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Posts Tagged ‘Branding’

Email Marketing Is Not Dead, Part 2: Building a List

November 8th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 1 of 6 in the series email marketing

Even in this social media-crazy world we live in, email is still relevant. There is one big reason: Email is really the only way to get in front of your current and prospective clients on a regular basis.

No matter how much you and your audience use social media, your messages on those platforms can easily get lost. Will they see your tweet, read their status update in their Facebook news feed, or get your latest blog post in whatever eReader program they use to keep their reading organized? The great thing about an email boils down to this: Your prospects and custoemrs will have to at least glance at the subject line before deciding whether to read or delete it.

In this three-part series on email marketing, we are looking at putting together a strategy (that was part 1) and creating content (part 3) that will engage your target market. In this post, we are looking at how to build a list. Some of the information in this series is courtesy of the HubSpot eBook 7 Steps to Jump Start Your Email Marketing Strategy.

Here are three tips on building your list, and one on maintaining it:

Do Not Buy a List

I have always strongly cautioned my clients against buying lists. You don’t know how the information is collected or even how good it is til you send your first few emails. But worse, the people on the list have not opted in to receive your messages, and you could be viewed as an annoyance, or worse, a spammer, thus sullying your brand’s reputation.

Pull Leads from Directories

It is OK to pull leads from lead directories like LinkedIn, JigSaw, Lead411 and others. Put together a short email to send to these people, including a friendly introduction and an invite to join your enewsletter list, a link to a white paper, guide, tips and tricks list, eBook or other valuable content. Be sure to stress how your company, products, and services can benefit them.

Collect Business Cards

Wherever you are, collect contact information – and the easiest way to do this is via business cards. You could be at a conference, tradeshow, networking event, industry event or association event. If someone gives you their business card, it is OK to add them to your contact list; if they wanted nothing to do with you, they would not give you their business card in the first place.

Choose a CRM App

To keep your list organized, choose a customer relationship management (CRM) application that fits your needs. There are a lot of options out there: Batchbook, Xobni, Zoho, Gist. Play around with them to see which works best for you.

Segmented lists are super helpful, because all of your contacts do not need to get all of your messages – current and prospective clients have different needs, as well as those in different geographic areas, industries, with different business sizes, etc.

Keep your list as clean and updated as possible. When someone changes titles or companies, note that. When someone unsubscribes, remove them from your CRM. When someone becomes a client, note that.

Next up in this series: Creating Content.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

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Tags: Branding, Email marketing, list building, Marketing
Posted in Email Marketing, Marketing | 9 Comments »

Email Marketing is Not Dead, Part 1: Putting Together a Strategy

November 3rd, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

This entry is part 2 of 6 in the series email marketing

Email is still a great way to keep in touch with your current and prospective clients – in fact, it is probably the best way to stay top of mind. No matter how social media-savvy your customers might be, email is really the only way to get in front of them on a regular basis.

Think about it: Will they see your tweet, one among probably hundreds they get every day? Will your status update show up in their Facebook news feed? Will they have time to read your latest blog post that comes through on their RSS feed?

With an email, they will have to at least glance at the subject line before deciding whether to read now, read later, save or delete. HubSpot published an eBook earlier this year called 7 Steps to Jump Start Your Email Marketing Strategy. They had some great information in there that I have used – as well as some information that was new to me.

In this three-part series on email marketing, we’ll take a look at building a list and creating content that will engage your target market – and keep them hungry for more. In part 1, we’ll start with strategy, including defining your goals and the different types of emails you should use.

Define your goals

As with any marketing program, you need to define where you are going before you even start down the road. Right now, I am working with a new client on putting together an email marketing campaign that will deliver results – and that is where you need to start too.

What results are you looking for? In other words, what are your goals? They could include, more leads, being a go-to source of industry information, enhancing your reputation, and/or more sales.

Choose a mix of messages

Keep it interesting by mixing up the types of messages you send out to your list. Here are some to choose from:

Product announcement – stress the benefits, not the features, of a new product or service you are offering. Link to a white paper that demonstrates the need for your new product or service, or a free demo on your website.
eNewsletter – Establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry with informative articles that your target audience can use. It need not be long, just interesting, and it needs to be delivered on a consistent basis – your audience will end up expecting it. Be sure to include social media sharing icons, too, so they can spread the love.
Incentives – These emails seek to do one thing: boost sales. They can include coupons, special offers, sneak peeks at new products/services with special preview pricing, etc. Use discounts sparingly to avoid cheapening your brand.
Event invites – These are short and straightforward and can be used when exhibiting at a trade show, attending a conference, hosting a webinar, or speaking somewhere. Include the benefit to them of RSVPing.

Next up in this series: Building a List.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

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Tags: Branding, Email marketing, Marketing, strategy
Posted in Email Marketing, Marketing | No Comments »

3 Tips on Creating Effective Infographics

November 1st, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

Infographics are a great way to not only quickly explain a complicated idea or huge amount of information, but also grab your readers’ attention and engage them in a topic that might be dry or overly complex.

Easier said than done. An effective infographic must be created with a purpose in mind. You don’t want to end up with just a pretty picture – it really needs to help explain the information you are presenting. An infographic that is both engaging and useful combines visual interest, theme, detail, meaning and action—all in a single glance.

Use the following three tips to ensure that your infographics pop.

1. Make it fit.

You could squeeze an entire year’s worth of information into an infographic, but if you don’t take the time to fit the color and theme into your already-established company graphics, it might be a wasted effort.

Incorporate the colors and design you use in your branding – from your company logo to your website – as well as the typography and font. Taking time to give the function a little form will give your infographic an engaging and cumulative effect that adds to your presentation and enhances your brand.

2. Don’t rely on images.

In a well-designed infographic, an effective and modern image is almost a given. But if you stop there and fail to deliver detail and meaning to your image, the results will be less than stellar. The reason images are so powerful – and need a lot of attention in an infographic – is because they convey layers of meaning in an instant.

In an infographic, though, you are including a numerical quality with the visual, so make sure you choose information that is meaningful and relevant to your company and its goals.

3. Plan for action.

The worst thing an infographic can do is simply be a colorful repeat of information that can be easily accessed elsewhere. Give it a purpose by making sure your infographic will inspire action – does it teach something to the viewer? Does it compare data? Reveal new information?

By covering your bases with these three approaches, you will create an infographic that is informative, engaging, and visually appealing – all characteristics of a dream product. Distribute your infographic on your social networks, and your brand, audience and sales funnel will thank you!

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

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Tags: Branding, design, engagement, infographics, Marketing, presentations, visual
Posted in Branding, Marketing | 1 Comment »

B2B Social Media Beats B2C: Let Us Count the Ways

August 22nd, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

I’ve written about the differences between B2B and B2C companies before, so I decided to do a little more research into how they’re different when it comes to social media marketing. From what I can tell, B2B companies have the edge over B2C’s when it comes to effectively reaching customers through social media.

1. You can bet on it

Because B2B product lines change less frequently, you can bet that the social media content you’re producing today will be around a lot longer. The longer shelf life of B2B products means your marketing efforts will continue to create value longer, making them more effective and less expensive than their B2C counterparts.

B2B social media marketing is more reliable in another way, too. In general, fewer people are talking about B2B companies online than B2C’s, so you have more control over what is being said about your brand. It follows that B2B’s generate less negativity online as well, so you have less negative content to handle. Sure, buzz is great, but only if it is enhancing the value of your brand, rather than keeping you running in circles trying to put the lid on any negative vibes.

2. You can’t beat the relationships

While B2C relationships are rife with impulsive or emotional buying decisions, B2B purchasing decisions are more relationship-driven. Businesses tend to interact directly with customers many times to educate prospects about their products and services. They can engage prospects throughout the entire sales cycle and can continue after a sale is finalized, through support, upgrades and continuing education.

The B2B buying process usually involves multiple colleagues and is reliant on recommendations, so it evolves over time, helping to solidify relationships. This emphasis on building relationships suits social media to a tee.

3. The community is smaller and tighter

The B2B market is a smaller, more focused market, compared to the B2C. As a result, you can use social media to connect with prospects and start building relationships faster and easier. B2B buyers also tend to rely on recommendations and feedback from this smaller community. You can use social media to generate product feedback, helping to influence purchasing decisions.

B2B social media practices also create an opportunity for you to demonstrate your business value. Show the community you are reliable, responsive, and knowledgeable, and watch your sales grow!

In your experience, does B2B or B2C social media win? How have you found them to be different?

Image by Flickr user ivanpw (Creative Commons)

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Tags: B2B marketing, B2C marketing, Branding, content, Marketing, social media, Social networking
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

How to Build Your Personal Brand Online

July 28th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

As a small business owner, I’m always looking for ways to build my brand online. I’m active on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, but I decided to explore taking branding further and really connect to potential clients and professionals in my industry.

While doing some research online, I came across a video of Michael Stelzner interviewing Mari Smith on how she leverages her personality to strengthen her brand online.

First, a quick intro to the difference between the terms “brand” and “branding.” Your brand is the experience you want your audience to have when they come in contact with you, while branding is everything you do to get your brand out there.

Here are a few key points from the interview that stood out for me:

The Power of “Brand You”

Personal branding involves using the persona associated with your name to power your brand equity. Social media has amplified our ability to build brand equity by giving us the opportunity to connect with anyone, anywhere. As we join online conversations and communities, we begin to notice that our names become associated with expertise.

Even if you work at a large company, you can still create a personal brand. The best thing about brand equity is that it’s portable – you can take it with you if you ever decide to leave a job and start your own business.

Why Personal Branding Is a Must

According to Mari Smith, personal branding is the way of the future. Many professional relationships today are forged and nurtured online via social media, so it’s the perfect place to let your clients, customers, and peers get to know the real you.

If you need another reason to build an online presence, Smith predicts that those with the most Twitter followers, Facebook friends, etc., will earn the big bucks in the future.

Establishing Your Brand Online

To build Brand You, you should use your name as your Twitter handle and Facebook URL. If your name is already taken, just add a middle initial or an underscore.

Smith recommends making your name your domain for your Facebook fan page rather than for your personal Facebook profile page. If you’ve already used your name for your personal page, Facebook gives you one opportunity to change it. Simply click Account–Username–Change, and move your name over to your fan page.

Whether you’re self-employed or work for a large company, leveraging your brand equity can help you network, attract clients, and get the most out of your professional life. What personality traits or areas of expertise will you use to build your personal brand?

Image by Flickr user Jerry Kirkhart (Creative Commons)

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Tags: brand, Branding, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mari Smith, Marketing, Michael Stelzner, online branding, social media, Social Mediai Examiner, Twitter
Posted in Branding, Marketing | No Comments »

Getting Your Social Media Strategy Right as Your Company Grows

June 20th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

If your social media strategy is working fairly well, awesome. You are listening to your target audience online, jumping into conversations, answering questions and resolving issues, and publishing useful content they comment on and share.

But as your company grows, your strategy needs to be refined a bit for a basic reason: governance. Another way to put it is you need to keep everyone who is involved in your social media strategy organized so your messages don’t get muddled.

Choose Brand Advocates

The first thing you need to figure out is who the right people are to advocate for your brand online. Before you say, “Our marketing people,” stop! Wrong answer.

This might surprise you, but your ideal brand advocates are actually your employees who are producing whatever it is you make. It could be your product managers or engineers, all of whom are doing the work and have a much deeper understanding of what you do. Your customer support people are also ideal, as they are trained to tackle tricky questions with aplomb.

Unless your target audience is C-level executives, the members of your management team are your worst brand advocates. People trust other people like them, so always choose hands-on employees over “suits.”

Take Action on Insights

We’ve already established that you pay attention to what people are talking about online. You analyze all of this data, but do you use it? Very few companies actually take action on these insights, which are such a rich source of ideas that it is a shame to waste them.

Who knows what you could uncover: an idea for a new product or feature, a service or initiative that is in short supply, valuable info on your competition. Make sure someone in your company analyzes all of this intel on a regular basis so you don’t miss the boat on a great opportunity.

Messaging

If you have multiple Facebook pages or Twitter accounts, you cannot be posting the same messages across all these platforms. It’ll look super spammy, lazy and disorganized. You need to know who your audience is on each account and push out content, information and resources that they want and/or need.

Make sure whoever oversees each account is the right person for the job. If you have a Facebook page dedicated to your top-selling product, make sure the product manager is, at the very least, involved in putting together the editorial content that goes out on that channel.

***

Have I missed anything? How have you changed your social media strategy as your company has grown? Leave a comment below!

Image courtesy Flickr user Jake Sutton (Creative Commons)

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Tags: brand advocates, Branding, Facebook, Marketing, social media, social media analysis, social media messaging, social media strategy, Twitter
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

How to Tap into Customer Emotions for Business Success

June 6th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

I ran across an audio interview I had saved a few months ago that was incredibly interesting. Kim Albee, president of Genoo, interviewed author Dan Hill, founder and president of Sensory Logic, a scientific, research-based consultancy that specializes in enhancing companies’ sensory-emotional connectivity. His book is called Emotionomics – Leveraging Emotions for Business Success, and they discussed how the concepts in the book can be applied to marketing.

Here’s what I learned:

If your company cannot connect emotionally with your customers, you’re in trouble.

Emotionomics is based on scientific research of brain activity; the researchers conclusively found that people make decisions with the heart, not with the head. People feel before they think, so in reality, there really is no such thing as objectivity.

So, how can companies understand whether or not they’re hitting someone emotionally? Half the brain is devoted to processing visuals, so you have to engage in 3 seconds or less. You need to make a connection quickly, or you probably won’t make it at all.

Making that connection boils down to visuals. For example, don’t grab some clip art and put it on your website. It is not authentic, and authenticity builds trust. To emotionally engage with your audience using visuals, you must include 3 things: a dominant visual; implied change or motion in the visual; and faces. Yes, faces. People are attracted to and respond to faces, and in fact they find faces more engaging.

All this great scientific research also concluded that we understand other people through emotions, of which there are 7: true smile (the muscles around your eyes relax); social smile (only the muscles around your mouth relax), anger, sadness, fear, disgust, and contempt. Because we feel before think, someone’s true emotion appears for a split second before thinking kicks in and hides it.

The range of emotions people display is also important: You will make more money from a true smile. Contempt, on the other hand, is almost like a moral judgment in which they don’t trust you. Disgust means they can’t get away from something fast enough. Boredom means there’s no zest or interest to whatever it is you’re presenting or selling.

There is also a range of secondary emotions, and it is important to fine tune marketing to speak to pride, which is a combination of happiness and anger (yes, anger – anger has to do with wanting to make progress). The reason you want to tap into pride is because you want people to feel good about buying from you. Definitely avoid frustration, which happens when people don’t feel like they’re in control or making progress.

You have 3 ways to tap into customer emotions: Through the visual; the value system of company, which should spark something in your target audience; and personality, which many companies are lacking, at least on their website.

Image Courtesy: Sensory Logic

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Tags: Branding, Dan Hill, Emotionomics, emotions, Marketing
Posted in Branding, Marketing | No Comments »

Want to Really Increase Your Website Traffic? Try SocialToaster

June 3rd, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

If you’re a small business, one of the goals of your marketing strategy is to drive more traffic to your website, where you can convert those visitors into leads.

To generate traffic, you need to publish great content that is interesting and useful to your target market. You can write a blog, newsletter, white papers, press releases, articles, how-to guides, whatever, and then you’ll push out all of that content to your audience via email or social media.

Well, how about tapping into an audience on social media that goes way beyond your followers?

Check out this Baltimore-based startup, SocialToaster. I first wrote about them for Tech Cocktail back in March. I have zero affiliation with them, but their idea – and the technology behind it – is really interesting and super useful for small businesses, so sharing them here at GrowSmartBiz has been on my to-do list for a while.

So, here’s how they work: Ask customers, employees, Facebook fans, and anyone else you’d like to be your ambassador (their term, not mine). You’ll share content with them, and they will spread the content on their social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn). Naturally, there are built-in analytics so you can track website visitors to see which ambassador sent them.

SocialToaster is a great way to gain brand exposure and build up your sales funnel, but it is dependent on you producing content on a regular basis. You don’t need to go crazy writing new stuff all the time, though. If you already blog, you can ask your ambassadors to share your posts. If you publish a newsletter, ask them to share that. Each SocialToaster post contains a unique URL and appears to come from the ambassador themselves, so your clickthrough rates will be higher than traditional online advertising.

So, what’s in it for your ambassadors? Rewards, at least for the people that drive sales leads to you, furnished by sponsors. Recruiting them is up to you. You can send an email to employees, newsletters to customers, post something on Facebook, blog about it, or tweet it – or anything else you can think of.

The SocialToaster software can be integrated with your existing content management and CRM systems including Drupal, WordPress, SugarCRM and SalesForce. As for pricing, you pay a flat monthly subscription fee based on the number of SocialToaster posts you want to push out. Their most basic plan is free.

Image Courtesy: SocialToaster

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Tags: Branding, content, Email marketing, Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, MySpace, social media, Social networking, SocialToaster, Startup, Twitter
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Email Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, social media | 1 Comment »

How to Turn a Press Release Into a Marketing Campaign

May 10th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

So your company has a big announcement to make. You’ve released a new product, added a new service, published an eBook, or launched a webinar series. Awesome! Time to tell the world, so of course one of the first things you’ll do is write a press release.

Once you have written a press release that is chock-full of interesting information that your target market will just gobble up (fingers crossed), don’t limit yourself to distributing it on PRNewswire and PRWeb and, oh yeah, posting it on your website’s news page. Go a step (OK, a few steps) further and turn it into a full-blown marketing campaign.

It’s not that hard—really. Here’s what to do (though not necessarily in this order):

Distribute on Social Media

Post your press release on Facebook, send it out to your Twitter followers, and share it with your network on LinkedIn. You’ll reach a lot of eyeballs this way, and they’re not just any eyeballs, either. They’re the eyeballs of the people who already know and like your company (and maybe you, too).

Pitch Bloggers

Now that I’ve been blogging for Tech Cocktail for a few months, I have started getting pitched directly by companies, which is not only rather flattering, but very helpful since I am the lead editor and therefore in charge of the editorial schedule. I might not be able to write about the company immediately, but anyone who takes the time to email me gets a little gold star next to their email.

If there are bloggers who cover your industry that you read and admire, go ahead and send them your press release (especially if they have a big readership!).

Include in Your Newsletter or Email Marketing

Though you may be very well connected on social media, don’t forget that we are all really busy, forget things, and don’t visit our social networks every day. On the day you publish your big announcement, we could be on vacation. So, distribute your press release in even more places by including it in your e-newsletter or creating a special email announcement.

Add Keywords

Once your press release is out there, you’ll want even more people to find it via search engines. Make sure your press release is loaded up with relevant keywords that will ensure your news pops up when people, especially prospects, are searching for information online.

Branding

Think about all the big marketing campaigns from big companies you see every day. Let’s take Gap, for instance. Their emails, postcards, print ads, online ads and in-store signage all looks the same. That’s because when it comes to marketing, consistency is extremely important. That consistency is what we call branding.

So, no matter where you distribute your press release, keep the tone of voice, style, and look in perfect sync. You should also make sure it is consistent with your overall online presence, from your website to your blog to your online ads.

Image by Flickr user Grant (Creative Commons)

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Tags: bloggers, Branding, Email marketing, Facebook, keywords, LinkedIn, Marketing, marketing campaigns, newsletter, press releases, public relations, Search Marketing, seo, social media, Twitter
Posted in Branding, Email Marketing, Marketing, Search Marketing, Small Business, Social Media, social media | 1 Comment »

Social Media Analysis: Which Sites are Best for Customer Engagement, Branding, CTR, and SEO

April 27th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

With all the social media sites out there, should you be using any of them besides Facebook and Twitter for marketing your small business?

This is an excellent question, and one that I think about fairly regularly. Luckily, at some point last year I downloaded a fun data sheet, The CMO Guide to the Social Landscape, that was distributed by CMO.com.

The data sheet breaks down all the major social media sites, from Twitter to YouTube, to provide an overview of how each performs in four key categories: customer communication, brand exposure, click-through rates (CTS) and SEO.

Because Twitter and Facebook are discussed ad nauseum everywhere, I will skip those and focus on other social media sites. (But in case you are wondering—big surprise—both Twitter and Facebook received high marks for customer engagement and branding.)

Flickr

In terms of customer engagement and branding, Flickr can really only help you put faces to names and “humanize” your company a bit. Click-through rates are also very low; however, Flickr is great for SEO, which surprised me. According to the guide, Flickr is

…heavily indexed in search engines, passing links and page ranks. Also helps images rank higher in Google Images and in building inbound links.

LinkedIn

When it comes to customer communication, LinkedIn can be used to answer industry-related questions, but not for much else. Click-through rates are not that great, though the few people who do visit your site could be potential customers, and unless someone is searching for your company by name, it won’t really help with SEO either. Instead, LinkedIn is great for personal and company branding and establishing your industry knowledge and expertise.

YouTube

YouTube is a great way to engage your customers with funny and/or informative videos, and if you really build and promote your YouTube channel, it is one of the most powerful branding tools available. Because videos tend to rank high in search engines, it is great for SEO. However, YouTube is not the best way to drive traffic to your website, since traffic is directed right to the videos. If you want to drive click-through rates, add a hyperlink in the video description.

Digg

Because Digg is a social news sharing site, it is not the best way to communicate directly with customers. However, it gets high marks in the other three categories. There are lots of branding opportunities, especially to promote objective press and blog coverage of your company. If you post something that becomes popular, you will see a huge spike in website traffic and links from bloggers, both of which will help with SEO. Even if your posts aren’t super popular, SEO will still be goosed, thanks to indexing.

StumbleUpon

Another social news community, which means the chances of reaching your customers are not that great. You can buy targeted ads on StumbleUpon, which is good for brand exposure, but it can get expensive. Instead, StumbleUpon excels at driving traffic to websites and SEO, because it

…enables a diverse range of people to discover your content and share links via the su.pr link shortener on Twitter.

If your story makes it to the top StumbleUpon page for its tag, SEO will be helped considerably, especially since the site’s large use baser makes it easy for people to find and link to your content.

***

What other social media sites have you found helpful for marketing online? Leave a comment below!

Image by Flickr user webtreats (Creative Commons)

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Tags: Branding, click-through rates, CTR, customer engagement, Digg, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Marketing, seo, social media, StumbleUpon, Twitter, YouTube
Posted in Branding, Marketing, Search Marketing, Small Business, Social Media | 2 Comments »

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Posts Tagged ‘Branding’

Email Marketing is Not Dead, Part 1: Putting Together a Strategy

3 Tips on Creating Effective Infographics

How to Tap into Customer Emotions for Business Success