My mom used to leave me notes and lists of chores right in my spot at the kitchen table, an easy drop for her on her way out in the morning. I couldn't eat breakfast without moving it out of the way, making the lists hard to ignore.
This should be the case with your company's online presence -- you need to be found in places where your target audience will naturally look for information.
One of the keys to getting found online is to have a broad online presence, but targeted in the places that make sense for you and for your potential clients, which is a recurring lesson among this week's top five news stories from InboundMarketing.com:
1. How Broad is Your Footprint on the Web?
Author: Bernie Borges
Lesson: Spread and Diversify Your Content
With millions of pages and more being created every day, it may seem impossible for your company to get found online. But according to Borges, broadening your online footprint is best accomplished by spreading and diversifying fresh content. As he says, "most marketers still think being found on the web means being found in a search engine either in an organic listing, or in a paid listing (PPC). This is a limited view of effective inbound marketing on the web."
Borges recently spoke to a prospective buyer who could not pinpoint where he had come across Borges, yet in the past week he had found his company's website, blog and a podcast. Borges emphasizes that sellers who want to succeed in the coming decades need to have strong content across a variety of web platforms and engage with relevant communities.
2. YouTube CTA Overlay Lets You Drive Users Elsewhere
Author: Marketing Vox
Lesson: Use Multimedia Channels to Drive Traffic
This new feature on YouTube adds a call-to-action overlay to videos; advertisers can now redirect viewers to their site or product through links in this overlay. (Here's an article that explains how to add the overlays.) Before, a viewer might have watched a video or commercial and then moved on to another clip, promptly forgetting any marketing messages. Now, an organization can bring the viewer to their site instantly.
Non-profits such as charity:water have already benefited from this new feature. YouTube recently put a video supporting charity:water on its homepage, which resulted in $10,000 in donations for the organization in a single day.
3. A Checklist to Choose Which Internet Marketing Channel is Right for Your Business
Author: Rand Fishkin
Lesson: Know Your Company & Your Resources
In his post, Fishkin addresses the following question: "If a client came to you with $1 million to invest in a single Internet marketing channel, which one would you choose?" Fishkin has put together a series of graphs and charts that show how a company could measure its budget, goals and available talent to determine which channel would have the highest ROI.
So, before you can attempt to bring in more visitors to your site and convert more of these visitors to leads, it's important to know your own capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. After taking these into account, you will have more insight to choose the internet marketing channel that will be the most effective for you.
4. Strategic Blogging and Some Tactics to Nail It
Author: Chris Brogan
Lesson: Go With What Works for You
This post by Brogan discusses various strategies to take with blogging for business to get back that ROI. Brogan emphasizes that a strategy does not have to be set in stone, it should be malleable, aligning with your company's current needs and goals.
There are many different ways to use a blog to accomplish a goal -- from how-to posts to posts that spotlight a customer or a case study. Figure out your goals first, and then choose the best strategy for you.
5. 7 Tips on how B2B marketers can leverage social media
Author: Brian Carroll
Lesson: You Have to Give to Get
The lesson here reflects a basic principle of good inbound marketing. Carroll's tips reiterate the teaching that you cannot expect to get visitors, leads, comments, customers, retweets, or whatever it may be, unless you give valuable content by sharing blog posts, e-books, whitepapers, presentations, webinars with people who are interested in that information.
Using social media is an easy way to share content, absorb others' content, to be helpful and to receive help from others. Establishing yourself as a trusted source in your industry can be accomplished through the continued use of social networks, but only if you are willing to listen and share.
Photo: SewPixie .: actually sewing :.
Webinar: How to Sell Social Media to Your Boss
| Social media guru Chris Brogan explains how to demonstrate the value of social media marketing. Download the free webinar to learn how to get your company started with social media.
|
Article has
0 comments.
Click To Read/Write Comments
Where do I start? Many marketers standing at the starting line of inbound marketing ask themselves this question. So did Laura Neufelder in a forum thread on InboundMarketing.com.
One of the best pieces of advice Laura received came from
Alyce Lindquist, another inbound marketing rookie. "I recommend learning by immersion! Start small, but just start,"
wrote Alyce.
Here are some of the other insights I found in the forum:
Focus on Buyer Personas
Create a mental picture of your target audience and its interests, hobbies and activities. Where does this persona live? What does she or he like to read? Such questions will guide you in creating the right content for your readership. As David Meerman Scott
wrote, targeting the right buyer persona is a determining factor in your online marketing initiatives.
"Developing a good understanding of the customer will do a lot to help you refine and focus your re-design to appeal to things they might like or would be looking for," commented on the forum thread
Steve Early. In the end, identifying buyer personas will define not only your
website redesign and content creation, but also your product promotion strategy.
Analyze Existing Pages
Website analytics is one of the first factors marketers should consider when starting their online marketing campaigns. Before you change anything,
Simon Mason wrote, check the inbound links on your existing pages. "Otherwise you could lose all the linkjuice you are already getting," he
noted.
By monitoring the analytics for your existing pages you will know what has worked for you in the past and how to expand it. This is especially helpful in determining a successful keyword strategy. Thus, you can optimize your site for the
low-hanging fruit and produce great ROI.
Blog Consistently
Get your employees passionate about blogging and have them start writing remarkable and regular content. In order to engage with potential leads, industry leaders and other bloggers you need have a blog that encourages conversations. "Without interesting content to link to, you'll just be sharing other people's content on your network which is important for growing it, but it won't get you traffic,"
wrote Brian Rogers.
What will get you traffic, however, is the quality and consistency of your blog posts. Create a regular blogging schedule and make sure authors are following it. This will create a sense of anticipation in your readers and encourage other thought leaders to interact with you.
Follow Best Practices
In order to become a good leader, you have to first be a good follower. There are different industry-specific successes that you can learn from. Adapt best practices to your marketing initiatives but make sure you keep your own voice.
Companies such as the
Roger Smith Hotel and
Whole Foods are great examples, and demonstrate different approach to successful inbound marketing. Observe their strategies and decide if they can work for you, too.
Photo Credit: Jon_MarshallInbound Marketing Kit
 | Learn more about inbound marketing and how to combine blogging, SEO and social media for results. Download our inbound marketing kit. |
Article has
2 comments.
Click To Read/Write Comments
"Ever since Hotmail appeared on the scene and showed that one consumer can influence many, many others, brands have been chasing the kind of viral explosion that catapulted the Numa Numa dance to web glory," wrote Dave Balter in his new book The Word of Mouth Manual Vol. II. Dave is the founder of BzzAgent.com, a company providing word-of-mouth services for hundreds of major brands.
A recent guest of HubSpot TV, Dave offered insights into the pure word-of-mouth aspect of marketing. If you have questions about the new face of content promotion, advertising and blogging, read through Dave's thoughts on these subjects:
Offer Free Quality Content
ColdPlay did it. Dave Balter did it. You, too, should consider offering free, high-quality content. This is a way to demonstrate that you really care about your audience and create a positive buzz around your brand.
After Dave published The Word of Mouth Manual Vol. II, he listed it on
Amazon for $45 and also offered it as a free
PDF file online. "To release it we gave it away to 20 influential bloggers --
Seth Godin,
Guy Kawasaki and
Chris Brogan -- and they were allowed to give it out for free," Dave said. As a result, he got 150 000 downloads and reached a wider audience.
Join the New-media Mix
In order for media planners to keep up with the evolving advertising industry, they, as Dave
writes, "need to immerse themselves in new-media mix models." Brands should open up to taking risks in social media marketing programs and new
measurement tools.
"I feel the whole infrastructure of advertising agency-new media vendor-client is just busted," said Dave. In order to work well together, all three actors have to adapt to the changing industry and to one another. Agencies, for instance, might consider restructuring their pricing models on a performance basis.
Blog with Authenticity
"Authenticity -- you got to have it, people," said Dave about
blogging. A firm believer in the power of blogging, he emphasized the importance of being transparent. Yet for many companies the question of how to use blogging for authenticity remains unanswered.
It is essential for blogging to have open writers who reveal what they really think. If your company blog requires a board approval or other types of permissions, then you are not meeting your goal for maximum transparency.
Webinar: Advanced Business Blogging
 | Learn how to build your business blog into an inbound marketing machine.
Download the free webinar to learn how to create a thriving blog. |
Article has
1 comments.
Click To Read/Write Comments
Yesterday YouTube rolled out Call-to-Action overlay ads to its paying advertisers. Until now, only specific partners and non-profit organizations could harness the benefits of this marketing feature.
Now businesses can explore one more aspect of online video marketing. By plugging in customized, semi-transparent pop-ups in their videos, YouTube advertisers can refer viewers back to their product sites. Although such YouTube overlay ads existed before, they were limited to only select partners, specific content and video genre. Today, as TechCrunch reported, "brands can link their commercials back to the products they're selling" and, as a result, increase their conversion rate.
How Do You Do It?
Promote Video
You need to be already promoting a video in order to use Call-to-Action Overlay ads. In order to do that, go to YouTube Promoted Videos and select (or upload) a desired video.
Then, simply follow the YouTube instructions to write a promotion description and enter keywords. Set the cost per click (CPC) rate for the amount of money you are willing to pay each time viewers click on your clip.
Edit Video
Once the clip gains a status of a promoted video, you should go back to your account and choose My Videos. Then, choose to edit your video and you will see a Call-to-Action Overlay option.
Fill Out the Call-to-Action Form
Filling out the Call-to-Action form is straightforward. First, you need to enter a headline and description. In addition, you can plug in a URL for an optional image (e.g. your brand logo) that will appear on the left-hand side of your ad. Lastly, choose the destination URL to which you will be referring interested viewers.
Refer to Landing Pages
Linking your Call-to-Action overlay ad to your existing landing page gives you the highest chance of lead conversion. Your destination URL should be a specific page on your website that requires leads to submit a form to get more information or try a free trial of your product.
Why Should You Use Call-to-Action Overlays?
Call-to-Action overlay ads have already been successful for non-profit organizations because, as blogger Ramya Raghavan reported, they "drive traffic to an off-YouTube web page, where they can collect signatures, email addresses or even donations." Charity: water best demonstrates the success potential of the new YouTube feature. This non-profit raised $10,000 in a single day by using the Call-to-Action overlay ads.
Why Shouldn't You Use Call-to-Action Overlays?
Some YouTube viewers consider overlay ads annoying outbound marketing. They easily get distracted from the video material they are watching and feel bothered by the pop-up URLs. To eliminate such distractions, viewers often close the ads (there is a close option available on the right-hand corner of the ad)."By habit, I always click the 'x,'" commented Spencer Schoeben on the recent news. That is why, many believe, a more successful marketing approach might be placing Call-to-Action ads at the end of featured videos insted of throughout them.
Webinar: How to Use Online Video for Inbound Marketing
| How do you get started with YouTube, video podcasting, live streaming, or viral videos. Download the free webinar to learn how to use online video to grow your business with inbound marketing. |
Article has
6 comments.
Click To Read/Write Comments
Are you insecure about your marketing performance?
Are you afraid your marketing pipeline might be undersized?
You're not alone! Here's the story of how one marketer learned how to get his leads up.
(This video may not be appropriate for viewers under the age of 18.)
Manager: I was looking for a better performance from our marketing. - [You're doing it again!]
Marketer: [Oh come on!] - The size and quality of my lead flow just wasn't satisfying her sales demand.
Manager: You're doing it again!
Marketer: I finally came to understand this is happening to a lot of marketers, and maybe I did need a lot of help.
Manager: Now ... that he's using HubSpot, we've all the leads we need to keep our sales team and me very happy.
Marketer: And let's be honest. The extra sales aren't bad either.
Voice: If you experience unmanageable lead flow, please contact your inbound marketing representative.
Learn How to Increase The Size of Your Lead Flow
 | Download our inbound marketing kit to learn more about inbound marketing and how to combine blogging, SEO and social media for business results.
|
Article has
2 comments.
Click To Read/Write Comments