For advice and no-nonsense help with marketing muddles and digital dilemmas why not write to our own agony uncle?
Dear Darrell,
I own a small business and want a website where customers can purchase my products and access my services directly. I’ve decided to use a website builder and build it myself as it seems to be the cheapest option. However, I would really like to know… Are there any disadvantages to using a website building platform? Will more sales come through a website designed and built by professionals?
Concerned, Bognor Regis
Dear Concerned,
A website built by yourself using one of the well-known platforms can be a good solution when you are starting out. However, a website built by marketing professionals will not only reflect your brand in its every communication but take your customer to the point of purchase with an evident call to action and a method of capturing visitors’ information for potential future sales. Would you know how to achieve this working on your own? Also, bespoke websites give you more control over implementing SEO measures which make your site easier to find.
Dear Darrell,
I’m not a great writer but people are telling me that content creation should be central to my digital marketing strategy. I still don’t have a blog on my website and I haven’t got a clue how to write one. Please help.
Ivor Block, Shrewsbury.
Dear Ivor,
My advice would be to avoid doing what everyone else is doing, be yourself, be different, be helpful and be relevant. Research key words and phrases relevant to your product and make sure that they appear in your blogs and blog titles. What questions would a potential customer be asking as they google for a product/service such as yours to solve their problem? Now use those questions in your text. Make your subject matter intriguing, who wants to read a boring blog? Finally, blog consistently (every week/fortnight/month) and build a database of email addresses to send it out to.
Dear Darrell,
Our company does a lot of presentations so I had a logo designed to use on our PowerPoints but they still don’t look consistent. Each one looks different and it makes it look as if everyone is doing their own thing. Any ideas?
Justin Case, Inverness.
Dear Justin,
My suggestion would be to create a template to make things look more consistent. Make sure that your template conveys the company’s mission, vision and values. When you create your template set a standard font size and typeface for headers and sub headers. Are you going to insert videos and if so how is the presentation going to be displayed? Did you know that video often performs better using Apple’s keynote than PowerPoint?
Dear Darrell,
I’m trying to win business and I keep sending proposals via email but don’t seem to be getting decent conversion rates – what do you suggest?
Uma Goodness, Scarborough
Dear Uma,
Firstly, check out “Better Proposals” – does just what it says on the tin! Or any other proposal software out there for that matter. Prepare the proposal and take your potential client through the proposal in a face to face meeting to explain it and field any questions. You need to go out of your way to connect. Then send them the proposal after the meeting to read through and digest. Be clear about how you can help them. Hope that helps.
The above examples are in fact entirely fictitious, but despite their bogus nature, these are the kind of questions that anyone might ask. If you have a marketing question that you’d like answered why not write in? [email protected] / [email protected]