How to Cut Through the Noise and Convert

All business objectives ultimately lead to one goal – to convert. A conversion could be a sale, a sign-up or any sort of exchange whereby your target audience has decided to ‘do business’ with you.

So how do you reach that conversion goal, whether it’s with a consumer actively looking for your product or service among all your competitors, or someone who doesn’t even know they want what you have to offer?

There’s so much noise in the world today, getting your content marketing plan to really work for you has never been so important. These are some expert tips to get you well on your way to driving conversions and scaling your business:

1. Know your story

What does your company stand for? And what makes you so different from the rest? You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, there will of course be competitors in your market who offer the same service and products you do. But what will set you apart is your business ‘personality’ - there’s a reason why some consumers buy from brands they believe in, even when they know they could save money elsewhere.

All memorable brands have a story – they want you to feel a certain way and associate good things with their company when you see their brand logo or slogan. Reputation is everything, and to get a good reputation you need reliability. Position yourself in the market through your story – give your brand a persona and let your audience know what magic goes on behind the scenes when they choose to spend their time and money with you.

2. Content, content, content!

And no, this does not mean any old garbage! Gone are the days where you could spam your way to the top of Google with nonsense content littered with a few key works. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a technique that requires skill and time to constantly keep up to date with changing algorithms – which for the most part are usually fairly secretive anyway.

So, what can you do if you don’t have time to master SEO? Well, the good news is that there are ways you can help to get search engines to rank your website higher up in their search results. There are of course paid options, but let’s just focus on organic methods for now. Focus on creating and sharing original content (articles, videos, blogs, testimonials) that provides value to your prospective buyers. Be sure to shout about it on social media, because a holistic approach to content marketing is a sure-fire way to increase impressions, boost engagement and drive conversions.

3. Consistency is key

Content is king, consistency is queen. The more consistent you are, the more successful you will be. Athletes do not achieve world records just because they are naturally gifted, they show up every day for training and that’s what pays off in the end. Success takes hard work, time and consistent effort. The more you show up, the more you will be recognised among your target audience as a business that believes in what they are trying to achieve.

In marketing terms, this means making yourself available for your consumers or clients. Be as active as you can on as many platforms as possible, in order to get in front of the people who matter.

4. Be adaptable 

As the famous saying goes; ‘The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,’ or in plain English – no matter how much you plan for something, things will go wrong. Business is fluid and that’s the way it should be. The pandemic has been a perfect example to demonstrate why it’s so vital to be agile in times of uncertainty. Brands that thrived during the pandemic were able to diversify in the case where their current offering was no longer relevant due to restrictions imposed by Covid-19.

Of course, the pandemic is an extreme and exceptional situation and sadly some businesses will not survive no matter how much effort is made. But being adaptable means having a plan B, for the worst-case scenario. If we can all learn anything from the pandemic, it’s to be prepared – and while we shouldn’t always plan for the worse, we can prepare for it and make sure we know what our next move would be when we’re caught off guard.

5. Listen

Conversion is a two-way street. To make a transaction both parties need to have something that the other party wants. Your conversions depend on your customers – that’s so obvious, right? So why then, do so many businesses fail to listen to their prospective consumers? If a consumer has the time to let you know what they want or don’t want – listen to them! This is a golden ticket to improvement and there’s a reason why ‘the customer is always right’ is such a famous saying.

It’s not going to be possible to please everyone all the time, but just by listening and showing that as a brand, you care about the people you want to do business with, you will fly to the top of their estimations. Having authentic interactions with your consumer base will not only enable you to adapt, but you’ll be doing wonders for your overall impressions as a result.

Be genuine, have passion, practice integrity, and that’s how you’ll help to increase conversions over time. Sign up to sshare’s newsletter to make sure you don’t miss any more free, helpful tips to fuel your business growth.