Gratuitous sorcery and incantations from actual Wizards.

Is there one magic answer to increasing your website’s conversion rate? Sadly, no. There are, however, a number of factors that can affect how many visitors turn into customers. In this article, we will take a look at some of the statistics around CRO (conversion rate optimization). We’ll offer conversion-boosting techniques any website can use.

Conversion Rate is Greatly Dependent on:

Visitor Interests

Conversion rates are greatly affected by the interests of your website visitors. If you want to boost conversions, it’s important to understand what interests your target audience so that you can cater to those interests. By doing so, you’ll be more likely to conversion rates and make your website more successful overall.

Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But truly understanding the subtle, and at times, hidden nuances of visitor interests can be challenging. Many digital marketers miss the mark completely when it comes to aligning with their prospective audience.

But you’re probably wondering how you can be sure you’re hitting the mark understanding your visitors’ interests. The Google Analytics tool is a helpful resource for loads of information about your site visitors.

Attractiveness of Your Offer

You may be wondering how you can make your offer more attractive to potential customers. If your offer isn’t attractive, people are less likely to convert.

Here are a few tips to make your offer more attractive for higher conversion rates:

1. Use images. People are visual creatures, and an image can be worth a thousand words when it comes to attraction. Make sure the images you use are high quality and relevant to your offer.
2. Be clear about you’re offer. Vagueness will only turn people away. Be specific and simple. Let people know exactly what they’ll get when they take you up on your offer.
3. Be different. If you offer what nobody else offers, and your value stack is bigger than your competitors value stack, you are sure to turn some heads. Not incongruent different. Not weird different. Better different. No brainer different. Be like Costco.

User Experience (UX)

You’ve likely heard that user experience is important for things like website design and conversion rates. But what exactly is user experience, and how can it impact your conversion rates?

User eXperience (UX) is all about how a person feels when using a product or service. This includes everything from the initial interaction to continued use. A good UX is important because it will keep people coming back to your site or product. On the other hand, a bad UX will drive people away.

So, how does UX impact conversion rates? Simply put, the better the UX, the higher the conversion rate will be. This is because people are more likely to convert if they have a positive experience with your site or product.

How about a little magic potion of what features formulate the best user experience? You should have:

• Fast site speed.
• Easy navigation.
• Responsive design.
• Humanized Copywriting.
• CTA buttons.
• Landing pages.

Now, this is getting a bit interesting, eh? Well don’t worry. If you have questions, just book a call with Wizard of Ads®!

Important Conversion Rate Statistics

Marketing Researchers devote a significant amount of time to organizing, developing, and implementing tests, as well as assessing the outcomes. They are continually working to improve KPIs and outcomes.

Whether it’s figuring out the ideal subject line for a higher open rate, the perfect CTA and creative combo for click throughs, or shaving time off your website load time to lower bounce rate. Let’s take a look at some important CRO statistics.

• A/B testing is the most common type of CRO testing, with 56 percent of marketers employing it.
• 7 out of 10 CRO marketers use the results to guide further marketing activities.
• Roughly 22 percent of companies are happy with their conversion rates.
• A normal website conversion rate is around 2.35 percent.
• A Facebook ad’s average conversion rate is 9.21 percent.
• Videos on landing pages can boost conversions by 86 percent.
• Companies who increased their conversion rates last year performed 50 percent more tests and used 47% more approaches to boost conversion.
• Businesses with more than 40 landing pages produced 12 times the number of leads as those with 1-5 landing pages.
• When companies raise the number of landing pages from 10 to 15, they experience a 55 percent boost in leads.
• More than 90 percent of visitors who read headlines also read CTA copy.
• More than 20 percent of firms indicate that they lack an effective approach for landing page testing.

What Drives a Higher Conversion Rate?

Higher conversion rates are the result of a well-executed marketing strategy. By targeting the right audience and offering them something they want or need, you encourage more people to take the desired action. Additionally, making it easy for potential customers to find your website and navigate your pages can also boost conversion rates.

Here are some tips for driving higher conversion rates:

1. Know your target audience.
2. Offer something they want or need.
3. Make it easy for them to find your site and navigate your pages.
4. Use persuasive copy and calls to action.
5. Test, test, test! Try different techniques and see what works best for your business.

Factors that Affect Conversion Rate — Your Ads or Your Website

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you already know that conversions are the key. What’s the use in spending all that money on ads or designing a website that looks great if no one ever converts?

But what causes people to convert? Is it the design of your ad or your website? The wording? The offer? It can be hard to figure out what’s working and what isn’t. Let’s examine some of the factors that affect conversion rate so you can start seeing better results.

Value Proposition

Your value proposition is what affects your conversion rates in advertising. In order to have higher conversion rates, you need to make sure that your value proposition is strong and clear. There are two factors that affect your value proposition and, as a result, your conversion rates.

The first factor is the offer itself. The more compelling the offer, the more likely people are to convert. Make sure that your offer is addressing an actual pain point (Money, Energy, Time). Avoid discounting in lieu of value stacking.

The second factor is the audience. If you have been running a branded campaign in alignment with your lead gen, then stick to a message consistent with your branding and appeal to the relational buyer. If all you want are Transactional Shoppers, then focus your copy on the things that appeal to people looking for the lowest price. This matters a lot if you haven’t been running a complimentary branded campaign that would give a person a reason to measure on something other than price.

Relevance

Making your ads relevant to your target audience is one of the most important factors in achieving higher conversion rates. If your ad is not relevant to the user, they are less likely to click on it and more certainly going to ignore you.

There are a number of ways to make your ads more relevant. These include targeting specific keywords, customizing your ad copy, and using relevant images.

When it comes to advertising, relevance is everything. Making your ads relevant to your target audience significantly improves your chances of converting them into customers or leads.

Relevance becomes far more meaningful when you run a well crafted branded campaign that brings more and more brandable chunks to the forefront of the conversation and reticular activator.

Clarity and Consision

It’s no secret that clarity and concision (eliminating redundancy) are important factors in advertising. If your message is clear and concise, people are more likely to understand it and take the action you want.

Virtually no one understands your products, services, and website, so it’s really important to make it as understandable as possible. Short, sweet, and to-the-point is how we roll.

Credibility

It’s no secret that conversion rates are important for any business with an online presence. Conversion rates are what determine whether or not your lead generation is effective. Credibility plays a big role in conversion rates. Studies have shown that credibility can increase conversion rates by up to 200%. So yeah, it’s kind of a big deal.

So, what makes a website or advertisement credible? There are a few key factors, including design, customer reviews, and testimonials.

For example, a well-designed website or an advertisement with a landing page is more likely to be seen as credible than one that looks like it was slapped together quickly without much thought.

Sense of Urgency

Creating a sense of urgency is one of the most effective ways to increase conversion rates on your ads or website. By limiting the time or supply of a specific solution, you can encourage people to take action now rather than later.

There are a few different ways to create a sense of urgency. Be specific, because when you use unsubstantiated claims like, “act now”, or, “while supplies last”, you just look like an asshole. Instead, tell a story about a specific quantity buy, where, when they all run out, they gone. Like, gone gone. This is known as a feature buy, and doesn’t need to be a discounted price to sell, it just needs to be an accessible price.

Another way to create urgency is to offer discounts for a limited time only. This can be an effective way to get people to buy now rather than wait, but you will both lose your credibility as a company with integrity and you immediately eliminate you chance of making it into the long term memory of the buyer when it does come time that they need your services. If you are desparate to fill the board with appointments, a limited time offer with a ridiculously aggressive price are always a last ditch effort. Just be carful not to get addicted to the false hope they are instilling in you, even as we speak.

Best Practices in Improving Your Conversion Rates

• Remove all extraneous form fields.
• Insert relevant branding.
• Remove all distractions.
• Make the first step as simple (and cheap) as consistently possible.
• Include a third-party sign-up service.
• Improve your CTA.
• Include live chat on your website.
• Consider a more relevant offer to actual pain points.
• Provide a risk-free guarantee.
• Include a countdown timer (#dangerzone).
• Start with the small sale to gain their trust and loyalty.
• Run A/B (split) tests.

What’s Your Conversion Rate?

If you’re not sure, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Accurately measuring conversion rates can be tricky to calculate, and even trickier to improve.

We’re here to help. We’re happy to walk you through everything you need to know about conversion rates, including what to measure, how to calculate them, and what you can do to boost your conversions. Book a call with Wizard of Ads™ when you’re ready to increase conversions.

Bonding campaigns that attract relational customers are the most powerful form of branding possible for the vast majority of local businesses.

And that goes double for Ugly Duckling Businesses.

[And if you’re not familiar with those terms, follow the links]

So what’s the downside?

There is no downside, but there is a risk. And it’s a big one.

To quote Spiderman’s Uncle Ben: “With great power comes great responsibility”.

When you form an emotional bond with customers — when an audience feels as if they know you and what you stand for — the great responsibility that comes along with that persuasive power is this:

YOU MUST LIVE UP TO YOUR PROMISES AND DECLARED VALUES

Normally, when a business falls short, customers are merely disappointed or frustrated.

Not so with relational customers and businesses to which they’ve bonded.

When those businesses let them down, relational customers feel betrayed by a friend, rather than merely disappointed by an impersonal company.

This is why smart ad consultants always build branding campaigns around the truth.

The resultant campaign may romanticize or dramatize the truth, but it starts with and remains centered on the truth about the owner and the company.

What to Do When You Goof

But no one is perfect! Even great companies occasionally goon things up.

Sure. But when that happens, you have to understand the seriousness of the situation.

The worst thing you can do is treat it as no big deal, or attempt a half-measure during your service recovery operations.

As in “Oh, we broke our promise that the owners been vowing to you on the air for the last X years? Well, how about a slight discount on _____”

Sorry, but, no — a slight discount ain’t going to cut it!

First, your communication to the customer has to acknowledge the terrible gap between what’s been declared and promised and what was delivered.

If your staff communicates with the customer as if this is not that big a deal (i.e., a routine mix-up), you’re sunk.

The customer will feel as if she’s seen behind the curtain to discover just another crappy company rather than a trustworthy friend.

Second, your attempts to “make good” must be full-measured rather than half-hearted.

Half-measures add insult to injury and further indicate that your company sees this as just a minor blip, rather than a major failing.

Third, if possible the owner should personally reach out with an apology.

Again, treat this situation as if you’ve let a friend down rather than had a business snafu.

The good news is that proper service recovery can strengthen the bond between the customer and the company, making them an even stronger advocate for you.

The bad news is that improper service recovery can lead to poisonous word of mouth from that customer.

Again, with great power comes great responsibility.

And bonding campaigns are the most powerful advertising you can run.

Did you know that the average click-through rate (CTR) for display ads is a measly 0.05 percent? Ouch. That means if you have a banner ad out there, only 1 in 2,000 people will click on it. So how do you make sure your ad has the best chance at being clicked? We're here to help! Keep reading for our tips on improving your CTR and getting those all-important clicks.

Clickthrough Rate (CTR): Definition

The CTR of your ad is the number of clicks divided by the number of times it is shown: clicks / impressions = CTR. A CTR can provide you with insight into the performance of your keywords, advertisements, and free listings. Think of your website like a shop on a busy street. If the store is clean, brightly lit, and has interesting displays, more people are going to stop and look. The same is true for your website. Love it or hate it, one of the most essential measures is the clickthrough rate (CTR) for digital marketers. But what is CTR, exactly? And how can you make sure your content gets the best possible CTR? If the content is well designed and easy to use, people will be more likely to click through to your content. In this blog post, we’ll explain what CTR is, how you can improve yours, and some tips for doing so.

Organic CTR

The clickthrough rate (CTR) is a key metric for measuring the success of your online advertising campaigns. It tells you how many individuals really click on your ad when they see it. A high CTR means your ad is relevant and engaging. And that there is a need for what you have to give. A low CTR could indicate that your ad is not relevant to your target audience or that it’s not well-designed. Organic CTR is a measure of how often people click on your organic (unpaid) search results. A high organic CTR means that your website is relevant and attractive to searchers. A low organic CTR could mean that your website needs some work. Organic CTR is often indicative of a healthier branded advertising campaign running in alignment with your SEO efforts.

Google Ads CTR

We all look things up on Google. And each time we do – boom – the first results that pop up are always ads. But what makes these ads so special that they’re at the top of the list? Isn't that where you want your adverts to appear? #yup But advertising is no longer throwing money at an advertising platform (like Google) and expecting it to produce impactful results. High CTRs takes grit, talent, and of course, following the guidelines Google requires. This step takes structure, intention, and planning. If you don’t manage your Google Ads account correctly and effectively, your CTRs will be low – oh no! Woah, woah, woah…no need to worry. Because booking a call with Wizard of Ads® will help you with how to advertise on Google.

Why Should You Care About Your Google Ads CTR?

Without becoming an ad for Google Ads, let’s briefly discuss the pros of paid ads. You have a lot of control over how you spend your money with Google Ads. For example, there is no minimum. You can also decide how much money you want to spend on a monthly, daily, or even per advertisement basis. You only pay if someone clicks on your ad. So I suppose the trick is, if you don’t want to spend a lot of money, just configure terrible ads. I guess. Maybe not…The most common marketing tool today is Google Ads. By optimizing your CTR, you can significantly increase your chances for success with Google Ads. Here's why marketers care about Google Ads CTR:

1. CTR is a key metric for success with Google Ads.
2. A higher CTR means more successful campaigns and lower costs per conversion.
3. CTR is a good indicator of campaign effectiveness and can be used to track progress over time.
4. Optimizing your CTR can have a significant impact on your campaign results.
5. By optimizing your CTR, you can help your campaigns convert to sales.
6. Google Ads can be customized to meet your specific marketing needs.

Save Money by Optimizing Your Clickthrough Rate

If you're not using Google Ads to promote your business, you're missing out on a huge opportunity. With over 2 billion active users, Google is the most popular search engine in the world. And that means there's a lot of potential customers out there who could be clicking on your ads. But if your clickthrough rate (CTR) isn't optimized, you could be wasting a lot of money on those ads. Luckily, there are a few simple things you can do to improve your CTR and get more bang for your buck.

8 Ways To Improve Your Google Ads CTR

1. Improve Your Quality Score

What is a quality score, exactly? If you don’t know, it’s the perfect place to begin with your Google PPC ad campaign. The Google Quality Score is a number that determines how effective your ad campaigns are going to show up nearer the top of the search results. The Google Quality Score is a number that determines how effective your ad campaigns are. As a result, click-through rates are higher and cost-per-click is cheaper. Check out Google’s guide for quality score here. Here are some tips on how to improve your quality score:

• Use relevant keywords in your ad campaigns. Relevancy is one of the key factors that determines your quality score, so make sure you're targeting the right keywords.
• Check to see if your advertising are appropriate for your landing pages. Your adverts and landing pages should have a strong connection. Otherwise people will click away from your site before they even have a chance to conversion.
• Use positive customer reviews and testimonials.

2. Optimize Your Ad Extensions

One of the most significant things you can do to boost your ad's click-through rate is to use ad extensions (CTR). Ad extensions are extra pieces of data that you might include in your ad. These can be anything like your phone number, address, or a call to action. Google offers a variety of ad extensions, and you can use as many or as few as you want. However, it's important to note that not all ad extensions are created equal. Some ad extensions, like callouts and structured snippets, are generally more effective than others, like sitelinks. Callouts are short pieces of text that highlight specific features of your product or service. They can be up to 25 characters long, and you can have up to 4 per ad. Similar to callouts, structured snippets allow you to convey extra information about your product or service. Unlike callouts, however, you can't control what information is included in your structured snippet. Sitelinks are hyperlinks to other pages on your site that you wish to draw attention to. You can have up to 6 sitelinks per ad. Some other types of Google Ad extensions are:

• Sitelink ad extension
• Call extensions
• Promotion extensions
• Price extensions

Ways to optimize your ad extensions:

• Think about what information would be most useful to potential customers. If you're a local business, for example, then including your address and phone number may be more effective than including additional links to your website.
• Keep it relevant. Only include ad extensions that are relevant to the product or service that you're advertising. Including an extension for your business hours or ‘Book an Appointment’ are great examples of ideal ad extensions.
• Keep it short and sweet. Don't try to cram too much information into your ad extension.

3. Use Smart Bidding

What is smart bidding? Smart bidding is a feature in Google Ads that allows you to automatically set bids based on your goals. You can tell Google that you want to maximize clicks. Or that you want to get the most conversions at the lowest cost. Why should you care about smart bidding? Because it can help you improve your click through rate (CTR), which is one of the key factors that determines your ad quality score. A higher quality score means your ads are more likely to be shown, and they're also more likely to be shown at a lower cost per click. There are a few different ways to use smart bidding to improve your CTR. One is to use keyword level bidding, which allows you to set separate bids for each keyword. This way, you can make sure that your most important keywords are getting the biggest bid. If you're looking for a way to improve your Google Ads CTR, smart bidding is a great option. By using smart bidding strategies, you can make sure that your ads are effective.

4. Test Your Ads

Like I said before–”test, test, test!” Advertisers on Google Ads are always looking for ways to improve their click-through rate (CTR). One way to do this is by testing different versions of your ad. Ad testing, also known as A/B testing, is a process of comparing two ads to see which one performs better. To test your ads on Google Ads, create two identical campaigns, with only the ad copy differing between the two. Then, run each campaign for a week and compare the CTRs. The campaign with the higher CTR is the winner! Ad testing is an essential tool for any advertiser looking to improve their Google Ads performance. By constantly testing and improving your ads, you can ensure that you are getting the most out of your advertising spend.

5. Create Captivating Ad Copy

If you want your Google Ads to perform well, you need to start with captivating ad copy. After all, no matter how well-targeted your ad campaign is, it won't matter if your ad doesn't capture attention and persuade users to click. So how do you write captivating ad copy that will improve your click-through rate (CTR)?Here are some pointers:

• Write a strong headline. Your headline should be attention-grabbing and relevant to the user's search query.
• Use engaging visuals. Ad images can also help to captivate users and encourage them to click on your ad.
• Use persuasive language. Choose your words carefully to convince users that your product or service is the right solution for their needs.
• Offer a compelling value proposition. Make sure that users know what they can expect by clicking on your ad, and make it clear why your offer is better than the competition.

By following these tips, you can create captivating ad copy that will improve your CTR and help you achieve success with your Google Ads campaigns.

6. Utilize Negative Keywords

If you're running a Google Ads campaign, negative keywords are your best friend. Negative keywords help improve your click through rate (CTR). By ensuring that only individuals who are truly interested in what you're selling see your ad. For illustration, in a case where you offer men's shoes, you'd need to include "women" as a negative keyword. This is so your ad doesn't show up when someone searches for "women's shoes." Adding negative keywords to your campaign is tedious, but it's well worth the effort in terms of improved CTRs. So, following time you're setting up a modern Google Ads campaign, take the opportunity to add some negative keywords. Then watch your CTRs improve.

7. Split Test Your Ads

Split-testing your ads is a great way to improve your click-through rates (CTRs). By split-testing, you can compare two different versions of your ad to see which one performs better. For example, you could split-test the headline of your ad, or the call to action. To split-test your ads, simply create two identical ad campaigns in Google Ads. And then change one element in one of the campaigns, leaving the other one as written and designed. For example, in one campaign you use the headline, "50 percent off first purchase," and in the other campaign you could use the headline "Get your first purchase half price." Then, run both campaigns for a period of time and see which one gets more clicks.

8. Run a Dynamic Remarketing Campaign

Have you ever been scrolling through your Facebook, and see an ad for something you were looking at on Amazon? That’s remarketing, and it can be a powerful tool for driving clicks and sales. But what is remarketing, exactly? How can you create a remarketing campaign that will improve your click-through rates (CTRs) on Google Ads? Remarketing is the method of targeting ads to people who have indicated an interest in your item or service. This can be done through a few devices. Cookies, which track people’s online activity is one way. Or through pixel tracking, which permits you to target individuals who go to your website. There are two primary ways to set up a remarketing campaign: through Google Ads or through Facebook Ads. Google Ads offers a more traditional approach to remarketing. Allowing you to target people based on their previous interactions with your website. Facebook Ads give you the opportunity to create custom audiences. Which allows you to target people based on their interests and demographics. If you’d like some help increase your click through rates, booking a call with Wizard of Ads®!

We’ve all heard of Search Engine Optimization, but have you ever heard of Human Optimization? SEO is when you spend a bunch of money on trying to appease the Google Gods. You use your money at the Google Ads alter, sacrificing your cash in hopes of making the Google Gods happy — giving you grace and good fortune. For a plentiful harvest. For a favorable volume of leads. So you can feed and grow your tribe. Humanizing (Human Optimization) doesn’t idolize these false Gods. Rejected are the nonsensical notions of keyword stacking and unread blogs. Human Optimization serves as a beacon of light for your customers. It lets them know you’re a real boy, and if you tell a lie, they’ll see your nose grow. Building credibility on directories like Home Advisor or Angie’s List is a helpful step but, if your home services website design doesn’t bond with your customers better than others, they might just go ahead and hire another company that does. You’d never invite local contractors into your home that you didn’t feel like you could trust. Or that you couldn’t relate to on a personal level to some professional degree. Sometimes families work with the same home service company for years, but what happens when you don’t have that kind of relationship with your customers? A company that does have the ability to bond with people will quickly replace you. If you rely solely on lead gen and are not fostering a sense of community, it might be time for an upgrade. The best home services websites make their customers feel a sense of relational connection. So, what message does your website send to potential customers? If you only care about generating revenue, your website could make your business feel cold and void of character. The good news? Taking the necessary steps to humanize your website doesn’t have to resemble a walk through a minefield. It’s not WHAT you say. It’s HOW you say it.

Building Home Services Website “Inside Out” is a Trap!

Unlike Search Engines, humans have emotions. As a business owner, you might think using humanity to your advantage could stifle sales. Now, let’s step into the customer’s shoes for a moment. How far has emotionless content and messaging truly gotten you when you are shopping? J. Peterman took a failing catalog order company and turned it into a world-renowned success. Apple was a failing company until Steve Jobs returned from leading Pixar and shifted to a storytelling phenomenon with an actual purpose. As people, we are compelled to create a business strategy defined with nuts and bolts. But what if we trusted in a strategy that had less direct measurable feedback, and instead told a brand story in a way that emotionally connects with your audience? What if you bonded with your customers through trust as defined by your philosophies and principles?Then the trick is to — in a very simple way — deliver that message on your website. Your customer is Little Red Riding Hood. They are trying to get to Grandmother’s house safe and sound. The problem? The forest is wrought with predators and competitors whose only wish is to lead them astray. “SALE SALE SALE”, says the Wolf. “All the better for you”, he hisses with charm and wit.“Come sit beside me deary”, says Grandma. “Let me tell you a story”, she says warmly with a knowing smile. Do you want to be the Wolf or Grandmother? You can continue telling people about you, your business, and why you matter so much, but it all starts to sound the same as all the other Snake Oil Salesman out there, whether you are or not. But who doesn’t trust someone with whom they share a deep bond? Building your home services website from the “inside out” is a trap. Nobody in the history of air conditioning, water heaters, or electrical panels has ever wanted to buy your thing. Sure, they want it, but they certainly don’t want to pay for it. Serving your customers at the highest level requires you to consider their actual felt needs, not the ones you or your industry have concocted in your imaginations. Without this foundational understanding, you’ll never be able to connect with your audience or provide a necessary solution, because your message will not be relevant or compelling. When you operate with your own interests as the top priority, you can, and will be, the Wolf. Wizard of Ads™ will guide your brand transformation and help you connect with your audience the right way. If you’re ready to shift your perspective, book a call today!

The Benefits of Building Your Website “Outside In”

So how do you shed those wolfish tendencies and become a welcoming and trustworthy presence for your customers? Build your residential home service website from the outside in. This means thinking about what you say from the perspective of any normal person’s 3 fundamental CORE Needs: Money, Energy, and Time.

The 3 CORE Needs

Naturally, it should be apparent to customers that you’re there to serve them, not just empty their pockets. This should be apparent on your website with how you honor and respect their money. This is especially true when it relates to the time they trade you to service them, and how much time they will need to trade to pay for your recommendations. Money is the first, and often most protected of the 3 CORE Needs as it is the one that is easiest to measure. Time, of course, is the most precious as it is the only one that is non-renewable. And it is actually Energy that we are all truly pursuing. The energy to enjoy life. The reward, the pleasure, the happy, are all forms of positive energy. A positive resonance. This is why we avoid the things that just don’t feel quite right, have a negative resonance, or are perceived as risk or punishment. “Everything humans do in this universe comes down to the pursuit of positive energy.” _- Ryan Chute -_This is why we are selective about where we shop and work. The money has to be right in both situations for the time we agree to trade-off to enjoy the energy and time we have left over from the exchange. When we have M. E. T. (see what I did there) the 3 CORE Needs of your customers, you will have a much higher conversion, average sale, and profit from the prospects you are most interested in attracting and serving in your business. These are the Relational Customers. These are the high intent, High CAP customers that are in it for the long run, as long as you continue to help them win in a trustworthy and grateful manner.

CORE Communication

Think of your communication from the standpoint of customer-oriented relational experiences (CORE). This includes all the visual and written communication on your website. Taking a customer-oriented relational approach will help you increase conversions. What does a customer-oriented relational website look like from the outside in?The home page must focus on the customer and their actual felt needs. Your message and intention should be simple to understand. Your website must be easy to navigate. Above all, it should be crystal clear what your business does and how you have already M. E. T. their real felt needs. You may know these as a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Describe what sets your home services apart from other competitors, but this time, as a way of honoring what the customer cares about most — their money, time, and stress avoidance. Aside from clarity, this statement must be concise. You’ve got about 2.5 seconds to get it right. Put your single most powerful value proposition into one sentence. This is your CORE Promise. For example, “We show up on time or you don’t pay a dime.” This CORE Promise creates a self-imposed punishment on the company for untimely service by speaking directly to the real felt needs of money and time. Goettl’s CORE Promise is to “do it the right way, not the easy way”, speaking to the real felt need of energy. They aren’t delivering cheap, or even the quickest solution. They are certainly delivering a positive energy and the banishment of the negative energy (ie. stress, frustration, callbacks, warranty work, etc.)A website is not the place for a lengthy sales pitch or any sales pitch at all. Skip the stuff you would say during the sales pitch, and keep the communication less granular and what marketers call, “top of funnel”. That is why your CORE Promise must reside above the fold. This is the headline and subheading that appear first on the website, at the top, before the device cuts it off and the prospect is forced to scroll. Remember, your website is not about you or your business. It’s about the customer's actual felt needs. Keep this top of mind as you make design and copy decisions. Other customer-oriented relational experiences on your website include:

• Navigation. Navigation is the most essential element of any website. Complicated, SEO-intended navigation is company-centric and naive. Your solution should be easy to find and your call to action (CTA) should be simple — call or click to book an appointment. The home page should link to every other page that actually matters on your website, and eliminate any pages that do not matter to the people navigating it.
• Salience. The more helpful and relevant the information is on your website, the more salient it is. Research tells us that low salience is the number one reason for bounce rate. This means practicing exformation as much as information on your website. You aren’t going to win the game of SEO against the multinational aggregators in Residential Home Service, so spend your Money, Energy, and Time most wisely on saying what matters most to your desired audience and abandon the futile pursuit of answering questions that nobody is asking.
• Responsive. Your residential home service website should have a clean design that functions properly on all the different devices.
• Color. Stick to a branded color palette to maintain a sense of cohesiveness. Branding companies like KickCharge Creative will identify the 3 to 4 core colors you should be using in conjunction with your overall visual identity. Colors are a language and should be treated with the same reverence and care that you choose your words when looking to persuade. The wise use of white space will lead the eye to what matters most.
• Accessible. Make your call to action simple, clear, and readily available. Making it difficult to find your conversion button will result in people going elsewhere. Asking for a variety of different calls to action is confusing and results in analysis paralysis.

The goal is to convert. Period. Nothing more. Nothing less. When you cut out all the clutter and speak to your preferred audience about what matters most to the audience, you are doing precisely what you would do in a relationship that you are looking to pursue. The most powerful stories, songs, and art all speak to the audience's sensibilities and leave out the boring parts.

Humanizing Your Website Also Means Humanizing Your Brand

Humanizing your brand means stepping into the Grandmother role and becoming relational. Imagine coming home to a plate of warm cookies or a seat at the dinner table reserved just for you. Build that connection and sentiment for your target audience through your brand image and messaging. Make it clear through your marketing that your only purpose is to help them win in a trustworthy and grateful manner. Think of your brand identity as an art form, not a tactic. In an art gallery, each piece is accompanied by a story that evokes emotion from the viewer. No matter the price tag, customers trust brands and products that they can relate to. This may sound easier said than done, but here are some simple ways to humanize your brand.

Tell Your Story

Every brand has a story. Are you telling it? Are you telling the right one? Are you telling the story that the audience cares about? Do the visual elements of your story align with the narration? Customers want to know what you stand for, who you are, and what you stand against. They are trying to decide why they should trust you. Share your brand story on your website, social media, and any other marketing materials you create. The more customers feel they know your brand, the more likely they are to do business with you.

Be Authentic

People can spot a fake a mile away today. It’s essential that you are authentically aligned in your brand and your actions. Be honest about your capabilities and limitations. Don't make promises that you can't keep. Do what you say you are going to do, then do something extra to deliver a delightful experience. When you are consistently authentic with your employees and your customers they will love your brand even more.

Cut the Catfishing

People are naturally drawn to faces. Primarily so they can determine if you appear trustworthy or not. They are looking, quite specifically, for warmth and competence. Showing faces is a symbolic maneuver in showing your good faith. Whether it's through team headshots on your website or featured customer stories, consider putting a face to your brand. Doing so will help build trust and connection with your audience.

Insider Language

Have you ever noticed that strong teams always have a secret language? I’m not talking about industry jargon. I am talking about a common inside language that everyone on the inside instantly understands and appreciates. The stronger your inside language is across your customer base, the stronger the affinity is to your brand. To create and deepen your unique tribal language, you need to say something that is highly congruent and sticky over and over again until the greater group takes it over as part of their vernacular. These can be done in mass media advertising, ritualizing specific content, and regularly using it from the top down until adopted by all. Most importantly, the way you speak to your customers should be clear. But don’t ignore the incredibly powerful nature of inside language.

Show, Don’t Tell

People are bombarded with a huge amount of information every day. Unless it is new, surprising, and different information than what they currently have, you will not change their behavior. Broca’s Area on the left side of the brain will see to that. If you do, however, say something that gets through the gatekeeper, you want to paint a picture in the mind's eye, the imagination, for a person cannot go where they have not first yet been in their mind. Telling someone you are trustworthy is hopelessly untrustworthy. Showing them you are trustworthy through expert storytelling is exponentially more persuasive.

Live Gratefully

Research has clearly identified that the secret to happiness is gratitude. It isn’t your Lamborghini that makes you happy. It is the set of circumstances that allows you to own a Lamborghini that makes you happy. When we come to understand this simple truth, we have an endless abundance of happiness. Gratitude is a higher-level brain function and resides in a place of abundance and wealth. Wisdom allows us to abandon the Ego back in surviving mode and we begin to embrace an abundance mindset. This is how we are able to shift from rewarding new customers to rewarding only our most loyal. This is how we are able to curate extraordinary value stacks, abandoning discounts and delivering only world-class buying experiences. When we can get away from celebrating the domination of customers and taking their money, and start celebrating how exceptional we served them instead, we have the basis for legacy and generational wealth.

Be Authentic

You can only pretend to be authentic for so long before people will see through your lies. The length of time depends on the size of your market and how well you can avoid direct exposure, like Google Reviews. In a world of transparency, you have to be one of the good guys. The only sustainable way is to tell the truth and have a purpose. People without purpose have no north star to point to when your character comes into question. This means you have to tell your true story. If you don’t have a story…if you don’t have things you stand for… or if you are kind of a shitty person… then you should really think hard about what you’re doing, and if you even deserve to enjoy the rewards of a successful company. If you are good in your core, then start figuring out what you stand for, and what you stand against — in your industry, and for your tribe.

Fascinating Flaws

There is an innate appeal to raw truthfulness. Transparently disclosing your flaws and shortcomings is incredibly trustworthy, and most people will be very attracted to this. Most smart business owners see this as an affront to their value, power, and image. 200 years of conditioning is to blame for these leadership and success myths. The truth is that being vulnerable is the most courageous thing you can do. You cannot have courage without vulnerability, by definition. And for those who are too afraid to show their flaws are being held back by the Ego. You can certainly make money without ever expressing your flaws, confronting and facing your flaws head-on, but these people will never know the immense amount of money they have left off the table by being brave. Don’t be seduced into thinking your flaws won’t eventually be exposed. The only difference is that when you choose to expose them you control the narrative, and when you don’t you appear disingenuous.

It’s How You Respond

Customers appreciate brands that are responsive to their questions and concerns. Making sure you're available to address your customers' concerns promptly, no matter the severity, will win you more followers than it will cost you in time and money. Every interaction you have with a customer allows you to provide a great experience, or drop the ball. 50% of your customers will never tell you that they are unhappy. No Google Review. No feedback. No screaming match. Nothing. Literally nothing. You will never hear from them again. The whiners are actually a gift. They are the minority that are willing to stand up for what they don’t see as right or just. For every one person that complains, there are 10 that say nothing. When you create an environment that makes it easy and valuable for people to provide sincere feedback, employees and customers alike, you have the chance to do something about it. This is where you go against your natural primal instincts to fight, flight, or freeze, and take radical proactive action to make things better than right. It’s not WHAT you say. It’s HOW you say it. Meet their pain points — their CORE Needs. These are the things you can celebrate on your website, in your social media, and in your branded advertising.

How To Human Optimize your Residential Home Services Website

After building your website from the “outside-in”, it’s time to human optimize it. You already know search engine optimization. We cannot ignore the relevance of maintaining a healthy website in the eyes of the Google Gods, but Google isn’t making the buying decision — your prospect is. Fun Fact: Your prospects are made of people. You may want to communicate with them as such. There are several ways to achieve this, but here are five of our top tips for humanizing your website.

Be Fun

Entertainment is the currency of a too-busy public. If you are going to elicit a reaction, you need to say something fun, interesting, and entertaining. This means you can’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t worry if you’re not the outgoing extrovert type. You don’t need to be. Some of the funniest people we know are the dry, straight man-styled humor that has us coming back for more. With a well-constructed character diamond of your business brand and of the prominent players that will get the public appeal, you will find it much easier to find your entertainment style.

Elicit an Emotion

People love stories about other people. People buy from people. People look to people for solutions, not businesses. It’s your people for which you are judged, so find ways to add in the good, bad, and ugly about people. Talk about the way people have messed up. Talk about how people fixed it. Talk about the pain points that customers have… the real felt needs. And talk about how your people M. E. T. those felt needs, and exceeded expectations. Stories allow people to step into your gravity well and elicit an emotion. Stories can do what descriptions and information cannot. Make people FEEL. Whether you make them laugh, cry, or get angry, you will win the public appeal, when you make them FEEL.

Be Worthy of Trust

Trust is a CORE Principle that cannot be denied it’s just dessert. Without trust, you can only have a transaction, and as such, you will have to be the lowest price to otherwise earn the sale. While pointing to your Google Rating is one way to demonstrate that you have acted in a trustworthy manner on previous occasions, even Google Reviews are under scrutiny for how much they can be trusted. Heck, if you have a perfect 5-star rating, that unto itself is untrustworthy. To really win the game of trust, you need to start before the game has even started. That means a well-thought-out and strategized branded advertising campaign, both online and offline. You then need to take those most memorable phrases and words and align them with your brand image and website. The more consistent you are with your message, the more persuasive you will be. When your target audience eventually needs what you sell, you will already own some real estate in their heart and mind. Once you’ve won them over, it is imperative that you keep their confidence. Hell hath no fury like a relational buyer scorned. The more they love you, the more they will hate you when you brake their trust.

Practice Exformation

One of the most counterintuitive practices in modern web design is the practice of exformation. With digital weasels running amok trying to convince you of the importance of now ancient SEO practices because that’s the fun bits of their job, they riddle your otherwise lovely website with a bevy of unnecessary nonsense and pseudo-value. When a prospect comes by your website through paid and unpaid channels, it is essential that you CONVERT THEM. Period. Get the dang appointment and move on, son. This isn’t a damn museum. It’s a residential home service website. Nobody cares about 99% of the nonsense you have paid too much money to post. Cut. It. Out. The perfect way to humanize your website is by eliminating all the BORING BITS! People want to do business with people, not some faceless corporation. When you share your story on your residential home services website, you give your customers the chance to judge you against your competition. Are you going to be the interesting, charming, suave person who has lots of interesting things to say, and has a great sense of humor? Or are you going to be the weird guy talking in lingo and trying to overjustify your value with all the stupid stuff that nobody cares about or already expects to be the minimum standard? What web content is valuable, you might be thinking? Aside from all the necessary bits like privacy and terms of use, here’s what really counts:

• Above the fold, you want a call to action and a crystal clear definition of what you sell. If you have a single, well-articulated statement that demonstrates your difference, be sure they see it in the headline. Smattered about the site, you’ll want to have a bunch more of the exact same CTAs in the form of an online scheduler and a single phone number.
• Your service area is always one of the first questions for new visitors, so make it easy to find, navigate, and interpret.
• Your point-of-entry price will also be one of the first questions on anyone’s mind. How much do you cost to come out? Is it complicated or easy? Is it expensive or cheap? If you’ve done a great job attracting relational buyers, they don’t care that you cost $99 to show up. If you’re appealing to transactional shoppers, asking for money without resolving the problem will be an affront to their good sense.
• Your values are more important than your blog, and it’s high time someone told you. What do you believe in? What do you stand for? What do you stand against? Strong, unwavering universal truths that allow your prospects to align or move on. You can tell these stories in a variety of places, including the home page, about us page, guarantees page, and your FAQs.
• Your services are your keywords, not menu items. You don’t need a page for every single last thing that you sell or provide. You just don’t. That’s not how people engage with websites today. Tell people what you provide in the most concise way possible and make it ridiculously easy to navigate.
• Your club membership is the most valuable piece of your business. Not because it pays for itself, unto itself, but because it locks up your customer’s mind. Customer’s on your well-designed club membership don’t go shopping, are more likely to refer you, and don’t click on your PPC ads.
• Your warranties and guarantees are a clear indication of how you serve your customers. Simple, fully transparent, and deweaseled warranties and guarantees are a great way to win the hearts and minds of prospects. While warranties outline how long you warrant your parts and workmanship, guarantees are the self-imposed punishments you put on yourself in service of your customers.
• FAQs are the questions you actually ARE being asked. Unlike blogs, people will actually ready your FAQs and that makes them a great place to generate attention, interest, decision, and action (A. I. D. A.) for your business. Start by asking your call team what questions they are consistently being asked and then write up a response that gets you the best conversion into appointments that you would actually be willing to do consistently.
• Careers are not a thing you have the luxury of turning on and off anymore. You have no idea when the perfect candidate is going to show up at your door. Do you want to have the closed sign hung in the window when they rock up, or do you maybe want to have a chat with your next champion? You would be absolutely astounded to hear that a small percentage of prospects will read your career listings and if exceptionally well written, not only will you get great candidates, but you may just get a great customer show up too. We’ve seen it first hand.
• Your Call to Action must be easy and fast. Keep a static phone number on the site. Have a live online scheduler that books an exact appointment time. Minimize the form fill questions. Keep the CTA the same throughout the website. You have one goal and one goal only. Book. The. Appointment.

Some of the things you may be surprised that you don’t need are testimonials, images of your products, stock images of ‘tradespeople’, or transitional CTAs. No one is going to sign up for your newsletter. Website testimonials are not to be trusted, and nobody in the history of humankind has cared what a water heater looks like. Secondary CTAs only distract from the singular goal of your primary CTA, so just don’t do it. _Less is more. -Ryan Chute If you are going to use images, use real pictures of your real team, your actual trucks, and the area you serve. If you’re going to say something, only say what matters to get the appointment, and skip all the other boring bits that are losing you more customers than gaining.

Protect and Defend

_The number one greatest failure in business today is the utter absence of an actual CORE Purpose. -Ryan Chute People are far more simple than we want to admit. We react to internal and external motivations to pursue a better life than where we are currently in our state of mind. While the majority of people are living in survival mode, there are many others living in the first layer of thriving mode too. If we ever hope to sell them stuff, we need to meet them where their mindset is today and motivate them with what matters to them most. In the absence of the 3 internal motivators Identity, Purpose, and Adventure, the only motivations left are Price, Power, and Praise. When you operate your business with a powerful and committed CORE Purpose, you will attract the people who want to share the Adventure with you, aligning their Identity with your brand identity. The alternative is to give them the lowest price, affording them power over you, so they can earn the praise of others for how good a deal they got from you. A humanized (human optimized) brand is a relatable brand, and a relatable brand is a trusted brand. People prefer to do business with people they know, like, and trust. If you show your customers that you are real people, you're way more likely to win their business for a lifetime. If you’re ready to enhance your home services website, book a call with Wizard of Ads® today!

Lead generation isn't just about getting as many leads as possible, it's about making sure that your leads are coming to you for the right reasons. The best leads know, like, and trust you BEFORE they need your thing. They come to you because they believe you deliver competent convenience at a reasonable premium. These are often busy families who don’t have the time to fuss over multiple bids and second-rate service. They believe if a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is. They shy away from the suspiciously cheap and are drawn to the reassuringly expensive. They buy the $50+ bottles of wine and always look to make the right selection, not the cheap selection. These are Relational Buyers. Low quality leads come for the cheap prices. They also go for the cheap prices. They do not have a preferred service provider and they do not value the service you provide in general. They are unlikely to become a loyal, long-term client, and would sell their mother for a wooden nickel. These are Transactional Shoppers. Today’s close rate determines tomorrow’s sales leads. The relationship you have with your customers is so integral to exponential lead generation. A high-quality lead is a High CAP customer. These are the customers who close on the first sit, at a higher average sale and profit (High CAP). You have to nurture your lead before you can even think about closing the sale, and good advertising is the introduction to your brand integrity. Your CSRs, Techs, and Salespeople continue the conversation. If you hope to keep up the relationship, you have to deliver on the promises you make in your advertising. So, what are the best lead generation strategies that you can implement right now to start seeing more of those High CAP customers come your way?In this article, we'll go over the whos, whats, whys, and hows of lead acquisition so you attract better leads using the best lead generation techniques to start propelling your business forward.

The What

So, what is lead generation, and what types of lead generation processes are there?

Lead Generation

If you look up "lead generation" online, you'll probably get a definition that says it's "the process of identifying potential customers and convincing them to become your prospects through digital channels."Quite frankly, this isn't true. Most of us can agree that the buyer's journey starts when we grab their Attention. This will then lead to Interest, which ultimately leads to a Decision (sometimes incorrectly known as desire). So, if this is the case, lead generation really can be defined as a process that employs tactics that motivate Action. The action to click to your company's website over any of your competitors, and pick up the phone or fill out the online scheduler (A. I. D. A.).The ultimate goal of lead generation is to convert leads into prospects. These are the people who need what you're offering but have yet to make a purchase. And if you rely exclusively on lead gen for A. I. D. A., you're running a fool's errand. Why? Because you'll end up being a slave to the neither consistent, reliable, nor affordable natural demand cycles and Google Ad auction prices. A. I. D. A. is a team sport, and your branding efforts are the real ringer. Of course, there are several ways to approach generating leads, and your approach all depends on your competition, market demand, visibility, and digital presence.

Inbound Lead Generation

Inbound lead generation is a process where businesses can attract prospects through various means, such as PPC, SEO content, lead magnets, tripwires, funnels, phone numbers, and online schedulers. The aim is to then convert these leads into appointments. To be effective, inbound lead generation must be part of a broader inbound marketing strategy. This strategy should focus on creating valuable content that can be consumed by your target audience. The goal is to build trust and credibility with potential customers so that they are more likely to do business with you BEFORE they need to do business with you. This is where a solid brand strategy comes in. Think about it like a black hole. Your lead gen devices, like PPC ads, online schedulers, and trackable phone numbers are the event horizon. The gravitational pull of the black hole starts well before you hit the event horizon though. The better your branded ads, relational-friendly calls to action, and google reviews collectively, the stronger the gravitational pull to your business.

Outbound Lead Generation

Outbound lead generation are advertising tactics that focus on generating new leads through methods such as cold calling, door knocking, or email blasting. This approach differs from inbound lead generation, which involves attracting potential customers to your business through content marketing, social media engagement, and other online activities. Ever play Hungry Hungry Hippos? Outbound marketing is a mad clamor to reach out and scoop up as many marbles as you can before they’re all gone from the other hippos pounding the same playing board. This is outbound marketing. While there are pros and cons to both outbound and inbound lead generation strategies, many businesses find that outbound lead generation can be more effective at driving sales and increasing revenue in the short term. This is because outbound lead generation allows you to proactively reach out to potential customers, rather than waiting for them to come to you. This means that you can target your marketing efforts more specifically and generate leads that are more likely to convert into customers. Done too often to your existing clientele, and you’ll lose the opportunity all together. Be a farmer, not a miner. Are you seeking new ways to get more leads for your business? At Wizard of Ads®, we specialize in helping residential home service businesses build brilliant, disruptive brands with a story that has your target audience willingly step into your gravity well. If you want to learn more about how we help you generate High CAP leads and grow your business, book a call with us today!

The Who

Who out there needs lead generation? Everyone. Everyone needs lead generation. This isn’t the Field of Dreams. If you build it, they will NOT come. You need to go get them.

At any given time, 7% of your trade area is in need of your products and services. That doesn’t suggest you have access to all 7% of these prospects, however. Some of the 7% are already spoken for with a preferred provider, and some won’t be interested in your premium price model, no matter how good a sales team. And some will not be able to afford your solutions. Whatever leads are left over are, “The Undecided”. Not a name that generally evokes confidence, the undecided are willing to give you a try, but don’t think you’re friends. Now if leads come to you through a visceral response to your well-crafted branded advertising, you are no longer talking to the available, undecided leads. You are actually talking to all 68% of potential buyers that are able and willing to buy. Congratulations! You have won the game of lead gen before the game has even begun.

The Why

We have a lot of clients that do not need us to generate them more leads. They are booked out 2 to 4 weeks. They are inundated with business, but they are hungry for quality over quantity. They are hungry for higher-intent leads. They want more of the High CAP leads. And they even crave the high quality candidates needed to deliver an a world-class buying experience.

Improves Lead Quality

Lead quality is an important factor for businesses looking to succeed in today's marketplace. When you only have so many skilled Techs, it is more important than ever to send them to as many high-intent opportunities that you can. By focusing on lead generation strategies that attract High CAP prospects, businesses increase their one sit conversions at a higher average sale and profit. Whether you are just starting out or looking to level up your business, lead generation is an essential activity for growing your revenue.

Attracts Top Candidates

The number one greatest challenge for any growing residential home service business is that of capacity. When the volume of leads exceeds the number of hours you have to run the calls, you end up wasting lead generation dollars on lost opportunities. This is a tough pill for all ambitious leaders. When you attract top quality leads, you can attract top quality candidates who are looking to maximize their results too. Top candidates expect top shelf leads. The GlenGarry leads, if you know what I’m saying.

Ability to Target The Right Customers

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make with lead generation is chasing quantity over quality. Anyone can generate loads of leads for you, but what good is a lead that only costs you money? If the epic failure, Groupon, taught us anything, it was that there is no value in attracting a bunch of ungrateful, disloyal, and cheap customers to your business only to bleed you dry. Your lead gen strategy should be designed and catered to the types of people who are most likely to buy from you, stay with you, and recommend you. Look, any idiot can get you a lead by lowering your price. Literally, you can do that yourself. You don’t need to pay a digital marketer to lose you money on overpriced PPC campaigns that are designed for you to spend more, therefore, paying your digital marketer more.

Helping People Win

You cannot help people win, yourself, your employees, and your prospects, until you convert a lead into an appointment that can be run. Lead generation is a critical process for both buyers and sellers, as it allows you to close a deal or deliver a world-class buying experience to nurture future opportunity. Today’s closing rate produces tomorrow’s sales opportunities. It is your duty to not only get more people to experience your service, it’s your duty to close the deal.

Big Data - A Valuable Asset

Big data tells a story that steers marketing decisions. Knowing who is converting into a prospect based on what you put into the universe will allow you to modify your strategy to maximize results. I’m not talking about the deeply flawed ROI by lead source information. I’m talking about geographic, demographic, and psychographic information at the lead generation level, and more specific data for those that finance with you, including birthdays, personal information, and job data. Remember, big data is called big data for a reason. When you try to extrapolate a conclusion from too small a sample size, you make bad decisions. Assuming causation without appropriate correlation is a crime.

The How

How does a residential home service company generate more of the good leads? The first thing to do is abandon the tactics that attract low quality leads. Discounts, coupons, sales, and promotions are a red herring that are not helping you grow or profit. The next thing is to do more in your marketing than just lead generation. If nobody knows who you are or worse yet, they know your name and don’t have a trigger to pick you from a list of usual suspects, you will lose.

Companies That Reap the Benefits of Lead Generation…

• Generate high-quality traffic

Going after high-quality over quantity means attracting a few less (approximately 16% less) leads by saying the right things before the zero-moment of truth. When undecided, they will be more likely to pick you out from the crowd as a best case scenario.

• Generate more high-quality traffic

As you continue brand advertising and align it with your PPC and website copy, you will start to see a rise in higher quality leads. More people will connect with your brand, not just recognize it. The more you reach the mass market with the right message at the right frequency, the more direct and organic search is going to increase.

Bypassing PPC costs altogether is arguably the best valued lead generation, so make sure your website is optimized for conversions.

• Boost lead conversion

Once you have an effective lead capture system in place, you can use conversion optimization tactics to boost the number of leads that actually convert into paying customers.

This might also involve optimizing your website for higher conversion rates, developing targeted email marketing campaigns, or using retargeting ads to bring visitors back to your site who didn’t convert the first time. Paired with an effective ongoing brand campaign, and you can nurture the relationship with your most loyal customers.

• Increase ROI

High quality leads that are captured and converted through any of these methods will be great sales opportunities. Be sure that your techs and salespeople understand they are talking to relational buyers, not transactional shoppers. Have them assume the sale on every sales call, and be sure they have persistence through resistance to close those deals today.

Running a High CAP Lead Generation Campaign

Running lead generation is essential in every marketing strategy. Who you chose to attract and who you choose to lose matters. A lot. When you try speaking to everyone, you end up speaking to no one. Before beginning your next campaign, put some key pieces of information in place — specifically what you want to say, but more importantly, how you want to say it. Understanding your ideal customer’s felt needs, the gaps in your competitive landscape, and what you’re team is really great al delivering consistently, make you an anomaly. And that’s worth paying attention to. The biggest question you’ve got to ask yourself is why? Why do I demand more leads over less, high quality leads that my team can spend more time with and close at a higher average sale and profit on day one? Why do I allow digital marketers to charge me a percentage of my spend? Why do I want any lead over high intent leads? Why don’t I tell a better brand story and work hard at delivering a better buying experience? Here are some tips for elevating on your next campaign:

• Determine your goals: What are you hoping to achieve with your lead generation campaign? Do you want to focus on increasing traffic, boosting conversions, sustaining customer retention, or appealing to High CAP customers? With a well-executed lead generation campaign, you can achieve all your goals.
• Understand your target audience: Who are you trying to reach with your campaign? What are their felt needs and pain points, and how can you offer a solution? Researching this information will help you create more effective messaging for your campaign and pull at the heartstrings of your prospects.
• Create content: Whether it’s an email or landing page, you want to ensure that your content is compelling and quickly communicates the benefits of your product. Appeal to your audience’s values by creating compelling copy that speaks to their inner truths. Craft a meaningful headline, and include visuals that align with your brand identity.
• Make an offer that includes a call to action (CTA): Your offer should be something that doesn’t break the integrity of your brand identity. We call these Relational-Friendly Transactional Offers (RFTOs). It should act as a filter to appeal to your ideal client, and repel the cheapy cheapy customers.
• Promote content: The more salient your content, the more your target audience will connect with you. Once you have a message that connects, share it everywhere you can. There are several tactics that you can use, including paid advertising, social media marketing, and email campaigns.
• Create and optimize a funnel: Successful lead generation campaigns may require a well-crafted funnel that starts with attracting prospects and ends with converting them into customers. You’ll need to measure your results at each stage so you can optimize your campaigns along the way.
• Test lead gen campaigns (A/B test): Measuring your campaign results will allow you to determine which campaigns are performing well and which can be improved. A/B testing is used to maximize the efficacy of campaigns, and should be part of every strategy.
• Lead scoring: Once you’ve attracted a sizeable pool of prospects, it’s time to prioritize them by assigning lead scores. Lead scoring bases the value of a prospect on their likelihood to convert into paying customers and provides you with insights into which campaigns are performing the best. This is how you will know what leads are Low CAP and which leads are High CAP. Trace them back to your original ad set and you will know what works best to attract the High CAP customers.
• Lead nurturing: After dialing in your High CAP prospects it’s time to nurture your relationship with them. Lead nurturing is the process of working at the relationship with something other than salesy stuff. It can take many forms, but some common tactics include email marketing drip campaigns, gifts, and thank you cards.

From start to finish, you can monitor and optimize your campaigns to ensure they’re as effective as possible. Knowing how to get High CAP leads is ideal for every business, but it can be tough to know where to go next sometimes. At Wizard of Ads®, we help residential home service companies generate leads that become loyal customers. With 35 years of experience, and a disproportionately high success rate, we can help you create and implement a marketing strategy that targets the right people. Book a call with us today to learn more about our lead generation services and how we can help you grow your business.

If you've done any SEO (search engine optimization) or PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns for your company, you know how tricky it can be to select the right keywords. As a business owner of a home service company, you may find yourself in a game of cat and mouse, trying to figure out how to use keywords that represent your brand without getting penalized by Google or getting buried under the competition. To maximize your clicks, leads, and conversions, you need to choose a mix of unbranded and branded keywords. But how do you know which ones will work best for your business? Well, we've got the answers for you here. We decided to take a closer look at the branded vs. unbranded keyword debate by analyzing the performance of a real company's SEO and PPC campaign. This data will help you understand just what needs to be done to get the best results for your business. Let's take a look!

What are Branded and Unbranded Keywords?

When it comes to keywords, there are two main types: branded and unbranded. Branded keywords are those that include the name of your company or product, misspellings, taglines, visual representations, and brandable chunks. Non-branded keywords are more generic keyword terms that don't include any specific brand references, rather speak to your category, customer pain points, and most likey search terms or your products and services. For example, if you are an HVAC company named "Acme Heating and Cooling", some of your branded keywords might be "Acme Air Conditioning", "Acme Heating", or "Amce Heating and Cooling". On the other hand, some unbranded keywords related to your business might be "air conditioning repair near me", "air conditioner installation", or “furnace no heat”. There are benefits and drawbacks to using both types of keywords. Branded keywords are essential in 2022 to get your website to rank above the fold for your company name, which help increase brand awareness. However, you need to have a brand in demand before a branded keyword campaign will be an effective strategy. Unbranded keywords, on the other hand, tend to be hyper competitive and are necessary when getting started in a new business. Be warned, it is scientifically impossible to leverage unbranded keywords to drive brand awareness and become a household name. Ultimately, the best approach is to use a mix of both branded and unbranded keywords to give your website the best chance of ranking high in search results. If you're in need of exceptional branding experts to help you with your Branded Advertising, book a call with our team at Wizard of Ads®. We specialize in helping businesses of all sizes increase their visibility and reach, online and offline.

A Case Study of a Real Company

To see how an unbranded and branded keyword strategy works in detail, check out this case study pulled from a real-life company so graciously provided by our Wizard of Ads Partners:

Although we took out the company name, the category, and the cities, the data is 100 percent real and accurate.

• As you can see, this company spent $37,398 on unbranded keywords in City 1 so they could have the privilege of losing $8,299.
• Then, they spent $30,008 on unbranded keywords in City 2 so that they could have the privilege of losing $17,238.
• Lastly, they spend $6,273 on unbranded search in City 3 so that they could have the privilege of losing $6,409.

It's safe to say that after losing $31,946, they probably grew tired of feeling privileged. Wouldn't you?Now when we look at the branded keywords, it tells us a different story.

• In City 1, this company's investment of only $7,452 in branded keywords made them a gross profit of $49,480. This is after deducting the costs of their branded keywords.
• In City 2, their investment of only $14,648 in branded search made them a gross profit of $62,976.
• And finally, in City 3 their investment of only $2,998 in branded keywords made them a gross profit of $9,042.

Digital weasels look at this and wonder why the heck would we track this company's unbranded and branded keywords separately. They cheerfully point out that combining them into one big package will result in a perfectly acceptable return on investment. That’s what grifters, cons, and shim-sham artists all think.

It’s Important to Track Branded and Unbranded Keywords Separately

It's important — especially in the digital world we rely on today — to create campaigns that not only monetize all the customer enthusiasm from digital platforms, but offline ones as well. When I say offline, I'm talking about the big 3 mass media — TV, radio, and outdoor advertising. There's a tactic in the industry called "cross-channel marketing," and it doesn't just mean being present on multiple platforms. It means tracking each one of your channels — whether it's online or offline — separately so you can see which ones are working and which ones aren't. In this case, branded keywords are what’s driving in revenue. And if we didn’t track branded and unbranded keyword ranking reports separately, we wouldn’t even be aware of how much money the unbranded keywords were losing for this particular company. To truly optimize your keywords and maximize your revenue, you need to do the same. So what kinds of tracking can be done? Here are some examples:

• Separating branded ad campaigns from unbranded campaigns to measure volume and costs.
• Tracking organic searches for your website.
• Tracking direct traffic to your website.

By tracking each channel separately, you'll have a clearer picture of which ones are performing well and which ones could use some improvement. And from there, you can make changes to improve your overall marketing strategy.

Don’t Hire Digital Weasels

So what do we mean when we say Digital Weasel? These are marketers that fail to deliver on what they proudly promised their customers. They make all sorts of grandiose claims, but in the end, they don't come through. They are the type you'd wanna pull aside, put your arm around their shoulders, and whisper in their ears "Be careful not to let your alligator mouth overload your mockingbird butt. "But if you're a bit more mellow and mature than we are, you may instead want to listen to the words of Les Binet — a data scientist (and non-digital weasel) who monitored the advertising of more than 1,000 businesses for over 15 years. “If you build your business, or try to build your business, using short-term efficiency measures – cost per response, click-through rates, that kind of thing – you’re _[on a hiding to nothing](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/on a hiding to nothing Definition of on a hiding, to failure %3A certain to fail). You’re going to run your business into the ground, we believe, because those are not the things that grow the business, long-term.” Les Binet goes on to say, “You need to talk to people, not just who are in the market right now, but people who might come to market over the next two to three years. You need to engage them with things that are more humanly relevant, more general, more universal, and crucially, you need to engage them at the emotional level… So if you want really disproportionately large marketing effects, if you want big sales and big profits, aim for fame.”

Aim for Fame

Are you a fame seeker? Do you want your SEO and PPC keywords — branded and unbranded — to make you a household brand name? Well tough, because that’s not how fame works. It is scientifically impossible to become a household name with SEO and PPC as your primary marketing mechanisms. If you’re not speaking to your marketplace through an intrusive mass media channel, you don’t stand a chance. Period. We'll close this article with three key pieces of advice: Make your ads, whether digital or traditional, entertaining, persuasive, and unpredictable. Your target audience will only pay attention when they have a reason to. Don't play it safe, be unexpected. If your ads are the talk of the water cooler, you're doing something right. Don’t worry about the complaints. You will never make everyone happy, and if that’s your goal, you’re doing it wrong. Be strategic about the information you put in your ads. Don't put so much information that your ads feel like ads - make them feel like entertainment. The more new, interesting, and different the information in your ad, the more people will be willing to change their behavior. And you can’t change someone’s behavior (to buy from you) until you first change their beliefs. And finally, don’t mistake name recognition with becoming a household name. You can have a large majority of people know your name. Ultimately, name recognition is 100% irrelevant if your aren’t the brand in demand. Becoming a household name means they are only calling you, and the “oh sh*t” moments trigger your brand over your competitors in the residential home service market. This, combined with unbranded and branded keywords that are tracked separately to better understand your cost of acquisition and brand efforts provide better data from your advertising campaigns. Need some guidance? Wizard of Ads® is here to help. Our services are specialized for you — CEOs of Residential Home Service Companies. We'll not only help turn your marketing and advertising campaigns into a well-oiled machine, but also help you build a tribe of loyal customers who want to smoke what your rolling, and pass your name along to others to as well. Book a call with Ryan Chute, Wizard of Sales® today!