How To Get More From Your Marketing

Marketing, in and of itself, is designed to help businesses like yours achieve your goals,whether you’re hoping to reach new clients or close more sales. But it can be tricky to leverage your marketing to get the results you’re looking for. Whatever your goals maybe, if your business seems to be falling short of what you’ve hoped to achieve, don’t worry – we’re here to help you get the most out of your marketing.

Optimize Your Website to Convert More Leads

Your website acts not only as a first impression, but as a net for potential customers as well. When building your website, make sure you capture the contact information for every visitor who may turn into a customer or client. By adding in live web cha​t or a​ chatbot, you can increase customer satisfaction and capture leads at the same time​ (learn the differences between live chat and chatbot​s)​ . Via website chat, your customers can ask questions and have them answered immediately — making for a positive user experience. And if you’re a small operation, or your staff’s time is better spent doing other tasks, you can outsource web chat answering to a virtual receptionist servic​e instead of staffing it yourself.

Another way to optimize your website is with a blog. Blogs can help educate your potential clients and increase your business’ visibility in search results. If you already have one, add more content to it. By writing valuable and relevant blog posts, you can provide helpful education on your services which is likely to improve your reputation, and increase sales. Blog posts are one of the best ways to build SEO and help those searching for information on your industry find your business. The more people are able to find your business online and the more your website is catered to your specific audience, the more you’ll be able to gain and convert new leads. 

Maintain a Presence on Social Media

Social media is an indispensable marketing tool that helps businesses increase their visibility, showcase their brand, and build a strong marketing network. By sharing engaging and original content regularly, you can authentically demonstrate who you are and what you do, communicate with new and existing customers, and build a community that keeps your business well-connected for years to come. There are a million ways to use social media to your advantage, from promoting special deals to highlighting client reviews, so be creative.

To get even more from your social media marketing, make sure you’re always available to respond to messages. If someone has a question, they might be ready to buy, and having an immediate response could be the difference in making a sale. So turn on your notifications, manage all your interactions in one dashboard, or have a chat servic​e answer messages for you. Make sure you’re tracking results to see which platform​ works best (more on that later). 

Collaborate with Similar Businesses in Your Industry

Get involved with other businesses in your industry — even competitors! It may sound counter-intuitive at first, but one of the best ways to market your business is by working alongside those who are doing similar marketing. Swap guest blog posts, share in a podcast, or promote each other on social media to reach potential new customers and share fresh and relevant content with your own customer base. You can also end up with a lot of content that will be visible to potential customers, relevant in your community, and up-to-date on industry trends. Get even more out of these relationships by developing a system of referrals, sharing marketing tips and tricks, and even making friends who have similar interests.

Track Your Data

With leads flooding in, it’s imperative that you track them properly and efficiently. Knowing what kinds of leads are coming in and from where can help your business understand what’s working well in your marketing strategy and what you might want to improve on. Say for instance you’re gaining traction from your social media presence, but losing out on leads due to missed phone calls. You’ll know that your team needs to improve your call handling.

Respond to Leads Immediately

Clients and leads expect responsiveness. In fact, according to a recent consume​r research report, ​82​% of consumers expect an immediate response to sales inquiry.​ If your team is far too busy to answer calls or if your business can’t offer after-hours support, you may lose out on a lot of leads and for small or mid-sized businesses, missing out on those leads can be extremely detrimental.

Outsourcing call handling to an answering service means having a professional​ receptionist answer the phone every time​​, 24/7. That way, you respond to and engage with every potential customer without having to add to your team’s workload. Plus a live, friendly person on the other line — whether your office is busy or closed — demonstrates professionalism that’ll ensure positive customer experiences. And the more your clients and leads enjoy interacting with your company, the more they’ll come back and even refer you to others.

The trick to getting the most out of your marketing is using the resources at your disposal. Be savvy and use what you already have to strengthen your business’s marketing strategy and achieve your goals, be it raising awareness of your business or improving lead conversion. Don’t forget, when you can’t handle something in-house, there is often a service or software that can help. Take some of the tips from this post and focus on building upon the opportunities for growth you already have. That way, you’ll open more doors to your business and get more from the marketing you’re already doing, placing your business in a position to thrive for years to come.

This is a guest post by Elizabeth Lockwood from Smith.AI.