How To Earn Your Client's Time and Attention in 2020 by Elise Peek
Brace yourself.
The New Year is here. Shopping experiences sure have changed. Do you remember the days when shopping involved a trip to a beautifully decorated mall? You traveled to a location with an intention to spend and there was a way to escape spammy ads. Online shopping has changed everything. Businesses are now given the challenging task to deliver convenience to shoppers even through advertising. Marketing experts will tell you to do ‘all the things’ to create any kind of interaction with customers online.
But the truth is some of us interact with businesses online because we can’t figure out how to close floating pop-ups or clear the enormous amounts of promotional emails that come in daily (often after unsubscribing repeatedly). Let’s not forget the ads that follow you around the internet for six months after you search for an item.
Consumers have a message for businesses during the New Year:
Just because you can use certain types of advertising tactics, it doesn’t mean you should.
As a business, you are asking for the most precious asset: the consumer’s time and attention. Marketing expert Seth Godin says: ‘Treating people with respect is the best way to earn their attention.’ People will walk away from aggressive marketing. Nobody wants to feel tricked into an advertisement. Godin coined a term called Permission Marketing.
Permission Marketing is the privilege, not the right, of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who want to receive them. Putting a relevant message of an immediate need or desire in front of your client - in a way that makes them feel the urgency - is the fastest way to receive 'permission' that leads to more sales during the holidays. Gaining permission means a business must make a promise and create opportunities for consumers to choose you. When your business delivers highly valued, relevant experiences, your consumers will seek you out. Here are a few ways a business can specifically embrace this approach:
Invest in Short Term Retargeting Ads. If you have visited a website - and later returned to Facebook or Google only to see an offer from that same business - you have experienced effective retargeting; which most consumers prefer only when it doesn’t occur for long periods. In September of 2019, Stanford Business School released a research study concluding that retargeting increased the likelihood that a consumer would return to a website by 15%. But only when it occurred within the first week after the initial view.
Personalize Advertisements & Offers. Design your website in a way that separates products and services based on the problems experienced by your customers; instead of organizing the site by business categories you personally use to describe your business. Use heat mapping to figure out which areas of your website your potential customers are most interested in and tailor offers and advertising to their individual needs and interests.
Offer A Valuable Tool: Interactive Quizzes create an enjoyable and personal experience for potential customers, a place where they can:
1) Learn about the problems you solve,
2) Communicate to you which needs matter most and,
3) Have a non-spammy way to share your business with friends.
On average quizzes deliver 33% more leads and they give consumers the opportunity to decide whether to further explore your business. Give it a try!
Hi, I’m Elise!
Elise is the Co-Owner & Chief Disruptor for the Digital Disruptors. She is a speaker, trainer, and marketing strategist who specializes in helping small businesses navigate the world of digital marketing. She is also a coffee connoisseur, a lover of automation, and you can find her writing in her blog The Digital Buzzer.