A new web presence? Sounds important

How important is a web presence to you? 

Is digital communications a ‘must have’ for you? Is it – maybe – even business critical? Or is it just important to you personally to have something you (and others) know is there? 

How expert are you in all things digital?

Do you know all about usability, about human behaviour in the digital arena, about what makes for great search engine visibility, about great coding and cheap coding, and about best practice in all the ‘art and science’ that extraordinary web work requires?

What next...

What exactly are we upgrading?

Facelift or step change?

Chances are if your web presence needs an upgrade, it’s not just for cosmetic reasons – you need it to really deliver a lot more than it did.

Perhaps it’s the case that digital communications used to be a ‘nice to have’ but today are a ‘must have’ or even ‘business critical’?

Even the need to simply refresh a tired old presence, means there is an opportunity waiting to be grasped or lost. And it’s in your hands…

So is there a problem?

It's beyond digital, beyond 'comms'...

The days of isolation are over

Time was, digital was seen as an add-on. Not of course for everyone – others thought it could answer all the information needs of all the people all the time.

As we all know, neither position is right.

Where in that spectrum does digital stand to make the greatest contribution to your business?

What can it do? What can’t it do? What offline do you need to mix it with to make it work harder? Which audiences will it serve best and when?

So the problem is…

Don't they watch enough 'Countdown'?

Sales – an insatiable beast

Have you ever heard a sales team complaining that there are simply too many good quality leads for them to handle?

Rather than go through the long slog of self generation, most prefer an afternoon watching Countdown at home whilst penning e-mails. Complaining about the lack of leads is the closest they will come to pro-activity. (The writer is an ex salesman and Countdown champion).

The point is; cost efficient lead-generation that can deliver the right volume in the right quantity is the holy grail of every company.

So the problem is…

It's all got a bit fragmented

Bloody new media

Time was you wanted to get a message out or drive some leads. A couple of press releases, a product ad, a brochure and an exhibition or two and Robert was your mother’s brother.

Today you still have to do most of that plus all the digital things too, and for no more money – sometimes less.

So the problem is…

It's just got to be right, first time

Many people face the same dilemma – limitless stakeholder expectations, a bewildering number of web development agencies, a complex media that remains somewhat foreign…

…and the person tasked with making the most of it? You.

Fine, if you are an expert, if it’s the only project you have on your plate and if you know what the answer is. If not…

The implications…

Is the problem expectations or expertise?

Whose day job is digital? (The answer is – ours)

Some of your stakeholders may task a modest upgrade with too much, a silver bullet in cost savings or sales generation perhaps? Others may still dismiss it as a glorified electronic brochure and no more.

It’s unlikely that either extreme is right.

How do you manage expectations (up or down)? How do you determine exactly what it can deliver well and what not; after all were you recruited as a digital expert?

The implications…

The problem is 'who to ask?'

The answer is ‘no-one’

No one person or organisation can truly have all the digital answers.

You may be too close to the challenges, and may not have the specialist knowledge of what digital communications can and can’t do.

So you talk to a digital specialist. But what they are specialist in? Digital development? Digital campaigns? Digital design?

The problem usually lies in this. The client knowledge is very broad. The specialist’s knowledge very narrow. The gap between the two is where the digital opportunity is lost.

The implications are huge…

The problem is everyone wants it...

There is no silver bullet

If it was cheap, easy and simple to generate all the leads, all of the time, then everyone would do it. It isn’t, and they don’t.

We live in a world of mature markets, with media savvy (and weary) audiences.

The answer doesn’t lie in a software system, but it may lie in a clever combination of art and science. The question is – how do you find this?

You (yes you reading this right here and now) are a case in point. Church wants you to be our ‘lead’, but so do many others. Will we succeed? Read on…

The implications of failure…

‘50% of my advertising spend is wasted – I just don’t know which 50%…’

Again, there is no silver bullet

Any campaign is driven by how your audience consumes that media, not by what your budget allows and not by the precedence of what worked 5,3 or 2 years ago.

Digital media may be a central component of any campaign these days, but it is a medium, like any other, with strengths and weaknesses along that ‘path to purchase’.

The challenge is to know what to use, when and with which message.

Getting it right, getting it wrong…

It's your project, your career (but is it your day job?)

Death or glory?

The stakes are high, and they are high on a personal, a professional and an operational level.

Success may mean glory but there is a flip side too. These days there are few activities that compete with digital media for a higher, more public profile. It’s also difficult to think of any other media on which there are so many keenly interested stakeholders…. and everyone an armchair critic.

Which means...

A career upgrade too?

Everyone’s a critic

When it comes to the web, the stakes are usually high. That means high for you personally on all levels – personal, professional and operational.

Success may mean 15 minutes of career glory but where there’s glory to be had there’s a flip side too.

Few projects compete with digital media for a higher, more public, profile.

It’s also difficult to think of any other media on which there are so many keenly interested stakeholders…. and these days everyone is a critic.

Which means…

How do you find clarity?

Perspective is elusive…

Strategic planning relies on being able to see the whole picture, that means, the:

- lifetime journey of the customer from ignorance through to loyalty
- entire communication picture at all touch-points, regardless of media
- whole story of how information is used (and abused) by all stakeholders at all times.

‘Digital’ isn’t about technology or even about communication, it is about new ways to move a business forward, to change human behaviour, to improve processes. If you’re missing any part of the bigger picture your digital strategy may be fundamentally compromised.

But you (and everyone else) won’t know it until it goes live.

Which means…

How do you make the short list?

Start by making the long list

There’s an insatiable demand for leads versus the economic reality of creating them. It’s an area of tension and you are sitting right in the middle of it.

Cost of acquisition, cost of conversion, lifetime value of customer – just some of the planning drivers.

The implications of delivering just a short-term fix may be cost. 

The implications of needing to deliver a long-term strategy which delivers a sustainable answer? Getting buy-in from the ‘powers that be’ for a media they may not understand.

Which means…

When integrated goes wrong

The days of ‘matching luggage’ are gone

When your agency doesn’t truly know the strengths and weaknesses of all the media, the result is often a campaign that looks integrated, but is in fact simply a creative theme applied to different formats.

What’s wrong with that? Lots.

Example: a print ad works very differently from an online banner ad. The former may benefit from ‘dwell media,’ the latter has more similarities with sales promotion or point of sale. 

Methodology and experience have to be applied before design is considered. If it’s not, results will elude you, and you won’t know why.

Which means…

Your need is complex, but the answer is... simple

It’s a question of who you can trust

Your basic need is for results. How you choose your partner should be driven by their proof of delivering these results. Here’s what to look for:

- quality of the client base and the length of relationships
- strength of your partner in analysing need and problem solving
- proof of best practice methodology and standards
- results, results, results…

Welcome to Church Digital

So what you need is...

Real answers...

You need a real result from your website upgrade, both perceived and actual, so the partner you choose is vital.

How you choose your partner should be driven by their proof of delivering these results. Here’s what to look for:

- quality of the client base and the length of relationships
- strength of your partner in analysing need and problem solving
- proof of best practice methodology and standards
- results, results, results…

Welcome to Church Digital

You need the 'big' perspective
(and some great analytical tools)

A partner with real answers…

To make digital work to its full potential, you need to blend your knowledge of markets, sales processes and internal systems, with the expertise of a broad based business, marketing and communications consultancy, which also has specialist teams in digital marketing.

You need:

- a partner whose senior consultants have sat in your seat themselves
- consultants with the theoretical and intellectual tools to frame a solution
- a partner with proof of converting all the above into best practice
- results, results, results…

Welcome to Church Digital

You need joined-up campaign planning...

It’s all in the blend…

From online PR to SEO, PPC to good old-fashioned mailers, online and print advertising and much more…

…the problem is not an absence of options, it’s knowing which combination will drive the right traffic at the right price. The next need is how to convert these hard won site visits into hot leads.

You need:

- a partner able to contribute to your sales process thinking
- a media planning expert
- a partner with on and offline lead generation expertise
- results, results, results…

Welcome to Church Digital

You need joined-up campaign planning

Blended to taste

From online PR to SEO, PPC to good old-fashioned mailers, online and print advertising and much more – the campaign toolkit is full of options.

You need to know which combination will drive the target audience from a state of ignorance and ambivalence right through to a sale, or a change in behaviour.

You need:

- a partner who can think and advise in media-neutral terms
- a media planning expert used to blending the optimum mix
- results, results, results…

Welcome to Church Digital