Quick and easy as any basic Facebook page is to create and maintain for your small business, it’s no substitute for an actual website. Social media portals build brand identity—there’s no doubt about that. They are good marketing tools on the cheap. No argument there, either. Both Speedonthewater.com and Powerboatnation.com use them to market and help deliver their original daily content. We wouldn’t waste our time if it weren’t worth the minimal effort required.
But unless your last name is Zuckerberg, Facebook and Instagram are neither your business nor your products. Your products are the goods or services you sell to pay your bills.
And when it comes to presenting those products and the information required to support them, cookie-cutter Facebook pages don’t cut it. In fact, they don’t even come close.
Because you’re getting the same look, feel and lack of flexibility that 3 billion other users are getting.
Yes, Facebook is a breeze. Yes, it’s low-maintenance and costs nothing.
And—yes again—you are getting exactly what you’re paying for while supplying Facebook with an endless stream of free content.
That’s why it’s refreshing to see a vibrant new website from DCB Performance Marine. Though the leaders of the Phoenix-based custom high-performance catamaran company believe in the value of social media marketing enough to have someone dedicated to it on staff, they also know it falls woefully short of showcasing the scope of what they offer.
“We have a lot of money and six months of work invested in the site,” Tony Chiaramonte, the vice-president of DCB, explained. “I think it’s the nicest website in the marine world.
“It has everything we need—and its beautiful,” he added. “It’s loaded with killer video and information about everything we offer and everything we do here. We even integrated Shopify for all of our DCB-branded gear sales.”
Of course, the folks at DCB aren’t about to abandon their social media campaigns. They’re not stupid.
But now, when it comes to presenting all that the company truly does and offers, they have their own website worthy of their own fine brand.