I’ll never forget the king of infomercials, Ron Popeil. I remember watching endless demonstrations for one of his many catchy kitchen appliances, the Showtime Rotisserie, and Ron making the crowd repeat again and again, "Set it, and forget it!"

The cooker worked by simply turning the device on, and leaving it. Set it, and forget it. The product was a smashing success, largely thanks to its catchphrase. Ron sold over 8 million units of the Showtime Rotisserie because the underlying message of convenience, ease, and simplicity was irresistible to consumers.

So many businesses apply the same idea to their marketing efforts. In our local business audit, where we surveyed more than 275 local businesses, we found that 43 percent of businesses are essentially “setting it and forgetting it,” so to speak. They set up their online marketing initially, but they neglected to baste it every so often. They didn’t respond to online contact forms and email inquiries. They thought they had done enough by setting up a responsive website and creating a digital footprint.

This is problematic. Businesses cannot be successful with their digital marketing with a ‘set it and forget it’ mindset. Companies should set it, record it, analyze it, report it, build upon it. I would suggest that the right mindset is “Analyze it, and improve it!”

The two main actions that your business should focus on to rid yourself of the “set it and forget it” plague are as follows:

Analyze It

Once you’ve “set it,” or you’ve created a website, social media, and digital marketing tools, you shouldn’t be satisfied with their mere existence. Your business needs to constantly keep an eye on your website, implementing updates to improve user experience.

Analyze your site and social media to gather data about user experience with tools like Google Analytics (for information on visitors to your website) and Crazy Egg (for tracking visual elements and CTAs).

If a business has set up a website with hard-to-decipher call-to-action buttons and an outdated About page, they might be missing out on prospective clients who are searching for them online. They might miss out on customers who have just moved to the area if they aren’t posting on social media consistently. They could leave a potential client hanging if they never respond to their online contact form.  Any of these missteps could cause a current or potential customer to check out a competitor.

Improve It

There’s always room for improvement, especially with respect to the rapidly evolving digital world. It is incredibly important to stay informed with the latest updates and tools to keep your company’s online presence relevant and effective.

Once you’ve gathered and analyzed data about your website or social media, now it’s time to make changes to improve your digital presence. Make it a habitual practice to turn your data-based insights into action, whether it be small changes like switching the color of your CTA buttons or changing the times of your social media posts, or a large-scale change like modernizing the look of your website. The point is that you are in tune with your company’s digital presence, and you aren’t sitting back and falling behind the times.

Not sure how to go about analyzing it and improving it? Give us a call. We’d love to get you started on the right path and help you achieve your marketing goals.

Bill Hunter and the WDC team believe that honest business and innovative design go hand-in-hand. Their talented team of designers, marketers and developers are as diverse as our work. They offer a range of services, including marketing strategy, branding and creative web and application development, as well as digital marketing solutions specific to your business. Contact Bill at [email protected] or visit  www.wilmingtondesignco.com.