If you've read our article about the importance of thinking about your experiential strategy, you know that it's essential to consider the smallest details before deploying your appointment-based service offering.
Among the different steps to establish upfront, the positioning of the appointment button is undoubtedly one of the most important! Indeed, as part of the customer journey, its placement will have a major impact on the number of appointments made on your website (or elsewhere). Of course, positioning is not the only thing that needs to be thought out beforehand; to work well, it must be accompanied by a good service offer and an excellent omnichannel promotion strategy.
In this article, we will reveal the different ways to place your booking button on your website to build an effective positioning strategy to target a specific audience and/or maximize your reach.
The homepage is the first place your customers will visit on your website, it is also the page where traffic is the highest. It is, therefore, the best place to put your booking button, so that the service is visible as soon as someone visits your site.
This is an opportunity to showcase your most popular services by offering your customers the possibility to book them in just a few clicks. You can also set up a booking button that will offer your customers a choice of locations before choosing the service.
A store locator makes everything convenient for your customer. Enhance its features by providing the option to book an appointment at a selected location and generate more revenue. Add a “Book Now” button for each store listed so your clients can turn their intention into action by booking at their preferred location.
Creating specific pages that are only used to promote a service or event by appointment is also a benefit that increases the engagement of your visitors.
Placing a booking button on a product page can give your customers the motivation needed to take action and make the purchase. This is the opportunity to offer them services associated with the product they are interested in: for example, offering the possibility to reserve a certain item to try it out in-store, or to customize it...
Very often assimilated as something negative, non-intrusive pop-ups have many advantages.
Based on the visitor's behavior, they are an essential tactic to encourage customers to act and/or to avoid potential abandonment. For example, when a customer intends to leave the page: the pop-up can appear when the cursor moves to the browser's close to offer them the possibility to make an appointment for a consultation if they have questions about a certain product. Or when users have already scrolled through a certain amount of pages.
If you want to offer your services by appointment only to your most valued clients, this is the opportunity to create VIP access.
Create a VIP section on your website or customer portal and offer your most loyal customers the opportunity to book a service. This will add value to your business and make them feel more appreciated. Take advantage of their login status to optimize the booking process and offer them many VIP benefits.
But don't forget to make the process as simple as possible; every additional step reduces the conversion rate.
Chatbots are a great way to provide help to your visitors when none of your staff is online. They are always available and guide buyers to what they need to find on your website. They also allow you to avoid losing potential customers when no staff is present.
This is an opportunity to place a booking button to convert a discussion into an appointment and increase conversion and average order value.
Your communications are an excellent opportunity to position your booking button as part of your marketing strategy. Whether it's through newsletters or social media, it's an opportunity to create a Call-to-Action to convert prospects into clients.
Simply describe the services offered in a few lines and insert a booking button or link.
There's no better time to connect with a customer than immediately after they checkout to implement up-sell and cross-sell strategies.
Offer additional services and products through booking to enhance their shopping experience, whether it's for a personalization service, click&fit or online or in-store masterclass to learn how to use the product they just bought...
If you are more traditional and still like the "feel" of paper, there are also many ways you can place your booking button.
Turn your booking link into a QR code and place it directly in your store (on a sign in front of the cash registers or fitting rooms, on the front window) or on flyers and leaflets that you distribute. Your prospects will simply have to scan the code with their smartphone to book an appointment in just a few seconds.
And there you have it, you have now all the necessary keys to set up the right positioning strategy for your e-booking! Now it's up to you to choose among these approaches according to your needs and goals.