It’s likely that you’ve never heard of microsites, much less considered their relevance in your digital marketing plan. The simple, layman definition of a microsite is a site that was created by a company that has a separate URL (and function) from the company’s main site. Even more simply, if you have two websites and they have different URLs, then you have a microsite.
These microsites are excellent marketing campaign tools because they can be a little “off-brand” without completely isolating yourself from the microsite. An example of this would be Office Max’s Elf Yourself. This holiday classic allows users to place their faces onto elf bodies, which then dance to your choice of jolly Christmas tunes.
Office Max created an app to run alongside the app that came out in the winter of 2017. In just November and December, it grossed an impressive $300K in revenue, with over 2 million downloads. What started as a fun microsite has grown into another avenue of profit for Office Max. Meanwhile, the actual microsite is down for 10 months out of the year, simply displaying a countdown until next year’s season.
Elf Yourself is an example of a site that doesn’t update often, remaining relatively static throughout its lifetime. Once the site is built, your work is basically done. On the other end of the spectrum are microsites that update often, with fresh content and media relevant to the company’s main product.
An example of this would be AirBNB’s microsite, aptly called “Airbnbmag.” While the site is owned by AirBNB, it has little to do with the services that the company offers. Instead, it focuses on travel news, including articles with topics such as art, architecture, local fare, and hidden gems. The site is updated often, at least once every week, with original content.
For anyone who understands content marketing, this seems to fly in the face of all the work that is put into creating excellent content for your main site, in addition to content for a microsite that functions as a news blog. The goal is different, though. While content marketing strives to get you on the page of the company in order to purchase a product through blatant invitations to visit the site, microsites gently lure customers in with the promise of refreshing content that isn’t necessarily trying to sell them something.
Microsites seem to be more relevant now than they have been at any other point in the era of technology. Some of these sites have the potential to make more money than the main site, if the static sites run well and if the dynamic media sites have major names in the bylines. Only you and your company can decide if a microsite is appropriate for your individual marketing needs.
Whatever you decide, DS6 will be by your side. Whether it’s your microsite or your classic content marketing that needs work, we know exactly how to help. Give us a call or send an email to help your marketing practices reach new heights!