The One Thing You Need to Know About Conversion Rates

Lead conversion is defined as that point when your marketing efforts successfully result in your targeted consumers performing a desired action, whether it’s subscribing or contacting you. The frequency of that happening compared to the number of visits you get on your website is called the conversion rate.

Marketers recognize conversion rate as one of the must-track success metrics for a business, but its significance has also become a subject for debate. Many articles online tell you why you should ignore the average conversion rate at face value, with reasons ranging from it being a skewed percentage, to it being unreliable.

There is actually just one thing to do so that analyzing your conversion rate would be more helpful and meaningful to you and your company: BREAK IT DOWN.

Okay, so how to I "break it down?"

Smart Insights suggests breaking your conversion rate down by channel, by visitor type (is he a new or a returning visitor?), and by task (e.g. sales, customer support). This way, you’ll be given a clearer picture of the nature of your conversion rate instead of just benchmarking it to the industry average or just looking at it at face value. You should also ask “Why?” instead of just declaring “That’s Great!” whenever you see the percentage.

By breaking the information down, you’ll know what specific areas to optimize so that your business’ rate makes more sense.

Still doesn’t seem all that clear to you? Contact 9DotStrategies now and consult with us! To every question, we’ll offer a solution.

Making Social Media Work for your Business

Some people think that social media is merely a temporary fad that will go out of style once people grow tired of it. However, marketers see it as a new long-term channel for effective product and brand promotion – and for good reason. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are built on interaction between people – customers, prospective clients, their friends and families. It’s easier to spread the word about your business through such connections than any other online means.

Thus it only makes sense that companies utilize social media marketing in order to boost business. The role of social media in marketing relies on the type of business one has and how it suits company requirements. The extent of its efficacy also depends on how much time and effort you put into it. Remember that SMM only works if you dedicate a portion of your hour daily into it. Otherwise, momentum is lost.

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B2B businesses find it hard to cope with SMM. A research done in 2008 shows that around 69 percent of B2B consumers rely on social channels like Facebook for purchasing-related decisions. Given that fact, B2B firms can not simply disregard the need for them to use SMM as a dynamic means of spreading the word about their business.

There’s no better time to start than now. Networking through friends and their connections is now easier than ever. Potential customers can now be reached and they can find you as well in a click of a mouse. Various communities and platforms are available to help you in your promotional activities.

When it comes to video marketing, no other site beats YouTube for interacting with customers and eliciting viral responses. Use this to your advantage, and use it wisely so as not to scare customers away. Your uploaded videos must not only be a pulpit for discussion, but should also offer value.

Another effective marketing tool is Facebook. Perhaps the most widely used social platform in the world, Facebook’s power to make or break a business is unimaginable. With over 140 million users across the globe, your chances of being able to disseminate information about your products and businesses are limitless.

Last but not the least is Twitter. Nurturing one of the most rapidly growing online communities on the Web, Twitter is an excellent venue for both communicating with customers and promoting your brand. With more than a million subscribers (and growing), it’s no wonder how businesses are reaping enormous benefits using this website.

Is Digital Marketing Possible Without Content Marketing?

Call it whatever you like: custom or corporate publishing; branded or private media; or custom, corporate or branded content. Whatever the name is, the goal of content marketing remains the same: to create fresh, relevant articles and copies that will help individuals and companies engage and obtain a target audience. Ultimately, the intent is to get customers to act on what the website urges them to act on (e.g. sign up for a newsletter) so businesses can derive profit or gains from such action.  

But like most marketing strategies, it is best achieved when it is delivered in an artful sense. A company's ideas, products or services must be communicated well, without seeming like  are pitching a sale. More than the intention of selling, businesses should offer written material that sparks insight and makes the readers wiser as consumers, as individuals. Essentially, this strategy encourages businesses to provide consistent and reliable consumer information and in return, they entrust their business  to you.

This concept has been tried and proven to be highly effective – reason why both small-scale businesses and major global companies incorporate this tactic in their daily business routines. Nowadays, consumers have become wise enough to scrutinize traditional media. Majority skip TVCs, glossy magazine ads, even banner ads or buttons, making traditional forms of advertising less relevant and less effective by the day. If that's the case, how do businesses thrive then?

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Many industry luminaries agree that if traditional media has become somewhat a thing of the past, content marketing is the present and the future. You see, in these times when we are barraged by information from companies of all sizes trying to win us over with their items and services, the latter is that refreshing break  from a chock-full of spammy, non-valuable information. It lets companies do the pitch subtly and intelligently, while challenging consumers to think differently.

Studies show that 80 percent of company leaders make business decisions based on various well-written  materials instead of advertisements. Out of this population, around 70 percent state that good content brings them closer to a company, and 60 percent swear that it helps them arrive at sound decisions.

With this strategy in place, customers actually (finally) anticipate information  from your end,instead of automatically chucking it into the recycle bin or paper shredders upon receipt. If done efficiently, it creates a deep connection between you and your customers, thereby encouraging them to read the data you present. It allows you to formulate and send sales data that are desired and at times, even asked for by consumers. Because it offers value and relevance, versus simply making a sales pitch.

Now you would ask, is digital marketing ever possible without the lending hand of content marketing? Obviously not in this time.