One of the most common questions SME’s ask is how to get customers to their website. Each action below is designed to take you through the entire process from start to finish, without paid ads. Building up your organic traffic and a solid foundation first is more effective when driving customers to your site.
Our 6 step process:
Purpose: To be able to monitor your marketing efforts it’s important to have these tracking tools set up from the start.
Initially, use google analytics and google search, which can be set up on your site quickly.
Then set up a CRM such as Hubspot, which tracks the customer. I also offer training on how to set this up and get your company listed.
Don’t worry about the hundreds of options available on the Google Analytics task bar.
Always ask yourself – “WHY are you using the tool?”
Here are some important examples:
– Where are visitors coming from?
– How long are they staying?
– What pages are they viewing
– What is their exit page – is there a reason why?
– New vs returning customers
Use Google Analytics in sync with your CRM (Hubspot) to tell you who your customers are, which visitors turn into customers and why. If you are doing your social media, emails, telemarketing, all of these aspects will come together in Hubspot, enabling you to see which marketing strategies are are working best for you.
For a new user on Google analytics you want to focus on two things mainly, the “audience” and “acquisition”. This will allow you to see where exactly your traffic is from and how long they are spending on the site.
Purpose: To track all conversations and touch-points with customers so you have a clear understanding of their journey.
On your CRM you can monitor all this and more:
– Emails – G-Suite
– Phone calls
– Website visits
– Meetings
– Forms
– Tasks/Projects
– Third party integration – Zapier!
It’s about building up a customer profile, telling you every time they have engaged with you and their responses. It’s a good tool to have running in the background, as every email for example is tracked and monitored.
It’s all about introducing someone who is a stranger, giving them a reason to engage with you to make them a prospect, giving them a way to buy from you to become a customer, and then once they are a customer, use added value such as content, story building etc. to turn them into a promoter to recommend you to their network (friends and family)! This is where the CRM intelligence helps you.
Purpose: To find out where your customers are spending their time and what is working for your competitors
People will engage with you everywhere, whether its your social medias, email marketing or zoom calls. You have to make sure you are keeping track whether a lead goes on from there, to when they get in touch and purchase from you.
Research these aspects:
– Social media – See Power Hour 6 + 15 on my website
– In person / Networking
– Google Search
– Email responses
– SEO tools – see Power Hour 7 + 11 on my website
– Market research / Surveys
– Eventbrite / Meetup / Nextdoor / Quora
– Don’t be afraid to ask – If you have a long term customer ask them which channels they are enjoying and how they normally engage with businesses.
– Think like a customer – Think about what you would do in their position, and adapt your marketing around that.
Purpose: Find the leaders in your niche and replicate their winning formula.
The biggest tip is to look at your competitors and see what they are doing.
Example: Neil Patel is a respected expert in his field and offers free valuable content. This Power Hour & Guide training series on my website is designed to meet the same needs for your business, on a much smaller scale.
You pick out the aspirations from your competitor and use that to your advantage.
Purpose: Build a strong brand with consistent messaging to create awareness and loyalty.
Make sure that everything matches up on all of your material, which will allow people to trust you more.
Look at all of your marketing material and communication channels such as:
– Social media
– Website
– Directory listings
– Print material
– Email etc.
Example: On my website I use Navy, Light Blue, Red colours, looking personal & professional.
“Digital Marketing for Growing your business” is the Strapline I use consistently.
Purpose: Generate genuine interest from customers by offering something of value by supporting them or responding to their pain points, creating a regular contact with your client and potential customer. In my case these are the guides.
Clearly identify the problem that you are solving and your USP.
Ensure that your marketing material is well delivered and easy to understand.
Pick a niche and stick to it!
Build a series of communication that engages your growing audience.
Press release – something newsworthy? Who should know about it?
Purpose: The most valuable businesses manage to retain and delight their customers at every opportunity. If someone has bought from you once, it doesn’t mean they will buy from you again, therefore it is about appreciating someone who does work with you.
Never take customers for granted – a single sale is not success.
Customers can always swap suppliers, so give them a strong reason to stay.
Semi regular contact through email marketing, content and calls.
Take time to make direct contact – be smart, timely and monitor. Pick up the phone and have a chat to check in with them if you are working with a small group of people for example.
Always ask about their business and their success, as well as challenges they face. Make sure you don’t boast and talk about yourself.
Purpose: To know exactly which campaigns are working and why, so you can focus your time and energy on activities that will grow your business.
Once you have everything in place, look to the customer touch points and the competitors, your story, how you’re going to engage with them, then you review and update the campaigns.
Set goals for each campaign but be realistic.
Prepare to adjust your expectations with seasonal, PESTEL factors. For example, if you have Christmas coming up, you want to adjust your marketing campaigns around the seasons and external factors.
Look ahead – are there any other influences that could affect results?
Look at email opens / clicks / subscribers / unsubs / subject / days
Monitor activity across all channels and continuously drive engagement.
Here is a checklist for questions to ask yourself to cover each point:
Don’t ignore any relationship… Someone you see as a competitor could be a really good partner. An example for me is Jeannie Shapiro who may look like a competitor but is a fantastic partner who I work well with.
Don’t be afraid to test new activity and be creative with your marketing – Focus on what you do well at first, but don’t push yourself to do marketing that’s not natural to you.
Always ask yourself what the purpose is for every action and campaign.
Be proud of your business but know your place in the market.
Extend your reach (Eventbrite / Meetup / Social / Chambers / Business Centres / Enterprise Hubs / Personal contacts / Directories etc.
Always ask for feedback from loyal customers – if someone has bought from you a couple times ask them what they like / don’t like.
