In this age of electronic media, it’s easy to get caught up in leveraging your web site and e-communications, that you spend so much time and energy on them, you neglect the old tried-and-true pieces of your marketing/sales/customer relationship mix. Here are a few real life scenarios that recently reminded me that e-communication is only one piece of the puzzle.
Don’t forget traditional PR.
A client of mine was interviewed at length recently in a national consumer magazine. How effective is PR? I’d say pretty darn effective! As a result of the publicity, the number of visitors to her web site tripled and the number of pages viewed increased three fold. (See “Pages Viewed” chart below.)
Power of the press: Pages viewed coinciding with consumer magazine article
Now, does this negate the point of my earlier post that Web Sites Rule in Lead Generation? No, not at all. While the article was what captured people’s attention, the fact that my client (a plastic surgeon) had a web site with exclusive photos and video animations (content) of a specific procedure mentioned in the article was the magic bullet. Soon after the article hit the newsstands, queries to the web site under the doctor’s name and this procedure skyrocketed. If there had not been a web site for more information and follow up, the power of the article would have fallen short. Together, they pack a powerful one-two punch.
Don’t forget to ask for the business.
I have a friend who is a professional photographer who has had great success farming leads and getting new clients from his efforts of building an online presence with several web sites that are carefully and strategically search engine optimized. When things slowed down at the start of the summer, I asked him, “have you picked up the phone and called some of your favorite clients?” Oh yeah. It’s easy to get caught up in the electronic side of things. It’s important to remember to shake the tree, talk to folks, ask for the business. Apres summer is a great time to reconnect!
Do pick up the phone.
One more story. My brother, who works in television in Hollywood, was following up on a pitch he had made to an old colleague. When he e-mailed some information and then didn’t hear back, he began to worry. A day or two later, he got a phone call from the colleague who chastised him saying, “Don’t you know that I’ll take your calls!” In other words, as an old friend, he had already earned her trust and she preferred to do business in real time by phone. Are you hiding behind e-mail when communicating with folks who’d love to hear from you? Call them up and see. What’s the old saying? Reach out and touch someone? Better yet, pay them a visit.
