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Pairing Marketing Automation and Paid Search

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Ryan Johnston in Analytics/Reporting, Conversion Rate, Landing Pages

One of the best things about using a marketing automation system is that they are built to integrate with all of your existing marketing tools, building bridges between them and ensuring you’re getting the benefit of full visibility across all campaigns. One of the most popular ways to gain new website visitors today is through paid search campaigns like Google AdWords. Connecting marketing automation to your paid search marketing can provide more in-depth statistics on your campaigns and will allow you to target your visitors based on their interests.

Paid Search and Visitor Insight

Paid search programs can provide a certain amount of basic insight into your campaign success, allowing you to see which paid ads brought in visitors. With this information, you can figure out what sorts of things people are searching for when your website catches their eye, and you can tweak your marketing efforts based on this. However, systems fall short of automating continued, targeted messaging to your paid search visitors and often can’t link ads viewed through the sales cycle to closed opportunities.

Marketing Automation Enhances Visitor Insight

From the start, marketing automation makes paid search easier. You can quickly and easily create a number of branded landing pages that are very specific to each of your paid search ads. Having landing pages that are closely related to your paid search terms improves your Google quality score and helps you gain better positioning at a lower cost.

Once you’ve converted some prospects with your killer offer, they are entered in your marketing automation system and you can begin nurturing them until they are sales ready. Segmenting prospects based on which ad they responded to will result in tailored communication that helps move prospects forward in the sales cycle. Segmentation may be based on their product of interest or perhaps a pain point that was addressed in your ad.

Once a qualified prospect has begins working with a sales rep, connecting your paid search data and your CRM data in the marketing automation system give you the ability to keep track of a prospect through all stages of the sales cycle. Ultimately this results in you being able to see your cost-per-opportunity rather than just your cost-per-click, leading to more effective future spending.

Are Your Forms Smart Forms?

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Laura Horton in Conversion Rate, Site Design

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Many businesses rely on their online forms – whether on their own site or on landing pages – to help bring in new leads for their sales team. From contact forms to white paper requests to free trial sign-ups, forms are an important part of collecting information on your potential customers. However, not all forms are created equal. Having effective forms can help reduce your abandonment rate and bring in more leads.

Forms can be “smart” in two different ways – through form design and form technology. Here are some examples of “smart form” characteristics in each category.

Form Design

Forms should be short and to the point. Do you really need that fax number?
Forms should use “Thank You Content” that directs people to view or download additional information after completion
Forms should include an autorepsonder that quickly sends out the requested materials. In the case that personal follow-up is required, set up form alerts so that the sales person knows as soon as the form is completed and can respond in a timely fashion.

Form Technology

Look for forms that offer progressive profiling. This is the ability to ask for a few fields on your first form (remember, we want to reduce abandonment) and then automatically ask for different fields upon a return visit (so that you can continue to build your lead profile).
Forms that include the ability to de-dupe leads can help keep your CRM system from getting filled with junky, duplicate leads.
Hidden captchas are more user friendly and still prevent spam bots from filling out your forms. Is it just me or are those little, distorted captcha boxes getting harder and harder to read these days?

Do Your Landing Pages Pass the Test?

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Laura Horton in Conversion Rate, Landing Pages

Every once and a while in a busy marketer’s work day, it is nice to take some time out to test your tried-and-true strategies. Sure, you’ve got great conversion rates – but what if they could be just a little bit better?

Here are a few ideas on landing page elements that you can test with a just a simple switch:

Field Type: Do your prospects prefer drop-down menus or free text fields?
Images: Would adding a product image help your conversions? How about a lifestyle shot? Maybe a data-oriented chart or graph?
Button Messaging: An interesting piece of research by HubSpot showed a huge different in clicks based on one simple factor – what you button says!
Thank You Messages: Try out different post-conversion offers to keep prospects engaged. Maybe after showing some interest in your product demo, they’d like to view a more in-depth case study. On the other hand, if they are still in the research phase perhaps a white paper would be more appealing.

Trying something new for a short time will help you determine if your design strategy needs an update or if you were on the right track all along.

Working Miracles With Lead Nurturing

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Jennifer B in Conversion Rate, Email Marketing, Lead Nurturing

I was just talking to a salesguy today about an amazing miracle he worked with a presumed-dead lead. The sales team had more or less written it off as dead by mid-2009, and the lead pretty much fell off the radar after that. But in early 2010 (almost a year after “dying”), this same lead was put on a nurturing track wherein a drip campaign sent out periodic emails about new product features and improvements.

It was the email update about a new CRM integration that caught this lead’s attention. This new feature solved one of her major pain points and was exactly what she had been waiting for! She clicked on the company’s pricing page, and the salesguy reengaged her and gave her the information she needed. He ended up closing a lucrative deal not long after that.

This is a prime example of how marketing automation can help you work miracles with your own dead leads. Lead nurturing reminds old prospects that your company still exists, and sending periodic updates on product development and features can be the spark that rekindles a relationship that your sales team might’ve otherwise left for dead.

Revive those dead leads with strategic use of lead nurturing! For example, a specially targeted drip email campaign that focuses on new features might be just what you need to hook disengaged prospects back into the buying cycle. You never know what sort of miracles you can work until you stop letting missed opportunities fall through the cracks.

Components of an Inbound Marketing Campaign

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Laura Horton in Conversion Rate, ROI, Social Media

Sales used to be all about cold calling from a list and large-scale events like trade shows. Today, many marketers are moving toward a strategy that relies heavily on inbound marketing. While the old tactics are tried and true, collecting leads through inbound channels means the prospects are already interested and warmed up to the idea of your product or and how it can solve a problem they are experiencing.

The idea of inbound marketing is that prospects seek you out, rather than you pushing information out to them. Some ways to get started with inbound marketing include:

Blogging – Creating a blog that not only discusses your product, but also discuss best practices and key trends in the industry is a great way to build keyword-rich content. This content can then be discovered by new potential customers through search engines or through links from other popular industry blogs. You can also share your posts through your social media channels.

Social Media – Having an active Twitter account, Facebook page, LinkedIn Group or online community are all great ways to provide valuable information that can attract future clients. You can start building a relationship with your followers before you even enter the sales process.

Paid Search – Paid search is a bit of a compromise between the old and new ways of marketing. You’re still paying for an ad, much like you may have in a magazine or trade publication in the past, but the prospect only sees your ad when it corresponds to a term they are researching. Because you’re delivering highly relevant solutions to what they seek, paid search very often provides great ROI.

The key to inbound marketing is developing highly relevant, interesting content that keeps readers coming back for more. Positioning yourself as a leader in your space will ensure that your company is top-of-mind when prospects are ready to enter the buying phase.

Sell the Problem, Then the Solution

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Jennifer B in Conversion Rate, Lead Nurturing

As always, marketing guru Seth Godin shared some interesting food for thought on his blog yesterday: Sell problems first, then solutions.

In order to sell someone a solution (e.g., your product), that person must first believe that there is a problem in need of solving. If your prospect doesn’t think they have a problem, then they’re not going to take kindly to you peddling your solution, no matter how personable and skilled at sales you might be. But does that mean you should give up and only target cranky prospects who openly complain? Of course not. Godin points out that the fundamental trick of marketing is to be able to convince prospects that they’ve got a problem. Then–voilà!–you can (miraculously) follow up with a helpful solution. It’s a far more effective strategy than cold calling skeptics to sell them what they’re likely to dismiss as snake oil.

A brilliant example of the problem-centric marketing strategy that Godin talks about are those home security system ads on TV. These commercials present average people at home doing average things, like making an afternoon snack for their kid or getting ready for a first date. Everything seems safe and serene–until an unwanted intruder breaks in to the sound of shattering glass and their victim’s terrified shrieks, all undercut by the wailing alarm. Who would’ve ever thought that throwing a whimsical candle-studded get-together with some friends could lead to immediate post-party stalking by that pushy guy A.J. (who you thought was an awesome catch but is really just mentally unstable)? OK, so we know we’ve got a problem (A.J.), but what’s the solution? When you see that victim pick up a ringing phone to hear the reassuring voice of her call center protector promising to send help right away, the solution becomes clear: Gotta have that alarm system!

This commercial is compelling because it makes me aware of a problem I didn’t even know I had (Yipes! I’m really at risk for a home invasion and didn’t even know it!) and then gets me scared enough to pay attention to what an informed consumer should do about it (Better get an alarm system installed, pronto!). The truth is that the odds are probably million to one that somebody’s actually going to break into my house while I’m on the treadmill rocking out to my ipod, but…better safe than sorry, right? Fear is a powerful motivator that often overrides logic, and these commercials are effective precisely because they are so alarmist (pun somewhat intended).

B2B marketers can adapt this same model to suit their own purposes, ála Godin’s suggestion. Surprise a prospect by showing them how much money they’re losing each month, and then demonstrate how your product can help them streamline budgets and boost efficiency. Start off by telling another prospect how many potential leads are slipping through the cracks undetected every day, and then persuade them that your lead generation tool will close this loophole for once and for all. If you have case studies or hard statistics to back up your argument (rather than manufactured fear), you’ll present an even more powerful and convincing case.

Godin closes with an observation that’s worded so flawlessly that I have to quote it directly:

When a prospect comes to the table and says, ‘we have a problem,’ then you’re both on the same side of the table when it comes time to solve it. On the other hand, if they’re at the table because you’re persistent or charming, the only problem they have is, ‘how do I get out of here.’

If your prospect isn’t aware of the problem you’re trying to solve, point out how they might be affected, and then show them your solution. Here’s your problem, and here’s how we can help you solve it. Brilliant.

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