This is the third installment in a four-part series on using marketing to power your sales engine. In this post, we’ll cover staying relevant and creating awareness through consistent engagement. In our final installment, we’ll explain how to actively engage your clients and prospects to increase sales!.
If you’ve made it this far, chances are you want to learn more about creating a narrative that keeps your audience’s attention while compelling them to continue to engage with your story, and your business (especially your sales team.)
It’s not as simple as creating an eBook and sending it via email. The cocktail sauce (or fish food) is creating a system behind your eBook to get your audience to re-engage with your story while attracting new prospects to take action and join in on the conversations.
Let’s take a short break from the Sales Engine metaphor to relax and go FISHING!
Short Attention Theater
The average person will give you 8 seconds (the attention span of a goldfish) of online attention before moving on or taking action. (Time.com) So, every interaction you can create with them on social media, email, in-person, Zoom meetings, or phone calls, should be as relevant and targeted as possible.
A GREAT marketing system integrates driving traffic back to your website, capturing data, and then using that data to create new content to compel them to continue to engage with your story and your sales team.
Jumping From Bowl to Bowl
When clients and prospects get to your website, what happens? Do they show up and leave (8 seconds of attention) or are they digging deeper?
Your website is your story with clickable links. Each page should have a call to action. If you tell people what to do they will do it (more often than not.) Yet many websites fail this test and assume the customer will act all on their own.
Although most people visit your home page (the starting line), that’s not always where you want them to start.
The best place for them to go is to the page, or blog, or video, that immediately answers the question that they have when they showed up in the first place. Every time you make them click to find it, they are more likely to give up and move on to the next website.
Fish Food
Next… Imagine that you posted a blog or video on social media or email that spoke to their question. What’s next? You would assume that they would find your phone number on your contact us page and call or fill out a form. Right?
Well, what happens if they are not quite ready to make a buying decision YET?
The best thing you can do is offer them something that will guide them through a deeper dive into the concepts presented. Imagine a graphic that says “WANT MORE? Click Here!”. Would they, or wouldn’t they? Often they will choose to click through (if your message piqued their interest enough) to see what’s there. That’s how you can keep them engaged, and capture their information!
Remember that Trade Show metaphor from last week? You trade them an informational asset (like an eBook), in exchange for their name, email (and maybe company name, phone, and role in the company.) Now they have answers to their questions (in the form of your story), and you have their data. This is where the Relationship Marketing dance begins!
Final Thoughts
Enough with the Fish Story… Let’s get back to the RACE and explore WHY this works and how it Turbo Boosts Your Sales Engine. Remember we want to stay Relevant and create Awareness, through Consistent Engagement.
I would love to hear your thoughts on what you can do to stay relevant and create awareness. Are you overly focused on the wrong areas? Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about consistent engagement.