How to Use LinkedIn Groups for Lead Generation

The great thing about online marketing is that there are several different platforms, each of them having its own advantages and disadvantages. When it comes to lead generation, LinkedIn is king. In this blog we'll explain how you can generate leads with LinkedIn Groups. 

LinkedIn has a completely different atmosphere as opposed to other sites like Facebook and Twitter. It's definitely more professional, but there are also other elements present which are missing on other platforms. 

Users are more focused and motivated on LinkedIn. When they log into their accounts, they're not looking to waste time by reading status updates. They're looking to get things done. 

LinkedIn Groups helps your business segment your market based on users' interests, preferences, and wants. According to this CIO article, you can use this platform for effective lead generation: 

"LinkedIn Groups are another source of leads. Join Groups most relevant to your business, or where you are most likely to find people interested in your product, service or expertise. Then “participate in Group discussions by being a resource, sharing best practices and knowledge gained from experience,” says Lydia Sugarman, president, Venntive, which provides a digital marketing platform." 

The trick is to be informative rather than promotional when you're on LinkedIn Groups. People there are interested in learning more about certain topics and products. They don't want to read a disguised advertisement that only talks about your company's product. 

If you can find the balance where you inform people and get them excited about your product, however, then you'll be able to generate leads.  We recommend using LinkedIn in accordance with other social sites so you can maximize your lead generation. If you have the time to compare your sites, then see if you're more successful at generating leads on LinkedIn. 

To talk more about lead generation, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks. 

Content Strategy: Why Content Isn't Just a Trend

It's not at all surprising that content is the most important factor in your content strategy. The reason content has become more important in terms of marketing as of late is because it will always be an effective tool. 

Others disagree. Due to the undeniable buzz that content marketing has created, they see content as a trend. To them, content creation will be outdated in a few years just like the old SEO tactics. 

Out of all the qualities you can use to describe content, trendy definitely isn't one of them. According to this Forbes article, content is, and always will be important in a marketing context: 

"Some content experts moan that there is too much content out there. Or is there? Content, often referred to as “king” is so essential to digital marketing that it can’t be dismissed as a “trend.” While individual publishers may be overextending themselves by publishing too much, there will always be content. It will always be important."

First, you need to understand the purpose and function of content. What makes it such an important component of online marketing? Is it because it enhances your SEO and increases your page rank?

While these are certainly two possible outcomes of content creation, they're not the goal. The real reason you create and post content is to inform and engage prospective customers. 

In addition to keeping your website current, you also need to establish a brand identity and explain why your business is relevant to current events. Creating content is way more important than improving your technical marketing efforts. 

If you want your content strategy to be effective, you have to believe in content as a viable long-term component of your marketing efforts. Once you do that, you'll be able to engage your target audience. 

To talk more about your content strategy, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks. 

4 Communications Tips for Business Growth

Having a strong communications strategy is the way to truly thrive in business. You have to know how to effectively communicate to the public to see results. This post will discuss four simple things you can do with communications for business growth.

Convey a Message through Design

You don’t always need words to get a message across. Working with a professional graphic designer is a wise investment as they are able to beautifully craft the design of your website and other marketing materials to say what you want your brand to say. If you want the company’s message to say that the image is daring, adventurous, and confident, then aim for bold colors and sharp designs. Have the image reflect your brand’s stance.

Be Personal

Through it all, cater to the needs and desires of each individual customer. Treat them the way a person and not just a customer deserves to be treated. Giving your company a personal side also helps establish a greater trust and likeability. Don’t be afraid to give your company the face of a person.

Make it Stick

When you communicate with the public, you don’t just want to advertise your products or services. Say things in between that. Use social media to post insightful quotes that are reflective of your company’s interests and share heart-felt stories of human kindness. Appeal to the emotional side of people. When you do this, they will be more likely to share it across their social media platforms.

Keep it Consistent

Everything from your graphic designs to your tagline needs to be consistent. Consistency helps people remember things better. It also makes it easier to create brand awareness. 

For more information, please contact us today.

Should Your Incorporate SEO Into Your Marketing Strategy?

Should you incorporate SEO into your marketing strategy? This is the question businesses are currently asking themselves. But anyone who knows even a little bit about digital marketing will know that the answer is a resounding: "it depends."

What it really depends on is what type of SEO you're talking about. If you're talking about traditional SEO, then the answer is absolutely not. Traditional SEO, as in 2007 SEO, has no place in digital marketing today. Not only is it ineffective, but it will also get you into trouble with Google. 

Here's what a recent Huffington Post article has to say about traditional SEO: 

"Traditional SEO should not even be discussed in any meeting about marketing strategy. It's a myth to think you can and should be manipulating search engines with back links, page keyword stuffing, duplicate content development, etc. Save your money! It's old school and much of these processes are no longer relevant to Google or any other search engine."

Google has sought out and eliminated any SEO tricks that were once effective. Anyone who says they can boost your SEO in minutes is either lying or using dishonest tactics.   

But that doesn't mean that SEO is completely irrelevant. It's just that SEO has changed over time and blended in with content marketing. If you really want to increase your page rank on Google, then you'll have to create quality content and post it to your website and on social media. 

When you sit down and plan your next marketing strategy, take a look at the SEO section. Don't eliminate it completely, but make it sure it doesn't resemble the traditional SEO of old. To optimize your content for search engines, you have to write content that will benefit its readers. 

To talk more about marketing strategy, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks. 

3 Ways to Determine The Success of Your Content Marketing Campaign

When starting a content marketing campaign, the first way to measure success is to identify what success looks like. Are you looking for Facebook 'likes'? Retweets? Blog post shares? E-book downloads? The adage of "You can't manage what you don't measure" starts with knowing what you're measuring. Once your key performance indicators (KPI) are defined, you can then have a yardstick to measure the performance of the campaign. By determining these metrics beforehand, you can begin to compare the data against the goals of the campaign.

Simply defining your KPIs isn't enough, however. You must also make sure that your campaigns are reaching the right people. If your vintage motorcycle blog post links are being retweeted by a kid with 14 followers, that might not be a quality share for your business. This may be a little over the top, but the point is valid. For example, you want to use the search function on Twitter and use terms related to your industry. Then begin following and engaging with those folks.

On the other end, if you're getting comments on the post or Facebook shares by influencers in your industry, then you are winning. To measure this version of success, you will need to know not only who you want to target, but to make sure to engage them with a call to action.

All of those retweets and pageviews are great, but there's one last indicator of your marketing campaign's effectiveness - sales! That's right, revenue. Income. Profit. Is your marketing successful if you don't sell anything? Marketing, as we know, is how you express your company or product's value to potential customers, so naturally it follows that if our marketing is driving sales, then it is successful. However, could it be *more* successful? That's where A/B or split testing comes in. You will want to constantly experiment with your social media strategy so that you know what works and what does not. You can let the numbers determine your course.

By following these foundational guidelines, you can establish some metrics that will help measure and steer the course of your social strategies.

Please contact us for additional content strategies to grow your community and sales.