Do you want to encourage new visitors to engage with your brand? If so, you’re not alone. We all want to grow our brands and connect with potential customers. The ability to reach qualified leads means more opportunities to secure sales and build brand loyalty.
It’s important to remember that many first-time visitors will not immediately turn into customers. In fact, very few people will be ready to buy the first time they discover a new brand.
However, if you can demonstrate value to visitors when they find your site, there’s a better chance they will come back to you when they need industry-specific information or solutions.
Today, I want to share several strategies we use across our brands to keep first-time visitors interested in our company and products. I’ll also cover actionable tips you can use to put this advice into practice.
Are you ready? Let’s dive in!
Showcase High-Quality Content
Showcasing high-quality content on your website is one of the best ways to connect with first-time visitors. Blog posts, videos, and other forms of visual content are essential tools that you need to keep visitors engaged with your site.
Remember when I said a vast majority of online shoppers aren’t ready to place an order the first time they visit a website? Compare that piece of information with the fact that over 77% of internet users read blogs. It’s also worth noting that 47% of people report reading 3-5 blog posts on a website before placing an order. These startling statistics highlight the importance of having an educational, engaging, and exciting blog connected to your online store.
The key to building a successful blog is to focus your content on your target audience’s goals, interests, and pain points. If your content doesn’t resonate with people who need your product or service, you’re going to have a difficult time generating traffic and leads.
I suggest using your customer segments as a guide when designing content for your site. Ask yourself who each written post or video is for, and you’ll have an easier time creating targeted content that keeps new visitors engaged with your brand.
If people find the content on your site helpful, they will come back to read future updates and check out your products or services.
Secure More Signups with Personalization
Speaking of customer segments, I want to talk about the importance of personalization. You may be shocked to learn that 80% of online shoppers say they expect personalized experiences from their favorite brands.
In other words, if you don’t actively look for ways to give your visitors unique experiences, they may look for a competitor that offers them this feature.
The good news is you can easily make content and offers personal, even if you’re dealing with a first-time visitor. The secret is knowing how each person spends time on your site. With this information, you can show popups and product suggestions that match each visitors’ intent.
Lead magnets are a great way to personalize the offers users see on your site. Essentially, lead magnets are either a piece of content (like an eBook) or a promotion (like 20% for first-time subscribers). Users need to take a specific action to get the offer, like subscribing to an email list.
You can customize lead magnets on your blog posts and product pages to be more personalized for each customer. For example, if you’re the owner of an online pet store, you may want to create lead magnets for common pets like cats, dogs, and birds. Now, you can include an offer for the relevant magnet on similar blog posts.
So, if a visitor is reading blog posts about cats on your site, they may also be interested in your offer for 20% off cat food and toys. Similarly, someone reading articles about dogs might download an eBook about training new puppies.
You can keep new visitors engaged long after their first visit if you’re able to understand their needs while personalizing content and offers based on their interests.
Leverage the Power of Social Proof Marketing
Here are a couple quick questions:
Have you ever bought a product because a friend told you it was a good idea? Or, have you ever bought something online, say, from Amazon, based on user reviews?
If you answered yes to either one of these questions, you’ve experienced the power of social proof marketing. Basically, social proof in marketing is evidence from other companies and shoppers that your business is respected and delivers a top-notch experience.
There are many different types of social proof you can use to encourage visitors to engage with your site. Reviews are, without a doubt, the most powerful example. A whopping 83% of shoppers say they trust reviews over advertising, and a total of 97% of consumers say they look at reviews before buying a product online.
You can include reviews on your product pages, as well as part of your lead magnet strategy. If visitors see that your free eBook has raving reviews, they may decide to join your email list and see what has everyone talking.
Trust seals are another powerful way to show social proof to new visitors. These are seals of approval from well-known companies like McAfee and PayPal. If someone sees your email registration form is secured by a well-known company, they are more likely to complete the signup process.
Make it Easy to Connect on Social Media
Did you know that over 4 billion people use social media? If you think that’s shocking, wait until you hear this; on average, people spend around 2 hours and 29 minutes on social media sites every day.
You may be wondering what this means for your business. Well, if you have an active social presence, you can move customers and visitors back and forth between your social media and website. The purpose is to deliver value through your content, offers, and advice while amplifying brand awareness and improving recognition.
It’s easier than ever to connect your social media account to your website. You can even add a social wall plugin to your site that allows you to display your feed in real-time for people who visit your site.
Not only will this help you improve engagement across the board, but it will also help you build rapport with your audience. A stunning 91% of shoppers say they want to see more interactive content from their favorite brands, and it doesn’t get any more interactive than social media.
We also like having crossover events between our site and social media. For instance, we’ve had tremendous success hosting giveaways on our various brands for anniversaries and holidays. If done correctly, you’re bound to bring in a ton of new, highly-engaged visitors with this strategy.
Use Data to Fine-Tune Your Strategy
Finally, I suggest using data from previous visitors to fine-tune your marketing strategy. You’re bound to learn a lot about your customers as you review feedback forms, analytics data, and user reports.
For instance, if you notice that one of your popups isn’t performing well, it may be time to look at your intended audience and why this offer doesn’t appeal to readers. Your audience segments will change over time, and the only way to figure out how things will work out is by keeping an eye on user data and patterns.
I also suggest finding your top-performing posts and asking yourself what makes these particular articles or promotions work. If you can crack the code, you can test this theory with future campaigns to see if it’s possible to achieve similar results.
As your business grows, you’ll find countless opportunities to keep new visitors engaged with your brand. I believe that if used properly, the advice offered here can help you build a framework for success, regardless of your industry.
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Syed Balkhi is an award-winning entrepreneur and online marketing expert. He is the co-founder of OptinMonster, WPBeginner, MonsterInsights, and WPForms.