Marketing Mistakes That May Turn Away Online Prospects

Written By : Clifford Blodgett

Online marketing can be an invaluable tool in growing your practice. But like all tools, marketing can either help or harm your business, depending upon how well you use it. A building contractor can use a sledgehammer for specific, productive purposes, or he can sling it around wildly, destroying everything in its path. Likewise, you don’t want to utilize your marketing tools in a haphazard manner, or you might repel more prospects than you attract.

If you’re making either of the following two mistakes, you could be turning away your online audience.

1. Offering a solution before the problem has been identified.

Imagine walking into a crowded room and yelling, “Everyone needs to exit through this door on the left! Right now! Hurry! Go, go, go!” The most likely reaction you would receive is bewilderment, perhaps mixed with fear. Very few people may follow your orders and exit the room.

On the other hand, imagine you enter that same room and announce, “We’ve detected a gas leak in the building, and this puts us all at risk for poisoning and fires. There’s no need to panic, but you will all be much safer if you calmly exit this door to the left and go outside”. You’re going to receive a much better response with this method. Everyone will see the reasoning behind your request, understand why taking action will benefit them, and will quickly exit the door to the left.

When it comes to online marketing, your audience is going to make a decision about your content within the first few sentences. So you have a very limited time during which you can capture their attention and make them want to read more.

So what captures their attention? Remember that your audience approaches online content with one question on their minds: What’s in this for me? Make sure you describe a potential problem or concern before you begin telling them what to do about it. Otherwise, it’s like you’ve walked into a room and begun loudly issuing orders for no clear reason. Most people aren’t going to listen to you unless they know what’s in it for them.

2.  Your Call to Action sounds like a sales pitch.

What would you do if a car salesman walked up to you in the mall, and said, “Hey, come to my car lot tomorrow at noon”? You would probably run fast and far away from this blatant, and very pushy, attempt to sell you a car.

Likewise, you’re going to receive a similar reaction if your Call to Action looks anything like these:

• Click here for a subscription to my newsletter! (Why? Why would they want your newsletter?)
• Click here to schedule a consultation in my office! (Well, that wouldn’t be uncomfortable, to go sit in someone’s office and listen to an obvious sales pitch!)

Remember, a very obvious sales pitch may turn away the very clients you want to attract. No one likes to feel ordered around without clear reasoning behind the orders.

Your Call to Action should:

• Clearly state how this action can improve your reader’s life
• Offer something of value, which can make their life easier or improve their finances

Check out these examples of a good Calls to Action:

• Click here to receive your free e-book on Social Security.
• Click here for your free, step-by-step guide on applying for Medicare.
• Fill out this short form to receive a monthly newsletter, containing tips on living your best retirement, protecting your assets, and even some great recipes and fun crossword puzzles!

It’s easy to see how the above examples offer something relevant and valuable, entice more responses, and establish you as the friendly, helpful expert. Most importantly, they don’t sound like obvious sales pitches!

Now that you know two of the biggest internet marking mistakes, take closer look at your website and other digital content. Tweak your approach to make sure you accurately describe problems or concerns, clearly state benefits and solutions, and offer clear value to your prospects. Then watch your business steadily grow, as your audience happily turns to their dedicated expert for the financial guidance they need.

FOR INSURANCE PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR USE WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC 14203 – 2015/3/5

Filed under: Financial Advisor Marketing