sales

GUEST BLOGGER: Tuning Visitors into Leads by Alex Szaki

November 29, 2019November 29, 2019 by Tammy Hudgin, posted in Marketing, Uncategorized

We all need a website for our business but is yours working for you or against you?

It’s one thing to get your website up and running, and to get people to visit your site, but there still remains one more question you need to ask yourself…

What happens when they arrive there?

These questions are very important and depending on how you answer, can make a huge difference to your bottom line.

As a local business owner you must think carefully about what you present to your website visitors when they first arrive. Remember the saying “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”?

Well this quote has never been more accurate and the reason is, our attention span is very low these days and dropping every year.

With this in mind. Here are few things to consider when looking at your website.

What do you want your website visitor to do?

Do you make it easy for them to do it and is it obvious?

You see, the objective of your website is to turn visitors into customers, right?

This is the first issue with most websites. They treat it as a brochure and not a tool to attract customers.

So, take a look at your website. I mean really look at it and not from your perspective but from the eyes of a new visitor who has never heard of your business.

Is your contact information clearly visible? One simple but very important detail that many businesses leave out is having their phone number at the top. This is key if you do nothing else.

Do you have a working contact form that people can easily access to get in touch with you?

Is your website front page confusing or is it easy to read and navigate?

Does your website talk about you and your business or does it explain the benefits of your products or services?

All of these questions need to be answered honestly because when done right, your visitor will become a fan of your business and have no reason to look any further.

Always remember, when people are searching the Internet they will not hang around on a website that is confusing, difficult to understand or read.

You want to make it simple and clear for people when they arrive at our site.

Think of the one thing, above everything else, that you want to present to your customer, and the one action that you would like them to take when they visit, and make it abundantly clear how to do that one thing.

One of the ways to achieve this is by setting up an e-mail capture form on your web site. You may even offer an incentive for visitors in exchange for their name and email.

There are several creative and very effective ways to accomplish this. It can be a free report, a quiz, questionnaire, free eBook, access to an informative video, a coupon or discount code.

The list is endless, but what is important is the fact that we offer something of value first. Think about it this way. Would you rather be offered something of value without being asked for anything in return when you first meet someone? Of course.

We are always being sold to so don’t you think your website visitor would be more likely to do business with you after you give them something of value? Absolutely!

Costco comes to mind as I write this post. If you’ve ever been to a Costco I’m sure you have noticed that they set up small sample tables, usually around the frozen food section.

You’ve probably also noticed how many people are waiting in line to get their free sample. Right?

What you might not have noticed but is very strategic is that they very rarely ask for the sale. They just smile and hand out samples.

When someone likes the offering, they ask where they can find it. The person working the sample table usually just points a few feet away and the sale is complete.

No advertising, no high pressure sales tactic and they let the product sell itself. Well, this is what you want to achieve with your website.

Think of your new website visitor experiencing a warm smile, feeling welcome, offered a sample of your product or service and knowing you’re available if they need more information or want to purchase.

The bonus for you that Costco doesn’t have is you are able to gather contact information which when done right, can now nurture your new prospect with more goodies and offers. Oh, and best of all, it can all run on autopilot!

The bottom line is, create a soft place to land and focus on the customer and not you or your business. I’m very sorry to say this but they don’t really care anyway. They just want information on how you can serve THEM.

Now that you have a better understanding of what your website should do and offer, you’re probably wondering what you should do next, right?

Here are a few options to consider. If you created your business website yourself then go ahead and add some type of optin box to start. Most hosting companies that have website builders will have the option of adding a landing page or optin box.

They can probably also create a pop up. You’ve seen them I’m sure. You get to a website and within a few seconds a box appears with an offer usually.

Some people hate them but if you offer value and don’t ask for a sale, people are usually ok with that. As a side note, they convert really well no matter how many people say they hate them.

If you need help, most hosting companies are also very good at helping you with these projects so don’t be afraid to ask.

If you had your website creating by someone else, reach out to them and ask if they can add some type of option box for you.

If both those options won’t work, I would really consider creating a new webpage (not a full website) as a sister site to your main website.

This would be a single landing page, with a headline and offer. It’s meant to be simple so don’t worry about it looking great. After they provide their information you can then send them automatically to your main page anyway.

In the meantime you will be emailing them the information they requested.

The best part of having more than one website or single page is you can direct traffic any way you want. If you want to offer something of value you send them to your single page and forward to your main site.

If you don’t have an offer or specific promotion, send them to your main website. Think of it as having a benefit packed brochure for each service or product you provide but only using it when needed.

In regards to your free offer, don’t over complicate this. For now just send them a discount offer of some sort but get that email list started.

If you really like the idea of offering a report or short ebook but don’t have the time to create it, use a service like Fiverr. You can find thousands of people who are more than happy to create something for you and make it look amazing for less than $100.

Finally, if you want to do it yourself, write down 10 questions you have been asked about your products or services and head over to Canva. There you can create a report using templates that look amazing and download it as a PDF file. All for free!

You really don’t need to overthink this project but remember, once it’s done, you will use it for years and it will attract many new customers for you while you do other things.

If you are stressed out just at the thought of doing any of this, help is available. Visit us at www.marketingforlocal.com and schedule your FREE 30 minute call so we can discuss your options.

We would love to help you set up a system that attracts new customers to your business and one that runs on autopilot so you can focus on taking care of your current customers.

At the end of the day the only thing we want as local business owners is to help others with our products or services and do it with the least amount of stress possible. Having a website that works for you is just one way to accomplish this.

I hope you found this post helpful and if it made you take a look at your website in a different light, I’ve done my job.

Cheers,

Alex

Alex Szaki

Alex Szaki helps people scale their businesses with predictability. He is an expert at helping people get clients using online methods and making things super simple to understand.

If you’re interested in scaling up and getting clients then definitely reach out and request a free strategy session today.

What to post on your Facebook Personal Timeline

March 13, 2019March 13, 2019 by Tammy Hudgin, posted in Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized

Since Facebook states that we cannot use our Personal Timelines for commercial use, many people are unsure of what they should post to bring visibility to their business.

The goal here is to be talking about all the elements that make up your business, where you are going, what training you are taking, who you are working with, where you are speaking, what deliveries you receive; all elements that ultimately indirectly sell you and your business. This is a great way to showcase everything that you do to enhance your business, enhance what you offer your clients, the knowledge you have, what you are learning to improve on your business.

I have put together some examples to help you think about how you can showcase your business.

Excited to be one of the table speakers at the Rock Your Biz event. My focus will be finding out where business owners are stuck and give them some tips on how to get past it.

Another GREAT meeting with the ladies from FemCity Bradford!

Attending the WinterFresh Trivia Night to help raise funds for the York Region Food Network. I am thankful for these women, who are small business owners but also great friends, as they helped me survive my lack of trivia knowledge lol

Thanks to my girlfriend Darla for accompanying me to the CDC Lunch n Learn where I was one of the speakers, talking the world of Facebook.

Excited for another Zoom Facebook Training today, I love teaching!!

Look who I ran into at Rogers TV this morning!! We were all guest speakers on the show!

P.S. I would actually tag both of these ladies in the post which ultimately brings all of us more visibility.

Today was all about learning from Guest Speakers, building relationships and selling our businesses.

P.S. I would tag each of them as well

As you can see, I have inserted a variety of different elements that make up some of the things I do but also showcases some fun things, like the Trivia night as I was with other business owners. At no point, did I directly sell anything, I am just showcasing what “Tammy” is up to.

I also do two main posts, one on Mondays and one on Fridays.

Mondays I focus on outlining my week, what is going to keep Tammy busy.

Fridays, I look back over my week and I review all the different success elements and I pick one to talk about. I tell them why I feel that it was successful for me and also include some type of quote to support it.

Moving forward, I encourage you to sit down and make a list of all the activities that you do for building your business and determine what type of pictures you need to take (the more of you the better as people love seeing photos of us).

I hope this helps you to think a little differently about what you are posting on your personal timeline.

GUEST BLOGGER: 5 Methods to Power-up your Business through Behavioral Marketing By Kimberly Maceda

September 21, 2018September 21, 2018 by Tammy Hudgin, posted in Marketing, Uncategorized

Imagine that you’re walking on the men’s section of a department store looking for a new suit to buy. Then, one attendant suddenly offers you a baby diaper on sale. How likely are you to grab that offer, very unlikely, right? You’ll most probably even be bewildered by the offer.

The situation above is comparative to digital ads that are not targeted correctly. But with behavioral marketing using email marketing automation software, you won’t be giving content which is out of place. Instead, you will be providing product suggestions, promotions, and contents that are appropriately based on the users’ behavior. As an example, with the situation above, a proper offer will be ‘tips on choosing a great fitting suit’ or a coupon code.

Behavioral marketing gathers information using surfing and searches data, IPs and cookies. This collection of data is used to create an exhaustive user profile, and then the marketing content is could be perfectly tailored.

If done right, behavior-targeting could boost email open rates by 56.68%, and it will ultimately lead to a boost in your sales. Amazon, for example, uses behavior data for their recommendation algorithm; which drives 35% of their revenue.

Here Are a Few Behavioral Marketing Strategies You Must Implement

Use transaction history to recommend products

As mentioned above, recommendation drives a lot of profit for the biggest e-commerce companies today by using upselling and cross-selling techniques.

Cross-selling is offering products that complement the original item. For example, you can cross-sell a tripod to a customer who bought a camera or socks for a user that ordered shoes. By showing what the consumer needs at the right time, you increase your chance to get higher revenue.

On the other hand, upselling is providing a better version of the item your client is currently interested in. Upsell examples can include a version upgrade, customization, and an extended service period.

Both upselling and cross-selling are great for increasing your profit. But you don’t have to choose between the two. Always use them simultaneously. Using behavioral data, your upsells and cross-sells will can be on point.

Monitor your visitor’s action using URL tracking

URL tracking is one way to assess and recalibrate your marketing techniques. If you know what visitors are exactly clicking on before making a sale, you can allocate your resources effectively. It also allows you to remove unnecessary links on your website.

Using this technique, you can arrange marketing campaigns to boost referrals. A unique link is spread across different platforms on the web; ads, social forums, blogs, emails, or socials media. The links are then tracked to see the quality and quantity of traffic from all sources.

Every time a visitor clicks on the link, he or she will be redirected to your destination page. Data about the source and location are then collected.

Use online behavior to provide personalized content

The competition for a viewer’s attention can be won through personalization. But you can’t possibly personalize if you do not know your audience. Aside from transaction history as mentioned in number one, there are other online behaviors you can monitor. For your email subscribers, you can track what content they are opening, when, and for how long.

Though conversion is the end goal of marketing, it isn’t all about sales. You need to establish trust and build relationships. To do this, you must provide valuable content in different forms. The content will resonate most with your users if you personalize them using online behavior data.

Implement retargeting to increase sales

Statistically, only 2% of users convert at their first visit. So are you going to let those 98% slip through your fingers? Fortunately, you don’t have to. You can use retargeting also known as remarketing to reach out to the viewers who have expressed interest in your product but they might not be ready yet.

This technique is a cookie-based technology which places a pixel on your site. Each time someone visits your website, the pixel leaves an unnamed browser cookie. When the user leaves your site, the retargeting provider will serve ads related to the content or product you have been browsing. Retargeting works effectively and efficiently because you will only spend on viewers who have already exhibited interest in your brand.

Send offers guided by demographic data

Demographic data is basic but it shouldn’t be overlooked. Demographic data is a crucial indicator of someone’s behavior, needs, and interests. This includes gender, location, age, ethnicity, and marital status.

With demographic targeting, you can reach a specific group with shared characteristics. It prevents wasted impressions. For example, if you have an e-commerce shop with assorted products, you will show products according to gender stereotypes and social conventions (man’s or woman’s wear). In today’s PC era, it might seem inappropriate but it does boost sales.

Conclusion

Behavioral marketing is a sophisticated way to market your business online. You can leverage behavioral marketing by using transaction history, URL tracking, providing personalized content, retargeting, and sending offers based on demographic data.

Stop wasting your marketing resources with generic ads and content. You have all the tools you need like email marketing automation software and other behavioral marketing tools to drive your business to the next level.

Author Bio:

Kimberly Maceda is a Content Writer for ActiveTrail. She writes for some top online marketing sites and blogging advice on email marketing and marketing automation. Activetrail is a leading provider of professional-grade email marketing and automation software for growing businesses.