The importance of return visits to your website is underestimated
Quick…
What is the most important part of your overall advertising campaign? Huh, huh??
If you want a better return on your advertising dollars then the answer to that question would be return visitors. Period.
Unfortunately, that concept is pretty underestimated. It seems, especially in the realm of network marketing and affiliate marketing, that the emphasis is on the quick sign up or the instant sale. I have several people contact me each week to write an email ad or two and always say something like, “I need this ad to pull like crazy to make me money in the next couple of days.” Ok. But, what about next week? Next month? Next year?
Long term is the new short term.
Most of the time I respond with something like, “I can write a great ad that will send traffic, but you should have something on your webpage to capture their interest and compel them to come back.”
That usually brings us into a conversation where I explain the importance of return visitors as opposed to just a one time shot in the fish pond.
In my previous post about how much money you should spend with your online advertising, I briefly touched in this topic but would like to shed a little more light on this. I truly feel, because of past, current, and future conversations with would be advertisers that this topic is widely underestimated. It’s just not in the realm of thinking.
I want to get something off my chest… every single advertising campaign you create must have long term effects. It simply must. Short term thinking, or advertising for a quick buck, will cost you more money in the long run. You actually lose profits.
Think of return before initial.
Before you ever put pen to paper, or keystroke to word processor, think about the return visitors before you begin pandering to the initial visitor. Here’s why.
When you begin to put the return visitor into your mind you will begin to formulate a plan, or a blueprint, on how to get people to return to your website or page. You will begin to see things a little differently. You’ll see them from the visitor’s perspective and not from a seller’s point of view. There is a big difference there.
When you’re seeing things through your seller’s eyes you just want the visitors and a quick profit. However, the visitor wants an experience. They want something they can engage with. They can feel emotionally drawn too. A website that will connect with them, pull them in, feel relevant to them, and give them a reason to come back will reap more benefits (profits) than one that focuses on a quick sale. That’s what you create when you begin with the repeat visitor in mind rather than the initial visitor.
Give them something to remember you by.
How do you do that? How do you get people to return? Give them something to remember you by.
Another benefit of thinking of the return visitor first is that you can begin to also plan out the incentives you will need to get people to return. In the online world there are several ways to do that.
You could…
give away a free report,
get them to sign up for an email newsletter,
download a free ebook,
entice them with a regular daily article,
get them to sign up for your RSS feed on your blog,
have a weekly podcast,
create your own online radio program,
ask for them to friend you on facebook,
produce a live video stream,
or even join your forum, or your own social network.
When you think about it, the possibilities are endless and only limited to your own imagination and creativity.
The key though is to make it your own. Be unique and give them something to remember you by. A big thing was, and in a lot of cases still is, popular was to give away free stuff that was rebranded. For example, ebooks that would contain your own affiliate links and even web page information. But, it wasn’t yours. It was someone else’s stuff. Someone else gets remembered.
Advertise multiple times for a one time cost.
Every fourth of July in my hometown there is a little carnival that comes and sets up at the park. There are some rides, food booths, displays, and even daredevil shows from time to time. I remember a time, when I was young, when you had to pay for each ride. It got quite costly and my parents would set a limit on how many rides I could do on. So I had to choose wisely.
But, after a few years they would have a set price to get into the fair and then you could ride all the rides as many times as you wanted to. I was in heaven. One ride in particular, The Flying Bobs, was, and still is, my favorite. Every year, I make a point to ride it until I get sick.
I got to ride my favorite ride as many times as I wanted for just one price. When you advertise, and set up your website, for the return visitor you’re riding your favorite ride for just one price.
Everything your visitor downloads, signs up for, watches on video, listens to in a podcast, or sees in your social network advertises your website to them for no additional cost. You don’t have to get them to click on an ad somewhere, or read it in an email, or see your banner on a website. They just stay in contact with you through your own materials and productions.
Your advertising costs stay low, or the same, and you’re actually receiving more traffic, more sales, long term clients, and people who are ready to recommend you/your product.
Think repeat visitors and create accordingly.
Your next ad campaign will have much better results if you think with a long term mindset. Think of return visitors and then create your plan accordingly.
