the conversionista

Secrets to build extreme customer loyalty

Guy Kawasaki wrote a nice summary of his friends book "The Apple Experience: Secrets to Building Insanely Great Customer Loyalty" (Carmine Gallo). It all seems so simple. Yet we all know it is in fact quit difficult to get it all right!

To me, most important rules they point out are the first ones. Stop Selling stuff and let your vision shine through every detail. Sounds easy, but only the great can make it work.

When Steve Jobs first started the Apple Store he did not ask the question, “How will we grow our market share from 5 to 10 percent?” Instead he asked, “How do we enrich people’s lives?” Think about your vision.

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Read more: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/#ixzz1s0HZfeBm

Buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Apple-Experience-Building-Insanely/

Scrolling websites are back

In the nineties we used to have one page, scrolling websites. Then, I guess stimulated by designers who were used to be limited by paper sizes, scrolling suddenly was passé. Anything important had to be visible without scrolling. Clicking became the mantra. Now, finally (I think due to the easy scrolling iPad) scrolling is fashionable again, even horizontally.

Chris Lake points out 14 great scrolling websites on the econsultancy blog. A joy to watch. If you're concerned about SEO on a one page website: don't be: search engines adapt almost as quickly as humans to new realities.

Scott Parker on SEO Desk:

Factors such as the size of the file, load speed, ease of navigation, keywords, descriptions, indexing, and web crawlers all play a role in the decision-making process. A single page website optimizes the efficiency of each of these elements.

Sources:

http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/9582-14-fantastic-scrolling-websites-that-tell-a-story
http://seodesk.org/the-seo-benefits-of-a-single-page-web-design/

Status quo does not cut it, customers expect better!

According to IBM (via Mitch Liebermann's blog post), complexity in ICT caused that $2.5 Trillion – 70% of the global IT budget – is spent just making sure the status quo works. That leaves only 30% to make a difference, and customers expect you to make a difference!

That's why I believe in cloud services and the concept of specialized solutions that integrate in a made-to-measure collection just for you. That way you keep ICT simple and yet unique. You just combine your own preferred set of tools and spend your time and money on your customers!

Source: http://www.sword-ciboodle.com/blog/2012/04/ibm-puresystems/

Forrester: Enterprise social software will become widely adopted

IDG News Service - Enterprise social collaboration software, which offer Facebook and Twitter-like capabilities adapted for workplaces, will grow strongly in the coming years, eclipsing demand for more traditional communications and collaboration products, according to a new study from Forrester Research. It will become a $6.4 billion market in 2016 according to Forrester.

Forrester believes that a new generation of social enterprise apps will finally deliver the productivity businesses desire by systematically grouping and rating people, information, and processes required to answer business needs.

The article names the usual suspects like Yammer and Jive. I would like to add Sciomino, a fresh Dutch Enterprise Social Software player, to this list.

Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9222367/Forrester_Enterprise_social_software_to_become_a_6.4_billion_market_in_2016

Seth Godin at Gartner 360: Anticipate personal and relevant messages...

Anticipate personal and relevant messages - stop shouting at your customers. Stop trying to reach everyone, and figure out who cares about your message. Find your tribe!

Apart from focus: Tune in to your individual customers!

Source: http://www.pega.com/community/pega-blog/gartner-360-and-crm-for-marketing-in-2012

Increase lead conversion on your website

As I am part of the Leadlabs team, I spend a lot of time thinking and advising on the importance and the optimization of landing pages. Good landing pages are crucial when it comes to lead conversion. Why? Because landing pages attract the already interested visitor.

Bryan Eisenberg:

Most websites don’t have a traffic problem, they have a conversion problem

A good landing page

A good landing page is an effective landing page. To be effective it must have a clear message, it should relate to the visitor's pain and show your answer to that pain. Show the value of your proposition, be personal and build trust. And all this finished with a call to action.

Lead nurturing

It doesn't stop here! Once your visitor is converted to a genuinely interested lead, you need to nurture it. Show that you care! Communicate in a personal and authentic way. Relate to their interests and questions instead of selling your product.

Traffic versus conversion

At SES New York 2012 Bryan Eisenberg sharply said "Most websites don’t have a traffic problem, they have a conversion problem". While traffic seems to be the focus of most businesses, conversion rates stick to an average 2%!

In terms of budget: if companies spend $92 on traffic, they spend a mere $1 on lead conversion!

On the B2C blog Chris Horton clearly describes how to build an effective landing page. My advice is to start building your landing pages today and to at least give conversion more attention then it's getting now!

Sources:

Brafton news on SES 2012
Chris Horton on Landing Pages on B2C blog

Get personal with your prospects and customers

It seems to all come together to a much more personal approach. We were used to that in the offline world, but Social Media, Social CRM and targeted Inbound Marketing automation make this an online trend as well.

Read "How social CRM will change the way brands deal with customers" on Econsultancy to see how Social CRM is taking over and embraces the personal approach.

Customer data can be segmented by the obvious things like age, gender, and location, but add social channels into the mix and you can add in things that let you segment and target customers more effectively, like interests and social influence.

It’s possible now. The technology exists. But to do social CRM well requires a clear customer strategy based on more than just sector, demographic and region. It means seeing every customer as an individual, not part of a segment. ‘Knowing your customer’ has never been so accessible.

Source: http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/9201-how-social-crm-will-change-the-way-brands-deal-with-customers

Kritiek en discussie voor een beter product

Een interessant artikel in de Ode van deze maand over de meest effectieve methode om tot goed werk, of een goed product te komen. Niet het immer gelauwerde brainstormen, maar kritische discussies met een constructief element blijken het best te werken!

In het Ode artikel wordt beschreven hoe dit in de praktijk werkt bij Pixar Animation Studios.

Niemand vindt het leuk om de dag te beginnen met aanhoren wat hij de daarvoor allemaal fout heeft gedaan. Maar we weten dat als je het beste product wilt maken, je ook de wisselwerking moet accepteren. Aldus Bobby Podesta, hoofd animatie Toy Story 3.

Dit maakt nieuwsgierig naar het boek "Uit het niets" dat 5 april verschijnt. Het artikel is een fragment uit dit boek.

Voorproefje Ode artikel

Het belang van goede content

Hubspot heeft een interessant artikel over het merkwaardige verschijnsel dat 'lead nurturing' zo goed kan werken, maar nog maar beperkt wordt toegepast. Je hebt namelijk genoeg goede content, artikelen, studies, business cases, etc, nodig om de juiste opvolging te kunnen geven.

According to Forrester Research (DemandGen report), companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales ready leads at a 33% lower cost. If this is the case, then why are only 49% of marketers taking advantage of lead nurturing tools, as evident by Loopfuse's Marketing Automation Study?

Source: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31840/How-to-Tailor-Lead-Nurturing-Content-to-Suit-Individual-Personas.aspx#ixzz1pBJY7gia

How to convert captured leads to sales qualified leads

Once leads are caputured they can be nurtured by sales automation. However, technology alone will not bring captured leads through to Sales Qualified Leads (SQL) and into pipeline.

Interesting read: "Love every Lead" on B2C blog.

On the very same blog a cool story on lead nurturing which handles both the technology and the to be taken steps involved.

An effective lead nurturing campaign can increase the number of qualified prospects in your pipeline and decrease the time a possible client spends in a sales cycle. But even more important than this, a great nurture program can demonstrate to your potential customer base that you are trusted source of information.

 

Source http://www.business2community.com/