The aim of any business website is to generate more leads or make more sales.
Sure, you want to raise your brand awareness, but only in order to – in the end- get more clients and customers.
So, if your website isn’t doing its job, what can you do?
Today, we’re going to take a look at some of the most effective conversion techniques around. Techniques that have generated billions of dollars across centuries of testing.
If you’re really struggling to turn website visitors into sales, all of these techniques and tricks can help you.
Use urgency
Urgency is an age-old marketing tactic, and the reason it’s still being used is because it still works!
Take one look at the Amazon home page and you’ll see no end of ‘special offers’ – indeed, Amazon runs specific special offers every 24hrs, with one aim: to push people to spend their money.
If you’re really struggling to sell certain products, try bringing your margin down for a week, and see if you get better results. You might make less money that week, but you might attract people who’ve never bought from you before.
And as every businessperson knows, it’s far harder to create a new customer than it is to keep an existing one happy.
Oh, and this isn’t just a tip that can apply to e-commerce websites. Any business that provides a B2B service can use scarcity.
You could offer a specific consultation service at 30% off the full price, for example, or take on new clients at cheaper rate in what are normally your slower months.
(Gyms are a great example of this: they offer loss-leading promotions in January, when people are most inclined to join, and then cash in on the re-occurring business through the rest of the year.)
Always offer value in return for customer details
In 2019, the majority of customers are fairly web savvy. So, when you ask them to sign up for your email list, or to hand over their names for a ‘consultation call’, they’re well aware that they’re going to be sold to at some point.
That’s the bad news, but here’s the good: they’re actually happy to do this.
IF you deliver a lot of value in return for their details.
Remember, most consumers know how invaluable data is to marketers, and if they’re going to hand it to you, they want to know it’s worth it!
Of course, what ‘value’ is will depend largely on your type of business.
If you run an e-commerce store, one very effective return could be a voucher for 40% off their next spend. (If you’re thinking ‘that’s a bit high’, remember that you want to make it a no-brainer for the user to hand over their details. 5% off isn’t going to cut it.)
If you’re a B2B company, then it makes sense to offer some kind of valuable information, such as an example of your expertise. You might want to give away a book or report that helps demonstrate your expertise and gives your potential leads tips they can use immediately to start improving their results.
Whatever you decide to hand over, make sure it can directly benefit your users. In 2019, you need to deliver real value if you don’t want users to write you off.
You might even want to hand over a sample of your product as a loss leader. Dollar Shave Club generated millions in new business simply by offering a free trial and letting customers decide for themselves whether to carry on receiving their products afterwards.
Make sure your website’s mobile friendly
Please note, this isn’t just a case of making sure your website works on mobile!
Users need to be able to use your website easily – and do everything they need to do – on their mobile.
More traffic is mobile than on desktop in 2019, and people do make purchases on their mobile devices.
In other words, if your users can’t easily buy from you on their mobile, you are missing out on revenue. It’s that simple!
Now, this takes hard work. There’s no pretending otherwise – users want to be able to enjoy a seamless shopping experience, while jumping between devices.
That’s why it’s important to include mobile marketing as a part of your user experience journey when planning at the start. Many businesses still worry about their desktop first and try to add mobile on afterwards!
Focus on fixing a problem
If you want to improve the number of users that buy from you, or the amount of leads you generate, you need to demonstrate that you can fix a problem they have.
Handily, this is relatively easy, and you can do so using another ‘old-school’ copywriting technique:
Problem – Agitate – Solution.
First, identify with their problem.
(If you were a personal trainer, you might say “Are you sick of spending your whole life on a diet?”)
Then, you agitate the problem.
(“It can be hard sticking to a diet. Especially because it’s so easy to slip up and undo weeks of hard work. Surely losing weight doesn’t have to be this hard?”)
Finally, you offer the solution.
(“It doesn’t have to be this hard. My personal training sessions are combined with mental workshops that help stop you from slipping up, leading to better results and LESS stress”)
This might seem simplistic, but if you can add some form of Problem – Agitate – Solution to your home or landing pages, you’ll have a far better chance of improving conversions.
This is another marketing tactic that’s been proven effective over decades of testing. Try it – you might be amazed with the results you get!
Make sure you’re very clear with your call to action
You have to tell your customer or client what to do. They’re not psychic.
If you want them to call you to schedule a consultation, ask them to do so. Make it easy. Have your phone number be the focal point of your webpage.
If you want them to sign up for your email, prioritize your sign-up box and make sure you’ve got something great to give them as soon as they join your list.
If you want them to buy a product, make sure the buy button and price are very clear.
These might all seem like ‘obvious’ points, but really; spend time looking at your competition’s websites. You’ll be amazed how many websites leave you to work out exactly what you’re meant to do!
Asking for the sale is actually hard, it’s worth mentioning. There are many real-life salesmen that are great at the rest of the pitch, but actually struggle to ask for the money!
Make sure your website doesn’t make this mistake. Be very clear in what you’re asking for, and your visitors will respond.
Get in touch today
If you’d like to learn more about building a website that can help improve your company’s bottom line, get in touch with Iconic Solutions today.
We’ve helped many clients improve their results, and we’d love to help you do the same. Remember, your company’s website can be the most effective sales tool you have, so make sure you’re getting the results from it you deserve.
Call us today, we’d love to hear from you.
