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conversion marketing

 concept is useful. In an online context, this assesses 

how effective marketing communications are in converting: 

   

● 

  web browsers or offl  ine audiences to site visitors;  

  

● 

  site visitors to engaged site visitors who stay on the site and progress beyond the home 

page;  

  

● 

  engaged site visitors to prospects (who are profi led for their characteristics and needs);  

  

● 

  prospects  into  customers;  

  

● 

  customers  into  repeat  customers.   

 We referenced a  high-  level model based on this approach which can be used for planning 

purposes in  Figure   5.14   . This shows the acquisition part of the process and gives an indica-

tion of how the different channels can support each other. At each conversion step, some 

visitors will switch from one channel to the other, dependent on preferences and marketing 

messages. The dilemma for marketers is that the online channels are cheapest to service, but 

tend to have a lower conversion rate than traditional channels because of the human element. 

It follows that it is important to offer phone, live chat or email contact in online channels to 

help convert customers who need further information or persuading to purchase.  Box   9.1    

shows how a framework covering all marketing activities to develop relationships online can 

be used to manage online customer relationships.