Posts in category: Marketing Strategy

Are you thinking of hiring a digital marketing consultant? If so, you’re on the right track! A digital marketing consultant can help your business achieve its online marketing goals. However, before you hire one, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. In this blog post, we will discuss seven tips for hiring a digital marketing consultant!

Three things to look for when hiring a digital marketing consultant

You want to hire the right digital marketing consultant. But before you do, you want to make sure they know their stuff, right? After all, you’re paying them for their expertise—not to learn as they go. So how can you tell if a digital marketing consultant is worth their salt?

A Good Portfolio

The first thing you should do when considering hiring a digital marketing consultant is to take a look at their portfolio. This will give you an idea of the type of work they’ve done in the past and whether or not they’re capable of meeting your specific needs. Be sure to take a close look at the quality of their work. Are the results they achieved for their past clients impressive? If not, move on.

Industry Awards and Recognition

Another way to gauge a digital marketing consultant’s worth is to see if they’ve won any industry awards or received any other recognition from their peers. This shows that they’re considered experts in their field and that other people are willing to vouch for their skills. To find out if your potential consultant has won any awards, simply do a quick Google search. And while you’re at it, see if they’ve been featured in any major publications as well. If they have, that’s a good sign.

Great Reviews

Finally, take a look at online reviews from past clients. These can give you insights into what it’s actually like to work with the consultant in question and whether or not they’re likely to deliver results. Look for reviews on popular sites like Google and Yelp, as well as industry-specific sites if possible. And pay attention to both the positive and negative reviews as they can both be helpful in making your decision.

Figure out what you want to achieve working with a consultant

There are a few key questions you should ask yourself before deciding to work with a consultant. 

First, what is your goal? What do you hope to achieve by working with a consultant or even one of the digital marketing agencies? It’s important to be as specific as possible here. For example, say your goal is to increase sales by 20%. That’s a great goal, and it’s also one that can be easily measured. 

Second, what specific problem are you looking to solve? This is different from your goal in that it’s more focused on the current state of your business. For example, maybe you’re looking to launch a new product but you’re not sure how best to go about it. In this case, your goal would be to increase sales by launching a new product, and your problem is that you don’t know how to go about launching said product or what the best online marketing strategy would be.

Third, what resources does your company have internally that can help achieve these goals? What marketing services and niche services do you already have? If you have a team of marketing experts who can handle launching a new product, then hiring a consultant might not be necessary. However, if you don’t have anyone internally who has experience launching new products, then working with a consultant could be a great way to get the expertise you need. 

A digital marketing consultant will be able to create marketing campaigns using a current marketing strategy and use marketing channels that can give you direct access to your customer, whether the methods are social media marketing, paid advertising, or using email campaigns.

Make sure they are driven by results

A results-driven digital marketing consultant is someone who is always looking for ways to improve your web development and increase your online visibility.

Here are three things to look for when hiring a digital marketing consultant:

A track record of success

The best way to gauge whether or not digital marketing consultants are results-driven is to look at their track record. Do they have a history of helping their clients achieve their marketing strategies? Are there case studies or testimonials that attest to their success? This is important because you want to make sure they’re capable of helping you achieve your specific goals. 

A focus on your goals

A results-driven digital marketing consultant will always keep your goals in mind. They’ll work with you to develop a custom business strategy that’s designed to help you achieve those goals. And they’ll regularly check in with you to make sure that the strategy is still on track and that you’re seeing results. 

A focus on ROI

A results-driven digital marketing consultant is always focused on getting you a positive return on your investment. They understand that your budget is limited, and they’re always looking for ways to get you the most bang for your buck. 

Make sure they can provide a marketing strategy that you are happy with

When looking for a digital marketing consultant, you want to make sure that they can provide you with a marketing strategy that you’re happy with. 

There are a few things to consider when determining if a digital marketing consultant can provide you with a good marketing strategy:

• Do they understand your business and your goals? A good digital marketing consultant will take the time to learn about your business. They’ll understand your goals, your target market, and your unique selling proposition. 
• Do they understand your timeline and budget? A good digital marketing consultant will be aware of your budget constraints and will develop a marketing strategy that’s within your budget. 

Make sure they have a solid understanding of SEO

Search engine optimization is one of the most important aspects of digital marketing. And it’s something that you should definitely look for when hiring a digital marketing consultant. 

Find out their digital marketing expertise – where do they shine?

Here are four key areas to look at when evaluating a potential agency partner.

Ability to Generate Leads

When evaluating an agency’s ability to generate leads, pay attention to both the quantity and quality of the leads they’re able to produce. Quantity is important because it gives you an idea of how much reach the agency has. However, quality is just as important because you want those leads to be qualified and likely to convert. 

Understanding of Your Target Audience

A good digital marketing consultant will take the time to get to know your business inside and out, including your target audience. This understanding is critical for developing effective campaigns that resonate with your ideal customers. When evaluating the understanding of your target audience by a consultant or a digital marketing agency, pay attention to both the questions they ask about your target customer as well as the insights they’re able to share about who your target customer is, what they care about, and where they like to consume content. 

Use of Data and Analytics

Any decent digital marketing consultant will use data and analytics to inform its strategy and measure its results. However, the best agencies go beyond simply tracking vanity metrics like website traffic and social media followers. They also dig into more meaningful data points that show whether or not the campaigns they’re running are actually moving the needle for your business. When evaluating an agency’s use of data and analytics, pay attention to both the types of data they track as well as the insights they’re able to draw from that data. 

Experience with Your Industry or Niche

While not required, it can be helpful to hire an agency that has experience working with businesses in your industry or niche. This experience can give them a better understanding of both the unique challenges and opportunities you face as well as what has worked (and what hasn’t) for businesses like yours in the past. When evaluating an agency’s experience with your industry or niche, pay attention not only to whether or not they have experience but also how long they’ve been working in this space and what kinds of results they’ve been able to achieve for other clients. 

Find a digital marketing consultant that has a vision and imagination for where your business can go.

It’s important to find a digital marketing consultant who has a vision and imagination for where your business can go, not just where it’s been. Here are four tips to help you find the right consultant for your business.

Look for someone who is passionate about their work. 

When you’re talking to potential consultants, pay attention to how they talk about their work. Do they seem excited and enthusiastic or do they come across as bored and jaded? You want to hire someone who is passionate about their work and who will be just as excited about working on your business as you are.

Choose someone who is flexible and adaptable. 

The world of digital marketing is constantly changing, so you want to hire someone who is flexible and adaptable enough to change with it. Ask them how they stay up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies. And most importantly, ask them how they would handle a situation if something didn’t go according to plan. 

How to Get Good Value When Hiring a Digital Marketing Consultant

How do you make sure you’re getting good value for your money? Here are a couple of tips.

Do Your Research

The first step is to do your research and understand what services a digital marketing consultant can provide. A good place to start is by reading blog posts and articles that will give you an overview of the different aspects of digital marketing, such as search engine optimization, social media marketing, email marketing, and content marketing. Once you have a good understanding of the basics, you’ll be in a better position to evaluate proposals from potential consultants.

Ask for Referrals

If you know someone who has used a digital marketing consultant in the past, ask them for referrals. They can give you insights into what it was like working with that particular consultant and whether or not they were able to help them achieve their goals. Even if you don’t know anyone who has used a consultant before, reach out to your network on LinkedIn and see if anyone has any recommendations.

Not all agencies or marketing companies are good fits for a business. The digital strategy and marketing efforts must be congruent with the needs of the business online.

Summary

Hiring a digital marketing consultant can be a great way to get expert help with your marketing efforts. Consider their experience, vision, imagination, flexibility, and ability to adapt when making your decision. Also, be sure to do your research and ask for referrals. By following these tips, you can be sure you’re getting good value for your money.

Facebook is a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. Not only can you reach a large audience with your ad campaigns, but you can also target specific demographics and interests. However, creating successful Facebook Ads isn’t always easy. In this blog post, we will give you 5 tips for better Facebook Ads management.

Use the targeting in Facebook Ads to write to your audience persona

Writing a successful Facebook Ad requires good ad copy and good ad creative. You can use Facebook Ad targeting to target your audience by a variety of factors, including location, demographics, interests, and behaviors. This is incredibly useful when you’re trying to reach a specific audience persona.

If you’re not using Facebook Ads to reach your target audience, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. With over 2 billion active users, Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. And with its highly targeted advertising capabilities, it’s an ideal way to reach your target customers. When you create a Facebook ad, you can use the targeting options to narrow down your audience by location, age, gender, interests, and more. This ensures that your ad is seen by people who are most likely to be interested in what you’re selling.

Add your buyer persona or buyer personas to Facebook

As a business owner, it’s important to understand your target audience. Who are they? What do they like? What do they need? Once you’ve answered these questions, you can start to build a profile of your ideal customer, or buyer persona. Once you have a clear idea of who your target customer is, you can start to reach out to them on Facebook.

When you create a Facebook page for your business, be sure to include information about your buyer persona. What kind of content will they be interested in? What kind of deals or promotions are they likely to respond to? The more you know about your target customer, the better you’ll be able to reach them on Facebook.

Custom Audiences

Using the Facebook Ads manager, you can create targeted ads going to a landing page that run in the news feed. One way to do this is to use Facebook’s Custom Audiences feature. It allows businesses to target ads to specific groups of people. For example, a business could create a Custom Audience for people who have visited their website in the past 30 days, or for people who have purchased a product from their online store. Custom Audiences can be created from scratch, or they can be based on an existing customer list. Facebook provides a variety of tools to help businesses create and manage their Custom Audiences. For example, businesses can use a Facebook Pixel to track customer behavior on their website.

Lookalike Audiences

You can also use it to create Lookalike Audiences, which are groups of people who share similar characteristics with the original Custom Audience. Lookalike Audiences are a powerful way for businesses to reach their target market on Facebook.

Plan your approach

Facebook Ads can be a great way to reach new customers and grow your business, but before you dive in, it’s important to take a moment to plan your approach. What are your goals? Who do you want to reach? What kind of message do you want to send?

Once you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, you can start creating your ads.

Set Your Goal

Before you even start thinking about your ad, you need to set a goal. What do you want your ad to achieve? Do you want more website clicks? More likes on your page? More app downloads? More people signing up for your email list? Once you have a goal in mind, you can move on to the next step.

Choose Your Format

Now that you know what you want your ad to achieve, you need to choose a format. There are several different types of Facebook Ads, so take some time to think about which one will be most effective for achieving your goal.

For example, if your goal is more website clicks, then you might want to choose a carousel ad or a video ad. On the other hand, if your goal is more likes on your page, then you might want to choose a link ad or an image ad.

Create Your Ad

Creating effective Facebook Ads requires good Facebook Ad copy. This is where you will need to get creative and come up with an eye-catching headline and image (or video). Remember, your goal is still front and center here. What do you want people who see your ad to do? Make sure that everything from the headline to the call-to-action (CTA) button ties back into your goal.

Try video or carousel ads

When it comes to Facebook advertising, there are a lot of options. You can boost posts, run ads in the newsfeed, use lead ads, and more. But have you considered using video or carousel ads?

Video Ads

Video is one of the most popular types of content on Facebook, so it makes sense that you would want to use video in your Facebook advertising. Video ads are eye-catching and can help you tell your brand’s story in a way that text and images can’t. Plus, they’re easy to consume—even if someone is scrolling through their newsfeed quickly, they can still get the gist of your ad by watching the video. 

Carousel Ads

Carousel ads are a type of Facebook Ad that lets you showcase up to 10 images or videos within a single ad unit. They’re perfect for businesses that want to tell a story or highlight multiple products. 

Carousel ads are also interactive. People can swipe through the images or videos to see more information. So if you’re looking for an engaging way to showcase your products or tell your brand’s story, carousel ads are a great option.

Create multiple ads for testing

Why create multiple ads?

Most businesses know that they need to advertise, but what many don’t realize is that testing different ads is essential to finding out what works best. After all, not every customer is going to respond to the same message in the same way. By creating multiple ads and testing them with different audiences, businesses can gain valuable insights into which messages are most effective.

Figure out which channels you should spend your time on

Testing can help to identify which channels are most effective for reaching your target customers. While it may take some time and effort to create multiple versions of an ad, the results can be well worth it.

Use language that is easy to understand in your Facebook Ads

Facebook Ads are a great tool for businesses to use to target potential customers. However, one mistake that businesses make is using complicated language in their ads. When people are scrolling through Facebook, they are not looking to be bombarded with jargon-filled ads. Instead, they want to see ads that are clear and to the point.

Reach a wider audience

The first reason why you should use simple language in Facebook Ads is that it will help you reach a wider audience. A lot of people who use Facebook are not native English speakers. If you use complicated language, there is a chance that they will not understand what your ad is saying. By using simple language, you can ensure that everyone who sees your ad will understand it.

Be memorable

Another reason why you should use simple language in Facebook Ads is that it makes your ad more memorable. When people see an ad that is full of jargon, they are likely to tune it out and forget about it as soon as they see it. However, if you use simple language, people are more likely to remember your ad because it is easy to understand.

Summary

Overall, there are a few key things to keep in mind when it comes to Facebook Ads management. First, it’s important to have clear goals in mind. Second, testing different ads in your ad campaign is essential to finding out what works best. Finally, using simple language will help you reach a wider audience and make your ad more memorable. By following the tips laid out here, you can ensure that your Facebook Ads are as effective as possible.

Are you looking for ways to improve your pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns? If so, you’re in luck! In this blog post, we will discuss 10 tips to help you succeed with PPC advertising. Pay-per-click advertising can be a great way to generate more leads and sales for your business, but it can also be expensive if you’re not careful. That’s why following these tips is important to get the most out of your campaigns. Let’s get started!

What is pay-per-click advertising?

Pay-per-click advertising, also known as PPC, is a type of online advertising where the people who advertise pay a fee when one of their ads is clicked. It’s a way of buying website visits instead of earning them organically through search engine optimization (SEO).

Pay-per-click advertising is important because it allows you to reach a larger audience than you would through search engine optimization alone. It also gives you the ability to track your results and adjust your campaigns accordingly.

When done correctly, pay-per-click advertising can be a highly effective way to generate leads and sales for your business.

Focus on your target audience

Whether you’re creating a website, designing a product, or writing an ad, it’s important to always keep your target audience in mind. After all, your goal is to appeal to them, so you need to make sure that every aspect of your presentation is geared towards their needs and interests. Use language and images that they can relate to and address any objections they might have. It can be tempting to try to please everyone, but remember that you can’t make everyone happy. By staying focused on your target audience, you’ll be more likely to create something that they’ll love and that will help you achieve your business goals.

Know the elements of a PPC campaign

A PPC, or pay-per-click campaign is a digital marketing strategy in which businesses pay a fee each time a PPC ad is clicked. An example of this is Google Ads.

In order to create a successful PPC campaign, it’s important to understand the different elements that go into it. The first step is keyword research. You need to identify the broad-match keywords that potential customers are using when they search for products or services like yours. Once you’ve selected your keywords, you’ll need to create compelling ad copy that includes those keywords.

The next step is setting up your campaign structure. This involves organizing your keywords into an ad group or ad groups and deciding how much you’re willing to pay per click. Finally, you’ll need to track your results and adjust your campaign accordingly. By understanding how PPC search campaigns work, you can create a campaign that will generate leads and drive sales.

Use the right keywords in your PPC Campaigns

If you’re running a PPC campaign, it’s important to choose the right keywords. The keywords you use will determine how often your ad is shown, and how much you’ll pay per click. There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing keywords for your PPC campaign. First, think about what terms your potential customers would use to find your product or service.

Then, consider the competition. If there are a lot of other businesses bidding on the same keywords, you may have to pay more per click. Finally, make sure you’re using relevant keywords throughout your PPC marketing ad campaigns, including in your ad copy and landing pages. By carefully selecting the right keywords, you can ensure that your PPC campaign is successful.

Focus on clients locally

If you’re a small business owner, it’s important to focus on clients locally. By marketing specifically to your community, you’ll be more likely to attract customers who are invested in supporting businesses in their area. You’ll also have a better chance of standing out from the competition since you won’t be competing with larger businesses with national reach. Targeting your marketing efforts to local residents also allows you to build relationships with potential customers and learn more about what they’re looking for. 

Consider retargeting

Retargeting is a powerful marketing tool that can help you increase brand awareness and drive conversions. Here’s how it works: when someone visits your website, they are “cookied” with a tracking pixel. This pixel allows you to serve ads to them as they browse the web. So, even if they don’t convert on your site, you can still stay top of mind and increase the likelihood that they’ll come back and do business with you.

Create High-converting landing pages

A landing page is a key element of any effective marketing campaign. It’s the first thing potential customers see when they click on an ad or search result, so it’s important to make a good impression. Fortunately, there are a few simple strategies you can use to create high-converting landing pages.

First, keep your page design clean and simple. Too much clutter can be distracting and make it difficult for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Second, include a powerful headline that clearly states the offer on the page. Make sure your headline is visible above the fold so visitors don’t have to scroll down to see it. Third, use persuasive language throughout the page to convince your PPC visitors to take action. Fourth, include a strong call to action that tells visitors what you want them to do next. And finally, use images to break up the text and add visual interest.

Use Ad groups with negative keywords

Ad groups are a key part of any effective pay-per-click campaign. By grouping together similar ads, you can ensure that your message is targeted and relevant to your audience. Negative keywords are also an important tool for ad groups, allowing you to exclude certain terms from your campaigns. This can be useful if you find that your ads are being triggered by irrelevant searches. You can help to improve your click-through rate by adding negative keywords to your ad groups. This ensures that your ads are only being shown to potential customers who are interested in what you have to offer.

Measure your advertising efforts and campaign performance

Any business owner will tell you that advertising is important. It’s one of the best ways to reach new customers and promote your products or services. But how do you know if your advertising efforts are really paying off?

The answer is to measure your campaign performance. Keeping track of key metrics will help you to see what’s working and what isn’t. For example, you might track the number of new customers acquired, the amount of website traffic or the number of sales generated. By monitoring these metrics, you can make adjustments to your campaigns as needed and ensure that you’re getting the most bang for your advertising buck.

Use Long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are a vital part of any SEO strategy. By targeting specific, niche phrases that are less competitive, you can increase your chances of ranking in search engines.

In addition, when you find long-tail keywords, they are often more specific and relevant to the searcher’s intent, making them more likely to result in a conversion. For example, if you sell running shoes, a long-tail keyword such as “women’s size 8 running shoes” is more specific than simply “running shoes.”

As a result, it is more likely to result in a sale. Including long-tail keywords in your content can improve your SEO and increase your chances of converting prospects into customers.

Test multiple ads

As any experienced online marketer knows, testing is essential for running successful campaigns. By testing different versions of an ad, whether they are banner ads, video ads, or another type of ad, you can learn what works and what doesn’t and optimize your campaigns accordingly. However, conducting effective tests can be difficult, especially if you’re working with a limited ad spend. One way to get around this problem is to test multiple ads at once. By running multiple ads simultaneously, you can gather more data in a shorter period of time, and increase your chances of finding a winning combination. Of course, this approach isn’t without its challenges, you’ll need to carefully monitor your campaigns to avoid overspending, but if done correctly, it can be an effective way to improve your campaigns.

Summary

PPC advertising can be a great way to reach new customers and promote your products or services. However, it is important to remember that not all PPC campaigns are created equal. By following the tips outlined in this article, you can improve your chances of success and make sure that your PPC campaigns are effective.

If you’re running a business, it’s important to optimize your website for search engines. This process, called search engine optimization (SEO), makes your site more visible in search engine results pages (SERPs). If you’re not doing SEO marketing, then you’re missing out on a lot of potential traffic! In this blog post, we will discuss how to optimize your website for search engines and get more visitors.

Publish authoritative content with accurate titles

An important element to improve your website’s SEO is to publish high-quality, authoritative content. This means that your content should be well-researched and accurate. It should also have catchy titles that accurately reflect the topic of the article in the title tag. In addition, your content should be updated regularly to ensure that it remains relevant.

Publish unique content

It is important to publish unique content when working on SEO marketing. This means that the content should be original and not copied from other sources. Copying content from other sources can result in lower search engine rankings and potential copyright issues. Creating original content will help your website stand out and attract more attention from both users and search engines.

Optimize for humans

When it comes to SEO marketing, it’s important to remember that you’re optimizing for humans, not robots. Your content should be easy to read and understand. It should also be relevant and interesting to your target audience. Keep in mind that search engines and other search engines such as Firefox are designed to give users the best possible experience, so make sure that your content is up to par.

To improve your website’s SEO, be sure to use keyword-rich titles and descriptions. Your titles and descriptions should include the keywords that you’re targeting. This will help search engines match your website with the right searches.

See what your competitors are doing

One of the best ways to learn about SEO strategy is to see what your competitors are doing. Check out their websites and see how they’re optimized for organic search. You can also use Google AdWords Keyword Planner as a keyword research tool to perform keyword research.

SEO tools

There are many different tools that you can use to help with your website’s SEO. Some of these tools are free, while others are paid. Here are a few of the most popular SEO tools:

Google Analytics: This tool lets you track your website’s traffic and see where your visitors are coming from.

Google Webmaster Tools: This tool lets you see how Google views your website and helps you to improve your site’s visibility.

Bing Webmaster Tools: This tool is similar to Google Webmaster Tools, but it’s for Bing instead of Google.

Moz: This company offers a variety of different tools to help with SEO, including keyword research.

SEO marketing can be a bit overwhelming, but it’s important to remember that you don’t have to do everything at once. Just take it one step at a time and you’ll see results!

How to use the Meta Description on your blog post to improve your SEO

The meta description is one of the most important pieces of text on a blog post or webpage. It is what appears on a search engine results page below the title of your web pages. The meta description gives potential readers a snapshot of what they will find on your page. It should be clear, concise, and keyword-rich.

Write a captivating sentence or two to help a reader click on your link.

Here are some tips on how to use the meta description to improve your SEO:

• Write a unique meta description for each page.
• Use keywords from your page title in your meta description.
• Make sure your meta descriptions are relevant to the content on your page.
• Use actionable language in your meta description.
• Include a call to action in your meta description.

Plan your site to make it easy for Google to crawl it.

To improve your SEO, you need to use Google Search Console. This is a free service from Google that allows you to see how your site appears in their search results. It also lets you submit your sitemap and request that your website is indexed.

Google Search Console is a powerful tool that can help you improve your website’s SEO.

Site navigation

Have you ever visited a website that was difficult to navigate? Maybe it was hard to find the information you were looking for, or the menus were confusing. Either way, it’s frustrating when you can’t find what you need on a website. That’s why site navigation is so important. Good site navigation makes it easy for users to find their way around a website and access the information they need.

There are a few key elements of good site navigation. First, menus should be well-organized and easy to understand. Second, there should be links to the most important pages on the site. And finally, the search function should be prominent and easy to use. By keeping these elements in mind, you can ensure that your website is easy to navigate and user-friendly.

List of breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs typically appear as a row of links at the top of a page, showing the path that the user has taken to get to the current page. A breadcrumb is usually found at the top of a web page, just below the primary navigation bar. It provides links back to previous pages on the website, typically categorized by topic. For example, if you are on an article about cats, the breadcrumb might show links for “Pets” and “Cats.”

In addition to providing navigation, breadcrumbs can also be used to improve the usability of a website and support search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. By including relevant keywords in the breadcrumb trail, it can help search engines better understand the content of a page and improve its ranking in search results.

Give readers what they want

Write text that is easy to read

You want people to stay on your website and read what you have to say. But if your text is hard to read, they’ll just click away. So how do you make sure your text is easy to read? For starters, keep your paragraphs short. No one wants to scroll through a wall of text. Breaking up your text into shorter sections makes it easier for people to scan and find the information they’re looking for.

You should also use headlines and subheadings to break up your text and make it more skimmable. And finally, use typography to your advantage. Choose a font that is easy to read, and use bold or italics sparingly to highlight important information.

Use software tools to check spelling and flow.

As a website owner, it’s important to make sure that your site is error-free. Not only do typos and grammatical errors give a bad impression, but they can also be confusing for visitors. Fortunately, there are a number of software tools that can help you check your spelling and grammar. In most cases, all you need to do is install the software and then run it on your site.

The software will then highlight any errors so that you can correct them. In addition to checking for spelling and grammar errors, these tools can also help to improve the flow of your website. By identifying awkward phrases and choppy sentences, they can help you make your site more readable and user-friendly. As a result, taking the time to run spell-check and grammar-check software on your website can be well worth the effort.

Building backlinks

You may have heard that “content is king.” That’s true, to a certain extent. But if you want your content to really shine, you need to make sure it’s well-connected.

Enter backlinks. Backlinks are basically links from other websites to your website. They help improve your site’s visibility and search engine ranking, and can also drive traffic directly to your site. So how do you go about building backlinks? There are a few different ways. You can start by guest blogging on other sites relevant to your niche. Include a link back to your site in your bio, and make sure your article is high-quality and informative. You can also reach out to other bloggers and influencers in your field and offer to collaborate or write a guest post for their site.

And don’t forget about social media! Be sure to share your content on all your social channels, and include links back to your website. With a little effort, you can build a strong backlink network that will help take your site to the next level.

Don’t forget about alt-tags on images and media

Make sure to use keyword-rich alt-tags on all of your website’s images and other media. This will help search engines index your site’s media and give you a higher ranking.

Summary

SEO marketing is a process of optimizing a website for search engines with the goal of improving its ranking in search results. There are a number of techniques that can be used to achieve this, including creating high-quality content, building backlinks, and using typography to improve usability. By taking the time to implement these SEO marketing strategies, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more visitors.

When you’re looking for online marketing services, it can be difficult to know which ones are the best for your business. There are so many options out there, and it can be hard to know which one will work best for you. In this blog post, we will discuss some tips on how to choose the right online marketing services for your business. We’ll talk about what to look for, and how to decide which company is right for you. So if you’re ready to start marketing your business online, keep reading!

What is an online marketing service?

An online marketing service helps businesses promote themselves online. This can include tactics like search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, content marketing, and email marketing. These services help businesses reach more customers and grow their sales.

Why do you need an online marketing service?

There are many benefits of using online marketing services. One benefit is that it can help you reach more customers. With more customers, you’ll have a better chance of growing your business. Additionally, online marketing can help you build brand awareness and credibility. This can lead to more sales and customers in the long run.

How to choose an online marketing service

Now that we’ve talked about some of the benefits of online marketing services, let’s talk about how to choose the right one for your business. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Your goals: What do you want to achieve with online marketing? Do you want to grow your customer base? Increase brand awareness? Drive more sales? Once you know your goals, you can start to look for a service that can help you achieve them.
• Your budget: Marketing services can be expensive, so it’s important to know how much you’re willing to spend. There are many affordable options out there, so don’t be afraid to shop around.
• Your audience: Who are you trying to reach with your marketing? Make sure the service you choose can help you reach your target audience.
• Your skills: Do you have the skills to do online marketing yourself, or do you need help from a professional? If you’re not sure, it’s always a good idea to seek out help from someone who knows what they’re doing.

An in-house marketing team vs. an agency

Now that you know some of the things to keep in mind when choosing an online marketing service, let’s talk about whether you should use an in-house marketing team or an agency. There are pros and cons to both, so it’s important to weigh your options and decide what’s best for your business.

Pros:

• You have more control over your marketing: When you have an in-house team, you can be more involved in the day-to-day of your marketing. You can oversee what’s being done and make sure it aligns with your goals.
• It’s usually more affordable: An in-house team is typically less expensive than an agency. This is because you’re only paying for the salaries of your team members, and not for the overhead of an agency.

Cons:

• You have to do it all yourself: If you don’t have experience with online marketing, it can be difficult to manage an in-house team. You may need to hire someone to help you, which can be an additional cost.
• It takes up more of your time: An in-house team requires more of your time and attention. You’ll need to manage and oversee the team, which can take away from other areas of your business.

The agency model

What is the agency model for digital marketing services and how does it work?

The agency model is a type of digital marketing service where businesses work with a good digital marketing agency to promote their products or services online. The digital agency manages the day-to-day marketing, including things like creating and managing campaigns, doing research, and analyzing data. The business pays the agency for it services, which can be either a monthly fee or a commission on sales.

How can you benefit from using an agency model for your digital marketing needs?

There are many benefits of working with a great digital marketing agency, including:

• You can focus on other areas of your business: When you work with an agency, you don’t have to worry about the day-to-day of your marketing. This can free up your time to focus on other areas of your business.

You get expert help: Agencies are made up of marketing experts who know marketing strategy and can help you achieve your goals. They have the knowledge and experience to create and manage successful campaigns.

• You save money in the long run: While agencies can be expensive, the right digital marketing agency can actually save you money in the long run. This is because they can help you avoid costly mistakes and get better results from your marketing campaigns.

What are some of the advantages of using an agency to provide your digital marketing services instead of doing it in-house or hiring a freelancer?

When you use a digital marketing company to provide your digital marketing services, you can be sure that you are getting a team of experts who are well-versed in the latest trends and techniques. This means that your campaigns will be more effective and produce better results. Additionally, the best digital marketing agencies have access to a larger pool of resources and talent, which allows them to create more comprehensive and effective campaigns.

How do you go about finding the right agency to meet your needs and what should you look for when making your decision?

When you’re ready to start looking for an online marketing agency, the best place to start is by asking for recommendations from other businesses in your industry. Talk to your network of contacts and see if they’ve worked with any good digital agencies that they can recommend. Once you have a few agencies in mind, do some research by checking out their websites and portfolios.

Then, set up consultations with each of the agencies on your list and be sure to ask lots of questions. Find out about their process, their rates, and what kind of results they’ve been able to achieve for other clients. After you’ve had a chance to speak with each of the agencies on your list, choose the one that you feel confident can help you meet your goals and that you’re comfortable working with. Then, get ready to watch your business grow!

Once you’ve found the right agency, what is the process of working with them like and what should you expect?”

When you’ve found the right agency, the process of working with them will vary depending on the services you’re looking for. However, there are a few things you can expect in general. First, the agency will want to get to know your business and your goals. They’ll ask you questions about your target market and what kind of results you’re hoping to achieve. Additionally, they will ask if you have a digital marketing strategy and if you need help putting one together for your business.

Once the agency has a good understanding of your business, they’ll start developing a plan. This plan will detail the steps they’ll take to help you reach your goals. They’ll also provide you with a timeline and a budget for their services.

Once you’ve approved the plan, the agency will get to work. They’ll design and implement your marketing campaigns and track their progress. They’ll also provide you with regular reports so you can see how your campaigns are performing.

As your campaign progresses, the agency will make adjustments as needed to ensure they’re meeting your goals. They’ll also be available to answer any questions or concerns you have along the way.

When your campaigns are complete, the agency will provide you with a final report. This report will detail the results of your campaigns and what you can do to continue growing your business. Working with a digital marketing agency is a great way to take your business to the next level. With their help, you can reach new heights and achieve your goals.

Summary

Choosing the right online marketing services for your business can be a challenge. There are a lot of factors to consider and it’s important to find the best digital marketing agency that can meet your needs. However, by following these tips, you can be sure to find the right agency for your business and watch it grow.

Are you looking for ways to grow your business? If so, you should consider taking online marketing courses. These courses can teach you everything from search engine optimization to social media marketing. In this blog post, we will discuss eight of the best online and digital marketing courses available today. We will also provide a brief overview of each course so that you can decide which one is right for you!

Fundamentals of digital marketing

Before we dive in, not all of these are free online marketing courses, but they all will increase your digital marketing training to optimize your digital marketing skills.

With many of these courses, installing digital marketing analytics (i.e. Google Analytics) on your site and watching the results play out can be fascinating. This is especially true for small business owners who do business online and need to learn digital marketing by taking a free online marketing course or two.

By taking a digital marketing course, a business owner can learn marketing strategies in digital marketing channels that work for online advertising, mobile marketing and internet marketing, among others.

Email Marketing Course by Hubspot

Content overview

Email marketing is a key part of any inbound marketing strategy. In order to be successful, you need to understand the needs of your contacts and create a strategy that helps you be as productive as possible. This course will teach you how to build an effective email marketing strategy that includes contact management and segmentation. You’ll learn how to send the right email to the right person at the right time, how to design engaging emails, and how to test and improve your email marketing campaigns. Lead nurturing is also an important part of any email marketing strategy, and this course will give you the foundation you need to start implementing lead nurturing in your business.

Content details

• Free course – with a certificate upon completion
• 7 lessons 
• 28 videos 
• 4 and a half hours long

Inbound Marketing Course by HubSpot

Content overview

Inbound marketing is a business methodology in which marketers attract customers by creating valuable content that is tailored to them. Outbound marketing, on the other hand, interrupts potential customers with content that may not be relevant or wanted. In order to create content that resonates with your target audience, it is important to first understand who your ideal customer is and what they are looking for. You can then create a buyer persona to help guide your content creation efforts.

Once you have a solid understanding of your target audience, you can begin mapping out their buyer’s journey. This will help you to develop impactful content that speaks to each stage of their journey and encourages them to take action. Distribution is also key to ensuring your content is seen by the right people. You’ll need to evaluate your distribution options and set a goal for how you want your content to be distributed.

Behavioral marketing and customer segmentation can also help you to streamline your inbound marketing efforts. And finally, don’t forget about automation and artificial intelligence.

Content details

• Free – with a certificate upon completion
• 7 lessons
• 24 videos
• Just under 5 hours

Social Marketing by Hootsuite

Content overview

To earn your Hootsuite Social Marketing Certification, you’ll need to pass a 60-question online exam. This assessment covers the core concepts of social media marketing, and questions are drawn from the course’s training videos.

The course covers creating a social media strategy, optimizing profiles, marketing social content, and audience building social media strategy, optimizing profiles, social content marketing, audience building, and more. After completing the course, you should be able to effectively grow a following of interested people and create content that resonates with your target audience. You will also know how to measure the ROI of your social media marketing efforts.

Content details

• $199 fee
• 6 hours of course material
• 60-question quiz must be passed with 80% accuracy
• Certificate after completion

Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google

Content overview

The internet provides vast opportunities for businesses to reach new customers and this is a great free online marketing course. Growing your web presence is essential to taking advantage of these opportunities. You can start by planning your online business strategy, and then get started with search engine optimization (SEO) to get discovered by potential customers and improve your campaigns over time. Additionally, getting noticed locally and on social media can help you attract new business. And finally, don’t forget to make use of analytics to track your progress and optimize your website. With all these tools at your disposal, it’s easier to get found online!

Content details

• Free – with a certificate
• 26 modules
• 40 hours
• Accredited

Digital Advertising and Marketing 101: The Complete Guide on Udemy

Content overview

This course covers the basics of digital advertising and marketing. You’ll learn about the different types of digital ads, how they’re bought, how much they cost, how they’re targeted, and more. You’ll also gain an understanding of the complex way digital advertising companies work together. In addition, you’ll learn about social media advertising and how it fits into a larger digital advertising campaign. Finally, you’ll be able to analyze trends and news in the digital advertising industry.

Content details

• $65 fee
• 1.5 hours of instruction
• 4.4/5 rating on Udemy from 4,000+ students
• A total of 12,000 students have taken the course

Content-led SEO by Brian Dean by SEMRush Academy

Content overview

In this course, you will learn about the best content promotion strategies to get people to see your content and share it on social media. You will also learn about the importance of organic CTR and how to improve it. Additionally, you will discover the seven secrets of the world’s most effective copywriters. Finally, you will learn how to optimize your content for search intent and how to scale up your content production.

Content details

• Free
• Certificate after completion
• Hosted by Semrush – a premier tool to help with search engine marketing

YouTube SEO: How to Rank #1 on YouTube on Udemy

Content overview

In this course, you will learn a proven step-by-step strategy to rank your videos on the first page of YouTube. The course will also teach you how to target specific keywords so that when users search for these keywords on YouTube, your video appears first in the results. In addition, you will learn how to create stunning YouTube thumbnails that will draw attention to your video. Finally, you will be taught a single strategy that is responsible for thousands of views on his own YouTube channel.

Content details

• $65
• 3 hours of video
• 4.7/5 ratings
• 10,000+ students
• Certificate of completion

Google Search Ads by Google

Content overview

Google Search Ads can help you reach your business goals by targeting potential customers through a variety of ad formats. You can use smart bidding strategies to save time and increase efficiency in your campaigns, and optimize performance with reports and simulators. Additionally, creative customization and audience strategy optimization can help you maximize the impact of your Google Ads campaigns.

Content details

• Free
• Certification of completion
• ~ 9 hours of instruction

Summary

There are many online digital marketing courses available that can help you grow your business. Each course offers something unique that can benefit your business. The most important thing is to find a course that fits your needs and budget. With so many courses available, there is sure to be one that can help you take your business to the next level!

The pandemic of 2020 has sparked a shift towards remote work, causing many companies to rely heavily on technology to stay connected and productive. This sudden transition has accelerated the adoption of new tools and platforms and sparked innovation in the field. Here are five ways that remote work technology is evolving post-2020.

1. Increased Use of AI and Automation

As we move into the era of remote work, companies seek new ways to streamline processes and increase productivity. One way this is achieved is through the increased use of AI and automation technology. From chatbots to desktop as a service, these tools allow for seamless communication and workflow without the need for human intervention.

They also provide valuable data and insights that can improve decision-making in remote teams. However, with such reliance on technology, it’s important to consider how AI and automation will impact job security and workplace culture in the long term.

Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that AI and automation are playing a key role in shaping the future of remote work.

2. Increased Use of Collaborative Tools

The shift to remote work in 2020 has highlighted the need for efficient and user-friendly collaborative tools. Many companies have embraced platforms such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom for their remote employees to stay connected and work together on projects. These tools allow communication through messaging, video conferencing, file sharing, and more.

Additionally, they offer a centralized platform for teams to track progress on tasks and brainstorm ideas. As remote work continues, it’s clear that we can expect to see an increase in the use of collaborative technology. This not only improves productivity for remote workers but also allows for greater flexibility and collaboration between team members worldwide.

3. Video Conferencing Technologies Are Increasing Their Security Measures

As remote work becomes more prevalent in today’s society, video conferencing technology is becoming a popular tool for distant teams to collaborate and communicate. However, the use of this technology has also raised concerns about privacy and security. Fortunately, companies are now taking steps to strengthen their security measures.

For example, Zoom recently added “Waiting Rooms” to prevent unauthorized individuals from joining a meeting and end-to-end encryption for added security during calls. In addition, Google Meet now offers features such as screen sharing restrictions and the ability to remove a disruptive participant from a call.

These updates protect sensitive information being shared during meetings and provide peace of mind for remote workers who rely on these technologies to do their jobs effectively. The evolution of video conferencing technology in terms of security is just one-way remote work is changing for the better post-2020.

4. Cloud Storage Solutions Give Remote Workers Easy Access to Important Files

Another solution that has risen to the occasion is cloud storage. Cloud storage eliminates the need for physical storage devices and the headache of transferring files between devices by allowing employees to access important files from anywhere with an internet connection. It also allows for instantaneous sharing, reducing turn-around time and increasing efficiency.

Furthermore, cloud storage options often offer advanced security measures to protect sensitive information, giving businesses peace of mind as they navigate the virtual workplace. As remote work continues to be a viable option for companies in the future, it’s clear that cloud storage will only continue to play a pivotal role in facilitating successful remote work environments.

5. Virtual Reality Technologies Offer Previously Unimaginable Opportunities

Virtual reality (VR) technologies are becoming increasingly popular in remote work settings. VR can be used for real-time communication with colleagues and offers unique opportunities for virtual team building and training exercises. Imagine participating in a virtual escape room or even going on a virtual team retreat to an exotic location!

With VR technology, the possibilities for engaging in remote team-building activities are limitless. Another advantage of incorporating VR into remote work is the potential cost savings – companies can save money on travel expenses while still offering engaging team-building experiences to their employees.

As we navigate an increasingly distant work world, VR technologies offer exciting new opportunities for fostering teamwork and collaboration.

Conclusion

The rise of remote work has brought about many changes, some of which are positive and others that present new challenges. However, one thing is certain – how we work is changing, and companies must adapt to stay competitive. By incorporating collaborative technologies, investing in cloud storage solutions, and utilizing virtual reality technologies, businesses can set themselves up for success in the ever-changing work landscape.

Guest author: Samantha Higgins

If you’re like most business owners, you know that marketing research is important – but you may not know how to actually conduct market research. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the process of conducting market research for your business. We’ll cover everything from defining your target market to analyzing your competition. By the end of this post, you’ll have all the information you need to start marketing your business effectively!

Why Market Research Matters for Businesses

Ever wonder how businesses know what products to sell or what services to offer? It all comes down to market research. Market research is the process of gathering and analyzing data about a target market. This can be done through primary and secondary research using both qualitative research and quantitative research and can help your own market research process.

This data can be used to assess the size and needs of the market, understand consumer behavior, and develop marketing strategies. In short, market research is essential for businesses that want to succeed. Here’s a closer look at why market research is so important.

Market Research Helps Businesses Understand Their Target Markets

One of the most important things that market research can do for businesses is to help them understand their target markets. Who are your ideal customers? What do they need or want? What are their buying habits? What demographic data do you have? By understanding these things, businesses can develop marketing campaigns and strategies that are more likely to resonate with their target audiences. Additionally, businesses can use market research to segment their target markets and develop customized messages for each segment. This helps ensure that businesses are making the most efficient and effective use of their marketing resources.

Market research techniques

Primary research is conducted by the business itself, through surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

Secondary research, on the other hand, relies on existing data sources, such as industry reports, government statistics, and market analysis from other companies.

There are several different types of market research that businesses can use, depending on their needs.

Exploratory research is used to generate new ideas and identify potential opportunities.

Lean market research is a type of primary research that relies on smaller samples and shorter timeframes.

Exploratory primary research is used to gather preliminary data about a new product or service before launching a full-scale study.

SWOT analysis is a type of specific research that assesses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing a business.

Quantitative data is numerical data that can be collected and analyzed to obtain meaningful insights. Qualitative data is non-numeric data that provides more in-depth information about customer attitudes and behaviors.

Market Research Can Help Businesses Develop New Products and Services

By understanding the needs and wants of their target markets, businesses can put themselves in a position to develop products or services that those markets will be interested in purchasing. Additionally, market research can help businesses determine what features to include in new products or services and how best to price those offerings. All of this information is incredibly valuable for businesses as they strive to bring new products or services to market.

Market Research Can Help Businesses Make Better Marketing Decisions

Finally, market research can help businesses make better marketing decisions. As noted above, market research can help businesses understand their target markets and segment those markets accordingly. Additionally, market research can help businesses determine which marketing channels are most effective for reaching their target audiences. Armed with this information, businesses can make more informed decisions about where to allocate their marketing budgets and efforts. 

This can help with customer satisfaction for the businesses’ target customers.

Conducting market research for your business

Every business needs to understand its target market. After all, how can you sell your product or service if you don’t know who you’re selling it to? That’s where exploratory primary research comes in. 

How to use surveys effectively

One of the most common and cost-effective types of market research is the survey. Surveys can be administered online, over the phone, or in person, and they allow you to collect a large amount of data quickly. When crafting your survey questions, be sure to make them clear, concise, and relevant to your research goals. Three ways to do that are:

1. Define your objectives – before you start designing your survey, you need to know what you want to learn. What questions do you need answered in order to make better decisions about your product or service? Once you know your objectives, you can craft questions that will get you the answers you need.
2. Keep it short – no one likes filling out long surveys, so keep yours as concise as possible. Aim for 10 questions or fewer; any more than that and you’re likely to lose respondents’ attention. And, when it comes to market research surveys, quality is more important than quantity. It’s better to have 100 responses to a well-designed survey than 1,000 responses to a poorly designed one.
3. Use open-ended questions sparingly – while open-ended questions can be helpful for getting qualitative data, they can also make your survey longer and more difficult to analyze. So, use them sparingly and only when necessary. Save them for the most important questions that you need answered.

Focus Groups

A focus group is a small group of people—usually between 8 and 10—who are brought together to discuss a particular topic. Focus groups are conducted in person so that participants can interact with each other and build on each other’s ideas. This type of market research can be helpful for exploring complex issues in depth and getting feedback on new products or services before they’re launched. 

Interviews

Interviews are similar to focus groups. They are conducted one-on-one rather than with a group, which can make them more personal (and sometimes more comfortable for participants).

Here are three ways to do that.

Ask the Right Questions

First and foremost, you need to make sure you’re asking the right questions. That means avoiding broad, leading questions that can be easily answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” Instead, opt for more open-ended questions that encourage your interviewees to really think about their answers. For example, instead of asking “Do you like our product?” try “What do you think of our product?” This will give you a lot more information to work with.

Create a relaxed atmosphere

If your interviewees feel like they’re being interrogated, they’re not going to give you their honest opinions. So, it’s important to create a relaxed atmosphere where they feel comfortable speaking openly. A way to do this is by establishing rapport at the beginning of the interview. Chatting about things unrelated to the study will help put them at ease and make them more likely to share their true thoughts and feelings with you.

Listen more than you talk

It’s easy to get caught up in trying to sell your product or service during an interview. But if you do that, you’re not going to get the information you need. Remember, the whole point of the interview is to gather information about your potential customers—not try to convince them to buy from you. So, resist the urge to do all the talking and make sure you’re giving your interviewees ample opportunity to speak. You might be surprised at what they have to say.

Observations

Sometimes the best way to learn about your target market is to observe them directly. This type of market research involves observing consumers in their natural environment—whether that’s in a store, at home, or even out in public places like parks or coffee shops. It can be an effective way to gain insights into consumer behavior that might be difficult to obtain through other methods like surveys or interviews. 

How to Research the Competition

It’s important to know who your competition is, what they’re offering, and what sets you apart. Here’s how to do your research effectively. 

Figure out what you want to know

It’s important to be specific when doing research—you don’t want to spend hours looking for information that you could have easily found in five minutes had you known what you were looking for. Figure out exactly what questions you need answered, and make a list.

Do a general search

Once you know what you’re looking for, it’s time to start looking for it! A simple Google search will do the trick. Search for your competitor by name and take a look at the official website that comes up first in the results.

Look for customer reviews

One great way to get an idea of how customers feel about a competitor is to read reviews. Check out Yelp, Google Reviews, and Amazon Reviews to see what people are saying.

Check social media

Social media is a great way to get a pulse on what customers are saying about a competitor in real time. Take a look at Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to see if there are any negative or positive buzzworthy moments happening with the competition. 

Data collection through survey research and gathering market surveys along with market statistics, private companies can use all the data to perform a competitive analysis.

The Benefits of Market Research

Conducting market research is one of the most important things you can do for your business. This information is essential for businesses of all sizes, as it allows you to make informed decisions about your products, services, and marketing strategies. Here are the benefits of conducting market research.

Understanding your target market

One of the major benefits of conducting market research is that it helps you to better understand your target market. When you know who your target market is, what they need and want, and how they like to buy, you can make more informed decisions about your products and services. This leads to increased sales and happier customers.

Making better business decisions

Another benefit of conducting market research is that it allows you to make better business decisions. With accurate data about your target market and their buying habits, you can make informed decisions about everything from product development to pricing to marketing strategy. This ensures that you are using your resources in the most effective way possible and helps you avoid costly mistakes.

Staying ahead of the competition

Conducting market research also allows you to stay ahead of the competition by understanding trends before they happen. By keeping a pulse on the latest trends in your industry, you can adjust your products or services accordingly to meet the needs of your target market. This allows you to stay one step ahead of your competition and maintain a leadership position in your industry. 

Summary

Conducting market research is an important part of any business strategy. By taking the time to understand your target market, analyze your competition, and gather data about customer needs, you can make informed decisions that will help your business succeed.

So I almost didn’t write this blog post.  Mainly because while it’s great to share tips with our readers, there’s always a few things you hold back.  You know what I mean, your secret sauce.  The tactics that seem to always work.  The reason your customers choose you over your competition. 

Sure, we continue to see a ton of success with the typical methods of outreach (digital ads, SEO, PR), but there is a new marketing tactic that has emerged for B2B companies that continues to produce high quality leads in a predictable fashion.

It’s called email lead generation, and YES, it’s different from email marketing. 

So why should you care?

It’s tough to argue with email lead generation’s results so I’ll share some with you:

• Average open rate is 42% compared to email marketing’s average open rate of 21%.
• You can send hyper-targeted content to your ideal recipients that aren’t in your contacts list (compared to digital ads where you can’t control who clicks on an ad).
• You can scale your outreach to mimic a large sales staff doing outbound emails/calls, without the additional overhead/drama/baggage (lol, I speak from experience).
• Email lead generation conforms to GDPR & CCPA guidelines.

Email lead generation versus email marketing

So what is the difference between the two?  Simply put, email marketing targets the email addresses of contacts you have.  Email lead generation targets the emails of contacts you do not have. 

More specifically, email lead generation allows us to target business people by title, industry, company size, and geography (to name a few).  We then create a sequence of pre-written emails and schedule their delivery dates to their target audience over time.  You’ve probably received emails like these before and wondered if they actually work because if you’re like me, I don’t respond to spam emails!  At least this was my initial thought when we first discovered the platform we use to manage the email lead generation campaigns.

Why is it so effective?

Regardless of how someone becomes a customer (referral, sales, ad, SEO, etc.), B2B-focused businesses always communicate with their clients via email.  So when you target someone specific like SVPs of credit unions within the Western US with 200 or more employees, the subject line and content of this email outreach can be very targeted to the recipient, leading to high open and conversion rates.

Guide to email lead generation

This form of outreach has been a closely guarded secret for us because it not only produces results but it has also been very difficult to scale as a service.  It actually took almost a year to build and refine our technical and outreach processes, which I’ll share with you (without wincing), below.  Feel free to click on each section:

1. Set up platform: targeting & pricing tier
2. Write email sequence and variants
3. Setting up email configurations
4. Add a UTM tag to track referral traffic to website
5. Develop backend email process to remove unsub’s & add net new’s
6. Set up CRM to track leads (if no CRM then Pipedrive is great)
7. Launch campaign
8. Optimize performance with new audience segments and email copy
9. Create feedback loop with digital ads
10. Monitor campaign KPIs on each platform

1. Set up platform: targeting & pricing tier

There are a handful of platforms that can handle email lead generation, but none are as robust and feature-laden as Apollo.io.   With over 250 million B2B and B2C contacts, Apollo stands out not just because of their data but they also have a robust email marketing platform that seamlessly populates any email lead generation campaign.

Apollo’s targeting capabilities are what originally drew us to the platform and they’ve added to them over this last year.  You can filter your recipients based on their name, title,company, location, company size, industry, owner, and revenue.  For example, we recently created a campaign for a medical college that expanded to multiple states.  The goal was to contact HR Directors and managers within hospitals and medical facilities to create new students and future job placements.  After setting up the targeting below, the campaign had over 17,600 contacts.

Another favorite feature is Apollo’s integration with Indeed, the employment platform.  This allows you to align your product or service with companies trying to hire full-time talent.  For example, if you offer fractional CFO consulting services, you can target companies that are using Indeed to find a full-time CFO, to convey your offer.

Although their pricing tiers range from $0 to “talk to sales” which is their enterprise offering, you should make sure the tier you choose has the following three features:

1. No email sequence limit: an email sequence refers to the number of emails that are prewritten and scheduled to deliver to your target audience (see more on email sequences, below). Campaigns that have two or less scheduled emails do not perform as well as campaigns with three to five emails.
2. No daily sending limit: it’s important to be able to send at least 400 emails per day to quickly gain actionable data.  This may sound like a lot of emails if you’ve never managed this kind of outreach, but we’ve found it’s a great place to start to push the law of averages in your favor.
3. A/B test email copy: the ability to A/B test email copy is invaluable because it allows you to identify your top-performing subject lines and copy, then split-test them to improve the results.

So we recommend the Professional tier at $99/month which has all these features and is best positioned to accommodate your outreach as you have success.

2. Write email sequence and variants

Writing sequenced emails is nothing new.  Chances are if you have over 5,000 contacts, you or your company has written them in the past.  For example, a basic sequence begins with email 1, then if a recipient doesn’t open it, your prewritten email 2 will automatically be sent to them in four to seven days, then email 3 will be sent in another seven days, then email 4, 5, and so on.

Yet what makes writing email sequences (dare I say) fun on Apollo is that it’s almost like managing Google Ads:

Every Google ad campaign begins with a variety of ads often targeting the same (or similar keywords).  Over time the data reveals the best and worst performing ads, and optimizations to the ads are made.  This gradually becomes a feedback loop as your ads begin to outperform your competition. 

So it’s a similar approach on Apollo considering how robust the targeting can be.  We’re managing some campaigns that are sending 1,500 emails a day so imagine the amount of actionable data we get!  This allows us to create A/B variants for every email in a sequence to test the subject lines, the copy, and CTAs (call to actions).  The winning emails emerge pretty quickly allowing us to run further tests on what converts into potential customers and what causes people to unsubscribe.

This approach to email lead generation has produced a 42% open rate across all of our campaigns which is double the average open rate for email marketing.

Btw, because this is considered email marketing you must conform to the FTC’s email marketing guidelines and always include an option for your recipients to unsubscribe.

3. Setting up email configurations

A word of caution: you do not want your domain to be flagged as spam! 🙂 

So before you sign up for Apollo, set your targeting, and email 1,500 people on Day one, you MUST first set up the proper bulk email sending environment.  This involves setting up a new email with a subdomain and a high volume IP infrastructure that runs in parallel to your primary email.

For example, if your primary email is mark@facebook.com, you would create a new email with a subdomain like mark@meta.facebook.com for your Apollo outreach. This new email will need a dedicated IP address to ensure that your email lead generation replies can go to your designated inbox. For many of our clients, we also forward any response from their new email address to their primary email inbox.

On the technical side, here is how we set up an Apollo campaign:

• Utilize Sendgrid SMTP with dedicated IPs configured for high volume sending
• SPF, DKIM & strict DMARC policies
• Even for large accounts we develop a daily warm up schedule for the new email and over a few weeks we work up to the desired daily send volume

4. Add a UTM tag to track referral traffic to the website

Many of our clients utilize an email signature at the bottom of their Apollo email that includes a link to their website.   So we recommend adding a UTM tag to your website link to help you better-track where this traffic goes on your website.  For example, let’s assume 20% of the people that open your emails also go to your website.  A UTM tag will allow you to more effectively track your referred traffic.  With data like this, you can see trends emerge like the most popular web pages they click on and how long they stay on each page.  This insight can then be reflected in new email copy and even new landing pages can be developed to further convert this traffic.

5. Develop backend email process to remove unsub’s & add net new’s

This kind of scaled outreach has become a game-changer for many companies because it simulates having the outreach power of a sales department, with a fraction of the overhead.  But keep in mind whether you’re sending 40 emails per day or 2,000 emails per day, there is no way to avoid having some people ask to be removed from your list.  So to comply with Federal email marketing laws, they must be actively removed from your outreach list.

At the same time, Apollo is always adding thousands of new contacts to their database and any new audience matches should also be added to your existing email lead generation campaigns.

So the best way to ensure that your email outreach complies with Federal laws and that you’re concurrently growing the number of contacts within your campaigns is by building an internal process.  Specifically, you should designate an employee to monitor your daily responses and to remove any person that requests to be taken off the outreach list.  This employee should also monitor Apollo every week to add any new contacts (net new’s) that match your target audience.

If your business is in scale mode, instead of hiring an employee you can consider using a virtual assistant to monitor your email outreach and audience lists. 

6. Set up CRM to track leads (if no CRM then Pipedrive is great)

Many companies make a mistake with email lead generation by starting their campaign without establishing how they’ll follow up with the leads.  We made this mistake, also!  Then the next thing we knew we had a ton of leads and not the best idea of where they were in the buyer journey.

It’s usually a matter of resource allocation: many businesses are used to testing new customer acquisition channels by limiting the amount of resources they devote to each one.  Yet in the case of email lead generation, you should count on getting new leads so you must connect your efforts to your CRM (customer relationship management) software before the campaign begins.

In case you don’t have a CRM in place, we’re big fans of Pipedrive.  It allows you to create visual sales pipelines that are customizable and there’s no cap on the number of contacts you input (sorry Hubspot!).  It starts with a free trial and then goes to $18 or $33 a month.

If Pipedrive doesn’t suit your needs, we also recommend Trello and Nutshell as cost efficient CRM alternatives.

Whatever you do, do not skip this step.  We’ve had clients where we’ve created hundreds of leads but only a handful converted.  Then after asking them a lot of questions we discovered they weren’t using a CRM at all!  Instead, they’d just respond to an interested lead and move on to the next thing in their day. No follow up at all!  So if you’re going to invest in email lead generation, make sure you have a follow-up system in place to manage all the leads created.

Don’t be like us.  When we initially discovered this new client acquisition channel, we rushed to implement it, skipping most of the steps above.  And we lost out on a ton of revenue by failing to follow up with our leads in an effective way.

7. Launch campaign

So assuming you’ve gone through this guide and have set up the platform and targeting, written your email sequences, set your email configurations, created UTM tags, developed your unsub/net new process, and set up your CRM to track leads, congratulations, you’re ready to launch your campaign! 

When launching a new email sequence, we always take a conservative route to ‘warm up’ the domain.  Specifically, even though you’ve taken the steps to build a higher send environment with a service like Sendgrid, this doesn’t completely mitigate all risk.  So if the goal is to send 400 emails a day (for example), we’ll start the campaign by sending 15-30 emails per day.  Then over a few weeks we’ll slowly increase this number.

8. Optimize performance with new audience segments and email copy

The biggest difference between email lead generation and email marketing might be this step.  Assuming you’ve run an email marketing campaign in the past, you’re limited in the size of your campaign because you only send emails to your past/existing customers.  This can really limit your rate of optimization because data must accumulate to be statistically significant.

On the other hand, with email lead generation, you can target a much larger audience with sequenced emails and get data much faster.  For example, in many of our campaigns we initially develop two to three variants for emails 1 and 2 that adjust the subject line, the copy, and the CTA.  So based on sending 500 emails a day, we’ll usually have actionable data within one month.  This allows us to create new variants every month with the goal of increasing the open rates, conversion rates, and generated sales.

In addition to optimizing campaign performance, your data becomes invaluable when defining new audience segments.  Many of our campaigns have a narrow focus when they start (1-3 titles, 1 industry, limited geographic targets).  Yet with more data, it’s much easier to target new audiences with custom email copy.  As we expand our outreach this often involves creating new landing pages for these new audience segments.  And the best part is, by using UTMs you can track the effectiveness of these new targeted campaigns on the email side by monitoring things like the open rate, reply rate, interest rate, and conversion rate).  Concurrently, you can also track how well this referred traffic converts on your website by looking at things like time on page, engagement, phone calls generated, and web forms submitted.

9. Create feedback loop with digital ads

So this is where things get fun: we’ll often export our audience emails from Apollo and upload them as a targeting parameter within LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google.  This allows us to create brand awareness before we send an audience any sequenced email campaign.  We also update the messaging to convey value to our audiences while they’re in our sequences.  Lastly, all good things must come to an end so when an email sequence has run its course, we can retarget these audiences to remain top-of-mind.  This creates a feedback loop that ensures a higher level of success for future outreach.

It should come as no surprise that when you integrate a target/retarget digital ads campaign, your email lead generation KPIs improve…actually, they ALWAYS improve.

This success is due to two things: multi-channel (yet crazy-specific) outreach at scale and developing creative around the pain points of your audiences.  We’ve found this step to be where many companies miss an opportunity by focusing on what they do well, instead of the issues their target audiences are facing.

10. Monitor campaign KPIs on each platform

This cross platform outreach approach will only work if you’re committed to establishing KPIs (key performance indicators) to track and optimize their performance.  This applies to the metrics developed for email lead generation and any ad platforms you utilize.

A word of encouragement: you don’t need to initially track 50 KPIs.  There are metrics like sales or phone calls that will always be at the top of the list.  But after identifying obvious metrics, resist the urge to add a ton more KPIs.  Almost every marketing campaign starts like this and the next thing you know, you’re spending hours every week montorring and interpreting the data.

Instead, just start by identifying two to three relevant KPIs and manage your campaign’s performance to those.  Remember, this is a marathon not a race.  So you’ll have plenty of time to add more metrics based on performance and your goals.

Summary

Ok, so there it is.  Like Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I’ve reluctantly handed you the keys to the Ferrari.  Just make sure to NOT go all in at once.

To get started, set Apollo up, connect your CRM to track leads, then write/launch a simple 2-3 email sequence.  Then for the first couple weeks, sit back and let the data come in.  Once you’ve got enough sends (at least 3,000) refer back to the steps above to optimize your email content, targets, CRM tracking, UTMs, and lead scoring. After two months of optimization, your retargeting list should be large enough (at least 1,000) to trigger ads.  So create KPIs for email lead generation and your digital ad campaign and establish a weekly meeting with your marketing team to optimize both campaigns based on performance. 

By the way, don’t expect these new leads to convert as quickly as your organic or referred leads. Too often companies give up on email lead generation because the sales cycles are usually longer so they assume it’s not working.  So you must recognize this kind of outreach as being higher up in the sales funnel and be more patient with conversions.

Bottom line, if you’re a B2B company trying to create more leads, email lead generation is a proven way to fill up your sales funnel.

Banks are no strangers to running marketing campaigns. They often have marketing departments managing 10+ ad platforms at any one time. Their digital ad budget is usually focused on a healthy dose of Google Search Ads and Facebook/Instagram Ads.

But one tactic has gone under the radar from many banks. It may even be considered an out-dated or even old-fashioned digital tactic. Yet in many of our campaigns, this platform outperforms Google Search Ads with a lower CPA (cost per acquisition). Any guesses? 

It’s Google Display (or banner) ads! 

Wait, what?!!  Banner ads?  Yep, we were just as surprised as you.

What are Google Display ads?

Google Display Ads appear on most of your favorite websites. They come in all shapes and sizes and can be static or animated.  Because Google Display Ads are within the Google Ads platform, their targeting capabilities are unmatched as in addition to typical banner ad targeting, you can layer in data from your Google Search and YouTube Ad campaigns.

Is every banner ad a Google Display Ad?

That being said, not every banner ad you see is on the Google Ads network.  Many banner ads are managed through various third party ad platforms, also known as DSPs (demand-side platform). These platforms allow advertisers to easily purchase banner ads without the hassles of manual ad optimization.

The issue with DSP-purchased banner ads for banks and credit unions is that with fewer targeting options and automated ad management, their performance suffers. This just reinforces the misperception that banner ads are good for brand awareness but bad at creating new loans and account openings.

Where are Google Display Ads in the sales funnel?

It’s important to distinguish where Google Display Ads appear within a bank’s sales funnel.  So first of all, the sales funnel is a model that illustrates the stages that a customer goes through from when they first become aware of your loan products/accounts to when they become a customer. The funnel typically has five stages: awareness, interest, consideration, decision, and action.

Awareness is the very first stage of the sales funnel. In this stage, customers are just becoming aware of your loan products or account options. They may not even know they need what you’re offering quite yet. This is where many banks focus their Google Display Ads budget.

In the “interest & consideration” stages of the sales funnel, customers are starting to learn more about your offerings. They may be doing research on their own or listening to what others have to say. Many banks start retargeting campaigns utilizing Google Display Ads in this stage. Strategies targeting potential customers in this stage are often referred to as ‘middle of the funnel’ tactics.

When customers hit the “decision & action” stages of the sales funnel, they’ve decided they want a new loan or bank account. They’re just trying to determine the best deal. This is often referred to as “the bottom of the sales funnel” and it’s where banks often focus a large portion of their digital ads budget on Google Search Ads. 

How Are Google Search Ads Different From Google Display Ads?

Search Ads usually have the most conversions associated with them because they only appear when someone is in their moment of need, searching for a specific loan type or bank account.  So your ad appears at the top of the Google search results, they click on it, and that Search Ad gets the credit for the new customer.

Which Google Ad format is more effective for a bank?

Don’t get me wrong: Google Search Ads work very well to create conversions.  But they can be expensive.  So expensive that our marketing attribution data shows that despite targeting potential customers higher in the sales funnel, Google Display Ads often keep pace with Google Search Ads and in some cases, outperform Google Search Ads in loans/accounts produced and CPA!

So if I had my druthers, what would I do?

Alas, we ask ourselves this question a lot…and we should because we’re always trying to optimize ad performance and ad spend on behalf of our clients!  But back to the question, “what would I do?”  I’d focus a majority of the ad spend for three to six months on the tactic with the most conversions/lowest CPA: Google Display Ads.  Then we’d focus on the number of conversions gained and CPA to determine when we hit diminishing returns.  Once this ceiling number is established (and you’ve gained a lot more customers), I’d follow the same ad approach with Google Search Ads, then move on to other ad platforms, higher in the sales funnel.

By the way

There’s a good chance your bank might have a tough time attributing new loans and accounts to specific ad campaigns and ad spends since Google Ad & Analytics data is siloed from your online banking portal data.  In other words, the majority of community banks and credit unions have no way of directly aligning ad clicks to closed loans and new account openings.  But the good news is we’ve developed a solution to empower banks with this level of data insight so reach out to our team if you’d like to learn more.