Why is it important to drive your target audience to your website?
I was having a conversation with a client during our monthly check-in for his business. Taking a look at how things are progressing. He said that he’s seeing some sales on the website but the majority are still coming from people contacting him through other channels.
If you’re still manually processing orders instead of driving people to your website so that the process can be automated. You’re costing yourself time and running the risk of things slipping through the cracks. This could be costing you money and clients the customer service and support that they may expect. This is time you could be spending building out your business or with those that matter most in your life.
This article is meant to cover why you should be driving your audience to your website. How you’ll benefit from it right along with your customers. So that nobody is missing out on the benefits of the website. The investment in the website is meant to help everyone involved in the customer journey.
If I’ve done my job you’ll be able to not only understand why it’s important to use marketing to drive your audience to your website. But you’ll feel more confident in knowing that it is possible.
Here are 5 reasons why it is important to drive people to your website and to stop taking off-site orders.
1. You’re missing out on analytics
How and why do analytics matter? The analytics that you can gain by having people go through your website is crucial. This can help you with your marketing strategy and save a business a lot of their marketing budget.
If you can narrow your focus and spend your marketing budget with more clarity and an ability to forecast the results. Wouldn’t you? More ROI and fewer wasted impressions and clicks.
In the wake of cookies going away, it is going to be more important than ever to drive your audience to your website. 3rd party information isn’t going to be something that you can rely on the way that you use too. Driving your audience to your website allows you to gather 1st party information that you can implement into your marketing campaign strategies.
2. You’re missing out on an opportunity to create a customer experience that can create repeat customers
When you have your audience go through your website for purchases. You’re able to gather more information that can be used to customize their experience.
Simply put you know what they purchased and what they were interested in so that you can share when you have new varieties and sales on these items. You’re able to personalize the shopping experience.
In the Business to Consumer & Business to Business relationship. Personalization is showing much better results on conversions. Here are some stats to back this statement up.
- 63% of consumers (Retail Customer Experience) say they expect personalization.
- 70% of consumers say a company’s understanding of their personal needs influences their loyalty. (Salesforce)
- 79% of consumers say they are only likely to engage with an offer if it has been personalized to reflect previous interactions the consumer has with the brand (Instagage)
- 59% of customers say that personalization influences their shopping decision. (Instapage)
3. You’re missing out on an opportunity to identify your ideal customer and target audience
As business owners, a lot of the focus is on delivering the products and or services being sold. A higher priority has to be put on the customer.
The better you know your customer and audience. The more you can differentiate yourself from the competition. The easier it is to be able to find more of those customers that are who you want to partner with on projects and sales.
You can take the information gathered and create new customer personas for the ideal clients that you want to work with. Then find more of that persona/ideal client all over the internet. Going from one or two clients that you love working with a full client and customer list.
4. Keeping track of orders and the ability to automate your process and free up your time
Customer service and support weigh heavy in the decision-making process. When it comes to whether or not someone will do business with you again. Lowering the risk of a bad experience by automating the process so that you can process it promptly makes good business sense.
So many people these days create their business while they’re working their day job. Do you really have time to manually process orders? To do that you’re taking time and attention away from the job that is covering your expenses. While you work on building up your additional revenue stream.
Time is one of the few things you can’t get back in this life. With that in mind, you want to make sure you’re making the most of it not just for yourself but your potential clients/customers.
5. Your website is your 24/7 salesperson
Your website can answer frequently asked questions and help customers decide if they’re the right person to solve their needs. If they have to wait to hear back from you that could cost you a sale and send them to someone who able to answer their question when they needed it.
Let’s take a look at some statistics to back this up:
- Users spend 5.59 seconds looking at written content (Cxl)
- The average user spends 2 minutes and 17 seconds on a website (TopDigitalAgency)
- 79% of entrepreneurs with a business website expect to grow at least 25% in the next three to five years compared to 64% without a website. (TopDigitalAgency)
- 90% of consumers will return to a website to shop if they had a great experience. (TopDigitalAgency)
Now that you know why it is important. Let’s take a closer look at how to correct this
How to drive your audience to your website using marketing
First and foremost you should simply state to those reaching out via messenger and in person. That they should purchase through the website. This will ensure that they get the best possible service and that nothing will slip through the cracks.
From a marketing, standpoint makes sure that all of your posts and communications have a clear call-to-action. Driving people to the website. By doing so you’re telling people where they’ll get the best experience. As long as your website backs that up. You’ll see an increase in online orders being processed.
Email Marketing will help you drive customers back to the website.
The next tip that I would suggest is establishing an email marketing sequence that you use for your website. New and existing customers are more open to receiving relevant updates. Establishing a nurture email sequence is a great way of building brand loyalty.
This goes back to establishing personalization with your customer experience. It’s an opportunity to show that you know who your customer is and what they like. It wasn’t solely about getting the sale. Use this as an opportunity to engage with the customers. Gather feedback and keep them up to date with what’s going on with your business.
Social Media marketing post with a clear call to action
A lot of businesses are just going through the motions. Posting on social media but not with a purpose in mind. They just know that it is something that they’re supposed to be doing. But when you post with purpose you convey the messaging that will help your business.
When you post you should have a clear call to action. Let people know why you’re posting and what they should do next. That’s whether you’re posting to get them to visit your website or even if it’s as simple as encouraging engagement. Type yes, if you agree. Hashtag and share if this is you… Post with a purpose.
Another thing that I’ve noticed is that there are businesses that do not keep list their website on their profiles.
Share links on custom landing pages and answer FAQ’s
You can take it a step further and create a landing page that pre-empts the website. One that provides links and answers the basic questions.
Links to specific landing pages to help shorten the path from a visit to a purchase. Instead of sending them to a homepage. Why not share the link to specific promoted categories, products, and or services.
Reward and incentivize your potential customers who follow through on the call to action and links that you share with them. Include special offers and promotions.
You can also let them know about upcoming sales and events. Relevant information that will let your potential customer know that it’s worth taking a closer look at your website. When you provide that information with a link. You’re making it easier for them to make a choice. An educated decision.
There are just a few ways that you can use marketing to drive your audience to your website. Test them out and let me know what kinds of results you’re seeing.
Majority Media provides brand development and marketing campaign strategies for businesses that are struggling to get traffic to their website. I customize them to suit your business and budget. This way you can move at your own pace. You can find out more here.
I also provide the option of learning on your own time by offering a resource library that covers these topics that you can visit and download eBooks, checklists, and more to help you build and establish your business. Visit my resource library to see if there’s any content that can help you with your business.
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