You may not realize but only 1-3% of buyers are ready to buy right this moment. Many of us advertise, market, and network hoping to catch the prospect in the sweet spot. I’ll assume that you are gathering their contact information at the first engagement.
What happens to the remaining 97%? I hope you aren’t forgetting about them! They will buy sometime along their buyer’s journey. They may be looking for different solutions, whether or not to buy, and always additional information. They need you to drip on them and provide them with the information they need to make their buying decision.
Years ago, it took somewhere between 7-10 touch points for your potential buyer to decide to buy. Now with advertising saturation everywhere, it is taking more like 20-100 touchpoints to convert a prospect into a buyer.
How do you make the touchpoints with your potential buyers?
1. Email Marketing
Yeah, when was the last time you opened an email from someone you really don’t know? But this is the least expensive way to get in front of your prospects. The challenge becomes to get them to open the email and engage further. It is totally possible if you can hook them, engage them, prove to them that you understand their problem, and you can solve it for them.
2. Social Engagement
This is the most overused method with way too many options for your prospect to use. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube are the main sites. How can you create engagement with your prospects when they are looking for a distraction in their life? Likes do nothing, and comments are engaging, but how do you get them off of the social site and onto your site? Again, hook, engage, empathy, & solution then get their email address and resort to #1.
3. Snail Mail
Retro ideas are back! Unless it is election season. Direct mail marketing was very effective years ago and it is coming back. This method has a small cost but everyone will look at your piece even as they are over the garbage can. Snail mail can be an effective tool when combined with email and social. Hitting them from multiple angles catches their attention.
4. Phone calls
For some calling is fun and for others like me, calling is painful. Calling people to further engage them is great if they answer. For your potential buyer, receiving a call may feel intrusive to the day. I like to use v-mail another way to warm them up.
5. Text messages
Many of us use text messaging and your potential customers will almost always read a short text from you. This is a great way to drop a quick reminder, especially if you have an upcoming event.
Follow-up communications are what will move more prospects into clients when done well. Remember 97% of your prospects are just looking for more information. Find a way to gather their contact information upfront and nurture the relationship. The more ways you can touch them will engage and move them along their buyer’s journey.
Marcia Riner is a business growth strategist and the CEO of Trajectory Consulting. She helps small business owners to increase profits, drive growth, and to be in a great position to sell it someday. Together, she helps you create your roadmap to increase revenue, drive growth, and maximize the value of your company. Check out her website @www.TrajectoryBiz.com
Marcia hosts a weekly podcast with videos on YouTube @ www.Youtube.com/profitwithaplan and audio @ www.profitwithaplan.com. She also shares business growth tips on her YouTube Channel @Marcia Riner
In her book The Profit Accelerator, she provides 12 Ways To Dramatically Increase
Your Revenue, Profit, And Value. Download her book for FREE at https://trajectoryprofits.com/book-download/