Posted by Becky Bornstein on April 16th 2012 | 0 comments
If you are small business owner and are not getting the results you want from your website then you will want to read the tips below. I realize that not everyone has the time, money and resources to spend on creating an amazing website. Below are tactics that small business owners can easily implement that will optimize their websites so they can use their website as a tool to help drive sales.
Always make sure the content is up to date. Think about he website that you visit the most and what attracts you to them. Make sure that your website has your latest products and solutions. And make sure that there are not services on there that you no longer offer. You don’t want to get a call from a potential client asking for something you do not have the capability of producing.- Make purchasing easy. The Internet has made it so easy to shop around for the lowest price. And because of this, you need to make it as easy as possible for visitors to purchase what they want, when they want. Make sure to evaluate all the different routes a visitor could take in order to complete a purchase. Make it as easy as possible for these visitors to start and complete the purchase process will have a positive effect on your conversion rate.
- Integrate your website with your social media efforts. Make sure to have your website link on all your social platforms and on your website make sure to have badges for all of your social media platforms so people can easily connect with you on multiple channels. This will help with your search rankings; you will gain more exposure and increase referrals.
Getting all of these tactics may take a while, so it’s important to create a list and deadlines on when it is all due. It’s better to take your time and do it the right way. What other tips would you add to this list?
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Posted by Becky Bornstein on April 2nd 2012 | 0 comments
Social media platforms are providing companies’ customers and employees an open channel to engage in genuine, real-time communications. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have really taken off. Companies are all trying to figure out ways to effectively manage and control social content and conversations across multiple platforms and brands. Companies are still looking for a balance between personal and professional lives online. Below are some best practices to help your company with its social media efforts and give you some clarity.
- Create a social media policy – A social media policy will clarify where your employees stand. In your policy, be clear about what employees can and cannot do, what’s appropriate, and how the things they share can affect the company. A great policy to refer to is the Coca Cola social media policy.
Plan ahead – Think ahead and brainstorm and bunch on scenarios of what people could write on your wall. Then figure out plans for handling these types of comments, whether they are good or bad. This will cut down on response times and eliminate confusion internally.- Don’t give everyone admin access. There are ways to allow employees to post on your social platforms without admin rights, so it’s best to do that. It’s good to only give people that need admin access the privilege, to help maintain control of your page.
- Do not just listen; make sure to respond to comments and posts. Make sure that your walls are being monitored constantly and you set up alerts for when people write on your platforms or share one of your posts. Also, make sure you are on top of what is going on in the industry, so that you can educate your fan base on what is going on and become a resource for them.
- Educate your employees. Make sure to have a thorough training session on how to use each platform, best practices, and what is expected of them. Create packets for them to take with them and also give them the contact information for a person that they can contact with any questions or concerns. Emphasize to them that if they are not sure about a post, they should consult with the designated person first. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
What other tips would you add to this list?
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Posted by Becky Bornstein on March 26th 2012 | 0 comments
Have you reviewed your website lately? If you haven’t in a while, I bet it’s about time that it gets a facelift. New data and tactics are being revealed everyday on how to create the most effective home page. For example, people never used to put their social badges on their website, but now it’s a must. Having social badges that lead to up to date social platforms show that you are on top of the latest trends and it gives you credibility. Below are some other ways to hit a home run with your home page!
Headline – This is the first thing your viewer is going to see. Keep it short and simple, so they can easily figure out what your page is all about.
Copy – Make sure that your sub-headline and body copy not only describe what you do, but it shows how your products and services solve issues and make people’s lives easier. Share about the various features and benefits of your products as well.
Customer Testimonials – These are a great way to gain credibility. Post 1 -2 sentence quotes or short videos from your customers talking about your products/services.
Navigation – Make sure to have your navigation at the top of all your pages so that it is easily accessible. You don’t want people getting frustrated and leaving your site because they can’t get the information they are looking for.
Images – Use images that support the copy. Many people are visual learners and absorb things better when they can actually see them. Also, pictures of humans can actually help people emotionally connect as well.
What other tips would you add to this list?
Photo courtesy of flickr
Posted by Becky Bornstein on March 23rd 2012 | 0 comments
B2B marketing is changing. And lots of modern marketing departments lack the fundamental skills they need to keep and drive real demand. And many of these skills may not be top of mind. Below are 3 skills that every B2B marketing department must have in order to be successful!
Content Marketing – You must be able to provide relevant informative content to get your target audience’s attention. To generate leads and revenue, you need to offer something. Some options for content include, in-house created content, licensed content, videos, demos, or webinars. The marketers in your office need to become authors.- Review Analytics – It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, everything in marketing can and should be measured. Marketers should be held accountable for creating a set of measurements that make sense for your business. Knowing what everyone is held accountable for will encourage collaboration.
- Embrace Technology - It’s not going away. We need to embrace it. Even if you’re not a marketing automation pro or a web analytics guru, chances are your job requires technological know-how. These systems can be really be helpful if used correctly, so stop being afraid and start learning. This could be saving you a lot of time and stress.
Other skills that your marketing team to embrace are communicating online and being able to present a product without directly selling it. Things are definitely shifting now. What other skills would you add to the list above?
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Posted by Becky Bornstein on February 23rd 2012 | 0 comments
When you start getting involved in integrated marketing it is always good to go back to the basics. There are so many different entities that you have to look at and keep track of that sometimes you can lose sight on proper marketing practices. Below are 5 marketing mistakes that we see companies making all the time when they start creating integrated marketing campaigns that everyone should be aware of:
Spreading yourself too thin. We live in fast-paced, exciting times, with new marketing and media options sprouting up every day. It is important not to get caught up in the hype and to see if the marketing method or platform really fits in your marketing plan. Do your research and wait for some other companies to try it first and learn from their mistakes.- Advertising your aspirations. This is a trap that just leads you to have unsatisfied customers. Promising them something you may not be able to fulfill is not going to reflect well on your company when you don’t come through. Review what assets you do have and marketing those.
- Trying to please everyone. There is no way that your product can meet everyone’s needs, so it’s important to figure out who your target audience is and then marketing to them. Many times companies want to target everyone in fear of they may be missing out on business, which is not true. You will be able to get more revenue from marketing efforts that specifically target a certain audience and meet their needs.
- Analyzing your data incorrectly. Keep in mind that people may not always know how they feel about something or what they want. It’s important to look at the quantitative data as well as the qualitative data. Actions speak louder than words, so make sure you are not only reviewing surveys, but tracking buying habits as well.
- Expecting immediate results. Remember to be patient because marketing doesn’t always work immediately. Sometimes it takes touching a customer several times before they decide on buying your service or product. The important thing is to be consistent, but make sure you are not bombarding your target audience or dropping your marketing efforts to early because you don’t see immediate results.
What other marketing mistakes do you have to add to this list?
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Posted by Becky Bornstein on February 20th 2012 | 0 comments
The key to an effective campaign is creative ideas facilitated by preparation and execution. No matter if you are working on a PR plan, social media plan or overall marketing plan, all of the essential components and fundamentals are the same. Below are the key components you will need to create a strong marketing plan.
Extensive research. Your first step should be research on the product, the brand, the company, the target consumer, the competition and of course an analysis of current metrics.- Do a SWAT analysis. This is a great tool because it evaluates the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). It’s easy to follow and explain to anyone at your company.
- After doing the analysis, list out your objectives. Then list out your strategies and how you will complete them to meet your objectives.
- Create a timeline to help you stay on track with your marketing plan. Create milestones that you can refer back to and make sure everything is being executed on time.
- Don’t forget to measure. Create a list of things that you will be measuring, how they will be tracked and what the expected results are. This will help fine tune future plans.
As you can see most of the tactics above are pretty common. But a few of them tend to be forgotten such as measurement and the list of objectives. People usually go straight into the strategies and never list the objectives. It’s important to separate them out. And it’s important to always remember measurement tools so that you know how well you plan worked and what can be tweaked.
What other tactics would you add to the list above?
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Posted by Becky Bornstein on February 2nd 2012 | 0 comments
More people are using their mobile devices to check their emails each day. The percentage of people using mobile devices to access their emails or Internet is way over 50%. This is why it’s important to think ahead and start preparing your mobile email strategy. One of the biggest mistakes I see is people will create an email strategy, get all the design work done and then when they are in the testing phase realize that the email doesn’t render properly on the phone. This delays the launch date because the designer has to go back and in change the layout. But, before jumping the gun and launching your mobile email strategy there are some things you will want to review beforehand to make sure you need it.
Is your current content suited for mobile? It is not need to design all your messages for mobile. In order to find out what types of content should be created for mobile you are going to have to test and measure the results. Not everyone uses mobile devices and even those that do still check their emails via desktop from time to time. Don’t forget that mobile email design can change some of the fundamentals. It’s more than just the brief copy, streamlined navigation and narrow table columns. Links and buttons must be easy to read and navigate.- Do your research and find our exactly how many people in your target audience are using mobile devices to access emails and the Internet. There are several tracking services that can help you track activity, audience segmentation, types of devices and the response activity. You might also consider offering a mobile option in your preference center to help you gauge how popular mobile is for your specific audience.
- Revise your copy so that it is tight and to the point. Usually people are on the go when reading emails via phone so you want to make sure the copy is captivating. Segmenting mobile email messages from your overall email campaign can be very beneficial, provided you identify where mobility is a differentiator and then adapt your content to the small screen.
What was your biggest lesson when launching a mobile email strategy?
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Posted by Becky Bornstein on January 28th 2012 | 0 comments
Have you been to a trade show recently and realized that you didn’t get many new prospects or if you did their contact information wasn’t completed? This is a huge problem that many companies see after the fact, so it’s very important to plan ahead so that you don’t fall into the same situation. There are many ways to use automated marketing tactics to help you capture the data you need in order to increase sales. Below are 3 ways you can leverage data from corporate events by using automated marketing tactics.
- Most people will register online before coming to an event. This is the perfect opportunity to customize your registration form to answer questions you may have about your target audience. This will also help you prepare better for the evening knowing what your audience is wanting to see/hear.
- Keep track of how your target audience digest the information that your provide. Today’s technology allows marketers to determine which attendees downloaded white papers, demos or other marketing collateral. You can also learn how your materials are being received by reviewing the discussions that occur between attendees on social media platforms.
- Review the data that you collected carefully. You will get to know exactly what worked and what didn’t. Use the information you attain to help improve your next corporate event/trade show you attend.
As you can see there are many ways to use your data to help you improve your marketing efforts and increase sales for you company. The data you collect with allow you to create targeted marketing campaigns that address your target audience’s needs. Make sure to start planning this portion of your event strategy about 6 months in advance so you can make sure there is nothing missing and you attain all the information you need.
How have you been leveraging you data?
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Posted by Becky Bornstein on January 26th 2012 | 0 comments
Did you know that B2B mobile marketing spending will quadruple over the next five years, rising from $26 million in 2009 to $106 million in 2014, according to Forrester Research? If you haven’t already started integrating mobile marketing into your strategy it is best that you start planning now. Mobile marketing is growing larger by the day. More and more consumers are turning to their mobile devices for information instead of their laptops or desktop computers. Below are some ways to help you get started with making your strategy mobile friendly:
The first and most important this to do is make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices. And then make sure that all your email, blogs and other marketing materials are also optimized.- Make sure to consider mobile users when creating content. For example, if you are writing a blog post, you may want to leave out a video because it may not work with the person’s mobile device and instead provide a photo with a description to get your point across.
- Use a centralized location for your content. Instead of publishing it in a specific channel, you may want to put it in a central location (web site or database) and then point your channels to that content or broadcast it from that content source. That way you can announce or display the content in your various marketing channels such as email campaigns, social networks, mobile apps, blogs, text messages, etc.
As you can see there is definitely a lot of planning that needs to be done ahead of time. Also, remember to test your new marketing strategies. You will never know how it’s going to work until you try it. Mobile is still in it early stages and growing so there is a lot of learning to be done. And always track your results so you have solid proof on what works and what doesn’t work. Have you started incorporating mobile marketing into your strategy?
Posted by Becky Bornstein on January 26th 2012 | 0 comments
When was the last time that you reviewed your marketing content strategy? Many times we get caught up in just getting pieces out so quickly that we forget to take a close look at the content we are sending out. You may not be getting the same results as when you first started your efforts because people are tired of reading the same thing over. Or you may have never reached your goals because people were not responding well to the content from the get go. If these two scenarios sound familiar then it’s definitely time to take a look at your marketing content. Below are some helpful tips for revamping your marketing content to achieve better results:
Create content with your target audience in mind. In order to make sure you do this accurately, create a detailed persona of every target consumer type you want to reach. Be sure that persona includes demographics and anything you know about their needs, likes, and content consuming habits.- Decide on where you will make the content available. As you plan your content and who you are writing for, think about the best way to deliver that information. Is the content best delivered as a whitepaper or blog post? Depending on the platforms you pick the content will need to be adjusted accordingly.
- Delegate one person that will be in charge of writing/editing all of your content to maintain consistency in tone. You can always delegate topics to different people in the company so that you are producing high quality, relevant post consistently. This will also help ensure that you are writing for all the needs of your various target audiences. One of the best processes is to have a checklist with standards, so that they person in charge doesn’t miss anything.
The best marketing and business decisions are guided by a strategy and plan so your content marketing is no exception. You need to create a strategy to be successful. Your content helps you engage with your target audiences, get found online, build credibility, and generate new customers so give it the attention it deserves. Do you have a content strategy?
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