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P R O J E C T L E A D E R : K A R E N U N L A N D , 7 8 0 - 4 2 9 - 5 2 6 0; k a r e n @ c a p i t a l i d e a s e d m o n t o n . c o m
COMMUNITY QUESTION:
UPCOMING:
What converts online visitors 17 into customers?
How do you foster a culture of innovation?
JUNE
Entrepreneurs talk about using the Internet to build loyalty
JUNE
22
CAPITAL IDEAS “In order to turn online visits into revenue, have an offer for them to take part in. We offer a free session to people that visit our page. It gets people in the door to experience what we offer and it’s a great way to get new clients. Make sure your online presence is engaging and have something fun and enticing for visitors to take part in.” — Stacey Hogbin, owner of Wevive Fitness — wevivefitness.com
“Not only do you have to capture their attention, you need to intrigue them to learn more. You can’t just tell them about your product or service, you have to show them the benefit in a creative way. Providing content that intrigues, creates curiosity and connects is key. Employ as many senses as possible.” — Trina Shipanoff, owner of Night Market Edmonton — nightmarketedmonton.com
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY: SARAH BEFUS
Sarah Befus, president of Rescue Flats (rescueflats.com), believes that the personalization of online presence is key. “We invite our online visitors into our world. What you see on our website and social media is truly who we are. Our clients know that there are two real people behind our product which helps to establish trust. Trust is incredibly important to convert online visitors into customers and is an important part of who we are and what we do.”
“Entrepreneurs need to be incredibly patient and consistent when it comes to converting online visitors to customers. Just like in real life, your website builds trust and interest over time. Never stop testing and experimenting. Eventually you will come up with something powerful that just clicks with your ideal customer.” — Katie Pearse, online marketing specialist and owner of Katie Pearse — katiepearse.com “You have to be clear on what it is your potential customer wants, and your headlines have to connect with them and their need. Your copy has to give them reasons why they should do business with you over all the other suppliers. Finally, you need a compelling offer that gets them to take action now.” — Laurie McNaughton, business and executive coach at ActionCOACH — actioncoach.com/lauriemcnaughton “Because most of our purchasing decisions are extremely emotional, it’s important to take a moment to research the psychological triggers involved that prompt a website’s visitors to actually take action. — Jéssica Carmona, digital marketing strategist at Navut — navut.com
“For a website it is best to be interactive. Constantly update the main page with interesting facts, community affairs, important e-commerce information and of course wonderful new pictures. This has proven to bring in revenue for my company.” — Nadine Chalifoux, director and owner of Chocolates With Flare — chocolateswithflare.ca “Think of converting online traffic the same as off the street walk-in traffic. If one hundred people walked into your office at lunchtime, how would you convert that traffic into sales? You would want to engage with customers who had questions, or offer helpful advice and information for those customers who weren’t ready to talk to you yet. You might even take some of their information and follow up with them at a later time. These days the majority of the sales process happens before you meet your customer, all you have to do is make it easy for them to buy.” — Andrew Moschuk, marketing strategist at Focus Communications — focuscom.ca “Your website is like your online resume. You have to be able to capture the visitor’s attention within a few seconds or they will bounce from your site, perhaps to a competitor. If the online visitor has a need for your product or service, you have to make your website easy to navigate and easy for them to ultimately contact you for more information.” — Jay Shore, partner at Shore 2 Shore Automation Ltd. — shore2shore.ca “You have to have an extremely strong presence online so that people will feel like they know you without actually meeting you. Online media gets the word out that you exist” — Dorothy Briggs, publisher and owner of Womanition Magazine — womanition.com
These answers are in response to a question posed by David Forster, president of Adster Creative. Here’s his take: “For Adster and our clients, it begins with identifying key actions we want our site visitors to take. Do we want them to phone us? Capture their email? Register for an event? Digital advertising allows us the ability to track and measure all of these. Once we identify these goals, we can determine which online channel like organic search, paid search, social media, etc did to either directly result in, or assist in these customer acquisition related actions, and subsequently establish an ROI for each.” Adster is hosting a free lunch with Google’s Partners Team in Calgary on June 16. Interested Edmonton business owners can join the wait list for Adster’s tour bus at adster.ca/blog.
Here is a sample of insights our members have shared online recently: From “Guilty Manager Syndrome” by Alison McMahon, CEO at TwoFold (gettwofold.com): “Being a great manager isn’t about being some kind of prodigy, it’s about working smart and building good habits.”
From “How to Become a Networking Pro” by Blaine Bertsch, founder of Dryrun (dryrun.com): “Make it about them, not you. Learn about their businesses, their challenges, their goals and aspirations. Share but a brief summary about yourself and your company, and expand only if asked.”
From “Get real — or risk killing your brand” by communications strategist Sharon MacLean, president of WorldGate Media (worldgatemedia.com) “People today want to know what drives your passion. Because if you can drill down to the very essence of why you deliver your products and services, that clarity makes us care, too.”
You can find the full posts on LinkedIn. We’ll be curating a selection of posts regularly on our LinkedIn group, Capital Ideas Alberta. To bring yours to our attention, email it to hello@ capitalideasedmonton.com.
A monthly panel discussion hosted by Capital Ideas Where: Edmonton Journal (10006 101st St.) When: 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission: Free. Tickets at capitalideasyeg40.eventbrite.ca
JUNE
23-25
AWE: Roadmap for Success Business planning workshop to help increase your odds of success Where: 10310 Jasper Ave., Unit 301 When: 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Admission: $69. Tickets at awebusiness.com/event
BizStart Webinar Series: Social Media Step-by-Step A series designed to show you how to setup and use key social media platforms Where: Online When: 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day Addmission: $129. Register at businesslink.ca
For more great events, visit capitalideasedmonton.com/edmontonevents.
“One of the best ways to turn clicks to dollars is to build an emotional connection with your customer. This could be done by showcasing some of the charitable causes your organization is involved with. Talk about why you give, the impact to the community, etc. This provides a human element which customers resonate with. Another mechanism is to have lots of video testimonials by actual customers. People love referrals and independent praise.” — Ashif Mawji, president of Trust Science — trustscience.com “Converting visitors into customers can be accomplished by allowing people to purchase products online. To keep potential customer interest online, your website must catch their attention and engage them. Be clear and concise about what you are selling, tailor your site to your target market and ensure your site is user friendly and loads quickly. Ongoing initiatives after they leave your site include having them subscribe to email notices and following you on social media sites.” — Debbie Engel, owner Debbie L. Engel Professional Corporation — depc.ca
CAPITAL QUESTION: How do you create and sustain a culture of innovation? Whether it’s a gamechanging idea for your industry, or lots of incremental changes to improve and grow your business, successful businesses find ways to innovate, which is why Wellington Holbrook, executive vicepresident of ATB Business, is curious to hear from you: How do you create and sustain a culture of innovation? You can answer the question in two ways: • Open today’s Capital Ideas email if you’re a member, or • Visit capitalideasedmonton.com We’ll publish the best answers, along with your business name and website address, on June 17. For more great information on what business owners in Alberta think, visit atb.com/businessbeat.
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