6 Proven Tips to Generate Leads and Sales for 2011

FACT: In 2010 internet retail sales in the UK grew by 36.6%

According to the UK Office of National Statistics:

• Internet sales now account for 10.6% of all retail sales
• On average, weekly internet retail sales in November 2010 totalled £660 million
• During the period October to November 2010, the average weekly value for internet retail sales, non-seasonally adjusted, grew by 37.5%. In comparison the average weekly value for all retailing grew by 10.2%
• Between November 2009 and November 2010 the average weekly value for internet retail sales, non-seasonally adjusted, grew by 36.6% In comparison the average weekly value for all retailing grew by 3.4%.

You want to keep up with the ‘internet & digital revolution’ so that your business can survive and grow, but…budgets are tight.

You can’t afford to spend a lot on advertising and marketing in 2011, and you have to make sure that every penny you spend counts and gives you the critical leads and sales you need. You have to make sure you spend your valuable time and limited budget is invested effectively for maximum return.

You CAN make your business successful on the internet AND spend less AND make more money. Here are 6 simple actions to make this happen.

1. Upgrade your website

How can you afford to under-invest in your website when it is by far the most important way to grow your business in 2011? Ring-fence part of your budget now to invest in your website in 2011. This is critical to the survival and success of your business.

We offer free advice on how much you should be investing in your website, and how to plan your website investment over the year to come. We can also upgrade your website for you, or build you a brand new one. Quotes are free.

2.Make sure your website is effective

Is your website as effective as it should be in generating enquiries and sales for your business? An effective website is essential to your business. If it is not effective then every penny you spend on it is completely wasted.

A key consideration is how easy your website is to find using search engines, such as Google. You can make some quick and huge improvements to your search engine ranking (how high up you are on Google) by improving your website’s search engine optimisation.

Ask us for a quote to optimise your website on search engines like Google so that you appear at the very top of the page when people search for your products or services. We can also advise you on how to measure the success of your website – see what kind of return you are getting on your investment. You may be surprised at what you find!

3. Make your website attractive, so it attracts lead & sales

When prospective and existing customers visit your website, are they happy with what they see? Or does it disappoint them? Now is the time to pay attention to how pleasing your website looks. Looks DO matter, and your business will suffer if your website is unattractive.

Our designers can give your website a make-over so that it looks beautiful, and works better.

How are you measuring the success of your website? What is the ROI (return-on-investment) on your individual online marketing activities? Does your website design correctly compliment the professional way you want people to view you and your business? Do you need to freshen up you website with some design and possible functionality changes?

4. Use quick & easy Google ‘pay-per-click’ advertising

The beauty of this kind of advertising is that you only pay for the advertising when it actually works! Place an advert on Google (they appear at the top and on the right-hand side of all Google searches), and you only have to pay Google (as little as 5p!) when people actually click on your advert, which will take them to your website.

This will directly generate leads and sales for you – very cost-effectively. This kind of advertising also automatically measures your exact return on investment at any time, so you can see how much money you are making for every penny spent.

We can setup this kind of advertising up for you on Google for as little as £150 per campaign.

5. Use email marketing – it’s very cheap and has immediate results

Email marketing is a great way to deliver your sales message to your current clients and 1000’s of prospective clients. This is an excellent way to announce sales, limited offers and new products & services.

With a well-written and formatted email message, and a very clear ‘call to action’ triggers to make people respond to you – giving you precious leads and essential sales. And it is easy to measure email effectiveness: we can tell you how many people opened your email, how many people clicked through to your website from your email and we can also tell you how many leads and sales you got from a particular email campaign.

Ask us for a free quote for sending out this kind of email for you. We offer one-off email campaigns, or we can set up an easy to use and cost-effective ‘email broadcast’ system for you to use as often as you like.

6. Get the contact details for everyone who visits your website

Do you know who visits your website? Use downloadable documents (e.g. a product catalogue), contact forms and online polls etc. to make your website interesting to visitors, and encourage them to give you their email address and/or phone number to indicate their interest in your products/services. You can then follow this up with a sales call or some email marketing.

We can set this up for you – let us know if you would like a free quote.