With communications now largely hosted through digital platforms, businesses need to ensure all channels work together with unified and aligned messages. In a world where we will have reduced physical engagement, how do you build trust with your prospects and help inform buyers?
Website - more than a shop window...
Clearly present your value proposition that connects with prospects’ immediate concerns. Consider the role your website can play for customers, clients and non-sales stakeholders. How can you become a central resource?
The old adage of ‘build it and they will come’ is no longer true. In a world where almost 4.5 million searches are conducted on Google every minute (Statista), making your company discoverable is a key step to success. Two factors may prevent you from appearing high in the search results: poor Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) or/and low number of visitors.
SEO is not limited to just the words on-page and keywords on title tag or meta description. SEO also can be set up on images, videos and off-page words (links to other pages).
Pay Per Click (PPC) is the way to jump the queue on searches. It is one of the most efficient types of digital marketing. Although you have to pay for each visit to your page, you can do cost effective PPC advertising with a good quality score, Cost Per Click bid and high ad rank.
If you consider PPC, you must be sure of your goals and performance metrics - it may not be directly assessed against revenue at first but on how qualifiable the leads are.
Tracking sales through CRM
Running an effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is an essential part of your Sales, Marketing and Customer care success. Databases decay by around 22.5% each year (Hubspot). Put in place best practice procedures access all departments to ensure your data is clean and can be used effectively. Take advantage of widgets and apps for data acquisition and set up automated campaigns to help your database grow and push them through the sales funnel.
Tailor messages to your database depending on their level of engagement and position in your sales funnel. Establish automated email flows, and use graphic designers to craft on-brand visuals to ensure your emails represent your brand.
Social media community engagement
Make sure that your social media messages match your overall marketing narrative, and complement promotions and campaigns run across other channels to create a sense of community and consistency.
Engage your audience in your values and the journey ahead. Not all of them will return as customers at first, but by building relationships, you will keep your business front of mind. Social media algorithms today mean it’s much more difficult to organically reach your existing audience, let alone to engage new followers - make budget available to boost visibility of your content.
Improving digital visibility
Create backlinks to boost SEO by providing content to third party websites
Assess visitor activity to evolve content to drive conversion and sales values
SEO is organic - ensure your keywords are consistent across all your content
Create separate web pages for each product and service
Set up landing pages to target specific keywords - ensure you direct visitors to content that matches their search enquiry
Regular blog posts will keep your site dynamic and recognised by search engines.
B2C - Track visitors through the sales cycle. Share timely messages to increase your conversion rate and average sales baskets, while encouraging repeat custom.
B2B - Build account-based sales strategies, reduce the sales cycle and support your commercial teams to secure customers with higher contract values.
What next?
Consider how you can use new channels and platforms to get your message across. Test a different way to engage your audience. Some suggestions:
Podcasts - create an industry or product focused podcast. Invite specialists, experts and partners to contribute content and enhance the value to your audience
Webinars and webcasts - explore online conferencing tools to create a programme of interactive events to educate your audience
Zoom coffee mornings - invite a small group of people for a roundtable-style discussion with experts and specialists to discuss specific subjects
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