Small Business Marketing Blog

6 Ways to add Real-Time Marketing To Your Inbound Marketing

Today I sat in on a presentation by the visionary David Meerman-Scott. Leading the way in how marketers market – his latest book “Real Time Marketing and PR” is about the value of Real-Time Marketing to business.  Even though I haven’t had a chance to read the book, it only launched today, what he says makes perfect sense to a marketer.  Using social media as a tool we can identify Real Time opportunities to better market our business. So I wanted to share what I learnt, Real Time, so you can start implementing into your business strategies too.

Here’s a review from todays webinar  (mixed in with some of my points) and how to apply Real Time Marketing and PR to your marketing strategies:

 

1. Take the time to learn the influencers in your industry
   • Bloggers
   • Journalists
   • Consumers
2. Learn where they are and start following them:
   • Subscribe to their blog, articles
   • Follow them on Twitter
3. Determine what keywords you need to be following:
   • Brand names
   • Company names
   • Competitors
   • Keywords your customers use
4. Set up a system to be monitoring, engaging and leveraging trends and conversations
   • Google Alerts
   • Hootsuite/Tweekdeck
   • RSS
   • Twitter trends
   • Headline news
   • Local news
   • Specific news to your industry: sports, health and lifestyle
5. Make the time to track these conversions, or appoint someone within your organization to be responsible
6. Identify how you’ll leverage the conversations to achieve your business objectives
   • Customer service
   • Rapport building
   • Damage control
   • Lead opportunities
   • Public Relations
   • Exposure/awareness

… now Im off to buy the book!

Need some help with choosing the right keywords or Real Time Marketing? See if our Inbound marketing packages are right for you.

What are your thoughts on Real Time Marketing? Do you have any questions?

 

 

 

Inbound Marketing: Why Keyword ‘Rank’ Shouldn’t be Your Goal

I sat in on a webinar recently by Hubspot, explaining keywords and how to use their keyword grader to determine the best keywords for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategy.

A lot of my recent projects have involved helping businesses determine the best keywords and SEO strategies and tactics. One of the things that was brought up in this webinar is ‘rank’ shouldn’t be your goal. Your goal is to get visits to your site and convert the visits to leads. A high rank in Google can lead to more visits but it isn’t a goal.  And it is better to focus on a keyword that is highly relevant than one that has high volume.

A keyword that is highly relevant  to your product or service offering will yield a higher number of conversions. And this is why:

Let’s say you choose a keyword that has high search volume and you spend a lot of time creating great content around that keyword and eventually start to rank in Google’s top 10.  If that keyword is not highly relevant to your product or service offering, your prospects will do one of two things:

1. Click on your site, and then leave because it’s not what they’re looking for, or
2. They won’t even click on your site at all.
Think about another scenario where you focus on a keyword that is highly relevant.  Even if it has a low monthly search volume if it is highly relevant to your product or service offering chances are the prospect will click on your site. 

Now the challenge is to convert this website visitor into a lead. This is achieved through:

1. Knowing the keywords your prospects are using
2. Understanding their challenges, frustrations, needs
3. Writing content that appropriate based on the above two points
4. Having a conversion tactic on the page
5. And making sure it is clear to visitor what they need to do next

Hopefully this blog article has helped you see that 'ranking' for a particular keyword is not a 'business' goal. And that focusing on relevancy and conversion strategies is what you need to do to acheive your business objectives.

Do you have any questions? Think you need to spend some more time on:

1. Choosing the right keywords for your business?
2. Content strategies?
3. Lead conversation strategies?
4. A complete website analysis?

If so, the first place to start is identifying the right keywords.

To find out how we can help, check out our Keyword / SEO Starter Package.

Inbound Marketing Tactics For Lead Nurturing Success

Following  on from my last blog: 3 Steps To Planning Your Inbound Marketing Conversion Tactics Im going to share some inbound marketing tactics that work for lead nurturing success.

Lead nurturing is about communication and connection between you and your prospects. It’s not only an opportunity to move people along the sales process but an opportunity to build rapport and trust with your prospects.  This is done by offering information that is of value for nothing in return. The key is to speak in the value system of your prospects and to ‘not’ over sell.

When developing a lead nurturing email campaign make sure you leave enough time between emails, possibly between 3-5 days, it really depends on what you have to offer and the nature of your business.  The last thing you want is to have them ‘opt-out’ because they’re sick of receiving your emails, and not getting any value or benefit out of them.

Think about your industry in a broad sense. Think about the solution or need your product or service fulfills and think about the generic terms prospects would be searching for. Can you create a free whitepaper or ebook or tool that provides some answers to their questions?

For example: if someone is searching for ‘landscape maintenance’ the offer needs to be about landscape maintenance generally, not Bob’s Landscape Maintenance Service.  Industry research and reports are a good conversion tool at this point. An idea might be some industry research that elaborates on the benefits of hiring a landscape maintenance company. Or an ebook called "The Things No one Tells You About Landscapers and How to Find the Right One for You."

However, for people further down the funnel, they want to learn about Bob’s Landscape Maintenance  Service. They want to know what makes Bob so different from his competitors. They are looking for reasons for why they should choose Bob? Is it price, convenience, service or expertise? At this point you want to offer information that is going to increase their confidence in your company. Case studies, demonstration videos, presentations and How-to guides are good conversion tactics at this point. What would work well here are some informational videos showing Bob's Landscape team at work, prospects can see the presentation of the team, quality of work and expertise of the crew.

At the bottom of the funnel are the hot leads, they are ready to talk to a sales person. They want to know what the process is and what the cost is. Information on ROI, testimonial videos from past clients and presentations work well at this point.

It’s important at each stage of the funnel to make it clear to your prospects what they need to do. Do they know how to reach your sales department? Do they know who is your sales team and do they understand what the process is? For example, complete this form and our sales manager will call you within 24 hours to set up a free consultation. Call this number if you would like to receive a quote. Or what about a personal email that says:
Thank you for downloading our pricing guide. If you would like to speak with our trained staff regarding your specific requirements. Our representatives are available to meet you, on site at a time that meets you. All you need to do is...

Please let me know if you found this helpful. And if you liked this article please remember to hit the 'like' button above. Thank you for reading.

 

3 Steps To Planning Your Inbound Marketing Conversion Tactics

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail and old adage but an important one that is being lost with today’s technology.

With the introduction of the internet and social media people seem to be jumping onto both of these marketing channels with very little thought and planning.

I have a 3 step approach to developing inbound marketing strategies and tactics using the sales funnel as my map:

1. The top of the funnel: these are prospects that are researching your industry for generic information. They are searching for answers to a problem or a need without any focus on a particular brand or company.
2. The middle of the funnel: these are warm prospects, maybe leads, that are aware of your company or brand and want to learn more about you, your brand or your service.
3. The bottom of the funnel: these are prospects, or leads that are hot! They are ready to talk to a sales person.

Now with this in mind, we can start to develop inbound marketing tactics that are designed to convert prospects, at each stage of the funnel, into leads. And with a well thought out lead nurturing campaign, move your leads down the sales funnel so they are sales ready.

Inbound marketing tactics that work are; How To Guides, Tools to try or test your product, Case Studies, Reports, ebooks  that provide the extra information that prospects are looking for. They should provide answers to their questions and offer enough value to the prospect, that they are prepared to share their email address.

Example: Local Gym

Top of the funnel: An ebook:  The Daily 15 Minute – ‘At Home’ Exercise Guide: No equipment Necessary

Mid funnel: Tool or test:  Try out the XX Fitness tool to discover a healthy daily meal planner that fits in with your lifestyle or Learn the best exercise and workout routine for you, to achieve your goals, that fits in with your lifestyle.

Bottom funnel: Personal email to a FREE open day, Coupon , Free consult with a personal trainer.

 
The importance to the marketer here is that you now have the contact information of someone who was on your site and is interested in what you do. Because they gave you their information they have indicated their interest in your company. It is okay to offer them additional information that may be of value to them.

 
In my next blog, which I'll publish next week, I’ll explain in more detail about: Inbound Marketing Tactics For Lead Nurturing Success

Did you find this helpful? If so, please 'like' this article by clicking on the 'like' button at the top.

I would love to hear from you.

Hubspot’s Social Media Tool: How To and Why, From a Hubspot Partner

Hubspot is a tool! And like all tools if it’s not being used correctly you won’t achieve the results you desire or expect and that it is capable of delivering.

As a Hubspot Partner and Hubspot client I thought I’d share some of the ways I personally use the Hubspot tools. And like most of you out there, I too am time poor and guilty of not being consistent or using my Hubspot tool correctly.

Today’s article is about the Social Media Tool.

I plan on sharing more about the tools on Hubspot and how they help business so please subscribe to this blog if you would like to receive my Inbound Marketing and Hubspot updates.

The Social Media Tool:

Click on the top tab “Promote” and then “Social  Media”

If you haven’t already, set up the keywords you would like to be tracking across the social mediasphere and add in the relevant filters by clicking on ‘edit’.

This is also where you set up your social media accounts. Click on the option 'social media account' and choose to 'add' the accounts you have ie: Facebook, Linked, Twitter and Youtube. Then scroll down to choose how you want to use them. There are options for choosing whether you want them included in your Reach report or if you want to auto publish your blog to them when you publish your blog, or if  you want to be able to access them from the social media tool. And there is an option to have the link show up in the "Follow Me" widget.

Why is this tool so important?

No matter what your business goals are or strategies to achieve them, monitoring the social mediasphere for relevant keywords is a valuable tactic and here’s why:

1. Competitor Analysis: Monitor your competitors’ brand names, company, key personnel and stay up to date with what they’re doing.
2. Research and Development:  By monitoring what prospects are saying about your industry you may learn about new ways to market your product or service, or how you need to change your current products to better meet market demand or make valuable connections.
3.  Lead Generation: By monitoring keywords that represent the problem or need you provide a solution for, you have the opportunity to meet and connect with new people who may become valuable business partners or clients.
4. Build Authority: By monitoring keywords that represent your industry and area of expertise you have the opportunity to connect with bloggers and individuals who are posting questions on Linked In.  This provides a great opportunity to share your knowledge and position yourself as knowledgeable in your industry.
5. Link Building: Comment on blogs to get inbound links. The focus really needs to be on providing a valuable comment, otherwise you can do more damage to your reputation than good. But with that being said, remember that commenting often provides a link to your website so this should be part of your ongoing inbound link tactics.
6. Awareness: Engaging on social media sites is like networking, letting people know about your company, product or brand without using any pushy sales tactics.

 

If you use Hubspot I would love to hear from you. Are you wondering how to use a particular tool or how it’s going to help your business?  If you want to add to my list of benefits for using the Social Media Tool, Hubspot client or not, please do.

If you liked this post, please don’t forget to click on the ‘like’ button at the top. Thank you for reading.

 

 

Social Media Optimization News Updates - Its all about location.

I found this Social Media Marketing article on Foursquare - this one is worth reading and worth sharing.

Im yet to get involved with anything new to social media. Ive decided to sit back, to wait and see how long they stick around. My guess is social media is heading down the road of the dot.com boom and bust and there will be a lot of new comers trying to make a quick buck, but very few will survive. And even fewer will add value to businesses. I want to make sure that when I suggest a particular social media strategy or tactic to my clients that its worth their investment. With that being said, Foursquare (which I haven't had any experience with) appears to be gaining in popularity with proven results. Especially for location based, B2C business like Restaurants.  Diane's article on Foursquare is really a worthwhile read and will open your eyes to the possibilities of social media and the role it will play in our lives, in the not too distance future. Now Im intrigued... time to sign up to Foursquare? Maybe :). Check it out, its a good read!

Social Media's New Mantra: Location, Location, Location
Fast-growing network Foursquare is luring potential buyers

Author: Diane Brady
Publication: Bloomberg Business Week

 

Do you use Foursqare? Please share your thoughts or experience. 

Did you like this article? If so, please click on the Facebook "like" icon to share it with your friends.

If you're a business owner or marketer and would like some assistance with developing a Social Media Strategy for your business please click on the Free Marketing Consultation and fill out the inquiry form. 

 

My Top Inbound Marketing Articles on Social Media Optimization

Social Media Optimization (SMO) is now an important factor in SEO. Will it be more important than SEO, will Facebook take over Google as the king of searches? 

The technology behind social media is evolving quickly and all I can say is it's a full time job keeping up. To make your life a little easier Im going to provide quick list of top articles Ive found on a hot topic - SMO and the social media giant, Facebook and how they're changing search.

This article; How To Use Social Media to Rank on Google is a good read and gives some good examples and links to tools to help you understand how to use social media for your SEO.

What Facebook's Announcements mean for SmallBiz
At the recent Facebook developer conference, the social media giant announced a number of major changes to their platform that will affect the way developers create applications and the way users interact with them. The most important change for small business owners to be aware of, however, is the launch of the Facebook for Web Sites platform and specifically, the new social plugins. No matter where you're at with Facebook or technology, as a business owner or marketer you owe it to yourself to read this article and know what is available out there.

Why is Social Media Keyword Search Becoming More Important for a Small Business? I like  this article because it shares why we should be using social media to search for the keywords our target audience is using.  The answers are right there for us, our prospects are all over the internet and social media - it's just a matter of knowing where to look.

Facebooks Universal Like Button Added to Over 50000 Sites and GrowingThis is a must read for anyone wanting to stay up to date with social media, SEO and SMO. This article explains how SEO is now evolving, from "links" to "likes" and highlights the early adoption to Facebook's "like" plugin just announced last week.

How do you use social media in your business? What are your thoughts on Social media optimization (SMO) replacing SEO?

If  you need help developing your social media content and communication strategies or with the technology please click on the "marketing consultation" button and submit the form.

 

 

How Traditional Marketers Can Make The Shift To Social Media Marketing

My career in marketing started before emails and the internet.  In fact in my first job (and Im under 40) I was using a typewriter.

Marketing in the early 90s didn't include acronyms like SEO, SEM and SMM. SWOT and the 4Ps were the ‘in' marketing jargon of the day. But for many of us ‘traditional' marketers, it is obvious that business owners and marketers must make the shift from print, radio and tv advertising to search engine and social media marketing. And if you provide a marketing service, from Advertising to Public Relations, you know you need to offer internet and web based marketing solutions to your clients.

So how do we make the transition from ‘traditional' marketing that is heavily focused on interruptive strategies like advertising and junk mail, to learning social media and search engine marketing? 

David Meerman Scott said in his Foreward for the Inbound Marketing book "... traditional marketers need to unlearn what they've learnt." Everything or just some things? How do we do that and where do we start?

I first discovered a company called Hubspot in 2007, I was impressed with their, very easy to use, website software that allowed business owners and marketers, without any technical  or web development skills create their own content and upload their own web pages.  I started using their software and learning their Inbound Marketing Methodology, sitting in on as many webinars as I could and reading their blog on a daily basis. Hubspot continues to evolve with the needs of their clients and now has an Inbound Marketing Service Directory for prospects or clients needing help or advice with Inbound Marketing - its basically a list of the who's who in Inbound Marketing Services, giving business owners and marketers an easy to find solution for making the move to inbound marketing.

If you provide a marketing service and would like to add ‘inbound marketing' strategies to your list of services, Hubspot is your answer.  This is a unique opportunity to stay up to date with latest in website, search engine and social media marketing.  The bonus is, once you're certified you'll receive qualified leads, prospects who are looking and needing your professional marketing service.  Since the directory started I've received leads on a regular basis all of which have converted into paying customers. It's a win/win/win situation for everyone involved.

If you're interested to learn more about Hubspot, Im both a client and Hubspot Partner and would be more than happy to answer any of your questions.

Where do you see Marketing heading in 2010? What are your thoughts on the Hubspot Service Directory for Inbound Marketing?

I look forward to your comments.

 

What Does "It's a People Driven Economy Stupid" Mean To Inbound Marketing?

Are you one of the 1,463,130 people who have viewed the Social Media Revolution video by Erik Qualman on YouTube? If not, there's a link to it at the bottom of this article.  I encourage you to watch it, its only 4mins. The stats of social media usage in this video are amazing!

Understanding what this truly means presents an unparalleled opportunity for marketers to be successful with their online marketing in the new decade. Here are some key stats and quotes from the video:

1. If Facebook was a country it would now be the 3rd largest country (updated stat).
2. The fastest growing demographic on Facebook are 55-65 year old females.
3. Youtube is the 2nd largest search engine.
4. There are 200 million bloggers.
5. 54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily.
6. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and services.
7. People care more about how their social graph ranks products or services, than how Google ranks them.
8. 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations. Only 14% trust advertisements.
9. "Social media isn't a fad it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate."
10. Social media is about listening first, selling second.

As a marketer what do these stats mean to you?

We can clearly conclude that the trend is towards more time using social media, and less time watching TV, listening to the radio or reading a newspaper.  To a traditional marketer this would mean a shift in where you advertise or promote your product and services. And this is what many marketers are doing. The last point I mentioned above is the key to successful social media marketing...

Listening First, Selling Second!

The trend towards social media means that people are now communicating your message not you! People are talking about your company or industry regardless of what you're doing. 

So what should you do?

The new marketer, the Inbound Marketing marketer listens, responds and builds relationships before selling or promoting. They take the time to understand how social media, has changed marketing psychology. The successful marketer of the new decade uses social media to:

1. Listen to what consumers' needs and frustrations are.
2. Respond to the questions, problems, issues and unhappy customers personally.
3. Build relationships , trust and respect with their audience. So when they promote their product or service it is of interest and value to their audience.

If you're thinking your product is too niche, your target audience isn't using social media or your business is too small. Check out the link to the Social Media Revolution (link below) and look at the growth of social media. How long will it take for your target audience to start using social media, 1 year or 5 years? 

"Social media isn't a fad it's a fundamental shift in the way we communicate." Erik Qualman

What are your thoughts on social media marketing? Have you started? Are you having success?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section. Thank you for reading.

The view the Social Media Revolution video click here.

Inbound Marketing Takes Internet Marketing Live On Hubspot

Why do the experts in internet marketing turn to Hubspot?

As a Hubspot Partner Im always excited to help businesses get started with the Hubspot software and help them with their weekly marketing needs - however my newest client to Hubspot had me asking some questions...

Here's little background: Mahoney Internet Marketing is an internet marketing services agency.  MIM specializes in; Strategic Planning, Google Adwords, Buyer Personas, Google Analytics and Salesforce.com. I thought Hubspot was designed for marketing managers and business owners who really knew very little about websites and internet marketing, making it easier for them to market online and manage their website. So  Im curious, why then does an internet marketing expert need Hubspot, what value does it bring to them?  I asked Carole Mahoney the visionary and owner of Mahoney Internet Marketing why, and few other questions.

Inbound Marketing Solutions: Why were you initially interested in Hubspot?

Mahoney: Hubspot technology supports a closed loop marketing system and this is one of our primary goals when developing strategies for our clients.  Hubspot's ability to integrate with CRM packages like Salesforce.com enables the type of reporting to not only prove value, but to optimize marketing for conversion.

IMS: What was it about Hubspot that really sold you and compelled you to become a customer?

Mahoney:  I have been a long time proponent of Inbound marketing and until now been searching for a solution that makes inbound marketing easier to grow and manage without having to re-invent the wheel. As I learned more about  Hubspot's Inbound Marketing Methodology I quickly realized that their approach to marketing is nearly identical to my own philosophy. I did not have to re-align my processes or marketing strategy to fit within the technology. The technology supports the process and helps to improve it as new trends emerge with internet marketing.

IMS: What do you hope to achieve?

Mahoney: A one stop place to manage all of my inbound marketing that will grow and nurture leads. I am so thrilled with the software that we are currently in the process of becoming a certified Hubspot partner to extent it to all our clients- large and small.

IMS: How do you expect it will add value to your business?

Mahoney: I expect inbound leads to increase of course! I also expect that as MiM becomes a certified partner it will be much easier to provide a full spectrum of internet marketing services to our current and future clients. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

So what I learnt is that Hubspot is for the experts. And not only for their business but for their clients as well,  allowing them to provide a better service with tangible results.

If you're looking to extend your marketing services, generate more leads for your own business and your clients, talk to a Hubspot Partner and get started with a  free trial today!