Most internet marketers today work really hard to get traffic to their website. The ones who earn the most money from these efforts are those who do their very best to make the most of each and every visitor…. even if the sale isn’t going to happen instantly.
A large portion of the online consumers don’t make an instantaneous decision to buy. Many need an online sales process that could happen over several visits. If you’re not keeping them on your website, you may want to work at capturing their attention and developing a relationship in other ways.
Permission Marketing
If you aren’t at least trying to utilise permission marketing with your websites visitors, you are definitely leaving money on the table. They found your site and you have a short window of opportunity to do something to convert them into a customer.
Even if you can’t do that today, you can consider them to be a lead that can be sold to later on. Here are some tips for traffic capture so you can work on selling your wares:
RSS
Put a “subscribe” button (or two) on your site. Having one above the fold is good and it’s also good to occasionally remind people to subscribe in the text of your content. By doing this, you have a good chance that visitors will be back, either through seeing links in their feed reader or via an email, if they opt to receive updates via email.
Opt In
Ask people to opt in. By doing so, they’re signing up to hear from you in the future. This automated method of lead capturing will enable you to build an email marketing list of people that you can market to in the future and market to repeatedly.
How do you get people to opt in? You can do this in a few different ways:
• Newsletter
• E-Course
• Freebie
• Limited Time Offer
Newsletters are the simplest way to get someone to provide permission for marketing purposes. It’s not always easy to get people to agree to sign up though, so you may want to utilise one of the other below methods as well as to create a simple sign up box for your newsletter on your website or blog.
E-Courses can be designed in a set of emails that provide useful information / tutorials to people. If they believe they’ll obtain value from those courses, they’re going to sign up and receive a series of emails. Well-written e-courses could help you develop long-lasting relationships because you’ll build trust and this will increase the chances of people opening and reading future messages as well as signing up for future courses and / or making a purchase from you.
A great way to get someone who’s visiting your site to opt-in is to offer them something. You can offer a free ebook, a coupon code for a free or discounted offer, or something else that incents them to opt- in.
Tip: Scarcity is a good tactic to create urgency. Offer a limited time offer for signups to your newsletter that allows you to capture lead info.
You’re not going to convert 100% of your first-time (or even repeat) visitors into customers but by capturing permission to contact them in the future or via a subscription to you, you’ll increase the chances of increasing your sales on a long term basis. If you make an impression or at least get an opportunity to make an impression, you’ll have a greater chance of success in the long term.
About Sean Rasmussen
This is very apt, as it seems I know more than I think I know. My daughter asked me in the week how to get sales on her website and guess what, I told her the above but unfortunately not the how to as I’m about to learn that, hopefully. Regarding the E-Courses, is this a freebie or is there a fee involve? Anyway a great article. Still getting my head around the ‘Permission Marketing’. Thanx heaps Sean.
You can certainly give away an e-course as a freebie Jude, this is a great way to entice people to sign up to your mailing list while providing them with quality information at the same time. These people may then purchase something you are selling in a future campaign.
I keep hearing the term ‘the money is in the list’. Then others say you don’t need one. Hoping to glean more from this with Sean’s IM comp over the next few weeks.
Me too – the need to build a list is “the” imperative! And, getting site/blog visitors to sign up to a newsletter (with a freebie as enticement) is then the way to market
If you have a lot of affiliate products (or your own products) that you want to market via emails as well a list is what you need. So once you have people subscribed to your (interesting) newsletter on a topic they are interested in you can sprinkle in products you want to recommend.
I don’t have a list as of yet as I don’t have that many affiliate products that I want to push and I am not sure that I can produce a regular high quality newsletter. Therefore I am concentrating on my blog and other ways of monetizing (eg Adsense)
Sounds good Renee, keep focusing on what you are doing. There’s plenty of time for other things as you progress
Email Marketing can be great “if” you have something worthwhile that you are offering and if you know the specifics of your list. If you have something to offer your target audience and do not over-do it with multiple emails per day, it can pay-off.
Hi Sean,
I have not used the tactic of permission marketing yet. It’s funny. At work, I find it pretty easy to come up with sales strategies and talking to customers trying to get them to buy.
Online, I haven’t even tried. I think it’s because when you interact with people face to face; it’s much easier to gauge their interest in your products. Online, I can’t see if they’re interested.
Thanks for the tips, Sean. I’m ready to try some of your suggestions as I really want to start making the most of every opportunity I get with potential customers.
Hi Jazz,
I would they if they are not interested in your product they will just leave your site again. So assume they are interested and market to them under that assumption. If they are not – they don’t have to look you in the eye and say “no” but just click away …
I understand what you are saying Jazz. I am in life very good at sales and am yet to explore what is possible in this area online.
One on one we can see peoples reactions to assess which strategy to go with. I think the key online is still essentially the same. At the end of the day all we really need to know about the prospective purchaser is ” what are they looking for and how can I get it for them”.
Thats just my thinking at this stage of learning.
Hi Renee and David,
You’re right Renee. I should market to them under the assumption that they’re interested in what I’m offering. After all they’re on my site and they wouldn’t be there for long if they weren’t interested in something. Thanks for changing my perspective.
@David, yes, I rely on being able to see people to read their body language and gauge their reactions. Online I’m flying blind and I feel like a fish out of water. You’re right though, I just need to know what they want and then give it to them.
Good sound advice and very cost effective
I’ve not used permission marketing, either. I’ll be thinking of something to use.
wow, I thought it was interesting about the “online sales process” you mentioned, I never really knew that most people shopping online didn’t buy instantaneously, which kind of sounds silly after actually thinking about it. I think E-courses are a great way to build that relationship, I know I have done a couple of E-courses online, after doing them I felt more confident about the seller, not realising that it is actually a bit of a trick to internet marketing. Might be something to look at for myself
Great tips here, Sean! I’m a HUGE fan of permission marketing and tend to get a bit “preachy” about it myself. LOL. Enjoyed your post!
Thanks for the tips, Sean.
I think Permission Marketing is something that would fit very well with me, as I don’t like putting the hard sell on people.
Though as you mentioned, you need a strategy to build trust & get attention when Permission Marketing.
I like the ideal of using a newsletter or E-course, its something I think I could use going forward.
Permission Marketing sounds very interesting and will need further investigation on just how it all works. I will just keep on reading up on all Sean Rasmussens blog posts.
Permission marketing is a geat way to build up credibility and trust with your readers – as you provide good useful information mainly and don’t use the email address provided to simply inundate that person’s inbox with hard core selling.
Thanks for the tips Sean. Traffic Capture is something I need to work on as I have people sign up (must admit not that many) and then once they have the intitial item they have signed up for, I don’t usually do any more work with them.
So in answer to your question, thats a big yes, I am letting traffic walk off my website.
This is all fantastic information and the list building is definitely an important task to get underway.
I have 2 websites now, one with an ebook and newsletter participation on offer and the other with a report and newsletter opt in.
I got a bit flustered in the beginning because I thought I had to have it all done and ready to go etc before the site was up and running. It can get overwhelming!
I now realise that it will take a bit of effort to get the first wave of people opting in so I still have time and as soon as I get the first request for a newsletter I will be head down getting it done(if I havent in the meantime !) I made sure the ebook was ready to go however.
So, here to me getting sign ups soon! And here to everyone who is also in the process
Good luck! I’m in the same stage of my website, and I know the disappointment phase. I’m just staying at it and hoping to make some sales soon….
I like the RSS feed and the newsletter idea, it makes it easy for the customers to stay in touch with your new information. The sales process aspect of internet marketing is very new to me but it makes sense.
Hi Sean,
‘Online consumers don’t make an instantaneous decision to buy’ this I think is the key point, whenever I wish to buy online I will allways leave the site and consider/compare etc. prior to returning to purchase. With this in mind it is important to give the consumers/visitors the ability to easily return to your site(RSS,Bookmark button).
This post has great tips in it. I tweeted it and plan to put many of the tips to use on my site. Thanks for sharing such great info.
All of this information is very sound and sensible advice.
All too often, marketers focus on everything else, but forget how to capture traffic and use it to their advantage down the track.
I certainly don’t want tmoney walking off my website, so will put some of these great tips in place now.
Cath
Hello Sean,
Every time I read your blogs I think that Yep I have it all, and then I find another blog with useful tips. “Traffic Capture Tips – Are You letting Money Walk off your website”….has given me ideas with how to promote viewers to stay longer on the site, and how to get loyal viewers to keep on coming back.
Great ideas, especially asking in the blog post for viewers to subscribe to the blog, instead of just expecting them to sign up straight away. Like that idea. Also like the idea of “Free” items to interest others.
Cheers
Lisa
I know from experience that I dont ever buy from a website the first time I visit it. You are more likely to buy from somewhere you have experience or trust. Tips to getting people to trust you and your site are extremely useful. I like the idea of a newsletter, and as I am getting keen on the idea of blogging, nothing can stop me from writing that as well!!!
Hi Sean,
Wow! so much information. I’ve sold to customers face to face and also a little online selling. Not sold from a website though, only on ebay. If customers think it’s a bargain they’ll buy however I have lost money selling too cheaply online.
The idea of permission marketing is good, it sounds friendly. I need to perfect the Opt In tips to build an email list. Hopefully when I have a niche set up properly I’ll be able to start a newsletter on it.
Great advice about making my website work better for me and to stop losing potential buyers when they first visit – giving them ways to keep on interacting with my website and letting me build a relationship with them. I really enjoyed reading this article.