How To Use Popups To Get Quality Leads Posted on April 14, 2020April 9, 2020 by Guest Author Popups seem like annoying ads that unexpectedly appear when customers visit a page. In truth, when done effectively, they can help you score quality leads and a considerable amount of conversions. Neil Patel believes that popups can give customers one last chance to convert. In fact, one popup improved the conversion rates on his site by 17 percent! Now, how can you use popups to get quality leads? How can you use them to grow your business? Here’s what you need to know. 1. Use Exit-Intent Popups Exit-intent popups are meant to win back site visitors by piquing their interest when they’re about to leave an e-commerce website. They show up exactly before a customer clicks the back button. The ideal exit trigger should have an overwhelming offer. It needs to draw people in and make them move along the buyer’s journey. For example, this popup from GQ appears as readers browse through the site. They encourage people to get annual releases of the magazine with a whopping 81 percent discount. If you’re interested in creating an exit-intent popup, here are some tips that you need to know: Determine exit triggers: Identify mouse movement or scrolling behavior that signal that users are about to leave your website. Provide a relevant offer: Exit-intent popups should offer incentives that encourage people to subscribe or provide their email. Be straight to the point: Make copy clear and concise so readers can easily understand what you have to offer. 2. Pay Attention to Design The secret to a popups success may lie in its design. A popup design may appear at the right time with the right message, but that doesn’t mean it’ll work. That’s why you need aesthetically pleasing popups that can make readers stop and stare. The design of Neil Patel’s popup is simple, but it is consistent with his brand’s main colors—orange and black. The popup fills up the entire screen so readers, either from mobile or desktop, will be able to view the message. The headline makes a compelling offer that’s highlighted in bold. The promise of more traffic and customized advice attracts audiences. Taking a quiz seems like a hassle, so they emphasize that it only takes three minutes under the CTA button. 3. Let Users Exit the Popup Some marketers choose to create a popup with no opt-out option because of desperation. They believe that it’s better to pressure customers to subscribe or purchase, so they remove the option to back out. This move could backfire in a lot of ways. Customers may be annoyed, close the tab, and leave your website. They likely won’t return because they refuse to be pressured into accepting an offer immediately. To avoid this, include a back or X button and make it visible for consumers. Otherwise, they will quickly leave your website. 4. Create Eye-Catching CTA A call-to-action is a stimulus that provokes users to complete a specific action. Simply put, an effective CTA converts. It could encourage users to download an ebook, subscribe to a service, or make the next step in the buyer’s journey. It is usually composed of powerful phrases and verbs that are meant to persuade. Here are some examples of call-to-action phrases: Get XYZ now! Add to cart Buy Today Click Here Download Now The copy should highlight features or provide an actionable solution to your audience. How will they benefit from clicking the CTA? Why should they download your ebook or subscribe to your newsletter? Be upfront about the benefits of purchasing the product. When it comes to color and design, the ideal call to action buttons possess the Von Restorff Effect, also known as “The Isolation Effect.” According to this concept, when multiple elements are present on a page, the object that differs from the rest will most likely stand out. In other words, a call to action button should have contrasting colors, so it pops up from the page. For example, OptinMonster’s CTA button is blue, so it stands out against the white background of the page. You can also play with size by making the CTA button bigger than less important buttons or elements. In the example above, the opt-in button, “Yes, Show Me the Case Study!” is more prominent than the opt-out button, “No thanks, I have plenty of paying customers.” 5. Offer Content Upgrades Brian Dean has a technique called “The Content Upgrade.” Unlike generic popups that encourage visitors to sign-up on every landing page, these offer page-specific content. In Brian Dean’s experiment, he created a page-specific popup that promoted his Free Google Ranking Factors Checklist. The result was a 65 percent increase in conversions when compared to a general popup promoting his newsletter. Imagine how much conversions would skyrocket if you created a page-specific popup offering ebooks, webinars, and case studies related to your landing page. You will likely boost your chances of conversions and get readers along the sales funnel. For example, this popup from Sprout Social appears as customers scroll down an article related to social media marketing. They provide marketers with a “Free social media toolkit” that can turn historical data into actionable insights in 2020. 6. Use Offers to Prevent Cart Abandonment The average rate of shopping cart abandonment is 69.57percent. That means, around seven out of ten shoppers will buy an item, then back out at the last minute. The good news is you can bring this number down by using popups. A popup with a discount is an opportunity to encourage users to return to your online store and make a purchase. Shapescale encourages users to complete their order by giving them a 10 percent off discount. They also have a countdown timer to trigger FOMO and boost the sense of urgency. 7. Create Mobile-Friendly Popups Popups are great on desktop because you can easily click the buttons, but ensure that they’re user-friendly for mobile too! Google penalizes intrusive mobile interstitials because they tend to be a nuisance that results in poor user experience. Here are some examples of interstitials that interfere with a user’s experience: A popup that blocks a user’s view of the page, immediately after they visit the website. An interstitial that a user has to dismiss before they can access the main content. An interstitial placed in the above-the-fold portion of the page, while the original content is placed underneath the fold. To avoid this penalty, timing is a key factor. As a rule of thumb, show the mobile popup once users have scrolled down to the 2nd or 3rd page. This ensures that they are interested in the content before you offer a content upgrade. Also, consider displaying the popup after a period of inactivity. Use it when users are about to abandon your site, or when visitors have scrolled halfway along the page. Another tip is to ensure that the buttons are clickable for users. It should be easy for them to opt-out or click the download button on mobile. For example, Sleeknote has device specific-targeting rules. This lets users create mobile-friendly popups that help them engage with users at the right time. 8. Update Popup Campaigns Regularly Popups may not generate high conversion rates at your first try. That’s why you need to conduct A/B tests to improve your results consistently. You can update your ebooks, case studies, and other offerings to improve your results. For example, Wordstream’s popup is a simple “How To Make Landing Pages With Crazy High Conversion Rates,” plus a large download button. You could also consider seasonal popup like this Halloween popup from Cloudways, which helped convert exiting visitors. You can also use popups to highlight deals for your Black Friday sale. This way, customers will be encouraged to check out the deals before they leave your online store. To make a successful popup, consider the context and situation faced by the readers. Will a compelling offer or discount make them stay? Will they prefer an informative ebook? Experiment to find out which offers are more effective at increasing leads and conversions. How Will You Use Popups to Get Quality Leads? When it comes to popups, it’s all about context and timing. As a last resort, you’ll need to entice potential leads with a compelling offer. Consider providing ebooks and valuable content that readers want. Make a page-specific offer to boost its relevance. Pay attention to the design of the popup. The copy must be clear and concise, while every button should be noticeable. Don’t forget to add an opt-out option so users can exit the popup, instead of leaving the page entirely. You can also use offers to prevent cart abandonment. Let them know that there’s a discount if they make a purchase. Update popups regularly to improve your results. Utilize it for seasonal campaigns like Halloween or Black Friday. What are your tips for using popups to generate quality leads? How do you design and utilize them? Let us know in the comments or via social media. Author Bio Emil Kristensen is the CMO and co-founder of Sleeknote: a company that helps e-commerce brands turn their website browsers into buyers—without hurting the user experience.
What We Learned While Working Remote Posted on April 9, 2020April 3, 2020 by Jonathan Herrick To do our part in distancing ourselves and to ensure we keep each other safe and healthy, our entire team has been working remotely now for four weeks. Our team members are no strangers to working from home; however, doing so for this long is definitely a first for us. The shift in structure has taught us a few lessons about how to work best, how to be the most productive, and how to juggle multiple things (and kids) at once. We know a lot of other companies, if possible, are having their teams work from home as well, so we figured it would be a great idea to share a few things we’ve learned these past four weeks. Here are five of the biggest lessons we’ve learned while working remotely. Clarity is Crucial We love Slack, and we use it often. It’s a great tool to enable easier and quicker communication, which is needed when we can’t just walk over to each others’ desks and ask a question. But, digital communication isn’t always a breeze. Frequently tone and sentiment get completely lost when things are typed, and unless you jam-pack your messages with exclamation points and emojis, a well-meaning request can come off wrong or confusing. Since digital communication is probably the most used form of communicating with your team while you’re remote, you must be as transparent and clear as possible when making requests or asking questions. Doing so will eliminate unnecessary back and forth and keep everyone working amicably. Light Moments Are Necessary Things are very heavy right now. We’re constantly being bombarded with Caronavirus this and COVID-19 that. Staying informed is a real battle because if often comes with a lot of fear and anxiety. To counteract this, your team must take breaks for happy moments. We’ll send each other pictures of what our individual work environments look like, or what we’re doing to help pass the time being cooped up inside. Sharing these lighter moments with your team helps remind each other that we’re all in this together and that someday (hopefully soon), we’ll all be able to live life as normal again. We’ve also started sharing our work from home setups on our social channels. This helps us show our followers what we’re doing to stay healthy and makes for more engaging content. Teamwork is Everything Where would we all be without our amazing team members? We’ve come to rely on one another, and while working remotely, it’s even more crucial that we work together. Every single person has a unique situation, and working from home can be either a harmonious experience, or it can be quite hectic and stressful. Sending a line to a teammate letting them know that you can help them with a project, or asking for help when you need it, can make all the difference. Don’t let the fact that your entire team is working from home cause a break in your team dynamic. Put being helpful first. Patience is a Virtue Raise your hand if you’re working from home and also have young children. Quite a few of us are in that boat, and boy is it rocky! It’s simply impossible to expect that your productivity level won’t fluctuate if you have children at home with you. Being a parent is a full-time job, and then add another full-time job on top of that, and it makes for quite the workday. It’s important that everyone understands the importance of patience. Take a breath and cut your co-workers some slack. We’re all doing our best, and if deadlines have to be moved or if your remote meetings have to be changed, that’s life right now. Flexibility is Life Going hand-in-hand with patience is flexibility. Not everyone has the flexibility gene. When plans or schedules are set, it can be hard for some when they have to be moved around. But right now, building a flexible workforce will get you so far, and save you from a lot of headaches. With the pandemic, we decided that it would be best to create and share as much content as possible that focused on how small businesses can deal with what’s happening. This required a major shift in our content strategy, which was already mapped out for the month. But, instead of fight it, we knew that the benefits for our audience would outweigh the inconvenience of moving things around and prioritizing new initiatives. Were we not willing to be flexible there, we would have missed out on an opportunity to help our audience, which is crucial in these times. We hope these lessons we’ve learned help you and your team as you navigate working from home. And if you have any other lessons or tips to offer up, let us know!
How to Build a Content Marketing Team for Your Blog Posted on April 8, 2020October 2, 2020 by Guest Author Thanks to the low cost of entry, content marketing is an extremely competitive niche. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of sites, are fighting it out for the same keywords. To succeed, you need to create great content on your site, then support that with a guest posting strategy that will help you build links to your core content. To increase the chance of success in such a competitive market involves getting together a team of experts who can support your content marketing goals. In this article, I’ll walk you through how to grow and manage large content teams, including the strategy I use to get my content to rank on Google. Here’s how to build a content marketing team that creates high-quality content for your business. Create a Content Marketing Strategy According to Forbes magazine, around 63% of businesses don’t have anything that resembles a content strategy. If your business already has one, you’re ahead of the pack. However, having a content strategy that does not align with your business goals might be even worse than not having one at all. A content marketing strategy is more than just an editorial calendar. You need to determine your goals, such as increased traffic, more leads, and higher conversion, and translate them into KPIs. Generally, this involves creating content that aligns with the customer journey. Once you have established what you want to achieve, you can then go into more detailed planning, like audience segmentation, content curation, and content repurposing. For more information on the topic, here is a comprehensive guide on how to create a content marketing strategy. Establish a System for Management Next, you’ll want to nail down how to manage everything. I recommend using an online project management tool to do this. I use Trello, but you should use a tool that provides a user interface that you and your content team feel most comfortable with. The project management boards you use needs to be accessible to anyone in your team. The boards you create should include the following: Onboarding guides: Your guides will have all the information a new staff member could need to get started. It will include things like website access information, editorial guidelines, etc. A work board: This is where you provide an overview of the content you are producing. It’s essentially a work breakdown. The content management system you create should have all the information you need and be simple to navigate. Here’s an example board I use for my writers: You can see that I have various columns. These columns provide me with an instant overview of how things are progressing. The columns I use are: General: Onboarding information for the staff member To Do: Content that needs to be written Doing: Blog posts that are being written Review: Articles that need to be reviewed by the editor Submitted: Content that has been submitted to an online publication As you can see, it’s a pretty simple system. Putting a system in place will help you manage your workload and that of the team. List Writer Guidelines There are a lot of essential parts to onboarding. One that is especially important for a content team that I’d like to highlight is your writer guidelines. Nothing confuses readers more than tone that changes from one article to another. When you’re looking to hire more than one writer to produce content for your business, you need to institute some guidelines. These ensure that the quality and tone of your articles stay consistent. If you already have experienced writers on your team, you can brainstorm with them to come up with a style guide. They are also in a good position to document your content creation processes. For example, BenchmarkONE has a three-page editorial guide for guest posts on the site. It contains exactly the kind of information you’d want from an editorial style guide. As your team grows, they should be able to make additions or changes to your process documents and answer questions from new members. That way, you can ensure that the content your team produces does not suffer from a drop-off in quality, even if it’s written by a new member of your team. Hire Good Writers Hiring a good writer is difficult. You ideally want to have writers on your team who could easily create work for the top publications within your niche. Ideally, they also need to be able to write long-form content consistently. When hiring writers, you have a choice of either looking for a full-time staff member, or a freelancer. Once you’ve defined your budget and needs, it’s time to put out a job ad. I use one of the following two platforms to find staff: Gumtree for finding part-time staff Indeed for finding full-time staff Below is an example job description for a content writer. It’s essential to subject potential writers to a test. Ask them to write an article on a topic that’s related to your field following the writing guidelines and processes that you’ve already set. This will measure their ability to follow procedures and stick to deadlines. You will also get to see the kind of content they can produce. The insights I gain from a test are more important than what I learn from reviewing a CV. In fact, I only review the CV of a candidate after they have completed the test. This way, my natural prejudices don’t get in the way of hiring the best candidate. Hire a Skilled Editor Since we’re now on the topic of adding new people, you need to hire an excellent editor. I cannot stress enough the importance of choosing a good editor to manage the writers. A good editor is the nerve center of the entire operation. You need someone who pays close attention to detail, sticks to deadlines, and manages their time and resources well. It’s also helpful if they are a people person, as they will be working closely, and providing feedback to your writers. I’ve found the best editors are also good writers, which is why I prefer to recruit editorial positions internally when possible. An editor who is also a copywriter can suggest ways to improve articles your writers are producing, instead of just tearing them down. This helps build up the capacity of your team. The world of copywriting is full of horror stories about good content writers who left their jobs because they can’t stand their editors’ egos. Don’t let your organization become another one of those stories. Enable a Certain Level of Autonomy A content marketing strategy includes clear processes and writing style guides, which should eliminate the need for someone to micromanage your content producers while they work. Autonomy is one of the building blocks of employee engagement. Autonomy is defined as: “The power to shape your work environment in ways that allow you to perform at your best.” Take this power away from your content producers, and they start feeling like they’re zombies, unable to decide what to do for themselves. This is one of the worst business mistakes you can make. Here are some ways to enable autonomy within your team: Keep calm, even when they make mistakes. A team that fears its management is one that constantly under-performs. Hire people who choose to be autonomous. Give them the time and resources they need to do their jobs, then trust them to deliver. Provide clear guidelines and trust your team to follow them. Many people confuse the lack of guidance with autonomy. However, this results in employees who have to figure out their jobs by themselves, leading to stress and burnout. Stick to autonomy. If you hire naturally autonomous people, then choosing to tighten the leash later on risks losing your best staff. Arrange Regular Meetings Employee check-ins and team meetings are important because they allow you to keep track of your goals. It’s easier for your team members to know what you expect of them when you check in with them regularly. In addition, regular meetings help sync employee actions with management goals and help prevent misunderstandings between team members. You should also have regular meetings between your sales and marketing team to keep them aligned on what content to create and to understand how things are going. While a lot of people think content marketing team members are intimidated by their editors or managers, the reverse should be true. Regular meetings will break the tension and help both parties provide honest, helpful feedback. The top reason for holding periodic check-ins is motivation. When your team members know that they will be meeting with you this week or this month, they look forward to the opportunity to push their short-term goals. If you have a small team, weekly check-in meetings are practical. As your team becomes larger, you can have weekly team meetings then meet with your team individually once a month. How to Build a Content Marketing Team A high-performing content marketing team is composed of more than just its members. A well-defined content marketing strategy should govern all the decisions that you make. From the moment you hire your editor and writers to your regular check-in meetings. Building and managing a content management team also requires that you keep an open mind about your team’s needs and concerns. Striking a balance between your strategy and your team’s individual motivations is the key to staying ahead of the competition and keeping your brand at the top of everyone’s minds. Author Bio Nico Prins is a SaaS Consultant and the founder of Launch Space. He’s worked with everyone from Fortune 500 companies to scale-ups, helping them develop content marketing strategies that align with their business goals.
Inbound Marketing 101: Part One – What Is It? Posted on April 7, 2020October 21, 2022 by Jessica Lunk For hundreds of years, businesses practiced only one form of promotions: outbound marketing or advertising. The idea was to hunt down customers and show them what you had to offer in the hopes that they’d buy what you sold. Early in the 21st century, marketers began a new method for finding and connecting with customers: inbound marketing. Inbound marketing turns traditional marketing efforts on its head. While outbound marketing included buying ad space, buying mail and email lists, and hoping for the best, inbound marketing changed the focus to concentrate on quality content. By delivering relevant content, you can guide people toward your company where they’ll discover your products and services. By creating content your customers are interested in, you attract more qualified prospects than the scattershot ad approach does. And these benefits are just the tip of the iceberg. Inbound Marketing Benefits Inbound marketing has a wide variety of benefits, all of which are proven to work well in the digital age. Inbound marketing can: Attract more qualified leads, giving you a higher percentage of sales per click. Keep customers coming back to your site again and again. Have staying power. Evergreen content can live on your site forever and continuously deliver results. Provide great educational resources for your audience. Help position your brand as a leader in your industry. While most of its tactics are free, facilitating an effective inbound marketing strategy requires many labor-hours. Also, results don’t come quickly. Unlike sales ads or discount specials, inbound marketing strategies are long-term projects. They take time and commitment to work properly and see the desired results. Inbound Marketing Basics The inbound marketing methodology was created to pull potential customers to your business instead of pushing ads out at them. In effect, prospects self-select by going to a company’s website where they choose to look for goods and services. This is in direct opposition to traditional marketing, which sends out ads in the hopes of generating leads or attracting customers. Inbound marketing is largely successful because of the capabilities digital marketing and communication afford. Businesses use a number of marketing channels, such as social media, content marketing, and SEO, to attract people’s attention. The aim of any content marketing campaign is to extend reach and influence while attracting quality traffic. This traffic is introduced to your inbound funnel, becomes increasingly engaged, and raises conversions. This is done by using both “earned” and “owned” media. Owned media are marketing channels that your business has control over. This can include a website, YouTube channels, social media profiles, whitepapers, email marketing campaigns, or blogs. It’s entirely up to you what content you publish, how often you post, and where the information is posted. Earned media is content placed on outside sites or outlets. It can include mentions on industry publications, article features, awards, press mentions, posts about your brand made by other accounts on social media, online reviews, and online forum conversations about you. Earned media is published by another source, but it’s generally something that is substantiated by owned media. Inbound Marketing Results Unlike traditional outbound marketing, it can be challenging to measure the results of any one inbound marketing campaign. After all, if your service calls increase after you post a series of how-to videos, can you really tell if the videos are the direct reason? Maybe it’s a result of great SEO tactics that are putting your site at the top of Google rankings. Measuring the exact effect of one campaign isn’t always a sure bet, but you can measure details that could be contributing to positive results. For example: Analyze the rising number of people who view your how-to videos. Check your website analytics to see how many of those people click back to your website. Look to see if your social posts are leading people back to your website and if once they’re there, they convert to a lead. Keep track of how many views your blog posts are getting. If you’re including gated content in your blog posts, track to see how well they’re generating new leads. From there, you can use a marketing automation tool to educate and nurture those new leads to a sale. If sales numbers from those sources are rising, then they’re effectively contributing to improving your company’s bottom line. Example of an Inbound Marketing Campaign The more creative and personalized your inbound marketing campaign is, the more successful it’s likely to be. Your aim should be to attract a dedicated group of fans to your brand so they’ll eventually spend money on your products or services. Some companies have turned this into a fine art. Wendy’s and Twitter If there’s one word people are constantly directing toward the person in charge of the Wendy’s Twitter account, it’s “savage,” and their millions of followers absolutely love it. Known for sarcastic comebacks to other fast-food franchise tweets, Wendy’s Twitter account is the undisputed queen of snark. It’s working, too. While it’s tough to pick out detailed causation, Wendy’s had a 49.7 percent growth in profit in the year after the Twitter account went active in its current form. This approach is just one spoke in the inbound marketing wheel. A strategic social media strategy like this, paired with solid website and email marketing content, is sure to be effective in attracting new prospects, converting them to leads, and generating sales. Inbound marketing is a vital component in your advertising arsenal. Without it, you’ll find it difficult to compete in the modern digital landscape. Stay tuned for our next post on inbound marketing, where we’ll discuss how to implement it.
6 Tips for Getting Free Press For Your B2B Business Posted on April 2, 2020April 2, 2020 by Natalie Slyman Times aren’t exactly easy peasy right now. A lot of us have to scale back in any way possible. This effects morale, how we do our jobs, and our strategies. When it comes to getting press for your business, it’s already a difficult undertaking, even at the best of times. But when you need some additional exposure, it’s one of the best methods for getting the job done. How do you succeed at getting press for your business when every dollar matters? Luckily, there is a myriad of opportunities out there that can help you get the exposure you need without spending a pretty penny. It’s all about knowing where to begin and how to go about doing it. Whether you’re trying to gain new customers, increase your reputation, or increase website traffic, press is a solution that’s a fit for businesses of any size or industry. But First, Why Should They Care? Put yourself in the shoes of all the journalists, influencers, and thought leaders out there. Why should they want to write about you or feature you? What makes you so different? Why should your story be shared with their audience? For some press opportunities, it’s all about coming up with a unique angle. Figure out what makes your business different than all the other marketing and entrepreneurial stories that are put out there regularly. See what types of PR and press initiatives your competitors are taking and come up with a plan. Buzzsumo can be particularly helpful in pinpointing worthy storylines. Another method that doesn’t hurt is building up your thought leadership. When you’ve positioned yourself as a leader in the space by creating high-quality, informative content, you’re essentially making a name for yourself and your brand. This makes you a more desirable subject to highlight and can open a lot of doors for you. Ways to Get Free Press Here are some methods to try that will get you some exposure. Added perk? They shouldn’t cost you a dime to pull off. 1. Write A Press Release If you have some important news to share, put a press release together. While you are trying to determine who to pitch your press release to, you can begin by publishing a press release on your website and submitting it to a number of free press release websites online. Before you pitch your press release, you have to contact a suitable journalist. Do you know any journalists who you think would enjoy hearing about your business? It’s all about targeting the right people at the right time with relevant content that will appeal to them. Not just any journalist will do; it means sending an email to someone who will want to cover your business. You need to advance their goals as well as yours. Have a look at publications and see who is writing about similar topics in your field. Create a spreadsheet and note down names, publications, previously published stories and contact details, so you have them to hand every time. Contacting journalists via a media pitch may not work 100% of the time, but it will work if you have done your homework thoroughly. Aim to build up a real connection with the journalists so it will reward you over time. 2. Reach Out to Influencers Influencer marketing is an extremely effective strategy. Influencers are typically considered wonderful content creators, and they regularly contribute to credible online publications, making them fairly well-known and trusted by their audience. A great way to get additional press is to reach out to them and ask for a mention in a piece they’re writing. If you don’t know anyone that you can approach, then it can take quite a while to develop a relationship with someone where they might be willing to do this. Always make sure that they are at least familiar with your brand or your name before you reach out to them, if possible. Send them a short email letting them know you enjoy reading their content and that you are working on promoting a product or service offering. Ask them if they’d be willing to feature it in their next article or listicle they’re doing. It’s best to offer to write the mention for them, or to at least pull together information, so they have as little work to do as possible. Offer to feature them in an upcoming blog post of yours or to share something out for them on social media as a way to return the favor. 3. Familiarize Yourself With Online Publication Editors Building up your own influence is a great way to get some additional exposure. It may not technically be considered press, but it contributes to your press strategy and makes it more effective. While you can create tons of blog and social media content, nothing makes you an influencer in your space, like becoming a regular contributor to online publications. First, list any online publications that you read or ones that you would like to contribute to. Then, create an outreach strategy so you can start to build trust with publication editors and blog managers. Read their publication guidelines, offer to write content that focuses on certain topics they need or that are of interest to their audience. Make sure that you aren’t promotional in your pitches and that you’re willing to make this a mutually beneficial endeavor. Once you’ve gained their trust and they’ve indicated they’re willing to read your work, put together an article that is informative, high-quality, and speaks to a pain point that their audience experiences. Make sure you link back to a piece of great on-site content so readers can see some of the other content you’re creating and take an easy pathway back to your site. 4. Apply For Awards Not all award applications are free, but there are some great ones out there that are. Again, take note of reputable publications and organizations within your industry that regularly hold award events and start applying. It helps to keep a spreadsheet of which ones you want to participate in, as they typically have open enrollment at the same time of year. This will help ensure you don’t miss the deadlines, and that you have plenty of time to evaluate whether or not you want to be considered. When your company receives an award, that’s press on its own. But, it can also be a driver for press releases and getting additional exposure. Plus, they’re a great accolade to add to your website, which brings me to the next point. Website Press Page Make sure you make all this great press easily accessible! When a story, mention, or award is published, add a link to it on your website. Set up a press page on your company site so other journalists, influencers, prospects, and interested parties can learn more about you. Invite them to contact you directly and make your contact details easy to find. Perhaps they have an exciting angle they want to cover – something you haven’t thought about yet. The greater the number of mentions in the press, particularly in more significant publications, then the more the perception of your brand will improve. Share all of the stories as far as wide as possible, including through your social media accounts, tagging your influencers, and thanking the journalists and include full details in your email newsletters. If you could use some additional exposure, try the methods above. You can increase your brand awareness and visibility, and bring in additional press in the process.
Why Your Business Needs Storytelling Posted on April 1, 2020March 26, 2020 by Guest Author Why are standup comedians so compelling? They don’t often have fancy costumes, or props, or elaborate set design. They don’t usually sing or dance, or demonstrate some unique “X-Factor” style talent. They literally stand in front of a crowd and talk. Comedians are compelling because they are storytellers. Yes, it helps that the good ones are uproariously funny, but they’re most often funny because they’re relatable. When we listen to good standup, we experience and re-imagine our lives in a new context. We see ourselves in their stories, and we feel connected. At the very least, these stories are memorable, and they provide us with entertainment. At the very most, we’re moved to action. And if a good comedian can hold a crowd rapt for an hour or more with nothing but a microphone and some words, you should be able to do the same for your customers — with storytelling. Why You Need Storytelling Though consumers (and especially B2B buyers) like to think of themselves as logical, all humans are driven primarily by emotion. And what better way to appeal to emotion than with a story? Stories are also powerful differentiators. Have you ever heard the advice “just be yourself, everyone else is taken”? Applied to your business, this is sage advice, because the only true differentiator is your unique brand identity. It’s not what you do or even how you do it that makes you truly unique — it’s who you are. Research has shown that stories are up to 22 times more memorable than facts. This could be why memory champions often use narrative techniques to quickly retain large amounts of random information. Just the simple addition of a memorable character to represent your brand can dramatically increase brand recognition. Consider the Aflac duck, which enabled nine out of ten people in the U.S. and Japan to recognize insurance company Aflac shortly after the duck was invented. Here are the components of a great story, with tips on how to put this information into action for your business. The Hook Why is it so important to hook your audience fast? We could serve up stats about dwindling attention spans here, but you’ve heard them before. Instead, we’ll say this: when you’re using a story in your marketing content, your audience probably knows they’re being sold something, and they’ve become really adept at mentally blocking out digital advertisements (banner blindness is a real struggle for digital marketers to overcome). Your hook has to give them a good reason to pay attention, right off the bat. You could lead with: Intrigue. Make a bold statement or give away the punch line upfront. Make them curious. A question. It could be a compelling question, a riddle, or a complex question with high emotional stakes. Humor. People are more likely to stick around if you’re entertaining. Action. Follow the adage “show, don’t tell.” Lead with something happening. An insanely good offer. Be careful with this one; don’t use false scarcity or urgency (“only ten left! Only 24 hours remaining!”) since your audience will see through these tactics. However, if your offer truly is irresistible, sometimes you can put it upfront — but try to spin it in the form of a narrative (“What’s Mary doing? She’s just getting her taxes done for free.”) The Muddle Someone once said every novel should have “a beginning, a muddle, and an end.” The middle is the meat of your content, but it’s the “muddle” because it’s often the hardest part of a story to create. Here’s everything that needs to happen in “the muddle”: Choose the right characters. Your characters must resonate with your audience. Choose characters who have the same problems, idiosyncrasies, and even appearance as your target market. If you’re telling a true story (in a case study, for example), use photography, real quotes, video, or audio to give your characters a voice. Don’t shy away from humor and authenticity, either. We’re naturally drawn to characters who appear real, with flaws and quirks, then generic or too-perfect protagonists. Communicate a conflict. Good stories build and resolve tension. What’s the main conflict in your story? What are the stakes — what happens if the problem doesn’t get resolved? The higher the stakes, the greater the tension, and the greater the feeling of reward when it’s resolved. Include details. They’re more memorable than generalities. Imagine a video story about a tech founder, for example. The founder says, “I was working around the clock for a year to get my business set up.” That’s okay, but what about “one night, I had an important deadline, but my internet went out, so I went to the bar across the street at 1:00 am with my laptop and worked with earmuffs on to block the noise. People were partying all around me, and I was up at the bar, writing a proposal.” The Takeaway Good stories follow us long after they’re over. While the first goal is to create a memorable narrative involving your brand or business, the ultimate goal is to move your audience to action. Make it easy for your audience to take the next step by offering a button or link to click, or a number or email to contact. And remember to retarget your market with additional stories, or new stories about the same characters, to solidify brand recognition. Final Thoughts The medium you use to deliver your story is every bit as important as the story itself. If you can create a video, try it — people are especially receptive to stories in motion. But if your audience loves to read, opt for a blog, a social media post, or a long-form piece. One last note about storytelling. It may be a bold assertion, but we believe you should approach every bit of your content with the question, “where’s the story?” Unless you’re writing a straightforward pricing page, there will almost always be some narrative elements you can use to spice things up and appeal to your audience’s emotions. We’re hardwired to pay attention to good stories, so use these three elements in your marketing and sales — and you’ll be on your way to attracting better clients and earning more business. Author Bio Amanda Layman is the founder of Tigris Content Marketing, a firm that helps B2B tech companies get more business with showstopping content.
How to Help Small Businesses Get Through Tough Times Posted on March 31, 2020February 22, 2023 by Jonathan Herrick Small businesses are the heart of our nation. They provide us all with everything from a warm meal to home repair. They employ us, they sustain us, and we need them. Right now, small businesses are suffering. They’re unsure of what the next few months hold and if they’ll be able to bounce back from this pandemic. For many of them, the future isn’t looking as bright as it once was. Luckily, there are things we can do to help them. At Hatchbuck, we’re thinking a lot about our small business clients and what they may be experiencing right now. We’ve come up with a few ideas of how we all can provide some additional help so that small businesses can survive and thrive once this dark cloud moves on. How to Give Back to Small Businesses For B2B Businesses with Small Business Clients For B2B companies, it’s not only our job to provide our small business customers with the services we promised. It’s also our job to make sure we’re looking out for them and their businesses’ wellbeing. We have a duty to share with them any resource, tool, or strategy that can help them succeed. Here are some ways B2B businesses can help: 1. Create and Share Content Talk to your sales team, your account team, and your customer service team. Ask them what their conversations with small businesses are like. Are these small businesses expressing fears right now, and if so, what are they? Where do they need more support? The feedback they provide should be informing your content strategy so that you create content they’ll find useful. Maybe you can gather all your past content that is helpful and create one big guide for them. You can update it regularly so that it hosts a myriad of important resources that they won’t have to search around for. A lot of people are creating content around what is happening, so I also recommend including some of that content from other brands and partners. Your goal here is to help, not sell. So as long as it’s helpful, include it. Make sure you also share this content out in your newsletters, drip campaigns, and on your social media channels. A lot of us are turning to social media right now to stay in the know on what’s happening, so by sharing helpful resources there, you’ll be able to meet people where they’re already engaged. 2. Offer Marketing Advice If you’re a marketing company or marketing is one of your areas of expertise, perhaps you should offer up more advice in that arena. With sales slowing down and less foot traffic due to social distancing, marketing strategies will have to be adjusted. People are going to have to be creative and try different tactics than they may not be used to. That’s where you can come in and offer support. Provide them with some ideas that you may be trying out, or share with them one of your tools they aren’t using that you think could give them an edge. Some examples include: Digital marketing trends they should test out Evaluating their website’s SEO so they can be found more easily online Email marketing strategies to try Using a marketing automation and CRM tool to help them move their prospects through the funnel 3. Consider Adjusting Your Packages Revenue numbers have suddenly become a crapshoot. When money stops coming in, typically, it has to stop coming out, too. Consider extending any upcoming renewals, and if you’re able to swing it, maybe hold off on monthly charges until the crisis calms down. We know that these favors aren’t possible for every company to offer, but if you crunch your numbers and think it’s something you can pull off, do it. Your small business clients will be so grateful that you offered and that they didn’t have to ask. This kind of gesture could help save your clients’ businesses and result in strong and mutually beneficial partnerships. 4. Help With Social Media Maintaining a social presence during a crisis isn’t easy for a lot of people. What do you say? How do you post something unrelated without seeming heartless and disengaged? Be a resource to your small business clients as they navigate social media during this new reality. Provide them with some tips, such as: Content on how they’re handling the pandemic and any safety and hygiene adjustments they’re making to their protocols and procedures Hours of operation, especially if they have changed or are temporarily closing their storefront Where customers can go to continue to support them Ways customers can continue to support them Other content that is informative and helpful regarding the pandemic For Consumers Even though we’re all being advised to stay at home to flatten the curve, there are ways we can still contribute to the success of small businesses as consumers. Here’s how: 1. Shop Online Shopping online is convenient and easy, and now, it’s recommended. Since we can’t really go out and hit up our favorite stores right now, check them out online and purchase from them there. A lot of small shops don’t have a way to shop online, but given the recent climate, all that has changed. So many small businesses are adjusting their websites so they can start to sell their products without relying on in-person shoppers. Make sure you take advantage and show your support. 2. Get Food Delivered Restaurants are suffering right now, too. Many have had to lay off employees and waitstaff in hopes that they can re-hire them once they can open their doors again. Many have also made getting delivery and pick-up orders an easy option. Instead of dining out, pick a night a week to support your local restaurants by ordering delivery. Or, if you’d like to take a quick car ride to get out of the house, pick-up your order. Just make sure the restaurant you’re ordering from is taking the appropriate hygiene methods for everyone’s safety. Groceries are a necessity, and luckily, you don’t have to worry about heading out to the grocery store right now. Apps like Instacart allow you to order your groceries online and choose whether you’d like to pick them up or have them delivered. 3. Purchase Gift Cards If you can’t hit up your favorite bookstore, restaurant, clothing store, or boutique, purchase a gift card now for you to use later once they’re open again. This is a great way to create immediate revenue for these stores, and it will be a nice treat for yourself, or someone else, later when you are able to use it. 4. Be A Big Tipper People who work hourly are used to relying on tips for most of their income. Needless to say, if they’re being laid off or if their hours are being greatly reduced, their income is plummeting. If you have the means, tip them a little more than you might typically when you go to pick up your food or when you add your tip online. 5. Give Money to A Cause You Care About Non-profits are taking a hit right now, too. Make sure you consider them when you’re looking to give back. A lot of these organizations are helping those who are in the worst spots through all of this, so they can definitely use the extra help and funds. 6. Be A Participant With hard times come creative measures. A lot of small businesses out there are trying different methods to reach and engage with their customers and audience. Encourage them by participating. For example, a shop down the street from my house has too much inventory to sell online. Instead, they’ve numbered everything in their window and have asked passersby to call a number to place an order for the numbered item they want. The fact that they’re going to that trouble and trying this kind of method to ensure people can still shop from them is so inspiring that it just makes you want to buy something in support. So, be an active participant. Sign up for that online course or workout class. We’re all in this together, and we have to look out for one another. Our community depends on our small businesses, and we depend on them. It’s crucial now, more than ever, that you should that support.
9 Ways to Prepare for Hosting a Webinar Posted on March 26, 2020June 15, 2022 by Natalie Slyman Oh, webinars. We’ve talked about them frequently on our blog. How to put together the perfect webinar. How to convert webinar leads to customers. How to grow your email list with webinars. I could go on, but I’ll spare you. As I’m sure you already know, webinars are an effective way to showcase your knowledge of a subject, gain new followers and leads, and cement your reputation as a thought leader in your industry. Those wonderful perks, however, cannot be achieved if you don’t adequately prepare and plan for your webinar. There are a number of things you should do in preparation to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Let’s dive right into what those nine things are. 1. Assign Roles There’s a lot to do when it comes to hosting a webinar. It’s in your best interest to allocate roles so everyone involved understands what they should be doing. Here are some questions to answer: Who is the host of the webinar? Who will be presenting? Who’s going to be putting together the deck? Who’s going to be supplying the outline for the deck? Who’s creating any social images for promotion? Who’s creating the email and other promo materials? Also, consider whether you’ll need assistance in setup and during the big event, too. 2. Think About the Format You’ll definitely want to evaluate the flow of the webinar and the way you’ll be presenting the topic. Some webinars are more straightforward, with one host and a short Q&A at the end. While that may be standard, that isn’t exactly how you have to do it every time. Consider the following: Will there be more than one speaker? Will there be a discussion panel? Will there be interviews? Will audience members be participating? Will you be adding survey questions to the presentation? Will your speakers want to show their faces? The more speakers there are, or the more complicated the setting, the more you’ll need to train and rehearse to ensure that everything runs effortlessly. Make sure that the webinar is content rich with a focus on being informative rather than just trying to sell a product or service. 3. Decide on Timing Now it’s time to think about when you want to have the webinar. Since they’re typically live, you’ll want to lock down some details before committing to a date. Ensure the following: All necessary parties are available It doesn’t clash with any other major calendar event Will it be held during standard working hours, or is it an after-hours webinar? How long will it run for? When the date is confirmed, plan for a marketing strategy countdown approximately four to six weeks prior to the webinar, so there is no chance anyone misses out due to a lack of information or publicity. 4. Choose Webinar Software Determine the pros and cons of the top webinar tools on the market based on the format as well as the intended number of speakers and participants. Take into account the cost and what features you’ll want or require. A big pro is making sure there’s a recording to give registrants after the webinar. So, make sure you use a software that records your broadcast. I don’t suggest charging for the webinar, as that will deter people from registering. There are some great resources out there, like Crowdcast and Zoom, but make sure you do thorough research so you can pick the platform that will serve your needs best. 5. Organize Visuals Visuals play a significant role in your webinars. They keep people engaged and can be extremely informative. But, they must act as a method to enhance the topic and not take the spotlight away from the speaker. I like to make sure there’s a visual on each slide of the presentation, with a basic image for the title page. I typically use some iteration of that title page image in all the promo elements as well. 6. Write an Agenda As soon as you have the process mapped out in your head, write it down. This will help ensure you don’t leave anything out. As a host, a detailed agenda will enable you to stick to a timeline. It will also mean that the speakers are on the same page and have a clear understanding of deadlines and dates for practice sessions. 7. Practice the Webinar As there are many moving parts to a webinar, aim for at least one or more practice sessions. These sessions should be complete with full visuals and sound, so the speakers, facilitators, and administrators understand the part they have to play. This will help in prepping the individual spaces to limit any background noise. Run-throughs will serve to minimize the risk of technology failures and guarantee the speakers are confident in the setup. Make sure you add any speaker notes to the slides, too. As that will help indicate how long each slide will be addressed. 8. Prepare for a Q&A A question and answer segment can be one of the most important segments of the webinar and will ensure that all audience members are 100% satisfied and informed. Confirm that the speakers are willing to respond to any questions at the end of the session and have a nominated assistant available to prompt the audience if none are forthcoming. It is recommended to have a few questions prepared to get the ball rolling. Don’t be shy about asking registrants to submit their questions before the webinar kick-off. 9. Promo the Webinar When you are ready to spread the word, you will need to come up with a promotion plan to get the word out and get registrants. Consider all your options – descriptive texts, press releases, relevant hashtags, vlogs, blog posts, informative banners, newsletter emails, and social media posts to publicize the webinar thoroughly. Set up a landing page on your site with a form to fill out for registrants. List the necessary details, FAQs, speaker names, headshots, and bios, so registrants have all the information possible. As a host, you can never be too prepared. Your attention to detail and behind the scenes preparation will increase the likelihood of a smooth, professional webinar with well-engaged listeners, which can lead to more registrants for your next webinar.
The 5 Best Tools For Scheduling Remote Meetings Posted on March 25, 2020December 7, 2021 by Jessica Lunk I think it’s probably safe to say that in-person meetings are canceled for the time being. With the widespread COVID-19, a lot of us are hunkered down, working from home or other remote locations to stay healthy and avoid infections. While those efforts should bring a smile to our faces, it doesn’t lessen the severity of the situation, and the uncertainty that a lot of businesses face. All of us to be careful, stay safe, and lend a hand in any way possible to our fellow small businesses. For us at Hatchbuck, that includes creating content that helps us all work better, no matter where the work may be taking place. When you’re trying to continue business as usual (or as usual as possible), how do you navigate around working with or meeting with those you can’t physically be near? Luckily, we live in the digital age, which affords us many different small business tools and software aimed at bringing us together. Here are some of the best tools for scheduling remote meetings so you can continue to get work done and keep your team aligned while working from home. 1. Calendly Calendly gives you the reigns when it comes to scheduling meetings by allowing you to select the time slots you’re available. Once you make your selections, Calendy creates a meeting link for you to include in your correspondence. If people want to meet with you, they can only select the times you’ve indicated, which gives you total control over your schedule. It also prevents any issues with your other meetings by reducing cancelations and rescheduling. 2. Google Forms Google Forms are great for creating surveys, be it for internal use or to get certain information from your customers or prospects. They can also be used as a way to schedule meetings. Their simple to use format gives you access to a super easy and quick way to gather info like email address, phone number, delivery address and more. You can even survey meeting attendees to find a time and date that works best for them. You’ll avoid unnecessary emails, and get back to your task list in a jiffy. 3. Zoom With Zoom, you can schedule a meeting and create meeting log-in information all at once. With the log-in, you can dial-in, or use your computer for a video conference. Once the log-in information is created, you just copy and paste it into your scheduled meeting so that everyone is on the same page. Once your online meeting starts, use your webcam to see your attendees face-to-face and share your screen to easily communicate your thoughts. Online meetings aren’t all. Zoom offers other capabilities, like hosting webinars and setting up a phone system that allows you to dial-out from your computer. You can also build conference rooms, which assist with collaboration and access meeting recordings, so nothing gets lost. 4. Doodle Don’t you hate it when you try to schedule a meeting, and it results in a ton of back and forth? Getting a meeting scheduled shouldn’t be that hard! This is why I love Doodle. Doodle allows you to easily create polls to send to people you’re trying to schedule a meeting with. They select the days and times that work for them, and you schedule the meeting based on what slot works for most people. No more tedious back and forth! Also, you can check availability across timezones, open up blocks so others can see when you’re available, and keep your appointments private. 5. Boomerang Calendar I use Boomerang to schedule some of my emails, which helps me avoid getting quick responses during busy periods and assures I don’t forget to send important follow-ups. So, when I found out that Boomerang also has a scheduling feature, I jumped at the chance to use it. Boomerang Calendar plugs into your Gmail and Google Calendar and easily syncs with your schedule, so you don’t have to log your availability. It updates your availability in real-time, allows you to highlight optimal meeting slots, and schedule group meetings. (image source) A lot is going on right now. And if you’re in a position to be working from home, don’t cancel all your meetings or reschedule for a later date. Use the tools above to get everyone aligned and together so you can do your jobs more easily and connect while apart.