According to recent research conducted by 3radical, UK brands aren’t reaching their audiences very effectively. In an age where personalisation is everything, some 45% of British consumers said they are less likely to engage with, or buy from, a brand if they aren’t getting the information they need to make a sound purchasing decision. A substantial proportion (30%) also said they ignore communications from their preferred brands if the messages aren’t targeted properly.
This research points to squarely to the fact that businesses of all shapes and sizes are missing out on opportunities to engage their customers and are therefore losing out on business. So how can you make sure your consumer stays firmly in the equation? Chris Surridge, marketing director at Whitefish Marketing, suggests some ideas:
Go mobile
The first step for small businesses is to ensure that they have a mobile optimised website. This is crucial for today’s consumers, the majority of whom own a smartphone that they keep about their person for at least 12 hours per day.
Optimising your website for mobile using a responsive design means that your customers can browse your products and services easily while on the move. This is only going to become more important as more and more users research and shop from their phones or tablets. Failing to present your content in a way that can be accessed via mobile devices means potential and existing customers will get frustrated trying to find the relevant information and go elsewhere.
Make your adverts relevant
Pay per click advertising is getting more sophisticated as it develops for a world that insists on personalised messages. There are various ways that small businesses can tailor their ads to target different groups of consumers with various messages.
At its most basic, pay per click enables businesses to send customers directly to a page that is relevant to their search – a page that provides them with all the content they need to make a purchasing decision. It may sound so obvious it’s almost insulting, but you’d be surprised how many businesses simply point ads to their homepage – or worse, a completely irrelevant page – and expect their ads to convert.
There’s a huge range of options within Google Adwords to enable you to target relevant people. You can set ads to run at specific times, increase bids on certain days, create mobile-only ads and target specific parts of the country or the world depending on where your highest converting consumers are and whether you’re a local, national or international business.
One of the most recent developments in Adwords is the ability to remarket to people who have visited your website or used your app before. Consumers who leave your site without buying will be shown relevant ads as they browse and search via Google, giving you exposure and encouraging them to return and make a purchase. The messaging is relevant to what they want and, providing your web pages display plenty of relevant information, you could see an increase in conversions.
Do your homework
The only way to know how your consumers behave and what they want is to keep relevant data about them. This, for small businesses, is easier said than done, but there are ways to build up your information on customers. Some businesses invest in a data solution, while others with a tighter budget use their email provider to gather and store data in a meaningful way.
Data each consumer is buying and try to establish patterns in behaviour. It’s a long process, and segmenting your data is time consuming, but can ultimately help you to target customers more effectively and improve your conversion rate.
And finally…
gathering can be facilitated by sending out consumer surveys, or asking for feedback. Record what
Think about your customer and what their needs are in every communication you send out. Yes, you have goals for your business, but when talking to consumers, you need to tell them how they can benefit or be rewarded by choosing you over the competition, or they’ll never engage.
Contact Whitefish Marketing for more details
Whitefish Marketing is a specialist SEO agency in Kent, helping Start-ups and SMEs alike to grow their business through the effective use of digital marketing.
