When you want to improve your conversion rate and earn more sales than ever before, you will need to optimize your call-to-action – a key component of the customer journey. Although the way you ask your prospects to buy your product or service is vital to your success, the events leading up to the sale are also important. Getting the most from your effort requires you to lead your customers down a journey of which they are the hero. No matter your industry, your customers have a problem that they need to solve, and you are going to hand them the keys for which they have been searching.
Craft a Solid Customer Journey with 8 Actionable Tips
1. First Contact
Your customer journey will begin when a customer learns that they need a solution and discovers your content for the first time. As long as you have done market research, you will know the biggest concerns they have, and that information will help you grab their attention. At the start of your sales funnel, use a headline that highlights the biggest problem your customers face – and how you can help them solve it. You can then use articles, blog posts and other digital media to provide valuable and engaging advice that people can use immediately. Instead of giving them all of the information, offer only enough to make them want to learn more.
2. The Opt-In Form
Since you won’t be able to take your customers through the entire journey when they first visit your website, sales page or blog, invite them to stay in touch with you by creating an opt-in page. If you have followed the last step correctly by offering value, your prospects will be eager to join your email list. You can entice them to move forward by providing a free trial or special discount.
3. Relationship Building
Getting people to join your list enables you to build relationships over time that can enhance the profitability of your business. Some people make the mistake of pitching their offer too soon, which will turn a lot of prospects away. You must avoid that trap if you want to boost your profitability to new heights. Your prospects will view everything that you do or post as a reflection of your values, showing them what they can expect if they buy from you.
Ensure that you keep each promise you make if you don’t want to lose traction along the way. If you continue to send engaging content and useful resources to your subscribers, they will feel excited about receiving your emails, and you will be on the right track.
4. The Value of Quality Content
Every piece of content that you produce needs to serve a purpose and have a captivating appearance. Your prospects will refuse to read the most helpful content on the planet if it looks dull and uninviting. You can use pictures to make your articles enticing, and your potential customers will notice the difference. If you don’t have any images to use in your posts, you can find free pictures to fill the gap. The objective of each line of content that you write is to inspire people to read the next line, so always have a clear intent.
You can divide your content into small sections to make it easy to read, but you can also include a bulleted list, highlighting the top reasons that people should pay attention to what you have to say. Post your content on social media and invite your followers to provide feedback if you wish to improve your engagement.
5. Earning Trust and Respect
Earning the trust and respect of your prospects is a critical part of the process that you should never overlook – if you want to enjoy a favorable outcome. People don’t always trust what you say online, which is understandable. Expecting your prospects to be skeptical and finding ways to prove yourself will take you far, and you can use testimonials to do the trick.
If other people have used your products or services with positive results, ask them to write a quick review that you can post on your sales page. If you own or run a new business and don’t have any reviews, offer significant discounts in exchange for feedback. The social proof that you will earn will more than make up for anything that you lose by offering free trials.
6. Overcome Common Objections
As time passes, you will encounter a range of objections that can cause you to lose customers, harming your bottom line. Although people will have different reasons for not wanting to buy, you will notice that some objections are more common than others. Planning for them will allow you to increase the number of sales you earn. For example, you can offer payment plans if too many of your prospects feel as though your products are outside of their budget. When people think they can get a similar product from your competition, highlight the reasons that make you stand out from the herd.
7. Defeat Procrastination
Even when you have an irresistible product at an unbeatable price, a lot of your prospects will procrastinate, planning to buy at a later time. The problem, though, is that most of them will forget about your product and move on with their lives without taking action. According to Time, you can defeat that issue and improve your sales rate by using limited offers. When you place a time limit on a discount or deal, people won’t have a chance to wait, so they will be much more likely to spend their money.
8. Craft Your Call-To-Action
With all of the other elements in place, you are ready to craft your call-to-action and to get people to buy from you. You will need to put it at the bottom of your sales page after you have demonstrated value and built trust. Your market will respond to some calls-to-action better than others, so you will need to test different approaches. For example, try telling your customers to claim their discount rather than to buy. The difference in your choice of words can help people avoid hesitation.
Getting There – AKA the Customer Journey – is Half the Fun!
From the first time your prospects discover your content to the end of the sales funnel, you will take them on a journey that will earn their trust and make them feel eager to get their hands on your product or service. Follow these tips and see what they can do for you, and you will be thrilled by the outcome.
How do you keep the customer journey engaging and rewarding? Share in the comments below!
Helen Cartwright
Helen Cartwright is a passionate blogger, who excels in the Digital Marketing and Technology niche. She ghost-writes for a variety of authors who have their work published on leading online media channels such as Entrepreneur.com.