In the modern-day world of digital marketing, clicks mean a lot. But what means, even more, is the right kind of clicks.
We can all bump up our engagement rates with 'clickbait' style content designed to encourage web users to do just that - click. But is that really creating a customer journey? These 'superficial' clicks might look good on a Google Analytics graph, but for businesses that are encouraging customers to make considered and potentially expensive purchases, there seems little chance that a click will become a conversion.
In this blog, we look at four methods to attract the right visitors to your website - ones which can be converted into sales qualified leads.
1. Create buyer personas
Before you begin hitting your target audience, you need to know exactly who your 'ideal customer' or buyer persona is. This isn't about taking a wild stab in the dark; you should use all the market research available to you in order to see which demographics in which locations are most likely to take an interest in your product or service. You might already have a lot of this information if you collated it when you were designing the product or service itself.
But how can you come closer to your target customers from data alone? Getting creative and producing buyer personas based on this data can really help you to get 'up close and personal' with the people you are targeting your campaigns at. Start with three different demographics and try to get under the skin of the persona - what are their pet hates? What do they really want? What can really help them? Don't be shy on detail - cover their job, type of home, relationship status and hobbies.
2. Create relevant content with context
Once you have your personas ready, you can begin basing your campaign content around them, identifying their pain points and problems as a start point from which to present solutions. You can create empathy with them by identifying common issues, and the top-line messaging of your campaign can really benefit from text or audio visual content which goes straight to the heart of these pain points, wants and needs.
Don't be afraid to be direct in the language which you use in your campaigns, especially when space is at a premium. Speak directly to your target audience by addressing a common problem or want: 'Where Do You Want to Travel to?' or 'Are You Sure That Your Dream Home Isn't Affordable?'
3. Create calls to action
Calls to action are essential to transfer points in the customer journey, with which you can build on the engagement you have already achieved with your top-line messaging. Now you are providing an opportunity for your personas to learn more and perhaps identify solutions to the problems identified.
With strategically placed, enticing calls to action, you can up the stakes and facilitate another level of engagement; be that clicking through to your website, filling in a contact form or actioning a download. You have created empathy or interest, built a level of trust, and now it is time to expand on your proposition. Remember - you don't always have to opt for a 'route one' sales pitch. Attracting and nurturing a quality lead takes time - so your call to action might take a potential customer to a helpful, entertaining or informative piece of content, more often than it does to the point of sale for your product or service. By engaging with your content the web user has already registered their interest, and can now be considered a quality lead to be managed with care.
4. Create an offer in the form of a solution
There is such a wide range of content available for you to use on digital platforms to attract the right visitors to your website From guides to eBooks and bitesize videos; through your call to action you have the opportunity to provide your target customer base with something of real value that they won't simply click, consume and forget.
Put time into the creation of content which is well presented and simple to use. If you are a motorhome manufacturer, for instance, it could be a video which takes the viewer around '5 Dream Driving Holiday Destinations', or when it comes to property firms, perhaps a downloadable app which lists, locates and rates all the green spaces in a local area - as long as the subject is related to your product or service, and fits with your brand, there is no right or wrong piece of content, as long as it is well produced.
The digital era might have sped things up considerably when it comes to communication, but in business, and specifically inbound marketing, it still pays to be patient. That means taking time to get to know your ideal buyers, and nurturing your leads with care using high-quality and relevant content.
