There are two groups of people you’re not converting right now:

1) People who don’t want what you’re offering…

2) People who DO want what you’re offering, but aren’t sure how to get it.

It could take quite a bit of time and effort to persuade more of the first group to convert. To buy your product, sign up to your list or fill out a form – whatever conversion goal you’ve set.

But the second group, you – as a biz-owner or marketer – are actually in complete control of.

Anyone who finds themselves in this second group is there either because something’s wrong with your mechanism (fix it!), or something went wrong with your messaging.

But the good news is: this is where the easy wins can be won.

It’s where the low-hanging fruit, erm, hang.

And you owe it to your customers – and to your biz – to ensure that everyone who wants what you have to offer, or who’s interested in anything you have to say, knows exactly what they have to do next.

Because people who don’t know – or are even just a teensy bit uncertain – what to do next, often end up doing nothing at all.

And this kind of Decision Paralysis is bad for business.

So here’s 5 quick ways you can fix this – and ensure every single one of your prospects knows exactly what they need to do next.

 

5 Ways To Ask Your Prospect: What Do You Want To Do Next?

 

1 – On your landing pages and product pages

The best advice I can give here is simple: start at the end.

Huh?

Specifically, always begin the creation of a sales page with your call to action.

Start with your CTA, before you crank out that amazing headline, that irresistible offer copy or any of that fancy stuff beloved of copywriters like, er… moi.

Always have your CTA ready to rock before you get into the nuts & bolts of your offer.

Headlines, benefits and awe-inspiring testimonials can wait…

Because your CTA is the target that everything else on your landing page is pointed towards – and if you don’t set up the target before you take aim, you risk creating a disconnect for your prospect.

Your CTA should state explicitly and clearly, EXACTLY what they must do next – which button to click, which option to select, and what will happen to them when they do so.

It’s a simple thing to get right, but an expensive thing to get wrong.

Don’t leave anything to chance, or open to interpretation. Don’t make the mistake of asking your landing page visitors to do one thing OR another.

It’s your job to smooth the way for your prospect to become a customer…

So: one goal per page, and make it easy to action.

 

2 – In your blog posts

Ok, so you’ve finally finished drafting that 2,000-word post on the benefits of your latest software update.

Whoo-ha! Go grab that latte, you’ve earned it.

It’s all useful info for your customers and about-to-be-customers. But wait, something’s missing…

You haven’t told ’em where to go next. Yargh! Dammit.

So put down the coffee, get back into editorial mode and fix up that final paragraph. You don’t want to lose your reader just because you finished talking, right?

Figure out which action you want them to take next:

You could suggest another similar post (“Like this? Then you’ll like…”), so they stay on your blog and fall deeper in love with your brand’s voice.

Or ask them to comment on what they’ve learned in the comments box below…

Because if you don’t ask, they won’t answer.

Want your article shared? Ask for the share – and point out where the social icons are while you’re at it, since they’re not always in the obvious places.

Maybe you can get smart and turn that plain ol’ content into content marketing – link your post into a relevant offer.

Tell ’em how to get a sample of the good stuff you just talked about if only they’ll follow the link.

If they read all the way to the end, you’ve succeeded in communicating with your prospect.

Which means they’ll be more receptive to an instruction here, since you already gave them something of value.

No harm here in asking for something in return.

 

3 – In your emails

Ah, good old email. Practically a marketing veteran these days.

But still one of the most potent and powerful tools available to entrepreneurs and SMEs…

…and also one of the easiest to screw-up.

People often get sucked in by the simplicity of sending an email to their subscriber list.

Probably because writing an email is something we already do several times a day, so we end up doing it on autopilot.

That’s when mistakes happen.

But all it takes is a little extra focus on your broadcast emails and auto-responders and you can direct your list like Spielberg directing sharks. (Or extra-terrestrials. Or, um… psychotic oil-tankers.)

So if you’re just including a site link in your signature, you’re passing up opportunities.

If you’re promoting an offer, make sure you link to the specific url AND ask the reader to “Click here”.

Some links aren’t as clear in some email programs, and with mobile open rates soaring, hovering thumbs don’t make links obvious like hovering mousepads do.

If you want your reader to reply to you – to collect feedback or or subscriber data – tell them to reply, and also state what it is you want to know.

Use numbered questions or bullet points to guide the response – otherwise you’ll end up wading through piles of unstructured inbox-bloat of little real value.

 

4 – In your form fields

If you have forms on your site or in-app, please, please – for the love of pizza – make ’em easy to complete.

I don’t mean they have to be short – sometimes you need a detailed form to collect quality data…

…but they do have to be CLEAR.

Nothing alienates a user like a form that offers the wrong options.

Or tells them they didn’t complete a required field that looked optional.

Or that doesn’t allow tabbing between fields.

In fact, there’s a whole fistful of form funk-ups that can have your user tearing their hair out in no time. And nobody wants angry hair-clutching users. Bad karma.

So: make sure they always know which parts have to be filled out…

…whether that “Next” button will take them to another page or submit the data as a finished form…

…and of course, think about the often-overlooked “what’s in it for them?” factor.

Give them a reason to fill out your form.

Will you knowing their data help you help them? Communicating this will get more completed entries, and better quality answers too.

 

5 – On your printed media

Let’s not forget the old-skool marketing here: flyers, posters and postcards (shocker: marketing still exists offlline, kids).

‘Leave-behinds’ like these are a great way to get noticed, especially if you have good design and branding…

But they’re also waaaay more potent if you actually use them to encourage people to contact you – rather than just using your lovely printed piece as a coaster or for swatting bugs.

One effective way to do this is to include a unique url (or phone extension) so people who attend a certain event – or who you meet somewhere that suggests they have a particular interest/problem needing solving – land at a page that speaks to their specific needs.

You can then get some really targeted messages in front of the right eyes, and save time (and ca$hola), all from just a simple, polite CTA on an eye-catching flyer.

Old-skool indeed. But what could be simpler?

 

So there you have ’em – 5 easy-to-implement ways to convert more customers that you can start using right away.

And if you want to really add some special sauce to your marketing, and take those conversions to the next level, I’d love to work with you personally.

Just drop me a line here and tell me how I can help.