Your potential customer has defined their issue, need, or pain point and is now considering different solutions. This is your chance to prove your business has what they desire.
Now that they’ve labeled the issue, you want to make sure you can provide them with the research and expertise needed to assist them in finding their solution. Say someone is looking for internet marketing services in Toronto. You will need to offer content and materials along with evidence that you can successfully market your own business as well as theirs.
No longer strangers
In the previous stage, we focused on finding Marketing Qualified Leads in the initial sea of strangers. Now that they have been located, some of the strangers are now prospects and the MQLs need to be sorted into Sales Qualified Leads. These differ from their marketing counterparts as they are further along in the buyer’s journey and have more potential to complete a purchase.
Lead Scoring
Knowing when to promote MQLs to SQLs is imperative. You don’t want to use marketing tactics designed for one party on another. Lead scoring is a process you can use to simplify this task. By adding a numerical value to each of your generated leads, you can easily track how much they have interacted with your site, social media, emails, and other content. Once the value has passed a pre-determined threshold, you’ll know that this is now an SQL and should be treated as such.
Making Customers Out of Prospects
You know how to tell the difference between strangers and prospects, but how do you ensure that these prospective customers become actual buyers? Ideally, you’ll start with a solid positive relationship which you will need to nurture throughout the entire buyer’s journey. From there you will need to gather information about your prospects through tracking what they search for on your site, surveys, and other methods. You’ll also need to be able to communicate with them quickly and effectively through email, social media, or other platforms you use.
Tools for the Interest Stage
One of the most important ways to convert prospects to customers is using educational tools. These include:
- Landing pages
Once a prospective customer has landed on your site, they need to be able to maneuver through it easily. Showcase your products, services, free tools, and information in a pleasing and intuitive design. Keep in mind that landing pages are a major factor in keeping the attention of prospects. If your bounce rate is too high, changes will need to be made.
- Ebooks
Allow buyers to research your business during their downtime with these informational booklets. Some potential customers may not have the freedom or ability to attend a live webinar or even view pre-recorded ones. Ebooks help to provide information and garner interest even while possible future buyers are not actively on your site.
- Newsletters
Update your prospective customers on any new information or goings-on at your business. Are you changing or adding features, do you have materials to promote, or did you win any awards? Recurring newsletters with helpful information are great for ensuring that customers keep you in mind.
- Free Tools
Your eBooks from earlier, as well as your how-to guides from the previous blog, both qualify as free tools. If you offer a digital service and have the option of including a free tier with basic uses or even a trial period, you can use that opportunity to get your product into the hands of interested parties.
- Case Studies
If you can showcase accurate and impressive data based on the work you’ve done for previous clients, that can serve as a huge draw. Prospective clients want evidence that you can back up your claims. Make case studies easily locatable and understandable to improve your professional image.
- Retargeting
It isn’t uncommon for someone to interact with your site before disappearing but remember these aren’t strangers anymore. You’re working with Sales Qualified Leads, people that have a good chance of purchasing from you. You don’t want them slipping through the cracks. Retargeting is a way to get your products and services back in their line of sight and remind them why they visited you in the first place. Often, retargeting takes the form of paid ads that showcase bestsellers, or items your lead has viewed.
- Webinars
These live courses are an excellent way to interact with current and potential clients. Simultaneously offering a wealth of information as well as providing people with the ability to ask questions and get immediate answers is key. You are even able to record and post previous webinars online so that they are available to buyers outside of your allotted time. The increase in digital video communication over the past few years has made this form of education more viable than ever.
Next Steps
Now that we have covered the interest stage, it’s time to explore the next steps in the buyer’s journey: the decision phase. The buyer has acquired the information they need and is ready to decide. At this point, they are shopping around, comparing your business to your competitors. View the next blog in our series to learn more or contact us for any of your marketing needs!
