Tag Archives: content marketing

Fill Your Cup with Value Using These 6 Marketing Campaign Types

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Question: What is a campaign?
Answer: A series of communications and actions with a specific purpose and a desired outcome.

The reason it’s important to think in terms of campaigns is because the relationship you have with your prospects is a delicate one. Especially early on in the relationship.

If we just start sending random messages to our newly added prospects, they are either going to unsubscribe or just stop responding to our emails.

Getting a prospect on our list is important, but keeping them on the list and engaged is a whole different ballgame.

I think about it like this …

My relationship with my customers and prospects is like a glass of water.

It starts out empty and then every time I add some value to the relationship, it fills up a little. I can fill it up with a ton of different actions including; a great service provided, a compelling blog post, a thank you card, a free downloadable thing, a coupon, etc. These are all relationship building activities that fill up our cup.

Anytime I ask something of the relationship – download this, signup for this, buy this – I’m in essence emptying that cup and our relationship goes back to even. Now, before I can ask anything else from my prospects or clients, I need to get busy filling that cup back up.

This is why it’s important to think of campaigns. We don’t want to have our backs against the wall and just start shooting emails at random because we need to fill up some time-slots. This is what we call “SPRAY AND PREY” marketing and it does not work.

Instead of this reactionary marketing, we want to be thoughtful and purposeful in our communications. This is where campaigns come in. By thinking about the communication and where we are at in the relationship building process, we can actually plan out our marketing in advance and the results will be better.

There are 6 different types of marketing campaigns.

Campaign #1: Introduction

This is one of the first things a user will see when they opt-in for one of our lead magnets. The purpose of this campaign is to set the tone of the relationship with the prospect.

Campaign #2: Engagement

You’ve heard everybody talking about engagement but how do you get it? This campaign’s goal is to get your new prospect engaged with your business and to take the relationship deeper.

Campaign #3: Ascension

This campaign is used to sell prospects or customers large ticket items with your company. For example: if you just groomed a new prospects dog, you may have an ascension campaign that tries to sell the person on a large ticket grooming package.

Campaign #4: Re-Engagement

As much as I’d like to think I’m perfect at nurturing my prospects and customers – I’m not. So over a period of time a certain portion of my list became disengaged. They haven’t unsubscribed, but they just aren’t clicking like they used to. A re-engagement campaign is used to get them interested in our stuff again.

Campaign #5: Segmentation Campaign

We know that good marketing is all about putting the right message in front of the right customer at the right time. So, the more we know about our list, the better we can serve them. Segmentation campaigns are used to get information from our list so that we can break it down further into more specific segments. Some great examples of this type of campaign are surveys or segment specific content.

Campaign #6: Nurture

When we run specific types of campaigns, they run for a relatively short period of time and then we fall back into more passive mode of staying in front of our audience. This method of staying in front of our peeps is called nurturing and we do this with a nurture campaign. During a nurture campaign you are basically just staying in front of your audience providing value while waiting for your next active campaign to start.

Use these campaigns to add value to your relationship with your potential customers. Keep filling that cup with water!

Now It’s Your Turn

Use the comments section below and tell me what type of campaign have you been using in your business?

Increase Your Traffic by 700%+ with this One Simple Strategy

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If you’ve followed me for any amount of time you’ve likely heard me say that I’m not a fan of blogging for many small businesses.

There’s quite a few reasons for that but the largest is the amount of time and energy it takes to start to see consistent results.

In my experience from the past 18+ years of working with small business owners, blogging is something you may hear about at an event or some guru somewhere talks about how awesome it is to get all this free traffic and BOOM – your engaged.

What they don’t tell you is how hard it is.

It’s not just about throwing your opinions out into the webosphere and then you are suddenly deluged with copious amounts of free traffic.

You have to craft great content, you have to do it consistently and you have to get as much traffic on those posts as possible.

I actually stopped blogging for a few years and let the person go that was doing it for me because we weren’t seeing any results from it.

We’d craft this blog, put it on our Facebook page and there would be a slight bump in traffic and then within 48 hours our site traffic was flatlining again.

After 6 months of this I gave up. I shifted the revenue from that marketing assistance into paid advertising and overnight we were creating leads – I didn’t look back until about a year ago.

One of my goals for 2016 is to get on more stages and do more speaking engagements. This type of exposure and credibility goes a long way when you have training programs like I do, so I hired a coach that had a lot of experience with speaking and the first thing she said – you have to write. Blog posts, articles, books, etc. Those are all credibility builders. So initially, I was like… ughh, what a waste of time and then in my typical fashion, I nerd out on it a bit and see how can I make the best of this situation. That’s when I came up with VERSION 1 of my content distribution strategy.

So here’s the problem – most people that create content will write a post on their blog, maybe share it on twitter or Facebook and that’s it. At the end of the day, the post gets very little exposure, no comments or engagement and the site traffic doesn’t really do much. A little blip – but noting impressive.

I’m paying my coach a LOT of money so I’m definitely going to take her advice because she’s already been where I want to be. BUT, because I’m me, I’m going to try and hack it to see how I can get maximum exposure for my efforts so here’s what I did.

I know from experience that people aren’t going to come by my site looking for my latest and greatest blog post no matter how awesome it is, so I have to get proactive in pushing it out into the web. I have to put the content where the customers are.

I also know that if I get too aggressive it could have negative repercussions so the goal is to physically push out this content as much as I can, and still be “cool” with everybody.

Step 1: Make a list of all the different platforms that I want to show up on.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked In
  • Pinterest
  • Google +

Step 2: For each platform identify where my perfect customers were hanging out.

  • Facebook pages
  • LinkedIn Groups
  • Twitter feeds
  • Pinterest boards

Step 3: Create the distribution calendar based on a few different “rules”.

  1. I know I can post to twitter multiple times per week and be OK.
  2. I know in LinkedIn groups that are similar, many of my people may belong to the same group so to not look spammy, I post to similar groups on opposite ends of the week.
  3. I have multiple Facebook pages for different businesses so I post the content on different pages in different weeks.
  4. At the end of the week, once I’m done pushing it out, I know the content has a very short shelf life so I added it to a scheduling software so that my old blog posts and content will be recycled.

Step 4: Do it yourself.

You have to do it yourself because you may get some pushback. Some LinkedIn group owners may post your stuff as promotional so make sure you reach out to the group admins if that happens.

Step 5: Hire a Virtual Assistant to do it for you

  • 1.5 hours per week

Step #6: Integrate paid ads to drive traffic to content to expand reach and remain relevant.

This is my content distribution schedule:

Monday

  • Publish post on blog
  • Linked in niche 1
  • Linked in local 1

Tuesday

  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Facebook – Page 1

Wednesday

  • LinkedIn – publish on LinkedIn
  • LinkedIn Niche 2
  • LinkedIn local 2
  • Facebook – Page 2

Thursday

  • Email to list
  • Twitter
  • PAID TRAFFIC

Friday

  • LinkedIn local #3
  • Linked in Niche 3
  • Google +
  • Schedule in Edgar – extend liveliness

Creating great content and having a distribution strategy that puts it in front of your customers where they are hanging out, can increase your traffic by 700%+. Try it!

Now It’s Your Turn

Use the comments section below and tell me how have you been distributing your content successfully?

7 Tips To Get Readers Excited About Your Blog

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Are you tired of writing blog posts only to have nobody read or engage with them?

Who knew writing blogs could be so hard?

Sitting down and writing about a new topic every week or month that will grab your reader’s attention is easier said than done. Do you feel like you’re going crazy trying to come up with this week’s blog post? Are you dreading the idea of writing it?

I’m going to let you in on a little cheat. Ever wonder how magazines and other publications always have such interesting things to write about day in and day out? Writers and journalists strive to write about things that will be of the most interest to their audience. And to do that, they ask themselves these 7 questions before publishing anything.

1 Does it impact your audience?

What’s the significance of what you want to share? Is this important or interesting to a large number of people in your community, state, country or the world? The broader the impact, the more people will want to read about it.

2 Is it of local interest?

If you’re running a small pet business and you the majority of your business in-person, then this is a big one. People like to be engaged in their community, and they like businesses that care about things on a local level. So if your business is participating in a local event, charity, etc., be sure to let your blog readers know about it.

3 How long ago did it happen?

Not everything you write about on your blog is breaking news. You’ll probably want to write articles on trends, best practices, pet care, etc., and these things aren’t time sensitive. But if you can work trending topics into your content you can give your blog a little bump in traffic every now and again.

4 Is it important?

Are you having a grand opening event and the local mayor is attending? Are you hosting an event featuring influential business owners? Did you win an award from the governor? Events that involve well-known individuals or organizations can make something interesting to read. Other topics that may fall into this category are important issues, or topics that you think your audience wants to read about.

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5 Is there a conflict?

Does your business stand for a cause or purpose? Let your audience know about it! If you’ve done the homework on your best customer, it’s likely they’ll feel the same way as you. Join the conversation by voicing your belief in important causes.

6 Is it weird?

Make note of the three “U’s”: unexpected, unusual and unorthodox. Think about your Facebook feed for a second. What were the last 5 articles that you clicked on? Most people have some variety, but it’s hard to not click on that blog post with 7 cats wearing kitty wigs.

7 Is it humanizing?

This is the story where a man saves a puppy from a storm drain, or someone overcomes adversity to achieve his or her dreams. Are you doing anything that people would find entertaining or enlightening? Is your organization changing people’s lives? Do you have a tearjerker moment to share?

Long Story Short

So before you go to outline your next blog post I want you to think about these 7 questions. Think about how many of these points you can touch on with your next blog post. And if you’re still having a little trouble getting started with your next blog post, try browsing trade publications, association blogs and other pet business resource to get ideas. You’ll be amazed at how they can charge your next great idea.

Infusionsoft: The Swiss Army Knife Of Marketing Automation

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“Oh boy, this is a total mess.”

If you’re a business owner, chances are you’ve said this to yourself at least once this year.

As a business owner you wear a lot of different hats. You’re the marketer, the financial officer, the HR rep, the janitor, the receptionist and so much more. But if we’re being honest, sometimes it can all get really overwhelming.

But you’re not alone, we’ve all been there.

Which is why I want to tell you about Chris Brisson and his small business success story.

Chris Brisson was frustrated.

He needed a product that would automate phone calls and text messages to clients and prospects. No such product existed. So instead of waiting around for it, Chris decided to build it himself and Call Loop was born.

ChrisBrisson

Call Loop is a web-based platform that allows users to easily send voice and text messages to contacts. Because Call Loop integrates with many major email and shopping cart platforms, users can easily grow their mobile subscriber list and automate communication with their clients.

The Challenge

His old system was a slow, outdated mess to work with. It took days to teach every new employee the process, and Chris was constantly losing customer information as well as leads. He needed to streamline, not just for his employees, but for himself and ultimately his customers.

Chris also knew there were opportunities to improve the customer experience. He wanted to share his product knowledge and express appreciation to his customers with an experience that wowed them, much like larger companies were doing for their client base. He also realized that with a new platform like Call Loop, it was vital to find a way to illustrate value to prospective customers. And he knew Infusionsoft could help.

The Solution

Replacing a bunch of broken up systems that didn’t speak to each other with one seamless all-in-one system like Infusionsoft, can sometimes come with a steep price tag. But comparing the price tag to the amount that’s saved in the long run, and it’s really a no-brainer.

Consolidation and automation allows Call Loop to run as smoothly as the giants, but with a tight budget and small staff. In-app purchases, “Refer-a-friend” programs, upsells and lower abandoned shopping cart rates all increase the bottom line.

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With these automated systems, Call Loop has a projected business growth of 1000% by the end of the year. What’s more, this growth is stable, secure and scalable instead of the loose cannon of instability that existed prior to marketing automation. Tedious tasks can now be outsourced and time wasting tasks are eliminated. It takes 75% less time to train new hires on customer management than it once did, saving both time and money.

Final Thoughts

We all have a different vision for our dream business. But I think it’s safe to safe being slumped over a desk with bags under your eyes and 5 hours of sleep under your belt isn’t it. It’s easy to get sucked into the little day-to-day tasks that take up so much time in your business instead of focusing on the big picture.

But you can make your way out of that endless hamster wheel! Chris Brisson is one of many examples of small business owners who made his dream a reality. You deserve to be successful in your business, with your passion. All you have to do to get started is know where you want to take your business, what your customers want and look for ways to automate your marketing process at every chance you get.

5 Content Marketing Laws You Should Live By

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You know the car guy commercials that come on in the middle of the day between episodes of Jerry Springer? Unofficial Law #0 of content marketing–don’t be like that guy.

Why? Besides the obvious reasons, you don’t have to throw money into general ads and cross your fingers and hope for a response. Instead take the smarter route and move your business towards content marketing.

The term content marketing can mean different things to different people, but broken down to its simplest form it means creating something cool that your leads will love, such as blog posts, podcasts or online videos. The ultimate goal of content marketing is to trade something really, really cool like ebooks, white sheets or other high quality downloads, in exchange for a lead’s email address. Once you have that, you can send them all sorts of things via email all the while gently nudging them towards a buying decision.

Traditional marketing on the other hand, focuses on sending out a quick 1-time sales message. If people don’t buy right away, then that’s a good chunk of money lost. Content marketing works to create a connection, so if a lead doesn’t buy right away it’s not really a loss. You can send them more information as time goes on that may help convince them to buy.

Content marketing can grow your business leaps and bounds–if you know its special sauce, or as we like to call it, the 5 content marketing laws.

1 Know The Truth About Social Media

There are 2 things you need to ‘get’ when marketing with social media.

  • 1. Social media has an ultra short shelf life.
    Be sure to diversify where you’re posting (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) in order to expand the reach of your content. And not only that, you need to keep up with social media in order to get it to work for you. With Facebook in particular, the less you post and the less fans engage with your page, the harder it is to get them to see your content. It’s a vicious cycle.
  • 2. Content is always top dog.
    In the world of online marketing, content is the head honcho, the big cheese. Social media, email, and PPC ads should be used to get viewers to your content or lead generation pieces. Cutting out website content creation and just posting on social media will result in fans not having anywhere to progress to in your marketing funnel. They will only ever be Facebook fans, and fall into the dreaded lead limbo.

2 Get SEO Working With Content, Not Against It

SEO is important to the success of your website. But sounding like a weird robot programmed to only regurgitate popular SEO phrases is going to kill your conversions. Even if you’re ranking first on Google, if your content isn’t relevant or engaging to readers, they’re not going to keep reading.

Find out what your customers want, and learn how they like to digest and share information. Then design your content especially for them. Lastly, garnish your content with SEO to help it get to the right people.

3 Salesmen Need Not Apply

Content marketing is a way to connect and engage with leads and customers. It isn’t a way to sneak in a straight-up sales pitch. Content marketing can be an excellent way to gently guide leads into your sales funnel, but only by focusing on building trust and credibility via education, engagement and expertise.

4 Strategy, Strategy, Strategy

Like any other type of marketing, you need to have an effective strategy in place, be able to track your results and work to improve things over time. But before sitting down to create your 6-month marketing plan, make sure you know exactly who your best customer is and that you understand:

  • What problems your leads are having.
  • What they want to see more of.
  • How they like to consume information.

By having a solid plan for your content, you’ll be able to save some serious time and money in the long run.

5 ABC (Always Be Creative)

There are millions, literally millions, of websites fighting for attention. And by always following the rules and doing what everyone else is doing, your content will disappear into the background. You can grab attention by putting out unique types of content or finding out what your competitors are doing and do it better. Even something as simple as just being yourself and letting your unique personality shine through content can take you a long way online.

Long Story Short

Content marketing isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Business owners are seeing that content marketing allows them to get more leads into their funnel for a fraction of the price of traditional marketing. Not only that, it allows businesses to connect and engage with leads on a much more personal level than ever thought possible.

Now we want to hear from you! Do you have any content marketing laws of your own? We’d love to see what you have to say in the comments below.

Lifecycle Marketing Planner

Ready To Shift Your Marketing?

You can build your dream business without spending a fortune on marketing! Click below to download your free copy of The Top 15 of 2015 and discover how you can make this your best year ever!

Click to Learn More