Have you spent a lot of money on advertising with the expectation
that you would get many sales from the 1000s of people that visited
your site or read your ad?
Have you poured money into driving traffic to your web site, only to
have no one buying your product?
Maybe you have seen the ads, "Get 10,000 visitors to your site, for
only $20". Wow, you think, that's a great bargain, I'll go for it.
The result – 10 people visiting your site and no one buying.
What's the problem?
You have not effectively targeted your customers. Your field of
customers is too large. Most of them are not interested in your
product. You need to zero in the person that wants, needs and
thirsts for your product.
How Do I Find My Targeted Customer?
1. You have to have to put on your customers shoes. There's an Indian
saying that says "You must walk a mile in my shoes, before you can
understand me. For example, if I am selling a weight loss product, I
would not be targeting skinny people, but targeting those that are
overweight.
2. Make a thumb nail sketch of this person – who is your customer?
What is her wants, needs and worries? Try to understand what makes
them tick. Then you can understand what gain you can offer and what
worry you can solve.
For example, let's make a sketch of the overweight person.
30-50 years old
Out of shape
Probably married with children
Under a lot of pressure, tight for time, stressed
Looking for ways to improve health and wealth
Lack of self esteem
3. Develop your product that addresses one or more of these needs.
Always refer back to your thumbnail sketch as you write for your
site. Elaborate on the points that fit your product and what it
delivers. As you start writing, new ideas will naturally emerge, but
always keep them focused on your targeted customer so you won't go
off the track of what your customer wants.
Write Your Copy to Sell
When you begin to write the copy for your site, always stress the
benefits. Develop a theme for your site that focuses on this benefit
and don't stray from it - see my article, "How to Get Listed in the
Search Engines – Developing a Theme-Based Site"
(www.isitebuild.com/searchengine.htm)
Make Sure Each Page Sells
Each page should emphasize the benefits in the headline, to pull the
reader into the contents of your page. It should ask this question:
"What's in it for me? Why should I spend my precious time reading
this page?"
Make sure you are writing, as if you were talking to your friend.
Make your copy one to one, conversational, friendly and personal, as
if you are sitting next to the person. Write from the viewpoint of
what your customer wants to buy, not what you want to sell.
Then deliver the contents in a clear, crisp way, being careful not to
stray from the central purpose of what you promised in the headline.
Finally, make your customer want to click through to the next page
or click through to your order page.
Now, that you have identified your targeted customer and written copy
tailored to solving your customers problems, you will no longer lose
those that you have driven to your site.
You have now put them in the buying mood.
About the Author
Herman Drost is a Certified Internet Webmaster(CIW)
owner and author of iSiteBuild.com
(http://www.isitebuild.com)
Site Design, Hosting, Promotion
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mailto:isitebuild@aol.com