Business.com |
- Why You Should Always Be Following Up With Your Customers
- 3 Ways to Increase Your Sales on Amazon
- 5 Smart Ways to Warm Up Your Cold Email List
| Why You Should Always Be Following Up With Your Customers Posted: 03 Jan 2020 08:00 AM PST  What do you think of when you hear the phrase "customer follow-up?" If you're like most entrepreneurs, your mind might go immediately to sales. A prospect reached out for a quote and then went dark for a week. So, you follow up until you close the sale. Or you become an exhibitor at an industry conference and map out a great follow-up plan to get in touch with interested prospects after it ends. Yes, these are important methods of follow-up. But follow-up also extends beyond the initial sales process and can play a key role in the entire customer experience. It's a widely underused tool that business owners, marketers and salespeople all can benefit from using more. Here are four ways that the right types of follow-up, powered by marketing automation, can propel your business to greater heights. 1. Follow-up to shallow interactions can keep you top of mindSomeone calls to ask about your services, and then says they'll "be in touch." What do you do? Wait for them to contact you again, or proactively reach out? First, create an alert for yourself in your CRM to personally follow up with this person about three days later if you haven't heard back. Then, think about ways you can offer value to this person even before they hire you. Maybe they mentioned a concern they had, and you can call them back after you find out more about the issue. No strings attached; just to help them out. Or maybe they mentioned another problem they have that's outside your area of expertise. Do you know a specialist in that area who is trustworthy? Send the prospect a note with the specialist's contact information and why you recommend them. Whether they become a customer of yours or of the person you referred them to - or not - you can rest assured that they'll have a very positive perception of you and want to work with you when the time is right. Even if you don't have something immediate to offer a prospect, make sure you're the one who contacts them next. This can be by offering a discount, sharing an article that educates them about your services or asking them to fill out a survey. This way, their interest will still be high and you'll keep your name on their radar. Even if these actions seem small, they can make a big difference. 2. Follow-up can build trust in the relationshipOne of the most difficult things for new customers is to trust a service provider they've never worked with before. And while trust can come in many forms, follow-up is almost always a great tool to help establish it. After all, it lets the person know that you are reliable and can be counted on to prioritize them. A great way to practice this type of follow-up is by readily sharing testimonials, and using referrals to your advantage. But you can also be extremely prompt to win the customer over and build trust. Here's an example. A man just called your extermination company because he and his wife found some spiders in their home and are afraid because they have young children. But he explains that his wife doesn't want toxic chemicals in the home, so he doesn't know what to do. You can quickly follow up to help educate and calm both parties. If you wait too long, especially in certain situations, you will lose trust and probably lose the sale as well. Or let's say you're a wedding videographer who has a new potential client with a wedding date several months away. They haven't booked you yet officially, but you heard that their venue is unexpectedly going out of business; so now they'll have to start the venue search all over. The couple is no doubt frustrated, if not downright panicked. Go the extra mile and give them a call (or send a text) to tell them you're here to help however you can. If you're responsive and show you care, you create a real relationship - and increase the chances of turning this person into a loyal customer. 3. Tailored follow-up can move a hesitant prospect through your funnelThere always comes a time in the sales process when objections start to arise. For some companies, it's in the earliest stages when a customer is first considering buying from you. For others, it comes later when they're deciding whether or not to become a repeat customer. Whenever it happens, objections are inevitable. When you start to hear them come your way, don't give up. Rather, view this as a sure sign that more follow-up is needed. For example, let's say you run a plumbing company. Your most recent prospect was almost ready to hire you for a job until they heard your cost estimate. This could signal your services are overpriced, but assuming that's not the case, it could be an opportunity to share some helpful content with them. In this sort of instance, you could design an email in your marketing automation software that compares your services, prices and overall value next to those of competitors in your area. The goal of the content would be to show your value, and ultimately convince them the price is worthwhile. Something very specific like this can go a long way in convincing a hesitant prospect to move forward with you. While this example is a very manual process, you can also automate targeted follow-up by segmenting the lists in your CRM and sending them only the content that applies to them. For instance, you could segment your list by the location of your customers. Send out a newsletter to each group, including testimonials from other similar customers in their geographic area, special offers and more. The more targeted you are in your follow-up, the more impact it will have. 4. Post-sales follow-up can create loyal customers for lifeYes, follow-up in your customer service leading up to a sale is important. But getting in touch after the sale is just as important. Use automation to check in a week or two after you performed your services, and ask for feedback. Get positive feedback? Ask for a referral. Negative? Call the person directly to find out where you went wrong, and how you can rectify it. This tells the customer that they matter to you as people and not just payment. And it also leaves a really strong impression in their minds about how professional and caring you were. So the next time they need services like yours, they'll be sure to be in touch. Post-sales follow-up also gives you another reason to get in front of your customers again. If they don't have an immediate need for more of your products in the weeks or months after a purchase, a simple piece of thoughtful follow-up from you can remind them about what you have to offer. Sometimes, something little like that is all it takes to spur another sale. There's so much you can do with customer follow-up, and marketing automation can help make it a breeze. Take your business to the next level by maximizing both, and giving your customers what they really need. |
| 3 Ways to Increase Your Sales on Amazon Posted: 03 Jan 2020 06:00 AM PST  As competitive as the marketplace has become since the platform opened up to third-party sellers over two decades ago, retailers around the world can still build thriving businesses through Amazon. That said, many merchants who utilize the online retail goliath consider profit to be their most important metric, and it is understandable why they might hold that thought. After all, according to a 2018 Feedvisor report, one-fifth of professional Amazon retailers sell more than $1 million annually. However, the Amazon conversion rate is actually the most crucial metric for retailers, as this point highlights how effective merchants are at influencing consumers and generating sales. Yet, for slews of Amazon sellers, their conversion rates are not living up to expectations. Given the hyper-competitive nature of the platform, retailers have to pull out all the stops when it comes to ad campaigns, optimizing Amazon store listings for peak sales, off-site promotional efforts and the like. Therefore, understanding the most robust strategies for increasing conversions is vital for enhancing marketplace standings and business growth. Here are three conversion-enhancing strategies for businesses interested in taking their Amazon conversion rates to the next level. Know where you standAs they say, what gets measured gets improved. Therefore, when it comes to optimizing conversions, the place to start is in figuring out where a brand currently stands. Fortunately, Amazon's Seller Central accounts provide tons of data to help merchants establish the points in which they are succeeding and where their efforts could use some improvement. Some key metrics that retailers should analyze to gain perspective on their current marketplace performance include: Product rankingProduct rankings are vital for optimizing conversions on Amazon. After all, when users come to the marketplace, they are likely there to buy. Moreover, 75% of Amazon users cop to utilizing the platform's search functionality. Meanwhile, 40% won't scroll past the first page of products. What this means is that merchants must thoroughly conduct Amazon keyword research for their products to help elevate items in the company's SERPs. Search engine optimization is vital for boosting conversions, so merchants should become intimately familiar with the tenets of this discipline. Units orderedWhile there is no definitive benchmark for where a brand should be in terms of units ordered, analyzing this figure on a daily, weekly and monthly basis is necessary for understanding how effective a brand is in the Amazon marketplace. Additionally, this data point is more useful than total orders, as many consumers sometimes place orders containing multiple units. Unit session percentage rateUnit session percentage rate is simply Amazon's fancy jargon for conversion rate. According to Digital Commerce 360, the average conversion rate on Amazon is 12.3%. This is the benchmark that retailers should aim to exceed. Similar to conversion rates, the unit session percentage rate is determined by dividing units ordered by total sessions. If retailers find their figure to be lacking, it could be the result of low traffic or low sales. In such an instance, examine both metrics (sessions and units ordered) to determine the problem area hindering conversion rates. In the instance of low traffic, this could be a rankings issue. In that case, focus on SEO. If sales are low, the problem could be attributable to a variety of factors, including:
Seller ratingAmazon's seller rating is an overall performance score (rated on a scale of 0-100) that synthesizes metrics including (but not limited to):
Seller ratings have a significant impact on a brand's ability to win the buy box, thereby having substantial sway over conversion rates. With an understanding of where a retailer stands and the struggles they are facing, it is time to turn our attention to some conversion rate optimization techniques. Amazon SEO: optimizing product pagesProduct pages are the heart and soul of all Amazon operations. Therefore, optimizing listings is vital to elevating conversion rates. As with any SEO push, everything starts with keywords. Conducting keyword research for Amazon is crucial for climbing the company's SERPs and earning more conversions. Therefore, merchants should utilize dedicated Amazon keyword tools such as KeywordTool.io or Sonar. The reason for using a dedicated tool for Amazon is that for a product to surface for a given query, it must contain the searched keyword. Therefore, after procuring profitable keywords, retailers should aim to optimize listings by including them in critical areas such as:
While product descriptions are extremely important for retailers to improve their conversion rates as this is the area that provides the most information to consumers, a standard description is not the only optimization option. An alluring tactic for building product descriptions that excite shoppers is to leverage Amazon's A+ Content feature, formerly known as Enhanced Brand Content. A+ Content enables sellers to leverage additional images and information for highlighting a product's features and benefits above what is typically displayed. Moreover, the professionally designed templates give product pages a more refined and distinguished appearance. While there are some eligibility requirements for utilizing A+ Content, most retailers should have no problem accessing the new feature. Once a retailer's product pages have been optimized to the fullest, it is time to start looking at marketing campaigns that will increase conversions. Diversifying marketing effortsWhen it comes to boosting conversions via Amazon, diversity is key. The more tactics that retailers utilize, the more awareness they are likely to create. Therefore, the most obvious place to begin is with advertising on Amazon. With Amazon PPC advertising, retailers can leverage a handful of different ad formats to reach new shoppers and earn sales. The key to Amazon PPC success lies in continued testing, measurement, and modification of adverts to develop ads profitable that resonate with relevant audiences. However, optimizing campaigns for ideal performance can be a daunting and time-consuming task for some sellers. In such a situation, it is recommended to partner with an Amazon PPC management firm that can help get products in front of the right users. Paid advertising aside, retailers should also give considerable attention to cultivating an omnichannel e-commerce strategy that encompasses platforms such as Amazon, the merchant's dedicated website, eBay, social media and other potential sales channels to reach the broadest possible audience. Moreover, employing content marketing techniques is a stellar strategy for boosting brand awareness and driving traffic. By crafting quality content about topics that audiences care about, including a link to a relevant product, posting the piece to the retailer's online store and then disseminating it through social media outlets, merchants not only aid their visibility through standard search engines but also stand to reach a variety of social media users they can convert. However, content marketing efforts should not be limited to just text, as posting video content via social is a prime engagement tactic. Merchants can create videos detailing a product's benefits, behind the scenes content or broader problem-solving videos that aid shoppers. All these types of videos can potentially increase the traffic to a seller's Amazon listings and increase conversions. Additionally, retailers should also take to social media to run paid promotional campaigns that link back to specific product pages. This is an especially effective tactic when sellers use Facebook retargeting for Amazon products. By promoting products that consumers are already familiar with – alongside an added incentive – sellers can elevate their conversion rates effectively. There are tons of ways to potentially optimize Amazon listings for heightened conversion rates. That said, there is no panacea for achieving this goal aside from hard work and trial and error. While some conversion rate optimization techniques will prove to be a boon for some sellers, those same ones may fall flat for others. The only way to establish how to increase conversions for your products is to dig through the metrics to figure out where a brand is struggling and begin addressing those issues. Start sifting through your company's data to establish a plan of attack, enhance your product listing's optimization implementations and market the items through a diverse range of methodologies. Your business is likely to increase its conversions substantially. |
| 5 Smart Ways to Warm Up Your Cold Email List Posted: 03 Jan 2020 05:00 AM PST 
Many experts know email marketing is the best way to turn a prospect into a lifelong customer. The ability to connect with consumers through email helps us engage with more potential customers than ever before. Studies show that when done right, a good email campaign generations a staggering 4,400% return on investment. Once you start generating a ton of leads for your business, you're going to notice a significant percentage of those people stop clicking your call-to-action, don't bother reading your copy, and probably don't even open your emails. Consumers are overstimulated by businesses every day, so you have to keep their attention if you want to stand out from everyone else. Here are five clever tricks you can use to reignite interest in consumers that signed up for your email list and stopped opening your messages. Use an eye-catching headlineAt a glance, headlines seem like an insignificant factor in the overall performance of your email marketing campaign. In reality, they are one of the deciding factors that determine whether consumers ever open your emails. The central focus of sending a newsletter is to provide value and encourage people to take a closer look at your website. After looking at what you're selling, the people who made it this far will likely become customers. If you want more people to fall under this umbrella of consumers, you have to write eye-catching headlines. Start email headlines with an action verb and close with a statement that addresses a pain point or piques curiosity. For example, a headline that reads: "Grow your lead list now with these social media marketing tips," will get more opens and engagement than a headline that reads "How to generate leads with social media marketing." Give them something for freeIt's hard to deny the power of the word free. People are willing to go to extreme lengths to cash in on a gift or discounts, and you can use that information to re-engage your lead list. If your analytics shows that consumers are not interacting with your emails, consider sending out a promotion to your followers that gives 25% off their purchase over the week. Make sure your headline matches the urgency of the offer. In our example above, we might start the email headline with "Save Now!" as a way to stop disengaged consumers in their tracks. Additionally, if you create online giveaways or social media events on your other platforms, don't forget to let your email subscribers know. If someone was on the fence about revisiting your website, the chance to win something for free could be the incentive they need to open your next email. Initiate a drip campaignDrip campaigns are an excellent way to bring inactive subscribers back down your sales funnel. If they were interested in your product but changed their minds, you have to give them a reason to reconsider. We suggest sending out an email that addresses common pain points in your industry. For example, if you operate an e-commerce storefront that sells gardening supplies, you would want to start your drip campaign with common mistakes people make, the best flowers to grow depending on your climate, and other general topics. Always create copy that introduces the content to your audience, and has a clear call-to-action. The path consumers take with your drip campaign will determine which email in the series they receive next. Your goal is to show them why you're an industry expert, built rapport, and eventually turn them into a customer. If you can consistently deliver valuable information, the cold prospect may begin to warm up to your brand. After you've had several interactions, you should present a clear call-to-action that encourages the lead to connect with your brand on social media, buy a product, or reserve a ticket for your next webinar. Drip campaigns can also help you segment your subscribers, which is an integral part of keeping customers engaged after they've subscribed to your list. Segment your cold leadsOne of the biggest mistakes marketers make when trying to warm up their cold email list is they don't segment their leads. Essentially, list segmentation is the process of grouping your prospects into different categories based on their past behavior. For instance, marketers can separate leads based on the type of products they've bought in the past. The primary purpose of segmenting your list is to make your marketing material personal. A survey from The Harris Poll showed that 63% of customers expect personalized marketing offers when they interact with businesses. In other words, you have to predict what kind of content your audience wants to receive based on how they interact with your site. You can use personalization marketing to reach your cold prospects. Some businesses use this model to reach out to consumers that haven't responded to an email in over six months, and many times they end up converting a significant percentage of their cold leads. For example, your headline could read, "Did We Say Something Wrong?" Headlines like this are known for catching the attention of readers and could prompt them to open the message. The body of your email should let them know you value their service and feedback, and would love to have them back in your community. This is an excellent opportunity to ask if they have any questions or concerns that you could address. Resolving their problem will help build trust and makes it more likely the lead will open future emails. Split test your emailsSplit testing, also known as A/B testing, is a practice where marketers change one aspect of their email or marketing promotion. The goal is to see if the change produces significant results in terms of sales, traffic, or conversion rates. Research shows that when email marketers split test their campaigns, they can see a 100% increase in their open rate. Small changes can result in disengaged customers responding to your emails. You can split test every aspect of your email and measure the results. The most common changes include:
It's vital that you only change one aspect of your email at a time. If you change the headline, add a video, and completely rework your CTA, you'll have no idea what change produced the results. Make sure your split test is active long enough to obtain measurable results. Many business owners make a quick decision and don't give the change enough time to produce fair results. When you start split testing your campaigns among your cold leads, make sure you take note of how many people open the email and ultimately convert. These two factors will help you determine the success rate of your tests. You don't have to deal with a long list of prospects that don't respond to your emails. There are ways to re-engage these consumers without coming off as annoying or overbearing. The key is sending out well-paced messages that consistently catch the attention of your subscribers and provide tangible value once they open your email.
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