How to turn your In-Store Customers into loyal Omnishoppers

One of the biggest mistakes we notice new website owners make is keeping the whole thing under wraps. It’s an easy one to do, and we totally understand how it happens. After all, search engines always find us everything we need when we need it, so why wouldn’t it do the same for customers looking for your new website?

Truth is, that amazing organic traffic won’t happen straight away. I know, it’s hard to hear. You’ve just spent months working with your website provider to build this beautiful monument to your business – your matching logos and eye-catching graphics, team member photos and humourous bios, a carefully curated library of pages detailing everything you do. The last thing you want to have to worry about is telling everyone about it when you feel like all the hard work is done. Surely the internet can do the rest!

From our experience though, the websites that do the best the fastest are the ones who tell people about it. And not just a brief passing mention in conversation, but the ones who stand on a chair with a megaphone and scream it from the rooftops. While it makes sense that a lot of this work can be done online to attract attention, taking advantage of your own physical foot traffic is often just as important. These are the people you interact with day in and day out, whose names and smiles you have memorised over the years. Often you know their favourite products, what they got up to over the holiday break, and sometimes even that their great-aunt Mabel is visiting next weekend with her famous carrot cake. This community you have spent years nurturing and building are often the ones who will be the first to support you online and the ones who will share the excitement about this new part of your business.

So: what are some easy ways your website can attract attention when it first launches? We’ve gathered a list of 5 ideas to help your online presence land with a bang from day one.

1. Add your URL to everything you (and your customers) can see

Business cards? Check. Bottom of receipts? Check. Sandwich boards, counter mats and window stickers? Check. It may seem a bit backwards to direct customers walking past to visit you online instead of in store, but sometimes jumping on a website and booking an appointment or ordering online is just more convenient for that person at that time. Plus, if you’re like me, sometimes you’re curious what that business actually does, and jumping online can be a quick way to scope out what’s on offer.

2. Create a coupon code

Another old school approach is actually talking to people. As a millennial, this is a foreign concept, but as someone who has worked in customer facing roles my whole life I can tell you now that face-to-face or phone conversations are the fastest way to pass on information. When people are in store and interacting with you, why not let them know that you’re about to launch a new website that can service all their needs even when you’re not open? Phone auto-attendants can also be your best friend, helping cut down on those frequent niggly phone calls asking questions such as your opening hours or ordering products to collect later, so it’s worth changing your voice message to include your web address.

3. Use all the Google tools in your toolbox

The biggest search engine in the world can be your best friend when capturing prospective customers. Have you noticed that when you search for a certain business that little box pops up that has their contact details and opening hours handy? Your business will have one too, and it’s super easy to link your own website there so customers don’t even have to try and find it. As well as that, additional tools like Search Console can give you insight into what is being searched by people who then land on your webpages, allowing you to give those sections a bit more love. Merchant Centre and Analytics can feel a bit extra for experts, so we recommend you get the basics sorted first, but in order to win the game you have to play it.

4. Have a conversation about it

Another old school approach is actually talking to people. As a millennial, this is a foreign concept, but as someone who has worked in customer facing roles my whole life I can tell you now that face-to-face or phone conversations are the fastest way to pass on information. When people are in store and interacting with you, why not let them know that you’re about to launch a new website that can service all their needs even when you’re not open? Phone auto-attendants can also be your best friend, helping cut down on those frequent niggly phone calls asking questions such as your opening hours or ordering products to collect later, so it’s worth changing your voice message to include your web address.

5. Your website can do a lot, but not everything, and that’s okay

The conversations we have with business owners vary a lot depending on their own personal level of online interaction, but one of the trends we’ve noticed is people assuming that their website can do everything they can do in store. While websites these days can often cater to 99% of your customer’s needs, sometimes you just can’t beat that in person interaction. You might have some specialised products that need a consultation before you can sell them, or certain services that require triaging a patients needs before they can book. It’s good to know that while things like this can’t be completed online, it’s a great idea to get the basics online and then redirect people to come and visit. A webpage might be able to answer their initial questions such as how much or when is something available, but then asking customers to come in store and chat to your team is allowed – you can get the information out there for people to find when they’re looking, and it might help you gain a few new customers in the process who didn’t know until now that you could help them.

So there you have it, our top 5 tips to help you successfully launch your website, and turn your in-store customers into Omnishoppers. If you were after a handy little guide complete with checklists and more details about the steps you can take to help boost your marketing knowledge we’ve got one you can download for free below.

Marketing Booster Kit