Web Professionals are Missing a Trick When it Comes to Marketing Their Business
New independent research* commissioned by Fasthosts, a leading provider of domains, online business tools and professional hosting services, has highlighted that web professionals could be lured into a false sense of security when it comes to marketing their business to prospects.
The research revealed that while 94% of UK-based web pros feel confident in marketing their business, a significant proportion aren’t currently tapping into the latest marketing tools, such as SEO (32%), PPC (42%) and TikTok (55%) - putting them at risk of missing a trick when trying to reach the right audiences.
Findings also show that web pros expect to increase their digital marketing spend by over a third on average in 2022 compared to last year, highlighting the need to adopt a strategy that can help them achieve their goals while trialling new channels in the marketing mix.
Revealing web pros’ biggest bugbears and worries, the research has shown that almost a quarter (23%) of web pros admitted that they find marketing their business stressful. Nearly a fifth worried that they might not have enough capacity to service both new and existing clients, while almost one in six worried that they might get it wrong and attract the wrong clients.
Their research also uncovered several other concerns from web professionals, including:
- 65% acknowledging that there’s something holding them back when it comes to marketing their business to prospects
- 24% admitting to putting more effort into their clients’ websites than they do their own
- 16% relying on word of mouth alone when it comes to generating new business leads
- 14% feeling they lack the creativity to come up with a compelling marketing approach
- 13% finding it difficult to prioritise the marketing of their own business
The development of social media has revolutionised the way that businesses market themselves over the past two decades. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it remains one of the most popular methods of marketing amongst web pros, with 77% actively using social media platforms, and 72% using social media management software.
The research revealed the top social media platforms that web pros are using, with Facebook (79%), Instagram (70%), YouTube (68%), Twitter (63%) and LinkedIn (54%) proving most popular.
Interestingly, newer and more visual platforms aren’t as favoured, leaving the business potential of tools such as TikTok untapped, with 55% of web pros shunning the fastest growing social media platform. Meanwhile 70% of web pros said that they don’t use Pinterest for business, while 75% aren’t currently using Snapchat.
Despite the rise in popularity of design and graphic content creation tools like Canva, Visma and Adobe Spark in recent years, a quarter of web pros admitted that they haven’t used or experimented with such tools before. Other tools that they’re yet to implement widely include those focused on lead enrichment (45%), programmatic ad buying (42%) and conversion optimisation (38%).
Michelle Stark, UK Sales and Marketing Director at Fasthosts said:
“It's extremely promising to see that UK web professionals feel confident in marketing their own business, but with the world of marketing ever evolving, there's always room to improve and optimise. I’d encourage anyone looking to increase their marketing spend or output this year to look beyond any concerns they might have and experiment with new tools and applications.”
“For example, there are a wide range of low and no-cost tools available for those looking to supercharge their marketing output, such as SEO and PPC. Trial and error is an effective way for web pros to find a marketing strategy that not only supports their business goals, but helps them to achieve them too.”
To help professionals who might be finding marketing their business stressful, Fasthosts has created a free downloadable guide:“Getting the measure of marketing: A guide for web pros”. This includes top tips from their own experts and other useful information for web pros.
*Research commissioned by Fasthosts, and undertaken by 3Gem, surveying 200 web professionals across the UK in May 2022.