Danielle MacInnis – Marketing Blog for Small Businesses

Small businesses now get it. They need to capture potential customers that come to their website. They get that they need to have a series of touch points before they convert that lead into a customer. How to capture that lead with relevant content often becomes the stumbling block.

What do I have that I could share? What information, resources or tools can I share?

Here are some good tips in working out what to use as a lead capture tools:

1. Understand what your ‘ideal’ prospects want, and give it to them

Determine what information your prospects are seeking to make a purchase decision, and make that information easily attainable. ( e.g a checklist, free trial, pricing information, comparison chart)

2. Offer something that solves your prospects problem

Solve your prospects problem. Draw an arrow from your prospect’s problem to your solution. (How to choose an architect, How to consolidate your debt in 90 days, Retire at 55 confidently, download our checklist)

3. Offer something that helps prospects make a purchase decision

Paint a picture that enables your prospects to envision themselves experiencing the benefit of your product or service. (competitive chart, education)

4. Don’t sound like everyone else

Get more attention by being different. Have a sense of humour, community, value. (free shipping)

5. Good offers should be enticing

If you can elicit an emotional response in your prospects, and you’re already on the path to creating a relationship with them. (30 day free membership access, free consultation, our key tools)

6. Make your offers easy to share

Use your site traffic to amplify your marketing efforts by making your offer enticing enough that prospects will want to share its benefit with others. (tweet, FB like, download, forward  to a friend)

7. Create value 

If you don’t want it, won’t open it, download it they they probably won’t. We are way past email newsletters.

The web is part of our lives and our communication. Digital communication, social media, applications and technology are all transforming the relationship we have with our customers family and friends.

So if the web is now a serious communication channel how do we leverage it as a lead generation, community building and awareness tool? Firstly lets look at who is doing it well.

The Web

Like the saying goes a picture can say a thousand words, well I recon’ it can sell a thousand haircuts. Your brand now not only starts from the moment a potential client passes your shop front, but now when they visit your web. It needs to represent the sort of clientele you have or expect and a nice lead generation or taste of your services so you can build a list to communicate with. This websiteBubblessalson.com. What I like:

1. Hot offers tab on the home page. Something to make you click. We all like a promotion.

2. Brand is modern, upmarket and clear just from the home page! The home page is clean like the brand.

3. They have a Inside Scoop section that leverages that brand with video and social media. It is great to get inside a Salon. Not only for the feel and process but for the culture that is hard to replicate.

4. They show their team. A great thing, because people want to be around others that they like, know and trust and this gives you a chance to do this before you book. I would extend this to have even more personality via their blog.

5. The Gift card you can order is nice, but I would have gone a step further integrating into an online ordering system like their service booking page! More on that later….

6. They do have a newsletter to grow a database, but it is hardly compelling. What about download our video on how to style your hair to look like a movie star? Now that would generate some leads for this group! Hey I might just email them that.

7. They leverage social media and even have a Facebook Fan page but they really need to carry over a compelling call to action on this page as well. Also they want to make sure that they have some great content every day that their fans will love!  They could also leverage the events tab. Still, they do have nearly 2000 members so that is a great community to market to considering everyone in the 2000 have the reach of many, many more.

8. They have stated that they have a style blog which is a brilliant idea but no content yet! Come on guys!! On the plus side they do have a twitter accountwhich looks pretty active and over 600 followers, nice.

9. About Us page is great. This is again is how I decide if you are the right hair dresser for me! It talks to me and makes me feel that I am already in their Salon!

10. Online booking system is AWESOME. I can choose, where (which Salon) I can choose from a category of services and I can even choose the employee I want and when they are available! Great. Some Salons and Spas could really learn from this. It is a great experience for the end customer to be able to log in and do this whenever they want. Total service.

Advice or take away for Bubbleshair: SEO this site looks great and probably has a loyal following but it needs to improve the search engine optimisation. Some of the pages are missing some key header terms and words which means they won’t come up in search engines like google as well. Also they need to put a tag to their home page instead of www.name.com/ (home) it could be Experts in Modern Cutting Edge Hair Designs e.g. They could also have a favicon (icon) in their url to continue the branding.

So there you go. There is gold in lots of what bubbleshair is doing. What can you do to improve your website today?

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So there you go. There is gold in lots of what this salon is doing. What can you do to improve your website today?