Grant Lapping | Digital Executive | Midnight | mail me |
Most enterprises prefer working with partners that provide an integrated media and creative offering when revamping or building a website. They seek this solution from either a single agency or two agencies working in a close collaborative relationship.
Although this approach has advantages, my digital media experience suggests that an integrated media and website development solution is even more important. Over the years, I have worked closely with many clients embarking on major website projects.
Importance of website and media alignment
Anyone involved in such a project understands that the development team must complete a massive backlog of tasks before launch. The team prioritises implementing essential features. They ensure everything functions properly before the website goes live.
In the rush to launch, media often gets overlooked. It does not receive the necessary attention. As a result, the website typically goes live on time without major bugs. However, it fails to generate the expected traffic.
Many companies notice a decline in traffic, leads, and conversions. This happens despite their significant investment in a new website. They often blame the digital media agency for failing to deliver sessions and conversions as expected. However, the actual issue usually stems from the website’s improper configuration for multiple third-party advertising platforms.
Impact of poor alignment
Developers often exclude many crucial requirements from the website development scope. Most standalone agencies lack the expertise.
These requirements include:
- Setting up Google Tag Manager with all the appropriate ad platforms.
- Linking catalog feeds such as Google Merchant Centre (GMC).
- Ensuring proper tag implementation and functionality.
- Implementing server-side tracking for better performance and accuracy.
- Configuring Meta CAPI, Google Merchant Centre, Meta, and TikTok catalogs.
- Integrating first-party data for custom audience lists.
- Setting up GA conversion goals.
- Building real-time reporting dashboards for informed decision-making.
Without these functionalities, companies struggle to attract and convert users. They also find it difficult to optimise their campaigns.
Achieving effective website and media alignment
Businesses should work with a website partner that integrates media and development under one roof. Alternatively, they should choose a web partner with a strong collaborative relationship with a digital media agency. This ensures ad spending on the new website delivers a return on investment from day one.
New websites inevitably experience teething issues after going live. If a tag is misconfigured or GMC is incorrectly set up, website traffic will drop. A closely aligned media and development team can quickly identify and resolve these problems.
The media team tracks conversions across the website. They can quickly detect breaks in the conversion flow. They collaborate closely with the development team to resolve any detected issues.
Having one contracting party responsible for both media and development improves accountability. This setup prevents the common blame-shifting that often occurs when separate agencies handle media and development independently.
Instead, a single team works together. They ensure the website functions properly and meets conversion objectives. This approach does not diminish the importance of creative or development efforts in website projects. However, companies must avoid creating a visually stunning website.
In conclusion
A site with rich functionality that fails to attract visitors is ineffective. Without properly configured digital media from the outset, businesses may lose months of traffic and conversions. Even if they later optimise, they will have already missed crucial opportunities.
Aligning media and website development ensures marketing campaigns yield the highest return on investment from launch day.
