Hounds to the Hunters

When thinking about driving traffic to a website, I remember a scene from the movie Hunt for Red October. Russian submarines are furiously pinging their sonar to drive Ramius toward the east coast of the U.S. - where more Russian subs are waiting. Alec Baldwin says "They're not trying to find Ramius - they're trying to drive him. Hounds to the hunters."

You've already invested in a website and online brand - maybe more than once. You can spend money on Google AdWords and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services - or you can do it our way.

Use the Entire Web

We tend to think of a business presence as that company's dot-com website - but that's inherently limiting. Instead, think of your business as an entity moving around and interacting in any website, through email, and in social media. Your business goes wherever the action is. You meet customers, prospects, potential partners, key job candidates wherever they happen to be on the web.

Twitter and Facebook are like big cocktail parties. You hang out, find out a bit about these other people - get to know them. Who they are, what their dreams and desires are. What they care about.

And some of them you invite over to "your place." That's your website.

Firecat Studio specializes in creating cross-channel strategies that get visitors to your website so they can do business with you. We create eMail campaigns and social media campaigns that reach out toward your customers, intrigue them with an offer and PULL them to your website.

There's a certain order of build-out that makes sense.

1. Your Business Website. Get it ready to catch and convert the traffic you want. Make sure your identity is strong, your goals are clear - and everything is ready and waiting. We build in natural search optimization with a customized content strategy that will pop you up for key search phrases - free. Natural search is the way Google, Bing and Yahoo like to work, and that helps site visitors trust you.
2. EMail platform. We know you're competing with every spammer on the planet. But almost always, eMail is still a powerful piece of the marketing puzzle. Like everyone else, you still look at the subject line and sender of the emails in their inbox. That's name recognition, a reminder. And when the sender is trusted and offering something valuable - people will open and respond, click your links.
3. Social media. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace -- wherever your target customers or prospects hang out, that's where we go to meet them. Each business has natural social media spaces where what you offer is appropriate and relevant. We help you find those, we help you get friended, followed and noticed, and we help you figure out what to say.
4. A Blog - Maybe. Blogging isn't for everyone, but when it works, it's great. Your blog may be an integrated part of your website, or it may be a separate, more interactive space. But if we recommend one, we'll also set you up with an editorial calendar so you won't run out of things to say, and so that each post is building relationships, solving problems and otherwise leading traffic where you want it to go.
5. Paid search. Yep, it's last on our list. Sometimes paid search is the way to go, and today's tools let us target very specifically the demographics you want to reach. But we prefer exhausting the possibilities for getting you FREE exposure before having you pay for it. It's how we roll.

Start with a Free Consultation

Make a phone appointment with Firecat's CEO and chief web strategist Susan Price for a review of your situation. She'll give you up to 30 minutes of free advice, and you get the benefit of her many years of experience designing and executing online campaigns for businesses of all sizes.

Or attend one of Susan's presentations - she frequently shares her tips and techniques with groups in San Antonio, through online webinars, and at our coworking and brownbag sessions.

Digital Strategy Session

When you're ready to get serious, a two-hour online strategy meeting will give you new ideas and ways of looking at your business presence that can make a world of difference to your business success. Coming out of the strategy session, you'll have specific next steps you can take to execute your own digital strategy, or hire it done with the knowledge that you know what you're willing to pay for - and what you're not.

Contact us to discuss your situation or to set an appointment.