Sometimes I have experiences with clients and prospects that give me an epiphany – some realization about the knowledge I take for granted that can be useful to other business leaders and entrepreneurs like you.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking with a gentleman who found Biz Ops Rwanda via an online search. The gentleman from South Africa called me on WhatsApp and explained he’s had difficulty finding reliable help with digital marketing in his area, but his business depends on it. This challenge led him to Rwanda and Biz Ops. And it’s all possible because we can be found online by anyone in the world who can benefit from our services.
As I explained to this soon-to-be client how Google My Business, online ads, social media, search engine optimization, and his website work hand-in-hand, I realized I was also explaining the process by which he’d found me (and by which all of your online customers find you).
So, I decided that the education I provided this client was the same education every modern business leader needs.
The premise is simple: People who use the internet to find and purchase products and services want to avoid risks and stress and make good purchasing decisions.
The following information will help you understand that process and how your digital marketing tools work together for your good!
Digital Marketing
First, you must understand that acquiring customers using online marketing involves several moving parts.
A Website
At the foundation of all online marketing is a website or landing page. Whether from social media, paid advertising, or Google Business Profiles, interested prospects need somewhere to get more information about the company and services provided than they can find on your Google Business Profile or social media pages. The content on your website determines when and where your business appears in online searches.
The ultimate job of a website is not to make people interested in purchasing the services you offer but to attract, educate, entice, and deliver to those already in the market for those products and services.
Other Online Assets Pointing to the Website
Assets such as social media profiles, paid advertisements, business profiles, other websites or platforms, and search engine listings tell internet users which sites and pages may have information relevant to their search query.
However, all these assets should point to your website, where your content, offerings, and sales, marketing, and operational strategies can convince the prospect (once and for all) that your business can meet their expectations.
Off-web Promotion
Promoting your website offline via business cards, flyers, and other offline communications like email, WhatsApp, and SMS drives traffic. It also brings your offline contacts online, where they can learn about your business, determine if it can solve their problem and meet their needs (or that of someone they know), and engage your services.
So, a fully functional, informative website is the foundation of most (maybe all) digital marketing strategies, but it’s only one part of the complete picture—an integral part.
The Online Customer Journey
It is not uncommon for business leaders to have given little thought to how customers find companies to do business with online. Taking a few minutes to think through this can help decrypt this digital marketing and digitization process to which we must all adapt.
But first, take a moment and think about how you make purchasing decisions. For home or personal purchases? For business purchases? How is it similar or different to the online customer journey described below? Are you attributing how you buy offline to how your online market buys? And is this helping or hurting your business?
Here’s what the average online customer’s journey looks like.
- Initial Search: They search online for information about something that solves a problem or meets a need they are currently facing. Maybe they want a new shirt or to repair their roof. Perhaps this customer is a business customer who is thinking of incorporating AI into their marketing strategy and is trying to learn more before making a business decision.
- Gathering Information: They find information to learn how the “thing” works, what’s available, what the costs are, and other preliminary information.
- Discovering Solutions: While searching, they see a Google ad, organic search result, social media page, review website, or platform stating what appears to be relevant or related to their search query and click on it.
- Evaluating Sources: They hope the link will take them to a page that provides information to help them better understand their problem or find a company, person, or website that can help them solve it or meet their needs.
- Deeper Research: If the source is indirect, such as a social media, a Google profile, or a review website, most consumers will continue their search for a company website to learn more about the offerings, reliability, capabilities, and how to best engage the organization for the quickest and most convenient path to solving their problem or filling their need.
- Engagement Decision: If they are satisfied with their findings (they believe the company might effectively meet their needs), they will take steps to engage the company further.
The company then bears the burden of affirming the potential customers’ observations, which gives them the confidence to contact the business in the first place. At this point, the potential customer decides that your company might meet their expectations; otherwise, they would not contact you. If your business shows signs that it cannot meet those expectations, the sale will likely not happen unless you convince them otherwise.
The typical online customer acquisition journey involves a series of consumer confidence-building observations and confirmations that the buyer is making a good purchasing decision that will solve their problem and meet their expectations with the least risk, burden, and/or stress possible.
Your brand and marketing strategy (online and offline) must:
- Align with your target customers’ expectations.
- Be visible and accessible to the target customer, finding them where they search, learn, shop, and gather information.
- Cater to their need to feel like their purchasing decision is good, safe, well-informed, and convenient.
Remember to reach out if you have questions, want to work with us, or have topics you think I should cover.
