5 Reasons You Need to Look Beyond the Numbers in Your Digital Marketing

When you look at your organization’s digital marketing, you naturally want to build your numbers. Whether it’s your social media presence, your email list or just overall visibility, you associate a larger number with growth.

Larger numbers, however, aren’t as important as you may believe.

Just because a company has large numbers online doesn’t mean it’s translated into income for their business. Here are five reasons why you should look beyond the numbers and focus on what actually builds your digital presence.

  1. The numbers don’t indicate engagement.

If you have a large social media presence, a large email list or a lot of people visiting your website—but you have zero engagement—your business won’t grow.

The best leads are word of mouth and those come through the engagement of your fans and followers. If your online presence is a ghost town, the large numbers won’t help your growth.

Your goal should be to engage your audience. Get them involved in the conversation in a way that they want to tell others. Your community should be so engaged that your reach goes far beyond your numbers.

  1. Personal connection is what creates life-long customers.

People buy from someone they know, like and trust. A customer is a person. The more they feel a personal connection, the more they buy and tell others about your business. Marketing genius David Ogilvy said, “The consumer is not an idiot, she’s your wife.” Make that personal connection.

  1. The numbers can easily be manipulated.

It’s pretty easy to buy a large following these days and too many companies do. Everyday, on social media and through email, you see services offering fans for a price. The problem is that those aren’t real people. They will never buy.

Big numbers may look impressive but they won’t translate into revenue if they’re not real people. You have to ask yourself, are the numbers are more important than the income?

  1. Add value and the numbers will naturally increase.

As you add value and connect in a personal way with your audience, engagement will increase. With an increase in engagement will come more people sharing about your business. That will increase your numbers organically.

Great content, products and services create a loyal fan base that will spread the message all over the Internet. Over time, those numbers will increase in the best way possible because all the new fans and followers will already be engaged.

  1. Digital marketing is not about ego.

What company doesn’t like to look at their online platform and see huge numbers? However, you are in business to generate revenue and make an impact. This isn’t about the numbers only.
While it’s great to have those large numbers and it can be good social proof, your business can be successful with a small devoted following. You can create lifelong customers that do all of your advertising for you.
You have to stand out from the competition by building a devoted customer base. Focus on creating amazing content. Focus on creating irresistible products and services.

Focus on really connecting and engaging people.

When you do, they will respond and your numbers will build. It’s too easy to get caught up in the comparison game. That game will derail your digital marketing from building your online presence. Numbers are ok, but real people are better.

/0 Comments/by

5 Easy Tweaks You Can Make to Consistently Land New Customers Online

The lifeblood of any organization growing is new business. If you want your company to grow online, you have to attract new customers. Repeat business is great but to get there, they first have to become customers.

There are some very simple things you could do that would consistently bring in new business online in a cost effective way. Constant growth from many sources is the key to operating a healthy digital marketing plan.

  1. Get more personal. Customers buy from who they know, like and trust. The legendary Peter Drucker said, “People buy with their hearts, not their minds.” If a visitor to your website doesn’t feel that personal connection, chances are they’re not going to buy from your company.

One of the most visited pages on any website is your “about” page. While we certainly want to list accomplishments, you don’t want to make people feel like you’re talking to them from a pedestal. If they get that feeling, they’re already gone.

Every company website is different but simple things like talking about the founders and their efforts to start the business are more interesting than a list of accomplishments. Get more personal.

Start that process of getting people to know, like and trust you.

  1. Simplify your website. You’ve seen websites that have so much going on that you just don’t know what to do. People get frustrated and leave when there are too many options on your website.

According to HubSpot research, you only have 10 seconds to capture someone’s attention when they visit our website. That means, it has to be simple and clear about what you are encouraging a new visitor to do.

Simplify as much as possible. A great example of this is the wildly popular website Zen Habits, which Time magazine listed as one of the 25 best websites in 2010. The website boasts more than a million readers. Visitors love its simplicity.
Not every website can be that simple, but chances are, there are ways to simplify your website. That will create a better user experience for potential new customers.

  1. Don’t sell too hard—too soon. Naturally, you want it to make revenue, but in that desire to increase profits, you risk coming off as pushy to your community. The soft sell usually works best for closing a new customer.

Let the new customer know what your organization offers, show them results they would get, and offer testimonials from people satisfied with what they bought from you. That information does all the selling for you without coming off as pushy.

  1. Have more testimonials. People want unbiased opinions on whether what you are selling is worth buying. Testimonials and reviews are the first things they look at on your site.

Ask customers for honest feedback in the form of a testimonial or review. Get more video testimonials. Display them proudly. New customers will feel more comfortable making that decision to buy.

  1. Have a strategic marketing plan. You need a marketing plan in place to consistently market your business to potential new customers. It has to be strategic and the vision shared with your marketing team.

Use automation to set up marketing campaigns for your business on social media and through email. These sequences run 24/7.

We live in an exciting time in which the Internet and social media have created a huge marketplace for new business. These simple tips will help you do just that. Take advantage of social media and the Internet to find the new customers who are waiting for you.

/0 Comments/by

Types of Marketing Emails That Nobody Has Opened in Year

Email marketing is a tried-and-true method organizations can use to get new business. Though email marketing has been around since the beginning of the Internet, many companies still aren’t harnessing its true potential.

Some old school tactics get your marketing emails deleted unopened, and costing you an opportunity to turn new leads into customers.

Learning and testing is the key to figuring out what works, but there are three types of emails that won’t turn that lead into a customer.

The reason email marketing has gotten such a bad rap is because of these spammy emails. If you want to build your sales through email marketing, avoid these types of emails.

  1. The “quick question email.”

In this email, you’re told to convince the potential customer that you have some quick information that will blow their mind. The subject line is designed to be “click bait.”

This email usually looks like:

“I just want to ask you a quick question. How would you like to make more money than you thought possible?” You may not say money but insert some cheesy line that people see right through.

The problem is, once the lead realizes what’s going on, they will delete the email and never do business with you. A wise marketer once said, “be direct, people don’t have time to entertain games.”

If you’re really sincere about asking a quick question or offering some quick advice, use your organization’s Twitter account.

  1. The “this is what you’re missing” email.

In this email, you’re told to point out where the person is “missing an opportunity” by not buying your product or service. These emails usually look like:

“I noticed you only have 500 Facebook fans. You need to have at least 2,000 for people to respect your company.”

“I noticed you’re not ranking on the first page of Google. Our company can get you on the front page and bring you thousands of new visitors.”
These types of emails sound helpful, but are actually very irritating to the person receiving them. You may have the best pitch in the world but they’ll never do business with you because this makes the wrong first impression.

/0 Comments/by