Is your Company Being Blogged About?

Last week I mentioned how you can track your company's brand on twitter. Incidentally I did predict Obama winning the election and also the Dolphins beating the Seahawks today so I'm on a roll!

This week I found a new site that you can use to compare how you're company is doing on the blogosphere versus your competition. The tools is called www.trendpedia.com. I liked this site because it graphically represented the trends on a timeline and allows you to drill into them to see the actual blog posts. The home page also contains data on the most popular comparisons.

Here are a few comparisons I had fun with:

• Oracle vs. SAP
• Visa vs. Mastercard vs. American Express
• BMW vs. Mercedes
  
• Peyton Manning vs. Eli Manning
• Brad Pitt vs. Angelina Jolie

Try comparing your company versus your competitors and drill into the peaks to get a better understanding of why their was a high amount of chatter on a certain day. What are the trends? How is your company being represented when compared to your competitors.

This week and last week's posts should give you the kick in the but you need to ensure that your company has a voice in the social media world and if you've already delved into this that you listen very closely and refine your approach.

Chad H.

PS - a new source to look out for when tracking your brand is Linkedin.

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Obama beats McCain... on Twitter

Are you having a tough time convincing your boss your company needs to get on Twitter? I checked out a site called Tweetvolume that tracks the number of times a term(s) is mentioned on Twitter and presents it in a bar chart. You can compare multiple items which allows you to compare the mentions of your company vs. another company.

Here's a few I tried:

• Coke vs. Pepsi
  
• PC vs. Mac
• Wii vs. Xbox vs. Playstation
• Palin vs. Bidden
  
• McCain vs. Obama

Try it out and you can even send a link to your boss showing how your company compares to your competitor. That should be all you need to get your company's "Twitter on".

Good luck!

Chad H.

PS: You can follow me on Twitter
PPS: Smart companies use Twitter search to see what people are saying about them. While you may not actively on Twitter, the social community is twittering about you.

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Landing Page Optimization: Mini Case Study

It's Canadian Thanksgiving up here today and I'm all about giving back. I'm always looking to help out marketers with their landing pages ever since I went to the Marketing Experiments Landing Page Workshop earlier this year (yes, it was in Florida and no, I didn't just go to the beach!). From time to time, I check out MarketingProf's Know How Exchange where people post their marketing questions and I try and help out.

The following was posted on MarketingProfs:

Landing Page Critique For Agency's Ppc Campaign
Posted By: melissa on 10/10/2008 5:23 PM (CST)	125 Points
Hello, We are running a PPC campaign for a full-service marketing agency, and trying to decide on the best landing page for the promotion. The conversion goal is for prospective clients to call or complete the short contact form. The pay-per-click categories/keywords are for: marketing agency, advertising, copywriting, design, branding, etc. Lead results so far have been pretty good, but conversions are terrible (we have not used any of these landing page designs yet). It's possible that we are not attracting the right audience, however it may be another reason. We have developed 3 different variations for the landing page - please review these links (refer to each as 1, 2, or 3) and let me know what you think? Thank you, 1 -- http://www.discoverycomm.com/landingSample/DCG1.html 2 -- http://www.discoverycomm.com/landingSample/DCG2.html 3 -- http://www.discoverycomm.com/landingSample/DCG3.html

Here is my response (I admit I'm not modest and don't pull any punches). The picture above is the first example that is provided:

Let me preface this as I've been certified by Marketing Experiments in landing page creation. Out of the three, I liked the design of the first landing page but truthfully, I don't see your conversion rates increasing. Here's why:

a. What is compelling the web visitor to respond? What's in it for me? All I hear about is your company. I don't feel you've touched on any pain points of my company. This page seems way too broad. Create a title that is compelling and really hits on the keyword that someone typed in that led to them landing on this page.
b. The offer is the same old same old. Above someone mentions a case study. You'll have readers that do not want someone calling them right away. I would recommend starting the "conversation" with a simple download that hits on a pain point of the marketer as the call to action and not the "free discussion". Send them a follow up email with another call to action and see if they are interested. This will definitely increase your conversions.
c. This is petty but the letter looks like a 5 year old designed it. I'm not talking about the copy but rather the design. The letters are all sloped. This can be improved. (Actually, as I read this again, the copy is really hokey)
d. This is also petty but there is no submit button on the form!! You need something compelling such as "I want my free consultation" or "Have George call me".
e. Add a privacy agreement. This reduces the anxiety of the web visitor.
f. It's a best practice to remove the site navigation so keep the page as is. I disagree with a few of the folks above. Don't confuse the web visitor with additional information.

Good luck!!

I hope you found this helpful and feel free to send your landing pages my way and I'll try and review them (also feel free to go to the MarketingProfs forum and criticize my feedback or post a comment right here!).

Chad H.

PS: This case study on B2B online backs up my recommendations above.

Technorati Tags: Landing page optimization, improving conversion rates, PPC campaigns,copy writing that hits a pain point, call to actions work, Happy Thanksgiving Eh

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Improved Email Click-Through Tracking Using Query Strings

If you have a call to action that is directed at the same landing page more then one time in your email, what is the best way to track which link received the most unique clicks?

Let's back up and review why this topic is important for marketers. As a best practice, it's VERY important to:

1. Have more then one link in your email to the desired landing page. For example, one link may be an image while one is a text link
2. Know which links in your email are performing better. You can use this information for future campaigns.
   

Jay Kulkarni over at B2B wrote an article on this subject called:"How can you ensure that you’re effectively tracking unique click rates on the same URLs within your e-mail creative?" Jay suggests using web redirects on subsequent versions of the link. For example, say you have a link to an event such as this HP event. Here is the original URL:
https://h30406.www3.hp.com/campaigns/2008/events/poweritdown/index.php
You could then create a redirect such as:
http://www.hp.com/poweritdown/index.php that will redirect the web visitor to the original URL but will allow you to track that an email recipient clicked on the second URL and not the first URL.

Track Multiple Email Click-Throughs To The Same Landing Page Using Query Strings

There is another way of tracking mutiple click-throughs from different links in an email that go to the same page. This process I'm going to suggest may be easier for you as well - no need for setting up a redirect. I typically recommend using query strings to get this type of tracking. All you need to do is add a query string and a query string value to the URL and you can track multiple instances of a URL that go to the same page. For example, let's take the original URL example I used above. To make this a unique URL, I can add a query string called "link" with a value of "2" (I used 2 as this is the second instance of the URL). Here is what it looks like: https://h30406.www3.hp.com/campaigns/2008/events/poweritdown/index.php?link=2.

Looks easy eh (My Canadian accent coming through)? Well it is. This doesn't require any technical know how and any good tracking system should differentiate URLs based on query string values. Try this out and let me know how it goes.

Chad H.

PS: I talk more about query strings and how they can be used for improved tracking in my post called One way to tackle closed loop marketing.
PPS: Follow me on Twitter

Technorati Tags: tracking multiple call to actions, email click-throughs, Improved results, query strings

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Lead Nurturing - How to track ROI?

The concept of lead nurturing is something that is complex for some but very straightforward for others. To keep it simple, I look at it as a way of keeping your company top of mind to your potential customers or existing customers who are qualified but not yet ready to buy. I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here so check out Brian Carroll's blog post for a more in depth explanation.

Quick Overview on Trends in Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing can present itself in many ways. It can consist of a sales or call center rep calling a prospect over a period of time or a series of emails sent by marketing. The shift that I've seen is to automate the process using technology. This makes it easier for marketing as messages can be delivered in a timely and consistent manner without a marketing person manually sending out the email each time. Sales benefits as well as marketing is performing "air cover" and with today's tools, the messages can look like the sales rep is sending it themselves with all of this being automated. The other shift I've seen is to use multiple channels as part of a well laid out plan. This may consist of a postcard sent out with an email being sent two days later so it coincides with the direct mail piece and then having a call center rep call 2 days later to maximize the impact of the campaign.

Great - How do I track ROI for Lead Nurturing?

If you are using a CRM with a campaign component, set up a campaign that is specific to your lead nurturing efforts (you may need several campaigns based on the number of programs you are running). On any of the emails that you send as part of the campaign, direct the respondents to a form landing page that when filled out, passes the lead to your CRM and tags that respondent as being part of the lead nurturing campaign that you set up. As deals turn into opportunities and then hopefully into closed deals, you can look back on how your lead nurturing program contributed to the pipeline and then eventually to your company's bottom line. I've also seen companies use a dedicated 1-800 number as part of their lead nurturing campaigns which allows them to easily indicate that the call was generated from a lead nurturing channel.

The explanation above is a summarized view on tracking ROI and some marketers out there may probably rolling their eyes and saying "if only it were that simple". There are many factors that go into this including getting sales and marketing working together as well as buy-in from the marketing team and the rest of the company to invest the time and resources in a systemized lead nurturing process. All I can say is that from what I've seen, it's well worth it and with a well throughout process the return on investment should not take too long to be realized.

Lead Nurturing - Getting Started

Starting a lead nurturing initiative is not the focus of this article but what I would recommend for now is to start simple and look for an area that you can run a pilot program. For example, pick a specific segment such as a key vertical and choose leads generated from a specific channel such as Google Adwords. A simple program may consist of 2-3 emails sent within a specific time period with key messages that should educate prospects and make it easy for them to reach out to your company. Obviously, the more automated you can make this, the easier it gets for the marketing team.

That's it for now - hopefully this was helpful.

Chad H.

Technorati tags: online lead generation, sales air cover, nurturing, automated marketing ROI

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Newsletter Content that Engages Your Marketing Database

Take a minute out of your day and have a look at this ad (it's worth it):



Yes, this is an ad but what is appealing is the message. This is not about beer. This is not enticing you to go out and drink beer. It's providing a message that hits you on an emotional level and when they have you right where they want you (at the "Thank You"), they flash their logo up there. This beer company is going beyond their product to focus on their target audience. I can imagine the thought process of the agency in their board room: "What content can we produce that will engage Anheuser Bush's customers?" They succeeded with this ad.

Who are you Writing Your Newsletters for?

For many companies, newsletters are key to either keeping customers, creating repeat customers or nurturing prospects who are interested in your products but not yet ready to buy. Many company newsletters you receive in your inbox today talk about how their company is changing and what new products are being released. So what? Why do I care about that? How is that going to help me finish my work for the day? Why would I want to open your newsletter? Before you click the send button on your next email blast, you need to consider these questions.

Creating Relevant Newsletter Content 2.0

Creating relevant content does not just mean writing about an aspect of your product or service that appeals to the target audience. Of course you need these but it's the companies that go beyond this that are able to create, nurture and sustain a loyal audience that will keep your company top of mind. Consider writing about content that will entertain or enrich the daily lives of your email registrants. This goes beyond your product and beyond your company. Here are some examples:

• Solar Ink (by Solar Winds). Check out this newsletter issue where they feature the "Game show for geeks". This B2B company is clearly in tune with its target audience
• MEC Email Newsletter (by Mountain Equipment Co-op). Here is an example of their newsletter that contains how to videos on how to fix your bike.
• The Smart Life (by TD Bank Financial Group). Here is a case study that outlines how this newsletter that is targeted at its customers is designed to keep TD top of mind so they renew. It doesn't just feature their products and promotions but includes "lifestyle topics about home and family, car care, vacation properties and vehicles, smart saving and spending ideas".

Based on these examples, here is the bottom line to consider: How can you provide content to your prospects and customers that goes beyond your products and services but focuses on what is interesting to them and will keep them interested so either they keep buying from you or will eventually buy from you?

Chad H.

PS: On a side note, it would be interesting to further investigate how these companies segment their databases and if they serve different content based on these segments. For example, does content differentiate based on past products purchased, geography, job title?
PPS: I receive these newsletters above and read them.
PPPS: This concept can go beyond newsletters and be used for your automated lead nurturing efforts or in an attempt to re-engage email subscribers that are unresponsive.

Technorati tags: email newsletters, e-newsletters, newsletter content, segmentation, relevancy, online marketting, targeted message, beer ad, Support Our Troops, examples, Umm... Beer

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The Right Way to Generate More Leads on Your Site

It's been a very busy month with lots of travel thrown in. Throughout my journeys much of the conversation comes back to generating a higher quantity of leads from the web that are of better quality. I had the pleasure of attending the Marketing Experiments Website Optimization workshop that was held in Florida earlier this month (still waiting for my landing page professional certification badge :) ). From that conference, combined with a very good study on email tactics in retail I've been inspired to write a post on this topic.

What's in it for me?

They key point hammered home at the Marketing Experiments Workshop is that all points of interaction on your website should answer the following question from the web visitor's perspective: "What's in it for me?". Therefore, if you have one of those newsletter sign up boxes on every page of your site (like the one I have in the top right hand corner) that says "Enter your email to get our newsletter", you may need to rethink this area as you're not providing a compelling reason for the visitor to sign up for your newsletter. A better approach may be "Get expert updates on X" (by X I mean a specific topic that is assumed to be relevant to the site's content or why would they be there in the first place). Even the submit button should be written in a way that answers the question "What's in it for me". For example: "Send me Product Alerts".

To use a simple sign up form or to not use a simple sign up form - that is the question.

To go back to my last point on that newsletter sign up - should this be a simple email only form or should you have a link that directs web visitors to a newsletter sign up page? This depends on your target audience as well as the type of segmentation and personalization you would like to perform in your marketing campaigns. B2C companies may only need email to begin the conversation but B2B companies typically collect company name and first and last name.

Here are the points to remember:

1. Most of the pages on your site can be accessed from a search engine. Don't assume that web visitors come waltzing through the front door (your home page). A website is like a big semi-permeable blob (think back to your to your biology days) that can be entered from all areas. Therefore ensure that you have a call to action on every page to engage new visitors and turn them into leads that you can market to.
   
   
2. Ensure you answer the question "What's in it for me" and don't assume that because they are on a website about say hot dogs that the visitor will know that the newsletter will provide the latest deals on hot dogs. Don't assume anything. You need to spell it out.
   
   Another bad tactic that I see is to use landing pages for multiple purposes. For example, directing newsletter registrations to the Contact Us page. This is not a good idea as the call to action doesn't correspond to the desired result and possible subscribers would be scared off as they don't want Mr/Mrs Salesperson calling on them asking them how many hot dogs they want.
   
   
3. The more fields on your web form, the less conversions. For some marketers, this is OK as they only want serious submissions. For example, if you're inquiring about how you can fly into space through one of those private space programs, you first need some serious coin to be considered. It would be a good idea to ask subscribers for their annual income before having someone in sales call them back.
   
   However, if you are just trying to start a conversation to attract a larger audience to a subject area that you have expert content in, the less fields on your form that you do have, the higher the conversion rate. Always ask yourself if you really need those additional form fields (say for segmenting or personalization) and can you get that information in a future campaign or do you need this information right away.
   
   Another consideration is to ask subscribers what type of information they would like to receive. This is definitely recommended. It should also be clear how often you will be sending subscribers communications.
   
   
4. Test, test, test... I know you hear that all the time. Imagine being stuck in a conference room for 8 hours straight each day in Florida right beside a PGA golf course and being forced to hear that when you could be outside. Of course the Marketing Experiment people are right. You need to test out the method that will work the best for your situation.
   

I hope that this post has been helpful and I should be adding some additional findings from my landing page workshop experience. In the meantime, feel free to check out my twitter profile for updates on marketing tools and info that I pick up. I just found an interesting tool that can tell you the type of email client that your subscribers are using to view your email in. This can be key in better understanding how best to design your emails.

Chad H.

PS: I just changed my blog updates sign up form text - we'll see if it improves conversions. I think I need to provide content more often. :)
PPS - image courtesy of www.wearyourbeer.com

Technorati tags: beer, landing page optimization, Marketing Experiments, Call to Action, What's In it for Me, test, PGA, Tiger Woods, Space - the final frontier

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