I’ve found recently that I come across tons of webinars and training sessions that sound really interesting, but I just don’t have time to attend them all.
So I thought that as part of the upcoming webinar that I’m co-hosting, “How to Develop Conversion Experiences that Work,” I would put together a cheat sheet with the highlights of our presentation, particularly around messaging and positioning. That way, if you don’t have time to attend or just want a preview, you can still get some pretty useful info about improving your conversion process and take a test drive before registering.
So let’s get started!
How to get in front of potential prospects early in the buying process
One of the keys to getting in front of potential prospects early in the buying process is a clear understanding of who they are and what they’re trying to achieve.
- Who Are Your Customers? – Get to know your customer, not just based on what they purchase from you but based on what they are trying to achieve. Even without a giant research budget, there are plenty of available data sources, such as site analytics, purchase history, front line employees like salespeople and customer service reps, and surveys. Collate this information and you can start to generate a good picture of who your customers are, and how they naturally start to divide.
- What Are They Trying To Achieve? – If you sell fire extinguishers, people don’t buy your product because they want to own a fire extinguisher. They buy a fire extinguisher because they want to the peace of mind that comes with knowing their family and property are protected. Get a clear understanding of what your customers are really trying to achieve when they purchase your product or service, going beyond the typical “speeds and feeds” to the deep, emotional connection driving their decisions (and this goes for B2B as well as B2C).
- How Do They Buy? – Look at how each segment of your audience makes a purchase, and how they come to their decision. Who influences their decision? Where do they go to get their information? How much research do they do before considering which brand to choose? By understanding what goes into the purchase decision, you can get the right messages in the right places to be influential when that customer is setting their purchase criteria.
How to create messages that build a preference for your product or service
While lots of companies rush to content marketing or “thought leadership,” often they are simply educating the market as a whole rather than creating a preference for their specific brand, product, or service. It is the specific preference that drive purchases, and there are a few points to consider.
- What Is Your Unique Value? – You need a clear understanding of what you do that is unique. Are you cheaper, faster, deliver better results, offer better service? Once you find what makes you and your products unique, you have to determine how that value helps the customer achieve their goals.
- How Do You Quantify Your Contribution? – Now that you understand your value, how do you quantify it? You need to tease out your contribution to its logical end state, at which point you can quantify that value for your customers in ways that they understand.
- How Do You Get Your Message Out? – Each audience segment will approach the buying process differently, so by understanding their motivations you can tailor your unique value message to appeal to each segment and outlet.
How to create user journeys that drive buyers to action
Finding your audience and coming up with the messaging and positioning to appeal to them is just half the battle. Now you need to move them through and out the other side of your sales funnel. You do this by creating an action-oriented user journey.
- How Do You Focus On The Customer? – Rather than talk about your products, you should talk about what you are doing for the customer. That means appealing to their goals, not your goals, and reducing friction wherever possible.
- How Do I Keep Them Engaged? – There are many ways to lose a customer’s interest during the buying process. That’s why it’s important to have a choreographed approach that leads the customer through it with messages tailored for each stage, from credibility-building to empathy to engagement to solution mapping and, finally, conversion.
- How Do I Convert? – Finally, you’ve attracted the customer, engaged them, and you’re ready to close the deal. But how? A lot of companies falter here because they make the process too difficult or too confusing, or simply don’t clearly and straight-forwardly ask for the sale. Be clear, be direct, be simple.
I hope that offered some quick tips to help you in improving your conversion experience. If you’re still interested in learning more, just sign up for our August 27th webinar. We’ll get into a lot more detail on the topics above and, best of all, it’s free. I hope to see you there.