Posts Tagged ‘Selling’
How Online Marketing is Like a Bad Breakup
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Bestselling books and blockbuster movies are continually filled with the theme of heartache. That’s because most of us have, at one point or another, known the terrible, sinking feeling that comes with losing someone we love.
Of course, online marketers can feel the same way when they see their best customers slipping away.
While you might not feel the same kind of depression over a missing account or decreased orders that you do when you lose a lover, either one can keep you up at night wondering what went wrong. And, believe it or not, there are some similarities, both in the way you are left and what you can do about it.
Here are some bad breakup tips you can use to fix your online marketing plan:
Don’t expect your departed customer to tell you what went wrong. You can ask all you want, but once a customer is gone, they aren’t likely to give you the real reasons they left, so it’s going to be up to you to figure it out on your own.
The exception to this rule, of course, is when your company messed up badly enough that it’s obvious to everyone why they took their business elsewhere. In those cases, learn from the experience, improve your customer service, and move on.
You can learn a lot from your customer’s next partner. If you really want to know why someone isn’t buying from you anymore, figure out who they are buying from now. What does that vendor offer that you don’t?
Often, if you lose out on a big account, it isn’t that difficult to find out where it went. Or, if you’re noticing a trend of smaller orders dropping off, see if you can find out which of your competitors is benefiting the most. Either way, you’ll learn something about what they are offering that you can’t match.
Sometimes it really is about the simple things. Differences in price, a more competitive product, a cleaner online reputation, or even better site layouts and navigation structures can all be obvious reasons that a customer might stop responding to your online marketing efforts. The answers are usually simpler than we think, so look for the big explanations first.
Losing customers is tough, but the pain doesn’t last forever. Follow these tips, find out why your online business isn’t stacking up, and then use the knowledge to either win your buyers back or find new ones. And if you want even more powerful tools to bring in those new clients, or find the lost ones, Give us a call at Design Extensions. We’d love to hlep.
What do your website’s photos say about your business?
Monday, October 10th, 2011We rely on pictures to convey meaning and emotion, to tell stories where words fail, and the internet is no exception to this. Product images, biography photos, interesting photographic headers are all used on websites to help “sell”. It does not matter what your website is selling there is hardly a product or service out there that cannot benefit from great photos.
Customer Supplied Photographs
Perhaps you, or a relative is a hobbyist photographer. This is one of the lowest cost options for images on your website, but results do vary. With the availability and popularity of consumer digital cameras, this is a path many choose. While it is a lower cost option than hiring a professional photographer, but more personalized than stock photography it is also of the least “quality” options. Some of the industries best suited for using customer supplied photographs, are landscaping, construction, and other outdoor companies, where the ruld of photography are more forgiving and there is more available light.
Stock Photography
Stock photography is purchased for use on a website from a stock photography company. These companies; check, and sometimes rank images on quality and categorize them on many factors. It makes finding the “right” photo much easier. Prices for stock photography can range from a couple of dollars per image to upwards of $100 for very high quality work, or work that is by a master photographer. . . There is stock photography for almost any business out there, and this is a great option if you are not selling a highly personalized product or service, and is great for when you just need a couple of images to finish out a website design.
Hiring a Professional Photographer
This is genrerally the most expensive option, but by all accounts one of the best. If you are selling a highly personalized product or service, then this is the only option. If you have a storefront, or physical business that you will be enticing people to visit from your website this is also one of the best options. It is also great for bio photos of yourself, and your employees. Professional photographers combine the quality of stock photography with the personalization of taking your own photos. Professional photographers know how to “sell” ideas, not just take pictures.
If a picture speaks a thousand words, what are the photos on your website saying? Design Extensions has solutions when it comes to the images that you use on your website. We have professional relationships with photographers in many disciplines, (even one on our staff) and would love to help you make the web a more beautiful place.
