Sales Team Motivation and Inbound Marketing

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We are approached by many companies who are looking to grow their revenue line, and in the process of understanding their approach to business development one question is universally asked - “How Do We Motivate Our Sales Team?”

First off- you cannot really motivate anyone. Motivation comes from within an individual. A person’s preference of behavior, both adapted and natural, really determines this. Having said that, we have enjoyed working with many good leaders, who have inspired a team of people to accomplish great things.

Second- a sales team is a group of individuals is not a collective or group mind set. Our workflow always involves the application of scientific online assessments to understand each sales person’s unique behavior and their motivators. When we understand a person’s preferences we can build a plan that aligns with that and truly engage their future drive to succeed… and drive greater results.

What drives motivation?

For some people it is purely money (and we screen for this especially where we are seeking people to fill commission based sales positions for a client).  There are several other motivators that can be measured using our assessment process. EG: You seldom see altruism as a motivator in business development profiles. So an understanding of a person’s unique behavioral and motivational preference can be a powerful dataset.

We also have an effective sales evaluation assessment, which measures a person’s understanding of the entire sales process. This valuable dataset lets us identify where a salesperson’s strengths lay, as well as where they might need additional coaching. It can be applied to an existing team or a potential new hire.

In other words, a plan that is broadly based is always going to be less effective than one that is built from the individual team member’s motivational perspective.

Give Them the Best Support to Really Drive Results

We then take this process one step further, by helping make the overall sales effort more efficient through the deployment of an inbound marketing process. If you want to see the batting averages of a sales organization skyrocket change the paradigm of cold calling into one where they are speaking to highly interested opportunities that, people that have the BANT necessary to insure success.

We use the term BANT a lot. This is an acronym for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline and all four of these conditions must exist for any salesperson to close a sale. Inexperienced sales people invest a lot of time in the sales process to learn one (or more) of these factors isn’t present and results in an investment of time and talent but no desired result. Experienced sales people know ways to navigate (or argue) their way around these factors but it can be very time consuming and not always fruitful.

Motivationally speaking, when a sales force knows the odds for success are higher with every phone call or email inquiry (because the inquiry has a high BANT probability) they approach the sales call more confidently. It is a lot of like athletics- players get into a cycle of success and that feeds more confidence and that usually leads to more success. Sales people also go through periods of ups and downs based on their close rates or the quality of the orders they are generating. A well orchestrated inbound marketing process can create this environment, one that drives better inquiries, improved lead conversion, and generates more success for the sales team... and the company.

Perhaps You Should Change Your Approach to Marketing?

With the proper application of a well defined plan along with a robust inbound marketing platform (we recommend Hubspot® and use it ourselves) you can consolidate almost all of your marketing endeavors into a single software-driven process. The advantages to this approach are:

• You will extend the reach of your company’s value proposition
• Your target audience will understand your company culture
• The value your company brings to your clients will be broadly and repetitively understood
• You will be able to quantify which tactics are most successful and where to shift your investment of time and talent

Perhaps best of all you will share that across a blog and different social media applications automatically and seamlessly. You will now have the ability to:

• Create and/or enhance the awareness in your brand that rivals the best public relations tactics
• Repetitively establish your credibility
• Provide opportunities for interested parties to become qualified prospects
• Maintain a high level of engagement over time
• Understand where in the sales process your investment in training and continuing education needs to be applied

Get the Facts

We have a comprehensive e-book that illustrates the inbound marketing process in great detail, and would love to share it with you. To obtain your copy, with no strings attached and no sales person phone calls, just complete the short form, above, right.

And if you would like to schedule an initial assessment of your current website and see an inbound marketing quotient just drop us an email and request a complimentary consultation.

Accounting Firms and Inbound Marketing- Sustainability in Marketing

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Your business development or sales organization has been very busy. Think about all that time spent drafting emails, responding to voice mails, writing proposals with little or no real relevance, pitching to non-decision makers and not holding prospects accountable to commitments… in actuality that is a lot of time NOT spent selling, it is time spent chasing!

What percentage of the overall time of your sales efforts are actually spent actually selling with new prospects? And how does your brand and/or credibility suffer from these typical but common sales activities?

Time is Your Most Valuable Asset

Consider the impact on your top line revenue if you were able to reduce the time either you or your sales people spend chasing procrastinators.

Consider the impact on your growth if you were able to double your actual time spent selling (most sales people are only in front of new prospects (outside the scope of your existing core client base).

Here is a hint: an improvement of 5%-20% of the time equates to 2-8 appointments/hours per week.

What would this translate into with regards to gross sales?

There is a marketing process that can shorten the sales cycle and dramatically improve conversion and close rates. When properly deployed it can eradicate all those annoying time wasters many sales people get stuck with while providing your brand or product with a significant boost in credibility. The common term is content marketing or inbound marketing. More about that in a minute…

How Is Time Utilized in the Sales Process?

Just think about the amount of time that gets invested into:

• prospecting and networking
• engaging
• presenting
• writing proposals

This is usually followed by the big chase with the “prospect”… and then you come to discover that your sales people were on a big fishing expedition!

Sooner or later every business owner will realize the importance of addressing this situation.

Quite often traditional sales people sit back after all of the hours of prospecting, pitching, presenting, proposal writing and chasing and go over in their own minds why the prospect, who seemed so interested yesterday did not buy today. There are shelves of books dealing with this problem in book stores. The reasons that sales people typically provide are at the very least predictable.

Do any of these replies sound familiar?

• Your price is too high!
• We need to “think it over”!
• We have decided to postpone this for now!
• We have decided to stay with our current provider!
• We chose another company!

If you had a stock portfolio that was under-performing the overall market would you keep dumping time and money into those stocks? I seriously doubt it. What you would do is you assess what you have that is working, and then determine what to keep and what to eliminate… you would cut your losses with regard to what is really an under-performing asset. Why would you approach your marketing tactics any differently?

Place Your Focus on the Plan

For our clients opportunity is not a viable strategy to business development. Our clients believe in the creation of plans, plans that are both realistic and achievable; plans that establish measurable goals and provide personal accountability. Our clients wake up every morning knowing what action items have to be accomplished, and understand how these activities align with their overall long term mission.

Can you honesty argue that your marketing and sales goals are clearly defined, understood throughout your company, and are being achieved? If not perhaps it’s time for you to seriously consider a change in your company’s approach to marketing. Beginning with the overall vision and leading through the goals, strategies, and action items necessary to achieve a result that you will be proud of. And getting off of the unsustainable cycle of cold calling, frustration, and remorse and shifting your marketing spend into a more sustainable process.

It Must Be Measurable

Adopting new marketing tactics are always met with excitement until the revenue line doesn’t grow or the results are fuzzy and non-measurable. That has often been the case with traditional marketing tactics like direct mail, newspaper advertising, and road signs. And while good marketers have adapted internet marketing best practices like dedicated landing pages and QR codes to help strengthen these traditional practices provide and provide some analysis they really cannot compare to the quality and volume of data that can be generated from an inbound marketing approach.

Again, using the stock portfolio analogy, how long would you continue with an investment advisor if all you routinely saw were the fees s/he was charging you and not the performance of the portfolio? That is very similar to what many businesses are doing- paying the fees to pump out ad’s without being able to assess the impact that ad is having on their revenue growth.

Change Your Approach to Marketing

With the proper application of a well defined plan along with a robust inbound marketing platform (we recommend Hubspot® and use it ourselves) you can consolidate almost all of your marketing endeavors into a single software-driven process. The advantages to this approach are:

• You will project your company’s value proposition
• Your target audience will understand your company culture
• The value your company brings to your clients will be broadly and repetitively understood
• You will be able to quantify which tactics are most successful and where to shift your investment of time and talent

Perhaps best of all you will share that across a blog and different social media applications automatically and seamlessly. You will now have the ability to:

• Create and/or enhance the awareness in your brand that rivals the best public relations tactics
• Repetitively establish your credibility
• Provide opportunities for interested parties to become qualified prospects
• Maintain a high level of engagement over time
• Understand where in the sales process your investment in training and continuing education needs to be applied

Get the Facts

We have a comprehensive e-book that illustrates the inbound marketing process in great detail, and would love to share it with you. To obtain your copy, with no strings attached and no sales person phone calls, just complete the short form, above, right.

And if you would like to schedule an initial assessment of your current website and see an inbound marketing quotient just drop us an email and request a complimentary consultation.

Inbound Marketing: the Best Way to Drive Sales to New Levels

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Do you sometimes feel like your company is using social media and blogging but not getting the volume of leads you had hoped for? Are you stressing over the decision to invest more time, talent, and treasure into your marketing effort?

Or are you stuck in the old cold-calling paradigm? Heck, can a company survive this way in today's marketplace?

Jason Fried, writing for INC., articulates: “Existing companies always weigh the costs of new technology or talent against what it already has and usually sticks with what is familiar. Why? Because the marginal costs of using what you have are almost always lower than the full costs of investing in something new.”1

Established decisions makers don't think in terms of marginal costs. New companies don't base decisions like inbound marketing adoption on costs at all - rather they tend to pick what is best for the business. It's the key reason new businesses often displace established ones.  They have better tools.

Several of our clients had established outbound sales processes in place, lacked an email database to completely support a pure inbound marketing campaign, and needed a more rapid ramp up than an inbound marketing initiation would have generated. But, they had the vision to realize that a sales process based solely on cold calling was becoming dysfunctional.

One of them, the President of a manufacturing company, had been impressed with some of the content we had shared with them, from a LinkedIn group, and reached out to us. Yup- they called us!

We created a plan to blend the client's outbound culture with the inbound marketing process. One of the biggest misconceptions we see in interviewing potential clients is the "either/or" mentality many people have regarding these two disciplines. Outbound tactics are a great way to support a sales organization that is light on email contacts and doesn’t want to buy lists (and potentially risk being labeled a spammer. The solution we devised was to utilize Hubspot® as an internet environment to create warm calls where they might have only been cold ones before.

Inbound marketing is at its best when it supports a traditional sales effort, not merely trying to replace it. And this is never more evident than within an existing business trying to survive by using only an outbound marketing process.

We then created personas of the client’s target audience, asking and evaluating where they "play". We Identified ways to reach them with our blog, social media content, along with traditional marketing tactics. For example an architectural firm we work with found success with not only regularly posting new content on their website but also because we re-purposed the material into a great print article, e-book, or white paper and used it as a compelling direct mail piece. We made certain to add a unique URL to track results, designed a landing page specific to that audience (and message) and added a strong call to action.  Where we used to have daily quotas of phone calls, and frustrated sales people (and equally frustrated decision makers) we now have a process to drive more inbound leads plus we have the ability to measure the traffic and convert leads into prospects before the sales people even pick up the phone.

We are also using advertising using trade publications and other periodicals that fit the persona of the target audience industries. We have assigned sales people to trade shows and networking events and have armed them with unique business cards and/or brochures designed for that purpose, again all driving to specifically tailored landing pages.

And more often than not when the sales team acknowledges a response to a call to action and dials the phone the party on the other end is far more receptive to having a conversation. Our rate of new appointments has grown, and our close rates and new customer conversions will certainly follow. But that is on the sales manager… we are the outsourced marketing department, after all!

All of this has allowed the management team to consider eliminating sales territories all together and aligning salespeople into specific industries, creating expert solution providers not pitchy sales people. Imagine speaking with the sales person who has multiple success stories within your industry versus a guy who merely “handles your territory”!

Lastly, we could devote an entire article (perhaps we should) on the enhancements to organic search results as a byproduct of all of this new inbound traffic. A financial planning we enjoy working with previously invested around a thousand dollars monthly to improve their search engine results through SEO-generating activities.  With the use of good inbound marketing processes that company’s website ranking naturally improved, ultimately providing them with even more interested lead conversion opportunities.

Inbound marketing requires a good amount of time to generate momentum. Companies lacking a large existing email database to work with can see success with the adaptation of traditional marketing and sales methods to drive traffic and conversions is a great way to build the eventually conversion to an inbound only approach.

And it is far more efficient than cold calling on its own.

1- INC Magazine, October 2012 page 35

Top 4 Reasons Services Business Fail

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In this fast-paced world of business, mostly professional service firms such as lawyers, architects, structural engineers and financial service providers, are hesitant to move toward social media as a means for growing business. If your intent is to stay the course with your current marketing and sales methodologies, you are probably also defining yourself through the use of these following top 4 reasons for failure. 

After all, none of these business sectors seem very alluring, fun or exciting. As valuable as these products and services may be, they aren’t top of mind services of which people are routinely in need.  Banks and other financial institutions may be, but most have shied away from the new marketing, and are constantly being absorbed, merged, bought and sold.  Their focus is elsewhere.

Besides, there are established means and marketing methods that are tried and true; at least that is the current thinking, like these top 4 statements, right?

1. If it (marketing) ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Why should we convert from traditional marketing when it has served us so well in the past.   Besides, social media just isn’t for us, right?  It is no matter than even though 87% of adults that use the internet that have an investment account use social media as well as use the internet to manage their accounts (Forrester Research). 

We use our website as nothing more than a digital brochure, even though it has been proven that a static website is like a billboard in the desert. Additionally, traditional advertising has worked well for us, so why rock the boat?  It really doesn’t matter that as the market ages, our customers of the future will be entirely immersed in the digital experience.

2. We believe in our existing customer base’s demographics and psychographics.  That will not change.

We, as a business, have relied on our customer’s loyalty for generations.  Surely that won’t change.  It doesn’t matter that even though the world has gone crazy over the internet and social media, we, as a traditional business have little need to change the way we do things. Our customers introduce their children to our firm, and their children will become our clients over time.

Ours is a business of referrals, and therefore there is no need to utilize marketing methods that are here today, gone tomorrow.  Social media is just a fad.  The stories about Social Media being the New Word of Mouth are fiction; not to be relied upon.

3. Treat customer service and loyalty programs as expense departments.

The more we solicit customer opinions, the more it costs us to satisfy them.  Maintaining the status quo is cheaper than actively promoting loyalty and customer interaction.  Surveys performed by American Express clearly point out that customers that use social media are more demanding, will cancel a purchase of they have a bad social media experience.  The same survey also says they spend 21 percent more with companies that have a social media customer service program, and are more loyal; it can’t be true, can it?

4. Social media is a waste of time, money and effort.

Social media is confusing and the expense hasn’t proved itself yet.  Regardless of the report produced by Adobe’s Digital Index report, it says social media is still evolving.  Waiting until it is completely understood by the masses is a prudent decision, right?

It’s obvious that this article is meant to poke holes in the theory of the status quo when it comes to marketing in the digital age.  Frankly, we see too many small to medium sized services businesses that don’t execute the traditional model very well. If your business has suffered from any of these types of thinking, you may be in serious trouble... or denial.  Regardless of the industry you play in, there is well-identified value to be found in social media and inbound marketing.  The traditional model of lead generation is no longer working as it used to.  The inherent cost of traditional marketing is far more than inbound marketing, and digital marketing produces more loyalty and greater referral clients. 

Isn’t it time to take another look at inbound marketing?

There is Never a Penalty for Quality in Inbound Marketing.

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One of the questions Zen Marketing receive a lot relates to search engine optimization and website design.  Search engine optimization is really about driving the prominence of your website in a search, but seldom do you read about the website in its entirety. A good SEO plan should improve the search engine results plus the web visibility of each page contained within a website. Given that, is there a specific number of pages that a website should  to impact it's SEO? Can your website have too many pages?.

Since every business we work with is different, every business website we design and build is uniquely different as well. Obviously the size of a local automobile repair shop's website is going to be much smaller than an office products e-commerce website selling to customers on a national basis. So to answer the question from a design point of view, a business's website should have the number of pages that is right for them.

But how does this design-oriented approach relate to SEO?

It is important to keep a few things in mind. Today every major  search engine is motivated by the amount of new content. And while the search engines acknowledge (through their scoring) a website that is updated regularly they only truly reward websites that have lots of fresh, relevant, unique content. Thus, if you add pages just for the sake of affecting your SEO efforts the search engine spiders will actually rate you lower.

This is the very basis for the inbound marketing programs that we orchestrate for some of our clients. It impacts search results, improves lead conversion, and  drives additional revenue.

The key to good SEO is the same as good content creation-  keep your target audience in mind. If by creating one page that is nearly identical to another, and has similar information to another page, ruins the user experience then you must realize that it will also hurt you from an SEO perspective. The search engines will not know which page to rank for specific keywords, and in the end you will be simply competing with yourself. If the content is very similar it could even be considered duplicate content, which is also a negative to the search engines.

However, having too few pages can also negatively affect your SEO results. Why do people go to your website in the first place? Usually it is because they desire to learn more about a particular product or service that you offer. A website (just as any face to face meeting) must address questions or concerns that a prospective customer or existing client may have. If it doesn’t, you will fail to make an emotional  connection which is an important goal for your  website. Since the search engines want to provide users with the best possible results it is probable your site will not be considered a good result because your website content is lacking in scope.

When approaching website design and SEO we like to apply the KISS principal- Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Approach both design and search with a common sense direction and add or create what makes sense and do not force things or try to game the search engine process. Do not merely add pages for the sake of adding pages, there is not magic number of pages, and always remember that like your products or services it is the  quality of your content that will ultimately determine your search results.

If you want more customers remember, there is never a penalty for quality.

How to Explain Inbound Marketing to Professional Services Firms

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If you were to have the ability to deliver your very best, top ranked Keynote Presentation to each of your investors, strategic partners, your favorite customers and every competitor’s customer base, would you like to? What if you offered your best marketing information to grow your top and bottom line revenue targets, would you be willing to make the effort?  Of course you would.  That is exactly what an inbound marketing (content marketing) program allows you to do twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. 

Inbound marketing is nothing more than utilizing your best information about your business, your best customers and your strategic partner’s creativity and inspiration to draw potential consumers in your direction.  By feeding that group with consistent engaging and relation based information, they will make the transition to becoming a client.

In the old days, the customer would sit patiently and quietly listen patiently to the sales pitch.  Today's consumer knows that they manage the sales transaction now. Today's consumer is market wise, and knows it as well as your best sales person, and your competitors.  Inbound marketing provides an opportunity for you to create compelling, educational, engaging content that creates a relationship with that individual over time. By nurturing the potential client with worthwhile, inspiring information and compelling benefits, when it is time for the buying transaction to happen, the consumer you have created a relationship will choose you over your competitor.

Inbound (Content) Marketing is not a new concept.  What is new happens to be the way potential clients become actual ones.  They are certainly more informed and possess a better practical understanding than they ever have been, and their expectations are much higher than one might imagine. There is a huge amount of competition, and every one of your competitors is after their share.

Don’t just take my word for it, take a look at what Google and Jim Lecinski have to say:

“Google’s Zero Moment of Truth -  ZMOT is that moment when you grab your laptop, mobile phone or some other wired device and start learning about a product or service (or potential boyfriend) you’re thinking about trying or buying. I’m sure you know what I mean — you probably do web searches like this every day.

BUT

Would it surprise you to know that a full 70% of Americans now say they look at product reviews before making a purchase?

Or that 79% of consumers now say they use a smart¬phone to help with shopping?

Or that 83% of moms say they do online research after seeing TV commercials for products that interest them?

Try to see Inbound, or Content Marketing as:

• Content is storytelling, and there are many stories both within your firm and from your best clients.  Share the stories that make people’s lives better.
• Content is the pre-requisite to Brand Awareness.  It will build it if it is good.
• Content is easily communicated in multiple mediums, such as blogs, social media, video, reposts, Likes and Re-Tweets.
• Content is an investment in your brand, your future and that of your customer’s lives.
• Content separates you from your competition.  The one with the best content wins.

The marketing “game” is constantly evolving, and changes in marketing strategy must be capable of shifting along with the marketplace.  Technology being what it is, you can expect change at nearly every turn.  What is not changing, is the level of competition, and the knowledge of the consumer.  The responsibility of every professional services firm is to be nimble, quick to react, market focused and consumer friendly.  After all, it is about developing leads that can be converted to clients, and the way it is done today is through engaging, inspiring value propositions.  Your efforts to provide value and sincerity consistently will improve your market position.

Inbound marketing is about moving away from price related sales people, and toward “trusted advisor” or “alliance consultant” status.  If you were providing worthwhile information that makes his or her lives better, why would anyone move away from you?

There is no reason to fear inbound marketing, as it is the natural evolution of the marketing and advertising concept.  Traditional forms can supplement it, enhance it, but the conversion to online search is reaching critical mass.   Don’t be left wondering what happened.

Why Professional Services Firms Need Inbound Marketing

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CPAs, Architects, Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers, and Financial Services firms all use some form of marketing to gain new business.  Some use informative dinner invitations to persuade unknown potentials to listen to their pitch, while others use display advertising, couponing, radio, television and a host of other traditional methods to generate leads.  While no one disputes customer referrals as being the greatest way to generate leads, it may be difficult to develop a formalized referral program. 

We all know that the Internet is still in its infancy, despite it being available to the public for nearly twenty years. No, Al Gore did not invent the Internet; he just used the term so much that people thought he must have.  He even thought he “popularized” it, but even he knows it was around long before he sought public office.  The point is, even with nearly two decades of use, the fact remains that it is still evolving. As for marketing today, inbound marketing is the new form of marketing for the online business for several reasons.

• Companies are expected to have an interactive web site, or be deemed “out of touch with reality.”
• Inbound marketing is less expensive than traditional advertising by 61%.*
• Consumers have turned away from television commercials (DVR and TIVO), radio ads (Serios radio), telemarketing (caller ID), newspaper and magazine print ads (online news and e-mags).
• Consumers buy from those companies that display a sincere appreciation for the consumer through developing a relationship first.
• During the buying process, information gathering is performed online rather than in-store sales pressure.  Online information that makes their lives better enhances the relationship.

Phone book advertising is down to the point of near extinction in printed form, newspapers are folding every day due to the lack of print advertising, radio and television advertising is more expensive than it has ever been, and so forth.  The cost of printing and mailing of advertising in direct mail is more expensive and not always successful (because it is usually not executed properly due to lack of budget or vision).  The consumer and/or decision maker is now in charge, and is no longer interested in being bombarded with commercial advertising.  The consumer is using the Internet to search out information, and will purchase after they are comfortable with the business or provider that they feel will best suit their individual needs.

I bring out this point as a counter to what some feel is relevant; traditional marketing is no longer working the way it did.  A few weeks ago, I wrote an article stating that the traditional model was broken, and I received some negative criticism from it.  While I believe that traditional forms of marketing are in fact less productive than in the past, the bottom line is more people are seeking information online than any other form of business information. The trends reflect a permanent move away from “sales” transactions to “relationship” transactions. People want to feel they gained value and a friend, not just a commodity for the best price. 

Some firms will require more of an online presence then others, but if your competitors are actively involved in inbound marketing, chances are you should be too.  Competition is fierce, and the future is for those willing to fight for it.  Inbound marketing is not the panacea, and it is hard work, but a comprehensive review of your present marketing process versus your goals can tell you what the future will bring.

A no-cost, no-obligation, comprehensive marketing evaluation can be arranged by calling Zen Marketing today. 

*-As documented by Benchmark Survey of more than 1,271 Chief Marketing Officers, Marketing Sherpa

Inbound Marketing Levels the Playing Field

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Large or small, multi-national or local, family-owned, companies today have as much of a chance at winning business for one very big reason; the internet.  Yes, it’s true, the internet greatly impacts how business is won today, compared to just a few short years ago.  The onset of inbound marketing is just now taking firm hold, as the traditional methods of marketing are slowly heading for the dugout. 

Inbound marketing levels the playing field, so that everyone can compete with the same set of tools. 

• Web Site with Analytics
• Blogging, Webinars, Audio Playback
• Content Creation and Curation
• Public Relations
• Social Media Sharing
• Event Marketing
• Mobile Marketing
• Video Marketing
• Email Marketing

Yes, there can be a discussion about big business having a larger budget than everyone else does, but the fact of the matter is, every business needs all of the above to flourish.  An accounting firm or CPA that serves the local or regional market should be using the same tool kit that behemoth firms like JP Morgan Chase, and do an obviously better job creating profit.  Not to be harsh, but the truth lies in the use of the tools, not the size of the budget in all cases.  Smaller firms must be more nimble, forward thinking and less concerned about the paychecks of the corporate big-wigs, and more concerned with driving business in the doors. The size of the marketing department at JPMC is not driving enough revenues regardless of the tools they’re using.  Someone needs to check out what really is going on there. 

A great example of how inbound marketing levels the playing field is a case study from a client from 2009.  As a marketing agency, I am proud of how this project turned out.  Here is the summary of the case where a local architectural firm started using Hubspot software to drive leads through their inbound marketing strategy.  The results were astounding, creating a 600% increase in traffic and leads.

Here is a brief synopsis of their success.

Client: Modative Architectural Firm – Los Angeles, Ca. Founded 2006, focus on contemporary residential and commercial projects.  Note: No IT staff, no previous with Internet anything.  3 principal partners.

Challenge:  Switch from word of mouth advertising and marketing to driving leads through the Internet and their web site. “We did have a web site but we weren’t bringing really much traffic to that web site,” quotes Derek Levitt, partner.  Blogging didn’t work, and they invested in Google ads and Yahoo ads, with little to no improvement.  Only     15 % of incoming traffic in May was due to advertising (compared to 80% in the past- prior to the housing bubble).

Solution:  Signed on to the Hubspot platform, transferring Modative’s marketing from pay per click to organic traffic.  May ’09 traffic was 85% organic.  Hubspot’s search engine optimization tools, analytics, keyword analytics, and added a resource page to their web site offering free engaging content pieces such as eBooks, White Papers and informational articles and optimized their online portfolio of project photos, generating an additional 18% of traffic to the site. Working on lead capture methodology, as well as targeted social media strategic tactics, traffic increased exponentially.  Prior to inbound marketing, traffic was non-existent and now has reached 711 unique visitors a month.

Results:  Results have been dramatic, as indicated by the following illustrations:

(Image Above: monthly Google search referrals, Jan - June 2009)

Modative has increased its traffic from 639 visitors in January to 3,670 in June.

(Image Above: monthly traffic and leads, Jan - June 2009)

The company blog’s traffic has grown sizably, gaining 1,063 viewers in less than 30 days. It has 45 blog subscribers who engage with one another and leave comments. In optimizing his blog content, Derek uses social media site like Twitter, StumpleUpon and LinkedIn. "People will find an article that we blogged on and then, they will promote it," said Derek Levitt.

"I really can't say enough good things about what it has done for us in the short-term and, more importantly, in the long term," said Derek. The Hubspot product pieces have helped Modative successfully optimize search results and generate qualified leads. "We get to do all of that ourselves, which is really empowering," he said. "Things are being done the way you want them to be done."

Regardless of the fact that the client already had a web site, it wasn’t doing them any good.  It may as well have been a sign in the desert; unless someone stumbles by, it would never be seen.  Inbound marketing makes the difference.  Every type of business can benefit from inbound marketing.  It starts with an evaluation, goal setting, understanding the target audience and competitors, and developing and instituting a marketing plan.  Whether an accounting firm, architect, bakery or retail outlet, inbound marketing is the new marketing model.  The customer is now in control, like never before.  They have tuned out traditional marketing messages, and are actively searching online for those companies with whom they intend to do business.

What ROI is your present marketing creating? And if it is not meeting your expectation, what are you planning to do to improve it?

5 Things Accountants don’t Understand about Social Media

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There are many things social media is and is not.  Although the popular belief among professional businesses is that social media may be a complete waste of time, or only for the young and restless, it can be a valuable tool for all financial services firms.

Here are five things to consider:

1. Social media is the vehicle that takes your potential consumers to your blog or web site.
2. Social media is not for selling, only for telling.
3. Social media enhances brands more so than any other technology medium or channel.
4. Lead generation and social media go hand in hand.
5. Social media is about two-way communication.

- Social media is the vehicle that takes your potential consumers to your blog or web site.  There is a specific use for social media as a way to direct people to your web site.  This can be accomplished in a number of ways; announcing a contest, conducting a survey, introducing a new blog entry, advertising a free resources such as an eBook, video or White Paper.  With succinct language, consumers can click an embedded link in the social media announcement and be directed to a landing page or home page of your site for sign up, download or answer a survey, etc.

- Social media is not for selling, only for telling.  Serious thought should be the forward to any publishing of messages on social media platforms.  People resist any type of blatant selling, and will punish you for it by negative commentary on your announcement.  Social media is all about developing a relationship among followers and those that follow them. Remember, a social media comment by one person also sends that comment to every one of their followers as well as you.  When you respond to a comment placed by one of your followers, a much larger audience receives what you have to say as well.  It is very easy to get maligned by any form of emotional knee-jerk reaction to what is in print in the social media world.  Ready-Fire-Aim has been the death knell for many a marketer.

- Social media enhances brands more so than any other technology medium.  Due to the sheer volume of platforms, a single announcement on a social media site can echo around the world in a matter of seconds.  With hundreds of social media sites today, and more added daily, people are connected in ways unimaginable just a decade or so ago.  What happens in California is read about in Borneo in a matter of the blink of an eye.  Remember Arab Spring?  The revolutions occurred because of the spread of information on social media.  The internet has made all this happen, and social media, especially Facebook, has forever changed the flow of information. 

- Lead generation and social media go hand in hand.  As part of an organized inbound marketing strategy, social media participation reinforces your marketing in a number of ways, particularly generating leads.  While one of your company followers may not be in immediate need of something you may be offering, say, an eBook on Tax Avoidance Strategies, one of their followers may notice that threaded comment and click on the link in your message.  This is the power of social media; your targeted audience is automatically expanded to whoever is connected with someone that is connected with you.  Take LinkedIn, for instance.  Direct Connects of an individual is the tip of the proverbial iceberg.  A person may have 600 direct connects, but her/his second level and group level connections may be in the millions.  That is the power of social media.  You have a vast audience to market to indirectly with consistent social media participation.

- Social media is about two-way communication. Companies like Coke and Wal-Mart have figured out how valuable social media truly is; they openly communicate with their consumers through the social media platform.  With specific inbound marketing software, any time their topics on which are commented, a two-way communication can occur in real-time.  The great part about this is that you don’t have to be a behemoth corporation to communicate directly with your consumers in this fashion.  Software designed to comb the internet in real-time about specific keywords alerts you to the discussion, and provides an opportunity to respond.  It may sound like a lot of work, but the productivity of the two-way communication can minimize any negativity, or provide an opportunity to capitalize on the positive comments that are announced.  Celebrity Sports figures, actors, radio and television personalities stay connected with their fans through real-time social media conversations.  You can too.

CPAs and accountants are no different than any other business today.  Marketing has changed dramatically, and social media is a huge part of the marketing mix.  A professional inbound marketing expert can remove the mystery, set you up for success, and help you develop a comprehensive strategy and set of tactics to make things happen for you.  

CPA's Must Seize Innovation in Internet or Inbound Marketing

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It isn’t a question IF accounting firms, CPA’s and financial planners convert to internet marketing, it is more of a question of when.  The traditional marketing model is broken, as people shy away from traditional marketing efforts like telemarketing, direct mail, television and radio advertising and other “old school” methods of customer acquisition.

When was the last time you hosted a dinner event promising  no-obligation value-packed workshop? What was the real cost-benefit you derived from this tactic?

Accounting, CPA's, and financial planning firms that embrace innovation, creativity and non-traditional marketing moves experience better brand awareness, increased lead generation and lead to customer cycles that are measurably shorter than in years past.  Customers and potential customers are searching out firms to do business with that are easily found on the internet, because the yellow pages don’t work anymore.  And efficacy rates for advertising are not where they used to be either.

Innovation in marketing is a mindset that embraces brand differentiation, the use of engaging content that is readily for download from interactive web sites and a general attitude of making people's lives better through the use of a company’s products or services.  The status quo is no longer a viable solution for customer growth.

The real innovation is actually making the move from offline (traditional marketing) to online (inbound marketing), of informing the public about information that helps people become informed in a general fashion, to create an ongoing relationship with a potential consumer, and not trying to sell them all the time.  People are sick and tired of being sold. That model is broken, and will not be getting fixed anytime in the near or distant future.

Through the implementation of engaging content, compelling website design, internet marketing (aka inbound marketing) techniques such as SEO, blogging, calls to action (known as CTA’s), landing pages and embedded video, today’s CPA firm can lead the industry in innovation, growing customer rosters, and boosting top line revenues. 

Supplying free, quality content in the form of special reports, white papers, eBooks, blog articles and unexpected extras, today’s accounting firms and financial service providers can surpass their competitors, as this niche has yet to fully embrace the marketing niche. The firms following these practices report enormous gains in their business development.

Pay per click is another form of internet marketing, but is not for the meek.  Costs vary from one search engine to another, and success should not be pinned solely to this form of advertising.  The digital landscape has plenty of less expensive, more successful means by which to fill the lead funnel. Unless, of course, you have a very large budget and don't flinch at a $15.00 cost when someone clicks on your banner ad.

If you presently have a website on the internet, you may consider having it updated, as internet marketing has evolved dramatically in the past couple of years.  Should your site not change often, it is considered static, and therefore, to the unknowing consumer, it may appear that nobody is home.  By offering interactive links to landing pages offering specific free content offers, the site and its keywords can be kept up to date.  Google and other search engines (Google leads the way) update the most searched keywords monthly, and Google Adwords provides that listing for easy consumption.  Your webmaster can run an audit from time to time to keep your site fresh and at the top of the rankings.  Again, if your site is static, it is no wonder your site is ranked low in the standings.  Fresh content with strategic keyword placement assure higher rankings.

Accounting, CPA's, and financial planning firms are always in the market for new customers, as more and more their services are needed all year round. It pays to have a high quality, interactive site that performs for the reasons for which they were meant.  Inbound marketing is the way business is done in this new century, and the concept is under constant evolution. It pays to take the plunge sooner, rather than later. 

After all, new customer acquisition is the cornerstone of business.