12 Tips for Upping Your K12 eNewsletter Game Posted on November 10, 2020May 10, 2021 by Pat Hawn School and/or District Email newsletters can get stale pretty quickly. They tend to become part of the routine, and when that happens, engagement and open rates can suffer big time. As K12 communicators and educators, you’re sharing important information, so it’s crucial that your newsletters not only stay interesting, but that they can hold the attention of your audience. Let’s try and make it easier by sharing some ways you can bring your eNewsletter to the next level. Here are some tried-and-true tips to keep in mind before you hit send. Enjoy! 1. Prioritize Your Banner Image The banner image represents that space at the top of your newsletter. It’s prime real estate because it’s the first thing people see when they open your email. You want to make sure you think hard about what makes sense to put here, as it’s an immediate chance to draw your audience in. It’s always wise to stick to images that align with your school/district branding, are sized appropriately, so there’s no distortion or imbalance, and don’t take up unnecessary space. Tall, fancy banners may look pretty, but they provide no value to your reader if it means they have to scroll down to get to the meat of the email. It’s a good rule of thumb to keep your banner at 250 pixels or less in height, nothing more. 2. Remember, the Clock is Ticking Let’s face it; everything around us is demanding attention nearly 24 hours a day. When it comes to your newsletter (as well as any other medium you’re sharing content on), you’ve only got a few seconds to make an impact. Once that time lapses, people are ready to move on to something else. In email terms, that’s about a scroll-and-a-half. Make sure your important content stands out and is included first. Bold key information or use larger, and different colored, headers to separate your content and make it easier to scan. Don’t be afraid of white space between content blocks and sections, as that will help readers find the right information without feeling overwhelmed, which brings me to the next point. 3. Don’t Become Destination Content Destination content is when your readers open your email and become immediately intimidated or overwhelmed by the amount of text, volume of information, or layout of your newsletter that they tap out with a vow to return later. The problem is, your newsletter is now a distant memory while they scroll through their Facebook feed or bookmark new recipes to try. The best ways to avoid becoming destination content is to key in on the tips mentioned above, keep your content short and sweet (no giant paragraphs, short introductions and links to read more, etc), and target the details to specific audiences when possible. With Benchmark, we’re able to target specific content blocks inside of an email so each newsletter can offer customized content by grade, building, and more. If you’re relying on text-based emails to get out your info, it wouldn’t hurt to try out an HTML email templates, as many are built to enhance email engagement numbers and trends 4. Don’t Bury the Lead When it comes to your content — think like a newspaper writer and give your readers all of the important stuff as quickly as possible. Not to beat a dead horse, but your newsletters are competing with other content and various distractions your readers have in front of them. You’ve got to remember that you aren’t writing a novel. Get straight to the point and be clear and direct. Oftentimes with email, the shorter, the better. Throw all the rules you learned in school about appropriate paragraph length out the window. When writing for your email newsletter, stick to no more than four sentences per paragraph, as any more will make readers’ eyes cross. This is also a basic practice to remember when creating mobile-friendly emails. Paragraphs that are too dense are huge word blocks on mobile where at least half of your readers are often viewing. 5. Make Your Call-to-Action Obvious If you want a reader to do something, give them the shortest path to make it happen. Want people to buy tickets to your school fundraiser? Link straight to the ticket purchasing page and put it front and center of your email. Looking to get more volunteers for a field trip? Add a button to the form page that says “Fill out this form.” Or, let’s say you’re looking to up your follower count for your school’s social media pages. Make sure you ask readers to follow your school accounts for other updates and include buttons or icons that link directly to each platform, so it’s simple. I was talking with a district that was sharing the social handles for principals, counselors and more in their newsletter, expecting that readers would go to each platform and type them in the search fields. They won’t, and doing so could lead to them following the wrong accounts. Instead, give them an easy button and link directly to each social profile to make it as simple and error-free as possible. Making sure you clearly indicate what your call-to-action is means that more people will end up following the direction you want them to. 6. Don’t Stack Links Most people haven’t run across the term “stacked links” and it typically isn’t something that you think about when building an email on a computer. In the scenario where you’ve got a handful of links that you need to share all in a row (links in your sidebar, calendar event links, lots of information in an article), it can be It’s a good rule of thumb to give your links enough breathing room so they aren’t stacked on top of one another or using buttons or icons to make it easy to click. Remember, a lot of your email readers are viewing your messages from their mobile devices, and their fingers aren’t as precise as a mouse. Bunched up links can be frustrating, and I don’t know about you, but if I have to try more than once to tap on a link, I’m out. 7. No PDFs/Converted PDFs There are a few reasons to avoid using either a full PDF or PDF that’s been converted into an image in your eNewsletters. For one, not everyone is going to see your images. Systems like Outlook suppress images by default, so if the content is in the image, recipients using Outlook aren’t going to see it. Secondly, your PDF or PDF image isn’t ADA Compliant. The information inside the document cannot be read by a screen reader, which is a big no-no when it comes to accessibility. I recommend pulling the important details out of the PDF and including them in the email body. This will allow you to format the email in a more visually pleasing way and emphasize key details with design elements. Host the PDF on your school’s website, or create a page that has the rest of the information so you can link to it within the email. The big thing I recommend to folks is, if you pull out the image from your newsletter, will people still be able to know the important information from what’s left behind? 8. Make Sure You’re ADA Compliant In building off of ADA compliance above, you’ll want to be sure that you’re using alt text for any image in your newsletter just like you do with your website. This is the piece of code that a screen reader will read to those who are visually impaired, and it will give context to what you’re sharing. Additionally, ADA requirements also ensure your emails are visible to those with color vision deficiencies. So you’ll want to use high-contrast colors throughout to stay compliant. Don’t use light grey on dark grey, blue link colors on a red background, etc. For more help on compliant contrasting colors, check out these guidelines from Carnegie Museums and Color Safe. 9. Find the Right Email Frequency How often should you be sending your emails? Let’s face it, nobody wants to hear that they need to be doing more, but it’s hard to be timely if you’re only sending emails sporadically. Many parents (myself included) barely know what they’re doing in a few days, much less a few weeks. So if you’re not sending your newsletters out on a regular basis, your content is missing the mark. Most parents aren’t circling dates on the calendar around your events unless they directly involve activities their children are in. They’re certainly not going back to read through your email from three weeks ago to remember all those events you mentioned at the end of the month, either. I highly recommend sending out your newsletters AT LEAST every two weeks. Any less and you’re trying to cram too much information that happened weeks ago into a newsletter and hoping to remind readers of something that could be coming up in a month. Bi-weekly at least gives you the chance to focus on last week, this week and next week as an option (but weekly is my go-to suggestion for most). 10. Invite Everyone Don’t just target your parents. Invite your community members, grandparents, business owners, and alumni. By keeping additional folks in the loop, you’re more likely to get them as supporters, or to keep them as supporters. You certainly don’t want the only time they’re hearing from you to be when you need something from them – like the next bond issue or tax levy! 11. Elicit Help Where and When Needed Don’t go at it alone! It never hurts to bring your schools into the newsletter mix so you can divide and conquer. Doing so allows them to tackle the areas that are more involved with the day-to-day happenings within their buildings so you can focus on telling the broader, impact-generating stories, as well as supporting district initiatives. Even if your institution is small, there’s still a lot of events, departments, and important pieces of information that need to be shared. While you’re just short of a superhero, it’s hard to keep up with everything that’s going on, so bring in other people and resources when it’s needed. 12. Remember the End Goal You should be looking to give your parents, community, and staff an easy option for knowing what is happening within your district and buildings. Make your newsletter a note that you’re slipping into their pocket (via their phone) that is easy to read, easy to digest, and easy to engage with so it reaches your audience and does what you want it to do. Remember, reading your newsletter shouldn’t be a chore. It should be something your audience is looking forward to each time so they feel better informed with what’s going on within your district. BenchmarkONE’s K12 Edition will help you step up your eNewsletter game and send well-designed and engaging emails to your contacts. If you’d like a quick peek at some of our unique features, set up a demo and we can walk you through it.
What Will Typical Workplaces Look Like In 2021? Posted on November 8, 2020November 10, 2020 by Guest Author The past couple of years have put unprecedented stress on most businesses around the globe. With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, lockdowns, and a global recession looming large, many organizations are busy redefining the ‘new’ workplace. While this evolution is normal, keeping up with all the economic changes, advancement in technology, and modern workplace trends can be challenging. This article aims to lay out insights on upcoming workplace trends for 2021 and provide actionable advice that helps business leaders refine their internal strategy. 3 Reasons to Improve Your Workplace A good working environment is known to directly impact employees’ productivity and is a significant contributor to your organization’s success. This increases overall employee happiness, boosts morale, reduces absenteeism, and motivates them to deliver positive results. In 2015, it was reported that productivity losses from absenteeism cost U.S. employers $225.8 billion a year. A positive workplace environment increases employee engagement, which can increase business profitability up to 21 percent. Engaged employees are 17 percent more productive, which in return increases customer ratings by 10 percent. Having an understanding of exactly why you should invest in a positive workplace, paired with a knowledge of upcoming workplace trends, will set your business up for great internal success. Let’s dive into four of the largest workplace trends for next year. 4 Workplace Trends for 2021 1. Remote Work Has the Edge The traditional office-centric approach has long dominated the workplace landscape. However, the Coronavirus pandemic has forced many businesses to adopt remote working. A study by Buffer reveals that once workers try remote work, 90 percent of them plan to work remotely for the rest of their careers. The same study also outlines that employees are comfortable with the newfound freedom as it allows them to redefine their work-life balance. Additionally, workplace technology has considerably evolved over the past decade, and managing remote workers is not as hard as it once was. You now have access to a whole range of communication tools, time management platforms, and productivity tools. All these aspects combined may well have given remote work the upper hand, and its adoption is on a meteoric rise. According to Global Workplace Analytics, remote work has risen by 173 percent between 2005 and 2018 in the U.S. Key Takeaways Remote work is growing in popularity year over year. Technology makes remote worker management easier than ever before. Businesses need to focus on building agile workplaces that support this trend. The adoption of communication softwares such as Skype, Microsoft Teams, and Slack are increasing. To access more resources on how to take your small business remote, check out The Small Business Guide for Going Remote. 2. The Uprise of Flexible Work Schedules For a long time now, the nine to five grind seemed unavoidable for many employees. COVID-19 has pushed 88 percent of organizations to encourage their employees to work from home on a flexible schedule. This newly discovered flexibility has allowed workers to compare their working conditions to the traditional office schedules, and 71 percent claim that rigid work schedules negatively impact their personal life. In New Zealand, a company even tested the sustainability of a four-day workweek over a period of two months. Their experiment showed an increase in employee engagement by 20 percent, while stress level was down by seven percent. Moreover, Flexjobs recently reported that some workers would rather go for a flexible workforce than medical coverage. Key Takeaways Employees view flexible schedules as a benefit, and this could help attract and retain top talent. A flexible work schedule contributes to employee wellness, increases employee engagement, and reduces stress levels. Managing flexible schedules or different shifts can be simplified with the currently available technology, such as managing your remote team with a mobile app. 3. Generation Z Joining the Workforce 2021 will see a major change in the workplace demographic as Gen Z steadily joins the workforce. The oldest representative of this group is 23 years old, as this generation was born between 1997 and early 2020. Gen Z is expected to make up 36 percent of the workforce globally by 2021, and according to Forbes, this generation wants more independence. Source Commonly known as digital natives, Gen Z was born and raised in a fast-paced world, where the internet has been ever-present. Gen Zers expect and need access to multiple digital tools in their workplace. It is essential you prepare your organization for the upcoming demographic shift, as Generation Z is forecasted to represent around 40 million workers in the U.S. Key Takeaways You may need to adjust your workplace practices to cater to Gen Z. Generation Z tends to be more practical in their educational and career approach. Gen Zers were born during the internet-boom and expect digital collaboration tools to get the work done. 4. More Focus on Training and Up-skilling With the workplace constantly evolving and the workforce demographics changing, employee training and up-skilling should be part of your strategy for 2021. As remote work and flexible schedules are getting more popular, so is the adoption of new softwares and tools. Is it essential you upskill your staff so that they make the most out of the tools at hand. Besides, with Gen Zers joining the workforce, training should be considered as a core function. According to Harvard Business Review, training and upskilling nurtures top talent and helps retain them. Moreover, enhancing your employees’ capabilities can only prove beneficial for your business as it improves productivity while enhancing personal development. This can also lead to an increase in employee engagement and retention. Key Takeaways Employees are now using more tools and new softwares – training helps them use these tools to the best of their ability. Training increases employee engagement and productivity. It also helps you retain top talent and build high-performance teams. Training allows you to nurture the leader of tomorrow. The economic situation, advancement in technology, and the demographic changes in the workforce will set the trend in 2021. The workplace is evolving fast, and the best way to stay on top is by embracing change and making it work for you. While adjusting to all these trends may appear challenging, the long-term rewards are well worth it. At the end of the day, it is critical that you provide a healthy and adequate workplace for your staff since this positively impacts your overall business revenue. Author Bio Chloe’s why is people; she gets her kicks from intensifying the purpose and exploring the potential of those around her. She works as Head of People & Culture at Deputy, a robust scheduling software that can be used to manage your workforce in a wide variety of different industries. Chloe sees her work as an extension of her lifestyle and is constantly working on revolutionizing the people and culture space.
How to Write a Social Media Proposal Posted on November 5, 2020October 6, 2022 by Natalie Slyman Social media isn’t a side job anymore. While it might have once seemed like social media was something that a business could do when and if they had the time, today it’s an integral part of any successful digital marketing strategy and contributes to all areas of your small business. Yet many companies are dropping the ball when it comes to their social initiatives. There are approximately 3.6 billion people worldwide using social media, and that number is expected to jump to 4.41 billion by 2025. With so much potential to tap into, businesses need to ace their social game — and that’s where specialized agencies come in. There’s a growing market for agencies providing social media management, and it’s a great field to get into if you’ve got your fingers on the pulse of what it takes to find social success. Working with companies to improve their outreach and outcomes on social media starts with a proposal. If you or your company are offering social management services, make sure that your social media proposals include all of these essential features. Introduction Start your social media proposal by clearly defining the problem you’re here to solve, such as a low follower count, poor engagement levels, or a lack of new posts and unique social content. Be sure to put the focus on your client here. The goal is to outline the issues — not to cover what your agency does and why it can provide the right solutions. Scope of Work This is where you’ll get into specifics on deliverables. Lay out all of the details of what you can do for the client to solve the problem(s) at hand, and be as clear as possible so that there’s no confusion over what is and what isn’t part of the agreement. Content and Process Content is the lifeblood of any effective social media strategy. In your proposal, go over what types of content you plan to be creating and/or using, as well as what the process for approvals and publishing will look like. Include how you plan to source images, too, since visuals will be just as important as the copy itself. Social Media Publishing Calendar You don’t need to have a full calendar ready to go for your social media proposal, but you should be able to lay out a general idea of what the cadence for publishing content will look like. Your social media calendar gives your clients a notion of how active they’ll need to be on social to achieve their desired results, with the caveat that this is just a jumping-off point and may need to be tweaked based on reports and performance. Promos and Special Offers Nestled within effective campaigns are usually special offers and promotions that lead to brief surges in growth and engagement. Give your clients an overview of any special promos or posts you’re planning — including the anticipated budget and what you’re expecting to get out of them. Mention how you’ll be tracking the success of these posts as well. This is a great area to really wow your prospective clients, so get creative and make sure your suggestions fit their branding and overall company message. Account Management Details Get into the nitty-gritty of what the agency-client relationship will look like, particularly how and how often you’ll touch base. This will help keep everyone on the same page about the partnership and the status of deliverables and results. Whether that includes weekly check-ins over video chat or just here-and-there contact through email, you’re always better setting these expectations out upfront. Make sure you show them how you’ll continue to offer value beyond the bare minimum of what’s expected. Metrics and KPIs Social media success is a numbers game. Cover how you’ll be tracking success so that your client knows what to look at and how to tell if your efforts are delivering. These metrics should be closely tied to the goals set out by the client’s unique problems and should ideally be benchmarked against a few major competitors too. Make sure you consider tracking things like website traffic from social, social follower growth over specific periods of time, and any lead conversions from social. They’ll want to know if you’ll be keeping track of how many likes, comments, and other engagements they receive and how you’ll compare these numbers month-to-month. Case Studies Included in your social media proposal should be evidence of success with other clients. This gives an idea of how well you deliver and what kind of experience you bring to the table. If you haven’t cemented the gig yet, it’s also a great chance to persuade them further that your services are worth investing in. Look at the clients that have been with you the longest or have seen great results from your partnership. Consider checking out your reviews, too, for potential clients to reach out to for case studies. Costs You can’t talk proposals without talking price, and ultimately, it’s usually the cost that determines whether you get the job or not. Don’t cut your prices too much just to compete, and do be clear on what you’re charging and what your clients are getting in return. Make sure you outline the areas you cannot cut versus the ones you can, which can come in handy if your prospective client wants to enter into negotiations. Next Steps Outline what needs to happen next to take this proposal off the page. Be descriptive fn how the client should proceed to eliminate any guesswork or hurdles. This makes sure you both know where you stand and can set the pace for appropriate follow-up. Terms and Conditions Last but not least, include any special terms, conditions, and/or policies that your client needs to know in regards to working with you. The clearer the boundaries and expectations, the better situated you’ll be for a positive partnership. This outline should give you a great idea of how to put together the basics of your social media proposal. If you want some additional help, check out some others online to see how other brands assemble theirs and add to yours if you think it will make your proposal really shine.
5 Tips for Combating Declining SEO Rankings Posted on November 4, 2020August 25, 2022 by Guest Author Search engine optimization is no longer solely about keywords. It encompasses several areas of expertise, which often require a full-fledged SEO team in your corner to address the ins and outs of Google’s constantly evolving algorithm. It’s no secret that SEO is complicated. When you’re ranking well, things are great, but if you begin to see your rankings decline, you may find yourself panicking. But one is for certain: the first and only way to get to the bottom of your declining rankings is to eliminate further setbacks by addressing the issue head-on. Having a backup plan is hugely valuable in times of crisis and can save you plenty of money in the short-term and long-term. Ultimately, SEO is a long-term game, and if you’re scrambling to get your rankings back into tip-top shape, you’ll need a bulletproof strategy, and you don’t necessarily need to outsource that strategy. That’s where we step in. Using this guide, we’ll walk you through the five tips you need to know to combat declining SEO rankings and restore your site’s former ranking glory. Tip #1: Optimize Page Speed for High-Traffic Pages Page speed has always been a vital component of SEO analysis, and as an increasing number of businesses shift toward online platform operations, SEO grows more important than ever before. In the most straightforward meaning of the term, page speed refers to how quickly the content on a website loads. You can describe page speed in one of two ways: “page load time” or “time to first byte.” To measure your website’s PageSpeed score, Google fetches your URL twice—once with a mobile device and once with a desktop computer. Then, it analyzes two parameters: the time it takes to load all content above the fold, and the time it takes to load the entirety of the page. Images often contribute to the majority of the data usage on any given webpage. As a result, it’s an appropriate approach to optimize them to minimize the volume of downloaded bytes and improve the speed of the website. Tip #2: Create More Comprehensive and Authoritative Content Authoritative content accomplishes two primary objectives: it pushes more organic web traffic and also helps to establish trust between readers and writers. When online visitors consume your content and begin to understand more about you, they feel like they are forming a relationship with you, too. In other words, they begin to trust the words you say. Take a look at this blog post from Time Trade to see how trust is earned through written copy: Among the many great obstacles faced by writers and web marketers is the feat of creating unique material that shines and resonates with readers. Although it is a popular belief that you need to be an expert within your field to begin sizing up to your competitors, Google trends have shown otherwise. What makes content marketing so ceaselessly challenging is that it’s not enough to simply create great content once. To maintain good rankings, you must be able to create amazing content on a continuous basis. High quality and interesting content is not always the end-all-be-all to your visitors. Google is well beyond the days of tallying keywords on a page— today, coherent, succinct, and easy-to-read website content is a key component of SEO. Focus on readability and content freshness to ensure your pieces are gold in the eyes of Google. Tip #3: Refresh Content with Declining Traffic Your website’s content is like any other good or service and thus has a finite lifespan. At some point, the content becomes less effective at garnering interest and converting. This is precisely what happens when you start to notice SEO declines. This should prompt you to audit your content and see where you can make significant changes to raise your rankings back up and generate new interest. Through refreshing and upgrading content, you can reap a range of SEO advantages. Another way to refresh content is to turn old content into an evergreen resource. An evergreen resource is a page that throughout time will still be valuable to a visitor and still promote users to click on a page. An example of an evergreen resource is this reverse mortgage calculator from GoodLife Home Loans. In order to remain at the cutting edge of the SEO game, staying on top of your content freshness is always critical. Managing a content inventory and setting up regular reports to audit website material and media files make a massive difference not only to your site ranking but also to your online visitors too. Tip #4: Fix Broken or Unsafe Links Broken links are terrible not only for user experience, but they can also be detrimental to your website’s Google rankings. Beyond the scope of your SEO, your site visitors despite broken links too. In fact, when visitors come across a broken link, they likely won’t want to continue navigating through your site simply because they can’t. When things are difficult or roadblocks are presented, users don’t want to take the time to figure it out, they want an easy, user-friendly experience. Ultimately, if users spend less time on your blog, search engines will safely assume that your website does not offer a pleasant user interface. This eventually leads to declined rankings due to heightened bounce rates. But what is a broken link? Broken links are links that present users with a warning that the website no longer exists, causing a 404 error page. Broken links can be both internal and external. The easiest way to keep a close watch on the status of your site’s links is by regularly tracking the website. If you see shifts in conversion frequency, bounce rates, or traffic, there may be trouble. In most situations, these obstacles are generally linked to broken connections on the web. Tip #5: Hire an SEO firm There are many outstanding advantages to contracting your SEO to an expert team of Google search engine pros. In the long run, these benefits vastly outweigh the monetary savings that you may encounter by attempting to tackle your declining SEO rankings yourself, particularly if you’re strapped for time or untrained in SEO. When is the most opportune time to employ an SEO agency? Ultimately, that answer is subjective – but when your business has the money to afford a great firm and can plan for long-term strategies across multiple media channels, you may find yourself in the best position to outsource your SEO auditing and strategizing. With a refreshed understanding of what you can do to deal with SEO declines, it’s your turn to respond. Always keep in mind that SEO is built upon a number of variables, and even the most minute specifics can affect your website rankings. Make an effort to constantly research new patterns and stay in the know about algorithms to make sure your SEO strategy is sharp. Author Bio Samantha Rupp holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and is the managing editor for 365businesstips.com. She lives in San Diego, California and enjoys spending time on the beach, reading up on current industry trends, and traveling.
How to Create a Winning Sales Process Using Marketing Automation Posted on November 3, 2020January 26, 2022 by Jonathan Herrick I’ll get straight to the point: a lot of businesses are still experiencing slower sales and revenue due to COVID. Businesses around the world are worried about how they’ll fare and what they can do to make things pick back up this year. The reality is, we’ve still got a long road ahead of us. If you’re going to last and see some positive changes, you have to tackle your sales efforts proactively. You may already have a sales process, but it’s time to take a long, hard look at it and adjust. Your sales process isn’t any good if you’re continuing to see sales decline. And even if the reason, like a global pandemic, is out of your control, you have to look at the things you can control. Having a clear-cut set of steps for how things get done helps you navigate your various initiatives and keep your entire team on track. It can also help you streamline your day-to-day for better sales performance. This is key in sales, where even one misstep or inefficiency can mean missing out on a customer. It can take a lot of trial and error to nail down your sales process, especially when you’re just starting out or trying to come back from some very slow months. To save you some time, we’ve put together a couple of recommendations for how to create a seamless sales process and get on the path to a more productive way of doing things so you can be more prepared for what this year will throw at you. When tackling your sales process, you need to obviously understand what a sales process is, but you also need to brush up on the right methodologies to use. What is a Sales Process? A sales process is a predetermined, step-by-step framework that a sales team uses to move prospects and leads down the sales funnel toward a purchase. The stronger the sales process, the more clarity that reps have about how to move potential buyers from point A to point B, even in cases when unique adjustments need to be made. What is a Sales Methodology? A company’s sales methodology is the philosophy that guides its sales process. Think about it like a guide for how reps interact with leads, with established rules for selling a product or service that are designed to be in line with an organization’s identity and goals. How to Create a Sales Process Now that we’ve addressed the two biggest factors involved with sales practices let’s break down a sales process you can easily implement. Step One: Establish Your Sales Methodology There are so many different ways to approach sales, and some of them are going to work better for your purposes than others. It’s important to figure out what will work best for your company and your sales team — a process in itself and one that might require some experimentation. Some of the most common sales methodologies include: ABM (Account-Based Marketing) – A B2B sales strategy where you identify your ideal clients and their decision-makers and then target those decision-makers directly with targeted messaging and other types of outreach. Challenger Approach – A competition-driven sales strategy that seeks to amplify your expertise to boost brand authority and separate yourself from those who are offering similar products or services. SPIN Selling – A customer-centric model geared toward solving specific problems. SPIN stands for the four types of questions that a potential customer might have and that you should address: Situation Problem Implication Need-Payoff. Value Selling – Illustrating your product or service’s value in relation to a specific problem that a potential customer has to make it an attractive solution. Solution Selling – An approach to sales that starts with identifying a problem and then turns to exactly how your product or service can solve it. It’s similar to value selling; however, the focus is put more prominently on the problem and the required specific improvements. Inbound Selling – Gently nurturing leads with personalized and helpful content and communications instead of seeking to get them to purchase as quickly as possible. Consultative – Working one-on-one with a potential customer to determine their main challenges and how to solve them. This helps establish your company as a partner instead of just a business trying to score a sale. Determine which sales methodology works best for your team and provides you with the best outcomes. You may even decide to take a little bit of what works from various methodologies and form something that’s all your own. The key here is to examine your current or previous approaches to determine what is or isn’t working well with your prospects. Use your small business CRM to track previous tactics and interactions that will provide you with a pulse on successful and not-so-successful efforts. We’ve found that when you use marketing automation, you’re able to cultivate an inbound selling approach with minimal effort. Doing so will also afford you the time to focus on and incorporate other selling methodologies into your overall strategy. But, more on that later. Step Two: Establish Your Sales Pipeline Sales isn’t always a linear process, but it’s still essential to have a clear idea of the rungs of the ladder that separate strangers from brand loyalists. For many companies, it looks a little bit like this: Gain a prospect. Turn that prospect into a lead. Turn that lead into a qualified lead. Provide that qualified lead with valuable content to help educate them on their problem. Present your product or service as a solution. Consult and assess questions. Close. Continue to nurture and educate. On each rung of the ladder, you should have unique and proven practices in place that help guide a potential customer to the next step. While having a fantastic product or service is obviously helpful, it’s not going to totally sell itself. You need to establish a process that enables you to guide your prospects closer and closer to a sale and in a way that nurtures and empowers them to make the decision. An effective sales process isn’t passive, nor is the end result totally out of your control. The more strategy you put into place as your prospects turn into leads, customers, returning customers, brand loyalists, and brand advocates, the fewer potential sales you’re going to have slipping through the cracks. This can also set you up for some additional revenue when new sales are drying up. Step Three: Study What You’re Selling Product knowledge is essential for staying on track with the sales process. Having to seek out other sources for answers to questions about how a product or service works disrupt the flow of conversation and can even halt it altogether, so it’s up to reps to serve as their own experts. Have reps try out the product or service they’re selling and create a clean line of communication between the sales team and developers so that there are never any lingering questions about how things function. Step Four: Establish Your Ideal Buyer A great sales process is as much about selling to the right person as it is selling the right way. And for that, you need to have a full picture idea of your ideal buyer (or buyers), with fleshed-out personas that clarify their needs, interests, challenges, and preferences. Download our Buyer Persona Workbook to help you establish who you should be selling to. Equally important here is to connect the dots between buyer and product, taking those aforementioned needs, interests, challenges, and preferences and determining exactly what your product or service does to check off the necessary boxes. A sales process isn’t meant to be universal. Instead, it’s all about identifying the exact path your buyers take to purchase and meeting them at every key touchpoint. Step Five: Outline Your Sales Approach You don’t need to have a pre-written script for all reps to follow, but you should have a general outline of how to effectively sell your product or service. Keep in mind that this outline can and should be fluid, allowing for flexibility when things go off course — as they often do. What’s important is that the approach is well-thought-out and accessible to reps and that it enables better sales without locking reps into corners they can’t back themselves out of. Step Six: Work on Your Sales Pitch Your sales pitch is just one part of your larger approach and process, but it’s a big one. This step goes beyond your value proposition to encompass things like how you’ll handle objections, how you’ll nail your closing, and you’ll follow up later on. Again, set these out in a clear format for your reps and give concrete ideas and examples based on your sales methodology. This is a good place to lay out any guidelines around language, particularly when it comes to the words or phrases you absolutely do (or absolutely don’t) want included in the pitch. How to Make Enhancements to Your Sales Process Having a process down pat doesn’t always ensure success. There will be moments when you’ll need to adjust or make enhancements to your process, as things can always get stagnant from time to time. If that’s ever the case, try some of these tips to get things moving again. Identify Missed Opportunities Have sales and marketing come together to examine what your typical sales process looks like. Maybe your sales team isn’t aware of all the content you have created that is meant to enable them, and therefore they’re missing out on certain opportunities to effectively engage and educate leads. Either way, it will be important for your marketing team to fully understand how your sales team approaches prospects and the various ways they sell to them. Perhaps there’s too much time between interactions or emails in a drip campaign. If you don’t find that balance by sending emails just enough (but not too much), you can easily fly off the radar of your leads and lose them before you even have them. Re-examine Your Buyer Personas Who you sell to can change over time, especially when pandemics sweep through and drastically change the landscape. Perhaps your ideal buyer no longer has the budget you once perceived them to have (because let’s be honest, everyone’s budgets are thin right now). That is something you’ll want to adjust or at least take note of in your documented marketing plan. Re-examine the Funnel Maybe your funnel and the way you have your nurture campaigns set up needs a little work. Is any content dated? Could you make improvements to your email copy that could motivate buyers to take more action? Or maybe there’s a step or area that customers traditionally fall off at. Identify these crucial areas to see where you can make adjustments. Measure and Refine Over Time You may not have it all figured out immediately. But, if you measure your results consistently, you’ll be able to determine trends that will make forecasting sales for the next quarter more realistic. Don’t neglect to track your open rates, click-through rates, and your conversions, as well as your monthly sales revenue from other efforts. See what methods are continuously bringing in results, and double down on those. It’s vital that you make changes and don’t get complacent because what is working now (or isn’t) could change instantly. Quick Tips to Remember During the Sales Process Put prospects’ needs first. Always look at your process from the perspective of your prospects, especially when it comes to seeking out obstacles you might inadvertently be putting in the way of a successful sale. Anticipate questions and challenges. Get ahead of potential hurdles by anticipating what questions and challenges your prospects might have and working out solutions in advance. Be solution-oriented. Shrugging your shoulders won’t get you very far, but providing actionable solutions to your prospects’ challenges absolutely will. Don’t be pushy. Even the most thorough of sales processes must walk the line between being effective and coming on too strong. How Marketing Automation Helps Improve Your Sales Process Sales and marketing go hand-in-hand in the modern work environment, and automation can be used in both areas to keep them moving along on their own and together. Utilize marketing automation to better qualify your leads and track behaviors that give more insight into your buyers’ preferences. You can also use marketing automation to gather insights for sales enablement materials that can be used to improve your sales process and ensure you convert as many leads as possible. A marketing automation tool can assist you with setting up an inbound process to support your outbound. Make it easy for prospects to initiate the sales process on their end and, if needed, adjust your introductory pitch to accommodate inbound requests. The secret to sales success is that there is no secret. There is no single way to navigate the sales process that will work for all companies and all consumers every single time. Instead, your chances of success lie in your ability to plan, measure, and adapt.
4 Creative Ways to Use Your CRM to Skyrocket Customer Satisfaction Posted on October 29, 2020October 29, 2020 by Erin Posey You probably already know marketing automation can help your team save time, improve efficiency, and streamline operations. But you may not realize just how valuable a CRM can be for your entire company. When used effectively, it can help develop relationships, solidify connections, and generate new business opportunities that can lead to tons of growth. In addition to automating routine tasks, there are virtually limitless ways you can leverage your CRM for customization and nurturing. Let’s dive into the various ways you can be using your CRM to bring more value to your customers and increase their satisfaction with your company. Personalized Offers How much better would your chances be of closing a deal with a customer if you were able to personalize your emails, sales, and promotions to meet his or her individual needs, preferences, and buying patterns? People want content that aligns with their needs. They want to feel like they aren’t just one in a million and that the brands reaching out to them know exactly what they want. CRMs are chock-full of valuable information, including customer purchasing history, shopping behaviors, and other data gathered along the customer journey. For instance, over time, your CRM can tell you that Joe Smith has repeatedly purchased a specific type of tennis shoe, and, therefore, would be likely to respond to a promotion you’re running on a similar style. Customizing your campaigns for particular users creates an opportunity for you to provide more relevant experiences, delight your customers, and increase the likelihood of a sale. Referrals Do you currently have a referral program in place to reward your loyal clientele and generate new business? If not, then you’re missing out on a chance to obtain more users by way of third-party credibility and word of mouth advertising (which some may argue is the most effective method of all). Combining a referral program with your CRM can make tracking the process much more smoothly. For instance, you can use your CRM to keep tabs on the connections between people who have referred one another and then send out appropriate promos, rewards, and group offers based on their achievements. Sure, tracking these efforts by hand is always an option, but you risk organization and losing crucial information. Periodic Check-Ins Most people expect a business to bend over backward in the beginning, but once the sale is complete, those connections tend to cool rather quickly. Using a CRM, you can effectively reignite and revitalize your relationships with existing customers by setting up periodic follow-ups and check-ins. Not only will this do wonders for nurturing a long-term bond with your brand, but it’ll also provide the opportunity to ask for reviews of your product or service. Showing prospective customers that your current clientele are still happy with your brand six months, one year, or more after the sale can really boost trust and credibility. And those are things even the biggest marketing budget can’t buy. Birthday Wishes Who doesn’t love a thoughtful birthday wish? A CRM lets you stay on top of your customers’ special occasions so you can reach out and make them feel loved. Whether you choose to simply send a quick note with well wishes or you go a step further and offer a free gift or exclusive discount, your customers will appreciate being remembered on their special day. And since all of the information is stored right in your CRM, there’s no need to task the marketing team with remembering. Of course, these are just four of the countless ways you can use your CRM to develop and nurture more meaningful relationships with your customers. Don’t be afraid to get creative and think outside the box. When it comes to marketing automation and using a CRM more effectively, the sky truly is the limit! Check out our small business CRM, and if you’d like to see what our software can do for you, set up a totally free demo with one of our team members.
8 Best Marketing Automation Software Programs for Small Businesses Posted on October 28, 2020September 13, 2023 by Allie Wolff It’s hard to admit that you’re not able to do everything yourself, doubly so when you’re a small business owner. Outsourcing is one option, but another is taking advantage of marketing automation software that can take a lot of your busy work and run with it. You simply tell it what needs to be done in a very basic way, and it will continue to perform those jobs until your specified stop date, or until you manually stop them. Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? You still get to look like you’ve got 12 extra hours in your day, and in reality, you can actually eat your lunch away from your desk on a regular basis. As a small business owner, it’s important to keep nurturing your leads and finding new ones so you can maintain reliable income. The problem is that both of these things are incredibly time-consuming. You may feel like you spend more time marketing than you do running your business. Let’s take a look at some of the best marketing automation tools out there for small businesses so you can determine the right one for your needs, get more done, and see your business thrive. 1. SharpSpring There’s a lot to love about SharpSpring if you’re a marketing consultant or if you have a thriving small business. It offers behavior-based email marketing, CRM integration, blog, and landing page builders and will integrate with tons of the scattered apps you’re using right now. For SMBs, pricing starts at $550/month, which puts this tool on the higher end of the pricing spectrum. 2. Keap When numbers matter, Keap has your back. It offers standard marketing technology like lead capture and follow-ups based on your users’ actions and personalization options. Where it shines is in the analytics department, with reports that get to the bottom of what’s costing more than it’s worth and what efforts are succeeding. It even has the ability to calculate the ROI for any given campaign. It starts at $24 per month plus a $99 one-time payment for expert coaching, but there’s a 14-day free trial option if you’d like to try before you buy. 3. Salesforce Pardot Salesforce is an undeniable leader in the CRM world, and Pardot does not take that legacy lightly. If you can dream it, as they say, Pardot can do it. This tool works hard to keep marketing and sales aligned, speeds up pipelines, and drives real revenue gains. Automated lead nurturing and real-time sales alerts make it easy for you and your team to focus on the next thing while Pardot handles the details. Read reviews from real users, and check Pardot pricing (4 different plans) and features. At $1,250 per month, a small business may find that pretty steep. 4. BenchmarkONE Don’t forget about us! BenchmarkONE helps you do anything and everything you need in regards to small business sales and marketing. Our platform makes building emails a breeze and provides you with tools like landing pages and pop-up forms to collect leads. You can automate your email marketing, which saves you tons of time and moves your leads through the funnel faster. You can set tasks for yourself so you don’t forget any follow-up, and you can access detailed analytics to see how well your efforts are paying off. Our easy to read dashboard makes it super simple to see where your customers are in the buyer’s journey, too! We offer a 14-day free trial, so you can test our software out before making a purchase, and from there, our packages start at just $39 a month. 5. ActiveTrail Are your email campaigns proving less than stellar these days? ActiveTrail may be able to help. This all-in-one email marketing automation package could be all you need to get back on track. It sends SMS messages, helps you build better landing pages, and even integrates surveys into the process. ActiveTrail may not do everything you need for your marketing, but it does a lot of the most time-intensive things. And at $8 per month, it’s an incredible value. 6. Adobe Campaign Multi-device or multi-media campaigns can be difficult to track, especially when you’re running several at once. That’s not a problem for Adobe Campaign. Unlike many packages that struggle to capture data across many different channels, this is exactly what Campaign was made to do and what it does best. It also integrates with the Adobe Experience and Creative Clouds, meaning that you can create a graphic in Photoshop, place it on a flyer in InDesign, then send that PDF out to your customer base with fewer clicks than ever. You’ll have to talk to sales to get a firm price, but if you do a lot of cross-channel marketing, the cost of this SaaS may be a super value. 7. Drip Sometimes it’s hard to see how an email marketing campaign fits together, no matter how many whiteboards you cover in ink. Drip was designed to solve that problem once and for all. It’s a fully visual email campaign automator that integrates with most of today’s popular marketing applications. You get dozens of triggers and actions for email audiences, as well as up to 500 contacts for just $19 a month. 8. Moosend Some days you spend your working hours finessing software with very grown-up sounding names like “Word” or “Google Docs,” and other days, you’re managing email campaigns with the help of a bovine-inspired automation tool. When it comes to Moosend, there’s a lot to like for the price. Manage multiple email campaigns, mailing lists, and create responsive newsletters like a pro, then watch the analytics fill in the blanks. Their free forever plan includes unlimited emails, sign-up and subscription forms, and reporting and analytics. Choosing the Right Marketing Automation Tool It’s no small task to choose the right automation software for your company or your clients, but with so many on the market, it’s likely you’ll find exactly what you need with prices and configurations that work for you. Before you commit to a lengthy contract, be sure to demo the software you’re considering. That way, if there’s a difficult to manage interface or awkward function that you really need, you know about it right away. If you’re interested in seeing what BenchmarkONE can help your small business achieve, set up a personal demo at your convenience, and we’ll be happy to show you around!
Email and CRM: Where Marketing Automation Meets Personal Sales Follow-Ups Posted on October 27, 2020October 22, 2020 by Allie Wolff We share a lot of the same goals as our customers, but perhaps the most important one is that we, like you, want to work less and accomplish more. After all, isn’t that what automation is all about? Small business owners are busy people who wear many hats, including marketer, salesperson, product/service provider, HR and customer service rep, and creative director (just to name a few). Finding a balance — let alone finding the time to get everything done — is tricky, which is why most SMB owners seek out all the help they can get with generating more sales and keeping profits on track. Luckily, our CRM and marketing automation tools are designed for just this, helping you check more things off your list faster and without sacrificing the quality of service and care you provide to your clients. If you could use more time in your day to focus on sales (and all of that other stuff), then keep reading to learn about three of the biggest ways our email marketing and CRM platform can come together to help you out. Organize and Track Your Contacts So You Can Learn More About Them Our CRM helps you easily track all previous outreach and engagements with each of your contacts. Instead of digging through your inbox on a futile mission to find dated communications so you can see exactly where you left off with your leads, you get a one-stop-shop for storing contact messages and correspondences. This way, you’re always a quick update away from knowing what journey a specific contact has taken on your website, how much they know about your company, and where they currently stand in regards to making a buying decision. Successful sales performance requires a full-picture view of a contact’s needs, challenges, and past behaviors. With our integrated platforms, you can access a wealth of essential lead information, from site activity and social media information to company size and industry — all of which offer insight that can be used to further individual leads down the funnel. You can also access information on which emails they opened and what content they downloaded, which gives you a clearer picture of how well they understand what your company does and offers. You can tag your contacts based on certain descriptors or qualifiers, enabling you to easily segment them based on similar interests. Having this kind of intel is invaluable and can inform your strategies, so they’re more beneficial. To get the most use out of this feature, take the insight you gather and use it to target your contacts with personalized or dynamic content. You’ll make more meaningful connections, and you might even be able to turn dead ends into profitable sales. Manage Tasks and Follow-Ups Integrating CRM and email is like gaining a personal inbox assistant. Automate timely follow-ups with contacts and provide the one-on-one service and attention that your leads expect. You can also set up contact-related tasks for yourself so that you never miss out on an opportunity for valuable engagement. Keep in mind that a lot of today’s customers are doing a bulk of their research on their own. If you don’t make a point of engaging at key touchpoints, you may lose the chance to sway their decision in your favor. It’s important to give yourself as many opportunities for lead nurturing as possible (so long as you don’t overdo it with the communications, of course), and these tools can help you do just that. Craft Customer Journeys Any lead repository will have significant variations in terms of lead quality and where individuals are in the buyer’s journey. Use our CRM and email marketing tools to identify and separate the highly motivated potential buyers from those who are just looking with no real intention of making a purchase. Doing so will save yourself time and energy on opportunities that aren’t likely to pan out. From there, you can take what you learn and apply it to your email outreach campaigns. Create drip campaigns that guide your prospects through the buyer’s journey with specially optimized content and promotions instead of trying a one-size-fits-all approach. You’ll also have an intuitive tool for creating different drip campaigns for different kinds of leads, meeting your contacts where they’re at in the funnel with content that’s geared toward taking them to the next step. For more qualified leads, this will mean content driven toward making a decision. For less qualified leads, you can send content that helps educate them on what you do and what solutions you provide so they can move down the funnel faster. Bringing You the Best Tools for Running a Small Business We understand the unique variables involved in running a small business, and we offer solutions that are distinctly designed to help you overcome them. While CRM and email marketing can both offer big benefits on their own, using them together means more efficiency and more connection where it really counts. The result is an increase in your outreach productivity — and, ultimately, an increase in your sales. What’s more, we don’t offer tons of features and tools that overwhelm you (and that, quite frankly, you’ll never use). We keep our platform simple, so you can learn the ins and outs of marketing automation without spending tons of valuable time doing so. We can’t take any hats off your head, but we can make them easier to carry. Contact us today to learn more about our CRM and email marketing platforms, plus how you can integrate them to gain even more of a competitive edge.
16 Articles to Help With Lead Generation Posted on October 22, 2020December 8, 2022 by Natalie Slyman Your business cannot thrive unless you have a steady stream of leads coming in. You need leads to feed your inbound marketing strategy, and the more you have, the more chances you have to convert those leads into paying customers. Lead generation will always be a contributing factor to your businesses’ success. It’s important that you are constantly thinking of different strategies so the well doesn’t dry up. We examined our past blog content and found that lead generation is a subject we’ve covered time and time again, and rather thoroughly. So, here’s a roundup of sixteen articles on the topic of lead generation to keep your strategies fresh and those leads coming in. 1. Are You Using the Right Content for Lead Generation? One of the biggest returns you should see from your content marketing efforts is increased leads. But you can’t see your lead number climb unless you’re using the right kinds of content. This blog post breaks down the kinds of content you should be creating that will generate leads for your business. 2. How to Use PopUps To Get Quality Leads Website popup forms are a great way to generate leads, and if you’re using the right marketing automation software, they’re typically easy to implement. This blog post highlights the different types of website popups you should be using and why each is effective. 3. 7 Ways To Convert Your Blog Traffic From Readers Into Leads Are you getting the most out of your blog posts? Sure, you’re writing blog posts regularly, but are you seeing the kinds of engagement you’re hoping to see? You want people to do more than just read your blog posts; you want them to be inspired into action. Check out this blog post for various different methods you can employ to turn any blog reader into an actual lead. 4. Turn Your Content Into a Cash Cow with These 6 Lead Generation Tools Who doesn’t love a great marketing tool? When it comes to lead generation, we all could use some recommendations on effective and easy-to-use tools. Look no further; this article breaks down six tools you’re sure to love. 5. 5 B2B Lead Generation Hacks You Can Use This Summer Summer is typically a slower time of year when it comes to getting consistent, valuable leads. But, although summer is over, that doesn’t mean these tactics still can’t be of use. We broke down five different hacks to give a go that can result in a lead boost. 6. Be a Door Opener: Lead Generation Basics for Small Business Small businesses are always stretched pretty thin. Getting pulled in numerous different directions typically means you’re not doing all you can in certain areas (ahem…lead gen, for example). Here are some basics that every small business can use to open more doors and see more leads. 7. How to Convert Webinar Leads into Customers Webinars are a great lead generation strategy, and if you’re hosting webinars regularly, that’s no shocker. But taking it one step further can be difficult, so this blog post examines how you can take those great webinar leads and turn them into actual customers. 8. Crummy Leads, Crummy Clients: How to Find Better Business for Your Agency The quality of your leads determines the quality of clients. If your leads aren’t qualified or just don’t seem like they’d be the best fit for your services, then why waste time trying to convert them? Instead, focus your time and effort on finding better business. 9. 5 Guaranteed Ways to Generate Leads with Social Media Having a social media strategy is important for a variety of reasons. It not only shows your audience that your company is active, but it can give a behind-the-scenes look into your business as well. However, what really makes your social media valuable is if it’s generating new leads. In this blog post, you’ll learn some ways to generate leads from your social media efforts. 10. How to Effectively Capture Leads From Your Content It’s good to do a gut check every now and then to make sure your content is doing its part to generate leads effectively. Bookmark this blog post so you can regularly implement these tactics and make sure you’re doing all you can to get those leads coming in from your content. 11. 10 Tips for Generating More Leads in 2017 I know what you’re thinking, “but it’s not 2017!” Don’t worry, the tips we share in this blog post are still just as effective if used today. This is another blog post you’ll want to bookmark and return to time and time again to ensure you’re lead generation efforts stay fresh. 12. 6 Last-Minute Tips for Generating Leads on the Road In-person events are pretty much on hold for the time being, but when things pick back up, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the most out of your networking events. This blog post shares some tips on how to make sure you’re generating leads while on the road. 13. 7 Surefire Ways to Get Your Small Business More Leads Small businesses need to do whatever they can to get up and running in the right direction. This blog post shares some lead generation strategies for new small businesses to test right out the gate. 14. How to Stock Your CRM with Fresh Leads What good is a small business CRM if you don’t have new leads to track and engage with? This article shares some specific ways to keep your CRM stocked with new leads, so you can nurture and move them through the inbound funnel. 15. 7 Ways to Boost Your Mobile Conversions Nowadays, almost everyone is using their mobile device for even the most basic tasks. Mobile is the preferred go-to when website perusing, and in order to stay competitive, businesses need to be taking advantage of their mobile audiences. Read this blog post for tips on boosting your mobile conversions and turning your mobile visitors into leads. 16. How to Automate Your Agency’s Sales Pipeline An automated pipeline is a sales team’s best friend. This blog post provides education on why automating the various steps of your sales team’s pipeline is beneficial, and how having a marketing automation tool will get you there. Don’t get frustrated when you lead generating tactics come up short. Make sure you’re regularly trying various methods and use the blog posts above as your guide.