Don’t Celebrate The Launch
5 Comments
Bob Regnerus is a smart man. I’ve watched him increase the profitability of many websites, so I know his recommendations come from real world testing. His recent blog post, Don’t Celebrate The Launch, included a very important message:
We all love to celebrate a job being finished, but in online marketing, and in ALL marketing for that matter, the launch is NOT the time to celebrate. Sure, go ahead, high-five each other for nailing the deadline, putting out good-looking work, or figuring out that complex issue, but do not get drunk in this celebration because you’ve only completed about 7% of the task.
If you really want to celebrate, save that for when the sales roll in. I could care less about how a web site looks, reads, or acts until I start to see what it does in terms of sales.
Bob works primarily outside the hospitality industry, but the concepts apply just as well to us working with hotels.
I’ve watched organizations spend hundreds of thousands on a website…and then think their job is done.
It’s not.
The launch of a new website or campaign is just the beginning.
The real value will come from the testing you need to do in the weeks and months that follow.
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Truly, the proof of the pudding is in the eating Josiah!
As Bob rightly says, what is the use of an amazing design if it is too complicated for your average user or too cool to be functional.
This is certainly a lesson we all need to remember.
Im redesigning my own Goa Hotel website http://www.mitaroy.com/goahotel.html. While I may think it will look fantastic, the proof will only be how many more bookings I get with the new design…
Cheers
Mihir Nayak
Got your name from Graeme Laird. Can you also put me on your mailing list so that I can receive your report on a regular basis. Thanks.
Josiah – We’ve never met, and I’m flattered you’d take the time to post my article for your subscribers. What you say is true, and your readers should pay close attention. What I am teaching here (and in my book, Big Ticket eCommerce) is that you must have a clear strategy, efficient design, smart traffic plan, and a comittment to optimize and improve the response rate of the site every week. This is what smart web site owners will do, and it’s applicable to the hotel industry as well as any other industry. The fundamentals remain the same.
I wish you continued success on your blog and your business, and the same to your readers!
Bob Regnerus
http://www.freebigticket.com
@Mihir – you’re right: keep testing after launch, and you’ll get the best results
@John – Thanks for your interest in my mailing list. I never add people on my own though…please sign up here:
http://www.hotelmarketingstrategies.com/subscribe/
@Bob – I appreciate you stopping by! I think web marketing fundamentals like these are applicable to any industry.
Love it! Concise and truly worth the read. Thanks for all your tips Josh!