Summary

Ensure that you are tracking as much data as possible (HotJar, both product and brand reviews, listening to phone calls, interaction with sales people).Mine data from all sources available to learn what customers are saying is meaningful to them.Observe your competition. Not to just “be like them”, but better, what are they not doing?Put aside presuppositions and listen to all voices in your organization. It may be that they have advice that doesn’t make sense at the time, but ultimately can yield impressive savings.

On this episode, we are joined by Ethan Thompson, digital marketing manager at Simplified Safety Europe. Ethan manages eight websites—four are focused on B2C and four on B2B. As you will see, Ethan has the unique capability to zoom out on a given problem and see the big picture.

The place Ethan works, Simplified Safety, sells… (you guessed it) safety equipment. Simplified Safety specializes in products that help people get back home to their families. Businesses also need the help to ensure they are compliant with regulations thus reducing massive financial liability. It is this type of product that really does make a difference every day and could be the reason a mother or father comes home from work. Of course, there are others in this space, so Ethan has to employ every strategy to ensure that this brand does stand out in that particular field.

More leads, please!

B2B can be challenging—particularly because it often requires a hands-on approach with sales. Many B2C websites have products that work out of the box. Sure, you might need to pull instructions together or even video. Yet, B2B products are regularly custom and designed for a specific situation. How do we get through the “iron curtain” of the internet and begin an interaction to determine the fit and the right price for this installation?

What we normally do:

Make sure the “Contact Us” page works.Put popups all over the website.Maybe a chat box too?

What worked for Ethan:

Watch what people read on the page (HotJar). Many people read with their cursor, so you can “see” what they are reading.Put the information on the page that people are wanting to know. Ask the sales team to document questions they are asked.Highlight benefits (“this railing’s coating will keep you compliant longer”) rather than features (“this railing has a ABC123 certified coating”).Match your ad copy with highlights on the page.Resulted in a 50% increase in leads.

A lot of the products that Simplified Safety sells need guidance or consultation, so that can’t be just “sold online” like many B2C merchants. The problem is that getting a visitor to commit and enter their contact information. Often this is at least some level of a commitment because our inner nature thinks: “what are the risks?” OR “am I going to be spammed??” So, providing contact information can be a big ask.

This particular example is about their KeeGuard product. This is a railing that is placed on a rooftop to protect someone from falling off the roof. As you can expect, this is a highly custom product.

Simplified Safety had to provide enough information but not so much as to scare them off. They have been on an interesting journey to hone their message and figure out exactly what resonates with our customers in addition to giving them the confidence that they the right person to work with (that they aren’t some popup brand). Originally, Simplified Safety had a lot of information hidden behind buttons. You had to click a button to get to more information. A lot of the people who clicked those cards converted. They ended up requesting more information. But if someone did not click on one of the buttons, they were less likely to convert. Simplified Safety found that information that is provided in these is really important and it ma