The Online Marketing Strategy Proven To Acquire New Leads, Sales & Customers

What We’ve Discovered In Helping 300+ Businesses Over 10 Years

“What’s the best way I can get more leads and sales with online marketing?”

“Should I be doing SEO, paying for ads on Google, or marketing on social media?”

These are questions I frequently hear from business owners who want better results from their marketing.

But let’s be honest… marketing is confusing.

Marketing your business used to be simple.  All it took was placing an ad in a phone book and then waiting for the phone to ring with potential customers.

Now you must have a website and it seems like everyone is telling you a different way to market your business online.

You talk to several marketing companies and they all have different pricing for what seems like the same marketing solution!

At the end of the day, you’re just looking to increase sales, acquire new customers and grow your business but you’re not exactly sure what is the most effective online marketing strategy for your business.

Well… I’m here to help.

Keep reading this article and I’m going to give you a few guidelines to follow that will help you determine which is the best digital marketing strategy for your business to help acquire new customers.

Ok, let’s start by listing some of the common marketing tactics and strategies you’ve heard online or from marketing companies you’ve spoken to:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Google AdWords
• Social Media Marketing
• Sales Funnels
• Email Marketing
• Ad Retargeting / Remarketing

Ok, now let me answer the question of which one of these strategies actually work in generating leads and sales….

They all do.

Yes that’s right… they all work but…

Not all of the above marketing channels are the most effective for your particular type of business. Some are meant for different stages of your customer’s buying journey.

Here are a few guidelines to use to help you determine which marketing channels and strategies are best for your business:

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. Urgency – Does your audience need your product or service right now?
2. Relationship – How important is trust and credibility to your audience before they buy from you?
3. Unaware – Is your product or service in a new market? Meaning, your potential customers don’t know a solution like yours exists?
4. Social gatherings – Does your business facilitate social gathers or communities?

Urgency

Is your product or service something your ideal audience needs right now?  These can be emergency related businesses where your audience is looking to find a solution within a couple of mins to a few hours.  Here are a few example businesses where this would apply:

• Locksmiths
• Plumbing companies
• Electricians
• Towing companies

This category also applies to a product or service that your customers purchase once or just a few times in their life.  This can apply to many different types of businesses, but I’ll name a few as an example:

• Flooring
• Law / Legal services
• Construction (home remodeling, large landscaping projects, etc.)
• Pest control

Products or services within this category are typically needed by potential customers who are actively searching for a solution and are looking to make a decision shortly.

Search engine marketing like search engine optimization and Google AdWords are great solutions for getting in front of customers that fit into this category.

Your potential customers are actively looking for YOU.  They are looking for a solution to their problem.  YOU have the solution.  All you need to do is convince them that you are the best solution to their problem.

I’ll show you later in this article how to convince your potential customers to buy from you…

Relationship

Trust, rapport and credibility with your potential customers are important with products and services that have a long sales cycle.  Typically, this is a higher priced purchase or an intimate business relationship. Here are a few example businesses, where this would apply:

• Realtor
• Financial services (investments, etc.)
• Personal coaching (life coaching, etc.)
• Counseling services

The best online marketing channel to establish rapport, trust and credibility is through social media.  With over 2 billion active users, Facebook is a great start but don’t limit yourself there.  Determine which social media channels your ideal customers use most, and concentrate your efforts there.

Unaware   

This category is for products or services that create a new market and your audience doesn’t know a solution like yours exists.  Typically these are new inventions.  Here are a few examples of products and services when first released, that could fit into this category….

• Hover boards
• Food delivery services (Blue Apron, Green Chef, etc.)
• Drones

Most use Google and other search engines to find a solution to their problem… but what if your ideal audience doesn’t realize the problem they have?

From my experience, it’s best to get your message in front of your ideal customers through social media marketing and display advertising.  This way you can market directly to your ideal customer, help them realize the problem they have and how your product or service solves it.

Social Gatherings

This is for any business where your customers enjoy what you have to offer in a group setting.  This category is also great for charitable causes and social issues.  Here are a few business examples that fit within this category:

• Restaurants
• Fitness (fitness boot camps, yoga, biking classes, Zumba etc.)
• Events and workshops
• Non-profit organizations

Social media is the best marketing channel for this category.  Social media was designed to connect people.  Not only can you get your message, event, product or service in front of your ideal customers, but they can easily share it with their friends.  Think of it as transferring the social gathering from social media to your offline event or business.

What to do if your business can be applied to several of these categories

Concentrate your marketing efforts with the marketing channels / traffic sources underneath the category that best applies to your business.  Maximize your ROI by creating a consistent, profitable way of generating sales from that marketing channel and then scale up to get the maximum results from that channel.

After you or your marketing company have done that, then move on to the traffic source underneath the secondary category that is applicable to your business.

Common Myths and Mistakes I’ve seen in Online Marketing for Businesses

I’m going to discuss 2 common online marketing mistakes that I’ve seen businesses and (unfortunately) other marketing companies make.

1. Thinking a new website will solve all your marketing problems

There are many business owners who believe and marketing companies who have sold them the belief that redesigning your website will increase sales and grow your business.

I’ve spoken to business owners who have been disappointed when they launch their newly designed website and find little-to-no difference in their leads or sales.

Your website is just one piece in a large puzzle in acquiring new customers online.  Building a website and expecting people to magically find and buy from you is similar to believing the old adage “if you build it, they will come”.

Sorry, customers won’t magically find your business and buy from you.  Thinking this way, is a good path to put you out of business.

A website is important, but you have to drive qualified traffic to your website through marketing. Website traffic is potential customers who are interested in your product or service because it solves a problem for them.

In order to acquire new leads, sales and customers online, you MUST market your business using the marketing channel that is most effective in reaching your target audience.

2. Not tracking where your leads are coming from

How are you supposed to know your online marketing is working if you’re not tracking leads and sales?  Now I don’t mean asking potential customers when they contact your business, “where did you hear about us?”

Your marketing should be setup with conversion tracking so you automatically know which marketing channels (social media, SEO, ads, etc.) leads are coming from and at what cost.

Sadly, I’ve seen many marketing companies make this same mistake.  They will even make decisions based off of how they “feel” instead of actual data from your marketing campaign.

Give us a call if you want a better understanding of what is actually working within your marketing.

Our Approach To Creating & Implementing A Profitable Online Marketing Strategy For Our Clients

1. We identify who is your ideal customer

Every successful marketing campaign starts here.  You MUST know exactly who your ideal customer is, what their pain points and dream solutions are.

2. We develop the correct message to attract your ideal customers

We want to attract your ideal customers not target audience.  Why?  Because “audiences” listen but “customers” buy.  We want to attract the ideal person who would buy your product or service.

It’s important that your marketing message shows your ideal customers how your product or service can take them from their challenges / pain points to their dream solution.

From the content on your website to your online ads, everything should communicate your marketing message.

By identifying who your ideal customers are and speaking to their needs, we attract quality leads that you can more easily convert into sales.

3. We utilize the right marketing channels to get in front of your ideal customers

Now it’s time to use online traffic sources / marketing channels to present your business and message to your ideal customers.  Here is a breakdown of the most common traffic sources:

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) requires much more than just adding keywords to your site and having it show up in Google. It is about making your brand stand out from the competition, while creating the best experience for your customers.

We use a holistic, professional approach that includes creating customized content for your target audience, properly structuring your site, improving your reputation around the web, and much more.

This strategy has proven itself in rankings and, more importantly, leads for our customers. We’ve achieved sustainable results for a wide variety of businesses, whether they are targeting local, national, or international customers.

Google AdWords

Advertising on Google is a quick and effective way of showing at the top of Google’s search results. We are able to optimize your advertising to acquire the maximum amount of qualified leads within your budget.  Many marketing companies won’t reveal this to you, but an under-funded ad campaign will generate little-to-no results.

We research what your competitors are spending and advise you on what would be a competitive budget. On a weekly basis, we monitor and optimize your campaign to generate qualified leads at the lowest cost per lead possible.

Ad Retargeting

We utilize ad retargeting to lead your website visitors to the next step in your sales funnel.  Whether that is to purchase another product or service, read your latest article or subscribe to your list, Ad retargeting is great for improving your brand and staying in front of your ideal customers.

Social Media Marketing

We utilize Facebook ads to present your product or service directly to your ideal customers.  Through social proof, precise targeting and strategic messaging, we are able to convince your ideal customers to take action – whether that is purchasing your product, contacting you for a consultation, estimate or more.

Our Online Marketing Process Proven To Generate Results For Our Clients

Woodfield Landscaping

We redesigned their website giving them a fresh, modern and well-organized layout that emphasized their portfolio.  We utilized Google AdWords and Search Engine Optimization to drive qualified traffic to their website.  Here are the results of our efforts:

• Using Google AdWords, we generated 658 leads within 8 months (February – September 2017)
•  The average cost per lead was $35.05
•  The client’s average revenue per project is $40,000+

Bay Management Group

We’ve helped local businesses like Bay Management Group grow into a national brand:

• Using SEO, we took them from not ranking at all to ranking on the first page of Google for over 110 of their target keyword phrases
• On average, 10 leads contact them per day
• Company grew from a 1-man company in 2012 to having 3 offices in 2 states, with a staff of 60+ (currently in 2018)
• Company is currently within the top 25 largest property management companies in Baltimore (according to Baltimore Business Journal)

Here are screenshots of their website analytics (Oct 2016 – Sep 2017)

TLC HVAC Services

TLC came to us because they wanted more booked appointments and felt that they were paying too much to acquire a lead from their current marketing.

We redesigned their website landing pages and launched a new Google Adwords and SEO campaign.  Here are the results:

• We helped them generate 88 additional leads per month
• Reduced their cost per lead by $305.73
• Converted 440% more of their website visitors into leads for their business

The REI Success Makers

• We advertised their real estate investment workshop in Oct 2017 using Facebook Ads
•  In 3 weeks, we were able to get 1,223 people to register at only $6.76 per registrant (the industry average is $20-$30)

Are You Ready To Start Acquiring New Customers From Your Online Marketing Campaign?

Let’s setup a time to discuss your business, needs and how we can help you increase sales