You believe in your product. You have a fantastic looking site. You are confident that both statements are true because you get steady, consistent traffic to your site. But what do your sales look like?

There’s “the rub”. How DOES one bridge the gap between web traffic and sales. As the old saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water…..” but how on earth how do you make your clients drink? err….. “buy”?

I found this article on the Wall Street Journal online. The basic idea: be proactive with your sales. Much like a physical “brick and mortar” store front, you’ll find greater returns by proactively recruiting sales. Granted, there is a fine line between a helpful “Can I get a fitting room started for you” and the persistent “Can I help you? You look like you have questions. Do you have questions? Let me answer your questions…”

How does one implement a proactive sales approach for an online store front? One way suggested by the article is to install a “click to call” feature on your website. When the client clicks the link, he or she is asked to enter a phone number. After submitting this information, the client then receives a phone call from sales staff. This provides a proactive and most importantly, unobtrusive, solution to creating a more proactive sales approach.

However, if you’re a smaller business that is still in the beginning phases, purchasing the software and implementing the call back system (can you say LONG DISTANCE?) may not be cost effective for your online store yet. A good compromise would be to install an “online chat”. This would allow you to initiate an online discussion with customers as they browse your products to answer any questions or concerns the client may have. There are numerous free online chat software providers, making this a significantly more cost effective way to implement a more proactive approach to your sales strategy.

**HINT** A great way to maximize the effectiveness of the online chat feature is to have a promotional code ready for clients who either initiate an online chat, or respond to an online chat that is initiated by a sales representative. By initiating the chat with a discount to offer your client, you come from a place of “helping” or “giving”, rather than a place of “BUY MY PRODUCT” which can be too aggressive for some potential buyers.

You can also utilize your live chat feature to inform clients about any “free samples”, “trial periods”, or other “try before you buy” offerings. This gives the client a “nothing to lose” scenario, removing the fear that the potential buyer may be investing in something that won’t work or something that he or she won’t care for. Of course, you and I know that because you have a solid product, the potential buyer will be so impressed that he or she will likely tell friends and family about it.
Thus, you’ve created a string of “word of mouth” referrals!

These are just some tips we’ve found in conducting our own marketing research. Now, SimpleHelix Asks YOU: How do YOU turn YOUR web traffic into sales?

Whether you’re waiting in line at Starbucks, your bank, or maybe even the DMV, you see people with their faces buried in various electronic devices: iPhones, BlackBerry(s), the new Droid…. you name it. What on earth are they doing?

It’s a safe bet that most of these people are right in the midst of a Facebook Status update, or updating their Twitter account (a.k.a. “Tweeting”).

It seems that our culture is always connected to these social media sites, every minute of the day– regardless of where we are. Keeping in tune with the current social media trend, many businesses have also hopped on the social media bandwagon, as it is viewed as the “cheapest”, fastest way to get your brand name and information out there in the social media realm.

But how much is too much? Particularly on Twitter, one innocent “Where do I find….” tweet will cause an onslaught of replies from merchants peddling their wares and overwhelming the unsuspecting “Tweet-er”. So where is the line drawn?

We found a great article on entreprenuer.com (you can read it here) outlining some really helpful ideas to creating a successful social media marketing campaign. However, our favorite story of an effective social media campaign is told by our SimpleHelix President, as relayed to him by a speaker at a recent webhosting conference event.

The speaker had just arrived in the airport and collected his bags only to find the car service he had scheduled to take him from the airport to the event was nowhere to be found. He called the car service and got no response. Out of sheer frustration, he then tweeted something to the effect of “Car service M.I.A. Stuck at airport in….”.

In a matter of seconds, he received an “@” reply to his Tweet from another car service in the area letting him know they could have a car there in ten minutes. Not only was he so thrilled by the response, but ALSO the timely arrival of the car, that he then Tweeted about the car service, singing their praises!

What happened in this case is that one very attentive car service gained a new client, and also a referral that was received by hundreds of potential clients who follow that person on Twitter, all from one Tweet!

That particular car service is just one example, but other larger companies are just as active in their social media campaigns. You’ve probably heard of Best Buy’s “Twelp Force” and if you’ve griped on Twitter about your cable service, we’ll bet you’ve received a very timely response and eventual resolution from your cable provider as a result. In addition to marketing tools, more and more large name companies are using social media to listen to their client base and make changes accordingly.

That being said, social media campaigns can be very challenging for a small business to pull off. As outlined in this article from businessweek.com, social media campaigns are labor intensive, as they must be monitored constantly by a human being in order to be successful. Many small businesses may not have the time or resources to fully commit to a social media campaign. And really, a social media campaign without fresh information, “tweets”, “status updates”, or unanswered comments is on a crash course for disaster.

After all, that customer checking Facebook on their iPhone at the car wash may see that you didn’t respond to that last comment, leaving that customer (and any of the countless others also checking Facebook) with the impression that customer care is not a priority. Just as Facebook and Twitter can be effective tools for listening to your clients, they can also work against you if proper attention is not given to these social media tools.

Taking all of this into account, SimpleHelix asks YOU:

How do YOU integrate social media into your internet marketing campaigns? What are some key points you’ve learned during these campaigns? Also, have you seen a significant increase in sales or customer satisfaction since beginning your social media campaigns?

**UPDATE** After we posted this blog, SimpleHelix “Tweeted” the new blog post and title. That “Tweet” was “Re-Tweeted” nearly 20 times by marketing firms specializing in Social Media (of course!). So, even that isolated incident was a great example of how Social Media can be a powerful tool for your business. Just remember, the reason it is such a powerful tool is the fact that these sites do not require a fee to join. However, social media sites do require a human being to monitor all activity. In order to keep these tools cost effective, I’d avoid spending any money on custom development of your Facebook or Twitter page until you start seeing some return on the initial b-flat social media campaign attempts. Let us know how YOUR social media campaigns are fairing.