The SHiFT website has changed very little since it was launched in October 2010. For a Greenville advertising agency engaged in the business of website design and content generation, that alone is good reason to thrash it and start over.
But this isn’t a case of “If it’s not broke, why fix it?” Our website is, in fact, broken.
Here’s how we know.
Through our diligence, SHiFT is consistently outpacing other Greenville ad agencies on Google searches. New business prospects are coming to the site. We can see it everyday in our web metrics. But the site is failing to translate web searches into the first step of engagement.
So what’s wrong?
1. We don’t tell you exactly what we do. As inspiring as the homepage copy may be, it doesn’t let you know all the ways we’re collaborating with small brands to tell their stories.
2. We don’t open your eyes to the lasting benefits of our work. What’s the point of storytelling? Why is this an especially effective tactic for B2B marketers? How will SHiFT create value for your business?
3. We don’t show enough of our work. We’re proud of about 96% of the work we do. But we make it almost impossible for you to see it and appreciate our talent and passion.
4. We don’t tell you how we work and how ridiculously affordable we are. You don’t buy a new refrigerator from Lowes without knowing what it costs. Why shouldn’t an agency give you an idea of budget ranges for essential services?
5. We don’t ask for a date. Potential new clients are spending a few minutes on our website almost every day. But we’re sitting on our hands hoping they’ll find the Contact tab and “ask us out.” We’ve got to reach out and let them know we’re the best at what we do and make this first step of engagement something fun and exciting.
So we’re gonna fix all that and this time next month, we’ll introduce you to a new SHiFT website. In the meantime, spend some time on your own website and ask yourself how well it’s performing against these five key points.
By the way, here’s a quick peek at where we’re headed with our new design ….
We thought the best April Fools prank was having the Houston Astros leading the Major Leagues in wins (with 1) on 4/1. But this beats even that!
On March 31, YouTube announced it was shutting down on April 1st for 10 years to judge the best video ever submitted. “Every video that has ever been uploaded to our site will be reviewed by our staff of 30,000 technicians,” we learn.
Then today, YouTube began streaming 12 hours of the first submissions for Best Video.
It’s all explained below in a 3-minute video. We love everything about this.
As the spring semester at Clemson University nears an end, SHiFT created a short format video to explain Automation Engineering Corp.’s cooperative (co-op) learning program. Through its university partnership, AEC offers three rotations where students can gain practical real world work experience.
In just three minutes, three AEC engineers and a current Clemson University student discuss the rare benefits of being an AEC co-op. Students are exposed to mechanical design and build, control system engineering, project management and business operations. From beginning to end, students can see their designs come to life on the shop floor.
“In your first semester you may be learning the basics, but by the time you are in your third rotation you will be acting as an engineer,” said Eric Owensby, mechanical design engineer at AEC.
Based in Greenville, SC, AEC designs and builds custom material handling equipment and manufacturing solutions for the Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) industry. Students learn about the steel pipe industry and the potential for automated solutions within the petroleum industry.
“We wanted to capture the unique culture of AEC’s co-op program; one that is fun and collaborative, and yet fosters independent thinking,” said SHiFT Videographer Jessica St. Clair Smith.
Spoiler Alert: AEC has had a long-standing relationship with Clemson University. At the conclusion of the video, viewers learn that mechanical design engineers Eric Owensby and Christopher Lewis are former co-ops and Clemson graduates.
When it comes to purchasing decisions, social media influences only a few. In a 2012 holiday survey, only 2% of e-commerce traffic came from social channels. So, should we become anti-social with social?
In the survey conducted by Adobe Systems, 40% of e-commerce traffic came direct, while a third of all traffic came via search. Another 25% of holiday referrals came from other websites.
Honestly, this news should come as no surprise. When we need something, we go direct. When we want the shopping experience, we search. When we want to socialize, we do. What Twitter and Facebook do is provide a vehicle to communicate –- to share, and in turn, to also be influenced.
Come to think of it: Isn’t that the purpose of most advertising?
For several years now Coca-Cola Co.’s go-to brand for sponsorship has been Coke Zero. It’s presently the title sponsor for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Through frequency and a consistent marketing message, the eight-year-old Coke Zero brand has become one of Coca-Cola’s top four brands. Similarly that’s what social media has to offer –- a new medium that allows you to dispense your marketing message at an alarmingly frequent rate. Conversion comes later.
At SHiFT, like many Greenville advertising agencies, we believe social media and search engine optimization each have their roles in the marketing mix. For Countybank, we are outpacing the national average with Facebook followers (as a percentage of total customers). Meanwhile, Automation Engineering Corp. is achieving page one rankings on Google for several keywords that are important to their customers and prospects.
The key to any successfully social media or SEO program is to understand your target market and position your marketing message accordingly.
As specialists in content and video marketing, SHiFT has built a strong reputation for digital ingenuity. Capturing a company’s unique point of view in weekly blog posts is as natural for our team as cheese on grits.
But we never forget the awesome power of a well conceived, well designed and handsomely presented piece of print.
Our latest and greatest is a 24-page coil-bound booklet developed as part of the GROW campaign for our client Countybank. Developed for the small business owner/manager, each spread brings a piece of insight from some of the leading think tanks, including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Under30, Small Business Trends and Inc.
Short and sweet, these insights were researched by SHiFT over several months from the web and compiled in this surprisingly affordable booklet. Printed on heavy cover stock, each page feels significant and substantial … just like the image we want to amplify for the Countybank brand.
These articles are accessible on the Countybank GROW microsite, along with a new entry each week.
Blog posts and new web content are important to keep a website fresh and findable by Google. But it’s hard to hold a blog in your hand! Great print has that tactile, hands-on advantage. It’s lasting, something you just won’t throw away.
If you’d like a copy of the current GROW booklet, please contact me. We’d be delighted to mail it to you.
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