Tag Archives: buzz

Many online marketers dread figuring out conversion ratios. A three percent conversion rate is pretty darn good in the online world, but seems pitifully small to a marketing client. As 2011 approaches, marketing consultants need to know more than just how to figure conversion ratios. You’ll need to improve them significantly using new methods and technologies.

The basic conversion ratio formula is volume divided by action, such as number of emails sent vs. total CTR, for instance. If only all conversion ratios were so straightforward. New marketing methods lead prospects through a series of steps before the final action: email sent, email opened, link clicked, landing page viewed, and on to the shopping cart or buy now button. All this happens before the final action—receiving payment.

Don’t even bring up Twitter followers, Facebook fans, RSS feed subscribers, organic SEO, pay-per-click advertising, or (heaven forbid) television, radio and newspapers. Prospects may jump off the conversion train at any point, and a vast majority abandon the process.

In such a complex future, online marketing consultants must juggle a lot of interrelated methods and technologies, carefully measuring each step and tweaking, tweaking, tweaking.

In 2011, many marketing clients will have caught up to the idea of using technology to build long-term relationships with customers. It won’t be enough to slap up a web page and never look back. Small businesses will shift their thinking to embrace the way customers want to receive communications.

At the same time, they’ll demand proof that marketing budgets produce top-notch returns. The consultant can prove it through conversion ratios and setting realistic expectations up front. The future is moving toward less focus on dollars and more focus on loyalty—a hard sell if the client demands immediate results.

Bring your clients into the future gently. Help them develop marketing plans and avoid dabbling in every new thing that comes along. Watch conversion ratios every step of the way and advise clients on how to improve incrementally. Both you and your clients will celebrate 2012 with more money in your pockets.

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In the Gold Rush days of online marketing (about 10 years ago), permission-based marketing meant a confirmed opt-in to the email newsletter. Scammers and spammers have since ruined what could’ve been a great way for legitimate marketers to communicate with prospects.

Fortunately, it’s taking spammers a little longer to ruin new social media channels, leaving legitimate marketers ahead of the contact curve. Online marketing consultants must still take a careful look at permission marketing in social media. Customers are more in control of what they see and hear, and can block or unsubscribe with a single click.

You want customers to tweet, share, like, and subscribe as well as visit your website and get your email newsletter. You want to touch them frequently, and they give you permission in every channel. Watch out: Communicating in all channels all the time is definitely spam, no matter your intentions.

Marketers are just beginning to define permission boundaries in the new media. Permission marketing in 2011 will set the tone for at least the next five years. Don’t fall into the trap of sending frequent messages just because you can—use permission privileges wisely.

Worried that your competition will out-message you? Focus on value, not quantity, and watch your spammy competitors fall by the wayside in 2012. Use each communication respectfully and you’ll create long-lasting relationships with loyal customers.

In the past, it was enough that customers shared their email addresses with you—that gave you permission to market to your heart’s content through the one channel available. In 2011, you’ll need to guard contact information with your virtual life and take care you don’t overload your subscribers, fans and followers with too many messages.

Learn to retain incredibly loyal customers by reading Passionate and Profitable: Why Customer Strategies Fail and Ten Steps to Do Them Right (instant download PDF, $19.84).

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment below. Subscribe to my RSS feed to get all my predictions as they happen. Please keep in mind that content theft is both illegal and immoral. If you’d like to purchase reprint rights for the entire article, visit Evelyn Fielding on Constant Content: http://www.constant-content.com/docDetails.php?DocID=135188.

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Even our hunter-gatherer ancestors worried about ROI, or return on investment. They didn’t want to pick berries in this patch when a better patch could be right over there. How will online marketing clients look at ROI in 2011?

Marketing budgets will remain tight for at least the next year, and business owners who cut marketing out during the recent recession will start getting back on board. For the online marketing consultant, that means you’ll need to conserve client budgets to the max and deliver tangible results quickly.

Prepare for 2011 by analyzing your own work methods. How can you tweak your service offerings to give clients exactly what they need on a tight budget? Consider bundling basic services together rather than offering ala carte choices. Be thorough but lay off upselling services that are great but not necessary.

Next, closely examine what each client really needs for online marketing, and what they’ll do with it. A blog that’s never updated languishes in the backwaters of the world wide web. A Facebook business page doesn’t magically attract fans simply because it exists. Don’t let clients jump on bandwagons, but do lead them thoughtfully into the future.

Finally, ROI will come to mean more than just money in/money out in 2011. Online marketing is about developing long-term relationships with loyal customers. Investments now don’t always show profits immediately, and defining the intangible ROI for marketing clients can be difficult. Put a dollar amount on brand recognition, word of mouth, and goodwill so your clients can see results.

In 2011, marketing clients will expect you to deliver on your promises and surprise them with bonus extras. Always, always point out to online marketing clients—politely—how hiring you improved their return on investment.

Maximize your return on investment by reading Performance Marketing with Google Analytics: Strategies and Techniques for Maximizing Online ROI (instant download PDF, $27.99).

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment below. Subscribe to my RSS feed to get my predictions as they happen. Please keep in mind that content theft is both illegal and immoral. If you’d like to purchase reprint rights for the entire article, visit Evelyn Fielding on Constant Content: http://www.constant-content.com/docDetails.php?DocID=135184.

Join the Conquering Content sanctuary. To learn more, click here.