Part 2: Websites, PR and Advertising

In every company, there comes a time when you need to ‘clean house.’ Sometimes that house-cleaning is done in personnel to dispose of unproductive or disruptive employees. Sometimes that house-cleaning is done to the physical office to reorganize, make better use of space and eliminate clutter. And sometimes that house-cleaning is done to a particular department’s work to maximize efficiency, increase creativity and catch mistakes. For marketing, that type of ‘cleaning’ is essential to ensure that the company’s strategy, messaging and branding are tightly aligned and working in tandem.

Last week, we reviewed three areas of marketing — collateral, promotional items and trade show materials — that often can benefit from a little Spring cleaning. This week, we will look at three more areas of marketing that often could use a little sprucing up and dusting off: websites, PR and advertising. While these areas of marketing primarily don’t exist in the physical world – as there is no marketing closet that houses your websites and most PR and advertising efforts today begin and end in the digital world – they can still benefit from a little virtual cleaning…. Some proofing, editing, updating and organization. Here’s how.

When’s the last time your company reviewed and refreshed your websites, PR and advertising? If your answer is more than six months ago, then it’s time to get out the cleaning supplies and get to it.

Websites
Websites should be policed regularly. But the truth is that they aren’t, even by companies with huge e-commerce sites. Small and mid-sized companies review their websites even less. When was the last time you reviewed your site from top to bottom? Just because you reviewed your site a year ago doesn’t mean that new errors haven’t popped up since then. A coder might have added, moved or removed something by mistake. A programmer might have moved or removed something because they weren’t aware of its value. Don’t wait for clients or a drop in sales figures to reveal an issue. Here are some steps to follow.

1. Read every word on every page. Sounds tedious. Print all the pages and split them among a few employees (who are good writers / editors) to read thoroughly. You might even reward anyone who finds a genuine error on their pages. That will incentivize them to really scrutinize the text carefully.

2. Click on every link. Broken links and redirection errors happen all the time.

3. Sign up for every one of your website’s offers. If you have a white paper that can be downloaded, register for it and download it. If you have an Estimate Request button, click on it, provide the information asked, and have an estimate sent to you. If you sell products, it may be impossible for you to test all items. But place at least a few orders to ensure that everything works smoothly.

4. Review your website from various different browsers such as Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. Sometimes you will find that your website does not render properly on certain browsers. A photo might appear as an X or the margins or footers may be shifted.

PR
It may seem that PR is an area of marketing that never really needs a good Spring cleaning. Think again. PR efforts can often get stale or outdated without a watchful eye. It makes sense to go over everything and make sure that PR efforts have kept up with changes in the company. Here are some things to review and update.

1. Check your print and online News Archives. Are the most current Press Releases and published articles posted on your website? Are they being posted on your social media pages as well? If not, it’s time to update. A website that has press releases and articles dating back several years but nothing more recent gives the appearance of a company that has either gone under or has cut back on marketing so drastically that they no longer are able to update their website. Neither message is good.

2. Google some of the topics of your most recent articles and releases to see if they rank well. Also Google your company’s name(s) to see if any of the articles or releases appear as part of that search. Hopefully they do. If they don’t, it’s time to review the connection between your PR and SEO efforts.

3. Check your company’s Media Kit to ensure that it has the most current contact information and messaging. Has the company changed its strategy or brand in a way that is not reflected on the Media Kit? Has the company moved offices or implemented a new toll-free number that has not been added to the Media Kit? Update everything to ensure that all branding and messaging is fresh and current.

Advertising

Advertising is another area of marketing that may need a good Spring cleaning. Certainly ad agencies would agree. Is your company using the same tired ads, headlines, mascots or messaging from last year… or five years ago? If so, it’s time to pull out your ad campaigns and think about how to update your messaging to resonate with your potential clients today. For example, perhaps your marketing was directed to an older, more traditional clientele years ago, but today you find that the next generation of decision-makers is younger and more contemporary. It’s time for your advertising (and that includes online ads, mobile ads, print ads, flyers, radio commercials, tv commercial, online videos, etc.) to get an update.

1. Review the visuals (photos or footage) of every ad campaign, whether direct mail or e-blast, that the company has done in the past couple of years. Is there evidence that the campaign is dated? Do you see people using old calculators or oversized cell phones? Are people wearing clothing or donning hair styles that reek of the 1990s? If the rest of the messaging is good, you may just want to update the photography.

2. Then review the messaging of every ad campaign that the company has done in the past two years. Are the headlines dated? For example, companies ran a lot of patriotic-looking ads during the years right after 9-11 to show their support of the U.S. But if ads are still touting the red-white-blue theme a decade later, it’s time for an update… unless of course the company sells U.S. flags.

3. Even if the ad visuals and messaging are still good, consider creating new ad campaigns anyway simply to give potential customers a reason to check you out again.

Once you’ve removed all the cobwebs and polished up your marketing to a high, glossy shine again, you are ready to take your sales and marketing efforts to the next level, confident that your company’s brand is represented as it should be.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The lamp burns bright when wick and oil are clean.” Ovid

© 2012, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.