Pam Ivey International

Tag: online selling

  • Invite: Transition from Nurturing Your Audience to Directly Asking for the Sale

    Invite: Transition from Nurturing Your Audience to Directly Asking for the Sale

    In the marketing funnel, the ‘Invite’ stage is pivotal. It’s where you transition from nurturing your audience to directly asking for the sale. This stage requires tact and strategy to convert your nurtured leads into customers effectively. Here are three actionable strategies to master the Invite stage in your marketing campaign:

     

    1. Craft Compelling Calls-to-Action (CTAs): Your call-to-action is the gateway between customer interest and customer action. Make sure your CTAs are clear, compelling, and convey a sense of urgency or benefit. Use action-oriented language that encourages immediate response, like “Buy Now”, “Get Started Today”, or “Limited Time Offer”. Place your CTAs strategically within your content, making them stand out visually and contextually. For email campaigns, this might mean a brightly colored button or a link at the end of a persuasive message.

    2. Offer Limited-Time Promotions or Discounts: Create a sense of urgency through time-sensitive offers. This could be a discount, a special bundle, or exclusive access to a product or service. These promotions encourage people to act quickly to take advantage of the offer before it expires. Highlight the value they are getting through this limited-time deal, and make sure to communicate the deadline clearly in your messaging.

    3. Provide Social Proof and Testimonials: Trust is a major factor in purchasing decisions. Include customer testimonials, case studies, or user reviews in your sale invitation. When potential customers see that others have had positive experiences with your product or service, it builds credibility and trust. You can include these testimonials in your emails, on your landing pages, or as part of your social media content. Real stories and endorsements can be powerful motivators in convincing others to make a purchase.

    Effective execution of the Invite stage involves a fine balance between persuasion and customer respect. Your aim is to guide the decision-making process, not to pressure it. By implementing these strategies, you can increase your conversion rates, turning your nurtured leads into satisfied customers. Remember, a successful Invite stage is about making the purchasing process as seamless and compelling as possible for your potential customers.

  • Back End Sales Techniques

    Back End Sales Techniques

    Selling to your existing customers is one of the most valuable skills you could develop as a marketer.

    Because your customers already have trust built up with you and you can market to them over a longer period of time, back-end sales techniques are a little different than front-end techniques.

    Most Importantly: Have a Good First Product

    More important than any other technique is to have a stellar first product.

    If someone buys a $20 product from you and the quality is shoddy, chances are they’re not going to buy a $200 product from you.

    On the other hand, if they spend $20 with you and the quality is off the charts, they’re going to be much more willing to spend $200 with you next time.

    Thank You Page Upsells

    Selling someone a second product when they’ve already purchased is one of the most effective techniques around.

    This was one of the most successful techniques for McDonald’s. You’ve heard the line: “Would you like fries with that?”

    Likewise, if you were selling bed sheets, you might ask after a customer placed their order if they’d also like pillow covers.

    When someone decides to buy something, they’ve switched into “buying mode.” They’re much more likely to buy something else at that moment than any other.

    Take advantage of that with the Thank You Page technique.

    Cross Selling During Checkout

    Another common technique is to sell other related products during the checkout process.

    This is slightly riskier than selling on the Thank You page, as you risk alienating some buyers by trying to sell them more products before they can purchase what they wanted to purchase.

    That said, the gains from using this technique often offset the risk. You have to test it to see what the real-world results are, of course.

    One good example of this is GoDaddy. Before you checkout, they’ll try to sell you all kinds of products, but it’s still fairly easy to checkout and buy a domain with them.

    Email Marketing

    Email marketing is the ultimate back-end selling technique. If you can’t make the sale today, you can make it tomorrow – Or next week, next month or even next year.

    If you have your customer’s email, aim to build a relationship with them by sending them useful emails that they’ll actually want to read.

    Over time, they’ll come to trust you. Once you have their trust, all you need is great copywriting that gets them excited about a product to make a sale.

    These back-end sales techniques are used by both giant companies like Amazon.com to small mom and pop online shops to great success. Apply them to your own business and you may be shocked at just how effective they truly are.