Apr
28
There is no shortage of community run, open source CMS options out there that serve a host of different companies willing and able to work in their prospective environments. There is also an abundance of companies who prefer to work with a proprietary system, developed and controlled by a single company.
Which is better?
That can be a daunting question. Do I go with an open source company like Drupal, Mambo, or Joomla!, or a proprietary system like Twelve Horses? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t cut and dry. It requires a significant amount of research, evaluation and judgment that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Content Management System
Step 1 – Be realistic
Don’t kid yourself, there is no silver bullet. Every option has pros and cons, but the goal is to find the solution that will provide you the most value and the least headache. Here is a comparison of the two:
Open Source:
Pros: Upfront costs are minimal. Many vendors are able to work in the major platforms, and if they aren’t, the learning curve is low. Updates and modules are typically free, abundant, and help is available all over the web.
Cons: Customization is more limited. Modifications and custom integrations are susceptible to upgrade issues that typically are not supported. Because open source is community driven, it is a one-size-fits-all approach that can create bloated features. Free add-ons can be buggy and present possible security threats. Potential downtimes can also present high risks for businesses.
Proprietary:
Pros: Business driven not community driven. Streamlined skill sets allowing for faster development times, and customization options are more flexible. Typically niche driven keeping features lean and inline with your industry. One company means greater support and accountability. In many cases, especially for medium to enterprise-level businesses, total cost of ownership is less in the long run.
Cons: There is a higher initial investment, licensing fees, and you are tied to one company for customizations and updates. Switching vendors can be difficult and expensive.
Step 2 – Define your needs
As with any integration of new technology, defining your end goals will help drive the tactics and products to support it. Ask your team the following:
- How large will the site be?
- Is it one site or multiple sites?
- How many users will be accessing the system?
- Will you be integrating your website with any other online marketing applications or vendors?
- Who will maintain the site?
- Do you have internal resources, or will you need outside support?
- Do you require database and code level control?
- What other supporting products and services does the CMS vendor provide?
These types of questions are critical in determining the best solution.
Step 3 – Research
Look at what is core to your company’s online success and find vendors that support the mission. If an open source option fits, look at the community and ensure that the development path is inline with your company. If a proprietary system is deemed the best path, make sure the company has a solid history of continual CMS development. Also, remember to look at total cost of ownership. Your time equals money, so the less time spent managing vendors is more time you can spend growing the business.
Step 4 – Act
Choose a solution and stick with it, but at the same time be aware of what your exit strategy would be and how much it might cost.
At the end of the day, you’ll find that a proprietary CMS is a targeted solution that offers less risk, more accountability, and greater scalability where an open source system offers greater internal flexibility and an abundance of add-ons that are generally free at face value. The real question is whether you want to concentrate on the execution of the medium or on your business? The choice is up to you.
Posted in Atlanta, Finance & Banking, Las Vegas, Member Orgs, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Service Industry, Travel & Tourism, Web & SEO
Jan
29
Old school branding tactics simply are not enough anymore. Consumers are getting information all across the web, and they are touching brands in so many more places. But how do you control it? How do you influence it? And more importantly, how do you keep messaging inline across mediums that you don’t directly control? Alpine Meadows Ski Resort has found that answer.
Real. Pure. Authentic.
Three words that Alpine is known for. Three words that have helped mold a website, guide blog posts and continually increase web traffic to keep sales steady despite a slow economy and a late starting season. Of course, it isn’t just the words, but the translation of these words across multiple channels that are bringing them continued success.
Real Communications
Alpine maintains a constant stream of video, photography, blog posts, as well as events and promotions to help drive home those three key tenets of their brand and increase conversions through search engine optimization and stronger relationships with their customers. Many companies view social channels like Twitter and Facebook as marketing tools in the same way they view a print ad or TV spot. But the users of these social networks simply won’t allow it.
Studies have proven that people are tolerant of advertising in exchange for good content. The same goes for the Web. But no one is willing to follow a company on Twitter if the majority of their tweets offer no discernible value and are purely promotional. It is a tough concept for many to understand, and spending two hours a day keeping up with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr is a hard concept to swallow. If you do it well the results are quite rewarding, but you must first have a good base.
Pure Design
Every good online strategy starts with a home base, a place where all the information is stored and transactions can be facilitated. Because of this, websites and their accompanying databases serve as the most important interaction points in the online marketing mix. But many websites end up overflowing with too many promotions and special offers competing for precious real estate on the homepage. Not the case with Alpine. Instead, they use texturing, leverage terminology like The Blogosphere, The Haps and The A-list, and utilize image-based navigation with animation. The end results is a better use of graphics and messaging that support one another in order to produce the desired conversion. But how do you get new customers to the website, and once you do, how do you keep them coming back?
Authenticity
Many companies choose to portray only the best about themselves on the web. They remove negative comments from their blog and they push the same print and TV messages across all available channels. But there is nothing real or pure about that. Alpine embraces the negative and uses it to stay authentic. They don’t lower their voice when bad weather and lift holds hit, they don’t produce video that is just a smaller version of their TV ads, and they definitely don’t consider their website to be an online brochure. Instead, they inform their customer. They send twitters when the lifts are on hold, they tell you to sleep in and wait for the avalanche crew to blast the hill before heading up, and they let negative comments spark greater conversation on their blog. These tactics might make the average marketer nervous and feel as if they are not in control, but in many ways they already aren’t, and the only way to help guide the brand forward is by openly engaging with the consumer and interacting well.
The Stats
In the month of December, with much less snow fall and much harder economic times, Alpine has seen an increase in overall traffic to their website by 25%. Web analytics show that this increase in traffic has much to do with their Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and blogging activities. Since the redesign of the website, Alpine has also seen a 19% increase in email subscribers and a 22% increase in text messaging subscribers.
Of course, we can’t all be ski resorts. Design, messaging, and communication channels are going to vary for different industries. Nevertheless, Alpine serves a great example of how we can all benefit from a multi-channel marketing mix that stems from a well-constructed brand that delivers on its promises and keeps it real.
Posted in Blog, Las Vegas, Member Orgs, Podcast, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Service Industry, Travel & Tourism, Web & SEO
