Marketers Who Focus All Their Energy on Brand Sites are Missing Sales Opportunities  

Insight  ⇒ Marketers Were Taught That Their Site is Everything

A few months ago I had an interesting conversation with a smart CMO, who has had a successful career marketing top hardline brands.  The conversation centered around the difficulty brands have creating user engagement.  Since we worked together before, he knew our engagement microsites perform well  vs. industry benchmarks in driving consideration and purchase intent .   He had been taught early on that everything must drive to the brand site.  Interestingly, when I asked how well his brands sites drove consideration, intent or sales conversion … he had no idea.   In fact, I have talked with thousands of prospects and clients over 13 years and other than eCommerce players …  no marketer has ever been able to tell me anything other than visits, time spent and various server stats.  The hard truth is that the path-to-purchase has changed dramatically with the advent of Social and Mobile media and many brands are still stuck in the ‘our site is everything’ paradigm.

Insight  ⇒ It’s Not Your Father’s Path-to-Purchase Anymore

As Google demonstrated in their 2011 landmark ‘Zero Moment of Truth’, the purchase funnel is dead replaced by a consumer journey that resembles a complex and non-linear path-to-purchase.

Insight  ⇒ Given The New Purchase Journey … Prospects May Never Reach Your Brand Site

New 2014 comScore research dissects how consumers shop for flat panel TV’s … in the initial search, brand sites rank 9 out of 10 as a shopping resource.

The same research highlights the automotive path-to-purchase.  The last behavior in the path is to check the brand site.

Insight  ⇒  The Path to Purchase Demands A Different Strategy … Proactive Interception

• Consumers do not visit brands that are not in their consideration set
• Grab them early or they may never give your brand consideration
• Initiate multiple interception points throughout the digital landscape

Do This  ⇒ Create microsites That Act as Interceptors

• Incorporate engagement microsites that provide consumers an interactive user experience
• Help consumers though the path-to-purchase interactively … let them participate in the experience online
• Educate and entertain to bond consumers to your brand and build consideration and intent

Not That  ⇒  Brands That Rely Solely on Their Brand Site Miss Sales Opportunities

• The days of a single digital resource strategy are long gone … brand sites rank low as shopping resources

Zig is a Social/Mobile consultancy that drives brand engagement by creating interactive user experiences.  We programmatically reach in-market buyers, at the lowest cost, and move them to conversion.  You can see our work by clicking on the link ⇒ http://www.zigmarketing.com.