MARKETING GROWTH SERVICES:
TURNING YOUR WEBSITE INTO A SALESPERSON
The first pillar of marketing growth services is a well-designed, high-performing website. Manufacturers need to stop thinking about their websites as online sales brochures or business cards. It's time to start thinking about websites as online company reps.
Table of Contents:
- Why Manufacturing Websites Matter
- Challenges Solved by a Modern Website
- How to Turn Your Website into a Salesperson
Key Takeaways:
- A modern, user-friendly website promotes your abilities and your brand.
- Websites can help manufacturers solve the problems of attracting and engaging customers and generating leads.
- Tools like on-site chats and techniques like carefully-placed calls to action make websites more interactive and engaging.
Why Manufacturing Websites Matter
Many of manufacturing companies have websites that are dated and – if we're being blunt – poorly designed. They give only the barest information about the manufacturer, but they don't provide a reason for prospective clients to engage with the site and, ultimately, with the business.
This is a huge mistake; today's buyers do an extensive amount of online research before contacting a manufacturer. And the first place they'll look is your website. If the site is up-to-date, with a clean design, intuitive navigation, and effective content, this promotes the impression that you are a trusted partner who's capable of keeping up with the latest developments. If, on the other hand, the site looks like it hasn't been updated since 2010, what does that imply about your capabilities as a manufacturer and as a business person?
How to Turn Your Website Into a Salesperson
Aside from paying attention to industry website best practices and design trends, how can you turn your website into a digital company representative?
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Pay attention to content. Not only should the content on your site answer customers' questions and highlight the value you can bring them, it should also be easy for customers to navigate. Find out why your clients visit your site and what problems they are trying to solve and structure your site to highlight how you can help. Understanding your customer's buyer's Journey, awareness, consideration, and decision will help you define the best content to engage them
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Use CTAs to help customers see next steps. Once you've given site visitors the information they need, make the next steps clear with a call to action, or CTA. You commonly find CTAs at the end of blog posts, featured in landing pages, and at strategic points on web pages. For example, after a post, you might have a CTA encouraging the reader to reach out for a free consultation, a helpful eGuide, or a tip sheet. On a website, you might have a button prompting the visitor to “Learn More” about a product or “Customize” an order. Your information should engage visitors, drawing them into your site and giving them an easy way to continue the conversation if they want to.
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Use popups and banners wisely. Midway through a blog post or webpage, you see a banner for a free white paper on a related subject. As you visit a site, a popup informs you of a limited-time offer. Both of these can prompt customers to give you their contact info in exchange for your valuable content. From there, your nurturing process can move them a bit further down the path to purchase. Just make sure that you're not using too many popups and banners, which can interrupt the flow of content and annoy the reader.
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Encourage interaction with live chat & AI. Instead of forcing customers to take extra steps to contact you, make it easy. Live chat and chatbots (which use AI to manage the conversation) let prospects connect with immediately, while their query is still top of mind. This fosters the connection with your sales team and provides a nice warm lead. Plus, these tools often boost customer satisfaction because they're a quick way to resolve questions.
Remember, your first goal for your website is to help customers find information. When you do this effectively, the site also becomes a great sales and marketing tool.
Up Next: Identify Your Ideal Customers
Targeted marketing is more effective than an indiscriminate strategy. In our next marketing Growth Services post, we'll talk about how to connect with a more receptive audience. Join us then!