Step 2: Get to know your buyers and understand their problem.

You may consider every visitor that browses your website a potential customer. After all, your product or service may be useful to many. Therefore, narrowing your defined targeted buyer is nonsense. A waste of time. However, there is likely one segment of buyers who are specifically interested in what you have to offer. They have a problem they are trying to solve – your product just might be the solution. That segment of buyers is considered your target and it pays to spend a little time understanding who they are.

In the world of marketing, target buyers are known as buyer persona(s).

“A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. When creating your buyer persona(s), consider including customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. The more detailed you are, the better.” -- HubSpot

Why is defining your buyer persona important?

In order to reach your buyer personas and provide them with information that is helpful, you need to know who they are and understand their pain points. Buyer persona profile should include:

• Demographics
• Job
• Day in their life
• Challenges/pain points
• Values/goals
• Location of information
• Buying process
• Decision making

To help fill out our buyer persona profile, start by interviewing or surveying current customers. Talk to your sales department. If you use market automation systems, review data. Going through this process will help you to understand their pain points and problems, which will help improve the effectiveness of your marketing.

A few benefits of identifying your buyer persona include:

• Knowing where to focus your communication efforts
• Designing content that addresses the issues they are facing
• Guide product development
• Ensure there is a common view across your company 

Identifying your buyer persona helps in determine which social media platforms you use to market and reach them. Where do they spend their time – Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest? You don’t need to have a presence everywhere, just where your buyers are spending their time. This information will also help you to develop content. Different platforms require different types of content, some short and brief, others very visual. Design your content so that 80% of the time is educating and informing your buyers - highlighting industry updates, addressing their pain points, with 20% of your content promoting your solutions. 

 41% of the content marketing challenge is how to produce the kind of content that engages prospects and customers. 

Create a plan (Editorial Calendar) that is designed to determine the theme, timing and action items for the creation of each piece of content. Your content should align with your buyer’s needs and be captivating. You can only do that if you know who they are and understand their problem.

“Effective messaging emerges at the intersection of what your buyers want to hear and what you want to say.” ― Adele Revella

Now that you know who your buyers are, understand their problem, and know where to reach them, start planning your content and extending your presence online.

Twisting your arm to engage in Digital Marketing – STEP 1: Responsive Design

Your State of Digital Marketing

You have waited as long as you could, and now it is becoming an increasing heavier weight on your shoulders; time to attack this Internet monster – right here, right now.

Whether your stall tactics are due to other areas of your business demanding your attention or the overwhelming-ness of so much to do on the web and not really knowing what you need to do or how to even get started, one thing is for sure, the sooner you get started, the sooner you will reap the benefits.

START HERE

Begin with an honest evaluation of your online presence.

1.     When was the last time your website was updated?

2.     How current is the copy?

3.     How does your website look when viewed by a mobile device?

If your website is static and not easy to view using a mobile device, then it is time for a change. An update is in order. Set your sights on a website redesign, specifically, one that is responsive.

Responsive web design (RWD) is a web development approach that creates dynamic changes to the appearance of a website, depending on the screen size and orientation of the device being used to view it. RWD is one approach to the problem of designing for the multitude of devices available to customers, ranging from tiny phones to huge desktop monitors.(1)

4 out of 5 searches via mobile device lead to a purchase, often within a few hours.(2)

With mobile search, users are looking for information ‘on the go.’ This means having your address easy to locate on your website, while providing basic and easy to read details regarding your products.

“Responsive design teams create a single site to support many devices, but need to consider content, design and performance across devices to ensure usability.” – Amy Schade

 A few benefits to updating your website include making it easier for those looking for you to find you and learn about your products. In addition, a mobile-friendly website will help raise your ranking within search. How? A month ago, Google updated it’s search algorithm so that mobile-friendly websites would rank higher than those that aren’t. Take a look where you rank now, and see what happens after a redesign.

If hiring an agency to manage your website redesign is not in your budget, check out these online website builder tools that are really easy to use:

1.     Web.com

2.     Weebly

3.     Squarespace

Not only can you do this yourself, but using these tools makes it really easy to continuously update your site as new products are offered. SiteBuilderSpot provides reviews of these solutions and many more. Take a look at their reviews to help select the one that is best for you.

As you begin to plan your new website, simplify your navigation so users can quickly and easily locate the information they are looking for. When using images, make sure their file size is small so that your website can load quickly, particularly on mobile. Provide short benefit statements enabling users to quickly and easily understand what you have to offer.

While this may seem overwhelming, take a look around. See how easy it is view various company websites on your smartphone. Note what makes the experience frustrating, or enjoyable. Now focus on making your new website an enjoyable and easy-to-use experience. You will win new customers and beat the competition every time.

(1) Search Engine Watch

(2) Nielsen Norman Group

Is it time for website update?

When was the last time you updated your website?

For years, a company could create a website, provide information about their products, services and location, then leave it static for a lengthy period of time. Essentially fulfilling the need to have a ‘web’ presence.

And while that was a great solution in the past, that is no longer the case. The way people use the web now has grown from simple organic searches to video interactions on a multitude of social media platforms oftentimes through mobile. These interactions are what drive customers to a company website.

What does this mean for you? If you have not integrated new technologies into your website (social, responsive – what does that even mean?), it may be time for a change. Rather than be left behind, it is time to reengage, refocus your website and integrate social media into your online presence. Social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, is how you reach new customers, interact and educate. Social media is also where new customers learn about you. So if you aren’t there, how will they know you exist? And once they get to your website, what will they find?

Our average attention span is now 8 seconds - 1 second less than a goldfish.(1)

Because our attention span is now so short, it is imperative that your website easily and concisely communicate benefits to your customers.

Over 60% of all searches come from a mobile device.(2)

Which means your site also needs to be mobile-friendly. Updating your site so that it is viewable with mobile will also help your ranking in search. Google updated its algorithm to rank websites that are mobile optimized higher than those that are not.

How do you take a static website and update it to integrate new technologies, social media AND is viewable using mobile?

Take a minute and look around the web using your mobile device. Note whether a company’s website view is the same from a PC, tablet or mobile. 27% of consumers will leave a site if it is not mobile-optimized.(3) Responsive design websites detect a user’s screen size and adjusts the layout accordingly - one website, viewable my many screen sizes in the same way. With easy to read text, quick loading images, and minimal navigation. How easy to read and navigate is your website via mobile? Make sure your website is responsive.

You’ll see many websites using large background images with a short and concise statement that easily describes the business or product benefit. A design that is easy to read and capture the essence of the company in a matter of a few seconds even if looking at with a 5” screen.

Another common aspect you will experience is the length of scrolling on a home page. Due to high volume of mobile use, visitors don’t want to have to continuously click through a site, page by page, to find the information.  Therefore, homepages frequently include a brief preview about their company and products a single page. Navigation is simplified enabling visitors to easily locate and capture information quickly.

Reaching new customers and engaging them starts with social media. Write a blog that educates new customers about your industry and key solutions to attract them to your website. Interact and share information where your customers spend their time - Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. Include photos of your product. Create and upload videos that demonstrates how your product works or customer testimonials. Get customers excited! Give them a reason to engage! And be ready when they do.

Due to the growth of social media and easy-to-use technologies, interaction and sharing is now a primary driver for customer engagement. Don’t get left behind. Update your website and make your presence known.

1  National Center for Biotechnology Information - http://www.statisticbrain.com/attention-span-statistics/

2 The Next Web - http://thenextweb.com/google/2015/04/22/are-you-ready-for-googles-mobile-algorithm-change/

3 ExactTarget, 2014 Mobile Behavior Report - https://www.exacttarget.com/2014-mobile-behavior-report  

5 Sources Of Content To Persuade Your Prospects To Buy

Content is the primary driver for capturing prospects and converting them into leads. However, in order to pique their interest and draw them to your website, it is important that you provide a variety of information. Until you capture the lead, you probably don’t know what stage your prospects are in the buyer’s journey. Therefore, you need to continually reach out with educational and informative information to attract their attention and to maintain it until they are ready for more. Prospects will need to see the benefit over and over before they’ll become interested and engaged. And at some point they are going to move into the decision-making stage and will want to learn more about your product offerings.

Are you ready?

Take a look at these 5 sources of content to persuade your prospects to buy:

1. Customer testimonials
2. Product comparisons
3. Employee advocates
4. Expert reviews
5. Live demo or free trial

Customer testimonials provide the best example of the true customer experience with your product and company. Nearly 9 in 10 consumers have read online reviews to determine the quality of a local business, and 39% do so on a regular basis. Customer testimonials are great way to demonstrate the value of your product from a customer’s perspective. Highlight the customer’s pain points and how you were able to solve their problem. Include quotes of their experience throughout the process.

A product comparison chart gives you the opportunity to visually show how your offering ranks against the competition based on features or benchmarks. Highlight your product strengths focusing on solutions that tie to your prospects primary pain points.

Employee advocates provide a unique perspective within a company. Content from employees are more personal and oftentimes more relatable. This type of content can serve a similar role to that of customer testimonials in terms of providing information that is credible. Have employees from your customer service department describe a situation where they helped solve a customer’s problem. Demonstrate your ability to easily connect with customers and communicate immediacy to solving a problem in a timely manner. Let them know how important they are to you.

Include expert reviews that highlight’s your product in their review guides. This information helps prospects see how you rank in relation to other offerings within your industry. Inclusion in an expert review could be the tipping point of consideration for a prospect that may be concerned with products that are not mainstream.

A live demo or free trial allows a prospect to try your product to see how your product really works – a great way to convince those who might be a little skeptical to convert into a customer. In a benchmarking study involving 63 web-based companies and startups, an overwhelming majority of 93% offered a free trial period at least 14-30 days to their customers. Let them see for themselves how invaluable your product is to solving their problem.

Quality content is informative, useful. It instills trust. Having the type of content your prospective customer needs when they are ready to make a decision is imperative. Convince your prospects with credibility, usability and customer proof. It will be enough to persuade them to buy.

1 Search Engine Land

http://searchengineland.com/88-consumers-trust-online-reviews-much-personal-recommendations-195803

2 Get Social 

(http://blog.getsocial.io/3-reasons-why-companies-should-offer-free-trials/)

Turn That Meager Social Media Presence Into One That Is Remarkable

Tweet? Occasionally. Post on Facebook? Every now and then. On Instagram? No.

While you may have taken a step forward and created a presence on a few social media platforms that you are most familiar with, your occasional efforts are not helping you to really establish a dedicated presence – one that customers and look for and rely on. And that every now and then effort is likely not producing many or any results. If that sounds familiar then its time to put more effort into the way and where you communicate.

Yes you have a Twitter account and tweet on an occasion. However upon review, the content of your tweets are always promotional. Yes, you have a Facebook account and post every now and then, again typically promoting a press release about the launch of your new product or some new features. But here’s the thing. Aside from the infrequent timing of communications, and the clear lack of a strategic plan about what to communicate, is the lack of knowledge as to where is the best place to communicate. If your target customers are spending their time on Instagram, isn’t that where you should be?

This social media marketing effort may make seem like time sink, with little value. Yes, it takes time and effort. However, you can’t expect buyers to magically appear once you have a major announcement. Nor is it realistic to envision your ability to handle customer inquiries/resolutions will be managed smoothly if you haven’t already generated the interest and built relationships online.

Unfortunately, social media isn’t the field of dreams – build it and they will come. Yes you have to build it, but you also have to give them a reason to come.

How do you turn that meager social media presence into one that is remarkable – one that will entice and engage?

Research

Start by researching your target customer. Document who they are – their demographics, behavior patterns, motivations and goals. By mapping the details of your target customer, you will be able to pinpoint the social media platforms where they are spending their time and know how to communicate to them. Communicating to a teen is very different from a Director of IT. This will help you to narrow your focus, know where and how you need to communicate as well as the type of communications you need to create – 140 characters, images, or videos. This process will also help you to identify your target customer’s pain points – key issues and problems they are facing which will help focus your content.

“To be successful and grow your business and revenues, you must match the way you market your products with the way your prospects learn about and shop for your products.” – Brian Halligan

Editorial Calendar

There are so many benefits to planning content. It takes the guesswork out of what to write and promote and ensures you are providing quality content to your target customer on a regular basis. An editorial calendar aligns your communication efforts. Use an editorial calendar to set goals, specify content themes and actions, plan campaigns, determine distribution channels, assign tasks, and set measurement criteria.

Content

Now that you know who your target customers are and their pains points, use that information to develop themes in writing, creating and curating content. Start a blog that educates buyers about the industry and provides benefit-oriented solutions to resolving their problems. Create fact sheets, such as a product comparison chart to help buyers determine what solution will work best for them. Work with industry influencers to leverage bias-free content. Become a trusted source of information by providing content that is educational and helpful the majority of the time, with the rest promoting your offerings. This will entice and engage interaction between you and your target customer.

“Remarkable social media content and great sales copy are pretty much the same – plain spoken words designed to focus on the needs of the reader, listener, or viewer.” – Brian Clark

Automation Tools

Due to a lack of time and often a million other priorities, you will find incorporating a few market automation tools extremely helpful and useful when implementing your communications throughout social media. There is a wealth of mainstream and inexpensive tools that can make this process so much easier. Plus you will gain the benefit of analytics. Know what is working and what is not.

I come across many small companies who are moving at lightning speed building their company and sell their products. Putting effort into communicating and establishing a relationship with target customers takes time, commitment and persistence. Turn that meager social media presence into one that is remarkable. Create interesting content, promote and interact where they are, will help drive customers to buy – from you. Don’t wait for the planets to align, get started today!