Consultancy to Virtual Experts

Digitising your Website

For a consultation-based business where the primary goal is to have people sign up for meetings, leveraging the right business meeting tools and crafting an effective marketing strategy are crucial.

This ‘virtual expert consultation’ conversion method is frequently employed by businesses that are not categorised as a consultant – for example – a marketing consultant, typically sought by those going into a phase of fundraising, or an acoustics consultant for soundproofing advise.

However, the consultancy conversion is best utilised by businesses with the need of ‘educating’ their clients or those that have a level of customisation in the building of the service and therefore, the pricing element of the purchasing process. Rather than relying solely on product descriptions or standardized offerings, industries that require a high degree of education or customization leverage consultations to provide personalised guidance, address client concerns, and facilitate informed decision-making.

Choosing an Ecommerce Platform

One prime example of a consultation conversion is the home renovation and interior design sector. For homeowners embarking on renovation projects or seeking interior design services, the process can be daunting and overwhelming. Each project is unique, tailored to the client’s preferences, budget, and specific requirements. Moreover, the wide array of materials, design options, and technical considerations involved in home renovation necessitate a thorough understanding on the part of the client. Consultations in this industry serve as a vital educational tool, allowing designers and contractors to explain the process, discuss design possibilities, and address concerns or questions from clients. By offering personalised guidance and expertise in an initial consultation, professionals in this field can help clients make informed decisions, visualize the end result, and ultimately commit budget to the project.

Another example is the realm of financial planning and investment advisory services. Navigating the intricacies of financial planning, investment strategies, and retirement planning requires a deep understanding of complex concepts and potential risks. Individuals seeking financial advice often face uncertainty and confusion regarding the best course of action for their unique financial goals and circumstances. Consultations with financial advisors offer an opportunity for clients to receive personalised guidance, discuss their financial objectives, and gain clarity on various investment options and strategies. Through these consultations, advisors can educate clients about financial principles, assess their risk tolerance, and develop customized plans tailored to their long-term objectives. By providing clarity and expert guidance, financial advisors can help clients feel confident in their financial decisions and ultimately secure their financial future.

The right Meeting Tools

Zoom: A widely used video conferencing tool that offers various features like scheduling, screen sharing, and webinar capabilities.
Microsoft Teams: Ideal for businesses using Microsoft 365, it provides seamless integration with other Microsoft applications.
Google Meet: A user-friendly option, especially for businesses using G Suite, with features like video conferencing and screen sharing.
Calendly or Doodle: These scheduling tools can help clients book meetings at convenient times without the back-and-forth email exchanges.
Meet-up: this is just one of the meeting tool platforms and seems to provide access to quite an active and engaging audience, consider the hybrid option if there is local or regional opportunity

YOur Marketing essentials

. Identify Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) for Online Consultations:

Convenience: Highlight the convenience of virtual consultations, saving clients time and travel expenses.
Global Accessibility: Emphasize the ability to connect with clients globally without geographical constraints.
Personalisation: Showcase your commitment to personalised and focused consultations tailored to individual needs.
Expertise: Position yourself as an expert in your field, emphasizing the value clients will gain from your insights.

. Craft Compelling CTAs (Call-to-Actions):

Clear and Actionable Language: Use clear and action-oriented language in your CTAs. For example, “Schedule Your Personalised Consultation Now” or “Book Your Strategy Session Today” when writing your call to action.
Highlight Benefits: Clearly communicate the benefits clients will receive from the consultation, making it irresistible.
Create a Sense of Urgency: Encourage immediate action with phrases like “Limited Slots Available” or “Exclusive Offer for Early Bookings” when writing a call to action.
Use Visuals: Incorporate eye-catching visuals or buttons that direct users to the sign-up page.

The Quality, positioning and functionality of your CTAs have a direct impact on your CRO, furthermore, they indicate a strong level of engagement for anyone landing on the page – whether this be SEO or AdRank (PPC) they allow a score to be attributed to your page and this, in turn allows a better or higher position for the Ad or search query result.

. Develop Teaser Content:

Blog Posts: Write blog posts that address common challenges your audience faces and hint at the solutions you can provide in consultations.
Social Media Teasers: Share snippets of valuable information on social media platforms, creating curiosity and encouraging followers to sign up for more insights.
Video Clips: Create short video clips discussing key topics or sharing success stories to engage your audience.

. Create Open and Paywall Content:

Webinars and Workshops: Host free webinars or workshops on topics related to your expertise. Use these sessions to showcase your knowledge and encourage participants to sign up for personalised consultations.
Free Resources: Offer downloadable resources such as e-books, checklists, or guides. Use these as lead magnets to build your email list and nurture leads toward consultations.
Paid Resources again, these can be downloadable or subscription sign-in to view.

. Utilise Email Marketing:

Segmented Email Campaigns: Create targeted email campaigns highlighting the benefits of consultations based on the interests and needs of different segments of your audience.
Follow-Up Sequences: Implement follow-up sequences for individuals who have shown interest but haven’t booked a consultation. Remind them of the value they’ll receive.

Achieving engagement

A/B Testing:

Experiment with Variations: Conduct A/B testing with different CTA variations to understand what resonates best with your audience. Test different wording, colours, and placements.

A/B Testing is an essential part of establishing the best landing page experiences and user flow, tools such as Optimisely have been around for many years and provide the larger site/business with everything they need to do split testing on variants. However, if your available budget won’t quit stretch to this tool there are other options to consider and OptiMonk may well be your solution for your WordPress design project.

Remember, the key is to consistently provide value, showcase your expertise, and make it easy for potential clients to take the next step by booking a consultation.

Link to Landing Pages:

Direct to a Dedicated Page: If possible, link your CTA to a dedicated landing page that provides more information about the consultation and reinforces the benefits.

Encourage Multiple Touchpoints:

Multi-Channel CTAs: Utilise multiple channels for your CTAs, including your website, social media, emails, and any other relevant platforms. Consistency across channels is key.

Clear Next Steps:

Provide Instructions: Clearly outline the steps the user needs to take. Whether it’s filling out a form, clicking a button, or calling a number, make the next steps explicit.

Remember to regularly assess the performance of your page engagement and conversions through reporting and analytics. Monitor conversion rates and gather feedback to continually refine and optimise your call-to-action strategy for meeting consultations. If you are looking for a Google Analytics Freelancer I can provide you with a range of reporting services from conversion and event identification, through to reporting, audits and providing effective CTAs with CRO (conversion rate optimisation).

Testimonials

Annie is amazing. From the moment we first spoke to our ongoing work on my website, she has been a consistent and skilled professional. I highly recommend her work and am excited to see where our future work takes us.

Annie was great, she went above and beyond to help make the website what it is and also gave advice on how to make it that much better. She created items without even requesting them and helped me understand how it all worked. Furthermore, she was able to install the required programs for me to do my own copy editing if need be and stayed available far beyond the project handover. I would be happy to recommend Annie and will be back in touch when I need further help with websites. Thanks Annie!

So pleased to have found Annie – she delivered a new site in record time, and even with a tight deadline took the time to analyse the market spaces, build in SEO and content journeys that serve from a marketing perspective as well as our core users. She assisted with database elements and APIs and created a design that is a cut above the rest, providing easy-to-use CMS. The Analytics, (GTM) tracking, and data studio elements were all completed as part of the deal.We continued utilising her services for other one-off design projects - that are too numerous to list and also social media and again, she took the time to explain and explore the market, providing expert advice and testing content. She didn’t shy away from the difficult task at hand – of reactivating our somewhat neglected social media accounts and encouraged process within our offices to allow for efficient deliveries and effective utilisation of media assets.