Let’s say you’ve already implemented some great content marketing tactics and generated considerable traffic to your site. That’s great to know. But now it’s time to actually convert those leads into paying customers.
Remember, traffic is just a means to an end. Getting thousands of unique visits to your site isn’t good enough if those visitors aren’t opening their wallets. Of course, you could run ads on your website, but that’s not why you’re in business, and your ads may never reach their destination because they’re being stopped by the customer’s ad blocker.
So, instead, think “conversion.” Here are three simple tips to convert your curious visitors into paying customers.
1. Keep it simple.
Make it easy for visitors to find what they want on your website. Run a call to action next to your great content that’s impossible to miss. In fact, run more than just one call to action — on different parts of the page. That way, visitors will immediately know what kind of product or service you’re offering.
Next, make things easy: Offer as many payment options as possible. If you accept credit cards but don’t take PayPal, you’re limiting your reach.
Also, avoid an excessively long checkout process. Ask for only the minimum information required to make the sale happen, and no more. Use as few screens as possible during checkout, so that you can limit the potential for an “abandoned cart” (customers leaving without completing a payment).
Keep in mind that you also should limit your product or service options as much as possible. If you are selling products like roofs, you should probably show your visitors a broad portfolio of roofs with different designs, colors and materials to help your audience understand your offering. However, if you’re offering an online service (like a backup service), limit the number of options available to three or four. If you overwhelm your audience with too many choices, you’re going to lose some conversions because people won’t know what to select.
Finally, people should be able to navigate to where you want them to go with just three clicks or less. If someone visits your site to read your content and needs to make more than three clicks to say “yes” to an offer, re-work the site to improve the user interface.
2. Show it to them.
There’s a lesson from the Dr. Seuss classic Green Eggs and Ham that every marketer should understand: The character in the story thinks he wouldn’t like green eggs and ham — until he tries the dish. He then realizes that he enjoys green eggs and ham, after all.
Sometimes, all that’s necessary for converting curious onlookers into customers is to let them “try” your product or service.
For a physical product, it’s going to be difficult to let people “try” the product over cyberspace. However, you can still embed a video that shows people using your product. Make sure the video emphasizes how the product solves a problem.
If you’re offering a service, the Green Eggs and Ham principle is easier to apply. Allow people to try your service for free for 14 or 30 days, before deciding whether to buy it. Countless sites are now employing that marketing strategy and have been doing so for years.
3. Offer coupons.
One of the best ways to convert visitors into buyers is by offering coupons. You can do that easily, thanks to your content marketing efforts.
Offer a custom coupon that’s relevant to the content your visitors are reading. You should be able to determine, based on the content, what segment of your market the visitor belongs to. Then, wow him or her with a coupon that offers wording specifically tailored to this individual’s interests. For example, if the content is about local SEO, offer a coupon specifically for local SEO services.
Wrapping it up
It’s not good enough simply to attract traffic. You also need that traffic to contribute to your revenue. That’s why some of your marketing initiatives should specifically target content readers. Give these marketing tips a try to make conversion happen.
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by MATEI GAVRIL