Attention Marketing Department

I just returned from a breakfast appointment with Justin Bryant and Derek McClain with Fusework Studios, an Indianapolis-based web company.  Justin is in sales and Derek is a project manager.  Derek mentioned that of the 35 customers that he manages only 3-4 are really actively using their website as a marketing tool.

My question is, why not?  If you’re working with a reputable web company they’ve probably built your site on top of a content management system that allows you to add and modify the content on your site.  If this is the case, why aren’t you working on your website every day?  Why aren’t you utilizing Google analytics to test content and  conversion rates?  Why aren’t you trying out new initiatives on your site?  What do you do all day?

Marketing isn’t just a checklist of tasks that need to be done.  You shouldn’t be saying to yourself, ‘Okay I’ve got the direct mail piece done, now I need to send out my eNewsletter, then I’ll have done a great job marketing my company.’  That’s what I call checklist marketing and it’s not really marketing at all!

We’re experiencing tough economic times right now.  You’ve got to prove to your boss on a daily basis that you’re a valuable part of the oranization.  You’ve got to prove that you’re producing, and that takes measurement.  At the end of the month you should be able to hand your boss a spreadsheet that says, ‘Here’s all the marketing initiatives I worked on this month’, ‘Here’s how much it cost you,’ and ‘Here’s your profit.’   Why should he or she care about anything else?  If you don’t know how to measure, contact me and I’ll get you pointed in the right direction.