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Five B2B SaaS Marketing Tactics That Most Organizations Overlook

August 11, 2020 No Comments

Digital marketing consultant at Market 8, specializing in search engine optimization. He is mainly focused on the SaaS industry.

Growth-minded SaaS companies need to find strategic ways to stand out online. And while it seems like many marketers tout “the next best thing” when it comes to software-as-a-service (SaaS) marketing, I find that there are a few tactics that are routinely underrated.

It’s become all too common to see SaaS companies getting caught up in the “shiny object syndrome” of the latest growth hacks. Although some of these “hacks” can produce results, it’s important to remember the basics.

In fact, having stood the test of time, these tactics prove that it’s not always necessary to reinvent the wheel. So here are five marketing strategies that we leverage for our B2B SaaS clients at Market 8 and that I find most software companies ignore — tactics that could be the difference between being overlooked and winning over new customers.

1. Leverage searchability around competitor brand names.

With such stark competition in the SaaS space, companies need to find a way to elevate themselves above their competitors. This often means positioning your software against your competitors’ software in a way that acknowledges yours as the superior choice.

To get in front of prospects looking for your competitors, you can target your competitors’ branded keywords through Google Ads (or Bing Ads, depending on the market). Then, direct these prospects to a landing page that showcases why your solution is best.

What’s great about these landing pages is that they often attract organic traffic, especially if you’ve included comparative keywords such as “Brand A vs. Brand B” in the meta page title and header tags.

2. Fully optimize your review listings.

It might seem obvious, but this one is often overlooked.

Be sure to claim and optimize your review listings on G2, Capterra and similar directories. This means thoroughly filling out your company description, specifying the categories you do business in, and adding high-quality images and demo videos.

Next, you’ll want to make sure you have an ongoing plan in place to collect reviews, especially on the directories that your target audience is routinely browsing. Lastly, address any existing negative reviews in a tactful way to show that your brand values and listens to customer feedback.

While doing all of this will most certainly improve your brand’s reputation, it may also improve your search engine optimization (SEO) on and off the directory website.

3. Become more visible in the search engine results page (SERP).

Schema markup is a type of code that can be placed on webpages to help search engines better understand what a page is about. This code also allows search engines to display rich snippets in the search results.

FAQ markup and AggregateRating markup are two types of structured data that our agency is seeing great results with right now, simply because the click-through rate of these listings goes through the roof. It makes sense — if users are able to get their most important questions answered right away while seeing your company’s glowing reviews, they’ll be more likely to click your listing than your competitor’s.

4. Extract more value out of existing content.

Many SaaS firms are so focused on creating new content that they forget about their existing content. To get the most out of what you already have, revisit your blogs, and optimize based on data you find in Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Update, remove or add sections of content, and add a new lead magnet to the page.

The same can be done for your important product or service pages. Add power words, modifiers on keywords and conversion-focused long-tail keywords to attract targeted users and convert that traffic into buyers. Highlight your strongest selling points, and add compelling calls to action (CTAs) to entice users to click, buy or subscribe right away.

Updating existing content improves user experience, but what it also does is provide “freshness” signals to search engines, improving your rank in search results.

5. Focus new content on customer retention, not just acquisition.

Build your content strategy with the goal of retaining users, not just acquiring new ones.

It’s a well-known fact that retention is less expensive than acquisition, so why do many SaaS businesses focus on acquisition as a top growth strategy?

Having a retention-focused content marketing strategy could set you apart from the vast majority of your competitors. Successful SaaS firms that do this have “learning centers” on their sites, answering every question users could possibly have and addressing any confusion users might have about their products.

A great example of a company that does this incredibly well is Ahrefs. Its content acquires new customers, but it also creates product experts out of existing customers, too. These customers go on to be brand advocates who direct even more customers to the software.

Conclusion

While it may be tempting to chase the next best marketing “hack,” it’s important not to forget the fundamentals. The above B2B SaaS marketing strategies routinely generate amazing results for SaaS companies that implement them on a regular basis.

Brand positioning, reputation management and having a retention-focused content marketing strategy are all tactics you can use to increase your online visibility, even in a highly competitive industry. What is your SaaS company doing to stand out in your market?

Feature Image Credit: GETTY

By Brian Schofield,

Digital marketing consultant at Market 8, specializing in search engine optimization. He is mainly focused on the SaaS industry. Read Brian Schofield’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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Facebook Still Doesn’t Get It

August 11, 2020 No Comments

Sourced from Intelligencer

Rashad Robinson, who has helped organize a high-profile advertising boycott of Facebook during the month of July, believes the social-media giant doesn’t really care about getting rid of hate on its platform. On the latest episode of New York’s Pivot Podcast, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway talk to Robinson, who has helped spearhead the effort, about the gap between the company’s rhetoric and its actions.

Kara Swisher: Rashad Robinson is the executive director of Color of Change, the country’s largest racial-justice organization. Last week, he was part of a meeting with Facebook executives about the July ad boycott of Facebook, to discuss the demands he and those companies have made to the social-media platform. Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg were on the call, and he was not impressed by Zuckerberg’s performance. So Rashad, why don’t you give us a rundown of what happened.

Rashad Robinson: Before the meeting, we had shared the list of demands again, and the demands are not complicated. They’d been part of ongoing meetings and protests. Some of them have been highlighted in previous versions of the civil-rights audit that have come out over the past year and a half, two years. So we got there really with the goal of having them tell us what they thought and where they were heading, because they actually requested the meeting.

And you know, I’ve been in a lot of meetings with Facebook. I’m going to meetings with a lot of corporations, and they get trained on how to run out the clock. They have these strategies on how to have a meeting where they get you to talk a lot and then they don’t actually have to tell you anything new. And so I took the lead. I really sort of pushed him, like, “Hey, you’ve got the demands. We actually want to go through them.”

Robinson: So one is bringing in a C-suite civil-rights leader that has the budget and the ability to oversee and weigh in on product and new policy. Another was specifically to deal with their political-exemption policy and the way they talk out of both sides of their mouth.

On one hand, they’ll say there’s a political exemption, but they don’t really use it, and no one ever gets exempted. And then Donald Trump will get exempted. And then they’ll say, “Well, that’s because he didn’t violate the policy,” but they can’t ever tell you when he will violate the policy. It’s just like you’re talking in circles. That’s just another example of how you end up with the situation where we have spent years working on getting rules in place only for them to not enforce them when it actually matters.

And so I wanted them to go through this. My last meeting with Mark and Sheryl was on June 1, right after the “looters and shooters” post, right after those posts around voter suppression, where I, at the end of the meeting, was like, “What are we doing here? Why are we continuing to meet if I don’t feel like anything’s happening and if you’re trying to just explain to us why you’re working hard?” They spent a lot of time in the meeting telling us why they’re doing more than all the other social-media platforms.

Swisher: They’ve gone around to advertisers and said that too.

Robinson: They’re so much better. They’re working so much harder. They have done things that other folks won’t do. This is the kind of constant line. At some point, someone in the meeting said, “So, I guess what you’re saying is that you’re doing everything right and that we’re just crazy.” They’re like, “No, no, that’s not what we’re saying.” I’m like, “Well, what are you saying?”

Swisher: Their own audit said exactly what you were saying, which was that they have created a really dangerous situation by favoring their version of free speech over civil rights. Why do you think that is? You have spent time with them. If you were them, what would you do to fix their structure?

Robinson: I would separate the decisions about moderation and content from his global policy shop. There is not a scenario moving forward where Joel Kaplan overseeing this is going to be fine with anyone. If Zuckerberg replaces Joel Kaplan with someone else that has to oversee their relationships in Washington, other folks are not going to be comfortable with that.

The fact of the matter is if these decisions are made through the lens of how to keep policy-makers and policy leaders happy, then you’ve actually violated one of the tenets of fermenting connection, because you are making decisions rooted in keeping powerful people and powerful forces comfortable and happy. It happens here in the United States, and we have a particular experience with it. But folks in other parts of the world have a different experience, where protests might be illegal, where speaking out might be illegal. The fact of the matter is that Facebook will tell us one thing about their intentions, but every single decision is rooted in profit and growth. Every single decision is through that lens.

Galloway: 100 percent.

Robinson: And so in order to keep profit and growth going, they actually have to stay friends with those in power.

Swisher: This is Scott’s opening, because this is one of the main points he makes all the time.

Galloway: First off, kudos to you and Color of Change. I was really skeptical that this boycott was going to have any impact, but it’s had more impact than almost any other effort I can see today. So first off, well done. Secondly, quite frankly, I’m not sure it’s going to do anything. Let’s speculate that if you call on Facebook’s better angels, that no one’s home — and that you have to move back to applying financial pressure. Can you give us a sense of the state of the boycott and how you put pressure on the better angels of the people at organizations that spend money on Facebook?

Robinson: I think financial pressure is important as well as hopefully changing the political levers in Washington. That to me is the long game, because even this type of effort feels like something that we just can’t be constantly doing, going against the largest advertising platform the world has ever known. It just can’t simply be about asking advertisers to walk away. I’ve had a lot of conversation with advertisers, a lot of conversations recently with the Madison Avenue firms who manage advertisers, trying to continue to get a pulse of where folks are at. I think one thing that’s been really helpful here is that this conversation has trickled up to the board level at a lot of companies.

I also think that some of the things that Mark has said about advertisers coming back, some of the flip ways he has responded to this — it’s one thing for Mark to call us weak, for us to say he doesn’t have to think about what we are demanding. But you know, a bunch of corporate CEOs, at what point are you all going to stand up? At what point are you going to say that you’re not going to let this person walk all over you? I think that has been part of Facebook’s missteps. They have stepped on the ego of a lot of folks who have ego and who don’t want to be treated like that they’re not valuable or their opinions don’t matter.

Swisher: One of the things is they don’t like Facebook. You can talk to most of them — they tolerate it because they need it, because it’s the only game in town.

So, two things I’d love to know. What do you think the impact right now is of what Facebook is doing on people of color? Because you have a group that’s not just people of color — you have the ADL, you’ve got the NAACP, you’ve got so many groups you’re working with. What is the impact on society right now for these continued — I would call them — abuses by Facebook?

Robinson: The technology that’s supposed to bring us into the future is in so many ways dragging us into the past. We had created a sense of social contracts around the ways that white nationalists could organize, right? They can’t organize at the Starbucks in a public space and have a meeting. They couldn’t do things out in public, but the incentive structures at Facebook have allowed people to not only organize, but … A 15-year-old that is searching for one thing runs into some white-nationalist content and then goes down a hole because they get served more and more of this content. Because the ways that the algorithms are set up, people are almost indoctrinated into these ideas that we’ve tried to put at the margins. Facebook has created a space that feels like home, that makes these things comfortable, that makes these things acceptable. And to that extent, they’ve been damaging.

At the same time, Facebook has refused to be accountable. I was having a conversation with Alicia Garza, who’s one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter. Alicia famously posted “Black Lives Matter” on Facebook right after the Zimmerman verdict.

Kara Swisher: Which got it started.

Robinson: Mark talks about it. He talked about it in his free-expression speech at Georgetown. And Alicia gets regular death threats on Facebook. She has to go through the same decision tree that anyone else has to go through. She’s had about 20 death threats over the last several months. And Facebook has declined to take action on every one of them through automation. They say something about how it doesn’t violate terms. And she’s never gotten a phone call from Facebook, no outreach, no engagement that one would expect. This is Alicia, who’s on TV, who is well known — and Facebook actually uses her name. They use her work in the cases they make around this, and they don’t even respond to the attacks that she’s getting. It’s because they don’t care. The same way Mark can say that these Fortune 500 advertisers don’t matter, he’s on the other hand saying that Black activists’ voices don’t matter either.

This is one would imagine how he would have treated SNCC organizers, how he would have treated the civil-rights leaders that we lionize today in terms of the ways in which they were attacked and targeted. All of this is because you’ve got this person that has far too much control and believes that they, and they alone, understand what’s right. We don’t actually have the leverage to challenge them. And so I really appreciate what you said around the boycott. I feel really proud of what we’ve been able to do. But part of this, from my perspective, has always been about raising the level of attention and energy and focus so that we can advance the real conversation about 21st-century rules of the road. It’s not just Facebook. It is that all of these platforms, if left to their own devices, will rely on the wrong set of incentive structures because profit and growth are key drivers to why they exist.

Galloway: What are the one or two things any of the 3 and a half billion Facebook users could do right now if they wanted to be supportive of your actions? What’s the call to action?

Robinson: A couple of things, I think that folks need to, first and foremost, vote in this upcoming election. I think that people need to make sure that politicians know that we want to hold big institutions accountable and that we vote, because the long game is a new set of rules and we just don’t get that by wishing. The second thing, I think, for folks who are actively using Facebook, is that if they see negative content, if they see content that’s hateful and they see an advertiser next to it, send that to the advertiser. Advertisers need to consistently hear from consumers — why are you sponsoring this type of content? Why do you have your brands next to this type of content? The vast majority, the overwhelming majority of advertisers are not trying to have their stuff next to this.

But Facebook is telling them one story and there’s a totally different story that’s actually happening. And then finally, I think that all of us have to be really active users about the content that’s coming our way. What are we clicking on? What are we sharing? What are we engaging with? Because the level of disinformation and misinformation that’s going to be on platform as we head into this election is going to be outrageous. We all, in our day-to-day lives, can play a role in disrupting that and pushing back on that.

Swisher: And what is your next move? More boycotts? Continuing the pressure?

Robinson: Continuing the pressure. July 27, Mark testifies in front of Congress on antitrust issues. A corporation that has become so big and powerful where they don’t listen to major corporations, where they don’t have to listen to social-justice leaders, means that there are questions about whether the platform has become too powerful. And whether it needs new rules. I think that’s the next phase in this work. The problem for Facebook is that they are asking people to trust them and big companies to trust them. And I think the message I have for big companies is: Do you think that they’re going to embarrass you? Because I have a quick answer for you. They will. And so just know that time and time again, they have no problem with embarrassing you, embarrassing your brand.

Swisher: Rashad, thank you so much. I don’t know what to say. It’s great to hear a voice like you. Your whole group is fantastic. You all should pay attention and advertisers should absolutely be paying attention to this as we’re going forward. And anything we can do to help, we certainly will.

Robinson: Appreciate you. Thank you.

Pivot is produced by Rebecca Sananes. Erica Anderson is the executive producer.

Feature Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Sourced from Intelligencer

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Marketing Your Business In The Midst Of Covid-19: 5 Tips To Stay Afloat

August 10, 2020 No Comments

By Mike Kappel

If you’re like many business owners out there, the coronavirus pandemic has rocked your world. According to a SHRM study, 62% of small businesses say they have experienced a decrease in revenue since the start of Covid-19. To deal with this change in cash flow, you may find yourself having to change up other processes for the time being, such as your marketing strategies.

Marketing During Covid-19: 5 Tips

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the lives of consumers and businesses alike. And, with this major change and a “new normal” comes a new way to market to customers.

To pivot your marketing amidst the coronavirus and help keep your business thriving during trying times, use these five Covid-19 marketing tips.

1. Reassure Your Customers

Your customers are your business’s #1 fans. Without them, you wouldn’t be the successful business you are today. In a time with so much uncertainty, you need to reassure your customers that you’re there for them and that your business isn’t going anywhere.

So, how do you tie in reassuring your customers into your marketing tactics? So happy you asked! To inform your customers about how you’re responding to the coronavirus and let them know you’re there for them when they need you, you can:

Send out email updates
Post regularly on social media
Add information in customer accounts (e.g., on the dashboard)

Reassuring your customers that everything is going to be OK is a must during this pandemic. Trust me when I say this: your customers will appreciate the updates and your sensitivity toward the situation.

When reassuring your customers, keep a calm tone with a positive message and relevant language. And, remember to include how they can contact you if they have any questions.

2. Get Creative

This coronavirus age is not the time to fall back on your old marketing strategies. It’s a time to take risks and be creative with your marketing tactics.

When it comes to marketing your business during coronavirus, the more creative you are, the better. Having a unique way to market your products or services makes you stand out from your competition. Not to mention, spicing up your marketing can help draw in new customers and keep business booming during the coronavirus.

So, you may be asking yourself, How can I take my marketing up a level while dealing with the coronavirus? For starters, you can promote unique offerings, like DIY kits and care packages, to get customers flying through your doors. You can also offer virtual options to customers, like online classes, meetings, and showcases.

Whatever creative route you decide to take, have fun with it. Have a brainstorming session to think about what you can do to attract customers and make them want to spend their hard-earned cash during these trying times.

3. Kick Things Up On Social

Even before the coronavirus started, social media was king. As of 2019, a whopping 79% of Americans have social media profiles. And, that number continues to grow as more people go virtual during the pandemic.

To market your company in the middle of coronavirus, take your strategies to social. The truth is, this coronavirus age is prime time to promote your business offerings online. To market your business on social, be active, and present. You can:

Start or join conversations
Utilize sponsored posts or paid advertisements
Post more frequently
Have an online contest (e.g., share for a chance to win X)
Keep your customers in the loop with store updates
Promote special or limited-time offerings

Social media is a great way for you to create buzz about your business. Not to mention, it’s a relatively inexpensive option to promote your business and spread the word about your offerings online. So, what are you waiting for?

4. Build Relationships Virtually

Building relationships is one of those things that can be easier said than done, especially when you’re trying to build them online versus in-person. But if you want to market your business in the midst of coronavirus, you have to embrace building and strengthening relationships with your customers online.

To strengthen relationships with your customers, put yourself in their shoes. What would you want to see and hear from a business? How would you feel if you saw one of your business’s marketing communications?

Keep open, honest, and considerate communication going. If you currently don’t have a regular cadence of communication with your customers, now’s the time to start (think email marketing campaigns).

When communicating and connecting with customers during the coronavirus, be empathic, genuine, and thoughtful. The more you connect with your customers and get a feel for who they are, the better you can market to them in the future.

5. Improve Your Online Presence

With the coronavirus in full swing and more and more people hopping on the online bandwagon, there’s no better time to work on your business’s online presence. Having a strong online presence can help you build your brand and gain credibility to attract new customers. Plus, it makes your business more readily accessible to customers so they can find out more information about what your business has to offer.

According to one source, internet hits have surged between 50% and 70% due to the coronavirus. With so many people spending their free time online, why not take advantage of it? To give your business’s online presence a nice boost, you can:

Optimize your business website for mobile
Create valuable content
Do some SEO research
Incorporate keywords on your website pages
Engage in online communities and forums
Improve user experience

Again, there’s no better time than now to boost your online presence. And remember, even if you already have a top-notch online presence, there’s always room for improvement. So, get out there and give your business the online boost it deserves!

Why Is It Important To Market During Covid-19?

Pandemic or not, marketing to your customers is always an important aspect of running your business. But, how can continuing and improving your marketing efforts during Covid-19 benefit your business. Well, it can help you:

Get ahead of your competitors
Learn more about your target audience
Build on your business relationships
Set yourself up for success post-coronavirus

Now is not the time to put the breaks on your marketing efforts. It’s your opportunity to be more strategic than ever, put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and better market to your customers.

Feature Image Credit: GETTY

By Mike Kappel

Founder and CEO of Patriot Software, LLC. We help American Businesses and their Accountants with cloud-based Payroll and Accounting Software. I know what small business owners and entrepreneurs face because I’ve faced it myself. For more information, please visit patriotsoftware.com or Follow: @PatriotSoftware on Twitter

Sourced from Forbes

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Stacey Ross Cohen: “Be a problem solver, not a problem spotter and continually challenge yourself”

August 10, 2020 No Comments

By Ben Ari

Define Your Brand. Building a personal brand is the first step to develop thought leader status. Identify your purpose, strengths, values and passion. This is not about me, me, me — — it’s about your value to others. You need to understand your target audience as well as competition. What’s important to your audience? How can you solve their needs better than your competitors? Only then can you crystallize your expertise or niche and put your stake in the ground. My personal branding talks often begin with a question: “Who in the audience has a personal brand?” and am surprised at the small percentage who raise their hand. Everyone has a personal brand — positive, neutral, or negative — which defines them. Although it seems personal brands (and thought leadership) “just happen,” they don’t — the best ones take years and require an ongoing effort.

As part of our series about how to become known as a thought leader in your industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Stacey Ross Cohen CEO and founder, Co-Communications, Inc.

Stacey is an award-winning brand professional who earned her marketing stripes on Madison Avenue and at major television networks before launching Co-Communications, a full-service PR/Marketing firm with offices in New York and Connecticut. Stacey is also co-founder of College Prime, a company that provides social media and personal branding training to high school students to succeed with college admissions, internships, and beyond. She is a Huffington Post and Thrive Global blogger, TEDx speaker, and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, Crain’s, Sales & Marketing and other leading national media. She holds a B.S. from Syracuse University, MBA from Fordham University and recently completed a certificate program in Media, Technology and Entertainment at NYU Leonard Stern School of Business.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

I was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in a very entrepreneurial family. My parents had successful businesses of their own in the fashion industry and later years — real estate. I’ve always been a risk taker and love to take on new challenges. In fact, I started my first business at age 14 — — a home waitress service — — with my friend Jen. Driven to make more than the standard hourly babysitting rate, we placed an ad in the local newspaper with the headline: We Set, Serve & Clean up. Let us help you at your next party. The only expense was the purchase of a white uniform bought second-hand. We ended up increasing our earnings by 500%…plus we were booked for months out with repeat business.

After a short stint in corporate (CBS and a division of Young & Rubicam), I started Co-Communications in 1997 in a spare bedroom of my house with no lofty goals — just to “do it better.” Our team of 15 incredibly talented individuals create high-impact communications programs for diverse clients in real estate, education, healthcare, professional services, non-profit and hospitality. I’m particularly passionate about real estate since I grew up in it and am also married to a real estate attorney. One of the projects that I’m most proud of is the 18-month communication campaign “Build the Bridge Now” to raise awareness about replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge with a new Hudson River crossing, the largest public works project in state history.

I’m extremely passionate about helping people “be” and communicate their best selves online and off and am currently working on a book project on personal branding. I live in Westchester County, New York and have two amazing daughters, one dog and one grand pup. I love spending time with my family, travel, movies, and am a die-hard Orange Theory fitness fan.

Can you briefly share with our readers why you are an authority about the topic of thought leadership? I havehelped build brands and thought leadership for CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs across a range of industries for 25 plus years. I’ve been fortunate to study and tap into the expertise and wisdom of prominent thought leaders to see “what makes them tick.” I frequently write and speak on the topic of personal branding and thought leadership at universities, corporations, and industry conferences (and also am proud to wear the badge of a TEDx speaker). Besides being skilled at positioning an individual’s narrative in highly competitive markets, I educate them on the online/offline tools and techniques that produce thought leadership success.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

After college, I worked at an ad agency in HR which closely aligned with my “then” career objectives and education. I became mesmerized with the ads adorning the office walls and would constantly ask the creatives and account execs for the “why” behind the concept. I realized that this was my true calling — to bring words and images to life that tell a story. I moved on to take a position at CBS/FOX Video in the international marketing division and was lucky to have an amazing boss and mentor. Much of my day was spent gazing at spread sheets analyzing past performance and forecasting — — which I found interesting but lonely. I’d somehow always find my way to the PR department to find out what exciting campaign they were working on — — e.g., screening of a Mick Jagger video at a downtown hot spot. The PR department was eliminated and the woman who headed it up started her own agency, and upon chance meeting, she asked if I’d like to chat about a job opportunity. I was hired as a Senior Account Executive and CBS/FOX became my main client. PR was foreign to me and there were no You Tube videos or internet at the time. I just figured it out and quickly became the owner’s right-hand person. I saw the good, bad, and ugly of running an agency and this learning was priceless for starting my own agency.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I was managing the press at a world premier video screening for the Boston Celtics at Boston Garden when I worked with CBS. When an attendee approached me, I assumed he was there to cover the event and directed him to the press “pit.” A sales rep from the company elbowed me and whispered Stacey, “That’s the Boston Celtics’ coach.” I turned 10 colors of red but the coach and I became quick friends. Lesson learned: Research the key players prior to covering events!

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. In a nutshell, how would you define what a ‘Thought Leader’ is. How is a thought leader different than a typical leader? How is a thought leader different than an influencer?

A thought leader is considered an authority on a particular subject matter or industry. They share their deep knowledge, insights and ideas with audiences through speaking engagements, media interviews and content development — — and have a truly distinct (sometimes disruptive) perspective which inspires innovative thinking in others. A leader, on the other hand,holds a dominant position within his or her field and sets direction for their team. Their success is usually measured against specific organizational objectives. One of my favorite leadership quotes is by Ronald Reagan:“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” An influencer can be a thought leader and vice versa. Where they differ is their motivation. Influencers typically seek fame and financial benefit from advertisers/sponsors who want to reach the influencer’s audience whereas “knowledge is power” for thought leaders.

Can you talk to our readers a bit about the benefits of becoming a thought leader. Why do you think it is worthwhile to invest resources and energy into this?

Establishing yourself as an expert in your field gives you a competitive edge and builds both mind and market share. When done right, you can reap many benefits — career advancement, higher salary, rewarding partnerships, new clients/business opportunities, and revenue growth.

Let’s talk about business opportunities specifically. Can you share a few examples of how thought leadership can help a business grow or create lucrative opportunities?

Consumers make purchase decisions based on an emotional connection with a brand or individual. In order for someone to engage or buy something — they need to know, like and trust you.. Since thought leaders humanize a brand and are perceived as credible sources, they (positively) influence purchase decisions which drives sales.

Ok. Now that we have that behind us, we’d love to hear your thoughts about how to eventually become a thought leader. Can you share 5 strategies that a person should implement to become known as a thought leader in their industry. Please tell us a story or example (ideally from your own experience) for each.

Define Your Brand. Building a personal brand is the first step to develop thought leader status. Identify your purpose, strengths, values and passion. This is not about me, me, me — — it’s about your value to others. You need to understand your target audience as well as competition. What’s important to your audience? How can you solve their needs better than your competitors? Only then can you crystallize your expertise or niche and put your stake in the ground. My personal branding talks often begin with a question: “Who in the audience has a personal brand?” and am surprised at the small percentage who raise their hand. Everyone has a personal brand — positive, neutral, or negative — which defines them. Although it seems personal brands (and thought leadership) “just happen,” they don’t — the best ones take years and require an ongoing effort.

Create a strategic roadmap. Throwing spaghetti at the wall simply does not work. It’s all too easy to jump into the tactics (e.g., creating a blog). You need to be both intentional and proactive and have a well-informed strategy. When we work with a new client to build thought leadership, we insist on starting with a plan which details objectives, target audiences, messaging, tactics and a 6–12 month timeline. It’s also a good idea to create a monthly content calendar to schedule what, when, where to publish. Align your content with trends and national holidays. For instance, if you’re a climate change expert, you may want to step up your content during Earth month (April).

Develop Content That’s Relevant (and Platform-Appropriate) Good is not enough — you need to create great content (curated and self-published) to capture your audience. Whether you develop articles, blog posts, ebooks, news releases, white papers or videos, make certain the content speaks to your audience. It is also important to be bold, share your point of view, and make industry predictions. Content is more than words; make use of striking visuals. Consider creating infographics to present data in a more digestible way. Also, showcase your value with a “wow” portfolio of client testimonials, achievements, success stories, and a professional bio/profile with headshot. Nothing matches the power of earned media to build thought leadership and brand recognition. I work closely with thought leaders to secure high-level media coverage — broadcast, print, online — — and then we cast a net far and wide.

Become your own news channel: Once you have great content, you need to deliver through a multi-channel approach (websites, speaking engagements, social media, blogs, e-newsletters, podcasts). Select channels that are in sync with who you are and reach your audience — — you can’t be on everything. Here’s the important thing to remember: Communications does not work if you turn up the volume and walk away — instead, you need a consistent drumbeat to achieve top of mind awareness. Speaking is a top tool to build thought leadership. Capture your speaking engagements and make sure to publish them on your website and social channels. Create a speaker’s bio and/or sizzle reel to further grow your opportunities within the speaking realm. I recently interviewed Ryan Serhant, a top-ranking real estate broker, author, and television personality (Million Dollar Listing New York) who recognizes the importance of educating and entertaining his audience. With 2 million plus social media followers, Ryan is an example of “broadcasting” at its best. He is a Forbes contributor, YouTube Vlogger, speaks at industry associations, and is frequently interviewed and quoted by national media. He is particularly proud of his new online course “Sell It Like Serhant” and media and entertainment company, Serhant Media Group, which allows him to have deeper content capabilities.

Grow Your Network. It’s been said that “Your network is your net worth” and there’s actually a great book written by Porter Gal with this title which shares best practices on how to establish and grow your online and offline connections. Networking is one of the most important investments you can make to grow your following. Engage and build relationships with mentors, influencers, and industry leaders. Consider joining a board or committee (both professional and community). Be social — — attend live networking events and be sure to connect with your new contact promptly via LinkedIn etc. I have organically grown my LinkedIn followers to 27,000 which has given me brand visibility, higher search ranking, and business/speaking opportunities.

In your opinion, who is an example of someone who has that has done a fantastic job as a thought leader? Which specific things have impressed you about that person? What lessons can we learn from this person’s approach.

I’m a huge fan of Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote the book Eat, Pray, Love, and gave an inspiring TED Talk (which I’ve watched half a dozen times) called Your Elusive Creative Genius. She talks about creativity in a disruptive way contradicting the predominant view that creativity is a rare gift and contends that ALL of us have a genius within us. She shares her own personal creative journey and challenges her audience to find their own creativity. Her thought leadership status is well-deserved — she is insightful, visionary and is a sought-out authority and speaker on creativity. She also regularly delivers thought-provoking content through social channels and has a podcast in which she interviews famous creatives.

I have seen some discussion that the term “thought leader” is trite, overused, and should be avoided. What is your feeling about this?

I agree that it is overused. There are many individuals who call themselves thought leaders and they are not. You can’t just put the stake in the ground and say “I’m a thought leader in xyz” — — thought leadership is earned and requires time, effort and reinforcement plus a large and engaged following to help spread their insights and ideas. Ultimately, it is your audience who decides if you deserve thought leader status.

What advice would you give to other leaders to thrive and avoid burnout?

We need to “own” our days which are often ambushed by trivial “stuff” — — raising our stress levels and causing us to lose focus on our priorities. My simple advice is to avoid this by creating boundaries and saying “No” more….

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

#cando — — be a problem solver, not a problem spotter and continually challenge yourself

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Wayne Gretsky’s quote “Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been” is my all-time favorite. The need to be one step ahead in business has never been more important. If you continually look in the rear view mirror, you’ll soon be obsolete. Marketing is an art and a science and requires us to anticipate trends and be nimble to change a campaign’s direction in real time. Our client’s appreciate and benefit from the constant flow of forward-thinking ideas and technology that we bring to the table.

We are blessed that very prominent leaders in business and entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you would like to have a lunch or breakfast with? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Richard Branson. I saw him headline a session a few years ago at Forbes 30 under 30 conference in Boston and I could have listened to him for hours….maybe days! He is incredibly insightful, funny, inspirational and authentic.

By Ben Ari

Sourced from THRIVE GLOBAL

In News

Apple’s ode to remote working humorously captures its frustrations and blunders

August 7, 2020 No Comments

By Imogen Watson

The lockdown edition of ’Apple at Work – The Underdogs’ is an ode to remote working that humorously captures all the frustrations, family responsibilities, and video blunders that come with working from home while seamlessly articulating how Apple’s products can help.

The first chapter, released back in 2019, saw four employees working tirelessly to impress their austere boss – Vivienne. Filmed in the style of an American sitcom, ’The Underdogs’ introduced a sceptical world to the need for rounded pizza boxes – an actual Apple-invented concept.

With the same four scrappy employees in tow, this time Vivienne tells the team that ’Project Pandora’s Box’ is back, with a tight deadline – though this time the design needs to be recyclable. With no time to lose, the team set about navigating her arduous request from the ’comfort’ of their homes.

While they encounter many hurdles along the way, Apple’s wide range of devices and software are the one constant which iron out the stress of Vivienne’s task whenever a spanner is thrown in the works.

Marking Apple’s second ad of lockdown, back in April it showcased the role its products play in keeping creativity alive, in ’Creativity Goes On.’ The spot was a film montage, with some recognisable celebrity faces that saw Apple users drawing pictures on iPads, producing video content on Macbooks or using FaceTime to share creative ideas.

Back in May, Apple announced that it was not immune to the coronavirus downturn. While it may have seen an uptick in product sales towards the end of Q2 2020, its advertising business has taken a hit with companies pausing search spend on platforms such as the app store.

By Imogen Watson

Sourced from The Drum

In News

5 Ways a Digital Marketer Can Supercharge Your Online Outreach

August 7, 2020 No Comments

By Kay VanAntwerpen

You need time, a coherent and precise strategy, and the core expertise to optimize your digital presence.

In today’s world where people are glued to their devices for work and for play, the most important advertising delivery platforms are internet-connected devices. According to the PEW research center, 28 percent of American adults are on the internet “almost constantly,” while 45 percent report using it “several times a day”—meaning that 81 percent of Americans use the internet a whole lot every day.

If your business hasn’t established its digital presence, you can be almost certain that your competitors will reach your customers first. Eighty-one percent of consumers conduct online research before making a purchase. That’s not the only reason you need a digital presence, though. Digital marketing is about more than just existing on the internet. Instead, you can utilize the web to become a powerhouse of sales generation, customer loyalty, and brand recognition.

It’s not difficult to optimize your digital presence, but you do need time, a coherent and precise strategy, and the core expertise—digital marketing isn’t just a skill you can pick up on the fly.

Hiring a full digital marketing department is often unreasonable, especially for small businesses. The average salary for a digital marketing manager alone is $69,755. That’s why many companies turn to small agencies such as Assemble, The MOM Project, and TopTal which we’ve touched on in a previous article.

Below, we’ll look at five ways a digital marketer can help superchare your business.

1. Precision email marketing sales funnels.

Almost 294 billion emails are sent and received daily, but email campaigns are somewhat unique. When done correctly, your readers will hang on every word and look forward to your correspondence like an old pen pal. When done poorly, your emails will get dumped in the trash before they’re even opened, often doing nothing more than annoying your potential customer.

An email campaign done right not only grabs attention but builds a tangible relationship with your potential customer by providing interesting and valuable content, exclusive deals, and more—eventually converting your readers to customers.

When handling your email, a good digital marketer will:

Curate and purge email lists, removing inactive email addresses.
Draft engaging email campaigns that increase brand awareness and build consumer trust.
Develop alternate email campaigns for specific lead varieties.
Design email layouts to match your brand aesthetic and messaging.
Develop leads through email communications with potential clients.

2. High digital visibility.

As we mentioned earlier, most customers perform some kind of online research before making a purchase. If you’re hitting your visibility goals, you’ll be the first name to pop up when a customer conducts product research. If you’re not doing anything, your competition will show up first.

To be visible on the web, you’ll need an artful social media presence, precision SEO (search engine optimization), and perfect mobile responsivity on all of your digital platforms. A good digital marketer knows how to work where all of these factors intersect. They’ll assure you’re the first name to crop up when a customer searches for products or services in your field. They’ll also make sure your name appears with reputable sources, and that your reputation speaks for itself.

3. Data-driven analytics.

Sure, you may be getting lots of likes on your Facebook posts, and your blog may get a few shares here and there, but these are just “vanity metrics” —ultimately, it can be difficult to tell whether or not you’re getting any tangible return on your investment.

Fortunately, digital marketers don’t treat their field like some nebulous art form that can only be qualified in the abstract (that stuff is for painters and musicians). Instead, they work in the field of tangible statistics and data analytics. A good digital marketer will not only track your numbers but will also ensure they improve over time. Some of the statistics you should see are:

Organic, direct, referral, social, and paid traffic
Click-through rates (CTR)
Macro and micro conversions
Consumer engagement
Site speed

4. The power of customer engagement and reputation management.

Social media is one of the most fundamental ways the internet revitalized the marketing game. Your customer base can communicate with you at the click of a button. Major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are necessities. You can’t simply just exist on these sites—you have to actively use them to engage your clientele. A heavy stream of social media traffic doesn’t mean anything if you’re not able to convert those visitors into customers.

A skilled digital marketer will do more than keep your posts fresh. They’ll personally engage with your audience, listen to their wants and needs, and respond in a way that not only leaves the customer happy but also curates a positive reputation for your business.

Which brings us to one of the most overlooked elements of social media: reputation management. In the digital era, news of a negative customer experience travels nearly instantaneously. Take into account review sites such as Yelp and Yahoo Reviews, and it may seem like a single bad day can become a permanent black spot on your digital reputation.

Not so with a skilled digital marketer. While monitoring customer feedback and conversation, your marketer will speak directly with disgruntled customers and help solve their problems quickly and resolutely.

5. Valuable and beneficial content.

Content creation is the crème de la crème of digital marketing. It brings in three times the leads of traditional marketing formats at 62 percent of the cost. Content creation brings your audience to you.

It’s easy to create content the wrong way, though. Too many businesses fall into the prototypical “advertisement trap” where each piece of content they publish feels like a blatant call for business while providing no valuable information or entertainment to the consumer. Returning viewers, this does not create.

When you ask what kind of content your company needs, you should think of the content you would like to consume. Good web content is ideally entertaining, but above all else, it should be useful.

This is where a digital marketer can be most useful. They’ll help you create content that postures you as an expert and a thought leader in your industry. This content can come in all shapes and sizes, including:

Blogs and articles
Podcasts
Videos
Guest articles
Webinars
Apps
Digital contests

As you may have pieced together, content creation is an art form. This is another reason to have a professional handle the labor—poorly created content will turn a customer away quicker than rotten bananas.

Feature Image Credit: Nipitphon Na Chiangmai | EyeEm | Getty Images

By Kay VanAntwerpen,

This article was written by Kay VanAntwerpen, an Entrepreneur NEXT powered by Assemble expert. If you are looking to take the NEXT step in your business then we encourage you to check out Entrepreneur NEXT powered by Assemble.

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

In News

How to evolve your event marketing business without the in-person spectacle

August 6, 2020 No Comments

BY PETER MICCICHE

The face of event marketing is primed for irrevocable change. As our company like many others entered into the events season in the beginning of 2020, there were many indications the landscape would not look the same. However, none of us could have predicted the sheer amount of upheaval the industry has undergone since then.

Events and conferences have traditionally served an incredibly important purpose for businesses. Attendees use them as an opportunity to grow their skill sets and network with customers, client prospects, and partners. Marketers in turn deploy events strategically to help expand their brand’s reach, increase engagement, and drive business results. Despite the monumental changes we have seen, one imperative remains constant, which is marketers must seek out new opportunities to drive the business forward.

Now, as people look to overhaul traditional ways of communication or adopt new forms, digital interactions are becoming the new events. Marketers are using digital events to correct previous limitations. Ultimately, their goal is to foster connections, create personalized experiences, and drive engagement. And cultivating this new sense of community is a complex task. We’ve seen some digital events have spectacular impact, while others have struggled to find success.

Today, marketers who lean into the digital transformation will be the individuals who make the most of a new opportunity. Here are a few tips to get you started on embracing opportunity.

CONTINUE PRIORITIZING IN-PERSON CONNECTIONS

In today’s landscape, successful marketers are those who appeal to executives in senior roles as well as capture the attention of buyers within a competitive space. Now, in the second half of 2020, the pressure has increased to set forth a clear strategy for the future of events.

As a given, agility and innovation are a key part of translating in-person experiences to digital. From a technical standpoint, parties must take on new efficiencies and use new technologies to produce a profitable high-quality event.

But those firms and marketers who keep the primary goal for in-person events in mind and incorporate these into new digital experiences will thrive. The facets of an effective event remain the same: creating a seamless, personalized experience where attendees walk away convinced they made a worthwhile time investment.

Ultimately, building relationships with attendees is what drives business results. So to form an effective digital event strategy, focus on a foundation of human engagement and connection.

MAKE COMPELLING CONTENT

Events, regardless of the format, have always challenged marketers to cut through the noise to gather attendee insights. Today, the new digital space is even noisier. However, despite this shift, it is critical to remember that content is still the foundation on which engagement and experience is built.

In-person events have always relied on compelling content to drive the attendee experience. Now, as many events are taking place virtually, it is easy for attendees to lose interest or simply close a browser window to disengage. Without the registration fees required to attend and access content, attendees feel less invested and obligated to tune in. Therefore, the importance of strong, relevant content is especially great.

That being said, content alone is not enough. It must captivate attendees—drawing them in and setting up tangible interaction. This includes strategies such as leveraging video, utilizing event mobile-engagement apps, and creating bespoke, highly personalized experiences.

We’ve seen examples of the latter via digital breakout rooms, and offering a more tailored experience where attendees can create their own schedules and choose to view content on their own terms, rather than being held to a strict agenda.

Understanding the value and role that data plays in driving engagement is vital. Even leading into 2020, there was an industry-wide charge to provide more personalized experiences, with a recent Gartner survey reporting brands “risk losing 38% of customers because of poor marketing personalization efforts.” Under today’s circumstances, it is critical to recognize both the power of personalization and the fundamental role that engagement data plays in delivering the type of personalized experience that ultimately helps build relationships with attendees.

FOSTER AND MAINTAIN A COMMUNITY

A key measure of a successful events program is returning attendees who you can welcome into your events community.

By shifting the focus to smaller, more personalized events (or perhaps an event series), marketers can make a greater impact. Utilizing data intelligence across the entire spectrum of events is essential to crafting the kind of hyper-personalized experiences that will ultimately offer an advantage in an overcrowded market.

While the current environment is rapidly changing, the demands have only gotten more pronounced. Event stakeholders who are well versed in a variety of formats and tactics will succeed in delivering the kind of event experience that meets heightened expectations. Using real-time data provides the opportunity to remain agile and create or modify attendee experience as marketers carve out and define our new event landscape.

Quick and agile marketing teams embrace turmoil and use it to their competitive advantage. This way, they can create engaging experiences for attendees, regardless of time or place.

Feature Image Credit: chuttersnap/Unsplash

BY PETER MICCICHE

Peter Micciche has served as Certain’s CEO for 10 years. He has extensive executive management and board-level experience within several public and private software companies, including president of Cognos Corp, CEO of NativeMinds, and CEO of Kinecta Corp.

In News

PC World launches new branding, created by FutureBrand

August 6, 2020 No Comments

By Emily Gosling

FutureBrand has been working with computer and electronics retailer Currys PC World on a total refresh of its brand and identity for the past 18 months, creating a “bright and optimistic” new visual identity.

The new designs used instore and online look to reflect the stores’ core values: modern, stunning, witty, a “smart cookie” and “infectiously passionate” about helping people to use and enjoy technology, according to the agency.

The FutureBrand and Currys PC World teams worked in close collaboration and approached the rebrand from the unusual stance of focusing on raining, tools and education. Aside from this, though, the new designs look to align the brand in terms of its visual assets, too.

“Currys PC World had accumulated several different legacy assets which had led to inconsistent use of colours and visual language across different stores,” Katie Revell, account director at FutureBrand says. “Our challenge was to move Currys PC World away from its existing assets to a new visual identity which will consistently communicate the brand’s unique personality and consumer offer across all physical and digital touch-points.”

The Currys PC World globe logo will remain, and this was used as inspiration for the rest of the designs, which FutureBrand bills as a new “bright world”: a bold visual identity based on colourful circles that expresses “a sense of openness, optimism and excitement about life and technology”.

The circular themes are used across all assets, which include a new series of icons, animation guidelines, photography, videography and the website. FutureBrand also worked with Colophon Foundry to create a unique bespoke typeface, Currys Sans.

FutureBrand created an online ‘Brand Hub’ to host all brand principles, assets and guidance in one place. “Not only does this ensure everyone has the latest and most up-to-date information, but it’s also a living site, updated and strengthened with each new challenge as the new branding is rolled out,” says FutureBrand.

The new colour palette centres on purple alongside a complementary palette of pink, yellow, green and purple. A vivid magenta has been introduced into advertising and marketing communications.

By Emily Gosling

Sourced from CREATIVE BOOM

In News

10 Fresh Social Media Marketing Tools To Boost Brand Storytelling

August 6, 2020 No Comments

By Lane Ellis,

Are you using the latest social media marketing tools that help you create a new variety of remarkable campaign experiences?

We’ve got you covered with a look at our 10 latest featured social media marketing tools to help you refine and expand your marketing efforts and boost brand storytelling.

Sifting through tens of thousands of available tools can be a hit and miss proposition, but these 10 fresh marketing tools let you skip a lot of the research queue and get right into useful tools for helping you tell marketing stories in new ways.

Let’s dive right in with our collection of 10 fresh tools to boost your social media marketing experiences, including image and video manipulation tools, headline analysis utilities, and social media monitoring apps.