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The truth is that B2B customers visit your company website for verification of your business its products and services. In fact, 45% of CEOs think that the purpose of their company website is solely verification of the company. Fact-checking, confirming the detail and quality of your company -- all of these things can be done by visiting your website. But what separates a mundane, "brochure" B2B website from a powerful sales engine is when companies don’t stop there.
How customers use the internet has changed. Your B2B website can (and should) be so much more than a brochure about your company: it can be a source of valuable information and education about your industry and your product/service, and yes, a sales mechanism. And it’s your job to make sure that your company website performs its best.
Ready to get started? Here are three powerful tips for empowering your B2B website as a sales tool:
1. Less About Your Company, More Focus on Your Customers
The first mistake B2B companies make with their websites is assuming that a “just the facts” approach is enough. Describe your products, your services, and your work ethic, and you’re done, right?
Wrong! Too often, a company’s web presence is dedicated to facts and figures about the company itself. The most powerful way to catch a customer’s attention is to talk about what matters most to them. Your prospects have a problem to solve, and they are researching solutions. Information about your industry, helping your prospect to compare all of their options, and stories of how customers' problems were solved are all viable ways to make your website a sales engine.
Go check out your company website and perform a small test: how many times do you mention “we,” or “I”? How much of your detail and description is a lifeless, factual account of what you do and how you do it?
Then, look to see how many times you talk about your customer. What should be important (and clear!) on your website is an accounting of your customer’s needs and wants, and how your products and services can specifically meet them. You might also use your website to help a potential customer know when you can, or even CAN'T, help them. This can help eliminate many "tire kickers" and improve your lead quality.
2. Fine-Tune Every Detail to Your Specific Customer
Speaking of your customers, you do know who they are, right? Because in order to be specific about how your B2B services will meet their needs, you need to deeply understand their needs in the first place. Even if verification is what leads your customer to your website, strategic messaging and branding will be what keeps them around.
What are your customers needs, and how does your company address them? How is your customer’s business better as a result of what you provide them? Invest time into identifying everything you know about your target customer and their segments, or what we call client personas. Addressing details that matter most to your ideal customers on your website will enable your website to be a powerful B2B sales tool.
3. Stay Busy with Blogging and Promotion
Another effective way to empower your B2B website as a sales tool is to provide high-quality, keyword optimized blog content. Not only will this draw more traffic to your website, but you’ll also be able to speak directly to your prospective customers by referencing frequently asked questions.
But even when you’re posting frequently, your work doesn’t end there. Brainstorm ways to engage with your customers on and offline with social media channels and distribute your content around the web in other effective, low-cost ways.
A rich mine of digital content that is well-networked on social media platforms will bring your company to your customer’s attention as they research the solutions and products that are right for them. You'll gain credibility, and you just might get the sale as a result.
What's keeping your website from generating leads for your business?
