Optimizing Your Sales Funnel: Track, Test, Analyze, Act!

If you work in a large organization, you're probably fortunate to have people devoted to creating and setting up testing and tracking mechanisms. People who also provide reports and analyses so you can make decisions about what to do next. Whether that's to change strategies, adjust calls to action, rewrite landing pages, CTAs or email copy, tweak lead capture forms, change workflow rules, modify segmentation parameters, rewrite or create new content — there are thousands of things you can test, track and analyze. 

That can feel overwhelming, especially if you're just starting out. Take a deep breath. Even if you don't have lots of resources to help you, there's still a lot you can do to keep your company and your marketing on course. Experimenting with dozens of different "what if" scenarios may just confuse the situation, rather than help. To keep from getting lost in analysis paralysis, let's start at the beginning. Before you know what to track, test and analyze (so you know what to do next), clarify your business and marketing goals and get data on your firm's current performance. 

CLARIFY BUSINESS AND MARKETING GOALS

Just about every company's most important goals revolve around growing revenue and profit (there are always exceptions). Some companies get into great detail about how much revenue comes from where — for instance from returning versus new customers or from different types of customers, etc. For our purposes, we're going to keep our examples uncomplicated and easy to follow....

Let's say your company's goal is $500,000 in sales from new customers this year.

1.  Let's also assume that on average, a new customer buys $20,000 of products and/or services in a year. You need 25 new customers to meet your goal.

2. You've also got a sales team in place. Last year for every 50 sales qualified leads with whom they talked, they closed 2 of them. That turns out to be a 4% close rate.

3.  Armed with that info, you need 625 leads/year to reach your sales goal.

4. Projecting out (assuming the business is not seasonal), you'll need 52 leads per month.

5. Now calculate your visits-to-leads rate(aka "conversion rate"). This show the rate at which your website is successfully converting visitors into leads.

6. Knowing that rate, calculate how much more traffic you need to have in order to generate those 625 MQLs. Add that number (in this case, 31,250) to your current traffic of 35,000 for a grand total of66,250 website visits per year.

From this exercise, you now have your key metrics to track:

• Average purchase per new customer ($20,000+)
• Leads generated per month (52+)
• Leads converted into new customers each month (2+)
• Average sales close rate (4%+)
• Visitors-to-leads rate (2%+)
• Total number of annual website visits (66,250) or monthly visits (5,521)

These key metrics, when tracked on a regular and frequent basis, give you a clear indication of whether or not you're on track to hit that $500,000 goal.

Daily Metrics Tracking

If you're a small to mid-sized business, we suggest you keep your metrics to the 3 most important "leading" indicators: those that are good for predicting whether you've got a serious problem that needs solving, or not. If they go wonky (great technical term, eh?), all klaxons should start blaring. These metrics should be highly visible to everyone in your company, so there's no mystery and people can take the initiative to fix them ASAP.

The most important metrics typically are: website visits, leads converted, and customers closed. These are simple trend lines that show actual progress toward your goal. How you do this, and with what tools, isn't asimportant as actually doing it — reporting consistently with reliable data. We recommend our customers use HubSpot because it provides this info in a real-time dashboard. Customers can see instantly where they stand. However, even if all you use are Excel spreadsheets with data provided on a nightly basis, that can work too. What matters most, is that you track your metrics, review them and act on the information.

Most Common "What If" Scenario and Actions to Take

We can't cover every single "what if" scenario in a single blog post. (Your eyes would begin to glaze over as your brain checked out and I'd go nuts writing it.) So with an eye toward brevity, let's take the the most common scenario and share a few actions you could take to turn it around.

Monthly Website Visits Are Trending Down

(You're watching this daily. Sound the alarm whenever it drops below your monthly trend line goal.)

1. Are your buyer personas the best ones for your business? How clear a description of your buyer persona have you created? How well have you described their buying decision journey? How accurate is it? How well do you understand their motivation for buying your product/service?

Do this: 

• Validate your ideal buyer persona narratives with your sales team and actual customers.
• Ask questions, get really clear on their journeys, their information needs and timing.
• And make sure to really "get" their motivation for buying.
• Remember: every B2B buyer has a personal and a professional motivation.
• Download this free template to help you describe your ideal persona.

2. How well is your site ranking for key long-tail keywords (LTKs)? Are those LTKs becoming more or less competitive? Are these LTKs still the right ones? Do they match your ideal personas' pain / need / desire search language? Do these LTKs have sufficient search volume?

Do this:

• Once you've confirmed your LTKs, publish information-rich blog posts focused on the top 10 LTKs more often. 
• Create more premium content (eBooks, infographics, special reports, white papers, tools, webinars, etc.) along with landing pages and CTAs. Make that content highly informative and useful to your buyer personas.
• It's crucial to have a range of premium content that supports them at each stage of their journey and satisfies their format consumption preferences.  
• Make sure to use your personas' search language and that the posts clearly answer their questions/concerns.

3. Are your social networks growing (reach)? Are you following your buyer personas' influencers? Are you sharing content with your networks appropriately? Are they, in turn, sharing it with their networks (+1s, retweets, likes, shares)? Are you having conversations with them?

Do this:

• Make sure you're sharing a balance of your own content and other peoples' content on your networks.
• Be consistent about the type and quality of content you share. (Never share something you haven't reach/watched/heard - it will bite you when you least expect it.)
• And throw in some content that lets your own personality shine through.
• Be sure you're having "real" conversations with people - not just automatic "thx for the follow / share / RT".
• Reach out to people and compliment them, make an intelligent comment about what they shared.

It takes work, it takes time, it takes thought, but the more authentic you are, the more followers you'll attract and increase how often they'll share your content.

Other Scenarios

We'd love to hear from you about how you track, test and analyze other scenarios that you've come across. Share them in the comments.

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3 Ways to Launch a Global-Local Social Media Campaign in a New Market

Thomas Friedman, The New York Times columnist and winner

 of the Pulitzer Prize, describ

ed his view of the post-2000 globalization process in his book, “The World is Flat”:

“Globalization 3.0 – the thing that gives it its unique character – is individuals and small groups globalizing. Individuals must, and can, now ask: where do I fit into the global competition and opportunities of the day, and how can I, on my own, collaborate with others globally?”

Most notable about Friedman’s comments is that they came in 2005, years before the mainstream adoption of social media, which has since become of one the most influential catalysts in globalization. Instead of one-way messaging that moves from brands to individuals, consumers are free to interact, give feedback and start dialogues with companies from anywhere in the world.

This new business opportunity presents some challenges. Brands must consider how to interact with customers in new markets on their preferred social media channels. Since consumers can now talk about brands directly through online channels, social media content needs to be localized and culturally relevant to generate engagement.

Generally, localization has been a big trend for businesses and there’s no sign it will stop anytime soon. Forbes predicted last year that national brands with multiple locations would continue to go local in terms of culture, language and standards. Social media is one highly effective, low-cost channel that can be used to interact with customers in these new markets, but only with the right approach.

Here are three steps brands can take as they bring social media campaigns to a flatter world.

1. Stay Online and On-Message.

About 2.4 billion people around the world use the Internet regularly. In a global population of more than 7 billion, that’s about one in every three people. About half of those 2.4 billion Internet users also sign into a social network regularly.

In general, social media users expect brands to be more responsive and personal on social platforms than through websites and other channels. A tweet or Facebook post may be written in vernacular language or allude to a news story specific to that country, for example. Either way, social media messages in a local market need to be culturally relevant to resonate with today’s consumers.

2. Consider the Medium.

Even as social media has bridged physical distances, usage habits vary across different regions. To leave an impact in a new target market, brands must consider how users in target markets consume content through social media.

There’s value in conducting some preliminary research about which platforms an audience prefers. Germans don’t like using Twitter, for example. And not only do Brazilians make up the vast majority of Orkut users, they also use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at a rate only topped by U.S. users. The Chinese aren’t able to access Facebook, Twitter and Google because of government restrictions, so some of the most popular social networks there are Pengyou and Qzone.

About one-quarter of all Facebook users check their account five or more times per day. These are the types of factors brands must consider when choosing a medium of delivery through social media.

Some attention must also be paid to the type of content being delivered. The French, for example, prefer blog content, but perhaps another country’s social media users might be more visually inclined. The way in which a message is packaged is just as important as the channel through which it is delivered.

3. Assess Whether Geo-Targeting Misses the Mark.

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn offer brands built-in localization functions so that they can refine viewership parameters and tailor posts based on the location of a particular audience. It’s this type of geo-targeting that helps brands segment audiences and deliver more relevant content.

Brands can also create new social media channels targeting country- or language-specific audience segments. Coca-Cola has done this well. The business operates a global Twitter feed alongside other country-specific ones (such as the accounts for Great Britain and Spain). By building localized channels, Coca-Cola can provide a much more intimate experience for customers. The company’s social media efforts, along with its country-specific websites, as with Coca Cola China, show how localized a company can get when it comes to branding.

A More Personal Touch 

Social media is all about having engaging, two-way conversations with customers. As brands expand to new markets, that conversation can only continue if a localization strategy is in place. Should a company create a separate social media account or just occasionally post localized content? Is it worth it to build a newly designed digital property or simply translate the existing website?

These are the questions that companies need to ask in order to succeed in a flattened, globalized world. More than 70 percent of consumers say they prefer to buy online in their native language.  Visitors to brands’ websites and social media channels are unlikely to become customers if they read copy from a brand that has been poorly translated. They’ll think the company didn’t care enough about them to properly polish the message.

Although the idea of globalization may imply that brands can adopt a one-size-fits-all solution to their marketing efforts, the opposite is true. Globalization has actually made localization more important than ever before. Cultural and linguistic nuances matter, wherever and however a brand’s message is distributed.

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Three Ways to Generate Great Ideas for Brand Blog Content

One of the most intimidating aspects for businesses that have decided to start a blog is the blank page. It’s one of the major reasons people avoid it – ‘what the heck are we gonna write about?’ Blogging, like all writing, can be difficult, and everyone has days where they’ve got nothing, no ideas flowing through at all - you know you need to stick to your content schedule, you know you need to get something down. But you’re mind is blank. Everyone experiences this, but there are always things you can do to get your content groove back. You might just need a prompt, a splash of inspiration to wake you up and bring you back to blogging life. Here are a couple of ideas that might help re-ignite your thoughts and coax that great content out of the corners of your mind.

1. Your professional experiences are more interesting than you realise. I read an article recently about a former Navy nuclear machinist who discussed what it's like working in a submarine. In the piece, he talks about how the crew are always just a little bit on edge because the oxygen levels on board are kept very low. The piece is really interesting and well worth a read, but it also serves as a reminder that there’s so much we don’t know. Most people’s experiences are limited - we generally know a small percentage of different jobs and have a confined amount of detailed, working knowledge on a few core subjects. Even people who are well read don’t have the practical experience of working in each specific jobs day-to-day - and that everyday reality is often significantly different to what’s noted in text.

At least some of the experiences and knowledge you have gained in your career will be of interest to other people. Think about anytime you've started a new job, you always learn at east a few things that you’re genuinely surprised by - but the person taking you through it will go over it like it’s nothing. Because to them it is nothing, they’ve been doing it for a long time. When trying to think of what stories you could share it might be worth getting someone in who has no knowledge of what you do, taking them through some of your processes, then asking them what stood out the most. There’ll always be a few points that an outsider will find intriguing. Explaining those elements gives you a chance to share interesting brand stories, whilst also giving you opportunity to showcase your business expertise and the work that goes into doing what you do everyday.

For example: Did you know that street charity fund-raisers (those people who hassle you as you walk past) generate millions in donations each year for charity groups? Did you know that on most airlines, each pilot has to eat a different meal to avoid them all getting sick? Sales of supermarket baked goods increase three-fold when the smell of baked bread is in the air. While not every fun fact can form a whole blog post, insight like this can add a unique and shareable element, helping to create more informative, compelling content.

2. What are the most common questions you get asked? Over the years of working with clients, you’ve no doubt established a mental FAQ as you’ve gone through the process. Write those questions down, put together detailed answers for each, see if they can form blog posts. Even better, create videos and images that show how things work in order to answer those common questions – video content can significantly increase shareability, and it, again, offers you a chance to showcase your skills and expertise. If people can get their questions answered online before they come to you (and statistics show the majority of consumers seek information online before making a purchase) it might even make your job easier, as you can avoid going over the same things over and over again.

For example: Colgate’s Oral and Dental Resource Centre is a comprehensive guide to all things dental, covering almost any customer query. It caters to a direct consumer need whilst also positioning Colgate as the industry experts and go-to brand. Not everyone can establish a resource of this scale, but by creating posts for each common question, over time you can build a solid resource library to refer back to.

3. What are the others in your industry saying? Social media provides a wealth of data to search for trending topics within your industry, and all of these can be angled into blog posts from your perspective. Using some of the advanced Twitter search functions, you can target your searches to see how specific issues are being discussed in your nation, your state or your immediate local area, then angle each of those discussions into a blog post that’s in line with your brand message. One thing to keep in mind is that while you’ll no doubt have opinions on industry movements, the aspect you need to communicate is how those movements will impact your clients. That’s the blog post, that’s what your customers want to hear - while some issues might have a significant impact on you or your business, writing a blog post on them is not likely to gain much traction if they don’t affect your audience. Remember who you’re writing for, keep in mind their needs and wants. Translating those larger issues into the potential consumer impacts is a great way to create more engaging brand content.

For example: This piece on the Australian website Car Advice looks at the demise of the local automotive sector and, more importantly, what it means for consumers. Whilst this is not branded content in itself, this is a good example of taking an industry issue and providing the answers the audience are seeking.

Blogging can be difficult. Even writers who write everyday find it tough at times, and getting that perfect angle that will generate the most client interest, the most shares among social networks, there’s no definitive science to it. The key is to try and think of things from the client’s perspective. For every issue, every idea, think about what, based on your experience, your target audience is going to ask about. If you can answer those questions for them it will get people more engaged with your content. You’ll not only get more attention and referral traffic, but you’ll establish yourself as an industry expert and trusted brand, which will keep clients and their extended networks coming back for more.

Photo Credit: Ideas for Blog Content/shutterstock

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Best Advice: Put Your Ideas On Paper

While I sit and wait at the airport to return to Perth from Adfest I had a read through the LinkedIn series called ‘Best Advice‘, as they asked over 90 leaders across a variety of industries to share the best advice they’ve ever received and continue using to this day. Many recalled something that their parents, teachers, or career mentors taught them that has never left them.

I thought it would be good for me to take stock and have a look back at the ‘one thing’ that was the best advice I received.

Firstly though I would like to talk about possibly the best non-advice (if that is such a term) I have been given on multiple occasions, which I think in turn has actually helped get me to where I am and make me who I am today. In two previous separate jobs (which I won’t name) I was told that I couldn’t do this, I wasn’t good enough to do that or I’m not creative… No doubt I am sure that many of you have heard such terms used before by your bosses and no doubt 90% of the time it is so they can say no to a payrise. However to me personally I saw this as a challenge, having my bosses at the time say that I wasn’t good enough or didn’t have the skills to perform a specific task gave me the attitude of actually I do have those skills and I can and I will show you.

It is weird that negative comments can be seen as a way to push someone forward, but I guess it comes down to self belief. I knew I possessed the required skills and could perform such task so I set the challenge to myself to prove them wrong and prove myself right. You should look to do the same if someone tells you that ‘you can’t do something’ or ‘don’t have the skills’. So maybe that is some more advice: ‘Have self belief in your skills’

Put Your Ideas On Paper

Now this advice I didn’t receive in person though it would have been great to have, ‘Put Your Ideas on Paper’ was quoted by Twitter and Square Founder Jack Dorsey. I believe advice doesn’t have to come direct from someone it can also be found.

Put your ideas on paper might not seem like such a big deal or something that you might think is quite obvious but you would be surprised how much of a difference it makes. Taking your ideas from your head to paper is the first step to acting on that idea.

“I think the hardest thing to do is start,” said Dorsey. “So if you can get the idea out of your head, then show it to someone else, get feedback so that you know if it’s good or not and then keep working at it,”

Dorsey also states that by putting your ideas on paper you are making a point to make a paper trail, whether that be doodles on the back of a notebook or a few lines of code, ideas or questions.

It’s easier to share and build on ideas once they’re laid out in front of you.

And make sure you share. For any entrepreneur, any initial outside response from observers is paramount. It brings in other perspectives and can also lessen the fear and doubt that often comes with starting a new idea/venture.

Also I find writing ideas down is a great way to ‘Mind Dump’, get it all out and then revisit in a few days, see if the idea that kept you up all night still has legs, if so start to dig deeper and start expanding on that idea.

Writing the idea(s) down also ensures that you don’t forget anything, there is nothing worse than having a great idea and saying to yourself ‘I’ll remember that’ then mere minutes later it’s gone.

Lastly if you have put your ideas on paper transfer them over to Evernote to ensure you never lose them and that way you can then retrieve them anytime anywhere.

Photo Credit: Ideas on Paper/shutterstock

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My 5 Best Blogging Tips After 15 Years of Instant Publishing

Everyone has blogging tips. After 15 years, so do I. I’m even more enthusiastic about blogging now than I was in the beginning. Truth to tell, when I started out as a blogger, I had no idea what I thought I was doing.

Other writers had opinions. The popular opinion was that I was a few sandwiches short of a picnic.“Write for free?!” Shock, horror and disbelief abounded. Yes, the generally derisive attitude towards blogging in those days was disturbing, but I wasn’t defensive. So blogging was weird; so what? I adored instant publishing then, as I do now. The idea that I could write something, and garner potentially millions of readers as soon as I hit Publish, thrills me.

Here’s what I’ve learned — in five blogging tips.  If you like, it’s what I wish I knew a decade and a half ago.

1. Be Yourself. You Can’t Be Anyone Else, and It’s Exhausting to Try.

You’re blogging for a reason – to promote your business, or a product, or a cause. (If you’re blogging for self-expression, you don’t need these tips. Let yourself go, and blog.)

Make a list of your goals. Most blog posts will include a Call to Action (CTA) to enable you to meet your goals. Beyond that, be yourself. The more you blog, the more traffic you will get.

Bloggers worry about how often then should blog. Mike Allton has the ultimate answer:

In order to finally answer this question, a business owner must first decide how much more traffic and leads they want. Using the data above, a business can look at what they’re getting from their website now, how much they want to improve, and quickly determine where they need to be with their blog campaign.

Blog as often as you can, and do the best you can on each blog post. Write the way you speak. Beyond that, don’t worry about it. I’ve written throw-away posts in 15 minutes which struck a nerve and got lots of responses. I’ve also slaved over blog posts which no one ever cared about – at least as far as I can tell.

2. Write Every Day. Some of That Writing Will Auto-Magically Turn Into Blog Posts.

I write every day. In my early years as a writer, I struggled with writing. Endlessly. I waited for inspiration… and waited. I waited to write books I wanted to write until I was a “better writer.” Finally, I gave up worrying about things I couldn’t control and wrote. I developed the writing habit, and a writing process which works for me, and my students.

If you say to yourself: “I’ll blog every day”, you’ll freeze. Just commit to writing something every day. Some of those snippets of writing will turn into blog posts. Use Evernote or OneNote to store your snippets. Then scan your snippets to see if they trigger anything when it’s time to write a blog post.

Create an editorial calendar, but don’t sweat it.

3. It’s Your Blog. Say What You Like (Be Kind!) Remember That You’re Responsible for Everything on Your Blog.

Some bloggers troll and write link bait. If that kind of thing appeals to you, ask yourself why. No, this isn’t a moral issue. To each his own. However, over the years I’ve come to appreciate Elwood P. Dowd’s philosophy:

Years ago my mother used to say to me, she’d say, “In this world, Elwood, you must be” – she always called me Elwood – “In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.” Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.

(If you haven’t watched the movie Harvey, go and watch it. James Stewart is wonderful in it.)

I recommend pleasant over smart, too. Be nice. You need other people, in this social media world. If you make trolling a habit, you’ll not only put off readers, you’ll alienate other bloggers.

4. Trust Yourself. If You Think It’s Important, It Is.

Trust yourself and your blogging. In 1999, I read blogs, and wanted to blog, but I couldn’t think of a reason. At the time, I was writing business books for Prentice Hall, taking care of my copywriting clients, and writing for magazines too. I was a busy writer. Why on earth would I want to take on unpaid writing?

Although I tried to talk myself out of it (others did too), I started a blog. I can’t remember what it was about. Nor do I remember the platform. Then I started a blog for a weekly ezine I wrote for creatives, Creative Small Biz. I liked it, and the ezine got subscribers via the blog. More blogging and blogs followed.

You don’t need anyone’s permission to blog, not even your own. If you’re inspired, blog. :-)

5. Be Interested. Enthusiasm Will Get You Everywhere You Want to Go.

Follow your passions. Yes, you’re blogging for a reason: to promote your business or whatever. You’ve got plenty of leeway inside your basic parameters. You can include your private life in your blog, or not, it’s up to you. As long as “cat” (irrelevant) posts don’t take over your blog, you can blog about anything you choose.

Of course, if you’re a lifestyle, or “mommy” blogger, you’ll blog about your insights with your life as your source material.

Whatever you choose to blog about, be passionate, and stay enthusiastic. Your enthusiasm will make blogging easy.

So, there you have it. My best tips after 15 years of blogging. Have fun with your blogging.

The post My 5 Best Blogging Tips After 15 Years of Instant Publishing appeared first on Angela Booth's Creativity Factory.

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17 Rules of Engagement to Create a Love Affair Between Your Brand and Buyer

An anthropologist, psychologist and neuroscientist walk into a bar….

It sounds like the beginning of a lame joke or an extremely cerebral story, but I have no punch line.

It’s no joke. Nor is it a heady story for all you Big Bangers.

I have good news for you though. We’re going to talk about passion and love. Human needs and wants. We’re going to have a look at engagement and the joyous places it can take you.

Matters of the heart matter in business.

Yes, this is a story about building your business.

The points I’ll make might appear to be about turning people on. They are indeed. We call this social media. It may seem I’m talking about courtship. I am. It’s often referred to as lead nurturing. You’ll gather my lesson here today is about commitment. Right you are. You can call that buying.

And you’ll pick up on my see-through attempts to talk about the importance of growing together. The business translation would be loyalty and advocacy.

Cupid’s not stupid.

Engagement is a big deal. In keeping with our love metaphor, I propose we agree the one night stand, though it may be thrilling, it’s not fulfilling. In marketing, a lead or sale usually does bring on a fleeting little buzz, but the days to follow could very well be empty.

The lover in us all wants a meaningful relationship. We long to have our needs and wants satisfied. True comfort comes from being able to depend on each other.

In my mind, it’s real easy to translate the metaphor to business. We strive to have people buy our products. We work to earn and keep the customers’ loyalty. And we depend on instilling the kind of passion that inspires customers to spread the love.

If it can all be summed up in a word, the word is engagement.

Engagement from Barry Feldman

 

So get engaged.

Engagement is the DNA of the relationship. If you don’t put your heart into engaging customers, your competitors gladly will. The apathetic shall walk alone.

What is engagement? It’s an emotional connection. The intensity of the emotion is equal to the connection to your brand. Face it, they may be few, but there are some brands you really love. Living without them would surely suck.

So, we get emotionally involved. And you know how that goes. Each of the following applies to business as profoundly as it does love.

• We’re fickle.
• We expect rewards.
• The bad stuff tends to outweigh the good.
• We all have different needs.
• When we have an itch, we want it scratched—now.
• The flame requires constant fuel.

Sheese. We’re complicated.

You better understand the elements of engagement.

“The Science of Engagement,” a deeply researched and thorough exploration of the true nature of engagement by Canvas8 and Weber Shandwick, helped me get my head around the most important elements.

Here they are—the motivators that drive people to engage. I’ve tried to explain each in super simple terms and offered an example of how each might be applied in marketing communications.

Access—Ease and convenience influences choices.
Example: You’ll get healthy food fast.

Aesthetics—Good looks are appealing.
Example: This will make you look great by the pool.

Association—Comfort and familiarity feels right.
Example: Remember how this song made you feel?

Belonging—Social creatures want to fit in.
Example: You’ll be a valued member of our team.

Desire—Satisfy desires.
Example: Wake up feeling rejuvenated and energetic.

Empathy—A reason to care is a powerful form of engagement.
Example: Your donation can save a life.

Enhancement—Appeal to self-improvement needs.
Example: Our course will help you master your speaking skills.

Escape—Help transport people away from the reality of here and now.
Example: Take the vacation you’ve always dreamed of.

Experience—Connect with fond memories or steer people away from bad ones.
Example: It feels like waking up on Christmas morning.

Following—Join the crowd.
Example: Your friends will all be there.

Integrity—Be honest, consistent and reliable.
Example: We respond to every applicant.

Intrigue—Use tactics that spark curiosity such as ambiguity and suspense.
Example: Common misconceptions about search engine optimization.

Involvement—Engage people by asking for their time, effort and energy.
Example: Create a website yourself and build your brand.

Meaning—Help people satisfy their quests for purpose.
Example: In our one-hour seminar you’ll discover the things you value most.

Newness—Capture attention with originality and innovation.
Example: Why leave a message for your pediatrician when you can ping her?

Pleasure—Offer the sensory experiences people crave.
Example: You haven’t had a real dessert until you’ve had the chocolate explosion.

Respect—Achievement and recognition is a powerful magnet.
Example: Earn official CPA certification and become a lifesaver.

Engagement makes social media meaningful.

Is engagement a strategy? A tactic? A technique? Where does it play in social media? I asked three of the most respected experts to weigh in.

“Engagement is most certainly a strategy, because in many industries and verticals it can be the unique value proposition. How many energy drinks are there on the market? And how many of them engage their audience in unique ways? Red Bull is it. It’s not the only strategy to use in your marketing, but when your competition is silent—or not using the tools available—and you embrace the conversation, well, you’re unique.”
~ Jason Falls, author of “No Bullshit Social Media,” founder of Social Media Explorer

“You can’t eat it or pay your rent with engagement, but in social media, you must have engagement at some level to accomplish the more meaningful business outcomes you seek. The goal isn’t to ‘engage, the goal is to improve your company via engagement.”
~ Jay Baer, co-author of “The Now Revolution,” CEO and founder of Convince and Convert

“The days of broadcasting vague and generic messages to the masses are history. If you want to grow a business—make sales—you need to build relationships. In a noisy world where there’s a ton of options for prospects, people will work with those they trust. A small act of kindness, a simple reply to a blog comment or a thoughtful retweet of someone else’s valuable content goes a long way towards engendering trust. That is the value of engagement.”
~ Michael Stelzner, author of “Launch,” CEO and founder of Social Media Examiner

Now it’s your turn. Offer your insights here. Engage our readers.

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Your Content Marketing Strategy Should Not Be Like Mine [INFOGRAPHIC]

With so much focus on developing content marketing strategies, it seems that many ideas have gotten lost in the list-building generation.  You know the type – 6 Steps to Developing the Best Content Marketing Strategy or Your Five Step Guide for Better Content Marketing Planning.  The truth is, there is no single content marketing strategy that can be universally applied in such simple and easy to follow steps! If that’s what you were expecting from this post, you can look away right now.

Image from Content+

Building Your Own Content Marketing Strategy

The problem with most of these “listicles” is that they cannot focus on the individual needs of each content marketing plan. This is because, every business will have to approach their audience differently for two major reasons:

1. Target audiences aren’t all the same: You wouldn’t market adult diapers to teenagers, just like you wouldn’t market tattoos to a senior citizen’s group (well you could try).  Each market is different which means defining and understanding your target audience is extremely important.
2. If your competition has the same strategy as you, you lose: Although there’s much to be said for employing a proven strategy, it’s far more important to stand out.  Did you notice the headline for this article standing out from all the list-type posts?  That’s strategy.

The bottom line here is that a unique, individual twist on a winning content marketing strategy is going to be your best bet here.  You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you do have to make sure that your customers want to ride it.  So, how do you do that? 

Your Individual Keys to Developing a Content Marketing Strategy

The first thing that you’ll have to do is identify your market.  While this may sound like it’s something you’ve already done, chances are, you haven’t fully identified it.  To do this, you’re going to have to look at your audience and then break it down into subcategories.  It’s not enough to simply target your market, you have to target targets within your market. 

For example, some businesses like to break their audience down into simple categories such as gender, income, age, and location, while others prefer to break it down into categories such as “fan of competition on Facebook” or “follows X on LinkedIn.”  As you can see, each strategy draws a clear line in the sand in determining its approach to content.  Generally, the more specific you can be during your planning stages, the better idea you can get at the best ways to approach your audience as a wholeand as subcategories.  Even if you don’t use a category, it will help you to think about your audience in this manner to better develop your content going forward. 

Developing Your Message

Once you identify and begin to understand your audience, it’s time to develop your message.  If you’ve done your homework in the previous stage, the message should start to take shape on its own.  Look for major similarities and differences within your target audience.  Is there a common thread that binds them?  If so, that’s a great avenue to develop your content around.  For example, a winter sporting good company might notice that all of their athletes prefer a particular style of music or enjoy a common summer sport—this would be an avenue to explore when developing content.

As for differences within your audience, this will help you specify which angles need to be explored more thoroughly.  Differentiating your content marketing strategy is an excellent way to draw in the audiences that are forgotten by your competition.  Sure, they probably noticed the trends that bind your audience together, but are they capitalizing on the trends that separate them into sub-groups?  Even if they are, chances are they haven’t covered them all.

Delivering Your Message

Finally, you’ll have to figure out which is the best medium for delivering your message.  It’s pretty easy to say “social media” and have that be a “step” in the content marketing list, but what platform of social media?  LinkedIn is where the business-orientated crowd hangs out. The younger generation can be found on Twitter. Middle-aged people are on Facebook.  Where are you?

Do your research into where your audience spends its time on the internet.  Find out what their mobile habits are and reach right into their phone apps so you’re never unplugged from them.  The key is to know where your market is and then place the proper content right there.

Tell us, what does your content marketing strategy entail?

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5 Things You Should Know About Headlines

Headlines and title tags are important web page elements. Whether you’re talking about blog posts, static web pages, social media content, or something else, your headline has the potential to attract loads of traffic or to send it away to another corner of the Web. You hope you’ll attract the traffic, but to do that you need to understand some basic things about writing headlines.

Here are 5 things you should know about headlines before you start writing them.

1. The headline’s job is to entice the reader to read your content. If it does that, then it’s done its job.
2. Your headline should tell the reader what your content is about. Don’t mince words. Be specific and not misleading.
3. A well-written headline online is optimized for both search engines and social media.
4. A headline should be as long as necessary to get readers to click the link and read your content, but it shouldn’t be any longer than that. Shorter is better, but a short headline that doesn’t tell the reader what your content is about and that doesn’t entice the reader to read the article isn’t a good headline.
5. A good headline has an emotional trigger. Readers are looking for benefits. Give your readers something to hold onto – a benefit – and then deliver on the headline’s promise.

Writing good headlines is an art. If you do it well, you’ll have lots of readers.

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A Brand Can Own Any Idea, but Can it Live Up to the Ideal?

Any brand could have used the line. But could it have lived up to the ideal?

My friend and sometimes co-conspirator Will Burns had a great post in Forbes this week arguing that brands too often kill a great advertising idea because it isn’t “ownable.” And this is true. Brands often reject great positions, taglines and ad campaigns with the reasoning that their competition could make the same claim.

My 24 years in the business tells me that reaction occurs for one of three reasons.

• Someone took a too-traditional marketing course in grad school.
• Someone forgot that communication and creativity have the power to make an idea ownable.
• Deep down someone knows that they can’t actually live up to the idea.

Which leads me to a point more important than whether or not a driving brand idea is ownable. But rather can the brand prove its right to use and own an idea? Can it deliver on the promise? Is it expressing a belief that is genuine?

So while I agree with Will’s premise that “ownable” is a bad criterion for rejecting a creative idea, I’d have to disagree with some of his examples. I don’t think that Reebok or Adidas could ever have owned “Just Do It.” Why? Because neither inherently cared or felt as strongly about enabling athletes as Nike did.

Adi Dassler was a cobbler. Yes he made Jesse Owens’ track shoes, but he also made boots for the Nazis. Adidas emerged from a different place than Nike.

Reebok founder Paul Fireman was a salesman and a distributor. He may have gotten in and out of a golf cart but he was never an athlete. Just an opportunist.

Phil Knight, on the other hand, was running home seven miles a day from his high school job tabulating sports for the Oregonian. He knew what it meant to be a runner.

In another of Will’s examples he suggests that Microsoft could have taken “Think different.” Maybe they could have claimed “Think big.” Or even “Think open.” But they could not have taken “Think different” because it wasn’t in their DNA. In fact they wanted their customers to fit the mold, not break out of it.

Same holds true in other categories. JetBlue’s tagline is “You above all.” Anyone could say it, which means it’s not ownable. But could any other airline live up to it? Certainly not American. Not Delta. Not United.

Keep going. “The Ultimate Driving Machine.”Lexus? Cadillac? “The Whole Picture.” Works for The Guardian. But who else? “Gives You Wings.” And it’s attached to a bull not a bird. But could any other caffeine based drink have used it?

I wonder if when a client rejects an idea for not being ownable they’re really saying something else. They’re suggesting that an agency hasn’t figured out the very best way to express their true essence. What they are. What they stand for. What they believe. What matters most to their consumer and community.

If we still believe at all in brands, the power of words, and crisp, creative definitions — despite an age of utility, social media and instant access to more (maybe) important criteria — then we should develop ideas that can be owned not because a brand said it first, but because a brand has the power and will to demonstrate it each and every day.

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SEO is Not a Code to be Cracked

One of the pervading sentiments since Google released it’s ‘Hummingbird’ fluttering through the webosphere has been that SEO is dead (this piece by Brett Relander breaks down the key elements of this sentiment). All those years of complex link building strategies and processes which have now clearly been marked as ‘Black Hat’ were restrained, if not totally wiped out, in an instant. Understandably, many SEOs lost sleep trying to work out where they stood and what they could do to maintain relevance when the goal posts could be shifted so quickly. SEO was killed, or at least that’s how many had proclaimed it.

But here’s the thing – Suggesting SEO is dead is missing a central point in the process, a simple statement on search engine processing and categorisation that Matt Cutts and his friends have tried to underline over and over again with their rule changes and updates:

SEO is not a code to be cracked.

Is SEO harder now that Google has found more ways to catch out people attempting to game the system? Yes.

Is SEO, as a process, being redefined by Google’s changes over time? Yes.

Is the SEO process of trying to find technical ways to beat the algorithms by locating and exploiting chinks in the armour of search engines in order for websites to rank higher than maybe they deserve to, dead? No, not completely.

But shouldn’t it be?

Shouldn’t the best, most relevant matches based on backlinks, referrals, social media signals and search engine clicks be the ones that rank the highest? That’s what Google wants, they rely on providing their users with the most accurate search results, and they need to ensure they’re doing all they can to produce this by weeding out cheats. So in that sense, shouldn’t the technical process of SEO be a side-effect of a business doing great things for their customers?

Of course, not all businesses can do this – not everyone can be the best. But all businesses aim to be industry leaders. If you’re not aiming to be the best in your market, you probably don’t deserve to rank highly on Google anyway, as you wouldn’t be the most relevant match. And with social signals playing a more significant part in the SEO puzzle (maybe social signals themselves, not so much, but shares of content and referrals are significant) this means even businesses who are not overly tech savvy can still rank highly with a basic presence, through social media recommendations and people clicking through to their content.

Does this mean you can ignore SEO? Not at all. At its most basic, if you want to rank for certain keywords you need to include them on your website, and with the trend of business moving more towards social media, there’s more reason than ever for all companies to establish and maintain a presence online, providing more space to include your keywords in relevant blogs and content. Definitely, you need to be aware of SEO and you need to factor it into your planning. But your primary focus should be on your audience – providing a great service, making your website an optimal customer experience, showcasing industry leading expertise and being responsive to changes in consumer behaviour. Do these things and SEO will follow. Write content with the audience in mind, then cross-check for relevant keywords, fit them in where possible, but never to the detriment of quality. A well-written, well-shared piece is going to boost your SEO efforts more than a specific keyword density. As Google’s algorithms get more advanced, more contextually tuned in, this will only become more relevant.

Answering the question of whether SEO is dead depends on your perspective. One thing that is clear, the increased adoption of social media has opened the channels to increased data and opportunity for all businesses looking to establish themselves as experts in their fields. Listening in, responding to client demand, establishing great brand relationships – these things will lead to better SEO rankings. Always have, always will.

Cracking an SEO code which will unlock the gates end enable you to rank without making these efforts - yeah, that’s dying.

Being a better business by utilising social media, that’s more alive than ever

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8 Simple Strategies for Directing Content Creation

I write and I love it.

In fact, throughout my writing career, I’ve been ridiculously lucky. My clients are awesome and — fingers crossed — I don’t expect to run into a nightmare client anytime soon. But in order for a content team to be successful, managers need to learn how to effectively work with their writers (freelance, in-house or otherwise).

We queried founders of successful startups and members of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs, for their best piece of advice for the following question:

Q. What’s one great tip for communicating abstract requirements (like tone or voice) to the person creating your company’s content?

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Also, the YEC partnered with Citi to launch StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

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1. Provide Examples

“When communicating subtle and abstract things such as tone of voice, words aren’t adequate,” tells Dustin Lee of Playbook.

Lee continues, “This is because the definition of words like innovative, cheeky and trustworthy vary greatly depending on who you’re talking to. Instead of trying to describe it, give examples. Find two to three other brands that have achieved the tone you’re striving for, and share it with staff.”

2. Explain Why

Sam Saxton of Salter Stairs knows, “Adjectives are great, but every preference should have a purpose. Take the time to analyze why you like something before you ask your vendor to emulate it. They’ll better understand your goals and have more input for suggesting further innovation.”

3. Spend Time With Them

“At ZinePak, the quickest way to figure out who we are and what our tone and voice are like is to spend time with us,” shares the company’s co-founder Kim Kaupe. ”With our young and energetic staff and our passionate and high-profile clients, there is a fun and creative atmosphere that can be quickly absorbed and understood with quality time in our office.”

4. Create a “Swipe File”

Thursday Bram, principal of Hyper Modern Consulting, recommends, ”As you read content produced by other companies, bookmark or save anything that resonates with you — swipe it for your own use.

“Make sure to tag anything that fits what you have in mind for those abstract requirements, such as tone. Then, when you’re working with a content creator, you have plenty of examples to share and your requirements aren’t nearly so abstract.”

5. Use Audio Notes

Of course, some words are simply better spoken.

“When we need to communicate nuanced things such as tone or voice, we send audio notes (specifically through Evernote) but there are numerous other ways,” says Leah Neaderthal of Start Somewhere. ”It provides a much richer experience because our designers can hear our voice, the emotion behind our words and those intangible things that are hard to communicate over email.”

6. Hire People Who Know What Those Words Mean

Mary Ellen Slayter of Reputation Capital believes, ”Tone and voice aren’t abstract concepts to professional editors and writers. If you weren’t a literature major yourself, you can still communicate what you’re looking for by getting concrete. Start with your buyer personas: Who are they? What are their challenges? Share specific examples of publications they are likely to read. A good content marketer will be able to work backward from there.”

7. Explain How You Want to Make People Feel

“A creative person tends to be imaginative, so if you paint the right picture for him, he’ll typically understand the tone or voice that you’d like to use,” notes Andy Karuza of Brandbuddee. ”To do this, I explain how I want to make the reader or viewer feel when interacting with the content.”

8. Iterate With Feedback

Nurture your writers. Doreen Bloch of Poshly Inc. is a strong advocate of an iterative approach which allows you to also mentor your team members.

“When creating company content, it’s likely you’ll need to review text and images a few times before publishing them. Instead of just providing corrections, make sure you explain why a certain edit was given so the content creator can refine her work over time. It’s unusual for a content creator to get the abstract elements of content perfect on day one, so be comfortable giving feedback.”

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