Conversion Strategies

Since you pay for every click on a Google Adwords campaign, having a poorly thought out campaign can quickly run into quite a bit of expense for very little return. On the other hand, a well thought out campaign that is tightly focused on a strategy for success can produce an excellent return for the money spent. The key is using the best strategy for your needs.

Define one goal per campaign

You may want to accomplish many things – increase leads, generate sales calls, sell more products, or register more customers for your mailing list. Each goal should have its own campaign. Track the results of that campaign against your expenditures to determine your conversion rate and your costs per conversion.

Research, research, research

You should do three types of research. First, research the most popular keywords for your particular niche. Once you’ve identified these keywords, find out what other ads are targeted to these keywords to discover the type of ad copy that is working, as well as the landing pages these ads lead to. Finish up with research of product review websites and forums to hear what your prospective customers are saying about these products.

Be irresistible

You’ve discovered what your customers want, what they like and dislike about your competitors, and what words and phrases attract their attention. Craft an irresistible ad coupled with a landing page that makes an unbeatable offer. Make sure that your offer is better than the competitors in all the ways that matter to your prospective customers.

Divide and conquer

Do not attempt to have your ad be all things to all people. Create different ads for display traffic and search traffic. Create different ads and landing pages for mobile users and desktop users. Create different ads based on geographic location, or any other meaningful differentiation tracked by Google.

Match ad and sales funnel

Each stage in your sales funnel should have a different ad. People who are seeking information will respond to a different ad than people who have already made up their mind and are ready to buy. By including keywords tied to the buying stage, such as “review” or “purchase”, you’ll be able to target the right stage with your ad.

Start small and grow

Use exact match keywords to focus your Adwords campaign on your chosen keywords. By tracking your conversion rates and costs per conversion, you can determine which of those keywords are working the best for you. At that point, begin adding variations of those keywords, for example including the names of nearby towns as well as the major city. Drop any keywords that are performing below average.

Thanks!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

The Internet Marketing Academy

http://www.internetmarketingacademy.com

(Image: Stock Xchange)

To increase your conversions from website visitors, you need a professional website that visitors feel can be trusted. A clean, uncluttered website design that can be easily navigated lends a professional feel. One simple way to make your website more trustworthy is to use certification logos from your shopping cart system or other authentication system. The best way to make your website more trustworthy, however, is to use testimonials.

Text testimonials

Software exists that allows you to create a JavaScript text box on your website that can display a variety of different testimonials from your happy customers. Depending on implementation, the text may be replaced at various intervals or may slowly scroll up the box. This sort of feature lends itself to short testimonials of no more than a sentence or two. Because you are showing a great volume of testimonials, the individual testimonials do not have to be perfect. The human touch of unique phrasing, odd spellings, and unusual focus adds realism and additional believability. If your company is known for one thing, such as rapid delivery, the occasional testimonial talking about other facets of your company, such as customer service, rounds out the picture of your company as trustworthy and reliable.

Showcases

Showcases are longer testimonials, usually including photographs or other visual information demonstrating the situation for the customer before your company was hired, or your product was purchased, and the vastly improved situation afterwards. They are frequently multiple paragraphs in length. Because of this, they are often located on a separate webpage devoted to customer success stories. You can feature one showcase on your main webpage, or offer links to them in a JavaScript box similar to the one used for text testimonials. Because of the nature of showcases, images that capture the essence of the customer experience as well as a few key words make the best links.

Video testimonials

The most believable testimonials are video testimonials. After all, people have a finely developed sense of when another person is lying. They will trust someone giving their testimonial in video format more than they will trust that exact same testimonial in text format. The keys to making a convincing video testimonial are to connect the video with the product or service. Instead of simply filming a “talking head” against a boring backdrop, show the person using the product or service while talking about how wonderful it is. This engages the viewer and makes your product or service seem more familiar even while it stresses the value and trustworthiness. You can also intersperse video of a customer speaking with voice over still images. That lets you demonstrate the before and after nature of the testimonial much as a showcase does while keeping the power of video.

Thanks!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

The Internet Marketing Academy

http://www.internetmarketingacademy.com

(Image: MorgueFile)

At this time of year, many people are putting large amounts of energy into cleaning and tidying their homes, getting ready to receive guests. But how much attention has your business given to receiving guests to your web site? Your web site should make it easy for visitors to find three crucial pieces of information about your business – your unique selling proposition, your niche knowledge, and your track record.

Unique selling proposition

Your business is not the same as other businesses. Whether it is the attitude you bring, your particular blend of past experience, or simply the types of jobs you take on, there is something about your business that makes you unique. Your web site should showcase this aspect of your business so that it is clearly visible to the potential customer.

Consider plumbers. One might stress that they have been in business longer than anyone else in that particular city, another might stress that they have 24×7 response teams for plumbing emergencies, another might stress that they quote prices by the job rather than the hour so there are no surprises, and yet another might stress that they use the newest high-tech tools for diagnosing potential plumbing issues before they become expensive problems. These are all the ways in which those particular companies are unique, and which will shape the rest of how their websites are presented.

Niche knowledge

Some companies are generalists, but most companies have one or more niches in which they have developed more than just a surface level of skill. That niche knowledge makes the company more appealing to other businesses in that niche, who feel that the company will understand the details of their industry already, and be able to focus on what makes their business unique and different within that industry.

This also allows you to refine which areas you would prefer to work in. You may have done work with a car dealership, and developed significant knowledge of the new and used car industry. However, while doing that work, you may have determined that you do not want additional work in that industry. By specifically defining the niches in which you have knowledge and experience for your potential customers, you encourage businesses in the industries in which you want to continue working, and discourage businesses in the industries in which you don’t want to continue working.

Track record

Finally, you should include your track record on your website. This can be a list of satisfied customers, before-and-after photographs of successful jobs, a page of customer testimonials, or some combination of all three. The point is to show prospective customers that you have done something similar to the job they are considering you for, and done it well.

Thanks!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

The Internet Marketing Academy

http://www.internetmarketingacademy.com

(Image: MorgueFile)

Automated marketing sounds like a wonderful ideal. With no human effort, potential customers will be drawn to your website, presented with information that exactly meets their needs, encouraged through the sales process, and wind up as happy customers who have purchased the perfect product or service, with their every step along the path tracked and analysed to improve the interaction with the next potential customer. The meteoric success of the “Big Three” automated marketing companies, Eloqua, Hubspot, and Marketo, shows how badly people want this to be true.

As with so much in life, the reality falls short of the ideal. Not that it is impossible, just that it is not as easy as the automated marketing companies make it seem.

Bad Contact Data

The first flaw in the system occurs when companies try to input their entire customer database, many of which may be decades old, into an automated marketing system. This is likely to lead, at best, to an extremely low rate of return, and at worst, to a negative sentiment against your business. First, take the time to remove any contacts you know are old, stale, or otherwise unlikely to result in positive results. Then, send everyone else a short email explaining your new marketing service and what they will get from it (and if they’re not getting anything from it, you’ve got a bigger problem), then give them an opportunity to opt-in to the service. Those people who opted in will be the only ones who receive automated marketing.

Nurture Leads

The people who react to your automated marketing by visiting your web site may not be ready to buy. Make sure you understand which actions on your web site indicate someone who is ready to drop to the next level of the sales funnel and become a qualified lead. Continue nurturing the other leads, until they reach that stage. This can all be automated as well, by assigning numeric values to actions, and determining a clip level past which leads are considered qualified.

Create Content for Flow Maps

Create a flow map that mirrors how customers move through your marketing system now, and then match that to automated content. Ensure that you have prospecting content which can generate new leads. Create explanatory content which gives all the background information necessary for making a decision to people who may be mildly interested or investigating their options. Create closing content which puts to rest all the questions or concerns a prospect may have, and converts them to being a customer. Understand how your prospect will move between all of the stages of content, and then make sure the content is designed to move them in that direction.

Thanks!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

The Internet Marketing Academy

http://www.internetmarketingacademy.com

(Image: MorgueFile)

There are really just three ways to make more money from your website traffic: increase visitors, get each customer to buy more on average, and increase the conversion rate of visitors to customers.

Obviously, these are all desirable. However, the one that’s going to have the most long-term benefit is increasing your conversion rate. Think of your conversion rate as a measure of efficiency. The higher it is, the more money any other investments in marketing will make for you.

An Example Of A High Conversion Rate

Consider a business run by one man out of his home. He has only about 3000 visitors to his website per month. He is an affiliate marketer of high-end appliances retailing for roughly £250, and 30% of the visitors buy from him. He makes well over £63,000 per year, and runs his business on a part-time basis. He offers an unconditional satisfaction guarantee for 30 days and rarely has a product returned.

Think about that: in a world where 5% conversion rates are considered great, he must be doing something extraordinary. A close inspection of what he does shows that it will work for most businesses that want to work on the basis of integrity; especially those are offering a genuinely superior product at a higher price.

He spent almost 4 years building his business from nothing to its present level of success. He did so slowly, with a lot of care, and didn’t make very much money in the first year. But he was never playing a get rich quick game; he was in it for the long haul.

His website is extremely information rich. He provides lots of good information in an easy-to-read format, and he never misleads or exaggerates. He shows the value of his products through concrete examples and testimonials, as well as offering point-for-point comparisons between his high-end products and those that are less expensive.

Because he’s actually offering the best product of its kind in the world, based on objective tests and evidence that the customer can verify, the sale really requires no hype. He’s not looking for everyone to become a customer; he’s looking for those who appreciate quality in this kind of appliance and are willing to pay for it. That’s an important lesson to achieving a high conversion rate: don’t try to be all things to all people. Instead, focus on one particular demographic of customer and offer them something that’s of unique value to them. Become the expert.

The Secret Of Seven

Here’s an insider secret that applies to most, if not all, online businesses. It’s been called the secret of seven. Research has established that online customers tend to purchase products with a price ending in the number seven at rates that can be as much as 50% higher than the same product priced differently. Pricing your goods and services in numbers that end in seven will also increase your conversion rate.

Looking for more tips on improving conversion rates? This article might be of interest to you:

Discover The “WIIFM” Conversion Secret

Thanks!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

The Internet Marketing Academy

http://www.internetmarketingacademy.com

(Image: Stock Xchange)

If your marketing department hasn’t started a mobile marketing campaign, you are potentially losing money every day. Mobile marketing plays a crucial role in today’s world of on-the-go, send-it-to-my phone consumers. They don’t have time to stop at their PC and check mail; they want it on their phone or in a text. Your marketing strategy has to conform to this in order to reach them and bring them to your business.

Before you start sending out mass emails and texts to hundreds of people, you need to make sure your message is going to be read first and second cause an action. It doesn’t matter is you send out ten thousand emails, if the message isn’t read, your time has been wasted. Follow these tips to increase the ROI of your mobile marketing campaign and increase the chances of success.

Don’t buy email lists. These are a waste of money. You need email and text information of people who are actually going to be interested in your product. Save your massive, all-inclusive marketing, for ads on social networks. Your email and text recipients should be from your database and from lists that come from your own industry.
Design your emails and texts so that they are mobile-friendly. Your messages should not be lengthy paragraphs that mobile users have to scroll through to find the message; make them short, sweet and to the point. The same goes for your text messages. The main thing to remember is that your brand and call to action should be prominently featured in the beginning of the message.
Use QR Codes: QR codes are showing up everywhere, from signs going into a business, to magazines and menus. Make sure that you have your own code and that it is linked to your website. The landing page that the code goes to should require an email address and possibly a text; however, it should not force users to type lengthy amounts of data. Keep in mind; the users are on a mobile device.
Use the text or email message as a coupon or promotional offer. You can incorporate the discount into the email or text or you can direct them to a landing page that contains the offer. The point is to elicit a reaction from the recipient in the form of a sale.
Time your messages and cycle of messages. We’ve all had the dreaded email that won’t stop coming. You answer one email to get an offer, and suddenly your Inbox is overflowing with mail that you simply don’t want. If you’re like most people, you delete it without even opening it. Don’t let this happen to your mobile campaign. Set your emails on a cycle, perhaps once a week and don’t send them in the middle of the night. Many people keep their smart phone near their bed and “you’ve got mail” is not a pleasant sound at 2 AM.

It’s not difficult to plan a mobile marketing campaign that people will read and use. Stop and think about your own email and text usage. If you wouldn’t want it on your phone, don’t send it to others.

Let us know how your mobile marketing campaign is faring. If you have tips you want to share, use the comment box and we can all market smarter and more successfully.

Looking for more advice on mobile marketing? This article might be of interest to you:

Mobile Marketing: Revolutionising Online Advertising

Thanks!

Sean

(Image: Ricmoo via Wikimedia Commons)

Internet Marketing Academy

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Do you remember the days when simply knowing your customers first name was sufficient? You could address them personally, you knew their preferences, their budget and if they wanted casual or formal conversations. Many of these interactions occurred face to face or via telephone. Today’s consumer still wants that personal attention. They want to know that you know exactly who they are. This shows that you value their business and care about them as an individual. In today’s digital world of marketing, you need to know much more than just their first name and phone number.

Online Identity

Along with knowing who our customers are in the “real” world, we need to know who they are in the online world. Are they on Facebook? Do they prefer Twitter? Perhaps they have a passion for writing and love to blog on a frequent basis. When we know the online identities of our niche market, our potential customers and our current customers, we can engage effectively. In truth, many of our customers feel more at ease online. They are able to voice opinions on forums and via status updates that they may not feel comfortable voicing to you directly. Social networking platforms have become the front line for customer service representation. The key is to know your customers online identities and to pay attention to what they have to say. Mrs. Jane Smith may not call you to tell you that she was not thrilled with her latest purchase, but @jsmith may voice her dissatisfaction on Twitter.

Transparency

Our customer’s online voice goes hand in hand with transparency. Meaning, consumers want to know everything there is to know about your brand. They also want to be heard. Online interaction allows you as a business to listen to what your customers have to say. This medium also allows you to direct the conversation into the “real world” with the goal of having a satisfied customer. What does this mean? Simply put, you must monitor what your customers are saying. If they are happy, be grateful and send out many thank you replies. If they are unhappy, give them a place to take their complaints to have them solved. Having a designated email address such as tweets@yourbusiness.com or facebook@yourbusiness.com are great ways to filter complaints and negative reviews to the individuals who can solve their problems.

As marketers, our job may seem easier with the amount of advertising and marketing efforts that are done from the convenience of a computer. What we need to remember is that while we can be much more visible and attract attention outside of our natural circle of influence, we must also be more vigilant. By paying attention and addressing our customers online, we are showing them that we value their business. This is how you will maintain a satisfied customer base, which is your number one goal.

Thanks!

Sean

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Internet Marketing Academy

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Small businesses fight for every bit of money they earn. Competition for sales is incredible, and businesses must adapt to changing markets or lose out on sales. The Internet can be used as selling tool in one of two basic formats. The first is to use it to reinforce an existing store front. The Internet would be used to help bring in customers at a local store. The second is focusing solely on Internet sales, with no store front at all. In this case all advertising would be undertaken online and all sales would be shipped. For local sales, the online advertising methods must take a different tack. Instead of using broad advertising methods to reach as many people as possible, advertisments should be highly focused and limited in scope.

The Importance of Local Listing

The first thing you will need to do to use the Internet to market your business is update all your local listings. Go onto Google and make sure that your company is listed as a local business. Also check out sites like superpages.com or yellowbook.com and make sure that your information is listed and correct. You will also want to ensure that the keywords listed are directly related to your business. While niche market keyword usage is a necessary part of selling online to the general public, when you are selling locally you can use broader search terms. There is less competition for local business than there is for international. Where a solely Internet based business might need to use more awkward phrases, a local business can simply list their focus. You might also want to place a listing on a site like citybizlist.com to ensure as much local exposure as possible.

Incorporate Social Media

Once you have all of your listings up and running, you will need to start looking at other advertising methods. It does not make sense to pay for preferred listings on search engines to promote local business, but it does make sense to consider paid advertising on social networking sites. Facebook offers tremendous advertising potential. Not only can you create your own business Facebook page, but you can also buy local advertising. Much like advertising in a newspaper that distributes in your area, buying Facebook advertising allows you to keep your focus very narrow. You can advertise locally at a very inexpensive price. Facebook can also be used to create interest using different promotions. You can do give-a-ways, raffles, competitions, and more, all run through your Facebook page. It will take time to build up a large enough audience, but the investment is well worth it.

Thanks!

Sean

Internet Marketing Academy

Internet Marketing Training – Internet Marketing Course – Internet Marketing Blog

In the United States, the Monday after the holiday Thanksgiving represents a huge shopping day. Prior to the Internet, the single biggest sales day for American businesses was the Friday after the Thursday of the holiday. Now, online businesses enjoy the benefits of Cyber Monday. The black Friday sales that businesses offered mainly to American consumers can now be expanded to additional audiences. Consumers do not make the same distinctions when purchasing online, after all, you do not need to worry about transportation back and forth when purchasing online. The location of seller only matters with regards to shipping times. As long as the item can arrive timely for the holidays, it does not matter where the retailer is physically located. Below are some strategies you can use to improve your year end sales figures by being competitive on Cyber Monday.

Holiday Profits are all about Sales Figures

You are looking to sell more units at lower cost to you than ever, and the consumer wants to buy at the lowest cost available. Consumers are often price driven when they are shopping online. The best way to get the maximum number of sales on a unit is to offer the lowest price. You can not do this with every item in your online store, but strategic popular item discounts can help you leverage additional sales. The direct sale of a deeply discounted item may not earn you much, if any profits, but the additional accessory sales can be highly profitable. Do not be afraid to offer deep discounts on a limited number of products, it can help bring people onto your site.

Up Sells are the Key to High Holiday Profits

The fierce competition on prices and consumers makes it imperative that you offer a few items at the absolute lowest price available. Sure, you may even take a loss on some items, but the increased web traffic is worth the additional cost. After all, you will only have so many units in stock at the designated low price. After the site traffic picks up, you will need creative upsells and alternatives to keep consumers coming back to your site. Electronics are usually the big ticket discount item, but consider potential accessory gifts that can help you turn a tidy profit. With television sales, wireless noise cancelling headphones make a great gift accessory. Small electronics often do better when purchased in conjunction with a case, and portable electronics might benefit from a tag to help find the device at all times. Carefully implement creative upsells, to get the largest return on your holiday sales.

Thanks!

Sean

Internet Marketing Academy

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Let me ask you a quick question:

When is the last time you tested price?

This is extremely important as your conversions can vary greatly depending on the price level of your product. The price point you could be placing your product or service might not be the optimum price and you could be losing out on a lot of money.

Let me explain: Price is one of the most critical aspects of marketing you should be testing. There have been many instances where conversions have doubled just by changing the price of a product.

Not the offer. Not the headline. Just the price.

For example, you could lower the price and get higher conversions that could make up for the decreased price point. Meaning you’ll make a lot more money.

Conversely, you could raise your prices and lower your conversions slightly. But the same thing will happen: the increased price will make up with the drop in conversions for the product.

This is not always the case. You could raise the price and even RAISE conversions! How is this so? People might equate a higher price with more value and you might get more buyers.

Further you could lower the price of the product and LOWER conversions at the same time. People do not always buy because the price is lower. They could interpret a lower price as cheaper quality and value. So don’t assume you’ll automatically get more buyers when you lower your price.

That’s why you need to test the pricepoint of your product/service. You could start by raising your prices and see if you get more income. If your income is greater or the same, even if total conversions drop, then you have boosted your business by just making one small tweak.

You never know until you test.

Keep Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Internet Marketing Academy