“Never let your campaigns write checks that your website can’t cash” – Avinash Kaushik
Having a website is a valuable (and 100% necessary) asset in today’s consumer world. It shows your legitimacy and is a great place for new customers to begin building trust with your company. Of course as many small business owners notice, having a website is similar to opening a physical storefront. A store that looks nice might attract a customer here and there, but unless you’ve got some luck o’ the Irish, it likely won’t be enough to survive on, or even break even.
What’s a conversion? In the marketing world, this term boils down to someone doing the action you asked them to do in your marketing message, ie. following your call-to-action. You can define minor “micro” conversions, like opening your email, watching the video on you website, subscribing to your newsletter, following you on Facebook, calling the office, etc. Of course, the ultimate “macro” conversion would be the things that make you money, like buying your product or service.
Ok so what do I do first? There are actually lots and lots of things you can do! But let’s start with the low hanging fruit…
Make your website’s purpose match your customer’s intent.
This sounds like common sense, but there are many MANY sites out there that are built around what the company wants, rather than understanding what the customer wants and delivering it to them. What does this require?
- Industry research
- [Successful] competitor research – compare this to unsuccessful competitors.
- Research (on social media to start) your most desired customers. Find out what they like, what they talk about, where they go. Sounds creepy? Maybe a little, but it’s the best way to gain a real understanding of these people, which you need to do at a deeper level than your competitors.
Ask your customers what they think
They won’t be bothered if you straight up ask them, in an unobtrusive way, questions about anything you want answered. Either they will or they won’t, but make it easy – yes/no, multiple choice, with an optional comments section.
Look into your analytics for insights
Where do people click on your pages, especially the pages with tons of calls to action? Are you confusing your visitors? Overwhelming them with too much to focus on, too many things to click and they just leave instead?
Make sure each page has one, MAYBE two main goals for your users to take, or create a logical sequence of steps for them to follow. People like steps. If you are confusing them, you’ll be lucky if they stick around for more than a “bounce”.
Gain insights from your own tests/experiments
Test and test and experiment. “Fail fast” they say. Digital marketing is a game of continuous improvement, like any business really. Try things you like, and especially try things you don’t like.
You never really know what your customers will respond the most positively to, so don’t limit yourself to just what you and your coworkers like.
While you might be tempted to do what you think is best on your website, you’ll see much more success if you work on understanding what your customers actually react positively to and generate the most sales.
Want to learn more about digital marketing? Read our blog to grab some more tips on improving your business and contact us today to speak to some professionals that know how to increase your sales!
We can also build and execute a content marketing strategy that can include things from a blog to social media posts, paid ads, and more…
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