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Landing pages are one of the most important elements of a lead generation campaign. In fact, according to MarketingSherpa’s research, landing pages are effective for 94% of B2B and B2C companies. So why are so few companies using them?
A landing Page is a single page within your website where you can direct visitors to one particular offer without the distractions of everything else on your website. Visitors are on a landing page for one and only purpose: to complete the lead capture form.
A landing Page is a single page within your website where you can direct visitors to one particular offer without the distractions of everything else on your website. Visitors are on a landing page for one and only purpose: to complete the lead capture form.
Published in Small Business Marketing
If you have been following my blog series on Lead Generation, you know that you need to have an offer to engage your prospects. If you missed that blog, you can check it how HERE.
The offer is basically the carrot, now what you need is the pole and string from which to dangle that well-crafted carrot and to get your prospects to act or engage.
What gets our audience to reach for the carrot is your call-to-action (CTA). When effectively crafted, they will capture people’s attention and persuading them to act.
Not all CTAs are effective or will result in action. It's important to consider what your competitors are offering and then determine why someone may choose your offer over the competition.
Once you have your offer decided, now it's time to get the word out. Here's how:
The offer is basically the carrot, now what you need is the pole and string from which to dangle that well-crafted carrot and to get your prospects to act or engage.
What gets our audience to reach for the carrot is your call-to-action (CTA). When effectively crafted, they will capture people’s attention and persuading them to act.
Not all CTAs are effective or will result in action. It's important to consider what your competitors are offering and then determine why someone may choose your offer over the competition.
Once you have your offer decided, now it's time to get the word out. Here's how:
As business owners our primary goal is to make money so we are focused on revenue, product pricing and billing of our services. To think about giving something away for free seems counter-intuitive. However, giving away something that your audience views as exclusive, scarce, or in high demand is a good way to open the door to engaging a new customer.
Returning from a spring break trip to visit family my daughter realized she had not downloaded any new movies on her lap top. Six hours in the back seat of a car, to a modern eleven year old, was going to be a strain on everyone in the car. Reading is out of the question, because she gets car sick. I grabbed my phone, signed up for a free month of Audible, bought her a book on Amazon and it was amazingly quiet for the entire trip. Even better, she loved listening to the book so much we are considering continuing our subscription.
I'm not sure I would have even considered Audible if it wasn't for the free subscription. If it is fitting for your business to give away a free trial, it is a great way to allow new customers to try your product. For a subscription service a free month is a good option, for other product companies a sample size may be appropriate.
For B2B companies deciding on an incentive is a more difficult decision. Think about your clients' pain points and what does your company offer that may help your target audience. Consider white papers or a free analysis as a means of engaging with a new customer.
Returning from a spring break trip to visit family my daughter realized she had not downloaded any new movies on her lap top. Six hours in the back seat of a car, to a modern eleven year old, was going to be a strain on everyone in the car. Reading is out of the question, because she gets car sick. I grabbed my phone, signed up for a free month of Audible, bought her a book on Amazon and it was amazingly quiet for the entire trip. Even better, she loved listening to the book so much we are considering continuing our subscription.
I'm not sure I would have even considered Audible if it wasn't for the free subscription. If it is fitting for your business to give away a free trial, it is a great way to allow new customers to try your product. For a subscription service a free month is a good option, for other product companies a sample size may be appropriate.
For B2B companies deciding on an incentive is a more difficult decision. Think about your clients' pain points and what does your company offer that may help your target audience. Consider white papers or a free analysis as a means of engaging with a new customer.
Published in Marketing
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How do you respond to a week that goes completely opposite as planned? In business we know that having processes in place is what makes for efficient operations, but what about when those operations don't work?
My week has been anything but normal and this disruption may be just what my businesses needed. When you hear the term disruption, do you think of a disturbance that interrupts an event, activity, or process? Or do you think of it as Clayton Christensen has defined: a disruption that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market, displacing the established?
What I have found is that these can be two-sides of the same coin. I realize that saying both definitions of 'disruption' work together is a bit like saying we should make lemonade out of the lemons we've been dealt.
Here's how I made something positive out of a week that went off the typical process.
My week has been anything but normal and this disruption may be just what my businesses needed. When you hear the term disruption, do you think of a disturbance that interrupts an event, activity, or process? Or do you think of it as Clayton Christensen has defined: a disruption that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market, displacing the established?
What I have found is that these can be two-sides of the same coin. I realize that saying both definitions of 'disruption' work together is a bit like saying we should make lemonade out of the lemons we've been dealt.
Here's how I made something positive out of a week that went off the typical process.
Published in Small Business Marketing
We all know that having a website is vital to any business. It is your digital storefront, greeter and initial explanation of your businesses products or services.
While websites can be optimized for better lead generation, what do you do for customers who are not coming directly to your website? Here are three marketing tools that will help you gain more leads.
While websites can be optimized for better lead generation, what do you do for customers who are not coming directly to your website? Here are three marketing tools that will help you gain more leads.
Published in Small Business Marketing
For entrepreneurs, personal brand and your business brand are often one in the same. Even if you have numerous employees, the owner still sets the tone of the business and is usually engaged with the client during the sales process or at implementation.
If you are an entrepreneur and haven't considered your personal brand and its impact on your business brand, it's time to get started.
If you are an entrepreneur and haven't considered your personal brand and its impact on your business brand, it's time to get started.
Published in Small Business Marketing
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Google Analytics can be a very effective tool for entrepreneurs if you know how to use it correctly. Not only does it inform you of your sites digital traffic flow and about new incoming traffic; it also helps raise revenue for your apps or online business sites. Amazing right?
Published in Small Business Marketing
Sometimes we're in conflict between our marketing professional selves and our personal or professional buyer selves. I'm in conflict now as I try to get my home back together after a hail storm pummeled our roof, fence and who knows what.
My conflict is seeing how repair services are marketed to us and how as a buyer I perceive their efforts to meet my needs . Yes, I see the hail storm as an opportunity for them. They have services and products in need, a well-defined target audience, and a high rate of anticipated purchase for their product. For excitement, they face multiple competitors in a race to a sale.
This could be a chance to see multiple marketing styles and find out what works best on me. It's a good test because all contenders start out the same. No company has an inside track or perceived advantage. I was not already in the market, had not contacted any suppliers, no former suppliers have claimed me, and my insurance company offered only vague guidelines, no company recommendations. So how did they do?
My conflict is seeing how repair services are marketed to us and how as a buyer I perceive their efforts to meet my needs . Yes, I see the hail storm as an opportunity for them. They have services and products in need, a well-defined target audience, and a high rate of anticipated purchase for their product. For excitement, they face multiple competitors in a race to a sale.
This could be a chance to see multiple marketing styles and find out what works best on me. It's a good test because all contenders start out the same. No company has an inside track or perceived advantage. I was not already in the market, had not contacted any suppliers, no former suppliers have claimed me, and my insurance company offered only vague guidelines, no company recommendations. So how did they do?
Published in Small Business Marketing
The trend for small businesses is not adding more staff, but hiring an industry expert partner. Managing employees takes investment in training, paying for benefits, and so on. Even worse, what if that individual is not the right fit for you business culture, then what?
What makes more sense is to hire a partner that off-sets the business owners weaknesses. Not as an employee, but as an adviser.
Here are some key reasons entrepreneurs should consider the outsourcing route.
What makes more sense is to hire a partner that off-sets the business owners weaknesses. Not as an employee, but as an adviser.
Here are some key reasons entrepreneurs should consider the outsourcing route.
Almost everyone knows about Twitter and Facebook. Most might know LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest. But, does using any of these Social Media platforms to promote your business seem confusing and not exactly intuitive to you?
You’re not alone. It seems like there's a new hot platform every day. You feel like you barely know how to use Facebook or Twitter in your personal life. And now, some millennial is going to tell you that you need to be using social media to market your business?
The world is changing and social media hasn’t faded away. Blogs are more popular than ever, and everyone who is a part of that world or wants to get into it needs to be using social media. It isn’t just for bloggers though, if you have a small to medium business – it will help you too.
Social Media helps your business gain exposure, generate traffic to your website, and promote your blog. I know it seems difficult, but really it’s easy and inexpensive. They’re generally free to join and give you a wide audience to reach.
You’re not alone. It seems like there's a new hot platform every day. You feel like you barely know how to use Facebook or Twitter in your personal life. And now, some millennial is going to tell you that you need to be using social media to market your business?
The world is changing and social media hasn’t faded away. Blogs are more popular than ever, and everyone who is a part of that world or wants to get into it needs to be using social media. It isn’t just for bloggers though, if you have a small to medium business – it will help you too.
Social Media helps your business gain exposure, generate traffic to your website, and promote your blog. I know it seems difficult, but really it’s easy and inexpensive. They’re generally free to join and give you a wide audience to reach.
Published in Marketing
One of the greatest strengths of small business is their ability to be agile and to respond quickly to market fluctuations. One thing that can create a drag on the business is managing functions of your business that are foreign to your core business model or take away from daily operations or billable work.
There are very few businesses today that can grow without a marketing model in place. Even if your client base continues to buy from you, think at how much more you could grow if you expanded your sphere of potential clients.
So how do you expand your business and implement a marketing model, without adding a staff function you need to manage? The Answer: Hire a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer.
There are very few businesses today that can grow without a marketing model in place. Even if your client base continues to buy from you, think at how much more you could grow if you expanded your sphere of potential clients.
So how do you expand your business and implement a marketing model, without adding a staff function you need to manage? The Answer: Hire a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer.
Published in Marketing
I attend many networking events. While I always being the "authentic me," my tone differs at a breakfast networking event at 7:30 am vs. a happy hour at 7:30 pm. With social media, your tone should change as well from one platform to another. So what is the difference between your company's voice and its tone and what tone is appropriate to use on each platform?
Published in Marketing
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Social Media is a series of ever-changing algorithms that are supposed to help customers better find the product or service for which they are searching. However as entrepreneurs, social media can be a frustrating marketing tool that changes the minute you figure it out. It is also becoming more clear that social media is not about how many posts, but what you post that will make the difference.
At Marketing Eye Dallas our job is to watch these changes and determine the best means of keeping your product or service in front of your target market. Similar to the job of a financial advisor who watches the stock market, Marketing Eye Dallas guides its clients on when to adjust your marketing strategy, when to be patience, and when to try something new based on changes in marketing channels and tools.
If you haven't been watching every new article on the changes for each social media platform, let us fill you in on what is new.
At Marketing Eye Dallas our job is to watch these changes and determine the best means of keeping your product or service in front of your target market. Similar to the job of a financial advisor who watches the stock market, Marketing Eye Dallas guides its clients on when to adjust your marketing strategy, when to be patience, and when to try something new based on changes in marketing channels and tools.
If you haven't been watching every new article on the changes for each social media platform, let us fill you in on what is new.
Published in Marketing
I know the advice is usually Always Be Closing, but I think testing your marketing not only comes first but it's a critical element in bringing people to the table so you can close them.
User testing is a best practice in marketing. No element of the plan or facet of execution is exempt from the drive to find a better way. So unless you're considering a better way to present your plan to management or a way to connect people with the right content sooner you may be overlooking a better way to better results.
I'm all for user testing. As an agency copywriter I worked on Fortune 500 accounts. User testing gave us precise data on what worked for them. Commercial formats were described by the test-winning techniques, plots and actions they contained. Another highly targeted B2B company restricted colored headlines and concept graphics for ground breaking announcements figuring if they used them for everything they would use up the high scoring magic. My requests to test something new were put off in place of tests that combined known winning elements such as a bigger graphic plus a colored headline.
User testing is a best practice in marketing. No element of the plan or facet of execution is exempt from the drive to find a better way. So unless you're considering a better way to present your plan to management or a way to connect people with the right content sooner you may be overlooking a better way to better results.
I'm all for user testing. As an agency copywriter I worked on Fortune 500 accounts. User testing gave us precise data on what worked for them. Commercial formats were described by the test-winning techniques, plots and actions they contained. Another highly targeted B2B company restricted colored headlines and concept graphics for ground breaking announcements figuring if they used them for everything they would use up the high scoring magic. My requests to test something new were put off in place of tests that combined known winning elements such as a bigger graphic plus a colored headline.
Published in Marketing
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On this St. Patrick's Day each year we talk a lot about 'Luck of the Irish'. Even the person beside me in my morning networking meeting mentioned how today was a lucky day and he was going to win one of the door prize giveaways. He didn't, but I did so maybe he passed a little luck my way.
In business, people may claim others are lucky or may dismiss the idea of luck all together. Here are five ways we can increase our odds at being lucky?
In business, people may claim others are lucky or may dismiss the idea of luck all together. Here are five ways we can increase our odds at being lucky?
Published in Small Business Marketing
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