Getting Your Business Ready to Make Sales in 2010

Despite referring to this past year as "the deepest, lengthiest and most painful economic downturn since the Great Depression," the 2009 Labor Day Report released by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) presents a positive outlook for 2010 stating that "over the past several months, encouraging news on multiple fronts has suggested that the end of the recession is in view."

Although recovery is slow, the strengthening housing market and growth in exports, business investment and consumer purchases of goods expected by the second quarter of 2010, has lead analysts to predict a healthy growth outlook by the end of 2010 into the beginning of 2011.¹ As difficult as it may be for you, it is critical to take the time right now to strategically plan, budget and execute your marketing initiatives for 2010 to ensure your existing and prospective customers know to contact you when they initiate their buying activities. Being found by and making contact with potential buyers should be your primary concern over the next few months if you expect to benefit from the window of opportunity opening on the horizon.

How to Enhance Visibility and Conversion

Website Content

Never be complacent about your website! According to GlobalSpec's 2009 Economic Outlook Survey "four of the top five sources for searching for products, services and suppliers are online sources." Additionally, in a joint study conducted by ThomasNet and Google, the results revealed that industrial buyers often do not present the types of information their target buyer groups are specifically looking for. What this means is lost opportunity. Take a long, critical look at your website content to see what you are presenting, how well you are presenting it, and what tools you offer site visitors to help them navigate it effectively. Talk to your sales staff. Clarify with them what buyers are asking for and determine whether or not you have it in the right format and in the right place on your website. If your web copy is weak or amateurish then hire a professional copywriter to write it for you. If the look and feel doesn't accurately represent your professional image than hire a developer and fix it now. Make the necessary upgrades and additions so your website is in tiptop shape and ready to greet your specifically targeted buyer groups who will be actively seeking for the types of products or services you offer.

Remember, your website is your online sales agent. It has to impress, instill trust, educate, provide answers, motivate, persuade and instruct your site visitor how to take the next step that initiates a business relationship with you. Be honest in your assessment of its effectiveness. You already made the investment so make sure it is working for your business and not against it. Highly focused and updated website content not only takes proper care of your site visitor when he arrives but it also works to get him there through the search engines which reward great web page content with high rankings.

Search Engines

The other half of website content is search engine optimization. Of the more than a quarter billion people in North America alone who use the internet,² currently 64.9% of web searches are made using Google.³ So it's a good idea to fight for those coveted page 1 rankings. While you are developing or improving your website content is the optimal time to start the search engine optimization process. Although seo involves checking code, links, urls, site maps, and a number of important on-site and off-site items, one of the most important elements is effective keyword selection.

Conducting comprehensive keyword research involves many layers of investigation and you would be best served by a professional who has the expertise and can properly dedicate the time. Keywords serve two principle functions: 1) accurately represent the content found on the web page and 2) accurately target the right buyer who would be willing to take the desired action your content is strategically developed to persuade him to take.

Keyword selection is not about achieving high rankings so you get a lot of visitors to come to your site. It is about ranking well so you attract targeted buyer groups who are actively seeking for what you offer and are in a frame of mind to take the action that leads them to establishing a business relationship with you.

High rankings that attract the wrong type of visitor won't mean anything to your business. That's where the research comes in to determine things like 1) the way in which your target buyer groups search for what you offer 2) the on-site actions taken by those who searched a particular keyword 3) what type of content is typically generated in the search results by a specified keyword and 4) how many other web pages have competing content using that keyword.

Another consideration when selecting keywords has to do with how many you optimize for on each page. The best recommendation is to optimize for ultimately one but no more than three keywords or phrases per web page. By keeping your web pages highly focused you help the search engines to properly index and deliver them and you help your target audience group to find them.

Off-Site Marketing

LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube - if you don't know what they are find out and see which offers
& Publicity you the best fit for reaching your audience groups. Open an account and strategically use these free services to announce new products or business news that may interest your buyer groups.

Another good idea to increase your visibility is to start a blog and dedicate a person or team of writers to contribute valuable information to it on a regular basis - information that engages your audience and invites them to participate in the conversation.

Email Marketing

Start with your existing customer base. Re-establish lost relationships and excite existing ones with new products, new delivery programs that help them to manage their inventory, or whatever you can think of that lets them know you understand what they need and are the best choice to give it to them. Segment your email lists and strategically target groups with specific offers you know have interested them in the past or are most likely to interest them now. If you are not sure how to run an effective email campaign then hire a professional marketing firm to ensure the best possible return on your investment.

Conclusion

How well your business does in 2010 depends on the actions you take today to make sure your company is visible and at the forefront of the minds of your target buyer groups. Find the budget, hire the right team, and get planning today. Don't wait. This is a sink or swim environment but either way you have to get your shorts wet.

¹ http://www.nam.org, p.6
² http://www.internetworldstats.com
³ http://comscore.com

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