Strategy Archives - Duct Tape Marketing https://ducttapemarketing.com/category/marketing-strategy/ Fri, 06 Jan 2023 22:34:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://ducttapemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-15921-New-Logo-Favicon_V1-DTM.png Strategy Archives - Duct Tape Marketing https://ducttapemarketing.com/category/marketing-strategy/ 32 32 41106627 4 Steps to Creating a Successful Agency Marketing System https://ducttapemarketing.com/4-essential-steps-for-creating-a-winning-marketing-system-for-your-agency/ Fri, 30 Dec 2022 21:22:33 +0000 https://ducttapemarketing.com/?p=68432 4 Steps to Creating a Successful Agency Marketing System written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Running a successful marketing agency is no easy task. It requires careful management of resources, strategic planning, and keeping up with the latest trends and technologies. But, in order to stand out from the competition and make your mark, you need to have a winning marketing system in place. What is a marketing system?A marketing system […]

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4 Steps to Creating a Successful Agency Marketing System written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Running a successful marketing agency is no easy task. It requires careful management of resources, strategic planning, and keeping up with the latest trends and technologies. But, in order to stand out from the competition and make your mark, you need to have a winning marketing system in place.


What is a marketing system?

A marketing system is a series of steps and processes that are used to create, deliver, and measure the success of your marketing efforts. This can include everything from identifying a core message and designing effective campaigns to developing your ideal client persona and reports to track your metrics. By having a well-defined system in place, you can ensure that all aspects of your marketing process work together to drive your business forward.


The problem with most marketing agencies today is they are selling the tactic of the week and not a repeatable system.


In the fast-paced world of marketing, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest trends or tactics. But, this can often lead to short-term tactic-crazed thinking and a lack of long-term strategy. That’s why it’s so important to have a repeatable system in place. A system that is not built on following the latest growth hack or tactic but instead designed for the long haul, reliable, teachable, and can be easily replicated by anyone on your team.


Remember why you went into business in the first place? 

My guess is it was probably for one of the 3 i’s; income, independence, and impact.

When you first started your marketing agency, you probably had a vision of what success would look like. You wanted to make an income, have the freedom to make your own decisions, and have an impact on your clients and the industry as a whole. A winning marketing system can help you achieve these goals and more.


Here are the 4 steps to building a marketing system for your agency's success.

  1. Promise to solve a problem
  2. Build a repeatable process
  3. Charge what you are worth
  4. Build a reliable and professional network of partners


Step 1: Promise to solve a problem

The first step to creating a successful marketing system is to identify the problem that you solve for your clients. It’s important to find a problem that is not only relevant to your target market but one that you can solve in an effective and efficient manner. Once you have identified the problem, you can then develop a strategy to solve it. 

Or even better, you already know the problem you solve. If you know this, you need to focus on promoting it in your messaging. Don’t promote your own brand or strategy. Instead, focus on promoting how you solve are solving your customers' unique problems in your unique way. 

Potential clients will also gravitate towards you over your competitors because you see what problem they are trying to solve. They will see that you get their problem, you get their business, and you get them.


Step 2: Build a repeatable process

Once you have identified the problem and come up with a strategy to solve it, the next step is to create a repeatable process that you can use to implement and measure your strategy. This process should be tailored to your specific target market and should be easy to understand and execute.


Step 3: Charge what you are worth

It’s no secret that the marketing industry is highly competitive. But, in order to succeed, you need to make sure that you are charging what you are worth. This means pricing your services according to market rates and ensuring that you are delivering value for your clients. 

If you decided to double what you charge for your services right now, what would that do for your business? The reality is you would probably make more money, have easier clients, and have more time for fewer customers. Yes, you might lose a few customers, but the real impact of raising your prices will likely be net positive for your business.

Most of the time, marketing agencies are undercharging for their services because they fear missing out on the business. The truth is with a repeatable, problem-solving approach; you will be able to charge whatever you want.

By charging what you are worth, you can ensure that your business is profitable and that you are creating a sustainable system for the long term.


Step 4: Build a reliable and professional network of partners

No marketing system is complete without a reliable and professional network of partners. This could include a variety of different types of partners, such as vendors, freelancers, and other agencies.

Having a great team that you can count on to deliver quality results quickly reinforces why you are charging that premium. By being able to delegate tasks to great people you trust, not only are you making more money, but you are creating more independence for yourself.


What to look for in a Marketing System

When you are creating a marketing system, there are a few key elements that you should look for. These include:

  • Clear objectives: Your system should have a clear set of objectives that you are trying to achieve. This will help you stay focused and ensure that all of your efforts are making progress toward your goals.
  • Scalability: Your system should be able to scale as your business grows. This means having the ability to adjust to different partners, changing market conditions and customer needs.
  • Measurement: You should have a way to measure the success of your system accurately. This could include tracking metrics like customer engagement and conversion rates.

 

Give us 3 days, and   you'll walk away with a   complete marketing     system that changes     how you think about     your agency's growth.



Examples of Successful Marketing Systems

There are many examples of successful marketing systems that have been used by businesses to achieve their goals. A few examples include:



If you're looking for a proven marketing system to help grow your agency, then consider licensing our system. We have a track record of success, and our system can help your agency reach its goals and make an impact on the industry. Contact us today to learn more about how our system can help your agency succeed.

Creating a winning marketing system for your agency doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By following the four essential steps outlined above and keeping the key elements and successful examples in mind, you can ensure that your system is designed for success. 

With the right marketing system in place, your agency will be well-positioned to achieve its goals and make an impact on the industry.

Don't go at it alone, let Duct Tape Marketing help you build your proven system today. Learn how.


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What fractional CMOs can do for small businesses https://ducttapemarketing.com/what-fractional-cmo-does/ Mon, 21 Nov 2022 15:00:27 +0000 https://ducttapemarketing.com/?p=67130 What fractional CMOs can do for small businesses written by Editor read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Want to grow your business and position your brand for success? One of the greatest ways to do so is hiring a CMO or Chief Marketing Officer, an experienced, result-driven executive responsible for all your marketing efforts. But with an average annual salary of over $330,000 many small to mid-sized businesses can’t easily afford a CMO. […]

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What fractional CMOs can do for small businesses written by Editor read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Want to grow your business and position your brand for success? One of the greatest ways to do so is hiring a CMO or Chief Marketing Officer, an experienced, result-driven executive responsible for all your marketing efforts. 

But with an average annual salary of over $330,000 many small to mid-sized businesses can’t easily afford a CMO. Facing tight budgets and strained resources, these companies must embrace the idea of the fractional CMO and outsource their marketing efforts if they want to grow. 

That’s what I want to discuss today. What is a fractional CMO and the services they provide for small to medium-sized businesses. 

a marketing consultant speaking on the phone

What is a Fractional CMO

Let’s start by explaining something a bit simpler; What is a CMO?

CMO stands for chief marketing officer, and it’s the job of the person who defines strategic direction and marketing implementation in a business. The concept of a Chief Marketing Officer comes from large enterprises, but it is a role that has grown exponentially in the last couple of years.

A fractional CMO is basically a part-time version of this position. Just like fractional accountants, fractional Chief Financial Officers, or fractional Chief Technology Officers, a fractional Chief Marketing Officer is an executive that leads the marketing strategy and execution of a company on a part-time basis.

Marketing

What is the difference between a marketing agency, a marketing coach, a consultant, and a Fractional CMO?

The number of options businesses have to get marketing help can be overwhelming. But if we focus on strategy and implementation, the choices you’ll come across are hiring a marketing agency, a marketing coach, a marketing consultant, or a fractional CMO. 

chat of fractional cmo vs agency, consultant and marketing coach

Marketing Agency

A marketing agency is a company that serves various clients in one or more areas of marketing. Agencies sometimes get involved in strategy, but they often focus on the implementation side of the business. They are useful for companies that have a strategy already in place and need some extra help with execution.

Marketing Coach

A marketing coach normally assists business owners or marketing teams with training material, acting as an accountability partner and recommending strategic actions, but is not involved in the implementation at all.

Marketing Consultant

Marketing Consultants are experts in a specific field who help companies by giving advice and developing their marketing strategies. However, they outsource implementation to freelancers or an external marketing team. 

Fractional CMOs are particularly relevant today because they have the strategic approach of a consultant, can execute as an agency, and act as a marketing coach for your team, while being accountable for delivering measurable results for your business.

Fractional CMO Responsibilities

A typical Fractional CMO has a mix of responsibilities, all designed to meet the needs of the companies they serve.

These can include:


Defining Goals and developing a marketing strategy 

strategy

A fractional CMO should be able to develop and communicate clear goals for the marketing team. And align those goals throughout the organization.

Fractional CMOs are also responsible for developing a brand's marketing strategy (budget, vision, team makeup, customer journey, systems, and tactics). They must narrow the marketing focus to crucial marketing channels and formulate a winning and repeatable plan for the business. 

Effective fractional CMOs can direct the strategy from a marketing standpoint. For example, they could help define the ideal clients, propose the best markets to target, and choose the most appropriate marketing channels that lead to more business.

This is the most important part of the role because it helps the company stand out from its competition in the minds of their ideal customer.

To develop a winning marketing strategy the fractional CMO should start with these four concepts;

  1. Identifying the brand's ideal client
  2. Finding the problem the brand is trying to solve and promise to solve it
  3. Make content the voice of strategy and establish the brand as an authority online
  4. Create a complete buyer journey

Fractional CMOs looking for a proven system to help them grow

a marketing consultant speaking on the phone

Business owners looking to hire a fractional CMO to help them grow

 

Managing the marketing department

marketing team

Fractional CMOs may have their own team to implement the strategy or be responsible for managing an internal department. Hiring, managing, and sometimes promoting employees are commonly known responsibilities of a fractional CMO.

The job of a fractional  CMO is one of the most challenging. The average CMO lasts just 40 months, so they have to be prepared to make an impact fast. 

That’s why most fractional CMOs have their own implementation team, and based on our experience training successful marketing managers and consultants, having a network of professionals that can help you execute your plan is essential to achieving  consistent growth as an agency.

The Duct Tape Marketing Agency Workshop certifies fractional CMOs to license the complete Duct Tape Marketing System for their agency. Completion of the workshop includes an invitation to a community of like-minded business professionals who come together for strategic partnerships, continued training and events.

Establishing Marketing Metrics and KPIs

Graphic showing marketing metrics and kpis

A fractional CMO is responsible for establishing clear marketing goals, metrics, milestones, and key performance indicators (KPIs). These are used to measure progress and determine if the marketing team is meeting the goals of their campaigns. 

Some of the commonly known metrics for a marketing department are the number of qualified leads in a given period, sign-ups or appointments generated, lead conversion rates, lead-to-customer conversion, cost per lead, monthly recurring revenue, and others.

Metrics can help fractional CMOs understand the challenges, and therefore deliver consistent and long-term results.

Increasing sales and revenue

A Fractional CMO's mission is to increase sales by developing an all-around marketing plan that will help the organization gain a competitive advantage and make more revenue. They are also responsible for overseeing how the marketing budget is spent and managing the quality of the marketing campaigns.

In today’s digital world, Fractional CMOs not only have to be proficient at strategy and execution, but they also need the communication and leadership skills required to motivate and inspire the marketing team and other cross-functional teams.

A vast experience and ability in fields like product marketing, content, brand & design, Pay-Per-Click advertising, paid social, and project management is highly relevant to succeed as a fractional CMO. Also an understanding of commonly used marketing tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Mailchimp, and others.

Act as a consultant for the marketing team

consultant in a marketing tem

Successful chief marketing officers, both full-time and fractional, often have a strong sense of purpose and can implement a set of values within the organizations they serve. They are not just order takers, but they are strategists, consultants, and coaches.

Other responsibilities of a Fractional CMO are creating programs that support employees in different ways. For example, they could create and run mentorship programs or training for their team or their clients' teams.

Fractional CMOs might also implement the marketing strategy with their own team of experts. This can be far more effective than attempting to spread out these tasks throughout your company, or creating and hiring a whole new department.

Fractional CMOs looking for a proven system to help them grow

a marketing consultant speaking on the phone

Business owners looking to hire a fractional CMO to help them grow

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10 Critical Elements Your Website Must Employ Today https://ducttapemarketing.com/website-content-strategy/ Thu, 11 Aug 2022 15:27:06 +0000 https://ducttapemarketing.com/?p=63099 10 Critical Elements Your Website Must Employ Today written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Many people assume that a website's purpose is to get new clients. Just create high-quality product pages, write a little content, add a CTA button then sit back and see if it works.Yet the primary goal of a website isn’t only to obtain new clients. In fact, 92% of consumers visit a brand's website for […]

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10 Critical Elements Your Website Must Employ Today written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Many people assume that a website's purpose is to get new clients. Just create high-quality product pages, write a little content, add a CTA button then sit back and see if it works.

Yet the primary goal of a website isn’t only to obtain new clients. In fact, 92% of consumers visit a brand's website for the first time for reasons other than buying.

So, what is the job of a company website in the world of modern marketing strategy?

Sometimes the goal is to build trust for a potential employee. In other scenarios, the purpose is to be an influential part of a complex-non linear buyer journey.

There is no one "right" answer to this question, but based on my years of experience consulting for small businesses, the best answer is - the job of your company website it to increase someone’s WTP (Willingness To Pay) or even WTPP (Willingness to pay Premium).

This means guiding an end-to-end elegant customer journey, where the role of the website content strategy is to increase somebody's trust and likability until they are ready to pay.

So what are the website essentials for small businesses, and how do you start building a site that earns the trust of its visitors and increases WTP?

Let's get into the ten things that will help drive WTP on your website.

Use the following links to jump to a section quickly:


10 Critical Elements Your Website Must Employ Today

Learn how Lead Spark can help you build a SMS/Text strategy 


1. Make a Promise to solve the problem

No one wants what you sell - they want their problem solved.

The first thing that your website must do is - promise to solve a real problem. Avoid those big headlines telling what you do or what industry you're in. If people are on your website, they probably know that already.

Instead, tell them the most significant pain point that you solve. That’s the greatest opportunity to differentiate your business from every other company that does what you do.

For example, here's the homepage of a digital marketing agency, Tuff. Rather than promoting their marketing services, they tell us the problem they solve

example-homepage-website-content-strategy

2. CTAs

There are many reasons somebody might want to talk to you. So it is essential to help your customers move through the buying journey by using strategic calls to action or CTAs. 

Offer various stopping points where people can take action if they want. Don't wait until the bottom of the page, or just have a contact us link in your top navigation menu. “I want to know more,” “I want an evaluation,” “Set up a meeting,” “Get this free report, or “Learn more” - are all examples of different CTAs that could be used throughout your website to ultimately connect you to your site visitors.

You can have various CTAs all over your website for many reasons, but they should be clear, immediately visible, and at strategic stopping points throughout your customer's journey.

3. Who do you get resultd for?

The third website essential for small businesses is focusing your website content on a specific niche.

Go as far as you can to narrow the focus on who makes an ideal customer for you and make them an essential part of your website content strategy. You might even go as far as saying, “If you're not this type of company or person, we're probably not a good fit for you.”

Be specific about who you serve and what problem you solve for them. Be explicit about who gets the best results from your services because those will be your best customers.

website-content-strategy-example-ideal-client.

Showing your clients in different industries or situations is an effective way to show others who you work with. The more they recognize themselves on your website content, the easier it will be for them to go deeper on a buying journey.

4. Core offerings

So many companies offer too many things. They write about every possible way they could work with somebody on the homepage. But the reality is that there are often a few services, products, or offerings that generate 80% of the profit for the organization.

Keep it simple. Avoid trying to feature everything. Pick two or three rock-solid offerings you can do better than any other company and really showcase those throughout your site.

For example, this website’s tagline is “We build software from start to finish.” But rather than featuring every single product or platform they can build, they picked full lifecycle services and technologies as their core offers. It’s simple, but it works perfectly.

website-content-strategy-example-dtm-core-offerings

5. Marketing Your Process

So many companies offer too many things. They write about every possible way they could work with somebody on the homepage. But the reality is that there are often a few services, products, or offerings that generate 80% of the profit for the organization.

Keep it simple. Avoid trying to feature everything. Pick two or three rock-solid offerings you can do better than any other company and really showcase those throughout your site.

website-content-process-example-dtm

Especially if you have developed unique procedures internally that guarantee that somebody will get a great result, you have to show them that process.

paperback-Website_Essentials

6. Your Team

In my experience, the second most visited page on any website is the “About Us” or “Team” page. This is because people want to know you are real; they want to know who they will be working with and what they stand for.

Additionally, most clients will experience your brand through the people in your team. So show them who they are and let them know their values and backgrounds.

Check out the below 'About Us' page sample. This company has snippets representing an everyday conversation at work. It gives a real insight into the company culture, what they stand for, how they operate, and how they appreciate each other. It also makes you, as a consumer, want to work with them.

about-page-example

Many buying decisions today are based on the ability to connect with your audience.  So reveal your stripes, tell people what you're all about, and show them who they will work with if they become clients

7. Trust and Proof

When we land on a website, we first determine whether or not the company can solve the problem. If they do, the next step is to look for details about how they've helped like-minded people.

That’s why you need case studies, customer testimonials and examples right on the homepage. This will help your audience trust you by giving them proof. 

social-proof-example

The case studies above are right on the homepage of this company's website. Actual results that they've gotten for people and specific numbers as a form of proof. 

531% increase in six months, 192,853 in additional sales, how they outranked Home Depot. Nothing says more for your brand than the word of people who have used your products or services before.

Don’t have any case studies? Use your Google reviews to create a testimonials page. Look at this amazing website content from Basecamp.

testimonials-example-website-content.

8. Video

Video is one of the best ways to develop trust with potential buyers, especially for small businesses. Still, it has to go beyond just putting a video of the owner talking about what their company does. 

Video is a key part of a website content strategy. I see brands summarizing long-form blog content with a video that says, you want the short story here? Click on the video. It not only sends a message of trust but also, many people just want to consume content that way. 

You can have more genuine customer testimonials, reveal how your product is made, create how-to videos solving a problem, explain your unique approach to the market, or just have videos showcasing your company culture.

This video is from an interior designer brand. Everybody on their team talks about their approach to design, where they get their inspiration, and the kind of projects they love doing.  It's like you've met them before having direct interaction.

9. Segmentation

Most businesses have at least a couple of target audiences. You could have beginner vs. advanced level customers, customers based on title, or even customers with different needs based on their geolocation. 

Each of these potential customers fits into a different segment for your business, and the more tailored you can make their journey on your site, the better their experience will be with your brand. 

You can start to segment your site based on your target audience in several different ways. You could create specific content, prompt your audience to self-select who they are, or even use automation and AI to do it for you.

Here’s a typical scenario on B2B marketing: 

Suppose you are selling to businesses with several stakeholders. The CEO cares about something different than the CFO and the COO. So, solutions by role can be a great way to segment. 

For example, at Duct Tape Marketing, we work with small business owners, but we also train marketing consultants looking to learn our methodologies.

So by asking a simple question on our homepage, we let people select their content path and deliver a more personalized journey for each segment we serve.

duct-tape-marketing-segmentation-content-strategy

10. Contact Options

Make contact easy, give options and let people interact with you how they want and when they want. To explain this to new clients, I tell them that it's like when businesses used to take cash, credit card, or checks. Now we have to take email, text, chat, and phone.

If you are using forms, make them easy to fill. Many design tools can help you design elegant forms in minutes. And once somebody fills out that form, make sure you use that opportunity to redirect people to a page where you can greet them with a short video, share more content with them, and connect them to your social media channels.

By doing this you are continuing to engage with them, showing them other elements of your business and giving them clear instructions on what to expect from your business next. 

Bonus Essential Website Element! - Think Mobile First

Many websites are still designed and optimized on a 40-inch monitor. But the reality is that 80% of website traffic of many businesses comes from mobile devices—which means that you not only need to optimize your site for mobile, but you need to have a solid mobile-first strategy.

google-analytics-mobile-traffic.

The graph above is website traffic data from a local remodeling contractor. When we looked at the numbers, almost 60% of their traffic came from either a mobile device or tablet. These results prompted this contractor to audit how they were showing up on mobile and improved their overall mobile audience experience. 

Odds are the majority of traffic to your website is on a mobile device as well. That is why the bonus essential element to designing a great website today is to focus on designing your website with a mobile-first mindset. Providing a great mobile experience compared to your competitors could drastically improve your customers WTP or WTPP.

For even more detail on essential website elements - check out the Small Business Guide to Website Design.

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6 Simple Ways to Get Your Customers Talking https://ducttapemarketing.com/5-ways-to-get-your-customers-talking/ https://ducttapemarketing.com/5-ways-to-get-your-customers-talking/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2021 21:00:40 +0000 http://ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=4290 6 Simple Ways to Get Your Customers Talking written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Word of mouth marketing is considered by many to be the most desired form of marketing. The trust, referrals, and overall brand-building buzz that’s garnered by customers spreading the good word to prospects are worth its weight in gold. Some products, services, and experiences naturally produce chatter, but there are certain things that any company […]

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6 Simple Ways to Get Your Customers Talking written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Word of mouth marketing is considered by many to be the most desired form of marketing. The trust, referrals, and overall brand-building buzz that’s garnered by customers spreading the good word to prospects are worth its weight in gold. Some products, services, and experiences naturally produce chatter, but there are certain things that any company can do to stimulate word of mouth and cash in on the buzz.

Here are six ways to get your customers talking about you and your organization:

1) Ask them – The best word of mouth starts with “word of listen.” Call your customers up and ask them why they buy, why they stick around, and why they tell their friends about you. You might be a bit surprised by their answers. Hint: it’s usually not the stuff you have in your new marketing brochure. You stand a far greater chance of attracting the right customers and the right buzz if you really understand what your current customers value about doing business with you. This goes for online and social media listening as well – what are they saying in Slack channels, blog comments, on LinkedIn, or Twitter?

2) Teach them – Sometimes great word of mouth just happens, but sometimes you’ve got to help it along. One way to do this is to make sure you are teaching your customers how to spot an ideal client, what a prospect in need might say when looking for your products, and how to properly and concisely describe how your company is different. Of course, in today’s hyper-social media world you should also be teaching your happiest customers how to write reviews on Yelp, Google My Business, Facebook Ratings and Reviews, Insider Pages, and CitySearch-type rating sites.

3) Star them – Letting a customer testimonial or success story go uncaptured or untold is downright criminal in WOM circles. Today you can easily record customer testimonials on an iPhone or Android or you can start doing video interviews over Zoom to record their success stories. These “real life” bits of content are gold and turn your featured customers into talking referral billboards for your brand. Want to take this idea up a notch? Hold a customer party and film a dozen or so at one time in a great atmosphere – this alone will get your customers talking.

4) Include them – People like to be asked what they think, it’s just human nature, but it’s also a great way to get some sound advice. Create a round table discussion group made up of select customers and charge them with advising you once a quarter or so on new marketing and business initiatives. (Reward them for this in some way as well.) This can include advising on everything from a product extension to the look and feel of your website redesign. Members of your marketing round table will become natural ambassadors for the brand. (You can do this with simple video chat meetings – Zoom or GoogleMeet)

5) Video them – People are more likely to respond t0 a personalized video over a generic one any day. People’s email inboxes and newsfeeds are flooded with businesses trying to sell to them so much so that it’s hard to stand out in all of the noise today. One-to-one video is a highly effective way to stand out in the crowd. You can use a tool like Loom to send a prospect a quick personalized message about something you saw on their website, invite a lead to sign up for an event you’re having that you think would be valuable to them, or follow up with a potential client with a personalized video instead of an email.

6) Surprise them – I like to think I saved the best for last – few things get people talking faster than surprising them. This can include doing something that was out of the blue and much appreciated to just giving them more than they bargained for. I remember a PR firm that was pitching me some business and the account rep showed up to meet with an apple pie (I’m still talking about it.) I once worked with a financial planner that hired a mobile auto detail firm to detail his customer’s cars during their annual review – that created some buzz.

The bottom line of course is that you’ve got to do good work, do something that somebody appreciates, and create an experience worth talking about, but then, prime the pump and leverage all that greatness.

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Why Marketing Needs to Be A Part of Everyone’s Job (and Job Description.) https://ducttapemarketing.com/marketing-is-everyones-job-2/ https://ducttapemarketing.com/marketing-is-everyones-job-2/#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2021 14:00:54 +0000 http://ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=2264 Why Marketing Needs to Be A Part of Everyone’s Job (and Job Description.) written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Far too often businesses of all sizes leave the official job of marketing to, well, the marketing department, which is frequently known as the owner of the business or top salesperson turned into the marketing person.  But, here’s a little newsflash – marketing is everybody’s job. Anyone associated with your business that comes into contact […]

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Why Marketing Needs to Be A Part of Everyone’s Job (and Job Description.) written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Far too often businesses of all sizes leave the official job of marketing to, well, the marketing department, which is frequently known as the owner of the business or top salesperson turned into the marketing person. 

But, here’s a little newsflash – marketing is everybody’s job. Anyone associated with your business that comes into contact with a prospect or customer is performing a marketing function. It’s not just the people with marketing in their titles. So the question is – are these people prepared to carry out that function well?

Marketing isn’t just a new ad campaign, an email series, or this month’s current promotion. It is so much deeper than that. Marketing needs to permeate every aspect of your business and be a part of every person’s job description, from the admin department to the managing partners and so on. That’s why internal marketing and official marketing training is so important. 

What’s internal marketing?

If you think that the people outside of your marketing department understand what the marketing team does and why it matters to your business, you’re wrong. 

Internal marketing is essentially promoting your company’s goals, vision, products, and services to your own employees. Customers’ feelings and attitudes toward a company are based on far more than just the products or services you offer, but the overall experience they have with your business. And your entire organization is included in that experience.

The ultimate goal of internal marketing is to ensure that your employees can provide value to prospects or customers because they understand and believe in your company’s brand, goals and vision. And perhaps, you can teach them what they can do to help.

I believe that one of the smartest things any business can do is create and perform official marketing training for everyone in the business. Again, this goes for delivery people, administrative people, and finance-related people (especially finance-related people).

I’ve outlined an example of what should be included in an internal marketing training program that you can use for your own company.

Guide your internal marketing training program with this outline

Once a quarter at a minimum (and with every new hire that joins the company) conduct an all-hands brand meeting.

This internal seminar can and should include training and examples on things like:

  • Why you named your company what we did – attach this to your personal story
  • What colors, images, fonts are official and why – create a simple style manual of standards to share with everyone
  • Your core marketing message and why – help everyone connect their position to the message
  • The way you want the brand to be thought of in the market – your goal, your one word of association
  • Benefits of your products and services – demo them and present them just like you would to a customer
  • Description of your ideal customer – use photos and success stories of real customers
  • Your current lead generation activities – show off ads, landing pages, run radio spots – sell them on the campaign
  • Your lead conversion process – everyone should know the next step when a prospect calls
  • Key marketing metrics – sales generated, leads generated, referrals generated, PR generated, social media growth
  • Your marketing calendar – show everyone you have a plan for the future

In addition, I would help everyone write or rewrite some aspect of their position to include a direct relationship to the marketing function they perform. 

For example, an administrative person who primarily answers the phone might have the directive to answer the phone and route calls to the proper person, but in a marketing world, that person’s directive is to answer the phone and act as the very first impression and representation of the brand. Now, could that change that person’s role in a powerful way, I’ve seen it happen.

Then take it up a notch and create marketing scorecards for everyone. Simply list all the marketing-related ways that every position in your organization can score marketing points throughout the day and turn it into a game. ie – asking for and getting a referral, turning a customer complaint into a win, writing a blog post, participating in a social network, sending a hand-written thank you note, giving a referral, making a contact at a Chamber event. Challenge everyone to score X amount of marketing points each week and create an award program as part of your marketing workshops.

Getting marketing understanding and buy-in from your entire team makes them feel more empowered to act on behalf of the brand and better ambassadors wherever they encounter prospects and customers. Think about it – if you have two marketers out of a ten-person company, what would you rather: two people or an entire team of ten promoting your company’s work to the rest of the world?

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What’s Your Signature Response to Problems? https://ducttapemarketing.com/whats-your-signature-response-to-problems/ https://ducttapemarketing.com/whats-your-signature-response-to-problems/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2021 18:30:35 +0000 http://ducttapemarketing.com/blog/?p=3755 What’s Your Signature Response to Problems? written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

One of the ways to create goodwill, positive buzz, and happy customers is to exceed expectations. Responding proactively to problems is, in my opinion, one of the easiest ways to exceed the expectations available. Problems happen, that’s a fact. You can choose to respond to customer challenges, problems, let downs, screw-ups, and mistakes in one […]

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What’s Your Signature Response to Problems? written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

One of the ways to create goodwill, positive buzz, and happy customers is to exceed expectations. Responding proactively to problems is, in my opinion, one of the easiest ways to exceed the expectations available.

Problems happen, that’s a fact. You can choose to respond to customer challenges, problems, let downs, screw-ups, and mistakes in one of two ways. You can ignore them and create the kind of friction that drags your trust into the ground or you can respond in such an over-the-top, out of control, nobody does that kind of way that can turn problems into gold mines. If you want to exceed expectations, choose the latter!

For the longest time, Nordstrom had a policy that granted refunds with no receipt, no time limit, no questions asked. A variation of that policy still remains today. This policy is often an example given whenever someone talks about customer service. But it’s really a signature response to a customer problem, and it’s become something that creates incredible word of mouth for them.

Creating what I call your signature response to problem-solving takes a little thought, planning, implementation, and even training, but it can become a very valuable tool for your organization. I’ve mapped out four things you can do to quickly, proactively, and creatively address customer problems with a signature response of your own. 

1. Invite and reward customer feedback

The first step to making problem-solving a core marketing system is to encourage your customers to tell you when something’s not right. This may sound like a simple thing, but there is plenty of research that suggests somewhere near 90% of your customers experiencing an issue will simply go away quietly unhappy.

You should clearly state in all your marketing copy that you welcome feedback and won’t rest until your customer is thrilled. Spell out guarantees, return policies, and make it very obvious how to get in touch with you via phone, mail, live chat, web, or email. You should also build satisfaction surveys, results reviews, and even random phone follow-ups into your standard operating procedures.

Of course, it’s not enough to just ask for feedback and then send it down a black hole; you’ve got to respond.

2. Create a response

In order to get the full impact with this idea, you need to design the manner in which you will automatically respond in order to solve a customer problem. Some of this can and should be handled through clearly spelled out, no strings attached, guarantees, and return policies, but you need to add some flair as well. Adding some creativity in this step is how you turn a response into a signature response. For example, does the CEO show-up with a bouquet of flowers, does the customer immediately receive a month of service free and a dedicated service rep to help guide them through the challenge, do you do whatever it takes to make it right?

The key here is to do something that gets the customer the result they are after but also offers a little ‘wow’ that they can’t help but notice because it was unexpected.

Occasionally, we receive notes from customers who have purchased one of our products but feel it isn’t what they thought it would and want to return it. We cheerfully refund their purchase price, but instead of asking them to return it, we ask that they make it a gift to another business owner. It’s a pretty simple thing on our part, but it really creates a warm response each time we offer it.

3. Act quickly

Speed matters in problem-solving – especially in a technology-filled world that caters to and sustains our desires of instant gratification. You need to act quickly. A fast response time makes customers feel that their concerns are important. In a study by CMO Council, the most important attribute of a good customer experience, according to the customers themselves, is a fast response time.

Zappos is well known for its incredible customer support. They have live chat, email, phone, and social support available 24/7. Customers expect their problems to be solved and fast – it’s another prime example of a signature response they designed for themselves.

4. Empower your team to fix the problem

Another really important piece of the problem-solving puzzle is blame. When you make a mistake, admit it, and move to fix it. When your customer makes a mistake, well, move to fix it. There’s no gain in getting the customer to admit they were wrong, even when they are. One of my favorite business expressions said to my staff in my best dad voice is: Fix the problem, not the blame.

The way to make sure that your signature response to problems is actually delivered as designed is to empower your staff to fix the problem, not the blame!

Let them know that while you have a set of policies designed to make their life simple and your business profitable, they can do what it takes to make the customer happy. Now, if that makes you more than a little nervous that you will be taken advantage of then perhaps you need to refine whom you are attracting as customers. There will always be people who try to take advantage of your willingness to please, but the key lies in setting the proper expectations upfront in all of your marketing messages.

Saving a deal gone bad by reacting in a way that is generally unexpected is how you create positive buzz and customers for life.

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The Ultimate Guide to Finding and Hiring a World-Class Marketing Manager https://ducttapemarketing.com/complete-guide-to-hiring-and-activating-marketing-manager/ Wed, 06 Jan 2021 17:03:50 +0000 https://ducttapemarketing.com/?p=52404 The Ultimate Guide to Finding and Hiring a World-Class Marketing Manager written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

When you first start your business, you’re wearing every hat—you’re overseeing every single aspect of the company: Accounting, check.  Sales outreach, add it to your to-do list. Administrative work, it’s not going to do itself. And let’s not forget, you’re the full-time Marketing director, too. Your list of roles and responsibilities goes on. And these […]

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The Ultimate Guide to Finding and Hiring a World-Class Marketing Manager written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

When you first start your business, you’re wearing every hat—you’re overseeing every single aspect of the company:

Accounting, check. 

Sales outreach, add it to your to-do list.

Administrative work, it’s not going to do itself.

And let’s not forget, you’re the full-time Marketing director, too.

Your list of roles and responsibilities goes on. And these things add up quickly. Most entrepreneurs suffer from the belief that they can do it all. But eventually, there will come a time when you’ll have to admit that doing everything yourself is no longer effective. 

So that’s why we’ve created the last guide you’ll ever need to help you find and hire someone you can trust to take some work off of your plate.

Signs that it’s time to hire someone to help you

1. When you just can’t seem to find enough time 

When you’re spread too thin tending to every other aspect of your business, your days start to get longer and longer. Your to-do list becomes more than just a list—it becomes pages. And things start to get put on the back burner—like your marketing efforts.

2. When you’re constantly fixing mistakes and putting out fires

When you’re strapped for time and in a hurry, the quality of your work suffers. Mistakes happen—and you’re busy fixing things instead of creating. 

Marketing mistakes can cost your business a lot of lost revenue. When this happens, it’s time to take a step back and look for additional help.

3. When you find yourself doing repetitive tasks

As the business owner, your attention should be focused on leading, pitching your products/services, and managing your big picture operations. 

If you’re finding yourself working on a laundry list of repetitive tasks like social media scheduling, managing clients, or preparing marketing reports, it’s time to bring in help to allow you to focus on the big picture.

4. When you lack consistency in your marketing efforts

If you want your campaigns to produce results, your marketing needs constant attention and consistent effort. Writing a random blog post every couple of months, sending a one-off email promoting a new product, or following a content calendar sometimes—isn’t going to cut it. 

You can’t expect the garden to grow if you don’t water it.

If you can relate to any of these telltale signs, it’s time to bring in someone who can tend to marketing your business, regularly—like a Marketing Manager. The job is too important to do in your spare time.

What a Marketing Manager does

A Marketing Manager helps with daily marketing activities and initiatives of a company. 

They work on building brand awareness, managing social media, planning and implementing marketing campaigns, creating content for SEO and traffic growth, tracking and analyzing performance data, and the list goes on. 

To be sure you’re hiring the right person for the job, you need to know what to look for in a Marketing Manager. 

What a typical day looks like for a Marketing Manager

Each day can be different, but some of the most common activities you can delegate to a Manager are things like

  • Creating content for publishing on your blog
  • Managing and engaging with social media accounts
  • Writing newsletters to send out to your list
  • Designing collateral and assets for social media
  • Writing landing page copy to support promotional campaign

These are a few things that may take up the day for a Marketing Manager. They often wear many different hats and usually have a long list of responsibilities. 

The skills to look for when you’re hiring a Marketing Manager

These are the 6 core skills you should look for when you’re hiring someone in-house to help with marketing. 

1. Creativity—they’re creative. They use out-of-the-box thinking to ideate and develop strategies on how to drive growth for your business.

2. Writing—they’ll be responsible for creating a lot of content. It’s imperative they understand how to write for audiences in a way that captures their attention and connects with them on a deeper level.

3. Research—they’re investigators. They need solid research skills to keep up with new trends in the industry as it relates to your business’ target audience.

4. Omni-channel and social savvy—they’re a versatile marketer. They understand that the customer journey isn’t linear. They should know how to implement marketing tactics and strategies across all marketing channels: email, social, paid, SEO, and content.

5. Critical thinking—they’re inquisitive and analytical. They should be able to understand and leverage data to guide marketing decisions and the overall strategy.

6. Project management
—they’re a project management pro. They should know how to juggle and manage multiple projects and initiatives at once.

What a job description for a Marketing Manager position should include

The job itself varies based on the needs of your company. Here’s an example job description including the core responsibilities and qualifications you should include in your Marketing Manager job post:

Responsibilities:

  • Research and analyze customers’ behavior and insights, consumer trends, market analysis, and marketing best practices to build successful strategies
  • Plan, create, and implement strategic marketing campaigns that align with company goals
  • Organize promotional assets and campaigns for new products/services launches
  • Set up and maintain tracking systems for online marketing activities
  • Write content for campaigns across various channels such as social media, email, and blog
  • Manage all online channels of production, including website, social media pages, email campaigns, and responses
  • Create, maintain and strengthen the organization’s overall brand through all media avenues
  • Create and distribute content on key channels to reach new audiences

Requirements:

  • Proven work experience in digital marketing and knowledge of content management, creative writing, advertising concepts and vendor negotiations
  • Demonstrable experience with social media marketing, email marketing, advertising campaigns, marketing databases and analytics, and SEO/SEM
  • Knowledge of traditional marketing tools
  • Critical thinker with strong problem-solving and research proficiencies
  • Solid knowledge of website and marketing analytics tools
  • Highly creative with experience in identifying target audiences and planning digital campaigns that engage, inform, and motivate
  • Knowledge of various Content Management Systems (CMS)
  • Solid organizational skills and detail oriented
  • Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
  • Superb written and verbal communication skills
  • Ability to simplify complex information into a user-friendly format

Find world-class marketing candidates by looking in these places

Luckily, there are many places where marketers hang out. Social media, networking sites, job boards—since most marketers have an online presence, there are a lot of places you can look to find talent. Here’s a few places to start:

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great place to start. You can post your job there as well as source for candidates based on their title.

Freelancer sites

Upwork and Fiverr are sites that are dedicated to hiring talent and finding jobs. You can browse profiles and reach out to folks to invite them to apply for your open job. People can also find your job posting and apply on their own.

Facebook groups

There are many Facebook groups that are made up of people with specific skill sets (e.g. Content Marketers, The Copywriter Club, Remote Marketing Jobs). People often add posts about jobs to groups, and these kinds of posts typically get a ton of engagement.

Job boards

Larger job boards like Indeed, CareerBuilder, or Monster have a plethora of candidates with all levels of experience. There are also marketing job boards you can check out like VentureBeat, CrunchBoard, or Mashable.

Interview questions to ask marketing job candidates

You should ask questions that give the candidate an opportunity to show how they think about and work on problems. 

What’s an example of a lead-generating campaign you’d be excited to work on here?

This question gives the candidate an opportunity for on-the-spot brainstorming. It highlights what they know about your company and if they did any interview prep prior.

Share an example of a challenge you faced at one of your previous employers.

How a person responds when the going gets tough or when they’re caught in a difficult situation is important. This question hones in on how they handle those situations. 

Quickly onboard your new Marketing Manager with these 3 steps

If you want to get your Marketing Manager productive quickly, here are a few things you can do to set them up for success:

  1. Give them access to your marketing tech stack—you want to be able to manage the tasks and projects your Manager is working on. Giving them access to the programs and tools your team uses is important for transparency and accountability.
  2. Integrate them with your team—most people work best where they feel ‘part of the team’. They’ll communicate better with you and your team. This is especially important for marketing roles where collaboration is key.
  3. Get them to interview a few of your best customers—a quick way for your new team member to learn about your business quickly is to learn directly from your audience and have them interview your customers.

Two things are almost always in short supply for small business owners: time and money. Is it worth it to spend money on a Marketing Manager if it frees up your time and contributes to the growth of your business? 

The answer is most likely yes. By hiring a Marketing Manager, you get to take some things off of your plate and focus on the big picture. Not only do you get some of your time back, but now you have someone whose job’s main purpose is to focus on efforts that will grow your business. Pick the right one, and your return on investment should outweigh the initial cost.

 

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7 Small Business Trends that Arrived Just in Time for 2021 https://ducttapemarketing.com/small-business-trends-2021/ Wed, 16 Dec 2020 21:22:24 +0000 https://ducttapemarketing.com/?p=54566 7 Small Business Trends that Arrived Just in Time for 2021 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

This blog post is brought to you by GoDaddy Pro. Every year for the last 20 or so, I’ve wrapped up the year with my predictions for trends in the coming year. I’m usually spot on too. But that’s really more of a testament to the fact that trends tend to creep up on us […]

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7 Small Business Trends that Arrived Just in Time for 2021 written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

This blog post is brought to you by GoDaddy Pro.

Every year for the last 20 or so, I’ve wrapped up the year with my predictions for trends in the coming year.

I’m usually spot on too. But that’s really more of a testament to the fact that trends tend to creep up on us rather than overwhelm us. So, they’re not that hard to spot if you’re paying attention.

Add to that that a trend has usually long since “tipped” in the main by the time it’s honestly something that small business owners need to heed. Think social media, mobile marketing, or heaven forbid AI.

Ah, but then 2020 happened, and anything that might have crept up on anyone pretty much arrived untethered and proud. Trends accelerated and became fact more than a trend – Zoom anyone? A new behavior that may have taken years to take hold is now instantly second nature.

It’s going to take a new level of insight to curate this year’s trends. The trick this year lies in the ability to spot the behavior that may emerge from the change, or the forced trends if you will. For example, is business travel is going to take a long time to recover? Are large conferences on hold for a while? Will people come to expect 15 virtual meetings even in the office?

So, what do we make of any of this?

I suspect you can count on many pundits simply regurgitating the already worn line about marketers using this moment to become more human. That business will be more about people and less about whatever it was about before COVID.

But don’t be fooled into thinking that a) doing the same thing you were doing in a different format is an innovation and b) that anything in your industry will look precisely the same again.

This year the friction around change went to zero because there was no choice. Expect some people to try and crawl back to what they knew and still others to re-evaluate and restart everything.

I think a lot of business soul searching has occurred, but let’s not oversimplify its result. Because we were forced to deal with change that we don’t fully understand, it has led to some introspection. But where we’ll land is, frankly, anyone’s guess and leads me to my first trend.

1) Paying attention becomes a survival mechanism

In 2021, as in most years, businesses will thrive and survive due to many factors, but next year those who best discover the shift of the moment will be more equipped to evolve with their customers.

2020 showed us just how fast everything could change and simultaneously how fast we can respond and then change and re-respond. This is the commercial version of present moment mindfulness, I suppose.

Don’t take anything for granted; something that feels like momentum may be a bandage for the moment’s feeling. Talk to your customers as much as you can, not because they can tell you what they want or need because they can tell you how they feel.

Expect fear to be feeling number one for most of the year. Tune your strategic thinking to finding ways to be the light in the dark.

2) Everything gets smaller

From a practical standpoint, we’ve already seen this. Conferences, meetings, gatherings of any sort contracted, and we will all need to relearn how to gather again, no matter how much we think we crave it.

Expect a push for less content, shorter videos, more intimate launches, mini-courses, 142-page books instead of the classic 284 pages.

This trend will be driven by people’s desire for something that feels more personal than the market’s design to get smaller.

Design, a true barometer of change, has already moved in this direction. Take note of the larger headline fonts, muted color splashes of retro illustrations, and more white space on web pages. 

Smaller also means less complex, and you can expect that to play out in a large dollop of nostalgia. Visions of families riding around their neighborhoods on bikes during 2020 sparked an emotional desire for simplicity.

3) AI gets practical

Almost every trend article you encounter this year will talk about AI in some fashion. While I mention it here as a trend, I do so for some of the practical things it now brings rather than the futuristic promise of the technology it implies.

Without getting too techie about the workings, the mid-2020 roll-out of Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 or GPT-3 made AI a useful tool for many applications.

No longer confined to those pesky bots on website help desks, AI is now being embedded in our basic typing functions. Maybe you’ve noticed that the application keeps suggesting finishes to your sentences as you compose an email in Gmail.

This isn’t simply a feature added by Google; this is AI at work powering routine tasks.

This fall, I wrote my latest book, The Ultimate Marketing Engine (HarperCollins Leadership Sept 2021), entirely in Google Docs. I was amazed how often the suggested AI helped me write better or at least easier sentences from a simple suggested start.

Look in 2021 for a host of tools, services, and websites aimed at making writing easier. Tools like HeadLime and MarketMuse will change how content is created.

AI applications can already write an article based on a handful of fed keywords. Now, is this award-winning prose? Well, no, but is that blog post you paid someone $15 to write near as good as AI – probably not. AI writers can get you 80% of the way there, and then you, the brilliant content strategist that you are, can spend your energy on making it sparkle and getting it read by others.

This will shake up the content creation, social posting, and freelance industries dramatically.

4) Talent investment is back in style

Most large businesses understand the competitive nature of attracting and retaining their best people. Therefore, they often invest heavily in recruiting and employee branding initiatives.

Small businesses rarely can afford outlandish perks to attract talent, but one trend that I think will grow in small business is talent development.

Even if revenue is down and budgets are tight, I predict that small business owners will see the wisdom of creating training and mentoring opportunities to level-up, develop, and, let’s face it, send a clear signal that their people are an important piece of their success.

This has always been an important topic, but I think we’ll see a return to a fundamental commitment to employee engagement around things like profit and skill development that will not be limited to big biz only.

If you have training for skills, mindset, and even personal development, small business is a great target market right now.

5) Video gets personal again

I said this last year, so that’s the again part.

Video will continue to grow as a content medium and act as a bridge to a couple of other trends. Most notably, the acts of paying attention and getting smaller.

I think video, think of it as asynchronous virtual content, will take another big leap and bounce from the Zoom screens we are in front of to the more personal 1 to 1 platforms for sales, technical support even as a form of commenting and collaborating.

Expect the use of tools such as Loom and BombBomb to continue to grow. I mean, face it, who wants to read that 4 paragraph email when they can close their eyes and click play.

6) UX and SEO get attached at the hip

 A few years ago, it was fashionable to talk about the marriage of content and SEO. Now that content is basically online air; it’s sort of passe to talk about the concept as two.

But there’s a newish player making waves this year – UX or user experience. UX isn’t really new as a concept. I mean, navigation and content structure are UX. So is site speed and security. However, with its mobile-first point of view, Google is going to raise the SEO bar another notch next year.

Three words you better come to terms with for 2021 – core web vitals.

This isn’t a technical post, so you’re just going to have to research this one on your own but suffice it to say that sites that load slowly or don’t provide what Google thinks is a great mobile user experience are going to suffer in the SEO game. 

The typical mum Google has gone as far as to publicly claim that in 2021 they plan to combine core web vitals with other ranking signals. 

My go-to source for education on anything SEO related is my friend Brian Dean at BackLinko. You can find high-quality stuff here – especially when it comes to learning more about core web vitals.

You can see what Google thinks of your core web vitals right now in Google Search Console.

7) Coaching ranks swell

During 2020 some people found that corporate jobs weren’t so stable or fun anymore. Some were laid off and started that coaching or consulting business they had longed to start, while others took the pause as a moment to reconsider their life path in general.

My final prediction is that the number of people who decide to start coaching businesses and those who decide now is the time to get a coach will explode next year.

I think 2021 will be a year of recovery and personal development and, in some cases, one of changing priorities.

This crystal ball stuff is fun, but more than anything, stay curious this coming year, and you may indeed discover a new and exciting chapter in business and life because the only thing that I know for certain is that change is gonna keep coming.

You can also listen to my 2021 Small Business Trends podcast version here

 

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Build a Game Changing Marketing Action Plan in Just 9 Steps https://ducttapemarketing.com/develop-and-implement-marketing-action-plan/ Fri, 11 Dec 2020 19:00:20 +0000 https://ducttapemarketing.com/?p=52397 Build a Game Changing Marketing Action Plan in Just 9 Steps written by Kyndall Ramirez read more at Duct Tape Marketing

In order to do anything meaningful, you have to know where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. The saying ”failing to plan is planning to fail” couldn’t be more true. If you want your business to be successful, you have to have a game plan. But where do you start? And how […]

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Build a Game Changing Marketing Action Plan in Just 9 Steps written by Kyndall Ramirez read more at Duct Tape Marketing

In order to do anything meaningful, you have to know where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. The saying ”failing to plan is planning to fail” couldn’t be more true. If you want your business to be successful, you have to have a game plan.

But where do you start? And how do you create an action plan that sets you up for success? We’ve mapped out the steps for you. Follow these 9 easy steps to craft a winning marketing plan of your own. 

1. Create a strategy before tactics

Start with strategy.

Steer clear from falling for the hot, new marketing tactic of the week. The key element in making your marketing effective? A strategy-first approach.

You need to build your strategy before you even think about the tactics. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Are you trying to sell to anyone and everyone?
  • Are you struggling to stand out from your competition?
  • Are you unsure of what tactics make sense for you right now? 

These are strategy problems and can only be addressed with strategy solutions. 

You need to know your big picture business goals. Once you have those defined, then you put together the tactics it will take to make that strategy come to life. Use this ultimate marketing strategy plan for small businesses to get you started.

2. Research your current customers

Talk to your people. You can learn SO much from your customers. They shape your business, your core messages, your products or services, the list goes on.

Knowing your customers can uncover the best ways on how to attract, reach, and better serve the right people. Start by asking your customers these 5 questions.

3. Research your entire digital competition

Research is a common theme here.

Conducting competitive research is a way to grow and evolve your business. But it’s not just researching companies you consider to be your direct competitors—you need to take a look at your entire digital competition.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • What terms are my competitors ranking for that I should be?
  • What content are they putting out on their blog?
  • What kind of ads are they creating?
  • Where is my competition showing up that I’m not?

This kind of research gives you insight into:

  • New ways to serve your customers
  • Why other sites are ranking higher than yours
  • The type of content you need to be creating
  • Data you can use to spot new opportunities
  • New opportunities to gain customers

4. Promise to solve a problem

Nobody wants what you sell. People want their problems solved. Solving people’s problems is the golden ticket for your marketing efforts.

People buy better versions of themselves, not things. They want what they believe will help them feel good about themselves, achieve something higher, get relief from some level of pain or discomfort, avoid a sticky situation, or prepare themselves for the future.

It’s your job as a business owner to understand the problems people are trying to solve and match your offers to those very specific problems. Very few people in the world want the things, the services, and the solutions businesses sell.

You need to have an approach that is focused on a very specific type of customer, with a very specific need or problem, and a promise to solve that problem in a very specific way.

5. Map out the customer journey with the Marketing Hourglass

The customer journey isn’t linear. It’s our job to help guide buyers as they travel down the often-crooked path. The way that people buy today has changed so dramatically that instead of creating demand, we need to organize behavior.

A traditional marketing funnel might have the stages such as Awareness, Consideration, and Purchase. But the thing that the traditional marketing funnel neglects to address is that when it comes to lead and referral generation, a happy customer is your most powerful asset.

This is why Duct Tape Marketing follows the Marketing Hourglass approach. It consists of seven connected stages: 

  • Know—one of the best ways to become known is through organic search. Start using content to spark interest.
  • Like—once someone knows your business, you need to nurture your leads during this phase by demonstrating your expertise, sharing knowledge, and giving them useful resources.
  • Trust—people buy from organizations they trust. Get your customers involved in content creation. This is where customer generated videos, case studies, stories, and social media are a major playing piece.
  • Try—this stage is where the audition happens. It’s where you need to really deliver more than anyone. Consider doing a free or low-cost version of what you sell.
  • Buy—time to show real results and keep the experience high in this stage. Think about how you orient new customers, exceed their expectations, and surprise them. The complete customer experience is measured by the end result, not what you did to get the sale.
  • Repeat—the best way to get repeat business is to make sure your clients receive and understand the value of doing business with you. 
  • Refer—turn happy customers into referral customers. Create a remarkable experience with your customers that exceeds their expectations so they are compelled to share your business with others.

Every business has these stages, but many aren’t addressing them all. You need to figure out what the journey is like for your ideal customer or people who are looking for the solutions you offer.

Use the Marketing Hourglass framework to map your customer journey. Then, the next step in the marketing action plan is to strategically use different types of content at the various stages of the hourglass.

6. Use content as the voice of strategy

Content creation is the hardest job a marketer has to do, but when you plan your content with your hourglass in mind, it’s the highest payoff work you can do.

Content has grown beyond just being a tactic—it touches all aspects of your marketing and your business. It powers the entire customer journey.

Your audience expects to be able to find information about any product, service, or challenge they face simply by doing a Google search. And if you aren’t showing up, you won’t be found. There’s a pretty good change they won’t move forward with you because you lack credibility in their eyes. People go with solutions they feel they can trust. 

You must use content as your voice of strategy, and the best way to do this is to produce content that focuses on education and building trust at every stage of the customer journey.

7. Develop a list of quarterly priorities and live by the calendar

As a small business owner, you know there’s always plenty to do and never enough time in the day. But marketing needs to be viewed as a habit that’s ingrained in your daily routine. 

Planning for what needs to be done and when—is how you can stay focused on the activities that will give you the highest ROI. Start by creating a list of the highest impact items you need to fix or implement for each quarter. 

Then, live by the calendar. If you don’t schedule it, odds are it won’t happen.

Something that has worked extremely well for many business owners—who have been trained by the Duct Tape Marketing system—is adding monthly themes around your foundational marketing projects, breaking them up, and spreading them out over the course of the year. If you commit to an annual calendar, you’re more likely to follow it on a consistent basis.

8. Measure what matters

There are so many things you can measure: sales metrics, social metrics, content metrics, conversion metrics, growth metrics, the list goes on. And one of the hardest things is determining what you should be measuring. 

But you can’t measure what’s easy—you have to measure what matters. You can start by doing these 4 things:

  1. Create metrics that serve your priority objectives—whether it’s your goal to increase customers by X or grow your audience by X, you need to define what metrics make sense for the goals that you’ve set.
  2. Establish target goals for each objective—figure out how you’re going to gather the data you need to gauge whether or not you are on the right track.
  3. Select the tools you’ll use to track your progress—dashboards are an everyday reality for marketers. As a business owner, you need to be able to see what’s happening day to day.
  4. Use your results to make improvements—when you’re measuring the right things, you’ll start to see trends, why something happened, and what you might be able to do to make improvements.

9. Get a marketing action plan built for you systematically instead

Building a plan and taking control of your marketing can be daunting. But it isn’t that hard with the right system. Especially when you use a proven approach.

With Duct Tape Marketing’s Certified Marketing Manager Program, we take that burden right out of your hands. We’ve taken the very marketing system that has now been installed in thousands of small businesses and turned it into a hybrid coaching and training program designed to help you accomplish two very important things: create a marketing action plan for you AND learn how to implement it. You can schedule a free one-on-one coaching session here.

Running your business without a fully fleshed out marketing plan is like driving without a map. Maybe… just maybe you make it to your destination, but you might find yourself taking quite a few detours along the way. 

Save yourself a lot of trial and error by following these 9 steps.

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5 Critical On-Page SEO Factors That Impact Your Ranking https://ducttapemarketing.com/5-critical-on-page-seo-factors-that-impact-your-ranking/ Thu, 29 Oct 2020 19:38:47 +0000 https://ducttapemarketing.com/?p=53396 5 Critical On-Page SEO Factors That Impact Your Ranking written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Having high visibility in a search engine’s organic results is critical to your business’ online success.  People use search engines to find solutions to their problems. And if your product or service isn’t visibly ranking in search as a solution to their problem, that’s a massive missed opportunity for your business. So what can you […]

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5 Critical On-Page SEO Factors That Impact Your Ranking written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing

Having high visibility in a search engine’s organic results is critical to your business’ online success. 

People use search engines to find solutions to their problems. And if your product or service isn’t visibly ranking in search as a solution to their problem, that’s a massive missed opportunity for your business.

So what can you do to improve your rankings and where do you even start? 

Start by focusing on optimizing your on-page SEO. On-page SEO is one of the most important processes you can use to achieve higher rankings organically and start showing up in front of your target audience. 

Because the search landscape is constantly changing and evolving, it’s imperative you make sure your on-page SEO knowledge is up to date. Here are five critical on-page SEO factors that every business should be thinking about.

1. Content

Focus on your H1 headings and H2 subheadings

You need to use H1 and H2 tags. These help Google understand the structure of your page. Your headline should become an H1 heading. Your sub-points should be H2 headings, and bullet points can help organize information under each subcategory. 

While this strategy for organizing content makes it easier for readers to skim and settle on the information they’re looking for, it also helps Google to better understand your content.

Use your target keywords at the beginning of your pages

An old-school on-page SEO tactic that still works today is to use your target keywords in the first 100 words of your article or page. Google puts more weight on the terms that show up early on your page—it helps Google understand what your page is about.

2. Page Speed

Slow pages are a no-go. Page speed has been cited consistently as one of the leading SEO ranking factors for years. Slow loading sites provide a bad user experience. Search engines prefer sites that are going to show users the answers to what they’re looking for as fast as possible.

You can improve your site speed by reducing your number of redirects, compressing files, implementing website caching, reducing your page size, removing third party scripts, and many other steps that can speed up load time. 

3. Mobile Friendliness

Today, we live in a mobile-first world. More people use mobile devices than desktops to browse the web. And because of that, Google has made it clear that your pages need to be mobile-friendly. 

Google has a mobile-first index. On pages where content is not easily accessible for users on mobile, it’s unlikely that you’re going rank high in search results.

Google takes into consideration what the user’s experience is when they land on your site. Your site needs to:

  • Be responsive and automatically resize to fit whatever device your visitor is using
  • Use large fonts for enhance readability on a small screen
  • Have easy navigation—that means having accessible menus is a must

If you have any doubts whether or not your site is mobile-friendly, you can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Testing tool to see how your site stacks up. 

4. Domain names, extensions and URLs 

Your URL helps Google understand what your page is all about. And having the right kind of URL can improve your organic CTR.

URLs

Using the right kind of URL is important—every URL on your website should be short, sweet, and keyword-rich. It needs to be a URL that Google’s bots can easily reach and crawl. But the theme here is: keep things simple. Keep the URLs as short as possible, write them in plain english, avoiding number or letter sequences that might only mean something to your team, and use relevant keywords tastefully—don’t just throw in keywords just for the sake of it.

Domain names and extensions

Domain names and extensions do impact on SEO—however, the approach has changed over the years. The major factor that leads to website ranking is hosting valuable content and getting valuable backlinks from authoritative sources. But when you add a keyword-rich domain name and relevant domain extension, it’s icing on the cake.

Let’s take a look at this example. 

Say we have Website A with the domain name and extension of www.plywoodstore-london.com and Website B with the domain name and extension of www.londonply.store. Both can rank just as well as the other. However, the latter will garner more trust and will help the business get more on-topic backlinks for the keyword search of ‘London plywood store’. 

Your domain extension is an opportunity to communicate what you do—coming up with your domain name gives you the opportunity to be uniquely relevant to your business, and you can get creative while boosting your SEO ranking. 

Consider choosing a domain name based on your business type. Here are a few ideas:

  • If you’re in technology or IT, you could go with .TECH
  • If you’re in retail or eCommerce, .STORE could be a good choice
  • If you’re a journalist or publisher, try .PRESS
  • If you’re building your personal brand, then you can use .ONLINE

5. Internal and external links

The web is built on links—so links are a crucial SEO ranking signal. A well-optimized page will include both internal and external links.

Internal links

Including internal links to other pages with relevant content can help Google to better understand how all of your content is related. When you include internal links, make sure the anchor text has keywords in it. This can boost your rankings with search engines.

External links

Some people hesitate to include external links for the fear that doing so will just drive traffic away. This isn’t the case. You want to show that you’re creating quality content for your website visitors. When you link to other relevant, authoritative sites in your niche, it creates a better user experience and is good for SEO.

If you have a business with an online presence, on-page SEO has to be a focus to compete and stay relevant today in search. Thinking about SEO on each page individually instead of just collectively as a whole gives you the greatest chance at standing out in SERPs on multiple pages.

 

.store logoThis blog post is brought to you by .store.

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What’s more, www.yourbusinessname.store, instantly tells people your website is a “store” and lets your brand do the marketing for you! So, go ahead
and get the perfect, memorable website URL for your online store at www.get.store​.​

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