I'm in a unique position to be first to market for a new women's business, launched in November. Press efforts are paying off with some great recent write ups and more to come. Social media has been slower, but growing as I've started collaborating with bloggers. The most immediate and significant sales come from the press, but these live only as long as you're on the front page of a major website. How do I use this traction towards my inbound marketing? I'd like to develop a strategy but my first dilemma is that women are not necessarily looking for my product. They are converting, asking questions, and then telling friends once they purchase it. I'm considering affiliate marketing but I'm unsure if this is the right approach.
Quickest way to keep your content is to use the same inbound strategy you have had success with but "pay to play" use a small budget and you can start with $5 on most ad networks Facebook might actually be a good spot as you can target the fans of your industry magazines and your great promotional article will appear as a sponsored article
You can also buy access to press release syndications which gets your message out there for your business launch.
You can also start contacting the local news networks for local TV spots if you really want to pursue this direction as well as one of the many radio and TV slots that require great content and interviews each and every day.
The education lead in sounds like a good starting point for your as it will outline and highlight the awareness of who you are and what you do and how you can help.
This content is really very simple and const effective to "promote" in front of your audience.
Call me if you need a more detailed and structured plan of action to move forward with your project
Good luck
Hi !
If you plan on leveraging inbound marketing, I would proceed like that :
- Review all the questions and messages you already got from the women you mention and list the way they express a) their PAIN POINTS (in their own words) b) their interests in your products
- At this stage, you should really focus on getting their emails. They're not ready today... but in 3 weeks, 2 months or 6 months, you should convert part of this traffic.
- To get the emails and start nurturing your leads, you need to implement a system. For example, when you collaborate with press and bloggers, make sure that the links you get point to specific Landing Pages which use the words you've previously listed. Don't them send them to your homepage. Instead, create as many landing pages as necessary, depending on your offers/products, and clearly state the benefits they will get by giving you your email. Add a lead magnet if it's not enough.
- Invest in Facebook ads by creating targeted custom audiences (eg people who visited your website through a tracking pixel, or your existing list of subscribers). Then again, drive each campaign traffic to a specific landing page or offer.
- Do you have a business blog already? If not, start one and answer the questions you've been asked. I would say 90% value, 10% promotion. Add some sign-in areas after your post, in a pop-up or in a sidebar (to be A/B tested)
- Try to blog at least weekly and send a newsletter to foster the interest.
Rinse and repeat...
Don't forget to implement an autoresponder with a series of email that will help the woman who signed up and, after a while, make them an offer.
I would love to be more specific, but more details are needed ! (type of products or services, buyer persona, marketing budget, human resources to produce content and manage campaign, etc.)
Good luck, I'm sure you'll enjoy the process :)
Hi, first off, although it seems you're facing something new in business you really aren't.
I said so that hopefully you're stress level goes down if you realize this is common, and just as is common there are ways to overcome hurdles.
You seem to be doing the right things, your strategy of involving media and bloggers is one that many don't actually consider doing because the 'pressumed' labor it would entail.
Are you having our own articles written? If so make the copy targeting certain dilemmas... Not your product.
For example if your product solves many things (most do at various levels) only write an article per solution. This makes your ad articles more targeted, offer them to more targeted writers and bloggers. This should prolonge the life of the article because they keep what drives more ad views. Within the copy make sure to embed timeframes such as what's coming up. The ability to sign up for something later and that's the purpose of 'this' article...announcing something great coming...
If you have a blog, have those bloggers share one of their most popular entries to repost in your own article and then promote it. It should be something targeted as well.
FYI: social media seems to appear a no brainer process but in reality is a psychological game within each platform. Each requires its own penetration strategy- your efforts must be native ( non intrusive).
Another problem you might have is that your current website or landing pages aren't built to be viral. You see, you have a sales funnel right... You have to approach a market, find your audience, filter the best among the general, invite them over, get them to stay, get them to open with email, etc., then get them to share, then get them to return. Is usually on the return that they buy. This return could be same day or next year. But that's why the goal is to have them to share email, subscribe, etc. as your first goal. Not a sale. A lot of ecommerce stores deal with abandoned 'carts' that's because this is common online, but what's just as important is a way a to stay in touch.
I previously answered a similar issue question on my blog here:
http://unthinkeverything.blogspot.com/2015/04/your-continued-answer-to-clarityfm.html
Needless to say, if there are some products that are highly dependent on sales staff, so don't consider this a burden you might not need. Figure out the type of industry you're in and whether or not your consumers would benefit from engaged staff and Q&A to learn about the product, it's benefits, etc... Hire 1 person and try it out, or get a few under a commission structure.
Best of luck,
Humberto Valle
www.Unthink.Me
Howdy,
first, it's a pitty that we don't know much about the product you offer or the exact target audience (country? city? age? interests? family status?), or your goals (what kind of sales? how many? what's the acceptable cost per acquisition?), as it makes any advice less relevant.
From the general point of view, I would base the strategy on the short term goals and long-term goals, and would develop the activities accordingly.
There are many different channels that can be tested, but the first questions must be asked before getting into them: 1) target audience 2) they're biggest problems and dreams 3) where do they spend time 4) what are your goals 5) what is the budget.
If press is working fine, continue that, just find a way to convert that exposure better - if people come to your website, do you have any lead magnets to offer in order to get their email addresses? Do you have a set autoresponder campaign? Do you use remarketing on Facebook or Adwords to bring those visitors back?
Content creation is a major driver of organic traffic, but again, it would depend on the product and the competition. You mentiond your customers are asking questions, so you probably have a lot of space to create educational/informational content on your site that would drive organic traffic and could also be used for paid campaigns - promoting them on social networks with ads.
Search Engine Marketing, Adwords & BIng, could also be an option, depending on the competition and your budget - some keywords are much more expensive than the others, but you might find ways to bid on very specific long-tail keywords that convert very well on the site at a reasonable price.
To sum up - it's really, really difficult to tell without knowing more details. The above mentioned things are some of the activities that can be taken. I'd focus primarily on setting the sales funnel in such way that you'd be generating emails first and converting them into sales next.
I'd be more than happy to have a chat with you, in order to learn more about the business, so that we can come up with the best strategy for the promotion. Let me know!
Best,
Adomas Baltagalvis
www.AdomasBaltagalvis.com
Without understanding the product better it is a little difficult to figure out how to market it. I would develop a thorough marketing plan based on the demographics of your very specific target buyer. Make sure you understand where and when they make the purchase decision. Is it only online? Store?
Where would they learn and read about it? What is your marketing budget?
If you want a real answer to this question that addresses your needs and gets you moving, I think there are 20-30 questions to be answered first.
Marketing is multi faceted and there are over 30 viable marketing medians you could actively consider or try to estimate ROI on. Should be a combination of online/traditional marketing.
If you haven't already, you need to determine your marketing objective. Without clear objectives driving your marketing efforts, how can you tell if you’re moving in the right direction and implementing the right strategies along the way?
To define that, you need to know the specific marketing objectives you’re working towards before you can start executing against any sort of plan. One tried-and-true framework is the S.M.A.R.T. approach, which means all of your objectives should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound. You can read more about that method in this blog I wrote: http://www.fieldboom.com/blog/marketing-objectives/.
You can also use the inbound marketing funnel to meet your objective. The key to marketing is to realize that the funnel is a linear, sequential process. You can’t skip ToFu and MoFu and turn strangers into customers. Everyone has to proceed through your funnel in order. Top, middle, then bottom. No exceptions.
Basically, start with your marketing objective and then measure it.
Inbound marketing has been phenomenally successful for many large and small businesses, particularly those in the business-to-business sector. Its use has been less widely reported in commercial business-to-consumer sectors. However, I believe that anyone can use inbound marketing to promote themselves and their products and services. It’s about finding the right suite of tools and tactics for you and the customers you want to attract. Inbound marketing is a combination of tools, tactics, and channels but it revolves primarily around content. Content is king in inbound marketing. Content is the key to getting people talking about your main marketing messages and attracting them into your site, where you can tell them more about your brilliant business.
1. Sticky business blogging: A business blog should become the central point for all inbound marketing efforts, primarily because you own this space. Social networks are great, but you don’t own those channels; you only ever rent them. So, having your own piece of digital ‘real estate’ will allow you to bring people into a space you own and control. One of the misconceptions about blogging is it must be daily and comprise a dose of 300-500 words. A great business blog is created around and for your customers. If your audience is likely to respond better to images or video, then create a blog that is very visual and makes use of interesting photography and video. The aim of a business blog is to create original content your target audience will love and share and keep them coming back for more.
2. Integrated social networking: Social networking is another key inbound marketing tactic. The aim of successful social networking is to build a following and an active community around your brand using a combination of content creation and curation. Any SME (small-to-medium sized enterprise) or start-up should consider leveraging the right social network to build awareness of their brands, products and/or services. The cool thing about social networks is that they can be used to both create and curate content. Social networks are therefore perfect to use alongside blogs to build an engaged audience around a brand. The key to good social networking is to choose the social network that works for you and your customers. There is really no point in creating an impressive Facebook presence if most of your prospects and customers are hanging out on Google+. Likewise, don’t invest in Pinterest if you’re likely to get more value using Twitter. Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest - choose the social networks that best fit with your brand and customers.
3. Audience focused SEO: Search is how we find things on the web and we use search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Baidu, to discover, gather and filter information. Search is still one of the most popular online activities (along with email) and is likely to continue to grow alongside the rise of other online activities, such as social media. There are currently more than three billion searches per day on Google and search is still thought to bring in the most qualified, targeted traffic to one’s website. 80% of people count on the organic results that appear when they search for something online. Despite the huge organic search volume, companies spent $35 billion on pay-per-click (PPC) advertising in 2011, compared to $2 billion on SEO. Nearly 90% of companies’ marketing budgets are being spent on locations where only 20% of the clicks happen; revealing the popularity and reliance on bought media. However, small businesses have limited resources. So, why not invest in activity to get your website listed in the natural search results that clearly matter more to most to people? Good SEO is not about stuffing as many keywords as you can into your content, titles and meta data. It is about ensuring your website is designed and structured in a way that allows visitors to successfully find the information they want about you so that they can make a more informed purchasing decision. Your SEO aim is to be found in search results for specific keywords relating to your brand by developing an online presence that is content-rich, engaging, and meaningful to your target market.
4. Effective social search leads to content sharing: If search equates to discovery, then discovery leads to sharing. As social media continues to grow and impact how companies do business (hint: social media does not have to be owned by marketing), people's search results are beginning to be affected by their social graph; i.e. what their friends and contacts on social networks are saying. Social media is influencing traditional search engine results in a big way and every company, big and small, should take note of this trend and act. For example, if someone conducts a Google search on 'cupcake shop Derby', the results are likely be a mix of what your contacts on Twitter and Google+ like, in addition to the usual organic listings. Google is attempting to augment its traditional search results with what your friends are saying they are interested in. This is a big deal because it means old-school 'black hat' SEO techniques are no longer valid. Google, the UK's no.1 search engine, is putting more emphasis on quality content. Increasingly, if you do not have quality content, from blogs and social networks for example, you are unlikely to get the shares, likes and +1s required to get Google's attention. Google is basically saying that if people repeatedly like and share your content based on the keywords and phrases used in a search, then it follows that your site must be relevant to a particular audience. Social search strategy should focus on staying relevant in search by ensuring that your brand is being found, talked about, and discussed throughout the social web.
5. Email marketing: As the wave of interest in social media continues, email marketing is often overlooked. Despite this, email marketing remains one of the most effective inbound marketing tools for small businesses. Email marketing’s goal is to send out interesting relevant messages to a group of willing subscribers on a periodic but regular basis. As with all other forms of inbound marketing, email is about developing a relationship with your prospects and customers by offering valuable content, i.e. your email content should not focus exclusively on selling things. Email marketing is a straightforward, easy to implement tactic and the results from an email marketing campaign are often quite easy to analyse. Social media activity can be integrated with your email marketing strategy too. For example, always ensure your emails contain clear links to your social media outposts and encourage your readers to share your email content with their social networks. Email marketing strategy should aim to build a database of subscribers and to send out frequent, interesting emails that are engaging, deliver value to recipients and keep your brand in the front of your audience’s minds.
Besides if you do have any questions give me a call: https://clarity.fm/joy-brotonath
