One is the ditch called, “Push, push, push” where all you do is push your product. This is the ditch filled with old-school marketers who think advertising is the only way to get people to buy.

The other is the ditch called, “Sit back and let the business come to me.” Many inbound marketers take this path, expecting their hard work to bring a flood of interested customers their way.

Then there is a path between the two ditches. This path combines the methods of both types of marketers, leading directly to more sales. The key to staying on this path (and the key to generating massive sales online) is to create balance in your message. That requires you to fine tune your marketing for each stage of the customer lifecycle.

What is the Customer Lifecycle?

The term ‘customer lifecycle’ is a buzzword used quite a bit in the marketing industry. Even though it’s used so often, it tends to shift meaning depending on who you’re talking to. This makes it hard to nail down what specifically the customer lifecycle is.

Wikipedia says it well:

“Customer lifecycle management is the measurement of multiple customer related metrics, which, when analyzed for a period of time, indicate performance of a business.”

This can, and does, encompass a variety of key points. For example, some people use the term ‘customer lifecycle’ to represent the time from when the customer buys through when they become brand advocates. Others use the term ‘customer lifecycle’ to talk about the various types of customers that buy throughout the lifetime of your product.

I think of the customer lifecycle as the time from when a person becomes aware of your product to the time she buys and beyond. Here are the five stages:

1. Awareness
2. Consideration
3. Selection
4. Satisfaction
5. Retention

Let’s dig into each of these more closely and look at how you can dominate at every one of these stages using smarter online marketing strategies.

1. Awareness

Before a person can buy from you, she needs to know your product exists. This is common sense, which is why it makes up the crux of how companies market themselves.

Ads are shown on television, social media sites and in newspapers. Salesmen are hired to spread the word about the business at networking events and by knocking on doors. Websites are built to educate the public about what is being offered.

In this stage, a business must tell a customer why she needs what they’re selling. When the customer is becoming aware of a product for the first time, she still needs to be educated on:

• The problem the product solves for her;
• The reason it’s so important to resolve this;
• The benefits associated with the purchase.

When marketing to the customers who are not aware of a product, or are unsure of why they should pay attention to the product, education is vital. It’s up to you, the marketer, to describe how a purchase could make the customer’s life immensely better. Here are a few examples of how specifically you can dominate at this:

• Create a special landing page specifically for your target market to educate your potential customers on what you’re selling;
• Use your social media accounts to slowly raise awareness about what it is you sell by getting your fans to help you spread the message;
• Tap into business partnerships to get influencers to share why you’re such a great product with your shared audience.

This is the stage where you need to be offering information in a way that shows your customer why you matter. This is where you need to make your customer pay attention so she sees why what you’re selling matters to her specifically.

2. Consideration

Capturing the interest of the market and educating your potential customers about what you offer is only the first step. From there, the customer moves into consideration mode. She knows you’re not the only company that does what you do, so she’s bound to start doing her own research.

During the consideration stage, your customer is digging into the nitty gritty. She’s giving your company the run down internally comparing everything from price and package to attributes and amenities. She wants to find the best value for her dollar.

When a customer is pinning you against your competition, you need to stay top-of-mind and stand out from the crowd. The first step in doing this is by showing up.

Too many businesses teach a customer about why their product matters but then don’t nurture the interest through the consideration stage. The best way to do this is to set up a marketing funnel to check in with the customer regularly while she makes her decision. There are several areas where you can show up to keep your business name top of mind and make your company look more helpful.

• Offer something for free on your website (and get the potential customer’s contact information in return);
• Put together a drip campaign that your business partners can send out to their list to encourage the sale;
• Post at least once a day on whatever social media accounts your customer uses to stay top of mind.

The more you can show up during the consideration stage, the better. This is your time to provide the answers to all of your customer’s objections bringing them closer to selecting your company to buy from.

3. Selection

Once a person has selected your business to buy from, you’re not off the hook. You must get the customer to complete the sale. Often times, this is harder than it seems.

Converting interested buyers means making the buying process as seamless as possible. It’s also your opportunity to upsell.

The first part of the selection process is how you present your product. Using choice architecture to set up and compare products side by side can actually help you generate more money during this stage of the customer lifecycle. I know because Hotels.com did it and got me to happily pay 19% more than I had originally intended to pay.

To dominate at this stage, you need to do something similar. You need to pay attention to how the options are laid out and how laborious the buying process is.

Customers don’t want to have to jump through hoops to give you money. If you’re leaking potential customers from your website, and people are not following through selecting your company, you will need to take a closer look at conversion process.

• Are you asking the customer for too much information?
• How easy is it to find and buy from you?
• Are you presenting all of the customer’s choices in a way that is pleasing and makes the customer feel good about their purchase?

Fine tuning the conversion process is complex. Often times, having help of a third party or outside agency can make a world of difference. You’re married to your product. Having someone who can look at your buying process from the customer’s point of view can help you identify potential pitfalls and ultimately boost your overall sales.

4. Satisfaction

Once the product is purchased, the marketing is not complete. Even though you have received payment from your customer, you need to keep her happy so she does not make a return or bad mouth your business.

The satisfaction stage gets ignored quite often because it feels like the transaction is over. The companies that continue to reach out to the customer even after the purchase is made are the ones who continue to win business.

A few ideas for how to masterfully market to your current customer base include:

• Following up a few days after the purchase to make sure the customer is happy. She won’t always tell you.
• Continuing to check in with the customer to let her know about new deals or upcoming offers.

This might sound time consuming, and if you do it manually, it is. However, having an automated marketing funnel for post-purchase follow ups will take this important step off your plate and still help your business reach every single customer at the right time after they’ve bought from you.

5. Retention

You’ve almost done it! You’ve won the sale and you’ve kept your customer satisfied after the purchase. Now, you move into the loyalty phase. This is the phase where your customer decides whether or not she is loyal to your brand, no matter what.

Retaining a customer takes continued marketing. You must extend your post-purchase marketing funnel out to continue to sell the benefits of your business to your customer. This can be tricky because you don’t want to violate the person’s trust by abusing the contact information she’s given to you. Here’s how to do it appropriately:

• Offer a reward for being a loyal customer to your business.
• Encourage your customer to publicly talk about you by offering another reward for referring other people to your business.
• Promote customer-only sales and events to show how much you value those connections.

No matter what you do, keep connecting with your customers long after the purchase. Let them know you care and that you’re still around creating exceptional products or services that they can buy.

From Start to Finish

The time it takes your customer to move through each stage of the customer lifecycle varies. Some industries, each of these stages happens quite quickly. Other times, it goes slower. In either case, your marketing needs to be on point so that you can convert more interested buyers and keep your customers around for the long run.

Not sure where you’re hitting a sticky point in the customer lifecycle? Let’s talk. Schedule your free business consultation with one of our team members to pin point where you’re leaving money on the table and how you can fix that.

The post Dominate at Every Stage of Your Customer Lifecycle appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Marketing Samurai LLC.

The way you market to your audience is constantly changing. Consistent advancements in new technology give marketers a challenge. It’s hard to keep up with the regular developments.

Still, keeping up is vital if you want to stand out among the competition and get noticed by buyers.

To help you navigate your marketing efforts in 2016, here are 5 important resolutions you should be making to keep on top of your A game

1. Get a Grip on Your Marketing Data

Big Data has made it easier than ever to track the effectiveness of your marketing activity, understand the behaviors of your target market and how to interact with your buyers.

This year, experts predict that we will see a rise in the need to better optimise the customer experience through advanced customer segmentation and marketing automation. Data will provide marketers with the important information needed to make these real-time decisions.

In spite of the prolific availability of data, some marketers find analyzing the facts and figures an overwhelming challenge.

Psychologists and personality theorists believe there to be differences between the right and left side of the brain. Right-brain thinkers are more emotional and creative, where as left-brain thinkers are more practical in nature and better at analyzing the facts. This plays a big role in how you market your products, according to an infographic by Marketo, The Right Brain vs. Left Brain of Marketers.

Could it be that a large proportion of marketers are naturally right-brained and therefore shy away from the numbers side of marketing?  Or, is it because analysing data to this extent is a relatively recent development and marketers haven’t learned how to do this effectively yet?  In either case, Big Data cannot be ignored.

Your data tells your buyer’s story. It shows you what you need to know to increase conversions in your campaigns. By using tools to monitor your automated marketing efforts and track your campaigns, you can gain invaluable insight into the mindset of your buyers. With this, you can tweak your marketing to make it leaps and bounds more effective.

2. Implement a Strong CRM System

One of the tools businesses are using to track customer interaction is a CRM. Although it’s great for the sales team, there are golden nuggets of data hidden within the CRM to help marketers improve campaign performances.

CRMs allow you to make smarter strategic decisions. With the data from these tools, you are better equipped to scale and improve your marketing efforts. Ultimately this is how to increase your bottom line.

But, this can prove challenging to some due to the sheer scale of the data.

Cloud based business intelligence tools are starting to mature. 2016 will see more developed CRM Software to aggregate and analyze data. Armed with this information, you’ll get a faster 360 degree view of your customer, helping you make smarter decisions in half the time.

Finding the right CRM is sometimes another challenge. A good quality CRM System should automate your marketing and sales functions, assist with customer support, produce reports and analytics to assist with forecasting, and have the ability to integrate with social media and mobile. We like Infusionsoft for this.

3. Super-Charge Your Content Marketing. Go Interactive!

It’s not a secret that content marketing is one of the most effective ways to generate audience engagement, differentiate your brand, attract better quality leads and increase sales.

But with the rise in content marketing comes the challenge of standing out amongst the noise of others.

A report produced by Ion Interactive suggests a solution to this struggle. Marketers can achieve a higher level of engagement, consumption and conversion by transforming static content into interactive experiences. In this study, 88% of marketers said interactive content was effective at differentiating their brand.

So what is interactive content? It can take a number of different forms on a digital level. It includes the ever popular quizzes, surveys, assessments, e-books, calculators and competitions.  Any type of online activity, which encourages participation from its reader, is considered interactive content.  You can utilise this interactivity to collect data about your audience in order to further enhance your marketing.

4. Make Time to Plan Your Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy

Although obvious, this resolution is one that’s often neglected.

51% of businesses don’t have a strategy, according to Smart Insight. In the words of Benjamin Franklin; ‘If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail’!

Marketing is quickly becoming more complex through the use of interactive content, marketing automation and an increase in the number of marketing channels available. This makes effective planning more important than before.

Consumers need numerous interactions with a brand, through a variety of mediums in order to convert to paying customers. Planning how this is going to happen is very important.

Using your CRM Software to analyze previous data and evaluate the success or failure of past efforts will help.  With this tool, you can eliminate activities that were unsuccessful and expand on those that worked well.

5. Get Mobile Savvy – No Excuses!

Mobile marketing isn’t new. Still, the statistics show that many businesses are still not optimised for mobile marketing in spite of 68% of Americans now have a smart phone.

Mobile has overtaken fixed internet access with US users now spending the vast majority of their time consuming digital media within mobile applications. Ignoring the potential of this captive market is a marketing death sentence.

Marketers need to ensure content is optimised for viewing from a smart phone while also looking at the best ways to exploit this marketing channel to its full potential. There are many ways to accomplish this through clever mobile marketing strategies.

• Advertise in popular apps among your target audience
• Optimize your website to be responsive to mobile devices
• Turn on iBeacon technology to target customers when they’re close to your store

People ingest content on mobiles in a different way to other devices. Think about how your buyer uses her mobile device. Then, customize your content and marketing strategies to match her behavior.

Mobile marketing should be at the top of your list this year when developing your multi-channel marketing strategy.

Takeaways

Resolve to form a deeper connection with your audience in 2016. By analysing Big Data, tapping into your CRMs statistics and creating a better user experience, you could see tremendous growth in your marketing.

Now it’s your turn. What resolutions are you making in 2018?

The post The Top 5 Resolutions Every Marketer Should Be Making in 2018 appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Marketing Samurai LLC.

Staples was onto something when they created their “easy” button. But for now, most things worthwhile aren’t available with a quick click. For example, how much better would your business website perform if you had a keyboard equipped with a ‘get traffic’ button? Unfortunately it isn’t that simple. Getting the website traffic you need can be hard work.

These days we build our entire marketing campaigns and activities around our websites in order to achieve the targeted traffic we need to encourage a conversion. Generally this means developing a digital marketing strategy with a mixture of inbound and outbound marketing channels. These efforts involve a considerable amount of time, money and effort from your marketing team.

But if your marketing budget is tight and your resources are scarce, it can be difficult to get the targeted traffic you need to achieve these results.

So how do you get the targeted traffic you need at a fraction of the cost?

Before I dive in, it’s important that I point out a significant difference. Please notice that I’m saying ‘targeted traffic’ here. You can get ‘cheap traffic’ or ‘junk traffic’ for very little money – but it won’t be targeted, which means it won’t be worthwhile to you or your business. After all, there’s very little value in bringing people to your pages who have no intent on buying from you.

What you want (and what I’m about to show you) is to get high quality, yet inexpensive traffic from people who want to buy.  Here are four ways you can get quality targeted traffic on the cheap.

1.Content Amplification Software

You’ve likely heard the phrase ‘content is king,’ but how effective is your content at driving new visitors to your pages?

If you are producing weekly content, chances are you are already distributing it to your existing network of social media followers and opt-in subscribers. That part is easy. What isn’t quite as simple and straightforward is how to reach people outside of your existing network. This is called content amplification.

Content amplification helps you take your content to the next level by distributing it to audiences you are not currently reaching. Content amplification software is the tool that lets you do that.

Sites such as Outbrain Amplify – the behemoth of the content distribution world – will help you reach new audiences by making your content louder and easier to find. This paid site is the best known among its competitors. For a few dollars per day ($10 minimum) it will display your content as recommended reading to users browsing popular websites such as CNN, People and ESPN.

Content amplification software is an excellent way of getting your content noticed at a low cost. It will ultimately encourage traffic to visit your website.

2. Facebook PPC

The best way to buy traffic to your site is through the tried and true pay per click (PPC) model. For most of our clients, we recommend Facebook’s platform for PPC.

Facebook is one of the cheapest sources of traffic you can find online. You can target exactly who you need to reach and, done correctly, it can send a remarkable amount of traffic your way.

A Moz study found that on average you would be able to reach as many as 4,000 highly targeted viewers with just a single dollar. Let’s do the math. By spending only a $1 a day (which is the minimum spend) you could receive approximately 120,000 viewers of your ad for $30. Not a bad ratio.

In addition to this, Facebook has the lowest cost per 1,000 impressions in advertising history, averaging at around $0.25 per 1,000. This is another staggering statistic from the Moz study.

Facebook has 1.59 billion monthly active users and because of this they are able to collect an immense amount of information about a large portion of the world’s population. This is why Facebook is so successful when it comes to PPC, and why your business can be too.

3. Guest Blogging

As I mentioned earlier, content is king. Still, quality content is hard to come by these days. Many websites are eager to bring new voices to their editorial calendar and add new content without paying money. It’s called guest blogging and it’s an open door opportunity for you.

Guest blogging is one of the most effective ways of building relationships with audiences on other websites. Because those websites have already done the legwork to build up an audience, all you have to do is write a few quality posts to get that audience’s attention and bring new potential buyers to your brand.

The key here is to choose the site where you guest blog carefully. There are plenty of junk sites out there. For your guest blogging efforts to be effective, you must choose a website with a higher domain authority than yours (so you get the SEO benefit when they link back to your pages) and a reader profile that fits in with your own target audience. With these two things, you’re able to drive highly targeted, helping to your pages.

Getting started isn’t as easy as it might seem. You will need to build good relationships with the editors of the sites you would like to blog for. These people are often bombarded with guest blogging requests with junk content that’s more damaging than it is helpful to their audience. This means building a relationship with an editor can be tricky if you don’t already have some established connections.

Your marketing agency may already have some connections that they can use to get your foot in the door. For example, we regularly write for and work with websites, such as AllBusiness, Tweak Your Biz and others because of the relationships we’ve built.

4.Google Adwords

Google’s very foundation is built on getting people to organically find your site and is therefore the king of free traffic. If you have a good, solid understanding of search engine optimization (SEO) then you can do very well at increasing traffic to your site organically (or without paying your way to the top).

However, going down the organic SEO route can take some time and skill. If you’re not ranking as high in the search engine results pages (SERPs) as you’d like, Google Adwords is a great way to go.

Using Google Adwords is a great way to reach new potential buyers. All it involves is buying sponsored ads on search results pages for your keywords. This is an easy way to reach a highly targeted audience.

Of course, choosing broad keywords will end up costing you a fortune because they are more competitive for both advertisers and searchers alike. To ensure you get the most for your money choose long-tail keywords which are very specific to your business. These are keywords that are approximately five to seven words in length.

The great thing about Google Adwords is you can set your daily budget. This is where the inexpensive part comes into play.

Pick a budget that fits in with what you are able to afford to spend. You will only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad.

Takeaways

There are many ways you can drive targeted traffic to your website without hurting your wallet. These four are the best we’ve found at Marketing Samurai.  Have you found other cheap forms of traffic generation, such as social media marketing or contests?

If your current marketing strategy isn’t achieving the desired results, consider some of these suggestions.

Has your web traffic taken a nosedive? Marketing Samurai can help you get back on track.  We offer a free business consultation to get you started. Click the link to sign up for a half hour conversation with one of our team members.

The post Do You Need More Website Traffic Without Hurting Your Wallet? Here’s How to Get It appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Marketing Samurai LLC.

Yet driving email subscriber signups isn’t as easy as it should be. People hold onto their email addresses as closely as they do their passwords and private lives. To get someone to give you their email address, you need to make sure the person knows you have a list to sign up to in the first place.

Here are 10 of the best plugins ways to attract email addresses and build subscribers.

1. PopUp Domination

For years businesses have shied away from using pop-ups because of how it influences the customer’s experience. There was (and still is) worry that these pop-ups are more of a nuisance for website visitors.

Yet pop-ups are one of the best conversion drivers. Why? Because 97% of online purchases are not completed the first time someone visits your website, according to Hybris. And pop-ups are shown to be one of the best ways to capture website visitors contact information.

PopUp Domination offers a unique style of pop-up window. Instead of pushing your sales message on the reader, it poses a simple two-answer question. Your visitor can either say yes to being on your list, or decline.

Here’s an example of what the pop-up looks like on PopUp Domination’s website:

The plug-in gives you access to analytics, A/B testing, and several unique designs. It’s available as a WordPress plug-in or as stand alone software. Pricing is available on their website.

2. List Builder

List Builder is a free pop-up plugin from the team at AppSumo.

It works by having a simple, attractive lightbox pop up at just the right time – when someone’s leaving your website. You can customize the design of the lightbox and the copy presented to your visitors. Try their A/B testing to see what converts the best.

Here’s what theirs looks like:

This type of pop-up doesn’t ruin a customer’s experience with your content or on your site. Instead, it waits until the person is on their way out to make one last attempt at capturing their details. According to the site, you can expect to “easily” get 20 – 50% more email subscribers every day using List Builder

3. Drip

If you’re not on board with the pop-up strategy, Drip might be a better solution – especially if you’re just starting your email list.

This WordPress plugin does it all. First, it lets you choose a simple form that pops up in the right corner of your visitors screen. It’s unobtrusive but still animated enough to capture the attention of the person on your site. Here’s what the Drip pop-up looks like:

There are several formats you can choose from. Once you have the contact list set up, Drip goes the extra step beyond most email subscription plugins to let you to create an email sequence. Use this to welcome visitors and nurture leads so you turn more visitors into customers.

4. Slide In

Slide In is similar to Drip, except the plugin slides in from the side of the screen. It’s timed just right (similar to List Builder) so you capture your audience when they’re leaving instead of interrupting them when they’re arriving on your page.

Here’s an example from the Slide In website.

5. Interrupt

This is another plugin from AppSumo. Instead of having a pop-up on your website, you can greet your visitors with an instant call-to-action. The entire page fills with an invitation to sign up for your email list, interrupting what they thought they were going to get when they clicked to your page. Once they scroll down (no email address required) they’re met with the content and cannot sign up again.

This is the AppSumo Interrupt plugin in action on their site.

6. Hello Bar

Hello Bar is one of the most popular plugins for driving email subscribers. It’s free and it’s non-invasive.

It works as a slim, attractive bar that sits on the top of your website with an invitation to sign up for your email list. It’s noticeable but not in-your-face, making it ideal for websites who need a stellar customer experience to convert.

Here’s an example of the HelloBar from their website.

Customize your bar with your colors and call-to-action.

7. Subscribe to Download

If you’re offering a lead magnet to encourage subscribers, deliver it with ease by installing the Subscribe to Download WordPress plugin.

This plugin gives you an attractive, yet simple lightbox to put on your website. Add some copy and you’ll have a simple giveaway added to your website.

This is a live demo from their website:

8. LeadBoxes

If you’ve ever used LeadPages to create and design your landing pages, you’ve probably heard about LeadBoxes.

LeadBoxes are simple opt-in boxes you can place anywhere on your website. These are ideal for the ends of your blog posts or on pages where you want to convert more visitors. It’s a two box plugin. First, the visitor must say that they’re interested in what you’re offering. Then a pop-up will appear asking for their email address. It’s simple yet highly effective.

Here’s an example of the second box on a website:

9. Rafflecopter

Marketing psychology shows that reciprocity is one of the best ways to get website visitors invested in your business. Hosting a giveaway is a good way to do this.

Rafflecopter is a plugin that makes it simple to host giveaways and encourage email subscribers in the process. A person will get an entry into your giveaway whenever he provides his email address. With Rafflecopter, you can also encourage social media followers at the same time by offering more entries for liking your Facebook page or following you on Twitter.

When the contest is over a person is randomly drawn by the Rafflecopter plugin and you get to notify the winner. It’s a fun way to encourage more email signups.

Here’s what it looks like:

10. OptimizePress

One of the easiest ways to drive email subscribers is to create an entire campaign around your email list. To do this, OptimizePress allows you to create a stunning landing page and drive people to sign up through your website. This is a slightly more robust plan than adding a simple plugin to your website but it works. If growing an email list is your primary business goal, this is the best solution for you.

It is equally ideal for anyone creating a membership website.

Which Plugin Will You Try?

Are you planning on trying any of these plugins? Or do you already use a plugin you’re fond of that’s not listed here? Let us know in the comments below.

The post 10 Plugins to Drive Email Subscribers appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Marketing Samurai LLC.

If your conversion rate is suffering, chances are so is your customer’s experience with your brand. You haven’t given your buyers a reason to open their wallets to you.

Finding the sticking point in your buyer’s journey and then improving on it is a constant race. You need to give your customers a better experience than anyone else, but where do you start? What do you do? How do you ensure you’re building a loyal base of consumers who will support your brand and return to buy from you over and over again?

The first step is to understand what happens when they seek out what you’re selling.

Research Your Buyer’s Behavior

Before you can understand what needs to improve, you need to know what your buyers are currently experiencing with your brand.

To find this out, tap into your marketing data. Login to Google Analytics and start digging. Specifically, you’ll want to look at the following metrics:

How are people finding you?

To know what your customers want from you, you must know what happens before they search for you.

To find your referral traffic, click on “Acquisition,” then “All Traffic,” then “Referrals.” This will show you where people were right before they clicked to your website.

Looking at your referral traffic will help you distinguish what a person was doing before they reached you and why they ultimately landed on your website.

For example, if you’re getting a lot of search engine traffic from mobile devices, people are probably looking for your business while on the go. However, if you’re getting the bulk of your traffic from Facebook, you’re probably attracting people who are interested in what you’re offering but might not be ready to buy.

What does the user experience look like on your website?

In Google analytics, you’ll find a flowchart of the visitors experience on your site.

To find this flow chart for your company’s website, click “Users Flow” under the “Audience” tab.

Here, you’ll be able to see the top pages where people land, the pages they click on next, and the pages where you’re losing the bulk of your visitors. This information is telling because it shows what people are looking for when they arrive on your website and whether you’ve answered their need.

Some pages will make sense to lose customers. For example, an order or contact page is usually the last stop for many buyers because they’ve completed their transaction. However, if you’re losing a lot of people off your sales pages, you have some work to do.

What pages are people landing on most often?

To understand what people are looking for when arriving on your website, you need to know your top landing pages. A landing page is the first page a person arrives on when visiting your site.

Drill down to your statistics by clicking on “Behavior” and “Site Content.” Here, you’ll find which pages are attracting the most people. This is the content people want from you. It’s here your visitors hope to have their questions answered.

Where are you losing potential buyers?

Take an equally close look at where you’re losing people by looking at the top exit pages. You can find these in Google analytics in the tab right underneath your top landing pages.

These pages tell you where you’re losing potential customers. It’s here that your customer experience suffers. People aren’t getting the information they need to buy. Improve these and you’ll see an increase in your conversion rates.

Publicize Your Customer Experience Strategy

Once you understand what your buyers are doing, it’s time to put together your customer experience strategy and publicize what you’re doing to make your buyer’s lives even better.

Creating a clear customer experience strategy is essential. It requires an in-depth look at what the customer goes through when deciding he needs your service, researching your offerings, and deciding whether or not to buy from you.

One company who has put a public strategy in place to observe this behavior is easyJet. This company has a specific board formed to exclusively focus on improving customer experiences both online and offline.

Online, easyJet has added pages to their website to discuss their customer experience plan. They’ve also produced videos to showcase what they’re doing behind the scenes to improve traveler’s experiences with their airliner.  

By making their customer experience strategy public, they hope to improve their reputation as being a strong customer advocate. And through that approach, the company hopes to attract more travelers to fly with them.

Infuse Psychological Triggers Into Your Marketing Strategy

One element you’ll want to consider when creating your customer experience and marketing strategy is psychology.

Customers respond better to psychological triggers in marketing that make them feel good. These triggers, such as scarcity (making the buyer feel like he got in on a limited edition product) or reciprocity (making the buyer feel like he gave back to someone who helped him) have a dramatic effect on conversions.

Psychological triggers make people want to buy from your brand over others because your marketing ignites something inside of them. It makes people feel compelled to work with your brand because of the emotions you stir.

Humans are not logical beings. Strike an emotional chord with your prospects and you’ll see more eyeballs turn into profits.

Are You Doing Enough to Improve Your Customer’s Experience?

It’s not easy. To capture your customer’s attention and get them to buy requires due diligence on your part, thoughtful strategy and smart psychological nurturing. Your customers want to feel good about their purchase. They want to know their making the best decision when working with your brand. By following these steps, you can improve every phase of the buying experience to increase your conversion rates.

Want a second opinion on your customer’s experience? Contact us for a free business consultation.

The post How to Create a Stellar Customer Experience (and Increase Conversions) appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Marketing Samurai LLC.

That’s one of the biggest advantages to passive income, according to Pat Flynn, owner of Smart Passive Income.

If you’ve read the Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris, you’re familiar with the concept. It’s fairly simple. If you sell any type of product via your website, such as an ebook, course or anything other than a service requiring your time, you have the potential to earn money while you sleep. This is called passive income.

Passive income is one of the best income streams you can have. It gives you the ability to earn money while you sleep, which let’s face it, is every business owner’s ultimate dream.

But having something to sell is only the first step. If you have products but aren’t seeing the type of revenue you’d like from your passive income stream, the problem might lie with your marketing.  

Boosting Passive Income

Because the bulk of businesses generate passive income by selling online, it makes sense to start your marketing with proven digital marketing strategies. We specifically recommend using inbound marketing strategies.

Inbound marketing techniques are much more effective than outbound. Inbound strategies attract potential customers, giving you the ability to collect data. Outbound is based more on interrupting potential buyers and asking for their attention.

Check out the Digital Marketing Predictions For 2016 post we put together back in December.  You’ll notice that many of these strategies are specifically inbound strategies. For example:

1. Being more strategic about your content will help it work smarter and ultimately harder for you. This will bring more customers to your doorstep.
2. Building a complete consumer experience for your buyers, rather than focusing on different channels as silos, will help you personalize your marketing better.
3. Getting to know your customers by gathering the right data will help you reach your customers at a time when they are most likely to buy.
4. Taking advantage of automation tools will mean you can market to your customers without you having to be planted in front of your computer.

Notice how each of these has taken an old marketing philosophy and updated it to become more modern?

Let’s dig a little deeper. Passive income requires a slightly more fine tuned approach. There isn’t someone sitting in front of the computer or by the phone waiting for a customer’s call to come in. Instead, you need to make sure you’re speaking to your customer at all hours of the with strong marketing.

Here are the top 3 components of a marketing strategy we recommend you finesse in order to boost your passive income.

1.Content Marketing

Content marketing is a great way to boost passive income. Why? Because producing engaging content brings customers to you by helping you rank higher on search engines, get people talking about you on social media and generating interest about what you’re selling. No cold calls or door knocking required.

Passive income relies on you offering your knowledge to potential buyers, even when you’re not able to answer requests or questions. The content you put on your website serves their needs on a silver platter. Your buyers are able to find what they need faster and easier, making them more likely to buy.

High touch services and industries tend to take a more hands-on approach. People expect that from these companies. But when a customer buys a product off your website, they want less direct involvement and more information to guide their purchase decision.

Content marketing serves that purpose.

There are many types of content you can produce that will help drive traffic to your site such as:

• Blogging
• Infographics
• Memes
• Videos
• Guides
• Book reviews

The list goes on and on.

One example of someone who nails content marketing on a consistent basis is Neil Patel. He wrote an article to help you find the perfect style of content for your brand and buyer. It’s called the 15 Types of Content That Will Drive You More Traffic.

In this article Neil talks about a video by Crazy Egg (of which he is the co-founder) that helped to bring in $21k for them every month. The video is simple to understand. The imagery he uses speak a thousand words, while the audio helps hit his point home.

By incorporating more and better content throughout your website, you’ll have the bait you need to lure in potential customers for your products.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The first step to selling more via your website is to get people to your website. Search engine optimization is the essential first step to making that happen. Without it, it becomes a lot harder for people to find you.

The process isn’t easy. After all, think of the thousands of other websites you’re competing with for the top spot on the search engine results page (SERP). But, done well, it can help you get free traffic to your website, making it easier for you sell more of your products while you sleep.

The most important thing to do when you are thinking about your SEO strategy is to ensure you pick the right keywords. Don’t pick keywords that you can’t compete on. For example, those that have an exceptionally high search popularity, or those with high ranking domain authorities on the first page. It’ll take you years to outrank those websites, so they’re not worth your effort.

We advise our clients to choose longtail keywords. These typically have five to seven words in the search term.

The best tool to help you search for your top keywords is Google AdWords.

In Google AdWords, you can enter a range of keywords to find search popularity and other keyword ideas. This shows you exactly what your customers are typing into the search bar so you know what your buyers are looking for.

This example shows the keyword ‘marketing strategy’ has been used in a search 74,000 times. It’s a hard one to compete on. The longtail keyword ‘components of a marketing strategy’ has only been searched on 90 times. This is much easier to compete on. It will also mean that the people who visit your site will be highly targeted due to the very specific keywords they have entered.

Once you’ve identified your keywords make sure you build them into your website, landing pages and any other content. You’ll get brownie points with Google if other websites link to yours using those keywords too. Over time, you will rise up in the ranks and attract a larger base of visitors, helping you sell more without lifting a finger.

3. Email Marketing

Today’s buyers expect instant gratification. When we buy something, we expect it to be delivered as soon as possible. That’s why Amazon Prime’s shipping model is so popular. It’s why Netflix has started to take over cable.

When a customer wants something, they don’t want to have to wait.

Email marketing allows you to meet that need without having to manually send messages to each of your customers. By setting up an automated email funnel, you can deliver your products faster, keeping your customers happier.

Better yet, you can boost your passive income over time by continuing to nurture the already interested buyers and luring them into buying more from you.

Automation tools, such as Infusionsoft, are your best friends in this arena. They offer an email solution to engage your customers based on their past interactions with your business. These tools are much smarter than they used to be. They respond based on what your customer does or does not do. The experience feels personal, but it’s faster and doesn’t require you to constantly be at the helm ready to react to their every move.

By setting up automated email campaigns, you will save yourself a lot of time. The email automation software does the hard work for you.

The first step to automating your emails effectively (and giving your passive income stream a healthy boost) is to understand your customers. Anticipate what they are going to do. Conduct some research and build your buyer personas. Think about the experience you want your buyers to have. Then, build your email marketing funnel around this experience.

It’s not easy, but if you skip this step, automating your emails won’t bring you the passive income you want.

Takeaways

Creating a healthy passive income stream requires more than just putting products for sale on your website. It requires you to be actively involved in your marketing so you can sell more at all hours of the day (or night).

Organize these three components – content, SEO and email – to work together so that you are targeting your buyers at a time when they are most willing to purchase.

Looking for a little extra help boosting your passive income streams. We’re here for you. Reach out to schedule your free business consultation with one of our marketing advisors.

The post Want To Boost Your Passive Income? Here’s How. appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Marketing Samurai LLC.

When used correctly Twitter is an effective tool for promoting your business. If you’re struggling to get the hang of marketing on Twitter, or aren’t sure whether you’re ready to dip your toe into the Tweeting pool, we’re here for you.

Time To Shine On Your Twitter Timeline

Twitter made an announcement recently that was music to our ears at Marketing Samurai. They have launched an algorithmic timeline to make it easier for users to discover great content.

Why did that sound so sweet to us? Because the new timeline really makes it easier for businesses to catch the attention of followers and potential buyers.

This new and improved timeline allows users to see Tweets which are important to them first instead of in chronological order as they did before. Tweets relevant to the person’s interests now appear at the top of a user’s timeline before the rest of the Tweets. For businesses using Twitter to promote content, the new change is encouraging.

Your followers will love it too. They’ll see more of your value and less of their friend’s fluff. It’s a winning situation for both sides.

With this new and improved approach, comes the need to refine how and what you’re sending out into the Twitter universe. Remember, the new improved timeline puts even greater pressure on businesses to produce valuable, share-worthy content.

We’re here to help you take advantage of the new timeline and reach more buyers. Here are 5 steps to promoting content on Twitter.

Step 1: Understand Your Audience

Twitter developers have certainly had their nose to the grindstone lately. Another recent development from the Twitter gurus: a new tool to help advertisers better understand key audiences.

This tool was introduced back in May 2015. It gives you unique insights into who is following you and engaging with your organic Tweets. You can also use this to identify new, relevant audiences to target for any upcoming campaigns.

To find these insights, click on your logo in the top right corner and select “Analytics.”

On the top, you’ll see a bar in light grey. Click “Audiences.”

Then, you’ll arrive at your audience dashboard.

The audience insights dashboard aggregates information about user demographics, interests, lifestyle, purchasing behavior, TV viewing behavior and mobile footprint to give you a complete profile of who your audience is.

This is a great tool for learning about your potential customers and helping to build your buyer personas. With the new timeline now in place, it will also help you to produce the right content and keywords to get found.

Step 2: Generate Core Content

There are two ways you can generate leads on Twitter: Directly and indirectly.

Direct Tweets happen when you’re promoting something. For example, if you Tweet “Download Our Latest E-Book” and link back to a page with a form where people can sign up and get your ebook, you’re using a direct lead generation strategy.

Indirect Tweets are far more common on Twitter. These tend to be friendly, easy-to-consume and not overtly promotional. An indirect promotion could be photos of your office, a retweet to carry on a conversation, or links to your blog posts without an opt-in. These take a softer approach, so they’re a slower, more gradual way of attracting customers. Still, they’re essential to building the trust with your brand and appealing to the new algorithm in Twitter’s timeline.

Using the direct approach too often could push your content further down in Twitter’s algorithm. This is the type of content that many people don’t interact with as eagerly, so Twitter will see it as irrelevant. Sprinkle it in between a larger percentage of indirect friendly content.

Step 3: Plan What You Are Posting

With any social media channel it’s important to plan your posts ahead of time. This will ensure what you are posting remains consistent and engaging at all times. Make sure you set up a social media publishing schedule for all your social media channels – not just Twitter.

Twitter updates should be posted on average three to five times a day at frequent intervals. This might sound daunting, and it can be, but with a little bit of planning and scheduling, you can make it happen.

While planning your posts, consider this:

1. There is a character count limit – it’s 140 characters. This includes any links you might be posting so keep them short.
2. Include consistent brand or keyword hashtags. This will make it easier for your audience to find and search your Twitter content.
3. Take advantage of Twitter’s Lead Generation Cards. They let you generate leads directly within a Tweet in exchange for some sort of offer, like a demo.

I recommend using a tool such as Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule your Tweets in advance so it’s out of your head and off your to-do list during the day.

Step 4: Beyond the Post – Respond, Like and Retweet

Once you posted a Tweet it doesn’t stop there. You will need to monitor your posts and reply to your followers Tweets. This is done for you automatically by Twitter.

The social network will send you an email notification to the address associated with your account anytime someone mentions you. Or, you can see these mentions and engagement in the same tool you used to schedule your posts.

When replying to a Tweet the trick is to be responsive, no matter the type of comment. For example, it’s easy to want to ignore criticisms, but letting them go without a response could spell disaster down the road.

Likewise, if someone shares your content or Tweets about you in a positive way, make sure you like the Tweet by clicking the heart button. You might also want to mention or Retweet what they posted. This encourages advocacy and loyalty.

Step 5: Boost Your Tweets With ‘Quick Promote’

Want to get even more bang for your Twitter buck? Check out another tool within Twitter called ‘Quick Promote.’

The Quick Promote tool lets you pay to gain more attention. It is a fast and easy way to promote your favorite or most successful Tweets and reach a wider audience.

As the name suggests, Tweets can be promoted in just a few clicks, directly from the Twitter app or website.

Simply click on a Tweet you want to promote and select the bar graph icon (which shows you the performance of a Tweet). Then click ‘Get Started.’

You will be asked to set a budget and target location. Go through all of the steps until you’ve finished.

The Tweet will be promoted until your budget runs out.

The best time to use the Quick Promote feature is anytime you see a post doing well. These are the posts that have caught the most attention by your followers, so they’re the ones that will be most effective in attracting new followers.

Takeaways

Twitter is so much meatier than a simple 140 characters. With the recent developments, businesses have plenty of opportunity to reach new customers via this platform.

Want a little extra help getting started? Let’s talk. Contact our marketing experts for a free business consultation and find out how you can promote your business on Twitter more effectively.

The post A 5-Step Guide to Promoting Your Business With Twitter’s New Timeline appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Marketing Samurai LLC.

Big Data is quite simply the enormous wealth of facts and figures available to businesses today – and it’s all thanks to technology.

Today’s consumers turn to the Internet more and more to buy products and services. Forrester found that over 75% of American adults buy products or services online. Younger demographics, including Gen Y and Gen Xers spend more than any other generation. All of this online buying behaviors and spending patterns are able to be closely tracked. The challenge is finding an organized system to sort through the numbers and data so that patterns can be identified and marketing can improve.

One company that was particularly challenged by the endless analysis of Big Data was Travelocity.

Travelocity’s Struggle to Practice Agile Marketing

Travelocity is one of the largest travel websites in the world. On their website, customers can book flights, hotels, and other vacation packages at a discounted rate.

This isn’t a new service. Other websites, such as Expedia.com compete heavily with Travelocity. There are also niche websites that create further competition for the travel giant. One example is Hotels.com – a website that got me to spend 19% more than I was anticipating because of a simple switch in how they displayed their pricing.

Because the industry is so fiercely competitive, Travelocity knows they needed to be agile in their marketing efforts. There is no time to play a guessing game. Instead, the website must react quickly to consumer trends and demands.

To do this, they needed fast analysis of all of the data they have pouring in daily.

Most websites use Google Analytics to get this kind of data. If yours doesn’t, let’s have a talk because you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. For Travelocity, the basic data available in a free Google Analytics account wasn’t enough. The website needed more so they upgraded to Google Analytics Premium, which is now Google Analytics 360.

What Is Google Analytics 360?

Google Analytics 360 is the enterprise version of Google Analytics, AdWords, Google Display Network and more. This suite of products rolled into one solution lets businesses organize data easier. Perhaps more important, it lets the entire team work with the data.

For Travelocity, the upgrade was a smart decision. By employing the help of Google’s team, they were able to shorten decision making times and convert more customers within weeks. Here’s how.

Smart Start

Before upgrading to Google Analytics Premium, all decisions had to go through a specialized team. But with the upgrade came broader company access. This meant that more people could see what the specialized team was seeing to move faster in marketing updates.

When Travelocity first decided to upgrade to Google Analytics 360, the company knew it needed to train their employees. Without proper training, the team wouldn’t be able to maximize its potential, making it a poor investment.

To get their team off to a smart start, they used the support team from Google.

“Google has a team of first-class support people on call that have worked with us to personalize our implementation and training,” said Satnam Singh, VP Analytics & Site Optimization at Travelocity.

As the training unfolded, the setup and ease of use of the new tool became apparent. This set the stage for helping decrease decision making times and simplify marketing decisions going forward – both of which are essential for increasing conversions in a highly competitive industry.

Each person and each team was able to set up their own set of KPIs (key performance indicators) to track. This made it easier for the right people to get the right data in a timely fashion.

Agile Marketing

Travelers use an average of 10.2 online resources to make their purchase decision, according to a Google and Shopper Sciences study of the travel industry in July 2011. Travelers are visiting brand websites directly, using search engines and of course, using websites such as Travelocity.

To capture the consumers at the right stage in the decision making process, Travelocity knew they needed to be able to make faster decisions.

With each department being trained and having access, they were better equipped to make quick decisions about their marketing. But this didn’t mean the analysis team was eliminated. The team stayed in tact and was able to focus on the pressing issues that required specialized insight.

One example stood out to me in cited in a case study by Google and Travelocity. The team was able to perform an almost instantaneous fix to improve their site speed by using the site speed report. By pin pointing exactly where the website load times were slow, the team was able to identify potential conversion pitfalls and eliminate them fast.

Future Marketing Decisions Simplified

Not all data can provide instant results. Having benchmark data to track and monitor conversion sticky points is fundamental.

In the study, Travelocity said it planned to continue to use Google Analytics Premium to create custom variables and monitor data over time. By gathering these metrics, the company set itself up to be better prepared to make marketing decisions. Tweaks could be tested to determine the success or failure of a specific marketing campaign because the data had already been gathered earlier.  

Can Google Analytics 360 Help Your Business?

Google Analytics 360 is a suite of products. It’s even more robust than that Travelocity initially put into motion, so imagine how much it can do for businesses now.

Still, it isn’t for everyone. If your industry doesn’t have a lot of competition, or if you don’t have several teams making decisions about marketing related activities, you can probably continue to get by with the basic Google Analytics account. This product is best suited for companies in highly competitive industries and/or with over 100 employees. The price will vary depending on your organization. Contact a Google sales representative to get a quote.

If you’re not sure whether Google Analytics 360 is right for you, let’s talk. Contact our Marketing Samurai team to set up your free business consultation.

The post Is Google Analytics 360 Worth It? Travelocity Says Yes! appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Marketing Samurai LLC.

If you’re struggling to grow your email list, you’re not alone. Marketers face an uphill battle to get people opting in to receive their content.

But it’s not as hard as it seems. Here are 10 of the best ways to grow your email list.

1. Write Well

One of the easiest ways to get someone new to your list is to get your list sharing your best work. That won’t happen without quality content.

The strongest writing is the kind that delivers value. It answers the questions your audience didn’t even know they had. When the person reads it, they’ll feel like you’re so far inside their head, they can’t help but send it on to their like-minded friends.

The more your email recipients forward your work, the faster you’ll grow your list.

2. Incentivize Stale Opt-Ins

Do you already have a list of people who aren’t opening or reading your work? It’s time to reinvigorate your list with a new opt-in.

Put together a new lead magnet (more on this below) and send it to your list. Require them to opt-in again to receive it. This might sound counterintuitive but it creates buy-in among your email recipients. If you haven’t sent them something in awhile, it’s a good way to excite them about what you’re going to start selling again.

3. Create a New Report/E-Book/Whitepaper

Perhaps the most tried and true method of getting someone to sign up to your list is to create a lead magnet.

Lead magnets are reports, e-books or whitepapers that reward your visitors for signing up. It’s incentive to hand over their email address. It’s relatively easy to prepare a highly attractive offer to your prospects. Create and promote your lead magnets and you’re sure to see a flood of new email list sign ups.

4. Host a Webinar

Instead of giving away a free report, whitepaper or e-book, try hosting a webinar instead.

Webinars work well because you can host a variety of them on different subjects. The more times you can answer your customers questions in a free webinar, the more likely you are to get people to sign up for your email list.

5. Host a Giveaway

Giveaways are another great way to incent people to sign up for your list. Everyone likes a chance to win something for free! When the only cost to enter is to give an email address, you’re sure to see a lot of people signing up.

Use tools such as Rafflecopter or Wildfireapp to facilitate the giveaway. Then, sit back and relax while the leads roll in.

6. Promote Your New Lead Magnet on Social Media

Is social media part of your marketing plan? If so, it’s time to put those platforms to good use.

Twitter

Host a promotional campaign on Twitter. Sponsor a tweet or target a specific audience and drive people your landing page where you ask for an email address in exchange for your lead magnet.

Facebook

Facebook has a new call-to-action tool that lets you guide your followers to sign up with you. It’s simple and super effective.

We’ve chosen the call-to-action of getting people to contact us, but you can also choose one that directs people your email sign up page. Here’s what it looks like:

LinkedIn

Put up a wall on your LinkedIn company page and require people to give you their email address before they can engage with your community. It’s always good to attach a lead magnet onto this so there is more incentive to do this.

Pinterest

Pinterest isn’t just for weddings and crafts. Many businesses use it too. Pin pictures of your lead magnet and direct it to your landing page where you can ask for an email address in exchange for something useful.

7. Use Videos

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. That means, it’s prime real estate to attract a flood of new visitors.

Use your videos to grow your email list while also building exposure for your business. In your video, add a call-to-action. Your viewer will already be hooked on your message and will want to hear more. Give it to them and get an email address in the process.

8. Leverage Partnerships

You spend time networking and building your list of partnerships. Now, it’s time to use those connections to build your list of leads.

Business partnerships are one of the best tools in marketing. They give you access to a new audience you might not have reached before while also limiting the amount of time you need to spend marketing. It’s easy and effective.

Create a campaign specifically for your business partners to make it simple for them. Give them email scripts and a link where they can send their interested buyers. Don’t forget to thank your partners by offering an incentive to them too, such as a discount or a prize.

9. Go Offline

Do you ever do tradeshows or attend conferences? These are prime opportunities for getting email list sign ups.

Many people forget to ask for a person’s email address because they are face-to-face. However, this is one of the best times to get it. The person knows you and trusts you so handing over something as personal as an email address is easier.

Like in the online world, offer an incentive for the person to give you his email address. This can be a contest or promised ebook. You’ll be amazed at how many people give you their personal information when they know they will get something in return and already have the rapport with you because of the human-to-human interaction.

10. Make it Simple

No matter how you attract new visitors, it’s vital that you keep your email sign up system simple and straightforward. Don’t make visitors on your website hunt for how to get on your list. Add links and keep your sign up forms front and center. The easier it is, the more likely someone will be to hand over that golden piece of contact information.

The post How to Grow Your Email List (It’s Easier Than You Might Think) appeared first on Digital Marketing Agency | Marketing Samurai LLC.