How the Internet affects business: top of the sales funnel and an instant reference- “value” check

Most organizations that are not pure-play internet (like
Amazon.com) do not seem fully understand how the Internet affects their business. The  top of the sales funnel and an instant reference- “value” check are two ways the internet affects your business:

  • Internet can fill top
    of the sales funnel
    : And this can be huge. Between search marketing (also
    Search Engine Optimization – SEO) and pay per click (PPC) advertising like
    Google AdWords you can bump up the traffic to your business website and to your
    business. At a fraction of the cost of traditional media including direct mail,
    print or broadcast media the Internet can drive traffic to your website and
    business.  In case you have e-commerce,
    you can also expect the visitor to buy. For first time buyers if you see your
    Google Analytics data (see under conversionsà
    multi-channel funnels) you’ll be surprised to see that folks might visit your
    website  ten or more times over a few days  before starting on your online shopping cart.
    They might have come directly, via Facebook, through search and so on. Can you
    go to any physical store ten times
    before picking up a physical
    shopping basket?  Not really, unless you want to be
    declared “suspicious” by the store-owner!
  • Internet is an instant reference and “value” check:
    There are previous
    posts
    on this aspect and is one of the least addressed issues by organizations-large
    and small- whether they are for profit, non-profits or government. Consumers do
    compare prices in things like airfares and hotels as do businesses in B2B
    situations. In B2B and high value consumer decisions (like cars) it’s really
    important to go beyond the print brochures material. For example, there is no
    point in mentioning the mileage of an hybrid version  of an auto but remaining silent about the gas
    version's mileage. A serious buyer can and should be expected to Google it and
    get what best they can from a discussion board or auto website. Think of your
    business category and you can expect serious B2B customers to do the same
    thing. In other words, its probably far better to clearly explain FAQ’s on the
    official website rather than allowing unofficial versions to take the lead, by
    default.

Thinking about how the top of your  web funnel is working and what can you add to your website is a good way to capitalize on the opportunities the Internet offers your business.  Contact StratoServe.

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