Conversion Tactics
Marketing Mondays with Marci B.
Many business owners are good at prospecting but lose sales opportunities due to lack of follow through. Maximize your marketing efforts with conversion rate optimization. Conversion usually refers to getting a lead to make a purchase, but in the age of digital marketing it considers any desired website action a conversion. Most sales do not occur with first customer contact, so it is important to develop conversion tactics to take potential customers through a lead generation process.
Here are the five phases of lead generation:
- Prospect: This person is exposed to your marketing message. Diverse marketing strategies use multiple mediums such as search engine optimization, word of mouth referrals, social media, events, press releases, community calendars and more.
- Contact: This person shares their information with you. Popular contact method are liking or following social media accounts (ex: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.), subscribing to a blog or email, or even dropping a card into a fishbowl for an event promotion.
- Lead: This person has expressed interest in doing business with you. They have completed an action such as clicking on a promotional offer or free download. More direct contact includes filling out a contact form, sending you an email or giving you a call to inquire about specific services.
- Finalist: This person has been qualified through details collected in the contact and lead stage. They have reviewed product details, a demonstration, download or some other media that details your product or service. They understand all details regarding your offer and they are interested in next steps.
- Client: This person has purchased your product or service.
Here are some tactics for converting customers:
- Determine your media mix
How are you going to share your message with prospects? How will they find you? Consider a combination of traditional and digital media. In order to analyze customers, you must find a way to digitize the interactions that start with traditional media. QR codes and online promo codes work well to convert those prospects to contacts. - Define your sales process
No matter how custom your services are, there still needs to be a defined process for doing business with you. Having a process keeps you organized and gives your client clear expectations. Determine what actions your customer should be taking in each phase of the lead generation conversion. - Analyze sales obstacles for your business
Reflect on the frequently asked questions and common objections you encounter when pitching your product or services. Business owners who desire passive income figure out how to scale their business while limiting their accessibility. Develop a way for prospects to go through the entire conversion funnel without ever speaking to an employee of your company by removing sales barriers. Find out sales barriers with analytic software that measures digital activity such as bounce rates, click-through rates , and cart abandonment. - Develop a customer journey
What actions would your customers take, and what information would you share, if they were interacting directly with you? Based on your answers, decide on the information you need to share with customers in order for them to take your desired actions. Develop a content strategy that shares the right information at the right time, and customers will convert. - Decide on a lead nurturing workflow
Very seldom do customers think or shop the exact same way, so customers will need their experiences customized based on their segment. Develop workflows that automatically share content with customers based on their digital activity. Nurture those leads to gain credibility and trust with your prospect. - Create a nurturing and scoring strategy
Most successful salespeople and businesses are exposed to many prospects, in very much the same way that prospects are exposed to many messages everyday. Cut through the clutter of your leads with lead nurturing and scoring. Once your workflow has been created, it is important to measure the conversion activity and decide when a prospect is ready to be personally contacted as a qualified lead. - Think lifetime customer
The customer purchased from you, now what? Maintain the relationship through continued marketing communications. In order to retain customers, keep them engaged through good customer service and content. Satisfied customers are loyal customers. Consider offering incentives to encourage upsells, referrals and repeat business.
For more information on conversion rate optimization, contact Marci B. Marketing & Management at 248-838-9458 or marci@marcibmarketing.com.
Further reading:
http://creativethirst.com/blog/what-is-conversion-rate-optimization/
http://www.marketing-schools.org/types-of-marketing/conversion-marketing.html
http://marketingwizdom.com/strategies/conversion
https://www.forbes.com/sites/drewhendricks/2015/03/05/10-marketing-tactics-to-increase-conversions/#...
https://moz.com/learn/seo/conversion-rate-optimization
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/14-conversion-rate-optimization-tools-every-expert-needs/114912/
https://marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/lead-conversion-rates-average/
https://blog.startafire.com/engagement-marketing/
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