Five Response Marketing Tactics to Boost Sales in the Fourth Quarter

Three quarters down, one more to go. With the start of the fourth quarter looming near, now is not the time to lose sight of the sales goals that were set at the start of the year. It’s time to achieve them. Set your eye on the prize and gain your second wind with these five response marketing tactics.

1. A/B Test Your Digital Campaigns

While an asset may be perfect in the eyes of the artist, it’s important to look at it through the consumer lens… how does it convert? What is it about the asset that might not be eliciting the response you need? Enter the left-brain thinker and its friend, A/B Testing.

Conducting an A/B test, or a split test, doesn’t mean that you have to release two completely different assets for one campaign. Instead, remember this simple saying: minor changes can make major improvements. Zero in on what aspect of the asset can be better. If it’s an e-mail blast, you can consider changing the color, placement or text of the call to action (CTA) button, to see which optimizes your click-through rate (CTR). If your goal is to increase leads on your landing page, you can test the inclusion of an image or video on the page, a one- or two-step opt-in for email subscribers, layout and more.

In this example from HubSpot, adding an image above the sign-up form in Version B increased leads by 24%!

In another example, vitamin and supplement company Movexa adjusted their headline message “Natural Joint Relief” to “Natural Joint Relief Supplement.” This simple addition increased the message clarity and improved sales by 89%. Perfecting brand messaging, design and call-to-action during the third quarter means setting yourself up for a stronger ROI in the fourth quarter.

2. Maximize Your Digital Retargeting Budget: The Low-Hanging Fruit

Once you’ve tested which campaigns work best, make sure they’re reaching the right audiences. As the fourth quarter quickly approaches, now is the time to maximize your retargeting campaigns to re-engage website visitors and customers, AKA the low hanging fruit. By boosting your retargeting campaigns, you can send gentle reminders to users who have visited your site. In this photo ad by NatureBox, users are drawn back in with a visual of snacks, “smart” ingredients and a free sample.

Placing frequency caps on your boosted posts and retargeted ads will allow your brand to ease back into consumers lives without coming off as aggressive and also prevent your banners from appearing on controversial websites.

3. Audit Your Contact Channels

Your customer sees the retargeted ad, clicks it and is funneled straight to your website. Success! They go to sign up for your email list and the form won’t load. Fail! Auditing your contact channels at least once each quarter can help lower your bounce rate by ensuring customers aren’t clicking on a broken link. Here are some channels to look over on your search to enhance the user experience:

• Landing pages and Website Forms: Review website pages and forms to fix any potential bugs.
• Collect Key Data Points: Critical for lead generation and sales strategy development, there are a handful of key data points that your team should be utilizing.
  • Basic demographic data to inform sales and marketing strategy
  • Referral sources so that you can determine how customers are finding your brand
  • Content performance to track views and engagement
  • Behavioral data on bounce rates, site traffic, website hot spots and cart abandonment
• Sales Representatives: Making sure that your consumer-facing team is answering all Frequently Asked Questions appropriately. During the holiday-heavy fourth quarter, you’ll also want to make sure that team members are equipped and on the same page when it comes to providing back up. This will help streamline the customer experience, close any potential gaps and meet quota during the fourth-quarter sprint.

4. Arm Your Team with Appropriate Sales Tools

Nearly 60% of buyers want to discuss pricing on the first call, according to HubSpot. Not knowing the answer to this, or worse yet, giving the wrong answer to a potential lead does not make a good first impression. Eliminate the possibility of a subpar interaction by presenting associates with a set of clear action steps to take when communicating with potential leads and customers. You can accomplish this by first meeting with your sales team to go over frequently asked questions and objections they encounter when interacting with customers. Follow up by creating a short script, or guideline of answers, that associates and various members of the team can refer to when engaging in conversations with customers and leads. This will help streamline the sales process and ensure an even better customer experience. With 18 or more phone calls required, on average, to connect with a prospect and call-back rates below 1%, that’s time you don’t have to waste during the end-of-the-year stretch.

5. Create or Enhance an Internal Incentive Program with Your Sales Team

Providing your customers with an incentive to shop your brand is a given, but what about providing your sales team with an incentive to sell? Enhancing your internal incentive program, or creating one, will motivate, excite and challenge your team to achieve—and exceed—your goals. That’s why 90% of top-performing companies use recognition and rewards to inspire their sales employees and/or channel partners! Incentive programs can include extra vacation days, a bonus and more. One study, published in the Journal of Business Research, found that group-based rewards systems outperformed individual-based and mixed systems, resulting in more cooperative behavior and better performance. Following this idea, North Carolina company Magic Murals enrolls employees in a profit-sharing program, with funds distributed right before the holiday season. Knowing that there is an enticing incentive at the finish line can help boost employees’ energy levels and make the race to the end even more fun.

If you’re in need of an extra boost to meet your sales goals, let our expert marketing team help you to the finish line. From strategic media planning to graphic design, discover our full list of capabilities: https://orangelabelmarketing.com/expertise/.