“As you’ve noticed, people don’t want to be sold. What people do want is news and information about the things they care about.” – Larry Weber
We are certain that no business or company would ever say that they have enough customers or that they would not want any more. After all more customers means more profits and the ability to ‘get bigger’. Companies do whatever they can to gain more customers and business and one of the more effective means to do so is to attract more ‘traffic and visitors’ to the company website. However, just getting people to your website would not suffice – they need to take some actions that translate to business for a company, while on the site or when they go out of it. Research has revealed that most companies are not very good at converting visitors, on the website, to actual business. There is a skewed ratio between the dollars spent on driving traffic to websites and converting that traffic to actual business – the expense far outweighs the benefits they get.
Companies must know how conversion works and put together methods to optimize engagement leading to an increase in business. There would be a number of different people visiting a company’s website. The first time they do is when they learn more about the company, and become aware of its offerings. These visitors could ‘stop by’ your website based on a recommendation from other users, getting the reference through a social media site, or even through an organic search. The messages the company sends out from a marketing perspective, must not overwhelm them, but rather be educative and making them aware of how they could benefit from associating with the company.
Post awareness about the company and its offerings, a ‘visitor’ could show more interest in the company and visit more tabs and information on the website. This is the stage when the messages from the company must show them how it compares with competition and why it is better than what others have to offer. They would need to know why they must buy from the company and what they can expect from the customer service perspective. The messages from the company at this stage must emphasize and reiterate the benefits it would provide and must include calls to action. Including CTA will nudge your visitor closer towards hitting the buy button or connecting with the company to make a purchase. The messages from the company must focus on the process of connecting and buying. Make this step simple and speedy in order for them to take action – to buy and to spread the information to others via social media or other channels.
The fact is that in today’s cutthroat business environment, no company can afford to miss or lose potential customers and yet they leave out crucial steps in their bid to gain more customers and business. They are unable to understand how and why they are unable to convert visitors despite the most professional website with top class information. With so much information everywhere, it would be tough to gain more customers and business through your website or any other medium of communication. It is important to keep ‘visitors’ busy and engaged on your website long enough to take them to the buying and or advocating stages. Provide them with interesting content and emphasize the importance of customer service in your company if you expect them to stay longer. It is imperative to show them benefits in being associated with your company before you try to push products their way. They must be able to perceive the advantages of problems being resolved and them having a simpler and better life through the association.
We have repeatedly mentioned the need for strong calls to action – these are the gentle reminders and a nudge to push customers closer to making a decision in your company’s favour. Ensure that your website has the CTA buttons displayed prominently and maybe in bright colours – stand out from the rest of the website. Ensure that visitors are able to navigate through the website easily and if they do decide to hit the subscribe button, they must not need to deal with a complicated sign in process. Keep the content simple yet engaging and the action steps few and straightforward – for most potential customers this is probably an indication of the kind of customer service they would receive if they do associate with the company.
While it is important to gain more customers and business and every step must be made to ensure they want to stay, companies must not err on the side of existing customers. This means that in the bid to attract new customers, it would crucial to continue focusing and revamping service for the existing ones too. Existing customers want to feel valued since they have invested time and money in your company but they would not stay if they feel neglected. Customers leave companies for a variety of reasons such as better prices, higher quality of products, the process of buying from a company may be too complicated and or other reasons. The top reason however, is most often poor customer service or feelings of not being important for the company.
The idea is to gain more customers and business from the website – not losing the ones a company already has. If a company pays close attention, they would know that existing customers are a great resource of information and insights – hence soliciting their feedback on how to improve and what more to include by way of products or customer service, is a great way to make them feel in control and an integral part of the company. Customers love to be informed on happenings and new events and launches from the company they associate with. Put your existing customers on the mailing list for newsletters, brochures for new products, email lists to announce new launches or re-launches – maintaining regular communication with them through the channels they deem appropriate will not only keep them longer, but also encourages them to give great testimonials. These words of praise when published on the website prove to be a highly effective method for a company to gain more customers and business through the website.
Ensure that existing customers receive top priority and getting service is never an issue for them. Unhappy customers are extremely vocal about their feelings and even one negative comment could spiral out of control. Ensure that your existing customers are happy and that your company regularly thanks them for their business and or any other action they may take to boost the company’s profits and enhance its reputation. It is equally important though, to acknowledge and thank them for negative feedback too – this essentially means that instead of leaving you they have made the effort to provide points to help your company improve. The power of a happy and unhappy comment from customers can never be undermined – each has the ability to change how potential customers may view the company.
When trying to gain more customers and business through your website, a company must understand that the content on the website is what will engage or disengage visitors. Ensure that whatever is on the site is updated, relevant, and interesting for all readers through attention grabbing headlines, catchy introductory paragraphs, information they may want but is not necessarily connected with your product or service and other such ‘tactics’ to gain interest. Ensure that your content can be easily searched and found – put in place robust SEO strategies and continually update it to match search engine ranking strategies.
To gain more customers and business through your website, it is common sense that your company should be able to keep visitors on it long enough and have great strategies in place to convert them to actual business.
