It’s no secret that being forward-thinking is important to web design and Internet marketing. But, while a lot of that thinking revolves around trends in search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, and social media, some of it needs to be devoted to your own business goals.
Namely, we want to point out that business owners and executives shouldn’t just focus on sales. They need to look even farther ahead than the conversion or transaction it’s right in front of them.
At first glance, this might seem like a ridiculous notion. After all, what is your website for, if not to gather leads and sales? To find the best answer to that question, there are a couple of things we want you to keep in mind…
The First Sale Usually Isn’t the Biggest
More often than not, the first order a customer places with your business isn’t going to be a large one. Instead, it’s going to take time for you to earn their trust, and a bigger piece of their budget. That’s not going to happen, though, unless you develop an ongoing relationship with them.
By focusing too much on immediate sales, rather than winning the right customers, you can easily put yourself in a position where you’re getting lots of small transactions instead of long-term customers. That might be exciting at first, but it isn’t the way to build a profitable and durable company.
Making the Wrong Sale Can Leave You With a Problem Customer
Many businesses follow an Internet marketing strategy that looks more or less like this: do whatever is needed to get traffic to a website, make a discounted offer for first-time buyers, and then try to earn more of their business later. That can work, but once again again it’s dependent on having the right match between buyers and products or services in the first place.
If that fit isn’t a good one, you can actually make a sale that hurts you. That’s because the customer (who only bought because there is a discount available) might be unsatisfied the purchase. Then, they aren’t just unlikely to make future purchases, but also to leave negative reviews for your company all over the Internet.
What Your Business Needs is Repeat Customers and New Referrals
When you find buyers who are a great fit for your business, the opposite happens. They love what you have to offer, return to do more business with you later, and say good things about you to their friends, family, and colleagues. They become the backbone of your company, and a reliable source of new revenue.
Everything good that comes out of successful Internet marketing campaign – from an increase in sales to a positive reputation and repeat business – is predicated on the idea that you can find the right prospects and keep them happy. It’s hard to do that if you’re only focused on making sales.
Even in the digital age, there is such a thing is concentrating too heavily on the short-term and ignoring the fundamentals of building a business. Finding buyers on the Internet can be a challenge, but finding the right buyers is crucial if you want to put your company on an upward trajectory that lasts.