In the world of digital marketing, traffic gets a lot of attention. In fact, it seems like you can’t go anywhere online without reading a traffic metaphor invoking red and green lights, rush hour, and things of that nature.
Don’t get me wrong. Traffic is important. But ultimately, it’s not the amount of traffic you get that will determine the success of your business.
Conversions are the name of the game.
And guess what? I have good news for you. You can stop beating your head against a wall trying to figure out how to get more people to your site. Instead, I’m going to show you how to take the traffic you already have and increase your conversions to grow your business.
Buckle up and let’s hit the road! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Simplify Your Forms 
There’s lots of evidence showing that simple forms get more conversions than complex form. In fact, removing a single field from your form could boost your conversions by as much as 26%.
As of 2020, the average number of fields for online forms is five. I recommend paring your forms down to include only the information you need. In many cases, you will need only the lead’s email address and first and last names.
That said, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask for additional information if it is necessary. The idea is to make your forms easy to complete to minimize the risk of a potential lead becoming annoyed and navigating away before they have submitted the form.

Add a Pop-Up to Your Site 
Pop-ups have a bad reputation, but I think it’s largely an unfair reputation. Why? Because some annoying folks overdo it, setting up repeated and intrusive pop-ups that lead to frustration and irritation.
The key is to add a single pop-up to encourage people to sign up for your list or fill out a lead form. You should time it to appear 30 seconds or a minute after a visitor lands on your page. That way, they’ll have time to read some of your content before it appears. An alternative is to trigger the pop-up when a lead scrolls to a certain point on your page.
For the best results, test multiple offers to get people to fill out your lead form and then stick with the one that gets the best results. Also, make it extremely easy for people to close out of the pop-up, but make sure to have a static call to action on the page where they can get your offer later if they want to.

Eliminate Excess Content
A lot of businesses make the mistake of using the “everything but the kitchen sink” approach to web design. They have a lot of bells and whistles on their landing pages and they don’t realize that much of the content serves as a distraction from the main objective: conversion.
The best way to identify content that’s not serving your goals is to use a heat map or a click map. You’ll be able to spot the sections of your page that aren’t grabbing visitors’ attention.
The goal should be a simple, focused page with a clean, easy-to-navigate design. Making simplicity your target will make it easier for potential leads to learn what they  need to know about your product or service and to get to the point where they’re ready to fill out your form.

Add a Third-Party Signup Service 
You have probably noticed that a lot of websites have an option allowing visitors to sign in using a third party. The most common options are Facebook and Google.
I understand the desire to have customers create a unique log-in for your site but allowing them to use an existing account to sign in removes a potential obstacle to conversion. 86% of web users say they’re bothered by having to create a new account.
Social log-ins simplify the conversion process. You can add a social log-in using a simple plugin such as Facebook Login to your WordPress site. Research shows that using social log-in can increase your conversions by up to 20%.

Improve Your Call to Action
There’s nothing wrong with a simple call to action. After all, “Sign Up” and “Subscribe” can get the job done. The problem is, they’re just not exciting.
One easy way to increase your conversions is to spice up the calls to action on your site. Here are some suggestions and statistics:

• Turning your CTA from a link to a button can increase conversions by 45%.
• Adding an arrow to direct people to your CTA can increase click rates by 26%.
• Using first-person wording (Schedule my free consultation) can increase conversions by as much as 90%.
• Putting your CTA below the fold (meaning below the part of the page that visitors can see without scrolling) can increase your conversions.

One explanation for the last statistic is that people prefer to learn as much as they can about an offer before completing a form.

Address Potential Objections 
It’s a marketing truism that your content must overcome obstacles in a potential customer’s mind to make a sale. That’s just as true when the goal is conversion as it is for sales.
Ask yourself what the most common objections to filling out your form are. Some may be solved by programming – for example, by reducing the number of fields in your form. However, some may be issues that you haven’t addressed on your page.
Here are some examples:

• Overcome a price-related objection by offering a money-back guarantee.
• Overcome fears about a product’s effectiveness by adding reviews and testimonials to your page.
• Overcome FOMO objections by comparing your product directly to other options on the market.

You get the idea, I hope. The more you can do to alleviate potential concerns up front – before a potential client completes your form – the more likely it is that you’ll see a jump in your conversion numbers.
Does any of this mean that you shouldn’t try to attract more traffic? Of course not. But you may find that you get better results if you use the methods I’ve outlined here to convert more of the traffic you’re already getting.

 

Facebook Messenger is a tool many of us use for instant messaging with our friends – but did you know that it’s a useful marketing tool, as well? It has become one of my favorite ways to connect with existing and potential clients on social media.
There are some useful options included with Facebook Messenger that you can use to improve customer service, promote your products, and more.
Not convinced? Here are some numbers that might do the trick.

• Open rates for Messenger marketing are 70%  higher than for email marketing.
• There are more than 300 million active bots on Facebook.
• Facebook Messenger has over 2 million monthly downloads in the United States.
• Facebook users exchange more than 20 billion messages with business every month.

Those numbers are impressive by any standard. So, now that I’ve convinced you – you are convinced, right? – here are 5 creative and easy ways to use Facebook Messenger for marketing.

#1: Remind Customers About Appointments 
If you allow clients to book appointments with you on Facebook using the “Book Now” button, then you should be using Facebook Messenger to follow up and remind them about their appointments.
To turn on the button, simply click the blue call to action button on your business page. Choose the “Book with You” option and fill out your appointment preferences. When you’re done, go to your Inbox and click the Automated Responses menu.
Scroll down until you see the Follow-Up options, then click to enable Appointment Reminders. Messenger will send an automated reminder 24 hours before the scheduled appointment.

#2: Start a Conversation 
Do you have a killer piece of content to promote? If you do, then I strongly recommend using the “Get Messages” feature on your next Facebook post.
When you create a post on Facebook, you’ll see a list of options below the message space. One of them is “Get Messages” and it allows the people who see your post to click to send you a message.
The best use of this feature is to promote a lead magnet. When someone wants the content you’re promoting, they’ll click the Send Message button to request the content. You can then get their contact information and send them a pdf of the content or redirect them to your download page.
If you don’t have content to promote, you can still use this feature to allow people to request more information about your business. It’s a great way to initiate a conversation. Just keep in mind that Facebook has rules about how often businesses may send messages to people. Make sure you stick to their guidelines.

#3: Answer Frequently Asked Questions
Most businesses have Frequently Asked Questions on their websites, but you can use Facebook Messenger to provide responses to your followers as well.
To set up FAQ on Facebook, you’ll need to go to your Facebook inbox and scroll down to Automated Responses. Then, enable the option for Frequently Asked Questions.
You’ll get a screen that allows you to tap a plus sign to add questions. It works a little differently from a regular FAQ. When someone messages your business page, they’ll get a list of FAQs and can tap the question they want answered. When they do, they’ll get the response you entered.
To make the best use of FAQ on Facebook Messenger, follow these best practices:

• Keep your answers short and to the point.
• Ensure that information provided matches the information on your website.
• Make it clear that the response is automated.
• Double check all links to make sure they work.

Setting up automated FAQ is a good way to make sure that questions are answered quickly. It will also help turn on the badge that lets customers know that you respond quickly to messages.

#4: Message People Who RSVP to Your Event
If you use Facebook to create events and invite people to them, you can set up Facebook Messenger to allow attendees to message you and to start conversations with them.
When you set up an event, you’ll seen an option that says, “Allow Guests to Message [Your Page] About Reservation.” Once enabled, you’ll get an automated message whenever someone makes a reservation for your event. You’ll be able to respond, thus starting a conversation with an attendee who may turn into a paying customer.
Of course, this option works in reverse too. Attendees will be able to message you directly with questions about the event.

#5: Create Ads Targeted to People Who Have Messaged Your Page 
While all the above methods for using Facebook Messenger can be effective, I’ve saved the best for last. You can use Custom Audience feature on Facebook to create ads targeted to people who have messaged your business page in the past.
You can choose any time frame. Simply click the “Add People to Your Audience” option and then select “People who sent a message to your page” option. Next to it, you can fill in your chosen time frame. I recommend going back a full year unless there’s some reason that you want a narrower time frame.
You can get even more detailed if you want to. For example, if you’ve ever used Facebook Messenger to conduct a survey, you can create ads targeted to specific responses. If you gave your respondents four options, you could create ads targeted to each response.
What I like about this tool is that it offers a very affordable way to engage in targeted marketing. When you take the high open rate for Facebook Messenger into consideration, there’s a good chance that your targets will see your ad. That’s not something you can count on with traditional Facebook ads that display on the News Feed.
Facebook Messenger is more than a fun way to connect with friends. If you use it properly, it can be a powerful marketing tool that allows you to connect with your customers on a personal level, boost your conversions, and increase your profits to grow your business.