Engage Targeted Traffic to Create Customers

Engaging Targeted Traffic to Become Customers

A good question to ask is, “What do customers want when they come to your site?”

A second question is “What do you want them to do when they visit?”

A corollary question is “What is the long term purpose of your website?

If the two answers for the Visitors and yourself are in conflict, you are likely to get no action.

Many websites want the Visitors to buy today. Why not? Isn’t that the purpose of the site?

The visitors in this market are (unless you have a very generic product or service) are looking for information and a trusted provider that they might engage at some point.

The focus of Traditional marketing is to target Suspects and find the few that need your offer right now. The reason the focus is now is that it doesn’t try to engage Suspects in continuing communication, it tries to induce them to take up an offer.

The focus of Relationship Marketing is that it tries to engage the Suspect by offering Free Information on solving their problem. Most marketers would say they are Suspects until they engage by somehow registering with an email or phone call or, of course, buying.

Traditional marketing which might be PPC advertising, Cold Calling, Direct Mail, or Media Advertising is trying to find people in their Buying Cycle and build Brand and make a sale.

Relationship Marketing is trying to give away Free Information and make the Suspect a Prospect by accepting the offer. Relationship marketing does not need to sell today. It is looking for a relationship first and a sale second. It wants to survive the Buying Cycle and create a trusted relationship during the cycle.

The ROI on Relationship Marketing is several times that of Traditional Marketing, which in this economy is a necessity for most firms.

The second advantage Relationship Marketing enjoys is that by broadcasting its Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to a niche market, it can more directly target the Ideal Suspects in need of the solution.

Developing a niche market is about Site Optimization, Keywords , and understanding how your USP is a need for certain customers and has an advantage over competitors.  See “Creating A Solution for the Right Target Market”

Just as crucial is ensuring that you are “Creating a Solution that Customers Want.” It is of no value for creating a Service or Product that is low in demand or for which you cannot compete.  You do not want to ship packages overnight against existing common carriers.

By targeting the Suspects that might want your USP and striving to create a relationship with them, your website and your marketing plan are congruent.

The next level will be to determine if your Business Lends itself to Relationship Marketing or New Media. Seth Godin’s Book “Meatball Sundae” discusses mixing a good business with the wrong marketing strategy.

Relationship Marketing technology can make the process automatic. If you want to spend more time taking care of customers and responding to inquiries and less time pursuing suspects, this could be a worthwhile investigation. See Automatic Customer Building.

Call with questions 1-800-646-0717   Mark Kaplan or Email