A click, a tap. They are little sounds representing a big thing – a human decision. Like decisions, clicks can be fast and fleeting, or can pleasantly surprise with pathways leading to new places.
You want clicks. A visit to your website brings much-needed validation to a business in a treacherous economy. How do you get those clicks? How do you bring people to your website?
The challenge of social media
Social media aggregates content so that only the things people care about get viewed. Thanks to this, people’s personal standards for entertainment and information have skyrocketed.
There’s a shifting perception that sees businesses as necessary evils and a widening gap between the world of commerce and people’s genuine lives.
So you have to show how your business can mean something in peoples’ lives.
Don’t make your content look like an advert
One of the worst things you can do is look like a business. As the commercial-skipping users of TiVo can tell you, outright commercial content is a recipe for rejection. Businesses have to bank on sharing content that people will want to share.
This doesn’t mean that it can’t be about your business. It just means taking things a step further. Instead of squawking about your new line of tractors, why not make a fun video about the different types of tractor customers? Why not make a guide on the 7 things a tractor should NEVER be used for?
I might click on that even if I didn’t know a tractor from a backhoe. And if it gets you an extra Like or e-mail address, all the better.
Use different platforms
It’s the biggest push in the marketing world – bring them in from far and near, in all sorts of new ways. It’s a lot of content to create – who’s going to create it? And it’s not about filling up 30 seconds of airtime like in the past. There are a lot of channels to consider – what’s the best way to write for each one?
There’s a lot of freedom and openness in this process. The best way is to try a lot of different things, and keep a close eye on what works.
Divert traffic from a secondary website
It’s up to you to bring folks to your website in any way to can. You might consider doing this by means of another website. A landing page is an intermediate page that can lead to your main website. Different ones can be set up – one from a special offer, one from a certain commercial, and so on.
Web tools can make it possible to track from which landing page your viewers are coming in. Having this structured inward path to your website will help get your visitor engaged and interested before they meet your sales page.
Engage emotions and opinions
A genius barista came up with running his tip jars as a competition. iPhone vs. Android? Ravens or 49ers? Star Trek or Star Wars? By drawing on his visitors’ emotions and opinions, he was able to get them to voice a decision through small change.
This is exactly how you want to drive clicks to your website. Social media has greatly increased our capacity to have pointless debates – pointless for everyone except the moderator. The conversation is key – make it, start it, steer it.
There’s a wide variety of ways you can make little decisions happen. And one of those little decisions might turn into big things for your business. Get on board with marketing people who are not only up on the latest methods of bringing in clicks but who also are true to their genuine selves. You’ll know when you’ve found the right fit.