Gone are the days when you could simply rely on advertisement campaigns alone to generate sales. The sales process has become much more complex now and your website plays a critical role in it.
In the old times, you would come up with a package deal, run a TV, radio or print ad and generate traffic to the website and hope that some of it converts. Some obviously buy, but what happens to those who don’t? The problem is that a lot of resources and efforts are wasted in generating traffic and not enough in engaging visitors or building relationships. This can make the cost of acquiring new customer very high.
Customers nowadays have many options from which to choose. They can get roughly the same kind of product or service at roughly the same kind of price from someone else. They don’t just blindly trust an advertisement anymore, they like doing some research before they commit to buy. There is too much noise out there. What it comes down to is the type of relationship you have with your potential customers. The stronger the relationship, the better the chance of conversion.
The idea is that rather than just focusing on the traffic that is ready to buy from you, try to also look after people who are interested in your product but are not ready to buy just yet. Try to capture the ‘not-so-hot’ leads and nurture them via your CRM and automated marketing.
Depending upon your product or service, you can employ a variety of short term and long term lead nurturing strategies to build a strong relationship with your customers. This way, when the customer is ready to buy, you are one of the first businesses in their mind. It will simply increase the chances of conversion.
Similarly, existing customer traffic is often taken for granted by many businesses. Integrate your website with the CRM and email newsletters to build relationships with your existing customers. It all comes down to personalisation. For example, a CRM can trigger an email to your sales when customers visit certain pages multiple times or show interest in another product.
By personalising the messages and building strong, genuine relationships, you will be able to increase the conversion as well as the likelihood of repeat business and referrals.
If you would like to know about how your business can grow online, give me a call and we can discuss it over a coffee.
Sam Gupta is the managing director of Synapse Worldwide.
Sam would love to hear your thoughts on this advice column.
Tel: 1300 785 230
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.synapseworldwide.com.
