Need an offer for your landing page? It’s easier than you think.

By: Gayle Davies

This is a challenge that presents itself to small business website owners who are diligently navigating towards the online marketing arena. The challenge of what to offer on your landing page. The offer comes easily for some, but for others it takes nothing less than a 180 degree attitude adjustment.

Let’s face it. Not every business can use discounts, coupons or “end of season” sales. What if you sell ideas, or opinions, medical services or goods that have a high dollar value. If this is you, then you have to adjust your thinking from: “I am the holder of all things valuable and you must pay for my expertise sight unseen.” To: “Let me share some of my knowledge so that you can come to a reasoned decision on your eventual purchase.” Here are two examples of the types of businesses that have to get creative with offers.

Cosmetic Surgery Practice

Landing page offer: Sale on breast implants. Buy one get one free!
Me: Uh, no thank you. Why the quick sale? Are they like….... expiring soon or something?

That wouldn’t quite work would it. So, what do you offer if you are a cosmetic surgeon? Well, put yourself in the shoes of the website visitor. They have questions and concerns. Will I look better? Is the surgery dangerous? Is this doctor a board certified physician? They have landed on your website not necessarily ready to buy but rather they are just looking for answers to their questions.

Offer Solution
The solution is a landing page offer that invites visitors into a special “members only” area of the website after filling out the form and leaving their email address. The "before and after photo" gallery gives the visitor a realistic view of what actual patients looked like before and after surgery, thus answering one of their questions. Once the doctor has the visitor’s email, it is easy enough to send informational emails about the doctor’s qualifications (another question answered), and stats on surgical outcomes (another question answered.) Every email had a link to a landing page that offered free consultations. At some point the visitor (now a lead) will be ready to buy.

Blast Furnaces.
Ok, so you sell blast furnaces. How would this offer work for you. “Buy one, get the second one half off.” Not really. So what the heck can you offer? This is where the attitude adjustment comes in. The “I really want to share my knowledge because if I don’t then visitors can go to the other 1,000 websites that offer my product” attitude adjustment. And it helps to have a certain confidence in yourself and in the product knowledge you have acquired over the years of doing business. You have no idea how much you really know. The trick is to pull that knowledge out and create a valuable, downloadable resource for your visitor.

Offer Solution
The solution is an e-book. Think back through the years. Think about all the questions your customers have asked. Answer those questions in a downloadable e-book offered on your landing page when they fill out the form and leave their email address.

1. What advances have been made in blast furnaces?
2. How is the green revolution going to impact blast furnace operations?
3. How do the features of your blast furnace compare to other brands?
4. How can pig iron be converted to steel? (What? Never mind, skip that one.)

No. You may not get a sale right at that moment. But you will get a number of leads from people who leave their email address. And you can educate your leads with nurturing emails. Begin to form a trusted relationship. A percentage of those leads will turn into sales. Don't let the chore of producing the e-book stop you. It is a simple job for a graphic designer and is well worth the cost.

Are you really stuck on an idea? Send me your website url and I'll look at the first one that comes in. I'll send you an idea you can use for an offer.

5 reasons your business website needs a compelling offer.

by Claudia Hafner

A compelling offer is something that a visitor would find hard to resist signing up for. It might be a report, a worksheet, a subscription to a newsletter, access to videos, presentations, or other information. It is the initial component of call-to-action buttons and landing pages.

1. Do something with your website traffic. Chances are you are getting visitors to your website. Do you know who they are? Getting traffic is no easy task, especially qualified visitors. Once they leave your website you may never see them again. And as each day goes by more and more visitors have left and you still don't know who they are. You can't talk to them. Having a compelling offer gives you the opportunity to at least have a conversation with them.
2. Help solve your visitors' problems - why they've come to your website! Your visitors are looking for something they think you might have or they wouldn't have landed on your website. They have a problem they are trying to solve and they are looking for information, from YOU, on how to solve it. A special report or worksheet to download could be the very thing that can set them on the path to getting that information.
3. Differentiate your business and website from your competitors'. What do you have to offer that your competitors do not? Every business wants leads and how many leads your business gets is dependent on what you can offer them NOW. If they can download or subscribe to something of value, you have a lead.
4. Leads allow you to continue to communicate with them. A lead has given you their contact information which allows you to educate, nurture, establish credibility and trust, and show them you are the expert. Until a visitor gives you their contact information you do not have this opportunity.
5. A compelling offer increases your chances of turning this visitor into a lead. Leads can become customers and increase ROI. How well you have this process in place will determine potential for increased return on investment. More leads translate into more potential customers. Compelling offers help increase leads and thus the potential for increased customers and ROI.

Why we use social media and inbound marketing for our clients.

By: Gayle Davies

We use social media tools and inbound marketing techniques because we have to! And because we would be doing a great disservice to our clients if we ignored the growing social media landscape.

It seems like just yesterday that a new business client would come in and request the standard business advertising and ID package. Brochure, business cards, stationery, logo, direct mail postcard and maybe a magazine and newspaper print ad. Of course, radio and TV ads for the larger companies. Website development requests started popping up now and then and soon enough they were a corporate identity package staple.

Zoom to the present and we are also discussing Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Linkedin profiles and blogs. Very often clients save on their advertising expenses when we suggest they allocate a larger percentage of their budget to inbound marketing techniques. This is because once we set up the social media map, their employees can participate in creating authentic content relatively inexpensively. They can also monitor their own progress using the proper social media tracking tools.

We have found that the key to success is integrating both the old, proven methods of outbound marketing into the newer inbound marketing methods.

Download this pdf to read some interesting statistics on social media. For example did you know that there are about 126 million blogs on the internet? Are you there yet?

Oh, and one more thing. Please take a small portion of that money you have saved on media buys and use it on professional, high- quality copy and graphics. The more informal social media tools you will be using still have to present your company in an impressive manner.

(Thank you HubSpot for compiling this information.)

Social media report: More time invested equals more leads.

by Gayle Davies 

Having lived in Hawaii for 15 years I couldn't help but notice that trends on the mainland take a couple of years before arriving on the shores of the Big Island. The beautiful land of fire and ice. That is why I found this survey so thought provoking. 

Now that I live on the mainland, for me it is a snapshot back in time. But it should also be reassuring to many small business owners everywhere currently struggling with this new marketing strategy must-have. Using Facebook to generate leads, LinkedIn to close deals. That is the direction you will be going in.

The majority of the survey respondents were members of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce. A tight-knit group of smart entrepreneurs running small businesses. Half had 5 or fewer employees and 17% had between 6-25 employees. Just like you!

Regarding their experience with Social Media, 51% of the business owners reported either: no experience, just getting started, or just a few months of social media interactions. Sound familiar?

• Those who saw the most benefits from social media were those who spent between 10 and 15 hours per week on all social media activities.
  
• And 65% of those who spent one hour or less per week did not see any results. 

The point I am making is that you may feel overwhelmed by what seems like your forced immersion into social media. Do you feel like you are behind the times or missing the social media boat? There is hope for you yet. You just have to realize that you may be operating in "Hawaiian time." Everything is just a little bit slower. But the benefits of social media will reach your shore sooner than you think.

Kinoshita Communications LLC, based on the Big Island of Hawaii, has released the results of their social media survey. Mahalo Laura for providing this timely survey.

You can find the report here: "West Hawaii Social Media Survey."

Call-to-action buttons are like doorknobs.

by Gayle Davies 

Until someone develops scratch and sniff website technology or some other sensory lure, business owners will have to rely on some tried and true internet marketing realities to attract potential customers surfing the web.

If you have ever walked past a bakery and smelled the yeasty aroma of freshly baked bread and found yourself turning around and walking towards that smell, instantly realizing that you have a need (empty stomach) that needs to be met, you know what I mean.

Call to Action buttons serve the same purpose as that delicious bakery smell. It is the first step you use to convert that anonymous pedestrian into a potential customer. And because your website has the distinct disadvantage of not being able to appeal to all of our 6 senses, Call-to-Action buttons must be designed correctly. They rely mainly on sight.

Website Must-Have

As a small business owner struggling to keep up with new online marketing rules, you have heard all kinds of new terms. Social media, SEO, landing pages, call-to-action buttons. The list is endless but these are the tools you must master if you want your web presence to be successful. Your ROI depends on it.

Let me simplify one tool for you. Call-to-Action buttons. You may know the essential elements of an effective C2A button:

• Create a sense of urgency
• Use contrasting colors
• Make it clickable
• Use compelling images
• Use action words

But how does a call-to-action button translate into a customer or lead? Simply put, they attract your customer’s attention, just like that irresistible bakery smell. Once you have their attention, they will walk to your place of business and place their hand on the doorknob (click the button) in order to open the door to that thing they need (or want). In this case, bread.

Call-to-Action buttons are just doorknobs.

Small businesses increase ROI with specialized landing pages.

by Claudia Hafner

As a small business that has been in operation for awhile, your marketing efforts may have been through direct mail, radio and newspaper ads, and more. You may be  spending the standard 10% of estimated gross income on your offline marketing, and you know you need to include or expand your internet marketing. Much of your offline efforts are a one-shot deal, with the call-to-action being 'Call Now!' As people use the internet more and more for research and shopping comparison, your website becomes an extension of that postcard, or newpaper/radio ad. But more effective than sending people to your homepage, is to send them to additional information related to that post card or ad.

With a specialized landing page that continues the conversation the prospective customer is having in their head about your product or service, you are able to provide them more information to help them along in their decision-making processs.

This page should also include an offer of something they can take away. It could be a 'how-to' article, a worksheet, a coupon. Anything of value for which they leave their contact information. With an email address you can continue to inform them about the product or service they have shown interest in.

Through this process of driving prospects to your targeted landing page and providing them a specific call-to-action that converts them to a lead, you have increased the value of your marketing dollar from a one-shot deal to a sales process that turned a prospect into a lead. This lead will give you many more opportunities to provide them with information as you become a trusted provider and establish yourself as an expert in your industry.

Start creating your specialized landing pages and convert visitors to leads with this downloadable worksheet.

Download our Landing Page Worksheet.

 

 

Generate leads before visitors get away

by Claudia Hafner

 

In today's online world someone is considered a lead if they have decided to take some sort of action on your website where they leave contact info.

So? Why should I care? 

You care, because this lead has given you their contact information! You now know they were interested enough in something you had to offer to give it to you. It is the contact information that 'converts' this visitor into a lead; it is tangible evidence of interest.

You have visitors coming to your site all day long, but if they never take an action you may never see them again. While a sale would be nice too, it may be too soon for them. And this is an important point, "they may not be ready to purchase yet." However, they may be ready to get more information if you offer it to them. This provides you an opportunity to help them through their purchasing cycle in a consitent and ongoing manner. 

Make the offer. 

What can you give a visitor in exchange for their contact information? Special information, in-depth information, how-to information, a worksheet to show them a process, on-going information? Whatever your business, product or service, there is something that would further a visitor's experience with you, your business, or your product...and ultimately be useful to the visitor.

Use this offer to convert your visitors into leads by creating a specialized landing page. Tell them why this information will benefit them, what they will receive, and then ask them to fill out some contact info and submit it. 

You now have a lead.

Start creating your specialized landing pages and convert visitors to leads with this downloadable worksheet.

Download our Landing Page Worksheet.

 

 

Marketing Communications. Write Right Tip #4: Over There

by Cathey Tarleton

"Over There," is a great patriotic song written by George M. Cohan in 1917 right after the U.S. declared war on Germany. He was riding on a train, perhaps with soldiers on their way to war over there in Europe. They're the inspiration for the song.

There, their, they're. I'm over "there."  I mean I'm over trying to ignore it when there is supposed to be they're or their. From now on, I'm going over there to bust that otherwise insightful blogger or creative copywriter, and tell them they're not as smart as their fifth grader when it comes to writing right. Marketing communications are supposed to grab attention, engage readers, inspire confidence and curiosity, urge them to explore further and convert from a visitor to a lead and a customer.  It's not supposed to annoy them. Or me. (Of course you can bust me too.)

Good "content," means good writing. And good writing means taking the time to re-read your posts before you "publish," whether they're 140 character Tweets, professional blogs, Facebook notes to your friends and their friends or a hundred other venues out there on the world wide web.

There, there. Am I being too critical?  

There, they're, their. This is how it works:

THERE is a place. "Over There" is a song about a place, Germany. (Hint: "Here" is also a place, and it's right there.)

THEIR is a possessive pronoun. That's not a criticism; it's just how it is with possessive prounouns. None of them have apostrophes (my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, their, theirs, our, ours, whose). Why?  Perhaps they were lost in the war. (Hint: An "heir" inherits somebody's possessions, and it's in their.)

THEY'RE has an apostrophe. It takes the place of a space and an "a"--no doubt over there with their comrades. They're means "they are."  

Spellcheck may or may not help you with this. It's moody. You have to put your own eyeballs on the page and defend your territory against grammatical artillery. If you get confused, try to remember the song. "Over There" makes sense. "Over They Are" sounds like Yoda. "Over Their" begs the question, "over their what?"

Write right. And don't come back till it's over, over there.  

Marketing Communications. Write Right Tip #3: Who's Whose Who?

by Cathey Tarleton

I remember years ago, when my boss would get those well-crafted direct mail pieces inviting him to join "Who's Who of the American Hotel Industry" for the low low price of only $599. It looked like nonsense, but their hook was good.  Doesn't everyone want to be in the "Who's Who" of their industry? Especially a man who's known by a lot of people whose respect is important to his business.

Respect is important in marketing communications because it builds trust. Blogging, engaging leads with social media, email marketing, even writing letters, are all about building trust as an individual or a brand. When you write right, your content--and thus your brand--looks intelligent, well-designed and otherwise trustworthy.

Today's tip is about the "Who's Who" of writing right. Remember, whenever that gnarly, annoying apostrophe hooks your reader's eye, it had better be in the right place, doing what it's supposed to be doing.

WHO+Apostrophe = Who is. It can be a question or a statement, i.e. "Who's the one who is going to the tweet up with me?" or "She is the one who's bringing coffee to the tweet up."

WHOSE = Belonging to Who. Here we have another crazy-making possessive pronoun that somebody obviously made up after his older brother stuck the apostrophe on "who's" and he had no other choice. "This is the man whose older brother stole our apostrophe." Or "This is the man who's responsible for losing our apostrophe to his older brother."  

Both of them are probably in the Who's Who of ancient grammar.

Regardless of whose fault it is, or whose brother did what to whom (don't get me started on that one), using "who's" and "whose" correctly makes you look like a more intelligent, respected and ultimately trustworthy marketer. So, write right.

Marketing Communications that "POP" with a riff-off

by Cathey Tarleton

I met Sam Horn 12 years ago at the Maui Writers Conference, where she served as Mistress of Ceremonies, chief inspirer and BFF to the eclectic gathering of writers every session.  Her spirit-boosting intros and butt-kicking presentations did a lot for all of us and likely generated millions of words across the genres.

Sam's still doing it, across the world wide web, with her Blog, today's edition of which asks me to do just what I'm doing now: "riff off" her content like a jazz musician, repurpose it into equally-dynamite marketing communications and share it from a different platform.

Here's what she has to say: 

A client told me, “Sam, I am so busy. I just don’t have time to ‘think-up’ creative content every time I’m supposed to blog.”

I told him, “Want good news? You don’t have to ‘think up’ original ideas every time you blog.”

He said, “That sounds promising. What do I write about then?”

I said, “You riff off the news. You know how jazz musicians riff off standard chords to create new music? From now on, you’re going to riff off current events to create new content.”

He looked at me, a bit puzzled, and asked, “How do I do that?”

See the rest of the article here.