I was at a fantastic party recently, and being unable to switch off from work meant I found myself comparing it to marketing a business (sad, I know).
Here are my observations on the similarities between throwing a party and promoting a business online.
Do your guests have anything in common?
Have you ever been to a party where the people you spoke to seemed a little boring? Maybe they talked about themselves all night or had nothing new to say. If you're planning on promoting your business, imagine yourself at a party first.
- Do you want your company to come across as self-obsessed?
- Do you want your website to be the boring old Uncle in the corner with nothing new to say?
Party food
When you think of party food, things like pizza, sandwiches and sausage rolls come to mind. Wouldn't it be nice to go to a party where someone had gone that extra mile with the food?
Your marketing needs to stand out from the crowd. Imagine you had a website about mortgages and the text sounded exactly the same as all the other mortgage websites out there. Do you think people would appreciate that lack of effort? Do you think people really like frozen sausage rolls?
Take the time to really think about how your business is different from your competition before you market your business.
How long do people stay?
If you throw a party and everyone has left within a short time of arriving there's something wrong.
The same principle applies to your website. The text on your website plays a huge role in how long people hang around. A poor headline that just says "Welcome to our website" will hardly capture their attention and make them want to read on.
Experiment with different headlines and use Google Analytics to monitor how each of them affects the length of time people stay on your website.
Do you make it easy for people to find the venue?
When you're inviting people to a party at a venue, it's nice to tell them where it is. Maybe print a little map inside your invites.
When it comes to online marketing it makes sense to point people in the direction of your website. Here's what you can do to achieve this:
- Use keywords relevant to your website in your meta titles, descriptions, headings and sub headings (Google any of these you're not sure about) rather than just "welcome"
- Create an online map by getting lots of relevant incoming links to your website that will make it easier for people to find
What's in it for you?
Throwing a party just so you can get lots of presents tends not to go down well. You may well get a few nice gifts but then not hear from people for a long time afterwards.
Using your marketing purely for the hard sell will have the same effect. A few people may buy initially but it's not going to win you lots of repeat customers.
Think about what's in it for your potential customers. Why should they buy your product or service?
So there you have it. Maybe the next time I go to a party I can enjoy myself without thinking about marketing!