If you build it, they will come

If you build it, they will come

Daniel Wright | 16/07/2009

In the movie Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner is inspired to build a baseball field in the middle of his corn crop all because of the mantra “If you build it, they will come”. As beautiful as that thought might be, there’s a very real reason that the movie was called Field of Dreams. The simple truth these days is that building a great website might get some people to come, but if you’re going to take the task of building an online brand and reputation seriously, then you need to be willing to do a lot more than just build a website.

The modern online world is busy and extremely fast-paced. Often a trend barely has time to establish itself before it’s being decried as over and no longer relevant. In this sort of environment it can be difficult to ensure that you get the best bang for your marketing buck, but more importantly, that you make good contact with the right audience for your website and your business. A good, strategic marketing plan is worth far more than its weight in gold as it yields not only a volume of traffic, but also a set of highly qualified and relevant marketing leads.

Planning and managing your spend across a variety of streams is essential and each business will have its own set of requirements. Some businesses will need Google Adwords, Affiliate marketing and display advertising on popular sites. Others might want to go with a social networking approach, inserting themselves into sites like Facebook or opening Twitter accounts. Others still may want a more viral campaign with the goal of creating some buzz.

Building the website is at best, half the equation. You also need a clear understanding of the purpose and goals of your website, and to then develop a specifically tailored marketing strategy that is tuned to help you achieve those goals. If your web development firm isn’t asking you about your overall marketing strategy and how to integrate your site into the overall objectives of your business then it might be time to look for one that will.

tags: Web Design ,  Web Development ,  Email Marketing ,  Online Marketing