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Turning Visitors into Customers an Internet Strategy for Small Business

Written by: Warren Coughlin

Article Overview: While big business is embracing the Internet with a passion, many small business owners are still wondering 'what's in it for me?'. How can small business start benefiting from the Internet?

Turning Visitors into Customers an Internet Strategy for Small Business

While big business is embracing the Internet with a passion, many small business owners are still wondering 'what's in it for me?'. How can small business start benefiting from the Internet?

The starting point is to cut through all the hype and confusion and start thinking of the Internet as part of the marketing mix. Just like all other marketing elements of the business, the Internet is a tool that can be used to get more profits from your business.

It can be used generate more leads, increase the number of customers, increase the number of times people buy, increase how much people buy and increase your profit margins.

Let's examine just one of these areas and look at how the Internet can be used to generate more leads for the business.

Whenever you advertise your business, advertise your web site. Properly designed, your web site becomes an extension of your place of business. Just as you advertise to get people to visit your business, you need to advertise to get people to visit your web site. However, getting visitors to your web site doesn't mean you will have more leads.

You have to be able to capture the details of visitors to your website. The reason is (and here's the point that is often missed) when someone visits your Internet site you can be sure that they have an interest in what you’re selling. This means that just about everybody that visits your web site is a potential customer.

Visitors to your web site are just the same as visitors to your place of business with one important exception. There is no one to talk to on your web site (yet!). So, turning the visitor into a lead requires a strategy to capture the prospect's details. It doesn't matter if your web site sells or doesn't sell product on-line. If you let the visitor 'surf' right by, without tempting them with an offer in exchange for their contact details, you’re losing qualified leads and potential revenues.

Promotional incentives work well to encourage prospects to part with their email address as well as other information. As an example, Qantas earlier this year used its web site to offer a chance to win a business class trip to New York in return for email numbers and permission to send travel information.

Information gathered on your web site including email address, work or home address, phone and fax numbers can be put directly into your contact database. Once in your database you can start on converting leads into customers.

Converting leads into customers can all be done automatically and at little or no cost. You can enable programs to send newsletters, special offers’ or any other useful information at pre-set intervals. In every case, your contact with customers provides the opportunity to provide a link back to your Internet site and another opportunity to sell or promote your products and services.

Get this far and you are well on your way to turning visitors into customers. Your web site will become an important part of your marketing mix and start generating more profits from your business.

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