Can your customers follow the path to your door seamlessly?
Is your path without boulders and diversions?
At BWCI we are experts at driving people to your door or website that’s the easy part. It’s the next step or even final action that can be slowed to a stop with even a small speed bump. Even in our own advertising.
Yet, because of online marketing and its ability to track the customer's journey once they are on your website, it is painfully clear where the hiccups or friction lie in the process. The numbers don’t lie, but you do need to learn to interpret and/or test to find the exact location of the cliff all that traffic seems to be driving off of. Plus with the new privacy laws that make targeting harder (not a bad thing in my opinion), those connections are a lot more valuable. Keeping a clean clear path is like a beautiful storefront that your business can be proud of. That clean clear lake at the end of the trail to sit, take a dip, and enjoy the view.
Here’s a short checklist of what to look out for.
Beware of:
Too many clicks to purchase.
Websites SNAFU’s.
Message or imaging changes from page to page. (Keeping it to one landing page is a good rule of thumb)
The Buy Now button is hard to find. Don Miller - Story Brand on the Buy Now Button
Once they arrive at your door. The message, offer, or brand is confusing or hard to find.
The purchasing process needs to be seamless. Think about the customer journey all the way through. Any confusion and you will have a drop-off. You will lose the customer’s confidence.
The beauty of online marketing is the tracking numbers available make it easy to find the speed bump in your process. The hard part is you will know when it’s right but it takes time, effort, and tenacity to get there.
Expectations
I struggle with my own doubt because I do not get direct sales from my website. My connection numbers are solid, the web traffic is strong without spending a lot on advertising with BWCI being a local company, not national. The issue with direct sales is I’m in the branding category of B2B business, not direct sales marketing. BWCI is a high ticket service that requires in-depth education. Brand Marketing, and I have come to terms with that fact. I have an email pop up that people fill out. I find the ones that do fill it out are not first-timers to the site. They want to talk before they even think of purchasing. I have a pricing page but that is really just for qualifying clients. My customer journey is not BUY now but let's talk. The "get video" button takes you to the email pop-up, there is no online contract or payment option.
What I do get for my ad dollars?
The people I meet know what BWCI does for businesses. The Big Water Ci. brand has taken hold in the Tahoe Truckee area and it is worth every ad dollar I have spent over time. Brand Marketing works.
So what do you hope to achieve?
Ask your self is this direct sales or branding. To be honest, do you really expect someone to see your fantastic ad and drop $10K on the online checkout? Would they be a good fit for you as a client?
If you are a direct seller and the cost of your product is low and the demand high then it is reasonable for you to expect completion of check-out numbers to be solid and by all means, reach for the sky with your goal.
Or,
If your service or product is a high ticket item then the truth of the matter is you are in for the branding realm of marketing and advertising and this is a slow but steady slog. I feel your pain.
There is a rainbow.
Don’t be too discouraged direct marketing is considered the quick flash approach and can bring dollars fast but the flame will burn out sooner than later. Where a good brand-building marketing approach can return many times over and for years if managed properly. Need to raise your rates? A solid brand has that option, the value has already been established.
Next…
Get some eyes on your process. Don’t be shy to ask Great Aunt Ginny to go through the process while you watch. Think demographics here. Get a friend that has no need for your service to click through and tell you if any of it made any sense. The curse of knowledge is a triple high-speed bump when a potential client is driving through. Last but not least you can hire a consultant.
Keep It Simple.
Industry jargon does not win here and if you move too fast you lose. Keep in mind the person making the decision to purchase may not be the same person using the service or product. Make sure you know who you are talking to and keep it as clear and short as possible. Try making the in-depth data a downloadable PDF for the tech-minded or a white sheet with all your features.
It's time to take a look at your process from advertising to sales and see if there are large boulders slowing your customer's journey down.
If you need some eyes on your online presence. We provide that service for free with our Online Presence Evaluation.
Any questions?
Please leave a comment below or,
Reach out tgold@bigwaterci.com
I promise I won't hard-sell you. This is a good example of a branding campaign and pushy sales gimmicks don't work here. A connection over time that is a source of solid, usable information does.
Trina Gold
Master Creator