Should You Use Online Marketing Templates? Pros & Cons

Web design templates are nothing new. They’ve been around in various forms for many years. But recently, companies have started introducing templates for other digital marketing components, as well. You can find templates for emails, social posts, blog articles, and so much more.

In most cases, these online marketing templates are inexpensive and relatively simple to use. So, should you consider using them to build your campaigns?

In today’s post we’ll look at the pros and cons, along with a surprising takeaway you might not have considered. Let’s start with the obvious.

Templates Can Help You Get Started

If you have a need for regular marketing content but can’t seem to get moving, then purchasing a set of templates can be a good way to move forward. After all, it leaves you in a position where you are filling in blanks rather than starting from scratch. A lot of business owners and entrepreneurs find it easier to work from something rather than nothing.

To us, this is the big value of a template, or even a package of templates. They can be used as idea starters and points of inspiration when you feel stuck. Obviously, having something that you’ve created on your own – or that has been made specifically for your business (more on this in a moment) – is the best approach. However, creating content from a template is better than not having any at all.

The big takeaway here is that for certain business owners, and especially those with big limits to their schedules and budgets, using templates can make a lot of sense. Of course, you’ll want to be careful about choosing high-quality templates and being aware of their limitations. That takes us nicely to our next point.

It’s Better to Have Your Own Branded Materials

As valuable as templates are for getting you started with the process of content creation, it’s important to note that they can’t replace original or branded content. It’s far better to create high-quality images, videos, and blog posts in-house than it is to buy a template for your online marketing needs. This is true for a couple of reasons that are easy to understand.

The first reason has to do with effectiveness. When you create your own content, it’s designed specifically for your business, brand, message, and customer base. In other words, you make something you know represents your company and is likely to be a hit with your target market. Because you start off with those considerations in mind, you are likely to come up with something that will make an impact on your site or your social media profiles.

The second reason comes down to exclusivity. By creating custom content for your own marketing plans, you get something you can use again and again. You don’t have to pay for it again if you deploy it in a different format and you’re free to change the content however you want. Also, you don’t need to worry that your competitors are going to use the exact same pieces in their own marketing. You own the content and all of the rights to it. No other company in your space can copy the wording, images, fonts, and so on.

This can be a bigger concern than you might think. Because templates tend to be organized by industry, it isn’t all that unusual to find a number of different competitors using the same templates for websites, emails, and social posts – even as they are trying to appeal to the same groups of customers. Obviously, this doesn’t give any of them a competitive advantage, and in fact makes each of the marketers seem like they are interchangeable. That can be true even if there are real differences in pricing, product quality, or service.

For these reasons, it’s always better to create your own custom marketing content when you can. But, knowing that, there is a third option to consider.

You Could Create Your Own Templates

For everyday online marketing tasks, the best option can be to simply create your own templates (or have a web design team create them for you) and then adapt them to your needs.

Following this approach gives you the best of both worlds. On the one hand, you get content that is tailored to your business and customers, and that can’t be copied or duplicated by your competitors. And on the other hand, you can have the templates created for a small one-time fee and then use them again and again without devoting more time and money to the project.

If this is something you’re considering, it’s worth talking to your web design team about the kinds of templates you’ll need going forward, and what your preferences are. Then they can create a package for you that incorporates everything you’re looking for.

While we’re on the subject, there is one more idea you might want to consider. What if you were to flip the script and, after creating your own marketing templates, come up with something similar for your own customers? Is there some part of your business that could be turned into a reusable product? Is there a kind of template you could create that would make life easier for your most important buyers?

Developing a template could bring you a new source of revenue, of course. More importantly, though, is that it could help you develop a family of products that keep customers coming back to your business again and again. In that way it helps you build your brand while also generating short-term revenue – a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Get the Customized Online Marketing Advice You Need

Knowing the basics of online marketing is important. But if you want to make this your best and most profitable year ever, you need a strategy that’s designed especially for your company, along with the goals and challenges you face. That’s where our team of design, internet marketing, and business growth experts comes in.