As pay per click (PPC) costs rise, businesses search for new ways to save money yet still attract visitors to their landing pages. They need a strategy for not only channeling traffic to their websites but also winning customer loyalty and repeat visits.
Too often PPC advertising companies focus only on increasing traffic. Growing website traffic is important, but the real goal of any Internet marketing strategy should be increasing sales. Traffic alone will not make your website successful.
Collect email addresses
In the bricks-and-mortar business world, the rule of thumb is that it takes at least seven touches (or interactions) with a potential customer before you can close the sale.
Novice PPC campaign managers often don’t realize that this “rule of seven” holds true for the Internet as well. A visitor will not usually make a purchase on your site on the first visit. That is why it’s very important to get each visitor’s email address.
Of course you have to give them a good reason to provide the information. Once you’ve done so, you can use your database of email addresses to send updates and attractive offers to these potential customers.
Create a community
When your email database is ready, the next step is for the PPC agency to create an online group, community, or club. This adds value for the prospective customers.
There are a number of ways to achieve this interaction. A forum will help users communicate with one another and create customer-to-customer relationships that motivate them to return to your site.
Bringing in experts to voice opinions on subjects closely related to your site’s service or product can validate its content. Question-and-answer sessions with these experts can generate even greater interest.
Cross promotion pays off
Most professionals and experts are happy to participate in cross promotion because it gives them the opportunity to get in front of their target audiences and freely publicize. Since the experts interviewed on your site will often have their own databases of contacts, combining resources with them can be mutually beneficial. This technique, known as cross promotion, can raise your website’s search rankings if you share links between your site and the expert’s site.
Big companies spend millions of dollars on promotions to attract visitors to their sites. Yet what it really takes to thrive on the fast-evolving Internet is innovation, and innovation doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. A new, creative idea offered by an experienced and reliable PPC advertising service can be all it takes to attract your target audience.