This article is written and owned by Anton Pearce
If you’re going to use the power of the Internet to try to
find clients, you have to first understand how prospective
clients are going to find you. You need to drop your
preconceived notions about how you see your business, and
start thinking about how potential clients are going to see
your business. To do that, you need to try to put yourself
in their shoes.
Understanding Web Searches
Let’s suppose, for example, your business is centered
around providing consulting to customers who need help with
back pain in New York. When you sit down to start designing
your web strategy, you might hire a copywriter to create
content with the keywords, “back pain consultant,” or “pain
coaching.” However, those terms won’t likely bring you much
in the way of good, solid traffic from potential clients.
In fact, the only people who are likely to search for “back
pain consultant” are people like you whose business is
helping people with back pain. People trying to solve a
problem don’t typically search for things like “coaching”
or “consulting.”
Instead, you need to consider how exactly those prospective
customers are going to search. They might search for the
rather generic phrase, “back pain,” or they might be a
little more specific and search for something along the
lines of “back pain help” or “treatment for back pain.”
Other potential clients will use more of a question-based
approach, such as searching for “how can I reduce back
pain?” In the case of many niches, such as our back pain
example, it’s likely that potential clients will also use a
geographic or regional term. They assume they’re going to
need to see someone in person for treatment. So “back pain
help new York” might be a common search phrase.
From Information to Solutions
Something else you need to think about in terms of how
potential clients are going to find you on the web, is what
stage of searching the potential client is at.
Understanding whether or not the potential client is ready
to buy is key to your marketing strategy.
There are several stages a person goes through before
they’re ready to buy:
Identification
This is the earliest point at which a potential client can
identify a felt need. It might be back pain, for example.
It could be a desire to make money from the comfort of your
home. It might be that the person wants to learn a new
skill, take up a new hobby, or just improve their overall
well-being. At this stage, the person isn’t usually ready
to buy. They’re still feeling their way through the
problem, and putting words to it.
Web searches at the identification stage tend to be
information-based. The objective isn’t to solve a problem,
it’s to understand the problem. At this stage, a person
might search for “types of back pain” or “back pain
symptoms,” but they aren’t as likely to search for “back
pain help.”
Clients at this stage are the least likely to buy. However,
if you can hook a potential client at this stage, you may
get her to come back later on when she is ready to buy.
Many people never leave this stage; once they learn about
the topic they want to learn about, they simply leave it
alone forever. They decide that it’s not a problem they
want or need to invest any more time and energy trying to
solve.
Information
Once a person has identified a need or a problem, they
usually set out to learn about it in-depth. They start
seeking the advice of experts. This is a transitional
stage, where it is more likely that they’ll buy than at the
identification stage, but where most people don’t rush into
anything. At this stage, web searches tend to be
information-based again. However, these searches tend to
focus on the other end of the need or problem: how to fix
it. So here a person might search for “back pain solutions”
or “back pain treatment options.” This is where real
value-added content comes in handy on your website.
Being able to provide usable and reliable information helps
to position you as an authority in your niche. Once the
customer is ready to buy, they’ll remember your expertise
and come back to you.
Purchase-Ready
At this point, the potential client is ready to buy. They
understand the problem or need, know what can be done about
it, and are ready to pay someone to get their solution.
These are your best prospects, and the easiest people to
convert into a sale. People who are ready to buy can get
very specific in their search terms. They might search
“back pain treatment in New York” or even “back pain
physiotherapist.” Their search terms indicate that they
don’t just want to know about a problem or a need, but that
they’re ready to fix it.
Many potential clients don’t search the web at this stage,
however. During the first two stages of their web search
process, they have probably identified a reliable source of
information. At that point, they’re more likely to go back
to that reliable source than they are to search randomly
for someone else. If that authoritative source doesn’t
offer a direct solution, that’s when the potential client
will start their search.
Marketing Across the Stages
Effective marketing for your coaching business will at
least touch on each of these stages. While the details and
specific tactics may vary from one niche to another, most
coaches will want to spend their time in the second stage.
By providing useful information to potential clients, you
build your image as an authority in your field. Not
everyone will seek your services, however most will. By
adding real value, you create a positive experience for the
client and engender a certain degree of trust. When the
time comes for a solution, they’re going to come to you
rather than randomly searching on Google (or flipping
through the Yellow Pages, for that matter).
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If you need help getting your website to deliver results -
generate leads or make more sale – Anton Pearce can help.
Visit http://antonpearce.com for more free tips for
improving the performance of your online strategy
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