How to Convert Prospects Into Customers or Clients

It’s not easy being green… uh … I mean doing digital marketing for a business. It’s a big, complex task. There are so many other businesses out there, competing for the same audience that your target audience is probably suffering from decision fatigue.

You have to find a way to stand out from the crowd and draw attention to yourself.

Find a way to convert prospects into customers.

But how?

To simplify things, I\'m going to go with a dating analogy.

Step 1: Your Dream Date

First things first… do you really know who you’re selling to? Maybe you have a vague idea of your target market. Using the Date analogy, maybe you think you’re selling to someone tall, dark, and handsome. Ok. But in today’s killer business environment, you’ll probably lose business since people want to be catered to. You need to solve their specific problem. So, think hard about who your ideal target market is. Maybe it’s gentlemen who are over 6 feet with taupe to ebony complexions that have roman noses, long eyelashes, luscious lips, and large hands.

Step 2: Your Destination Date Location – Your Website

We often hear website owners complain that their websites are getting traffic but that traffic is barely converting prospects into customers. If you’re in this situation, you need to look at WHY they aren’t converting. A few reasons for your website’s poor conversion:

• Crowded Homepage
  The easiest way to put this… too many elements on the home page distract your visitors. Do you know why we all love using Google? It’s because there’s no clutter on their homepage. You need to create a home page that funnels your traffic to the most relevant inner pages. Create inner pages that address specific pain points of your target audience and make sure the copy is relevant to the keyword the customer did a search for or provide answers to questions they have. It’s that simple. A very user-friendly website is a high converting website.
• Bland, generic content
  Why would I want to give you my contacts or even buy from you if you can’t inform me properly?
• Poor design
  Have you seen websites these days? If yours isn’t half as good, people won’t trust you, period.
• Too Many Buzzwords
  Honestly, if your audience doesn’t understand half the stuff you’re saying, they’ll leave. If I tell you that an article is targeted at
  conversion rate optimization for Jacksonville businesses – I’m pretty sure you probably have no idea what that is. But you’ll find that I’ve hardly used that term here. Why? Because if it doesn’t make sense to you, then I’m not communicating.
  As you can see, I’ve kept it simple and have tried to minimize the use of buzzwords while still explaining in clear terms what you need to do to convert your traffic. Am I doing well so far? ????? So, limit the use of buzzwords. Instead, strive to educate and inspire action in your audience.
• No Personality
  You know how you don’t like people with no personality? Well, it’s the same here. I’m sorry, but bland and unimaginative content doesn’t cut it anymore. Your content must be outstanding, top-notch, unique, and above board. Unsatisfactory, generic, and poor quality content will destroy your brand faster than anything. You should be or sound like the authority in your niche. Create visually interesting documents, kick-ass free reports, informative white papers, attractive infographics, epic articles and blog posts, entertaining videos, and interesting podcasts that are truly spectacular, and your conversion rates will soar through the roof.
• Difficult navigation
  If I can’t find what I need on your website in less than 3 seconds, I’ll go someplace else. Easiest way to NOT convert prospects into customers? Make the navigation confusing! There’s a rule in the online marketing community: all visitors must find what they need on your website in five clicks or less. Doubt it? Take a look at Amazon, CNN, eBay, Zappos, Google, and other highly popular websites. You’ll find that these websites all have one thing in common: the ability to deliver specific information in five clicks or less. So, structure your website so that it is easily navigable.
• Always Call to Action
  Here’s the thing: if you don’t ask, you won’t get. It’s that simple. After entertaining, educating, informing, and engaging your audience with killer content and actionable steps that they can use, it’s time to ask for the “sale.” Always put a call to action. Use low restrain incentives like free reports, access to a free newsletter, a low priced product, and free trial services. These work like gangbusters.