Notes from Melbourne’s hottest digital marketing conference
This post was written by TCCS member, Kara Stokes
Did you know Melbourne has its own sizzling digital marketing conference? Well, you do now.
But what’s more important is how Loren Bartley from Impactiv8 brought marketing experts together to share their wisdom.
The Click Engage Convert conference gave so much valuable information my fingers were tired from scribbling down notes to try and capture all the pearls.
The core message from all the experts is that we need to focus on showing our buyers how much we love them.
Consumers know they’re spending money, but they don’t want to think about it. They want to feel like you’re interested in them as people, not dollar signs.
It’s time to find the squishy spot in your heart, and here are seven reasons why.
1. Give more to your repeat customers
Relationship marketing expert Jessika Phillips believes we need to make our brands crave-able.
Gone are the days when consumers were coerced into buying.
We need to focus on making our brand so enticing they’ll be desperate to hit the ‘add to cart’ button.
People want to belong to a culture that resonates with the lifestyle they want. Show them how your brand is a part of that lifestyle. Get them to imagine how a purchase from you will bring them into that culture.
It’s no longer about buying a t-shirt because your old one has holes. It’s about buying a t-shirt from a business who cares about life in the same way we do.
After making a purchase, you can help them avoid buyer’s regret by staying interested in them. Send them a thank you email and ask what they love most about your product and if there’s anything they don’t like. Create an open conversation and get to know them.
You want them to come back whenever they need a new t-shirt, right? So make room in your marketing budget to reward your customers.
It’s time to invest in your repeat customers and turn them into brand advocates.
2. Sell yourself. You’re worth it
Copywriting expert and Beyoncé of SEO Kate Toon knows that business owners loathe selling. It brings on images of used car salesmen with slicked-back hair and smiles oilier than a $5 pizza.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could just make a thing, and people bought the thing and you made money? You probably could if you were the only business on the planet. But in the crowded world of the web, you need to make yourself seen and heard.
The key to getting over your aversion to selling is remembering that your customer is already out there looking for you. But if you don’t meet them on socials or help them find your website, they won’t find you.
Instead, they’ll find your competitors.
Marketing your business isn’t like being a cold caller ringing household at dinner time with an offer ‘you can’t refuse’.
Optimising your website, posting on Facebook and sending out flyers creates awareness of who you are and what you do.
You’re giving consumers a chance to get to know you and decide whether they want to buy from you. They’re in control of their wallets, not you. Your job is to convince them your product or service is worthy of their pennies.
3. Invest in your sales page
Along with reminding us that selling isn’t sleazy, Kate went through her 17-step process to build a successful sales page.
If you’re going to spend time and money on your website, focus on your sales page.
From one page you can increase your SEO, overcome consumer objections, and increase conversions.
And if you’re worried about putting in too much copy, don’t be. When a consumer is ready to buy, they’ll want all the information they can get. It’s okay to write long copy, but you need to do it extremely well. Don’t put words in just to fill the page. Make sure every sentence leads them towards clicking the ‘call to action’ button.
Three points to remember when writing your sales page:
- Show them that you understand their problem and know how they feel
- Be honest, and address their concerns by explaining why your product or service is the best purchase even though it might be perfect
- Show them the features in terms of benefits. For example, this t-shirt goes with every outfit because we’ve chosen a style that works for day or night
Working through your sales page may be time-consuming. But every tweak you make helps your prospect decide, ‘Yes, I do want to buy from you’.
4. Consumers want more video
That’s right, they want more content.
Despite the internet being overloaded with videos, video strategist Ben Amos explained that consumers are on the hunt for more from brands they like.
They want to get intimate with you and, videos help them do that. You might loathe getting in front of the camera to spout your wares, but it’s worth it.
Why?
Because video brings the human aspect to the online world.
You’ve probably heard that we only learn around 3% of information from a person’s words. The rest is garnered from their tone of voice and body language.
Being online takes away the chance for your customers to see you. Instead, they rely on your written content to decide whether they like you. But video is changing that. Once again, consumers get all the information they need by watching you talk about your business.
It helps them feel closer to you and makes it easier for them to trust you. And building trust is vital to making customers feel comfortable with making a purchase.
But don’t just whip out your phone and spend 30 seconds saying how great your product is. Plan what you’ll say first. It’s important to ask yourself, ‘What does my customer want to know about my business?’
Once you’ve planned your content, it’s time to create it. Make sure you set up good lighting and choose a flattering angle.
Of course, all this time is wasted if you forget to publish your video. Choose the platform where your customers hang out on most, or add it to your home page.
5. Webinars done right, build trust
We’ve all signed up to a webinar that promised amazing tools and tips to help us. We wasted an hour listening to the host yabber on about their wonderfulness. And in the end, they offered a discount for their best-selling product.
Ugh, the frustration and disappointment.
‘Where were the tips? Why don’t I have any tools to help me?’
You wonder why you bothered. And the next time a webinar invite hits your inbox, you send it to the trash.
You think, ‘Why would I bother creating my own webinar?’
Because as long as you make a promise and deliver on it, you’ll gain loyal fans.
Omar Zenhom, co-founder and CEO of WebinarNinja and host of podcast The $100 MBA believes webinars build successful businesses.
Here’s the key to making yours avoid the trash pile.
The title of your webinar is your promise. If you call it ‘Seven ways to feel more confident in business’, you need to give your audience seven ways to feel confident.
Not six. Not three. Seven.
So brainstorm your content and search your wealth of knowledge for ideas you’re happy to share with your community.
Ask yourself, ‘Are they relevant to my customer?’ If yes, that’s great. Go ahead and plan your webinar. Then review your plan and come up with a title that explains exactly what people should expect.
Then it’ll be easy to promote because you’ll be confident about the benefit you’re offering.
6. You need to get all touchy on your prospects
No, it’s not about patting their bottom.
Marketing expert James Tuckerman explained how we need to be engaging with people on numerous occasions.
It takes between seven and fourteen points of contact with your business before prospects make a purchase. They check out your website, read your social posts, sign-up to your emails. And even then they won’t feel ready to buy.
The trick is to be on their screen again and again without driving them mad.
Ask yourself, ‘What experience does my customer have when they purchase from me?’ This helps you see the process through their eyes, from learning about your brand to buying from you.
Review the buyer’s journey and find ways to connect with them at each point.
7. Automation helps you get personal with your leads
Digital marketing strategist Loren Bartley and Jeremiah O. Sarkett from Keap believe you need to create a personalised approach for managing your emails.
Why?
Because reaching out to your customers on a personal level draws them to you.
Customers are selective. They only open an email if it has something they want to see.
If they think you know who they are and what they like, they’ll trust you have something they’ll be interested in.
By showing you care, you’ll increase your open rate.
Most businesses don’t have a system for turning prospects into customers. We’re too busy juggling emails, phone calls, and post-it notes. And amongst all that mess, some leads slip away. We lose our hastily scribbled notes, forget to call someone back, or accidentally delete an email.
To avoid people drifting over to your competitors, you need an automated process.
Automating doesn’t mean losing connections with your customer. By having your workflow streamlined you create time to tailor your responses to each person.
Scrabbling through the piles of paper on your desk is time-consuming and tiring. When you avoid chaos, you have more energy to give to your business. This energy goes towards caring more about who your customers are and what they want.
Check out the online tools available and decide which works best for you.
How you do it doesn’t matter. What does matter is capturing leads and guiding them from showing interest in making a purchase.
Conclusion
There you have it: seven great tips from the mouths of digital marketing experts.
Posting videos, hosting webinars, rewarding your existing customers and personalising your emails are all ways to reach out and tap into your buyer’s heart.
Want more nuggets to add to your marketing tools collection? Click Engage Convert tickets for 2020 are on sale now. Get in quick, because Melbourne doesn’t wait for anybody.
About Kara Stokes
Kara’s mission is to help you connect with your audience. It’s time to get your words working for you. Her specialty is content writing targeted straight for your ideal client’s heart. Whether your business is focused on fitness and health or you’re looking for a friendly copywriter, Kara can help.
