A host of marketers has spent tremendous amounts of budget on a variety of media and channels. Marketers bust their butt off to convert visitors into customers. However, the majority of the traffic has gone to waste. The average conversion rate across industries is 2.35%. The number is not ideal compared to the amounts of dollars spent on advertising.
Now, you might want to ask: how to boost the conversion rate?
In this article, I will answer the question with 5 key questions generated by potential customers.
Where Should I Look at?
When visitors land on your website, they would like to know:
What is this website about?
What should I do next?
For example, after I landed on the homepage of Pluralsight, I saw the content:
On the screen, I immediately know that:
Another example is Starbucks.
Christmas is approaching, so Starbucks is running a holiday campaign. On the homepage, you can see that Starbucks is promoting deals on drinks with images. You know you will get drinks for happiness. The button, “SEND ME MAGIC, ” urges you to click the button to receive the deals.
Both examples have clean designs with clear call to action buttons.
I’ve seen a lot of ads stating their products features. Some ads offer discounts to attract customers. However, most of the companies are not MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) that can raise the fare at will. At the same time, passengers would still take buses or trains because they don’t have choices.
On the contrary, advertisers need to take competitors into account. They need to give reasons to prospects why their products or services are better than competitors’. What special benefits do the products/services have? What your major competitors are suck at but your company is good at?
Unless your company is well-known, you should clearly dictate the benefits of the products and services, so prospects are more likely to become your customers.
A host of companies, especially e-commerce websites, is trying hard to display as many products as possible to customers. They want to let customers know that there’s a cloud of selections on the websites. However, customers would become more reluctant to make the purchasing decisions in the ocean of products.
Let’s take a look at how McDonald’s does to speed up decision-making processes.
The method is simple: combo.
McDonald’s has rolled out a lot of foods for customers to select. When it comes to purchase foods, customers are overwhelmed by the selections. You can get Triple Breakfast Stacks McMuffin, Sausage McMuffin, or Sausage Biscuit with Egg; you also want to order drinks: Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Macchiato, French Vanilla Cappuccino, or others. In addition, you think you would like to order snacks or sides.
The whole process is like a daunting task. Unless you know what you like to eat and order upfront, you would probably stick there for a while.
Combos can greatly reduce the amount of time used to make the decision. There are fewer selections. Customers just need to select one from fewer options.
Geico is doing a great job of telling you what is the next step.
Let’s say you are in search of an insurance company. You head to Geico because of its ads. On the homepage, you immediately know that you should enter your zip code to get a quote. You then are directed to a page showing your needs.
After selecting “I am buying or just bought a car, ”you are directed to a page that collects your personal information.
By following the step-by-step process, a new car buyer would be less confused about what to do to buy auto insurance. At the same time, Geico is able to generate leads.
The target audience of this kind of companies may take a longer time on product/service research and comparison.
In this case, it’s vital to collect prospects’ information.
For example, you can offer free trials to prospects.
You are able to collect prospects’ information; at the same time, prospects may like your service and decide to pay for it.
If you don’t sell software, you can collect prospects’ email addresses.
For example, you can offer free guides to visitors.
Prospects may not be ready to become your customers, but they are looking for something. Serve them with what they care the most and then collect their email addresses. You can cultivate your relationship with them through emails. As a result, you have built trust with prospects, so they would be more likely to convert. In addition, having their email addresses will save you a host of the marketing budget.
