Sign up for our newsletter!
Want to stay up-to-date on industry trends?
Did you know the harsh reality is that 97-99% of the people that initially visit your website will leave without buying a single thing?
Before a prospect converts to a customer, they will google, visit websites, watch YouTube videos, read reviews, ask for recommendations and check hashtags to see what others are saying online.
The internet has empowered the buyer and changed the marketing rules. Unlike the pre-google days where we mainly relied on what the company told us about their products, today the 21st-century customer is well informed, and the buyer's journey begins online. Your potential customer will go through various digital touchpoints before making a decision, and it's up to companies to provide educational multimedia content that helps their prospective buyer make an informed choice and convert to a customer.
This is done by first considering a buyers' entire journey, then designing a customized funnel with different types of content that cater to various learning styles and the consumers needs at different touchpoints.
The basic touchpoints of a sales process are:
Multimedia content is a combination of text, images, videos, audio, and slideshows in an engaging way. Also know as rich media, this content consisting of different formats (sound, video and images) has been proven to be effective in converting consumers in the evaluate and purchasing decisions touchpoints because of the high quality visual components.
In the digital jargon, a funnel is the process a buyer goes through before a sale is made. It's called a “funnel” because all the steps in the process are designed towards helping your audience make an informed purchasing decision. Multimedia accelerates the buyer's journey. The lack of variety educational rich content and a well thought-out process means your leads, prospects and existing clients are slipping through the cracks; probably buying from your competitor with stable systems.
You want to have sales funnels with rich multimedia content that delights your customers at all touchpoints, so they become satisfied, loyal buyers, and brand ambassadors. Some engaging rich media formats can be podcasts, slideshows, GIFS, social media stories, Livestreams, webinars, challenges or story videos like my audio podcast trailer below.
1. Adapt to Your Customers.
The digital word is a dynamic ever-changing landscape and companies that resist trends and neglect innovation are headed for trouble. Take Toys 'R' Us for example, a once thriving company now in trouble after failing to keep up with customer trends and e-commerce. I remember seeing a big branch in Koblenz, Germany shutting down and can't help but wonder how this company spiraled into such a crisis.
A crucial aspect of digital marketing is monitoring industry trends and competition, as well as swiftly adapting to change. One example of changing trends is with the distribution of content. With more people using mobile phones, podcasting and video have become content marketing strategies not to be ignored. Instead of text-only blog posts, why not integrate multi-media like audio or Facebook LIVE video to reach new audiences and give your customers options to consume content?
2. Out of Sight Out of Mind?
Just because a sale has been made doesn't mean the customer's value diminishes. Many companies neglect to nurture past clients and have no after-sales customer care. If the client is not extremely satisfied, it can lead to buyers remorse or, in the future they'll consider your competitor and advise others to look at options instead of referring you. A customer is important, before, during and after the sale. Integrate a follow-up system to rate your customer's satisfaction, at least once after the sale. This can be via a survey, phone call, or a personal visit where appropriate.
One way to take aftersales to another level is with ongoing training, updates and community. Multimedia is perfect for this! Consider offering free training webinars with updates and/or upsells and community building sessions on Zoom. Exclusive members only podcasts are another way to add value to past clients and consumers. Private podcasts can be free for members or you can offer them as an add-on upsell.
3. Appreciate Buyers and Earn Their Loyalty.
Despite studies proving it's easier to sell to an existing customer than acquire a new one, companies often focus more on getting new leads and prospects. Rewarding loyalty helps with customer retention. Companies can continue offering the same high-quality content that won a buyers trust. Reward offers can be priority customer support, membership sites with exclusive resources, lifetime upgrades, referral discounts and prizes. Rewards don't have to be monetary, sometimes being treated as an individual with genuine problems and not "just a number in the books" can be enough to earn customer loyalty.
Despite the data-driven marketing, consumers are real people with real needs. Focusing on the customer lifetime value is part of a good digital marketing strategy. Unlike traditional one-way marketing, digital marketing involves two-way communication with your customers. Companies that neglect their digital presence and the buyer's journey online are losing to their competitors using proven digital strategies.
The best part of it all - a digital sales funnel is easy to split test, and optimize. Do you use rich content system that attracts leads, converts sales, and delights your buyers?