Web strategy: Bells & whistles
E newsletters
Your Content Management System gives you the ability to manage a mailing list and send regular electronic newsletters to subscribed customers via email. They are as simple to work with as your regular CMS, and are a great form of online marketing that remind subscribers about you via email and provide a prompt for them to return to your website, whether because of some important news or a special promotion or offer.
Next stepMaps
There are many reasons why you might need to display maps on your website, not the least being to show people where you are!
Cool tools like Google Maps mean that you can have street maps or even satellite maps to your heart’s content, and can not only show people where you are, but even tell them how to get to you from certain places. Maps can also be great for showing lots of locations, or special features in an area, and you can attach information and photos to this too.
Next stepVirtual tours
Don’t just describe your special place to people, take them there!Virtual tours are photographic or video based multimedia tools that can capture every part of a location in 360° or even 720° (that means up and down too) in one dynamic image that the user can navigate around, transporting them to the destination you’re showcasing. As well as just looking around from one spot, you can have virtual tours which your user can actually move about in, and have a real stickybeak around the place.
These tours are great for showing off your location if you’re in any kind of tourism or visitor based industry, but you can also walk people through your showroom or a location where your company has done great work.
Next stepBlogging
A blog (short for weblog) in simple terms is an online journal of regularly updated commentary, news or other content displayed in chronological order, usually around a particular subject.In the beginning, blogs were popular as personal diaries, but now they are used very commonly on corporate websites to provide regular news and content in a less formal style, almost like a column or editorial in print media.
Each blog ‘post’ or article is published with its own header and a graphic, and readers can post comments right underneath it, giving you an instant way to communicate and gather feedback from your audience. A blog is also a great opportunity for you to weigh in on current issues and trends within the industry that may not necessarily have a place within your regular site content.
Next stepSocial media
An inevitable fact of the Web of today is you are not the only one talking about your business.Online review sites such as TripAdvisor, social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter and other social media such as YouTube and Wikipedia are all very real and very relevant to any business or organisation with a reputation to maintain, as they allow others to voice their opinions and experiences with you.
Being based on 3rd party opinions, consumers are more likely to trust what is said in social media, making this one of the most powerful word of mouth marketing tools around – if you manage it right. You can also harness social media to deliver interesting content and services on your own site. For example, video demos through YouTube or instant Twitter feeds of special offers.
