PUTTING A MARKETING
SYSTEM INTO PLACE
To deliver outstanding results for the right client is typically relatively straight forward and requires the following:
Obtain and maintain page one placement on Google
This is easy to say and when you know what you are doing easy to achieve. The key to success is knowledge of the words and phrases people use when they are using search engines. Most businesses are only looking for customers in a tightly defined geographic area, all they need to do is use the local town or county name in conjunction with appropriate key words and phrases on their website.
There are lots of people who claim to be able to ‘optimise' a website; however this is only part of the story. Spending money driving traffic to a website that does not ‘work' is a case of throwing good money after bad. The site must ‘work.
Professional site, compelling copy, easy to navigate
To work a website must look professional and be up to date. Bad grammar, poor pictures, or broken links will all combine to damage ‘conversion rates'. Bear in mind a website needs to appeal both to new prospects as well as existing customers.
If existing clients are going to return to the site it is unlikely to be via the search engines, usually a ‘push' marketing initiative is needed, in most cases an email with a link to ‘read more' on the website...
To be effective a website cannot be a static ‘online brochure'. If it never changes existing clients will not return more than once and search engine rankings will suffer. This means the business has to continually update their website content, keep it interesting and encourage existing clients to return by writing to them.
Ongoing ‘conventional' marketing as appropriate
Assuming a business can forget all other forms of marketing would be a huge mistake. Whilst more and more people use the internet there are prospects and clients who don't use the internet. They would not be able to access the businesses communications if the media they use is ignored. It may not be cost effective to use printed materials and pay postage but it should at least be considered before being rejected.
Also consider the use of purely internet versus conventional marketing in relation to the type of business. A local pub or social club needs a website and email marketing to stay in touch with clients and prospects who have ‘opted in'. To rely purely on email and the website for lead generation and to stay in touch with clients would be a mistake, more on this below.
Rich online presence to augment other marketing strategies
This refers to the need to remember much of a businesses communications should be deployed to get prospective and existing customers to use the businesses' website. The amount of ‘sales copy' that can be included in a small display ad is extremely limited. Conversely the amount of information and sales copy a website can accommodate is unlimited.
If you doubt this fact for one minute consider the key message in many television adverts today, they set out to persuade the viewer to go to the business website. The website then continues the sales process.
Automate mechanism for information requests
Consider the ‘Secret Shopper' experience outlined above. For the larger businesses with an IT and Marketing Department an enquiry on the website should be promptly and efficiently followed up, normally with an automatic system, at least initially.
Most small and medium sized businesses simply don't bother and it is costing them dearly, especially when you know how cheap, quickly and easily a system can be deployed to take information directly from a website into a CRM system. Following this a correctly configured system will send a well crafted sales letter to corresponding to the nature of the enquiry, with additional information. If nothing else this creates an additional positive point of contact designed to differentiate the business from its competitors.
Prospective client details are automatically stored in the CRM system without any administrative overhead in loading data and risking inaccurate data entry.
Fast response on phones, email & SMS alert if appropriate
Knowing a prospective client has made an enquiry is nearly as good as cash in the bank!
If the business owner knows they convert at let's say 33% and each customer spends on average £2,000 in their first year at a 50% gross margin it is easy to calculate the average value of each enquiry:
1 lead x 33% conversion x £2,000 average value x 50% gross margin = £330.00
If the business owner and their staff knew each customer enquiry was worth an average of £330 how motivated would they be to make sure it was responded to properly?
Judging by the way they set up their businesses and answer the phones it seems most business owners either don't know or don't care what a lead is worth.
Engineer multiple points of contact
By the time anyone from the business speaks to a prospective new customer the smart operator will have done everything possible to stack the odds of a successful interaction in their favour.
Each time a prospective or existing client interacts with the business their perception of that business is affected. The first time they see an advert, the businesses website, the response to an enquiry, the time taken to respond on the phones, the way staff deal with the enquiry. All are what we term ‘moments of truth'. By the time a member of staff speaks to a prospect they have usually formed a firm opinion of the business. Is it going to be positive or negative? If the latter securing the business may be tough.
The more ‘positive moments of truth' the better so the smart business owner will go out of their way to make sure there are as many as possible and take steps to ensure each is a positive experience from the prospect or clients perspective.
Stay in communication...
Many businesses mistakenly speak to a prospective client only once. The phone goes, the prospect asks a question, it is answered and that's it. There is no attempt to ‘qualify' enquiries, no attempt of identify the source of the enquiry, no data captured and no further communications.
It is the same with existing clients. Most business owners are so busy running their business they don't take time to pro-actively communicate with their most valuable asset; their clients.
Don't get forgotten when the time comes
Creating a system to stay in touch with clients and prospects on a regular basis, tempting them back to the business can only be positive. In many cases prospective clients are not ready buy immediately and when they are ready they have forgotten the conversation they had with the business owner or their staff weeks or months ago.
By contrast the prospective customer who is genuinely interested, but not yet ready to go ahead normally welcomes ongoing communications from a prospective supplier, especially if the information sent is useful and relevant. When they are ready there is already a trust relationship in place so all other things being equal the client is theirs to lose.
