The concept of duality, officially defined as “an instance of opposition or contrast between two concepts,” is a popular one. We’re endlessly fascinated by stories such as Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or a movie or television show featuring an “odd couple” that is hilariously mismatched. However, when it comes to your business, experiencing a duality of online presences is neither fun nor amusing. Actually, it could be preventing you from capitalizing on the investments you’ve made in your online presence, including your website, blog and social media presence. Worse, it could even be resulting in a loss of new clients, as this duality may be discouraging prospective customers from choosing your company over your competitors. How can you tell if you have a duality of an online presence, and how can you fix and consolidate your online properties into a consistent and productive online presence?
The Perils Of Online Duality
At this point, you may be confused as to what we mean by a duality, so let’s provide some examples:
Company A recently commissioned a brand-new website, with a modern Content Management System (CMS) designed to facilitate conversion and an aesthetically-pleasing layout full of professionally-produced content. This website does an excellent job showcasing Company A’s brand and products and services, and it even has prominent links to Company A’s social media accounts. However, these social media accounts are in woeful shape. Content marketing isn’t produced on a regular basis, and the owner of Company A never retrieved the password to the Twitter account from an intern that left three years ago. An account was created on Instagram, but the feed and even the avatar are completely blank. Finally, prospective clients have left comments and questions on Facebook that have gone unanswered. The owner of Company A, having just made a major investment in the company’s website, is not interested in investing more to update these neglected social media accounts on a regular basis.
The owner of Company B has always been fascinated by social media, having been an early adopter on Facebook and an avid Twitter user from the beginning. Company B has an expansive and well-maintained social media presence, with a strong community of followers on Facebook and a varied and regular stream of content marketing. However, Company B has an older website, with an older CMS that hasn’t received updates in a year. The content on this website, while accurate, contains low-resolution images, a static design that is almost unreadable on mobile, and few calls to action and no landing pages. Company B’s website looks, reads and “feels” out of date, but the owner of Company B has no interest in updating it – after all, everyone is on Facebook these days, and Facebook is free.
In both examples, the company in question has a duality in their online presence – one aspect of their online presence presents a positive, modern image of the company, while the other does not. In both cases, despite each owner spending the time, resources and money needed to create a partially-successful online presence, each company is failing to fully capitalize on their investments and have diminished their capacity to convert online followers, build their digital brand and strengthen their online reputation.
Leaving Your Online Duality Behind
In 2017, companies with great websites and poor social media and content marketing will be restricted in their efforts to succeed, while companies with poor or outdated websites and excellent social media and content marketing will fail to convert their readers and followers on a consistent basis. To truly succeed online, you must have a consistent and unified online presence that includes modern, updated elements and regularly-updated content. Your online presence must work harmoniously, both in converting followers into clients and by presenting a consistent face to your digital brand, no matter where a prospective client or customer discovers your company online.