IS A WEBSITE IMPORTANT FOR B2B MARKETING?
The direct answer to this question is ‘YES, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT’!
Every company in the engineering sector without question should have a website to be proud of, after all, it is the face of your business and the most important tool in your marketing armoury. A website alone can win new business 24/7 without you even realising somebody is considering purchasing from you…or it can put them off altogether.
No matter how other companies find out about your business, they will almost always give your website a once over before contacting you or purchasing, just to be sure you’re the right company for them. This is why you need the website to be as modern and well designed as possible. You should invest in your website every year as part of your marketing budget.
So why are so many engineering websites so poor I ask?
May I ask you a question? Is your website the best it can be? Are you proud of it? Does it go out of its way to promote you? Be honest with your answer, or give one of our team members a call and ask them to evaluate it for you.
We come across very amateur looking engineering websites every day, often designed by the neighbour’s ‘daughter-in-law’s brother’ at the weekend! A website is the part of your marketing that will make or break a new customer relationship, so why cut corners with cost?
Many new engineering companies don’t invest in a website at the beginning at all, favouring the idea of keeping costs low. But why do that? Why cut off one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal, just to save a few pounds? They purchase the machinery to produce their parts, but leave out the website that would help to sell those parts?
Many large engineering businesses don’t place much value in their website either, arguing their brand name and contacts are enough to keep sales coming in! The word ‘complacency’ springs to mind here, and I think we’ve all seen a few such companies go under over the last few years.
There are many Marketing Managers out there with big yearly budgets for digital marketing in the engineering sector (maybe you are one of them?) and they are keen to place that budget on the marketing tools that will bring in the fastest results, such as Google ads, social media, influencer marketing etc. They mistakenly believe that placing their budget here and cutting costs with their website will get them the quick return they crave so their sales figures impress their directors. But without a website that converts, the money spent on driving traffic to the website is wasted.
A website needs quality traffic driving to it, from effective marketing tools. These marketing tools then require a great website to convert that traffic into high converting customers. They have a symbiotic relationship; they both need each other, and they need equal care and investment over the years.
When Brookstone Creative receive a marketing enquiry we always begin by evaluating the client’s website first, before taking on their custom. The website needs to be able to convert the traffic we send to it, and if we don’t believe it will we will recommend investing in that website before spending any more money on marketing. We may lose some business this way at times, but those that take on our advice about the website receive a far higher return on their investment.
The moral of this story is to make sure your website is looking and working at its absolute best for your target market. Don’t rush straight into the newest marketing tools. Start by evaluating the effectiveness of your website, otherwise you will limit any return you could be making.
If you are not sure what makes a good website and how to evaluate yours then get in touch and tell our team that you’ve read this article. They will be happy to spend some time with your website and provide you with an unbiased review of your site.
If you’re serious about succeeding, we look forward to hearing from you.