2012 Trends in Content Marketing

12/14/2011 By Leave a Comment

Content: A Proven Website Traffic Generator that’s Easily Outsourced

Getting found on the web is a growing concern for every business. Using SEO copywriting techniques, Content Marketing sends more targeted traffic to your website and isn’t expensive to implement. A growing trend in 2012 marketing plans and budgets, maybe the best news is this proven tool lends itself well to outsourcing. If you’re trying to “do more with less” in 2012, get a content marketing strategy in place.

What Is Content Marketing?

It’s creating and disseminating information (content) across many platforms to get your target’s attention and retain existing customers. Content marketing supports brand awareness and generates higher quality sales leads. The content supports your brand, extends your message, and should be compelling enough to be share-worthy.

content marketing outlets 2011

Who Uses Content Marketing?

The trusted researchers at Marketing Profs just teamed with the Content Marketing Institute to find out. Their survey (B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends) polled 1,092 leading marketers worldwide and discovered 9 out of 10 B2B marketers now use content marketing strategies. Professional services firms lead the survey in the most use of content marketing (94%), with Healthcare following closely at 89%.

Why Invest in Creating and Distributing Content?

It helps your audience find you, which is called “inbound marketing.” It’s a very effective way to market directly to your specific audience. Other than the cost of developing the content (using SEO copywriting techniques), there’s no barrier to entry.

marketing goals content marketing trends 2011

Where can I Market my Content?

Your content marketing strategy can cover marketing venues including:

  • Articles, case studies and white papers (highlight your expertise)
  • Presentations (make sure they are online and tagged for SEO)
  • Blogs (write yours and promote it on others’ blogs)
  • Social media (write posts strategically)
  • eNewsletters (yes, it still works)
  • Videos (YouTube is a huge SEO opportunity)
  • Podcasts (be heard as well as seen)
  • Electronic magazines and ebooks….and whatever will be created next!

content marketing trends 2011

How Much of my Marketing Budget should I Dedicate to Content Marketing?

Survey results showed B2B marketers spending 26% of their marketing budget on content development and promotion.  Smaller companies spent more, and over half of the companies surveyed planned to increase that content marketing spend in 2012.

What’s the Best Way to Create Content?

Outsourcing to a content development pro was the strategy of choice. An increasing majority of B2B marketers (62% according to the study) outsource content marketing. Why? Struggles with knowing what to write (41% of respondents) and producing enough content (20%) lead to the need to outsource content creation. In our experience, companies can clear these hurdles by:

  1. Developing a strategic Editorial Calendar with leverage across every platform for each piece of content created: new website content drives a blog article, which creates an opportunity to tweet and post, etc.
  2. Creating a sustainable process for consistent content marketing: an interactive online Editorial Calendar assigns responsibilities and generates email reminders to maintain accountability.
  3. Tracking and growing content distribution: always seeking and cataloging more complementary sources for targeted traffic.
Filed Under: Blogging, Healthcare internet marketing, inbound marketing, Lead Generation, Website Content

Marketing in Minutes

07/07/2011 By Leave a Comment

Got a Minute? Make it Work to Grow your Business

Let’s face it: most of us procrastinate on the big and difficult tasks that are important but not really “urgent.” How can we get past this hurdle? By practicing Marketing in Minutes.

It can be hard to set aside time for things that really do build business, like developing a marketing plan and actively networking. So many other pressing things distract us, right? And the task can seem monolithic – until you break it down into a few minutes a day. Here are three ideas to really leverage your time.

10 Minutes a Day: Socialize

Carve out ten minutes every morning to check on Social Media, and make this time sacred. See who is doing what that is interesting, or who moved where that could become a new referral source. Send a quick response to people’s status updates, and you’re helping to stay top of mind when referral opportunities arise. If you’re a business owner, use this time to also check out your online reputation. Respond to any problems, and make note of opportunities.

5 Minutes a Week: Strategize

Break big tasks, like developing a marketing plan, into smaller, more manageable components. Excel spreadsheets are great for this. Think of the sense of accomplishment you’ll get from checking those individual parts off your To Do list! Do a Start, Stop, Continue analysis to get yourself started. Dedicate just five minutes a week to brainstorming about which marketing items you should start, which are not bearing fruit that you can stop or alter, and what’s working that can continue or be built upon. List as much as you can under each category in just five minutes a week. By month’s end you’ll have created the beginnings of your marketing plan. Now that you’ve gotten started, creating the plan won’t feel like a roadblock. You’ll probably find yourself feeling excited about getting the rest done, and putting it into action!

3 Minutes a Week: Publicize

Every week, add one idea to your Editorial Calendar, and use it to drive both outbound and inbound marketing. Keep a log of ideas for blog posts, and also use that idea to generate a page of fresh website content. Then update your status on LinkedIn to send people to it.  Tweet about it. Even send out a press release if it’s appropriate. By the end of the month, you could have four new blog posts, four pages of fresh website content (SEO optimized, please!), an active stream of posts and comments, maybe even the contents for next month’s email newsletter. And it all started with setting aside just 3 minutes a week to brainstorm.

Spare 2 Minutes

The three ideas above will take up just 58 minutes of your time spread over the course of a week. Got 2 more minutes to spare? Make it an even hour:

  1. Connect with a new contact on LinkedIn.
  2. Email an existing customer you haven’t heard from in a while, and reconnect.
  3. Google your competition.
  4. Pick up the phone and ask a colleague for two potential referrals.
  5. Comment on a complementary blog to enhance your presence online.
  6. Enter a networking event on your calendar.
  7. Add a photo to your Google Places listing.
  8. Send a real, old-fashioned hand-written note to thank a colleague for a recent favor.
  9. Invite a prospect to lunch.
  10. Think of your top three clients, and brainstorm on cross-selling opportunities.
Filed Under: SEO, Social Networking for Business

Fast Medical Website SEO Audit: Three Surprising Results in 3 Minutes

02/09/2011 By
Online marketing for medical practices

Online marketing for medical practices: choose your provider carefully!

This morning I did a quick free website review for a potential client, a solo practitioner in the health care field. They use a service “specialized in their industry” for web development services. No doubt they are charged a monthly fee of some sort for SEO (search engine optimization) and website maintenance. I don’t know for sure. The site, while pretty generic, was appealing enough on the front end, the part patients and potential patients would see. Short of suggesting that an email marketing signup form could be a helpful addition, along with some social media interaction, I didn’t make many design recommendations. But within three minutes of reviewing their website, I found this information in their back-end code:

1. Over 100 keywords stuffed on the home page.

There should be less than this number of keywords by a factor of about 90%! Among the “helpful” keywords jammed into their code: “doctor, Doctor, DOCTOR, help, Help, HELP, hospital, Hospital, HOSPITAL,” … you get the picture! This was not a surprising result to me, as it used to be a common “seo” practice. However, it’s a big “no no” as Google is hip to these shenanigans. What the practitioner might be surprised to know: this code can actually result in the website being penalized by search engines. Why pay for that? I did, however, get a healthy free chuckle out of “help, Help, HELP.” I happen to know that the Hippocratic oath contains advice to practitioners

2. Local search keywords missing completely.

Of the more than 100 keywords on the home page, the number that related to the practitioner’s name, location, or service area? You guessed it: zero! As a practice with a small, local service area, they are missing the boat here. Patients searching for them after a friend recommended their name, or knowing they practice in a certain town, will surely enter that information when doing an online search for a medical practitioner. Information on name and location are important keywords in marketing a practice online.

3. Misleading (I’m being polite here) keywords.

medical practice marketing challenges

Marketing the practice online shouldn't be a headache.

Ok, so this is a healthcare practice. Their focus is on health maintenance and wellness for families. Keywords on their About page included “myspace, paypal, Viagra, Zoloft, Alli, Chantex, Advil” and other basically irrelevant topics. No doubt the practitioner did not request to be advertising for “myspace,” is not focusing on only providing wellness services to those taking “Viagra,” and wouldn’t want the practice name and location to be handled as an afterthought – which it is. The page has nothing to do with “myspace,” “Viagra,” or even “Advil” and again Google will see that its keywords and on-page content do not jive.

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What bothered me most is that if I had not taken a quick three-minute peek into the website as part of a complimentary website audit, this practitioner would have no idea about these results. Why would they? They’re busy serving patients, not looking over the shoulder of their website maintenance service – which is as things should be! This is why practitioners like this hire firms like SmartSite Consulting – so they don’t have to become experts in online marketing, search engine optimization, etc. I have years of personal experience in the healthcare industry myself, and know many medical doctors, specialist practitioners, and associated wellness practitioners (nutritionists, chiropractors, massage therapists, etc.). They are busy enough serving patients in this crazy health care environment we keep trying to reform. One would have hoped that a service specializing in their industry would at least offer best practices in internet marketing, helping practices be most successful. Call me Pollyanna, but I don’t think Viagra needs this kind of marketing help. Surely their pharmaceutical marketing budget far outweighs what this small local practitioner can afford for some online marketing of their practice!

Filed Under: Healthcare internet marketing, Lead Generation, Search Engine Result Placement, SEO, Website Audit, Website Content, Website Design Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Three Marketing Spend Makeovers to Apply to Your Business

11/11/2010 By

“How Much” vs. “How” to Budget

Before you ask yourself how much your marketing spend should be this year (and where it should be allocated), ask yourself what your measurable goals are. Management guru Steven Covey advocates for beginning any activity with the end in mind, and this is a perfect example of why. Begin with the end goal in mind, and make it as specific as possible. What are your marketing/sales targets, and how will you know if the many elements of your marketing spend helped you get there? If you aren’t measuring this, you can’t know which tactics are most effective in driving sales, and therefore deserve the most investment.

Marketing is becoming more and more measureable with the internet marketing tactics like social media, website promotion, blogging, pay-per-click advertising, link building, and (more effective than you may think…) email marketing. Tactics are also creating better lead qualification and, therefore, clearer follow-up sales opportunities with yet more measurement options to consider.

Marketing Makeover #1: “I want more business.”

Of course, but how much more? What kind of business? Do you need one good repeat customer, or one hundred quick sales? Are you looking for more volume or more margin? Do you need more business or better business?

The Reveal:

 “I want X number of brand new customers who will buy X number of products or services from me. The tactics most likely to get me there are: _____________________________________________ “

Fill In the Blank options may include: 

  • adding targeted landing pages to my website
  • creating a professional PPC campaign
  • launching an effective blog to drive traffic to my site

Marketing Makeover #2:  “I need more customers.”

Have you also considered selling more to existing customers? How effectively are you assessing the changing and growing needs of your existing customer base? Creating new products to meet those needs? How often are you reaching the right decision makers within existing customer organizations? Are you sure they know everything you can do for them?

The Reveal: 

 “I need X number of new customers and these tactics are likely to bring them in: _______________”

Fill In the Blank options may include:

  • create more online advertising
  • improve effectiveness of my followup
  • use social media to increase inbound marketing efforts

“I also want X number of existing customers to buy X% more products or services from me. I’ll likely make this happen by: ____________________________”

Fill In the Blank options may include: 

Marketing Makeover #3: “I need to spend more so I’ll get more traffic to my website.”

Do you need more traffic, or better traffic? Do you know how much traffic you have, where it’s going, and whether it’s turning into new business? How do you measure whether traffic is turning into sales? Have you assessed where your traffic is coming from?

The Reveal:

“I need X number of website visitors to do this every week:  ____________________________”

Fill In the Blank options could be:

  • fill out a contact form for my sales staff to follow up on
  • request a quote on a particular item or service
  • get a personal followup phone call from a qualified salesperson

“I also want to inform my spend by:  ____________________________”

Fill In the Blank  options  should include:

  • tracking traffic sources more closely
  • seeing what content attracts the best leads
  • reevaluating my keywords for relevance

“Then I’ll know where to spend $X:  ____________________________”

Fill in the Blank options might be:

Marketing Makeover Realization:

better lead generation
Unless you know what you want to achieve, you can’t know how to achieve it effectively.

Filed Under: Email Marketing, inbound marketing, Lead Generation, PPC Campaigns, Social Networking for Business, Uncategorized, Website Content, Website Design Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

How to Leverage Your LinkedIn Profile

05/07/2010 By

This week I helped a friend launch a LinkedIn profile. It was interesting seeing how this new social media tool is perceived by someone just starting in social networking for business. Here are some tips that helped her, which I hope can help you, too.

1. Write Your Profile as a Brochure or Website Content

Think of your marketing message, the benefits your product or service bring to customers, and what makes your business unique. It’s basically how I would coach a client to write their brochure copy or website content. Instead of saying “ten years of experience in business organizing,” for instance, I suggested that she has assists “small business owners, executives and home-based entrepreneurs with maximizing their productivity through efficiencies gained from better work flow, time management, and simplified organizing techniques.” Stressing benefits is always the way to go.

2. Add Status Updates that Demonstrate Your Service/Product and Seek Responses

My friend had just been featured in a Hartford Business Journal article on decluttering office spaces. Instead of just saying “I was written up in the Hartford Business Journal,” I encouraged her to include more about the nature of the article, lead visitors to it with a link (read about organizing your workspace here), and ask for feedback. What did readers think of the tips she provided? What organizing challenges are they having at work that she might help with? Etc. 

3. Load up Contacts, Then Reach Out

Don’t be afraid to let LinkedIn upload your email contacts. Really. Once they are loaded, you will be able to find your friends and associates on LinkedIn more easily. Go ahead. Load away. Then get in touch with them by inviting to connect on LinkedIn. Stay in touch by encouraging them to think of you when opportunities to promote your services or products arise. And be sure to do the same for them.

4. Seek Out Meaningful Groups, Join, and Participate

Look for groups on LinkedIn that can help you further your business, of course. But also look for those that can help you build your skills. Once you find a group that sounds appealing, is active, has lots of other members (always a good sign!), and will benefit you it’s time to chime in. Join conversations. Participate. Educate others in an area where you have expertise. Be an active part of the community, and others will start to seek you out.

Want some help writing your profile? Get in touch at contentbyleslie@gmail.com.

Filed Under: Blogging, inbound marketing, LinkedIn, Social Media, Social Networking for Business, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Four Social Marketing Hurdles You CAN Clear

04/26/2010 By

Today I had a discussion with a marketing colleague concerning social media (platforms like FaceBook, LinkedIn, etc.) and how our clients are adapting to their use – or not. Smaller companies seem to know that “the big boys” are participating in the social media scene, and that therefore they should, too. They are hearing that good results are out there for the brave new participants. And while these platforms are changing the way we implement our marketing programs, which can be daunting for some companies, I would argue that much is still the same. The essential message companies bring to market should still always highlight product or service benefits to the customer. Staying customer-centric with messaging is still as key as ever. These new social media just give companies another venue to reach their customers, and now a way for customers to reach back. So what sometimes holds businesses back? Here’s what I think, and I welcome your comments!

1. Fear of the Unknown. These are new vehicles, and new users can be unsure about their return on the investment. How much to invest, how long an investment is required, and what potential returns will result are all valid questions for a business owner to ask. But just because these tools are “new,” does not mean they should be feared, nor that they will soon become irrelevant. Remember seeing your first Personal Computer? I do. (Okay, so that tells you I’m not in my thirties anymore. But it also tells you I have some perspective.) Weren’t you a little mystified about just how the darn thing worked? Were you going to lose your data? Was it safe? Sometimes we still have these worries, but we don’t let them stop us from benefitting from an awesome piece of technology.

2. Stranger Danger. The point of social media is to contribute, contribute, contribute….and then they will come. Like in the movie, Field of Dreams, remember? It is a bit of a leap of faith – put information out there, and “they” will come. Who is “they”? “They” are the people and companies who are interested in what you have written about, which of course should be quality information that is also in some way relevant to your product or service! Some business owners start using Twitter and feel a bit freaked out that “someone” is following them online. But the type of “stranger” following you on Twitter is someone with interest in your business, not a stalker or some insane zombie wandering out from amidst the corn. You don’t know them – yet. But you should, because they are your next new customer. They are no more frightening than any business prospect ever was, even though yes, they found you online. Scary? Not.

3. Writer’s Block. It can be daunting to conjure up topics to write about, especially when you know you should consistently be posting something of value in order to get results. Will you have enough material? Creating an editorial calendar to map out potential topics for the year can make this less overwhelming. You’re in your line of work, hopefully, because you have interest in it. Share that interest! Once you start dreaming up potential blog topics or FaceBook posts you may find it difficult to stop. If you’re really stuck, another idea is to collaborate with a complementary business and ask them to write a guest article for your blog. You can even ask a customer to contribute something, which they will find flattering. Or if they don’t love to write, just ask a close customer what they’d like to know more about, and you’ve got a great new topic that others are probably wanting to know about as well. One of my clients makes compost, for instance. They could write a blog post for a local garden center’s blog in Connecticut or Indiana (they have operations in both) about how to compost at home or what the benefits of organic compost are. People reading it will appreciate finding a good local resource for quality compost that will benefit their newly planted spring pansies (purchased at said garden center!), no doubt.

4. Resource Constraints. These days, this is a real biggie. Some smaller companies may worry they need to hire someone practically full time to keep up with social media requirements. Not so. Hire a good writer with the intelligence to learn your business and experience with social media, on a project basis or on a small retainer. You have now cleverly outsourced your social media needs without blowing your entire marketing budget for the year. You just found one great resource to call on if you’re reading this! Get in touch with me here:  contentbyleslie@gmail.com. I’ll offer up tons of topics and great writing to help you clear your social marketing hurdles and get off an running!

Got another hurdle ahead that I didn’t think of? Let me know what it is, and challenge me to solve it!

Filed Under: Blogging, Facebook, inbound marketing, LinkedIn, Social Networking for Business, Website Content Tagged With: , , ,

Just Launched: Redesigned Green Biz Website

04/09/2010 By

As of this morning, www.Greencycle.net is out in cyberspace and working hard to push this green business’ search engine rankings upward!GreenCycle in Connecticut, website launch by C3 Marketing

GreenCycle, with locations in both Connecticut and Indiana, produces natural landscaping products from recycled organic material. Their website is designed for performance, with search engine friendly architecture, keyword rich content, smart image tags, and more. We also incorporated social media, a new inbound marketing tool for GreenCycle. Launching a Facebook page for the company and adding a blog, called “The comPOST” (check it out for some great organic gardening tips!), GreenCycle now has effective ways to draw traffic and qualified leads to its website. The site was built in WordPress, giving Greencycle a robust content management system they can use in-house to keep their content fresh and their marketing efforts current. Check out www.greencycle.net, get some great ideas for your springtime garden, and maybe even choose the delivery option for your seasonal mulch needs! They’re a local business that really knows what it means to be “green.”

Filed Under: Blogging, Content Management, inbound marketing, LinkedIn, Website Content, Website Design Tagged With: , , , ,

Using Social Media Well for Your Business

04/02/2010 By

This week I met with a new client whose experience is probably much like yours. He owns a successful smaller enterprise, and knows he “should” add social media to his marketing mix. But how, and which formats?

Which Social Networking Works?

My advice to clients is always to meet their customers where they are. If you are a business with customers who are middle-aged women, for instance, you’re missing a great opportunity to connect with them if you’re not on Facebook. (I predict seniors are going to be an up-and-coming Facebook population next.) If you provide professional services for other businesses, LinkedIn is a platform not to ignore. Think Twitter is just for celebrities? You might be surprised at how many customers really do want to follow you!

How Often Should I Post?

Remember, social media is not email marketing. Email marketing is “outbound” marketing, while social media is an “inbound” tool. That means that customers and targets who are choosing to read and/or request your posts are truly looking for information about your company. Even so, don’t abuse their permission to send information about your business. Keep your posts timely, ultra relevant to your audience, and informative. I think there is a thin line between being informative and creating an annoyance. Just because they love your product or service doesn’t mean they want to hear about it 24/7! How often to post or tweet is really dependent upon your business, its industry, and your clientele’s appetite for information.

One product I like, personally, is a supplier of organic milk. Even though I buy their product quite loyally, I don’t really care to get an update every time it’s carried in a new restaurant – especially if that restaurant is way out of my geographic area. If they come up with a new product,  however, that I really want to get word on! So remember, what is important or concerning to you as a business owner may or may not hit a hot button with your target audience. Try to put yourself in their shoes when writing your posts. Of course, this advice carries over to messages for all marketing material, in my opinion – websites and blogs, email newsletters, brochures, etc.

Filed Under: Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Networking for Business Tagged With: , , , ,

Using Facebook for Your Business

02/27/2010 By

This week I taught a class in Facebook for Business to twenty very eager students. I thought the reason they wanted the class was to learn how to make a Page for their business, how to promote their Page, and what content to post. It turned out that what people wanted to really know was why to use Facebook in the first place! Even some new Facebook users wanted to know this! I was pretty surprised. So here’s what I said about why to use Facebook to promote your business.

Marketing is Shifting

The world of marketing has really changed, even in the past two years. Messaging is no longer something companies only  ”push out” to their audience. Marketing is shifting from an “outbound” perspective only to one that incorporates increasing amounts of “inbound” marketing. Inbound marketing is when customers find your business, for instance through Google searches or on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. etc. They come to you.

Facebook is just one of the many inbound marketing tools available to business owners now. When I started my talk by putting Facebook into perspective as an inbound marketing tool, I could see the lightbulbs illuminating over everyone’s heads one by one! The key is integrating Facebook into your overall marketing mix, which should also include other inbound marketing tools (websites, blogs, links, articles, etc.). All of these tools will help you to position your business as a knowledgable and credible source for your product or service – if used well, and used consistently. Finding out where your audience “hangs out” and trying to meet them there with captivating content is what inbound marketing is all about.

Opinions Have Always Counted

An important consideration with tools like Facebook is monitoring your audience’s comments about your products and services. Negative posts on the internet can do damage to a business’ reputation, certainly. But remember, how you respond to negative posts can also be a powerful tool you can use to your advantage. And positive posts will most likely outnumber negative ones, as most of your customers are (hopefully!) satisfied with your company’s products. While companies are accustomed to creating their own message to persuade prospects to become customers, the magic of tools like Facebook is that customers are actually helping to shape messages about companies now. As I said in the course yesterday, this is both the beauty and the horror of social networking. But never fear – people have been giving their unsolicited opinions about the businesses they patronize forever. This is just a new tool that helps them do that!

Should You Participate?

If you’re producing a good product, or providing a quality service, you have no more to fear than you would have before Facebook was created. And chances are, it will be a great tool to help spread the word of how valuable your company is – farther, and faster. My feeling is that customers are out there participating and commenting, whether you join in or not. So it’s better to be participating yourself, paying attention to the chatter about your business, and doing your part to influence it positively where and when you can.

If you want help with a strategy for identifying the right inbound marketing tools for your business and assistance in leveraging them well, we’d love to be a resource for you.

Filed Under: Facebook, inbound marketing, Social Networking for Business Tagged With: , , ,