High Performance Landing Pages

Getting prospects and customers to take another action after they click on an ad or a link is critical.

Post-click marketing to turn clicks into conversions takes careful planning and an understanding of your audience and what they need to take that all-important next step.

High-Performance Landing Pages are essential to track marketing initiatives. Here is an 8-step road map for creating a successful landing page experience that guarantees to boost conversions. It will help you determine landing page goals, set targets, segment your audience, define key messages, select the best landing format to achieve your goals, create compelling offers, and measure (and improve) your post-click results.

These eight simple directives are as follows:

I.         Create a game plan for the effort as you calculate the upside to better landing pages   and define a key message.

II.        Set objectives for landing pages as you identify conversion types and set targets.

III.       Segment your audience to create targeted experiences that optimize conversion.

IV.      Identify sources so you can match the experience to the source.

V.      Develop copy to communicate the right message, in the right tone.

VI.      Define offers that match your segments and assets.

VII.     Convert prospects by creating a trust cycle that balances the need for information.

VIII.    Measure results through three key metrics, diagnose failure points, and make adjustments. 

In our experienced opinion, before you spend any money on online marketing initiatives, please take the time to understand the following:

1. You must measure results (e.g., website traffic, page performance, and conversion rate). If your site doesn’t include analytics currently, you must add a service like Google Analytics.
2. What is your overall site conversion rate? If you have a 0 percent conversion rate, no money in the world will get you a positive return on your advertising dollar.
3. Where does your website traffic come from? What keywords do people use to find your particular product or service?
4. Who do you define as your target market? Where do they hang out most? What messages are you reaching them with?
5. How do you compare to your online competition? What’s your pricing like? What are your differentiation factors? What value propositions do you offer and how clear are they on your website?
6. What’s the quality of your website design and imagery? Does the site appear fresh and relevant or old and dated? If you use advertising on your site, does it match your target audience and offer clear messaging?
7. Does your website make sense?? Do you have clear calls to action? Do customers know where to go once they get to your site?
8. What opportunities do you need to consider offline? Have you lined up your online and offline marketing efforts to increase overall effectiveness? If so, which marketing channels will best serve your particular product or service with your target market?
9. Do you need new tools or technologies to get the best results or do you already have what you need to be effective?
10. Do you have the right team to design, plan, execute, and manage your marketing strategies? Can your in-house team do the work or do you need to outsource these marketing channels to a specialized service provider to ensure the best results and a higher return on your marketing spend?

 

Consumer Trend: Ordinary people in your community

Can we all agree, please, that we live in a Consumer-Driven market place?

It is no longer about your operational desires.  In other words, you must conform to the wants of the customer.  Case in point:  Take any crowd, lets say in a restaurant, and ask for a show of hands for anyone who thought  about making a parking reservation at the airport, cruise port or downtown garage.  You may see 1 out of 50 hands raised, right?  Maybe!  What if you this changed to 1 out of 10 in the next 24 months?  Or better yet, 1 out of 3 by 2015?  Do I have have your attention yet?  Hope so, because this is about to happen in parking. 

In a Consumer-Driven Marketplace, Anticipate Your Customer’s Needs.  When an online shopper decides to make a purchase—especially in the service industry—chances are you, like most, reach for your computer or mobile device.  You may have a particular company in mind that meets your personal specifications, however you search to located the best deal.  So you narrow your choices down with a simple search and then read consumer ratings/reviews.  And then you click for the best company with the best price. Only then do you buy, either online or in person.  Bottom line, consumers are in complete control, period.

To be Found Online, Solve Your Customer’s Problem.  For the operator, it’s crucial to understand the psychology of this marketplace. You need to understand your target consumer, the problem he/she is trying to solve and how he/she gets this information IN A TIMELY MANNER.  And companies need to be sure that their website explains how your service provides the answer to that problem, that your website can be found via keyword searches relevant to the query, and that you have additional information and reviews that establish your authority as a good business to deal with.  Whether you’re selling a service or a widget, the marketing bottom line is this: It’s not about persuading your customer that your company or service is great. It’s all about understanding your customer and meeting their needs. 

Can we agree on one other fact?  The internet changed everything, everyone and most importantly, the everywhere.  Pick up any book (here are 6 to choose from) on current marketing tactics or find a blog (click here for free information) or search for marketing articles online (click here for free advice). 

Who likes equations?  I know somebody gets into this stuff.  Here is just one part of a methodology to improve conversions:

C = 4m + 3v + 2(i-f) – 2a
       C = Probability of conversion
              m = Motivation of user (when)
                      v = Clarity of the value proposition (why)
                             i = Incentive to take action
                                  f = Friction elements of process
                                       a = Anxiety about entering information

 

Put on your consumer hat when looking or buying online.  It's about ME, MYSELF AND I.  And it's about NOWISM.  If you think 2000-2010 was a fast and frenzy rat race filled with new, affordable cloud technologies, social channels and smart mobile devices, just watch how the ME community drives your future.

 

 

Key Components to your Long Term Internet Strategy

If you are reading this post for the first time, I highly recommend reading it over and over again until you do something about it.  Or what?  Well, for starters, you will lose market share and watch your profits shrink.

If you want to make your business fly, there’s no good excuse for not having a small business internet marketing strategy.   A common bad excuse is, I don’t know how to grow our organization with more customers, clients, or sales using the internet.  Working with SMC, this excuse is no longer valid. 

Please review these bullets and then review the four points below to support these key components:

Don't Be Penny Wise & Pound Foolish

• MODERN, STRUCTURED WEBSITE with Mobile Application and Flexibile for Landing Pages
• SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
• PAY PER CLICK (PPC)
• VIDEO SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (VSEO)
• EMAIL MARKETING
• SOCIAL NETWORKING
• REAL TIME CENTRALIZED RESERVATIONS SYSTEM (CRS)
• CHANNEL MARKETING PROGRAM 

1. To save time and money

A well-planned internet marketing strategy will assure that you’re allocating your time and your small business’ resources optimally by eliminating excessive trial and error, misuses of marketing budgets, and sporadic efforts. Sadly, most small business entrepreneurs aren’t aware of the tremendous impact that an online marketing strategy can have on their business’ bottom line.

2. To gain a competitive advantage

The online marketing your competition isn’t doing is your competitive advantage – but only if you seize the opportunity. If you’re following a solid small business internet marketing strategy, you’re putting yourself in a position to gain a competitive advantage over your competition. Why? Because you’ll be making consistent improvements to your tactics in the areas in which your competition is most likely lacking.  NOTE: Spend plenty of time planning and outlining your small business’ internet marketing strategy prior to investing in pay-per-click PPC campaigns and other online advertising; following a plan will assure that you have the foundation necessary to fully capitalize on online advertising.

3. To yield consistent results

A systematic approach to internet marketing yields systematic results. Consistency is key to unlocking online marketing success; a solid strategy will lay the foundation to make it happen. Religiously following a strategy (while making adjustments as necessary) assures that you’ll keep up with your online marketing efforts; that, in turn, will yield long-term results.

4. To build a foundation for long-term internet marketing success

Online marketing is evolving at a rapid pace; staying on top of the latest and greatest trends can feel daunting. The need for online basics, however, aren’t changing: a website, search engine optimization (SEO), social media presence, email marketing, and great content are all must-haves. A solid internet marketing strategy will provide you with the basic core elements that your business needs for long-term online marketing success – a foundation to build upon.

Implementing a successful online marketing strategy is a learning process; the sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll be on your way to seeing the results in your business.  And the sooner you get started, the faster you will find your company branded in the market place.

SMC is ready to help you with your online strategy.  It starts with a plan!  To begin, go to www.smcsoftware.com and click on internet marketing.