Getting more people to find your business is great. But being found doesn’t pay the bills.
You can have website traffic, social media reach, people walking through your shop or a steady stream of visitors past your pop-up stand. If those people don’t understand why they should choose you, all that lovely visibility is just a vanity metric.
That was the subject of my recent Enterprise Nation Lunch & Learn, Turning Browsers Into Buyers: Practical Marketing That Converts.
As a retail speaker, marketer and former independent retailer, conversion is a subject I’m particularly passionate about. I’ve spent years looking at marketing from both sides of the fence: advising businesses on what they should do and running my own bricks-and-clicks retail business where those decisions had to translate into actual money in the till.
And there’s one question I think more businesses need to ask:
Before I spend more money attracting new customers, am I making enough of the attention I already have?
Here’s where I’d start.
1. Being found is only the beginning
Small businesses spend an enormous amount of time trying to get seen.
SEO. Social media. Advertising. PR. Events. Email. Google. Footfall.
That matters. Of course it does.
But visibility only creates the opportunity to make a sale.
Once somebody discovers you, they need to understand very quickly:
Why this? Why you? Why now?
What does your product or service give them?
Why should they choose your business rather than one of the many alternatives available?
And what gives them a reason to make that decision today rather than thinking, “That looks nice, I'll come back to it later”?
If your marketing doesn't answer those questions, throwing more people into the top of the funnel isn't necessarily going to solve your sales problem.
2. Make it obvious who you're for
One of the easiest ways to weaken your marketing is trying to appeal to absolutely everyone.
Your customer needs to be able to recognise themselves in what you're saying.
They don't need your entire company history before they've even decided whether they're interested. They need to understand that what you're offering is relevant to them.
There's a big difference between:
“Beautiful handmade candles for every occasion.”
and:
“Small-batch candles made in Hampshire for people who want their home to smell gorgeous without overpowering synthetic fragrance.”
The second gives me considerably more information about the product, its positioning and whether it's likely to suit me.
That's what good messaging should do.
Don't make customers decode your marketing.
This applies everywhere.
On your website, can I understand what you sell within seconds?
If I walk into your shop, can I see what makes your products different?
If I pass your stand at a busy event, can I quickly understand why I should stop?
If one of your posts appears in my social feed and I've never encountered your business before, will it make sense to me?
Assumed knowledge can be expensive. Nobody knows your business as well as you do.
3. Trust is part of conversion
Sometimes a customer wants what you're selling but still doesn't buy.
That's where I'd start looking for unanswered questions.
People hesitate when something feels uncertain, so good trust signals remove those little doubts before they become reasons to leave.
Depending on your business, that could mean:
- customer reviews and testimonials
- real customer photographs
- guarantees
- clear contact details
- your experience and expertise
- press coverage and third-party endorsement
- secure payment options
- obvious delivery and returns information
- demonstrations or samples
But don't gather all your trust signals together and hide them on an About page.
Put reassurance where the hesitation happens.
If delivery is likely to be the concern, answer it near the product or basket.
If customers worry about how something works, demonstrate it.
If they're wondering whether you're legitimate, give them visible evidence.
This came up during the webinar Q&A when we discussed FAQs. A general FAQ page can be extremely useful for questions around delivery, dispatch, tracking and the business itself. But product-specific questions often belong on the relevant product page, exactly where someone is considering buying.
4. Ask what's making buying harder than it needs to be
This is probably my favourite question to give retailers:
What's making it unnecessarily difficult for your customer to buy from you?
Look at your business through their eyes.
Online
Are there hidden delivery costs?
Are your product descriptions genuinely helpful, or have they been copied and pasted from a supplier?
Is the navigation confusing?
Are there too many choices without enough help choosing between them?
Is your returns policy clear?
How many steps does checkout take?
Product descriptions are a particular bugbear of mine. Copying the manufacturer's description doesn't differentiate your business, doesn't give the customer your perspective and isn't particularly helpful from an SEO point of view either. Your descriptions are an opportunity to add your tone of voice, expertise and understanding of what matters to your customer.
In a physical shop
Can people find prices easily?
Do your displays help customers understand and choose?
Are staff approachable and knowledgeable when somebody needs help?
Have you organised products around the way customers shop, rather than simply the way it's convenient for you to stock them?
Your staff matter enormously here too.
During the Q&A, I shared the slightly painful memory of launching an email promotion when I had my own shop and forgetting to properly brief the person working on the till.
The customer doesn't see “eCommerce” and “retail” as separate departments.
They see one brand.
If your website says one thing and your shop team says another, that's your problem, not theirs.
At a pop-up or event
You've got seconds to communicate.
What do you sell?
How much does it cost?
Why should I care?
What happens if I like it but I'm not ready to buy today?
Capturing an email address, offering a useful reason to stay connected or simply making it incredibly easy to find you again can turn a passing interaction into a future customer.
On social media
Your social content should create the next step, not another obstacle.
One of my pet hates is sending somebody on a treasure hunt for basic information.
Click the bio. Find the right link. Land on the homepage. Find the menu. Search for the thing they originally wanted...
Every extra step creates another opportunity to lose them.
5. Help customers make the decision
Choice is good.
Decision-making is tiring.
Part of good merchandising and marketing is reducing the amount of work the customer needs to do.
You can help by using:
- bestsellers
- bundles
- “perfect for…” collections
- starter products
- gift edits and gift guides
- seasonal ranges
- limited launches
- staff favourites
- comparison guides
You're not taking choice away. You're helping people navigate it.
This becomes particularly valuable during busy trading periods such as the Golden Quarter, when customers may be shopping for several people, comparing countless products and making decision after decision.
Make some of those decisions easier.
6. Give people a reason to buy now without reaching for a discount
“Why now?” doesn't have to mean 20% off.
In fact, I'd encourage retailers to avoid becoming too reliant on discounting.
There are plenty of genuine reasons for somebody to act:
Newness. Seasonality. Availability. Events. Limited quantities. Deadlines. Occasions. Useful bonuses.
If you're a maker producing small quantities, say so.
If Christmas delivery closes on a particular date, that's useful information rather than manufactured urgency.
If you've launched something genuinely new, give it a moment.
“Buy now” works much better when the customer understands why now.
7. The sale isn't the finish line
This is the bit I see small businesses neglect all the time.
We work incredibly hard to acquire a customer and then, once they've handed over their money, we go strangely quiet.
Yet someone who has already bought from you has crossed an enormous barrier.
They know you.
They've trusted you.
They've experienced your product or service.
Why would you immediately put all your energy back into finding another complete stranger?
After a purchase, think about the opportunities for:
- repeat business
- reviews
- recommendations
- referrals
- user-generated content
- email marketing
- relevant cross-selling
When I ran my retail business, paint was one of our core product categories. If somebody bought paint online, I didn't just send an order confirmation. I could send useful advice showing them how to apply it properly, recommend the appropriate wax or varnish to finish the job, and later ask whether they had another project planned.
That's follow-up with a purpose.
8. Follow up without becoming annoying
We've probably all experienced the other extreme.
Buy something once and suddenly the retailer appears to be pursuing you around the internet.
The test I use is very simple:
Is this useful to the customer?
An abandoned basket email can be useful. They might simply have been interrupted.
A delivery confirmation is useful.
Care instructions are useful.
A replenishment reminder at an appropriate point can be useful.
A request for a review can be useful to you and reasonable for them, provided they've actually received the product first.
Timing and relevance matter.
Follow-up should add value, reassurance or an appropriate next step.
It shouldn't feel like stalking.
9. Your best customers can bring you your next customers
A great customer isn't simply somebody who buys twice.
They can become the person who reviews you, talks about you, recommends you and ultimately brings another customer through the door.
During the webinar Q&A, we talked about those small “moments of delight” that independent businesses can create.
A handwritten note in an online order.
Beautiful wrapping.
Remembering a returning customer.
Giving loyal customers early access to something special.
None of those necessarily requires a huge marketing budget.
They simply make people feel good about choosing you.
And people recommend businesses that make them feel good about having chosen them.
Want to find the gaps in your own customer journey?
I've turned the key points from the session into a practical Browser-to-Buyer Conversion Checklist.
It's designed to help you audit your own website, shop, pop-up or marketing and identify the small points of friction that could be costing you sales.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE BROWSER-TO-BUYER CHECKLIST →
Don't try to fix everything at once. Pick the three things most likely to make buying easier and start there.
Watch: Turning Browsers Into Buyers
Prefer to hear me talk it through?
You can watch the recording of my Enterprise Nation Turning Browsers Into Buyers: Practical Marketing That Converts Lunch & Learn here:
WATCH THE ENTERPRISE NATION WEBINAR → https://www.enterprisenation.com/learn-something/lunch-and-learn-turning-browsers-into-buyers/
The session also includes audience Q&A covering marketing audits, eCommerce FAQs, customer reviews, omnichannel communication, pop-ups and turning one-off buyers into advocates.
Looking for a retail speaker who understands what happens in the real world?
I've spent more than 20 years working across marketing, sales and commercial roles, including nine years running my own independent bricks-and-clicks retail business.
Today, I work as a marketing consultant and retail strategist, helping independent retailers, eCommerce brands and small businesses make better commercial decisions. I'm also a Chartered Marketer, Enterprise Nation Help to Grow mentor, Co-Founder of Pink Gorilla Collective and a consultant with The Retail Champion.
That combination matters to me.
When I speak about retail and marketing, I'm not interested in presenting 40 slides of theory that sound impressive but leave everyone wondering what to do on Monday morning.
I want people to leave with something they can actually use.
If you're organising a retail conference, trade show, webinar, panel or small business event and you're looking for a retail speaker who can talk practically about retail marketing, eCommerce, customer experience, conversion and the realities of running an independent business, I'd love to hear from you.
Equally, if reading this has made you realise there are a few too many leaks in your own customer journey, I can help you identify what's getting in the way and where your marketing effort will have the greatest commercial impact.
TALK TO ME ABOUT RETAIL & ECOMMERCE CONSULTANCY
Being found gets you noticed. Clarity builds trust. Ease drives action. Follow-up keeps the customer.
And before you spend more money generating traffic, make sure you're making the most of the attention you've already earned.