A Website is not Enough
While not a new concept, marketing across multiple platforms has been around forever. Companies have always spread their efforts to a variety of different media, print, TV, radio, billboards, and the web to name a few. Over the last few years, this has really picked up steam on the web. My favorite example of late is what the TV show The Office has been doing. You used to have to wait until Thursday night at 9 pm to see what was going to happen next, and then you only got about 22 minutes (excluding the commercials) of comedic relief. The folks at NBC have figured out that the web is a pretty powerful tool, and that a viewing experience goes far beyond one night a week.
It’s one thing to post some deleted scenes, which they do, but they have gone a few steps further. Back stories about the characters, a Dwight Schrute blog, http://www.thediabolicalblog.com/index.php, and a fake (or real, however you look at it) Jim and Pam wedding site, http://www.halpertbeesly.com, which cleverly shows up as a banner ad on Dwight’s blog page.
So what does this have to do with your business? Well, if NBC is taking the time to write fake blogs and photo albums so their viewership feels a little more connected with the characters on a TV show, isn’t it about time you started utilizing what is out there a little more? Having a website simply isn’t enough anymore. In fact, the real work begins after your site is up. Let your clients and potential clients in a little bit. Start a blog, share some white papers or some video. Let them get to know you and the company. Many times business decisions, for better or worse, are emotional, so why not leverage that knowledge? The better your clients or future clients know what you and your business are about, the more like they are to stick with you, or buy from you when the time comes.
Bottom Line: The web is not a single platform marketing tool anymore; it hasn’t been for a while. Yet, so many companies are stuck with a one and done solution, their company website. It’s time to get in the game and see what else is out there.
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This post was written by Matt McFadden on December 09, 2009. You can read more from Matt's blog or learn more about Matt. If you'd like to follow Merge's blog, please subscribe to the RSS Feed. To hear more about these posts, you can also follow @merge on Twitter.
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Comments
Great article
This is a really good article. I think the example of The Office and what NBC has done to extend the brand beyond the 30 minute time slot is a really good and practical to help others connect to the point you are making.
I agree that the Web is not the only solution. Paul Boag made a good point of this. Today's world needs a multi-solution strategy that starts with a strong foundational business strategy that then utilizes the Web as part of that overall strategy.
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