A new trend seems to be making its way into websites and technical marketing, and it’s something we’ve been encouraging for many years.
There’s nothing particularly clever or complicated about this new trend, there’s no big new social platform coming out, or no new SEO trends kicking in…
It’s simply the fact that bigger companies finally seem to be seeing the benefits of investing more time and resources into educating and helping customers on their websites, rather than simply selling to them. They’re providing better information and imagery to help with customer research, and in turn they’re seeing an increase in engagement and sales.
This goes for most sectors, from retail to engineering.
Companies like yours are finally getting the message that B2B or B2C customers no longer have a desire to be sold to. They wish to be provided with good honest information about products and services in order to make informed decisions on the purchases they make.
Not to be sold to!
In retail it’s all about the product and trends, whereas in engineering it’s more about the skill set and quality of machinery and manufactured components.
Why let third-party websites inform your customers about your products, when you could and should be doing it yourself?
In engineering, a lot of sales and contracts follow on from a factory tour, so why not give that same experience from the outset, through your website? It’s bound to gain more enquiries.
If you’ve read any of Brookstone’s previous posts it will come as no surprise that we champion companies who take this approach, as it leads to more sales, happier customers, lower marketing costs and fewer product returns.
It’s easy really, you simply become helpful rather than salesy. You provide more information, insights and imagery than your competitors. Then hey presto, you make more sales!
There are many great examples of this, but a particular favourite of mine is on the Currys website, where at the click of a button you can talk to an expert on the shop floor and get some very good advice without any pressure to purchase! Ok, not all of us can provide that level of service, but it goes to show how much importance Currys are placing on being helpful and informative.
A screenshot from Currys (www.currys.co.uk)
Another advantage of trading this way is you’re suddenly not so reliant on being the cheapest in the market, you’re making sales from being the most helpful and open instead. You get the right people to your website, you provide the information they need, build up trust and make the sale by being the best and most helpful, not the cheapest.
It works like this…
- Build your website around good quality helpful product content, it’s like having a very helpful salesperson or informative factory tour.
- The search engines pick up on that copy and show it to people asking related questions.
- The customer digests the information via the company website.
- The customer engages and makes a purchase or enquiry.
- The search engines pick up on this increased activity on the website and promote the content to the higher pages of its search results. Consequently, the post gets seen and read by more customers, who proceed to purchase as well as share the content with other like-minded customers.
It really is that simple to increase sales, so why aren’t all leading brands doing it? The answer is that it takes a bit more time and effort to build a website like this, so most business owners and marketing managers go for the quick win instead, even if it’s at the expense of the profit margin. They will either learn eventually or go out of business, so please don’t follow their example!
Our recommendations:
- Don’t clutter your website pages with all this extra information, instead add ‘read more’ buttons with the extra information and / or links to dedicated pages or guides.
- Invest in lots of professional photography, taken from all angles and in good light.
- Provide branded information sheets for people to download and read in their own time.
- Don’t be afraid to steer customers away from a product that’s not right for them.
- Do send out regular product and service updates via email, to keep customers engaged.
- Invest in video content to explain what the product or service is and who it best suits.
- Show case studies of where the product or service has worked for others.
- Provide an area for reviews on all your products and services. Plus pay a bit extra for the version that allows customers to upload photos.
- Provide a live chat function so the customer can get good quick expert advice.
- Write blogs answering the questions you regularly get asked. These will rank well and get the best engagement.
Help your potential customers to find the best product or service for their needs, rather than those with the biggest profit. Show who the product or service best suits and who it doesn’t. Show them around the products and the factory as this will attract the right people and repel the wrong ones.
Be better than your competitors!
For further insights please talk to a member of our team. They will be only too happy to advise you of more ways to be better than your competitors!
