We love microsites. They're fun to design, build and create and we love seeing how much they benefit our clients. We’ve made a list of just 9 of our favourite reasons why you should choose a microsite for your next campaign.
Have fun
Some membership organisations feel that in their line of business there’s not much scope for levity. Many often believe that a more appealing, stylish design for a website would distract from the vital information members need. Of course we firmly believe that a modern, exciting design can be the very thing that enables members to engage with content, but if you're not ready for a big change a microsite is a good way to express yourself.
A microsite gives you the opportunity to experiment with the latest web design techniques for a dynamic, mobile-friendly site that makes an impact. With the right designers on your side, you can tie your future-proof microsite back to your main site through branding, maybe by making use of your signature colours, fonts or logo.
Speak to a new audience
We are constantly looking for feedback from our clients and something we’ve noticed a lot recently is the need to welcome a younger generation of members into your organisation. A microsite is a great way of doing this. This was the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising's (IPA) wish for their project ‘Creative Pioneers’ – a site intended to encourage teens to enter the world of advertising. It’s been highly effective and benefits from a reskin every year to keep it up-to-date.
Raise awareness and get the word out
The British Parking Association (BPA) know microsites. We’ve worked with them on a number of highly effective projects including educational microsite, 'Know Your Parking Rights' (KYPR). KYPR is a knowledge portal we created which invites visitors to gain important information which will aid them in anything from appealing against a ticket to parking safely. The advice in KYPR is vital to BPA members, and is hugely valuable for a stressful situation.
Create a must-visit event
As our Client Services Director, Tricia mentioned in her article last month, people will judge your event by what they see online, so show them something spectacular and they’ll be blown away. You’ll see numbers increase with a fresh, vibrant microsite displaying everything your visitors will want to know about your event, including a countdown clock like the one we built for the British Congress of Mathematics Education, discounts, agenda, info on speakers and videos of previous conferences.
Keep costs down
As we all know, budgets can be tight for non-profit organisations, and you can’t always shell out for a full website overhaul every 18 months, however much you might actually need it. One of the great things about a microsite is that it can be a really useful resource to keep costs low while communicating to your members that you’re capable of innovation and keeping up with the latest tech and design trends.
Senior, as an example, can equip you with an award-winning microsite with the weight of one of the largest membership web agencies in the UK behind it (that’s us!) for under 10K. Best of all, we can do so even if we don’t have anything to do with your main website! Have a chat with Ben, our Commercial Director, if you have a project in mind.
Get social with your members
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, your potential members/event attendees/students are on social media so you should be too! Whether you’re a fervent Facebooker or a timid Tweeter, a microsite is one of the most sharable tools an organisation can possess. Any truly good content put together well is worthy of sharing and your microsite is no different.
That’s the great thing about microsites; they give you the opportunity to show more personality.
Senior Internet
Add prestige to your awards
A dedicated microsite for your awards evening adds a sophistication and prestige to your event that a simple article or page on your site just can’t. We’ve developed the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners’ awards website, STEPPCA which does just that. It’s a hive of information about their awards with a gallery, the chance to win tickets and a detailed lists of winners, each of whom are naturally inclined to share the site with their friends and colleagues - great free publicity for you.
Compartmentalise
Here at Senior we in fact have two websites. Our main site, (which, by the way, we recommend you thoroughly explore!) is dedicated to showcasing our products, services and wonderful team. It also serves as a hub for bringing the latest news and information to the membership, not-for-profit and charity community. Our microsite, my.senior.co.uk, on the other hand, is for our clients, our member area if you like. We like having this extra site as we feel that it’s nice for our clients to have somewhere to go for support and get to know us a little better. That’s the great thing about microsites; they give you the opportunity to show more personality.
Track results and take stock
If you don’t take care to track and analyse your campaigns you will never know what worked for you and what you could improve on for next time. It’s hugely important to be able to see whereabouts your visitors are going on your site, how long they’re spending there and what they’re doing. You can see this using a tool like Google Analytics for your own site though you might have to do some digging. Microsites, however, offer the information quickly and easily, as it’s dedicated to just one cause. This saves your administrators valuable time.
Do you agree? Drop us an email and let us know what you think or chat to us about your next project.
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