1. TABLE OF CONTENTSPart One: Introduction to Lead
GenerationChapter One: What is Lead Generation and Why is it
Important?Chapter Two: How Has Lead Generation Evolved?Chapter
Three: Defining a LeadPart Two: Lead Generation TacticsChapter
Four: Content Marketing and BloggingChapter Five: Website and
SEOChapter Six: Landing PagesChapter Seven: Social Media and Lead
GenerationChapter Eight: Email MarketingChapter Nine: Paid
ProgramsChapter Ten: Telephone-Based Lead GenerationChapter Eleven:
Middle-of-Funnel Lead GenerationPart Three: Optimize and Measure
Your Lead GenerationChapter Twelve: Testing and OptimizationChapter
Thirteen: MetricsChapter Fourteen: Lead Generation
TechnologyConclusion: Lead the Way!Appendix:
References0304071119203156628394114119132133140151156157
2. PART ONE:INTRODUCTION TO LEAD GENERATION
3. CHAPTER ONE:WHAT IS LEAD GENERATION ANDWHY IS IT
IMPORTANT?
4. CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS LEAD GENERATION AND WHY IS IT
IMPORTANT?LEAD GENERATION DEFINEDLead generation describes the
marketing process of stimulating and capturing interest in a
product orservice for the purpose of developing sales pipeline.5In
todays complex marketingclimate, lead generation hasbecome a
popular strategy tohelp create demand and get yourmarketing
messages heardacross multiple channels. Leadgeneration helps your
companyincrease brand awareness, buildrelationships, generate
qualifiedleads, and ultimately close deals.Through the various lead
generationtactics mentioned in this guide, acompany can collect the
contactinformation of potential targets inorder to nurture them to
eventuallybecome customers. Lead generationis useful for all types
of businesses,both small and large, and in bothB2B and B2C
companiessuch asfinancial services, healthcare, andautomotive
organizations.Lead generation strategies that arediscussed in this
guide include: Content marketing and blogging Website and SEO
Social media Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising Content syndication
Direct mail Telesales Email marketing Lead nurturing and lead
scoring Testing and optimization Lead generation metrics
5. CHAPTER ONE: WHAT IS LEAD GENERATION AND WHY IS IT
IMPORTANT?WHY IS LEAD GENERATION IMPORTANT?If you can generate
quality leads for sales, you make their job easierand more of your
leads will beturned into revenue faster.Just because
someonedownloaded a whitepaperdoesnt mean he or she wants totalk to
a sales rep. You dontwant your sales teams wastingtime cold calling
from a list ofunqualified leads. Simply put,cold calling doesnt
work intodays world of informationabundance. You want your
salesteam closing deals and spendingtime actively selling, instead
ofwasting time callingdown a list of cold leads.Lead generation can
help your salesteams spend more time selling andless time with
administrative tasksand prospecting, because you aregiving them
warm, well qualifiedleads. In fact, according to a recentbenchmark
study by Marketo,companies with mature leadgeneration practices
achieve bettersales productivity and higherrevenue growth.Mature
companies achieve 133%greater revenue versus their planthan average
companies, and 174%more than the least maturecompanies.
Additionally, sales repsat mature companies spend 73% oftheir time
selling (rather than onadministrative tasks, training, etc.).At
companies without mature leadgeneration strategies, sales repsspend
only 57% of their time selling.If you can generate more leads for
yoursales team, not only are you helpingyour company grow, but you
are alsohelping marketings credibility. You areno longer seen as a
cost center, but asa viable part of the revenue team.
6. CHAPTER TWO:HOW HAS LEADGENERATION EVOLVED?
7. CHAPTER TWO: HOW HAS LEAD GENERATION EVOLVED?TRANSFORMATION
OFLEAD GENERATIONTraditional lead generation has undergone
substantial changes in recent years, thanks to new online and
socialmarketing techniques. In particular, the abundance of
information readily available online has led to the rise of
theself-directed buyer and the emergence of new ways to develop and
qualify potential leads before passing them to sales.THEN NOW8In
the age of the self-directedbuyer, marketers need to findnew ways
to reach their potentialcustomers and get heard throughthe
noise.Instead of finding customers throughmass advertising and
email blasts,marketers must now focus on beingfound, and learn to
build enduringrelationships with buyers. Thismassive shift has
sparked a hugetransformation in marketing.Represent the companyMass
advertisingPoint in time blasts3rd party data (Nielsen)Representing
customer1:1 TargetingContinuous relationshipsOwned, big dataFinding
customersDemographicFew/isolated channelsIntuitive decision
makingBeing foundBehavioralExploding/integrated channelsFact-based
decision makingMissionCustomer IntelligenceMechanics &
TacticsMeasurementMarketings mission, intelligence, tactics, and
metrics have drastically changed.
8. 9CHAPTER TWO: HOW HAS LEAD GENERATION EVOLVED?TRANSFORMATION
OFLEAD GENERATIONInformation Abundanceand Attention EconomicsWith
the rise of the internet, weveleft the world of information
scarcitybehind, and entered one ofinformation abundance.In fact,
according to Googlechairman Eric Schmidt, five exabytes(or five
billion gigabytes) of informationwere created between the dawn
ofcivilization and 2003, but that muchinformation is now created
everytwo days, and the pace israpidly increasing.The problem is
that informationabundance equals attention scarcity.This is known
as attentioneconomics. Social scientist HerbertSimon was the first
person to discussthis concept, writing that in aninformation-rich
world, the wealth ofinformation means a dearth ofsomething else: a
scarcity of whateverit is that information consumes.What
information consumes is ratherobvious: it consumes the attentionof
its recipients.This has transformed the buyingprocessand therefore
the leadgeneration process. Buyers areoverwhelmed by all of the
noise, sothey are learning to ignore themessages they dont want to
hear,and to independently research whatthey do want to know.The
attention economy is not growing, which means we have tograb the
attention that someone else has today. Brent Leary, Co-Founder, CRM
EssentialsUnprecedented Changes in BuyingTHEN NOWThe shift from
information scarcity to information abundancehas changed buying
behavior and shifted power to marketing.
9. 10CHAPTER TWO: HOW HAS LEAD GENERATION
EVOLVED?TRANSFORMATION OFLEAD GENERATIONThe New Buying ProcessIn
the old world of information scarcity,lead generation meant that
marketingfound the names of potential buyersearly on in their
buying journey, andthen passed those names directly tosales. Buyers
expected to be educatedby the sales team, and sales expectedto
speak to uneducated, early-stagebuyers who werent always
qualified.Today, a variety of educationalresources are easily found
throughsearch engines, social media, andother online channels.
Through contentproduced and distributed byorganizations, todays
buyer can learna great deal about a product or servicebefore even
speaking to a salesperson.This makes your digital presence
moreimportant than ever. Both decisionmakers and influencers are
now mostlikely to find youbefore you find
them.100%90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%10%0%Did the Customer Find the
Product Vendor, or Vice-Versa?We found them80%They found us20%We
found them75%They found us25%Decision MakersContributorsToday,
customers are more likely to find product vendors than
vice-versa.Source: Business Products Buyers Survey, March
2007Methodology: Fielded in March 2007 to SSIs Business to Business
Panel. N=478According to Forrester, buyers might beanywhere from
two-thirds to 90% of the waythrough their buying journey before
they contactthe vendor, making it difficult for sales to
influencethe buyers decisions. Buyers can now delaytalking to sales
until they are experts themselves.Luckily, a solid lead generation
strategy will helpyou build trust and capture the interest of
yourbuyers during the self-education process, andbefore theyre
ready to contact sales.In this guide we will cover: How to define a
lead and his or herbuying journey How to build a robust lead
generationstrategy through marketing automation How content
marketing, social media, yourwebsite, search engine optimization,
andpaid programs contribute to lead generation How to use
Middle-of-Funnel(MOFU) marketing to build enduringcustomer
relationships How to test, optimize, and measureyour lead
generation campaigns
10. CHAPTER THREE:DEFINING A LEAD
11. 12CHAPTER THREE: DEFINING A LEADWHAT IS A LEAD?To build out
your lead generation strategy, you need to start with the basics.
Every organization will have their owndefinition of a good lead. If
you dont know yours, lead generation 101 is where you need to
begin.There are many definitions of alead, and there are even
moredefinitions of a good lead.According to Marketo, in our
ownrevenue cycle, a lead is a qualifiedprospect that is starting to
exhibitbuying behavior.Craig Rosenberg, sales and marketingexpert
and author of the Funnelholicblog, states that there are
twoelements to a leaddemographic andpsychographic. When it comes to
thepsychographic element, your definitionof a lead will depend on
your company,where youre selling, and who youreselling to.Easy
enough. But a companysdefinition of a lead is not often agreedon by
both sales and marketing. Howdo you come to an agreement?
Simplyput, the two teams need to meet andhave a discussion until
they canagreethe success of your leadgeneration efforts depends on
it.Sales and MarketingLead Alignment ChecklistHeres how sales and
marketing cancreate a universal lead definition thatis agreed upon
by both teams:1. Schedule some time to meet.Get all of your key
stakeholders in aroom and pick each others brains.2. Ask the hard
questions.For marketing, what does yourtarget market look like? Who
doyou have in your system, and whatare they engaging with? For
sales,what prospects are you speakingto? What types of buyersare
closing?3. Decide how good isgood enough.Set a base level. What
doesmarketing consider a good enoughlead to get passed to
sales?Conversely, what does sales thinkis a lead worth following up
on?4. Get the flip side of the story.What does marketing consider
abad lead? And what does salesconsider a lead not worth their
time?5. Agree on a definition andwrite it down. Now that you
haveyour definition, write it down andabide by it. Add it to your
marketingautomation system, post it up onwallsdo whatever is
necessary tokeep both teams on point.6. Iterate your definition
over time.Meet regularly to review thisdefinition. You should be
iteratingand changing your definition as yourcompany grows and
priorities shift.
12. CHAPTER THREE: DEFINING A LEADWHAT IS A
LEAD?DemographicsWhen profiling your leads, youneed to look at
demographicsquantifiable identifiers whichcharacterize your lead
population.Typical demographic attributes forboth B2C and B2B can
consist ofthe following: Gender Title Company Years of experience
Personal email vs.corporate email Education (B2C) Age (B2C) Income
(B2C)FirmograhicsFirmogaphics, which are used ascriteria by B2B
companies, areorganizational characteristics whichhelp you find
your ideal customerorganization, e.g.: Name of company Company size
Company location Revenue Number of divisions Number of
products/services sold Geographic markets served Industry Products
already ownedBANTYou can also often determine aprospects place in
the buyingprocess by analyzing his or her BANT(Budget, Authority,
Need, andTimeline) attributes. BANT is a moreadvanced lead
qualification practicethan demographic and firmographicanalysis
alone. Budget: Can this lead afford yourproduct or service?
Authority: Does your lead havethe authority to purchase
yourproduct? Is he or she the decisionmaker? Need: Your lead has to
need yourproduct or service. Is there a painthat your product or
service cansolve? Time: What is your leadspurchasing timeframe? And
doesthat align with your sales cycle?
13. 14CHAPTER THREE: DEFINING A LEADWHAT IS A LEAD?Lead
HandoffJust as sales and marketing mustagree on the definition of a
lead, theymust also agree on lead handoffwhen that lead gets sent
to sales.This ensures a seamless transitionfrom marketing to sales,
andimmediate follow-up on hot leads.Lead Stage DefinitionTo agree
on lead handoffqualifications, your sales andmarketing teams must
definetogether the two main categories oflead stages: Marketing
QualifiedLeads (MQLs) and Sales QualifiedLeads (SQLs). Marketing
Qualified Leads(MQLs): These prospects areconsidered viable
marketingleads, taking implicit scoringcriteria, explicit scoring
criteria,and (if available) BANT (Budget,Authority, Need, and
Timeline)into consideration.Sales NotificationsOnce a lead hits a
certain scorethreshold in your marketingautomation tool, your lead
becomesan MQL and your inside sales leadqualification team should
be notifiedto make contact. Because marketingautomation tools sync
with manycustomer relationships managementtools (CRMs), this data
can betransferred directly into the leadrecord in a
CRM.CRM-compatible tools like MarketosSales Insight offer a tightly
integratedway to notify sales about lead activity.The Sales Insight
dashboard highlightsthe best leads and opportunities forsales to
focus on, has icons to indicateurgency and key activities, and
tracksinteresting behavior that indicateshand-raising.Also consider
using Act Now scores,which elevate leads to Act Nowstatus when they
engage in activitiesthat indicate buying intent. At Marketo,these
include: Filling out a free trial form Filling out a Contact Us
form Downloading key late-stagecontent Viewing a weekly live demo
Viewing a deep dive demoMarketos Sales Insight dashboard,showing
lead activity and score. Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs):These leads
are sales-ready,which often must be determinedthrough direct
contact with sales.Once sales has tested todetermine the
qualifications of anSQL, marketing can use that datato improve MQL
quality.
14. 15DAY 7DAY 8DAY 9If stale, reminderIf stale, reminder cc
bossIf stale, alert executivesDAY 0DAY 1DAY 2DAY 3NotificationIf
untouched, reminderIf untouched, reminder cc bossIf untouched,
alert executivesCHAPTER THREE: DEFINING A LEADWHAT IS A
LEAD?Service LevelAgreements (SLAs)Once youve agreed upon the
leadlifecycle and handoff process, howcan you ensure that sales
followsthrough on your hot leads? AtMarketo, we have
implementedService Level Agreements (SLAs)between sales and
marketing toensure proper follow-up.SLAs are written
agreementsbetween sales and marketing,ensuring closed loop lead
processingby indicating specific timeframes forfollow-ups. If a
lead is not followed upon within the indicated timeframe, analert
is sent to a sales reps boss, andultimately to the executive team.A
critical element to note:SLAs only work when sales isheavily
involved in the process andchampions the SLAs internally.Take a
look at an example of how wehave implemented SLAs:Notifications and
alerts ensure follow-up from sales on promising leads.
15. ASK THE EXPERTS: WHAT IS A LEAD?Q&A WITH TRISH
BERTUZZI,PRESIDENT & CHIEF STRATEGIST, THE BRIDGE GROUPMKTO:
What are your top tips forsales and marketing alignment?TB: To
truly get serious about salesand marketing alignment, you haveto
measure the leaders of bothteams on the same goalrevenue.Not all
personnel on the marketingteam need be 100% revenue-focused,but
whomever is largeand in charge should have thesame compensation
plan as the VPof Sales. Live and die by the revenuesword, baby!On
the flip side, sales leaders needto belly up to the bar. Assume
thatonly 50% of your pipeline (atmaximum) will ever come
frommarketing efforts. Whats yourstrategy for making up the rest
ofthat pipeline? Figure it out, get yourreps executing against the
strategy,and stop pointing fingersat marketing!MKTO: How should
salesand marketing agree uponlead definitions?TB: This will never
happen, but it ismy dream scenario: first, sales andmarketing
executives should gettogether and create lead definitions.Next,
they should each grab a list of100 companies and put themthrough
the qualificationprocessIm not talking about thereps, here, but the
execs themselves.Then, based on the real world outputthey have
created, they sit back downto re-examine their lead definitions.How
awesome would that be?16
16. 17CHAPTER THREE: DEFINING A LEADMAPPING LEAD
GENERATIONSTRATEGIES TO YOUR FUNNELThe next step is to understand
your leads buying journey. Revenue funnels may vary between
companies, but well useMarketos funnel to show how buyer intent and
campaigns can be mapped to different stages.At Marketo, we break
our funnel up intothree parts: Top-of-Funnel, Middle-of-Funnel, and
Bottom-of-Funnel. (Note thata lead only enters our database after
theycross the red dotted line.)Top-of-Funnel (TOFU)A person in this
buying phase is atthe beginning of your sales andmarketing funnel,
and is aware ofyour product or service but is notready to buy.
Individuals in the TOFUstage should be primarily offerededucational
materials.We break the TOFU stage down intothree sub-stages: Name:
This indicates anindividual whose name hasofficially entered our
databasebut names are just names, notleads. Names are not
yetengaged with our companyjust because they dropped theirbusiness
cards in a fishbowl atan event doesnt make themactual leads.
Engaged: We dont move namesinto the next stage until they havehad a
meaningful interaction withus. Engaged individuals know theyare in
our system, and they expectus to email and communicate withthem
over time. Target: Once an individual hasengaged, we use our lead
scoringto find out whether they are aqualified potential
buyerwhichmeans they fit our demographicand behavioral
criteria.
17. CHAPTER THREE: DEFINING A LEADMAPPING LEAD
GENERATIONSTRATEGIES TO YOUR FUNNELMiddle-of-Funnel (MOFU)This
buying phase occurs in the middleof your sales and marketing
funnel. Aperson arrives here after he or she hasdisplayed buying
behavior, engagedwith your content, and is potentially asales lead.
Your offers for MOFU leadsare still educational, but they will
bemore geared towards your product orservicein Marketos case,
buyingguides or ROI calculators.We break the MOFU stage downinto
two sub-stages: Lead: This stage is where a targetactually becomes
a lead. AtMarketo, we score our targetsusing Marketos lead
scoringcapabilities. When our scoringsuggests that its time to
reach out,we connect with them personally.Once an SDR (Sales
DevelopmentRep) has a conversation withthem, we convert them into
anofficial sales lead. And if they arenot yet ready to buy, we
canrecycle them back to the targetstage for more nurturing.Note:
the majority of leads arenot sales ready. This doesntmean the SDRs
conversationwas a waste of timehumaninteraction is an important
part ofdeveloping (or nurturing)the relationship. Sales Lead: If
leads are qualifiedbuyers, the SDR then passesthem to an AE
(AccountExecutive). That sales rep hasseven days to either turn the
saleslead into an opportunity and havea sales interaction, or to
send thatlead back to marketing formore nurturing.Bottom-of-Funnel
(BOFU)This buying phase occurs at the bottomof your funnel, and
indicates that yourlead is close to becoming a customer.Your offers
for BOFU leads are veryspecific to your product or
servicethinkdatasheets andpricing guides.We break the BOFU stage
down into twosub-stages: Opportunity: At Marketo, only salesreps
can create opportunities. Leadsin this stage are sales accepted
andare actively being worked by sales. Infact, opportunities are
how both ourmarketing department and SDRs getpaid. We actually
maintain anopportunity quota to make sureenough opportunities are
createdeach period. Note: if people are paidbased on opportunity
creation,opportunities require a very solid,agreed-upon definition.
They can notbe subjective. Customer: Lastly, we have thecustomer
stage! These are closed-wondeals.
18. PART TWO:LEAD GENERATION TACTICS
19. CHAPTER FOUR:CONTENT MARKETING
20. 21CHAPTER FOUR: CONTENT MARKETINGWHY IS CONTENTMARKETING
IMPORTANT?Content is the foundation of your lead generation
efforts. The Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing
asthe marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and
valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage aclearly defined
and understood target audiencewith the objective of driving
profitable customer action.Think of content as the fuel for all
ofyour marketing campaignsfromemail to social to event
collateral.Marketers have come to rely oncontent to engage
prospects andcustomers in todays new buyerlandscape. You must
create contentthat educates, inspires, and begs to beshared. It
should help leads overcomechallenges and achieve theiraspirations.
If you are able to do that,leads will flock to you, and youll
gaintheir trust. Trust is ultimately whatcreates customers out of
leads.Customers are now smarter, moreconnected, more informed, more
influencedand influential socially, and less likely torespond to
campaign-bait. Marketing has tocreate content people actually want.
Tim Barker, Chief Product Officer, DataSiftWhat Form Can My Content
Take?Content is more than just ebooks. It can come in manyforms, so
think outside of the box! Articles Blog posts Case studies Cheat
sheets Checklists Ebooks Email Infographics Kits Large
definitiveguides Podcasts Referenceguides Slideshares Surveys
Templates Videos Visual content Webinars Whitepapers Workbooks
21. CHAPTER FOUR: CONTENT MARKETINGWHY IS CONTENTMARKETING
IMPORTANT?When used effectively, contentmarketing can: Shape a
brand preference andinfluence future purchases Generate social
media shares andinbound links Put customers in the drivers seat
Help fuel search engineoptimization (SEO) efforts Increase brand
awareness Generate quality leads for lessmoney (when compared to
moretraditional marketing)Ask the Experts:What is the biggest
mistake marketersmake in their content marketing strategy?A lack of
formal businessstrategy around content. Rightnow, most marketers
arefilling content buckets, andlack a true business objective (such
asrevenue, cost savings, or customer loyalty)behind their content
initiatives.Secondly: patience. Most brands still callcontent
marketing a campaign, whichimplies there is a stop date.
Contentmarketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Weneed to take a
longer-term view of how wecommunicate with our customers. Joe
Pulizzi, Founder, Content Marketing InstituteThe biggest mistake is
tocreate content that your boss orclient loves, but your
customerdoesnt. If your customer lovesyour content, that means its
meeting theneeds of the people you are trying to reach,which your
boss or client will love by default.But the inverse isnt true. If
your boss/clientloves it, but the customer hates it...well,
whocares? Ask yourself: What would your contentlook like if your
customer signed yourpaycheck? Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer,
Marketing Profs
22. CHAPTER FOUR: CONTENT MARKETINGTHOUGHT LEADERSHIP
VS.PROMOTIONAL CONTENTAt the outset of your content planning, its
important to make a distinction between promotional content and
thoughtleadership. Thought leadership demonstrates a deep
understanding of your prospects and customers pain points,
andguides them toward solutions.Any vendor can publish
feature-focusedbrochures and otherproduct-related content. But
thetrusted vendorsthe ones thatrise above the noiseare thosefocused
on helping their targetaudience. Buyers naturallygravitate toward
these vendors.At Marketo, we create content thatis simply meant to
help peoplebecome better marketers. We alsotry to create assets
that educate ouraudience about marketingautomation as a platform,
and howit can help marketers be moreeffective at their jobs.
Instead ofconstantly pushing sales messagesto our leads, we want to
teachpeople the benefits of investing inmarketing automation.So
while we are talking about ourcore competencymarketingautomationwe
are educating ouraudience with thought leadership,rather than
pushing our solution.Content Marketing CTAsThat said, even
educational contentshould have a strong, clear, call-to-action(or
CTA). What is a CTA? Itsthe part of your marketing messagethat
should persuade people to act.Your standard CTA might ask thereader
to subscribe to your blog,download another ebook, or to signup for
a demo.Regardless of what your ask is, yourCTA must: Stand out
Clearly define what you wantthe lead to do Create urgency Be
positioned in a prominent area
23. ASK THE EXPERTS: CONTENT MARKETINGWHAT DOES THE FUTURE
OFCONTENT MARKETING HOLD?Marketing departments willcontinue their
transformation intomini-publishers. Analytics and datawill be
critical, but knowing moreabout our customers consumption habits
will createa more complex need for useful content. Themajority of
journalists will be hired by non-mediacompanies. We will start to
see non-mediacompanies buy up smaller, niche content titles inboth
digital and print form. Joe Pulizzi, Founder, Content Marketing
InstituteI think itll look less like aseparate
thingcontentmarketingand more like, well,marketing! The future of
allmarketing is in programs that are useful, honestlyempathetic,
inspired, and based on data orcreative insights. To quote my friend
TomFishburne: The best marketing doesnt feel likemarketing. And
thats the place where I think allorganizations will eventually end
up. Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, Marketing Profs
24. CHAPTER FOUR: CONTENT MARKETINGTHE CONTENT PLANNING
PROCESSLike any element of your marketing, you shouldnt dive into
content marketing without a strategy. Content marketing isntabout
creating content for its own sakeits about engaging prospective
buyers. To do that effectively, you need a planthat reflects your
goals, an understanding of your target audiences top concerns,
content ideas that align to theseconcerns, and a calendar for
developing content on an ongoing basis.Creating Your PersonasThe
first step is to create your buyerpersonasmost brands will needmore
than one. A buyer persona canbe defined as a representation of
yourideal customer. Personas aredeveloped based on
customerdemographics and behavior, alongwith your own understanding
of theirmotivations and challenges.Buyer personas help you:
Determine what kind of contentyou need Set the tone, style, and
deliverystrategies for your content Target the topics you should
bewriting about Understand where buyers get theirinformation and
how they want toconsume itConducting Interviewsand ResearchTo
create your buyer personas, youshould conduct interviews
withcustomers, prospects, and membersof your sales and customer
serviceteams. You can also send outsurveys and do your own
research.Focus on the following topics whencreating each persona:
Background: Basic detailsabout your ideal customer andhis or her
company Job details: Key jobresponsibilities, likes and
dislikesabout job Main sources of information:Where your persona
does his orher research Goals: Personas primary andsecondary goals
Challenges/pain points: Yourpersonas challenges, and theemotions
which accompanythose challenges Preferred content medium:How your
persona likes toabsorb content Quotes: Bring your personas tolife
with actual quotes gatheredduring interviews Objections: The
objections youanticipate from your personaduring the sales process
Role in purchase process:Personas influence in thedecision making
process Marketing message: Themessaging that speaks directlyto this
persona
25. 26CHAPTER FOUR: CONTENT MARKETINGTHE CONTENT PLANNING
PROCESSMapping Your Buying StagesNow that youve defined
yourpersonas, you need to create abuying journey that will convert
thesepersonas into customers. A buyingjourney maps a buyers
decisionmaking process during a purchase.Mapping this allows you
to: Understand the process yourbuyers go through whenconsidering
your productor service Develop a content strategy thatspeaks
directly to buyers,regardless of their stage in thebuying
journeyHeres a great example of a buyerjourney template, created by
SalesBenchmark Index:BUYING PROCESS MAPNOT IN
THEMARKETBUYINGPHASEKEY BUYERACTIONSObserve MarketTrendsTrack
CompetitiveActivityEvent OccursProblem SurfacesProblem
StudiedConsequences ofProblem IdentifiedIs it worth solvingCan it
be solvedWhat Options areAvailablePROBLEMDEFINITION OPTIONS
EVALUATION FINAL PREFERRED APPROVAL IMPLEMENTATIONIndentify
andinvolvestakeholdersResearch
possibleoptionsEstablishfunctionalrequirementsDraft ROIExplore
promisingoptionsNarrow down thelist of
optionsReconfirmfunctionalrequirementsRefine thebusiness
caseConduct detailedevaluation of shortlisted
optionsSecurestakeholderconsensus aboutpreferred optionFinalize
thebusiness caseFinalizecontractual andcommercial termsCheck
referencesReconfirmdecisionFinalize internalrequest
topurchaseImplement chosensolutionAchieve expectedbenefitsValidate
decisionto buySubmit finalproposal to formalapproval
processRECOMMENDATION STIMULATEDSales Benchmark Index Buying
Process Map
26. 27CHAPTER FOUR: CONTENT MARKETINGTHE CONTENT PLANNING
PROCESSTo map your own persona buyingjourneys, create a spreadsheet
with aseparate tab for each buying phase,and fill in the following
items:Questions for each buying phase of a personas buying
journeyBuying PhaseActions &Questions Buyer Action Buyer
Doing(Y/N)? Questions Buyer AsksKey Buyer ActionsEvent OccursEvent
#1Event #2Event #3Problem SurfacesProblem #1Problem #2Problem
#3Consequences of ProblemIdentifiedConsider Alternatives for
Solvingthe ProblemPhase Exit Criteria
27. 28CHAPTER FOUR: CONTENT MARKETINGVISUAL CONTENTAs content
marketing is more widely used, readers are becoming inundated with
text. Thats why visualcontent is such an important way to engage.
At Marketo, weve found that good visual design can makeeven
copy-pasta content stand out.Make Every Piece VisualWhenever
possible, take yourcontent to the next level with a visualelement.
You dont have to createcustom illustrations for every ebookjust
think about creating visualinterest, whether its with a customcover
or interior graphics.Take a look at an example from aMarketo ebook
on budgeting. Ourtopiccommon marketing budgetpitfallscould have
potentially beendry, but we jazzed it up with acompelling (and fun)
design. Withover 20,000 views, this content piecehas done
particularly well.Marketos Marketing Budget Pitfalls ebook
28. 29CHAPTER FOUR: CONTENT MARKETINGVISUAL CONTENTRepurposing
Contentto Make it VisualFor a quick win, repurpose contentyou
already have into something morevisual. For instance, use content
froman ebook to create an infographic or aslide deck. You might
find that thevisual asset is more shareable andeasier to consume.We
took content from one of ourebooks, Amplify Your Impact: How
toMultiply the Efforts of Your InboundMarketing Program, and
created avisual slide deck to promoteon SlideShare.As you can see,
while the ebookgot 13,000 views, the slide deckgot a whopping
339,000 viewson SlideShare!13,000EBOOK VIEWS339,000SLIDESHARE
VIEWSVS.Standard collateral vs. visual content
29. 30CHAPTER FOUR: CONTENT MARKETINGCOMPANY BLOGYour blog is a
great resource for generating leads. Just remember that someone
reading your blog may not wantto immediately sign up for a demothey
may not even know what your product isso aim for less
ambitiouscalls-to-action (CTAs). Ask your readers to subscribe to
your blog, or to follow you on social channels.By opening the door
to furtherconversation, you are taking thefirst step towards
generating aquality lead. A well-executed blogwill keep your
readers interested,encourage them to come back formore, and
eventually spark theircuriosity about your company.The Top 3 Dosfor
Starting a Great BlogBrian Clark, Founder and CEO, CopybloggerDont
focus on having agreat blog. Focus onproducing a blog thatsgreat
for your readers. Brian ClarkFounder and CEO, Copyblogger1. Do
understand who youretrying to reach. Start by thinkingin terms of
audience archetypes.This keeps you focused onquality content, which
begins thesales cycle but doesnt make thecustomer feel sold to.2.
Do uniquely position yourcontent. Think media first, notmarketing.
Youre basically creatinga digital magazine, but youre usinga
different business model thanother media companiesyoureselling your
own products andservices, not advertising.3. Do create an initial
contentstrategy and editorial calendar.Youll naturally adapt and
reviseboth based on the real-timefeedback you get, but you needa
best guess approach basedon your research. And dontforget youll
have to hustle to getattention until youve built anaudience that
will spread theword for you.
30. CHAPTER FIVE:WEBSITE AND SEO
31. 32CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOWEBSITE FORMSWhen it comes
to converting leads and making lasting impressions, your website is
where the magic happens.KISSmetrics, an analytics andtesting
company, puts it best ontheir blog: Your leads are only asgood as
the website thatproduces them.They also provided these
twocompelling stats: You have 0-8 seconds topersuade your audience
withyour headline and landing page. Approximately 96% of
visitorsthat come to your website are notready to buy (but they may
bewilling to provide contactinformation in exchange forvaluable
content).So how can you optimize your site forlead generation? Lets
take a look.Using Website FormsYou cant convert leads unless
theyfill out a form. A good lead captureform might ask for only
first name,last name, email address, company,and job function. You
can add moreor fewer fields depending on yourneeds, but always err
on the shortersidewith forms, less is more.Why Short Forms Perform
BetterWhen it comes to conversion rates,short forms outperform long
forms.Its common sensepeople dontwant to waste time filling
ininformation. But to prove our point,Marketo decided to perform an
A/Btest of short forms vs. long forms.We tested three form
lengthsonewith five fields, one with seven, andone with nine. The
shortest formasked for name, work email, jobfunction, and
company.The medium-sized form also asked fornumber of employees and
industry; thelongest form also asked for a workphone number, and
which CRMsystem they used.The results? As youll see, the
shortestform performed significantly betterthan the longer
forms:First Name:Last Name:Work Email:Company:Job Function:First
Name:Last Name:Work Email:Company:Job Function:#
Employees:Industry:First Name:Last Name:Work Email:Work
Phone:Company:Job Function:# Employees:CRM
System:Industry:*******************Choose One SelectSelect
SelectSelectSelectAdvertisingAdvertisingShort (5 Fields)Conversion:
13.4%Cost per: $31.24Medium (7 Fields)Conversion: 12%Cost per:
$34.94Long (9 Fields)Conversion: 10%Cost per: $41.90Marketos A/B
test on conversion rates for short forms vs. long forms
32. 33CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOWEBSITE FORMSAlthough you
may want a long form tofeed your CRM, youll be sacrificingleads in
exchange for more data. And,as explained on the following page,you
can still get additional data usingother methods.Another factor to
keep in mind: themore information you ask for, the lesslikely
people are to tell the truth.Take a look at this graph
fromMarketingSherpa, which highlightsproblems with self-submitted
data.The more detailed information a leadfills out, the more likely
he or sheis to lie.Do Tech Buyers Provide Accurate Information
During Registration?Source: MarketingSherpa and KnowledgeStorm.
Connecting Through Content Phase III.August 2007. Methodology:
N=2,700PhoneCompany SizeCustomJob
TitleCompanyIndustryEmailNameNever Rarely Sometimes
Always12%11%10%23%18%22%11%10%8%7%5%27%31%39%32%31%30%24%22%38%40%29%53%55%59%68%72%
33. 34CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOWEBSITE FORMSFilling in the
BlanksShort forms may get you more(and more truthful) responses,
butthey might not provide the data youneed to effectively segment
leads inyour marketing automation tool. Apotential solution is to
use progressiveprofiling. Progressive profilingwhichis often
supported by your marketingautomation platformallows you tocollect
information and buildqualification over time. Each time aperson
fills out a form on your site,the progressive form asks formore
information.If you dont have the ability to useprogressive
profiling, carefullydetermine what you need on a form,as opposed to
what you wantagain,keep it short and sweet.Another solution is to
use dataaugmentation services, MarketosReal-Time Personalization
Platform,powered by Insightera, which canhelp you clean and augment
yourdata. You may only have five fields onyour form, but these
services can fill inthe blanks.Extra-Intelligent FormsThe majority
of Marketos contentassets are ungated, meaning thereis no form
fill-out required. Onoccasion, however, we createPremium
contentthis is contentwe use to directly gather lead
data.Typically, this is Middle-of-Funnelcontent, like an analyst
report,buyers guide, or one of our flagshipDefinitive Guides. These
are alwaysmarked by a lock iconconsistency is key.That said, we
dont need to put aform in front of visitors who arealready in our
database. To avoidrepeat fill-outs, our intelligent formsconsult
the Marketo API,determining whether we alreadyhave contact
information for a visitor.If we dont, they need to fill out aform
before downloading a premiumasset; if we do have
contactinformation, we simply greet them,and allow them to download
theasset with a single click.Marketos intelligent forms distinguish
known from unknown visitors.
34. 35CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOWEBSITE FORMSSocial and
Landing Page FormsConsider adding social sharingbuttons to your web
page forms. Thisincreases the chance that a lead willengage with
your content by sharingyour landing page, and can exposeyour
content to a wider audience.Many marketing automation
platformsoffer built-in functionality to add socialsharing
capabilities tolanding pages.Place your social share buttons in
aprominent location and choose thesocial channels you include
wiselyforsimplicitys sake, consider includingonly the most popular
ones.Social Share ButtonsFPO
35. 36CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOWEBSITE CALLS-TO-ACTION
(CTAS)The bread and butter of your website lead generation campaign
is the call-to-action (CTA).Your website can be a powerful lead
generation toolget creative, and start converting.Collecting
Website LeadsWeve already described the qualitiesof a
call-to-action (CTA) in our sectionon content marketing, but heres
howthey should function on your website.On the Marketo website, our
mostimportant CTAs are our free trial, ourfour minute demo, and our
invitation toContact Us. Notice that the buttoncolors stand out,
and the CTAs arevery clear. The viewer knows exactlywhat to do. We
also pin our mostimportant CTAs to the screen, so nomatter where a
viewer scrolls, theCTAs follow.Marketos pinned CTAs
36. CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOWEBSITE CALLS-TO-ACTION
(CTAS)Contact UsIf a lead wants to contact yourcompany directly,
make it as easyas possible. There is nothing morefrustrating than
failing to find acompanys contact information orcontact form. At
Marketo, wedisplay our phone number in ourheader, embed a Contact
Salesform in our product pages, anddisplay a Contact Us
button(which links to a landing page) onevery page of our site.Our
Contact Sales embeddedform ask leads for their first names,last
names, work emails, phonenumbers, companies, and thenumber of
employees at theircompanies. We also leave a field forcomments and
questions.Marketos Contact Salesembedded formMarketos Contact Us
landing page.If you click on a Contact Us buttonanywhere else on
our site, you get sentto a landing page. We actually uselonger
forms there, because we wantthese leads to be qualifiedmeaningthey
really want to contact us.This landing page collects
leadinformation, includes a customerquote, and has a few additional
CTAs,in case the lead is interested inwatching a pre-recorded
demo,signing up for a live demo, or visitingthe resource
library.
37. 38CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOWEBSITE CALLS-TO-ACTION
(CTAS)Asset DownloadAnother common way to generateleads on your
website is through yourcontent asset downloads. If yourcontent
marketing strategy is alignedwith your lead generation efforts,
youshould already have assets that willinterest your website
visitors. And thatmeans you can ask for leadinformation in
exchange!There are many theories aboutputting a form in front of
contentassets (known as gating). You cangate all of your assets,
only gate yourMiddle-of-Funnel or premium assets,or you can ask a
lead to fill out oneform to access your entire library.There is no
right or wrong way to dothis, but at Marketo, we only gate
ourMiddle-of-Funnel or premium assets(like third-party research
reports, orour Definitive Guides).Marketo Live ChatChat lead
capture formChatConsider using a chat service tocollect leads on
your site. Like aContact Us CTA, chats are great forleads who have
a question, but dontwant to pick up the phone. Chatservices (like
LivePerson) enable alead to enter his or her contactinformation and
chat with aneducated representative.We use a chat feature on our
productand pricing pages. On both pages thechat only pops up after
a viewer hasspent a certain number of minuteson the page.The
initial chat pop-up asks if theviewer has any questions. Once
avisitor clicks on the CTA, indicatingthey want to chat, they are
brought toa lead capture form asking for his orher first name, last
name, and emailaddress. He or she is then routed to arepresentative
who can answerany questions.
38. 39CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOWEBSITE CALLS-TO-ACTION
(CTAS)Free Benchmark,Grader, or SurveyDepending on your product
orservice offering, you might consideroffering your website
visitors avalue-add in the form of abenchmark, grader, or survey
tool.For our Definitive Guide to EngagingEmail, we teamed up with
SnapAppto create a widget, which asked ourvisitors a series of
questions aboutemail marketing engagement.We scored each survey
taker, andincluded a CTA to Learn More. TheCTA routed each
respondent to alanding page where they could inputtheir lead
information.If you are offering a value-add thathelps visitors
gauge their owneffectiveness, you are more apt tocollect quality
lead information.Marketos email survey, accompanying The Definitive
Guide to Engaging EmailMarketos email survey results and CTA
39. CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOWEBSITE CALLS-TO-ACTION
(CTAS)SubscriptionsAnother way to generate leads onyour website is
to offer a subscriptionto your blog, email program, orresource
center. In exchange for aleads email address, you will sendyour
blog digest, newest assets, orother valuable offers.Weve placed a
subscription requestform in our resources section, whereit gets
prime real estate at the top ofthe page. The form offers free
toolsand best practices for visitors inexchange for their email
addresses.We also let our visitors know that werespect their
privacy, and make itclear that if they fill out the form, wewill
send them updates.Marketos subscription request formContestA
contest is another way to generatelead information. Host a contest
onyour homepage to entice visitors toshare their information.
Everyone lovesa chance to win something! Contestscan also promote
social sharingjustmake sure you include social sharingbuttons.One
note: before running a contest,consult your attorney to make sureit
follows legal guidelines.
40. 41CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOBLOG OPT-INSYour blog is one
of the best places on your website to generate leads. While your
blogs primary purpose is asa source of thought leadership and
expertise for your target audience, your blog can also help you
achievemeasurable goalsespecially when it comes to lead
generation.You can do this by using blogopt-ins, or subscriptions,
asconversion points on yourwebsite. When your audiencesubscribes to
your blog, they caneither receive an email digest oran RSS feed of
posts. In return,you can add their information toyour lead
database.Marketo sidebar opt-inThe LightboxPop-ups can be
irritating, but theycan also be very effectivetheyrecertainly worth
testing. Lightboxopt-ins can appear after a certainamount of time
has been spent on thepage, or you can present one tovisitors as
they navigate your site. OnMarketos blog, we decided to presenta
lightbox opt-in to non-subscribersonce every six months. After
that, oursubscriber numbers skyrocketed.Lightbox opt-in offer on
Marketos blogSidebarAn opt-in form in a sidebar can be
veryeffective. If you pin itanchor theopt-in on users screens as
they scrolldown the pageits never out of sight(or out of mind). At
Marketo, we use asidebar opt-in for our blog.Header or FooterIf
someone wants to sign up for yourblog, the header is often the
first placethey look. Your footer is also a logicalplace to put an
opt-in form. In fact,even if you have an opt-in elsewhereon your
blog, you might also includeone in your footer.Within Your
ContentIf your blog is popular, consider addingyour opt-in form at
the end of eachblog post or article. If a visitor hastaken the time
to read a post, youalready have a certain level of buy-in,so its an
appropriate time and place toask for more!
41. 42CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOWEBSITE USABILITYIt doesnt
matter how many CTAs, amazing content pieces, or contests you runif
a prospect isconfused by your websites layout, theres a good chance
he or she will bounce (leave your website)instead of converting.A
heat mapping screenshot, provided by Crazy EggHelp your readers
understandwhat you do and where theycan find the information
theyneed. Here are the factors thatmake your website effortlessto
navigate:Website ScannabilityStructure your homepage and
eachinterior page to be easily skimmed.Most visitors will not read
all of yourcontent, so make the most importantitems stand out. Your
most essentialcontent should be at the top of yourpage, followed by
any additionaldetails, and the bottom shouldcontain related
information. Bulletedlists and bolded headings can alsodraw your
leads to the mostimportant information.You can implement a heat
mappingtool, such as Crazy Egg, to get abetter visualization of
where peopleclick, how they scroll, and how theyinteract with your
site. This simplifieslater decisions about where to putyour copy
and CTAs.Heres an example from the Marketowebsite (the lighter
areas indicate moreclicks and hovers):
42. Content is a critical part of leadgeneration, so your
website should berich with awesome assets. That said, weknow that
not everyone has a wealth ofcontent resources at their fingertips.
Tryto offer a few well-placed pieces that suitthe interests of your
prospects.As Manya Chylinski wrote on the ContentMarketing
Institutes blog, a solidresource center helps your customersand
company because:43Clear Conversion PathsTo create intuitive
conversion paths,you need to get into the head of yourtarget
personas. Who are they? Whatresonates with them? As they searchfor
the right information, what paths willthey want to take?Resource
Center It enables customers andprospects to easily find
theinformation they seek. It encourages serendipitousdiscovery of
content. It increases the stickiness ofyour website.Marketos
homepage, with ourfour main navigation menusCHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE
AND SEOWEBSITE USABILITYOn Marketos homepage, our mainnavigation
options are Products andSolutions (product information andMarketo
offerings), CustomerSuccess (customer testimonials andstories),
Resources (content assetsand thought leadership), and About(all
about our business). Its clear whichoption leads to information
about ourproduct suite, and which leads todownloads of our
ebooks.
43. CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOCHECKLIST: USING YOUR
WEBSITEFOR LEAD GENERATIONHomepageHighlight the
latest/hottestcontentUse eye-catching visualsWrite catchy
copyInclude ways for peopleto opt-in to contentWebsite ContentUse
attention-grabbingheadlinesTie customer needs tosolution
benefitsMake calls-to-action clearand prominentUse consistent
voiceWrite clear and concise copyCopy edit for typos andgrammatical
mistakesKeep paragraphs shortUse easy-to-read fontMake content
scannableUse compelling imagery(little or no stock imagery)Landing
PagesInclude your logoWrite a great headlineFocus on a
singlecall-to-actionEntice readers torespond to your offerUse
plenty of bullet pointsFeature relevant visual(s)Include a short
form tocapture leadsDisplay a Thank Youpage pointing to arelated
offerProduct/Service PagesUse strong calls-to-action oneach product
pageMake contact informationclear on the pageList pricing
information(if applicable)Address customer pain pointsResources
PageOrganize yourcontent logicallyMake your content
easilyaccessible, with one clickInclude visual thumbnailsof each
assetMake sure each page isoptimized for SEO
44. 45CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOSEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
(SEO)Your prospects are searching for what you sellbut will they
find you? Search marketing is about getting found byprospects
through search results and converting them into opportunities. The
higher you rank in organic searches,the more people will find
you.So how do you achieve goodrankings? In June 2013,
inboundmarketing company Moz surveyed128 SEO professionals to
determinethe impact of broad algorithmicelements in Google search.
As youcan see from this pie chart, Googleconsiders many elements of
awebpage when determining rank.Results of Mozs June 2013 survey of
SEO professionalsThe Google CrawlerYour sites rank in Google search
resultsdepends on all of the factors displayedon Mozs pie chart,
but also onGooglebot, which crawls the web and(according to Google)
discovers newand updated pages to be added to theGoogle index.
Googlebot uses asophisticated algorithm to determinewhich sites to
crawl, how often, and howmany pages to index from each site.
Andwhat does Googlebot look for? A sitewith lots of great content
and well-formattedmedia.
45. 46CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOSEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
(SEO)The Top 3 Tactics for Quality SEO TrafficBy Rand Fishkin, CEO,
MozAll marketers need a cogent,nimble, long-term strategy fortheir
marketing as a whole,and knowing how SEO fits in isthe key. Lots of
individualtactics work temporarilysometimes for years, evenbut the
engines continues toevolve, new results typesemerge, and users
changetheir behavior. Organizationspossessing clear strategy
canshift their tactical approachesand continue to reach theaudience
they need with themessage that converts best.1. Be the exception.If
everyone in your field (or yoursearch results) is earning
theirrankings, links, and attentionone way, try to find a new
path.Imitation is the best way to stayone step behind. Innovation
isthe way to leap ahead.2. Better content > more content.Dont be
fooled into thinking thatyou need to produce somethingevery day or
every week.Sometimes, long projects thatproduce immensely
valuable,hard to imitate materials are muchmore valuable.3. Your
snippets are asimportant as your rankings.Dont get more obsessed
withmoving up the rankings thanyou are with crafting the
bestmessage in the search results.Your titles, meta
descriptions,URLs, publication dates, andmore all influence how
likely youare to earn a click. Often,winning the click-through
battlewill earn you higher spots in therankings over time.
46. 47CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOAUTHENTIC CONTENTGoogle is
constantly optimizing to focus on quality content, as is evident in
their recent release of Hummingbird.Named for its precision and
speed, Hummingbird represents a big change in Googles approach to
search.In previous updates, Googlefocused on improving
theirindexing; next theyconcentrated on identifyingspam. With
Hummingbird,Google is trying to improve theother side of the
search.Theyre trying to get better atlisteningat finding out
whatusers want to know.This shift shouldnt come as asurprise to
marketers. Google hasannounced a string of updates inthe last few
years, each onealtering the best practices for SEO.So how should
marketers respond toHummingbird? By focusing on
relevant,high-quality content. Smart contentmarketing is one of the
best ways tonurture relationships with your prospectsand customers,
but it requires a wholemix of techniques. Optimization is vital
tothat mix, but so is the constant creation ofvaluable materials.
You need to drivetraffic to your site, but you also need tokeep
your audience on the page.If youre continuously creating the kind
ofcontent your audience is looking for, thenew algorithm will help
them find you.Thats why Hummingbird is a win for yourcustomers, and
ultimately a win for you.Ask the Experts:What types of contentworks
best for convertingSEO traffic to leads?Just because you get SEO
traffic doesnt mean its good traffic! Be sure thatyour content
appeals specifically to your target audienceavoid thetemptation to
write too much thin content in order to go viral. Instead,
providemeaningful resources for buyers in each stage of your sales
funnel. Nate Dame, CEO and Founder, SEOperksIf youre targeting
keywordsthat are conversion-likely (theyhave true
purchase/signup/action intent), it pays to havepages that are both
worthy of being sharedand contain enough information to drive
theconversion. Talk to your customers and to yourevangelists (those
who help your messagespread), discover what makes both tick,
thenattempt to combine them. Rand Fishkin, CEO, Moz
47. 48CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOAUTHENTIC CONTENTPower
ContentAt Marketo, we create powercontent to rank highly for
certainterms, with the goal of making ourresource pages a
premiereeducational source. Powercontent can be lengthy, but
itsalways educational, catering tocustomer needs and Googlesranking
preferences.For example, we wanted to rankfor the phrase
marketingautomation, so we added powercontent to our
marketingautomation resources page.Notice the Pull to read
moretabthis allows us to includelengthy copy, while keeping
ourresources above the fold.Since launching our marketingautomation
power copy inFebruary of 2013, we have seen a114% total increase in
organic sitetraffic to our resources page.Power Copy
ChecklistAccording to Nate Dame from SEOperks,your power copy
should include thefollowing:A definition of your main keyword,and
the reason youre referring to itThe reason the keyword is
importantto your sites visitorsBetween three and five
additionalheadings with applicable contentData and statistics (if
available)A quote from one or two expertson the topicYour companys
relationship tothe keywordA conclusion, with a
call-to-actionExternal resources and suggestionsfor further
readingMarketing automation power copy on Marketos website keeps
our ranking high.
48. 49CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOKEYWORDSWhen creating your
SEO strategy, first determine your keywordsi.e. what you want to
rank highlyforand then optimize for those terms.This means that
when someonesearches for that term, youllcome up in the first
results.Keywords should be chosenbased on: Relevant business goals
Traffic opportunity CompetitionKeyword ResearchTry Google Adwords
KeywordPlanner to find new search terms.Before you implement your
newkeywords, research click-through-rate(CTR) estimates in
KeywordPlanner, so that you can determineconversion success over
time. Toolslike Google Webmaster can help youmeasure your
results.When researching keywords,ask yourself: How relevant is
this keyword tomy website, my products andservices, and my content?
If someone searches for thiskeyword, will he or she find
myofferings useful? Do we have content to offer forthis keyword or
will we have tocreate content? Will traffic for this keyword
deliverleads to our sales team?Consider scheduling a
keywordbrain-storming session with yourteam. You want to have a
solid list ofkeywordsyou could have 10, 50, orhundreds of words,
depending onyour business and goals.Because your keywords will also
beused in Pay-Per-Click and other onlinead campaigns, think about
thedistinction between early and latestage keywords. You want your
offersand copy to resonate with buyers atthe right place in their
buyer journeys.Once you determine what keywordswill resonate, check
to see whichwebsites already rank for that keyword.Next, look at
the ads that yourcompetitors are serving up. The moreads, the
higher the value of yourkeywordsand the harder it will be torise
above the noise. Search volumecan tell you how popular yourkeywords
are. Make sure peopleactually search for your keywords, butthe
higher the keyword search volume,the more money your keywords
willcost.
49. 50CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOKEYWORDSKeyword DocumentOnce
youve created a spreadsheetor document of keywords you want torank
for, grade their priority and listtheir target URL, making it easy
foryour whole team to use thosekeywords. At Marketo, we use
akeyword document for our blog, sowe know what to link to.
Remember,Google doesnt like exact-matchkeywords, so look for
phrases thatrelate to your target term. Just makesure that your
keywords are usednaturallyno keyword stuffing!To avoid using exact
keywords(which Google penalizes), try creatingphrases that include
your keywords.For example, instead of revenuemarketing, we use the
phrase howto tie marketing effort to revenue.
50. 51CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOON-PAGE SEOIn the past,
on-page SEO consisted of meta tags, alt tags, encoding, title tags,
canonical URLs, keywordstuffing, and more. But, as weve explained,
SEO has changed with Googles updated algorithms.Page TitleTry to
use one primary keyword ineach page title tag. Page titles
affecthow Google ranks your page, butthey can also make your site
lookmore appealing in search results. Acompelling page title that
statesexactly what a page is about canentice a user to click. A
goodpractice is to put your primarykeyword close to the beginning
ofthe title, as opposed to the end.HeadlineYour headlines should
support thekeyword focus for the page. If avisitor clicks on your
page title andexpects a certain outcome, your H1(or header) should
deliver! Theressome industry-wide debate aboutwhether titles and
H1s shouldmatch exactly, but make surethey are similar.Using
keywords in page titles boosts your search rankings
51. CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOON-PAGE SEOContentMake sure
your content is educationaland relevant to your readers.
Keywordstuffing (or overloading a page withkeywords specifically to
improve SEO)is a big no-no, and Google has gottenwise to the
practice. Moz suggests atest to ensure your keywordplacement reads
naturally: have anon-marketing friend read the page,and then ask if
he or she thinks a termis suspiciously prominent. If he or shesays
yes, you should revise.In blog posts, a good rule of thumb isto use
your keyword two or threetimes per short post, or between fourand
six times for long ones.URLsThe structure of your URL is
stillimportant. URLs should be concise,but should also include your
keywords.Your URLs should mimic the site pagestructurefor
example,marketo.com/content-marketingis clearly a page about
contentmarketing on the Marketo website.Load Time AveragesSlow load
times hurt your Googlerankings, even if you have greatcontent. Why
does Google care? Theywant to give their users
easy-to-accessinformationnot content that takesforever to
load.ImagesUsing images on your page canactually help you in
rankings, becausetraffic can come from image-basedsearch engines
like Google Images.For high rankings, Moz suggests thatyour images
have a title, filename,surrounding text, and alt
attribute.Filename: My_Paris_Trip_1.jpgTitle: My Paris Trip
52. CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOON-PAGE SEOAuthority and
AuthorRankGoogle Authority and AuthorRanktake social signals and
contentauthority into account, so thatsearch engines can give
smarter,more relevant results. Claimownership of your content by
linkingit to your Google+ page.Heres how to create aGoogle+ author
tag:1. Sign into your personalGoogle+ profile2. From your profile
page, hit theAbout tab on the top menu. Byediting the Links
section, you canlet Google know you are a contentauthor for
websites or blogs.3. From the page you want to showauthorship of,
you can link yourGoogle+ profile by addingrel=author to the pages
HTMLanchor tags.Once you have created your authortag, you can show
up in search resultsas the author of a particular page.Google+
Author Tag
53. CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOTHE PERFECTLY OPTIMIZED
PAGECHOCOLATE DONUTS ACCORDING TO MOZ
54. Establishing link-based authority on one of the major
search engines requires a mix of on-page SEO and link building
efforts.55CHAPTER FIVE: WEBSITE AND SEOLINKSThe exact mix is hard
to pindown, but authority isestablished though a trusted
linkprofileand a good amount ofthought leadership content.On-Page
LinksTo show Google that a page isrelevant to people searching for
yourkeyword, you need to create links tothat page, using variants
of thatkeyword as anchor text. Forinstance, we want our
eventmarketing resource page to rankhighly for the term event
marketing,so whenever we use the phraseevent marketing on another
page,we link it back to the resource page.External LinksAccording
to Mozs survey (see p.43),link authority factors (such as
thequantity and quality of links to yourdomain and specific pages)
are thebiggest factor in your rankings. Thismeans you need other
sites to link toyour domain and the pages for whichyou want to
rank.For good reason, external links improveyour ranking authority
more than yourown on-page linksmore so if theexternal sites are
relevant to yourbusiness. Also, the higher the externalsites
authority, the more credit Googlewill give you for the link.Here
are some easy tips to get startedwith link building: Make sure your
content is relevant,educational, fun, and link-worthy. Make sure
the sites that link toyou are reputable and havegood content.
Ideally, the anchor text in the linkfrom the external site should
use avariant of your keyword phrase.The Relationship Between
SocialMedia and SEOAs SEO and social have becomeincreasingly
intertwined, Google nowuses social signals to determine howyour
company ranks in search results.Engagement from your followers
onsocial can actually boost your SEO.Fostering social engagement
requiresvaluable content: the more useful peoplefind your content,
the more theyllengage and share.
55. CHAPTER SIX:LANDING PAGES
56. CHAPTER SIX: LANDING PAGESLANDING PAGES FOR LEAD
GENERATIONLanding pages are customized pages that your leads are
directed to from a social media page, an email send,an event
invitation, a paid ad, or a search engine result.57No matter how
much time or moneyyou spend on a campaign, if yourlanding page
doesnt resonate withyour audience, they will bouncepotentially
never to return. The goalof your landing page is to keep apotential
customer interestedenough to keep readingideally,they will fill out
your form andbecome a lead.Most leads take only a few seconds
todecide whether theyll read a page orbounce. Does the page make
senseimmediately, or is it hard tounderstand? Is it relevant to the
linkyour lead clicked on, or does it seemout of place?
57. CHAPTER SIX: LANDING PAGESLANDING PAGES FOR LEAD
GENERATIONBe Campaign SpecificYour landing pages should bespecific
to your campaign.Although creating a new landingpage for every
campaign isnteasy, its a critical part ofconversion and
optimization.As an example of what we mean,heres a PPC ad placed
byMarketo, targeting the phrasemarketing automation.Marketo PPC
adMarketo landing page for a marketing automation adNext, check out
the landing pageon the right that this ad links to. Thelanding page
copy (and the offer) isconsistent with the ad.
58. 59CHAPTER SIX: LANDING PAGESLANDING PAGE DESIGNErr on the
side of simplicity with your landing page design. Use your design
layout carefullythe wrongdesign for your audience can immediately
detract from the offer and ultimately the conversion. Simply
put:design can have a polarizing effect.Consider including the
followingdesign elements in your landingpages: Company logo A
banner image or heading A hero shota mock-up ofyour ebook or offer,
or a photoof your webinar speaker Social sharing buttonsBasically,
you want to follow theK.I.S.S (Keep It Simple, Silly) rule witha
logical, well-designed landingpageyour lead shouldnt have towade
through clutter.Removing NavigationIt may be tempting to include
yourmain navigation links on your landingpages (If they dont like
this offer,theyll be able to find somethingelse!), but these can
distract yourleads from your CTA. In eye trackingstudies, its been
found thatnavigation panels draw attentionaway from your offer and
conversion.Remember that your main goal isnt avisit to your
websiteits leadconversion for a particular campaign.After they
convert, feel free to sendyour leads additional informationjust
dont muddy the waters at yourinitial interaction.A simple,
streamlined landing pagefor a Marketo webinar
59. 60CHAPTER SIX: LANDING PAGESLANDING PAGE COPYYour landing
page copy and CTAs should be clear and direct, and should give your
prospects agood reason to provide their information.As you write
your landing pagecopy, use these four steps as aguide:1. Set up the
problem2. Talk about the solution3. Point out the WIIFM(Whats In It
For Me)4. Deliver the goods(such as an ebook, video,or webinar
registration)Landing page offering The Definitive Guide to
Marketing AutomationScannable ContentPeople simply dont read full
landingpagesthey scan. Studies haveshown that, at most, people
readthree pieces of your landing page:1. The headline2. Bullet
points3. Bio (if applicable)Keep it short and sweet with a
boldheadline, one or two shortparagraphs of explanatory copy,
andbullet points to show your leads whythey should click through.
To engageleads without overwhelming thepage, consider using
interactiveelements such as an audio clip or ashort video.The
landing page to the left offersour Definitive Guide to
MarketingAutomation. It includes a boldheadline, bullet points, a
fun video,and instructions. There is nosuperfluous copyit is
simpleand concise.Your landing page doesnt need tosell your product
and company, but itdoes need to have a very clear offer.Focus your
landing page around asingle CTA, which must be relevant tothe ad,
email, or link that your leadoriginally clicked on. Avoid
additionaloffers, or additional information aboutyour
company.Reassure Your LeadYour leads are risking their privacy (or
more)by filling out your form. Reassure them withprivacy
statements, customer testimonials,and guarantees. You want your
leads to feelsafe giving their information to a reputablecompanyadd
copy or imagery toreinforce that trust.
60. 61CHAPTER SIX: LANDING PAGESCONFIRMATION ANDTHANK YOU
PAGESAfter a customer converts, take time to thank them with an
email, or send them to a confirmation page.Confirmation and thank
youpages are an important way totrack conversion.These also give
you the opportunityto deepen the relationship bymaking another
offer, promotingyour blog, asking for feedback or asocial share, or
running a poll. In fact,over 40% of prospects are willing toshare
additional information afterthey convert.Take a look at the landing
page tothe right for Marketo webinarregistrants. The page asks you
toregister for more events, and givesyou a list of resources that
relate tothe webinar content.A Marketo Thank You page
61. CHAPTER SEVEN:SOCIAL MEDIAAND LEAD GENERATION
62. CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD GENERATIONOPTIMIZING
SOCIAL MEDIAFOR LEAD GENERATIONUsing social media to brand your
business isnt groundbreaking anymore. Been there, done that?But
although social is still important for branding and generating
buzz, its increasingly used for lead generation.At Marketo, weve
found thattapping into social media channelscan transform your lead
generationefforts from blah to wow.For successful lead generation
onsocial, equip your buyer for success. Bepersonable, connect with
yourprospects challenges, and give them anext step to move forward.
Chris BroganCEO and Founder, Human Business WorksSocial for Lead
GenerationPower Tips1. Dont take yourself too seriously2. Organic
isnt enough on its own;dont be afraid to pay to boostyour
presence3. Focus on valuable content andsolid offers4. Create
strong calls-to-action(CTAs)5. Always add value6. Never forget that
social is atwo-way street
63. USEU*64Social marketing is shifting away from
company-to-buyer marketing, and toward peer-to-peer influence
marketing.Need proof? A recent Forrestersurvey found that only 20%
of buyersbelieve what a brand says aboutitself, because people view
anybrand-to-buyer communication as anadvertisement. Conversely, 70%
ofbuyers trust the recommendations oftheir friends and family.When
people learn about your brandthrough social, it gives you
theopportunity to turn those Likes intoleads. By adding elements of
social toyour campaigns, you empowercustomers, prospects, and fans
tobecome brand advocates.Leveraging the power of
peer-to-peercommunication delivers no- or low-costbrand lift and
increased brandauthenticity. Because your audiencespeers have
nothing to gain byrecommending a product, peer-to-peerword of mouth
is one of the most credibleforms of advertising.Brand or product
recommendations fromfriends and familyProfessionally written online
reviews (e.g.,CNET, consumer reports)Consumer-written online
reviews(e.g., Amazon)Natural search engine results(e.g., Google,
Bing)Self-seleceddigital pull content33%38%Digitalpush
contentInformation on websites ofcompanies or brandsSponsored
search engine results(e.g., Google, Bing)Emails from companiesor
brandsPosts by companies or brands on socialnetworking sites (e.g.,
Facebook, Twitter)Base: 57,499 US online adults (age 18+)*Base:
15,654 EU-7 online adults (age 18+)Source: North American
Technographics* OnlineBenchmark Survey (Part 1), Q2 2012 (US,
Canada)* Source: European Technographics* OnlineBenchmark Survey,
Q3 2012Information on mobile applicationsfrom companies or
brandsAds on websites(e.g., banners)Text messages fromcompanies or
brands70%55%46%43%32%24% 27%11%
18%15%12%10%9%10%10%8%8%23%37%61%Europeans trust all
advertisingcommunications lessthan AmericansCHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL
MEDIA AND LEAD GENERATIONPEER-TO-PEER INFLUENCE MARKETINGTo what
extent do you trust each of the following types of
advertising/promotion?(4 or 5 on a scale of 1 [do not trust at all]
to 5 [trust completely])A Forrester Research survey on consumer
trust in advertisements
64. 65CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD GENERATIONSOCIAL
SHARINGSocial sharing amplifies your message and your lead
generation efforts, but getting people to share isnt easy.People
are motivated to share by:1. Reputation enhancement2. Access to
something exclusive3. Opportunities forco-creation/authorship4.
Competitions5. AltruismSocial Sharing OffersKeep these motivations
in mind, andtry to align them to your social offers.Consider adding
some extra oomph toyour social campaigns and messagingby employing
one of these tactics: Refer-a-friend: Create acompelling offer for
both thereferrers and referees. This tapsinto the same power as
peer-to-peerrecommendationspeopleare far more likely to trust
theirfriends. Of course, this is also afantastic way to collectlead
information. Sweepstakes: Create a contestand get your entrants to
spread theword on your behalf. Everyoneloves winning, and contests
arehighly shareable on socialchannels. You can also gainimportant
lead data throughentry forms.Utilizing the 80/20 Rule for socialSo
what kind of content should you poston social channels? Social
media hasmany different functions, including leadgeneration, brand
awareness, andrelationship building. To be effective, youneed a
good balance of promotionalcontent and thought leadership. Weadvise
marketers to use the 80/20rule80% of your content should
beinformational/educational, and 20%should be self-promotional.When
it comes to sharing on social,pick the channel where you can
besttell your story. If youre better invideo, use YouTube. If youre
briefand quippy, use Twitter. Pick whatyou like. Chris Brogan, CEO
and Founder,Human Business Works Polls and voting: Everyonehas an
opinion, and mostpeople are happy to share.Build relationships
withcampaigns that engage youraudience and compel them toshare
their opinions. You canalso gain valuable informationabout your
leads likes anddislikes, which can help youplan future campaigns.
Flash deals: Create a sense ofurgency with a strong CTA anda time
limitthese cause leadsto act quickly. Flash deals canquickly
increase brandawareness and bring innew customers.
65. 66CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONFACEBOOKFacebook boasts the largest user base of any
social network, so its essential that you have a presence there.
Formerlydismissed by marketers as too personal for business
correspondence, its become an increasingly common way todeliver
messaging. With more than 1.1 billion users, and many opportunities
for paid advertisements, Facebook is acritical element of any lead
generation campaign.Contagious ContentSo what works on Facebook for
leadgeneration? The key is to strike abalance between offering
contentthat is valuable for brand positioning,and offering content
that is fun andshareable on social channels. If youcan show value
to your followers,your lead generation efforts can havea true
network effect.At Marketo, we are alwaysexperimenting with
different types ofads, new content, and eye catchingvisuals. We
also track our successusing Marketo and Facebook Insights.Weve
found that to successfullygenerate leads on Facebook,you need:1.
Compelling messages2. Eye catching visuals3. Mass audience
appealand shareability4. A clear CTA5. Personality!Facebook is
great because it allows you to humanizeyour brandcompanies often
forget that peoplearent all business when it comes to social
media.They want to have fun, not engage with robots. Carra Manahan,
Marketing Programs Specialist, Marketo
66. 67CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONFACEBOOKFacebook News FeedFacebooks News Feed uses
analgorithm to determine whether yourposts get displayed on a users
NewsFeed, which is critical for leadgeneration. So how do you get
yourposts to appear? This algorithm hasgone through numerous
iterations, and(like Google) will continue to changeover time, but
it always responds tocontent engagementif users andtheir networks
interact with yourcontent, it will show up in the feed. Ifnot, it
will be dropped.Here are some other factors that thealgorithm
considers: Affinity:How close is the relationshipbetween the user
and content? Weight:What type of action was taken onthe content?
Decay:How current is the content? Post Types:What types of posts
does a usertypically interact with? Hide Post/Spam:What types of
posts does a userusually hide or mark as spam? Clicking on Ads:Do
users interact with the ad? Device Considerations:Can multiple
devices handleyour content? Story Bumping:A post may be older, but
is it stillbeing interacted with?Promoted PostsAmplify your lead
generation andengage your followers (and yourfollowers networks) by
putting paidefforts behind some of your top posts.Remember, when
using promotedposts for lead generation purposes,there should
always be a strongCTAask followers to download anasset, attend a
webinar, or learn abouta new product. You want people tohave
something to click on.How do promoted posts work? Youcan promote a
post (including statusupdates, videos, blog posts, andoffers)
directly from your News Feed.Any post you promote willautomatically
appear higher in theNews Feed, so more people will see it.You can
also determine a specificbudget for each promoted post. Yourbudget
will depend on your personalbusiness objectives, but Facebookprices
promotions based on your fancount and budgetthey can rangefrom $10
to $1000.At Marketo, we promote assets anddaily blog posts with
strong FacebookCTAs, and weve seen a big uptick invisibility since
we started doing so.Recently, we created a Facebookpromoted post
for our Definitive Guideto Engaging Email, which led to
9,923clicks; 6,765 actions (likes andcomments); a 3.976%
click-through-rate;and cost us $0.70 per click.Promoted Facebook
post from Marketo
67. 68CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONFACEBOOKFacebook AdsFacebook ads provide highlytargeted
opportunities to reachyour audience. They appear on theright side
of a users screen, andare similar to traditional Pay-Per-Click
(PPC) adsyou place a bid onhow much you want to pay perclick, or
you can pay per thousandpeople who will see your ad. Andmuch like a
typical PPC ad, the costdepends on the popularity of yourkeyword
terms.You can choose to link Facebookads to pages on your website,
or toyour Facebook page to get moreLikes. You can also
targetFacebook ads based on a variety ofdemographic criteria
includinglocation, job title, age, industry,gender, and more.Custom
AudiencesIf youre using Sponsored Stories orpaid ads, you can
target a specificset of users, or custom audiences,with whom youve
alreadyestablished a relationshipeitheron or off of Facebook.
Theseaudiences can be defined by thefollowing attributes: Email
address Facebook user ID Phone number Facebook App user ID Apple
IDFA Location Age Gender Education Interests Connections
68. 69CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONFACEBOOKTracking and ResultsFacebooks Page Insights
applicationprovides fantastic analytics, trackinga variety of
engagement and adperformance metrics. Leveraging thisdata
internally can help you begin theconversation about your programROI
on social.Page Insights lets you see: Page Likes Post reach
Engagement Organic/paid reach per post Post clicks Post Likes
Comments SharesFacebooks Page Insights analytics
69. CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD GENERATIONTWITTERThink
of Twitter as a virtual water cooler for marketing professionals:
its a vibrant community where businesses cangenerate leads, and
thought leaders can discuss relevant industry topics. With 218
million users, Twitter cant be ignored.70At Marketo, Twitter helps
usfoster continuous, real-timeengagement with our customersand
prospects. We use Twitterto spread the word aboutspecific product
offerings, andas a forum for potentialcustomers to learn more
aboutus and our products. And likeFacebook, Twitter offers
manyopportunities for marketers tocollect and generate
leads.Promoted TweetsWeve had great success withPromoted Tweets, a
form of paid adsthat appear in a users feed, targetedto followers
and users who fit ourcriteria. Our Promoted Tweets containtimely
and engaging offers, likecontests for free trips to industryevents,
or links to relevant thoughtleadership. We use Promoted Tweetsto
create demand for new contentassets, upcoming events, or
demos.Every Promoted Tweet that we runleads to a form, which
improves ourchances of gaining user data. LikeFacebook ads and
Google Adwords,Promoted Tweets use a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) pricing
model.Twitter enables you to target tweetsbased on the following
criteria: Interests Keywords in timeline Gender Geography Device
Similarity to existing followersMarketo also uses Promoted Tweets
inTwitter searches. These tweets targetusers based on particular
keyword andhashtag searches.Heres how Promoted Tweets appearin a
users timeline:For tweets promoted in search results,we run two
offers every two weeks,with three different tweets focusing on15
keywords and five countries. Fresh,relevant content offers with the
rightmessaging yield click-through rates ofup to 17%, with a
cost-per-prospect ataround $14. This, of course, will varybased on
your offer and the relevancyof your content.We always see
significant spikes inrelevant tweets during industry events,so we
decided to capitalize on that,using Promoted Tweets in
searchresults during key conferences such asDreamforce. This allows
us to be partof relevant conversations while theconversations are
still hot. By targetingevent-specific hashtags and relevantkeywords
like lead management, wecan tap into prime lead-generatingmoments.
Being a part of real-timeconversations means pouncing onreal-time
opportunities.Promoted tweet in timeline
70. CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONTWITTERPromoted Accountsand TrendsTwitter also offers two
additionalpromoted ad optionsPromotedAccounts and Promoted Trends.
WithPromoted Account ads, businessescan make their Twitter accounts
showup under the Who to follow list onyour Twitter page. This can
be targetedbased on who a user typically follows,whether its a
similar advertiser or anindustry thought leader.Promoted accounts
can also beplaced in search results whensomeone searches for a
particulartopic or hashtag.A Promoted Account ad from Pulsar,
placed amongorganic Who to follow suggestionsIn this Trends list,
GoPro Cameras promotedhashtag tops the list.Promoted Trends enable
a businessor an individual to promote aparticular trend or hashtag,
whichappears on the left-hand side of ausers screen, under Trends.
Notethat promoted trends carry a heftyprice tagaccording to
Mashable,placement costs about $200,000.
71. 72CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONTWITTERTwitter Lead Generation CardsTwitter Lead
Generation Cards permitbusinesses to collect lead
informationdirectly from Twitter. How do thesework? When
individuals expand yourtweet, they see a form, a descriptionof your
compelling offer, and a CTA.Twitter handles, names, and
emailaddresses are already filled in, so all alead has to do is
click the CTA.Twitter Lead Generation Cards canalso sync to your
marketingautomation tool, but note that LeadGeneration Cards only
have a fullname fieldmost marketingautomation tools collect names
in afirst and last name field. Also, TwitterLead Generation Cards
do notcapture company data. Because ofthis, you cant (yet) push the
leadinformation to most CRM tools.A Twitter LeadGeneration Cardfrom
MarketoTwitter Words of CautionA little self-promotion is good for
business,but if your entire tweet history is about youand your
company, youre doing it wrong.Use the 80/20 rule: 80% of your
contentshould be helpful or entertaining, 20%should be
promotionalTracking and ResultsWhen people choose to follow youon
Twitter, youll be notified and canreview their conversations
indedicated streams. This helps youidentify opportunities to
engage.Weve seen immediate results fromour efforts on Twitter: our
averagelead-conversion rate from emails andonline campaigns is
between 2-3%,but some of our Twitter campaignshave yielded
conversion rates ashigh as 14%.
72. 73CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONLINKEDINLinkedIn goes beyond personal profiles and status
updates; its a great resource for networking,
influencerrelationship building, and lead generation opportunities
through paid programs. Because users visit the site forpurely
work-related purposes, LinkedIn lends itself to making business
connections.Company PageBuilding out your company page is thefirst
step to optimizing LinkedIn for leadgeneration. Your company page
tellsusers who you are, what you do, and whythey should follow
you.Follow these key best practices whenbuilding out your LinkedIn
company page: Optimize your company page forkeywordspeople
frequently runsearches on LinkedIn, so make sureyou show up in
results. Add tabs to your company pagethese are usually
Careers,Products, and Insights. YourProducts tab should be
optimizedfor search. Post on LinkedIn at least once dailyto
establish your presence. Consider adding videos and othermedia to
your product pages tofurther engage users.Marketos LinkedIn
page
73. CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONLINKEDINLinkedIn Sponsored UpdatesTo get into the lead
generationgame, LinkedIn began offeringSponsored Updates,
allowingcompanies to put paid promotionsbehind status updates.
Thesepromoted updates are seen by yourfollowers and targeted
usersoutside of your follower network.Like all other social ads,
LinkedInupdates should include a visual,and then link to a gated
asset.A Sponsored Update from Marketo on LinkedInSponsored Updates
allow you totarget usersyou can choose toinclude or exclude users
based onthe following criteria: Location Company name Job title
Skills School name LinkedIn Group associations Gender AgeLinkedIn
AdsLinkedIn ads give companies thechance to target their audience
inpowerful, unique ways. How? Theinformation found on a
usersLinkedIn profile is different thanother social networks, and
itsparticularly helpful for businesses.This data maps well to the
leaddata you want from userssuch asjob title, company,
industry,geographic location, and otherdemographic
targeting.LinkedIn allows you to customizeyour adsyou can opt for
text-onlyads, images, or video ads.However, according to
LinkedIn,adding an image to your ad canbring you 20% more
clicks.
74. 75CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONGOOGLE+Google+ is quickly becoming an essential part of
any businesss social media strategy, but its also a must for
leadgeneration. Already boasting 90 million users, Google is making
Google+ accounts mandatory for all Gmail usersand those who want to
post comments on YouTube. Google+ also now plays a major role in
SEO.About Us PageUse the About Us page on Google+to give audiences
a quick overview ofyour business. From there, you canlink to
specific pages and services,directing potential customers to
themost important pages on yourwebsite. Make sure your copy is
SEOfriendly, butas alwaysavoidkeyword stuffing.On Marketos Google+
About Uspage, note that we include our tagline,keywords, and links
that directviewers to our highest ranking pages.Marketos Google+
About Us page
75. CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONGOOGLE+Claiming Ownershipof Your ContentWeve already
discussed GoogleAuthorRank in our chapter aboutSEO, but its worth
noting thatGoogle search results greatly favorthose who engage with
Google+.Google Authorship is how Googleauthenticates authors, and
how itbegins to trust you as a qualitysource of content.Jazz up
your virtual meetings or panels with fun effects in Google+
HangoutsGoogle+ HangoutsGoogle+ Hangouts are a great wayto generate
buzz, sharing, and brandawareness. Gather thought leadersin your
industry for a panel or atopical chat. Send out invites to
yourcustomer and prospect base, andmake sure you promote heavilyon
social.
76. 77CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONSLIDESHAREReaders are inundated with text, which means
marketing professionals cant rely solely on whitepapers and
blogposts to reach prospects and customers. Its now vital to
include visual elements in all of your marketing
campaigns.SlideShare is a service that hostsyour slide decks and
presentationsonline, but its also much moreits an essential part of
anysuccessful content marketingstrategy, and a powerful
socialcommunity with a reported 60million monthly visitors.Creative
Topics and VisualsContent marketing through SlideSharecan help you
establish yourself as anexpert in your field, using
highlyconsumable visual elements. When itcomes to lead generation,
SlideSharecan help you attract audiences whomight ordinarily skim
past yourcontent. Some people might want toread a 10-page ebook,
while otherswant to consume their informationquickly and
visually.Optimizing for SEOCreating slide presentations that
rankfor certain keywords can be mucheasier than ranking a post on
yourblog. To give your presentations afighting chance in the world
of searchengines (as well as in SlideSharesown search results)
include keyword-richtitles, descriptions, and tags.Write your
titles and descriptions withSEO in mind.SlideShare presentations
are easilyembedded into other sites, which willalso drive SEO
results. Each timesomeone embeds your presentation,it serves as an
inbound link toyour content.
77. 78CHAPTER SEVEN: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD
GENERATIONSLIDESHARESlideShare FormsWhen it comes to lead
generation,forms are where SlideShare reallyshines. With
SlideShare, you canembed a lead generation form directlyinto your
presentation, which pops upafter some or all of your presentation
iscomplete. Users can enter theirinformation to download the
slidesand learn more about your company.If you are using a
marketingautomation platform, you can syncyour leads directly into
your databaseand add them to a nurture program.Use SlideShare forms
to generate leads.
78. ASK THE EXPERTS: SOCIAL MEDIA AND LEAD GEN ROUNDTABLEWHAT
SOCIAL CHANNEL WORKSBEST FOR LEAD GENERATION?Although many
thinkthat Facebook is a terrificplatform to build a strongcommunity
of fans, itseven more powerful when you turn yourraving fans into
quality leads that youcan communicate with and build arelationship
with outside of Facebook. Amy PorterfieldSocial Media
StrategistThere are threechannels that are greatfor lead
generation.Facebooks ad interfaceand their targeting capabilities
areimpressiveyou can get very granularand ensure youre reaching the
rightaudience. LinkedIn has generally givenus the best leads,
because you cantar