About Leads

BuyerZone on Social Media

2013-05-17T13:02:22Z

BuyerZone just got a bit more social. Today, we launched our brand new social media page: BuyerZone on Social Media. As you look around, you'll probably note that it's a pretty simple page.

Well, look again!

There are, in fact, two key aspects that I made sure went into this page as I designed it. Here's what they are and more importantly, why you should have a social media page for your business' networks:

1) Social Media Team Introduction

As I'm reading tweets from a few of my favorite business brands, I can't help but ask, "Who is the person behind the tweets?" Is it the social media intern? The marketing manager? Or just some random person they hired who works remotely?

It always boggles my mind.

Well, I didn't want you to get a headache, so I made sure to include a little blurb about me and my social media teammate, Dylan Mazeika. The number one reason I did this is because I don't want you to just read BuyerZone's tweets or our Facebook updates. I want you to ENGAGE with us too.

And you're more likely to do this if you feel like you know the people behind them. Well, now you do!

2) List Your Social Networks

There are so many social networks out there that it's extremely hard for businesses to keep creating account for each one. However, it's even more difficult for fans of these brands to tell the difference between the "real" accounts and the phonies.

That's when having a social media page comes in handy; it allows you to clearly list and link to your real social accounts so fans know which ones to trust.

Also, Jon has been talking a lot about keeping your website's look "fresh." Well, just because you have over 10 social accounts doesn't mean they all deserve a spot on your homepage - that's precious retail space. In addition, listing them all on your home page can leave it looking like a social mess.

That's why having a designated space, in an area of your site that is accessible works just as well - and helps maintains that "fresh" look.

Believe it or not, the number one reason for businesses to be on social networks is so they have the ability to engage with visitors - to help them. It's not just about promoting YOU and your brand. By introducing your team, and making your visitors "aware" of where to find you, you will have taken the first step to creating that relationship.

Happy #FollowFriday!

Is your B2B website still cutting it?

2013-05-14T21:15:52Z

You go to your website every day and it looks pretty good to you, but it may be hurting your image more than you think. If your site was designed a few years ago, chances are it's lagging behind the competition in terms of fit, finish, and web design techniques that are all the rage in 2013.

From responsive mobile design, the flexibility of HTML5, and advanced JavaScript animations that bring the web to life, your stagnant website probably isn't as cool it once was. Just take a look around at some B2B companies like Marketo and ExactTarget, and you'll notice their sites are doing a whole lot to project a sleek professional image that adapts to the ever changing mobile environment.

While it's true that cost could get in the way of creating sites with this level of development and design, you can still implement a number of advanced features through diligent research and a strong commitment to improving your web presence.

The team here at BuyerZone has just unveiled a new design to buyerzone.com/leads - a site focused on educating sellers like you on the world of online lead generation. It was not designed by some expensive agency nor did it require the resources of the entire company to create. Just a small team of marketing folks and one dedicated web developer. We are really proud of the way it came out and feel its use of the latest web technologies better presents our brand as a leader in the online lead gen space.

So next time you are on your website, take a minute to look around at your competition and see if a redesign should be in the cards for your next project.

If you have any thoughts on our site redesign (or just about this post in general), please let us hear it in the comments section below.

BuyerZone at SearchLove Boston

2013-05-14T14:30:57Z

A guest post by Dylan Mazeika from BuyerZone's Content Team

Next week I'll be attending Distilled's SearchLove conference in Boston. I'm looking forward to bringing a lot of actionable marketing and B2B tips back to BuyerZone. While I'm looking forward to all of the speakers, I think the following presentation topics will offer the most takeaways for B2B marketers:

Improving content

Dr. Pete's talk is about DIY data-driven content. Lead generation companies gather a lot of data; so I'm looking forward to moving past typical infographics, and learning how to present this data in a more compelling way for users and readers.

Conversion rate optimization

Rand Fishkin will be speaking on behavioral psychology and inbound marketing, and how this relates to traffic, conversions, and how users behave on your site. This will be an especially interesting presentation from a lead generation perspective where conversions and UX are the bottom line.

Technical SEO

Will Critchlow, founder of Distilled is giving a presentation on the importance of technical SEO. Many search marketers are ready to write off SEO and name content as the only way to leverage search engines. However, with search algorithms changing daily, I think optimizing a site for users and search engines will be more important than ever.

I'm looking forward to a lot of good takeaways for technical web "best practices" in 2013.

The Future of Search (marketers)

Bill Slawksi, of SEO by the Sea, and Will Critchlow are speaking about what's ahead for the online marketing industry, as well as the future of search specialists themselves. While these will be separate presentations, it will be great to see what industry experts think lies down the road, as well as what role individuals can play working in the online landscape.

Check out the rest of the speakers and topics and let us know what you're excited about in the comment section below. I'll be tweeting throughout both days so be sure to follow me: @Dylan_Mazeika and @BuyerZone.

What we're reading this week

2013-05-10T14:19:20Z

As we close in on the end of another work week, here are some good reads that caught our eye:

Email open rates averaged nearly 20% last year. Are you seeing that in your email activities? If not, here are some tips that could help.

Are you considering buying leads from a lead generation company? Even if you don't work with BuyerZone, here's a comprehensive whitepaper on everything you need to consider when buying leads from our friends at LeadsCouncil.

A flower delivery company analyzed their sales funnel and decided to invest in a dedicated lead generation team to supercharge their results. Read their story.

Stumble upon anything that caught your eye this week? Share in the comments section below.

The ABCs of the Complete Marketing System

2013-04-30T14:00:42Z

A guest post by Joy Gendusa

As new marketing technologies are created, businesses are given opportunities to make their marketing systems better. These technologies can help you build a complete marketing system that comprehensively covers all your marketing bases, such as lead generation and follow-up.

The following is just one of the ways you won't lose any of the leads you generate from your marketing campaigns. You'll generate more leads and convert more of those leads into customers, and the best part is forming this complete system takes only four easy steps.

Let's take a look at them...

Acquire New Leads with Postcard Marketing

Postcard marketing is a lead generation tool that is proven to get the job done. It can consistently produce new leads for your company's growth. It works on fundamental marketing principles, using benefits to build prospect interest, and using repetition to build trust and brand awareness.

The key to postcard marketing is the targeted mailing lists. You can create a list of prospects who are already looking for what your company offers - they just don't know you exist yet. When you mail them an intentionally designed marketing postcard, you give them a reason to choose your company over your competition.

Be Prepared to Make the Most of Your Response

Once you choose a direct mail company to design and mail your postcards, you need to track your postcard campaigns progress as it travels to your prospects' mailboxes. An influx of new leads means you'll be busier.

You may need to bring in extra staff to help you field calls, give estimates, serve walk-in customers, etc. However, you don't want to bring in more staff until you know your postcards have arrived, or else it wouldn't be cost-efficient.

That's why using mail tracking is so important.

The USPS uses barcode technology to scan your postcards as they reach every checkpoint. That allows you to follow your postcard campaign right into the mailbox, and make any necessary preparations. Staying on top of your postcard campaign helps you make the most of the response it generates.

Collect Phone Response Data through Call Tracking

Once your postcards arrive in the hands of your prospects, your response will start coming in. You need to make sure you have a way to track how each postcard campaign is performing. Call tracking is fantastic for this.

As Jeff recently explained, call tracking allows you to use a unique phone number on each new postcard campaign. This phone number routes calls to your normal office number; however while it does, it tracks how many responses are coming in. It also records your phone responses, so you can evaluate your sales and reception tactics.

Call tracking is an invaluable part of your marketing system because it gives you the data you need to continually improve your marketing results. You can experiment with different design ideas or message strategies, and know which ones perform best. That way you can get a better response with each new campaign you mail.

Drive Traffic to Your Website and Follow-Up with Online Prospects

Lastly, you have to cover your online response. Your postcards should feature your website to drive traffic to your online presence. These days 90% of your prospects visit your website before they decide to call your office. That's why it is so great that you can implement automatic, targeted online follow-up for these online prospects.

When a prospect visits your website, you can track whether or not they become a customer. If they don't, you'll be able to automatically show them targeted ads on millions of websites after they leave yours. All you have to do is implement a small portion of web code into your website. Once in place this code tracks and follows every visitor to your site.

In addition, you can designate what action you want visitors to take, such as filling out a contact form, making a purchase, setting an appointment, etc. If the visitor doesn't do what you wanted them to do, they'll be shown targeted ads on any website within the Google Display Network, until they return to your site and take the step you designated.

The Google Display Network is made up of millions of websites including popular, high-traffic sites like Dictionary.com and HGTV.com. It is a hassle-free way to convert more online prospects.

To create a complete marketing system that generates leads, follows up with leads, and tracks the response of each individual marketing campaign, you need only to follow these 4 steps. Put them in place and just watch how much your business can flourish this year.

Joy Gendusa is the owner and CEO of direct mail marketing firm, PostcardMania. Have any questions for Joy? Leave them in the comment section below!

Design trends and their effect on lead generation

2013-04-26T17:52:16Z

We all know creative marketing copy and great deals are big factors in successful online lead gen, but understanding the latest design trends and how to use them to present your message cannot be overlooked. Using a stale design aesthetic in a marketing email, advertisement, or on your website can make even the best company look bad and can reduce buyer confidence in your product or service.

Since design is largely based on personal preference, there is no right or wrong approach, but it is wise to at least be up to date on what's popular so that potential customers see you as a current and innovative solution to their needs.

For a number of years now, rich texture design has been at the forefront of what is considered hip. With a lot of help from the iPhone, shadows, gradients, and skeuomorphic concepts have dominated everything we see. Many marketers have adopted the app-like-rounded-rectangles and shadow filled graphics in everything from their websites to promotional email campaigns and even printed marketing collateral. While this approach quickly made companies appear cool and in-tune with the latest trend, it created a saturated environment where this style became the norm that people became overly used to, limiting its effectiveness and "wow-factor."

Recently, we have seen a shift from a number of companies to a "flat" design style. Spearheaded by Microsoft's Windows 8 and Windows Phone platform, flat design takes an opposite approach to rich texture, focusing on extreme minimalism. This means that heavy gradients, shadows, and detailed textures are out and 1-color squares and rectangles are in. With this strategy, your marketing copy can stand out more without unnecessary distractions and because it feels so much different from the norm, it has become the latest hip design trend that makes companies stand out. Here's a clear example of the differences:

Windows Phone OS (left) "flat" design versus Apple's rich textured iOS design (right).

While flat design has gained popularity in recent months, I personally believe it'll have a short shelf life due to its incredible lack of detail. It took years for some people to grow tired of rich textures so how long will it take people to get sick of basic shapes with no interesting visual flare? I prefer a combination of the two design styles that focuses on minimalism to highlight messaging, but still features enough detail to look polished.

Regardless of your preference, incorporating elements of the latest design trends in your marketing and lead gen efforts is critical to success. Whenever you are redoing your website, creating an email marketing campaign, or putting together a white paper, make sure your design efforts are not only current, but are set up for longevity for when design trends inevitably shift in the future.

Tracking your calls

2013-04-24T17:40:32Z

Online marketing makes it super easy to track your results. From email to search to display ads, it's easy to ascertain open rate (for email), clicks, conversions and in many cases, revenue. But what about that phone number you have on your website or include in your paid search ad? If you're not tracking data around your inbound phone calls you could be missing out on a huge chunk of data. And though we're living in an online world, there are many people who still like to pick up the phone and talk to a real person.

The good news is that using trackable phone numbers is quite easy and inexpensive. Using a trackable phone number (which can still route to your existing phone numbers) allows you to glean lots of valuable information and attribute inbound phone calls to their proper source, ensuring you're capturing all activity related to your lead generation (or customer service) efforts.

Implementing trackable phone numbers on your website and/or campaigns gets you all sorts of valuable information. Some common features can include:

Number of phone calls
Duration of calls
Call timing and volume trends
Campaign source, even to the keyword level
Caller ID info
Whisper tone (when someone picks up a call it can tell you where it's coming from)
Call recording (often for additional charge)

All of this data can help you calculate your true campaign ROI. - which, after all, is what we're after.

So consider implementing trackable phone numbers for your business. It's an inexpensive way to truly maximize your lead gen efforts.

Employee Highlight: Sarah Phoenix celebrates five years at BuyerZone & reflects on past & present product marketing changes & trends

2013-04-22T15:33:48Z

Every month BuyerZone's management team likes to give kudos to our colleagues who are celebrating their work anniversaries. Recently, our President gave a special shout out to Sarah Phoenix, BuyerZone's Senior Product Marketing Manager.

Sarah, who is celebrating her five-year anniversary at BuyerZone, is no stranger to About Leads. Last year, she schooled us all on how to have a proper conversion test strategy. In this post, however, she'll be dropping some knowledge on the B2B industry.

In recent years, the B2B industry has undergone some major changes. And one branch of the industry that has seen the most excitement is the product marketing side. Dylan Mazeika from our content team sat down with Sarah to pick her brain on these changes.

About Leads: What brought you to the field of Product Management?

Sarah Phoenix: I did an internship in college at a lead generation company and ended up accepting a full time job there once I graduated. I started in a client services type role, managing lead generation campaigns and client expectations.

Just over a year into my career I realized that I was more interested in the product side of the business and transitioned to a product management role, and here I am many years later!

About Leads: What's your favorite thing about your job?

Sarah Phoenix: I love the cross functional aspect of product marketing. Working with all departments and so many different types of people to reach common company goals of making and keeping our clients happy and reaching our revenue and profit numbers.

I also really enjoy that the possibilities of improving our existing product as well as researching and launching new products. It's definitely a non-stop challenge!

About Leads: What are some of the challenges you face as a product marketing manager in the B2B industry? Got any advice?

Sarah Phoenix: As in any job, there are always challenges that you face and projects or ideas that you wish you had more time to fully evaluate. I would say one of the challenges specific to product marketing is the fact that we are extremely busy supporting our main product on a day to day basis, and it is sometimes difficult to find the time to plan and evaluate what the next big product will be.

What I've started to do recently (and would highly recommend to others) is to block off a certain amount of time in your week, whether it's only a few hours or a full day, to focus on new products and improvements to existing products. This time will allow for un-interrupted brainstorming that will help you improve the business overall in the future.

About Leads: What's changed in the past 5 years for the B2B industry from a product marketing standpoint?

Sarah Phoenix: The B2B lead generation world is constantly changing. I would say that the biggest change, since I started here at BuyerZone 5 years ago, is the level of competition that is out there across many of the products and services for which we provide leads. As more and more companies jump into the lead generation space, our costs end up increasing and it's more difficult to manage client expectations as well as continuing to keep our lead volume where we need it to be.

There has also been an increased presence of new and different channels and programs to evaluate which definitely keeps the marketing teams busy!

About Leads: What are you most proud of accomplishing the past year at BuyerZone?

Sarah Phoenix: I would say that I'm most proud of the transition that our conversion team has made over the past year. I lead a cross functional group of people that meet on a regular basis to come up with new ideas to make our landing pages convert at a higher rate so that we can provide our clients with the lead volume that they are looking for.

Over the past year or so we have done a lot of thinking about the best types of tests to run, and have decided that we need to be flexible with launching "bigger idea" changes more often rather than just focusing on small iterative tweaks to our existing landing pages.

While we haven't found the big winner yet, we are continually testing on a quarterly basis and the teamwork that has gone into these tests is really amazing!

About Leads: We're hiring a product marketing analyst currently, what sort of skills would a good candidate have?

Sarah Phoenix: We are searching for someone with a year or two of experience who is ready to take their career to the next level. Given the high level of cross functional work in product marketing, we are looking for a candidate that is a smart, energetic, independent thinking person with a strong ability to be creative as well as analytical.

About Leads: What do you like to do outside of BuyerZone? Travel? Sports?

Sarah Phoenix: I love to travel internationally - exploring different cultures and environments is one of my favorite things to do. My husband and I last travelled to Turkey where we visited Istanbul, Cappadocia and hiked a portion of the Lycian Way along the coast.

I also enjoy training and participating in triathlons a few times a year to keep fit!

Have more questions for Sarah on product marketing? Ask them in the comment section below! Interested in the Product Marketing Analyst position mentioned? Check out BuyerZone's career page to get the full details.

Using YouTube as an Engagement Tool

2013-04-12T14:52:36Z

I love social media. But the one social network I can't wrap my head around is YouTube.

First of all, I was always a little hesitant to call YouTube a "social" network. The way I've always seen it, people upload music videos, prank videos, and of course, Justin Bieber videos for viewers to enjoy.

End.of.Story.

But after watching HootSuite University's video, Building a Powerful Community on YouTube with Ryan Nugent, I realize that's just the beginning - and that I've been looking at it all wrong. Instead, it's what comes before and after publication that really makes YouTube a social tool, and ultimately, an engagement tool for your business.

Below, I would like to not only share two of Ryan's tips with you, but also add a few examples of how you can apply them to your lead gen efforts. Hopefully, like me, you'll have a social "awakening."

Creating YouTube Videos

Ryan explains that when you're creating videos, be sure to create:

Content that encourages community
Acknowledges the viewers
Starts the conversation
Calls to action
Features the fans

This is easy enough to do if you're uploading music videos; it's a no brainer that people will "dislike" or "like" a music clip. They might even write a comment. But on a business video - people are more likely to send feedback via email or Twitter.

So how do you get them to engage directly on your YouTube channel?

DIRECT them to your channel's discussion board and engage with them there. If they're still sending feedback via email or Twitter, create a NEW video that follows up with their comments.

Now, you're not only encouraging community engagement and starting a conversation, but you're also acknowledging the viewers - another point Ryan mentions. Once you've done this a few times, your subscribers will see that you're not just "promoting" your content, but you're genuinely trying to engage.

So, if I could do a "do over" on one of our BuyerZone videos, I would start with Highlights from BuyerZone's State of B2B Lead Gen Survey. For a video like this, I should have encouraged readers to submit their reactions on the report. Then, I would have taken that new material and created another video sharing what viewers were most shocked about, and go into more depth on those points.

By doing this, I would have checked off all of Ryan's points.

Curate YouTube Videos

My favorite tip that Ryan shared is: If you're not creating videos, share the ones YOU enjoy watching. One of the reasons I go on YouTube is to check out other business channels for good webinars and tutorials. And all this time, I wasn't giving them a "proper" shout out.

Lesson learned.

Thanks to Ryan, I now know that I should be organizing these helpful videos into themed playlists. Not only will it turn your business' YouTube channel into a helpful resource, but it will also help you engage with other businesses - and ultimately grow your community.

For instance, after you create a new playlist for "Content Marketing," send a tweet to the professionals whose videos you included. Before you know it, you'll have them following you on YouTube and Twitter.

To kick this off, check out our new playlist: "How To" Videos by Best of BuyerZone Winners, which features three helpful marketing videos. The playlists features business bloggers whose posts I've enjoyed reading; so it only makes sense that their videos are just as good.

What other tips do you have for creating a community on YouTube? Share them in the comment section below or on our YouTube channel! Who knows, it might end up in a future video.

Video marketing - a growing trend that deserves your attention

2013-04-09T13:00:00Z

Once considered a niche tool aimed at those who could figure out how to navigate YouTube, video marketing is an increasingly popular method to engage with potential customers in a fun and compelling way.

If you're not using video as part of your content marketing strategy, you should probably consider hopping on the bandwagon. According to a recent survey, 70% of B2B marketers are now creating videos to promote their product offerings and content. With video, you can tell your story in ways that text simply cannot compete with, opening up opportunities for more emotional and action-provoking touch points with your target audience.

Here at BuyerZone, we've taken the video marketing plunge to better educate B2B lead buyers on how we can benefit their business. Here's our latest creation for your viewing pleasure:

There are countless paths you can take with video marketing, but be sure the one you do take is both captivating and fun enough to inspire viewers to share it with others. You just never know if a simple tweet or LinkedIn share of your video could lead to a boatload of interest in your company and a number of new leads for your sales team.

Learn more fun facts about the power of video marketing in this cool infographic.

Fast as you can?

2013-04-04T17:27:14Z

Like many companies in the lead generation space, we preach fast lead follow-up. The folks over at InsideSales.com have pioneered a lot of the academic research surrounding this concept - finding that the faster the follow-up, the higher the close rate (makes sense, right)?

Well, in honor of the recently ended Leadscon 2013 (which we also attended - here's our recap), InsideSales tested the response time for a number of companies attending the show. Their point? To see if lead generators practice what they're preaching: do they follow-up on their own leads quickly? The results are here.

This topic does beg the question though: just how fast are you at lead follow-up? And like the folks at InsideSales, the quickest way to find out is to test your system. Submit an inquiry on your website and see how long it takes to get a phone call or email from your sales team. If it's more than a few hours during business hours, you have some tweaking to do!

And that reminds me...I should go check how fast we're following up on inquiries at BuyerZone...

10 Things that Plague B2B Professionals

2013-04-02T18:16:52Z

For those of you that have been celebrating Passover, hang in there! Today is the last day. By tonight, you'll be eating a fabulous pizza while watching the Rugrats Passover Special (or at least I'll be).

To me, the most important aspect of Passover is that it forces us to think about and face the things in our lives that "plague" us. Well, being in the B2B industry offers plenty of daily problems for us to face.

Luckily, for each one of those B2B plagues, there's a solution that can help you improve your business. Here are a few that we can help you with:

1) Fake names and contact information on lead gen forms

Create a "Lead Verification" team that screens requests you get from your lead captures forms. This ensures that the person your sales team might start calling on didn't just send their information off to a computer; someone real and professional is inquiring.

Secondly, it let's you know that the person exists. If the number they provide is really the number for a pizza business, you'll save your team valuable time.

2) Revenue attribution

If your actual conversions occur offline - such as if a customer needs to make a phone call - close the gap between online and offline actions as much as possible. For example, consider a phone tracking service like ifbyphone.com that can attribute phone calls to your website.

For more info, Avinash Kaushik goes into great depth on this: Multi-Channel Attribution: Definitions, Models and a Reality Check

3) Creating content for your B2B audience

Believe it or not, your editorial department isn't the only place you can turn to for new content ideas. In fact, your sales and product management department might offer even better insight into what B2B professionals want to read about.

Dylan Mazeika explains more on how to do this in his post, Utilizing Cross Department Functionality to Create the Best B2B Content for Users

4) Getting through the gatekeeper or receptionist because your follow up calls are being screened

Well, there's a couple ways to solve this one:

Make sure that you're letting the gatekeeper know why you're calling.
If you're not getting a response from your email efforts and you only have the main number, try researching the prospect online via great tools like LinkedIn, Jigsaw, Hoovers etc.
Track down a direct line by looking up the prospect on social networks. This research will also help you find commonalities that will help you build rapport.

5) Content marketing

We all know content marketing is super important and should be your #1 priority. Still, marketers struggle with it. No worries! Our friends at Business 2 Community do a great job of simplifying what you need to focus on in their post, I've Got 99 Problems but Content Marketing Aint One.

6) Sales forecasting

Rick Prantis does a great job covering this challenging "sales plague" in his post, Problems with Sales Forecasting. In the post, he admits that although it's difficult to develop an accurate forecast, there are a few ways to improve accuracy. Trying to forecast is better than not trying at all!

7) Creating a social media strategy

Yes, social networks have been around for a while; however, using them for marketing efforts is relatively new compared to "traditional" techniques. As a result, figuring out how to plan a strategy around it is challenging.

Here's three ways we did it at BZ:

8) How to get customers to the next level of engagement

It's definitely a win when someone visits your site, answers all of your questions and provides all of their contact information. BUT, if they aren't willing to go to the next level and communicate with the people who can educate them, and ideally sell them something, then that lead becomes much less valuable.

A few ways to improve engagement rate is by the following:

Utilize quality channels to drive traffic
Ask buyers how they prefer to communicate
Get leads into the hands of your team as quickly as possible

9) Google not providing keyword information

If you had a solution for this problem, you could make a nice living for yourself in online marketing. BUT until you get there, Andrew Holstein, from our sister company eMedia, recommends looking at the landing pages of your (not provided) keywords to get as much information as possible.

To get more information on this, Andrew recommends checking out: How to Turn (Not Provided) Into Useful, Actionable Data.

10) Customer commitment and renewal

Today, everyone has a little fear of commitment: fear of committing to a mobile provider, to buying a house or to financing a car. People want the option to commit short term, like per month. Good for them, not so great for you.

What's the solution for this? Give them something great that will make them commit: quality leads, a great product, flexible program, genuine partnerships etc.

There you have it: ten problems that unfortunately plague us all sometimes in the B2B space. What other challenges does your company face? Any success stories? Share them in the comment section below!

Photo courtesy of nick.com

Happy April Fools' Day!

2013-04-01T14:51:48Z

After years of planning and testing, BuyerZone is pleased to announce our latest category for all our lead gen and B2B visitors!

Time Travel Machines & Services

Take a trip to the future to find out what Lead Gen best practices you can pick up. Find out if Content Marketing is still a big deal ten years from now. Can't wait for football season to start? Zoom forward in your hot tub time travel machine to watch Tom Brady bring home another Super Bowl win.

Start your search today: http://www.buyerzone.com/pages/time-travel/index.html

Be sure to share your travel stories in the comment section below! If Time Travel isn't what you're looking for today, be sure to check out our other categories.

A recap of LeadsCon 2013

2013-03-22T18:42:34Z

After a combined 5,436 miles of flying between Boston and Las Vegas, we are back in the office after 2 great days at LeadsCon. As I mentioned in last week's post - Prepping for LeadsCon 2013 - there is no better conference for lead buyers and lead generators to meet and discuss the state of the lead generation industry.

Although BuyerZone has attended LeadsCon for years now and has always came away learning a ton, this was the first time we've exhibited at our own show booth and it was certainly worth the investment. During exhibiting hours, we were able to conduct numerous face-to-face conversations with business professionals on both sides of the lead gen spectrum and the prevailing theme was an expected one - lead QUALITY.

With the explosion of mobile devices providing everyone with the Internet in their pocket, the influx of volume in both B2B and B2C lead gen has been astounding. It's now up to lead generators like us to ensure we go the extra mile to capitalize on this volume revolution without losing focus on the quality standards that lead buyers expect and demand.

This theme was presented and discussed at length in a variety of panels and breakout sessions throughout the 2-day conference by featured speakers that included Tom Evans (CEO & President of Bankrate), Steve Kenzer (CEO of CORE Digital Media), and Pete Koomen (President of Optimizely).

Overall, we were very pleased with the relationship building and key insights we took away from the show and hope to apply this knowledge to our existing lead gen efforts as soon as possible.

Did you attend LeadsCon 2013? If so, leave us some of your observations in the comments section below.

Going Behind the Scenes with Your Brand

2013-03-19T13:00:00Z

As I'm doing research for the next Best of BZ edition, I'm reading a lot of great blog posts on brand building. There are a lot of suggestions on what white papers to produce, what infographics to create and fun ways to engage with clients on social media.

But the one idea that stands out from the rest is: go behind the scenes with your brand.

It's great that your brand is known for being a leader and authority figure in your industry - but who makes it authoritative? The people that help build your brand do - your employees. Their expertise and personalities are what ultimately set you apart from similar businesses.

So now that you understand that you should show the "behind the scenes" aspects of your brand, do you know how to? That's where it can get tricky. You want to mix the right amount of "personality" with a strong dose of professionalism.

Here's how:

Make your "About Us" page actually about YOU

When I'm getting to know a company who I potentially want to work with, I always go straight for the About Us page. The sites that not only have "about our company" pages but also have an "about our employees" page are the ones I'm more likely to spend time on.

Why?

Because it shows me that they have no problem "bragging" about their employees; that their employees' backgrounds will benefit their "brand" persona. And that, obviously, says a lot.

A good example of this is SEER Interactive's "Meet the Team" page. Every one of their employee gets a page about them, which includes details that all together make up their brand: baby picture (fun), employee profile (professional) and blog post (authoritative).

Remember, the point of an About Us page (especially in B2B) should be to give the visitor information that will get them to want to contact you. That includes professional and personal traits.

After reading your About Us page, you want visitors to say, "Hey, they look like people I want to work with."

Remember, videos speak louder than words

It's one thing to read a whitepaper and think, "Wow, this company knows what they're talking about." It's another to actually meet the author of the whitepaper. Basically, gives you a feel for their knowledge, ultimately increasing your interest in the material.

Take our State of B2B Lead Gen report for instance. A title like that can create all sorts of assumptions on what the report is about. So, to add value, we created a video where one of the authors could discuss a few highlights.

Not only did readers get a "sneak peek" of the report, but they also got to meet the writer behind it. It created a connection between the reader and the marketing materials, which is the essence of brand building.

Use your company's blog as your #1 branding tool

Your company's blog is the number one area on your site where you are encouraged to share your expertise and personality. That's what blogging is really all about (not just for link building). As a result, sprinkle your "brand's personality" everywhere.

For instance, as many of you have probably noticed, I often use real-life pictures in my blog posts as opposed to professional pictures, whether it's an image of my coworkers....

Or their dogs....

What's the end result?

Readers still get the same quality information our brand delivers, BUT with a little "spice." And it's that "spice" that could lead to a recommendation. For example, the next time a visitor is asked by a friend on what lead gen blog they should read, hopefully they'll respond with, "Well I know this one blog that is informative and an entertaining read."

Your company's blog is also a great platform where you can introduce other core employees. For instance, these past couple of months, you might have noticed a few new faces on the blog. That's because we wanted to showcase employees in our office who help build our brand every day, whether they're from our content team...

PPC team...

Or sister company.

You don't need to do this for every employee, but you should absolutely do this for the employees who are interacting with visitors. So, the next time that a visitor Googles "John Smith from yourbusiness.com," something positive and relevant to your brand shows up.

You can't control everything about your brand's online reputation, but this you can!

Also, by showing visitors the people behind your company, they get a better idea of who you are and what you stand for. This will help make them feel more comfortable working with you. There are lots of ways to build your brand, and present yourself as an industry leader. What better way to do it than through your employees?

What other fun ways does your company build your brand? Share it in the comment section below!