Why should they click? If you are targeting the right people they may click simply because you say "Click Here" and for that reason alone ... Unfortunately many small business owners have not developed a target audience they are just "feeling" their way through a murky lake of competitors and curious by-standers. But even that can be an exciting place to "mine" for gold!

Large businesses spend millions to reach, teach and convert their targets audiences, yet some  small business owners (who have little or no budget) think it will be easier for them to make and keep sales.  It is not easy, but it can be done.  It may not take millions, but it will take time.  That is the simple equation.

So where to start? 

• Understanding  what a CTA (Call-to-Action) is and what it is not
• Understanding  that not all CTAs are Equal
• Make your sign-up process easy and engaging and that will improve your conversion ratio. 
• Check out Tip # 4 in this series
• When trying to create the right CTA, keep your potential relationship in mind and not selling. Make it clear "what's in it for them". If you put selling first, in your CTA you may make a great sales person but not a great business owner.   

I'd love to go on and on about this as it is a great subject and a key element in getting people to share their contact information with you. Other marketers will talk with you about generics for creating great CTAs, but we've found that your call-to-action statements must be uniquely mapped to your specific products and services. Certainly you can take short cuts, but only if you want short benefits.

"But here’s the catch with getting started with CTAs: you can’t just slap “Click Here!” on a neon button, insert it on your website, and start racking in the clicks and leads. There are several crucial elements you need to include in a CTA if you want to entice people to actually take an action from your content."  - HubSpot.com

No matter what you decide, please always include the most relevant and powerful CTA you can imagine with your messages and offers; and be patient.  Try different approaches.  There's no such thing as an overnight success. But there are best practices, so do some research and use them.

I'd be happy to work with you in developing CTAs for your unique requirements. Take advantage of a complimentary consultation and I promise you'll come away from our call with some useful information!

As a small business owner, I don’t need to tell you how many emails your potential Clients might receive in a day.  But I do want to remind you to make sure your messages stand out from all the rest!
 
Just because you are promoting to your target audience, you must know that you are not the only one!   
As a matter of fact, you may have already done some research to see what sort of information your competition may be providing to your potentials and that’s a good thing.
 
You have two challenges 1.) making your promotions stand out to attract potentials and 2.) keeping your messages engaging to retain those that you have attracted!  That can seem like a tall order.

I'm not going to make light of the challenge, it can be daunting and at the same time it can be  extremely exciting to create stand-out communications and watch them work!  Of course if you have the right SYSTEM and tools in place, and  take the right actions, then the daunting part can be minimized:

• CAPTURE data using mobile and responsive forms. Making it easy for your visitors is critical.
• KISS (Keep it Simple Sweetie) Don’t try to give or get too much information  at one time
• FOCUS stick with ONE goal and one CTA (a confused mind takes not action)
• FOLLOW best practices. Avoid things like the poor subject lines, using spammy words, to many images, too many links, big images ... on and on.  These practices have all been studied and solved by big businesses that spend millions to get it right. This info is provided to you at no cost. USE IT. See what they are doing, how it works and then replicate the parts that best  fit into your plan.  
• ANALYZE:  After you have invested time, money and effort into a certain process, step back and examine, inspect, survey, study, scrutinize the outcome.  Use that information to make your continuing efforts even more noticeable to your target market.
  

Making your promotions and messages stand out is critical to cutting a path through the "white noise" made by your competitors. If you need help creating affordable,  distinctive promotions and mail-outs please connect with us.

As you begin to track the activity that is being produced by your forms, no doubt you'll see significant patterns develop. These patterns will be related to what people like about your business and what holds their interest.  You'll also see how well people take your call-to-action.  From there, you'll begin to associate actions with outcomes!

Many email marketing software packages can give you the tools you need to grow your contact list, however there a certain features that if missing, should throw up a red flag for you.

What's our best advice to you for selecting a great CRM, Email Marketing and Database System? Look deep into your business practices and your ultimate goals.  Match each of your communication requirements to the features provided in the form app. 

A few of the must haves are:

• Ease in creation
• Easy to integrate with your website and social media
• Stand-alone forms with QR codes for events and offline data capture
  
• Automation to start, track and build  "drip" campaigns
  
• CRM to help build business relationships
  
• Mobile and Responsive templates
  
• Segmentation for testing best practices
  
• Dependable deliverability
• Distinctive tracking records
• Affordable
  
• Scalable

Yes, I'm sure you'll find applications that claim to do EVERYTHING will cost more money than your budget allows, but don't be discourage, there's no need to miss-out on anything, We are here to help. 

If you need guidance or more recommendations in setting up a communications system with data capture features that allow you ease and affordability while offering  your visitors a user-friendly experience , connect with us for a no pressure no sell strategy session.

There is some debate and a huge amount of buzz about Responsive sites ...even among the "experts" so you can bet you will see more and more "pitches" to get businesses going in that direction. 
What is a Responsive Design? In the simplest explanation, it means that when visitors come to your site, no matter what sized digital device they are using, they’ll get a great viewing experience.  Your Web will recognize the size of the device and “present” your Web content in a format that’s easy to see and to navigate.

Traditional Web sites are a staple in the line of must-haves for marketing, especially in the small business arena and ever since the first Web pages were published, there’s been an ongoing conversation about the best way to serve and present those pages to the audience.  This week I’m sharing some of my own thoughts along with info from some experts in the matter …to help you  make a decision about  why, when and how to move forward.
Business owners are constantly bombarded with the newest, latest and greatest technology that's "guaranteed" to increase clientele and sales, so it can be a challenge and a  money pit to make the right choices.

At some point, Responsive Web design will deserve your attention....but when? 

Some business owners loose focus on the a primary rule in marketing; "know thy audience". Proper site development and content management…especially for a very small business is still a critical factor.

Understood, with a huge database it's often difficult to be certain that everyone who visits your site will see and hear everything as you have designed it.  However, the debate about what the visitor actually gets to see, is not a lot different than what's been being debated for years … and persists with browsers and applications today. 

So how much attention should you pay to all of the talk about Responsive Web Design or RWD??
Here’s some food for thought:

1. If you are about to develop a brand, spanking new Web site INDEED consider a Responsive Web Design. 

2. If you already have a smoking hot, productive, Web site and you're just curious about how to improve your site and how it displays on various sized devices....here’s my suggestion….have a party, virtual or in real time and invite as many people as you can with as many different devices as you can and compare the outcome.

3. If the outcome of your "various device party" leaves you with more questions than you had before guests started arriving.... then you'll need to take copious notes to define specifically what adjustments may need to be made.  Caution: It can be a slippery, expensive slope trying to please "everyone".

4. Consider a Mobile App.  If you are planning to launch a Mobile App, problem solved!!! All good apps are being developed for content display on multiple devices. Easy Wheezy! (You will still want to mobilize your traditional site…)

5. If you are not getting a new site and you are not getting a new App and you still want to offer your audience the best experience possible while staying within your budget, contact me and we'll work on a plan to get you to the next level.

In summary, ....connect with your audience.  And keep in mind ...."Responsive" sites don't always render the content in a way that's attractive or useful to the viewer.
New devices are coming onto the market daily, so try not to lose focus on your core objective; encouraging your visitors to take when visiting your Web site.

The competition is real……making sure it's easy for your visitors to take action. 

Here are some links to more information about Responsive Web Design:

Duda gives 5 reasons why they think small business owners should act immediately

Divtag Web developers offers some thoughts on why you may want to pause and plan before taking action

LET US HELP YOU DEVELOP A PLAN SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUR BUSINESS - We sell Apps ....and we help others sell Apps, so join our Webinar to learn more.  Schedule a time to watch the Webinar that's convenient for you