Why Your Website Can't Do the Job Alone
When marketing on the Internet, the emphasis typically falls on the website. While spending time and money on a professional company website seems productive, creating a site is just the first step to an effective internet marketing program.
If you've succeeded in attracting visitors to your website, a vital step is getting the visitors to return or take action. To turn visitors into customers, you have to establish a relationship and that means proactive marketing.
According to a recent email marketing study by Silverpop, "Twenty-three percent of companies analyzed failed to include email registration requests on their home pages. Just over 20 percent of companies offered recipients a choice of message type or content (for example, a choice of receiving a monthly newsletter, weekly updates or occasional sales notices)."
The Basics
To make your Internet marketing effective, first review your website through the eyes of a visitor. Does your site include:
- Visitor information capture – how do you know who has visited your site? Sign-ups can capture information through offers such as newsletters, email promotions or any way that motivates the visitor to provide information.
- Visitor registration information – do you ask for an email address or for a short profile and include a value proposition for registering?
- Changing site content – is there a reason for your visitors to return? Updated website content provides interest and reasons to return.
- What's in it for me? – no one wants to return to a website if the information is only promotional information. Your website should provide educational material to interest and inform the visitor.
- Hide the information – maybe you do offer registration information on your website. But is the information easy to find? Many companies make the mistake of hiding their registration request form. Is your registration form easy to find?
Additional Efforts
To establish online relationships, the website is a great way to attract new visitors. However additional Internet marketing efforts are needed to turn a visitor into a customer. When you consider that your company website will tend to only get one-time visitors, the costs involved in creating a site become astronomical. You can prevent one-time site visitors with an Internet marketing program. If marketing emphasis is only on the website, then you are not using the Internet to its full marketing potential. Your company would never hire a sales person to visit a prospect once and then do nothing. Don't make the mistake of assuming your website is any different.
Additional Internet marketing efforts to establish visitor relationships include:
- Newsletters – a great way to continuously communicate with your prospects and customers.
- Email flyers – quick, easy to read information that informs your prospects and customers.
- Value offer – offers that are relevant to visitors and their reasons for visiting the site. This does not include sweepstake or prize drawing promotions.
- Educational branding communications – information that educates the reader while branding your company as the industry leader.
Test various incentives and Internet communications to evaluate what works best for your reader audience in terms of quantity and quality. Personalization of newsletters and email promotions will also be beneficial to building relationships. Companies who offer no reason for visitors to return to their site and offer no additional Internet marketing programs are likely to limit the potential the Internet has to offer.
When you are ready to help your website efforts with Internet marketing programs, contact the experts at Proven Systems 970-223-6565, www.ProvenSystems.com. |
