The world is changing.
People don't buy things like they used to. They research every purchase online, read reviews and compare prices before handing over their credit card number. Then, while they wait for the new purchase to arrive, they'll go back online and look at other people's opinions of it on social media; find out if it's available cheaper elsewhere; find out if anyone else had a bad experience with the company that sold it to them and then, finally, when they do receive their package or a new item, they'll post about it on social media again.
Orders for physical products used to be placed directly through sales staff in bricks and mortar stores and via infomercials, but this is no longer the case.
People now do their research online before they ever think about contacting you, and that means that you have to be where they are; ready to engage with them when they look for information about your products or services.
You can't just hope people stumble across your website or Facebook page - you have to actually find them yourself.
You need a strategy.
And you need an experienced, dedicated marketing team to help make it happen.
Each of the steps for this plan is based on getting your target market online and involved with your brand, so let's make sure you are too.
Your first step is engagement.
The first step to engaging your target market online is having an active presence on all the major social media channels.
For example, if you only have a Facebook page (a minimum requirement for any brand these days), make sure that it has regular updates and content pushed out at least once or twice per day.
Some people suggest more, but I believe that the quality of your posts is more important than how many you make - so if you can only manage once or twice per day, or even every other day, make sure they are good.
If you don't have time to write solid blog posts (which should be about 500-1000 words), then at least share relevant content from other blogs or pages; but if you don't have time to do that, then at least find some good images with quotes on them and share those.
There are thousands of pages online sharing great content like this every day, so all you need to do is spend 20 minutes finding the best ones for your industry or niche and then share them out.
If you are really strapped for time, consider using an auto-sharing tool like Buffer to schedule your posts ahead of time - this way you can be sure that one of your posts is going out each day whether you're in the office or on holiday.
The point is that you have to have a presence, and you have to keep it active.
Really, the only way you're going to build a loyal following online is by being there and engaging with them; letting people know that your business exists and that you want to work with them.
Your next step is conversion.
Without sales, there is no business, so if you can't convince people to buy your product or service then you do not have a business.
We all know that the key to converting a prospect into a customer is by providing an excellent user experience, which means offering lots of free valuable content without asking for anything in return and making sure your site loads quickly.
But, while this is important, it's not always enough. The truth is, it's now almost as important to provide a good customer experience - this means answering questions and solving problems quickly, politely, and effectively.
There are a number of things you can do to make sure that people coming across your content have a positive experience with your brand, including thanking them for their comments or retweet, answering their questions quickly and politely, sending them useful information that you know they will find useful, sharing interesting content with them that is relevant to your industry or niche, etc.
Finding creative ways to be helpful to people online will help build trust which in turn will start converting more visitors into prospects - but remember not to try too hard; nobody likes a pushy marketer.
Finally, you need to make sure that your visitors are staying around after they've converted.
If the only time people come across your content is when they're looking for information about what you sell, then they're less likely to buy from you - instead, if they spend time reading through your blog posts or browsing your website, then they're more likely to return when they are ready to buy.
The trick is to find ways of providing helpful content that will keep them coming back; whether that's teaching them how to do something related to your industry, sharing industry news or updates, etc.
One of the best things you can do is create some really high-quality informative videos that people will love watching and sharing, but the most important thing is that you are consistent.
The fact is, if you are providing helpful information to your visitors on a regular basis then they are more likely to come back for more - which means they'll see all of your other content too.
Finally, once you've engaged your audience, converted them to customers, and kept them around; the final step is re-engaging.
The first thing you need to do is thank each new customer personally.
This should be something like:
"Thanks for signing up, Simon - I really appreciate it! (Insert other personal messages here),"
with a link to a thank you page on your site where they can sign up for your email list.
The second thing you need to do is make sure that they know how to get in touch with you if there is anything that they want to speak about or any questions that they have - the best way of doing this is by adding a contact form to your website.
Finally, you need to make sure that you are there for them if they need any help or information - whether it's answering questions about the product/service that they've bought from you, responding quickly to complaints or feedback, providing useful content that will keep them coming back, etc., etc., etc.
The vital thing to remember is that your marketing strategy won't be any good unless you are willing to keep on top of it.
By engaging, converting, and retaining the people who come across your website or content by being helpful, friendly, and providing great valuable information about your niche or industry - you will develop a tribe of raving fans who will help to promote your business by word of mouth, or through social media.
This means that you'll be saving money on marketing costs caused by people coming across your website having a poor experience and leaving without buying anything - which will make it even more worthwhile to keep working on it.
Everyone loves good online customer service; making sure that your potential customers have a great experience and want to come back for more will help you to create raving fans who love your brand - and as we all know, word of mouth is the best form of marketing there is!
