Are 7 Thousand Clicks Enough To Sell?

Marketers for over a century developed creative techniques to lure sales  from potential buyers. LL Bean catalog is a great example of sophisticated sales techniques. 

The blog is slowly taking shape. I started out with the introduction of 7 Thousand Clicks. Then I added a few book posts just to get going and grease the skids. The new blogger design seems like a simplification and upgrade to the one from two years ago. That's good news for me. Now for the subject at hand. If you were given 7 Thousand clicks, would you be able to sell product? tell a story? or influence someone to "vote" or "contribute" to your cause? The question came up recently with an old client. He was frustrated with insufficient sales from his blog I wrote. He was also frustrated that the early burst in activity a few months ago, which fizzled out recently. Today's blogs, social media sites, traditional sites and newsletters are expected to replace advertising. If not bringing in ready buyers with money in their hands, at least starting the buying process (funnel). Yet a buying process, even for a simple IT service needs more then just interesting blog articles and a list of features.

Traditional internet statistics experts are good at getting you people to come (clicks). They use SEO (Search Engine Optimization), advertising (i.e. Google AdWords, Doubleclick, Facebook ads, etc.) and links on outside sites. Today, social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and Linked-In are also a good source of potential customers. These are used like blogs and advertisement to bring in clicks. Yet, this is not enough for the internet marketer and seller. To sell, and sell effectively, the presentation of products needs to be clear and persuasive. In the world of marketing and sales, there are a few classic, established elements that help get a customer to buy. I should add, if you don't think 7 Thousand Clicks are enough, that's fine. There are many different ways to test and manage the number of buyers from each thousand clicks. There are also many experts which can optimize (improve) your "conversion ratios": essentially increase the number of buyers for each thousand clicks. Here is a short list of the top elements in classical marketing:

• Story: these in traditional product blogs come as "Case Studies". Stories are familiar to everyone. If you are a bank IT manager, and you read about another bank manager who found a storage with encryption solution useful. AND it meets the new regulation for bank record archiving. Let's say, you are in heaven!
• Offer: this is a precise package-price-bonus-deadline... etc. If you don't have an offer, many people just don't have the drive to even ask for a quote or to see if what you have is useful to them. You always need to offer in terms of the customer expectation. The offer depends on other marketing mix "elements".
• Package: this is a crucial element in the marketing mix which I see missing in many internet only product sites. If you are offering a backup service, in a few package sized (i.e. 1 TB, 5 TB, etc.), clearly describe the package and it's key features. In site hosting, you always see a table with three to five packages. Even is you only have a few different features, put check marks in the boxes and give the buyer options. This element has been discussed and developed by marketers more than anything else. There are plenty of books and articles to use as references.
• Price: you may be laughing right now, but at first look, about 50% of all sites do not mention any prices. They don't tell the customer that your product is 35% less expensive than the market average. This is probably the most critical element to get right. It will help sales more than anything else. I will give examples and references on pricing in future posts.
• Place / Location: this may seem like a obvious element, yet in many products there is no indication where the product is located. If you buy storage, you may need to know if the server is in Europe or if you can order a package hosted in Europe. Make sure you tell the customer where, when and how the product works. Sometimes it may be important to the use of the product. Customers may not take the time to ask for clarification here.
• Call to Action: Now that you got everything in front of the buyer, close the deal. This is what you see with end of the season sale (50% off, who can resist?) Closing a deal is not easy. Price reductions are typical, but they do not always speak to the buyer. With some products, especially technical, complex, and abstract, price is not a customer's concern (he is not the one who pays).