Having a quality, aesthetically-pleasing website is great, but it’s not always what’s best for your business. As a consumer, do you ever really visit the website of a shopping mall, grocery store, or hospital, unless you happen to be looking for one specifically crucial piece of information, like a map? Not really. No one passes the time browsing mall directories. 

An expensive website will not drive people to your mall. If there is no e-commerce involved, there’s no need to spend so much on it. If no traffic goes to these websites, and nothing is being sold on them, why is so much of your digital marketing strategy budget being spent on them? 

In this situation, a company’s budget is being spent on a traditional marketing channel even though it’s not the preferred mode of communication for their audience. As shoppers, we care more about the physical experience that stores provide for us than how glossy the mall’s “About Us” page is -- chances are, we’re never going to see it. 

If you want to get your customers’ attention, get to know them while they’re actually around. Address foot traffic. 

Digital marketing strategy and tools, while new and exciting, need to be adapted to the preferences of your audience. For example, if there are certain products you want to push, try approaching a prominent Instagram influencer that fits your targeted customer segment to promote it. Their large following will help sell that particular product, while at the same time introduce new customers to your brand in an organic way. In this process, you’re boosting the scope of your brand without the need to 1) spend on your website and 2) get visitors to a website at all. 

If someone truly loves your brand, they’ll mention it on social media without being forced to. Voluntary promotion is subtle, yet incredibly beneficial and powerful -- the consumer who posts about a product is likely to start a snowball effect in their own online world. When you take care of a customer on site, they’ll take care of you online. 

Beyond this, a better question to ask rather than assuming is: what percentage of active shoppers are on Facebook? Are your Facebook ads really necessary? As a business, put yourself in the shoes of the customer. If there is no obvious return that will come from liking your page on Facebook or visiting your website, chances are the engagement on those channels will be quite low.

Any information that would require a shopper to visit your website is likely something that they want to know while they’re on site, rather than at home. Or perhaps they want to know your business hours, which can be found on Google without so much as a second click. 

You should be communicating with these shoppers while they’re in your store -- Eye-In Media’s omnichannel solution does exactly that. Capturing the personalities and preferences of your customers while they’re actually on site is the best and most accurate way to get to know them.