ImagesMagUK_September_2020

www.images-magazine.com SEPTEMBER 2020 images 73 The 10 biggest industry problems for websites 1. Your website is all about you, and not the customer Your equipment, employees, skills; that you print with water-based ink or have in- house embroidery facilities. Here’s the problem: your customers don’t care about any of that. What they care about is that they have a challenge and they are looking to you to solve it. Why else would they be on your site? Redesign your site to build trust that focuses on solutions to customer problems. 2. Lack of a compelling call to action What do you want your potential customer to do? Get a quote? Download something in exchange for their info so you can add them to your drip marketing? Buy something from your store? You need absolute clarity in what your customers should be doing with your website the moment they jump on. Ask yourself: “What is the number one goal that I want my website to do?” 3. Too many words Do you read tonnes of copy when you go to another website? Nope. Why do you think your website visitors will? 4. It takes too long to load Ideally, your site should load in under two seconds. From your customer’s phone. On a desktop. With an iPad. Have you tested yours? 5. It looks like 1987 Seriously. Is that the best you can do? I thought you were a design professional? 6. The links don’t work Sure, I’d like to follow you on Instagram, but wait, that’s not hooked up yet. Bummer. 7. Measuring If your website is built to sell, how are sales? Are you happy with the outcome? If not, what are you doing about it on a daily basis? Do you have a Google Analytics dashboard set up? Are you tracking your results? 8. Storytelling Are you sharing customer testimonials or stories of how you helped similar customers with solving their problems? This builds trust. Good selling techniques are not about the buying process, but about relieving the customer of the anxiety that accompanies the selling process. Stories are powerful. Use them. Top 10 biggest industry problems for social media 1. Lack of a clear social media strategy Just to remind you, a strategy is an overarching goal that you want. Tactics are how you actually do it. Your social media strategy is what? Drive more visitors to your website? Build your brand awareness? Buy something from your online store? The tactical ideas you deploy on your social media channels should support whatever goal you are trying to achieve. 2. Not being human These days the most human company wins. On your social media channels are you articulating that? Are you showing your vulnerability? Emotions? Victories? Defeats? People respond most to other people. Your company is staffed with people. Break that third wall and inject some human personality into your marketing. 3. Customer service with social media Have you ever received negative comments or posts about your company online? Are you monitoring this? When there is a failure somewhere with your business, sometimes a frustrated customer posts online and vents to the world about the injustice of it all. You need to immediately follow up and not inflame the situation, but address it. Trust me, people are watching. 4. Lack of original content creation One of the greatest things I learned along the way is the social media 90-9-1 rule. 90% of your followers will read, watch, or listen to whatever you post. 9% will actually like, share, retweet, comment, or do something with it online. But only 1% of companies out there are actually creating the content that everyone enjoys. Be in the 1%. 5. Promoting your business constantly I hate to break it to you pal, but nobody cares about you. People care about themselves. They are the hero here. Every time you post about your company, you are that person at the party that just blathers on about themselves. Instead, can you create content that is about your customers? Solving their problems or challenges? That is more impactful. 6. Spamming. Just don’t do it. It’s the easiest way to get banned, barred, or even fined for your actions. You can do better. 9. Weak SEO A website doesn’t work unless people actually view it. What are you doing on purpose to drive more eyeballs to your website? Do you use long-tail keywords? Are you creating and updating content on the site on a consistent and regular basis? People need a reason to visit. Blogs or videos are great for that. If you don’t know what to create, start with your origin story and then do the top ten frequently asked questions you are always answering, one post at a time. If you post a blog a month, that’s almost a year’s worth of content right there. 10. Social media engagement Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest – they can all drive people to your site. Plan your social media marketing out six to eight weeks in advance. Every day, what are you posting? Create templates to make it easier. Use automated tools to schedule and post for you. Keep track of what days of the week and times work the best for your audience. Rinse and repeat. Engage with people and be social. Invite them over to the party that is happening on your website. Why your social media isn’t working First and foremost, social media is about people. It is human to human engagement. It is not, “Hey, follow me so I can sell you stuff.” The best people on social media are themselves 100% of the time. They post regularly with their voice, their personality, and do it in an engaging and infectious way. People want to connect with them because they are real. If your shop’s social media is only about the products you are peddling, that’s why you only have a limited number of people following you, liking your posts, sharing your stuff, or buying it. Social media is a cocktail party Have you ever been at a party and introduced yourself to someone you’ve never met before? More than likely. But some people are shy. They don’t know what to say. It’s awkward. The same is true on social media. It’s sometimes awkward. Here’s a tip: Just be yourself and ask questions. Just like at a party. Why talk about yourself, when the number one goal is to make friends? Ask questions about the other person. Compliment them on something. Just be sincere and genuine. It’s really not that difficult if you look at it that way. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT