The IW Way

September 2024 Update

Objectives

These are guidelines for IW (Intuitive Websites) operates as a team and live our work and personal values. Many of these are the unique ways we work at IW, while others are best practices in digital marketing and website design.

The IW Way comprises both values and digital marketing tactics. Some of this content will be used on the IW website and other content will be department and company specific. These are the details that make IW different and better than other digital agencies.

IW Mission: Help clients master their message and get found by their ideal audience.

Get found and get heard! This results in sales growth for IW clients.

IW Vision: A leading digital agency fostering growth, creativity and strategic thinking for clients and the IW team.

We are passionate about sharing marketing knowledge with the world and attaining client success through digital marketing excellence using a time-tested and proven four-step process.

Our name is Intuitive Websites for a reason. We believe that websites and digital marketing content should be intuitive to best meet user needs and by doing so grow our client’s business.

IW Brand Pillars

These are the unique differentiators at the foundation for IW’s unique offerings and our growth.

Strategy as Context for Our Work

We lead with strategy and ask questions to get clarity on client goals.
Tasks are prioritized around outcomes that are not random.
We find the best path to help clients reach their goals.
We bring strategy to clients and execute on that strategy.
This leads to messaging and design that connects with our identified personas.

Four Steps and Growth Driven Design

IW merges our Four-Step Process with HubSpot’s Growth-Driven Design. No other digital marketing agency does this.
This becomes a winning strategy and process for getting client results.
We prioritize points and effort over hours to provide effort-based outcomes.
This helps manage client budgets towards meeting client goals and getting results.

Sharing Marketing Knowledge

We are thought leaders and share marketing knowledge with the world.
Our clients respond to our thought leadership and respect it.
We are on the leading edge of what’s happening in digital marketing for B2B clients.

Service to Clients and IW Teamwork

IW is a company founded on intuition and human connection. We bring the human side to an intangible world with our creative intuition to choose the right path for our customers and our teams, we are Intuitive Websites!

We surround ourselves with others who have a genuine desire to make our world, and the lives of others, better every day. These are principles and guidelines that are the IW way.

The Four-Step Process. At our core is the IW Four-Step Process. This is a common-sense approach to digital marketing that works.

IW leads with strategy for most clients.

1. Digital Marketing Strategy

Consulting, goals, pillars of thought leadership, and developing personas are at the core of strategy. IW works to find the best and most efficient path available to help the client reach their marketing goals

2. Strategic Messaging and Content / Website

Taglines, Story Brand, depth of content, mid-funnel content and messaging that resonates with users. Content that works to meet user intent and is good for SEO.

3. Inbound Marketing

Understanding the role of the sales funnel and how it works with inbound is key to the IW Way. This comprises SEO, email marketing, content marketing, social media, influencers and any tactics used to drive awareness of a client’s brand and to attract people to the sales funnel.

4. Conversions and ROI

Using SMART goals and reporting to track our success with each client is key to our work. We love client wins and track success to know when wins happen. This follows the key metrics and is also customized for each client.

Growth-Driven Design (GDD). This is our process for executing on client work with our Four-Step Process.

We are masters at merging the Four-Steps with Growth Driven Design. This is a unique advantage for IW.

We provide our clients with high-quality service. Our clients marketing success depends on our work. What we do for our clients has an impact beyond us. We want to maximize the effective use of our client’s budget and always be aware of work we can do that goes above and beyond to achieve client goals.

Service before Budget – We drive premium value for our clients. We don’t nickel and dime clients, and we are aware of the bigger picture and the value of long-term clients and referrals. We will accomplish quick tasks to keep clients happy. Often the little things can have a big impact. We help maximize client budgets and are flexible to adapt as needed.

Proactive – Get it done before the client asks. The IW team has experience and knows what’s coming next. We don’t wait on the client or put work back on them when we know the answer and can recommend what’s best.

First Listen. Always. To not only understand, but for the “why.” Whether it’s our customers or our colleagues, we will always seek first to understand before any judgment or recommendation is made. We are naturally curious about our clients and want to understand them to best help. We hear what is being said and what is not being said. Our customers are passionate about their life’s work and businesses, just as we are passionate about our individual creative craft. The “why” is always there if only we are patient enough to recognize it.

Client Understandings. Many IW clients hire us for IW’s expertise and direction. It’s key to know when to provide the answer and when to follow client directions. The IW team always provides consulting and feedback on clients’ ideas to help them be successful. Some clients need more direction than others, but all clients can benefit from IW’s knowledge and experience.

ABC – Always Be Creative in our processes, plans and strategies. Digital marketing is anything but cookie-cutter. Just because we’ve always done something one way, doesn’t mean that’s the only way it can be done. We seek opportunities to go above and beyond. We are open to experimentation and testing, marketing is about thinking outside the box at times. Marketing is ever evolving. Technologies change. We work to make use of creative solutions to our client challenges. We think outside the box in search of client success. We use new tools like HubSpot, ChatGPT, Slack, Asana, Fathom, Zoom and more.

Leverage AI for Growth – We leverage the power of AI to be a better agency and add value to our clients. We understand AI is a tool to enhance what we already do well and to save time. We don’t use AI to generate a final draft, but rather use it for ideas, research, outlines, checklists and more so we can move fast, be thorough and best meet client needs. We create AI marketing minds for our clients recording every meeting, capturing every plan and building a central point of sales and marketing data and information.

Ask questions and don’t make assumptions. We live in a digital world and work in a remote work environment. We’re aware of the human elements and respect each other, even if we’re 2,000 miles apart and communicating digitally and on Zoom.

The intangible, human side of marketing is easily forgotten over sending a Slack, checking a box, or saying “that’s not my job,” and moving on. Never make assumptions and always ask the questions that need to be asked even if they’ve been asked before or it’s uncomfortable.

There’s nothing wrong with not knowing an answer. The key is finding who does. We rely on our colleagues to provide expertise in their areas. We research solutions that contribute to growth and client goals.

Aim for clarity. This happens in our work, writing, designs, strategies, recommendations, reporting, and our daily communications with our clients and each other.

Live by the Platinum Rule. Treat others as THEY would like to be treated. Slip into their shoes and above all else BE KIND. If a quick message or email can’t fix it, be willing to jump on a quick call for clarity.

We are all on the same team. Operate with the idea that no one is intentionally trying to sabotage, and everyone has good intentions, no matter how a communication may come off. We give people the benefit of the doubt and ask questions.

Make time. Fiercely love ourselves, our families, our customers and our teammates enough to make time for them. This means finding time for personal wellness, time off, and practicing gratitude towards your colleagues and clients. Connect on the good, not just the not-so-good.

Be humble and willing to bend. we don’t always have to be right — with our customers or our teammates. Find ways to compromise with others so everyone moves forward, and above all else, together.

Seek excellence in every task. Nothing should ever be done halfway. If you lack the juice, seek inspiration from the team behind you. If you see someone down, lift them up to be the best version of themselves. It will show in the work. Strive to do your best every day.

Manage time with meaning. It’s easy to get pulled into a crisis. Ask, “Is it your rodeo to ride in?” Be supportive, but keep focused and control distractions. Stay focused on the excellence of your work and the priorities needed for the best possible outcomes for the client and IW.

Constantly learning. We will have a constant hunger to learn more about digital marketing, our customers’ industries, and their businesses so that we can be the trusted, informed resource that they need to achieve their goals. We continuously seek advance training and certifications as a fundamental part of jobs.

Respect the process. We will not operate on our own islands and we understand that in order to achieve the mission, we each have a responsibility to complete our part of the process to the best of our abilities, and communicate if something stands in our way. We will keep projects moving forward, on-time and on-budget. We communicate as a team about processes, and when they need to change, or when a new process should be implemented.

Responsiveness. We are highly responsive at IW. We let clients know we are on it and get small tasks done quickly. We update the client on new tasks and their completion dates. To our clients we are an outside entity, so it’s important they feel connected. We respond promptly to client questions and concerns, making sure they know they are heard and valued.

Celebrate the WINS. We will acknowledge the efforts of our teammates and our clients every day knowing that this is the fuel that will inspire and support them to come back and do it all over again tomorrow.

Practice pause. Before we pass something on or complete a task, we will take a moment to pause and ask, “Is this my best, given the time I have? Have I done everything I can possibly do to make this the best work I can produce, and meet the deadline?” We do great work in the timeframe we have and we meet deadlines.

Sharing is a benefit. Sharing our knowledge and cross-training is important to our success as a team. With teammates and clients, we will never see the sharing of our own skills and talents as a threat, but rather a tool to make collaboration and communication better.

We may not know. We don’t have a crystal ball, and sometimes we will simply have to go with our intuition, take a chance, test, and be okay with failure and measure successes. THIS is how we will learn from our mistakes. Data always tells a story and helps interpret our intuitive instincts.

Reset Daily. We work in a deadline-driven world that can wear on our ability to stay grounded. Approach each day with a reset mindset to do our jobs the best we can without looking in the rearview mirror of what happened yesterday.

Schedules and Due Dates. These are important and we set clear due dates and are accountable to them. Our goal is to meet due dates or communicate options if a date will be missed.

Meeting Time and Structure. The goal is to have meetings start and end on time. The meeting opens with clarity on how much time has been allocated for the meeting and the objective of the meeting. We strive to schedule meetings with the appropriate amount of time to cover the agenda.

Be 100% accountable and accept responsibility when a mistake happens. Apply your creative spirit and enthusiasm to developing solutions, rather than finger pointing and dwelling on problems. Identify lessons learned and use these lessons to improve IW processes so we don’t make the same mistake again. Get smarter with every mistake. Learn from every experience.

Be fanatic about response time. People expect us to respond to their questions and concerns quickly, whether it’s in person, on the phone or by email. This includes simply acknowledging that we got the questions and we’re “on-it” as well as keeping them involved and continuously updated on the status of the outstanding issues. Rapid response is one of the easiest and best ways to stand out from the crowd, especially for urgent issues. As a rule, 24-hour responses are what we target.

Do the right thing. Demonstrate an unwavering commitment to doing the right thing in every action you take and every decision you make, even when no one’s looking. Always tell the truth. If you make a mistake, own up to it, apologize, make it right and move on. Ask for help when this issue becomes confusing or when you need help to do the right thing.

Overdeliver When Time is Available. We, as a team, add points to projects and over-deliver when team members are idle and have extra time.

Honor Commitments. There is no better way to earn people’s trust than to be true to your word. Do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it.

Make space to vent frustrations. There is a difference between venting and getting something off your chest and working on solving a problem. Acknowledge the difference between the two when discussing issues with teammates. Know the difference between communication that is above the line and below the line.

Dealing with clients who have “poor” digital marketing ideas. Clients don’t always know what works best and can be their own worst enemy when it comes to digital marketing. There are three steps to follow when this happens. The first step is to document why it is not a good idea and talk to them in a meeting and on email to educate the client. The second step is to let the client know it will impact the goals. The third step is to show them the data that explains over time how the digital marketing tactic is working out.

Ourselves – A Balance in Life and Work

We follow the guidelines below to best balance our work and personal lives.

We have balance.

To be our best, we must make time for ourselves. Our work life balance ensures our life outside of IW is as important as our work for IW. When we balance work and life, we are at our best.

We grow.

Our industry thrives on change, so it is important we constantly adapt. We learn and incorporate new technologies and approaches into our work. Through training and additional learning opportunities, our knowledge growth benefits our clients now and in the future.

We do our best.

We do our best work for every task. Our clients and colleagues know that every project we work on is done thoughtfully and with our best effort.

We are accountable.

We own our work and take pride in our expertise. If something is wrong in our work, we fix it and we learn from it.

IW Website Guidelines and Best Practices

The following are the website content, design and development guidelines that are part of the IW Four-Step Process training. These are guidelines to strive for and to educate clients about.

Keep in mind, most IW clients don’t know what’s best for their marketing, and their instincts in many cases are incorrect. Also, just because another company breaks these guidelines does not make it a best practice. Many large companies struggle with digital marketing and poor websites, regardless of their size.

Direct and Clear Taglines: Use a direct and clear tagline in the banner on the homepage and all key landing pages. Avoid cryptic taglines in banners. Work with the SEO team on getting a keyword in the tagline.
Slogans and Taglines. Make a distinction between a slogan and a tagline, avoid using a slogan as a tagline in the banner. Slogans are a few descriptive words for the brand like Nike, “Just do It” while a tagline clearly defines what the company does.
CTAs. Use two CTAs in the banner, mid-funnel and bottom of funnel. We will help clients develop mid-funnel assets if they do not have them. If a client requests more than two CTAs, or chooses to not take our recommendation for a mid-funnel and bottom of funnel CTA, advise them that it will impact website goals and IW cannot be held accountable.
Images and Content. Connect all images to the messaging with clear content. Avoid random images with slogans and use captions with photos.
Avoid Stock Photos. Use only high-quality stock photos when necessary and make the photos unique to the website so users don’t see the same stock photos on multiple websites.
The 10-out-of-10 Rule. Strive for meeting the 10-out-of-10 rule with all content and images. It benefits our clients when websites communicate to the widest audience possible.
Avoid animated scrolling and moving text. Text that moves off the screen will not be read by users.
Avoid having the user click to see content. Many users will not click, or will miss key content areas when they have to click to see it.
Story Brand. Follow the Story Brand (Donald Miller) page layout flow on key website pages and use SEO keywords to support the Story Brand approach where possible.
Captions in Photos. Use captions in photos, especially photos of people, and locations when they’re relevant to tell the user what they’re looking at. (Name, Title, Location, etc.)
User-Focused Content. Write content that starts with the words “you or yours” rather than “we or us.” Content in the second person is better targeted to show value.
Benefit-Focused Content. Use content loaded with benefits for users and website personas.
Learn More. Avoid CTAs like “learn more” that ask the user to work. Focus on CTAs with benefits like, “get more.” Websites that guide people to do something of value are better than those that make people work. Read the book: Don’t Make Me Think, by Steve Krug
Include a newsletter sign-up in the footer.
First Draft Content. Cut first draft content in half, keep content direct and to the point with as few words as possible, with many of those words being strong for SEO. Use ChatGPT and similar tools to write first draft digital content.
User Feedback. Heat map the homepage design after launch to see how people use the website. Find ways to get feedback directly from people who use the website. This data should be reported back to the client of what is and is not working.
Website Navigation. Focus on four key navigation elements: Services/Products, Resources, About, and Contact. This is the starting point for all navigation structures. No more than 5-7 items in main navigation, utilize an upper utility navigation for logins, catalogs, etc. (SaaS websites have a Pricing page)
Social Media Icons. Include social media icons in the footer on most website designs.
Users Scan and Don’t Always Read. For blogs especially, we make use of headers to make content scannable. Many content types are impacted by users scanning. This is especially true for email.
Content is based on value to the user first and SEO secondary. SEO is used to support content value with great keywords that match user intent. Google is always changing search algorithms, and disruptions are on the horizon in the future.
Better versions of the website go live when ready. When the new website is better than the current version, it’s recommended to the client that the site goes live ASAP.
We respond fast when a website is down or a plugin is compromised. We ask for help from team members and never make this an action item.

IW clients come to us for guidance and recommendations. Most clients do not know what’s best for their website or may even recommend ideas that move them further away from reaching their marketing goals.

Digital Marketing (The Digital Marketing Funnel)

Digital marketing can be summarized as improving the digital marketing funnel for our clients. These are the key working values we follow to drive client results.

Client Competitive Advantages. We understand what our clients do for their customers, and how they’re unique from competitors. We understand how our clients provide unique value in the marketplace.
The Client Rainmaker. We know how and why client’s generate sales. We can identify key rainmakers on the client’s team.
Movement Through the Funnel. We understand how people research and buy from our clients. We can get inside the heads of clients’ prospective customers.
Digital Marketing Plans. We read IW client marketing plans and know the client’s thought leadership, and the key benefits they provide their customers. Each client gets a unique digital plan, sprint, and a custom approach.
SMART Goals. These goals define client success. Clients may have sales targets and marketing goals that eventually can be worked into SMART goals. If clients struggle with their sales process, we refer them to Karl Becker and his team of sales consultants, trainers and specialists.
Client Education. IW clients are not knowledgeable of why we do what we do, and must be educated on how inbound marketing will help them grow.
Digital Metrics. We use metrics to measure our results. Movement in the digital funnel is a key metric as measured in Google Analytics, Agency Analytics, SEMRush, and HubSpot reporting. We stay up to date on new reporting methods. We offer excellent reporting and insights to measure results and report what’s working to the client.
Brand Exposure. We expect clients to get more brand exposure because of our work. This is measured through increased impressions and expanded reach in key digital channels. Our work leads to website traffic increases from all channels.
SEO is Critical. IW SEO work increases traffic to client websites as part of our strategy and planning.
Conversion Goals. Our website pages and specific landing pages strive for conversion rates above 2%. IW email marketing has a goal of open rates of 15-20% or more. Email click-through rates of more than 2% are common for IW clients, and we strive to make this happen. IW websites convert at higher than industry averages.
Email Content. We write email content that is brief, value focused, and motivates readers to convert. The IW team proofs emails for clients.
SEO Keyword Research. We research low-hanging keywords for SEO using the Search Console to find relevant keywords with significant volume on page two or three in Google search results. We then work to move our client’s rankings in organic search to page one on those terms. The IW SEO team knows SEO and all the complexities of SEO success.
Digital Ads. We offer thoughtful and strategic digital ads with reporting that shows specific ROI, and we strive for conversion rates above 2%. We recommend and develop landing pages for digital ads specific to user intent to maximize conversion rates. This is for Google Ads and all forms of social ads.
Social Calendars. We write thoughtful and insightful social calendars for our clients with strategic content that moves people through the funnel. We avoid “fluffy” social content with low value to readers.
Creative Digital Marketing. We offer creative solutions to help online researchers find our clients and buy from them.
Influencers. IW consults and supports our clients in the development of strategic influencer marketing campaigns. We help our clients launch influencer campaigns and help them find influencers to build a database of influencer contacts.
AI Tools. We are leaders in using AI tools and new technologies to do our jobs better.