In the past a marketing campaign microsite was quite expensive, required relatively long lead times to get up and generally speaking was a tactical tool used by larger organisations.
Today, with the advent of powerful subscription based website solutions (or SaaS websites), organisations can be very tactical in delivering a microsite to their target audience, relatively quickly and at an overall investment significantly lower than from the recent past.
A quick side note, SaaS stands for Software as a Service and is essentially the placement of software in the cloud whereby the user pays as a subscription service, usually monthly or at a discounted annual rate.
What are the main benefits of today's SaaS based website solutions?
- High search visibility (onsite SEO - Search Engine Optimisation)
- In-built CMS (content management system) with easy to update content (including images)
- Mobile (device) responsiveness for effective content viewing
- eCommerce and donation functionality
- Simple lead capture and CRM integration
- Landing pages easily created
It's exciting times for marketers as the fast paced evolution in technology is arming us with the ability to communicate with our target audience quickly and efficiently...for example this post is being written on a bus from an app!
So how can today's small, medium and large organisation marketers use micro websites?
- Generally with a specific offering, message or package that warrants a special dedicated focus.
- For service based providers this may be a key service that either has potential for growth or is successful in its own right.
- For product based organisations it may be great for campaigns or special promotions and package deals.
- For NGOs, politicians, lobbyists and government groups it may be a specific community based campaign.
- For everyone, it is great for target audience data capture.
The beauty is that a microsite is completely measurable (just like any other website) and can also prove to be a great testing area for content and promotions.
What a marketer may find is working can be carried through to the greater marketing program and what isn't can be dumped or removed from the campaign relatively quickly.
There are many ways that a microsite can be used tactically and I have only stated a few benefits, but what we cannot deny is that the surge in SaaS based solutions has impacted heavily with how businesses operate and the Mind Methods team recognise that this trend does not look as though it is slowing down.