FROM ZERO TO HERO: MARKETING FOR STARTUPS & GROWING COMPANIES - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

FROM ZERO TO HERO: MARKETING FOR STARTUPS & GROWING COMPANIES #ACC2015 Lily Leung Twitter: @LilyLeung

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” –Susan Sontag From Zero to Hero: Marketing for Startups & Growing Companies

55 155,364 visits visits Jan 2012 April 2010 exploreforayear.com

Hero’s Journey ACHIEVEMENT CELEBRATION! YOUR VISION Marketing CHALLENGES: No Leads, Customers :( BREAKTHROUGH: New Strategies, Tools Tactics THE PIT Despair, doubt, anxiety, fears

Today’s Agenda 1. Marketing: Then vs Now 2. Buyer’s Journey 3. Getting Started with SEO 4. Getting More out of Social Media 5. Email for Conversion 6. Your Marketing System 7. Closing Thoughts 8. Questions

Who currently does any type of online or digital marketing?

MAR ARKETING: T THEN AN AND N NOW

Then: Now: Seller-Centred Buyer-Centred, Buyer In Control % o of t the he w way t y thr hrough t h the he b buyi ying ng process b before a a c custome mer e eng ngages a a sale les p person n 80% vs. VS. 57% 2015 2020 Source: Corporate Executive Board, Gartner, Forrester, 2015

Then: Now: Seller-Centred Buyer-Centred, Multi- Channel, Multi-Dimensional vs. VS. Source: Dimensional Marketing, Deloitte University Press, 2015

Then: Spray & Pray, Now: Data-Driven, Targeted Expensive for Offers, Low Cost and Small Business Attribution & ROI Website Analytics, Cold Calling Email Analytics, E-Commerce VS. Direct Mail Mass/Ads

Then: Directories, Now: Google – top 5 search Yellow Pages, results account for 67.6% of all Encyclopedias clicks vs. Source: Google Organic Click-Through Rates in 2014, moz.com

Do Have a Website? à Is It Only About Your Products?

People Don’t Buy Products, They Buy Better Versions of Themselves. Image: useronboard.com

Buyer’s Journey Prospect is Prospect researching Prospect is compiling list experiencing a problem options and approaches to of products to narrowing or opportunity. solve problem/opportunity. down options to make a purchase decision. Definitions: HubSpot.com

Buyers g go t thr hrough 5 h 57% o of t the he buyi ying ng p process b before e eng ngaging ng a a sale les p person! n! Image/Definition: HubSpot.com

Wants… Wants… Wants… Neutral: • Case Studies Comparisons • • Educational Blogs • Live interactions Free Trial • • Reports • Product Brochures Consultation • Whitepapers/ • Comparison Demos • Guides Guides Price Estimates • • Tip Sheets, • Webinars Offers • Checklists

Example: Where Should I Go On Vacation? e.g. Top Trips to Take in e.g. G Adventures e.g. Price of XYZ Trip; 2015; Trending Brochure; Air Canada Specific Flight Prices; Book Vacation Spots; Must- Vacations Brochure; Flight & Hotel and Get % See Places in Europe Sample Itineraries Off; Extra Reward Points

Finding Topics People Care About, Driven by Data Google Keyword Planner (free): https:// adwords.google.com/ KeywordPlanner

Content Ideas for “Boring Industries” (That Are Also Easy and Fast to Write) 1. Answer commonly questions or objections from customers 2. Create a checklist 3. “25 Resources/Links For…” 4. “Common Problems With X & How to Solve It” 5. Upcoming market trends

Content Ideas for “Boring Industries” (That Are Also Easy and Fast to Write) EXA XAMPLE: R : REAL E ESTATE 1. Answer commonly questions or What Do Real Estate Agents Do? How objections from customers is a Condo Different From a House? 2. Create a checklist Checklist for Buying Your First Home 3. “25 Resources/Links For…” 25 Resources for 1 st Time Buyers 4. “Common Problems With X & How to Closing Costs People Forget & How to Solve It” Estimate Them 5. Upcoming market trends 5 Real Estate Trends in Toronto for 2015 and Beyond hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator 6. Topic Generator Tool (Download spreadsheet)

Use Content to Capture Leads & Move Prospects Down the Buyer Journey BUYER JOURNEY SALES FUNNEL Email forms on blogs • Email forms on downloadable guides • Start sending consideration stage content • Email forms on blogs • Email forms on downloadable guides • Start sending decision stage content • Decision stage content • Offers, Quotes • Follow-up/contacted •

Example: Salesforce.com 1. Awareness 2. Consideration 3. Decision

Example: Buffer – Getting Traction With Content • Bufferapp.com & blog.bufferapp.com • Signed up 70,000 users in 1 st year. Content marketing accounted for 70% of signups • No “sales” team, but has a content team

MAR ARKETING F FUNDAM AMENTAL ALS: YOUR W WEBSITE

Website Basics & Must-Haves • Wordpress.org (not Wordpress.com) • 1-Click installs on HostGator, GoDaddy, Bluehost, etc. • Add & edit content • Add & edit forms • Email forms, forms for guide downloads • Tracking: Google Analytics (free) • www.google.com/analytics • Wordpress plugin: Google Analytics for Wordpress

Google Analytics (Free) www.google.com/analytics

SEAR ARCH E ENGINE O OPTIMIZATION

If you make a website and no one sees it, does it still exist?

QUIZ: What % of people online use search for purchases (B2B)? a) 45% b) 60% c) 75% d) 90%

90% of B2B researchers who are online use search to research business purchases. 71% start on a generic query first. Source: ThinkWithGoogle.com

Google Rankings: 100’s of Ranking Factors Source: SEO Ranking Factors 2014 Study, searchmetrics.com

Quality Content: Write for the Reader First Formatting Tips: • Heading for page title (<h1>), heading for sub-headings (<h2>) • Bolding, bullets, images, links to other pages and external sites • 3-5 sentences per paragraph; 40-55 characters wide

47% of Consumers Expect a Web Page to Load in 2 Seconds or Less Page Speed Tools • https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights Source: How Loading Time Affects Your Bottom Line, KissMetrics.com

Don’t Forget Meta Tags & URL Formatting Meta Tags Tools: • Wordpress: Yoast SEO plugin • http://www.portent.com/serp-preview-tool • Page/Blog Post topic should be in the Title & Description Title (Not the Same as Page Title!) - About 55 Characters Description (SERP) - About 150 Characters

Social Signals • Positive correlation between shares & rankings • Enable buttons on your content • Wordpress: AddThis, Digg Digg

Authentic and Relevant Backlinks • Ideas: Alliance/Industry Groups, Guest Blog on Related Sites • See who links to your competitors for ideas: https://moz.com/researchtools/ose • Don’t buy links!

Changes to Mobile Search Results Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test • www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ mobile-friendly Mobile search results changing April 21, 2015 Search results on smartphones already show “Mobile-friendly” icon indicator Source: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.ca

Example: “office supplies toronto” “office supplies toronto” From 5+ page to 1 st page

Google Business Google My Business (Free) • https://www.google.com/business

Google Business – Step 1 • Adding your business: Free but Gmail account required

Google Business – Step 2 • Fill out details; wait for confirmation call or postcard/mail with code

SOCIAL AL M MEDIA A

Quiz: What’s the ROI of Email Marketing? Source: HubSpot Inbound Certification, 2014

Source: HubSpot Inbound Certification, 2014

Major Social Networks Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Google+ Instagram Pinterest Slideshare YouTube Vimeo

Free, But Cool Social Media Tools Scheduling • Buffer.com (web + app) – “buffers” updates; schedule same tweet multiple times • Hootsuite.com Tw Twitter • Followerwonk.com – advanced Twitter search • Tweriod.com – best time to Tweet • https://ritetag.com/hashtag-search – #hashtag volumes Built-in Analytics • http://analytics.twitter.com • Facebook, LinkedIn page analytics

QUIZ: How many people make purchases each month based on blog content? a) 1 in 20 b) 1 in 10 c) 1 in 4 d) 1 in 2

1 in 4 people buy something each month based on blog content. Source: ResearchNow.co.uk, 2014

Brands Are Increasingly Working With Bloggers & Social Media Influencers 3. Decision 1. Awareness 3. Decision 2. Consideration

Tips for Approaching Bloggers 1. Bloggers who are your ideal customer or influencer 2. Follow and connect 3. Offer something worth sharing/mentioning