Though content marketing is certainly here to stay, all digital marketers are aware that content marketing trends change over time – and they change fast! What worked a few years ago might not work today, and what you plan today might not generate results tomorrow. Companies that adopt content marketing for their brand achieve 6X greater conversion rates than those who have yet to begin leveraging it in their digital marketing strategy, and with good reason. Content marketing is all about creating valuable resources that target your dream clients, helping them and building a relationship with them. And once you’ve established that relationship, it’s easier to convert your leads into paying clients. Content marketing is cost-effective, too: it costs 62% less than outbound marketing, all while generating 300X more leads. But with so many forms of content out there, from videos to blog posts to eBooks, it’s hard to know where […]
I’ve said it before: Linkedin is the best way to generate leads for B2B businesses. At 500 million users and growing, it is the social media site that boasts the largest network of business professionals. But don’t just take my word for it: 79% of marketers agree that LinkedIn is an effective source for generating B2B leads. But which LinkedIn features should you use for the biggest impact? As with other social networking sites, there are a lot of available features that allow you to promote yourself and your business on the site. That said, with new updates being added to LinkedIn all the time, what worked last year won’t necessarily work this year. It’s important to continue to adjust your strategy as LinkedIn unveils new updates to make sure your efforts pay off. To start, check out my top 6 LinkedIn features that will help you grow your business […]
At a rock concert, there is always “that one guy.” He’s got to be front-and-center for the duration of the show, no matter how many times the mosh-pit churns him out. He shouts all the lyrics and wears a t-shirt with the name of the band on it. He is first to sign up for notification of new CD releases. When band members look up and see such a hardcore fan, they may imagine they’re playing just for that one guy. As long as he is happy, they know they’re doing something right. By the same token, a “buyer persona” in marketing is a profile of your ideal customer, based on market research. Whenever you write a blog, design a promotion or create an ad, you want to keep an image of your company’s “super fan” in mind. Here’s why: 8 Ways Buyer Personas Enhance the Customer Experience & Your Business […]
Mod Girl Marketing consultants employ a number of strategies to fuel our clients’ success online, but content marketing has always been the most tested, tried and true component of our lead-generating machine. Through content, a brand develops and bares its soul, influences and mobilizes its customer base, attracts and cements loyalty. Successful content not only connects brands with new prospects, but keeps the company at the forefront of existing customers’ minds and moves people from general awareness to purchase-ready. [clickToTweet tweet=”Successful #content connects #brands with new prospects & keeps the company top-of-mind with existing customers.” quote=”Successful content connects brands with new prospects & keeps the company top-of-mind with existing customers.” theme=”style3″] Of course, it’s not enough to sit down, write, and click “publish.” That stab-in-the-dark can only take you so far, even if you are consistent with your posting and genius in your topic curation. To generate profitable leads and see […]
There is so much marketing technology out there, it’s easy to lose your mind thinking about it. Yet, it is worth your while to invest in something — not just because everyone else is doing it and you’ll be more “competitive” that way, but because it will free up time and make your past, present and future content much more efficient. Efficiency means a greater return on your investment and better rapport with your audience. Who doesn’t want that? Here are eight ways we help our clients use the latest technology to market smarter.
Before we launch into repurposing tactics, let’s get a few things straight. First, repurposing content is not lazy writing; it’s smart marketing! Not only are you lowering content costs and production time, but you’re also cross-promoting different types of content across multiple channels to reach new audiences and capitalizing / expanding upon hot topics that your audience wants to read about in greater depth. As Marketing Genius Seth Godin points out: “Delivering your message in different ways, over time, not only increases retention and impact, but it gives you the chance to describe what you’re doing from several angles.” Secondly, repurposing content is not a practice reserved for small, cash-strapped brands only. Sure, in some cases, you can get more mileage out of your blog by taking a couple minutes to re-post on social media or blast the message out to your email subscribers — and it doesn’t cost you another […]
Clients often ask me, “How in the world did you find your team of writers?” Mod Girl Marketing has had the same solid, effective gang of content marketers for the better part of a decade. In this industry, that achievement is a nugget of pure gold! Bloggers may be a dime a dozen these days, but finding true masters of the writing craft who also know a thing or two about marketing is quite another matter entirely. Truth be told, in the early months of founding my company, it took a lot of sorting, weeding and prospecting to find the right partners. What ultimately worked for me was looking for self-motivated people with entrepreneurial spirits who worked for themselves and had degrees in professional fields like business, marketing, teaching or journalism. They were people with a passion and a natural intellectual curiosity. They read the news every day. They had spent some […]
The Content Marketing Institute reports that “70% of B2B marketers are creating more content than they did one year ago, even those who say they are least effective (58%) and those without any type of strategy (56%).” In 2015, only 38% of B2B marketers rated themselves as “effective” at content marketing — which is down from 42% last year. Most marketers seem to think they are not completely ineffective — but rather, fall somewhere in the middle. As an experienced digital marketing firm, we’ve seen all manners of content — the good, the bad and the ugly. We’ve worked with some amazing companies that just needed the right presentation of their brand to boost their bottom line and gain more customers. Good B2B content is informative, unique, inspires action, and attracts an eager audience that is most ready to buy. Easier said than done, though, right?! In today’s post, we’ll take […]
A decade ago, marketers thought the best way to amass sales leads involved direct mailing campaigns, buying email lists, and paying for banner ads. Modern online marketing has evolved. We now know that it’s not good enough to simply cast a wide net and bring as many people to a website as possible. What good are prospects if they are only lingering on your site for a few seconds before going elsewhere to make a purchase? Targeted traffic is the key to a productive marketing campaign — finding people who are “soft sells”… people who are eager, interested, relatively ready to buy, and looking for reasons to overcome any last-minute reservations they may have. These people are also more likely to buy again when their needs are satisfied — and tell their friends about what a great experience they’ve had with your company. So, how does one accomplish all that? The […]
Organic SEO is still a leading strategy for digital marketing in 2015. Many of the SEO techniques we’ve been using for years are still worthy of our marketing dollars — blogging, social media, and inbound marketing — for example. Yet, the way we look at these old methods may be a little different. – Effective blogging requires more than just paraphrasing the news of the day, throwing in a few keywords, and linking to another site; you’ll need to become a proven “thought leader” and answer people’s most pressing questions. – Social media will not just be a dumping grounds for blog posts, but a place where you look for prospects who are talking about your products or services and connect with them in real-time. – Linking will focus on seeking quality, branded citations, rather than just throwing your URL down in the comments section of a blog. Today, we discuss 8 SEO […]