Finisher Creative

5 Reasons You Are Not Converting Online Leads Into Sales

finishercreative — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:26:11 +0000

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So, you got a website? Good. (If not, this video will help you get started).

Is it an ‘online brochure’? If you’re not sure, this checklist will help you. If you do have an ‘online brochure’ for a website then this will help you fix it.

If you have a website that is generating leads then great. After all, that is the purpose of your website – to generate leads and ultimately sales. A lot of people are good at generating leads through their site but not always great at converting them into sales.

Here are the 5 main areas in how to convert online leads into sales:

1. Traffic Problem:

A lot of people are good at driving traffic to their site. They often boast that they get 10,000 hits per month. But that doesn’t rock my world – here’s why. You might get 10,000 hits per month but if no one is buying from you then it’s pointless!!!

Could it be that you are driving the wrong traffic to your site? There is a difference between traffic and quality traffic. It could be that you are focusing on the wrong stats (meaningless numbers that are misleading). Focus on the right stats. The way to get quality traffic is to create good content that solves your customers’ problems/needs in a specific and focused way.

By getting the right traffic to your site you will then operate on the likely assumption that these people are your customers. If they are your customers then there is a good chance that they will buy from you.

2. Bad Web Design:

Elizabeth Sillence (of Northumbria University) conducted a study where she asked a group of people to find websites about hypertension. She then asked them to record whether they trusted/distrusted the website.

Upon review she found that 94% of people said that they distrusted a website because of bad design.

Bad web design can cost you sales. If people don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you. This doesn’t just mean generic, vague, “I just don’t like the look of it” kind of explanation. There were specific things that people didn’t like – cluttered/too busy, bad layout, bad navigation, pop-up ads, slow load times, text-heavy, too corporate etc.

3. Bad Copywriting:

The temptation can be to pile as much info on your site. This usually results in a very text-heavy site. The problem is that in the online world people don’t read, they scan.

You have half a second to capture someone’s interest online. If they see too much text then they are clicking the ’back’ button and going somewhere else!

Copywriting is essential to converting leads. It’s always good to have the ‘less is more approach’. Space things out. Outline benefits clearly (preferably in short bullet points.) Avoid the customer having to scroll down. Scrolling means ‘more reading.’ If everything is above the fold (the top half of the web page) then you have a winner.

Don’t write too much about yourself either. Make it all about the customer. Focus heavily on the benefits to them. Don’t just go for price or discount. Go for value. What will they get as a result of buying? What will they have afterwards as a result of their purchase? Skills, knowledge, potential to earn more? etc.

4. Bad Call To Action (CTA):

CTAs are the most crucial part of the conversion process. If you have bad conversions it may be that your CTA button isn’t visible. Bad visibility is one of the biggest reasons people don’t convert.

Good visibility means that the CTA is a slightly contrasting colour to the rest of your site; clearly sited on the page (preferably above the fold); it has to be the one and only CTA on the page as too many CTAs becomes confusing for your customers; large enough to pop out without being overt/silly.

5. Long-Winded Buying Process:

People hate long-winded buying processes! People don’t have time to be faffing around with long-winded buying processes. The sales process needs to be no longer than 3 pages deep. In fact anything above 3 pages can apparently hurt your SEO rankings as you are not giving your customer a good online experience.

Keep it short, really simple and eliminate all unnecessary steps.

Hi, I’m Haroon Rashid and I’m the author of this blog and the founder of Finisher Creative. If you are a small business or a charity/non-profit I would be more than happy to talk to you about your online marketing and social media needs. If you’re in the Yorkshire area (UK) I’ll even take you out for a coffee! You can email me on info@finishercreative.com, check me out on Facebook or follow me @FinisherCre8ive I look forward to hearing from you!

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How To Title Blog Posts That Your Readers Can’t Resist!

finishercreative — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:02:07 +0000

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Your blog title is the first contact with your reader. It has to grab their attention instantly. In fact you only have half a second to get your reader’s attention (Watch this video for more info). This is because people read differently online – they don’t read, they scan. Because your readers are bombarded with information every day, their brains automatically go into a ‘scanning mode’ and will only highlight images, words or phrases that are of interest.

Here are some tips on how to title your blog posts:

1. Good Content:

The first point may seem obvious but it’s amazing how many people fail at this starting point. You have to actually write about what your readers want to read – not what you think they should be reading. Remember that your customers have the power of choice. If they can’t get what they want from you, they’ll go somewhere else. The best way to determine what your readers want is to write content that solves their problems/needs. Your customers are after content that does this. They search for it. Give them what they want!

2. Use Keywords/Phrases That They Care About:

Remember we said that people scan online? Well the brain looks out for keywords/phrases that are interesting to the individual. By using these keywords you will be able to stand out in your reader’s eyes and therefore have a higher chance of them reading your blog. E.g. if you are blogging about weight loss by eating healthy foods, you would imagine your titles would contain some of those keywords. By giving your blogs keyword-rich titles you will also appease the search engines. When your readers Google particular phrases, (and they will) you will have a higher chance of scoring well in the SERPs (search engine results pages).

3. MAKE IT COMPELLING!!!:

If your readers are bombarded by info, then you want to make sure your post stands out. There’s nothing worse than a boring title. You wouldn’t click a boring title so why would your readers?… Make your titles compelling. Some great ways to do this are titles like - ’How to _____’; “__ Ways To _____”; “__ Reasons Why ________ Isn’t Working” etc.

4. Keep It Up To 70 Characters:

Long titles are a sure way to put your readers off. Aim to keep your blog titles 70 characters or under and you will ensure higher click rates (and some believe better SEO rankings).

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How Charities Can Use Facebook

finishercreative — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:10:16 +0000

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More and more charities are using social media for online fundraising, increasing donations, raising brand name awareness and getting more volunteers for their good cause.

Facebook is a great free tool to do all of the above and more. The video talks about the importance of humanising the brand. Here are some more quick ways that charities can use Facebook:

1. Have A Plan:

Having a clear, defined social media plan is crucial. Define your organisation’s marketing plan and goals. What do you want to achieve exactly? It could be more donations; more volunteers; raising awareness, more corporate social responsibility leads, online fundraising etc. Depending on the aim, your use of Facebook will change.

Don’t just jump on Facebook and post blindly and aimlessly. Start with a clear plan and be focused in what you are doing.

2. Understand Facebook’s Algorithm (Edge Rank):

Facebook has an algorithm called Edge Rank. This is similar to Google’s algorithm in that it determines how high up the news feed your posts will go. Typically, photos score the best, then videos, then links. By understanding this filter system you will be able to post your content more appropriately and effectively and have a better chance of getting higher up in people’s news feeds.

3. Post At The Right Times:

Facebook has peak time traffic. Generally these times are 7am, 5pm and 11pm. (Check out this video for more info). This may vary from industry to industry. Find out which are your peak times for engagement. Once you find the pattern, commit to posting at these times.

4. Engage Your Audience:

There are various ways for charities to engage people on Facebook. Resolve to learning these techniques and try to actively engage your followers. The aim is to get them to respond in some way – liking a post, commenting or sharing your post. The best way is to tell your audience what you want them to do – LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE. A subtle command is a great way to encourage more engagement from your fans.

5: Great Content:

The most important point of all – great content. If the content sucks then no one will engage with it. People are after good content – interesting, relevant and compelling. Be creative. Give your audience content in different formats – videos, blogs, podcasts, eBooks, infographics etc. People like to consume content in different formats because well, people are different. Give your audience something great to engage with.

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How To Generate Leads Through Social Media

finishercreative — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:46:38 +0000

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So you’ve set up your social media business accounts – you’ve got some followers and fans, you’ve tweeted, posted and shared but your phone isn’t ringing. Let’s be honest – the point of a business being on social media is to do business. You can raise brand name awareness, hold competitions etc but ultimately everyone wants to make money. The problem occurs because people don’t know how to sell online. The rules of selling are different in the online world. When people try to sell online in the way they would do offline then it puts people off.

This is how you can generate leads on social media:

1. Humanise Your Brand:

The key to generating leads and sales online is to humanise your brand. ‘Humanise to monetise’ your online community. This means you have be what you are – human. The Internet has given our customers the power. They can choose what they want to do, when they want to do it and how they want to do it. Businesses can no longer dictate to their customers. Customers dictate to businesses.

In the online world people like the ‘human touch’. They like to know who they are talking to and develop online relationships. This means you may have to get rid of your logo as your social media profile pic and replace it with a picture of yourself (smiling). You are not a faceless conglomerate, you are a human. You are a person. By doing this you will be able to develop good online relationships which in turn build trust. Trust is crucial to generating leads and sales. Be human.

2. Be Conversational:

By humanising your brand, you will invariably have to act like a human and this means you will have to talk. A lot of people confuse this in the online world. Talking doesn’t mean talking at your customers and telling them to buy from you. Talking means to have a two-way conversation. A lot of companies are terrified at the thought of talking to their customers. They have been so used to being a faceless company and having a boundary between them and their customers.

A great way to be human and to build trust is to talk to people. Conversations are a great way to find common ground, interests and topics of conversation. People do business with people. People talk to each other.

3. Be Helpful:

A great way to be an active player in the social media world is to simply be helpful. Be dedicated to doing random acts of kindness every day – a retweet, sharing a post, commenting on someone’s blog, giving a shout out to someone. By doing this you will build a really good reputation. Who are people going to recommend – the person who talks about themselves al the time and sells themselves constantly, or the person who is really helpful and nice? I know who I’d recommend…

5. Don’t Sell (directly):

Generally, people don’t like to be sold at. They like to buy. Our customers have so much choice of companies but they also have so much choice of information. Our customers like to make their own decisions. Remember they have the power of choice. They choose what they want, when they want. They want to be able to buy from you.

The way to do this is to give as much content away for free. Create content that solves your customer’s problems/needs. People search online for information that will solve their problem/need. That’s why Google and YouTube are so popular. Resolve to replicating that content in different formats – blogs, videos, eBooks, podcasts etc.

Once people have seen your content, they will get an idea (indirectly) of how you can help them. They will then make the decision of whether to buy from you.

The one who creates content wins!

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The ‘Ocean’s 11′ Model – What George Clooney Can Teach Us About Business

finishercreative — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:13:23 +0000

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I love Ocean’s 11! It’s one of my greatest movies of all time – perfect script, cast, soundtrack, cinematography etc. Surprisingly it also has some great business lessons.

The main premise is that Danny Ocean (George Clooney) wants to simultaneously rob 3 Las Vegas casinos – but he he can’t do it alone. He needs some help and he needs to build a team. With the help of his right hand man Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) they put together a formidable team each possessing their own skill set. Each member is vital and they must work together in order to achieve their objective. That’s very much like a business.

1. The ‘Idea Man’:

You have the head of the company (Clooney). They are usually the ‘Idea man’. They have the vision and the passion. They are the ones who see the opportunities that no one else can see. They perspire optimism, passion and confidence. Nothing is impossible to these people.

However they can see that they can’t do it alone and they need to build a team around them. All great businesses have a good team. Finding a good team is very hard to do but if you have the right people, in the right place at the right time then nothing can stop you.

2. The ‘Get it done’ Guy:

Often the leader will need a ‘right hand man’. In this case it was Brad Pitt. Where Clooney was the ‘Idea man’, Pitt was the ‘Get it done’ guy. Right hand men are often grafters. They just get the job done straight away.

This tag team combo is the foundation of team building. You need both to succeed if you are to achieve something of great importance (although we don’t recommend you rob casinos!). The ‘Idea man’ is typically someone who thinks, strategises and dreams up ideas. They need a ‘Get it done’ guy’. Similarly, the ‘Get it done’ guys needs projects to do. They may not be the best visionaries but they may feel more comfortable being part of a vison and being led.

Together these two individuals must start the process of building a team. And it’s really simple. Start with, “What skills do we need to get the job done?” By identifying the jobs specifically you are better able to break the job down and identify who you need.

How do you get them to join your team? Well, you can always watch the movie to find out…

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5 Elements Every Church Website Needs [GUEST BLOG]

finishercreative — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:46:17 +0000

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This week’s Guest Blog post was written by Michael Cornett, founder of Church Website Design .Co – a Christian web design company with the goal of helping churches use social media and websites to share their message throughout the world.

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If your church’s website is underwhelming, is it really sharing the message of your church? In today’s times, most people will visit your church’s website before they ever set foot in your door. While a church website or social media can’t take the place of God, they can show how He is moving in your church. To fully show this, let’s look at 5 elements every church website needs:

1 ) Social Media – Over 40% of churches do not use any social networking tools, yet Facebook is on pace to garner over a billion users in 2012. Not only can churches use social media to stay in touch with their congregation and reach the lost, but they can actively promote their social media right from their website.

2 ) Email Newsletter – Email marketing is one of the most productive types of online marketing with an average return on investment of $43.52 for every dollar spent according to Direct Marketers Association. If your church’s website isn’t sending out email newsletters and capturing new leads on its website, start now!

3 ) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – When you search keywords such as “church in Houston, TX” does your church show up on the first page? Chances are, if you church is not on the first few pages of search results, your website may need some SEO love. SEO will help improve the rankings of your website, increasing targeted traffic to your church’s website.

4 ) Online Donations – A recent LifeWay Research study showed that only 14 percent of churches allow their members to give online, yet in 2011 Black Friday shopping increased by 26 percent over 2010. As people become more comfortable using credit cards online, every church will benefit from the capability to accept tithes online.

5 ) Podcasts/Online Sermons – Allowing visitors to view podcasts of previous sermons online is a great way to reach the 80% of Christians who don’t experience God on a regular basis. Also, anyone seriously considering visiting your church will be able to hear your weekly teachings. Since most churches already record their sermons, adding them to your website is the next logical step!

Conclusion: In today’s times, churches have the capability to do some amazing things through their website. As technology advances, so will our church websites! In the midst of all these design elements, it is important to remember that your website should accomplish its essential purposes first, rather than being over-complicated and confusing.

What do you guys think? What do you look for in a church website? Do you watch online sermons or tithe online regularly?

This post was written by Michael Cornett, founder of Church Website Design .Co – a Christian web design company with the goal of helping churches use social media and websites to share their message throughout the world.

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4 Ways Cake Makers Can Use Instagram

finishercreative — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:37:48 +0000

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I love cake! Wedding cake, chocolate cake, cupcake – you name it! And I’m not the only one either. Social media has given pretty much every industry type an opportunity to create and share great content for their business.

Instagram is a great photo-sharing app that has taken the world by storm in such a short period of time. It’s visual and a great way to showcase and demonstrate your work. Cake makers are no exception.

Here are 4 ways cake makers can use Instagram for their business:

1. Show your work:

As Instagram is a photo-sharing app, it would be a good idea to take pictures of the cakes you’ve made and share them! Instagram provides a number of great filters to give you stunning photos. If you can’t afford a professional photographer to photograph your work, you could still do a good job with Instagram.

2. Visual Recipes:

People always want to know the recipe. Tell a visual story by showing people how you do it. You can create a montage of photos with a variety of apps. People love interactive content and to see how you do certain things. People are visual. Tell your stories/recipes through stunning photos.

3. Build Online Community:

Food brings people together. It transcends culture, race and beliefs. People are passionate about food. Therefore people are likely to be a part of, and get involved in an online community revolving around food that they like. Why not build an online community around cake. Get people to share cakes that they have made using your recipes, their favourite cakes, recipes etc. Get people to share information with each other. You can create a hashtag and get your community to use that hashtag whenever they share information. This will do wonders for establishing your brand as a thought leader and influencer in your industry.

4. Competitions:

Host competitions and get people to share pictures of cakes they have made using your recipes. Again, create a competition hashtag for your competition. Others will see the hashtags and this will drive traffic to your profile and will get you some more followers. People love online competitions. Get your followers involved!

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How To Optimise YouTube Videos

finishercreative — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:20:48 +0000

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YouTube is an awesome way for businesses to market themselves. More and more companies are realising the effectiveness of videos to reach their customers on a more human level.

Most people know that Google is the number one search engine in the world. Not many know that YouTube is the second largest. Oh and by the way, Google just happens to own YouTube. (That would explain why YouTube videos appear in search results). Because of this, it is crucial to understand how to properly optimise your YouTube videos to increase your chances of appearing higher in the SERPs (search engine page results).

Here are some tips on how to optimise your YouTube videos:

1. Title:

Your title is the most important thing. It is the thing that your customers and the search engines will look at. Your video content should be solving your customers’ problems/needs. This is because people are increasingly turning to search engines to find answers to problems/needs they have – how to lose weight; how to paint a wall; how to build a website; how to iron a shirt; how to install Windows 7 etc.

Ensure that you are doing focused content that solves one problem. By doing so you should appropriately use keywords/phrases that your customer would type in to find you. For example, if you are a fitness instructor and you specialise in weight loss through aerobic exercise you could do a video titled “How to lose weight by running”. Ensure you include those keywords/phrases that your customers use to increase your chances of being found.

Long tail keyword search (i.e. longer phrases that are more specific) are becoming increasingly popular. Don’t be afraid to be more detailed in your titles and to try and rank high for long tail keyword searches.

2. Video Description:

The biggest mistake in YouTube marketing is the video description. Google spiders can’t crawl your video as they can only crawl text. Therefore they rely on the video description to give an idea of the video content.

Don’t be afraid to write too much. Treat the description as a mini blog and use keywords/phrases related to the video. By doing this you will give the spiders a better idea of what your video is about and where to rank you in the SERPs.

3. Tags:

Tags are often done incorrectly. Again you need to tag your videos with appropriate keywords/phrases that you think your customers would type into a Google/YouTube search. Include your name/company name, your location if you think it’s appropriate (or if you’re competing for geographical dominance in your industry).

A common mistake is that people don’t close their tags. If you don’t close your tags properly then the word will not appear in your tag section and therefore your video won’t be searchable for that word/phrase. (It’s always a good idea to check your tags to see that they have in fact been done properly).

You tag your words by enclosing them using the speech marks (“) or by putting a comma (,) after the word.

Examples of tagging using speech marks – “Marketing” “Social Media” “Bradford” (Notice how you need to ‘close the tag’ by ensuring you place the ” at the beginning and end of the word.)

Examples of tagging using commas – Marketing, social media, Bradford, (Notice how you only need the comma element once just after the word.)

4. Transcribe:

Because the spiders can only crawl text it means that they can’t crawl your video i.e. what you’re saying. This is a problem because you could be saying so many great keyword-rich sentences that would be ideal for search engines to read. Fear not!

YouTube has a function where you can transcribe your videos therefore giving your video subtitles (i.e. text that the spiders can now crawl). By transcribing your videos, each word becomes searchable and boosts your SEO dramatically. It may be a bit tedious to transcribe all your videos but it will be definitely worth the rewards.

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8 Ways Charities Can Use Instagram

finishercreative — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:36:26 +0000

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Instagram is the simple photo sharing app that took the world by storm (so much so that Facebook decided to buy it for $1 billion - story via Mashable). Instagram has successfully created an online community that love to tell stories visually. Brands, businesses and charities are now following suit. Instagram provides charities some interesting and dynamic opportunities to engage their audience.

Here are 8 ways that Charities can use Instagram:

1. Photos Of Your Good Work:

What better way to demonstrate the good work you are doing by taking some pictures and customising them using Instagram’s awesome filters. You can get very creative and take some very thought-provoking/funny/arty pics.

2. Your Team:

In the online world people like the human touch. If you are a charity then that applies even more. Charities do well by connecting on a personal/human level with their audience. People like to see who is doing the work. Take some pics of your staff and the office where you work. If you are working on cool projects in the office, take some pics and involve your audience. Make then feel they are a part of the process. This ‘inclusive’ mindset is key for charities online.

3. Your Volunteers:

What a cool way to celebrate your volunteers – taking some cool snaps of them for the world to see. By doing this you ensure you show your volunteers they are appreciated and not taken for granted. This can also be a great way to inspire others to volunteer. In marketing we call this ‘Social Proof’ – if loads of people are doing it then I will too. It’s ‘going along with the crowd’.

4. Build Online Communities:

Instagrammers are able to create tight-knit communities. Focus on trying to build a strong online community who are passionate about your charity and the work you do. Engage with them if they comment on your pics. Talk to your supporters. By being human and humanising your brand, you are more able to build a strong community and this can attract even more people and money to your cause.

5. Live Photos During Fundraising Events:

If you’re a charity then you will most likely have fundraising events. Take live photos during your events for people to see. If you want to go a step further, invite your online community to come to the event and also take live pictures. You’d be surprised how people passionately get behind a cause and that will engage in a way like this.

6. Live Projects:

If you have a long running project (building a school/hospital, or educational programme with school children) take photos during the actual life span of the project. Pictures can say a thousand words. We all know people would rather not read 1,000 words so pictures seem like a really good idea.

7. Hashtags:

Instagram uses hashtags too (similar to Twitter). Ask your supporters to adopt a hashtag that you create and this will help you further spread your cause.

8. Competitions:

People love competitions. Instagram is a great way to hold competitions. Classics like “Caption This” for a funny picture and a photo competition are great ways to add a bit more fun engagement with your audience.

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How NLP Trainers Can Use Social Media

finishercreative — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:42:01 +0000

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More and more NLP trainers are using social media effectively to strengthen their brand, communicate with their existing customers and build solid fan bases. And why wouldn’t they? Social media gives you the opportunity to target and engage with your customers in real time and attract many new customers – all for free! Social media is an essential part of your online marketing strategy and it’s one aspect you definitely want to get right.

Here is how NLP Trainers can use social media:

1. Have Great Content:

In the online world, people are searching for content that solves their problems/needs. Now people expect to have a choice of good content that answers their questions. In the online world, whoever has the content, wins. In the NLP industry, people will have a wide variety of needs; performance, success, phobias, therapy etc. The best thing an NLP trainer can do is to create good content around these topics and focus on solving their customer’s problems and needs.

The strength of your social media marketing is only as good as the content that you provide.

2. Content In Different Formats:

It is important to replicate your content in different formats (videos, blogs, podcasts, white papers, eBooks etc) because people are different and like to consume content in different ways. Not everyone likes blog posts but they might watch your video. Not everyone likes videos but they might like to listen to your podcasts.

3. Be Human:

In the online world, we are to engage with our audience, not advertise at them.

You may have heard this phrases many times but what does it actually mean? How do you engage with someone? Think of it this way – the word ‘engaging’ has the connotation of two individuals being involved with each other. There is a connotation that both parties are willingly involved with each other, rather than out of coercion or obligation. And if I’m honest the main connotation is that both parties are entirely human demonstrating typical human traits – conversation, discovery, relationship etc.

To ‘engage’ with your audience means that you have to treat them for what they are – human. And you must act like what you are – human.

There is no use trying to act like you are a mysterious Wizard of Oz character hiding behind a big curtain because in the online world, that puts people off as it doesn’t build trust. Trust is eternal. Trust exists in the real world and the online world. Humans have a need to trust humans.

4. Be Consistent:

Inconsistency is the biggest killer to your social media efforts. If you don’t keep active then you won’t stay in people’s minds. Consistency is the key to success. Some things will take time before you see any returns. Keep at it. Don’t stop.

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