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We’re proud to announce that Robben Media has been recognized as one of the Top Cincinnati Digital Marketing Companies according to DesignRush.
We very much appreciate this honor. While we prefer to celebrate our customers, it’s fun for our hard work to be recognized. The team was super excited when they heard the news!
DesignRush is offers a guide to find the best professional agencies, categorized by their expertise. After analyzing and ranking hundreds of agencies, they nominate companies as top agencies, web design companies, digital marketing firms & top technology companies.
This is our second award in the past month. Robben Media was also ranked as a Top 3 Advertising Agency in Cincinnati by Three Best Rated.
What’s all the traffic in the world worth, if it doesn’t convert to sales?
This is why landing page copywriting is arguably the most valuable skill for a marketer.
Without it, no matter how many times you tweak your advertising campaign to lower your cost per click, for example, you’re still faced with a nagging problem. Your visitors don’t take the next step and convert to a sale.
Now you can go on with this customer acquisition problem forever. Or, you can learn the solution: persuasive copywriting.
This one skill helps business owners go from prospects showing slight interest to begging to give you their credit card no matter the cost.
Keep reading to find out what separates winning landing pages from the rest. (Hint, it’s the copywriting.)
Landing Page Copywriting Best Practices
You don’t need to have the fanciest words, super unique adjectives, and study under Mark Twain to be an effective landing page copywriter.
You simply need to understand the desires of your customer, first. Then deliver your offer in the most attractive way. That’s the game.
Elite landing pages flow with spectacular copywriting, highlighted in the 13 tips below.
1. Benefits-focused descriptions
Your customers don’t care if your product took five seconds or five years to make. They often don’t care about the labor, materials, and thought that went into the product.
The sales process starts with the question: What’s in it for me?
If you remember this and nail it, then you’ll have no trouble convincing visitors to buy. (This same philosophy applies to running Facebook Ads.)
Don’t overthink it. Going heavy on the specifications of the product or service is boring. People will stop caring and click away.
Example: McDonalds.com has the copy, “Take a bite and you’ll find out what CrispyJuicyTender means” to promote the taste (benefit) of their new Crispy Chicken Sandwiches. Notice they’re not spending time on the ingredients and where the food is coming from (features).
2. Pile on the customer testimonials
Customers trust people in their same shoes way more than any polished marketing material.
An authentic review from a customer who has nothing to gain, speaks 10 times louder than a hype piece from a brand who is trying to sell to you.
Knowing this dynamic, load up your page with customer testimonials. Then the key is to write contextual language around the customer’s situation before and after buying.
It goes without saying you first need to deliver amazing results before asking for testimonials. Only at this point can you ask, and collect these as rapidly as possible.
Plus, you can leverage customer testimonials in your ads and email newsletters.
Example: On Zendesk’s homepage we’re shown the VP of Customer Operations at Squarespace with a direct quote compliment. This build’s social proof right away — a key factor of conversion rate optimization.
3. Lead with emotion
Dr. Robert Anthony said, “All buying decisions are emotional…. there is no such thing as a logical buying decision. We are driven to ACT by emotion.”
Copywriters who remember this when creating landing pages will far outweigh those who don’t.
For example, we’ve revised landing pages with our own copywriting and seen anywhere from 75% to 750% more sales with customers. The way the page is written literally changes everything.
Now what emotions lead people to buy? Here are the main ones:
- Pride – I’m getting in early because I’m so smart
- Fear – this is the only opportunity, I’ll regret it if I don’t buy now
- Shame – I’m ashamed I can’t afford this for my family, I have to get it anyway
- Envy – Jon across the street has one, I deserve one too
- Greed – I want more than anyone else
Try channeling these emotional feelings in your writing. Think about what one or two emotions can you lean into inspire the most action from your website visitors?
Example: On the Jenny Craig website, they broadcast if you use their program expect to “lose up to 17 pounds in your first 4 weeks.” This will lead many to follow the fear-cycle of being scared to stay overweight and missing out on this chance.
4. Support statements using numbers and facts
While humans buy with emotion, they rationalize the purchase with logic.
Still lead with an emotionally-charged benefit. And then later support the mission to buy with convincing facts.
If you’re in financial services, write about how many years you’ve been in business, your assets under management, and your average annual return rate.
A marketer could write a case study on how they helped a company in the same niche achieve three times the sales in 11 months using their strategies.
Numerical support is essential to every effective piece of copywriting. Without it, you’re going to lose all the skeptical readers who would have purchased if more evidence was present.
(P.S. Marketing yourself on Twitter works the same way.)
Example: Rotten Tomatoes is famous for giving movies a Tomatometer and Audience Score. While this isn’t social proof to boost Rotten Tomatoes presence, it’s the same concept applied. Numbers offer tremendous support.
5. Give the headline serious attention
The headline sets the frame for the rest of the page. It’s your first impression. The time to be super clear in what’s in it for the reader.
For example, compare the headline “Check Out Our Newest Mattress Selection” versus “You’ll Never Sleep Better, Introducing The Best Rest Of Your Life Mattress”.
What would draw you in more? The latter, clearly.
Give the heading at least 15 to 30 minutes of your time. You want to write it in 10 different ways, or more, until you find the winner. This will ensure you get the most out of it versus your competition who uses the first thought in their head.
Looking to study wonderful headlines? David Ogilvy is your guy.
Example: Active Campaign is doing this right. Their Home page heading “Do more than automate your email — activate your entire customer experience” is a big copywriting winner.
6. Answer potential objections in advance
Removing risk in the sale is another smart weapon in a skilled landing page copywriter’s toolbox.
Naturally, in any buying atmosphere, the potential buyer will have questions.
Price, how it works, and is it truly going to solve their problem are often at the forefront of this issue of risk.
You can jump ahead of their feelings by calling out how your price is cheaper than the competition, how it’s easy to implement, and what problems it solves.
The end goal is this: after reading your copywriting, they have no more doubts. The only logical choice at this point is to buy.
Example: We, Robben Media, the ones writing this blog post have a good example of this played out. On our main service landing pages, we provide a Frequently Asked Questions section at the bottom. This way prospects can get answers and filter themselves before wasting our time and theirs.
7. Write clearly and simply
Unless you’re selling to only PhDs, the language on the sales page needs to be crystal clear. So clear that a 10-year-old can process the information and act on it.
Confusion is an enemy of a solid sales funnel. Get rid of ambiguous text, big words, and undefined meanings.
Make the statements to the point. After writing a first draft of landing page copy, go through it to see how you can state it even simpler. Ask a coworker if it reads clear.
The energy you put into diluting the key details and deleting the rest will pay dividends.
Example: Unbounce offers many minimalist landing pages where white space is prevalent with limited text. Make the most of each text section, because that’s all you’re going to get here.
8. Implement curiosity
Curiosity is compelling.
Just as a movie trailer gets you to watch the whole movie, a curiously written description gets visitors to read the full landing page.
Great copywriters use curiosity as a means to take the readers’ attention and lead them to grab your offer.
How’s it done? Here are ways to implement curiosity:
- Add an exclusive offer to the first 100 buyers
- Do a raffle drawing to create intrigue
- Sell a limited edition item
These are a few ways, but the options are limitless.
Example: In asking visitors to take a physique quiz, Kinobody is able to get people curious about the personalized recommendation they’ll receive. This is brilliant!
9. Mention the transformation from pre- to post-purchase
A core component of any marketing strategy is to clearly understand your market. The same is true for landing page copywriting.
Understanding your prospect adds two wonderful factors to your writing ability.
One, it tells the reader you understand their current situation, including struggles, pains, and desires. This builds rapport.
Secondly, you’re clearly showing you know where they’d like to be after purchasing your product or service. This also builds trust.
By “leveling” with the prospect, the odds they choose you to deliver the experience rises exponentially.
Example: Many plastic surgeons do a tremendous job using copywriting on their landing pages like, get the look you’ve always wanted. This is a classic transformation-inspired pitch to have prospective customers go from how they look now, to how they’ve always desired looking.
How can you use this in your copywriting?
10. Ask for one specific action
What if I met you at a party and asked for your name, phone number, email address all at once? You’d think I was crazy, and the attempt would fail.
People understand this in social settings. However online, in their landing page’s copywriting, they will lose focus, making way too many asks at once.
No, do not ask the prospect to schedule a call, sign up for your newsletter, and follow your company’s Twitter account all on the same page.
This creates unnecessary pressure on your prospect.
Instead, smoothly build trust and credibility — using the other strategies in this blog post — to then make one clear, specific, and strong call to action.
If you’re a film producer, then the pitch may look like getting people who are interested in seeing the first movie trailer to sign up for your VIP newsletter.
If you sell enterprise SaaS, getting interested parties to book a demonstration call is ideal.
And you can never go wrong with asking for the sale.
Example: DocuSign does a tremendous job of using copy to engage visitors and lead them to starting the free trial. Here’s one of their strong lines of copy “Lower your costs, save time, and elevate the customer experience.”
11. Use strong action verbs
Your writing can pop off the page, and be more interesting than a Hollywood thriller. Or it can lull readers to sleep.
Strong writers use action verbs to bring energy to the readers.
As a marketing copywriter trying to inspire action from a website visitor, it’s good to know the strongest action verbs you can deploy:
- Hurtle
- Attract
- Boost
- Capture
- Discover
- Distribute
- Encourage
- Exchange
- Fortify
- Master
- Command
- Experience
- Orchestrate
- Learn
- Achieve
- Generate
- Leverage
- Build
Continue to search Google for synonyms of the verbs you write, to swap out for verbs with more pop.
Example: Dunkin’ Donuts uses a tremendous action verb in ‘run’ with their slogan “America Runs on Dunkin’”. This creates an energetic, feel-good tone to inspire people to go to Dunkin’ to hit the ground running each morning.
12. Run through a finished draft and cut unnecessary words
Enter: the practice of concision.
The goal of concision is to say more by using strong words, and less of them. In practice, this is often extremely difficult.
Why’s it so hard? Because concision forces you to trim the fat. Lazy writing with filler words left and right does not inspire conversions.
Crisp, focused writing does inspire confidence for website visitors to take the call to action.
Example: Would Apple’s “Think Different” slogan be better or worse if it was longer? Worse, of course. The brilliance is in the brevity. Those two words say everything they need to, no more and no less.
13. Proofread out loud before publishing
We’ve all been there before. The writing sounds beautiful in our head so we click publish. Only then do we read it later, or worse have someone tell us, that it doesn’t sound right.
A quick tip before publishing is to read your copywriting out loud. If it sounds off when you speak it, then it needs to be rewritten.
This is also a good time to check for spelling mistakes too. While it can seem petty, you’re making an effort to build, not harm, credibility in your landing pages.
I don’t know the science behind it, but I do know that speaking the words improves your copywriting. The wording will sound more natural.
And every extra advantage helps to polish your landing page’s copywriting for maximum conversions.
Conclusion
Becoming a better copywriter is a skill you can develop. You don’t need to be born with it (same for entrepreneurship).
Implement these 13 landing page copywriting tips immediately. Heck, use this blog post as a checklist when drafting your next one.
Slowly you’ll put in the reps where brilliant landing page copywriting becomes muscle memory.
Now if you don’t have the time or interest in copywriting but are desperate for the results, you can contact us so we can see if we can help. Odds are your conversions will moonshot. Plus, this copywriting problem will go away entirely.
How much time do you dedicate to your landing pages’ writing?
Do you remember way back when you were punching a clock for someone else and you thought, I can’t wait to start my own business and become my own boss? Do you remember how long that feeling lasted? Probably as long as it took you to realize that every client is your boss.
Essentially you went from one boss to several. Isn’t recollecting fun?
We’re not here today to debate the merits of business ownership, because we’d all probably agree that it beats punching a clock no matter what. We’re here today to help you get more bosses… sorry. I mean get more clients!
It’s not the best product or service that sells, it’s the distribution of those products or services that generates revenue. So if you’re wondering how to get clients, the next question is what does your marketing look like?
You need to market your business properly; that’s clear. Because, believe it or not, you’re better off having a mediocre product or service combined with stellar marketing than the other way around. (Ideally a spectacular product with unbelievable marketing.)
But how exactly do you market in your business 2021 and beyond?
There are two general routes you can take and which you choose will almost always depend on your budget. A SaaS startup who needs marketing help and is backed with VC money is going to navigate these waters differently, for example, than a bootstrapped founder with $50 in their checking account.
Lucky for you, we know from experience what distribution channel is most likely to succeed. Read on to find those golden nuggets of information that you’ve come to expect from us.
The Art & Science Of Client Acquisition
Getting clients is about creating an environment in which clients come to you.
That’s not to say that you don’t have to be proactive. After all, Kevin Costner had to build his Field of Dreams backyard baseball diamond before the dead players decided to drop by and check it out.
So, step one for acquiring new clients is building your brand and establishing your reputation.
Unfortunately, in the COVID era, business and employment statistics are indicating that there are many more people looking for clients now than ever before. However, there are also more buyers than ever before. So, maybe it’s a wash.
One thing is certain though: the pool got a lot bigger. And a bigger pool means there is more money to be made.
Let’s say you’re in the business of creating Facebook ad campaigns that absolutely crush your competitor’s similar services when it comes to ROI. You want to clearly define that that’s your one bankable skill. You want that one thing to represent your brand. It’s better to be a specialist in one area than a generalist because a jack of all trades is really just a master of none.
Your brand and reputation should be something that people feel compelled to connect with. Something that makes them think, this guy (or gal) really knows their stuff. I think maybe they can help me. A high brand reputation will lead to high-quality clients, while a low brand reputation will yield low-quality clients.
Here are three tips on building your brand.
1. Know your target audience.
If someone asks you who your target audience is, you can’t say everyone, unless you’re Walmart. A clearly defined brand has a clearly defined target audience. Ask yourself, who are the people you want as clients, then who are the people you can most help. Both of those matter.
Your target audience can also be referred to as your buyer persona. What demographics does your target audience fall into: location, age, gender, employment, income, etc. If you have a B2C business that relies on clients, maybe consider their interests. If you have a B2B business, what industries are you targeting?
The first step to attracting your ideal clients is to more clearly define exactly what kind of clients you want to attract. Don’t leave it up to the Universe to just send anyone your way. Then it will feel like you have a dozen bosses rather than being the master of your own domain.
2. Examine your brand.
What kind of engagement are you getting from your target audience? What kind of reviews or comments are you getting? Are you hitting the mark or falling short?
If you’re falling short, it’s time to rethink your brand rep and reimagine how you want to be perceived. Then you have to work at strengthening your brand.
Pro tip: It’s easier to build a strong brand than repair a brand with a poor reputation. And once you build a strong brand, make sure you continue to work at keeping it strong forever.
Continue doing all of the little things that attracted your ideal audience to you to begin with and don’t take them for granted. Gratitude is powerful; let them know you appreciate them by excellent service, words of affirmation, and gifts. And don’t discount the power of positive thinking either.
3. Find your USP: Unique Selling Proposition.
Marketing is about standing out to your target audience. It doesn’t matter if you are better than the competition. It only matters that your audience knows that you are better than the competition. And the way you separate yourself from your competitors is with a clearly defined USP.
Ask yourself: what makes me or my brand different? What can I offer my target audience that my competitors cannot?
If SEO marketing in the eCommerce space is your area of expertise, then lead with that and even consider specializing only in that. If your superpower is optimizing conversion rates across industries, which is a nice skill to have, make that part of your niche and problem-solving superpower.
Remember, there’s nothing wrong with being a specialist, and you can find hundreds of places online that will tell you to niche your services if you can.
No matter what your USP is, position yourself as a problem solver. Your target audience has problems. And you can help solve those problems.
Make yourself indispensable to your target audience, and watch your tax bracket grow, which is a good problem to have.
P.S. The bigger the problem, the bigger the payout.
How to Get Clients With A Low Budget
This section is really dependent on how many of these next few things you feel comfortable doing yourself.
SEO, for instance, is a long-term play but one everyone should still use. The results won’t be felt immediately, but they will one day pay off like compound interest. Both long-term and short-term strategies to get more clients should be the goal.
Some of it, you may be able to do yourself, like SEO keyword research, but once you dig deeper than that, an expert will yield far greater results than you can probably manage yourself. Beyond a certain point that is reached rather quickly, SEO becomes a high-value skill many people don’t have. However, that doesn’t mean you can get started for little or no money.
Beyond SEO, let’s look at some other examples you may be able to manage on a low budget.
Social Media Marketing and Networking
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. You’ve probably heard this before and it has never felt more relevant than right now.
Social media marketing is a great way to connect with people and build your brand. Whether you’re using your 598 LinkedIn connections to see if any of those people can help you find clients, or if you are actively engaged in several Facebook groups (a goldmine of potential clients) where your target audience hangs out, you should make social media a daily exercise.
Unfortunately, networking in the COVID era means networking online. However, this may also be a good thing. The old way we used to network just is not efficient anymore.
For example, you can’t go to 100 networking events to meet 1,000 people in a week. You can send 1,000 targeted messages virtually in a week.
So, whether you like social media or not, or whether you feel comfortable networking on social media or not, none of it matters. It’s how to get clients, many more clients.
Social media is built on engagement. Don’t be too salesy or sleazy or too transparently promotional. Strangely enough, karma seems to be hypercharged on social media, meaning the more you give, the more you seem to get back. So, start by helping others, and watch how others magically begin helping you.
Just remember; you’re a brand now. Not someone who has a thousand opinions they’re dying to share. Controversial doesn’t usually work unless that’s part of your brand.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is hands down the ROI champion of all marketing channels. And there are two ways to approach it.
Warm email marketing is when you have a prior relationship with the recipient and potential client or when they opt-in to your email list, often in exchange for some kind of offer, discount, or a freebie, like the world’s greatest guide on increasing customer lifetime value.
Cold email marketing is when you reach out to a potential client with whom you have no prior relationship. Cold email marketing relies on getting a name and email address at the very least and reaching out in a way that inspires the potential client to contact you back.
The one mistake most people make with email marketing is not being human enough, sounding stiff rather than conversational, and coming across as much too spammy.
Warm email marketing is a bit different, as it relies on providing value to your list. You’ve already got their attention; don’t force them to tune you out by coming across as too promotional. Give them something of value, like some tips that will help them. You don’t give away all of your secrets and you do it in a way that makes them realize how much they need you.
Warm email marketing is built on value and you should aim for 80 percent value and 20 percent promotion. There are entire books written on permission marketing alone, which is what warm email marketing is, so we’re not going to dive into it much deeper here.
Partnerships and Referrals
Referrals are easy enough to understand. You have clients that you’ve worked with before. You reach out to them and ask if they know anyone who might benefit from your services.
An endorsement from a client goes a long way. Referrals are basically word of mouth, and word of mouth is the best kind of marketing.
Partnerships can mean many things and entire books are written on this subject, too. Let’s say you’re a chiropractor. Your best friend owns a yoga studio. Both of you have a monthly email newsletter. Exchange ads and you likely just doubled your audience. You get the point, even if it’s a simplistic example.
How to Get Clients With A Big Budget
Just because you have more money to spend doesn’t mean you’re going to automatically be more successful, but it does mean you’re more likely to hire out than do it yourself. Just make sure you hire out responsibly.
There are a number of ways to win with a high budget: paid ads, influencer marketing, hosting events (online for now), SEO (done the right way), and more.
Paid Ads
In 2021, people tend to think of paid ads as being mostly Facebook, LinkedIn, and especially Google. And there are advantages to all three. And let’s not forget winning with Twitter marketing.
Paid ads have some advantages. If done correctly, you can get fast results at a good ROI. They are affordable and measurable and easy to tweak for better results. You can broadcast your message across many platforms, thereby getting better saturation and building your brand more quickly. But this is not a DIY strategy.
To win with paid ads means finding an agency that wins with paid ads.
Paid social media ads can also be used in combination with other social media marketing strategies and with email marketing. Marketing works best when it involves numerous marketing channels all diligently working together to help you find more clients.
And that’s how you create a brand that makes prospects think, this company is everywhere: they must be good. Interest grows exponentially.
Influencer Marketing
You can’t mention influencer marketing without also mentioning Instagram.
Here is a simplistic view of how it works, if you’ve been in a coma for five years: You find someone with a large social media following who is considered an “expert” and who has enough trust that if he or she told everyone to drink Liquid Drano, you’d have more calls into the poison control hotline number than ever before recorded.
You find an influencer in your niche with a similar target audience and you reach out to them. If your target audience is young women who are fitness fanatics, you find an influencer who is the fitness guru of the moment and ask them to wear your exercise gear, drink or eat your healthy products, or simply mention you in a video, post, or Tweet.
Be sure to track their performance by impressions, comments, website clicks, and sales to see the true performance of the influencer campaign. This way, you know to run another campaign or find a new influencer.
Hire a Marketing/Ad Agency
If you have the money to spend, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also do the low-budget things we outlined above. Because you should. Marketing works best when it’s all-encompassing. But if you do have the bread, hire a professional.
We all know what to look for in 2021 before hiring a babysitter, dentist, or barber: Social proof. Look at online reviews like Google. Look at their social media accounts to get a feel for them. Look to see who some of their other clients are. And ask them about their recent successes with other businesses like your own.
It’s All About Impressions
How to get clients is about getting impressions and leaving an impression.
Get your brand into as many places as you can and in front of as many eyeballs as possible. Showcase your name far and wide. Let people know what your brand is about. Niche down to what you do best. And more than anything else, position yourself as a problem solver that clients just can’t live without.
I believe this is where I mention how Robben Media has helped hundreds of clients make millions of dollars through client acquisition and we can achieve the same results for you. You have a problem. We are the solution.
If you’ve been reading our blog for a while, you know that most of our content is aimed at helping you find digital marketing success.
However, all of the great advice and tips in the world won’t make up for one slightly-esoteric trait: Do you have what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur.
Imagine for a second that you are a successful entrepreneur and great leader like Steve Jobs.
What traits do you think he had in making Apple a household name and in creating one of the greatest entrepreneurial success stories in the last century?
We learn by doing, and this is true. However, we also learn by modeling ourselves and molding ourselves in the image of others who have found great success.
So, what makes a successful entrepreneur? You’re about to find out.
The 27 traits and actions below are the ingredients needed to become a successful entrepreneur.
Think of it like baking a cake, in that you need every ingredient to be successful. If you leave out some of these ingredients, your chances of success will probably fall as flat as a cake without some of its ingredients.
How To Be A Successful Entrepreneur
1. It Starts With Determination
Do you think success comes easily? Or do you think grit and perseverance will be required?
How many times did Alexander Graham Bell fail in inventing the telephone? He failed so often that he coined one of the great failure quotes of all time:
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
Before beginning any business venture, you must make a promise to yourself that you will not give up without a fight. If you’re going, you’re going down swinging. You also must realize that to become a successful entrepreneur, you will encounter challenges along the way.
2. Passion = Perseverance
If you have a passion for what it is you are doing, you are far more likely to approach it with grit and determination. Whereas, if you don’t love what you do, you’re far more likely to give up.
It really is that simple, and it doesn’t matter what you are doing. If your goal is to get your business on the first page of Google search results for your main keyword and you approach that goal with passion, you’ll bring the effort required and the grit that’s necessary to get there.
Long hours may be required to achieve your business goals. If you love what you do, it won’t seem like work. You’re more likely to get into a creative flow state where time flies and great ideas blossom.
But if every day and each hour feels like a slugfest, how long will it take before you give up?
3. Good Things Happen Outside Your Comfort Zone
You have to challenge yourself if you’re going to become a successful entrepreneur. And one way to do that is by getting outside of your comfort zone.
No good comes from being too comfortable. There are ingredients on this list that will no doubt be difficult for you. That’s OK.
According to entrepreneur, Dave Asprey, “Getting out of your comfort zone from time to time creates just enough good stress to ramp up your focus, creativity, pace, and drive, and it helps you respond to life stress when unexpected things happen.”
Doesn’t that sound like a recipe for success?
Your brain wants to be lazy. It doesn’t want to be challenged. But just like stress on your muscles builds larger muscles, stress on your brain builds greater intellect.
If none of the ingredients in this article qualify as stepping outside your comfort zone, then ask yourself, what am I afraid to do? What makes me feel uncomfortable? Then challenge yourself to do those things, and watch your creativity and perseverance grow.
4. Accept the Possibility of Failure
Fear can be a powerful motivator or it can cripple us. And the one thing we fear more than anything else is failure.
Michael Jordan famously was left off of his high school varsity basketball team as a freshman. Do you think his failure got the best of him? Well, obviously not, as he is without a doubt the GOAT (sorry, Lebron fans, it’s true). MJ even went so far as to invite his high school coach to his Hall of Fame induction so he could tell him how wrong he was.
Of course, Micheal Jordan isn’t human, but you can learn to live with the prospect of failure and use it as a motivator rather than a crutch that holds you back. The best pro athletes that come through in the clutch aren’t thinking about failure in those moments. They’re thinking about past success.
Fear of failure is common, but it’s also just a matter of perspective. Think like Alexander Graham Bell and learn from your little failures so that you find big-picture success. And if you’re having trouble with your confidence, find some confidence building activities and get to work on that.
Without confidence, it’s going to be much more difficult to become a successful entrepreneur.
5. Take and Manage Risk
There’s a fine line between not being risky enough and being too risky. But that’s a line you’re going to have to tow if you want to become a successful entrepreneur.
We humans are a risk-averse bunch. There can be dangers in taking risks and there can be opportunities. You’ll have to learn the difference between the risks you should take as an entrepreneur and those that you should not.
Hey, no one said this was going to be easy.
6. Trust in Yourself
This relates to having confidence. Whatever you’re doing you must learn to trust your abilities, whether you’re learning how to write a great blog post or marketing your business on Twitter. Know without a doubt that you can learn to do the things that are necessary to achieve success and meet your larger goals.
Learn to trust in your intuition. Learn to rely on your wisdom and talents that have gotten you this far in life. If you can do these things, failure will begin to seem less likely. Some of the air will be taken out of the risks you have to take in order to be a great entrepreneur. And you can focus on the steps needed to get there, rather than constantly contemplating the pitfalls.
7. Visualize Success
In your quest to become a successful entrepreneur, define what success looks like. And then visualize it.
You may think that visualization is some abstract new-age nonsense, but it’s not. The power of visualization comes from the universal law of attraction. Just as there is a law of gravity, there are also laws that govern our lives that are less obvious and often go unseen and unfelt.
The best time to do this is before bedtime, as your mind will then play with those ideas and be in a state of creation while you sleep. But first, you have to define what success looks like to you and the reasons why you are seeking it.
Maybe it’s so that one day you can tell off your high school basketball coach in front of the whole world. But whatever it is for you, quantify it and learn to visualize it, and then make it a daily practice.
8. Action is Required
This may seem obvious, but you can’t spend all of your time relying on the universal law of attraction. You will need to put forth effort.
There’s a strange phenomenon that happens. People plan and organize and prepare, then just before launching their new endeavor, they quit. That’s the fear winning. If you feel that way just before the moment of truth, just know that it’s normal, then crush it. And the way we crush is with action.
9. Seek Out Win-Win Partnerships
Unless you’re Leonardo da Vinci, you’re probably not great at everything. Finding specialists to help you become a successful entrepreneur is ideal, but you’ll need to make it worth their while as well as your own.
Just as the saying, behind every great man there is a great woman, the same can be said of the team you assemble around you. Make sure it’s a team worthy of the success you’re aiming for.
10. Effort + Time = Success
This feels a little too on-the-nose, but I’m sure you can think of someone who tried to be successful without putting in the time and effort to get there.
There is no such thing as an overnight success story. You’re just walking into the movie theatre at the end of the movie. You’re missing everything that needed to happen before the success. And nothing great happens without dedicating your time and effort.
11. Budget Your Time and Money Better
While you are attempting to promote your website successfully after launching your business, do you really need office space that is five times the size of your team? Do you need to spend months learning about SEO when you can hire an SEO expert instead?
Plan for both: time and money. Create a budget for how best you can spend your money and your time in the here and now, and then adapt that plan as you progress toward your goal to become a successful entrepreneur.
You can lease that office in a year or two, when you really need it.
12. Define Your Target Audience
Unless you’re Sam Walton, the entire world cannot be your target audience. Not defining your audience is akin to trying to swim across the English Channel before learning how to swim.
You cannot market your product or service if you don’t know who you’re marketing to. How far do you think your new venture will get without traffic and customers?
Try and whittle it down as narrowly as you can. You can broaden your market later, but who are the people you really should be targeting from the jump?
You answer that question correctly and you’re far more likely to become a successful entrepreneur.
13. Listen to Your Target Audience
Your customers are always giving you clues: what they like, what they don’t like, what they wish you offered, when they want those offers, and so forth. Tune into them and adapt your business plan accordingly.
We both know the customer isn’t always right. But when they complain, you still have to listen.
Learn to separate the reasonable complaints from the superfluous ones. Then learn to adapt on the fly to address the reasonable complaints. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself with a business that has no customers, and from there it’s just a short leap to punching a clock for someone else again… oh, the horror.
14. Exceed Expectations
Your target audience expects things from your company. The way you stay in business is by meeting those expectations. But the way you excel is by exceeding them.
First, don’t make promises you can’t keep. Secondly, go above and beyond what you promised, and set the bar a little lower if you have to. It’s far better to promise less and deliver more than the other way around. Just make sure you are correct in assessing what your customers really expect of you.
15. Find Successful Mentors
If you don’t know anyone personally who has achieved great things, this doesn’t let you off the hook.
Is there anything stopping you from finding great autobiographies of successful people? Couldn’t you listen to those books on your commute or read a little at night instead of rewatching Game of Thrones for the third time?
You can find the time to do this if you set your mind to it. And it really is like having a successful mentor if you frame it that way to yourself.
16. The Art of Self Promotion
There is a fine line between being a braggart and being outwardly confident. Learn to walk that line.
Prepare an elevator pitch and use it whenever someone asks about your business. Pay attention to customer feedback and let others know how your business is going based on that feedback.
If you are not prepared to promote your business, who is? Just make sure what you tell people is factual. And if that means mentioning the bad with the good, so be it; it’ll give you something to focus on reversing.
17. Create a Culture of Success
If you watched The Last Dance, the Chicago Bulls documentary about their historic run through the 90’s and particularly the last year the MJ Bulls were together, then you may remember this.
The Bulls were a horrible franchise before Jordan arrived. Talking about consistently making the playoffs would be like you and I talking about learning to fly. However, that was Jordan’s focus and he wasn’t shy about vocalizing it.
However, it did take a culture shift. From top to bottom, everyone had to adapt to his vision of what the Bulls could become. And if they didn’t adapt to that new culture, they weren’t around long.
If you’re in charge, it starts with you. Set the tone and establish the vision and beliefs that will make your business great and allow you to become a successful entrepreneur. And then make sure everyone adapts to it.
18. Network Like Your Success Depends On It
Chances are very good that people you know can either help you succeed or they know others who can.
Always be networking. Not to the detriment of your business and other important tasks. But you should and can find the time and the opportunities to reach out to others.
If you’re a fan of Mad Men, you may recall Don Draper meeting Conrad Hilton at a wedding reception, who then became a client. You never know who you’re talking to or what they might be able to do for you.
19. A Learning Mindset
In our digital world, rarely do you learn something once and call it a day. Things move quickly in our modern era and if you don’t keep up, you still may become a successful entrepreneur, but you’re less likely to remain one.
If you are a true entrepreneur, then you already have a learning mindset and you know the difference between actions that improve your chances of success and those that are time wasters.
In general, shy away from those time wasters (TV, social media, etc.) and include more activities that teach you something or spur your creativity. Anything that will help you reach your goals. There are some things on this list that you can pencil into your schedule that fit that bill.
20. Deliver the Goods
This may sound a little like exceeding customer expectations. So, think of it this way: show, don’t tell.
Show, don’t tell is common in writer circles. It means creating a picture with words. For you, it could be as simple as providing your customers with a free trial or a sample product. Perhaps give away a free domain name, if that’s your business.
The point is to sell less and deliver more. Selling puts people into a defensive position where they become closed off. Giving opens them up. Plus, if your product or service is any good, that small investment should pay off.
21. Adopt the Kaizen Strategy
Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy that means small incremental change to produce large and successful results. This is the philosophy that built Toyota into one of the most successful car manufacturers in the world.
Think of it like baby steps. Each day you move a little closer toward your goal, and don’t worry if you can’t see the entire path in front of you. Just like driving at night with your headlights on, you only have to see a little ways down the road. It’s far more important that you’re able to adapt to roadblocks as they come.
Small steps can lead to great things.
22. Manage Your Time
If you’re not sure how to be productive, get the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Even though it was written 30 years ago (that’s shocking), it’s still just as apt today as it was then.
Successful people know how best to spend their time and very little of it is wasted. Yes, wasting time can be fun and it’s certainly easy. But it won’t get you where you want to go. It won’t help you improve your conversion rates. It won’t pay your staff.
You probably have a calendar app that you use. Just make sure that you use it! Plan each day the night before and schedule only those things that will help you become a successful entrepreneur. Then follow through.
23. Don’t Ignore Your Health
Do you ever have people complain to you about not having any energy? Those are unhealthy people and that can be avoided.
Give your body what it needs to thrive: proper nutrition, exercise, and quality sleep. Then make these good habits routine. If you’re thinking, yes, but I don’t have time to exercise, this is a copout.
Try HIIT ― High Intensity Interval Training. There are some variations that you can do in just a few minutes that still give you a great workout. You can probably find a way to multitask, like listening to Steve Jobs’ autobiography while running on a treadmill at the gym.
24. Increase Your Focus
When you’re including the last ingredient in your success jambalaya, you probably have plenty of focus already. If it’s a matter of nutrition, there are some great cognitive herbs like rhodiola and lion’s mane that can help.
And if it’s a matter of trying to multitask too much (beyond the example above), you should know that multitasking has been proven ineffective. Instead, do one task at a time until it’s completed and always make your first task the most important task.
You’ll be far more successful this way.
25. All Work and No Play
We all need time off. And you can probably judge when you need it and when you don’t; when you should take time off and when you shouldn’t.
The good news is that if you improve your focus and stop multitasking and have plenty of energy each day, you’re going to get more done in less time. So, earn it, then take it.
Everyone can use a little recharging and reenergizing from time to time. Whether that means a 15-minute break in a busy day or 15 days touring France, make sure you take time off away from work. You’ll be better off for it.
26. Find Inspiration
The nice thing about these ingredients to become a successful entrepreneur is that you can strategically combine a few of them. For instance, running on the treadmill while listening to Steve Jobs’ autobiography can be for your health, mentorship, and inspiration.
As an entrepreneur and a creator, you probably don’t lack inspiration. But if you do, recognize that and brainstorm ways you can get inspired. Maybe you just need 15 days touring France. Or a few steps outside of your comfort zone. Be proactive, whatever you do.
27. Pay it Forward
Everything on this ingredients list to become a successful entrepreneur has focused on what you can get. But let’s discuss what you can give.
Are there ways you can help others? Surely, there are people you know who aren’t as accomplished as you. Helping someone else can be inspiring. It may lead to a fortuitous connection. And it can produce some good karma.
When we give of ourselves we always get something back in return. Whether we recognize it or not is a story for another time.
Are Successful Entrepreneurs Born or Made?
Perhaps you don’t consider yourself a natural entrepreneur and you wonder sometimes whether successful entrepreneurs are born or made. That is likely the fear of failure talking and not you.
The ingredients on this list are things well within your scope of doing and learning. We’re not recommending that you learn to play basketball like Michael Jordan. We can all improve in these key areas. And we all have it within ourselves to become a successful entrepreneur.
What is the one thing that every business needs?
Employees? Desks? The obligatory office pet? (Those team photos with the pets are just adorable.)
Nope!
It’s customers, but you’re smart and answered that correctly milliseconds ago didn’t you?
However, a trickier question to answer might be: How can I increase customer lifetime value?
What is CLV?
We know what you’re thinking; another acronym to learn? Yes, and you’re right. Marketing is the only industry that has more acronyms than healthcare ― OCD, ADHD… also known as a writer’s best friends.
For instance, we have the ROI of SEO, lowering CPC, and raising CRO. And there’s a lot more where that came from.
CLV stands for (drum roll, please) Customer Lifetime Value. You didn’t see that one coming, did you?
But do you know how to increase customer lifetime value? Which is different from things that your customers value, but also slightly related.
In today’s article we’re going to answer all of your burning questions:
- What is the value of each of my customers?
- Why should I listen to my customers at all?
- How can I increase customer lifetime value?
- Why isn’t the McRib available all of the time?
By the way, the answer to that last question is marketing related, but more psychological, really. It has to do with scarcity. Threaten to take something away from people and they instinctively want it more. Scarcity is an element of persuasion that can and should be used in your own marketing.
How about that for a worthwhile meander?
What is the Value of Each of My Customers?
Jeff Bezos, a pretty successful chap who you may have heard of, has gone to great lengths to keep customers happy because he understands CLV.
A quote of his to take note of: “The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer.”
Why would he say such a thing? Simple; because retaining customers is easier than acquiring them.
This is a man who understands that the most important thing he can do, and everyone who works at Amazon, is to increase customer lifetime value. (We’ll give you a couple of Amazon examples that show how they do it later.)
The question above ― What is the value of each of my customers? ― is what we call a trick question because the value of each of your customers will vary depending on your industry and your business. But the fact that it’s easier to keep customers than it is to get them doesn’t change regardless of your business.
Marketing is kind of like dating. You get to know your customers. You invite them onto your email list and social sites. You let them know how wonderful you are without trying to brag too much. You tell them stories about yourself and hope that they’re buying it all. And then you pop the question.
Rarely if ever would you ask for a sale immediately. That would be like going on a blind date and proposing marriage before the appetizers arrived. Email, incidentally, is where the majority of the wooing happens, because this is where ROI is the highest.
Why should I listen to my customers at all?
Some say you shouldn’t. We say you should listen.
Getting a solid return from your marketing budget is dependent on delivering value to your customers. And it’s important to understand that they define what is valuable to them, not you. So, you may want to figure that out.
We’ll also give you some feel-good strategic reasons later on why listening to your customers is advantageous.
OK, now that we’ve had our own appetizers, let’s get to the main course, shall we? Let’s increase customer lifetime value! Who else is pumped?
How can I increase customer lifetime value?
You can work to improve SEO and drive profits using PPC ads until the cows come home, but until you truly understand CLV and work to increase it, you’ll be going on a lot of blind dates.
The strategies below will help you avoid courtship missteps and ensure a successful relationship develops with every new encounter, and by that, we mean prospective customers.
Give Your Customers a Free Upgrade
I’ll bet you a million dollars that you’ve had the experience of getting bumped up to first-class on a flight. How did that make you feel?
Less cramped no doubt and the food is certainly better. But didn’t you also feel grateful and appreciative? And don’t you feel a certain way about that airline now, as in more loyal perhaps?
Maybe your business is such that free upgrades won’t work, but surely you can think of something to give customers for free that would add value to their lives. Isn’t Mr. Bezos constantly offering us free memberships to Amazon Prime, even though we’ve already had a free membership before? (And you thought maybe they just forgot.)
If your business has a premium service, offer it to your customers for free, or at least offer a free trial. If you have a product line, why not include a free product they haven’t yet tried along with their next purchase? Like getting bumped up to first class, I’ll bet you’ve also had this experience, too. And if they love that new product, you can bet they’ll continue buying it and become a more loyal customer.
Sam Walton (of Walmart fame) famously used to visit competitor’s stores to see what they were doing and then integrated good ideas into his own stores, or found ways to improve upon what his competitors were doing. Do you think he understood how important it is to increase customer lifetime value?
Paying attention to airlines and Amazon is just the beginning. Keep your spidey-senses activated with every business encounter you have and you just might learn something valuable.
Everyone Loves Content, not Raymond (Sorry, Ray.)
You’ve likely heard that content is king about as many times as you’ve had hot meals, but it’s true. Content is King. (Aren’t you enjoying some content right now… not that we’re baiting you into a compliment or anything.)
Content is one way of providing value to your customers, and one of the best channels to deliver this value is by email. Email is where we nurture our relationships with customers (coming up) and where we can solve their problems (also coming up) or educate them on a topic they enjoy; a topic that just happens to be related to your business. (What are the odds?)
Email is not for sending soulless drip campaigns that promote and promote and do nothing but promote. That’s like asking for marriage every time you see your boyfriend or girlfriend, even though they keep saying no.
In one of the best marketing books of all time, Seth Godin in Permission Marketing explains that for email marketing to be effective, it must be personal, relevant, and anticipated. But more than anything, it must provide value.
In his book, Godin uses the 80/20 rule or Pareto principle (Yes, we’re just showing off now) as an example. Provide value 80 percent of the time and your customers won’t mind getting promotional messages the other 20 percent. But if you give them nothing but promotional junk, that’s feeding them empty calories they likely don’t need and certainly don’t want.
Also, permission marketing only works when your customers or prospective customers actually give you permission to market to them.
Solve Your Customers’ Problems
We all have pain points and most, or all, businesses are in a position to help solve one or more of our problems. Can you create content that helps your customers do something important or achieve something meaningful? If you can, email is the perfect way to engage with them, even if it’s just to let them know that you’ve published a brilliant new blog post on the best eCommerce marketing tools to boost sales.
If you do have a product or a service that does solve a problem for people, this is simple. Just focus on delivering value around that problem and you’ll be fine. But what if your business is the problem?
Let’s stick with our Amazon theme, shall we? Since you’re a human being living in 2021, we are going to assume that you know how difficult it is to reach another live human being to help you these days when you have a customer service issue. Well, not Amazon.
They are definitely the one exception. And if you haven’t had the pleasure, just Google “Amazon phone number” and see how easily and quickly you find the information you need and a human who is ready and willing to help you with whatever problem you have.
It will restore your faith in humanity, and I’m only slightly joking.
Build Relationships with Customers
You understand now that getting a new customer is like a courtship. You’ve done the dating thing, you’ve popped the question, and low and behold, your prospective customer said, yes!
Well, if you want this marriage to last, there is still work to do, no? You don’t forget about them, do you? You don’t stop communicating with them. This is the beginning, not the end. (Insert your own marriage joke here.)
You want to make them feel like you understand them. You want them to know that you’re listening to them and that you appreciate them. But how do you do this?
Email and social media are both marketing mediums that allow two-way communication. This is how. Connect with your customers on a regular basis. Ask for their feedback. Ask for their opinions. Give them something they love, like great marketing content that will help their business grow. Or surprise them with something they didn’t even know they wanted or needed.
Just make sure that you always remember to provide value and keep the promotional messages to 20 percent or less. Maybe we’ve beaten this metaphorical horse to death too much, but value makes all of this work. Without it, you’re just a used car salesman (or woman) looking for your next victim.
Nurture is a word we used earlier but it bears mentioning again. Email is the perfect place to nurture a relationship with your customers. Isn’t email where they receive messages from friends and family members? Isn’t it more personal than other forms of marketing communication? You better believe it is. So, use it that way.
Upselling and Cross-selling are OK, but Only If…
Remember the used car salesman (or woman, still) example we just used? Of course, you do, and apologies for asking an obvious question. Think about it this way: If your upselling or cross-selling strategies make you feel a little dirty, don’t do it.
What do we mean? Have you ever made a first purchase with a company and before you can even get through the checkout experience, you’re taken on a wild ride that makes Mr. Toad’s Disney experience seem tame by comparison?
You’ve got to click on “no thanks” or scroll down looking for a way out of the upsell loop. It’s horrible. And be honest; have you ever felt like canceling the order while trying to get out of this maze?
Of course, you have. It’s off-putting, and off-putting is the opposite of increasing customer lifetime value.
You might very well have other products or services that can benefit your customers, and it’s OK to let them know about each and every one of them. Just think about the timing.
Your marriage proposal was finally met with a yes. Now is not the time to tell your spouse that your mother is moving in with you, who we’re certain is a fine person, by the way.
Prioritize Quality
Yes, this seems obvious, but hear us out. The way you increase customer lifetime value is by putting all of these strategies into action.
Of course, your product or service should be high quality. Of course, your customer service should be as well. But focus on doing everything in this article as well as you possibly can, and see what happens.
We don’t want to spoil the end of the movie for you, but what happens is that you inspire loyalty in your customers and they repay you by paying you. Over… and over… again.
This is where we drop the mic…
How well are you increasing your customer lifetime value? Have you considered hiring Robben Media to do this crucial task for you?
What we’re about to tell you may shock you, so it might be best if you’re sitting down to hear this.
Are you ready?
Website traffic doesn’t matter. It’s useless… unless, and this is the whole point today, you’re converting that traffic. But before we get into ways to improve conversion rates, let’s first define it.
What is a Conversion Rate?
If you already know this, bear with us; the good stuff is coming. A conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors (or Facebook ads traffic) that you convert. So, the next question is this:
What is a Conversion?
A conversion can mean many things but the essence of it can best be summed up with another question: What are you asking this traffic to do? 
Obviously, if you’re asking for a sale and you get it, that’s a conversion. However, a conversion can be something as simple as getting a click-through in an email, getting someone to fill out a form, or persuading visitors to reach out via email or phone.
Whatever you’re asking, no matter what it is, a conversion is simply an affirmative response to your CTA. It’s about persuading your audience to do what you ask of them; it’s a little more Jedi and a little less business owner.
(By the way, getting email addresses – list building – is pure gold and something you should be strenuously focused on.)
What is a CTA?
CTA is short for Call to Action. This is the ask. In this guide, we’ll be showing you proven strategies that will guarantee that your CTAs are as persuasive as possible. But first, to illustrate how important conversion rate optimization (CRO) is for the growth of your business, we’re going to do a little math… apologies in advance.
Let’s say that Business #1 gets 1000 visitors a month, while Business #2 gets 10,000. Business #1 has a conversion rate of 2 percent, while Business #2 sees a conversion rate of .10 percent. The math that follows is why traffic alone is meaningless:
Biz #1: 1000 visitors X 2% = 20 conversions per month
Biz #2: 10,000 visitors X .1% = 10 conversions per month
By the way, according to studies, the average conversion rate for landing pages is around 2.35 percent, and this is across industries. If you’re in the top 25 percent, your conversion rate will be around 5.31 percent. And if you’re in the top 10 percent, your conversion rate jumps to revenue-bursting 11.45 percent.
Are you ready for some strategies that will vault your conversion rates into the top 10 percent? We thought you might be.
15 Strategies to Improve Conversion Rates?
The strategies that follow require a little CTA psychology – using psychological triggers and persuasive techniques to elicit the responses you want.
What’s required from you is this: You’ll have to use empathy and put yourself in your target audience’s shoes.
You’ll also have to start thinking like a business psychologist rather than a business owner or entrepreneur.
1. Less is More
Ever heard of KISS – keep it simple, stupid? Not only does it apply in sales, but it also applies when unleashing your marketing strategies on visitors or subscribers.
Are you using an optin form to build your list? (In case you’re not sure, the answer is a BIG yes.) Stick to the basics, unless you have great reasons to deviate. The basics are first name and email address. With each box you add to your form, you can expect diminishing returns, as in fewer signups.
Less is more also applies to your landing pages… all of your static pages, really. And we’ll be digging into some specifics throughout this guide to optimize conversion rates on all of your pages.
2. Speak to Your Audience, Not at Them
There is a distinct way your target audience speaks and thinks, unless you’re Walmart, in which case, your target audience is everyone. So, first, define your target audience, and then tailor all marketing copy specifically for them.
Do you think lawyers speak differently than teachers or business owners? You better believe they do. Not sure how your target audience thinks or speaks – the words they use – to go LinkedIn and input your target audience’s job title into the search bar. Then read through some of their profiles, and make a list of the most commonly used words.
3. Use Offers to Improve Conversion Rates
Here’s an example you might appreciate: You land on a website and see an optin box asking for an email address. They offer nothing. You go to another site and see an optin box, but this time, they’re offering you a detailed guide about how you can improve conversion rates in return for your email address.
Which site gets your email address? Incidentally, once you have someone’s email address, you have permission to market to them. And if you don’t abuse that permission, you can nurture that prospect until you persuade her or him to become a customer.
This also applies to email marketing, since we’re on the subject. Companies like WinZip use offers all the time to improve conversion rates. If your list members gave you permission, they likely are interested in what you’re selling. Now, just give them a good reason to do what you’re asking of them.
4. Understand How Visitors Read Online
First of all, hardly anyone reads anymore. We skim now. Our attention spans have dwindled to the point where a 30 second TikTok video is considered too long. Yes, it’s out of control. But what does this mean for you?
Write copy specifically for skimmers. This means using headlines to tell the whole story. After all, you cannot count on them to read what’s in between the headlines. But this also applies to areas of a web page and how visitors’ eyes tend to track.
Do you know what part of a web page is seen the most or seen the least? These details are essential when you’re talking about moving the needle a percentage point or two. Web site visitors’ eyes track in an F-shaped pattern, which means you should be putting the important stuff on the left side of the page, as this image from Crazy Egg shows.
Here a few more tips to improve conversion rates with this information:
- Use visuals more often, but only if they achieve your page or ad objectives; graphics grab attention.
- Use contrasting fonts and colors to do the same.
- Use directional cues, like arrows, to point visitors where you want them to go.
- Use white space liberally to make important things (CTAs, benefits, etc.) stand out.
5. Ask, Ask, and Ask Again
Ask and ye shall receive. Don’t ask and… guess what happens?
Include at least one CTA on every web page, email, PPC ad, home page section, etc. Never miss an opportunity to ask your visitors, email subscribers, or social followers to do something that will benefit you. But you’ll still need to ask the right way – which we’re getting to – which means putting on your marketing psychology hat for the rest of this guide.
One other important thing few people mention with CTAs: Clarity wins the day. If you want someone to click-through, tell them to click-through. If you want someone to reply to an email, tell them to hit the reply button. You can’t ever be too clear with what you want.
Here are a few more thoughts on using CTAs effectively:
- Buttons perform best because they are more easily seen.
- Action verbs also work best – grab your free ___ today, reserve your spot now, sign up below, etc.
- Use popup optin boxes, but also use them in a way that doesn’t annoy visitors or violate any of these 15 strategies to improve conversion rates.
6. Consistency is King
Well, consistency and content, that is. Imagine a Facebook ad that’s about losing weight, clicking on that, and then landing on a page about muscle growth. OK, maybe a bit of an extreme example, but every part of your funnel must be aligned in its messaging.
This means your ads, your website copy, your landing page copy that’s expected to convert, your emails… every part of your funnel must include a consistent message.
Here’s the thing with people and websites in particular: Once they leave, they’re not likely to return. So, don’t give them a reason to leave.
7. Benefits not Features
We mentioned benefits a while back and this is the number one way to improve conversion rates. Let’s use another example.
You desperately want to lose weight. You’ve tried everything and nothing has worked. You click through from an ad or email and get to a landing page with a headline that reads – Our special botanical blend of herbs blah blah blah.
Now imagine landing and seeing this headline: Lose the weight and keep it off.
The first example is feature centric, as in us, our product, our company. The second example is benefit-centric, as in you, your pain point, what you want.
See the difference? If you take away one thing from this guide it should be this: Always lead with benefits. Benefits create emotion and emotion is that magical land where buying decisions are made. (Take our home page for example, we lead with benefits.)
Now, there is a place for features. Features provide the reasoning and logic to back up that buying instinct. So, don’t toss those out; but don’t lead with them either.
Benefits should particularly show up in email subject lines, headers for marketing copy everywhere – PPC ads, landing pages, other static pages – and especially in CTAs. Try pairing your CTAs with the strongest benefit (or pain point) and watch conversions soar. Execute it like this:
If you’ve had trouble losing weight in the past, we can help you. Click the Buy button below and you’ll be slimmer and fitter than you ever thought possible.
When you speak about benefits, you naturally use the word you more often, and this is important because it allows you to speak directly to your target audience. You is what’s known as a power word when it comes to creating persuasive marketing copy. And you should use it often.
8. Landing Pages Without Distractions
If your landing pages have more than one direction for visitors to go, tsk tsk tsk; that will not do.
Your landing pages aren’t like other pages. There shouldn’t be a footer, or a sidebar, or a menu. Landing pages should have one place to go, and your CTA will determine where that one place is. So, use some software if you have to, but create real landing pages, not normal static pages posing as landing pages.
Since we’re on the subject of landing pages, you should also follow Improve Conversion Rates rule #1: Less is more. If you’re only asking for an email address, try keeping the entire page above the fold. And remember to keep those optin forms down to as few asks as possible.
9. Test Everything
Do you know why digital marketing is so much more beneficial when compared to other types of marketing? You can measure everything in real-time and make adjustments as you go.
Fine-tuning is expected. If you’re not paying attention to your metrics and making changes, you’re not maximizing your digital marketing return; yes, we’re talking about ROI. Let’s use email marketing as an example.
The three key metrics and what they’re related to:
- Open rates – subject lines
- Click-through rates (if you’re asking) – CTAs, offers, benefits, persuasive elements – we’re getting to these
- Conversion rates – same as CTR above
If your audience isn’t opening emails, you know what you need to fix. If they’re not responding to your emails – CTR or conversion rates – you know what you need to fix.
10. Ask for a Date, not Marriage
This is why building an email list is so vital. We consumers prefer to be courted for a while. We generally don’t make buying decisions on the first go. So, nurture those relationships, and don’t propose on the first date.
11. Use Social Proof
There are six elements of persuasion:
- Likability
- Consistency
- Authority
- Scarcity
- Reciprocity
- Social proof
There are books written solely about these elements of persuasion, so we’ll be briefer here. Social proof is what your customers have to say about you, your product or service, and your company.
These can be reviews, customer testimonials, word of mouth, social posts, blog comments; any forum in which people are commenting. But for our purposes here today, let’s focus on testimonials.
If you have them and they’re good, use them… a lot! (Again, we certainly do this like the one below.)
Put them in emails. Put them on landing pages. Just get them out into the world in as many ways as you can. Who better to sell your products or services than your satisfied customers? Do you want to know what your audience will think?
Well, if it worked for this person, it should work for me.
12. Likable
You probably won’t be able to use every element of persuasion and certainly not all at once, but some are more important than others, and being likable is one of those.
We tend to do business with people we genuinely like and get a good feeling from, so use this. Emails especially are more personal than other marketing mediums. Don’t be too stiff when creating email copy and don’t come off as a jerk. I’m sure you’ve gotten emails where the tone is less than friendly.
One way we can portray ourselves as more likable is by coming across as helpful. As a business owner, your CTAs and marketing copy should be worded as such: We exist to help you.
13. Authority
Let’s continue with our weight loss theme. Whose weight loss marketing copy will come across as more reliable: Joe Schmo or Dr. Lose Weight?
If you are an expert, don’t shy away from it. Lean into it. Just remember to do it in a way that’s also likable. And remember, this is a feature, so don’t lead with your authority; use it to back up your benefits. Let’s use About pages to illustrate.
An About page is typically about the what (us). But if you can concentrate on the why (them), it’s more persuasive. How about we use Dr. Lose Weight’s About page as an example.
I created ___ because I saw how much my patients were suffering from ___. Continue on for a paragraph or two about helping the reader and providing benefits to your target audience. And afterward, dive into the features; in this case, experience, credentials, education, etc.
You create emotion then back it up with logic, and boom – you’ve got a conversion. And yes, there should be a CTA on your About page, too.
14. Scarcity
WinZip uses scarcity well in their email copy. They tell you about a product, make you an offer, and then put a time limit on it. You’ve probably seen Shopify e-commerce pages that tell you how many of a certain product is left in the inventory. Do you want to know something? That product is probably always on the verge of being sold out.
Losing something is more powerful than gaining something. This is true in relationships, too. Your significant other is getting attention elsewhere and suddenly you want her or him more than before. Consumer psychology is everything when creating persuasive marketing copy.
15. Stronger CTA Copy
Take everything you’ve learned here today and use it to maximize your CTAs. This is the best way to improve conversion rates immediately.
Improve Conversion Rate Conclusion
As you now see, improving conversion rates is more about understanding human psychology than anything else, and it all begins with empathy. If you can put yourself into your target audience’s shoes, your marketing copy will be strong.
Yeah, this is some Jedi mind-trick stuff we’re talking about. But the question is:
Are you ready to be a Jedi?
Confidence building activities are monumental for growing as a professional.
With this new mindset, you stretch past your limits in a sprint to reaching your full potential. Without confidence, you’re a mere mortal going through the motions.
Think about anyone you know who is competing at the highest level. Be it actor, artist, athlete, politician, or CEO, they all share one trait: confidence oozes out of them.
Plus, look at the data. According to Indeed, 98% of job workers say they perform better when they feel confident. Not only that, 96% of employees will stay at a company when they feel good about themselves, and 94% are happier when confident at work.
The long term productivity from you, and the people around you, being confident is astronomical.
Professionals, entrepreneurs, and HR managers, pay attention. Whether you’re looking to get more out of yourself or your team, this is for you.
Confidence Building Activities
Sure, you can “fake it until you make it”. But how long does that last? And what if you’re not cut out for faking it. Or worse, you’re exposed as a fraud?
It’s far better to not fake and actually be confident. This will radiate in your every interaction. Be it a Zoom meeting, in person, or phone call, you’ll present yourself as someone who knows their value. Plus, you’ll have a natural self-defense when insecurity or doubt comes knocking.
As a business owner or manager, having confidence allows you to better inspire the people around you, and yourself.
Here’s how to build confidence.
1. Vision Sharing
As the Bible says in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
This statement holds true not just for organizations, but also yourself.
- What is the vision for your life?
- What do you want your legacy to be by the time you’re 80 years old?
- Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
- What’s your goal in five years?
- Where do you wish to be next year?
This is not fluffy work. It’s the most important thinking you can do. Nothing else stacks up in priority.
Recommendation: Set aside 30 minutes every Sunday to review your life goals and evaluate your progress. Be it a mental exercise or journaling, find a way to get it done.
This will inspire confidence that you know where you’re going, and you’re on the right track. If you’re not, it gives you a roadmap to course correct before it’s too late.
And if you lead a business, do the same thinking exercise you did on yourself for your organization. Then share it with your team to inspire them to greatness. Casting a vision flat out works.
If casting a vision is your only takeaway from this list of confidence building activities, then you’re going to be much farther ahead than most.
2. Self-Affirmations
My favorite self affirmations include:
- I am enough
- I can do anything I set my mind to
- This too shall pass
- I am in charge of how I feel, and I choose happiness
- I am my own hero
- If I can get through this, I can get through anything
- I love me
Choose one of these or make up your own affirmation. Then repeatedly tell yourself this each morning.
Your thoughts influence your actions and your actions determine your life. By thinking positive, self-affirmations, you’re literally changing the course of your days for the better.
It’s easy, simple, and flat-out works.
3. Work Out
Of course you’re going to look more attractive and get more eyes on you once you commit to working out. This brings its own confidence.
By far the biggest benefit is mental. You see, when you work out consistently for six months, you don’t suddenly get amnesia.
You’ll know how hard you’ve been training. The times you chose to go to the gym when it was the last activity you wanted to do that day. Running in the rain. And the mornings you pushed yourself with weights until failure.
These are weekly lessons that you’re strong, can commit to something, and have the muscle of perseverance.
You didn’t, and can’t, purchase being in top shape. It’s only earned. And you earned it.
That alone will transition to a more confident you at work.
My recommendation: Work out at least three times a week, at a minimum of 30 minutes.
4. Celebrate Yourself
Many type-As, including myself, will quickly move onto the next goal and do nothing special after a big achievement.
This isn’t good. Subconsciously you’re signaling that you’re not worth a celebration. Stop doing that. Smell the roses, at least for an hour.
Even getting a steak and a nice glass of wine will do the trick. If it’s a super big deal, then plan a weekend trip somewhere special. Or purchase the item you’ve been eyeing for months, for some that may be hiring a personal stylist.
People celebrate random holidays like National Donut Day. You hitting a milestone that requires your focus, hard work, and perseverance is a much bigger deal that deserves recognition.
This builds confidence because you’re showing your worth to yourself and others, by spending time and money on you. These celebratory moments become deposits for your confidence to ensure it’s never empty.
5. Study Greatness
Reading biographies, learning about the top companies and professionals in your field, following people you look up to on Twitter, watching documentaries of the best, studying the elite pros in other fields will inspire your own confidence.
Now this is only if you view greatness in the right mindset. The mistake most make is comparing their day one to someone else’s day 10,000. That, and feeling shame or disappointment in their situation.
Instead, viewing greatness in the lens of another human being with only 24 hours in their day has achieved incredible success. If they can do it to that level, surely you can make a lot of yourself with dedication.
That mindset alone builds confidence that “you got this”.
6. Invest In Yourself
You’re your greatest investment. Are you treating yourself like it?
Naturally your confidence is going to falter if you wake up, rush to work, and then go non-stop until you hit your pillow.
What energy did you spend on yourself? How are you processing life and improving?
To help some think of ideas, this investment in yourself may be in the form of investing in your home office via hiring an interior design or constructing a new office build out. Having good energy in your space gives good energy to yourself.
Even waking up an hour early to start a side project, read, or exercise is an investment in your well being. That adds up to over 360 hours of investment in yourself over the year. In a decade, that’s over 3,000 hours invested.
How can you not be more confident at work (and overall) after this?
7. Build Relationships
Relationships can come in all shapes and sizes.
Be it your spouse, parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, or random strangers across the world on Twitter, knowing other people have your back provides assurance that you’re not alone.
And making friends often requires you to step out of your comfort zone to get to know them, and let them learn about you.
Work is a beautiful path to achieve massive impact, skills, and wealth. But a life with no solid relationships is lonely, sad.
Make time for others to destress. Knowing others have your back if you fall gives you confidence to take risks. These risks could include:
- Expanding into a new territory
- Making a major investment into Facebook ads
- Hiring new employees
- Quitting your job for another one, or to start your own business
- Creating a side-hustle
- Asking for a raise
Again, confidence is required to make the leaps.
8. Gratitude Journal
A gratitude journal is a notebook for you to write down three to five things you’re grateful for each day. This activity is always a positive one leading you to greater perspective.
If you have a roof over your head, food in your stomach, and a bed, you’re better off than millions of people across the world.
This gratitude journal exercise inspires confidence because it reminds you that you’re already in good shape. You have what you need. By taking the pressure to perform off at work, ironically you’ll perform better.
Gratitude is one of the best drivers of internal confidence that everything’s going to work out.
9. Put Yourself In Uncomfortable Situations
Ironically, the things you’re most cautious to avoid are what help you grow in boldness.
Examples
- Go to a social gather alone
- Eat dinner alone
- Send a text to an old friend you haven’t spoken to in years
- Call and forgive someone who wronged you
- Take cold showers
- Explore virtual reality
- Wake up early
- Do adventurous activities like skydiving, white water rafting, and anything that scares you
- Try learning a new skill like website design, Spanish, or cooking
This is by no means an exhaustive list. Whatever makes you uncomfortable (you know) do that!
10. Focus On Body Language
Did you know that smiling can trick your mind to feel happier? It’s true. Smiling tells your brain it’s happy, and then it can start feeling happier. And happy people are confident people.
If you’re leading a meeting, try this exercise. Have everyone look at you, then do and hold a big smile. If you really want to improve the energy in the room, have everyone stand up, look at you, hold a big smile, and look around.
This science applies to yourself as well. If you’re feeling bummed or anxious, start smiling. The dopamine in your brain will kick in leaving you feeling better to tackle your professional challenges.
11. Travel Often
Traveling forces you to think fast, make decisions, and be assertive in where you’re going—even when you don’t know all of the details.
By being in a foreign country where you don’t know the language, you’re going to learn that you can survive anywhere. Talk about confidence building.
Then when you come back to the professional world, you’ll have that confidence to call upon at all times. The memories and your ability to navigate uncertainty sticks with you.
12. Practice Vocal Authority
Are you an executive who consistently leads team meetings, or does office speeches? Maybe you’re a course creator who wants to be more confident in front of the camera.
Or maybe you’re a confident person, but you know your voice makes you out to be an insecure, weakling at and outside of work.
Even if your job never has and never will require you to give a speech, consider how many:
- Phone calls do you take per week?
- Zoom chats do you go on?
- Times you speak to your family and friends?
In every interaction, you can feel good about your vocal speech or disappointed.
Mastering vocal authority builds confidence.
How’s it done?
Start by watching YouTube videos on the topic, pause, repeat after them, play, and then repeat. If you commit to doing this even 10 minutes a day, you’ll see a tangible improvement.
If you have the money, hire a vocal coach to help you sound your best. The dividends are endless.
13. Gain Experience
There is one confidence builder that is out of your immediate control: time. Gaining experience in a craft takes years of hard work.
Wonder how someone can run through a difficult task at record pace and make it look easy? It’s not because it’s easy. They’ve put in their dues.
That can be you, if you stick to your pursuits, never quitting.
Now consider the opposite. You have zero confidence because every few years you’re switching to entirely different careers and having to learn the basics.
And if you are going to make a change, at least do it in an industry with similar patterns. This way your experience carries some weight into your next venture.
Confident Employees Benefit Employers
Imagine if every employee — from leadership to the lowest paid worker — is feeling confident. They’re 100% engaged in their work.
What would that do to your company’s revenue, talent pool, and team productivity?
Confidence is contagious. When someone has the internal certainty that the mission is going to be a success, the problem will be solved, and we won’t screw up, everyone around them is more peaceful.
It also gives your team the fire power it needs to achieve what many call the impossible.
For example, a SaaS company competing with a giant will have a slim window of opportunity. If they can manage a strong company culture with shared confidence, there’s a fighting chance. If 90% of the team is doing the bare minimum so they don’t get fired, then that startup is doomed.
I’d much rather have 10 confident employees firing at all cylinders than 100 slow ones who are simply working for a paycheck.
Inspire confidence and you will have that team that takes down Goliath.
Conclusion
Once you put these confidence building activities into practice, the results will be compounding. I bet you’ll be addicted to your newfound confidence.
Your responsibility is to remain in this state of certainty and pass on this skill to everyone you know.
Remember, these exercises apply to both individuals and teams. Sharing confidence is caring!
What are your favorite confidence building activities?