Over the years, I’ve worked with many different types of small business clients. Although it can be hard to give a single answer to the question of “what is the most important way to market a business?” there is one tool that comes up time and again as a critical feature of most marketing plans. That tool is the website. I like to say that websites do the heavy lifting of your marketing plan, but let’s explore what I mean by that.
Brand Awareness
A smart website has the power to build a visitor’s interest to work with you. Whatever business you have, you are a stranger to your leads until they get to know you. And not all leads will spend time getting to know you! As a marketer, you have to think carefully about what you choose to say on your website, how you choose to structure it, how to design the flow of traffic so that the story builds for them the more time they spend with your website.
If you can get them to stay on your website for minutes or hours, can you make sure that they walk away feeling like they know you? Feeling like they want to work with you or recommend you? What is on your website has the power to make that deeper connection.
If you can get them to stay on your website for minutes or hours, can you make sure that they walk away feeling like they know you? #websites #smallbusiness #biztips Share on XEstablishing Reputation
To take that last point further, part of someone deciding they want to work with you is deciding that they trust you. Validation is a huge part of most people’s sales decisions, and that validation can come in many forms. It could be that you are sharing case studies and relatable testimonials from other clients. It could be that you share your own story. It could be that you share success rates of your clients that make your audience realize that they can’t NOT work with you! It could be sharing original thought and content to show that you are an expert in your industry.
Your website should speak for itself in speaking on your behalf. No matter who you are, there is something you can say to set yourself apart. The longer you are in business, the more there is to say. Your website is a great place to say it.
Your website should speak for itself in speaking on your behalf. #website #smallbusiness #biztips #smallbiz Share on XBringing Your Visitors Out of the Shadows
Sure, 100 people visited your website. Who are they? How do you reach them again?
If you don’t get a sale straight away from this visitor, it’s not the end of the world as long as you are able to connect with them again. If you don’t have a way to capture this lead, you can’t do that, and that’s a problem. If this lead is just a reminder away from a sale, how do you get back in front of them?
This is where your website really puts some muscle into it. You could have pixels set up to retarget marketing to this visitor on social media. That keeps them anonymous to you, but at least allows you to stay in front of them.
The best option is having sign-up forms or a lead magnet (an opt-in resource – read here for more about this) that will invite them to share their email address. Suddenly, this person goes from being anonymous to being someone you can identify and contact. This is where the marketing plan meets the sales plan!
Generating Sales
Of course, if you have a business with an e-commerce component, the website shop is a revenue generator all by itself. Not every business is suited for e-commerce, but many can find a way to monetize information, even if they are not able to monetize products or services through the website. Whether through passive or active income, your website can complete a whole transaction without your prompting, and even trigger nurture sequences to check in with and thank purchasers. When combined with the power of a CRM and automated email sequences, you can create an entire customer service system that can operate without the need for you to be working all the time.
Those are just a few of the ways that your website can do the heavy lifting for your business. Take a look at your website today and ask yourself if it is doing as much for you as it can be!
Thinking about using a social media platform in place of a website? STOP! Read here!