A couple of weeks ago we had a chance to look at the significance of Facebook as a replacement for the business website.

The article suggested that maybe businesses might be planning on using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media sites as their corporate hub instead of their business website. We had suggested that using social media as your hub was a bad idea. Your business website should be the hub of your business online marketing while everything else that you do online should be an extension of that hub.

VanSEODesign wrote an article last Thursday entitled: “Why Your Website is More Valuable Than Facebook” that talked about whether your business website is more important than Facebook or vise versa.

Many local only businesses still forego developing a site for their business, restaurants especially. Some, having heard of social media, are now setting up profiles and marketing through social sites, but still don’t have their own website. Is this a good idea? Is a website no longer necessary? Or are these businesses making a huge mistake?

Check out the article and let us know what you think? Are you creating a Facebook page before you build your website?

Do you really need a website when there’s social media sites?

The Hub

Your website needs to be more than a brochure

For many years businesses they have treated their website along the same lines as their business cards. We need to have it, but “do we really need anything more than a phone number on it”? Wait, hang on…the designer in me needs to restart my heart after that comment. The answer is Yes! Its true, many business just think of their websites as an after thought. Most businesses agree that their overall image management starts with the statement that the first impression is everything when it comes to business. But, many don’t take that approach when it comes to their website. Many business websites are nothing more than electronic business cards that are static and meant only to give contact information to the end user. With good design, this could be a good first impression, but is it an impression that will last with the end user?

The standard formula for a business website is to give you the history about their company, a chance to meet the staff with a quick bio, and a list of services. Really? That’s it? Makes me think of a brochure or pamphlet. Is that the direction of business websites today? Will this trend allow the business website to compete on the web today? To answer that question I think we need to take a look at social media and how it is shaping the web.

How is Facebook Changing Business?

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are very popular. In fact, if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in population behind China and India. That’s enough for us to take a look at what is working for them and to ask the question, “what is the draw”?

I believe Facebook and other social media sites have some common elements that are making them popular with end users. They are quick and interactive. Their content is fresh and relevant. It is user driven. It is evolving. Facebook and others social media sites can react quickly to market trends. They make it easier to share information and build trust through their interactions. These are the exact things that are missing from many business websites today.

So is the Corporate Website Obsolete?

is your business website obsolete

The flip side to the question is that your company website is not obsolete if you make the decision to make changes. The simple fact is that your website can use a makeover. Here at MosaicTeam are actually tweaking our website right now after going through a major change last year. Actually all website should be under review from time to time to make sure they still match your company’s mission statement and are relevant to your clients. Websites cannot continue to be nothing more than electronic business cards. Companies need to look towards Facebook and apply some of the same techniques. The key to a successful website is to make it the hub of information for your company. The other elements around this hub will included your print marketing, your social media marketing, and your business networking opportunities. All of these work in conjunction to highlight the centerpiece, your website. So, the centerpiece needs to be special. It cannot just be a fancy business card. To be successful, your company website needs to have a few qualities that can be taken from the social marketing world:

• Informative
• Interactive and Engaging
• Fun
• Able to be updated quickly
• Use media such as audio and video

Is your website accomplishing these things? Are you using the social media tools available to interact with your clients? Are you using media such as video? Does your site look like it was design when the internet was invented? I believe that sites that refuse to change with the web and continue to dismiss the power of social media, those businesses will suffer when it comes to their website. And since it is the hub of information regarding a company, the company could suffer as well. Social media sites such as Facebook have shown that providing information and engaging with clients works. It is now time for businesses to seriously look at their website and see if they are measuring up. Over the next week we are going to look at some tools that businesses can use to create a website that is informative, engaging, fun and has the ability to be updated quickly. Let us know what you think and stay tuned over the next several days.

Images provided by Internet Marketing and Nick Fisher.

Yesterday we had a chance to look at “Why Your Business can’t afford to Ignore Twitter“, which looked at the importance of Twitter and its relationship building opportunities. This relationship marketing approach is exactly what we are going to dig deeper into today and look at twitter business marketing.

Think of Twitter as a tug-o-war competition with a big mud pit in the middle. Twitter marketing is a push-pull relationship that; and as business owners using it, you have to maintain balance; and be sure not to move to hard in one direction otherwise you get all muddy. The push part of using twitter is getting your message out and promoting your business. The pull part is listening to your clients and business partners and taking necessary steps to ensure high quality customer service. The key is to making twitter marketing work is that your twitter stream doesn’t become a push-push relationship. So, use the following advice of promoting your business equally with listening to your clients and sharing information with them for ultimate success.

Continuing Your Brand and Image

Twitter can be a great way to get your brand out: known as twitter marketing. The key is to have your image, or your brand marketing, the same across all media platforms. Your online image and offline image should match. This is an area where you should hire a professional design company to make a custom twitter background for you. The investment in a custom twitter background is worth it so that your brand across all your media markets is congruent. Make sure that you take the time to write a bio and always add your website to your profile.

Twitter Marketing

Promoting your business on Twitter is simple and can be highly productive, as long as it is not overdone. Think about what a great opportunity it is to let your followers (your clients) know about a last minute sale or maybe you can create an exclusive Twitter Followers Only promotion for a special discount. Creating a kickoff countdown to a new store opening or to your annual Biggest Sale Ever will help build anticipation and suspense! Your clients will appreciate being treated special and being “in the know”.

Link With Your Other Accounts

Linking with your other social network accounts or your blog is a great way to share information regarding your company. By linking your blog with your twitter account, you can push out your latest company news to followers, increasing your readership. Also, you can push your email marketing campaigns with MailChimp to all your followers, letting them know that there are even more exclusive deals. As far as linking Facebook and Twitter together, they work well but just make sure that you aren’t pushing the same message to both places all the time.

Be An Expert

Twitter gives your business the opportunity to become the expert in your field or industry. By retweeting or sharing new information, you are letting your clients and partners know that you are at the forefront of your industry; always staying up to date with trends and positioning your business for the future. This is also a great way to create new partnerships with the people that you follow and share information with.

Final Thoughts

Don’t let your twitter marketing become a one way street. It is important to create a balance with your followers that lets you get your message out without being pushy while at the same time taking a step back to listen to your clients. Also, don’t let the message be one way. Start to follow some of the other leaders in your field or a similar industry. If your in the coffee business, maybe following a local news company or reporter would be beneficial to your clients. Who doesn’t want to drink their coffee and get some news. Twitter can be used for business marketing, but it really shines as a way to connect and share information with others. Make sure you keep this in mind when you are pushing out those 140 characters.