26 Aug

How Can Content Marketing Impact Your Business?

Posted in Uncategorized on 26.08.16 by John Meloche

We’ve discussed lead generation and its most prominent forms: content and email marketing. We’ve already gone into detail on the merits of email marketing. But we’ve yet to discuss content marketing. Content marketing is just as important as email marketing. Businesses are definitely starting to acknowledge this and as a result content marketing is skyrocketing in popularity.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing is used for lead generation by 83% of B2B marketers. While lead generation typically entails a lack of interpersonal relationships, content marketing operates differently. By providing valuable information to your audience, you further enable yourself to connect with your fans. This content thus acts as a means of building deeper relationships with fans. It helps generates legitimate leads by permitting the development of relationships with people. It’s that interpersonal twist that really differentiates content marketing from other digital marketing mediums. Nothing is better than loyalty, content helps you achieve that.

Not only does content permit you to develop relationships with fans online, but it also helps draw more attention to your website. We mentioned the role of SEO in content marketing campaigns. Essentially, by providing trendy content on your website, you create more indexed pages on your website and capitalize on external interest. This all leads to increasing your chances of being noticed via organic search. This is especially important today as search engines serve as a critical starting point for online transactions. According to Pinpoint Market Research and Anderson Jones PR, 93% of B2B buying processes begin with an online search. This just stresses the extreme influence search engines have on e-commerce transactions.

Content marketing revolves around providing useful information to your fans. It requires constant updates and attention to detail. But when done properly, content marketing campaigns can have a profound impact on your client base and online success. So start writing!

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25 Aug

Should Your Business Be Using Lead Generation?

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Synergy Suggestions on 25.08.16 by John Meloche

Now we intrude on a very heated debate in the business world. Should your business use lead generation? Throughout this blog we’ll be exploring both sides of the argument. We’ll be exploring the advantages and disadvantages of lead generation. The question now is, is lead generation a valuable service or disservice to your business?

Let’s explore its benefits first. Yesterday we mentioned how it’s a great compliment to your digital marketing efforts. Well that’s true, lead generation has been proven to increase the effectiveness of your digital marketing campaigns. It’s an ideal tool for expanding your e-commerce platforms. It further justifies the implementation of e-commerce platforms as it essentially enhances your online marketing presence. We mentioned the ways in which email and content marketing feed into your company’s digital marketing efforts. They both ease the online shopping process and thus further enhance your company’s digital marketplace.

With all this being said, there are always pros and cons to anything. The cons may be somewhat overwhelming for lead generation. These cons typically relate back to one extremely prevalent issue: finding serious leads. According to the B2B Technology Marketing Community, many B2B marketers have expressed their biggest challenge as “generating high quality leads.” Finding quality leads is extremely difficult. Many of your leads gathered from lead generation are not sales ready. The majority of leads you find, will likely be dead ends. That’s the main problem with lead generation. That inconsistency amongst leads is such a huge deterrent for businesses. Certainty is something you cannot get with lead generation, and that ambiguity creates doubt about whether it’s worth the cost.

Lead generation is an anomaly to say the least. It has the potential to be extremely effective, or it can be a bust. It’s a high risk, high reward marketing medium. So depending on how comfortable your business is with taking risks, it may or may not be ideal for you. If you have the resources, you’re confident in your leads, and you have patience, then lead generation could be good for you. It’s is a big mystery, but some businesses have cracked the code to lead generation success, can yours?

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24 Aug

How Does Lead Generation Affect Your Business?

Posted in Uncategorized on 24.08.16 by John Meloche

Lead generation is the effective transformation of people into legitimate leads for your business. We’ve discussed its stance in the business world, but how does this digitalization actually affect your business? While the use of lead generation is a highly contentious debate, it can work seamlessly with your other means of marketing.

The acutal developing and gathering of serious leads is an extremely difficult task. But the various forms of lead generation can work in harmony with your e-commerce platform in specific. Lead generation can appear through email marketing and content marketing. Both can have a profound impact on your e-commerce platform, however they do so in different ways. Email marketing can provide a direct path to your website and promotes e-commerce sales. Promotional emails can contain links that can send customers right to a product’s purchasing page. What does this do? It provides customers with additional ease in performing e-commerce transactions. Not only that but it quickens the sales process in general. Email marketing looks at the purchasing process and aims to increase conversions on your website.

If email marketing focuses on conversions, what does content marketing do? Content marketing promotes e-commerce but doesn’t necessarily focus on the sales process. Instead it focuses on generating website traffic. Content marketing feeds off of SEO, and thus creates interest for your website via organic searches. By adding indexed pages to your website and writing about trendy topics, you increase your chances of being noticed through search engines. The goal with content marketing is to really bring people to the site and rely on the sales process to take over from there. It really acts as a spark that incites the sales process.

Lead generation is a great compliment to your digital marketing efforts. While the task of generating serious leads may be difficult to achieve, it can still serve as a benefit to your digital marketing campaign. Tomorrow we’ll revisit the conundrum that is gathering serious leads and go into depth about whether or not lead generation is worth it for your business.

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23 Aug

What is Lead Generation?

Posted in Small Business Advertising, Social Media on 23.08.16 by John Meloche

A couple of blogs ago we mentioned lead generation. What is lead generation? Well it’s something all businesses are becoming familiar with. Leads are potential customers you believe will be interested in your business’ services/products. It’s the contact information of likely customers. Usually they’re people you believe would be a part of your target audience. So lead generation is merely the acquisition of the contact information of potential customers. It’s the process of converting strangers on the web into legitimate leads for your business.

There are many ways to get these contacts. Essentially it comes down to whether or not you want lead generation to be a part of your internal operations. Lead generation can be done internally, where you have employees searching the web for potential customers. Or you can do it externally as you can buy lists from other businesses. The lead generation industry is growing rapidly as businesses are trying desperately to connect to new customers digitally. This digital interdependence so to speak, is becoming a crucial theme in the 21st century.

Lead generation is becoming a crucial process in many business’ internal operations. Our world is becoming increasingly connected through digital marketing, whether that be through email marketing, content marketing, or social commerce. To conclude the digital divide is slowly disappearing and we’re observing a greater digital connection being formed in the business world.

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22 Aug

Reflecting On Rio

Posted in News, Promotional Products on 22.08.16 by John Meloche

Another Olympics has passed and wow was this one memorable. We got to see Usain Bolt be Usain Bolt once again in what might be his final games. Add some breakout performances from Andre De Grasse, Penny Oleksiak, and Katie Ledecky, and you have what might be the best summer Olympics to date. The question is how will you remember this Olympics? With the closing of these games, we’re reflecting on marketing lessons we can take from these games.

It was obvious that right from the very beginning these Olympics were going to be something special. With all the controversy beforehand, we knew that Rio was going to be home to some very interesting storylines. This interest has translated into sales. Merchandise sales have exceeded expectations, especially in the North American countries. The grand successes from Andre De Grasse and Penny Oleksiak have encouraged many  Canadians to further admire these games. This admiration has lead to an increased desire to remember these games and nothing enables people to remember events more than promotional items. The memorable performances from Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, and Simone Biles have created mass interest in the States as well.

The main point is, people try to savor these moments. The teenage star surprising everyone and taking gold, one of the greatest Olympians competing in his final games, and complete domination from your favorite team. People want to remember these moments and keep them in their hearts. You want to be able to say, “I saw one of the greatest Olympians ever,” or “I witnessed quite possibly the craziest Olympic moment ever.” Promotional products help you recall those moments. They essentially do that talking for you. They’re a key component of the Olympics, financially and mentally. So wear that merchandise proud and remember those moments that brought countries together.

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19 Aug

3 Essential Email Marketing Strategies

Posted in Small Business Advertising on 19.08.16 by John Meloche

We’ve looked at the increased usage of email marketing throughout the business world. We’ve analyzed its fit amongst the various types of businesses. We’ve looked at how you should structure your emails. And now to end it off, we’re going to look at simple things you can do to increase the response rate to your emails and boost your ROI. Here are a couple of additional strategies you can implement to help strengthen your email marketing efforts.

  1. Nothing’s better than Free. A great way to start an email marketing campaign is to give something for free. It doesn’t have to be something great but a small little gift is a good way to start a relationship with someone. People love free things, so if you provide them with that, then you can help build relationships with thousands of your email recipients.
  2. Timing is Everything. You have to be meticulous with your campaign. Every little detail has to be perfect. Being precise with your promotional efforts is what enables you to fully display your creativity. This doesn’t change with the timing of your emails. There are certain time frames that produce greater results than others. For emails, prime time is 8 p.m. to midnight. You would think that 9-5 would be better, but people are always working and are unable to check their emails. Better results have been apparent over the night hours. Experian Marketing Services conducted a study in 2012 and found that the time of day that received the best open rate was 8 p.m. to midnight (22% open rate). In addition to a greater opening rate, this time frame also received more clickthroughs and sales.
  3. Mobile Oriented Emails. People are always on their phones nowadays. That means that people are doing more and more things over their phones. That includes checking emails. Litmus, a notable email marketing firm, found that mobile opens accounted for 47% of all email opens in June of 2013. This trend has only continued going into 2016. Lots of people are checking their emails from their phones, you have to make sure your emails are compatible with the various mobile platforms. In fact, you could design your emails for smartphones specifically. Mobile phones are computers themselves, you have to make sure they’re accounted for in your email marketing efforts.

 

These are all just little things you can do to make sure your emails are actually opened. These little things all contribute to increasing the effectiveness of your promotional efforts. When it comes down to it, it’s all about precision. You have to be methodical with your emails as ultimate care with your promotional efforts is essential for success. Precision is just one of many ingredients for marketing success, but if you follow the guidelines listed over the past couple of blogs, you could see a good return on your investment.

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18 Aug

4 Tips on Writing Marketing Emails

Posted in Small Business Advertising on 18.08.16 by John Meloche

Lately we’ve talked about email marketing and how it can benefit your business. But we’ve yet to discuss the actual structure of these emails. What makes them so compelling for customers? How should your business write these emails? Here are a couple tips on how your business can send out persuasive and effective emails:

  1. Compelling Subjects. The subject acts as a hook. It’s the first thing consumers will see from your email; you want to make sure it catches their attention. Now depending on the nature of the email, the subject will vary. But usually something that conveys some sense of urgency tends to help. For example, a subject titled “Huge Sale, you don’t want to miss out!!” would probably work at catching the eyes of your readers. It doesn’t necessarily need to display urgency; comedic and witty subjects tend to work just as well.
  2. Personalize when you can. This might be very hard to achieve but if it’s feasible then go for it. The truth of the matter is everyone is different. We have different wants, needs, and desires. While you might be emailing a similar segment of people, they all could want different things. So it would be greatly beneficial to use whatever information you have on these people to your advantage. Personalization obviously caters more to an individual’s demands and thus increases the chances of them opening and acting on your emails.
  3. Incorporate Trendy Topics. If there are certain popular events going on, then mention them. Structure your email around these events. Use these events as a theme for your email. This enables you to improve you would be incorporating the Rio Olympics into your emails. Something as little as “Huge Olympic Sale!” as a subject would be a good way of using a trendy event to create interest. Essentially these kind of events are a great way of transferring external interest to your emails.
  4. Make Your Call To Action Noticeable. Your call to action is what incites the consumer to go to your website and buy your product. You want this feature to be extremely noticeable so that consumers know where to go when they want to finalize the transaction. A big button like “Buy Now!” would be good. The goal here is just to make sure the call to action is present and hard to miss.

 

When it comes down to it, these kind of emails thrive off creativity. If your company can move its creativity and innovation to the email forums, then you can have success. The best part about these emails is that you can design them; they’re like your blank canvas, you can do anything with it. So let your creativity soar and see those emails turn into sales!

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17 Aug

3 Reasons Why Your Business Should Use Email Marketing

Posted in Small Business Advertising on 17.08.16 by John Meloche

How many emails have you received lately with the following subject “Huge sale, buy now!”? Probably a lot. That’s the new trend in our business world. We’ve discussed the rise of email marketing. But how does email marketing help you? How can it translate into success? Why should your business have an ongoing email marketing campaign? Here are 3 reasons why your business should use email marketing:

  1. Optimal Awareness. When you constantly get emails from businesses, it might come off as a nuisance or insignificant. But the fact of the matter is you remember that business. Their name, their mission, their brand, you keep all of that information in your head. It gives your business access to a very valuable commodity in the business world: top of the mind awareness. For example, let’s say you own a cosmetics company. You have an ongoing email marketing campaign and send people promotional emails regarding sales, new products, etc.. Those repetitive emails engrave your brand within the mind of the consumer. So when the time comes and they need some sort of cosmetic product, they’ll recall your company’s emails and try and take advantage of your promotions.
  2. Brand Loyalty. Email marketing campaigns enable you to develop a relationship with your customers. When you’re providing valuable products for discounted prices exclusively to individuals, people notice and appreciate it. Emails also allow you to regularly contact your customers and incentivize them to further shop with your company. Hence your building relationships with these people and contributing to establishing a loyal consumer base for your company.
  3. Increased Sales. The fundamental reason why any business pursues any marketing campaign. Sales provide the business with revenue that enables it to succeed. The reasons listed above engender augmented sales numbers. That’s the goal for any businesses’ promotional efforts. Not only does email marketing provide sales, but it does so at a low cost. Thus boosting your company’s ROI and giving you that much more financial incentive to utilize email marketing services.

 

Email marketing is yet another method of e-commerce that’s thriving and evolving. It’s an inexpensive way to display your company’s creativity and innovation all the while creating loyal customers. So join the trend and start emailing!

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16 Aug

The Rise of Email Marketing

Posted in Small Business Advertising on 16.08.16 by John Meloche

Yesterday we talked about newsletters and why businesses need them. Newsletters feed directly into an otherwise new and unique marketing medium. Online newsletter have incited the commencement of email marketing. This form of marketing entails businesses sending promotional emails to thousands of recipients.

Businesses generate leads and discover people who would most likely be interested in purchasing their products. This in turn has fueled another industry in lead generation, but we’ll get to that another time. Email marketing has skyrocketed in popularity over the past couple of years. According to a recent survey from Ascend2, 82% of B2B and B2C companies that took part in the study used email marketing technology. Every type of business is now finding use for email marketing and is fully utilizing it to reach new clientele.

There are a lot of reasons why email marketing is becoming so popular in today’s business world. For one thing, it’s inexpensive and it reaches thousands, or even millions, of people. The mass reach is crucial for the success of email marketing. A small percentage of people actually open the email; a 2% response rate is usually good. But since you’re emailing thousands of people, that 2% turns into a decently large number. Email marketing gives you the potential to achieve such a large return from little response numbers; getting more with less. Email marketing provides an inexpensive means to reach an immense number of potential clientele and thus has surged into the modern day business world.

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15 Aug

4 Reasons Why Your Business Needs A Newsletter

Posted in Small Business Advertising on 15.08.16 by John Meloche

Businesses are relying more and more on technology for success. For good reason too, as technology has been proven to improve internal efficiencies, reduce cycle times, and enable businesses to grow their profits. Technology can now permit businesses to discover and keep new clientele. This is where newsletters come in. Newsletters are becoming more prominent in today’s business world. Why you ask? Well here are 4 reasons why your business needs a newsletter:

  1. Customer Relationships. We touched upon this in the paragraph above. Newsletters help you create valuable customer relationships. They enable you to create connections with new clients. When you send out newsletters, your company is sending someone something of value. Not only that, but these newsletters often feature special discounts and thus increases the perceived value of your products. When consumers use these discounts they see themselves getting a greater bang for their buck. Thus the customer becomes more satisfied with your company and a relationship is formed.
  2. Information. Newsletters allow you to keep customers up to date with any important new information from your company. This may include a new product, promotion, or event within your company. Newsletters serve as a great informational tool that keeps consumers updated with your all of your company’s actions.
  3. Improvement. Newsletters are also special because they provide a forum for customers to voice their grievances. These complaints can lead to more efficiency and effectiveness within your company. You can build off these customer complaints and discover how to make your company better. Hence a feedback option can improve your business and enable it to become better for future clients.
  4. Sales. Every businesses’ main objective is to sell. Newsletters do exactly that. According to Jay Baer at Convince and Convert, 44% of email newsletter recipients made at least one purchase in 2012 based on promotional email. This continues to be the case as more people are becoming “impulse buyers” and are shopping from their emails.

 

Newsletters just further enable businesses to expand their client base and create more loyal followers. It’s a great tool for brand loyalty and brand connection. E-newsletters enable businesses to reach more people and make them committed customers. These things all come together and further enable businesses to achieve their primary objective: increasing profits.

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