By K Dear
Every online marketing strategy should contain some kind of irresistible offer and your website is one of the places that offer needs to be prominently displayed. If you want your website to do more for your business than just be a brochure, adding an offer is one of the components that will be a big step in making your website really work for your business. In addition to telling visitors about your company, products, and services your website should be bringing you leads.
Having a website costs money. You've paid for the design, the domain name, and monthly hosting. If you've designed the site yourself you didn't pay a website designer but you may have spent time and money to learn how to do it. You may have purchased software, templates, images, or content. When you consider the time and money you spend on your website, it's definitely an investment that you should expect to get a return on. That return can best be measured in leads or new customers.
Having an offer on your website is one of the best ways to bring in leads and new customers. Offering an incentive to get people to come in to your business or get on your mailing list has proven to be very effective both online and off line. For this to be effective, however, the offer must be something that has a perceived value to your market. People won't waste their time to get a special deal if it's not worth the effort.
So what are some things you can offer? This is a list that you can start with and hopefully use it to help you brainstorm into new and creative ideas for your offer:
- Coupons - make sure the discount amount is worth it (10% off on a $5 product probably won't do the trick!)
- Something for free - free drink with dinner, buy one get one free, free consultation
- Information packet - white paper or ebook that has some relationship to your product or service such as a book of tips, how to do something, etc.
- "Club" benefits - newsletter, something free every month, 10% discount on purchases each month, etc.
Choose an option that makes sense for your industry and your business. Be sure that your online marketing strategy document has the details to your offer so that you'll always include that in your marketing efforts. Try to come up with an idea that is unique and fresh. You'll stand out from your competition if you do something different that nobody else is doing. If you decide to give information away, make sure that it's really good information that will be super helpful.
If you're stuck and aren't sure of the best way to go here, take a look at your competitors websites. See what they're offering and figure out a way to improve on their idea and make it completely your own. Don't focus on just your competitors - look at similar industries across the country. What are companies like yours doing in other cities? What are they offering that you don't? Steal their ideas and change it up to fit you.
When you decide what to offer, you'll need to make sure your website visitors know the details and exactly how to claim it. Put the offer in a very prominent spot on your website. If you want them to sign up for your mailing list (and you should want them to do this!!) make sure every page has a sign up form. Let them know what they'll be getting for doing this.
If you're offering a coupon, tell them how to claim it. Make sure the coupon "rules" are clearly defined so there isn't any confusion about how to redeem it. If a customer is confused, they will simply not act. They usually won't ask questions, they just won't do anything. So make sure they know exactly what they need to do to get the discount or claim their free gift.
Kelly Dear works with small businesses to develop and implement individual online marketing strategies. Making sure each of the businesses she represents is found online by potential customers is key. If you are a small business owner who wants an honest and creative approach to online marketing, call Kelly to help develop the right plan for you.
http://www.KDMarketingSolutions.com
770-847-0147
770-847-0147
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