When Marketing Budgets Are Tight, Take Time to Improve Your Conversion Rates.

By Todd Miechiels

Every so often something happens in our lives that leads us (or sometimes forces) us to address something we’ve likely neglected either consciously or subconsciously. When things are going well we give little thought to certain areas but when they go poorly we will give it our full attention.

For instance, when I’m feeling (and am) more overweight than normal, I’m going to pay closer attention (and probably make wiser decisions) to what I eat or if I’m getting up in the morning to exercise than I would when I’m feeling fit and trim.

If I’m getting a sky-high heating bill in January, I can’t help but to notice, and will hopefully take care of the two, or three (or 15) windows that leak like my downstairs faucet (that’s another problem altogether!)

If losing weight, or lowering my heating costs is important to me, I know I’ve got something that I can do to address it. And in both of these cases I may not see huge returns on my time and money immediately, but wisdom tells me that over time the benefits and return are enormous and will continue to add up.

Today I want to share with you what may seem obvious to some of you, but the more I talk to people, I can’t help but spread this simple message.

When marketing budgets are tight, and you are under pressure to do more with less, look to improve your internet marketing conversion rates.

Specific in the online world that might mean:

You get 10 leads from every 1,000 visitors instead of 5.
You get 20% to sit through your product demo instead of 10%
You get 5% of people who come to your site to donate money, instead of 2.5%

Why Should You Care?

It’s easy to believe (no still less shocking) that if you raise your conversion rate from 1% to 2%, that’s a 100% increase in sales! That increase comes without having to pay a dime in additional sales and marketing costs associated with getting more people to your site. Plus, that’s a 100% increase in sales month after month after month.

Most of us don’t sell products online but it’s just as powerful in a B2B lead generation type scenario. Check this out:

Your company spends $5,000 in sales and marketing costs to help get 5,000 targeted people to your website each month.

Of those 5,000 people, your website cranks out 50 sales-worthy leads at a cost of $100 per lead, or a conversion rate from visitors to leads of 1%.

If the website is able to convert 2% of visitors to leads instead of 1% that’s a…you guessed it, a 100% increase in sales leads. Not to mention you’ve cut your cost per lead in half. Project this type of scenario out with your own numbers over a year or two and it should be enlightening.

POP QUIZ:

To double your sales/leads this year, which is less expensive:

creating twice as many targeted visitors to your website each month for 12 months, or;
increasing your conversion rate by 100% one time

Hint: I didn’t ask which is easier, but which is less expensive.

The Problem/Opportunity is Right Before Our Very Eyes

It’s absolutely and consistently shocking how many companies and their agencies continue to spend more money on advertising and marketing without making an active effort to measure and improve their conversion rates. Maybe it’s because conversion rate isn’t as obvious as a wide-open window in the winter, or a bulging belly over the belt line.

But the more you spend, the more important this should be.

And here’s one last truth, if you are going to be spending to create twice as much traffic this year anyway, and you were to increase your conversion rate from 1% to 2%, that’s a 400% increase in sales.

What You Can Do Today

Demand through monthly reports your website’s conversion rate.
Segment, segment, segment. For example, what is the difference between conversion rates for search visitors who enter on your “brand” keyword against search visits from more generic keywords?.
Start an initiative to systematically improve your conversion rate
Challenge every dollar that’s spent on marketing that could be allocated towards improving the conversion rate.

Todd Miechiels is a B2B Internet marketing consultant who helps executives of mid-sized companies market smarter online.

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