The other day I went to buy groceries and standing outside the store entrance was a young lady representing a nonprofit that collects food for a local food bank. I glanced over and saw that she already had two shopping carts filled with food items. She handed me a bright blue plastic bag with a flyer about her organization and asked me if I would consider buying some food items for the nonprofit while I was shopping today.
I think I took her by surprise with my enthusiastic response. "What you are doing is absolutely brilliant," I remarked. "What a great idea!" Rather than asking me to donate money, she asked me for what she really needed (food) and then positioned herself in a location where it was easy for me to deliver what she needed (food).
I was happy to donate to her cause because she made it not only easy, but a "no-brainer" for me. All I had to do was put some food in my bright blue bag while shopping and hand it to her on the way out. I didn't have to drive to another location or call a phone number to have someone come to my house for a pick-up. I walked in, I walked out, and I was done.
This story proves that marketing doesn't have to be difficult or complicated. The techniques this nonprofit used to successfully collect food can be can be broken down into very simple steps that anyone can use to effectively market online:
Know Where to Find Your Audience
People coming to a grocery store have money and are prepared to buy food. Where does your audience go when they have money and are prepared to buy?
People are always in various stages of the buying cycle and it's easier to make a sale when they have already made the decision to buy, and are now ready to choose which widget to buy, rather than should they buy a widget.
One of the most overlooked opportunities to make a sale online is after you've just made a sale. Instead of completing the sale with a thank you page, offer them another opportunity to buy when their credit card is out of their wallet by creating an upsell page with a product or products that might be of interest to them. "Now that you've bought this, how about buying this?" It's the old, "Would you like fries with that?" technique and it works great.
Show Proof of Success
People like to feel secure that they are making the right decision. Seeing that other people have made a successful decision on the same product as you is a wonderful encouragement for them to buy.
When I was approached by the nonprofit representative outside the grocery store, I saw that many other people had donated food and it made me feel confident that this was a good cause.
On a website, if you can set up a place for people to post reviews of your product, it will increase your sales. It also increases your credibility with your potential client. The fact that you are willing to post all reviews of your product, (both good and bad), shows that you have confidence in your company, as well as your product.
Another technique is to have a short demo video that shows someone successfully using your product. Seeing how a product works is quite convincing for most people.
Make it Easy to Do Business with You
People may want to do business with you online, but they won't if you make it too difficult. Take at look at the number of steps it takes for someone to make a purchase from your website. If it is more than three clicks, you are probably loosing sales.
On a website, potential customers are looking for streamline purchasing. The easier you can make it for them to buy, the more likely you will close the sale.
When that nonprofit rep handed me the blue plastic bag I knew exactly what I needed to do and how to do it. For both of us, it was a positive outcome.
Conclusion
Deliver marketing information in a way that doesn't come across as a sales pitch. Although your audience wants product information, what they truly want is confidence that they are buying from a reliable source and that they are making the right decision.
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