Forget the car salesmen tactics because things have changed within the industry that will significantly improve your business as a marketer; as long as you’re utilizing the newfound information, that is. Previously, marketing tactics have continued to be fairly straight forward for years, but with the modern world of technology quickly taking over every industry, things have now drastically changed. In fact, modern marketing doesn’t really have too much to do with the traditional ways. The practices are completely innovative, revitalized and enthused with technological practices that were rarely, if ever, used before. While some choose to stick with the traditional, immature marketing route, one must first know that adapting to the maturer change can bring a compelling increase in revenue as well as much more. Whether you’re a company looking for a marketing guru, or a marketer yourself, it’s time to get modernized.

What is Modern Marketing?

Data drives success in today’s world of business. With every click reported, link added, keyword text used and photos implemented into your company, you are utilizing modern marketing. As such, many of the core marketing tactics such as data management, analytics and targeting have been revitalized to fit the technological changes. Everything is tracked and sent back to the company, and as a result, they are then able to analyze the statistics to narrow in on key factors that will improve the business overall, such as targeting audience, search words and devices used to access your information.  Now, business strategy experience and traditional marketing brand management still remain at the top of the list for being two of the most important business tactics, but data analysis takes a close third. However, data analysis is a key component in the first two mentioned, and for this sole reason, one might say that it deserves the number one spot. Regardless, all are vital in modern marketing, as.

The Results from Modern Marketing

With all of that said, you may be wondering what you can expect with the changes of modern marketing. By hiring or being a mature modern marketer, you’re able to certainly improve revenue growth, and this is accomplished in a variety of ways. The majority of companies who took on modern markers said that they received an impressive marketing share and approximately half also said that they enjoyed the leading position. In regards to the workplace, approximately 1/4th modern marketers received national recognition as one of the best places to work. This is certainly exposure that comes with exponential benefits on all sides. As for the targeting and customer understanding, more than half of the companies used data analytics to gather techniques to find their major audience. The most astonishing number is that more than 3/4th of the companies utilizing modern marketing tactics agreed that by finding their newfound targeted audience, they were able to address specific situations, audiences, and needs were met accordingly which definitely results in a much higher customer appreciation as well. When it came to adjusting to the tools of today’s style of marketing, more than half successfully combined their data management.

Is the Additional Work Worth It?

If you don’t have the answer to that already by reading the previous statistics, then yes, the additional work is certainly worth it.  While the benefits are obvious, marketers who transitioned to more modern marketing practices, specific to targeting, conversation, data and engagement,  saw positive business results.  Increased sales were one of the primary benefits, and streamlined profitability closely followed. So, not only did these companies receive higher sales, but they also achieved consistent growth by utilizing mature marketing as they were able to better focus on strategies that worked specifically for their audience and niche.  All of this was determined by utilizing data analytics.

Modern marketing does take more time to implement, but the potential and growth that follows is worth the time. The old ways of marketing just aren’t cutting it in this world of technology. Now, instead of thinking that you know your audience, or what they want; you can utilize modern marketing strategies and allow the tools to show you exactly what you need to know to further your business as a whole.

Statistics based from Eloqua’s Research.

Turn Your Web Visitors into Customers by Segmenting your Website’s Content

There are endless amounts of websites that aren’t receiving the proper amount of customers in relation to their web traffic, and the solution is quite simple; Segmenting Content. If you have been having trouble engaging your audience to proceed with a sale, this is an effective way to make the difference that you need to further improve your business and more importantly, increase your sales.  Now before you try to market to every possible visitor to your site, take some time and consider segmenting your website’s content to turn your web visitors into customers by addressing your targeted audience appropriately and successfully.

Captivate Your Viewers

Instead of bombarding your website visitors with tons of visual content on the landing page, segment the content to simplify the message that they will immediately receive. A clear, large image without anything surrounding it is a successful way of doing just that. As the example shows, a popular new website, Huffington Post, the main story captivates your attention, and all of the other options are much more laid back, and set apart from the rest of the main content which engages the viewers upon first glance on the page.

Be Direct With Your Audience

It’s crucial that you speak directly to your audience, as if they are right in front of you. Deliver your targeted messages through valuable content that speaks to your viewers persona by creating blog posts and articles that they can relate to and by creating case studies that share your success stories and customer’s testimonials. Forget about speaking in third person, and speak right to your audience. An example of this can be seen in U-Haul’s service description as the context is full of “Your home”.

Keep It Clean

Although it’s tempting to share all of your content with your audience as soon as they click through your website, it’s crucial to resist bombarding them with too much information all at once. Your website visitors want a simple experience, and if you throw too much at them at once, they certainly won’t continue clicking through. They’ll click right off. Back to the U-Haul example, their service description is clean, basic and straight to the point. If you aren’t able to simplify your message, consider creating content that offers a short description, but with the option for your visitors to click further to read more.

Provide Different Options

Your content may be targeted to a specific audience, but it’s imperative to provide different viewpoints and options for them because not all personas will be able to positively view everything in the same manner. Overcome this by providing content in a variety of different ways, such as in quotes, graphs, infographics and newsletters). Comprendia.com appealed their content to a wide range of individuals within their targeted audience by using text, bullet points and infographics.

Be Interactive

Creating content where you can interact with your visitors will promote brand recognition, customer loyalty and will keep your audience coming back for more. Social media profiles, blogs and even webinars can encourage interaction. RNB Designs, an architecture company, provides interaction through their social media sites and blog articles which can both be easily accessed on their landing page.

It truly isn’t difficult to have your website layout working to your benefit. All you have to do is place importance on the appearance of your content, and the segmenting of it as well. If your website looks anything like the following, you are in serious need for content segmenting on your Website because your web visitors are most certainly clicking right off of your website, and are certainly going no where close to becoming a customer. Segment that content and get your visitors to stay and become customers.

Do you feel that you could honestly and confidently state what your value proposition is for your business? Prior to establishing your business, it is essential that you take the time to determine what your value proposition is if you would like your business to succeed. The following exercise will help you learn what a value proposition is and how you can write your own.

What is a Value Proposition?

According to Investopedia, a value proposition is “A business or marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should buy a product or use a service. This statement should convince a potential consumer that one particular product or service will add more value or better solve a problem than other similar offerings.” http://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/valueproposition.asp#axzz2Jfhdr9gu

While this is only one of the many definitions available for what a value proposition is, all of the definitions available agree on two key points:

1. Definitions should be done from the customer’s perspective.

2. Value propositions can give your company the upper hand in the competitive
market.

Why Do You Need a Value Proposition?

A value proposition assists you and your company to understand both the customers you are specifically targeting and the value that you can offer in the marketplace. If you and your clients both feel that you are receiving a mutually beneficial exchange, then you can expect long and established relationships with those clients.

The Customer’s Perspective.

The overall value of the product or service a customer receives from your company is linked to the quality of products and services you are able to provide them. The majority of customers feel that they are receiving a good value when the benefits of your goods or services outweigh their overall cost or inconvenience. Ultimately, it is your customers who will determine what value to give your business’s offering.

Because your customers will define the value of your company, you need to develop your value proposition around their desires. Once it has been developed, it is your job to explain the product or service you are offering while putting emphasis on the strengths of your company to create a competitive advantage.

Your value proposition should address each of the following components:

What can your company offer?

Who are your target customers?

Why should your customers purchase from you as opposed to other competitors in your market?

How will your product differ from the competition?

In order to get the most use out of your value proposition, the answers to all of the questions above should be clear, concise, and poignant.

Once you have addressed all of the questions discussed above and have a firm grasp on the concept of value propositions, you will be able to increase your perceived benefits, decrease the perceived sacrifices your customers will have to make, focus clearly on your resources that are greater than others in your market, and continue to tailor that what you have to offer is different from your competitors

To make this all stick better we’ve put together some great examples of other companie’s value propositions. Some of the companies we list below you may not recognize but you’ll be sure to know what service or product they offer just by reading their value proposition:

Freshbooks – www.freshbooks.com

MailChimp – www.mailchimp.com

Basecamp- www.basecamp.com

Magento- www.magento.com

PayPal (Business segment)- www.paypal.com

Increasing traffic to your business website is essential, but it’s not enough; once viewers make it to your page, you must engage them, so that they buy your products or services. In doing so, you’ve converted a viewer into a customer.

Customer conversion rate, the ratio of converted viewers to the total number of viewers denoted as a percentage, is an important metric for the success of any business. Since this rate doesn’t take the value of the sale into account, it is a relative term.

Each business owner needs to determine his/her target customer conversion rate. If your business suffered a low customer conversion rate in 2012, using these 5 tips can help increase the metric for your business in the New Year.

1. Give Customers Immediate Buying Incentives

While potential customers are making up their minds about your products, be proactive and grab their attention with an announcement of a short-term sale or discount offer available for a limited period only. No one can resist a good deal, and this urges them into immediate action. The key is not to allow them too much time to think it over lest they decide to go away without making a purchase.

Design a catchy campaign on the homepage of your website to bring this sale or special offer to your viewers’ attention. A large banner can be placed at the top of the screen or right in the center of the homepage.

2. Call them to Action

Keep your notices simple for maximum effectiveness. There should be no chance for consumers to get confused. Tell them exactly what you are offering them and how they can get it. When providing call-to-action buttons that say Buy – Add to Cart – Proceed to Checkout or Sign Up, do not feel shy to display them prominently; a large font size and a bold color that stands out from the background usually works well as a call to action.

3. Pictures Speak a Thousand Words

The pictures you use on your promotion campaign are very important. Besides the choice of an image, make sure you do not compromise on its resolution. The last thing you want is to turn off potential customers with blurry or extra-small pictures that requires squinting to view. Online consumers are very particular; since they cannot see the product in person, they need to get a clear three-dimensional close-up look at what they are buying.

Actual photographs of your product are the best, but if these are not available, you may choose stock pictures. In this case, take the time to find the most suitable pictures that closely resemble your products. If you can include functionality that allows viewers to zoom into pictures and rotate them, that’s great; otherwise, upload multiple pictures of the product from different angles. Additionally, a short descriptive video of your products will add a personal touch.

4. Keep the Payment/Sign-up Process Simple

Many customers who decide to buy a product or signup for a newsletter change their mind at the last minute simply because the process was too tedious. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes; wouldn’t you want to get it over and done with as soon as possible?

Don’t make it mandatory for them to create a user account on your website before making a purchase. A guest login should be fine, and you can ask them to later when they may be more receptive.

Don’t advertise any unrelated products at the payment stage; this amounts to hounding the customer. For example, it may be alright to suggest an anti-virus package to a customer who is buying a laptop; however, showing them your range of cameras at this stage makes no sense.

When asking viewers to sign up for your newsletter, only require necessary details. Consumers cherish their privacy, especially with the increasing number of online scams. A sign-up form that requires too many personal details could scare potential customers away.

Simplicity is the best approach to increasing your customer conversion rate. Design your website so that viewers have a great user experience in navigating the pages from start to end. Use simple fonts and colors, and use plain language in your text.

5. Be Smart with Symbols That Invoke Trust

As mentioned before, consumers find it hard to trust a business website that they are interacting with for the first time, especially if they don’t have any reviews from friends and family. So how do you win their trust?

Tell them about any respected organizations that you are a member of or any big company that you partner with. Place this information in a prominent location on your homepage. Seeing these familiar names will help take away any doubts that your readers had about the credibility of your business. What’s more, they’ll spread this trust in your business to their peers, which is the most effective form of
advertising.

This New Year, as you continue your efforts to drive more traffic to your business website, make a resolution to simultaneously increase your customer conversion rate. By incorporating these 5 tips, you can soon see an upward trend in sales and revenue

Getting the Most Out of Your SEO Agency

So far, you’ve been constantly receiving excellent results from your SEO agency. For most people, the fact that the agency they’ve hired is doing what it’s supposed to be doing is already enough for them.

But

Should You Be Satisfied With This?

As a member of a trusted organization and/or company, it is your job to ask questions. Reputation is a business’ most important investment and you have the right to know whether your SEO supplier is engaging in practices that can compromise it.

There might be no predefined standards when it comes to SEO – but still, deceitful optimization techniques and methods that are contrary to the guidelines set by most search engines can spell dire consequences for any business.

Demanding A Clearer Look

Aside from reputation, your money is also at stake here. The SEO agency should be able to explain how their tools work, even if it is proprietary.

And to keep yourself abreast of the latest developments in your SEO campaign, it’s best to set up meetings and other forms of communication with your agency regularly. This way, you have more opportunities to share ideas and strategies which, in turn, could help them produce faster results.

Playing The Same Language Game

Like any other kind of industry or academic discipline, the world of SEO is full of technical terms and jargon that might confuse the average Internet user. To avoid getting their clients overwhelmed, some SEO agencies resort to dumbing down the terms and technicalities in an act of uncalled for patronization.

This is wrong. They must sound like they know what they are doing; technical terms should be left as is. If you need further explanation into the details, they should be able to give it to you at a drop of a hat.

Watch out for red flags: if they can’t provide definitions for their jargon or if they say that they have some sort of a special relationship with a search engine, then it’s probably time to look for another supplier.

Transparency Is The Key

Transparency is the number one characteristic to look for in any transaction. For example, most SEO agencies would provide their clients with a representative sample of the links they’ve placed instead of the whole list. They do this to save time on reports and to let the clients see the big picture instantly. But if you want to see the whole list for yourself, they must be able to provide it wholeheartedly. If they refuse, you should walk out of the door immediately.

What’s Fresh Today, May Turn Bad Tomorrow

It’s hard to justify prying into your SEO agency’s services when they’ve been constantly producing excellent results. But think about it in long-term. The SEO services that they are supplying has a huge impact on your business; it can make or break your business’ credibility. If at any point, you are unsure how your supplier is doing its job, take your time to review their practices

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Businesses spent more than nine billion on advertising last year, this exceeded what was spent on print advertising for the first time in history. More than ever, both large and small businesses want SEO vendors to provide exposure via both the Internet and more traditional marketing avenues. If your work involves SEO, whether you are doing it on your own (consulting, or for your own sites) or as a part of a team, there are certain questions that you should be able to answer. How about if you are looking for an SEO vendor? You will need to find one who is able to carry out an effective strategy to make sure that your website becomes highly ranked. Do you know what questions you need to ask? Below are questions to which every competent SEO professional should be able to offer answers. These may be useful in helping you decide who is qualified and who is not.

Q 1. Which of these linking strategies will have a more positive effect on our website’s rank, getting 10 links back from 10 different websites, or having one site link to us 10 different times?

Multiple linking domains provide the best SEO result in Google, possibly because the search engine sees it as a more valid endorsement.

Q 2. A high ranking on Google Local is extremely important to many small businesses; also important is the ranking in Google Places, and Google Maps. Give me the three most important reasons why these search engines play such a significant role in a website’s success or failure.

The consumer’s reliance on Google for its ability to recommend local businesses and the emergence of location-based social networks, are among the acceptable answers. Google Places also allows consumers to rate the local businesses they patronize.

Q 3. Which two search engines receive the highest number of queries in the United States? Tell me the top two search engines for China, the United Kingdom, Russia and China as well.

Baidu is the most widely used search engine in China, with Google ranking second, in the UK the top two are Google and Bing, the same as in the US. In Russia, Yandex is the most popular, and Google is in second place.

Q 4. Other than getting a website linked to directly from social sites, in what other ways would you use them to improve our website’s search engine rank?

Simply put, it helps to build awareness of a brand. It is a tool of promotion. Social marketing can be used to mold perception of a product or service.

Q 5. When it comes to placing keywords on a page, give me five places on a page where using a keyword will provide a positive benefit to that page’s search engine ranking.

The domain and sub-domain name as well as such elements in the page as the title and body are all good parts of the page to place keywords. The answer given may include any of these.

Q 6. Why should we use your services? What makes you better than another company (or individual)? What do you bring to the table that another SEO expert will not be able to bring? Also, how would you manage our account?

An SEO professional should have qualities that you believe suit your company’s specific needs, perhaps due to experience, or knowledge of your industry.

Q 7. How does optimizing a page figure into your overall strategy? Follow up questions here would be: What percentage of pages on our website will be optimized? How will the flow of communication from the end user/client to the provider work?

Page optimization involves figuring out the visitor’s intentions, needs, and to create content that is relevant to their searches. You will want to be kept in the loop and fully informed, you will also want to be able to get in touch with them whenever necessary.

Q 8. How do you go about building links? You may follow this up with, would you alter your method of building links in your packaged solutions based on the client’s needs? What about your team, how are the work responsibilities divided among them? What type of leader are you? There are many ways in which backlinks may be built, these range from requesting links to submitting articles to directories. You will want to ensure that the SEO will be able to adapt his services to your needs.

Q 9. While we do not expect any crises, how well do you handle them? Do you have experience with handling situations where you had to perform damage control where a client’s reputation was at stake? Explain your reaction to the situation, the measures you took and how effective they were.

One way of addressing the issue is by using straightforward and informative blog posts on your sub-domains. These posts should directly deal with the cause of the crises. Ensure that your customers know that you are being open and forthcoming with information.

Q 10. What are the ways in which you would improve the ratio of pages on a website that are indexed by a search engine crawler? Do you understand the concept of topic modeling and how different forms of topic modeling are implemented?

Improving the quality of the content and the efficiency of the navigation can improve the ratio of pages crawled by search engines. Topic modeling is a method of using mathematical concepts to link a search engine query to a particular set of content.

Other Areas to Take into Consideration Consider the SEO’s previous experience, have they worked with clients who had needs similar to yours? Their knowledge of the less obvious nuances can make the difference between a solid business partner and one that is merely average. The key to an effective relationship will be each party’s willingness to learn from the other. Both clients and SEO vendors should be active listeners. Vendors will have to listen to the needs of their clients; clients should likewise be open to instruction from their vendors. Looking for an effective social and reputation management expert involves:

•  Finding a partner. The word “partner” connotes someone who is more involved in your business, beyond the level of a mere “vendor.” Your marketing partner is more deeply committed to the growth of your business than someone from the outside. While they will have to take time to learn the ins and outs of your business, the amount that they will need to learn can be minimized if you know what to look for.
•  Building a brand via using social sites. Social media is an important tool for building brand awareness, which can in turn lead to positive results when it comes to search engine ranking. The most easily recognized benefit of a strong social media presence are the links directly to your site from social sites like Twitter and Facebook. Also, brand associations on social sites may be used by search engine algorithms to decide whether a particular page is popular or relevant to the search engine query.
• Considering the big picture. When looking for someone to handle your SEO and digital marketing, avoid those who place a stress on using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. While these sites are important elements in a social media strategy, they should only be parts, not the entirety of your game plan. There is also much more to the role of SEO than mere jargon, you will need an SEO expert who can provide a specific benefit via a clearly defined method.
• Finding a vendor who can get your site indexed on Google. If you are not indexed on the Internet’s most popular search engine, then your site will likely not be found by customers using Google for searching for products/services in your niche. Part of the work of an SEO professional is getting your site on Google, and getting the links back to your website indexed. A SEO vendor should be able to explain to you how they go about getting links back to your website indexed.
• Identifying the trends. While certain aspects of SEO are fairly easy to carry out, one that requires a fair amount of skill and knowledge is trend-spotting. The ability to spot and use trends in link building can make a huge difference in how fast your site gets indexed.

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This video is geared for small business start ups with low marketing budgets thus providing low cost ways to get more exposure online.

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