Do you know that digital marketing is one of the most efficient ways of getting your product or service message to targeted potential clients at the moment of their decision making process? So the next question is how do you get started?

 

Tip #1

 

Identify the moments when the decision is most likely to be made.

 

For the first time ever, shoppers are going to the web for most of their purchases. The first step is based on the most important part of this process being there at the moment of decision.  The only way to be there is to identify these key moments of decision.  These are the make or break moments that you cannot afford to lose.  Make a map of the most likely paths customers take to your door.  How do they learn about your product or service?  What would inspire them to look at your offerings in the first place, or the offerings of your competitors?  Look at all the angles from those who might buy at the first spur of the moment impulse to those who will take a long methodical approach to their moment of decision and all types in between.

 

When you know the paths most often taken to choosing a product or service such as you own, you can make sure your road signs, helpful hints, inspiring pictures and previous client feedback are ready and waiting to guide new clients’ journeys.

 

Tip #2

 

Identify and understand your customer’s needs within the moment of decision.

 

Ask yourself the following questions:

 

• What is the customer looking for in this moment?
  • Competitive pricing?
  • Convenience?
  • Trying to solve a problem?
  • Features?
  • A clear and concise message?
  • Product details?
  • Positive online reviews?
  • Well established brand/reputation?
• What would make this moment easier/faster for them?
• What message would be most helpful in this moment?
• What experience would be most enjoyable/helpful/engaging at this moment?

 

Don’t forget to ask yourself the tougher questions as well:

 

• What might distract the client at this moment?
• What might make them pass by on this product or service offering?
• What might cost us this all important moment of attention we have gained?

 

Once you have these and other relevant questions answered you can move on to the next step.

 

Tip #3

 

Deliver the right experience.

 

First, remember, we are still talking about “in the moment”.  Make it easy to buy your product or service. Since we have mapped out lots of different potential moments the experience needs to fit the needs of each of those times.  Here we can leverage contextual signals such as time of the day and location to deliver experiences that feel tailored for the moment.  This might be as simple as making sure it’s easy for clients to see that your product or service is readily available near their location for pick-up or even delivery to their door.  Another way is real time question answering services online to help finalize that “in the moment” decision.  Some clients need to know that if they contact you a real person in their own country will be there ready to help walk them through finalizing the decision, or just that your technology is user friendly to order through.  Think about your various types of clients/customers and be instantly ready to meet their needs with a world class experience they feel instantly at home with and not frustrated or challenged by in the moment.

 

 

Tip #4

 

Watch your competition.

 

Analyze and research what others are doing in the industry to find out what’s working and what’s not, and use that insight to its fullest advantage. How is your competition marketing their brand? How are they reaching their customers? What do they do wrong? Use that data to improve your brand.

 

 

So how can you measure all this work in terms of overall experience and ROI?

 

Did you know that 94% of buyers’ research online for purchase decisions? Keep in mind, tracking other forms of marketing are almost as reliable as gambling, but digital marketing can deliver lots of reliable feedback about the whole experience.

Here are some of the top ways to measure your effectiveness and ROI.

 

1. Track page visits.  Google Analytics is free for website tracking. Use it! This can be a super valuable tool since it can tell you where potential clients stop in their journey with you so you can examine that step in the process and figure out why it has become a metaphorical speed bump for potential clients.  Take out the speed bumps by reworking content, clarifying information, adding real time assistance, optimizing for mobile devices, removing distractions, simplifying and otherwise better serving your clientele.  Make the path to your product or service so appealing and engaging yet simple and meaningful that it doesn’t make sense to go anywhere else.  Keep in the moment.
2. Use short well-crafted surveys to gain insight into your successful and unsuccessful site visits.  Keep questions short and to the point.  Respect the time and effort you are asking people to give and consider offering discounts to those who help you with this valuable information.
3. Track everything! Create a long term relationship. Ask “How did you hear about us?” You need to correlate their responses to the times when you are seeing the best overall clicks.  This helps you see what’s really working, and what’s less effective. Ask if they would be willing to refer you. You are looking for high numbers of engagements corresponding to high valued targeted connections.

 

Final Tip #5

On average, buyers are usually around the 20% range of the people looking at your brand but only about 7% are actually ready to buy at that moment. The rest are in your marketing pipeline. Keep them in your sights so you don’t lose them. Act like they are all ready to buy.

 

More than anything else, people are looking for and sending others to places where they had a great experience.  Places that, “in the moment” we are able to anticipate and fully engage each person to meet the need or desire seamlessly and with high quality. Places you want to send your friend and family so they can benefit as well.

 

It’s hard to pinpoint when that pain point comes into play for a buyer and they are now ready for help and guidance from an expert with the best experience for the customer. But you want to be there for them, answer questions, speak at events, write blog posts. Help wherever you can. Give away information that is low priority for you but high value to the customer.

 

Be visible, be connected, educate yourself, and be ready.

 

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