We recently shared some actionable tips to creating written content your potential customers will love to read. But how do you convert your blog traffic into actual sales?
Obviously, growing an audience isn’t enough. Content marketing is about delivering value while paving the way for the sale. It’s very rare that a first-time visitor of your blog will immediately buy your product. But it does happen.
Thus, instead of hoping that visitors will somehow rediscover your blog later, you want to take actionable steps towards building a communication channel – so you don’t lose them. Here are several ways you can capture leads to build a relationship with your audience and ultimately convert them into new customers.
1. Newsletter Signups
Once you’ve built a popular blog, it’s just natural that your readers will want to stay up-to-date with new content. And you should absolutely encourage them to take action and sign up. However, when people sign up for your newsletter they don’t expect to be bombarded with offers. Value their trust and keep them up-to-date with the new content just as they expect. As a result, they’ll be more receptive to occasional offers and convert more easily. You can collect newsletter signups in several ways. Navigation bar, static ads, pop-ups, and sliders are the most popular ones.
2. Call To Action
While you probably won’t convert a first time visitor of your blog, the chances to convert a repeat one are pretty high. In any case, as a marketer, you want to stay loyal to the ABC (Always Be Closing) rule.
Like with newsletter sign ups, you can convert people through strategically placed CTAs. Make sure they lead a prospect to the relevant page or landing page designed specifically for that purpose.
3. Lead Magnets
A lead magnet is anything your prospects will find valuable enough to give you their contact details and an opportunity to develop a business relationship in order to get it. A typical magnet is an eBook or a white paper. It can also be a market report, a template for something, a case study or any kind of data.
Lead magnets are a powerful conversion tool. Because they provide a lot of value, you can ask for more than just email (e.g. job title, phone number, etc.)
4. Remarketing
Remarketing is basically advertising to an already existing audience. Through services like AdRoll, Perfect Audience or Remarketer you can pixel your visitors and target them with your ads outside website. As it is with advertising, one thing you have to keep a close eye on is your customer acquisition costs – you basically want to make sure you’re getting a positive ROI.
5. Webinars
If you’re selling a product or a service you should consider running regular webinars that focus on providing value. For example, if your ideal customers are small business finance directors you want to provide valuable information on the topic of accounting, taxes and SMB finance.
One way to convert prospects into customers using this tool is to offer them a special discount or simply ask them to sign up at the end of the webinar.
6. Special Promotions
A few years ago, Appsumo, an e-commerce company that targets web entrepreneurs ran a series of viral giveaways for prizes like 100 books on entrepreneurship, lifetime paid accounts for online tools like Evernote or Dropbox. In other words, the kind of prizes that appeal exactly to their target customers. You can also create partnerships and offer bundled deals with other products or find other creative ways to drive signups.
7. Engineering as Marketing
In the book Traction, the founder of DuckDuckGo has coined the term “Engineering as Marketing.” It means creating free products for your customers to generate leads.
For example, a social media scheduling app Buffer has developed Pablo – a free tool for social media marketers to create images.
8. Email Drip Courses
You also can create a simple educational course in a form of an email drip campaign. This is designed as series of emails your prospects will receive on regular (e.g. bi-weekly basis) once they sign up. For example, if you’re selling health supplements online you can create a ten-step course on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Or if your product is accounting software, it can be a set of tips on using tax breaks to save money.
9. Content Upgrades
A content upgrade is a lead magnet specifically designed for readers of a particular blog post. It’s a complementary piece of information or a bonus the reader can download in return for their email address.
Some examples include Checklists, Cheat-Sheets, Lists of Resources, Templates, Raw Files, a transcript of a Video blog or simply a pdf version of the blog post.
So Let’s Start Converting
Using some or all of these strategies will not only help you convert your leads, but will give you the tools to build an entire communications channel. Don’t wait for first-time visitors to rediscover your blog. Engage with them and make them want to come back for more educational opportunities. They’ll trust and value your knowledge and eventually, you’ll convert your blog traffic into long-term customers.
This article was originally posted on Sugar Market.
