Small business web marketing drives leads and sales – especially during pandemic
You’ve put time and money into your website, but you aren’t seeing leads or sales. During retail’s pandemic reset, people are becoming more dependent on online marketing and sales and your website must be ready.
Here are five content-marketing steps to convert web visitors to customers.
Know Your Customer’s Problem
You went into business because you love the product or service you provide. You also know the problems, complexities, and challenges that your customers experience. Your passion and knowledge attract people of similar interests and your website content demonstrates that. Content builds the bridge to trust and customer confidence in you and your business.Let customers know you understand the problems they face and, more importantly, what can be done to solve them because of what you do, offer, or create.
Speak their language
Use language that relates to your particular product or service. Don’t speak down to customers or intimidate them with your knowledge, be empathetic to what they are going through and show how you help them solve the issue.
Your enthusiasm, optimism, compassion, and relevant solutions show that you know what you’re doing and why you love what you do. When you connect on common ground you can inspire customers and give them confidence the solution is within their reach.
The process of creating customer personas helps define how you might better understand your customers.
Compare and contrast your solutions and value
You know why you’re good at what you do and how you compare to competitors. Your content marketing should authentically show the specific value you bring and what customers can expect and gain from doing business with you.
Know your unique value proposition and demonstrate it in your content, especially when site visitors are in the consideration or buying stage of their buyer journey. What’s so special about you? Why should someone want to do business with you?
Provide clear calls to action
Offer multiple opportunities for customers to respond. How can they get more information, sign up for a demo, get a report or case study, or to buy right now? Your calls to action should offer help and information based on your customer’s buying stage. The content directs them to the next action step.
Web forms help capture customer information and begin engaging with your customers. Your calls to action should be relevant to where they are on their buying journey. Are they just discovering your product or service? Give them the big-picture overview. Researching options and competitors? Show your unique value. Considering who to purchase from? Demonstrate why you are the best choice. Ready to buy? Give them a link to act now.
Your content offers information needed to take the next step to becoming a customer.
Follow up with help and service
Ensure you’re ready to accept and process leads quickly and efficiently. Don’t let time pass or otherwise delay your response to customer inquiries or requests. Show your care.
Have a lead follow-up system in place to connect back or call back in an organized way over time. Can you quickly get a lead into a customer list or customer-relationship management system so you can respond, manage leads, track contacts over time, and gauge what kind of customer they are – just curious, actively considering, ready to buy?
Understand your sales process to identify where your lead is and what needs to be accomplished to convert to a sale. What do you need to sell? A discovery call, appointment for a demonstration, order a product or service?
Be ready to meet customers where they are and support them with appropriate content to take specific action. You’ve been through it already, help your customers get through it.
Your business website often is the only connection you might have with a customer. If it’s sloppy or doesn’t answer the questions your customers are asking, it can actually hurt your marketing and negatively affect how potential customers view you and stop leads and subsequent sales.
Need help building a content strategy or content? Let’s connect.