Back in the 1970’s it seems everyone had a CB radio in their vehicle. The movie “Smokey and the Bandit” was based on two outlaws using the CB to evade the state police (aka Smokey) to great effect. But like many things the CB radios became less prominent with the advent of cell phones.
Websites were also once considered cutting edge. I should know, I cofounded one of the first web development companies back in 1996 that created and implemented websites for businesses throughout the US.
Back then, having a website was so new and fresh that just having one for your business put you on a better footing than your competition. Just like the once dominating Yellow Pages, your website was akin to having a huge block advertisement vs. a small listing with only the phone number.
Today, most every health department has a website and nearly as many have a Facebook page. This has made websites about as exciting as shag carpeting! In fact, most agency websites and social media attempts are as “flat” and unappealing as shag carpeting because they just sit there doing nothing.
Most websites act as little more than a brochure, full of pretty images, a list of your services, your mission statement (ugh) posted in the vernacular that only a college educated person would enjoy reading ,that simultaneously repels those you are trying to reach. (More on that in a later post)…
Imagine that you walked on a lot to shop for a brand new car and the salesperson did not engage you or ask questions? Imagine that you stood there for 15 minutes and all they did was hand you a brochure? You probably would not buy from that car lot. In fact, that salesperson would be fired for impersonating a professional.
Your website is no different. If it’s not capturing your visitors information and adding them to your mailing list, it too should be fired! Most agency Facebook pages are the same way. They do not engage visitors and have zero “calls to action”.
Having a presence on the web comes with the added responsibility of keeping the information updated. There is nothing worse than having outdated, time sensitive information laying there, like a message about mosquito borne illness in the dead of winter. This makes your agency appear lazy and disorganized.
The answer is in creating ongoing content and an automated sequence that funnels your visitors into actual customers. This represents one of the biggest holes I see in the public health bucket. A huge opportunity lost!
At a recent keynote speech I delivered one public health director approached me afterwards and asked for my help. Her agency suffered from the same issues mentioned above. Within 30 days we were able to stop the bleeding and make her website function as a 24/7 machine that is now attracting actual patients to her clinics. She was able to move away from the mediocre majority and turn her web presence into a machine that is now doing what is was meant to do, gaining new customers and growing her agency.
You too can turn your website from “shag carpeting” into the powerful tool it was meant to be with just a few minor tweaks. “10/4 good buddy”?