Your company probably has a website simply to maintain a virtual presence. That’s a great thing to have, but a good website can do so much more than that. Are you taking full advantage of the power of internet marketing? Is your website working hard for you, or is it the other way around? Here are a few tips that will help leverage your website to automate your business.
1. Raise awareness & interest
In today’s consumer-driven marketplace, buyers no longer want to be “sold to.” Instead, they want to feel like they’re in the driver seat. A good website should give you a place to publish articles and content that raise awareness and interest in your brand. As readers consume this content, they’ll be led to your door without even knowing what hit them.
2. Give your sales pitch
A good website is a salesperson you don’t have to pay. If your marketing message is carefully articulated, your visitors will hear your pitch exactly as you intend for them to hear it — and they’ll hear it from anywhere on the planet instantly and simultaneously. After hearing your pitch, these visitors will contact you “ready to buy” with most of their questions and doubts already resolved.
3. Answer FAQs
Do you find that you spend a lot of time repeating answers to questions that past customers have asked? Consider adding a “frequently asked questions” element to your website. It doesn’t have to be a formal page (although it might be), but by publishing as much information as you can that is directed at resolving common concerns, you’ll save yourself countless hours of boring reiteration.
4. Follow up
How many times have you had a strong conversation with a prospect which you knew could lead to a sale and yet you failed to follow up? It happens to the best of us. Build in “follow up” technology to your website — whether it’s an automatic email blast to a customer 1 week after you talked, a drip campaign that slowly shares information about your product or even an email that your website sends to YOU reminding you to make a call or take the next step, a website can significantly automate your business’ follow up process.
5. Capture data
Once a customer is ready to engage with you, you can further automate your business by setting up a web form to collect their information. This might come in the form of a “request for proposal” questionnaire or a “how was our service?” format. Setting up a solid web form can save you hours of data collection, ensure that it is error-free and allow your customer to connect with you on their own time schedule.
Enjoy!