Ignoring The Impact That Online Channels Have On Your Business

You have a website but if it’s,

Then you are ignoring the fact that people search the web for information to help them make purchases. Any one of these gaps will cause potential buyers to leave your site and impact potential leads and sales.

Instead of losing opportunities, plan a next step. Start by learning the critical information you should incorporate on your site. Studies indicate that the three most important categories your audience looks for include:

What are your solutions and how do your capabilities set you apart from the competition?

Construct a framework and then look at dedicating the internal resources or consider using outside support to elevate your position.

Not Connecting Business Goals To Your Website

If you are a commercial printer and need a new press, you purchase one that fits your production requirements. A new piece of equipment may look good in your operation but you don’t make money buying a long run press when you have short run needs.

Similarly, a well designed website makes a good first impression. However, if it doesn’t complement the goals of the business, it provides little benefit. Arguably, the time, effort and expense, and attention diverted away from other projects, may put this website into the overhead category.

Avoid the problem by defining the purpose.

A website can connect to company goals in a variety of ways.

Looking to grow your business? A website can help you generate more leads and connect with customers.

Don’t want to invest heavily in the lead generation process but want to capture new business if there’s an opportunity? Your site can be designed to enhance referrals.

Are you looking to stand out as an authority in a certain industry or do you have a new capability you’d like to introduce? Then your website can provide thought leadership that enhances your brand and market position.

Effective websites support the overall business objectives of the company and provide significant value. Yours can too.

Ignoring The Importance Of Content

Today, buyers are forming purchasing decisions online. An actual conversation is a thing of the past! Well, not entirely, but contact with a prospective supplier typically occurs well after the buyer has armed themselves with information from other sources. This makes content on your site more important than ever. Content is the vehicle that provides the education, industry trends, product comparisons and other valuable information that a sales rep provided in the past. It ensures that prospects are learning about your services even if they aren’t speaking with you directly.

Just like your web strategy needs to connect with your business goals, content should complement the objectives of your website. And the best way to ensure the quality and quantity of information is to plan.

That plan should include:

Only Using Content Online

If you are developing content for your website or other online channels, there’s no reason to restrict its use. Your sales team can effectively use this content in a variety of ways. Both current customers and prospects will benefit from the educational material, industry trends, product comparisons and other valuable information that you develop for online distribution.

Communicate with your customer facing staff. Demonstrate the content you have developed. Guide them on how to use the information with their current selling opportunities. You may also consider leveraging marketing automation. One of the numerous benefits is that you can publish information for your sales team on a regularly scheduled basis, to their broad audience, allowing them to devote their time to 1:1 conversations.

Develop New Online Habits

Ditching these online habits and replacing them with better planning and execution will allow you to generate more selling opportunities and exceed your financial goals in the new year!

The post Four Online Habits You Should Ditch Today appeared first on InterEdge Marketing.

1)What Are Your Business Goals?

Just like the hiring, training and the direction you provide your sales team differs depending upon your focus, so does your web strategy.

2)How will your strategy differ?

A simple design. Easy to understand navigation. Content that connects with the audience.

From loyal customers to a new prospect, your audience wants a website that allows them to access the information they need quickly and easily. A simple design with descriptive headings and navigation provides a positive user experience, regardless of how well your audience knows you.

Current Customer Strategy Considerations

A customer interacts directly with you and others in your organization. However, just because you have personal contact, don’t assume that all the interactions take place that way. Customers may get answers to certain questions through a sales, customer service or even a production contact but they seek information on your website as well.

If a new project hits their desk they may look at your website to see if you have that capability, including examples of your work. Order entry forms, checklists and other procedures may be discussed directly during the onboarding process but when the information is misplaced, customers expect to find it online. Contact information, including phone numbers and your physical location are also essential.

Current customers may also refer a prospective customer to you. 46% of buyers consider a website the most important criterion in determining company credibility. If they visit your site, what would they think? It’s essential that your site looks the part and contains information that’s critical to their needs including:

Prospect Web Strategy Considerations

Although customers view your website, a prospect spends a significant amount of time learning about you there. Consider this, buyers are ⅔ of their way to a purchasing decision before they connect with a seller. And, if they are considering your company, they are also likely to visit your website six or more times before interacting with your staff. Is your website organized to make it easy to get the information they need?

The more a website can reach out to the individual needs of decision makers and influencers, the better chance it has of engaging its prospective buyers

3)Do you have the content to keep them coming back?

Today, prospects learn online. Content is the vehicle that provides the education, industry trends, product comparisons and other valuable information that a sales rep provided in the past. It ensures that prospects are learning about your services even if they aren’t speaking with you directly.

Your site organization and the information you present a critical elements to converting more prospects into customers.

The post Ask These 3 Questions To Develop Your Web Strategy appeared first on InterEdge Marketing.

If you are dedicating the dollars, time and resources to develop leads, your goal is to capture new business in the process.

Do you have an effective follow up plan in place?

If not, you are missing out on the revenue you deserve. For example,

An effective plan will impact your business.

That plan includes developing relevant and valuable content that attracts, engages, and serves your audience. Your buyers are already scouring the web for answers to their questions and solutions for their problems that your company is uniquely positioned to provide.

And, email is the most direct way to get specific content to a specific lead. Develop a campaign that includes these elements.

Emails that educate - it’s the most important part of the buying process. Educating your buyers will help you show your value, endear your audience and shorten selling cycles.

Emails that connect - whether it’s your newsletter, social media or other places you both frequent, the more connected you are the greater opportunity your audience will see the value of your company and your solutions.

Emails that improve - Your audience looks for information that helps them improve on their job. Detailing implementation steps to ease the boss's concerns over a new process or quantifying an ROI will help you build trust that will turn them into a customer.

To ensure effectiveness, make sure your campaign includes these elements:

5Want to learn more? Here are five reasons a lead nurturing program will increase your revenue.

The post 3 Emails You Need To Send That Will Impact Your Business appeared first on InterEdge Marketing.

But research shows that online discovery isn’t restricted to consumers. Nearly 90% of B2B buyers use the web to research the products they buy for their business.

Not that long ago the direct sales rep was the source of information for buyers. That dynamic has changed, see how it impacts your business.

The post Buyers purchasing habits have changed. Has your selling evolved to keep up? appeared first on InterEdge Marketing.