DOES YOUR WEBSITE GENERATE LEADS FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
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I continually struggle to understand why so many small business owners just don't get Digital Marketing. Why can't they see the benefit of a great website and more importantly a great digital marketing strategy? Why when they use Google to find products or services for themselves, do they not stop and think that I should be leveraging this for my business? What is stopping them from implementing a proper web marketing strategy for their business?
Before the "Why", let's talk facts.
The latest Sensis e-Business Report (2014)* shows that there are still only 66% of SMEs with a website. As a website is a key component of any serious online marketing strategy, that means that 34% of SMEs are not even close to having one. Some other key stats from this report are:
So these figures in my view make pretty grim reading. Roughly three quarters of small business don't see the value of the internet to their business.
So what is the value?
The best way for me to show results is to go through a few client case studies. Let's choose a client on each of our web marketing plans.
This client is a Stonemason and focuses on Headstones, Monuments and Stone Benchtops. When we started with them they were getting roughly 5 "Contact Us" webforms/month. They went on our Bronze Plan and have been paying $750/month (ex GST) for the last 4 years. For the last 3 months they have averaged 90 webforms/month, so this works out at $8.33/webform.
This client manufactures sports uniforms and sell throughout Australia. When we started, they were lucky to be getting around 20 webforms/month. They actually began on our Gold Plan roughly 6 years ago, but have dropped back to our Silver plan for the last 6 months. This means they pay $1500/month (ex GST). For the last 3 months they have averaged 400 webforms/month, which works out at $3.75/webform.
This client is an all trade company, supplying Electricians, Plumbers, Handyman etc to Homes and Businesses. Once again, when we started with them 5 1/2 years ago, they were getting under 100 webforms/month and most of these were a result of Adwords. They have been on our Gold Plan all the way through and have averaged 499 webforms/month the last 3 months (with NO Adwords) at a cost of $4/webform.
Important: These results are purely webforms and don't take into account the phone calls the websites also generated. Studies show that you can add at least 3 phone calls to every webform (even more if they are on a mobile phone). So you can reduce those costs/webform down even further.
The purpose of these results is not to impress you, but to impress upon you the impact that a proper digital marketing strategy can have on your business. Is there any other form of marketing (other than Referral) that can get you leads at a better cost?
So now we've looked at the facts, why does only a quarter of Small Business get it?
Now before we get into this, let me just stress that this is my opinion after spending many years trying to answer this question. I've not only researched, but more importantly, spoken to many Small Business Owners.
So the main reasons that Small Business Owners don't have or see the need for a Digital Marketing Strategy are:
Well there you have it. The reasons I believe that the majority of Small Business Owners don't have a Digital Marketing Strategy. Are you part of the crowd or do you stand out?
*Sensis complete an annual survey of Small Business to find their internet usage etc. View the full report here.
DOES YOUR WEBSITE GENERATE LEADS FOR YOUR BUSINESS?
Find out how we can get your website working for your business.
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