How to Join in the Social Media Conversation

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Social media is the new word of mouth, so when the conversation online with customers or prospects begins, the friends and contacts that like what they see and react, and are going to join the conversation as well. Perhaps you aren’t monitoring your social media feeds; in that case you are missing out on information.

One of the best ways to spark a conversation online is to write about questions or comments your customers may have mentioned, and reply to them in your content. By incorporating your social media connections into the dialogue, you are enabling a discussion specifically about your brand.

How you handle (or do not) questions and requests through social media will either polish or tarnish your company brand. Responding to public style questions deserve public answers, but don’t air your dirty laundry. Weigh your responses, and teach your social marketing staff to do the same.

The main thing to remember

When considering or maintaining a social marketing strategy you must realize that it needs to be based on contact. Contact is the foundation of today’s marketing, so it not only must engage the reader, it must answer some concern or question of your targeted audience. Without the correct keyword strategy, publishing calendar, timely topics chosen or injection into your social media, nothing is a bigger concern. Engaging, compelling content in any of its forms must attract and capture the reader, or it isn’t worth the time invested in producing it.

If you are one of those companies that have set up a social media business page and then abandoned it need a crash course in what is happening through the mechanisms of social sites. While Facebook uses an open format, with image, video and/or multi-media postings at your avail, Twitter limits the entries to 140 characters, including spaces and punctuation. It takes a bit of education to master either site, so just don’t jump right in without learning a few things. LinkedIn is yet another social media site that has grown dramatically in the past couple of years, and it has its own protocols. What works on one will certainly not work on the other. There are strategies that can meld them and other sites into a cohesive marketing methodology, however.

Your website and offline communications vehicles should carry your points of contact; Facebook page, Twitter handle, Pinterest page, LinkedIn profile and business page should be readily accessible to click through or to navigate with. QR codes are another tool for use to incorporate into print media, like Coke creatively accomplished. It’s just another way for their consumers to interact with their brand.

Here's A Great Demonstration

If you haven’t viewed the Coca-Cola 2020 two-part project, you owe it to yourself to see the future in full view today. Their ambitious plan has gone through numerous iterations, and will certainly change the marketing scene globally.

The Coca-Cola2020 video series is an excellent use of multi-media, as it is built on a new platform called Prezi. If you are interested in the future of marketing, these two organizations are driving marketing innovation like no one else.

When your prospects and customers interact with you as a result of your content, you must be active in the conversation. As content is the vehicle for driving the social media conversation, joining in is critical.

Zen Marketing can deliver marketing campaign development, consulting and content creation, curation and marketing analysis. We’re confident in our capabilities to ensure yours.

Email Marketing for Accounting Firms

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Email marketing is a great way for you to attract or shore up some of the client base, and accounting firms know that once the rush begins, there will be no rest until it is all put aside in late April. It won’t be long until tax filing season comes into focus; often this is no sooner than the holiday decorations are returned to their resting place.

Hopefully you got some rest over the long period between holidays, and didn’t suffer too much post-bubbly on New Year’s Eve. You are going to need your strength once the pressure builds and the back and forth of communications starts with your clients and your staff.
Marketing is probably not even on your mind, especially email marketing. If it isn’t in your wheel house, you just may be in deep water. Not to worry, we at Zen Marketing have life safety devices nearby to bring you back on dry land.

We all know that competition is stiff under normal standards, and this year will be no exception. Competition combined with the ever-changing regulations in the Tax Code, expiring incentives and the rush to get it all done can make your head spin off your shoulders. Add marketing to that mix and some may be considering moving to a desert island.

Utilizing email marketing can streamline the process of getting or staying in contact with your client base, as well as nurturing existing leads that have yet to commit. Getting some of that work done early can put your firm in good stead once the filing season is over. Normally, clients rush in, and then rush away just as quickly. Generating some leads and nurturing them with an automated email marketing campaign is a great way to smooth out the bumps and dips in clientele once the madness of April is behind you.

Email marketing is one of the most affordable methods of lead generation, so why not exploit it. Scheduled content delivery builds reputations, relations and keeps your potential client in the loop. Utilizing a pre-planned and coordinated email marketing campaign can be automated, so you can focus on matters at hand.

The affordability is one of the most attractive aspects of lead generation through email marketing. Still considered a formidable part of the lead nurturing process, when you blend it with direct mail and advertising email provides cost-effective sustainability and expanded marketing reach. With the postage rates and paper costs in a constant upward motion, it has become cost prohibitive for most accounting firms and other small businesses to rely solely on direct mail. Email provides a bridge.

As for other forms of marketing, the costs for television and radio ads have skyrocketed, mainly because of lagging viewership, DVR, satellite radio, and streaming web usage. Revenue targets must remain so even though usage has declined, the average cost per ad has gone skyward, and will remain in an upward climb. Another compelling reason for email marketing.

Inbound marketing (aka content marketing) also relies heavily on email marketing, especially where there is a need for diverse methods in developing engagement and especially with lead nurturing campaigns.

You can cross-sell targeted batches of your overall database by segmenting them into their position in the sales process. Sending get acquainted email content to seasoned prospects is not productive, and may even offend or disenchant prospects. Using data culled by what we call “lead score” will allow for targeted messaging to the right group of prospective clientele. The same holds true for selling buying decision email messaging too soon in the process may cause you to lose that prospect all together. Targeted lead nurturing is a tactic that works well, if implemented correctly.

Another worthwhile benfit that email marketing provides is the ability to personalize the email marketing messages so that the information is deemed “just for me,” which builds your brand and the relationship. Using the prospects name in the salutation and in the body of the content makes you get noticed, and it can be done through technology rather than individually creating each message.

Email marketing is a great tool for accounting firms of all sizes. You know the big boys use it, and you can as well. All it takes is a bit of knowledge, effort and someone to help guide you toward a successful campaign.

Have a profitable tax filing season.

The USPS Changes More Than Just Direct Mail Stamp Prices

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In a meeting today, with seven business people, a comment was made that direct mail was "making a comeback", and "all that social media and e-mail is just confusing". Like many marketing tactics there are right and wrong ways to use the a proven tactic. There are some tactics better suited for a specific business persona than another. The best tactic can be misused and later thrown aside as ineffective or out of touch.

As you are no doubt aware, the postal rates were increased Monday, January 28, 2013. The straight First Class Letter rate rose by $.01 from $.45 to $.46 per piece and a Postcard (the postal definition of a postcard) also rose $.01 from $.32 to $.33 per piece.

However, the actual “sorted” rates did not change very much. Our estimation: the implementation of the new Intelligent Mail Bar Code (IMB) contributed to that, but that is only an estimation.

According to Chris Halligan, President of Associated Mailing & Printing in Branchburg, New Jersey: "when we propose the use of direct mail we suggest using the highest automated rate and then round it up to determine an “estimated” postage rates. This usually ensures that the "estimated" postage is on the high side. You should know, you can not determine “actual” postage without the list and at least specifications of the piece. Often when we are asked to provide a quote we do not have that information, hence this formulation". This is a very sound approach.

Here is a list of the “estimated” rates that Associated Mailing & Printing is providing for general information. 

Estimated Postage (Per Piece)
New   Previous

• First Class Presort $.41 $.41 
• Standard $.29 $.28
• Non-profit $.17 $.17
• Postcard** $.26 $.26
• EDDM (Actual) $.16 $.145

**This is for cards that are sized between 5 X 3.5 and 6 X 4.25.

We were not surprised that EDDM increased 10%. The USPS has likely realized that they needed to protect mailers more than they were previouwsly. Plus the individual post offices were not prepared to accomodate the popularity of the program.

Also, with the letter-size “Carrier Route” rates not raised, it makes the option of a “normal” occupant mailing much more attractive than the EDDM mailing. EDDM mailing becomes attractive if the sender wants to do the sorting work themselves, or if the sender really wants to mail a “flat” size piece. Otherwise, the more traditional “occupant” mailings could actually cost less overall.

Besides the Intelligent Mail Bar Code (IMB), the postal service announced a number of changes affecting folded self-mailers (FSB) that also went into effect on January 5th. Most of the changes affect mailers and are really just an enforcement of regulations already on the books. The biggest change: tri-folded pieces, where the mailing panel MUST be in the center panel. In addition, the “closed” (or folded) end of the pieces must be on the bottom and on the right.

If more information is needed regarding the changes to the regulations for folded self-mailers, please share your questions below.

Five Reasons Why Accountants Should Do Their Own Marketing

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(...and other misnomers for professional service firms)

There are five really great reasons why architects, Lawyers, CPA’s, financial planners, consultants, and other professional services providers should be responsible for their own marketing. You are intelligent beings, after all. The list below makes all the sense in the world, right. Let’s see if you feel this way.

• I learned to write reports and essays in school. How hard could blogging, article writing, email campaigns and web content be?
• Search Engine Optimization is just a fancy word for “getting found” on the search engines. I can buy an ad and be at the top of the page.
• I don’t need analysis; I know how much my leads cost and where they come from.
• I send my sales people to trade shows all year long, and spending that much is a huge impact on my budget. We check on our competitors there, so why spend even more hiring an inbound marketing agency to tell me what I already know.
• The younger people on staff already know how to surf the Internet. I can rely on them to do this stuff.

There is a challenge for all businesses today. Whether you operate in the Business-to-Customer arena (B2C) or the Business-to-Business sector (B2B), the ability to "stand out in the crowd" is more and more difficult, regardless of which sector you might play in. And the old mentalities simply will not get your brand the attention it will need to thrive. Heck, even just to survive!

I’m not sure how you feel about the above statements, but if you are still reading, I think there are things to discuss. Let’s address them in order.

Article, blogs, email campaigns and more

Marketing today is a lot different than it was even just a few years ago. Traditional marketing methods are not performing at the same level they were in the first decade of this millennium, and even more so than the 1990’s. Inbound marketing is about content; engaging, relevant, compelling content. Writing to the personas of your target customer is a bit of an art, and is much different from report or essay writing. Now that consumers are utilizing the Internet to perform their research, content is extremely important. The distribution of original and curated content in multiple forms is now part-and-parcel of the marketing strategy. Consumers are making up their minds what they want and from whom before you even hear from them.

An effective blogging campaign (where the majority of new leads now emanate) requires a dedicated effort of blogging five times per week. Add to that commitment the creation of content such as video, audio, webinars, white papers and eBooks can be a full time effort.

Search Engine Optimization

While it is true that a PPC campaign may place you in the top tier of the ads on Google, Yahoo and Bing, there are hundreds of search engines. PPC, or pay per click can be an important aspect of an overall inbound marketing campaign, but it can be very expensive, and results may not yield much in the way of qualified leads. Remember also, that each time someone accidently clicks on your ad, you are paying anywhere from $.50 to $4.00. A PPC campaign is merely one of the tools that can be implemented to drive traffic. Doesn’t organic traffic make more sense? Look at this chart from Marketing Sherpa, which identifies the business-to-business answers to the survey conducted at year-end 2011. There is more to inbound marketing than SEO and PPC.

As the above chart indicates, there is a lot more to SEO than getting on the first page. The full complement of marketing sub-categories all interact cohesively to create the visibility and reach for firms today. More B2C and B2B sales occur through online activity, flipping the sales and marketing process from push to pull.

Analytics Tell a Big Story

I am sure you will agree with me that knowledge is power; it forever will be. Knowing about your competitors’ online positioning and effectiveness, as well as off line activity can identify weaknesses or strengths to be exploited.

Statistics represent the story of what is or is not occurring, if you know how to read them. Some statistics reveal consumer behaviors, while others display the effectiveness of your actions and offerings. Through comparisons of competitive data as well as internal information can aid sales and marketing personnel, thereby arming them with the right weapons to generate revenues. Big data can reveal big opportunities, to refine or to conquer.

According to Hubspot®, the cost per lead through inbound marketing has been proven less expensive than outbound (traditional) marketing by 62%.

Image courtesy of Hubspot®

Off Line Marketing – Trade Shows, Direct Mail, Display Ads, etc.

It’s a fact that trade show traffic is down across all industries. The cost to build out a booth, travel and per diem expenses for sales personnel and printed materials continue to rise, with fewer “qualified” leads from all the expense. Additionally, the burden the office feels resulting from fewer personnel at the office is weighty. Display ads are expensive, and tells you nothing from where your leads came. You have no clear idea where to place your marketing dollars for their best ROI. It is all about risk and return after all. Having a targeted campaign beats the shotgun approach every time.

Direct mail campaigns are at their worst efficacy in the history of marketing. The high cost of postage, print production and stuffing envelopes is tedious and produce a low yield. While television advertising is still a valid source of qualified leads for B2C business, it remains one of the most expensive forms of marketing, even with local cable as the vehicle.

Full Time Staff Already Have Full Time Jobs

Most firms have felt the pinch of the economic storm we are facing today. Staff is working at near capacity or more. The expectation of them taking on the social media, blogging, email campaigning, and article writing, offer creation and developing landing pages and understanding analytics is unfair and unrealistic.

Your job is to get the best from your resources, not wear them down and create dissention through unrealistic expectations and overwork. Besides, these tasks take dedicated focused effort, not some half-hearted attempts at keeping up.

Still Considering Doing it Yourself?

If more qualified leads is your objective, can you honestly believe you can perform the marketing task independently? Can you look your staff in the eye and ask them to take on even more responsibility? Do you plan to maintain the status quo with your current marketing efforts, despite the predictable poor outcome?

An inbound marketing agency can perform all, or some of these time consuming tasks with specialists in their field. From in depth analysis to email marketing campaign design and implementation, the right agency has the experts to help your business evolve.

It might be a good idea to consider looking into an inbound marketing agency. Nearly all of them offer a no cost consultation, and an intensive review of your goals, current efforts, the competition and other facts to determine your needs. The evaluation can be performed on the phone, to minimize the impact of face-to-face meetings.

Zen Marketing is fully qualified to assist in the conversion of your business from the traditional model to inbound marketing. Combining state of the art marketing strategies and traditional tactics can produce the kind of results you are seeking. It may serve you well to contact us today.

Five Reasons Why Architects Should Do Their Own Marketing...

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(...and other misnomers for professional service firms)

There are five really great reasons why architects, Lawyers, CPA’s, financial planners, consultants, and other professional services providers should be responsible for their own marketing. You are intelligent beings, after all. The list below makes all the sense in the world, right. Let’s see if you feel this way.

• I learned to write reports and essays in school. How hard could blogging, article writing, email campaigns and web content be?
• Search Engine Optimization is just a fancy word for “getting found” on the search engines. I can buy an ad and be at the top of the page.
• I don’t need analysis; I know how much my leads cost and where they come from.
• I send my sales people to trade shows all year long, and spending that much is a huge impact on my budget. We check on our competitors there, so why spend even more hiring an inbound marketing agency to tell me what I already know.
• The younger people on staff already know how to surf the Internet. I can rely on them to do this stuff.

There is a challenge for all businesses today. Whether you operate in the Business-to-Customer arena (B2C) or the Business-to-Business sector (B2B), the ability to "stand out in the crowd" is more and more difficult, regardless of which sector you might play in. And the old mentalities simply will not get your brand the attention it will need to thrive. Heck, even just to survive!

I’m not sure how you feel about the above statements, but if you are still reading, I think there are things to discuss. Let’s address them in order.

Article, blogs, email campaigns and more

Marketing today is a lot different than it was even just a few years ago. Traditional marketing methods are not performing at the same level they were in the first decade of this millennium, and even more so than the 1990’s. Inbound marketing is about content; engaging, relevant, compelling content. Writing to the personas of your target customer is a bit of an art, and is much different from report or essay writing. Now that consumers are utilizing the Internet to perform their research, content is extremely important. The distribution of original and curated content in multiple forms is now part-and-parcel of the marketing strategy. Consumers are making up their minds what they want and from whom before you even hear from them.

An effective blogging campaign (where the majority of new leads now emanate) requires a dedicated effort of blogging five times per week. Add to that commitment the creation of content such as video, audio, webinars, white papers and eBooks can be a full time effort.

Search Engine Optimization

While it is true that a PPC campaign may place you in the top tier of the ads on Google, Yahoo and Bing, there are hundreds of search engines. PPC, or pay per click can be an important aspect of an overall inbound marketing campaign, but it can be very expensive, and results may not yield much in the way of qualified leads. Remember also, that each time someone accidently clicks on your ad, you are paying anywhere from $.50 to $4.00. A PPC campaign is merely one of the tools that can be implemented to drive traffic. Doesn’t organic traffic make more sense? Look at this chart from Marketing Sherpa, which identifies the business-to-business answers to the survey conducted at year-end 2011. There is more to inbound marketing than SEO and PPC.

As the above chart indicates, there is a lot more to SEO than getting on the first page. The full complement of marketing sub-categories all interact cohesively to create the visibility and reach for firms today. More B2C and B2B sales occur through online activity, flipping the sales and marketing process from push to pull.

Analytics Tell a Big Story

I am sure you will agree with me that knowledge is power; it forever will be. Knowing about your competitors’ online positioning and effectiveness, as well as off line activity can identify weaknesses or strengths to be exploited.

Statistics represent the story of what is or is not occurring, if you know how to read them. Some statistics reveal consumer behaviors, while others display the effectiveness of your actions and offerings. Through comparisons of competitive data as well as internal information can aid sales and marketing personnel, thereby arming them with the right weapons to generate revenues. Big data can reveal big opportunities, to refine or to conquer.

According to Hubspot®, the cost per lead through inbound marketing has been proven less expensive than outbound (traditional) marketing by 62%.

Image courtesy of Hubspot®

Off Line Marketing – Trade Shows, Direct Mail, Display Ads, etc.

It’s a fact that trade show traffic is down across all industries. The cost to build out a booth, travel and per diem expenses for sales personnel and printed materials continue to rise, with fewer “qualified” leads from all the expense. Additionally, the burden the office feels resulting from fewer personnel at the office is weighty. Display ads are expensive, and tells you nothing from where your leads came. You have no clear idea where to place your marketing dollars for their best ROI. It is all about risk and return after all. Having a targeted campaign beats the shotgun approach every time.

Direct mail campaigns are at their worst efficacy in the history of marketing. The high cost of postage, print production and stuffing envelopes is tedious and produce a low yield. While television advertising is still a valid source of qualified leads for B2C business, it remains one of the most expensive forms of marketing, even with local cable as the vehicle.

Full Time Staff Already Have Full Time Jobs

Most firms have felt the pinch of the economic storm we are facing today. Staff is working at near capacity or more. The expectation of them taking on the social media, blogging, email campaigning, and article writing, offer creation and developing landing pages and understanding analytics is unfair and unrealistic.

Your job is to get the best from your resources, not wear them down and create dissention through unrealistic expectations and overwork. Besides, these tasks take dedicated focused effort, not some half-hearted attempts at keeping up.

Still Considering Doing it Yourself?

If more qualified leads is your objective, can you honestly believe you can perform the marketing task independently? Can you look your staff in the eye and ask them to take on even more responsibility? Do you plan to maintain the status quo with your current marketing efforts, despite the predictable poor outcome?

An inbound marketing agency can perform all, or some of these time consuming tasks with specialists in their field. From in depth analysis to email marketing campaign design and implementation, the right agency has the experts to help your business evolve.

It might be a good idea to consider looking into an inbound marketing agency. Nearly all of them offer a no cost consultation, and an intensive review of your goals, current efforts, the competition and other facts to determine your needs. The evaluation can be performed on the phone, to minimize the impact of face-to-face meetings.

Zen Marketing is fully qualified to assist in the conversion of your business from the traditional model to inbound marketing. Combining state of the art marketing strategies and traditional tactics can produce the kind of results you are seeking. It may serve you well to contact us today.

Top Three Trends for Marketing in 2013

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Marketing trends for the third and fourth quarter of this year show strong indications that the top three for 2013 will continue to be social media, mobile and search. Regardless of what disruptions online search has succumbed to, it remains a critical part of the marketing mix. 

Next year, 2013, as noted in the image above, touts strong marketing performance in red, so we can only hope.  Thirteen is a very lucky number in Chinese Culture, as is the color red.  Imagine the year ahead filled with good things such as good fortune and joy.    That is, if you include Social as part of your content marketing strategy. 

Social Media at Critical Mass

This graph reflects the magnitude of social media’s impact on business across the board.  The steady growth in the past four years is destined to increase, so there is no denying it.

As social media has disrupted online search because of the updates by Google Penguin and Google Panda). Search as we knew it in 2011 are outdated.  With no crystal ball, marketing in 2013 must shift its focus and resources to content creation and curation through social media. 

Why social media?  What is a Facebook Fan really worth? What about measuring ROI?

These are all great questions.  There is some analysis involved, so I’ll share what I found in a pair of ComScore.com white papers. 

With more than one-seventh of the world’s population on Facebook alone, according to eMarketer.  Chances are your customers, prospects and would-be prospects are already there.  Can you afford to ignore the conversations happening on social media?

Among Fans of Facebook, we must quantify them using these three factors.

• Increasing active engagement
• Generating actual purchases
• Creating Buzz

Increasing active engagement – How long the visitor spends reviewing content. One must analyze the active brand engagement.  Is the product or service you sell impacted by Fans or non-fans.

Generating purchases – Are Fans actually purchasing goods and services on social networks.  What is the percentage of Fans purchasing, versus non-Fans.

Creating Buzz – How much activity is your content being discussed on Facebook; every Like or Fan generates that much more exposure than a single person.

A study performed by Socialbakers reflects some interesting data. Finance, which does not include professional service firms, ranks third in socially connected and devoted.  As it relates to the remaining seven of the top 10, CPA’s, Lawyers, Architects and other professional service firms do not appear on the list.  Could it  be that these industries fail to recognize the changing marketing atmosphere?

In research from Primo Fini Content, when it comes to professional service firms on Facebook, the statistics are pretty interesting. With Facebook leading the list of most fans no professional services firms in the USA were in the top 5,000 pages.  By the 4,482 professional service firms listed, the first architectural firm to come up is from Mexico, with 281000+ fans at number 8, and surprisingly  a State Farm Insurance firm coming in at 208, with a bit more than 21700 fans.

Out of the 427 pages under “Legal/Law,” the Rozen Law firm of North Carolina comes in at 41st on this list, with 3462 fans.  Rosen Law specializes in divorce. It seems professional service firms have some catching up to do.

Last time we spoke of the Power of Content. Content is what drives the bus, so to speak.  If you do not have a content strategy and mission statement, you are behind the power curve already. 

It begins with engaging content that attracts readership.  If the content is worth their time, readers will stick with you.  Once they move from Facebook to your main site, the conversation is warming up.  If you have social media sites and do not actively respond to queries or comments, you are losing not only credibility, but possibly loyalty, leading to customer loss.  That is the cost of NOT being social.

Money in Mobile

Remember when the Smartphone hit the market?  All this technology and it is in the palm of your hand.  Within a few short years, not only have they become the number one type of mobile phone in the world, for the first time sales are actually taking a small hit, as the Tablet grows in popularity.   Tablet markets are forecast to grow at 29% year-over-year.  This statement from WintergreenResearch.com.

We live in a mobile world, as the “don’t leave home without it” American Express slogan is now the Smartphone owners mantra.  Mobile devices come in a variety of sizes, shapes and types.  The phone, eReader, laptop and Tablet.  Throw in the television, and we have our faces in screens a good amount of the day.  All the more reason for engaging content to be available 24/7, and it had better be interactive.

There is a negative in everything, and mobile is no exception.  Mobile ads continue to lag behind predictions, but over time, it is believed that things will improve, once innovation takes ads from banner and footer to something else.

Mobile e-Commerce is at rapid fire pace globally, so if you can take revenues on the fly, mobile pay services like Square, Stripe and others are growing in acceptance exponentially.  Including a mobile site to the overall strategy, as well as mobile optimizing your desktop site will help your customers better navigate it.

Search Optimization

Still the main ingredient, the recent changes of which I spoke earlier have caused some distress in the market place, but those who continue to produce engaging, value oriented content have little to worry about.  Social media and multi-media have influenced the rankings, which is new, however, marketing is focusing and advancing technologies to incorporate them into cutting edge material.

The key to search optimization continues to be keywords and long-tail keywords.  By that I mean specific phrases that succinctly get the message across about what the content reveals.  Single keywords do not have the impact a long-tail keyword, but they help get the rankings up as long as they relate to the content.  Linking to other sites is always valuable, so when discussing a particular topic, try to include either quotations or summations of another viewpoint by placing a link in your piece.

Images, video clips and other media options must also carry keywords or website name as alternative text. The three main search engines; Google, Bing and Yahoo recognize this and treat it positively to aid in the rankings.

Thinking about the year end is two-faceted. While it is great to review the successes and challenges of the previous twelve months, it would do us well to carry that thinking over as we plan for the upcoming year. 

If you need any help gearing up your social media, content marketing or optimizing your website, please feel free to contact us.

The Power of Content

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It really doesn’t matter in which industry you serve, everyone markets to their prospective consumer. Some call them clients, some call them customers, some even call them members; they are all experiencing the effects of your marketing. That friends, is the power of content. Tailored correctly, content that is “persona-fied,” that is, crafted directly at the type of consumer for which you are aiming.

Marketers have a huge responsibility. Whether you market to the B2B, B2C, B2Gm B2NP or individual entrepreneurs, you have to not only generate interest, but also do it in such a way that they are actually paying attention. That is the power of content.

For those with very tight budgets, content marketing is very affordable. Cost-effective methods for content creation are abundant, and are viewable on a number of platforms. From blogs to video email, article marketing to webinars, today’s devices make it easy to access your clientele, because they are almost always connected. The smartphone, tablet, e-Reader and desktop can easily access your targeted content.

The holdback is the amount of effort involved with supplying a consistent amount and variety of targeted, persona-geared content. It takes a fair amount of strategic planning, specific branding, content creation and promotion. After that, then there is the issue of distribution. The investment in content marketing is both time and financial resources to set your business apart with the power of content.

Recently we spoke of search engine optimization being an extremely important facet of inbound marketing. Making sure that your web site can be found, and easily located by the use of keywords, back links and so forth is part and parcel of SEO.

SEO Aided by Powerful Content – When individuals search the net for a particular string of words, say a product or service description, the search engine returns an assortment of content that is found to match your inquiry. Therefore, by crafting your content piece with the proper keywords, your chances of making it to the front page of the search results improves. The better created content (effective copywriting using keyword strategies) rises to the top like well-made bread dough in the proofing oven.

Diversified content formats also aid in “getting found” easily, as the search engines respect the quality of the content provider that is genuinely attempting to provide “worth-while, engaging content” and not just fluff or word-farm generated spin documents.

The more content visible on the internet, the better your chances of making to the top of the keyword search. That takes time, as you will need approximately 50 pieces of SEO’ed content to make a real impact, according to The Hubspot report – State of Inbound Marketing (disclosure: we are a Hubspot shop and a value added reseller). Depending on your capabilities, you may have to supplement your in-house content creators with outside copywriters. Each business is unique to itself, so

Content Marketing is Low Cost Advertising – While content marketing is not a panacea, it definitely helps support your advertising budget. Content can replace a great part of it over time, as the library of pertinent, engaging content grows in volume. Rather than pay-per-click, or pay-per-impression ads generate leads, the quality of leads will be better the more the content is viewed by returning site visitors. In that fashion, content can not only aid in reducing your advertising costs, but drive better quality leads through the sales process, allowing for your sales team to bring them to close more quickly.

Remember, once the content is on the internet, it is permanent. Over time, the content may become stale and no longer viewed by current visitors, but no one said that the previously created content couldn’t be re-purposed, rejuvenated and re-published. Turning a series of articles that are perhaps a year old can easily be re-purposed and re-published into an eBook or Special Report(s). Voila! New Content. The cost of generating a new ad or even new content is extremely less through this strategy.

Lead Generation is the Result of Content Marketing – As mentioned earlier, higher quality leads come from those visitors that find value in your content, as opposed to PPC and other paid online ads. With a well-rounded and comprehensive content strategy, leads of varied interest can be further targeted. A visitor that is viewing your site for the first time is not the same as a visitor that has returned with regularity. That is an indicator of being somewhere in the sales funnel, heading toward “buyer ready” status.

The reasons this particular prospect is returning are presently unknown to you other than they find value in your content. Sales should not intervene until said prospect has been judged to be in the final stages of the buyer ready. This is known as lead scoring. An internal system of knowing where the prospects are in the buying cycle. These leads that continually make their way through the process are naturally higher in quality than someone responding to an advertisement, and therefore stand a better chance of being closed.

In closing, what also needs to be considered is identifying the powerful content from what doesn’t perform. Through internal analysis, you can determine that your prospective, target audience may respond to webinars better than online video, or your digital magazine more so than your email campaigns. Defining metrics and routing analysis can help you create better, more power packed content.

Would you like to find out more about the Power of Content? After all, you are seeing how it works firsthand...

Internet Marketing-Will Your Marketing Be Relevant in 2013?

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In today's marketplace, traditional advertising and outbound marketing falls on the deaf ears of frustrated buyers who are sick of the cold call, the direct mail and the hard sell. Your marketing needs to be, well, remarkable!

This quote from a story posted on a popular blog sums it up perfectly:

“There's nothing more maddening than having your day interrupted and time wasted by a desperate, cold calling salesperson, but it's even worse when they lie in order to trick you into calling them back.”

Yes, cold calling is frustrating for both ends of the phone call but has its efficacy diminished to the point where the telemarketers and sales guys have to lie in their voicemails to get you to call them back?

Does that sound like the path to customer engagement to you?

But how can a small business owner expect to drive a strong marketing campaign? The answer- your business isn’t a Fortune 500 company and you should stop trying to market like one. But this doesn’t mean you can’t have Fortune 500 results.

There are dynamic inbound strategies that will allow you to differentiate your business and prove to your prospects the value of your products and services. Your sales efforts can be unobtrusive, and provide your sales team people with lead-nurturing tactics that will earn the trust, respect and (most importantly) loyal business of your targets.

And none of them involve manipulation! This concept that lying in a voicemail (or email, postcard, or any other tactic) in order to get a return call is one of the worst forms of manipulation- sure you might get a call back, but you will never close a sale!

I recall several years ago, when consulting for a Wall Street headhunting firm, a popular concept in the sales department involved the idea of calling and asking for a bogus made-up name. When the gate keeper responded not knowing anyone by that name the sales person would provide a "Oh I'm sorry, who handles that department now?"

Is it any wonder “sales people” have a bad rap?

Some New Year’s Resolutions that Are Relevant

What you and your client facing people should be doing from this point forward:

• Evaluate all of your tactics and processes- we don’t feel using the telephone is dead, merely that cold calling is destructive to relationships, and is an inefficient method of sales by itself. A diverse marketing campaign creates a warm call environment. It’s more fun for your sales team, much more efficient, and proven to produce better close rates.
• Have an honest conversation with everyone involved in sales or customer service about honesty- and make it part of your culture, not just some tag line like the local car repair place uses. Believe it and live up to it. No one should ever fear for their job security because they did what was right in satisfying a client!
• Get everyone involved in some form of networking- and coach them on the right way to develop a word of mouth referral process (we have a great workshop/webinar for this). Going to chamber of commerce events, drinking the wine, shaking some hands, passing out some cards isn’t really networking.
• Use the expertise and experience in your company to produce great articles, white papers, and case studies. Share these on your website, through social media, and in other online forums. If written and posted properly this marketing approach can positively impact your website traffic and SEO, plus it makes your people experts, not merely sales people. And, guess what- your company becomes a resource instead of a distributor of “stuff”.
• Make certain your website reflects all of these sensibilities and is optimized for good organic search engine results.  Your posts and articles, if relevant, are like a magnet for new interest in your products or services on your website. So don’t drive your prospects to your site only to have them quickly flee because your website underwhelms their expectation.

Do You Have Two Really Good Plans

You probably have a business plan on the shelf (that’s the one, covered in dust). That’s not one I am referring to. Every small to medium sized business looking to grow needs two plans-

1. A strategic plan; this is your vision, why you are in the business as well as where you want your business to be. A good strategic plan will detail the critical success factors, goals, strategies, and then flow through the tactics necessary to satisfy your overall vision for the business. It might even include succession and retirement planning. I hate the “idea of the week” style of management that is prevalent in many small businesses.
2. A marketing plan; a diversified roadmap for taking advantage of the many cross channel and inbound marketing tools available to businesses of any scale today. Make certain it is SMART¹ and actionable. And make certain you have the time, talent, and treasure to begin creating engagement with your intended audience.

If content creation is outside your team’s comfort zone, or it’s been more than a year since you re-evaluated your website, seek out a reputable marketing company to help you. Many are experts at helping you design and execute the plan that is right for your industry, target audience, and budget.

Finally… go out and do all of it!

For a much deeper dive into Internet marketing, download the white paper “"Essential Step-by-Step Guide to Internet Marketing”, available above.

And thanks to Frank Rumbauskas whose blog provided the quote, plus inspired me to consider the ethics sadly missing in many sales domains today.

Inbound Marketing & the False Beliefs in Customer Loyalty

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While it is a long-standing tenet of business, “the customer is always right” may not be so, at least in the eyes of the traditional sales professional. Customer loyalty is part and parcel of good business, but when sales professionals insist on their target always having the final say is not the best mindset if they don’t actually know of what they espouse.

Solution sales processes are clearly outdated in their traditional form, yet clung to by nearly all professional sales executives, at least in the B2B arenas. Based on years of research by the Harvard Business Review, with tens of thousands of interviews pertaining to solution sales tactics, today’s best practices in sales and marketing strategies and tactics point to a dramatic shift from traditional thinking. Most business today that focus on the B2B marketplace insist that traditional methods are needed, yet conventional wisdom isn’t what it is expected to be. Solution sales pros that “know what’s best” may not really understand that today’s customer has spent valuable time, talent, and treasure searching out a solution that best suits their problem at hand- and can do so today far better than ever before. In the past, most companies relied on the solution sales pro to know it all, and there was no need to “go it alone.” With technology evolving by the day, there are multiple choices now available that may not have been in the past.

The challenge is not in the use of traditional pipeline management and sales management techniques or even tightly held customer belief systems; it is the current decision maker’s behavioral reality that must be observed. Rather than solving problems through traditional “in your face” solution selling, today’s methodology is to provide the information needed to position products and services in the best light, and make it available for the customer to discover. Driving revenues for the short term successes by creating a false sense of customer dependence (some over-think it is customer loyalty) will never replace addressing the real problems that plague business.

The Customer Today Has More Information, More Choices, and More Tools.

Today’s customer has made their way through more than half the discovery distance before even considering reaching out to a sales organization. Therein lies the rub. For those companies being uninvolved in the “early discovery stages” by providing bountiful, engaging and informative content on the front end, may never allow them to have the opportunity to reach the interview or exploratory stage in the acquisition process. It is no longer about selling inasmuch as it is about educating. Or as I often tell our clients, become a resource not merely a sales outlet. Today’s successful sales and marketing organizations must focus on educating the prospective customer, nurturing them along the sales funnel (selling process) and building the relationship if they intend to create REAL and sustainable customer loyalty.

Whether it be B2B or B2C, the process is quite similar. Today’s customer is looking for the best fit for their issue; product or service. The success will come to those that provide information, education and engaging professionalism rather than a slick sales pitch or a low, low price.

Inbound Marketing – The 2013 Cure for Business Anxiety?

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New Year, More Anxiety for Local Business Owners

From a column we produced running in The Hunterdon County Democrat and NJ.com

While 2012 may have been a lackluster year for business, this curative approach could dispel much of the pent up anxiety small business owners may have experienced in 2012.  The New Year often brings on strategic planning and tactical reviews to hopefully have a better year ahead.  Once the reflective period and resolution setting period is past, the New Year can mean improved revenues, profitability and sustainability as companies learn to embrace inbound marketing.

According to John Hyman, the “Overseer of Order” at Zen Marketing Inc in Flemington, “business owners should take advantage of proven, modern marketing practices such as cross channel marketing and inbound marketing. But because they get so wrapped up in the day to day running of the business they seldom are able to market effectively by themselves.  Now is the time every business owner should be assessing his or her marketing plan and critically evaluating every tool in the company’s marketing toolbox.“

For many business owners the start of the New Year brings a lot of anxiety. It means another 365 days of trying to exceed the previous year’s revenue goals and to find that elusive formula to achieve, or at least maintain current profitability levels at a minimum.   According to Hyman, combining cross channel marketing and inbound marketing can be the elixir of change that sparks renewed vigor into sagging revenue streams.  What may sound like an easy to prescribe remedy, Hyman states the process is more complex than many small business may have the time or expertise to perform without assistance. 

“Inbound marketing is a process that drives top of mind awareness to an intended audience, and over time creates a high level of new customers without having to resort to cold calling.  While Inbound marketing involves many of the same tactics used in cross channel marketing” says Hyman, “it is simply based on “getting found” and establishing your company’s credibility”.

“Cold calls are annoying and interruptive. At Zen Marketing we coach a measurable approach that brings potential new customers to the business rather than just constantly just pushing out sales messages.  In my workshops and consulting sessions I often ask for a show of hands of everyone who took action as a result of a cold call; I seldom see a hand raised. Yet these same companies often use outdated tactics such as these for lead and sales generation.”

“Cross channel marketing involves the coordination of multiple marketing channels such as email and social media marketing with an interactive website as a foundation. Companies come to us because they want to be able to integrate these processes utilizing a multi-channel approach, but don’t have the resources or knowledge to go it alone.”

In the month of January Zen Marketing will be offering 10 Hunterdon County businesses a free inbound marketing evaluation. Local business looking for a better understanding of their inbound marketing effectiveness can enter to win at https://zenmarketinginc.com/free-marketing-assessment

But “a good marketing plan should be diverse and blend different discipline and tactics” states Chris Halligan, owner of Associated Mailing & Printing, in Branchburg NJ and a frequent partner with Zen Marketing. “We work with marketing companies and businesses directly to help them maximize the cross channel marketing opportunity and other print-related tactics.”

“New technologies such as PURLS have added a whole new layer of effectiveness to print marketing. We can now provide our customers with amazing analytics and a level of customer engagement previously unimaginable”.

PURL’s or Personalized URLs invite each mail recipient to their own "private screening" of a product or service. “Imagine not only being able to provide a prospect with a distinct message and but also being able to understand the what, when and where of the interaction between the prospect and your marketing piece”.

“A recent survey I read stated that 1 out of every three people who receive a direct mail piece in the mail prefer to respond online. It's just how we do things today. Our approach integrates the best of both worlds”.