Check your web-marketing savvy with this self-test. Then check our answers below.
| 1. | TRUE FALSE | If you have Facebook, you don’t need a website. |
| 2. | TRUE FALSE | A website makes getting new customers easier. |
| 3. | TRUE FALSE | “Information products” are a quick way to increase profits. |
| 4. | TRUE FALSE | Pay-per-click ads – expensive but guaranteed to work. |
| 5. | TRUE FALSE | Our web developer is an e-commerce expert. |
| 6. | TRUE FALSE | It’s expensive to do webinars. |
| 7. | TRUE FALSE | Social media (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) is essential. |
| 8. | TRUE FALSE | We can’t afford to market via the web. |
| 9. | TRUE FALSE | Our web developer is an SEO expert. |
| 10. | TRUE FALSE | Lead gen companies & purchasing email lists are good ways to get customers. |
1. If you have Facebook, you don’t need a website.
FALSE. First and most important, most folks who friend you on Facebook will not actually receive your updates. Facebook doesn’t show you every update from everyone you friend — not even close. Did you realize that?
Plus, lots of potential customers aren’t active on Facebook. Hoping that potential customers will sign up for a Facebook account just so they can learn about your business is a really bad idea.
Plus, a well-designed website instantly conveys the personality of your business – something your Facebook page will never do. Yes, in theory you can put all the info potential customers care about on your Info, Events, etc. Facebook pages…but that’s not a very user-friendly way to give prospects info about your business.
Finally, keep in mind that Facebook controls Facebook, and they don’t care whether your business is successful or not. You’re playing by their rules, and their rules are constantly changing, usually to the benefit of those they hope will pay big bucks to market on Facebook. Hey, Facebook’s gotta make a living too, right?
You wouldn’t completely remodel a rented apartment with a flaky landlord, right? Putting all your marketing eggs in the Facebook basket is just like that.
2. A website makes getting new customers easier.
TRUE. But websites are not silver bullets. You’ve got to put the right information on your site, so that potential customers can quickly tell whether your business is a fit for them. And even more important, you’ve got to have a strategy for getting people to your website in the first place. A great strategy is to combine a well-thought-out website with a strong emphasis on online customer reviews.
3. “Information products” are a quick way to increase profits.
FALSE. For most health and wellness businesses, “e-book information products” like cookbooks, workout guides, and healthy lifestyle programs are better used as marketing tools than as standalone products. If you do want to sell your e-book, plan on investing time, energy and money in marketing it. Simply creating a long “sales-letter” style landing-page won’t make your e-book sales boom.
4. Pay-per-click ads – expensive but guaranteed to work.
If you’re effective at connecting with leads who reach out to you, PPC ads can make a lot of sense if your website is strong and your Google My Business presence is comprehensive.
5. Our web developer is an e-commerce expert.
FALSE. Most developers (do you have a trustworthy one? check here) will want you to license shopping cart software which they will then charge you to customize. It will have limited features, technical glitches and/or downtime, and poor tech support.Unless you remind them (and pay extra), they won’t usually keep updating the software to the latest version – which means bugs and security holes aren’t getting fixed.
We nearly always recommend using a third-party hosted e-commerce solution. You can set up a customized store or add customized e-commerce to your site for under $50/month and get great features and excellent tech support with far less downtime and fewer glitches. Plus, services have “hooks” into the major search engines, so your products are likelier to show up in search engine results.
6. It’s hard to do webinars.
FALSE. Webinars are great ways to market or provide wellness services for a fee.
7. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is essential.
FALSE. Most health and wellness businesses shouldn’t make social media the centerpiece of their marketing strategy. These sites are better for staying connected with current customers than attracting new ones. You can spend a lot of time on updates without seeing new revenue.
Plus, Facebook pages often look like your favorite pizza joint’s bulletin board – a jumbled collection of stuff that no one ever looks at. And look closely – is most of the engagement coming from the same tiny handful of people?
That said, if your marketing plan relies on social media, leverage everything they offer. Capitalize on each site’s strengths. Customize the look and feel, post events, get creative with the photo galleries, and post offers, promotions, information and other updates that will matter to customers.
And don’t forget to cross-pollinate between your website, your social media presence, and your email newsletter.
8. We can’t afford to market via the web.
FALSE. For example, the incredibly effective Google My Business is free and online customer reviews are highly effective and also cost nothing except a little time. There are other free or very affordable options out there, too, like event postings on local media websites.
9. Our web developer is an SEO expert.
FALSE. They nearly always lack general marketing expertise, they’re not usually search engine optimization experts, and they aren’t experts in PPC tools like Google Ads. There are firms that specialize in all these things, and they will do a much better job than your web developer.
Look for: a firm that specializes in web marketing and has certified Google Ads specialists on staff and/or a firm that specializes in local search.
10. Buying an email list is a good way to find customers.
FALSE. Here’s our list of 50+ GOOD ways to get email addresses.
Put it this way – would purchased email addresses cost only pennies each if they were actually worth something? Nope. You have no idea where these addresses came from, but one thing you know for sure: they have never heard of your business and never asked you to send them anything. So if you email them, the odds are very, very good that they will ignore you, or report your email as spam.
