You are now at the conclusion of a precise roadmap. Customer acquisition is the heartbeat of your company. Even non-profits are solely focused on customer/donor acquisition. If you follow this roadmap, daily, weekly, and monthly, you will see an increase. Let’s jump into it:
9. Make Your Site Opt-in Friendly
The average website conversion rate on a website is less than 1% and only 2.35% on a landing page.
That means that on most websites over 99% of traffic isn’t converting, and even on specific landing pages over 97% of traffic isn’t converting.
While you can’t always get someone to hit your conversion goal, you can tempt them with other offers to try and capture the gold that is an email address.
When you capture someone’s email address you’ve been given a second chance to entice them with an offer that will actually achieve a conversion. The way to do this is quite simple.
There’s about 10 dozen software platforms out there that focus on email capture. Everything from eCommerce checkout abandonment to the blog standard SumoMe or OptinMonster.
The point of these platforms is to help you capture 1%, 2% or even 10% of that lost traffic into a second chance.
OptinMonster is a great option to allow you to make use of multiple behavioral driven opt-in forms from exit intent based pop-ups to scroll based slide-ins. If you can manage 3 to 4 opt-in points per page on your blog and 1 to 2 opt-in points on your main website, you’ll have no problem capturing an extra 5% of traffic into emails.
The mistake most people make, even massive brands like Axe Body Spray make this mistake, is that they capture email addresses in some fashion but then never do anything with it. Utilizing those emails to offer up alternative services, affiliate products or making a one time offer on the same product is your ticket to converting more of email leads faster.
It could be as simple as a thanks for subscribing, here’s what was promised, now here’s something you probably didn’t know we even offered.
The most ideal scenario is that you utilize something like the Invisible Selling Machine (Book on Amazon) formula for email on boarding to indoctrinate your email subscribers and then offer them value before you try to sell them.
10. Leverage The Power of LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the best professional network to leverage for social B2B lead generation. It’s over 400 million strong and despite the bad rep for old tech and stringent connection rules, there’s some really powerful things you can do to make it a winner.
Step 1 — Join LinkedIn Groups
You have to be a friend to have a friend. Approach LinkedIn groups in the same way you would building a relationship. Provide value and then engage for the connection.
Step 2 — Create A LinkedIn Group
Creating a LinkedIn group gives you a whole community of people you have access to by InMail, email and through content posted. It also instantly places you as an authority in the market your group is specific to.
Neil Patel over a QuickSprout wrote a phenomenal post about how to leverage LinkedIn groups to build an audience. It’s a recommended read.
Step 3 — Direct Prospecting & Networking
People join LinkedIn for two purposes. One is to apply for jobs and the other is to network. LinkedIn was made for networking and it’s what most people on the site want to do. While many try to network to make a direct sell approach, there’s a better way of approaching networking to generate leads and make sales.
Ask for the Sale!
Sound simple enough? However, many people out-“psychology” themselves on their site, thinking that using a complex system of references, suggestions, and nudges will get the job done. Or other entrepreneurs fall victim to the “no sell sale.” That the product or service will sell itself. That if someone has to be sold, they won’t get “it.” These strategies are just flat out wrong.
Ask for the sale. You have done the work with paid advertising, social media, email follow-up, and you have the person on your site. You have built the ultimate site. The download speed is amazing. There is symmetry in colors. The store is set. Merchant account ready. You have done everything possible, exact be direct and asked for people’s business, the sale!
STOP, before you get self-righteous here saying something like “I don’t like to be sold, so I won’t sell others.” Great if that is your stance, you have a website that is a hobby and not a business. A hobby will cost you as a hobby, while a business will pay you like a business!
If you want to be paid, ask. If you don’t I promise you there are 1000s of other sites and people that will. In the end people want to be told or directed what to do. You don’t think Amazon sells? eBay sells? Ever been on Kay Jewelers website? They sell. They are unapologetic and not shy about asking for your business. Nor should you!
Conclusion:
All of the steps above work, but they work best together! They don’t sporadically, they work daily. Each needs to be worked day after day to ensure your success! DO NOT skip steps — each one has importance. Don’t break the circle. If you commit to a 365 day schedule of doing this day in and day out, your customer acquisition process will be solidified for years to come!