Conversion Architecture™
...The Blueprint for Internet Marketing
For decades, sales and marketing experts have talked about a "Sales funnel". How important it is to maintain a high volume of prospects in the "pipeline" in order to "funnel" and filter through to the ones that become paying customers. In the dotcom boom of the mid nineties when everyone wanted to jump onto the www.NowIHaveAWebsite.com bandwagon, this vital concept of the sales funnel got sidelined in the face of factors such as design, budget, urgency and of course, the HIPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) syndrome. Thankfully, just as many impact-bearing industry trends come full circle, this one seems to be tunneling right back to the fundamentals of audience profiling, segmented need analysis, multiple conversion channels/paths, increased sales leads and ultimately, a greater customer base.
As a business owner, how often do you make a choice not to settle for rudimentary changes that generate average results and please only the average customer? Many of us are guilty of this kind of complacency not realizing that by catering to the "average" site visitor, we are probably ignoring the greater majority of our prospects who demand personalized attention. Future Now, Inc. in a recent white paper states that "There is no average user". If this fundamental rule is given priority, then businesses that follow it would seek to integrate their overall marketing strategies aligning them with the goals of a majority of their website users and achieve dramatic results.
What kind of dramatic results are we talking about? To quote a few examples from Future Now's white paper:
- One of the world's largest manufacturers of construction equipment improved their web analytics reporting and was able to increase their conversion rate by over 700%.
- The Web site for an entrepreneurial firm specializing in custom Yellow Page ad design originally delivered an average of 6 leads a month. It now delivers an average of 37 a month – an increase in conversion of over 600%.
- One of the world’s largest diamond wholesalers revamped their site and increased visitor conversions from .86% to 54.1%, an increase of over 5500%.
While these are indeed dramatic results and may seem out of reach, the fact that they are real world examples should be motivation enough for you to aspire towards greater goals for your Internet business. WSI Consultants are trained "architects" who specialize in crafting a blueprint to help you reap enhanced Internet profitability. Get in touch with your local WSI Internet Marketing Consultant to develop or revisit your Internet Marketing plan. WSI also offers advanced conversion tools and Internet applications such as WSI VoiceMarketer and WSI LiveChat that can heighten customer interactivity and maximize revenue potential through enhanced architectural elements of your website.
The guiding philosophy of Conversion Architecture™ is to be aware at all times that a website of any nature must have a persuasive purpose. To apply this as the blueprint of your website, you must start by defining your business objectives and matching these to your target customers / audience. Keep in mind, that your audience is profiled primarily on their needs / pains / problems broken down into demographics, psychographics and where they are in the buying cycle (which decides their behaviour on your site). Your goal then is to ensure that every element of your website persuades visitors on your site to take the actions that lead to the delivery of your objectives (conversion). Continue to pour your site visitors through your website funnel! Monitor and measure your results to ensure that your efforts are driving results to your bottom line. Remember that every click on your site is a step towards conversion. Visitor satisfaction with every click on your site should build confidence until they reach the final click where they convert into a customer.
Conversion Architecture™ follows the 40/40/20 Rule – 40% Audience Targeting, 40% Offer and 20% Creativity. These figures come from the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) in its outlining of parameters that determine the success of a marketing campaign. Whether or not you use diverse Internet marketing methods like pay-per-click advertising, landing pages, viral marketing campaigns, etc., you can always think of your website as your primary marketing vehicle. Build it using the 40/40/20 Rule where (a) every element of the website keeps in mind the majority of users and their varied profiles; (b) there exist multiple acquisition channels making a variety of offers and (c) aesthetic design and creativity offers unique and personalized experiences for site visitors.