Email marketing can play a critical role in your business but many small business owners overlook how powerful it can be for converting website visitors to leads.
When someone visits your website while they are in research mode, they will most likely view a few pages on your site and then leave because they aren’t ready to contact you for a sales conversation and that is the only option you’re giving them.
People just don’t get married on the first date.
So in a world of comparison shopping, how can you ensure that more of your website visitors actually get in touch with you?
Step One:
Stop and think about why they are visiting your site to begin with. Are they trying to figure out how this whole wedding planning things works? Then be the person to give them that advice! They will remember this when it comes time to make a purchase.
You can’t propose marriage on the first date and expect to get a “yes,” but you can propose something that is proportionate to the amount of trust that your potential client has in you.
Step Two:
Meet them where they are.
I teach the members of The Wedding Business Collective to think about the first step they want people to take and I suggest making that something small like asking them to provide their email in exchange for something like a helpful guide, checklist or video.
This way, you can start to build a relationship with them via email and you’re not just pouncing on them trying to get them to commit right now. Let’s be honest, that’s a big turnoff (Both in dating and in sales, see? They’re pretty much the same thing.)
Take some time today to examine your own site and figure out what you are asking people to do.
Are you trying to marry them or are you offering to take them on a first date?
The “know, like, trust” factor is incredibly important in marketing. People don’t do business with people until they feel like they know, like and trust them.
What can you offer your potential clients to build know, like, and trust you BEFORE you ask them to work with you?
Here’s a tip to get your gears turning: answer their biggest questions.
If you’re a wedding planner…
and the most common question you get is, “When do I need to book each of my vendors?” offer a timeline or a checklist in exchange for their email!
If you’re a photographer…
and you are always asked what families should wear to their family shoot, create a style guide for them in exchange for their email!
If you’re a stationery designer…
and you notice that your potential clients are always unsure of what they want their stationery to look like, you could provide them with a quiz or assessment that helps nail down their style.
One of my most popular lead magnets (what you provide in exchange for their email address) is this PDF detailing 37 Blog Post Ideas For Wedding Professionals.
I created it because I noticed that a lot of my potential clients were getting stuck on this topic.
Regardless of what you do, you could create a guide to finding the right [INSERT WHAT YOU DO] for them and include questions to ask that highlight your unique value. When they ask you and your competitors these questions, they’ll clearly see the ways you differ from them.
With any lead magnet, the goal is to deliver value by answering a question, build that crucial know, like, trust factor.
Then, you can use the magic of email marketing market to them via email over time to stay top-of-mind and nurture them until they’re ready to buy from you. It’s a win-win-win!
Ready to have email marketing do the heavy lifting for you? Get our Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing here.
