To better understand how your website is performing, we respond with a couple of questions of our own:
- How much of that traffic contains quality leads for your business?
- More importantly, how much of that traffic converts into closed customers?
Cue the blank stares and stuttering!
Getting traffic to your website is only the first hurdle. The second challenge is providing content to visitors that is relevant to where they are in the buyer's journey. Once you do that, those website visitors will be much more likely to turn into paying clients. And more clients is what you're striving for, right?
If you stop your efforts after achieving "pretty good" website traffic, you're only scratching the surface of what your website content can do for you and your business. Check out this diagram that HubSpot created. It illustrates the stages of the buyer's journey, and how the content offered to your visitors should match their status in each stage.
Assess Your Visitor-to-Lead Conversion Ratio
Let's say you have 1000 visitors coming to your website monthly, and of that 1000, you are getting around five to ten visitors submitting your "Contact Us" or "Free Consultation" form. Now, to put on our math hats. That equates to a .5% to 1% visitor-to-lead conversion ratio.
Since these visitors are actually requesting a call or an appointment with your sales department, wouldn't it be safe to assume that they are more open to being sold to? Yes. They have passed the decision stage, and are really close to choosing your company.
But, what about all of the other visitors to your website? Even if they don't want to contact you directly, you could convince more of them to share their contact information with a piece of no-obligation content. This is where inbound marketing really shines and can help drive your lead generation numbers and conversion percentages through the roof. This leads us to the next point...
Nurture Visitors Not Ready to Buy
Out of those 1000 visitors who come to your website monthly, many of them are interested in your business, but some visitors may not be ready for your sales pitch, nor are they ready to be contacted by anyone from your team. A majority of those visitors are simply doing research, and aren't sure that your company fits their needs. But that doesn’t mean you should completely ignore them or not offer content that is meant for their scenario.
Nurturing these leads over time with free resources and helpful content keeps you in touch with them, without the sales pressure. So, let the content you share match where that visitor is in the buyer's journey. For example, if a potential customer is in the awareness or consideration stage, provide an e-Book or a how-to video instead of offering content that they're not ready for yet, like a live demo or a coupon, which are much better suited for those in the decision stage.
Deliver Content Correctly
The time and delivery method of content like emails, video, or social media is important. Content served to the right people in the right context can be a huge time saver for both you and your prospects! Let your content pre-qualify your prospective clients for you. Then convert, close, and follow up with those who expressed interest and provided you with information about them, such as their budget and timeline to make a decision. It's a beneficial cycle for all parties included!
Wouldn't it be great if your sales calls strictly consisted of closing clients based on their specific needs or interests? Instead of answering the same basic questions and overcoming the same objections, the sales team can now contact the strongest leads who are already pre-qualified through this solid content marketing approach.
By leading prospects through the funnel toward a purchase, you'll no longer play a guessing game or spend the same amount of time to get a "no" as you take to get a "yes." Your website content leads the right clients to you as it follows the buyer's journey. That's the power of effective content marketing utilizing inbound marketing methodology!
Ready to jump into your content strategy? We’ve got resources dedicated to putting your content on its A-game. Check out our free “Content Marketing Workbook” to generate content ideas and plan a long-term content strategy.
