As the financial services industry increasingly embraces social media, a natural question becomes the role of you or your company’s website vis-a-vis its overall social media strategy. The days of discussing whether or not your website is a dinosaur only in the context of how old it is and whether it serves more of a purpose than just being an electronic brochure, are long gone.
(By the way, if when you read the words “social media strategy” above and thought to yourself “what’s that?” your marketing problems probably run deeper than just the effectiveness of your website!)
If you haven’t updated your website in awhile it could very well be a dinosaur – especially if it is just an electronic brochure – and you probably need to update it, make it more interactive and make it more relevant.
If your website is up-to-date you have passed the first test. However, it still might be a dinosaur if it does not have a well-defined place in your overall marketing and social media strategy. In fact, given the interactive nature of social media, and the ability it gives you to form a community with clients, some are now even questioning whether you still need a website.
My answer is an emphatic YES. In fact, the issue is addressed quite well in the recent article Is It Time To Shut Down Your Website? There are definite advantage and disadvantages to social media – e.g, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter – and to websites. Each tool has different strengths and weaknesses, which means that those who can integrate the best of each together into a cohesive marketing and asset gathering strategy will be the most successful.
For example, and most importantly to me as the article points out, while you will be able to reach portions of your clients with each of the social media tools mentioned above, you will be able to reach all of them with your website. Might there be some duplication? Sure. But overlap is better than missing anyone. Websites are also your property and you own it – unlike social media sites where you don’t have ownership.
I am a big fan of social media. But I am also a fan of well designed and integrated websites. At the end of the day, the first thing most people usually do to find out more about you is “Google” you or go to the website listed on your business cared – use this as a springboard to link to your social media sites. It is still a red flag in terms of credibility if your answer to a prospect is that you don’t have a website. A website ads instant credibility (of course as long as it is a good one!)
So it is actually now more important than ever to make sure that your website is not a dinosaur!
