It’s important you have unique ways to build engagement on your blog. Over the years, we have learned a lot about the way people interact with blogs. This is cool because it allows us to keep up-to date with changing trends within the industry. Let’s explore some cool tweaks you can make to your blog to help WITH marketing.
Let’s get started, and your feedback will be greatly appreciated.
Always Tell a Story Through Text or Video
The name of the game is sales, and people must know within a second or two of landing on your site exactly what you are selling. If it’s vague, unclear or hidden behind a lot of wordage you`ll have lost their interest. You lose their interest and you lose the sale which is going to completely ruin your bottom line.
You have to be clear and bold with product placement. Entice the reader through blocks of text or Demonstration videos, and it`s important to be creative so you come up with unique ways to sell and market your product.
A strategically placed demonstration video can add significant revenue to your monthly income. For example, despite the 3-minute length of their video, the Crazy Egg video has brought in an additional 21, 000 dollars per month because of the way they market to their customers and/or visitors.
Telling your story is vital to the sale. People must understand what service you are providing, and what you have to offer. We recommend using personal accounts, and testimonials which shows potential customers the opportunity to understand the product. I also give them examples of my own personal experience because when people can relate to your own personal situations, they are more likely to see the value in the product or service you are offering.
The data doesn’t lie. 37 out of 119 customers surveyed commented that they only became customers after reading personal stories. This alone shows the huge effect telling stories can have on your bottom line.
Storytelling is a craft and you must master this craft to achieve results. You can use customer feedback to help build the foundations of your story. A survey asking customers what they know of your company, and how they would describe what you do is a very good place to start if you are just beginning the process.
Understanding Your Customer
Marketing involves understanding your customer and how they think. Not all people are visiting your site with the intention to buy but all visitors CAN become potential customers if use a few simple strategies.
How you market your product is crucial in attracting attention but even more important is how you re-market your
product and keep someone’s attention long after they have left your site. Consumers are always enticed by free information kits or coupons. Whether you are selling a service or a product, the possibility of getting a bonus for free is often very appealing to potential customers. These kits are generally sent out via email which can come attached with a weekly subscription to a product newsletter. This allows your product to remain in the customer’s consciousness and build awareness on a consistent basis.
Building trusting and lasting relationships with your customers is the ultimate goal and you can do this by creating a series of at least 7 emails called follow-sequence which will highlight the product or service in a new and unique manner. Often it is time and information that will convince a customer to buy and the efficiency of an email strand can effectively accomplish this feat. Head over to your competitor, and you’ll see how they have effectively put together an information kit for their readers. I would focus on those which have been around a long-time so you can learn from the best in the industry.
Re-marketing allows you to have an online presence in a digital era. Upon entering your site, visitors will be pixeled with a cookie which simply means that your advertisements will pop up on their browsing screen thus reminding them again of the services you offer. The ingenious part of this is that there already exists an interest so it’s just a matter of keeping the awareness alive. Many marketing networks now offer affordable remarketing package. Do a quick search in Google to find some which you’ll find very attractive.
The business world is evolving quickly and so is the face of marketing. Push your business into the next stratosphere by adopting a few key strategies and you’ll be well on your way!
Focus on What’s Important
The bottom line in marketing is that you are only as strong as the processes you employ so it’s important to take the time to create a solid marketing initiative. Consistently measure to test out new strategies, and you’ll discover where you need to make changes. It’s important to mention that online blogging, and marketing is always about finding out what works. This means you’ll have to track data so you can find ways to optimize at a later time. Flaws and weaknesses are to be expected but it’s the constant revision, and adjustments that will help add profitability to your business.
The online marketing world has a lot of competition, and those looking to use any tactic to acquire business. You have to embrace the competition. A strategy may be successful for a short term and then others may catch on. This is all part of the marketing game, and you must expect this so you can refresh your approach at regular intervals. Remember, I mentioned above how tracking your results is very important because it helps you keep a close eye on your competition. It also helps you determine what’s been working, and what needs to be changed.
Lastly it’s important to create a diverse portfolio. Putting your eggs in more than one basket allows multiple channels to generate revenue as each drives a percentage of your overall profit. Marketing your business through a variety of different outlets increases the chances that a wide demographic will be exposed to the services and/or products you provide.
Focus on what’s truly important; the marketing process. Don’t be afraid to be creative, and innovative in your approach and your business will reap the rewards.
Call-To-Actions Matter – Time to Maximize
The goal of a Call-to-Action Button is to convert browsers into buyers. Call-to-Action buttons include tactics such as free consultations, appointments or offers of downloadable e-books. All of these are designed to draw the customer in when they click on the icon. The promise of free products, and services increases the possibility that somewhere down the road browsers to the site might become valued customers to the business.
To get a good idea of the call-to-actions available, especially those which perform, I like to visit competitor blogs to see how they are doing things. Remember, some have been in the industry for a long time so have tested out many of the methods.
Here’s how to design effective call-to-action buttons:
Location, color and button placement are the first things that you need to consider when designing your Call to Action Buttons. You want to ensure they are in a place where they can be seen for optimal conversions. If they can’t be seen then we can conclude they won’t be clicked.
Consumers respond in different ways to color, for example, QuickSprout.com mentioned how SAP software solutions increased their conversion rate by over 32% by employing the color orange in their Call-to- Action Button. It comes down to trial, and error when deciding on the right color fit for your site. This doesn’t mean orange will work for you, but means color does make a huge difference. I encourage you try different ones until you find a combination that works
The location of your call-to-action Button is also crucial. Some consumers prefer to read your story and understand what you are offering before visiting other links. Placing your button below the fold may actually be a more effective tactic. However,
This can only be taken on a case by case basis so it is necessary to test different locations within your landing pages. Remember, again, it all comes down to testing everything…right?
White space around your call-to-action button allows it to be more visible, and thus increase the probability that consumers will click on it. Providing credit card symbols, trust symbols or placing product logos around your Call-To-Action Button can help increase customer satisfaction and convert browsers to buyers.
Here are some additional tips to follow going forward.
Special Effects, Unique Slogans and Ingenious Exit Call to Action Buttons can be very effective customer conversion techniques. Many people I know have added flash to some of their buttons because this helps them stand out when visitors are on your page.
Unique slogans such as “Show me my Heat-map” are creative ways to excite customers to click on your call-to-action button. For example, CrazyEgg.com who show’s bloggers their heat-map increased CTR by 20% by simply employing a button flashing with this text – “Show me my Heat-map”. They tested this strategy, and it had enormous results when optimized so they continue to implement it till today.
Designing effective call-to-action buttons is the key, and over the year’s businesses have used psychology and creativity to harness untapped markets. Amazingly enough, utilizing a “don’t click” button can actually entice people into clicking on that button. Trust me, I have fell victim to this trick when I have been on a niche relevant blog.
Knowing human psychology can help you market your service in creative and exciting ways. We all know how frustrating it is to wait in a long line to get into our favorite night spot only to discover the bar is empty. It’s awesome how call-to-action buttons, and advertisements which read “SOLD OUT” can actually generate interest in your product as the perception of desirability is what consumers are responding to. It’s all about enticing the reader, and giving them the idea that they might miss out on a cool opportunity if they wait too long.
Utilize a variety of techniques and make sure you are constantly measuring your success rate. Call-to-Action buttons can be very effective conversion tools when used properly, but the process always remains the same. Create a strategy, measure your successes and make necessary adjustments on a regular basis. Persistency and consistency will drive your business to the next level if you take into consideration a few of these helpful hints, and put them into action!
Final Thoughts
I hope you’ll use this information, and start applying some of these strategies to your blog going forward. It’s amazing how some of the call-to-action techniques have helped me double even triple my conversion rate. You have to make sure you take the first step, and implement these strategies right now. I know if you wait, you might get lazy and never get around to implementing what you have learned.
Here’s what I need you to do…
First, it’s time to go through this content again making notes on the important idea’s discussed. Secondly, please implement these strategies as they would apply to your business or niche. It’s important you do this right now because any delay will cause you to neglect going forward. A delay also means you’ll be gathering important statistics much later. Third, install Google Analytics because this tool is great for you to find information on how conversions have improved. GA will provide you the following:
- Location
- Referrals
- Landing page
- Search queries
- Bounce rate
- And much more.
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