Archive for the ‘Online Reputation’ Category
05/08/13 by Dragan Mestrovic | blogging, Content Creation Strategy, Content Marketing, Get Found Online, inbound marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing Automation, Online Reputation, Real-Time Brand Massaging, Real-Time Marketing and PR, social media marketing | 1 Comment »
The proven and successful inbound marketing strategy is a great way to generate high quality leads.
Therefore inbound marketing is known as the “riskless” marketing strategy because of the activities done which are long lasting and bring an increasing stream of future customers to your offers.
Why is this inbound marketing such a great way to generate leads?
Inbound marketing offers you a strategic and smart approach to be and to stay several steps ahead of your competition.
Inbound marketing is the marketing strategy that focuses on getting found by customers when they research online for products and services your business also has to offer.
With inbound marketing businesses “earn” their way to the customer and his loyalty, by publishing helpful information on a blog, in social media and forums.
Inbound marketing includes: Content creation like blogging, video, photo, whitepapers, eBooks, podcasts, press releases, comments in social media and other blogs and forums, Social media two way communication, lead generation, lead conversion, lead nurturing and closed-loop analysis.
How can Inbound Marketing help you?
A. It saves you up to 62% of your marketing budget
B. Makes you stand out of your competition
C. Helps to generate a massive amount of leads
D. Gets you up to 55% higher lead conversion rates
E. Increases your customers and sales
Infographic: Inbound Marketing Rising
TOP 42 Reasons to Jumstart your Inbound Marketing NOW!
1. 60% of companies will execute an inbound marketing strategy in 2013.
2. Marketers dedicate 34% of their department budgets to inbound tactics, but only 11% to outbound.
3. 48% of marketers will increase spend on inbound marketing in 2013.
4. 34% of all leads generated in 2013 come from inbound marketing sources.
5. Inbound practices produce 54% more leads than traditional outbound leads.
6. 17% of marketers say traditional advertising and direct mail are less important than they were 6 months ago.
7. Traditional advertising and PPC deliver the least leads of any form of marketing.
8. Only 6% of marketing leads originate from advertising or PPC campaigns.
9. 34% of businesses cannot or don’t calculate overall inbound ROI in 2013.
10. Adopting a marketing/sales agreement saves companies with more than 200 employees $195.84 per new customer.
11. Only 24% of companies have a formal process for marketing/sales handoffs.
12. Companies who test are 75% more likely to show ROI for inbound marketing.
13. Inbound marketers double the average site conversion rate, from 6% to 12% total.
14. The average website conversion rate is 10%.
15. 81% of companies integrate inbound marketing with larger marketing goals.
16. Marketers spend 55% more of their time than their money on blogging.
17. 82% of marketers who blog on a daily basis have acquired a customer through blog content.
18. 57% of marketers who only blog once a month have acquired a customer through blogging.
19. Inbound marketers plan to hire an average of 9.3 people this year.
20. Only 18% of marketers are purely focused on developing quality content in 2013.
21. 25% of marketers cite reaching the right audience as their top priority for 2013.
22. Only 5% of marketers have no integration between inbound marketing and overall marketing goals.
23. 50% of marketers consider their companies primarily customer-focused.
24. 17% of sales teams and 11% of executives fully support inbound marketing efforts.
25. 73% of marketing agencies are implementing inbound strategies.
26. Only 41% of nonprofits report adopting inbound tactics for 2013.
27. Just 21% of enterprises assimilate inbound marketing with their overall marketing strategy.
28. 47% of CEOs and CMOs ignore formal marketing/sales agreement development.
29. Marketing is 125% more likely than sales to provide inbound resources.
30. Increasing total lead volume is the top priority for 21% of marketers.
31. Customers average a total of 9,100 leads after 1.5 years of inbound marketing.
32. 67% of marketers produced a blog last year.
33. Only 20% of marketers without a blog reported a positive ROI for 2012.
34. 27% of marketers report that both social media and email marketing produce the lowest total average lead costs.
35. 15% of marketers say SEO leads have the highest sales conversions.
36. Social media delivers 14% of all leads and 13% of all customers.
37. 52% of all marketers have found a customer via Facebook.
38. 43% of marketers have found a customer on LinkedIn.
39. 36% of marketers have found a customer on Twitter.
40. 41% of marketers have adjusted their budget due to the success of inbound marketing.
41. 41% of CEOs report inbound delivered measurable ROI.
42. Marketers with more than 15 blog posts per month average 1,200 leads per month.
Source: HubSpot 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Annual Report. FREE Executive Report on Inbound Tactics and Strategy – Insight from 3,339 Marketers
04/25/13 by Christian Arno | Content Creation Strategy, Content Marketing, Get Found Online, Lead Generation, Local Marketing, Online Reputation | No Comments »
Wh
en creating content, it pays to think big. Publishing online gives us access to a readership that’s almost too large to imagine. Do it right and your words could be read by people in places you might never even have heard of.
While a global readership might seem like something most of us dream of, with a little know-how it’s something that you too can achieve.
Decide Who You Are Talking To
When you write for the web, you aren’t just pushing out content at random. You are engaging with others, convincing them to buy into your idea or product. With this in mind, it helps to know who you are trying to reach and which parts of the world you want to expand to.
For example, your ideal reader could be a female entrepreneur, or you might want to address a young music lover. Going global makes your pool of readers much larger, so your female entrepreneurs might include women in Brazil, and your music loving youth could be reading in East Asia.
Keeping a tight focus on your target demographic as you go global will let you reach more of the kind of people that interest you. It also helps your budget go further. Are you looking to connect with female entrepreneurs in South America but less so with similar women in China? Then make your content culturally and linguistically suited to the South American readers, instead of spending time and money trying to reach everyone.
Embrace the Multilingual Web
Forget the idea that everyone online speaks English. Although English is often used in the corporate world as a linguistic go-between, internet users are a far more diverse crowd. The web is also more informal and driven by social connections.
Even people in countries who have strong English skills as a second language will prefer to engage with others in their native tongue. In fact, a 2011 survey by the European Commission found that although 48% of non-English speaking Europeans occasionally read English-language content, 9 out of 10 users preferred to visit sites in their own language.
This makes translation of your content a priority. Make good use of your budget by first figuring out which languages need to be top of your list. In our South American example, Spanish and Portuguese would be essential for getting your message across. If Europe is your key market, you’re likely to find German or French better languages to start with.
Take Languages Seriously
If you don’t get serious about translation, your foreign-language readers won’t get serious about your content. They will be too busy laughing at your language slips, if they stick around at all.
We all know of corporate giants who managed to offend or became a laughing stock thanks to poorly-translated slogans. The rest of us needn’t think we will do any better. Unless you are genuinely bilingual and up to date with current usage, you will miss hidden meanings. It’s also easy to opt for what seems the right word choice, when in fact it means something entirely different (for example, in German the word Gift means poison).
Native speaker knowledge will make sure you don’t sound out of touch or leave readers confused. Accurate linguistic choices will also help your SEO by keeping your keywords relevant. Cutting corners here, on the other hand, could leave search engines as confused as your foreign-language readers.
Understand Cultural Differences
The 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that while people worldwide are becoming less trusting of what they read, ‘a person like yourself’ has become the most trusted source of information. Your job is to be that trusted person to your reader, no matter where in the world he or she is.
Localization is an essential part of becoming ‘one of us’ in another culture. Using words and expressions that local people use makes your content more accessible. Being in touch with important cultural events or hot topics can be useful too. Of course, offending people is never a good idea and cultural knowledge also can guide us around dangerous topics or inappropriate language.
Show You Care
Now that you’ve opened up your content to overseas readers, make them feel welcome. Avoid anything that places your English speaking crowd above foreign-language speakers. For example, aim to respond to all comments, not just those in English. If you offer a way for people to contact you, make sure it doesn’t exclude certain time zones or languages. Showing you care about all your readers helps you to build a good online reputation.
Write with other cultures and languages in mind and you’ll be saying Wilkommen, bienvenido and yōkoso to international readers in no time!
About the author:
Christian Arno is the founder of Lingo24, Inc., one of the world’s fastest growing translation services. Launched in 2001, Lingo24, Inc. now has over 180 employees spanning three continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have translated over 60 million words for businesses in every industry sector, including the likes of MTV, World Bank and American Express. Follow Lingo24, Inc. on Twitter: @Lingo24.
03/13/13 by Christian Arno | Content Creation Strategy, Content Marketing, Online Reputation, Trust Agents | 1 Comment »
Have you set your sights on expanding your brand to overseas markets? In today’s global economy, going international is a smart move.
It’s also one that needs some careful planning to get the best return on your investment. Foreign markets involve not only different languages but different cultures. That sure-fire strategy for your home market won’t always win customers overseas. In fact, in this world of social media, getting it wrong can be a business disaster.
Let’s take a look at some things you can do to make your international launch a success – and what went wrong when others failed to pay them enough attention.
Look Before You Leap
There’s no such thing as too much research for an overseas marketing campaign. Your target demographic in a foreign market might appear similar to your home one, but could have very different buying habits. For example, in Russia 65% of consumer electronics were bought at a physical store, according to a 2012 Accenture study. Japan and China showed a similar preference. On the other hand, in Germany only 36% were purchased in this way.
The more research you can do into the habits and mindset of consumers in a particular country, the better informed you will be. On the other hand, even the best ideas can fall flat if the marketing campaign doesn’t appeal to your potential clients or customers. British supermarket giant Tesco discovered this when launching as ‘Fresh & Easy’ in the US. The supermarket spared no expense on a social media campaign, but failed to take into account the importance of TV, radio and print advertising. From the design of its stores, to its self-pay checkouts, the stores failed to meet American shoppers’ expectations.
Language Matters
Tesco’s example shows the difficulties that exist even with markets that share a common language. Bring a foreign language into the equation and overseas marketing can turn into a minefield.
The more care you give to the translation of your campaign, the better your chance of avoiding the dangers. Pay attention not only to translating the actual words but to phrasing them in ways that make sense to native speakers. Professional translators can help you to use appropriate idioms as well as find the right tone. Just as importantly, they can help you to sidestep slang or crude terms that wouldn’t be immediately obvious to an outsider.
Fail to spot these and you can end up with the same problem that Mazda had with the Laputa. The minivan’s name sounds like a term for a prostitute to speakers of Latin languages and had to be renamed in Chile. Clairol also ended up creating the wrong impression when launching its hair curling iron, the Mist Stick, in Germany. Not only does Mist mean manure, but when used with stick sounds like the insult “Miststück” (similar to ‘bitch’ and definitely not the best choice for a women’s product).
Cross the Cultural Divide
Culture is more than religion or festivals, it’s a whole way of living. It can influence everything from product branding to the formality of language used in marketing. The greater the cultural differences between your target country and your home country, the more carefully you will need to adapt your campaign. Those who neglect to do this risk coming across as insensitive or ignorant. It only takes a single cultural faux pas to undo months of good work, destroying trust in your business.
Most of us know that certain animals hold religious taboos, or that some hand gestures change their meaning from one country to another. Other cultural symbolism can be less obvious, such as the associations with certain numbers or colors. Take time to find these out beforehand if you don’t want a marketing disaster on your hands. This is exactly what happened to Pepsi in Southeast Asia when they rebranded their dark blue vending machines. The pale blue they chose was associated in the region with death, with the unfortunate result that their regional sales died too.
A Tourism Australia campaign is a good example illustrating the fine line between what’s culturally acceptable and what isn’t. Its tagline, ‘Where the bloody hell are you?’ combined with beer references hit the wrong note in several countries. The down-to-earth Australian hospitality they thought they were offering to overseas tourists came over as boorish and hard drinking.
There’s simply no substitute for local knowledge when launching in a foreign market. Even though some of the biggest companies have found this out the hard way, you don’t have to follow in their footsteps. Instead, arm yourself with the benefit of research and insider knowledge and you’ll be well-prepared to win friends and customers worldwide.
About the author:
Christian Arno is the founder of Lingo24, Inc., one of the world’s fastest growing translation services. Launched in 2001, Lingo24 now has over 180 employees spanning four continents and clients in over sixty countries. In the past twelve months, they have translated over 60 million words for businesses in every industry sector, including the likes of MTV, World Bank and American Express. Follow Christian on Twitter: @l24ca. Cont@ct Christian here.
03/08/13 by Dragan Mestrovic | blogging, Content Creation Strategy, Content Marketing, Lead Generation, Online Reputation, Real-Time Brand Massaging, Real-Time Marketing and PR | No Comments »
Did you asked yourself what future customers will find when they research your industry for products and services you also have to offer, will they find you or your competitor?
Millions of businesses competing for paying customers and it have become a difficult task for most of them to stand out of the crowd and to make future customers aware about their offers.
Content and social media have become successful ways to get attention from future buyers.
On the web you are what you publish… What are you?
–David Meerman Scott
Original content builds you trust, customer loyalty and can position your business as trusted experts in your field.
Content marketing has established as a powerful way to engage customers. An increasing number of B2C and B2B marketer are faced with the challenge to produce and publish buyer persona oriented interesting and remarkable content to attract customers to their products and services.
There is no question content is king! And Remarkable and helpful content brings customers and business direct to your front door the smart and cost effective way, this is for sure!
New studies show that companies utilizing the content marketing strategy in a serious manor report an up to 2,000% lift in blog traffic and 40% boost in revenue!
Infographic: A Brief History of Content Marketing
Moreover remarkable and helpful content is also a great way to build trust and customer loyalty. It offers the so called value ad for customers.
An open minded communication culture and authenticity mixed with credibility beats any old school – yesteryear nonsense marketing and saves your business a truckload of marketing cash!
The great success of content marketing is the result of giving away valuable information – remarkable content for free to attract the RIGHT people to your business like a magnet in an ongoing and steady growing stream.
Content marketing works 100% for any industry and business!
Content marketing can also work for you to attract new customers to your business like a magnet is you are willing to do it right!
The best way to start content marketing for business is to start a corporate blog.
But how and where to get the ideas to write remarkable blog articles who drive visitors to your business?
Here are five ways you should use to get blog content ideas:
1. Set up Google Alerts with your industry keywords
2. Search Blog Directories for your industries topics
3. Subscribe to other industry related blogs and on articles there
4. Go through your customers email communication, especially service, product and support questions
5. Participate in industry related social media groups and forums
These five points will bring you a ton of content ides to write helpful articles for your recent and future customers.
And yes, this is additional work but it is worth every minute you invest in your content marketing.
By taking this challenge you can expect these advantages for your business:
- Blogging companies get up to 55% more Traffic
- Blogging companies get up to 97% more Inbound Links
- Blogging companies get up to 434% more indexed pages in search engines
- Blogging companies get up to 25x times more business leads
…and more LEADS mean more revenue! It’s up on you.
01/30/13 by Dragan Mestrovic | Advanced Content, Content Creation Strategy, Content Marketing, Get Found Online, inbound marketing, Lead Generation, Online Reputation, social media marketing | 1 Comment »
What exactly are infographics?
Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly.
Infographics can improve cognition by utilizing graphics to enhance the human visual system’s ability to see patterns and trends and this is what made them a powerful marketing tool for businesses.
Infographics are shared on the web, Twitter and Facebook more often than other content online.
Infographics are easy to understand, to consume and to share. On Twitter, LinkedIn und StumbleUpon Infographics get more retweets than other content.
Marketers love Infographics because they offer an easy and powerful viral marketing tool to spread the word about the company’s products and services.
B2C and B2B also love infographics as they explain sophisticated facts in a very easy understandable way.
“A picture is worth a thousand words”
The most popular Infographics are about business with about 12.7%, technology with about 10% and social media with about 9%.
As infographics are able to explain sophisticated topics in an easy way they are very popular for technology.
Infographic: The State of Infographics
What are your experiences with infographics? Tell me in the comment box below.
12/05/12 by Dragan Mestrovic | Advanced Content, Content Creation Strategy, Content Marketing, Get Found Online, inbound marketing, Lead Generation, Online Reputation, Real-Time Marketing and PR | No Comments »
Content and social media have become successful ways to get attention from future buyers.
Content creation, marketing and content distribution in social media are proven ways to make interested people aware of your business.
Millions of businesses competing for paying customers and it have become a difficult task for most of them to stand out of the crowd and to make future customers aware about their offers.
When people want to buy products and services they turn to the web, to search engines like Google, Yahoo, social media and their friends and relatives to get information and recommendations about products and services.
Original content builds you trust, customer loyalty and can position your business as trusted experts in your field. It offers the so called value ad for customers
Content marketing has established as a powerful way to engage customers. An increasing number of B2C and B2B marketer are faced with the challenge to produce and publish buyer persona oriented interesting and remarkable content to attract customers to their products and services.
By publishing interesting and remarkable content other blogs, news sites and content curators will link to you which increases your Page Rank and improves your search engine visibility also!
So when you publish expert content on the web you will be recognized as an expert in your field.
On the web you are what you publish… Think a minute what do you publish on the web and in social media? … Exactly! That’s what you are on the web!
If you miss the opportunity which content marketing offers to you, your business will vanish in the dust.
The best way to start content marketing for business is to start a corporate blog.
Recent and future customers can interact this way with your business. You show expertise and offer valuable information to solve your audience’s problems. This gains trust.
Blogging has great advantages and here are the most important:
- 1. Blogging companies get up to 55% more Traffic
- 2. Blogging companies get up to 97% more Inbound Links
- 3. Blogging companies get up to 434% more indexed pages in search engines
- 4. Blogging companies get up to 25x times more business leads
A seriously executed content marketing strategy can be responsible for 25x times more business leads and boosts your revenue by up to 40%!
11/06/12 by Heather de Wit | Online Reputation, Real-Time Brand Massaging, Real-Time Marketing and PR, Traditional Marketing, Trust Agents | 2 Comments »
Life + Business Coaches are a dime a dozen on the Internet. Times are tough globally. The economic meltdown is a reality for many.
Many companies are tightening their belts + Coaches are a luxury to maintain + engage. Many organizations are in ‘rethink’ mode
I wonder –
· How many Life + Business Coaches are really bringing in the business + putting food on the table in the present economic climate ?
· Are people as likely to solicit the services of a Life or Business Coach at this time ?
· Are Life + Business Coaches an essential service in these economic times ?
Choosing NOT to be a preacher of doom + gloom is a tough act to follow right now –
· We are living in a fragile world
· No one knows what’s around the next corner – war, strikes, killings, violence, business closures, job losses, home foreclosures, a time of uncertainty + fear ?
· What are the answers really – where does one run to in a time of strife, chaos + not knowing ?
I would say this is the perfect time for People + Business to solicit the service of Life + Business Coaches, but at the right price of course !
Having said that, Coaches need to take a long hard look at their marketing etc costs + how best to serve their Clients in the most cost effective way ?
So what are the answers ?
1. ‘GOING GREEN’ – Moving away from hosting live ‘face to face’ Workshops/Training/Coaching at specific venues + hosting meetings online
· With the advent of web conferencing, coaching can now be done 100% online from the ‘home office’ to easily reach a worldwide audience of potential + existing clients
· Going this route, they save on time, energy, airfares, venues, hotel accommodation – ultimately saving money themselves, which they can pass on to their clients
Life + Business Coaches need to –
2. Really up their game in terms of the marketing tools they use to attract, capture + maintain new Clients ?
3. Have Hope for a successful Career + Business, to enable Thriving + Surviving in this global economy
4. Explore all other positive cost cutting possibilities for themselves + their Business + to pass this on to their Clients
5. Get really Specific in their marketing approach
6. Think hard about speaking Generically to everyone, as trying to appeal to everyone doesn’t cut it anymore
7. Be highly Targeted in their marketing to people with problems
So where are things headed ?
· MOBILE + VIDEO + Marketing on the Social networking sites – It’s that simple !
Doing the ‘green thing’ + integrating a Video communications suite, such as Video Email and Video Conferencing/Webinars is highly recommended + can be accessed on most Pads, Android + select Smartphones
Facts :
· Google loves Video !
· Cisco predict there will be a 10 fold increase in the use of Video over the next 5 years
· Internet Video traffic is now 40% of consumer internet
· People retain 10% of what they hear, but 50% of what they see
· Video is the single, most effective form of communication
· Additional creative marketing platforms are constantly being sought
· ‘Old school’ marketing is no longer effective
Heather de Wit considers herself to be an ‘out of the box’ thinker and is happy to share her knowledge on the merits of utilising Video Email and Conferencing/Webinars. Her experience as a sole Entrepreneur for over 20 years spans marketing, advertising and PR. She enjoys creative writing, singing at functions and is a self-taught artist.
Get in touch with heather :
10/16/12 by Ashley Verrill | Online Reputation, Real-Time Brand Massaging, social media marketing | 2 Comments »
Last month, I told you about an upcoming online debate called: “Will Technology Kill the Call Center?”
Research firm Software Advice moderated the event earlier this month with a panel of call center and customer service technology experts from IntelliResponse, Drumbi, Avaya Inc. and Etech Global Services.
The 45-minute discussion was hosted in a Google+ Hangout where the panel answered a list of scripted questions before fielding queries from the digital audience of 40. The group talked about trends in customer contact channel utilization, technology and the future call center.
The speakers offered advice for consumer contact strategy and ways companies can prepare for the future.
The speakers agreed first of all that customer contact channel utilization for non-traditional channels – such as virtual agents – is growing. This is primarily the result of better technology that can finally deliver on the promises from six years ago. So customers are now empowered with a choice of how they want to contact you. But this doesn’t mean they are using these contact avenues instead of phone – it just means by the time they get there they are likely at a critical point.
“The company needs to be smarter when they get there,” Avaya Director of Customer Experience Management Laura Basset said. This means knowing whether the customer interacted with self service, and what they looked at. Did they ask a question to a virtual agent? Did they log into their online account?
Ultimately, the debate ended with the agreement that the call center won’t disappear because of technology – it’s already gone. The reborn contact center is a different environment where agents are increasingly expected to handle interactions from myriad channels. This will continue to change the skill set and expectations from these facilities. Watch for more changes to come, they warned.
Click here to watch the entire recording.
Read also: Will Technology Kill the Call Center?
About the author:
Ashley Furness is a Market Analyst for research firm Software Advice. Her professional experience spans journalism, sales, advertising and SEO marketing. She’s a seasoned writer having produced copy for business journals, a sports magazine, daily deals advertising and industry blogs. She can be contacted at Ashleyfurness[@]softwareadvice.com, or by calling 512-582-2314. LinkedIn –
Twitter –
Google +
10/09/12 by Dragan Mestrovic | Content Marketing, Lead Generation, Online Reputation, Real-Time Marketing and PR | No Comments »
Millions of businesses competing for paying customers and it have become a difficult task for most of them to stand out of the crowd and to make future customers aware about their offers.
The customer chooses by himself through research on search engines like Google, with the help of friends, relatives and his social networks which product to buy and which not.
Did you asked yourself what future customers will find when they research your industry for products and services you also have to offer, will they find you or your competitor?
How many people hit your site and how many business leads do generate daily?
Businesses who publish and share content on the web do not only increase the number of “digital outpost” but moreover increase their visibility and build trust with the future customers. Trust is the main motivation to buy. When your audience trusts you, then you they are willing to do business with you.
Actually the best way to increase visibility is content marketing. With content marketing businesses demonstrate thought leadership; prove themselves Trustworthy and Boosts SEO by increase Backlinks to their website.
Remarkable and helpful content is also a great to build customer loyalty. It offers the so called value ad for customers
Content marketing has established as a powerful way to engage customers. An increasing number of B2C and B2B marketer are faced with the challenge to produce and publish buyer persona oriented interesting and remarkable content to attract customers to their products and services.
A seriously executed content marketing strategy can be responsible for 25x times more business leads and boosts your revenue by up to 40%!
With great content you position your business and the people of your business who create the content as trusted experts in your field. Content Marketing is great to build your online reputation.
Here are some marketing tips you can use right away.
Give away free content
Give away free content in form of a corporate blog where you write about topics your audience is most interested in. You can get great ideas for blog articles when you go through email and support requests. This will give you a ton of possible blog article topics.
You can also take a camera and explain a task, for example how to use one of your machines and what to take care of. Or you can use photos and testimonials of satisfied customers and publish them too.
You need to invest time/ money to produce content
To find the time to produce remarkable content is the most common problem business face. But as you need to spend time for your business you also need to understand that marketing and content creation is an important part of your lead generation. Therefore you need to set time free to produce remarkable content which will attract new customers to your business.
No matter if you do it by your own or you hire an Inbound Marketing Agency, content marketing is not free. You have the choice, do you want to invest your time or do you want to set a marketing budget and hire a professional Inbound Marketing Agency.
Give away GREAT content
Great content is valuable. It is worth reading and sharing it. Therefore you need to be specific with information which should benefit your future customers. Don’t be afraid to give away “secrets” because this kind of content attracts the most people. And be the end you are the professionals and the future customer will turn to you when he is ready to buy.
09/25/12 by Ashley Verrill | Online Reputation, Real-Time Brand Massaging, Real-Time Marketing and PR, social media marketing | 5 Comments »
Customers love instant gratification of call-in service. Until recently, that’s what phone service got them.
But these days the majority of people have tired of extended holding, automated prompts, unhelpful agents and getting lost in a sea of transfers. Couple this with new technologies for better, faster self-service and you’ve got a change a brewing in the consumer support industry.
Later this month, I will host a Software Advice live debate on this topic called, “Will Technology Kill the Call Center?” The event will begin at 1 p.m. Central on September 27 in a Google+ Hangout. To watch the event and chime in with your own questions, visit my Google+ page that day and comment in the feed. Add me to your circle on Google+ and I’ll send you an event reminder.
I will run the event similar to a political debate. A panel of four experts will answer a set of questions one by one, with opportunities for a rebuttal after each response. I will also close with a few questions from the audience, collected via comments in the feed on my Google+ page. To watch, just go to my profile page and click the round play button in the “Hangouts” box.
Here’s a list of the speakers:
Jim Iyoob is the senior vice president of global development for Etech Global Services. He has more than 15 years contact center outsourcing experience in domestic and offshore inbound, outbound, and live chat operations.
Shervin Talieh is the founder and CEO of Drumbi–a technology startup focused on mobile and social customer service. Drumbi leverages voice and data synchronization to streamline call routing and phone customer service. Previously, he also served in leadership positions for Goldeneye Solutions and Accenture.
Laura Bassett is the director of customer experience management and emerging technologies for Avaya Inc. Avaya designs, builds and manages business communications applications for more than one million businesses worldwide, including more than 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500 companies.
Mike Hennessy is vice president of marketing for IntelliResponse. His company provides “Virtual Agents” and other customer self-service offerings. Previously, he worked for Truition and as a communications consultant for Amazon.com, Dell, The Royal Bank of Canada, Hewlett-Packard, and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.
See you there!
About the author:
Ashley Furness is a Market Analyst for research firm Software Advice. Her professional experience spans journalism, sales, advertising and SEO marketing. She’s a seasoned writer having produced copy for business journals, a sports magazine, daily deals advertising and industry blogs. She can be contacted at Ashleyfurness[@]softwareadvice.com, or by calling 512-582-2314. LinkedIn –
Twitter –
Google +
09/18/12 by Dragan Mestrovic | Content Creation Strategy, Content Marketing, Online Reputation, Real-Time Marketing and PR, social media marketing | No Comments »
The traffic to your offers online decides about the value and the volume of your business leads.
Are you in control of your traffic and the volume of your business leads? Do you think you can be in control of your business leads and revenue?
I have a message for you: You can be in control of your business leads and revenue!
There is a way how you can increase qualified traffic, business leads and revenue. Content marketing!
Content marketing has become a powerful way to engage customer’s right where they stand.
To share published content in social media is not enough. Content creation and content marketing as a holistic strategy must be performed on regular basis to gain measurable and profitable results on the long term.
Businesses brand them self by creating and publishing original content. Businesses that create and publish remarkable content on the web and in social media:
• Establish thought leadership
• Elevate brand visibility and buzz
• Boosts SEO
Content marketing improves the search engine rank and the content has more chances to get shared on social networks, which also improves brand reach and direct more future customers to landing pages where they can convert to qualified leads.
By generating interesting and remarkable content other blogs, news sites will link to the businesses website and blog which increases the Page Rank and improves the search engine visibility.
Companies utilizing content marketing strategy report an up to 2,000% lift in blog traffic and 40% boost in revenue.
Infographic: The Anatomy of Content Marketing
The best way for businesses to start with content marketing is blogging!
Companies who operate a corporate blog on frequent base get up to:
• 55% more Traffic than companies who do not blog
• 97% more Inbound Links than companies who do not blog
• 434% more indexed pages in search engines than companies who do not blog
• 25x times more business leads than companies who do not blog
09/04/12 by Dragan Mestrovic | Advanced Content, Content Creation Strategy, Online Reputation, Real-Time Marketing and PR, social media marketing | 1 Comment »
When I communicate in Facebook and Twitter, then I like to share interesting and valuable content.
Sometimes there are users in my network who make the impression they are bothered through this information. Social media is for connection and for communication. People who don’t want to be “bothered” by information which they don’t like for this moment should take into account that maybe this information they don’t like at this moment can benefit other people.
Social media is a democratic way of communication and this means that everybody is free to publish any information which can benefit others.
Not each piece of content which a business or a private person publishes in the social media channel is of interest or value for all. But the more content and information is published the higher are the chances that under this mass of content parts exist which benefit other people.
To publish and to share content is a sign of generosity. And if there is content or any information you don’t like than you are free to express your personal opinion on this, but keep in mind your opinion must not be universally applicable.
Content sharing is an essential part of knowledge and communication and improves the online reputation.
Infographic: Social Sharing Trends
What do you think, how does content sharing in social media benefits you?
08/07/12 by Dragan Mestrovic | blogging, Content Creation Strategy, Content Marketing, Get Found Online, Lead Generation, Online Reputation | No Comments »
To get found online when future customers are looking for products and services is one of the major challenges businesses are facing today.
Millions of businesses competing for paying customers and it have become a difficult task for most of them to stand out of the crowd and to make future customers aware about their offers.
Businesses need to understand that future customers B2B and B2C primarily do not go online to buy something. First they go online for research. They research for products and services and if they found something of interest they research about information about the company. They ask friends, family and their social networks for recommendations and if they know the company the have recently found.
Did you asked yourself what future customers will find when they research your industry for products and services you also have to offer, will they find you or your competitor?
How many people hit your site and how many business leads do generate daily?
Targeted traffic is a result of many tasks which need to be done before you even get the chance to get found by future customers through Google, Yahoo of Bing search.
Actually the best way to increase visibility is content marketing. With content marketing businesses demonstrate thought leadership; prove themselves Trustworthy and Boosts SEO by increase Backlinks to their website.
Remarkable and helpful content is also a great to build customer loyalty. It offers the so called value ad for customers.
The great success of content marketing is the result of giving away valuable information – remarkable content for free to attract people to your business like a magnet.
Companies utilizing content marketing strategy report an up to 2,000% lift in blog traffic and 40% boost in revenue.
This marketing system works 100% for any business!
Content marketing can also work for you to attract new customers to your business like a magnet.
To empower your content marketing start with a corporate blog!
Blogging companies get…
- …up to 55% more Traffic
- …up to 97% more Inbound Links
- …up to 434% more indexed pages in search engines
- …up to 25x times more business leads
The next steps of content creation are to craft further buyer persona oriented content like:
- - Press releases
- - Pictures
- - Whitepapers
- - How-to’s
- - EBooks
- - Video
Include a call to action in each of your content pieces. This ensures that the user exactly discovers what to do next.
Each of your content pieces is an outpost of your businesses which increases your visibility and improves trust and directs more future customers to your business.
The more content you publish on the web the more online outposts you get in exchange and your chances to get found increase. Other sites will find your content valuable and link back to it. People will share and comment on your content, which also will increase reach and visibility. You increase Backlinks and customer loyalty through content marketing. As simple as that.
07/06/12 by Dragan Mestrovic | Get Found Online, Online Reputation, Real-Time Brand Massaging | 1 Comment »
A recent study of Marketo brought out that a wrong chosen color for your business and logo can cost you the success in the long run.
The color of a business is the first impression a future customer will discover when he hits your offer. The study found out that the right product color can influence your target audience purchasing decisions by up to 80%. The right color can make or break a business!
To choose the right color is a process where you have to ask yourself how you want your business to be perceived out there?
You can go the quick and dirty way to choose a brand color but this can cost your business the success in the long run. Or you sit down and use the recent information (for example this below in the infographic) to choose your brand colors wisely.
Infographic: True Colors
Further important resources:
05/08/12 by Dragan Mestrovic | Online Reputation, Real-Time Marketing and PR, social media marketing, Trust Agents | 2 Comments »
In March 2012, marketing agency Cargo and Inc. Magazine found the majority (52%) of US small-business owners felt companies did not market to them effectively.
Moreover 43% – 45% of the small business owners said companies made little effort to understand their individual needs and their business.
Most of the small business owners do the business important tasks them self, as they do their financials, marketing, sales and services. Their time is full stuffed with work and they do not sit behind a computer a whole day long. As they are mostly working their job and are with their employees and customers they are perfect to be reached by mobile devices as laptops and smart phones.
When B2B marketers want to connect with them they need to be where those small business owners are around and there where they can be reach and where they can reach out to the marketer.
As an increasing number of small business owners places importance on wireless communications and smart phones for their business this is the way to get in touch with them.
Infographic: Local Mobile Search
So what marketers need to do to reach small business owners with their brand massage?
- 1. Make your website mobile friendly. As small business owners love to use mobile devices like smart phones and tables, it makes sense to make it easier for them to consume your content
- 2. Adjust your email marketing, so it becomes and your email massage can be read on the fly. The most email communication is read from mobile devices
- 3. Become active in social media. As all known social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have mobile Apps; you can reach small business owners there through your communication and attract them to your offers
- 4. Start to create and publish buyer persona “small business owners persona” oriented content on the web and in social media. This will increase your visibility and grow your trust
- 5. Respond friendly and professionally to every request, no matter if it comes publicly through social media or by email or support ticket.
