How a College Intern Can Destroy Your Business: Website Coders vs. Online Marketers

Website Coders vs. Online Marketers

Web Coders Vs. Online Marketers

Who you put in charge of your website is as important as what you put in it.

 

Your website is the key to your kingdom when it comes to your online business. Who you put in charge of it can mean the difference between success and failure.

Whoever you put in charge should take the time to understand your company’s unique industry and product, and possess a technical background. They should eat, breathe, and sleep coding. You want the expertise of an online marketer vs. simply someone who knows HTML programming.

Coders simply build cookie cutter websites. Online marketers develop website that extend and enhance your business infrastructure. There are college students who will build you a website for $500 yet will do a poor job which will cost you $1000s of dollars later both in having to redo the site at a later point, and in lost revenue because the site takes 6 months to build because they lack the full time commitment, which will result in lost customer sales. In other words, you get what you pay for.

Having someone who is simply a coder:   Can technically create a website, but may not understand your unique industry or product. The part-time intern or secretary who has a few hours of extra time on their hands may not have this knowledge. If the navigation or flow of the site is not correct, or if the messaging or call to action is not immediately apparent, this confusion will cost you sales and people quickly leaving the site.

An Online Marketer understands that a website is two parts:

a) Technically sound: easy to find information, has the correct functionality and plug-ins that will draw in your audience, combined with the correct blend of unique content.

b) Artistic Vision: how will you stand out from your competitors? Your site is more than just an online brochure. It is a two-way communication tool. Just as a pharmaceutical company has the technical expertise to create a drug, the other half of the equation is the packaging and branding that will compel the customer to buy.

You want to work with a web designer that is specifically suited to the site type you are looking for, has worked with multiple types of businesses across multiple industries so they also understand current trends, and has the best of breed practices that work everywhere.

GANZ Media has worked across many industry sectors including high-tech, software, science-based, retail, business to business, and business to consumer, offering unique insights into online customer behavior. We possess both the technical background, and years of website experience to provide quality control from both a design standpoint, and an artistic/aesthetic aspect.

We work with our clients to make sure they have the right mix of content and online media to draw customers to the site, get them to stay longer, and ultimately help build the trust that will get them to pick up the phone and contact you. The end product blends what is technically possible, with the exact needs of your business, and ensure the designer is not just coding the site correctly, but taking into account the correct considerations from an industrial organization psychology point of view.

Please contact us today to find out how we can help you!

What Social Media is and why your company will fail without it.

What is Social Media?

GANZ Media Social Media Global Chart

This is Social Media!

 

The Internet is a transformative force, especially for businesses. When the World Wide Web first arrived in the late 1990s, companies were unsure if they should have a website, how to properly use them, and what content to put online. Today nearly every business of any size understands that a website is a necessity, and most can’t conceive of how they would conduct business without one. Like those early days of the web, Social Media is in its infancy. There are few standards, and less general understanding for how Social Media can and should be used to increase business. And yet, like the Web, Social Media has the ability to transform your business, increasing your sales and building trust and rapport with your clients and customers.

 

1. Social Media (Function):

Imagine what the future of Apple computers would have been if Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, after building their first computer in their garage, had simply announced over a bullhorn to their neighborhood that the future of personal computing had arrived. Would anyone have taken them seriously? They had no credibility, no track record. In fact, they were just one of thousands of computer kit builders in the United States at that time.

Instead, Apple launched their product and generated a significant following through years of organic growth through tradeshows, developer forums, outdoor concerts, and more recently selling a technology lifestyle though brilliant ads appearing on buildings, billboards, and breathtaking storefronts in malls and shopping centers across the country.

If you have ever watched the hit TV show ‘Madmen’, you can see how advertising changed the face of history in the 1960s. New promotional techniques combined with improved channels of communication altered American culture forever and expanded the possibilities for businesses to reach their customers. Branding was born.

Social Media is a new content distribution channel that is being used by businesses to increase their exposure and improve customer relations. Think of Social Media as the new digital Public Relations with a twist. Could you imagine Apple without a public relations department, or Microsoft without a marketing division? While the method of communicating with clients and customers has shifted over time from Radio, to Television, then to the World Wide Web, and now Social Media, each new technology allows for greater reach and greater participation from customers without replacing what came before. Social Media can significantly lower your marketing budget and can dramatically improve your overall marketing reach. Social Media marketing costs are far lower than traditional print and a fraction of TV and radio ads. Given the amount of competition for customers’ attention and dollars, companies cannot simply rely on the traditional methods of marketing and expect to survive. Having access to cutting edge tools can help you stand out in your industry and perhaps even lead the pack.

Advertising, Public Relations, and Marketing were not simply fads companies adopted and then later discarded. They were new ways of thinking about getting the word out on the street about a product or service, using the available technologies, and developing new processes along the way.

Social Media is one of the newest technology-based sets of tools available for businesses. The world-wide popularity of Social Media sites has shifted a “Tweet” from a message used by teens to tell each other what they had for lunch, or who their favorite singer is, to a media powerhouse companies use to announce IPO’s, announce mergers, release new products, and connect with their users, customers, clients, and stakeholders.

 

2. Social Media (Structure):

In the classroom there is not just one type of student. You have visual learners, auditory learners, and those that are a mixture of the two. In Social Media, one size does not fit all. There are multiple platforms, each appealing to a different online segment: Social Networks (Facebook, Twitter), Video (YouTube), Pictures (Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr,) Music (Pandora, Spotify), Location-Based Services (Yelp, Foursquare), Collaboration (Google Docs), and Interest-Based Networks (LinkedIn, Plaxo, Xing). Each of these channels appeals to different types of potential customers, and many appeal to more than one. It is important to understand each choice, how the consumers are using it, and how to best use these tools to communicate, build relationships, and sell.

3. Social Media (Unique Properties):

Websites in the past have been little more than online brochures, providing static content, and requiring much effort to drive traffic to them. Social Media is different in that it allows companies to engage in a two-way dialog with customers and vendors, and encourages participation, allowing businesses to pose questions, launch polls, and create surveys to get instant feedback from their target markets and buyer personas.

The collective nature of Social Media allows content to reach a larger audience at a quicker rate than ever before. Similar to a fire, where a small spark can turn dry brush into a wildfire, a simple Tweet can incite nations to act (think Tunisia and the Arab Spring); announce world-wide product launches (the Apple iPad); and potentially reach hundreds of millions of viewers (YouTube: KONY 2012 received 100 million views); all while driving traffic to your website/fan page, making your smart phone ring, or filling your email Inbox with hundreds of new potential customers.

4. Social Media (Advantages):

Small companies can now compete at the same level as the major Fortune 500/1000 corporations. Since many Social Media technologies are free and can be automated, the only expense is for expert advice and training. The first step to Social Media success is seeing what your competitors are doing and start looking for trends.

Through Social Media, you can position yourself and your business as a thought leader (an expert in your industry or niche). Instead of sending one way messages that interrupt the attention of your customers (and thus compete with every other interruption), Social Media allows you to engage your customers in a two way communication where they seek you out, and you provide the information they want when and how they want it, which increases the potential impact of your message many times over.

The most important thing to know about Social Media is that your customers want to find something unique or novel. They want new content, special discounts, or hard to find resources that aren’t available in either in your physical retail locations or on your website. If your Social Media strategy takes this into account, you will have mastered the essence of this new technology. Social Media is not just a repeat of your other messages. It is like the difference between radio and television—show, don’t tell.

5. Social Media (Drawbacks):

A poorly crafted Social Media campaign can alienate customers, cost you business, and can remain permanently posted on the Internet. Starting a social media program and stopping for month, or even a week, can give the impression of an unmanned ship, and reduce your online credibility. Not having a dedicated Social Media specialist and a crisis response plan means you lack the ability to instantly turn a customer service problem into a solution, leading to a potential public relations problem. A bad Social Media program will cost you credibility.

Conclusion:

The cost of doing nothing is much higher that doing something, even if you get it wrong the first time. Analyze your competition, develop a plan, and go for it! The very existence of your business may depend on how you approach Social Media.

Contact GANZ Media today to create a Social Media plan for your business!

 

Web Design Mania sweeps the Nation! People take notice of GANZ Media.

Great planning & Email Campaigns = Success!!

A well conceived email campaign can make the difference between successful Online Marketing ROI, and a  sinking ship. In our recent email campaign touting Web Design services, a well crafted subject line once again brings in significant viewers.

You can have the best email content in the world, with snazzy graphics, clever messaging, and the most amazing discounts, but you campaign can fail because your  subject line came across as spammy or insincere. Click here to see the email.

GANZ Media Website Design Email Campaign!

GANZ Media Website Design Email Campaign!

One method for increasing readership of your emails is called an A/B split test. In this case we test only 10  percent of our total list of email subscribers before the main campaign is launched. This small sample size  was split in half using two subject lines with “Website Design Projects & March Madness!”  (which had an  12.5% open rate) against  “March Madness! Website Design & Online Marketing” (which had an 8 % open  rate).

Web Design Email Campaign Results

Web Design Email Campaign Results

We setup our email software to wait for one day to track results between these two groups, allowing for  maximum feedback from our viewers. The winner of these two (the one with the higher open rate), was  used to send out to the remaining 90% of our email list.

Website Design Email Screenshot

Website Design Email Screenshot

5 Helpful Email tips:

Every email campaign should contain the following –

1) A well crafted subject line (tested for effectiveness).

2) A call to action: direct your viewers to perform an action (i.e. View your website, open a video, call you  for a free demonstration, email to receive a 10 % savings on your next purchase).

3) Make sure the email is not too text heavy, inserting plenty of images/graphics/YouTube videos where  needed.

4) Clearly display your Social Media icons and prompt people to follow you. Ask for the Sale!

5) Contact information: too often email campaigns don’t give clear contact info. Make sure to include a  phone number, email address, and website.

Happy Campaigning!

Please contact GANZ Media to help you with your next email campaign!