The Importance of Having a Clear Brand Message (and How to Achieve it) Posted on August 11, 2022August 4, 2022 by Jonathan Herrick Ashley Friedlein — CEO and founder of Guild — once said, “Your brand is a sum total of how people perceive it. Branding is about shaping that perception.” For the perception to be positive and consistent, your brand message must be clear. For small businesses, having a clear brand message is one of the basics of small business branding; however, it isn’t always a priority. There are so many other things you need to accomplish to keep your business running smoothing. But, your brand message depicts your brand’s intrinsic value proposition across marketing channels and campaigns. It’s extremely valuable. Not sure where to get started outlining your brand message? Keep reading. Benefits of Clear Brand Message Shortens the Consideration Stage A clear brand message can shorten the amount of time a potential customer considers using your product or service. With your brand message clear, your prospects and leads will more easily understand what it is you offer, eliminating any second guessing or procrastination associated with moving along to the next stage of the buyer’s journey. People are likely to purchase a product whose benefits they understand the fastest. If your brand message is easy to understand, potential customers won’t take long to consider using it. Streamlines Market Penetration Penetrating the market can be tough. Every small business has tons of competition, and in order to get the funding needed to make it to the next round, investors need to know what your brand is about. And they need to believe in it. If you have a simple yet compelling brand message, investors, customers, potential employees, and the press will be intrigued to learn more. And if their positive perception of the brand matches reality, they will love and share your product. This goes a long way for market acceptance. Minimizes Advertising Expenditure If your brand message is clear, people will form the perception you want them to have about your company faster. That improves the efficiency of your advertising campaigns and reduces the frequency of adverts. This could mean that you’ll only spend a fraction of the marketing budget to hit the conversion rates you want. Improve Referrals With a clear brand message, loyal customers can easily understand your company and its value proposition. It’s also easier for them to get behind it and build advocacy. As a result, it will be easier for them to get friends, family, and followers on board when they push your products through word of mouth. How to Create a Clear and Consistent Brand Message If you don’t steer how people perceive your brand, they’ll create a brand story for you. And, their version of your brand’s story may not match your vision. Whether you want to redefine your brand message or create a new one, here’s how to go about it: 1. Define Your Target Audience You have to create your brand message with someone in mind for it to be effective. As Seth Godin states, “When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one.” If you want to achieve clarity with your brand message, you have to narrow your focus to your archetypal customer. Do rigorous audience research to determine the traits of your potential customers. Define their needs, demographic information, perspective on life, and life experiences. In addition, evaluate how your product meets or exceeds their expectations. 2. Identify Your Brand’s Perceived Message If your brand has been in the market for a while, find out how people currently perceive it. Ask your employees, loyal customers, and external suppliers to describe what they think your brand represents. Does the version of your brand story in the public domain match what you want it to be? If not, your brand message isn’t clearly defined. It needs some tweaking and realignment to reflect what you stand for. 3. Create your Core Brand Message Remember: You want to realign your message so that people can see what your brand stands for. For that to happen, you’ve got to outline the subtle details about your brand, such as: What is your product/service, and how do you do business? What sets your brand apart from other brands in your niche? Why do you offer the service or products? Why should the customer care? Who are your customers? String together this information to create the core brand message. Create a story that conveys your brand’s values and attributes. In addition, build supporting messages around your brand using case studies, testimonials, and data to give it more leverage. 4. Consider Creating a Tagline Taglines aren’t for everyone, but they can be helpful in conveying your brand message. A tagline is a short yet memorable phrase that summarizes your brand message. Ensure the tagline is so simple that a 10-year-old can understand what your brands offer when they see or hear it. Some of the best practices when creating a slogan include: Keep it to one sentence. Ensure it is easily scannable and doesn’t require an explanation. Make sure it captures a solution to the customer’s problem. Make it easily repeatable. 5. Create Consistency Around Your Brand’s Message Creating a brand message is one thing; ensuring it sticks in the minds of your target audience is another. For the message to be consistent throughout your business, make sure employees, press, suppliers, and customers know what it stands for and what it is. Remember that people will learn or hear about your brand on different platforms. Their first impression will shape their view of your brand. Share your brand message and story across all touchpoints to get everyone moving in the same direction. Consistently presenting your brand can increase your revenue by 33%. According to statistics, it takes people five to seven impressions to remember a brand. If the impression is the same across all channels, there’s no doubt that with sustained effort, your brand will become memorable. Enjoy the Benefits of a Clear Brand Message You can’t overlook the significance of a clear brand message. As we’ve already seen, maintaining a clear brand message offers numerous benefits to your company. If you’re getting started, the steps discussed above will help you coin a clear brand message and achieve consistency in how your business appears to interested parties. You could also hire a seasoned branding expert to guide you through the process.
12 Essential Small Business Marketing Strategies Posted on August 4, 2022July 26, 2023 by Jonathan Herrick Let’s face it: there are a million and one small business marketing strategies out there, but if you’re like most business owners, you don’t have the endless budget and time to find the hidden treasures that lead to results. Also, determining which marketing strategy is most effective can take months of testing and evaluation. After growing businesses, testing plenty of marketing campaigns, and helping our small business customers grow, I have come up with the 12 marketing techniques for small businesses that you can use to help your small business flourish. 1. Audience Research Marketing is about sending a relevant message to your target audience to persuade them to buy your product or service. If you don’t know your target audience, you risk focusing your attention too broadly or on the wrong people, which is a catastrophic error in the age of personalization. Successful marketing begins with target audience research — a data-backed process that culminates into elaborate audience persona(s). An audience persona is a profile or visualization of the person you’re trying to reach. It outlines traits such as geographical location, career, gender, motivation, pain points, budget, and more. Audience persona is your “north star” for creating and launching successful marketing strategies, from content marketing to word-of-mouth. It lays the foundation of your marketing strategy and informs the best channels to use for effective marketing. 2. Word of Mouth Advertising Once you’ve laid the foundation, you can get your marketing strategies rolling. One of the most cost-effective small business marketing strategies is to tap into the voice of your customer by getting them to talk about their experience with your business. That means building a great product or service first and then delivering it in an amazing manner to your customers. Encourage customers to talk about your small business on social and professional networks and to share their opinions. This will boost your chances of getting new customers in the door. Typically, people trust their friends and value their opinions. That is why it’s critical to tap into your customers who are willing and able to share your excellent products/services with their tribes. 3. Content Marketing If marketing is the engine that propels your business, content marketing is the gas in the tank. It’s a fantastic way to bring you leads through search engines, but it also works well to educate your customers on best practices. Content marketing is about creating interesting material that your audience is likely to engage with, be it text, video, or audio. It entails the creation of content for publishing on your homepage, blogs, product pages, landing pages, advertising channels, and social media. Content marketing allows you to show that you’re a top expert in your field. This means creating fresh content based on your audience’s biggest challenges and curating content that is relevant to your visitors/readers. Once you have created highly-relevant content, push it out where your audience is engaging, such as Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Your content distribution methods are the only way to harness the full potential of your content marketing strategy. 4. Search Engine Optimization Great content without search engine optimization (SEO) has a low chance of ranking on top of search engine results pages (SERPs). When you create highly-relevant content, you have to optimize it for search engines to increase its visibility when people search for keywords and terms relevant to your products or services. As a small business, it’s tough to compete with the rankings of larger companies when it comes to highly competitive keywords. Start by focusing on keywords with low competition but high commercial intent and search volume. . Once your blog or brand builds authority, throw your hat in the ring for the high-competition keywords. That said, SEO is a multidisciplinary strategy that transcends keyword targeting. Other important SEO aspects you should prioritize include: on-page SEO, local SEO, and site speed optimization. 5. Company Website Every component of your marketing plan is going to come back to your website. Don’t cut corners. It’s where your visitors find out who you are, what you believe in, and what makes you unique. Ultimately, your website exists to convert visitors into leads, and the quality of your leads will improve if you have a great website that attracts the most relevant buyers. Once you get visitors to your website, you’ve got to build a conversion strategy. You’ll want to make sure that your company website has plenty of opportunities for site visitors to provide you with their information. Add sign-up forms to high-traffic pages and landing pages to direct traffic. These pieces will enable you to collect site visitors’ email addresses and add them to your lead nurture campaigns. 6. Blogging Just as your website is the guiding light for lead gen for your small business, the same holds true with your blog. And if you’re not already blogging, you should be. Why? Brands with an active blog generate 67% more leads than those without one. To generate leads, add a call-to-action on each of your blog posts asking readers to take a desired action, be it buying a product, subscribing to your newsletter, signing up for an upcoming webinar, or downloading a whitepaper. But your blog is more than just a lead gen tool. It’s a canvas to share your thoughts and perspectives, to truly position yourself as a thought leader while connecting you to your audience. It’s also part of your SEO strategy. Create pillar posts on your blog and set up an internal linking strategy so your readers can easily find and engage with similar content. 7. Email Marketing Email has come from a basic communication channel to a powerful platform to achieve your marketing goals. Its power is undeniable – for every dollar you invest in email marketing, you see an impressive $36 return on investment. Email is also a great way to build your contact list for your small business. A good strategy to build your list is to simply create valuable and relevant content. Offer that content to site visitors in exchange for their contact information. As long as you promise to share high-quality, valuable insights, your site visitors will think the exchange is worthwhile. As a small business owner, you probably wear many hats and have to juggle multiple tasks to keep the business moving smoothly. A marketing automation tool will help you facilitate effective email nurture so you can do more in less time, saving you hours that you can devote to other important tasks. An easy-to-use tool, like BenchmarkONE, lets you automatically capture visitors from your website and send the right message to them at just the right time. Doing so improves the effectiveness of your marketing strategy while helping you make the most of your marketing budget. 8. Social Media If your small business doesn’t have profiles on top social media sites, build them today. This includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Each one offers a different format, but all allow you to connect and talk to your customers and would-be clients on a channel that they’re already engaged on. Using social media marketing is a must to ensure that your brand and your customer base grow. Most importantly, keep your fingers on the pulse of the tilting social media landscape, which includes joining new platforms. If your brand is yet to lay a mark on TikTok, you need to move swiftly to ride the wave of the highly-creative and playful channel. With over one billion monthly active users globally, TikTok presents an opportunity to build brand awareness, promote your products, and engage potential customers, particularly the younger generation. 9. Event or Trade Shows Trade shows and special promotional events are fantastic strategies for launching a new product or service, driving brand awareness, and getting in front of your target audience. If you are attending a trade show, swap out a sponsorship package for an opportunity to speak on a topic relevant to your audience. It will keep your cost down and elevate your status as a thought leader in your niche. Bonus tip: Don’t forget to capture the full ROI of your event! Be sure to connect with prospects on social media and capture email addresses so you can run pre, during, and post-show campaigns. 10. Online Advertising One of the fastest ways to get in front of potential buyers that are actively searching online is online advertising. With PPC advertising, such as Google Adwords and Bing, you can set your budget for the keywords that your audience is searching for and measure the cost per conversion. Remember to not just set it and forget it. For example, adding negative keywords will eliminate unwanted clicks, keeping your spending down. You should also test new keywords to ensure you are optimizing your spending wisely. Also, if you are looking to increase brand exposure, remarketing is a great way to do it. Remarketing allows you to hyper-target visitors that have been to your site that you would like to bring back, with the goal of converting into a customer or sign-up. 11. Free Promotional Tools Budget constraints could limit the options you can use as far as marketing goes. One way to cut overhead is to use free marketing and promotional tools. Evaluate your strategies and determine which activities require premium tools and which ones you could do with free software. For example, if you’re only just getting started with content marketing, you can use free keyword research tools to guide you through the initial phase. Once you scale and your strategy gather momentum, you can turn to paid keyword research and content optimization tools. Sign up for BenchmarkONE’s free plan today! 12. Networking and Partnership Building Finally, always work on networking to promote your business. This is perhaps one of the most valuable ways to grow your expertise and showcase your skills to would-be partners and customers. Networking is a cost-effective way to drive sales leads and opportunities for strategic partnerships. All of these approaches are effective but don’t forget that In the spirit of cutting overheads, it’s okay to only focus on strategies that you know will bring the best results. Start small with your strategies and experiment with different aspects to determine what works. Channel your resources, effort, and time toward sustainable methods of generating revenue. Good luck incorporating these 12 essential small business marketing strategies into the way you promote and operate your business. Doing so will help you spend less time looking for solutions, so you have more time to devote to what you do best.
What Marketing Strategy to Choose for Online Business in 2022 Posted on August 3, 2022September 22, 2022 by Guest Author In today’s world, you can often face this situation: you are the owner of a great website that offers quality products at affordable prices, but the website’s traffic decreases daily. Does this picture sound familiar? What can you do in this case? A better, more effective marketing strategy is what your online business needs right now. What Will a Marketing Strategy do for Your Online Business? A solid marketing strategy facilitates the following processes for online businesses: The formation of the company image Digitization of business Evaluation of results, as this is done on a single metric system Selection of new marketing tools as a marketing strategy will allow you to determine which tools fit your goals, objectives, etc. Objective evaluation of the subordinates’ and contractors’ performance There are various types of marketing strategies your business could implement. However, all should include the following: Specified objectives. For example, increase brand awareness by 20%, and increase sales by 15%. Fundamental indicators. It is necessary to specify existing data on areas for improvement; otherwise, even the most specific objectives will turn out to be just a dream. Specific deadlines. For example, six months to solve the problem. 3 Classic Marketing Strategies for Online Businesses As stated earlier, there are various different kinds of marketing strategies your small business could use. However, there are three classic approaches you should seriously consider using. 1. Comprehensive Marketing Strategy A comprehensive marketing strategy for online business implies the expansion of all marketing components used together with modernizing and promoting your website. Logically, using a comprehensive marketing strategy for online business is more effective than, for example, the implementation of individual elements. In this case, the primary synergy law comes into play, where the addition of independent tools increases the result. You should consider that a good result is guaranteed only if the marketing strategy is controlled by experts who know all the nuances of the website’s promotion process. Only competent and experienced professionals can consider all the subtleties of the process, involve the necessary marketing channels, and apply the right tools in time. Let’s look at an example. Suppose your business is within the educational sector, and you give video lessons. Your marketing strategy for your online business may include the following components: Development and promotion of a website Publication of unique content (articles, videos, etc.) Promotion of a blog or group on social networks Ads in Google and on social media Such a complex marketing strategy will be more effective than using any one marketing component or channel. Of course, it will cost more, but your expenses will be justified with the return. 2. Digital PR Digital PR differs from traditional PR only in the area of influence. This marketing strategy for online businesses is suitable for brand promotion and target audience engagement. The optimal variant of PR is the publication of information about the company in popular web media among targeted users. Your articles should be unique (because they will be more in demand). In addition, the “right” place of publication is crucial. It should be a media that has already gained popularity and credibility with users. This way, you will be able to draw attention to your brand. The application of digital PR is similar to the usual one. The following promotion tools are the most effective: Publication of news on your website with the possibility of distribution to social networks. Thus you will establish feedback with the potential consumer, due to which not only the demand will increase for unique material, but also your website traffic. Publication of your unique articles on other similar websites. We mean the publication of information about products, promotions, and additional company updates. Cooperation with famous brands and joint implementation of projects. These can be competitions, seminars, conferences, or master classes, which you will hold together with a company that has already gained popularity with your targeted audience. 3. Viral or Guerrilla Marketing Strategy Viral or guerrilla marketing is based on developing and posting a viral message (be it a unique article, presentation, or other). The popularity of guerrilla marketing is multiplying, as it is considered the fastest information distribution tool on the Internet. This marketing strategy for online businesses is applicable to almost all areas of activity on the Internet. It can be a variety of resources, such as social networks, communities, blogs, etc. But it must be able to move freely on the Internet. It should not depend on the participation of the creator. A guerrilla or “viral” marketing strategy distributes the maximum possible number of links to your website. A search engine will definitely find all the links, and your website will take higher positions, corresponding to specific user queries. That is why guerrilla marketing can be considered one of the best marketing strategies for online businesses. Conclusion There are three rules for a successful marketing strategy for an online business: A marketing strategy should be based on specific data. Accept this as an indisputable fact. To avoid ending up with nothing, you can not act on a hunch. Of course, some people have a gut feeling, but it is better to back it up with actual data than shoot in the dark. Gather all the information you can gather. Having a lot of data for marketing strategy development will help you to do it as accurately and efficiently as possible. Don’t forget, “Knowledge is power,” but “survival of the fittest.” These quotes characterize today’s market perfectly. Do your data analysis. Of course, to make the information you find helpful, you must understand and use it correctly, and for this, you must work with it. The more ingenious your conclusions, the more you will gain a foothold in the market. Lastly, don’t forget that your marketing strategy should depend on the objectives of your online business. To choose the right marketing strategy, make sure you ask yourself, “Why does my online business need a marketing strategy?”
4 Qualities SMBs Should Look For When Vetting Content Marketing Agencies Posted on July 28, 2022December 8, 2022 by Natalie Slyman Content marketing is a pretty broad term. While some firms put a lot of emphasis on the “marketing” side of the equation, others may be strictly content production houses. So how do you make sure that your agency — or the agency that you’re thinking of hiring — is worth the money? You start by knowing exactly what to look for. The best measures of success for content marketing aren’t always intuitive. Only 42% of B2B marketers consider themselves successful at content marketing. Being able to judge whether your content marketing agency and the content they’re creating for your business is checking off the right boxes is critical — both in terms of meeting your goals and hitting the sweet spot with your ROI. Read on as we discuss the things that matter when you’re evaluating an agency’s performance and the utility they could bring to your content strategy. Why Content Marketing Matters Now More Than Ever Peter Drucker — a famous management consultant — once said, “Because its sole purpose is to create a customer, a business has two principal functions: innovation and marketing.” Over the years, the first function has become the mainstay for many brands, and now, the market is awash with innovative products, solutions, services, technologies, etc. The saturation has certainly made marketing more important than ever before. Innovation alone isn’t going to make your product or service stand out from the crowd. It requires a clever dose of marketing to take it to potential customers’ doorstep and convince them to buy. That’s the only way to generate real revenue. Content marketing, in particular, is now the lifeblood of many businesses in the midst of the tilting industry. Beyond driving traffic, generating leads, and maintaining audience awareness, it reassures your audience during times of uncertainty. For example, it’s a great channel to show customers how your business is responding to COVID-19 threats. Moreover, in the digital era, user privacy is increasingly becoming the top-most concern for customers. Industry behemoths such as Apple and Google are jumping the cookieless technology bandwagon. Content marketing is an excellent channel to keep customers informed on steps you’re taking to enhance their digital privacy. Beyond that, content marketing enables you to tell your brand story the exact way you want it told. Remember: The digital landscape leaves a lot of room for misinformation. To cut back on that and ensure the story being written about your company is accurate, you need to take the reins and spearhead your story through content marketing. Qualities of a Reputable Content Marketing Agency 1. Transparency A good content marketing agency will have no problem illustrating its value. Any agency that you hire should be willing and able to answer questions that you have about their performance, including things like: What is your approach to content marketing? How is your approach different from your competitors? What are some examples of your biggest successes? Have there been any big failures? If so, what are you doing differently now? What kind of ROI can your clients expect? What do you see as our biggest content challenges? What about the biggest content opportunities? Questions like these are designed to go deeper than standard interview queries, though there are some overlaps. Because here’s the thing: every content marketing agency is going to pitch themselves as your best option. It’s your job during the vetting process to really dig into the key points and draw your own conclusions about how the agency measures up. 2. Proven Track Record Beyond transparency, the agency needs to show real results. That’s the only way you know they’re going to help you achieve your content marketing goals. Has the agency worked with similar businesses on similar projects? What did they do right that led to the client seeing the desired results? What did they do wrong, and how did they handle the whole situation to foolproof the client’s investment? What were the results like? Increasing traffic, leads, or brand awareness? The result should be supported by real numbers. A good agency should have no problem responding to these questions. It would be better if the agency could show the progress they have made in fine-tuning its standard operating procedures. The content marketing industry is ever-changing, and if an agency is still stuck with techniques of yesteryears, it’s a red flag. 3. Strong References Once you get the agency’s side of the story, time to listen to the client’s testaments. The content marketing agency you hire shouldn’t be shy about sharing their references — nor should you be shy about calling them. It’s not uncommon for agencies and their clients to have differing accounts about how the relationship and campaign went, and you’re going to want both sides of the story to make an informed hiring decision. Some questions to ask the references that you’re provided include: What was your experience like? Would you say that [agency name] provided a valuable service? Are you still working with them? If not, why? Would you recommend we hire [agency name]? Why or why not? Call more than one reference if you can, focusing on businesses that are similar to your own in size. It requires some legwork on your end but considering that the investment you’re going to be putting into your content isn’t a small one, it’s worth taking the time. 4. Access Cutting-Edge Technology Assuming the client’s and agency’s stories align, you need to get an inside story about the tools the agency uses. There are two sides to the agency’s software stack. First is the technology it uses to get clients’ projects done, from keyword research tools to content distribution. Second are the tools the agency uses to conduct research (about its processes) and review its performance to determine the most effective strategies for each client’s industry. What does the agency’s software stack entail? Which keyword research, email marketing, project management, scheduling tools, etc., does it use: free or premium? Does the agency use cutting-edge reporting tools to gain real-time insights about your projects? What marketing automation tools and strategies does it put into action to maximize efficiency? What client engagement technique does it employ? Video marketing or gamification? 5. A Versatile Workforce Beyond technology, successful agencies have a great team of experts in different fields. It’s always wise to check the “about us” section to see the team that keeps the agency thriving. You want an agency that’s staffed with experts in web design, programming, pay-per-click, social media marketing, SEO, sales, analytics, and other content marketing fields. 6. Good Data Any content marketing agency that you work with needs to know their way around the data, so find out what their strategy is for tracking and analyzing the data around your campaign. Do they use an automated marketing platform? Google Analytics? Some other all-encompassing analytics dashboard? Good data is tantamount to good content marketing — without the former, it’s going to be very difficult to know how the latter is doing. Don’t settle for an agency that doesn’t have a comprehensive approach to data. Old-school tactics are no match for today’s content marketing environment, and you never want the success or failure of your campaign to be based on guesswork. A good way to evaluate an agency’s relationship with data: ask them for some. Request clear numbers on the performance of one or more campaigns (these can be anonymized) and see what metrics are tracked and how. 7. Values Great Communication Open and honest communication is key to the success of any relationship. A good content marketing agency keeps an open line of communication. It keeps you on top of things such as the project status and the results you’re reaping. You’ll know whether the agency is great at communication from your first engagement. Notice how the contact person listens to you as you enquire about their services. If the agent is attentive and responds to questions in a comprehensive manner, it’s a good sign. Moreover, a good agency will circle back and solicit feedback after every milestone. 8. Makes Notable Industry Contributions A good agency strives to make the industry a better place for everyone. They deliver commendable results when working on clients’ projects. At the same time, they make contributions that benefit everyone in their industry, not just their clients. The reputable agencies we know delve (especially those that have been in the industry for a long time) into research to better understand the industry and trends that are shaping it. They know how the industry is changing and are well-prepared to deal with the contingencies. Moreover, they don’t keep the things they’ve learned to themselves. Instead, they share the knowledge with industry partakers in the form of industry research reports, eBooks, white papers, and thought leadership pieces.
8 SEO Strategies for Driving Traffic to Your Website (with Examples) Posted on July 27, 2022February 15, 2023 by Natalie Slyman SEO may be the single most important marketing strategy for a small business. It brings potential customers to you and it can expand your reach since it allows you to tap into an interested online audience. If you haven’t yet invested in it, you’re not only behind the curve; you’re missing out on tons of opportunities to convert more customers. Still, need some convincing? Here are some SEO statistics you can’t ignore: 68% of online experiences start with a search engine 63% of all shopping starts online, including purchases that happen in a store 70% of online marketers state SEO is better than PPC when it comes to sales 66% of consumers perform online research before making a purchase 76% of consumers who search for a local business visit a related business in 24 hours People use search engines frequently to make purchase decisions or to find businesses that will fulfill their needs. It’s important for your business to be on the first page of Google (or, even better, listed as one of the first three organic search results). Mastering SEO can be confusing, which is why a lot of businesses spend tons of money hiring SEO consultants or agencies. But SEO is a journey, not a race, and seeing results can take time. That means you could be exhausting your marketing budget before seeing anything worthwhile. So, before you look into outsourcing, consider DIY’ing your SEO. Trust us, it can be done, especially if you try some of the quick strategies listed below. What is SEO? First, if you’re a beginner to online marketing, you might not understand what we mean when we say SEO. Simply put, it’s the process of making your website visible in search engine result pages (SERPs). Since Google owns almost 95% of the global search engine traffic, we’re going to talk about Google only when teaching you how to excel at SEO. When a user searches using Google, Google uses a proprietary algorithm with over 200 signals when choosing what webpage to show. Google scans every single page on the web and stores the data. When a user types something into the Google search box, Google lists in order from top to bottom the most relevant and authoritative pages to answer the user’s search query. You want to ensure your content is written and optimized to be on the first page, yet keep in mind the Google algorithm is constantly changing. Successful SEO can seem like black magic, but there are common strategies that are known to work if done correctly. Strategies for Driving Traffic to Your Website Using SEO 1. Build Content Clusters Google likes websites that ooze Expertise, Authority, and Trust (E.A.T). Your web pages on a particular topic are only going to rank if Google deems those pages to have high topical relevance to a search query. One of the best ways to demonstrate topical relevance is to create content that’s rooted around content clusters. A content cluster consists of a pillar page and content clusters. The pillar page is the foundation and the central keyword theme of the content cluster. It’s a long-form piece that covers a topic in a broad yet to-the-point way to build authority and relevance on its subject matter. On the other hand, cluster content refers to articles with a narrow focus on a specific topic relevant to the main keyword theme. They are short-form articles, blogs, or guides that link back to the pillar page. For example, if your pillar page title is “ What is Remote Work?” you could have content clusters focusing on areas such as: Characteristics of remote work Remote work policy Remote work legal issues How to build a remote work culture The remote work software stack How to manage remote teams, etc. Jonas Sickler, SEO manager at Terakeet, states, “Content clusters help search engines understand the relationship, context, and hierarchy of web pages within the family of content.” 2. Improve Keyword Strategy A strong keyword strategy focuses on attracting both customers at the bottom of the sales funnel who are ready to make a buying decision, as well as customers at the top of the sales funnel who are just doing a bit of light research. Conduct Keyword Research To understand what keywords your business should use, you want to perform keyword research before you even launch SEO tactics or a blog. Keep in mind that now that more and more companies are performing SEO and content marketing, search engine results have become increasingly competitive. You’ll obviously want to rank for relevant keywords, but you don’t want to go after words that every other brand within your industry is vying for. Conduct Keyword Gap Analysis Another great way to make the most out of your SEO strategy is to conduct a keyword gap analysis. Look around and pinpoint some of your fiercest competitors — those that you compete with online. Use software such as the SEMRush keyword gap analysis tool to identify keywords that the competitors rank for but that you don’t. Create relevant content around these keywords or update old articles, blogs, and guides with relevant topics to cover those keywords. 3. Update Existing Content When it comes to creating top-ranking content, you don’t have to start from scratch all the time. Sometimes, optimizing existing content yields more gains than creating completely new pieces. However, not all old pieces of content are worth an upgrade. You’ll see significant gain only when you optimize top-performing pages on your site. Head over to the Google search console, and on the left side panel, click Behavior → Site Content → pages. Check the content performance and pick those that are doing well (high volume page views) or those with high potential yet lie on page two of Google SERPs. Go to Market Muse or the content optimization tool you use to find out where each piece is lacking. Market Muse pinpoints the keywords you need to work in, and the target word count to give each article the impetus to jump to page one. Improve the content by adding new topics or expanding upon existing topics to close all content gaps. Add new images, incorporate new keywords, and add new internal links to improve the content quality. 4. Optimize For Future Snippet If you’re not prioritizing featured snippets, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Ranking for featured snippets (position zero on Google Serps) can increase traffic to your website by 30%. Beyond web traffic, ranking for featured snippets improves your brand authority and click-through rates. For starters, the featured snippet is the excerpt of dedicated content that is located at the top of Google SERPs. It provides the searcher with a concise answer to a search query, and it can feature text or video content. What does it take to rank for position zero? Use questions in your article. According to a study by SEMRush, 29% of search queries that trigger featured snippets are question-based. That is, they start with a question-based word such as do, can, why, etc. Date your content. More often than not, Google picks the most up-to-date content for the featured snippet. It can only decide how recent an article is if there’s a publish date. Keep your content current: Google tends to favor the most current articles. The same study found that 70% of featured snippets return content published not later than three years. Keep in mind that featured snippets can take one of the four formats: listicle, table, video, or paragraph. As you write your content, use these formats naturally within your articles. SEMRush recommends keeping each of the text formats to 40-50 words whilst making it as succinct as possible. 5. Optimize your Site Once you understand the keywords your customers use to find your business, it’s time to optimize and speed up your website. SEO website optimization touches six critical areas: Title Tags This is the copy that appears in the search result as the description of your page. It also appears within the tab of your webpage. Title tags carry a lot of weight and should absolutely use your focus keywords. For instance, here’s the title that appears on Crisp’s home page when you search for “Chatbot Software:” The same title appears in the browser tab of their home page. Header Tags This refers to the headlines used on your site with the H1-H6 text formatting. H1 and H2 are most important to Google — make sure your page has a clear title using your keywords in an H1 tag. Back to our Crisp example, their H1 header includes the same “Chatbot Software” keyword that they focused on in their title tag. Page Copy Use your short-tail keywords in the page copy throughout your website, but don’t overdo it. Google is smart and will pick up on keywords even if you don’t use them in every sentence (and you shouldn’t). Always keep your user in mind: does the copy read smoothly for your potential customer while also strategically using keywords throughout your pages? Bingo. For instance, Crisp uses target keywords like “Chatbot Software” and “Conversational Experience” on their home page; they still flow nicely and don’t seem forced. URL Structure Your website URLs are a great opportunity to highlight keywords. You want to make sure words are separated by hyphens, written in all lowercase, and use clear keywords. Back to our Crips example, they use the URL https://crisp.chat/en/livechat/ on their live chat page. Images Google image search is another place SEO matters — for every picture you put on your website, make sure you name it with the appropriate (and relevant) keywords. It’s also important to include an “alt text” tag and image “title” tag. The “alt text” tag is the text that will appear if your image does not load, telling the user what the image is. The “title” tag can offer a short description of the image. For instance, in some web browsers, the image title will appear when you hover over an image. Both of these tags matter to Google and help give context to your images in search. When we inspect the live chat image on Crisp’s feature page, we can see they’ve given it the alt text tag of “live-chat-main-illustration-chatbox.” Meta Descriptions The meta description is the two lines of text that appear below the clickable link in search engine results. It’s important to make sure you fill out meta description information. Otherwise, Google will choose and pull the copy directly from your webpage. Each of these parts of your website can be changed by your web developer or within a CMS platform such as WordPress if your entire site is built that way. 6. Build a Proper Internal Linking Strategy You don’t have to create new content to boost organic traffic. Sometimes, all your website needs is a proper internal linking strategy to get more eyeballs on the low-ranking pages, particularly those that have stagnated on page two. Here’s how it works: An article ranking on the first page has built better link authority and relevance signals than an article on page two. If you link both articles, you spread the link authority and relevance signal juice to the low-ranking article giving it the wings to fly into page one. 7. Prioritize Content Distribution Don’t underestimate the power of content distribution. As Ross Simmonds — CEO at Foundation Inc — states, “Create once, distribute forever.” Most brands fail with content marketing because they don’t distribute their content properly. Remember: organic SEO is a single content distribution channel; if you only depend on it to broaden your content reach, you won’t get the desired results. To significantly improve your website traffic, you have to use other distribution channels. One way is to repurpose your content. Turn your blog post into a Twitter thread or a YouTube Video. Alternatively, write a blog post capturing the most valuable points in your webinar video. Moreover, every time you update a blog post, make sure to inform your followers on social media. The content repurposing list is endless — just be creative and leverage every opportunity to a new set of eyeballs on your content. Beyond repurposing, try guest posting on healthy websites to build backlinks to internal pages. 8. Create Content That Ranks Content and SEO go together like eggs and bacon — I truly believe you can’t have one without the other. Why? Because one thing we do know about Google’s mysterious algorithm is that it puts a lot of weight on fresh, new content. Here’s how you can utilize content to win at SEO: Launch and maintain a blog. A company blog is the number one way to constantly create new content that features short- and long-tail keywords. The more content you create, the more keywords you’ll rank for and grow new potential customers visiting your site. I’ve seen businesses grow their traffic by more than 1,000% in 18 months by just sharing regular blog posts. Build out landing pages. There are likely at least 5 – 10 landing pages that would make sense to create for your business and put within your navigation. These could describe a service or answer a question. Think beyond the About and Contact page — how can you utilize your keywords in thorough, content, and multimedia-rich pages? Testimonials and case studies. Gathering reviews from your clients and writing testimonials and case studies are great ways to naturally feature keywords on your site. It’s also an awesome way to showcase your customer service and help potential clients understand why they should use your business. Use These SEO Strategies to Increase Traffic If you perform keyword research, optimize your website for better SEO performance and create consistent, fresh content, your business will be leaps and bounds ahead in the SEO game. A great way to tell if your effort is paying off is to benchmark the keywords and organic traffic on your site before doing the above strategies, then check in 3-6 months how much traffic has grown thanks to your SEO techniques. SEO can seem like a lofty goal for a small business, but with a little time and effort, it will definitely pay off.
6 Must-Have Features for Your Agency’s Website Posted on July 21, 2022July 14, 2022 by Tricia O'Donnell We live in an age when having a website for your company is an absolute must. A website helps assure people that your business is legit, and it’s where potential customers turn to learn more about you and what it is you offer. As someone who works at an agency, you’re probably very used to putting your clients’ needs first. While that’s not a terrible thing, it can definitely end up setting you back. If your agency is to build its business and get more clients, it needs to prioritize its marketing, including fleshing out and updating its website. An agency website with the right features will help you attract the right prospects, increase your credibility, provide your business with organic traffic, generate leads, and ultimately create more customers. Read on for some features your agency website should have. 1. Examples of Your Work Your website is a great place to show off some of the impressive work you’ve done for other clients. Make sure you have a designated and easy-to-find spot to showcase this work; that way, when potential clients come to your site, they’ll know exactly where to find it. It’s also a good idea to explain each project, stating what the context was, the problem to solve, and any other parameters your team was working within. This shows other potential clients exactly what your team is capable of and entices them to work with you. 2. Easy Navigation Your site’s navigation is maybe the most important feature of your website, as it impacts the user and customer experience. If website visitors have a hard time getting to important pages or accessing relevant information, it leads to higher bounce rates, meaning that visitors will be spending less time on your website. It could also eat away at your credibility and ultimately affect your business. Ensure your navigation menu is not hidden or located in an obscure space, use names that your target audience is familiar with, and consider their needs – what would your prospects be more interested in when they land on your agency’s website? You can also take advantage of the bottom navigation. Use the top navigation to highlight essential pages your prospects are likely to find interesting, and use the bottom navigation for other important pages you want to showcase. Top Navigation: Product/services Examples of work Resources About section Bottom Navigation: Contact information Career opportunities Blog If you still aren’t sure what to put where look at some other sites on the web. See what your competitors are doing and take notes from websites you enjoy. If you are on a site and enjoy the experience, write down why and see if its something that makes sense for your site as well. 3. About-Us Page The about-us page is where your website visitors can learn more about your agency and the individuals that work there. Most website owners do not treat the about-us page with the seriousness it deserves, but when done right, it can create a level of transparency that your potential clients can really appreciate. You can make it a powerful sales tool for your agency by approaching your content in a goal-oriented way. Your agency’s about-us page should: Tell the story about how you started your agency Explain your business to prospects in a few paragraphs Express your agency’s core values Clearly state your unique value proposition Show the faces behind your company Use persuasive copy that appeals to your prospects’ emotions This is the page you can have some more fun with and show off the personality of your agency. It’s always a good idea to provide headshots of your employees, their names, and job titles so prospective clients can see the people behind the work. 4. Comprehensive Case Studies With about 77% of online buyers regularly reading reviews to make buying decisions in 2021, it’s important to understand the importance of case studies. They can provide potential customers with a detailed analysis of how your services and product offerings helped solve specific client problems. The goal here is to paint your client’s success with your agency’s services and show prospects how they can get the same results when they do business with you. Case studies are different than examples of your work. While yes, they show potential clients what you do, it’s more about showing them a very specific issue you helped a client solve and explaining the results to prove you delivered on your promise. This helps set your agency apart from the many other agencies potential clients have to choose from. Dedicate a page on your website to case studies and make it easy for website visitors to locate it, as we did with our agency partners here at BenchmarkONE. This page is accessible through our top navigation under “Agencies.” 5. A Helpful Blog A blog with helpful, valuable, and accurate content is a must-have feature for your agency website. It can build your agency credibility by presenting you as an expert in your industry. An excellent blog section helps you share valuable educational content with your audience. By consistently publishing blog content, you’re able to build trust and create content to share in your email nurture campaigns and on your social media calendar. What’s more, when you prioritize SEO in your content creation, you’ll create a blog that ranks in search results, making you even more accessible to your audience searching for resources online. 6. Compact Contact Section Some websites leave out the contact page, but we do not recommend doing so. You want to remain accessible and show site visitors that you’re willing to get in touch with them if needed. This can go a long way when you’re continuously looking to build your book of business. Maximize the contact page section on your agency’s website by doing the following. Make sure finding it is straightforward for prospects Provide another option to contact you (e.g., your email address) apart from the contact form on the page Keep it simple – a form, phone number, and/or email address Have a clear confirmation message/pop-up that appears to prospects who reach out to you, letting them know that you’ll be in contact with them shortly Keep your form simple, and do not demand too much information from prospects 7. Website Forms and Landing Pages You want to take advantage of all the site visits you’re getting by creating a way to track those visitors and enroll them into your email marketing. A great way to do this is to add pop-up forms on your website. You can add these forms to high-traffic pages and encourage visitors to sign up for your email marketing. Once you have their information, you can send them blog content and add them to your drip campaigns. You’ll also want to have landing pages on your site, so you have a place to direct people to download valuable resources, like guides, eBooks, or whitepapers. You can create digital campaigns around these landing pages for even more exposure and to generate more leads for your agency. Improve your business visibility and attract more leads to your agency by implementing the above must-have features for your website. If you’re interested in learning more about how BenchmarkONE helps agencies like yours build their retainer business with our all-in-one CRM and marketing automation software, partner with us today.
16 Must-Follow Marketing Thought Leaders Posted on July 20, 2022August 25, 2022 by Jonathan Herrick In a time when everyone is a self-proclaimed influencer, it can be hard to spot the real deal. And when it comes to the marketing industry, thought leaders are a dime a dozen, each claiming they know what the next marketing trends and tools are. Knowing who’s actually got the goods to share and is worth following isn’t always easy. And with the time constraints of running a business and all of the content out there, it can be tough to read every blog and social channel to find the best guidance. That’s why we’ve assembled 16 real-deal thought leaders that are great resources. Check them out and make sure you follow them on social media for the latest tips. 16 Marketing Thought Leaders to Follow To put you on the path to success, we’ve created a list of the nine marketing thought leaders you must follow: 1. Bryan Kramer Bryan Kramer believes that “social media is so popular because it allows us to control our personal brand: aligning the perceptions others have of us with our perception of ourselves.” He is the CEO of one of Silicon Valley’s fastest-growing companies, PureMatter, a TedTalk, and keynote speaker, and a bestselling author. He focuses on the value of human-to-human interaction through sharing stories on social media and is shedding new light on innovative ways to connect with your audience. As you build your small business social media strategy, Bryan Kramer is one to watch. 2. Adam Grant Adam Grant is the author of two bestselling books, including “Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success.” He proposes that the purpose of thought leadership is to craft and distribute content that improves others’ lives. When you focus on promoting yourself, you don’t gain influence or trust. As content marketing becomes a foundational part of an effective marketing strategy, keep in mind that sending your customers self-promotional content is not the best way to serve them. 3. Dorie Clark As a regular Forbes and Harvard Business Review contributor, Dorie Clark has become an authority on building a community centered on thought leadership. Her strategies for building a following and creating thought leadership content are a great resource for any small business owner. If you’re looking to be an influencer within your niche, Dorie Clark is the perfect example to emulate. 4. Ross Simmonds Ross Simmonds is a renowned digital marketing strategist, keynote speaker, and author. He’s the CEO and founder of Foundation Marketing and Hustle and Grind eCommerce store. Ross mostly tweets about marketing and SaaS. 5. Gary Vaynerchuk As a serial entrepreneur and early backer of Twitter, Gary Vaynerchuk knows what’s up when it comes to building a business. As a strong proponent of the value of content marketing, Gary hosts an extremely useful podcast alongside inspirational (and educational) posts and Q&As on all of his popular social accounts. Building and running a business isn’t easy work. Give him a follow if you’re looking for a daily boost. 6. Carson Tate Carson Tate is a renowned business coach who prides herself on the expertise to deliver the best productivity training. Carson is also the founder of Working Simply, a consultancy agency that serves executives at Fortune 500 companies. If you want to learn new productivity hacks, you should follow her on Twitter, where she posts bite-sized productivity tips. 7. Jay Baer Jay Baer’s claim to fame (besides his successful online publication, Convince & Convert) is being “the most retweeted person in the world among digital marketers.” He’s a well-known speaker, marketer, and customer service guru and could teach you a thing or two about building a blog. If you’re interested in learning more about creating thoughtful content that will connect with your audience and build a following, Jay’s your guy. 8. Flavilla Fongang Flavilla Fongang is an award-winning brand strategist, honored as one of the top two most influential women in tech by Tech Brians Talk. She is a keynote speaker and brand advisor for BBC — that’s a hallmark of a true thought leader. Moreover, Flavilla is the founder of 3 Colours Rule — a branding agency that serves reputable brands such as Meta, Vodafone, and Toyota. She shares nuggets of wisdom on advertising, and you should follow her if you want to learn how to get the most out of targeted online ads. 9. Larry Kim As founder & CTO of WordStream, a pay-per-click (PPC) management and services company, Larry Kim’s knowledge of PPC, Adwords, and digital marketing run deep. Larry is also the CEO of MobileMonkey, a Facebook Messenger marketing solutions provider. One of the industry’s brightest minds, Larry is regarded as the most influential PPC experts and has the most socially shared PPC article ever. So, if you are looking for marketing thought leadership and helpful advice on how to drive more online traffic and convert more customers, his blog is a great place to bookmark. 10. Anthony Johndrow Anthony Johndrow is the reputation management king. He worked at the Reputation Institute for years and has drawn a clear connection between thought leadership and reputation management. As a small business, your reputation will make or break you. Anthony Johndrow’s site provides insights for small businesses on building a reputation roadmap and leveraging technology to make your brand stronger. 11. Dave Kerpen Dave Kerpen is the founder of Likeable, a social media content agency. His goal is to help small companies transform into #LikeableBusinesses by automating their social accounts and saving time to be put toward making sales and growing businesses. Social media is a must for small businesses these days, so check out Likable if you’re strapped for time! 12. Patrick Ambron Patrick Ambron is the founder of BrandYourself, a reputation management tool that allows “you to control what people find when they Google your name.” When it comes to personal branding, he’s ahead of the curve. If you’re looking to improve your search results (or your branding overall), check out BrandYourself as a starting point. 13. Seth Godin Seth Godin is often referred to as the “godfather of modern marketing” for his extensive work in the industry. Inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame in 2013, Seth Godin has been the shining light for many in the marketing sector. Follow Seth if you’re looking for a resource to help you learn to market your business effectively. His blog — Seth’s.blog — imparts great marketing insights that help individuals hone their marketing skills. In addition, he has authored 19 books — including best sellers “Tribes” and “Purple Cow.” 14. Mel Carson If you’re looking for a thought leader to help you improve your personal branding, look no further than Mel Carson. Mel began his career as an editor for LookSmart — a U.S. search engine, and has gone on to play instrumental roles in digital advertising. He’s the founder and CEO of Delightful Communications — an award-winning B2B technology marketing agency. Mel is a renowned expert in the personal branding realms, and he’s one of the most sought-after speakers at digital PR, personal branding, and digital marketing conferences and events. Follow Mel if you want to broaden your understanding of digital PR and personal branding. 15. Dana DiTomaso Dana DiTomaso is an award-winning speaker and digital marketing expert who teaches brands to prioritize online engagement over offline ads. She’s the president and partner at Kick Point — an agency that helps businesses do better digital marketing. Follow Dana if you’re getting started with digital marketing, as she shares actionable advice to help brands smoothly transition from offline to digital. She’s also a valuable resource for brands that are looking to build personas for targeted campaigns. 16. Mari Smith Mari Smith is often known as the “queen of Facebook” for good reasons. She’s a premier Facebook marketing expert who has made a name as a social media thought leader. She’s also a keynote speaker and a live video host. If you’re looking to produce quality social media content that followers can’t resist reading and clicking on, you need to follow Mari. She imparts evergreen advice on how to improve social media outreach and engagement. If you want to unlock your content’s potential through distribution, follow Ross Simmonds. He’s a great advocate for proper content distribution and often shares effective content distribution hacks on Twitter.
Marketing and Sales Funnels: What’s the Difference? Posted on July 14, 2022July 7, 2022 by Tricia O'Donnell As a business owner or marketer, you spend a lot of time promoting your products and services to get the attention of prospects, generate leads, increase conversions, and ultimately grow your business. So how can you identify what matters most to your prospects in each stage of their buyer journey? Marketing funnels make it easy for you to prioritize and implement your marketing strategy. Let’s look at what marketing funnels are and the types to consider for your business. What is a Marketing Funnel? The marketing funnel comprises all the inbound marketing touchpoints that a prospect interacts with in a specific sequence. These touchpoints may be an email, paid advertisement, podcast, video, eBook, whitepaper, blog post, and other forms of communication that lead them through a journey to make them take action (such as buying something). What is a Sales Funnel? A sales funnel is a type of marketing funnel. It refers to the journey prospects go through with the sole aim of purchasing a product or service from you. It takes the prospect from the top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) to the bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) to make them paying customers. Why are Sales Funnels Important? Not every prospect that comes into contact with your brand or business will make it from the TOFU to BOFU. A sales funnel helps you identify the different touchpoints working with prospects, what marketing activities to improve on, and other marketing funnels to include in the journey to facilitate a purchase. The Different Stages of the Sales Funnel Prospects who move into your funnel will go from one stage of your funnel to another even if they don’t end up making a purchase. The stages of the buyer’s journey through the funnel are classified based on interest. The stages are: 1. The Awareness Stage This is the primary stage where the prospect first contacts your brand, product, or service. TOFU activities in this stage may include clicking an ad on social media and clicking onto your website after a Google search. Whether the prospect moves from the awareness stage to the next stage could well depend on the way that you present your brand/business. 2. The Interest Stage The awareness stage arouses the prospect’s interest in your business, product, or service. Prospects will weigh the problems they are trying to solve with your offerings and value proposition. If they consider your offering as the best solution, they will move on to the next stage of the funnel. If not, the prospect falls out of the funnel at this point. 3. The Decision Stage The prospect, at this point, begins to dig deep into the middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) activities. This could involve consuming blog posts, reviewing case studies and whitepapers, looking at product comparisons, etc. Their goal is to gather as much information as possible to decide on the product offering or packages to opt for. 4. The Action Stage The action stage is where the sales conversion happens and where prospects become paying customers (or not). BOFU content that can help prospects take quick actions includes use cases, testimonials/reviews, live demos, a detailed pricing page, etc. Even if prospects do not convert into paying customers at this point, other types of marketing funnels can be developed to nurture the interest they have in your product/service, with the goal of making them paying customers in the near future. Other Types of Marketing Funnels The following types of marketing funnels can be developed as touchpoints in the buyers’ journeys to drive prospects to take different actions. Email funnels/nurture campaigns/drip campaigns Video marketing funnels Webinar funnels Lead magnet funnels Home page/landing page funnels Live Demo Funnel Marketing funnels are essential for any inbound marketing strategy. They help bring prospective customers to your brand, educate them on what you have to offer, and convert them to new customers. The sales funnel is just one example, and it’s probably one you’re most familiar with. Stay tuned as we dive deeper into some of the other marketing funnels your small business should explore using.
5 Ways a CRM Brings Sales and Marketing Together Posted on July 13, 2022September 14, 2022 by Jess Lunk Sales and marketing alignment is the third biggest priority for marketers today, after lead generation and conversion. It’s easy to understand why businesses are prioritizing alignment. Companies with highly aligned sales and marketing processes grow 19% faster and are 15% more profitable. If you’re struggling to align sales and marketing, you’re probably already aware you’re leaving a lot on the table. In this article, we’ll show you how client relationship management (CRM) software can be just what you need to bring these two departments together. How Does CRM Help Sales and Marketing? Sales teams often spend their days talking to prospects over the phone, in person, via email marketing, or other digital communication tools, steering them towards making a purchase. The process can be short or long (depending on your industry, product, and customer journey), and it entails learning about the customer’s pain points to better understand how your product or service can solve them. Here are some ways a CRM tool helps the sales process: Maintains personalized interactions with prospects and customers. Allows sales teams to score leads, assisting with targeted lead nurturing. Tags leads with certain indicators and classifications, so sales teams can send better, more personalized offers and messages. Streamlines the sales process to save time and money. Marketing, on the other hand, is a more holistic process that involves creating brand and product awareness to generate demand. Using a CRM tool can help marketing teams: Track and organize prospects and customer details to send targeted campaigns and promotions Derive actionable insights from marketing reports on campaigns, preferences, purchases, and much more. By gleaning these insights, marketing teams can segment lists more effectively and initiate targeted follow-up campaigns. Run more effective A/B testing to hone in on personalized messaging that’s successful. How a CRM Aligns Sales and Marketing Teams 1. Communication via Unified Dashboards Sales and marketing teams play different roles yet share very similar goals and objectives. If the sales team logs into one system and marketing into another, chances are they will lose visibility of progress and veer off the team’s common goals. Using a CRM system enables both teams to work off the same data and metrics. It helps them get a better understanding of what’s paying off and what’s not. Moreover, using the same tools and dashboards aligns communication and fosters a better working relationship. 2. Shared Goals and Objectives The success of your sales and marketing tactics comes down to effective orchestration via integrated plays. In other words, both teams have to work together as a single unit, with clear expectations of one another. A CRM can help create a bridge between the two departments, allowing them to stipulate goals that demand joint efforts. For example, the teams can define lead generation, lead scoring, and lead nurturing goals and agree on the best metrics to track. Moreover, each team will be clear on their roles in achieving the agreed targets. During team standup meetings, teams can track progress and decide how to tweak their integrated plays to remain on course. 3. Reduce Duplicate Efforts When sales and marketing teams use the same CRM system, they see the same picture of the revenue generation process. They can tell where each web visitor, lead, and customers stand in the buyer’s journey. It becomes easier to join forces and act as a unit rather than a disjointed function. For example, you won’t have a case where the sales department sends a message to a prospect right after the marketing team shared the same message. 4. Deeper Insights for Better Decision Making As mentioned earlier, using the same CRM system enables sales and marketing teams to share the same data. For example, both teams have access to the available lead’s contact information, and the data is updated in real-time. If the marketing department hands a lead over to the sales team manually, there may be little information about the prospect’s interests, needs, and preferences. However, a CRM populates the lead contact’s profile with this information instantly. When the sales team receives a lead through a CRM, they’re armed with fresh and accurate data. By constantly improving the contact’s profile, the sales team will be in a better position to nurture more leads into customers. 5. Activation Through Proactive Notifications As much as sales and marketing teams work towards a common goal, their roles differ. Your marketing team generates leads, whereas the sales team nurtures those leads to turn them into customers. A CRM system can help the marketing department send proactive alerts to nudge the sales team to take action. For example, you can set up a notification to alert the sales team to instantly follow up with a new lead or remind them to call prospects at the right time. The sales team can then include a comment that is sent back to the CRM to loop in the marketing team on the progress. This keeps both departments in perfect sync. Align Your Sales and Marketing Teams It’s never been easier to align your sales and marketing teams, especially with the use of a reliable CRM tool such as BenchmarkONE. Sign up free and learn first-hand how businesses are improving lead generation, enhancing lead quality, and increasing overall deal size.