“See website for details”: Are you overlooking this critical marketing channel?

It must have been a few years ago that I first heard it on commercial radio in fast, hushed tones, almost like an afterthought.

“See website for details”.

I was taken aback.

“See website for details?” Really?

Is this business so ashamed of its website that it just rushes it on at the end of an advertisement? And when it does, it doesn’t even take ownership of it by saying, at the very least, “our website”?

Why should its website get such a bad rap?

Drop by if you like

I mean, do businesses say “see brochure for details” or “see person behind counter to find out more”? What about “visit shop and buy”?

Why not go the whole hog and say, “underpaid, overworked and not particularly interested counter hand might help”?

Given more than half of consumers visit websites as part of the purchase process, surely the business can show a modicum of pride and encouragement when making this critical call to action.

Take the admittedly slightly annoying founder of National Tiles, Frank Walker, for example. Now there’s someone who takes pride in their new website — so much so that they’ve dedicated their new entire radio ad to it.

Shout it out loud

“Now you can buy National Tiles online from anywhere via our new e-commerce website”, or words to that effect.

Frank’s pride and excitement of the company’s new website — and new channel to market — virtually bounds out of your speakers.

And this is what you would expect of such an important adjunct to the company’s marketing effort — front and centre of its advertising campaign.

What the “see website” vendors are failing to understand is that their website is actually far more important than the radio campaign sheepishly promoting it.

More than an afterthought

Websites are the online representation of your business. It’s not only a vital destination for all your calls to action, but one that generates its own leads by attracting search engines to it.

It’s just as important as the presentation of that showroom or the grooming and wardrobe of your staff, and arguably more.

It’s absolutely something that should be spruiked as loudly and proudly as possible — like Frank Walker has done.

Failing to do so might just mean that we devalue your “website” and visit a company that promotes its website as the valuable channel it really is.