Your messaging has never been more important. According to a study done by Chartbeat, it takes literally seconds for prospects to decide if you can help them or not. If it’s so critical that you engage them, what do you say on your website?
Don’t Be A Generalist
Do the market analysis and the math to figure out what service or product you should be niched in and what primary industry you’re going to target. Pick one facet of your business to be specialist in. Develop skill set and position your messaging to be that extreme specialist. Being generic when you have mere seconds to make an impression guarantees that people will leave your site with no memory of why they came there in the first place and that’s what I call ‘marketing death’.
Have a Prospect Grabber
In 15 seconds, you need to offer the visitors to your website something so valuable and so intriguing that they’ll give you their personal information for it. This is the highest show of trust in a world where people are drowning in emails and information. My prospect grabber has changed over the years but I never stop connecting directly with the people who have taken the time to fill in their info to pay me the compliment of caring about what I have to say.
Marry Stats With Emotion
Statistics about your target audience’s pain is great to use on your website because it lets people know that they’re not alone and that theirs is a pervasive and costly problem. However, without emotion, you can’t sell. Research shows that liking an ad is 3 times more important to consumers than its content. So in your web copy, marry emotion with the stats. Like I’ve done in a very simple way with mine: “It’s hard to reach decision makers today…90% of first time voicemails are never returned* and wasted marketing budget costs companies at least $1 trillion a year**”
Be A Person
Even if you’re a multibillion Dollar corporation, show me who works there. Tell me about their background, their responsibilities and give me information about the actual humans who represent your corporation. Talk about the founder and why she started this company, talk about the employee values and initiatives. Stop being a nameless, faceless and dimensionless institution if you want me to engage with you in the 15 seconds I’m on your website.
These are the tips from a professional website surfer and marketing strategist who helps her clients build their messaging (which includes their website!). Can’t wait to spend my next 15 seconds with you…
Want to reposition your messaging to grow your leads? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, watch me on YouTube or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk
