If the menu of online marketing options has your head spinning, you aren’t alone.
From the shiniest new social platform to sifting through mountains of data, there’s no easy equation for getting positive ROI. And if you aren’t careful, you can find yourself on the digital hamster wheel -- chasing after every option, without improving conversions.
The fact is, sales cures all. So it makes sense to focus your efforts ONLY on the channels that produce the most juice for the least squeeze.
That’s why we put together a short Q & A guide that gets to the brass tacks of revenue-producing tools you can use to engage with customers, explode your reach, and grow your sales and conversions
1. "Why isn’t my content getting more shares?"
You can optimize your content for sales and conversion, by providing information that:
A) Improves the lives of your audience, and..
B) Connects the information to the product/service your organization provides.
When you make it useful, you instantly slice through the clutter and position yourself as an authority in your space.
So ask yourself: “Is this worth interrupting someone’s day?”
When you frame your content creation this way, it ensures your audience ALWAYS walks away better than before you reached them.
Next time they want to buy, who do you think they will remember?
2. "Why isn’t my page appearing on the first page search results?"
The REAL question you should be asking, is:
“Why isn’t my page in the top 5 of Google’s results?
Unless you land in the top 5, you are virtually invisible to the people who need you!
Here’s a cool heat map that shows where your virtual real estate need to be if you want eyeballs on your site and your business:
Let’s keep it simple, here’s two simple ways to carve out your spot in the juicy red and orange:
1) Relevance: the best way to be relevant, is to listen to what your audience is talking about. Use your own social channels, surveys, and forums to understand what people are looking for, and what their deepest, most nagging problems are.
Then provide the solution or answer in the content of your page, video, or email.
2) Credibility: This seconds step is inextricably linked to the first. As you build relevance, other authority sites and recognized influencers will link to and share your website; acknowledging that you provide a quality user experience. Google’s “ears” will automatically perk up, hear that you are a trustworthy source, and reward you with higher rankings.
Once you receive the praise of influencers and authorities (who want their own followers to benefit from your great stuff), your reach will multiply beyond what you alone are capable of.
Doing these two things alone will inject a major boost in organic traffic, and keep prospects coming in your door instead of your competitor’s!
3. "People already get bombarded with emails... should I really invest in email marketing?"
First, did you know these 3 facts about email marketing?
- There are 3X as many email accounts as social media accounts? - Kissmetrics
- Email produces a 4,300% ROI. - Direct Marketing Association
- You are 6x more likely to get a click-through from an email campaign than you are from a tweet. – Campaign Monitor
It is the fastest, most cost-effective tool for your online strategy. We could go deep down the rabbit hole, but for now, let’s just focus on these two best practices:
- Build trust. Make every email count. Deliver meaningful, relevant content & offers that will improve the lives of your audience, and they will open their wallets. Also, write personally, like a one-to-one letter. It will feel more human, and people prefer emails from other humans (rather than big, anonymous corporations).
- Don’t be boring: This is the #1 email marketing mistake, as you only get ~5 seconds of someone’s limited attention. Boring = delete.
4. "Why isn’t my website converting visitors into customers?"
There's a few ways your visitors could be leaking out of your site.
First, let's assume your goal is to convince the customer take one of these three actions:
- Purchase
- Enquire
- Share your content
Let's break down the elements at play, so you can isolate where your site's weaknesses are, and start converting more lost visitors to customers.
Ask yourself and your team:
1) Does the page emphasize the value proposition instantly?
If not, why not? Connect with your user's needs in seconds, or risk losing them.
2) Is there irrelevant "fluff" content?
Get to the point. Ensure t3) Do your visual elements align with the end goal? he user never asks "why should I care?"
3) Do your visual elements align with the end goal?
Every element (design, layout, buttons) should be working for you. If it doesn't pull the user closer to the goal, delete it.
4) Is your Call To Action clear & simple?
Show them how to continue the journey with you. If necessary, duplicate the CTA throughout longer pages so it can't be missed.
Sum Up: Strip away the non-converting elements, zero in on your prospect and their concerns, and make the journey as frictionless as possible to exchange information, make a purchase, or share.
5. "I’m not sure what my prospective customer thinks about my website, how do I get inside their head?"
Want to know super-complicated way to know what your customers think? Ask them.
The feedback you get from user testing will provide priceless insights into: minimising friction, smoothing out your sales funnel, and condensing the time between landing on your site and taking a specific conversion action.
Peel back the customer curtain to find out what your prospect is thinking, and then make it as easy as possible for them to commit to the next step with you.
If you need a team of experts in your corner to optimise your digital strategy for conversions, reach out and see why many of Australia’s leading brands are choosing Salt & Fuessel as their result-driven online partner.
