Contrary to what many self styled internet "gurus" will claim, marketing on the internet is not a whole new ball game. Whilst the methods may differ, the principles remain exactly the same as they were, pre-internet.
Why?
Because it is people who you are seeking to influence in marketing, whether you are selling face to face – as I have done for many years – or selling at a distance on the internet. People and their psychology don't change, so the principles we marketers use in the 21st Century are the same used on the 20th and 19th Centuries. In fact, guys in togas, selling chariots in ancient
Pre Selling: If you went on a blind date I bet you would want to take a little time to get to know your partner, before making any sort of commitment.
It's exactly the same with a new prospect. How can you hope to get them to make a commitment by way of sending you money minutes after they first heard of you?
Statistics show that the majority of prospects will only have sufficient confidence to buy from a website after the seventh or eighth contact. This figure can be lower, if the prospect was referred to your website by someone they know and trust (as in a joint venture) or if they came across you "organically" and know a little bit about you, before coming to your website.
This might be a piece about you in a search engine. An even better way is if they have read an article by you elsewhere and are coming to your website for more information.
The worst scenario of all for "in your face" hard sell is a prospect coming to your website as a result of seeing your advertisement. Certainly, they may be qualified if your advertisement is clear on what you offer, but they are no closer to a commitment, at this early stage, than the person you meet on that blind date.
Prospect: This is a person who may buy something from you in the future. Prospects can be graded from "Tire kickers" to "Very qualified", depending on how likely you feel they are to buy from you in the future.
Qualified prospects: Not all visitors to your website or shop will buy. If the selling process involves a salesperson spending time with the prospective customer, it's vital that time is spent in front of someone who is able to buy. In a domestic selling situation it might mean making sure both husband and wife are present. Pitch to one or the other alone and you're likely lose the sale.
In a corporate setting, it's important you establish early on if the prospect has "power of purchase". If the president is the guy who buys, you might have a better time shooting the breeze with Billy Bob in the machine shop, but it won't help your sales figures none.
The beauty of internet marketing is the ability to reach thousands of prospects at little or even zero cost. However, this does not mean you can ignore the quality of your prospects.
To convert visitors to customers you must have visitors who are reasonably interested in what you have to offer. So avoid those so tempting offers of "ten million visitors for your website for a dollar -guaranteed" and make sure your visitors are qualified because you have targeted your ads and other traffic gathering techniques at the correct group of people. So, for example, if you have a baseball website, target baseball fans rather than country music enthusiasts.
This is where tracking your unique visitors against sales (or whatever other measure you use) will pay off. Monitor these regularly and they will allow you to maintain and improve your
conversions.