Monday, August 4, 2008
7 reasons using microsites in your marketing improves ROI
What is a Microsite, and why is it different from a website?A microsite is a website that is typically used in targeted marketing campaigns. It is simply a stripped down website, with only 1 or a few simple and easy to use webpages on it.
A microsite generally has one clear marketing message and may feature a strongly defined "call to action".
At Shifted we use a number of microsites for our SEM (Google Paid Search) marketing. If you search Sydney Marketing Agency in Google you are directed to a Microsite Landing Page for our Marketing Services - rather than to our homepage which covers a broad range of subjects and messages.
Why do we need a Microsite in our web marketing?
That's a question that comes up often in discussions with clients. Why would any company need more than one website?
If you're a large corporation, it is fairly obvious that you need a separate site for each brand you offer, and a separate site for corporate background material and perhaps investor information.
But what if you're a small or medium-sized company with a limited number of products or services? Then the question becomes, do your products relate to one another? Does one item flow into the next? Is your audience for each product or service the same?
And what about totally different audiences for the same product: audiences that need to be approached with totally different tactics? And then there are special circumstances like new product launches, time sensitive marketing campaigns, and limited availability offers?
Microsites or Mini Campaign Websites or Alternative Marketing Websites are an effective method of enhancing your marketing efforts and targeting optional audiences you wouldn't have otherwise reached using your traditional sales marketing approach.
Here are 7 reasons why microsites improve your web marketing ROI.
1. Focus Your Presentation and Message: eliminate distraction and non relevant clutter.
It is human nature to want to get your money's worth, but when it comes to web marketing this can be counter-productive. Wanting to cram everything you provide into one website aimed at every interested audience only creates clutter and confusion.
Forcing visitors to sift through reams of website material only creates frustration and irritation, and with a click of a mouse they're off to the next competitor listed on their favorite search engine before they even get to your relevant information.
A campaign or brand specific website allows you to get right to the point. Greet your targeted audience with a signature video Web-host supported by appropriate images and text. If a lot of text material is required, then have it turned it into an audio presentation so the material is made more accessible, understandable, and easy to absorb.
A focused brand or campaign site can shorten your sales cycle by making what you provide clear and distinct.
2. Use Alternative Tactics: experiment with non traditional campaign and sales' approaches.
Most companies follow a consistent sales approach that they have found successful. This is both a good thing and a bad thing: following a plan that has worked in the past aimed at your traditional customer base makes sense, except that it also limits you in reaching new audiences for your products and services.
There may be markets for what you provide that you haven't ever thought of, or that you are afraid to approach because they conflict with your current methods, promotions, or initiatives. Why give up on these potential customers when you can create an audience specific Web-presentation on a separate campaign website aimed specifically at that market. With a series of highly targeted websites you speak to the needs of specific audiences and at the same time insulate your regular clients from the alternative approaches.
In a highly competitive marketplace, your competition will be looking for every opportunÃty to take advantage of markets you ignore. Don't let them. You can get to them first and establish your company as the niche leader. All it takes is a little imagination, effort, and a budget to implement. This way you can have your cake and eat it too.
3. Create Urgency & Impact: campaign sites urge quick response, while creating a memorable impression.
Website visitors are always complaining how much time it takes them to search for and find the products and services they need. This often translates into complaints about download times, but the fact is, with the extensive availability of broadband, it's not download times that frustrate people, it's having to search through multiple pages and levels, in a hide-and-seek game to find what they want.
A campaign or brand-specific alternative marketing site gets right to the point and delivers the information or the promotÃon referenced in your email, banner, and print ads, or television and radio commercials.
And if you use a signature video Web-host to deliver the information, you are making sure the presentation has impact; so even if a visitor doesn't view everything, they at least get the core message in a way they won't forget.
4. Target New & Alternative Audiences: create new markets for old products and services.
Not every audience for a product can be approached with the same tactics. Specific brand or campaign sites allow you to customize your approach for new or alternative audiences appealing to their specific lifestyles or behavior patterns.
If you've had experience running a sales staff or rep network, you know that salespeople who call on one specific market are rarely successful when asked to simultaneously call on another. Different markets require different approaches. Like a one-size-fits-all hat, it rarely fits anybody. Customize and isolate your approach to different markets, so you can speak directly to that market's needs and attitudes.
The marketplace is often more innovative than the marketer in finding new ways to use old products; ways the manufacturer hadn't realized existed. Ask your customers how they use your products and then go after that market with a direct campaign that takes advantage of that specific niche.
5. Isolate & Differentiate Brands: target specific audiences with specific tactics.
Companies that provide a large number of products or services often confuse potential customers by presenting far too many options and alternatives. The result is the Web-visitor doesn't buy anything because they don't want to purchase the wrong thing, or not get the best deal. Even if you get the sale, you may lose the customer because they made the wrong decision.
You want to provide prospects a limited number of distinct alternatives, just enough so they feel they have been given a choice, and don't have to look elsewhere. But too much choice within the same product category creates buyer indecision. If a product or service is aimed at a particular market because it has specific features, create a separate website to sell it. Isolating a product line on a separate website allows you to create a distinct image and brand story for that offering.
6. Accelerate Comprehension & Shorten Sales Cycle: be clear, be understood, be direct, and sales will follow.
Campaign websites get right to the point. They present the marketing message quickly, and promptly direct people to take action without making them wade through mission statements and corporate histories that for campaign purposes just get in the way.
The longer it takes for someone to understand what the campaign is all about, the less likely they are to stick around long enough to make sense out of it. This is why we strongly recommend adding video and audio to the presentation. Video and audio allows you to say what needs to be said in the most understandable, persuasive, and memorable manner.
When it comes to website visitors you probably only have one shot at making a lasting impression, so don't blow it by delivering a boring or confusing presentation.
7. Support Other Advertising Efforts: supplement other marketing material with engaging, viral presentations.
Campaign websites can function as landing sites and contact venues for print, television, radio, online video, banner, and display ads, as well as for articles, newsletters, and news releases.
By segregating your campaign site you can more easily track responses better than if the campaign material was integrated into your corporate site. Separating your campaign website from your main site allows you to experiment with marketing tactics aimed at new or alternative audiences, with approaches that may not be suitable for your regular site visitors. You may not even want your regular customers to know that it is your company that's running the campaign, so people will regard it as something completely new.
Labels: marketing efficiency, sem
Posted by Nick HaC @ 4:26 PM
