Scorpion Chief Marketing Officer Corey Quinn raised a not-so-innocent question to a roomful of business professionals on Friday morning.
“If your website is outdated,” he asked, “what does that say about your business?”
In an increasingly digital world in which consumers often turn to the internet for products, services and advice, Quinn urged Santa Clarita Valley business owners to evaluate their digital front doors during a breakfast meeting of the College of the Canyons Foundation’s Chancellor’s Circle.
An outdated website is just one of six common business mistakes that Valencia-based Scorpion works to correct in its partnership with more than 6,000 global clients.
The others:
– A company’s website doesn’t perform well on mobile, a significant issue when considering that 96 percent of smartphone owners use their device for more than making calls, Quinn said. He noted, too, that people are five times more likely to leave a website that isn’t optimized for mobile use.
– A company positions itself, instead of its client, as the hero on its website. Rather, Quinn suggested with a Star Wars analogy, a business should think of itself as “Yoda opposed to Luke Skywalker.”
– The company’s website content is too complicated or confusing, an issue that typically results in users navigating to another website and, potentially, settling for an inferior product or service. “People don’t always buy the best,” Quinn said. “They buy what they understand.”
– A company doesn’t address common questions, an immediate turnoff for consumers who are researching ahead of a key decision or purchase, Quinn said.
– A company’s website doesn’t properly challenge its visitors to take action.
Also Friday, Quinn shared eight tips for smarter social media, highlighting the influence of Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
While Facebook accounts for one in every six minutes spent online and one in every five minutes spent on mobile, Twitter is also a powerful marketing tool, particularly among the 81 percent of millennials who check the social platform at least once daily.
Of those Twitter users, 77 percent feel more positive about a brand when they receive a response from their tweet.
Meanwhile, Pinterest is the No. 2 source of social traffic to Shopify sites and 93 percent of those users rely on the platform to plan or make purchases.
The COC’s most prestigious leadership support group, the Chancellor’s Circle is comprised of key local business leaders and alumni who work together for the success of the school and its students.
