ReportWire

Tag: Marketing Strategies

  • How to Evaluate the Success of Your Corporate Events | Entrepreneur

    How to Evaluate the Success of Your Corporate Events | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In the dynamic world of business growth and development, corporate events stand out as critical milestones. These events are not just occasions for celebration but strategic tools for brand promotion, networking, and lead generation. A real challenge for growth-minded entrepreneurs lies in effectively evaluating the success of these events. This guide delves into the art and science of measuring the impact of corporate events, a process crucial for driving future strategies and maximizing return on investment (ROI).

    The significance of measuring the success of corporate events cannot be overstated. This evaluation process goes beyond mere number crunching; it provides valuable data that reflects on the achievement of predefined goals and objectives, thereby shaping future event planning. More importantly, it enables businesses to quantify their events’ impact on brand visibility, customer engagement and revenue generation — factors that are pivotal in influencing strategic decision-making. At Entire Productions, we start with an event strategy map so that the client’s KPIs and ROI goals are set to have something to measure against.

    Related: Follow These Tips to Make Your Corporate Event Successful

    Before delving into the nuances of event evaluation, it is imperative to have a bedrock of clear, quantifiable objectives for each corporate event. Whether the aim is to amplify brand awareness, generate leads or drive direct sales, setting well-defined goals is crucial. These objectives act as a compass, guiding not only the event planning process but also providing a clear direction for measuring success.

    A fundamental metric for evaluating event success is the measurement of attendance and participant engagement. High attendance, coupled with active participation, often signals a well-received event. However, it’s not just about numbers; qualitative data from surveys and feedback forms provide deeper insights into attendee satisfaction, revealing strengths and weaknesses from the perspective of those who matter most — the attendees.

    In today’s digital age, the impact of social media cannot be ignored. Analyzing social media activity related to the event offers real-time insights into audience sentiment and engagement. Metrics like mentions, shares and overall engagement on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram serve as barometers of the event’s reach and resonance in the digital space.

    A key function of corporate events is to serve as potent lead-generation platforms. Thus, tracking the number and conversion rate of leads generated is vital for assessing the event’s impact on the sales funnel and revenue generation. This analysis helps in understanding not just the immediate but also the lasting effects of the event on business growth.

    Assessing the financial aspects of the event is imperative. This involves calculating the total cost of the event and comparing it against the benefits derived, be it direct revenue or long-term brand impact. A comprehensive view of ROI encompasses both tangible and intangible returns, offering a holistic measure of the event’s success.

    Related: How to Create a Live Event that Generates Buzz and Leaves a Lasting Impression

    Direct feedback from attendees, sponsors and stakeholders is invaluable. It offers candid perspectives on the event’s organization, content and overall experience. This feedback is instrumental in refining future events and turning critiques into opportunities for enhancement. Creating a simple survey can be the most effective way to gather information, especially if it is a large event.

    Evaluating the quantity and quality of media coverage provides insights into the event’s public visibility and resonance. Additionally, assessing the event’s influence on public relations and brand exposure reveals its ability to garner positive media attention and strengthen brand positioning in the market.

    The importance of engaging with attendees after the event cannot be overstated. Continuing the conversation through follow-up emails and exclusive offers helps in measuring the level of post-event engagement and its potential long-term effects.

    Post-event, it’s crucial to assess any increase in brand visibility and recognition. Comparing the current event against past ones through benchmarking sheds light on performance trends and areas for improvement, an essential practice for continuous optimization.

    Qualitative feedback and testimonials from stakeholders provide nuanced insights into the event’s impact. Additionally, conducting market research before and after the event measures shifts in consumer perception and behavior, offering tangible insights into the event’s impact.

    Evaluating the long-term effects of events on customer loyalty and brand advocacy unveils the enduring influence of the event on audience sentiment. Comparing event performance against industry benchmarks provides context and insights into the event’s standing within the broader market landscape.

    Evaluating the success of corporate events is a multifaceted endeavor that demands a comprehensive approach. It requires a blend of tangible metrics like attendance and lead generation and qualitative indicators such as stakeholder feedback and brand visibility. This comprehensive approach not only provides insights into the success of individual events but also informs overarching business strategies. By mastering the art of evaluating corporate event success, businesses can harness events as catalysts for brand growth.

    [ad_2]

    Natasha Miller

    Source link

  • We Are Only Using 33% of Our Marketing Tech — And Draining Our ROI. Here's What Needs to Change. | Entrepreneur

    We Are Only Using 33% of Our Marketing Tech — And Draining Our ROI. Here's What Needs to Change. | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In the aftermath of the pandemic, many companies purchased new software – a lot of it. Then came the downturn, and those same companies were forced to examine how much – or how little – value this new tech was driving. This has been especially true for marketing teams, which have been prime targets for shiny object syndrome amidst a rapidly growing array of martech solutions and the pressure to do more with less. With most organizations only using 33% of their martech tools’ capabilities, it’s perhaps not surprising that as budgets shrink, teams underleveraging their martech tools have been forced to shelve them.

    But the problem may not have been that the technology “just didn’t work.” Software on its own is not a silver bullet. And, while vendors have a role to play in ensuring customers can implement their tools, the actual value is the change in how your organization operates *enabled by the software*. You only get this value after the software gets implemented and you change how you do things, including team coordination and buy-in, planning and execution.

    Simply put, every tech purchase also needs to come with a mindset shift about the required change in operations — starting with the end goal and working backward toward the implementation. This approach requires addressing important but often difficult questions, such as how your team is set up, how responsibilities will change and how you will adapt and improve the way you work together.

    Related: Invest in These 5 Technologies to Redefine Your Marketing Efforts

    Great software with built-in workflows that act as guardrails for your team makes these changes much easier. But you will only get there if you answer these kinds of questions:

    Question 1: What are your business goals — and how can marketing tech help you get there?

    Rather than taking a bottom-up approach to buying martech, marketing teams should instead start with their business goals — and how software can help them get there. The key is to be explicit about expected outcomes. At a minimum, you’ll need to align the head of marketing and the technology lead for marketing on the fundamental goals of the project — and clear expectations on roles and timelines.

    But what if this doesn’t happen? I’ve seen this situation play out more than once in the world of digital marketing. The recent push for decoupling front-end and back-end website architecture has led to the introduction of tools like Front-End Sites. At face value, these tools make some pretty enticing promises: more modern and elevated web experiences for users and more seamless integration within a brand’s digital ecosystem on the back end. Where things go off the rails is when the technology investment and approach aren’t tied back to the marketing team, their needs, expectations and goals. The technology is complex, and it often comes with drawbacks for marketers – like more challenging publishing workflows – which they usually aren’t aware of upfront. These issues can be overcome as long as the teams involved go in with the recognition that the tools don’t always offer a quick fix.

    The outcome is never just the purchase of the software itself; it’s about having a plan for internal transformation to get the desired results, whether your intended outcome is optimized workflows, increased efficiency or better customer experiences.

    Question 2: What do we need to change about how we operate to get the outcome we want?

    Here’s an uncomfortable but important truth: Without making internal changes geared toward extracting value, software is essentially useless. Martech buyers (and sellers) need to be willing to get honest about the internal changes required to achieve the outcomes they are after.

    Collaboration between marketing and IT is key. Developers know that any complex software is going to be complicated to deploy, challenging to integrate and won’t always work. Marketers must be aware of this, too – and it must be communicated and planned for. Ideally, you’ll want to pull together a team including marketing, UX design, development and IT to collaborate on an approach that enables the organization to make iterative improvements on a phased timeline.

    It may also mean taking an incremental approach to building and rolling out features. Our digital agency, TNB, did this with their clients to help them deliver better and more valuable online experiences. They undertook an extensive roll-out process to test Front-End Sites as they implemented it, ensuring they made it easy for clients to use the tool right away. And because of that upfront investment, their team has been able to shift budgets away from back-end work and over to front-end work, where it will have the most significant impact on users.

    All software implementations should be treated this way – with a cross-functional team and an agile approach that enables everyone involved to get what they need – if not immediately, then at least with a measure of transparency. If your organization isn’t set up to approach implementation this way, then aspects of how you communicate and collaborate may need to be addressed.

    Related: How Automation Can Change the Face of Your Martech Stack

    Question 3: How do we determine we’re on track to getting long-term value?

    Smart tech buyers know that the job doesn’t end when the tech is acquired. I’ve lost count of how many projects I’ve seen fail altogether when teams didn’t plan how to track value over the long term.

    So, how do you know the tech is working for you? This is where having clarity on the desired outcome becomes critically important. To measure this, establish baseline metrics according to your specific value drivers (marketing teams will likely want to tie them to customer experience outcomes). Then, track your progress over time. You don’t necessarily need to hit all of your goals overnight. Start with rolling out basic functionalities that will improve the customer experience and then build over time. This will instill confidence in the team and show that progress — and results – are possible.

    Ultimately, successfully buying and implementing martech is more about taking an intentional approach than it is about technical specifications. The tech that empowers business transformation can change people’s job descriptions, organizational structure and processes — in a good way. But getting there requires patience and a concerted effort.

    When you do all three of these things and you align all stakeholders (including finance, procurement and even the CEO), you will be amazed how much easier operating can become. These simple but sometimes hard early conversations so often make the difference between the success and failure of technology investments.

    [ad_2]

    Zack Rosen

    Source link

  • 5 Common SEO Mistakes That Are Killing Your Rankings | Entrepreneur

    5 Common SEO Mistakes That Are Killing Your Rankings | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    After Google rolled out its latest core algorithm update, many websites saw a steep decline in their search engine rankings. The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) game has changed, and you need to adjust your approach if you don’t want your website to get left behind.

    From what I’ve seen in the past year, most of the websites lost their rankings because they were making the same exact SEO mistakes. In this article, I’m going to outline five common SEO mistakes I’ve seen in 2023 and explain how to avoid them.

    Related: 5 Simple SEO Strategies to Improve Your Rankings

    What is SEO and why is it important?

    SEO is the practice of optimizing a website and its content to improve search engine rankings. It involves various approaches, from on-page optimization to fine-tuning the technical details. The main goal of all of these strategies is to secure the top positions on search engine result pages.

    In a nutshell, SEO is a vital element of online success because it can:

    • Boost online visibility

    • Drive organic traffic

    • Prove your authority

    • Improve user experience

    Despite search engines and SEO constantly evolving, businesses don’t always follow the best — or most updated — SEO practices. Here are the five most common SEO mistakes I’ve seen in 2023 that can tank your search engine rankings.

    1. Focusing on SEO busy work

    SEO is a complex field, and many business owners don’t know where to focus their efforts for the best results. So, what they do is try different SEO strategies and approaches, often doing too much.

    The truth is, you don’t need to audit your website five or six times a year and fixate on adjusting every little detail. Instead, you want to focus your efforts on the biggest needle movers — content creation and link-building.

    Your website’s content should be at the heart of your SEO strategy. It’s what can cause search engine algorithms to rank your website high and what can attract, engage and turn your website visitors into customers. Similarly, building backlinks signals that your website is trustworthy and authoritative, boosting your search engine rankings.

    Focusing on content creation and link-building will most likely have the biggest impact on your SEO success, especially if your website is new.

    2. Having low content velocity

    Content velocity involves creating more content quickly. The logic is simple — you can’t rank for what you don’t have. So, more content means more chances to rank for relevant keywords.

    However, many websites have low content velocity, which sabotages their SEO potential. They focus on publishing one article per week, which is usually not enough.

    Let’s say you publish four articles today. In about six months, you should have four ranking articles. Now, double that publishing rate, and you’ll have eight ranking articles, effectively having doubled your SEO performance.

    The takeaway is this: The faster you publish, the faster you’re going to rank.

    Related: 5 Essential SEO Strategies For Entrepreneurs to Boost Their Traffic

    3. Doing selfish link-building

    In 2023, everyone knows the importance of backlinks. This means nobody is going to give you one for free. And why should they? Instead, these days, most websites ask for compensation when providing a backlink.

    The problem? Paid link-building is against Google’s guidelines. Fortunately, there is a way to bypass this and get backlinks for free. In your outreach emails, focus on what you can offer your prospect.

    Here are three “offers” that have worked for me in the past:

    • Reciprocal linking: Propose to link back to their website when they give you a backlink.

    • Future guest posts: Offer to link to their website in a future guest post.

    • Quality content: Deliver an in-depth, keyword-optimized blog post relevant to their niche.

    4. Relying on ad hoc keyword research

    Some people have a very ad hoc approach to keyword research. They do it weekly, choosing keywords randomly and creating content around them. The problem with this approach is that you never get a comprehensive view of your niche.

    As a result, you don’t know whether the keywords you’re choosing are optimal because there’s no frame of reference. To fix this, you should cast a wider net and find as many keywords as possible. Think 200 to 300 keywords that provide you with enough content material for the next few years.

    From there, you can see what keywords bring the most value. You can compare keyword intent, search volume and difficulty ranking to discover the best options. The more comprehensive you are in the initial stage of your keyword research, the better your SEO outcomes will be in the long run.

    Related: 5 Common Keyword Research Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

    5. Building low-quality backlinks

    When it comes to link-building, quality is more important than quantity. High-quality backlinks can give you a significant ranking boost, helping your website reach the first page of search results.

    Low-quality backlinks, on the other hand, spell trouble. At best, they won’t have any impact on your rankings. At worst, they’ll lead to your site getting penalized and losing rankings. So, how do you know which backlinks are good?

    You can assess backlink quality by:

    • Checking quality metrics (DA, DR)

    • Analyzing the website’s SEO performance (monthly traffic)

    • Ensuring topical relevance

    • Assessing trustworthiness (is the site legitimate?)

    • Avoiding backlink farms

    Remember, one high-quality backlink is worth more than 10 low-quality ones.

    Steering clear of these five common SEO mistakes is vital to maintaining your website’s search engine rankings in 2023.

    By focusing more on content creation, upkeeping content velocity, avoiding selfish link-building, conducting comprehensive keyword research and prioritizing quality backlinks, you can set up your SEO strategy for success.

    [ad_2]

    Nick Zviadadze

    Source link

  • Why Successful Businesses Embrace Affiliate Marketing | Entrepreneur

    Why Successful Businesses Embrace Affiliate Marketing | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Even though the marketing world has seen some significant new trends and technologies, one strategy has impressively risen in popularity in recent years: affiliate marketing.

    While affiliate marketing has been around for years, it has recently taken a front seat in the media as a “side hustle.” Millennials and Generation Z have taken a recent liking to the idea of earning money passively, and affiliate marketing has proven to be a tried and true method for doing so.

    And why is it so popular? I’ll give you two big reasons:

    1. It’s easy for brands and businesses to manage.
    2. Financially speaking, it’s a win-win.

    Let’s break down how affiliate marketing reached this point and the benefits your brand could miss.

    Related: 5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Boost Their Visibility with Affiliate Marketing

    The origin of affiliate marketing

    First, a little history lesson. If you didn’t know, the concept of affiliates came from the PC Flower and Gifts founder, William J. Tobin, originating in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But it wasn’t until Amazon that the program became more fleshed out and open to the public.

    Amazon’s idea was to allow individuals to promote their products and earn commissions on sales generated through their referrals. This concept, of course, was revolutionary as it introduced a performance-based marketing approach, where brands only paid for actual results, such as sales or leads.

    Over time, this model gained traction, and when paired with our current technological advancements, it became a mainstream marketing strategy that brands couldn’t afford to participate in.

    Related: 3 Tips to Get Started with Affiliate Marketing

    The reasons behind the craze

    Enter the current day, and affiliate marketing has exploded in popularity. Its current rise can be linked to several key factors.

    First, the exponential growth of e-commerce over the past decade has been a significant motivation for affiliate marketing, with more people shopping online than ever. More online shopping has created more opportunities for creators or affiliates to promote the products and services they love while also gaining a little commission.

    For marketers and brands — especially small businesses – affiliate marketing is attractive thanks to its low cost and low barriers to entry. On a tight budget, affiliate marketing is a great way to maximize ROI without breaking the bank.

    Top that off with the rise of dependency on social media for creators and brands – specifically influencer marketing. It’s easier than ever for people to build an audience online and generate more revenue both for themselves and for brands through the simple process of promoting products and services.

    With all that in mind, it’s no surprise the affiliate marketing industry is growing so rapidly, being worth over $17 billion today. Now, let’s look at why the rise of affiliate marketing is a win for brands.

    Related: When the World Goes Dark, Will Your Business Keep the Lights On?

    Benefits for brands

    Brands have much to gain from participating in affiliate marketing and a lot to lose by ignoring it. Here are just a few of the reasons why…

    Firstly, it is a great extension of their marketing team — using their affiliates to connect with new and eager audiences at a lower cost.

    Secondly, it enhances a brand’s credibility. Positive reviews and recommendations from trusted affiliates can significantly boost a brand’s reputation.

    Consumers tend to trust product endorsements from individuals they follow and admire. Think about it – when was the last time you purchased something solely because you saw it in a video or a photo?

    Furthermore, affiliate marketing can improve a brand’s SEO efforts. Backlinks can act as roads to your website. With backlinks ranging from a variety of affiliate websites, you end up creating a large roadmap of products that ultimately lead to your website and improve your visibility efforts.

    What’s next for affiliate marketing

    With all of that said the future of affiliate marketing looks highly promising.

    We will likely see a surge in personalization efforts. With tracking systems and the evolution of content marketing, brands can tailor their affiliate marketing strategies to individual consumer preferences to deliver a more personalized and engaged shopping experience.

    Additionally, we have seen new social media platforms pop up quickly in recent years — the more, the merrier. More platforms = more opportunities for success.

    Lastly, the future of affiliate marketing will be shaped by evolving consumer preferences and online shopping behaviors. With an increasing number of consumers relying on online platforms for their shopping needs, affiliates and brands will continue to have new opportunities to drive interest and improve ROI.

    As brands continue to realize the benefits of this marketing strategy, it is likely to remain a prominent fixture in the marketing landscape. By leaning on their affiliates, brands can expand their reach, improve credibility, and drive revenue while providing affiliates with a profitable and flexible income source.

    So, should your brand embrace affiliate marketing? The answer is clear: YES!

    [ad_2]

    Christopher Tompkins

    Source link

  • The Best Holiday Marketing Strategy for Amazon Sellers | Entrepreneur

    The Best Holiday Marketing Strategy for Amazon Sellers | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The Amazon Marketplace is flooded with advertisers around the holidays that wouldn’t normally be there. This makes getting visibility from holiday shoppers extremely difficult for Amazon sellers of all sizes.

    Amazon sellers’ holiday marketing strategy ramps up on channels like Amazon PPC and Amazon SEO, taking up most available real estate. So, focusing on those two channels alone would be considered an Amazon beginner mistake.

    The good news? For most consumers, their holiday gift-buying journey begins off of Amazon, and as an Amazon Consultant for 10+ years, I’m here to share how you can capitalize on this with a proven, time-tested holiday marketing strategy.

    Related: 5 Proven Marketing Strategies for Amazon Sellers

    Step 1. Make a list of holiday gift guides

    To begin, consider that your customers will be visiting the top two search engines in the world, Google and YouTube, to help make their holiday gift-buying decisions easy.

    They will be searching for things like:

    • Best gifts for mom

    • Gifts for golfers

    • Jewelry gifts under $100

    • Top tech gifts for dad

    That means, your first step will be to make a list of lists.

    First, ask yourself: Who would your product be an amazing gift for? Then, think about all of the buying guides, holiday gift guides, best lists and top lists, and write them down.

    Not sure? Ask ChatGPT for help, then move on to step 2.

    Step 2. Find Amazon Influencers

    Amazon Influencers who create blog and video content link back to Amazon to earn affiliate commissions from programs like the Amazon Associates Program and Amazon Influencer Program.

    They’re the prominent creators of gift guide and buyer guide style content because they can easily link back to the products on Amazon, where the customers with buyer intent go and make a purchase after taking their recommendation, earning them a commission.

    In other words: Your goal is to perform searches on Google and YouTube for the lists in your list and make note of all of the results that link back to products on Amazon.

    Then, you’re going to collect the social media links and email addresses of the content creators, just like you would in your modern PR strategy.

    Now, you know who creates the type of content that drives sales for your Amazon holiday marketing strategy.

    Your next step is to build relationships to get included in the existing or upcoming holiday gift guide content.

    Step 3. Build relationships with Amazon Influencers

    Simply put, you don’t want to quickly send out a cold email or DM asking to get included in their gift guides. This doesn’t work.

    As a business owner, think about how many cold emails you get every day and which ones you choose to read and which you choose to skip.

    You choose to open the cold emails from people who have interacted with you before and see their names in your notifications.

    You’re going to want to follow the same process you likely use to get PR for your business.

    1. Follow the content creator on social media

    2. Engage with their content for a day or so

    3. Send them a DM or an email

    By following this process, they’re going to see your name a few times and know that you’ve taken the time to consume and engage with their content. This is what makes them willing to open up and respond to your outreach — reciprocity.

    Related: 5 Incredible Ways to Get Your Product, Service or Business in a Holiday Gift Guide

    Step 4. Ask for inclusion in gift guides

    The content you’re going to get included in will fall into two categories.

    1. Existing content

    2. Upcoming content

    Existing content:

    Publications and bloggers alike often choose to create evergreen content — in other words, content that is relevant year over year or kept fresh and relevant through updates.

    That means you have a fantastic opportunity to get included in a piece of content that’s already ranking well on search engines and will have prominent visibility during the holidays.

    Upcoming content:

    Since you cannot re-upload YouTube videos and update existing video content, your choice for YouTube content is only for upcoming videos. Many publications and bloggers choose to create new content as well.

    This gives you a bit more flexibility in terms of how you’re positioned.

    BONUS PLACEMENTS:

    Don’t stop at the article or the YouTube video inclusion. Amazon Influencers will also break up their gift guides for social media placements and email lists.

    Your goal is to maximize the real estate and opportunities to be in front of holiday shoppers when they’re making their purchasing decisions.

    With that in mind, the ultimate placement is the solo placement. This is where the entire piece of content is dedicated to your product.

    Some examples of great solo placement options are:

    • “The Best Tech Gift For Mom”

    • “The Ultimate Jewelry Gift For Grandma”

    • “The Only Gift Worthy of The Golfer In Your Family”

    • “The One Gift I Give Every Single Year To Coffee Lovers”

    Not only do you take up the entire real estate, but you are positioned as the best in class at what you do, which increases perceived value, boosting conversions.

    Standing out from the crowd on Amazon during the holidays is a herculean task, but luckily, you don’t have to. You can thrive this holiday season by going where your customers go — off of Amazon.

    Related: 3 Essentials for Taking Your Amazon Sales to the Next Level

    [ad_2]

    Tanner Rankin

    Source link

  • 5 Telltale Signs These Outdated Strategies Are Killing Your Business (and How to Get With the Times) | Entrepreneur

    5 Telltale Signs These Outdated Strategies Are Killing Your Business (and How to Get With the Times) | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As a CMO in the MarTech space, I am constantly getting outreach about new services and technologies from salespeople. While some might find it a bother — and repeated, non-reciprocated emails are — I do find value in some of the messages. Here’s why: I’m willing to guess that many people in executive go-to-market roles rely in part on email pitches and LinkedIn posts from salespeople to stay abreast of new services and features that are coming on the market every day.

    In today’s dynamic business environment, adaptation is not just a choice, but an imperative for success — particularly for marketing and sales strategies. With the constant evolution of technology shaping how businesses operate and interact with customers, it’s important to advance your own business processes and technologies to yield these benefits and stay relevant.

    Looking ahead, it is predicted that artificial intelligence (AI) will assist in a staggering 95% of customer interactions by 2025. This statistic reflects the undeniable influence of innovation we’re experiencing. Simultaneously, studies show that 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a superior customer experience. Yet, surprisingly, 17% of organizations still report using spreadsheets to manage their customer interactions rather than a customer relationship management system (CRM).

    If change is the only constant, clinging to obsolete methods is a recipe for disaster. A majority of businesses state that their primary challenge involves catering to changing customer behaviors and expectations, so companies must adapt their strategies to effectively engage their target audience in meaningful ways.

    In my role as a CMO at a CRM, I often see robust, profitable businesses operating with an outdated CRM and it is staggering to me. Fostering strong relationships with prospects and customers directly impacts a company’s bottom line and is an experience facilitated most often through CRMs — with 91% of companies with 11 employees or more reportedly managing relationships via CRMs. But, of that large portion of businesses, 79% of businesses report being dissatisfied with their current CRM software. Add to the mix stale marketing and sales strategies and it’s no wonder that many companies struggle to fully capitalize on the benefits of these systems, leaving significant room for improvement in both CRM utilization and the overall effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts. So how, then, does a company determine if it’s lagging behind? It’s time to find out.

    Related: 6 Outdated Marketing Tactics You Need to Leave in the Past (Where They Belong)

    5 signs it’s time for a refresh

    Not only does outdated technology consume additional time, but it can also worsen administrative inefficiencies, leading to the dissemination of inaccurate information. This threat carries substantial risks for customer perception and, ultimately, customer satisfaction. Several telltale signs that it’s time for a refresh include:

    • New hires question the tech stack: Bringing in new talent, whether through growth or backfill, gives you a glimpse into the technology being used in other companies and can help avoid the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality. If your new hires are asking for apps or questioning why your team is not using a certain technology, listen to them and use their feedback to question the status quo.
    • Decreased productivity and poor sales performance: Outdated systems often come with cumbersome processes that impede a team’s productivity. If your team is spending excessive time on administrative tasks rather than valuable customer interactions or prospect engagements, it may be time to update your strategies and/or tech stack.
    • Low-quality customer experiences: If you notice a persistent drop in your customer satisfaction ratings or feedback, it’s an indication that current strategies, and possibly tools, are not meeting customer expectations. Many modern tools offer various ways to enhance customer engagement and satisfaction.
    • Lack of integrations: The most efficient MarTech solutions are those that seamlessly integrate with other tools, streamlining your workflows and increasing efficiency while supporting your business’s capability to grow, scale and change. For example, if your CRM doesn’t integrate well with other tools, it’s undoubtedly a sign of an outdated system.
    • Reliance on manual data entry: Relying on manual data entry in your sales processes not only heightens the potential for errors but also diminishes overall efficiency. If your existing system heavily depends on manual data input, rather than automation and calculated fields, it may be prudent to contemplate an upgrade.

    Related: Hit ‘Refresh’ on That Stale Sales Cycle and Never Miss Your Numbers Again

    Revamping your strategies

    Rather than hastily adopting quick fixes, success hinges on a purposeful, methodical approach to change. Here’s a concise roadmap to help navigate this process:

    • Self-assessment and benchmarking: Start with a comprehensive assessment of your current tech stack, strategies, and processes, benchmarking your performance against industry standards. Analyze customer feedback for insights into areas needing improvement. And, additionally, scrutinize any sales drop-offs for valuable insights beyond customer feedback. Once you’ve pinpointed the key issues that require attention, you can develop a clear and actionable plan to achieve the desired results.
    • Understanding emerging technologies and trends: Research the latest emerging technologies and industry trends, including taking a look at your competitors’ advancements, to assess market positioning. This information can help you make informed decisions about which tools and strategies you need to adopt or incorporate into revising the technology that supports your playbook.
    • Identifying the right technology for your business: Not all technologies (or CRMs) will be suitable for your specific needs. Take time to identify the solutions that align with your business goals and customer expectations while addressing pain points within your organization’s strategy. This means keeping a strong focus on understanding your customers’ needs and finding ways to consistently exceed their expectations with the support of innovative technology.
    • Training and implementation: Investing in proper training for a sales or marketing team is critical to realizing the full potential of chosen tools. Remember to stay vigilant in regularly evaluating the performance, capabilities and strategies your company uses, particularly when it comes to the effectiveness of systems in play, to engage your target audience and provide value.

    Related: Invest in These 5 Technologies to Redefine Your Marketing Efforts

    Leveraging technology for success

    Data-driven insights and customer relationships are the driving force behind success today, making it essential for companies to stay updated with marketing, sales and technology trends.

    Outdated strategies put companies at risk of losing valuable connections and can prevent them from unlocking crucial growth opportunities. Acting on these telltale signs of outdated marketing and sales strategies could mark the difference between stagnation and advancement.

    Companies not only need to recognize the signs of lagging behind, but also act swiftly, capitalizing on the versatility and dynamics of today’s plethora of tech options. Refreshing and leveling up technology solutions is no longer a luxury; it’s a business imperative that demands urgent attention.

    [ad_2]

    Chip House

    Source link

  • This Is the Unconventional Marketing Tactic Small Businesses Need to Try | Entrepreneur

    This Is the Unconventional Marketing Tactic Small Businesses Need to Try | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    If you’ve never heard of guerrilla marketing, it can sound intimidating. After all, it comes from the term guerrilla warfare. The goal of guerrilla marketing is to drive brand awareness through unconventional or shocking tactics for maximum exposure. If you think guerrilla marketing isn’t for you and your business keep in mind that guerrilla marketing campaigns have a 21% higher ROI than more traditional marketing.

    The elements that make guerrilla marketing are:

    Cost-effective: If you think guerrilla marketing is expensive, think again. One of the biggest reasons to do it would actually be to save money you’d normally spend on traditional marketing outlets. Most small business owners like that guerrilla marketers spend 90% less on advertising than other traditional methods.

    Element of surprise: Catching people off guard is a great way to make sure you’re getting their undivided attention. In a world of ads in every direction from bus stops to billboards, make your message garner attention.

    Creative and unconventional: Marketers can distance themselves from the more corporate side of the brand and have more freedom of control to do something more fun, which could be different from what the brand is usually known for.

    Interactive: In the mundane when people are going to and from work and going through the regular motions of a workday, you can lighten up their mood by giving them an activity which they wouldn’t normally do.

    Related: 7 Guerrilla Marketing Tactics That Will Grow Your Business When Money Gets Tight

    Benefits of guerrilla marketing

    Let’s talk about why you should be applying guerrilla marketing tactics to your small business if you’re not yet.

    Guerrilla marketing can become your unique selling proposition (USP) because it’s creative, memorable and unconventional — and if I haven’t convinced you yet how effective guerilla marketing is, take a look at this: “79% of consumers believe companies that provide unique experiences value their business more.” So you’re increasing your brand’s value in your audience’s mind by using a strategy that’s inherently more unique.

    This will also generate word-of-mouth as people will talk about their unique experiences with others. Many times, guerrilla marketing will also garner media attention, which is another part of the low cost-effectiveness of guerrilla marketing.

    Strategies to implement this unconventional strategy

    Ambush marketing: This tactic is not the easiest to execute, and you will most likely need to work with other businesses or organizations as it’s a big undertaking and can easily go wrong. A great way to understand ambush marketing is to think about flash mobs. Let’s say you’re a local dance school; you could go to a baseball game for youths. Parents would be there, so your target market would already be at the event. Next, you’d need to wait for a break in the game and then ambush the field with your flash mob. At the end of the performance, all dancers could take off their jackets/sweaters and showcase a shirt with your dance school’s logo. Use caution once again, because if this isn’t done correctly, you could potentially offend the organizers of the event.

    Undercover marketing: This can be done in two ways. The goal of undercover marketing is for potential customers to be unaware they’re being pitched to. A common example is product placements in your favorite TV shows. Another way to use undercover marketing is by hiring actors or using employees who go undercover to interact with the public. The public is unaware that the agents are actually there on a mission to execute an undercover marketing tactic.

    Ambient marketing: This is the most common form of guerrilla marketing and also one of the most entertaining. It has strong visuals and includes putting a message for your brand out in unusual public spaces. Usually, some form of signage or logo will be used and put out in a clever way that goes with the brand’s offerings. Let’s say you own a small business selling Christmas tree ornaments. Your ambient marketing campaign could be making small round cardboard ornaments where one side is an eye-catching design, and the other side is your logo. You could hang these on trees in busy places where people will walk by them constantly. A word of caution: Make sure you contact your city if you’re unsure of whether or not you’d be allowed to do that so you don’t end up in a conflict.

    Related: 9 Marketing Strategies for Startups to Boost Growth and Visibility

    Experiential marketing: This is when you get the public out of their comfort zone to participate in an activity. Let’s say you own a power washing business. You could put graffiti on a wall and ask the public to participate in removing different types of products such as chalk, markers, paint, etc. Maybe make it a competition by blindfolding them and offering a prize if they’re able to complete the tasks. Make it fun and get people moving! Obviously, just make sure you get permission.

    My company has used this strategy in B2B settings. Many people believe guerrilla marketing should only be reserved for B2C, mostly because they’re worried about the backlash they may receive in a B2B setting, but I recommend getting creative regardless of your audience. At the end of the day, B2B clients are still human and will enjoy the entertainment that comes with it. We went to a trade show once and put cards all over the vicinity. The card had a question mark on one side and instructions to come get a prize on the other side. This was such a low-cost way to get prospects to come to our booth and get free ice cream. We would use the opportunity while they were eating ice cream to teach them about our offerings. Never underestimate the power of free food!

    If you haven’t tried guerrilla marketing yet as a small or medium-sized business, give it a try. Shake up the everyday experiences your town experiences and become the talk at the dinner table. Just remember a few things: Messages can be misinterpreted if they’re too mysterious, you might intimidate your audience or shareholders and it could put potential customers off if it’s too out there or controversial.

    [ad_2]

    Jason Miller

    Source link

  • How to Build Strong Marketing at a Mature Company | Entrepreneur

    How to Build Strong Marketing at a Mature Company | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Marketing teams at mature companies aren’t usually tasked to reinvent the wheel. They’re not responsible for driving triple-digit year-over-year growth. They’ve already introduced major initiatives and hired internally and/or found partners to help run them.

    This might sound cushy to marketers used to high-growth and startup land. But with most of the fundamental work covered, if not fully optimized, a marketing team’s success comes down to advanced factors like tech integration, analytics, channel expansion and brand marketing.

    For those at a mature company (or planning to develop yours into one), I’ll lay out:

    • Major initiatives to accelerate growth
    • Team skills needed
    • Build-or-buy considerations for your tech stack

    Related: How to Build a Marketing Function During the Early Stage of Your Startup

    Growth initiatives for mature companies

    If you’ve been in marketing for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve seen this John Wanamaker quote: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” That’s been true for decades past the point Wanamaker first said it, but it doesn’t have to be true today, especially for companies with the resources to do intelligent analysis of their marketing campaigns.

    There are a number of areas where I see advertisers spending in 2023 that provide little to no return – and corresponding initiatives that could transform advertising performance.

    • More governance on programmatic placements. A recent report showing that 17% of programmatic clicks in Q2 2023 were fraudulent, even for the biggest advertisers, should be a huge red flag for brands running programmatic campaigns without insight into and control of placements. I’m not talking about mom-and-pop placements, either – in case you haven’t heard, YouTube’s placement practices are under hefty fire lately.
    • Assessing marginal return and incrementality. Whether overspending in primary channels without testing new ones or paying to engage audiences who would convert otherwise, even marketers at top brands generally waste tons of spending in a few under-analyzed areas.
    • Moving up the funnel. With all the tools available in 2023, it continues to amaze me how many smart advertisers turn up their noses at upper-funnel campaigns. Yes, the bottom of the funnel has more measurable return. Still, that gap is shrinking as platforms like Meta introduce native lift tests and branding measurement tools, and martech, like predictive analytics and media mix modeling, gets more accessible. The upper funnel helps advertisers reach net-new audiences less expensively, and it’s easier than it’s ever been to track the downstream effects of those campaigns. For instance, if you’re a Fortune 100 brand, don’t just run a Super Bowl ad and consider that branding box checked; take more precise aim with digital campaigns and start the customer journey with millions of potentially high-LTV new users.

    Marketing skills mature companies must prioritize

    More and more, I’m seeing premium value in analytics and creative talent (good luck finding that in one person). On the analytics side, marketing teams for mature brands should prioritize finding resources to do incrementality testing, conduct lift tests and cohort analyses, and get into the weeds of media mix modeling and predictive analytics to build action plans for engaging more high-LTV customers. This skill set transcends channels and should be able to spot opportunities to improve your campaigns across your entire marketing landscape.

    On the creative side, branding messaging, positioning, and visuals across a range of media can spin gold from upper-funnel initiatives, particularly as you dial in the combinations that work for different audiences that should cascade down the funnel. To do this well, you’ll need both great ideas and the mechanics to scale the delivery of those ideas across ad channels and media formats.

    Tech: to build or buy?

    In big marketing organizations spending a lot on martech tools, it’s pretty common for someone in upper management to wonder, out loud, whether it might be cheaper in the long run to build the necessary technology in-house. In theory, this has the benefit of being custom-built exactly to fit the brand’s needs, not built for the masses with a bunch of extra features you’ll pay for but never use.

    I’m an entrepreneur at heart, and I’ve gone down that road for my agency – and what I’ve learned is that in most cases, it’s smarter to buy from the experts than it is to build something yourself. Why? Well, if you use your existing team to build something, you’re asking them to do something they weren’t hired to do and may not be qualified to do. And if you hire someone else to build it, you might as well buy an established, vetted tool that already exists rather than pay someone to make something that may or may not work as well.

    Long story short: let the experts build the tech.

    What’s next

    A marketer’s job is never done. Fending off challengers and keeping on top of the latest industry developments and releases is a good chunk of work, even for companies at the very top of their industry. (Imagine being Nike’s CMO and ignoring TikTok, for instance.) But beyond that, there are real efficiencies and growth advantages to be gained by being on the ball with your analytics, creative, and holistic positioning. A team that can carve out a competitive edge in those areas will very rarely lose market share – and may just gain enough to earn promotions across the board.

    [ad_2]

    Bryan Karas

    Source link

  • 5 Steps to Fuel Your Email Marketing Efforts Before the Holidays | Entrepreneur

    5 Steps to Fuel Your Email Marketing Efforts Before the Holidays | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    People spent $1.14 trillion online and $270 billion in the U.S. during last year’s holiday season. For businesses like yours, the coming months have the highest sales potential — and for that, you need a reliable strategy.

    Email marketing is competitive 365 days a year, but the last quarter? It all comes to a head. With so many companies fighting for attention and dollars, you can’t afford to have anything go wrong.

    From figuring out the right offers to preparing your email list, here are five steps you can take today to get better holiday email marketing results.

    Related: 8 Simple Email Marketing Tips to Improve Your Open and Click Through Rates

    1. Create different offers for each audience segment

    Your customers’ journey with your company can be wildly different. For instance, a repeat customer will have different needs compared to a prospect who just created an account on your website. So, when you and your team brainstorm holiday email campaigns, you must take these details into account and segment your audience.

    If the effort of splitting your list intimidates you, stay focused on the benefits. Open rates are 14% higher for segmented campaigns, which means you’ll have higher chances to convert.

    2. Verify your customers’ email addresses

    Now that you’re clear on the offers for each customer segment, it’s time to check the health of your email lists. Looking at your most recent email marketing reports is a good place to start. For instance, if your bounce rate exceeds 2%, you know it’s time to run your databases through an email verifier. Otherwise, your email deliverability will suffer. This is not a time when you can risk having your emails go to spam.

    After verifying more than six billion email addresses in a year, ZeroBounce found that only 57% of them were valid and safe to keep. Your email list decays monthly, so remove obsolete data and also check every new address you gather.

    Related: 11 Common Email Marketing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

    3. Run an email blacklist check

    Have you noticed a steep decline in your open rates and clicks in the past few months? Your IP or domain could be blacklisted. Mailbox providers (like Yahoo or Gmail) and anti-spam organizations maintain email blacklists to block senders with a history of spam-sending. However, even senders with good intentions can land on a blacklist if they don’t maintain healthy email lists and follow best practices. In most cases, emails from blocked senders never make it to their recipients.

    Email blacklists are updated in real-time. The best way to find out if your IP or domain is flagged is to use a blacklist checker. Such tools run tests against hundreds of blacklists and alert you if there’s trouble.

    4. Part with subscribers who never click

    Every email list has its devoted fans, who open every email, and subscribers who rarely or never click. While these email addresses don’t bounce, their lack of interaction sends Internet service providers (ISPs) the wrong message about you. If a large segment of your list doesn’t open your emails, are you relevant enough to be in the inbox? Unengaged subscribers may cause your campaigns to go to spam, so if you haven’t removed them in more than six months, now is the time.

    You may be nervous about reducing your email list right before the holidays, but you’ll enjoy more engagement. Since they haven’t opened any of your emails in months, those subscribers weren’t likely to convert anyway.

    5. Send a gift to boost engagement

    To increase engagement ahead of the holidays, start warming up your prospects a few weeks before launching your campaigns. An effective tactic is to create a series of educational emails to relieve some of your customers’ pain points. Whether you run a B2B or a retail business, think of free content offers to create your emails around. A free e-book, infographic or useful video can go a long way in building trust and standing out in people’s inboxes.

    Remember: healthy engagement feeds your email deliverability, showing ISPs that your content is relevant. Nurture your audience with outstanding emails before you go for the hard sell.

    Related: 5 Things You Can Do Now to Improve Email Marketing

    Bonus tip: keep sending those great emails

    Aside from sending compelling content, sending it regularly is what helps your email marketing the most. If throughout the year you’ve been inconsistent, now you want to gradually ramp up volume. You’ll build a stronger connection to your customers, and your email deliverability will benefit.

    Avoid sudden and drastic volume increases, as ISPs can flag that behavior as suspicious. The more predictable you are, the better chance you have of getting your email campaigns in the inbox.

    [ad_2]

    Liviu Tanase

    Source link

  • How to Build a Marketing Function During the Go-to-Market Stage of Your Startup | Entrepreneur

    How to Build a Marketing Function During the Go-to-Market Stage of Your Startup | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    I talk to entrepreneurs all the time with a shiny new product or service and big marketing plans. Since I own a marketing agency, they’re probably not expecting to hear what I have to tell them:

    They don’t need my agency yet.

    In fact, they might not even need a full-time marketer on their team yet. At this stage, with a go-to-market plan the priority, there are certainly lots of boxes to check, but many of them have little to do with media.

    Let’s discuss how to approach marketing resources at the go-to-market stage: mistakes to avoid, priorities to address and how to move forward without curtailing future growth prospects.

    Related: How to Build a Marketing Function During the Early Stage of Your Startup

    Marketing mistakes in the go-to-market stage

    There are a couple of things founders can get very wrong about marketing at this stage: either they under-invest in things like branding and proving product-market fit, or they over-invest in resources they don’t need.

    I’ve seen plenty of founders bring on full-time CMOs or VPs of Marketing when the priorities should be block-and-tackle work and establishing product-market fit and a go-to-market plan. A better approach, and one that doesn’t represent a long-term salary commitment and/or equity shares, is a fractional expert who can help you develop your go-to-market strategy and find the right operational talent – which might be freelance – to carry it out.

    Another mistake founders make at this stage is thinking that any marketer can do the job and not trying to find – or pay for – a great fit. I had a conversation with a fellow agency founder the other day, and what he said about hiring – in general, but especially in the early days – really stuck with me: If you think hiring experts is expensive, try hiring novices.

    You need to tackle a few initiatives at this point:

    1. Establish your brand

    By “branding,” I don’t mean spending a bunch of money on commercials and programmatic campaigns to build brand awareness. I’m talking about building the essentials: a name, logo, visual identity and messaging that speaks to the brand’s positioning, differentiation and target market. This branding should carry over into optimizing owned media: a website, social media profiles and profiles on any free directories that might be referenced by your target audience.

    Related: Creating a Brand: How To Build a Brand From Scratch

    2. Find a channel-product fit

    The quickest way to assess the right advertising channels for your offering is to choose one or two advertising channels (usually Google and Facebook) and methodically test messaging, creatives, and audiences to see what features and differentiators resonate and with whom. You’re likely convinced you have a great product that can improve your ICP’s life, but paid media offers a quick way to establish proof of concept outside of your echo chamber.

    Even with paid media on the table, you’re probably still too early for an agency; if you go that route, you’ll get a B team and a retainer you don’t need. When you scale up, it’s time to evaluate in-housing or hiring an agency. In the meantime, I highly recommend freelancers or consultants with expertise in these channels. If you try to do it yourself or make it worthwhile with existing resources who don’t have the chops, you’ll never know if it was the channel that didn’t work or just a lack of operational skill that led to failure. Carefully vetted freelancers are great for point-and-shoot projects, and this is an imperative one.

    Related: You’ve Got to Rethink Product-Market Fit to Stand Out

    3. Build a community of evangelists

    Your immediate network should help provide you with a seed group of folks who can test your product and speak publicly about why they’re using it. Those folks will provide some significant early benefits: social proof and a source of referrals to establish a revenue base and force you to build your customer service processes.

    How to plan for responsible growth

    The important things to avoid at this point have a theme: commitments that will extend beyond their usefulness. This often boils down to hiring and equity, but it can also incorporate initiatives like PR and media campaigns that don’t have a product-market fit to convey.

    Concentrate on initiatives that will pay off for years to come: positioning, audience understanding, competitive research and your place in the market. Look for experts who can help you tackle each of these, but leave yourself room to bring on the next wave of experts as your business matures and your needs evolve.

    When you move into the next phase of your business – early-stage growth – you’ll have more resources on hand and a broader range of possible initiatives to tackle, including building an actual marketing team. I’ll break down the challenges and considerations of this stage in my next post.

    [ad_2]

    Bryan Karas

    Source link

  • 8 Things Tech Startups Must Do Before Creating a Content Strategy | Entrepreneur

    8 Things Tech Startups Must Do Before Creating a Content Strategy | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    If you’re an early-stage tech startup, you’re probably aware that it’s not just established tech companies that need a content strategy. Wherever you are in your business journey, you’ll need a content plan to act as your guiding star when communicating with audiences. As your business scales, your strategy will naturally evolve, so how can you keep on top of this and all the other moving parts of your business?

    Our team has been supporting early-stage tech startups with branding and content for the past six years. These are our key recommendations for developing and executing a flawless content strategy:

    Related: How to Develop a Strong Content Strategy and Solidify Your Brand’s Online Presence

    1. Build your strategy from scratch

    Investing in content creation and distribution may seem like just another to-do item on an already long list when you’re just starting out, but the impact of a well-executed content strategy can be immense. Content marketing is too critical to leave as an afterthought, especially when it is the foundation of how you communicate with your audience. So, why is it so important to focus on content from day one?

    Firstly, you can maximize your resources. When you’re a startup with a limited marketing budget, content is a cost-effective way to reach your target audience compared to paid advertising. Secondly, you can showcase traction to investors. The success of your content strategy can be used as proof of your popularity in the market you operate in. Thirdly, you can benefit from early audience discovery and testing. Monitor how your customers respond to your messaging and gain a better understanding of what content resonates with them.

    2. Avoid taking shortcuts

    If you fail to create a strategy from scratch, you’ll poorly execute a plan with inconsistent messaging. Instead of a haphazard approach, start with a proper plan that the whole company is bought into. Before you start, don’t assume you know your audience intimately; gather data to build a comprehensive understanding to create content that resonates. Even if you’re not technical, don’t ignore metrics. You should monitor which marketing methods are working or failing. Then you can make informed decisions about your strategy’s performance and tweak where necessary.

    3. Look inward, not outward

    A robust content strategy begins with looking inward at your brand, not your competitors. Make sure you’re answering these questions when building out your strategy: First, what’s your business vision and mission statement? This relates to your company’s values, culture and purpose. Next, how would you describe your brand’s personality? This pertains to the human characteristics attributed to your brand. Then, how would you define your brand’s tone of voice? This is about how your brand sounds to customers. Being able to definitively answer these questions will help you translate your brand value to external audiences when developing your messaging.

    4. Understand your customers

    For tech brands, there are two approaches to use when defining your target audience. The problem-solving approach considers your customer’s pain points and how your brand’s solution is different. The customer persona approach is about creating a semi-fictional representation of your brand’s ideal customer based on research and data. By understanding your customer’s motivations and needs, you can tailor your messaging and offerings to better meet those needs and stand out from the competition.

    Related: 4 Simple Steps to Creating an Effective Content Marketing Strategy

    5. Know your value proposition and USPs

    Now it’s time to look outward and see how you compare to competitors, identifying opportunities for differentiation. Your value proposition and USPs (unique sales propositions) will help form the thematic basis of your content strategy. Your value proposition is based on information about what your competitors are offering. It’s important to understand their strengths and weaknesses to articulate why your brand offers the best solution. Your unique sales propositions augment the value proposition by defining the specific features and benefits that make your products stand out.

    6. Establish realistic and measurable goals

    The goals of your content strategy will be informed by your business goals. The type of content that creates brand awareness is very different from the type of content that drives traffic. To help set more strategic goals, it’s critical to start with a realistic planning horizon. For example, six months gives you enough time to gain momentum, test out different hypotheses and track performance. A long-term approach helps you focus on building a solid foundation instead of looking for quick results. Content can take a while to ramp up, but if you approach it with a long-term perspective, you’ll eventually see the benefits.

    7. Transition from content strategy to content plan

    When executing your plan, the first step is identifying your priority marketing channels.

    These will determine all the groundwork you’ve done in building out your brand strategy. That includes brand personality, value proposition, target audience and goals. We then recommend mapping your content posting schedule as a calendar — for optimum flexibility and visibility. Break up your content into 3-5 themes that align with your mission and address the needs of your target audience. By creating a calendar of themes, you can ensure that your content is consistent, relevant and serves your overall goals. Saving time and resources is essential in a high-growth company, so build time-saving practices into your content plan. For example, a blog post can be repurposed into multiple formats like a video or infographic.

    When you’re ready to execute your content plan, take a hint from B2B SaaS brand, Ahrefs, which relies almost solely on content to promote its SEO toolset. Their content marketing strategy was a key factor that grew their traffic to over 2.4M monthly visits. They conducted extensive keyword research and ensured SEO formed the basis of their strategy.

    Related: 5 Steps to Creating a Content Marketing Strategy That Actually Works

    8. Measure, track and optimize content

    By tracking your strategy’s performance, you can see trends and tweak accordingly to improve traction. You need to measure KPIs including website traffic, social engagement, conversion rates and lead generation, depending on your goals. You should interpret the data for insights that inform your strategy as it evolves. For example, high website traffic might indicate that your content is reaching a large audience, but low social engagement rates might suggest that the content is not resonating with them.

    As your startup grows, it’s very important to review your content strategy continuously. Once your business becomes profitable, consider hiring an internal marketer or an external marketing agency with the expertise to execute your strategy seamlessly.

    [ad_2]

    Daria Gonzalez

    Source link

  • 3 Compelling Reasons to Invest in Direct Mail Marketing | Entrepreneur

    3 Compelling Reasons to Invest in Direct Mail Marketing | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It isn’t easy to overshadow the Super Bowl, but in 2015, that’s exactly what happened. Katy Perry’s halftime performance went viral because one of her backup dancers (now famously known as Left Shark) danced to the beat of their own drum — literally.

    Out of the dozens of dancers on stage in beachy costumes, Left Shark stole the show with dance moves that weren’t just out of sync — they were on a different planet. It turned out that Left Shark, a.k.a. Bryan Gaw, performed his goofy moves on purpose as part of his freestyle choreography.

    In a lot of ways, building a successful marketing strategy is the same. You certainly have the option of going with the flow of what everyone else is doing, but what you really need are Left Shark moves — standout tactics that generate meaningful impressions.

    In my 25 years of experience, the best way to do that is to get offline and get into your prospects’ homes. Here are three reasons why direct mail steals the show and how you can make it work for you.

    Competition in the mailbox dropped 16%, freeing up space for you to capture more attention and market share

    The United States Postal Service (USPS) recently announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2023 (April 1-June 30, 2023). They reported marketing mail volume declined 2.6 billion pieces or 16% (costing over $333 million in revenue) compared to the same quarter last year.

    I experienced something similar in 2020, when marketing mail volume decreased 15% due to the pandemic. Most businesses — my competitors included — decided to pause their marketing when shutdowns hit in Spring 2020.

    But not us. My business, PostcardMania, continued marketing without interruption. This allowed us to increase leads by 9.24% in the six months following May 1, 2020, averaging an extra 186 leads per week without increasing budget. From there, earnings ended up nearly 10%, and we added 30 new jobs overall that year.

    With marketing mail down nationwide, you have an opportunity to capture market share from your competitors. It’s the least crowded marketing channel right now, and it’s likely to stay that way with an election year coming up and political ad spend shifting toward TV and digital. In fact, political ad experts are predicting political direct mail spend will decline dramatically to a 9.2% share of all spending in 2024, down from 22.8% in 2019.

    With fewer print advertisements in Americans’ mailboxes, you’ll have less competition to make a lasting impression on prospects.

    Related: Direct Mail Marketing Strategies to Target Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z

    Digital engagement rates have dropped while the recall rate of direct mail messages is 70% better

    Evidence shows that digital fatigue caused by surfing the web and browsing social media is at an all-time high. Recent reports show a steady decline in engagement on Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter). Instagram engagement dropped from 1.22% in 2019 to .47% in 2022; Facebook engagement dropped from .09% in 2019 to .06% in 2022; and X engagement dropped from .045% in 2019 to .035% in 2022.

    Attention spans are also declining. According to a study by Microsoft in 2015, since the year 2000, attention spans have dropped from 12 seconds to 8 seconds on average. Another study in 2022 found that, among consumers, Generation Z reportedly has a 1.3-second attention span — the lowest of all age groups.

    So, not only are people more easily tuning out digital advertisements, but any attention they do spare is in tiny increments.

    The benefit of direct mail is its very nature. People look at their mail when they have the time and energy, which means they’re more open to receiving your message. It also naturally takes more time to process mail than simply scrolling by a digital ad, so prospects are more likely to remember you.

    In fact, research shows that direct mail has an average engagement rate of 95% and is interacted with at least four times at home. Other studies demonstrate that a whopping 31% of all mail items were still at home a month after they were delivered.

    Even more significantly, scientific studies show that people recall direct mail advertisements better than digital ones. In a test that compared the impact of similar direct mail and digital media marketing campaigns, participants’ recall was 70% higher when they were exposed to direct mail versus a digital ad, which had a recall of only 44%.

    Bottom line? People pay more meaningful attention to a message that arrives in the mail and are much more likely to remember it long after.

    Related: The Growing Risks of Digital Advertising, and How Brands are Fighting Back

    Direct mail has become smarter, more targeted and highly affordable

    While the USPS has seen a decline in marketing mail volume, my company has experienced the opposite. We’ve been hitting our highest numbers, even better than before the pandemic.

    In 2017, we mailed 41,512,130 pieces of mail, and this increased to 151,890,493 pieces in 2022 — a jump of 265%.

    Leading our growth charge in recent years is PCM Integrations, the division that oversees technology-driven partnerships and direct mail automation. Businesses can automatically mail postcards or letters to prospects at lightning speed based on various triggers like spending behaviors, abandoned shopping carts, birthdays and much more.

    Businesses can access this technology at a lower price point compared to traditional direct mail, utilize endless programmatic targeting options and employ responsive lead nurturing — all at scale.

    So, not only is there less competition in today’s mailbox, the technology used to get your message there has grown leaps and bounds. Today’s savviest marketers have jumped on this trend to make the most of their budgets. That’s why it’s the fastest-growing segment in direct mail today.

    Give direct mail marketing a shot — especially direct mail automation — and you’ll steal the show like Left Shark at halftime.

    [ad_2]

    Joy Gendusa

    Source link

  • How to Use Data-Driven Marketing Strategies to Maximize Your Investments | Entrepreneur

    How to Use Data-Driven Marketing Strategies to Maximize Your Investments | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Explore the dynamic landscape of data-driven marketing and its transformative impact on businesses of all sizes and industries. From harnessing consumer insights to optimizing ad spend and driving engagement, this article delves into the strategies and technologies that empower modern marketers to thrive in the digital era. Discover how data-driven campaigns, including programmatic advertising, are revolutionizing the way brands connect with their audiences and achieve remarkable results.

    What is data-driven marketing?

    Data-driven marketing puts data at the heart of all marketing decisions with the goal of making every marketing effort relevant to a brand’s audiences, interests and behaviors. Consumer data determines which creatives will be used, which marketing channels the brand will select, and how those creatives will be presented.

    As opposed to listening to input from in-house teams such as finance or product development, data-driven marketers prioritize insights gained from actual customers. Their goal is to optimize each aspect of their strategy for consumer connection.

    Related: 10 Elements of a Successful Data-Driven Marketing Strategy

    The impact of data-driven marketing

    Leading brands have been using data-driven marketing for a few years to great effect. Just five years ago, those brands were in the minority. A 2018 study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found only 2% of businesses qualified as ‘best-in-class’ at data-driven marketing. However, these few were rewarded with up to 20% more revenue and 30% more cost savings compared to their competitors.

    Since then, the pandemic disrupted virtually every industry. As customer behaviors changed rapidly, older data-driven models were no longer working. As a result, some brands reverted to mass marketing while others doubled down on targeting and tried an even more precise approach, according to marketing specialists at McKinsey & Co.

    Over the past two years, consumer behavior has shifted, retaining some of the pandemic-induced changes but also starting to become more predictable once again. Consequently, brands are adapting their marketing strategies.

    A 2023 survey by Hubspot showed that far more brands are now using a data-driven approach. 36% of marketers confirmed that data was essential for understanding customers. 32% believed that investing in data gathering boosted ROI.

    Related: Your Data-Driven Marketing Is Harmful. I Should Know: I Ran Marketing at Google and Instagram

    Harnessing consumer insights

    So, how can brands use data to maximize ROI?

    Harnessing consumer insights to inform campaign planning and implementation is one of the most effective ways to increase ROI. Brands can gain those insights by analyzing consumers’ behaviors, opinions and thoughts and encouraging consumers to share real experiences with a brand.

    Encouraging customers to share online reviews, distributing surveys or analyzing social media comments can all be part of a brand’s approach to data collection. While not all feedback may be positive, each piece of information gives the brand team a concrete insight into the consumer’s mind.

    These insights remove any guesswork from decisions relating to marketing campaigns, prioritizing one product over another and targeting the most promising audiences with campaigns.

    Driving consumer engagement

    Before digital marketing channels revolutionized how brands connect to their audiences, marketing could be seen as a one-way street of brands talking to audiences. Today, consumer engagement has become one of the essential ingredients of successful marketing.

    Social media platforms are ideal for real-time consumer engagement. They give brands unparalleled access to consumers in a natural environment instead of a focus group, for example. The most successful brands in this area understand what type of content drives engagement the most and deliver this type of content to their audience.

    Related: 9 Cool Ways You Can Use Data-Driven Marketing to Gain Customers

    Optimizing ad spend with programmatic advertising

    Maximizing ROI from digital ads is another item high on the priority list of marketing teams. Effective media buying is one of the keys to this, but it is also a strategy that has traditionally been time-consuming, involving requests for proposals, tenders, negotiations and quotations.

    Programmatic advertising is starting to change this. In simple terms, programmatic advertising uses automation and algorithms to streamline media buying. Software takes over instead of a human buyer choosing or bidding on digital advertising space. Website and social media traffic data, information about consumer behavior, demographics and other contextual data support the software’s purchase decisions.

    Using this procedure, brands can target their audiences more precisely and cost-efficiently. The success of this approach is reflected in the growing programmatic advertising spending across the United States. Experts believe that spending is set to increase from $127 billion in 2023 to $168 billion in 2024.

    Brands can use this approach to optimize their campaigns in real-time based on the feedback received by the software. It is an excellent opportunity to enhance a campaign’s ROI.

    Applying programmatic advertising in practice

    If that sounds a little too technical, here are two examples to bring programmatic advertising to life.

    1. Dynamic Creative Optimization. Even if you have not heard of dynamic creative optimization, it has almost certainly targeted you. Assuming you searched for flights to a tropical island. A resort chain on that island then uses DCO to present personalized accommodation adverts in that destination. As you continue browsing, you see more of their adverts. The content changes dynamically, displaying updated prices and limited offers to convince you to book a vacation.
    2. Retargeting Abandoned Shopping Carts. Potential customers abandoning orders can be a significant problem for eCommerce businesses. Programmatic advertising allows those businesses to place adverts in front of you, reminding you to complete your purchase. Sometimes, brands may even offer incentives to persuade consumers to pick up where they left off.

    Conclusion

    Data-driven marketing allows brands to target consumers more precisely than ever before. As digital marketing and advertising platforms continue to evolve, data collection and analysis must adapt to new environments and circumstances. One thing is clear: few brands, if any, will thrive without solid data-driven marketing practices. Start putting yours in place now!

    [ad_2]

    Jessica Wong

    Source link

  • 11 Google Ads Hacks That Can Take Your Campaigns to the Next Level | Entrepreneur

    11 Google Ads Hacks That Can Take Your Campaigns to the Next Level | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Google Ads is one of the most powerful advertising platforms on earth, a position it’s held for over two decades since it first launched in October 2000. Today, Google Ads boasts over $200 million in ad revenue and — perhaps without even knowing — a whopping 63% of all internet users have clicked on a Google Ad in their lifetime.

    With its reach and targeting capabilities, Google Ads can drive significant traffic and conversions. Personally, I’ve run Google Ads for each of my income-generating web properties, and I’ve helped hundreds of clients over the years make the most of their Google Ads experience.

    As with any tool, the difference between amateur and expert usage can be vast. To help make Google Ads work for you, I’ve decided to put together a list of some of my top “hacks” to elevate the results of your Google Ads pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaigns.

    Related: 6 Steps to Improve the ROI of Your Google Ad Campaigns

    1. Master the art of SKAGs (Single Keyword Ad Groups)

    SKAGs are a powerful way to increase the relevance of your ad copy and landing page to the user’s search query. By focusing on one keyword per ad group, you can tailor your message more specifically, which often leads to higher click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates.

    Here’s an excellent resource for learning more about SKAGs and how they tend to drive higher CTRs than bidding on multiple keywords within ad groups.

    2. Employ ad extensions wherever possible

    Ad extensions provide additional information about your business, like location, phone number and site links. These not only make your ads more prominent but also provide additional avenues for users to interact with your business and can boost local SEO ranking factors as well for cross-channel marketing success.

    3. Optimize and adjust bids by device

    Users behave differently on mobile devices versus desktops. Maybe mobile users convert better for your business, or perhaps desktop users do. Adjusting your bids based on device performance can help allocate your budget more efficiently.

    Fortunately, Google makes it easy to add device targeting to your Google Ads campaigns. Adding these parameters to your campaigns can help you avoid sending ads to users on devices that have a lower probability of opening your ads.

    4. Schedule your ads for peak performance

    Depending on your target audience, there may be specific days or hours when they’re more active. Using ad scheduling, you can increase your bids during these high-performance times and reduce them during low-performance periods.

    In the Google Ads dashboard, navigate to the “Dimensions” tab and then “Time” to view the days of the week and time of day when your ads perform the best. Once you’ve identified your best-performing times, consider adding an “Ad schedule” to concentrate or limit your ads to these specified times.

    4. Refine your ad’s location targeting

    If you’re a local business or find that certain regions drive better results, utilize advanced location targeting. This way, you can bid more aggressively for high-performing locations and exclude areas that don’t align with your business goals.

    If you operate a physical business, make sure you set your ad radius to at least 100 kilometers to cater to customers in neighboring communities.

    Related: 3 Tips on Becoming a Pay-Per-Click Expert

    6. Use dynamic keyword insertion at every opportunity

    This feature allows Google to dynamically replace text in your ad with one of your keywords, making the ad more relevant to the searcher’s query. However, use this with caution to avoid creating nonsensical ad copies.

    7. Implement remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA)

    RLSA lets you tailor your search campaigns based on whether users have previously visited your site and how they interacted with it. This means you can bid more aggressively for high-value users who have shown interest in your offerings.

    (Here’s an awesome tutorial on how to set up RLSAs in just a few minutes!)

    8. Experiment with different match types

    While a broad match can offer extensive reach, it may also bring irrelevant traffic. Experiment with phrase match, modified broad match and exact match settings to hone in on the most effective keywords for your campaign.

    Personally, I usually opt for phrase match as this tends to generate my ads for viewers who specifically search for the keywords that I’m targeting. However, your mileage may vary, so play around with different match types to see what works.

    9. Use negative keywords, not only positive

    By continually adding negative keywords to your campaign, you prevent your ads from showing up for irrelevant searches, saving your budget and maintaining a higher CTR. This is your best tool for weeding out disinterested ad viewers.

    10. Test, test, and then test some more

    Whether it’s A/B testing your ad copy, landing pages or trying out different bidding strategies, testing is crucial. Google Ads provides a lot of data. Use it to your advantage to continuously refine your campaigns.

    In-depth A/B testing can be a highly technical and resource-intensive endeavor, and PPC marketing agencies often offer this as an add-on Google Ads optimization service.

    11. Stay in-the-know about Google’s new features

    Google’s core algorithm frequently releases new features and updates — in fact, there have been 18 total overhauls in recent memory. By staying updated and incorporating these changes into your strategy, you can maintain a competitive edge.

    Related: Get More of the Right Eyeballs Seeing Your Google Ads

    Mastering Google Ads requires a combination of technical know-how, continuous optimization and a deep understanding of your target audience. By employing these “hacks” and best practices, you can set your campaigns up for greater success.

    Take it from me, I’ve been using Google Ads since it was first released (back in the “Adwords” days), and I’ve seen firsthand what this platform can do. When used correctly, Google Ads can generate a higher return than months’ worth of SEO campaigns — it all depends on whether you can utilize its features to the fullest.

    If you find you can’t do it yourself (although I think you probably can!), consider hiring a PPC marketing agency to do the footwork for you.

    [ad_2]

    Amine Rahal

    Source link

  • Free Webinar | October 24: Grow Your Local Business With These Low-Cost Marketing Tricks | Entrepreneur

    Free Webinar | October 24: Grow Your Local Business With These Low-Cost Marketing Tricks | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Small businesses often have small marketing budgets — but that shouldn’t hold back your marketing efforts!! Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Yelp’s small business expert, Emily Washcovick.

    In this session, you’ll learn how to reach your audience on a shoestring — by harnessing the power of local culture, trends, and events.

    During this webinar, Emily will share:

    • The art of localized marketing and how to tap into culture, trends, and local events for maximum impact.

    • Strategies to leverage even the smallest local events, to connect with your audience and boost your business.

    • How to seize opportunities during nationwide events that also have a local component, effectively crowd-sourcing customers for your business.

    • Real-world examples of successful localized marketing.

    • Insights from Yelp’s recent coverage of the impact of the “Beyonce bump,” and how local businesses can thrive off of large events.

    Don’t miss this chance to learn from Yelp and gain the knowledge and strategies you need to master localized marketing. Whether you’re a small business owner, marketer, or entrepreneur, this webinar will equip you with the tools to connect with your community, boost engagement, and drive revenue. Join us on October 24th at 3:00 PM ET and elevate your business’s local marketing game to the next level!

    Register now to secure your spot!

    About the Speaker:

    As Yelp’s Small Business Expert, Emily Washcovick is meticulously focused on helping local business owners succeed and grow. Her expertise lies in customer engagement, reputation management, and all things digital marketing. Through speaking engagements and thought leadership, Emily shares industry insights that entrepreneurs in any business category can leverage for the growth and well-being of their businesses. She is also the host of Behind the Review, a podcast from Yelp and Entrepreneur Media, where each episode features conversations with a business owner and a reviewer about the story and lessons behind their interactions.

    [ad_2]

    Entrepreneur Staff

    Source link

  • How to Improve Your Brand’s Storytelling by Shifting Your POV | Entrepreneur

    How to Improve Your Brand’s Storytelling by Shifting Your POV | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As I emphasized in a previous Entrepreneur article, a big mistake in brand storytelling is assuming that you’re telling a story about your company. It’s really two stories: One about your brand and one about your customer. But you need to lead with your customer’s story.

    How? Shift your point of view by learning to see their story.

    Related: Telling Your Brand Story Is Crucial. 4 Steps To Ensure That It Resonates.

    [ad_2]

    Keith A. Quesenberry

    Source link

  • 9 Tips for Navigating the Upcoming 2024 Marketing Landscape | Entrepreneur

    9 Tips for Navigating the Upcoming 2024 Marketing Landscape | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    2024 is right around the corner, and the world’s marketing landscape has changed a lot in this year alone! So, what’s changed in this time? As the internet grows, there are more people selling services and products than ever before. It’s saturated out there. To make an impact, you need to take the status quo and put your own unique twist on it. Think big.

    Marketing isn’t just about selling your product, service or idea. It IS your product, service or idea. This is where the game-changer is at. You create your brand through your marketing, not by your marketing. Marketing is where you get to tell your brand’s story to the world. Think about it: If you had the chance to tell the world about your brand (and could do it in any way you choose), how would you do it? Let me go through some tips that might inspire your answer by the end of this article.

    Related: You’re Not Just Selling a Product or Service — You’re Selling Your Brand Story. Here Are 3 Steps To Ensure It Sells.

    1. The “Think Big” mindset — go big or go home

    First things first. We’re not here to play it safe; we’re here to disrupt. You’ve got a product or service that’s the bee’s knees? Awesome. Now let’s make sure the world knows it, not with a whisper but with a roar. The “Think Big” mindset is all about doing things differently. Go big or go home!

    So, you’ve got the next “it” product or service? Don’t whisper it to the world — shout it! Example: You’ve got a new energy drink? Don’t just send out free samples; sponsor a major sports event. Light that baby up with fireworks, and get influencers to live-stream it. Make it a “can’t-miss” spectacle. Most importantly: Believe in yourself and your brand.

    2. Understand the audience, but don’t be limited by them

    Everyone’s telling you to know your audience. For sure, do that. But don’t let that box you in. Your audience today isn’t necessarily your audience tomorrow. Stay flexible. Adapt. Pivot if you have to. Just because you sold snowboards last season doesn’t mean you can’t sell beach gear this summer.

    Sure, you’ve got to know your audience. But don’t let that put you in a box. Sold snowboards last winter? Pivot to skateboards this summer. Be the brand that says, “Hey, we get you, no matter the season.”

    3. The power of storytelling

    People don’t buy what you do; they buy WHY you do it. If you can tell a story that connects, you’re gold. Your campaign needs a narrative, a hook, something more than just “Buy Now” slapped on a billboard. This is your brand’s blockbuster movie, and you’re the director. Action!

    Your campaign needs a story so compelling it could win an Oscar. If you’re selling organic food, don’t just say it’s healthy — tell a story of how your company is saving local farms and promoting sustainable living. That’s your Oscar-winning narrative right there.

    4. Video content: The king of the jungle

    If content is king, video content is the king of the jungle. By 2024, if you’re not into video, you’re basically communicating via smoke signals. You’ve got to get on platforms like YouTube, TikTok or whatever the next big thing is. Short-form, long-form, behind-the-scenes, vlogs — mix it up and keep it fresh.

    If you aren’t leveraging video content by now, get onto it! For instance, if you’re a fashion brand, YouTube tutorials showing how to rock your collection in multiple ways are a hit. TikTok challenges? Even better. Be the Spielberg of your brand’s story through different video formats.

    Related: 10 Pointers To Keep In Mind When Using Video To Grow Your Business

    5. Harness the power of social proof

    Look, in a world where everyone’s shouting, sometimes it’s best to let others do the talking for you. Testimonials, user-generated content, influencer collaborations — this is the stuff that social proof is made of. Leverage it. Your audience trusts their peers more than they trust your brand commercials.

    Social proof is like the cool kid in school vouching for you. So, get influencers to showcase your product, but also spotlight reviews and testimonials from everyday users. Have a tech gadget? Get it in the hands of industry experts for an unboxing video that their followers will devour.

    6. Data-driven decisions

    You can’t manage what you can’t measure. That’s why you need a dashboard that gives you real-time insights. I’m talking Google Analytics, SEO tracking, social media metrics — everything that tells you who’s engaging and how. But remember, data isn’t the be-all and end-all. It’s a tool, not a strategy.

    Install dashboards that monitor everything from website traffic to how long someone stared at a product on your mobile app. Let’s say, for instance, your camping gear is getting tons of clicks but no buys — maybe you need a flash sale to tip those browsers into buyers.

    7. Omni-channel or bust

    Your audience is everywhere, so you need to be too. Omni-channel marketing is the name of the game. You’ve got to be where they are, whether that’s on social media, their email inboxes, Google search or even old-school print and billboards.

    The consumer of today lives on Instagram, shops on Amazon, and judges purchasing decisions based on Google’s reviews. You need to be everywhere. Your campaign should span from social media ads to email marketing to even classic radio spots if that’s where your audience hangs.

    8. Disruptive innovation

    Remember the “Think Big” mindset? Well, here it comes into play again. If your campaign looks like everyone else’s, you’ve already lost. Do something bold. Do something innovative. Do something so jaw-dropping that people can’t help but stop and pay attention.

    Remember: Disrupt or be disrupted! Be the first to use emerging platforms or technologies in your field. Augmented reality try-ons for your fashion brand, anyone? You want people screenshotting your campaign and saying, “Look at what THESE guys did!”

    Related: 3 Ways to Stand Out from Competitors

    9. Relationships over transactions

    Last but not least, remember that at the core of every successful campaign is a relationship. Your audience isn’t just a sales number; they’re people who will become brand advocates if you treat them right. Provide value, communicate authentically, and aim to build a community around your brand.

    Instead of just selling, why not form a tribe? Create content that adds value. Got a fitness brand? Run a monthly “Fitness Challenge” where your community participates, bonds, and yes, uses your products. It’s about creating a lasting relationship, not just a one-off with your customer’s wallet.

    You’ve made it to the end, and hopefully, you’ve absorbed these key principles like a sponge. Remember that question I asked at the start? I’m sure by now you’re charged up, ready to shout your brand from a megaphone! Now, it’s not just about having this information; it’s about applying it diligently.

    So, what’s next? Action. You need to take these tips and implement them. This is more than just a campaign; it’s a way to build long-lasting relationships that can transform your brand. Remember: Think big. Take 2024 by storm. You’ve got this!

    [ad_2]

    Mikey Lucas

    Source link

  • How to Build More Informed and Inclusive DEI Marketing Strategies | Entrepreneur

    How to Build More Informed and Inclusive DEI Marketing Strategies | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) have moved beyond trendy terms to become vital pillars of modern-day business models and marketing strategies that can truly move the needle. Many companies have recognized its importance, with 80% of United States employers having DEI strategies underway.

    Yet, there’s room to strengthen the impact of these initiatives. One way to do this is by understanding that while individual diversity is invaluable, it doesn’t automatically confer specialized expertise in DEI. Recognizing this difference creates an opportunity for companies to refine their DEI marketing strategies to be more inclusive and informed, laying the groundwork for impactful campaigns in the future.

    Related: 10 Ideas to Drive Your DEI Initiatives in 2023

    Why DEI matters in today’s business environment

    Companies have started recognizing that diverse perspectives can drive innovation, open new markets and positively affect the bottom line. According to a McKinsey report, the most diverse companies are more likely than ever to outperform less diverse peers on profitability. In fact, top-quartile companies in ethnic and cultural diversity outperformed those in the fourth quartile by 36% in profitability.

    The complex web of DEI marketing

    DEI marketing is more complex than adding diverse faces in promotional materials or releasing statements during heritage months. This specialized field has multiple dimensions that range from understanding legalities to deep-diving into societal norms, biases and stereotypes. A PwC report revealed that 85% of companies consider DEI a strategic priority, highlighting the increasing need for true expertise.

    Lived experience is not equal to professional expertise

    Diverse employees often bring invaluable lived experiences and perspectives that can enrich any conversation around DEI. However, this lived experience should be separate from professional expertise. The skills required for effective DEI marketing span market research, analytics, branding strategy and a nuanced understanding of legalities around diversity and representation. Professional certifications such as Certified Diversity Professional (CDP) or Certified Diversity Executive (CDE) exist to cultivate this specialized skill set.

    Tokenism: The shortcut that falls short

    The assumption that every diverse employee is a walking DEI manual leads to tokenism, a cosmetic approach to diversity that does more harm than good. Not only is this ethically problematic, but it also can hinder business performance. According to an analysis of over 80 studies spanning 25 years published in the Academy of Management Perspectives, tokenism can have a negative impact on individual and business performance.

    Related: How to Make Your Content Marketing Inclusive

    The indispensability of professional training

    There are multiple avenues for acquiring DEI expertise. Various professional organizations offer specialized certifications, such as the Certified Diversity Professional (CDP) and Certified Diversity Executive (CDE). These credentials signify a comprehensive understanding of DEI principles, from legal considerations to market analytics. The Global Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarks (GDIB) is another widely recognized standard that offers a framework for organizations to measure and improve their DEI initiatives.

    Alongside these options, accredited universities have joined the fold by providing specialized diversity, equity and inclusion certification programs. These certifications and academic courses provide a strong foundation for marketers specializing in this important area. Professional qualifications in DEI are not ornamental; they are instrumental. Individuals with these credentials are trained to handle sensitive topics carefully from rigorous study, not just personal experience.

    Shared responsibilities and inclusive allyship

    In an increasingly socially conscious marketplace, the spotlight is on brands to articulate and enact values of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in their marketing endeavors. According to Sprout Social, most consumers (70%) believe it’s important for brands to take a public stand on social and political issues. True DEI marketing is a shared responsibility, calling for an inclusive form of allyship that involves everyone, irrespective of their background.

    While those with lived experiences can bring critical cultural insights into marketing strategies, such perspectives should be complemented with formalized DEI marketing expertise. Doing so safeguards the brand against legal complications and optimizes financial performance by ensuring that campaigns are both socially responsible and legally compliant.

    Cultural pitfalls: Stereotyping and appropriation

    With inadequate expertise, even well-intentioned DEI marketing can go wrong by perpetuating harmful stereotypes or engaging in cultural appropriation. In fact, a YPulse survey shows that 64% of young people agree that cultural appropriation is a problem in the U.S., and recognizing the cultural roots of trends is vital for brands. In a landscape with high stakes and expectations, brands must approach DEI marketing with more than good intentions. Truly effective campaigns require a blend of informed expertise and genuine inclusivity, ensuring the brand’s survival and long-term success.

    Related: Why Companies Are Failing in Their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Efforts

    Economic implications of getting DEI wrong

    With a buying power of $3.9 trillion among minorities in the United States, the cost of getting DEI marketing wrong isn’t just a loss of ethical brownie points but a missed financial opportunity of massive proportions.

    While lived experiences offer invaluable insights for DEI marketing strategies, relying solely on them as the qualification for being a “DEI marketing expert” is problematic. Though these experiences can provide a unique understanding of the cultural nuances and sensitivities involved, DEI marketing is a multi-layered discipline that encompasses a range of skills, including consumer psychology, legal compliance and data analysis. Professional training and certification in these areas, often available through accredited universities and specialized programs, equip individuals to navigate the complexities of DEI in the marketing landscape.

    While lived experiences are a critical component to consider, they should form just one part of a more comprehensive, evidence-based approach to DEI marketing. Operating otherwise potentially exposes the organization to legal pitfalls and reputational damage. Companies that want to succeed in today’s diverse marketplace need to fill the expertise gap by employing qualified professionals who can develop DEI strategies that are both ethical and effective.

    [ad_2]

    Christine Alexis

    Source link

  • What to Consider Before Hiring Google Ads Consultant or Agency | Entrepreneur

    What to Consider Before Hiring Google Ads Consultant or Agency | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The average small to mid-sized business spends about $10,000 annually on Google Ads.

    Naturally, there are a lot of agencies and experts offering their “Google Ads Management Services” right now. If you’re planning to hire someone to optimize your campaigns and are wondering what to look for, this article is for you.

    When searching for a Google Ads agency or consultant to manage your advertising campaigns, you’re obviously looking for a measurable ROI on your ad spend, so you need to be careful about who you give this responsibility to.

    There are several important factors to consider to ensure you’re choosing a reputable and effective partner. Over the course of my career in the pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and search engine optimization industry, I’ve learned that these are the most critical factors to consider when hiring a Google Ads agency.

    Related: How to Scale Your Business Using Google Ads

    1. Experience and expertise

    Look for agencies or consultants with a proven track record of managing successful Google Ads campaigns. Ask about their experience working with businesses similar to yours regarding industry, size and goals. I recommend firms with no fewer than 10 years of Google Ads management experience to their name.

    2. Google Partner certification

    Google Partner certification indicates that the agency or consultant has demonstrated expertise in Google Ads. Google Partners have passed Google’s certification exams and meet certain performance criteria that, while imperfect, provide a good baseline standard for establishing trust.

    3. Services offered

    Consider your specific needs. Do you need help with campaign setup, optimization or both? Make sure the agency or consultant offers services that align with your requirements. If you don’t know where to start, ensure that your agency offers a “full service” solution to help you from end to end.

    4. Customization and strategy

    A good agency or consultant should take the time to understand your business goals and develop a tailored strategy for your campaigns. Avoid those that offer a one-size-fits-all approach.

    5. Transparency

    Transparency is crucial. The agency or consultant should provide clear insights into campaign performance, including data on clicks, impressions, conversions and costs. Regular reporting should be part of their service, including KPI tracking.

    6. Communication

    Open and frequent communication is essential. Choose an agency or consultant that is responsive and keeps you informed about campaign updates, changes and results as they happen. Sluggish response times or waiting a day or longer for a reply is a non-starter.

    7. Budget management

    Ensure the agency can effectively manage your budget to achieve the best possible results. They should be capable of optimizing your campaigns to deliver the highest ROI without cost overruns. Google Ads makes it easy to assign budgets and spending targets, so there is no excuse for an agency to run over these preset figures.

    Related: 6 Steps to Improve the ROI of Your Google Ad Campaigns

    8. Technological tools

    Ask about the tools and software they use to manage and track campaigns. Advanced tools can help optimize campaigns more efficiently and effectively.

    While the Google Ads dashboard provides some solid insights, other tools like Fluency, WordStream and SEMrush provide more advanced analytics (note: I’m not involved or associated with any of these companies).

    9. Case studies and references

    Request case studies or references from previous clients. This can provide insights into the agency’s or consultant’s ability to deliver results. Review the submitted materials before making any hiring decision with a Google Ads agent.

    10. Ethical practices

    Ensure the agency follows ethical advertising practices and adheres to Google Ads’ policies. Avoid agencies that promise unrealistic results or engage in black-hat tactics that may result in a Google penalty that harms your SEO performance.

    Questions to ask potential candidates

    When evaluating a Google Ads agency or consultant, asking the right questions can help you gauge their expertise, approach and suitability for your business. Here are some essential questions to ask:

    1. What other services do you offer? Clarify the range of services they provide. This could include campaign setup, keyword research, ad copywriting, ongoing optimization, tracking setup and more.

    2. How do you determine the appropriate budget for our campaigns? A knowledgeable agency should be able to explain how they calculate and allocate budgets for maximum ROI.

    3. How do you measure and report campaign performance? Ask about the metrics they track, the reporting frequency and the level of detail you can expect in their reports.

    4. Can you explain your approach to keyword research and targeting? This question helps you assess their approach to finding relevant keywords and targeting the right audience segments.

    5. How do you handle ad creatives and copywriting? Their response will give you insight into their ability to create compelling ads that resonate with your audience.

    6. How do you stay updated with Google Ads trends and changes? Look for agencies that emphasize continuous learning and staying up-to-date with the latest industry developments.

    7. How do you optimize campaigns for better performance? Their optimization strategy should involve monitoring, adjusting bids, refining targeting and A/B testing ad variations.

    8. What is your pricing structure and payment terms? Ensure that their Google Ads billing structure matches the industry standard pricing model.

    9. What happens if campaign performance isn’t meeting expectations? A reliable agency should have a plan for addressing underperforming campaigns and making necessary adjustments.

    10. Can you provide a clear timeline for campaign setup and launch? Having a timeline will help you understand when to expect your campaigns to go live and start generating results.

    Related: 18 Ways to Nudge Your Google Ad Higher Without Paying a Cent Extra

    Twenty years after its initial launch, Google Ads is still the number one game in town when it comes to PPC advertising. Although used by many, it’s a difficult marketing channel to perfect. A qualified Google Ads consultant or agency can help you create or refine your Google Ads strategy so that you can make the most of your ad spend.

    By following the steps I’ve outlined above, and asking the right questions, I believe you can maximize your chances of landing a top-notch Google Ads partner for the job.

    [ad_2]

    Amine Rahal

    Source link

  • 3 Strategies for Creating Strong Hispanic Heritage Month Campaigns | Entrepreneur

    3 Strategies for Creating Strong Hispanic Heritage Month Campaigns | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the Hispanic communities’ rich culture, history and contributions. In the business world, it is an opportunity for organizations to celebrate the Hispanic community by reaffirming their commitment to this group through strategic partnerships, charitable contributions and marketing campaigns.

    Here are three companies that got Hispanic Heritage Month right and some pointers you can take from them.

    Amazon

    Amazon’s 2022 campaign promoted Hispanic changemakers on its platform. Last year’s theme was Cultúra, and it repeatedly used the phrase, “without tú, there is no cultura.” In collaboration with Brazilian artist Mel Cerri, Amazon showcased Hispanic-themed illustrations and promoted various activities to honor the month. This included spotlighting Hispanic and Latino small businesses, promoting books by Hispanic authors, showcasing Hispanic creators in film and television, and highlighting Hispanic musicians and their impact on global music. In addition, Amazon also showcased Hispanic designers and retailers, celebrated the contributions of Hispanic professionals in technology through Amazon Web Services and integrated special features into Alexa for users to engage with.

    By incorporating established products and partnerships into cultural promotions, Amazon appeared genuine and like an ally. In addition, these tactics highlighted Amazon’s authentic relationships with its vendors, many of whom are prominent figures in the Hispanic community. When companies prioritize authenticity by promoting products and collaborations that have consistently been part of their organization, it appears less forced and inauthentic, and more natural and genuine.

    Related: 5 Ways Brands Can Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month Using Social Media

    Verizon

    In their 2022 campaign celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, Verizon showcased an approach rooted in authenticity, empowerment and social responsibility. By centering their narrative around the potential of Latinas in the corporate world, they emphasized the disparities in leadership roles. In addition, Christina Schelling, SVP of Talent & Diversity, shared her journey as a testament to the challenges and opportunities available.

    Yet, even as Verizon celebrated, they didn’t shy away from addressing pressing issues, showing immediate response to Hurricanes Ian and Fiona, which devastated Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and parts of Florida. Their swift action, from financial contributions to providing telecom relief, accentuated their commitment to being more than just a service provider; they positioned themselves as an integral community partner.

    Verizon’s campaign stood out for many reasons, demonstrating elements from which other businesses can learn. Firstly, the campaign highlighted the significance of representative storytelling. With Latinas making up only a mere 1.6% of senior executive roles in major companies, Verizon used its platform to spotlight this disparity, allowing Schelling’s personal story to humanize the broader narrative. In addition, the campaign was responsive. When disaster struck in the form of Hurricanes Ian and Fiona, Verizon transitioned seamlessly from celebration to support, committing funds and services to affected areas.

    This adaptability highlights the importance of businesses being attuned to the dynamic realities of their target communities. Finally, Verizon served as a partner by offering free access to regional news channels and sharing stories of their employees affected by the hurricanes. These areas were critical to the campaign’s success and formed a blueprint for how businesses can celebrate diversity while standing with and supporting the community during tough times.

    Related: 4 Successful Ways Businesses Need to Adapt to a Growing Hispanic Demographic

    TikTok

    TikTok’s “De Nada America” campaign for Latinx Heritage Month showcased an outstanding understanding of niche marketing. The platform enhanced user engagement by integrating trending hashtags, in-app features, live events and collaborations with prominent Latinx creators and partners like Mitú. TikTok also introduced the Latinx Creatives Program and its partnerships with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation.

    The “De Nada America” campaign reinforced Latinx’s cultural contributions and narratives in an era where representation matters. TikTok celebrated diverse voices, broke down cultural stereotypes and misconceptions, and facilitated a more inclusive and understanding digital space. Additionally, by physically investing in the community’s growth and success through its $150,000 grant fund, #CreciendoconTikTok, TikTok demonstrated a commitment beyond mere tokenism.

    Related: 3 Strategic Pillars to Build Loyalty With a Hispanic Audience

    Lessons learned

    1. Community collaboration: Working with community members, artists and influencers ensures authenticity and resonance, as seen in Amazon’s campaign.

    2. Empowering voices: TikTok’s success in promoting Hispanic creators highlights the importance of giving underrepresented communities a platform in which they can share their voices.

    3. Investment in community development: Verizon’s community-driven approach shows that investment in community well-being can translate to brand loyalty and satisfaction.

    4. Authentic storytelling: TikTok’s campaign highlights the importance of humanizing a brand through genuine and heartfelt stories.

    Companies can better connect with the Hispanic community by focusing on the above areas. In addition, this targeted approach can naturally result in customer loyalty and retention.

    As the Hispanic population continues to grow, it’s imperative that businesses form genuine connections with this community. If brands do not have a specialized marketing plan to acquire the Hispanic consumer, they will miss an incredible opportunity to retain life-long customers and brand advocates. In addition, given that Hispanic buying power is expanding at rates comparable to established countries, it would be financially irresponsible not to allocate marketing resources to this market.

    [ad_2]

    Christine Alexis

    Source link