Conversion Rate Improvement

Before you can improve marketing results, identify the offers your site makes

Lack of clear direction. It’s a problem faced by many internet marketers. Ask yourself what you want to get out of your website or marketing campaign. With no clear goal, it is impossible to know what to track, let alone plot a course for improvement.

It’s tough to say who is to blame for this lack of focus. Is it the business owner? How about the web designer? The IT department? What about the marketing department? The responsibility likely falls in the hands of each of these groups.

The internet is still new enough that most businesses are not accustomed to thinking about what they want out of their web investment. Or they simply say, "We need to get more out of it," or "We know we can get more out of it, but we don't know how."

The secret is to understand your offer, and focus on improving it. I’ve seen it all in my experience consulting and also building websites. Most small businesses don’t want to incur the expense of planning out a sound marketing strategy. Larger companies simply do not want to take the time. The IT department doesn’t really care. And graphic designers… they are great at making things look good, but usually could care less about marketing goals.

Luckily things seem to be changing and the above generalizations certainly do not apply to the most successful websites. If you want to improve your internet marketing effectiveness, you have to understand the offer your business is making.

Understanding your offer requires a bit of strategic thinking. The old “Think forward and reason back” rule applies here. What do you want to get out of your web marketing? Once you know this, it's easier to see what your offer is (or needs to be.)

Most websites and online marketing campaigns are similar. They want one or more of a handful of things. See if you can pick out the offers most relevant to your business.

Lead Generation:

Service businesses, and companies who sell products with a complex or long buying cycle are often most interested in generating leads through the web. The sales staff then calls on these leads and (hopefully) makes sales.

Direct Sales:

The internet is a wonderful medium for direct marketing. Everywhere you turn on the net, you see direct sales in action. If you are only selling one or two products, you fall into the direct sales category. Each constitutes a separate offer.

Newsletter Signups

Do you have a newsletter? Online newsletters are great for building a relationship with potential customers. This offer is informational. A promise of future information is made, in exchange for the customers email and willingness to be exposed to a limited amount of advertising.

Event Registrations

The net excels at handling registrations for upcoming events. Particularly if your audience is technologically savvy. Do you host or run any events?

Whitepaper signups

Online distribution of whitepapers has become a top method of lead generation for some businesses. It is particularly useful for complex products, or those with a complex buying cycle.

Conclusion: Focus on your offer

Once you have identified the offers your web site or marketing campaign make, you can work towards improving your results. The first step is done- identification. In order to improve your results, you will have to track the results you are getting.