Marketing 360® and Wix are both popular services that help small businesses and startups get their businesses online.  So what are the differences, and which is best for your business?

If you’re starting a business and want to get yourself online, chances are you’re looking at a number of options.  You’ve probably talked to some local developers and marketing specialists.

You searched online and found Marketing 360®.  You may have seen Wix advertising on TV (even during the Super Bowl).

Indeed, Wix is big player in business websites today, and a lot of people come to us wondering how we’re different.  We’d like to offer a clear, unbiased answer.

Wix vs UXI

First, let’s start off by comparing the aspects of the services that are most similar.

Wix is a website template system.  The aspect of Marketing 360® that is for website development is our User Experience Intelligence (UXI) platform.

Both of these use website templates to provide the basic design structure.  Both are content management systems (CMS) that allow people to edit the websites without knowing code.

The fundamental difference between Wix and UXI is that Wix is designed as a do-it-yourself system.  The template structures, content resources, and CMS are simple, intuitive software systems.  In fact, Wix even has something called Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) that designs a website and creates content for you.  All you do is provide some basic info about your business or concept and AI does the rest.

On the contrary, UXI is a hybrid between using templates and working with professional designers.  We staff talented, experienced designers who work with you to customize the website design for your brand.  However, we also use conversion-focused templates so that we don’t have to start every project from scratch.  This means that our projects take only a couple of weeks – instead of months.

If you want something really fast, Wix certainly works.  They’ve commoditized basic website design.  Their system will create a basic site almost instantly.   If your business idea is still new and you just want to toy with website designs to flesh out ideas, this is a tool you might try.  You can do it yourself with no commitment.

UXI®, on the other hand, is really meant for businesses ready to develop a serious, conversion-based website tied to a well-developed marketing strategy.

You need a site that communicates your value proposition with precision, gives you an edge over tough competition and has tested, effective calls-to-action.  You want content developed by professional writers and options to move beyond the “stock” feel of basic templates.

Both Wix and UXI® offer design projects.  At Wix, the caveat is that you don’t have your own domain (it’s a wix.domain) and they run advertisements on your website.  Not really an option for a serious business website.

The Big Difference:  Marketing Services

There are substantial differences between how Marketing 360® and Wix provide website designs to clients.  But there is another difference that totally separates these services.

Wix is just a website template service.  Their objective is to provide businesses, organizations, and individuals with a fast, affordable way to create a functional website.

However, Wix doesn’t offer tools or services to help you market your website.  That part remains up to you.

With Marketing 360®, the website is just one tool in a marketing arsenal.  We offer our proprietary software that unifies and tracks all your digital marketing assets.  You get a dedicated marketing executive who is the marketing arm of your business.  They are supported by a comprehensive, in-house team of digital marketing specialists who produce videos, write content, design ads, run paid advertising campaigns, improve your reputation, and manage social media.

Marketing 360® is a service designed for businesses that want to outsource part or all of their marketing execution to an agency.  Wix is a website design template that is meant to appeal to people who want to manage their digital assets themselves.

This is actually a huge difference in approach, but many people starting out overlook it.

As they start out, they think they want a Wix site.  It’s easy, fast, cheap.  The sites look good.

However, if you have serious marketing needs for your business, it’s another set of goals you have to deal with.  You may create a quick Wix site, but if you plan to market yourself as well, you have another giant set of challenges before you.

People who choose Marketing 360® understand this and realize they need a lot more support than just a website template.  They need a strategy to get the right people to the website.

Wix is not a bad solution – if it’s the right solution for you.  But remember that a fancy website with no traffic is pretty useless.  Marketing is about driving that traffic.

You might be an individual or organization that just needs a web presence to provide basic info about what you do.  You send traffic directly to the site.  In this case, Wix might not be a bad choice (we should also note that website template solutions like Weebly, GoDaddy, and Squarespace are similar to Wix.).

But if you’re planning on running multi-channel marketing campaigns in a competitive market, you’ll need more than just a website.  You’ll need a sound marketing strategy, precisely laid-out tactics, and consistent, smart execution.  You’ll need to track your efforts across these channels so you can discover what works better and what you need to eliminate.  You must measure the results of your work so you know you’re getting ROI.

That describes what Marketing 360® does for businesses.

Don’t only take a hammer to a job that requires a fully loaded toolbox.