by
Eddie Velez
Success by Design
Social
media has become a game changer to not only business, but also
the media. Today, news breaks on Twitter, not CNN.
This has caused many companies to
focus more on social media and less on the hub of all their
marketing efforts – their website. Are you focusing on social
media at the expense of your website? This could be a costly
mistake.
Facebook Versus Your Company Website
I’ve heard some ruminations through
the blogosphere about, “Should I just have a Facebook page and
forego the website?” A very serious questions! Without getting
into the entire argument, there are pros and cons for both; but
the ultimate answer is no. Let’s look at the pros and cons.
Pros for Facebook
• Facebook is the 4th highest trafficked website in the world
• It has over 1 billion registered users
• Facebook useage has exploded from simply measuring member hours per
month to
now calculating user hours per day.
Pros for Website
• You have total control of your brand
• You control the content with no regulations or restrictions
• You own the database attributed to blog and RSS subscribers
• You can sell advertising to minimize overhead
• You are not beholden to constant changes, upgrades or
regulations
that can water down your following
• If Facebook or any other network goes down or is hacked,
you’re
still up and running and your data is secure
Cons of Facebook
• Facebook controls who sees your posts with EdgeRank. It’s a
fallacy
if you have 1 million friends, they all see your posts.
Only those you
have actual interactions with see what you post.
• Facebook has had privacy-issue changes that were forced down
our
throats that can open you to liability.
• Facebook gets attacked. When you get this big, just like
hackers target
Windows over Apple OS, they will continue to
target Facebook.
(To be fair, so has Google+ and Twitter; which
adds more credence to
not trusting your business’ online
presence to social media solely.)
Cons for Website
• You have to get the traffic there
• You have to maintain it
• You have to blog (weekly recommended)
• It can be a little costly upfront to get started
So Which One Wins?
While social media is crucial to
success, your website is the most important aspect of your
marketing infrastructure. Social media is the traffic and
pipeline generator, where you create interest in your brand and
expertise. Your blog, which resides on your website, is the
carrot! Those who want the information you’re sharing, will
click on the link to read it – and now they are on your site.
Moreover, no matter what you do for marketing (pay-per click,
banner ads, commercials, mailers, etc.) it all leads back to
your website. So it is imperative to ensure you have a
synergistic marketing infrastructure that has a consistent
social media presence and a corporate website to capture the
data, and control your message and brand.
If your website is not designed properly, with marketing insight
in mind, when all your efforts and money finally gets the
prospect to your website, it will be for nothing. They will
arrive and leave, never to return. So make sure your website is
ready to rock.
So have a social media presence and satisfy the needs of your
public. The three reasons people use social media is to be
entertained, informed and helped. Then drive that traffic to
your website where you can capture their identity for future
“drip marketing,” which are your future sales. After all, few
people buy on the first visit. If you have no way to keep your
brand on their minds, they will not return.
Eddie Velez is a 20-year marketing and PR
professional,
web and graphic designer, and blogger. He publishes a
blog, The
Ruminations of Eddie Velez
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