Choosing A Website Developer

The following tutorial is an easy to follow guideline to ensure you find the web design company that is right for you.

Take a moment to consider what purpose your website will serve.  In other words, what marketing objective or set of objectives does the website address that are specific to your marketing plan?  Do you want to sell your products and services online?  Do you want to collect data?  Or perhaps you want to generate donations, interest in a cause, promote upcoming events and so on.  These factors will be important in determining the best solution.

Questions you should ask yourself

These critical questions are important to consider prior to the creation of your new website.

How often will the content on the site be updated?

Beyond the static company information that needs to be added initially, how often will you be adding fresh content? This can include blog posts, articles, videos, product pages, etc.

Who owns the website and domain name upon completion?

This is a very important question because a lot of popular website companies will provide an inexpensive monthly cost but they own the code and the domain.  This is important because if you should decide to move your site or make certain changes you are at their mercy and could even lose your website.

Do you build the site or do I?

Some companies advertise a low rate and then hit you with additional cost to provide the design and publish your site. Unless you are a professional designer and familiar with html, css, java, php and other languages you SHOULD NOT build your own site.  Simply put, it is a waste of time and money.

Do you intend to generate leads from the site?

Do you intend to sell products/services and collect payments directly from your website?

Do you want to maintain the site internally, or work with a vendor who provides monthly maintenance?

Just remember one thing.  There are plenty of companies that will take your money without concern for the success of your company.  At Crigital.com we want you to succeed and everything we do, including website development, adheres to that mantra.

How to choose between Inbound and Outbound Marketing

Outbound Marketing - is the traditional form of marketing where a company initiates the conversation and sends its message out to an audience

Inbound Marketing – is where the customer finds you through blogs, social media, and search engines

Which is best?  The answer varies depending on who you ask.  Marketers who primarily deal in SEO and social media will steer you toward Inbound Marketing simply because it is what they are used to and deal with on a daily basis.  They will throw out what they perceive to be the negatives of outbound marketing in order to sway you toward online forms of marketing .  Online marketing via SEO, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and social media avenues generate an audience and are an essential part of a well-rounded marketing strategy. 

However, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket as they say.  Outbound Marketing is a proven strategy and is still being exploited by fortune 500 companies on a daily basis.  If it didn't work they wouldn’t be doing it.

Pick up any magazine and half of the pages are full of perfume, jewelry, and fashion ads as well as those for movies, events, TV series and travel. A greater level of success comes to those that also have these same ads online. Crossmedia marketing refers to crossing print and digital media for a better marketing result and is a must for any successful marketing plan.  Here are several ways to include both.

Inbound Marketing

1.      Create Campaigns on Google Adwords – start with keyword research using the Google keyword tool

2.      Create a Blog

3.      Create relevant content on your website for better search engine optimization

4.      Offer educational information on Facebook and Twitter to build a following

5.      Build trust with a professionally designed website – if you look subpar online, consumers will assume your service or product is subpar.  This is psychology 101

6.      EBooks

Outbound Marketing

1.      Well-designed printed marketing materials

2.      Mobile Apps

3.      Tradeshows and networking events

4.      Cold Calls – everyone hates it but is works

5.      Email Blasts and Newsletters

6.      Youtube – Video (used with both)

7.      Direct Mail

8.      Media ads

Not every form of Inbound or Outbound marketing fits a specific business. It is best to have a solid marketing plan that budgets for both forms of marketing and that is tailored to fit your specific need and target audience.  Inbound marketing takes time so you have to commit to being vigilant in your efforts and remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day.  So which form of marketing is best?  The simple answer is, BOTH!

More ideas at  http://www.tumblr.com/blog/creativesoupthings

How to Define Your Target Market

Targeting a specific market for your business isn’t as easy as it seems.  Most businesses say their target market is anyone that is interested in their widget.  However, not all widgets are created equal or generate the same interest level to a potential customer.

A great example of this would be satellite TV programming.  A customer that loves movies might purchase a package upgrade based on additional movie channels offered even if the price is higher than other packages while at the same time ignoring offers for sports channel upgrades if they are not a sports fan.  Therefore, “Anyone” interested in your widget does not work.  Here are some ways to better define your target market.

Demographics and Psychographics

How to Use These Criteria to Help Define Your Target

Recently I helped a new fitness club with a direct mail project announcing their grand opening. The postcard included a coupon for one free exercise class. We created a targeted list by nailing down specific criteria that would yield a better response rate.  The list generated included an income of 100,000+, Age, radius of 2 miles from business location, interested in health and fitness.  The response was overwhelming and the customer was pleased.  However, if the mailing would have delivered to everyone within a 2 mile radius the additional expense would not have justified the return on investment (ROI). Mailing lists are a great way to target a specific group for a direct mail project.

Demographics can determine the need for your product.

Income Level

Gender

Age

Location

Occupation

Marital Status

Ethnic background

Home Owner

Psychographics details the characteristics of a person

Interests/hobbies

Values

Lifestyles

Behavior

Who Are Your Current Customers

Look for reasons why your customers buy from you.  Would other people like them also buy from you?  Think about a B2B customer base.  If your customer is a chiropractor and he buys widget #1 and widget #2 would it not stand to reason that another chiropractor might also be interested in Widget #1 and Widget #2? Look for common characteristics in your customer base. Who are your competitor’s customers?  Perhaps you can fill a niche that they are overlooking.

Evaluate Your Products and Services and Message

Your message should be targeted to each niche market for it to be most effective.  It is also a good idea to take each of your products and services and write out a defining feature next to each one.  Who might benefit from this feature?  Each feature may start to define a separate target audience for the same product as shown in the satellite TV programming example.

Once you figure out “who” your target market is it becomes easier to tailor your marketing effort to their specific need.  Unique marketing ideas are a great way to target those niche customers and perhaps discover some new ones.