The online sales are completely different from the face-to-face sales. Unless you're selling a product that triggers impulsive buying behavior, it can be difficult to generate sales from a single online ad campaign.

Why? Because, from a psychological point of view, trust is at the heart of the buying process. The potential buyer needs to build a trust base before acting. That's why, on average, a potential customer needs to interact with a company or brand 15-20 times before making a purchase.

"Sales funnel" is a term that designates the sales process, from the moment someone finds out about a company or a brand until they make their first purchase online. When marketers refer to a sales funnel, they generally talk about it as an automatic process triggered by an action on the company's website or social media.

To generate sales opportunities, potential buyers are offered valuable materials in exchange for their email address or other contact information. Here are eight ideas you can use for this purpose.

1. E-books

While e-book downloads are a proven way to generate sales opportunities, creating a good e-book is a time-consuming process. Although it does not have to have many pages, it really has to bring a lot of added value. E-books that are essentially sales brochures are not recommended because they do not offer, but ask – which is not appreciated.

Imagine that you are in the early stages of establishing a relationship of trust with potential customers. If someone gives you the email address and receives a low-value or no-value resource, you will come out of the sales funnel. If you do not have time to create a quality e-book that clearly identifies you as an expert in the field, choose a different way to attract sales opportunities.

2. Webinars

People have been using online seminars for years to generate potential customers. They can be a great way to start the sales process, as they give you the opportunity to present your expertise, values ​​and mission.

Like an e-book, webinars need to be valuable. It is okay to announce a special offer to participants, but do not make the entire webinar a selling point. Think of it as an initial tasting, not as a feast.

3. Practical advice

Materials that offer practical advice follow a formula similar to e-books, while being a much simpler resource. Tips & Tricks documents have a format that skips education about the concepts and all the reasons why the reader should do something. Instead, they focus on the practical area and explain in particular HOW.

These are some of the most used formats:

• Step-by-step guides on how to perform specific tasks (for example, how to enable YouTube subtitles)

• Checklists (for example, all the things a business owner needs to do when adding a team member)

• Collections of tips (e.g. “5 practical approaches to achieve success on social media”)

• Templates (for example, a certain type of document that users can customize for their business)

4. Video content

Customers are four times more likely to watch a video than to read about a product, and 52% of marketers around the world say that videos are the best return on investment content. This means that users will be potentially more interested in a video than an e-book. Some content marketers offer the first few minutes of a video that offers a lot of value to attract viewers for free, then ask for an email address so they can continue watching.

5. Tests, diagnoses or questionnaires

How many times have you clicked on a test to find out what kind of personality you have or how well you know a particular field? Although sometimes these approaches feel like clickbait, if you are more creative, you can make online tests, diagnoses and questionnaires an instructive / fun way to attract target audiences and potential customers.

6. Free trial periods

Many people do not want to make a purchase until they are sure that a service is right for them. A free trial eliminates the risk of purchasing for them. This is also a great chance to attract a user and do the service you offer one without which he cannot live.

7. Free courses

This could be the most important option in this whole list, and if it is well implemented, it gives excellent results. The idea is to offer a course through daily lessons sent by e-mail. Although it sounds daunting, emails don't have to be long and can use existing resources.

The reason it works so well is that you will build trust over a slightly longer period of time. Of course you need to provide enough information so that people can clearly see the value of continuing to prefer you after the end of the free course period.

In conclusion

Selling online takes place after a series of interactions between potential buyers and a company's brand, products or services. To generate these interactions, content marketing tactics are needed to advance potential customers through the sales funnel. A combination of the types of tactics described above will always work. At Mind Shop we have the necessary experience to help you. For concrete details you can contact us at mindshop@mindshop.ro.

About Mind Shop

Mind Shop is the advertising agency where ideas are born and become reality. We are a team of experienced professionals with a special passion for innovation and creative thinking. We started our journey in 2001, and over the past 19 years, we have run over 10,000 projects at local, national and European level. We have an integrated approach, offering high-quality services. We are proud of the very close collaboration we have with our customers – often, we work together as one team. We are serious, trustworthy, creative, and we are very enthusiastic about what we do. Find out more about us on: www.mindshop.ro.