Website or social media presence, which is best for business? Part 1
Website or social media presence, which is best for business?
Recently, I have heard business owners asked: Is there any need to have a website, or has social media replace the need for one? So this article is to help you make an informed decision towards your online business presence. I will explain the what, when, why, how; pros and cons of these two platforms, which comes first or is important.
Though, there’s no one strict rule that fits all. It’s ideal for every business to have a website and in addition a social media presence. However, it’s a practice these days that some businesses choose to startup lean – as a run-of-the-mill enterprise to test the waters and be sure the business is sustainable. Accordingly, the priority to build a website is over looked until something goes wrong or a good business opportunity goes bad due to the absence of a website.
In digital ecosystem and branding space both website and social media are important and it’s wrong to substitute one at the expense of the other. So the question on which comes first won’t be applicable, because anyone you let go will have a cost impact to your business, lost opportunity and value implications.
Understanding the two platforms, the role they play and how they operate is critical to making an informed decision and taking the right steps. So let’s break down what social media is and what a website is.
Distinction between Social Media and Website
Social media is a strategic marketing tool, it’s easy to set up and free to use. This makes it appealing for businesses that don’t have the massive marketing budget for advertisement to promote their business, products and services. So it’s natural to find small businesses tilting towards social media than they do having a website.
Whereas a website is a complete business tool, necessary to enable and create new customers; and grow your business. Beyond your marketing needs and strategies, it caters to the business brand experience, customer service and support, online self-service office presence like an automated office that runs 24/7 non-stop.
So you can see that your social media marketing – a channel that help you reach the customers and direct traffic (customers) to your business (your Online Office – website) is incomplete without a website no matter how great a job you are doing on it. The website becomes your business office online as you would have a physical office space helping you to receive, attend and deliver value and your promise to customers in your absence.
So, the website is foremost in starting the business while your social media is foremost in marketing to customers. Now you can see the origin of the discussion, so which do you think comes first? Marketing or starting a business?
Let’s take a look at a case study of two businesses — one is a retail product distributor I will call it Mayfair Ventures and the second business is a service/value based business named Kent Enterprises.
While Mayfair Ventures might escape the fall out of selling its retail products by showcasing the items on social media without having a website at startup and in the short term. Kent Enterprises cannot afford to do business the same way as Mayfair Ventures relying solely on social media, it will lose business. This is largely due the target audience and a measure of customer’s perception. Imagine a bank without website asking customer to open an account on social media? What will be your response as a customer?
So regardless of the business you do, you must have and do need a website. Typically, the recommended time for the decision to have a website is within 6 months of starting a business. Anything beyond this, you start losing value, money and brand mileage. Customer perception and unique brand experience are key values every business needs to compete favorably, upscale and grow in the marketplace. Without a website, these elements starts depreciating and could become counterproductive to whatever gains or saving you think having solely social media presence offers.
In part 2 of this article, you will see the pros and cons and why you should consider having both.