Children often say the most darling things like, “I love you mom” or “I love you dad.” It always warms your heart to hear this. Sometimes they will also say things that don’t make sense, but make you laugh like, “This baked potato is so delicious I want to marry it!” This usually has a way of putting everyone in a good mood. They also have a nack for being brutally honest, especially when out in public. A specific moment comes to mind, thank goodness I was not the parent in this case. A little girl sees a lady behind her and starts screaming. Her mom asks her what’s wrong but she just keeps screaming. The little girl finally calms down and says in a loud voice, “that lady is so ugly mom, ah! I can’t stand looking at her!” How embarrassing for the parent, how humiliating for the lady.
My point being, if you want to attract potential customers to your website and entice them to view or buy your products/services, they need to be beautiful! Thereby avoiding the grocery store scenario mentioned above. Here are 3 basic elements that will ensure you are successful in bringing more traffic to your site, getting more likes on your articles, and leading more people to buy your product/service.
Beautiful & Simple Images
You’ve heard the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, it’s true. This is what people will look at first. Placing current, timeless, engaging photos and illustrations on your website is a recipe for success. Beautiful and simple images will immediately spark an interest to a potential customer. Even if they don’t buy, they will mention it on their social media sites or blogs and it will have a viral effect. This means more exposure and revenue for you. If you don’t have amazing images on your site, replace them right now! You don’t want to chase people off.
Using beautiful images will entice potential customers. Here are some award-winning examples found in the HOW Design, blog.hubspot.com, Brandpoint, Brabbu and Pinterest.
Beautiful, Trendy & Classic Fonts
Using beautiful fonts is the next ingredient into successfully marketing to your targeted audience. Words are just words if you use boring fonts, however, if you use beautiful, trendy and classic fonts, they will speak to your audience and get them excited about your products and services. Fontyou has 6 trendy fonts for typography enthusiasts.
DELICATE SCRIPTS: Horizontes, Ella FY, Showcase, Flirt and Chelly FY.
GRAB ON NEW SLABS: Newslab, Achille FY, Quitador, Hansom Slab FY, Din Next Slab and Choplin.
BEAUTIFUL IMPERFECTIONS: Catalina, Boucherie, Rough Love and Nexa Rust.
TYPO-GRAPHICS: Core Escher, Lulo Clean, Bend, Bron and Core Circus.
LOOKING FOR THE NEW GOTHAM: Texta, Wes FY, LeanO Sans FY, Canaro, Mariné and Listz FY.
BACK TO THE CLASSICS: Rowton Sans FY, Gauthier Next FY, Domaine Display, Diogenes, ITC Galliard and Adobe Calson Pro.
Using the fonts mentioned above will create an inviting feeling that will help visitors see that your product or service will improve their life or business. Choosing the right fonts will impact their decision to keep looking at your website and marketing pieces, instead of chasing them away. Carefully consider the fonts you will place on all your marketing content. It will make a huge difference in whether people stay on your website for 2 seconds or 2 minutes. It pays off in the end.
Beautiful & Direct Message
Once you have amazing images and have chosen the right style of fonts, it’s time to work on creating simple and direct message to your audience. You want to make sure that your message will entice them and have them say, “I gotta have that.” In an article by Melissa Thompson entitled, “6 Tips to Improve Direct Marketing”, she suggests 6 tips that will improve your overall marketing in 2015:
Target Your Audience
In order to sell your product you need to target your audience. Make sure you are promoting the right message and that it’s something they can relate to, something that they want to buy. This is where research comes in. Create a buyer persona profile, creating what their key responsibilities, demographics, goals, challenges, fears and how your product or service will help them.
Create a Memorable Look
It is crucial to have great design because it reinforces your message. If you don’t have the right software, hire an amazing graphic designer to give your brand a professional and cutting-edge look.
You’re Selling Solutions, Not Products
People buy a product that will meet their needs or wants. It’s all about what your product can do for them. According to Melissa Thompson, “Bob doesn’t want a new drill, he wants to finish his to-do list faster so he can go golfing. Mary doesn’t want a dress, she wants to look thin at the party this Friday. Alice doesn’t want an investment newsletter, she wants to find a great investment that will let her retire at 45. Ted doesn’t want a recipe book, he wants new ways to impress his friends at dinner parties.”
The Heart Comes Before the Brain
Marketers are logical people. Its all about the sales and meeting the monthly quota. On the other hand, people make decisions based on emotion. They think about how your product will help them and how they will feel if they purchase it.
Remember the Basic Elements
Thompson mentions that every marketing message includes three basic elements:
– An offer
– Enough information for immediate acceptance of the offer
– A mechanism for responding to the offer
After you make the offer and give them the message, place an action button, like “Learn More,” “Download Now,” “Buy Now,” or “Contact Us.”
Mobile Marketing
This is a must. Mobile marketing is taking over the industry. Everywhere you go, people are looking at their mobile devices. This is both a blessing and a curse. I have seen 3 year olds that have their own iPad and some even know how to purchase toys or games. More than 90 percent of adults in the U.S have a cell phone.
Thompson says that “It would be marketing madness to ignore this gigantic subset of the consumer market. Snapchat is becoming a huge player in the mobile marketing game. Large corporations like McDonald’s, GrubHub, and Mountain Dew have used Snapchat to promote new products and standard services.” If you have not jumped on this huge technological opportunity, get on it.
As you focus your marketing efforts by creating beautiful content on your website and marketing pieces, you will attract more people to your website. They will most likely share and recommend your website with their friends and acquaintances, resulting in more exposure and increasing your company revenue, which will bring a warm feeling to your heart and a smile in your pocket. Remember the little girl at the grocery store line? Avoid having ugly marketing content that will chase away potential customers. By implementing beautiful images, beautiful fonts and beautiful marketing messages, you and your clients will be proud to hang your content on your website wall.