1/27/2004 at 3:54 PM ET 125 Points
The "Powers that be" have allocated funds to redesign and relaunch our website. While I'd like to do that, I'm more interested in results. And I'm not convinced that redesign will improve web traffic or lead generation.

I'm trying to convince them that the money they have allocated for Website redesign and relaunch would be better spent on PR articles and case-studies to drive readers/clickers to the present Website. I don't believe in the "build it and they will come principal".

Any ideas on how to approach this issue?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 1/27/2004 at 4:34 PM Member
    Mac, there are easily two sides to this story. Here is how I would sort it out.

    If the results you are looking for from your Web site are leads or sales -- some kind of action on the part of the Web visitor, then taking a look at your site's conversion rate tells you where to make the investment.

    Your conversion rate will vary by industry and type of business. If your current Web site has to pull thousands of visitors in order to create one lead or sale and by redesigning the site you can bring your conversion rate up to 1 out of 100 visitors rather than 1 out of a 1000, then there is excellent argument for investing your resources in the Web redesign. The redesign will multiply your results by ten times.

    If, however, your conversion rate is pretty good, say 1 out of 20 visitors (5% conversion rate) buy or make an enquiry, then you may well be better off investing in PR to attract more visitors to your site.

    I don't know how easy it will be for you to find out what the usual conversion rate should be for your industry, but if you can find an industry bench mark that will help in your decision.

    Miki
    https://www.roi-web.com
  • Posted by Pepper Blue on 1/27/2004 at 4:38 PM Accepted
    Not knowing your business, I would offer this approach:

    1) Do as much PR yourself. Read "Guerilla PR" (Michael Levine) and "The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR" (Al Ries) . Save big money.

    2) I agree with you that "build it and they will come" doesn''t work anymore" with websites. But do keep it updated (if you have e-commerce, that is another animal) with fresh relevant value-ad content. Too many companies spend too much money on web design and if they looked at their logs they would cry.

    3) However, building your permission-based database makes cost-effective sense. Then you can send the web-site, new content, white papers, self-published PR articles, case studies etc. via e-mail marketing i.e. newsletters, announcements, specials etc. to customers and prospects who want it and will derive benefit from it.
  • Posted on 1/27/2004 at 9:23 PM Member
    Mac:

    There's no reason why you can't have both a solid PR effort and a great website. These efforts should go hand in hand.

    As others have noted, having a website takes a sustained effort. You need to optimize it for search engines, jazz it up from time to time, and, of course, use it to generate leads and gather information about your customers.

    If you believe case studies will get customers excited, fight to get them on the site. Then include specific URLs to these pages in your sales letters and direct mail.

    As for PR, it's fairly inexpensive to adopt an aggressive PR plan, if you know the tricks of the trade. Jot down a list of the publications that you and your customers read. If you don't know what your customers read, ask them. Get to know the publications. Then work with your marketing team to query the editors of these publications with stories about your products. To save time, put your customers to work for you. Just like you, they're looking for opportunities to get covered. Create a case study that works for both of you, and rely on an experienced marketing communications person to begin e-mailing those editors.
  • Posted on 1/27/2004 at 10:08 PM Accepted
    Hi Mac,

    I looked at your profile, determined what type of business you were in, and then and visited your website at vcgsoftware.com

    Your website looks professional enough, but a quick search in google for "staffing software" did not list your site in the top 50 results. Your home page has a google pagerank of 6 out of 10 (which is good) and you have approximately 60 other sites linking to your home page.

    Depending upon how many prospects are using the web to find your product (software), you might consider optimizing your website to rank higher FOR THE KEYWORDS THEY USE TO FIND YOU. Make surew they're the prospects keywords, not the powers that be's keywords.

    However, if your prospects are too busy to search the web for their software needs, or they don't know their software needs, you would likely have better luck pitching them with articles published in trade magazines (publicity).

    That would drive them to the website, which should then be modified to have HUGE BILLBOARD SIZED graphic images of those articles, (OK not HUGE, but...) which link to a specific page that talks about how your solution can help them, and then a contact form for a free trial or demo, etc.

    I'd spend a day on the phone with your existing customers and a group of prospects and ask them how they found you, and determine if THEY WANT YOUR WEBSITE REDESIGNED or THEY WANT SOLUTIONS TO THEIR STAFFING NEEDS THROUGH SOFTWARE. Then take that data to the PTB (Powers That Be) to win your case.

    Write the articles, have your focus group read them and give you feedback, then get them published, modify the website, and watch your weblogs for signs of life.

    GL (Good Luck)
  • Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 1/27/2004 at 10:39 PM Member
    What can I say after all that!!! LOL!!!

    Well, I can simply say I believe BOTH are important. Great PR leading to a sloppy site is a waste and vice-versa.

    Good luck with the "Powers that be"!

    Funny how they hired you to handle marketing, but they are telling you how they want it done. What a surprise!!
  • Posted by ReadCopy on 1/28/2004 at 8:40 AM Member
    From what LJW says, its clear that a good, clear website CAn attract business.

    Rememer ultimately that pure PR and Marketing Commuications (your website) are completely different animals and satisfy diffferent business needs.

    Pure PR (editorial, column inches etc) is VERY poor at getting new business. Whereas Advertorials (ads made to look like editorials) generate more awareness, interest and new business.

    Using a wesite as a marcom channel CAN provide you with new business (especially if used in conjunction with DM).

    Horses for courses!
  • Posted on 1/28/2004 at 12:04 PM Member
    ... oh everybody's an expert in marketing, aren't they, including the powers that be? I can write, so I can do copy... I can watch telly, so I can make ads.... at what point would the analogy break down for these people?

    If you don't know what to change on the site, then any redesign could make things worse. (things = objectives, like what, exactly.... what's up for improvement?)

    Have you the time to lob a user survey onto your site - plan the survey against what your stats analysis is telling you, and the direcctions that you think the site should shift. Include some questions on the media that responders read.

    If the site's evolved over time, and you've got a decently loyal customer base, then they'll ask for more evolution, not a revolutionary design. If they're content with the design, maybe the money needs spending in the site's back office - making it work better, but largely invisible to customers.

    PR & advertorials are great value (as noted above)
    ... don't forget to tailor every press release into a link-rich online version, & post that to some online newswires.

    good luck - I saw a case study this week on a company who redigined to mimic their competitors, and lost sales hand over fist. Site looke d great, and sold nothing.

    Will Rowan
    https://www.thecustomer.co.uk

  • Posted on 1/28/2004 at 12:07 PM Author
    Great responses to a challenging question!

    As the proverbial "One Man Marketing Band", I'm juggling the development of all of the PR, eNewsetters, advertising, and Website.

    Based on what I've heard from you folks, I'll push harder for a test run at the PR to prove my point, while balancing that with some Website updating.

    Thanks!
  • Posted on 2/3/2004 at 6:32 AM Member
    just found this on marketingsherpa -
    in answering the question 'what new thing would you spend $100k on' they got:
    Rich media 18%
    Offline media 13%
    Search 12%
    Online ads (not including search) 11%
    Wireless 8%
    Email 8%
    Desktop applications/RSS/IM 5%
    Site/landing page design 4%

    hth

    Will
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