Picture the scene; your digital marketing campaign has been a run-away success. SEO has put you at the top of Google, the PR team have given you so many ‘opportunities to see’ that you haven’t had time to read all the cuttings and you have gone viral on Social Media. Time to crack open the Champagne? At the risk of being the bore at the party, have you checked with your IT team that they can manage the extra traffic?

I’m pretty convinced that some server crashing stories are actually marketing ploys. It says great things about your event if the demand is so high that your site crashes. Long established events know that they’re going to get a huge spike in traffic so could easily plan for it to avoid the problem. Instead every year the media report that the site has crashed, reinforcing the idea that the event is popular.

However, unless you’re in that league, it’s not a strategy I would recommend. It can only be used when you’re 100% confident that the frustration won’t irritate and disengage your customers. If, like most businesses, you can’t risk that, and you need the success of your marketing to translate to sales, then hold the champagne a few minutes and go and talk to your web host. We offer a managed hosting service, and are often brought in when the problems arise, so we know how common the issue of lack of communication is and the disastrous consequences of it.

The key to getting it right is to let your web host know, well in advance, when your campaign is going live and how many extra visitors to the site you expect. When things go really well, and you’re ready to celebrate, brief them again (with best case scenarios) so that they can invest in extra capacity to ensure all your hard work really pays off (and remember to invite them to the party).

 

By Simon Wilcox, MD of Digital Craftsmen.

 

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