Rnordman

Millennials are discount-hungry. Blame it on the economy in which they launched their careers or attribute it to their digitally savvy shopping habits. Either way, a new report from Mindshare North America shows that this generation will do just about anything to buy goods at the lowest possible cost. Just look at these stats:

• 47% of millennials will purposely leave items in their shopping cart in hopes that the retailer will reach out with a promotion.
• 39% of millennials clear their online search history to get better prices from online sellers.
• 26% of millennials have purposely entered a fake birth date to receive a discount.
• 70% of millennials search for promo codes online before purchasing.

Another study conducted jointly by Forbes and Elite Daily mimicked similar findings, and found that 57% of millennials report that they will not change their spending habits.

Millennials are also depending on their mobile devices as necessary comparison tools when shopping both in-store and online. Continuous access to the internet allows 59% of shoppers to simultaneously search competitor’s product listings or even access barcode scanner apps to find the same product for the cheapest possible price online. And, with 66% of millennials using new mobile payment services, the process of mobile purchasing isn’t only seamless — it’s becoming commonplace.

So, when comparison shopping is the norm, how do you balance offering competitive pricing and still hitting your desired margins? Below, I’ve pulled a few ecommerce apps most effective in helping your business stay ahead of the competition.

Wiser — Free Trial + $799/mo

Let’s face it, maintaining a competitive pricing strategy is an uphill battle. WisePricer from Wiser allows you to stay one step ahead of your competition by scanning the web for the price point at which all the other guys are selling the same product. Using the WisePricer dashboard, you can view and modify prices instantly. The platform also allows you to set custom pricing rules so that you never go below a set margin, but that you are offering the most competitive price — automatically.

DataFeedWatch — Free Trial + $29/mo

If you’re a fan of data-driven decisions, DFW is for you. The app makes it incredibly easy to create shopping feeds for comparison engines, and comes with a dashboard that tracks ROI. If a product isn’t performing in paid search, quickly take it out of the campaign and recycle those dollars into the higher performing ones. Nothing beats restoring profit by leveraging data.

SmartFeed — $69.95/mo

SmartFeed makes it easy to sync inventory data among different vendors to keep your shopping feeds up-to-date. Just like DataFeedWatch, you’ll be saving money by focusing your ad spend on performing products and taking out-of-stock items out of public view.

Discount Manager — Free Trial + $12.95-$18.95/mo

There are only so many hours in a day to run your online store the way you want or need. Additionally, setting aside time to manually update prices or run sales can seem like a daunting task. With Discount Manager, you can schedule sales and promotions without having to be in front of your computer to turn them on or off.

PayPal Powered by Braintree — Free

This one-click install is insanely easy for Bigcommerce merchants and allows you to optimize your checkout for mobile, among other things. Braintree is the Paypal-owned company which powers the checkout process for Uber — which if you’ve yet to try, you really should, even if only for research purposes. Plus, by integrating Paypal Powered by Braintree, you allow your customers to checkout across Bigcommerce’s tens of thousands of online stores without having to re-enter any of their information. This entire process streamlines online and mobile shopping for consumers, decreasing the chances that they will abandon their cart at the last minute.

What does any of this have to do with competitive pricing? Fair question — and when looked at directly, not much. But, with an abandoned cart rate average of 68% for online merchants, with 28% due to surprise costs and another 22% due to tedious checkout experiences, ensuring that your checkout process is seamless and transparent is the final step to ensuring you close the deal.

Know of any other apps or integrations out there helping you to win on the competitive pricing front and fully convert new customers? If so, let me know in the comments below!

It's not just the weather that's hot and dry in the summer. Have your hot leads dried up as well? 

Salespeople often work their best opportunities early on in the quarter or year, and with so much going on, they might push prospecting to the side. But what happens after those deals close? Uh oh. You're looking at an empty pipeline.

Many sales organizations struggle to keep the momentum they've developed in the first half of the year going. To address this issue, LinkedIn Sales Solutions and HubSpot teamed up to bring you the best tips and tricks for bringing on the sales rain -- even in the middle of summer.

In a webinar, Mark Roberge, HubSpot's chief revenue officer, and Alex Wolin, LinkedIn Sales Solution's head of enterprise east, shared how to find new accounts midway through the year, reinvigorate opportunities turned cold, and create multiple inroads into a buyer's company.

To view the recording of the webinar, click here (trust me, it's a good one). But if you're short on time, you can get the main takeaways in the SlideShare below.

Flights are overbooked all the time. If you’re going to be bumped, don’t volunteer to take the airline’s compensation—whether they offer cash or a voucher. Instead, be one of those passengers involuntarily denied boarding and receive much more in compensation.

Read more...

Time is of the essence!

More than any other decade, business is running at the speed of light, which makes the efficient use of time ultimately the most important element to control. When I first entered the advertising business, the industry was notoriously known for its fast pace and deadlines. Contrary to corporate marketing departments, who albeit were also working at a faster pace than other departments in the same organization, advertising agencies owned the “RUSH” space. By owning that space, agency people often worked longer hours, weekends, evenings, around the clock to make an impending deadline. I can sincerely say, our industry no longer holds the monopoly on time. No matter what business you’re in today, time is of the essence!

All bets are off on personal time, downtime; any time is the time to work or check off one more item on the list of tasks to do and things to accomplish.

It goes without saying that the team around you, your colleagues, your support staff and everyone in between plays a role in you efficiently managing your time and maintaining control over projects, launches and plans.

As a team member, or player or even potential wannabe team member, how does one add value to the department, the job, and ultimately the boss. Here are a few of my thoughts:

1) When deadlines are looming and there just isn’t enough time, don’t tell me what you can’t do, tell me what you can do. Only then can a secondary plan of action emerge.

2) If there is an issue, and there are often issues with any project, don’t just come in and report the problem, without having all the facts. If the facts aren’t clear, you can’t work on a solution. Or better yet, come in with a solution – that would wow any manager.

3) Don’t say you can do something, then not; only to say you didn’t have the time. That only means you haven’t made the time. And that only means one of two things. 1) You felt it wasn’t important enough to get it off your list and 2) You didn’t plan or allow time to getting it done in a timely manner. Either way, it’s not good.

4) When tasks come your way, no matter how menial you perceive them to be, don’t just “do”. It’s the small things that shout the loudest in making impressions. So don’t just take direction, and do it; understand the need and ultimately the ‘why’ of what is being asked, so you can add value.

5) For all new business development managers, or client engagement managers, or any permutation thereof, if you’re successful in getting a meeting to present your organization’s services, don’t provide no more than what can be found on your website. That’s a waste of time, for both of us – and it’s also a missed opportunity.

And last but not least…

6) For all of you trying to break into any industry; don’t send in a resume for a job that you’re not qualified for. Wasting my time by having me read it only to find out that you’re not qualified for it – that only frustrates me. If you want to apply, then by all means do, but do something different; something that will provide me with a perspective of who and what you are about. Sending in a resume that you don’t have any qualifications for, without any explanation or counter-claim, isn’t going to cut it – Honest.

Are you racing to build credibility, generate leads, and close sales? eBooks can help you pick up the pace and sprint through the home stretch.

Many businesses experience difficulties building their organizations’ credibility and thereby face setbacks in generating leads and filling sales funnels. Enter the eBook.

With the advent of the Internet, mass media, and social networking sites, technology as a whole has changed the tools that businesses must rely on to close inbound sales and to attract and generate new leads.

The Content Marketing Institute explains: “Think of [eBooks] as a white paper on steroids: a report, generally 12 – 40 or more pages in length, that presents complex information in a visually attractive, reader-friendly format. The content is both informative and entertaining; the tone, collegial; the format, ‘chunky’ rather than linear, to facilitate skimming and scanning.”

Today, with the backing of data conducted throughout the years of the online era, businesses have learned that visually engaging and informative eBooks can be invaluable when trying to generate leads and close sales.

Why Use eBooks?

B2B businesses, especially those that are trying to constantly reach audiences to expand their pool of prospective leads, should understand a major psychological element involved in the sale closing process: trust.

A relationship is one that involves trust, and it applies readily to B2B relationships. The negative stigma associated with the sleazy used car salesman is born out of the distrust we bear for those trying to push unpolished products to unsuspecting customers at unreasonable prices.

(It’s no wonder why many customers have developed banner blindness to in-your-face ads that seem to overpromise and underdeliver).

Building Expertise, Credibility, And Trust

One of the best ways to attract leads and close sales is by establishing your organization as trustworthy. Many fledgling businesses, start-ups and those trying to experience faster growth often fall short of convincing customers that they are experts in their domain.

Consider the three stages that customers go through before considering a purchase (awareness, consideration, and decision). eBooks facilitate the decisions customers make in between the “consideration” and “decision” stages by offering useful content and showcasing your business’s credibility.

This is because eBooks are informative and educational in nature. They present evidence, research and logic, and raise important questions and concerns that customers may have without pushing a product to their faces. They also establish your business as a thought leader and expert on particular subject matters.

Remember, the focus is on helping or educating your prospetive customers; their reliance on your business and your expertise will come naturally (tell, don’t sell).

eBooks are not brochures or sales pamphlets. The last page of the eBook is generally an “About the Company” page that gives enough information about your business for interested prospective leads to find out more, but not too much information to make your document sound like a sales pitch.

When consumers and businesses have read through your material and recognize the value of your content, you’ve closed one more gap in the sales funnel that will eventually persuade your prospective customers that you are the right choice.

Conclusion

You want your leads to think about your business and brand as trustworthy. There is no better way of establishing your expertise and credibility in your particular domain than writing an informative, persuasive, and valuable document that addresses the toughest concerns and questions a consumer or organization may have in a detached, logical, and persuasive manner.

In our era – the “information generation,” – there is no better way to communicate than with something that consumers and businesses need: information that will help them arrive at a meaningful decision.

Product quality and seller expertise are important, but these days buyers expect those. Research shows the customer’s experience—with the seller and everyone involved with the project—plays a significant role in determining not only the initial purchase but repeat purchases.

I wrote about this a few years ago in a series of blogs but I wanted to do an update that sums up the common causes of problems with sales teams — and their fixes — in a single article. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list.

Here are five of the most common defects in sales teams:

1. Your salespeople aren’t asking enough open-ended questions.
2. Your salespeople wait for leads to come to them.
3. Your new salesperson didn’t turn out to be the person you thought you were hiring.
4. Your salespeople go after the wrong deals.
5. Your salespeople don’t close.

Problem #1: They aren’t asking enough open-ended questions.

Possible Cause	Potentially Fixable by Manager?	Possible Solutions
They don’t know what questions to ask.	Yes	Revisit (or establish) your onboarding program. A cornerstone of a good onboarding program is a comprehensive list of questions, possible answers and what answers might mean in terms of qualifying a lead.
They are scared of offending/annoying/pushing the prospect by asking too much.	Yes	Teach the salesperson effective phrases to use in these situations and practice through role-playing exercises until they are comfortable asking them.
They think they already know what the prospect thinks/needs/wants so they don’t bother to ask.	Yes	A) Diagnose whether this is due to lack of emotional discipline on the salesperson’s part with an assessment tool. B) Implement a repeatable selling system to prevent this from happening.
They want to show off their smarts and educate the lead.	Yes	Prepare them by rehearsing commonly asked questions and possible responses so they feel very comfortable with them. Let them know they don’t have to have all the answers and what to say when they don’t.

Each of these possible causes for not asking enough open-ended questions has their own set of causes. For example, the salesperson may be insecure, scared, or have a need for approval that leads them to respond this way. Once you know what motivates your particular salesperson, you will be much better equipped to address it. A Salesperson Evaluation does just that. Learn whether your salesperson is likely trainable or whether there is an underlying factor that will continue to hold them back.

Problem #2: They wait for leads to come to them.

Do you have someone like this on your sales team? One who doesn’t like to hustle to generate any new leads but waits for the leads to call or email with a request, or tries to get by on leads that are passed to them? Why are you allowing this behavior?

Possible Cause	Potentially Fixable by Manager?	Possible Solutions
They are used to a previous job or previous era where leads dropped in their lap magically and they didn’t have to proactively generate their own leads.	Yes	Be sure you have clearly communicated expectations — not just in terms of closed sales revenue but also in terms of aplan with agreed-upon activities, and agreed-upon consequences for failure. As a Sales Manager, it is your job to hold them accountable to this.
They are unable to do what is necessary.	?	This is where a sales assessment is helpful to understand whether your salesperson is likely to be trainable or whether they just don’t have what it takes to perform in this role.

Problem #3: They didn’t turn out to be the person you thought you were hiring.

The truth about hiring the wrong salesperson is that no matter how bad they are, it’s still the fault of whoever hired them. The good news is that when you start to hire strategically, you never have to hire another bad salesperson again.

Possible Cause	Potentially Fixable by Manager?	Possible Solutions
You hired based mostly on gut instinct/ good feeling/ candidate’s likability in the interview.	Yes	Use a candidate assessment tool before you even review resumes or meet candidates. Weed out those who the assessment tells you will not perform (ours is 96% accurate). When you interview them, don’t make them feel comfortable and wanted. You want to see how they respond to prospects (who realistically will be less excited about them). Use a repeatable interviewing process and ask behavioral questions.
You took the resume at face value, sorted candidates based on resume claims and then failed to question every claim made on their resumes.	Yes	Pick apart every claim they make on their resume. Verify what it says.
You took the best option from a poor pool of candidates.	Yes	Sales people are exceptionally hard to hire. Most middle-market and smaller companies do not have the internal resources to effectively recruit the right candidates for this particular role. Retain someone specifically skilled at recruiting salespeople.
They are not getting results because they don’t know how.	Yes	Do you have a repeatable 90-day (or more) sales onboarding program in place? If not, read about how to set one up in our eBook here. You have to give your team the tools they need to perform.

Problem #4: They go after the wrong deals.

Do you have a salesperson who is closing deals that you don’t even want? Don’t let your business be shaped from the bottom-up. Business leaders determine what kinds of business it makes sense to go after and Sales Managers make it clear to the sales team with consistent review and reinforcement.

Possible Cause	Potentially Fixable by Manager?	Possible Solutions
They don’t have enough leads in their pipeline and it seems easier to fight for the poor-fit, lame deals than it does to go get fresh and better deals.	Yes	This should be addressed by you (as the Sales Manager). You are supposed to be holding your salespeople accountable to a healthy sales pipeline. If pipelines are getting fluffy, look at when and how you are reviewing them. They should be reviewed routinely, frequently, and on an individual, per-salesperson basis. You should be asking about the deals in their pipelines and why there are in the stage they are in. Are they fully qualified? Are they sitting there when they should really be dropped?
They are set in their ways of doing things and unwilling to get out of their comfort zone.	?	If someone exhibits lack of commitment, unwillingness or inability to focus on the right deals, then you need to consider replacing them with someone who will.
They have a high need for approval and have a hard time pushing back or even being upfront with prospects.	Yes	A salesperson that does this can change, but it may take a lot of work. You would have to be very diligent about pre-briefing and de-briefing sales calls, helping them to plan what to say and be comfortable with it. It will take a lot of role-playing. Just as importantly, you need to build up this salesperson’s self-esteem so they aren’t so dependent on what prospects think of them.
They are not given clear, consistent messages about which leads to go after.	Yes	Have you communicated this clearly to your sales team? Are there defined criteria to qualify the right leads? Are those priority leads supported by the sales compensation / commission structures? For example, do you tell them to go after one type of deal but actually incentivize them to go after another based on what they earn per closed deal? Get this in order and it should resolve the problem.

Problem #5: They don’t close.

Most people perceive the inability to close as the problem. It’s more accurate to view it as a symptom of the real problem, which is inability to properly qualify leads. Here are some of the reasons why your salespeople aren’t qualifying leads properly, which is interfering with their ability to close deals.

Possible Cause	Potentially Fixable by Manager?	Possible Solutions
They are uncomfortable asking the prospect for a decision because they need to be liked.	Yes	The way to prepare salespeople for potentially uncomfortable situations is through pre-briefing and scripting, so they know what to say and are comfortable saying it.
They have no clue when the prospect is ready to buy.	Yes	Have a standardized, repeatable sales process in place to clarify the buying process. All of your salespeople should understand the gap between what a lead has and what they want to have . . . as well as the economic impact of not getting what they want. Your salesperson should understand their decision-making process (who, what, when, where, why and how). Without understanding how the prospect will make a decision and what is important to them, the salesperson will not likely be able to propose a solution and close effectively. Rehearse the sales process with your sales team and hold them accountable to following it. This should boost your close rate and cut back on time wasted with leads that won’t close.
They don’t understand the prospect’s real needs . . . and for that reason are unable to present an effective solution.	No	This is something that superstar salespeople are able to do well. It has to do with understanding the emotions behind the buying process – what would cause the prospect to act and how compelling the reason is. This ability lets them focus on the right leads and waste less time with the wrong ones. This ability may not be teachable but you can determine someone’s likelihood to possess this skill through a candidate assessment.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas about how to get started fixing dysfunctions in your sales team. If you have a problem with your sales team, a sales performance expert can help you uncover the true causes and address them with the best solutions based on your circumstances.

If you have not already viewed the detailed candidate assessment we use, grab your copy here.

Creating content is the single, most powerful tool in the marketer’s toolbox. Invest in content one time, and if done well, you will reap the rewards of that content for years to come. But I’ve noticed a lot of companies wrestling with what kind of content to create. Most of them make a big mistake in the type of content they craft.

After having this conversation multiple times, I thought I would write an article on it. The choice in question is: thought leadership vs. educational content. Now, there is some overlap on this – thought leadership content can be educational. However, as a general rule there is a pretty wide gap between the two.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP VS. EDUCATIONAL CONTENT

Depending on where your company is in its content marketing journey will depend on which type of content will be more effective for you. Let’s dive into the pros and cons of thought-leadership and educational content, and see which businesses can benefit from which kind of content.

When we take on a new client, the first obstacle we have to overcome most of the time is that of little organic website traffic. In some cases, this is close to zero organic traffic.

Organic traffic is free traffic – that which comes from search engines results pages (SERPS) and is the backbone of a sustainable inbound marketing strategy. Our focus in the beginning stages of inbound is to build this free, organic traffic so that our lead nurturing campaign and our sales funnel will be full of new prospects.

When organic traffic is flowing at a steady pace, you don’t have to pay for traffic, and you can invest the money you would otherwise spend on PPC into other, more profitable areas.

But it all starts with organic traffic. And this is where we find educational content flourishing.

EDUCATIONAL CONTENT

Answering the questions of your potential customers is the best way to build sustainable, organic traffic. We’ve written extensively about how consumer behavior has changed, and all buying decisions start on Google. Those Google searches are usually in the form of questions.

These questions can be on price, quality, problems, how-tos, and many other types of questions. If your content addresses these questions, you will start getting traffic from search results. This is the kind of traffic you want, as these are very targeted viewers.

As you write more and more educational content, and you answer more questions, the growth of organic traffic can skyrocket. We’ve written about the results of company’s organic traffic here: Does Inbound Marketing Really Work?

In that story, I shared a graph where organic traffic had risen to about 4,000-5,000 a month. But this is how the graph for that same company looks now, about six months later:

As you can see, organic traffic has not leveled off yet. It’s still growing significantly month over month. This isn’t counting the traffic they are getting direct, or from social media shares, or from e-mail marketing, and every other channel. This naturally results from people searching for answers on Google – in other words, 10,000 brand new potential customers every month.

In short, this company now has no shortage of leads every month, and their content is consumed and shared by thousands of fans. This is the power of creating educational content, providing helpful, honest advice, and giving your potential customers what they want.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTENT

This is where a lot of companies with low traffic make a critical error. They believe thought leadership creates long-term growth. They’ve read a lot of blogs about creating content that is “valuable” and they spend too much time trying to push the envelope of thought.

This is great, don’t get me wrong. Thought leadership content is the best way to set yourself apart from the competition, and stake your claim as an industry leader. It’s the only way to keep traffic.

But if you have no one to read those deep thoughts, do they do any good?

Here’s an example:

• Education Topic: “How Much Does an Apple Computer Cost?”
• Thought Leadership Topic: “Why an Apple Computer Is a Better Long-Term Investment Over PC.”

If you don’t know how to tell them apart, use this simple rule: Search Engine Usage. No one is going to ask Google: “Is an Apple computer a better long-term investment than a PC?” But thousands ask, every single month, “How Much Does an Apple Computer Cost?”

THE ROLES OF EACH TYPE OF CONTENT

Using the example above, let’s examine the role of each type of content. The educational content attracts them because it addresses the very questions they are asking.

If you write an education topic, “How Much Does an Apple Computer Cost?” and it ranks (in this example) #1 in SERPS, you will  get thousands of visits every month to people reading that article. They are voluntarily coming to your site to see if you can answer their question and give them clarity.

What will keep them on your site? Probably, offering them an article on why paying a higher premium price up front could actually save them money long-term. That article: thought leadership.

Each plays a role; each doesn’t do the other’s job very well.

WHAT KIND OF CONTENT DO YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON?

That depends on where your traffic levels and lead generation is right now. If your organic traffic is low, focus on educational content until you feel you are filling your lead funnels up sufficiently. That could be 5,000 organic visits a month, or it could be 10,000. It differs for each company. But set a goal to reach and you will get there by offering educational content.

If you’re having trouble coming up with educational content topics, read this blog post: How to Come Up With 100 Blog Post Topics in 60 Minutes or Less.

Once you have a sustained influx of organic traffic, consider integrating thought leadership articles into the mix. These will be articles your organic visitors are more likely to share on social media, and comment on. But it’s the educational content that will be the backbone of your organic traffic growth.

And without organic traffic, you have nothing.

The Cloud Is Boring: That’s Where Its Value Lies: The cloud will become less exciting as time passes — eventually becoming as uninteresting as the system that brings water to faucets and electricity to outlets. Cloud resources are becoming commoditized. A vicious price war between leading infrastructure-as-a-service providers is pushing the cost of compute and storage resources ever lower. That’s great news for startups and established enterprises that rely on low-cost cloud infrastructure to build a viable business model, but it may appear that it’s not so great for cloud vendors themselves. It’s been an exciting time. The cloud sector has

The post The Cloud Is Boring: That’s Where Its Value Lies appeared first on Researcher's Blog.

It’s no longer about brand-first. It’s about giving consumers content that adds value to their lives, and in return adds value to us.

• David Beebe in an interview for Contently

Influencer marketing is a popular strategy for B2C content marketers, but none have approached it with a more solid foundation and open mind than Marriott. In the past, influencer marketing was focused on the appeal well-known celebrities could establish with their endorsements, but this has evolved.

To accomplish what David Beebe, vice president of global creative and content marketing for Marriott International, refers to as the “3Cs” strategy (content, community, and commerce), Marriott launched a 65-person content studio. Its charter? To publish, distribute, and share digital content across multiple platforms and on all screens with the intent to build worldwide communities of people passionate about travel that will drive commerce to the company’s hotels.

These are some of the reasons why David is a Content Marketer of the Year finalist, chosen in particular for his dedication to influencer marketing. The Content Marketer of the Year will be announced at Content Marketing World this September. While you may not work for a travel company, read on to discover more about how Marriott works with influencers to create engaging content that builds active communities that drive commerce. Anyone who wants to work with influencers can learn from Marriott’s strategy.

How Marriott approaches influencer marketing

Before we look at some of the unique approaches Marriott has taken to working with influencers, let’s look at what they’re producing across the brand.

David has partnered with social media influencers in the production of travel videos, video blogs (vlogs), and short films. “All the content we’re creating – whether it’s destination or utility, travel hacks, or entertainment – is being produced with content creators in the creative community,” says David.

JacksGap
Influencer: A partner with a large subscriber base

One video project is in conjunction with JacksGap, a travel vlog directed by Jack Harries. David signed Harries to an exclusive development deal to produce three short films in locations where Marriott has a presence: New Orleans, Istanbul, and Tokyo. The films have wide audience appeal and are branded by Marriott. They are distributed on Jack Harries’ YouTube channel, which has more than 4 million subscribers.  He also writes about his “behind the scenes” experiences on his personal blog.

Interactive stories on Snapchat
Influencers: Celebrities who are popular on Snapchat who appeal to millennials

In an effort to attract younger travelers, Marriott has partnered with influencers, such as Shaun McBride and Casey Neistat, who appeal to millennials on Snapchat. As David explains in an article for Skift:

One of our targets is the next-generation traveler, or younger traveler. We’re partnering with storytellers who produce compelling stories and we’re the hero in the story enabling that story to be told. Snapchat is one of the biggest platforms young people use.

The program works like this: These hand-picked influencers travel to places with Marriott properties that were chosen by Snapchat users. They then document their journeys and share their experiences on both Snapchat and their personal platforms.

Image source

Year of Surprises
Influencer: Anyone who wants to honor a loved one

Whereas Marriott’s interactive stories on Snapchat are intended for a younger audience, its 12-episode series, Year of Surprises, is for Marriott Rewards Members. The program, which celebrated Marriott Rewards’ 30^th anniversary, asked that people nominate someone who deserves a special celebration. Marriott received more than 25,000 nominations.

Travel Brilliantly
Influencers: Those who stay at Marriott hotels

Another Marriott program, “Travel Brilliantly,” crowdsources ideas from its customers. The premise: They want travelers to provide ideas that Marriott can implement to make their stay brilliant.

The Navigator Live
Influencers: Musicians

The Navigator Live is a TV series that takes visitors behind the scenes with musicians who perform at Marriott’s Renaissance properties. The musicians also share their favorite spots in the cities in which they are staying.

Original short feature films
Influencer: An influential director

David’s most aggressive projects are the feature films — two thus far — that will have short theatrical runs, as well as being available on all screens, including in Marriott hotel rooms. The first, Two Bellman, has garnered more than 5 million views on YouTube. The latest, French Kiss, is a romance shot in and around Paris. It was developed to remind us that travel should inspire and delight, and it has been viewed more than 6 million times on YouTube since its launch in May 2015.

As David explained in a press release for the film:

French Kiss will propel our ‘3Cs’ strategy of producing entertaining and informative content that builds communities of people passionate about travel who will drive commerce to our company’s global portfolio of hotels.

Lessons from Marriott for working with influencers

One of the hardest things to do when outsourcing content development is to give up control and make it simpler for the influencers to produce. Yet by doing so, Marriott’s Content Studio has been able to publish and distribute content that delivers on its charter.

Ask the influencer to present a concept

Rather than dictating the topic and type of content you want from the influencers, let them come back to you with a concept that plays to their strengths and social credibility. That’s just what David did when he asked Malakai, the founder of Substance Over Hype, to give him an idea for the short film that became Two Bellman.

Keep editing from your side to a minimum

According to David, “Malakai is a passionate storyteller.” The script only went through one round of editorial review with Marriott. The Content Studio validated and trusted their talent, which gave Malakai the freedom of artistic expression.

Choose your influencers strategically

David searches for talent that is influential with Marriott’s large audience followings.

Examples include Jack Harries who directs JacksGap, a travel vlog that more closely resembles the efforts of a refined filmmaker. As mentioned above, his YouTube channel has nearly 4 million subscribers, which in turn offers a lot of visibility for Marriott. Other deals include superstars on Snapchat and other YouTubers with successful followings.

Make sure the influencers you choose not only have the type of audience you want to cultivate, but also have a knack for creating engaging content.

Don’t be shy of exclusive development deals

Once you find influencers who are adept at creating content that helps meet your goals, asking them for more of it under an exclusive agreement can be a worthwhile choice. For example, the content that has appeared on JacksGap has been so successful that David executed an agreement with Jack Harries for the production of three short films in countries with a Marriott presence.

Get coverage in all of your communities

David’s 3Cs strategy is focused on broad channel distribution, as well as the attention to detail required to create original and unique content for Marriott Rewards Members, its Travel Brilliantly initiative, and the platforms where its influencers have a presence, such as Snapchat. Make sure that the type of content your influencers create will be focused on what each community will find compelling.

Marriott’s David Beebe is a finalist for Content Marketer of the Year – and he is also presenting two sessions on Marriott’s Content Studio. The winner will be announced at Content Marketing World this September. Register today to hear who wins and expand your content marketing education with hundreds of expert speakers.

The post Marriott’s Influencer Marketing Program Breaks the Mold: A Look at Their Strategy appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

  I’ve seen far too many sales proposals, and I’ll admit 90% of them are a waste. Reason is simple: We don’t take the time to do them right. Reason we don’t take the time is we’re too busy scrambling to get them out, as we feel it’s what the customer wants. What gives us the right […]

Doing the unexpected is powerful.  When we unexpectedly surprise someone with a compliment, it makes them feel better than a compliment they were expecting. When we give someone a gift they weren’t expecting, the gift is that much more special. When we unexpectedly do something for someone, the impact is far greater than when it was expected.

Being unexpected is a force multiplier.  It increases the impact and value of any offer, deed, gift or engagement tenfold.

When we deliver the unexpected, it triggers people’s brains. It triggers a circuit called the ACC (Anterior Cingular Cortex) by telling it to take notice; this isn’t normal. When we are forced out of our expected patterns, we pay more attention and are more in tune to what’s happening. Being unexpected actually affects us physically.

Being unexpected in sales works. Selling is all about getting people to stop what they are doing and pay attention to us, our emails, our calls, our products, everything, yet most us do what everyone else does. We follow the same script. There is nothing unexpected about what we do or how we do it. We write boring emails that sound like everyone else’s. We leave boring messages that do nothing to catch our prospects off-guard. We send the same, expected thank you notes, which get lost in the stack of all the other boring thank you notes. We do very little to surprise our prospects when it comes to selling, yet surprising our buyers is exactly what we need to do.

If you want to get more of your buyer’s and prospect’s time, ask yourself how you can surprise them more. How can you catch them off guard? How can you deliver in ways they don’t see coming? How can your engagements surprise your customers, buyers, and prospects?

Don’t do what’s expected. Stop doing what everyone else is doing. Look for ways to make your customers or prospects say, “Whoa, I didn’t see that coming!” They’ll remember that.

 

Mobile marketing is a fairly new field with its very own lexicon and lingo. Becoming a mobile marketing master requires that you know the terms of the trade. From SoLoMo to SDKs, we’re detailing all the must-know pieces of mobile lingo to get you up to speed.

General Mobile Terminology

Web Apps. Applications that are accessible from the web – they don’t need to be downloaded (examples include HootSuite and Evernote). While websites cater to users who are simply browsing around the site, web apps are more task-oriented and help users meet specific objectives (such as scheduling social media posts for the upcoming week).

SoLoMo. SoLoMo is the abbreviation for Social, Local, Mobile – the perfect mobile-oriented triad. Use social elements and localization to create the perfect mobile app!

SDK. A Software Developer Kit (SDK) is a collection of tools for software developers. SDKs allow developers to create apps for specific platforms, and third-party SDKs can be installed into existing apps for analytics and marketing purposes.

Second Screen. Second screens are smartphones and tablets that an individual uses while simultaneously engaging with a larger screen (usually a TV). Common second screen activities are tweeting while watching a television show, or browsing Instagram on an iPad while watching a YouTube video on your desktop computer.

Jailbreaking. Jailbreaking is the practice of removing a phone’s hardware restrictions, allowing the user to make advanced changes and adjust settings that would normally be locked. Apple products are most commonly subjected to jailbreaking due to their rigid restrictions.

Unlocked. Unlocked phones are GSM phones that are not tied to any specific carrier and can be used with any cellular service carrier’s SIM card. GSM (Global System for Mobiles) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) are the two major radio systems used in cell phones. In the U.S., Sprint and Verizon use CDMA, while AT&T and T-Mobile (and the majority of carriers outside the USA) use GSM.

Wearable Tech. Wearable tech is technology that can be worn on your body, such as Google Glass or a smart watch.

iOS. The operating system developed by Apple and distributed for Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, etc.

Android. Android is the operating system developed by Google (and is currently the most popular mobile operating system available).

Mobile Analytics Terms

App Analytics. Analytics information as it pertains to your mobile app! Because apps are task-oriented and websites are information-oriented, you need to measure your app’s performance using mobile metrics (like users, sessions, etc.) Understanding your app analytics is key to developing an intelligent mobile marketing strategy that wins over users.

MAU. MAU stands for Monthly Active Users, concerning the number of users who are using your app in any given month. MAU is often a better metric for analyzing app performance because it counts users who download your app and actually used it. Only looking at the number of app installs completed doesn’t provide a great overview of your app’s success because some users will install your app but never open it. MAU is a much more helpful metric for measuring your app’s performance.

DAU. DAU stands for Daily Average Users – a metric measuring how many users open your app each day.

Click-Through Rate. Click-Through Rate (CTR) is the ratio of clicks your ad receives compared to the number of impressions (aka views) the ad receives. CTR = clicks / impressions. High CTRs are a huge deal for marketers (both mobile and web).

Conversion Rate. Your conversion rate is the percent of users who complete your desired goal. Conversion goals are different depending on your business – some apps want e-mail addresses, some want in-app purchases, and others want ad clicks.

NPS Surveys. NPS (aka Net Promoter Score) is a metric that measures your user’s level of loyalty. NPS surveys ask a user to rate your app on a scale of 1 – 10. Those rate your app with a 9 or 10 are considered “promoters,” those who rate you at 6 or below are “detractors,” and anyone who rates you a 7-8 are “passives.” You can use NPS surveys to decide which users you want to ask for app reviews. Promoters are super valuable – send them to the app store so that they can write a raving review of your app (which they adore)! Passives probably won’t bother taking the time to review you. Detractors could potentially burn you in the app store, so avoid directing them there when possible.

User Segments. Groups of users that share similar profile data or behavior.

Platform. The operating system users use on their mobile devices to access the web and your app. You’ll likely need to create different versions of your app for different device platforms.

Cohorts. A group of users that have completed a specific action within a specific time frame. Cohorts are different from segments because they use the added dimension of time. For example, one cohort could be users who downloaded your app in the month of June.

Time in App. How much time are users spending in your app? This mobile metric differs from session length in that you can see the time a user spent in your app within the last day, week, or month. This is a great indicator of how valuable users consider your app.

Sessions. Sessions occur whenever a user opens your mobile app.

Session Length. How long a user spends actively engaging with your app. Session length is typically counted from app open to app close (or until they navigate away from the app for more than 15 seconds).

Session Interval. The time between a user’s last session with your app, and their next session, reflecting how frequently users are returning to your app.

Screens. The app version of website pages, screens tell you how many different app screens a user explored during their session.

Screen Flow. Screen flow tracks how users move through your app (which screens did they visit and in which order?).

Events. Actions that a user takes in your app during a session. Examples of events include logins, video plays, in-app purchases, information entries, setting changes, etc.

Event Attributes. Event attributes provide more context around events. For example, the event “article read” could have attributes like “article title” or “article publish date.”

App Funnels. Funnels are sets of events that allow you to get a better sense of how users interact with your app and track key behavior paths. In other words, an app funnel is a series of connected in-app events that lead to the “ultimate” in-app action (like a purchase or social share).

Dimensions. Dimensions are pieces of session-level data that can be used as filters. Examples of dimensions are new vs. returning users, device type, or time dimensions (days, weeks, months).

LTV. Lifetime value (LTV) is the value your user delivers over the course of their entire lifetime engagement with your app. For apps, lifetime value can be a traditional monetary amount, or a form of data, like levels completed, articles read, notes taken, or images taken.

Mobile Marketing Terms

App Marketing. App marketing involves all efforts in earning (and keeping) app users. App marketing involves everything from promoting your app to drive installs, to improving your app’s UX and sending the right messages to keep users engaged.

ASO. ASO stands for App Store Optimization – the process of refining your app store listing page to improve your app’s visibility. Key elements of ASO include optimizing your app’s title, selecting relevant keywords, and earning high user reviews.

App Reviews. As discussed above, app reviews are an essential part of ASO. In both the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store, users can rate and review your app. These reviews have tremendous power, as new users will be much more likely to install an app that has received favorable reviews over an app with 2 or 3 stars.

App Versions. When you improve and update your app, you create a new version of your app that users must download in order to get access to the latest features or bug fixes.

App Monetization. App monetization is how you make money from your app. When it comes to earning that great green stuff, you have a few different options:

• In-app advertising (third-party apps advertising to your users).

• Charge for your app (users pay to download your app).

• In-app purchases (such an upgrade from a free to pro version with more features or a gaming app which allows you to buy levels or upgrades).

Want to learn more? Check out our larger, more in-depth post on app monetization strategies.

In-App Messaging. In-app messages are nurturing messages sent to users while they are actively using your app. In-app messages should be a natural part of the app experience because they highlight new features, offers, surveys, etc. These pop-up messages allow for more customization and design compared to standard push notifications.

Push Notifications. Push notifications are messages delivered to a user’s home screen (or lockscreen) when he or she is not actively using your app. These messages are intended to drive attention and traffic back to your app – for example, a push notification from Amazon about a limited-time lightening deal could be the gentle nudge that gets the user back into the Amazon shopping app for a purchase.

Banner Messages. These types of push notifications appear at the top of a user’s screen and disappear after a few seconds.

Alert Messages. Alerts are push notifications that take up prime real estate on a user’s screen and require action by the user. Alert messages are often associated with calendar and event-based apps.

Lock Screen Messages. The lock screen is the screen users see when they begin to engage with their phone, or “wake” the phone up from sleep mode. Lock screen alerts are another form of push notifications. Lock screen messages are similar to banner alerts in that they don’t require user action, and disappear when the user unlocks their phone.

Geotargeting. Targeting users based on their current location (whether by country, state, or street) and sending app messages relevant to where they are.

Mobile CRM. Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to strategies and tools used to manage interactions with customers, in hopes of improving retention and driving sales. A mobile CRM is focused specifically on managing your relationship with your app users.

User Behavior. The general term for what users are up to in your app.

App Store. Apple’s online store where iOS users can search for and purchase apps, which are then downloaded to their devices. The App Store is home to over 1.5 million apps for iOS users.

Google Play Store. Google’s version of the App Store, the one-stop shop for finding and downloading mobile apps, ebooks, music, video content, and more. The Google Play Store offers a selection of over 1.6 million apps to Android users.

CTAs. Call To Actions (CTA) are the directions you give mobile users, in hopes of spurring a conversion. Some common mobile CTAs could be “upgrade now” or, for mCommerce, simply “add to cart.” These CTAs can either be text only (for push notifications) or look like a button (for in-app messages).

mCommerce. It’s ecommerce – but for mobile! mCommerce apps are retail or shopping apps, focused on getting users to make product purchases via their mobile devices.

Opt-Out. When users choose to no longer receive push notifications from your app. To avoid getting unsubscribers, make sure you’re not spamming your users!

In-App Purchases. Purchases that users make from within your app. This can involve upgrades from the free to paid versions of your app, real money purchases used to obtain in-game currency, physical goods and services purchased within an app, etc.

Cross-Platform. Cross-platform apps can be used across multiple operating systems (for example, an app that is available for iOS, Android, and Windows phones).

Multi-Channel Marketing. Marketing that takes place across several avenues a user frequents. For example, a multi-channel marketing campaign might involve mobile app notifications, emails, and remarketing campaigns.

Personalization. The act of tailoring offers and messages to users based on their profile or previous actions in your app (and across your other marketing channels!)

A/B (or Multivariate) Testing. A/B testing is one of the cornerstones of online marketing, and it’s just as essential when dealing with mobile. A/B (or C/D/E) test multiple messages to see what resonates with users and what falls flat. For example, you can test different copy, colors, button sizes, offers, etc. to see which one drives the most clicks and conversions.

UX. UX refers to the overall user experience of someone using a mobile app. Developers and marketers should focus on creating an app that works smoothly, is well designed, and easy to use.

Geofencing. Geofencing uses GPS to create a virtual boundary or radius. Geofencing can be used to send app users offers or messages when they enter a certain range. For example, geofencing may be used to send an app user a coupon for 20% off hamburgers once they are within a half-mile radius of one of your brick and mortar stores.

That concludes our glossary of the mobile app terms you need to know for mobile marketing success. Did we miss anything? Add your favorite pieces of mobile lingo in the comments!

Let me make one thing clear from the get-go: When I write about C students, I’m writing from personal experience. Throughout high school and university I was squarely a B-/C+ earner. I never doubted that I’d conclude my academic experience with the piece of paper that I needed—which was, after all, my one and only goal—but I was also never in serious danger of becoming the valedictorian.

My middling-to-decent grades were not the result of laziness. I just had a lot of other things in my life. I worked constantly, and also wanted to explore sports and other interests. So while I wanted to do a passable job in school, I just didn’t have the time or the passion to make my schoolwork perfect. It was purely a matter of balance, not of academic apathy per se.

By contrast, my spouse made straight A+s throughout her academic experience, won a full scholarship to university, actually was valedictorian, and so on and so forth.

As I’ve mentioned before, my spouse would go on to enjoy a successful law career, and I’m of the mind that A students probably make the best attorneys—and, for that matter, the best physicians. When it comes to entrepreneurial instincts, though, I wonder if we C students aren’t the ones with the natural leg up.

Why do I see such entrepreneurial value in being a mediocre student? Because we C earners understand the difference between striving for perfection and striving for mere goodness.

And there’s something to be said for that. Entrepreneurs face new challenges each and every day, and striving for perfection every step of the way is frankly a recipe for burnout. Eventually, the burden of perfection will crush you. It’s just too much to bear. And when you fail, the self-abuse you inflict can be utterly dispiriting.

C students are not afraid to take on different things, to tackle new challenges as best they can, and to just see where the chips may land; they don’t beat themselves up when they don’t get an A, and they don’t spiral into self-doubt when they do a job adequately instead of perfectly.

They understand that there are only so many hours in the day and plenty of tasks that need to be done; some of these tasks may call for real precision, but others may be addressed with a “good enough” approach rather than a perfect one.

The C student mindset allows for freedom to explore different things, and to embrace failures as they come; the C student mindset is made for balance—and that’s something that entrepreneurs tend to need much more than they need perfection.

I thought I’d found the perfect computer bag. I’d bookmarked the site weeks ago, but continued my due diligence search before committing to it.

Now I was ready.

I went back to the site to buy the perfect computer bag (my research confirmed that it was) in my preferred color – green. Only this time when I visited the site, the green bag was on sale for $100 off.

None of the other colors – all the same bag – were on sale. Only the one color I wanted. My lucky day, right? I should have been thrilled.

I wasn’t. I was paranoid: What’s wrong with the green bag? Why is it the only one available at a discount? Is the color not true to the image? What’s wrong with it?!

I had to know. I emailed the bag designer to ask her what’s up with the green-only special pricing. She explained it was just an experiment. Sometimes she’ll put one color on sale to see how it goes.

It really was just my lucky day.

Her little psychological experiment didn’t cause any lasting trauma, but it did remind me that pricing is never simply a math question. Our psychological response to pricing influences our decision whether to buy as much as our budget.

When Psychological Triggers Collide

Many psychological triggers are tied directly to the prices themselves. Anchoring, for example, makes the actual price to be paid seem like a good deal by first presenting a higher price against which it gets compared.

In the SaaS world, anchoring often combines with another psychological approach to pricing, decoy pricing. Decoy pricing is when a company offers a product or service primarily to heighten the perceived value of another option: “I’m getting almost as much but for much less money!”

The typical SaaS offers anywhere between 3-5 pricing options with little expectation that the upper-end pricing plans will drive revenue. The higher priced plans are there to make the middle tier plans more attractive.

However, some of the psychology around pricing isn’t about boosting the perceived value relative to the cost, but about using the cost to boost the perceived value. This is the province of the luxury market.

In a study conducted by Stanford University, researchers gave subjects two glasses of the same wine to taste, but described each glass quite differently. Subjects were told that one glass was priced at five dollars, while the second glass (still the same exact wine) was priced at $45. Researchers found that the pleasure center of the subjects’ brains were more active when they drank the “more expensive” wine.

I don’t know if any of the subjects took themselves through a deliberate thought process that the more expensive wine must therefore logically be the higher quality wine (even though that’s not at all necessarily so). Regardless, what’s so interesting about this study is that their actual experience of the wine was enhanced by their perception it was more expensive.

This psychological pricing trigger is what fueled my concern at finding my computer bag on sale. Seeing the unexplained price reduction on a seemingly random criterion (color) triggered my response that something must be wrong with the quality of the green bag if it had to be priced lower than the other colors.

I was ready to abandon my decision to buy. It was only after getting a personal assurance directly from the designer that the quality of the green bag wasn’t in question did I buy it. (And I’m glad I did. It really is the perfect computer bag.)

So in just this short review of three pricing psychological triggers, and there are so many more, we see conflicting approaches. Is the only variable whether your product or service is in the luxury market?

What if you’re at the high-end of your market, but you’re not selling a luxury product?

You augment psychological triggers based directly on price and incorporate other emotional triggers that connect a prospect with your product or service.

Case Study: Increasing Revenue 65% by Creating an Emotional Connection

The field of online invitation and greeting card services is crowded. Anyone who wants to create an invitation for their event or a holiday card has has a multitude of options, many of them free.

So how does a high-priced online invitation platform get users to pay to use their system, especially when this service required payment upfront?

This was the challenge posed to the team at Conversioner, a firm that specializes in using emotional triggers to optimize conversions. Their client wanted to increase revenue, but wasn’t lowering their prices. Talia Wolf, founder and CEO of Conversioner, said that their research discovered that users of online invitation systems aren’t so interested in the platform itself.

Instead, users are more invested in the invitation as a preview to the event, as a tone-setter. No host wants the reputation of throwing boring parties. Talia explains,

“Rather than focusing on the product – custom online invitations – we focused on what the customer valued. ‘A great party starts with a great invitation.’ We wanted to give visitors the sense that creating an invitation with this software will ensure they’re planning a great event.”

The client couldn’t use the high price itself to convey value, like the wine sellers. And Conversioner’s research told them that focusing on platform features to justify the price wouldn’t work. Based on their research, they decided that one of the emotional triggers they should build into the landing page redesign was exclusivity; the feeling that users were creating something really special, that their event was special.

Taking a holistic approach to the redesign, Talia and her team dropped emotional triggers into the new landing page in a variety of ways.

Here’s the original page:

The changes made:

• Color: They chose purple as the dominant accent color since it taps into a variety of emotional responses they wanted to trigger. People associate purple as a “royal” color; it also inspires feelings of creativity and quality. All emotions this client wanted users to feel on its website.
• Image: They replaced the stream of invitation samples and used an image of a dog, often with a picnic basket, as the main image. The dog symbolizes playfulness and fun. The fresh lawn and picnic basket bring a sense of easiness, a lack of pretension. It tells the visitor that the atmosphere at their event won’t be forced, but will have a natural ease that their guests will enjoy.
• Copy: The original call-to-action on the button emphasized the wrong points. “It’s FREE – download now”

Since the goal was to increase revenue on a product priced at the high-end of its market, emphasizing “free” didn’t make sense. And “download” put the focus on the software, the product. Not the user.

Conversioner changed the CTA copy on the button to “Get Started.” This change shifted focus away from the fact that people had to download the software to use it – a pain point for users, and directed their focus on actually using it.

They also added an exit pop-up that was triggered when users moved their mouse off the page.

The pop-up expands the purple and includes text reiterating the sense of exclusivity and community: “Join the Club &Don’t Miss Out.”

The results of the landing page redesign was a 12 percent increase in downloads over one month, but more importantly – a 65 percent increase in revenue as well.

 

Remember, the goal wasn’t more downloads per se, but more people paying for a premium version of the software.

Talia says, “By turning our customer disadvantages into advantages, such as making ‘more expensive’ mean ‘more exclusive,’ we were able to differentiate the platform from its competitors and increase revenues.”

Here are a few more examples of landing pages using psychological triggers that don’t rely on justifying price:

The Peltzman Effect (or Risk Compensation)

This sign up page from Zendesk uses a common approach – the free trial. On a page with very little copy, it makes that point twice. It also uses its headline to promote an idea of safety: “From now on, things will be better.” It’s comforting, reassuring.

Usually, people advocate making a free trial offer because it builds trust. This is true. However, there’s another psychological trigger in effect here: the Peltzman Effect.

The Peltzman Effect.

Named after the economist Sam Peltzman, this principle holds that people who believe a risk level is low are willing to act in a riskier manner. Peltzman articulated this idea studying the effect of traffic safety regulations. He found that the regulations had no impact on the number of accident fatalities. Seat belt laws and the like protected the drivers, but they were driving more recklessly, which turned out not so good for cyclists and pedestrians.

Now in the case of safety regulations, incentivizing people to take more risk is an unintended consequence of making them feel safer. You can use it a deliberate tactic.

It makes sense for Zendesk to emphasize the safety and security of trying them out. Even more than a SaaS that provides an internal service, Zendesk is asking to be an interface directly between you and your customers – and customers by definition who may not be happy with you at the moment. That’s a lot to ask.

So paying money upfront is the least of the risks a company is taking when signing up for a customer service SaaS. The color scheme of Zendesk’s page reinforces the calming nature of its copy: the clean purity of white, the reassuring green, and an optimistic orange.

If there’s any doubt that Zendesk is trying to incentivize action by communicating low risk – the name of the company is “Zendesk” – it’s all good.

Playing to the Ego

As the cliché goes, flattery will get you everywhere. Here’s the above the fold copy on the signup page for Nimble, a CRM SaaS.

Do you see it? If not, you may not be Nimble’s target market. Their CRM is the “smarter” option, it provides “intelligence.” The color blue is also associated with intelligence.

Playing to the self-image of your market, even the aspirational version they have of themselves, can be highly motivating. People with high self-regard want to affirm their self-image. Nimble continues this theme with its bottom of the page copy as well:

In three lines of copy, each hits the same note with the words “smartly,” “intelligent,” and “smart.”

Now, compare the “You can be Nimble” font with that of “Try Nimble Free.” While the CTA button gets the standout color, the motivational words “You can be Nimble” are much larger and bolded.

Instant Gratification

Psychological triggers needn’t be complex. We’re hardwired to want what we want when we want it. Deferred gratification is a skill and a discipline; it must be learned and practiced. In the meantime, we still want we what we want.

Like the trust building approach of risk-free trials, emphasizing how quickly a visitor will gain a promised benefit is a high-conversion tactic. Let’s take a look at Pagewiz’s homepage:

Where the pain point may be fear of having to learn a complicated tool, the copy (“never easier”) and abstract image of a clock face deliver the message that using Pagewiz to build your landing page is fast and easy.

As you scroll down, that same message is made explicit:

No more abstractions. The image of clock and copy tell you directly that “You are literally minutes away…”

What does this mean for you?

Talia will be the first to say that visitors are never directed by just one emotional trigger. As you research your users to identify their motivations and concerns, the trick is to take a holistic perspective of the emotions that impact their buying decision.

Meaning, don’t approach the psychology of your pricing strategy as a standalone issue separate from the rest of your message. When you layer different psychological and emotional triggers relevant to your target market throughout your design and copy, you open up options to increase conversions and revenue – including supporting a higher price point.

What’s So ‘Big’ About Big Data?

In basic terms, big data refers to the enormous bank of information that organizations create and collect. To give a sense of scale, market research firm IDC estimates that the amount of data produced in 2014 was 1.7 megabytes every minute for every person on Earth.

But storing and processing big data is a decades-old practice, and visualizing that great dump of information only tells part of the story. What’s special about today’s big data is that it is largely ‘unstructured,’ which means that it isn’t in a specific database. So an organization’s emails, social media, business transactions, weather reports and balance sheets could all sit together in the same disordered set.

With modern analytics, that deep pool of data becomes an immensely powerful tool. Big data isn’t necessary for finding out the particular cost of an item on a retailer’s shelves, but using analytics, it could tell you how many of those items were bought by a certain type of customer under particular weather conditions, for example. The ability to cross-reference and make links in a sea of information is what truly empowers the data.

If It’s So Big, Why Can’t I See It?

Whether we’re aware of it or not, big data punctuates our lives every day. Wondering which series you might get through next on Netflix, which novel to pick up from Amazon, or which article to read next? So is big data. Using sophisticated algorithms, retailers and marketing firms can pick out and target individual preferences. And while data is often used in a sales context, its uses go far beyond that. The world’s biggest eCommerce platform Alibaba has used customer data to venture into the small business loan market, while Springwise-featured startup Beyond Pricing uses algorithms to find the optimum Airbnb price on any given day.

Beyond business-oriented applications, data could be used to save lives. Hospitals and medical practitioners are increasingly using intelligent devices to capture data from patients, with the rise in connected devices accounting in part for the huge increase in collected data. Nightingale, previously featured on Springwise, is one example of a healthcare platform using data to achieve concrete medical outcomes. The cloud-based app makes use of data analytics to support personalized treatment for children suffering from autism. At a broader level, by capitalizing on opportunities for data collection, the healthcare industry can isolate and target high-risk patients — and ultimately save lives.

In education, too, there are profound ways in which big data is making a difference. With insights on who’s graduating, what grades they’re achieving and what feedback they’re giving, education providers have a much deeper understanding of the individual student. The value of that insight is underlined by education publishing giant Pearson’s recent decision to acquire analytics startup Learning Catalytics in a bid to strengthen its personalized learning offerings. Alongside industry behemoths are startups such as Panorama Education, the data analytics company aiming to measure more abstract aspects of a student’s classroom experience – such as whether they feel safe or valued at school. Both Pearson and Panorama Education are demonstrating the increasing importance of analytics and data in improving educational outcomes.

Too Big to Fail?

This might seem like an unmitigated good news story: abundant data twinned with remarkable analytics represents an opportunity to improve the offerings of industries ranging from healthcare to eCommerce. But this new technology opens the door to a brighter future only if it can be supported by the technologies of the present. Infinite data can only save lives if there’s somewhere to store it. Insights can only be gained if we have the means to process them.

The most immediate concern for advocates of big data is how to store the vast amount of information that is constantly being gathered. The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that the digital universe will weigh in at a colossal 44 zettabytes of data by 2020, and where that data goes is a serious question. A recent report from Forrester research found 86% of surveyed businesses are already struggling with networks that aren’t up to the task of modern business demands. Existing IT infrastructure — which includes data centers, networks, workplace equipment, personnel and security — is inflexible, non-standardized and overloaded, presenting a significant stumbling block in the big data revolution.

Intelligent Solutions

This overstretching of IT capabilities, though debilitating, is by no means terminal. Making digital technology platforms more agile is not only possible, but the route to doing so is known. The answer is to create an intelligent infrastructure: one which uses automation wherever possible, has analytics and tracking embedded from the outset rather than tacked on as an afterthought and uses machine learning to heal and optimize itself.

The options for data storage are also improving. The gluttons of big data — Facebook, Google and Amazon — use hyperscale computing environments. These fight scale with scale, using a huge number of servers to process data. For smaller companies, options include cloud-based storage or software-defined networking.

The majority of businesses today are reliant on technology to reach their customers. When the infrastructure supporting that technology falters, so does the service. Upgrading IT systems will help organizations meet the demands placed on them by abundant data, make operations semi-autonomous, and help supply chains become far more resilient and responsive.

Go Big or Go Home

Big data is big business, and capitalizing on it requires a step up for most companies. But the technology is there, and innovation continues to rapidly augment the capacity of storage solutions. Looking at the organizations exploiting big data to its capacity — the likes of Google or Facebook — it’s not hard to see the benefits. It’s now time for smaller businesses to step up and begin reaping the rewards.

Providing constructive and consistent feedback is an important part of coaching your sales reps to success. Being an effective sales coach and understanding how to give productive feedback and drive success on your teams takes practice.

Opportunity reviews and sales calls are two areas where you can make a great impact as a sales coach. Here are some key questions to use in both of those areas that will help garner positive results:

Opportunity Questions to Ask

1. What stage of the buying process are we in?

Each stage may require different messaging and handling. Sellers should have a solid understanding of what buying stage they’re in.

2. What are the customer’s largest technical and business problems?

Understanding the business problem from the customer’s point of view is crucial to effectively communicating value.

3. What are the economic buyer’s top positive business outcomes?

The salesperson needs to understand the success factors for the key decision makers.

4. What are the technical buyer’s top required capabilities?

The technical buyer can stall a purchase before the decision is made if they don’t feel the solution will meet their needs. Sellers must maintain awareness of buying influencers at every level and adjust messaging accordingly.

5. Which of our differentiators are part of the decision criteria?

This question helps the salesperson maintain focus on the key elements that will drive the sale.

Sales Call Questions to Ask

1. What was the ratio of speaking to listening?

If your salespeople are doing most of the talking in their conversations, you have a great opportunity to coach them on better discovery.

2. Did they adjust their message to the buying audience?

Good listening should lead to audible-ready responses to the buyer’s stated needs.

3. Did they ask open-ended, two-sided Discovery Questions?

Good questions lead to better understanding of the buyer, and therefore a better ability to meet their needs.

4. How well did the salesperson implicate pains and uncover requirements before discussing solutions?

This is a critical component in order to create and capture value for the customer.

5. How well did the salesperson attach solutions to the buyer’s biggest business problems?

Being able to synthesize customer insight and attach a differentiated solution to the buyer problems will help drive the sale and preserve margins.

 

In many businesses, closing deals gets a lot of attention, and acquisition and conversion rates are sometimes all that’s ever talked about. But did you know that there is another way to boost your bottom-line profits that is much more cost-effective? A smart customer retention strategy that embraces message personalization, rewards, customer recognition, and tactics to turn each and every one of your customers into brand advocates and maximize upselling can be game-changing for your business.

Your business can only profit from happy returning clients that absolutely adore buying from you, so let’s look at some of the most up-to-date customer loyalty marketing tips and trends explained by social media influencers.

Using social media analytics tool Talkwalker, we found the top 10 most viral articles about customer loyalty published in July.

1. Develop long-term relationships with social media fans, says Ravi Shukle

#1: Personalize the Fan Experience
#2: Offer Rewards
#3: Surprise Fans and Customers
#4: Listen to Your Customers
#5: Know Your Product
#6: Follow Up With Fans
#7: Cultivate Trust
#8: Share Your Values

Our own tip: Use the right social media listening tool for all feedback detected as negative about your product and service.

2. Reward your customers, says Belle Beth Cooper

#1: All the world’s a game—stickers, badges and pins
#2: Digital discounts: Online-only offers
#3: And the winner is… Content-creation competitions
#4: Say cheese: Involving your customers in advertising and promotions
#5: Hand ’em over: Collecting suggestions and ideas
#6: Gracias, Merci, Danke, Xiexie: Thank you goes a long way!

3. Learn from top brands, says Kandice Linwright

#1: Embrace Your Brand Advocates
#2: Provide Exceptional Customer Service
#3: Show Additional Uses for Your Product
#4: Address Customer Concerns Publicly

4. Give your customers more than they expect, says Leonard Kim

If you go the extra mile, this will encourage your customers to:

#1: Become a loyal client for as long as your business exists
#2: Share their experience of why they are happy with your company
#3: Advocate on your behalf and spread the word

Our own tip: Make use of social media analytics to measure and report on your customers’ endorsement impact.

5. Investing more time and marketing dollars in cultivating customer retention, says Jerry Jao

#1: Build trust
#2: Add real value
#3: Don’t be afraid to show your personality
#4: Listen attentively
#5: Surprise and delight your customers
#6: Build loyalty
#7: Don’t skimp on customer service

6. Turn repeat customers into brand advocates with smart newsletters, says Chris Syme

#1: Give out information your customers need for free
#2: When you demonstrate generosity, people are drawn to your brand
#3: Use social media to connect with your customer’s needs
#4: Value your repeat customers

7. Wow your current customers and they will help you by referring their friends, says Heidi Cohen

#1: Supply new customers with the help they need to use your product
#2: Offer your prospects a trial
#3: Introduce your customers to each other
#4: Try to turn negative customer experiences into positive ones
#5: Recognize returning customers
#6: Ask for referrals

Our own tip: plug your social media tool to your CRM for a powerful customer relations strategy.

8. Ensure visitors not only stay on your site, but return for more, says Nadav Shoval

#1: Develop user generated content
#2: Create a social experience
#3: Gear your website for the needs of a mobile user
#4: Try segmenting your users and developing content unique to each segment

9. Implement a loyalty rewards program, says Paul Chaney

#1: Begin with the end goal in mind
#2: Determine the target audience
#3: Make the program ROI-positive
#4: Offer programs that customers already use
#5: Promote the program with email, social media and mobile technology

10. Deliver truly effective 1:1 personalisation, says Cassie Lancellotti-Young

Lancellotti-Young insists on the importance of building long term customer value, for the following reasons:

#1: It can cost anywhere between five and seven times more money to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one
#2: Game-changing insights can be found with predictive modelling and analytics
#3: Brands that have applied predictive modelling to personalisation have seen as much as 95% of revenue coming from just 5% of customers
#4: Customer retention can be used to optimise the acquisition mix
#5: The use of retention data to inform and optimise acquisition strategies can drive down the cost to acquire and add customers that are more valuable to the brand

Image Credits: Designed by Freepik

The post Proof that Stories Can Increase the Value of Even ‘Worthless’ Items appeared first on Copyblogger.

The first sign of a full-blown crisis is when the government tries to ban short-selling, and China is no exception.

Short-sellers borrow stocks and immediately sell them off, reasoning they can buy them back at a lower price in the future and pocket the difference.

But their negative bets put downward pressure on stock prices.

The US, along with most of the world, tried a short ban in 2008, when the stock market was melting down. Europe followed with a short ban on some credit derivatives and bank shares as its sovereign debt crisis exploded in 2010 and 2011.

And now it's China's turn to halt short-selling as its share indices plunge. The country unveiled rules that make it harder for speculators to profit from hourly price changes, as some of the nation's major brokerages suspended their short-selling businesses.

Studies of these bans show that although they can inflate some prices briefly, they can't hold up the whole market.

Here's a chart from the New York Fed showing what happened in 2008:

Policymakers often regard  short-sellers as malicious because they profit from a market downturn while the buy-and-hold crowd lose out, so they try to get rid of them. 

But banning them can damage investor confidence in the market (because it becomes harder to tell what a stock is really worth), reduce liquidity and push up trading costs, encouraging people to get out while they still can.

Here's a graph from a 2011 academic paper that shows the difference in bid-offer spreads between Australian stocks that had a short selling ban imposed, and the same stocks in Canada, that didn't have a ban.

The measure is used to calculate how easy it is for buyers and sellers to interact in a market. The higher it is, the harder it is to trade, and the less liquid the market. The blue line represents the stocks with the ban in place, and it stays higher even after the ban is lifted. 

A bid-offer spread is the difference in price between what the highest bidder will buy at and what the lowest seller will sell at. If the spread is wide it indicates that the market is illiquid, making it harder for buyers and sellers to find others willing to do a deal at the price they want.

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I recently accepted a cold call from an insurance guy because I was thinking of switching providers. Instead of facilitating my buying decision, the bias in his questions terminated our connection:

TODD: Hello Ms. Morgen. I’m Todd with XYZ. Are you interested in new car insurance?

SDM: I am.

TODD: Is your main concern lowering your costs?

SDM: No.

TODD: You don’t care about saving money?

SDM: Of course I do.

TODD: So your main concern IS lowering your costs?

SDM: No.

TODD: So what is it?

SDM: I’m interested in a personal connection, in knowing that if I have an accident I will be handled by someone who will take care of me.

TODD: I can promise you I’ll take care of you. My clients love me. Do you want to discuss how much you’ll save?

And, we were done.

Good sellers and coaches pose better questions than Todd’s, of course. But the conversation exemplifies how a Questioner’s biased questions can significantly influence outcomes.

THE BIAS INHERENT IN QUESTIONS

Questions restrict answers to the assumptions and biases of the Questioner; Responders respond within the limits set by the question. Asking someone “What did you have for breakfast?” won’t elicit the answer “I bought a lamp.” Even questions that attempt to open a dialogue, like “What can you tell me about the problem?” or gather data, like “Who’s in charge of decision making?” merely elicit top-of-mind responses that my not effectively represent – and indeed might cloud – the issue. Biased question; biased answer.

Sometimes questions are so biased and restricted that the real answer might get overlooked. ‘Do you prefer the red ball or the blue ball?’ excludes not only the green ball, but a preference for a bat, or a discussion about the Responder’s color blindness. But a question such as: ‘What sort of a game implement could be easily carried and engage all employees?” might elicit a response of a ball or marbles or Monopoly and include more team members.

Most questions pull or push the data sought by the Questioner, making it difficult to know if

• the communication partners make the same assumptions;
• the wording of the question is ideal;
• a better answer exists outside the limits of the question;
• the question encompasses the full set of possible responses.

What if the best answer is outside of the framework of the question? Or the question isn’t translated accurately by the Responder? Or there is an historic bias between the Questioner and Responder that makes communication difficult?

FACILITATIVE QUESTIONS

Questions can be used to facilitate choice, to lead Responders to new options within their own (often unconscious) value system, rather than as set ups to the Questioner’s self-serving objectives. Using a Facilitative Question, the above dialogue would sound like this:

TODD: Hi Ms. Morgen. I’m Todd, an insurance agent with XYZ Corp. I’m selling car insurance. Is this a good time to speak?

SDM: Sure.

TODD: I’m wondering: If you are considering changing your insurance provider, what would you need to know about another provider to be certain you’d end up getting the coverage and service you deserve?

The question – carefully worded to match a Responder’s criteria for change – shifts the bias from Todd’s self-serving objectives to enabling me in a true discovery process; from his selling patterns to my buying patterns. How different our interaction would have been if his goal was to facilitate my buying decision path rather than using his misguided persuasion tactics to sell.

I developed Facilitative Questions decades ago to enable any Questioner to facilitate someone’s route to congruent change. With no manipulation or bias, they require a different form of listening, wording, and objectives, thereby avoiding resistance and encouraging trust between sellers, coaches, consultants and their clients.

Take a look at your own questioning strategy to see if they might work for you:

*How are your questions perceived by your Responders? How do you know? What’s your risk?

*How do your questions address a unique Responder’s decision criteria?

*How do your questions bias, restrict, enhance, or ignore possibilities?

*What criteria to you use to choose the words to formulate questions?

*To ensure any new skills would work effectively with your successful skills, what would you need to know or consider before adopting additional question formulation skills?

Remember: your innate curiosity or intuition may not be sufficient to facilitate another’s unconscious route to change – or buy – congruently. You can always gather data once the route to change is established and you’re both on the same page. Change the goals of your questions from discovering situations you can provide answers for, to facilitating real core change. Before buyers or clients will work with you, they have to do this for themselves anyway. You might as well do it with them and create a trusting relationship.

____________

Sharon Drew Morgen is the NYTimes Business Bestselling author of Selling with Integrity and 7 books how buyers buy including Dirty Little Secrets, why buyers can’t buy and sellers can’t sell. She is the developer of Buying Facilitation® a decision facilitation model used with sales to help buyers facilitate pre-sales buying decision issues. She is a sales visionary who coined the terms Helping Buyers Buy, Buy Cycle, Buying Decision Patterns, Buy Path in 1985, and has been working with sales/marketing for 35 years to influence buying decisions.

More recently, Morgen is the author of What? Did You Really Say What I Think I Heard?  in which she has coded how we can hear others without bias or misunderstanding, and why there is a gap between what’s said and what’s heard. She is a trainer, consultant, speaker, and inventor, interested in integrity in all business communication. Her learning tools can be purchased: www.didihearyou.com. She can be reached at sharondrew@sharondrewmorgen.com  512 771 1117  www.didihearyou.com; www.sharondrewmorgen.com

In everyday negotiations, the way you frame your proposal may be just as important as the product or services you're offering.

That's the takeaway from recent research, which suggests that you should emphasize what you're giving the other person as opposed to what they're losing. That way, your partner will be more likely to concede.

The study, conducted by researchers at Leuphana University and Saarland University in Germany, tested this phenomenon in a range of hypothetical settings, including buying and selling used appliances and bargaining for fruit.

In one experiment, 87 participants were divided into "buyers" and "sellers" and were asked to rate proposals they received from a simulated negotiation partner.

In some cases, they received offers (e.g. "The seller offers the refrigerator for a price of €160," or, "The buyer offers a price of €160 for the refrigerator"). In other cases, they received requests (e.g. "The seller requests a price of €160 for the refrigerator," or, "The buyer requests the refrigerator for a price of €160").

Results showed that both buyers and sellers were more likely to concede when they focused on what they were going to gain from the negotiation (offers), in contrast to what they were going to lose (requests).

In a release, study co-author Roman Trötschel, Ph.D., offered advice to salespeople based on his findings: "Saying: 'I'll give you my car for 9,000 Euros,' draws the attention of your opponent on your car — which is what they can gain."

On the other hand, if you say, "I want 9,000 Euros for my car," you unintentionally "emphasize the resource they would lose in case a deal is struck, namely the money he needs to shell out for the car," Trötschel said.

The same idea applies in negotiations that don't involve money. In another experiment, the researchers had kids frame proposals in different ways when trading collectible cards. Sure enough, the kids were more likely to concede when their partner highlighted the cards they would gain, instead of the ones they were giving away.

You could reasonably use this strategy when petitioning your boss for a pay raise. Instead of leading with a request for a salary adjustment and emphasizing what your company is going to lose (money), start by highlighting what they're going to gain (your increased effort at your job).

You might say something like: "I've been spearheading this client project all year, and I'm planning to tackle the next one, too. I feel that a 10% raise is warranted."

Ultimately, whether you're trying to score a pay bump or sell a used bike, it's less about tricking your negotiation partner and more about getting them to see things from a different perspective.

SEE ALSO: Here's when crying can actually help you win a negotiation

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Twenty years ago, companies still ran off an old school model. Email and websites were new concepts, so most business was done the old fashioned way. Billboards, Yellow Pages, TV commercials, and word of mouth were what you had to generate leads.

Fast forward to 2015. Businesses big and small now have the internet at their disposal. Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, Yelp reviews, search engine results, YouTube campaigns, FourSquare, online surveys with promises of rewards or discounts -- all these can help businesses thrive and grow.

One of the most digitally androgynous forms of business obtained online is the lead generation movement. A customer tweet, a newsletter enrollment, an inquiry on a product via contact form – all are leads that you can cultivate into a sale.

While some companies hire telemarketers or do heavy advertising to create leads for their company, others are able to thrive through organic growth. Having an in-house social media team or employing a website with an automated visitor chat feature are two valuable ways to keep it all in the family, so to speak, when generating leads.

The internet lead is the most valuable, yet volatile, form of business you will get. This is an instant gratification society, and the internet is a double edged sword in that regard. 

According to a study from Harvard Business Review on the topic of lead response times, close to half of companies audited took more than a day to respond to online leads -- or they never responded at all! Two days emerged as the typical length of time it took the companies to respond.

But two days is an awfully long wait in internet time. The sooner your company can respond to an inbound lead, the better.

As an example, think about someone who puts in an application to get a loan. Calling them back immediately will garner a good result (if they pick up, that is). As a rule of thumb, the best time frame to call an inbound lead is within five minutes of the submission.

Why? The prospect is likely still available to take a call. And note also that I said "call," not "email." While you could email them just as fast, that message will likely be lost in the shuffle. Think about it from the prospect's point of view: Hearing a human call them about something they want while they were just thinking about it is powerful instant gratification.

Calling will reassure the buyer that you are there for them. But what should you actually say during this conversation? The best approach is to ask if you can answer any questions. If they suddenly get cold feet, ask them about their concerns to subdue them. Even if you still get that dreaded “no thank you,” ask if you may schedule time to call them back a few months down the line. 

However, five minute response times won't be realistic for every company, and that's okay. The best results in the Harvard study were achieved by companies that got back to customers within an hour. The data showed that it is seven times more likely the lead will become a client when a response comes within an hour of the customer’s inquiry. The companies in the study that took a day or longer to respond were 60 times less likely to generate a client versus those that acted within an hour.

The lesson here is that it's best to jump on leads ASAP. Ultimately, your marketing approach is your choice. But just remember that ignoring an inbound lead is like ignoring a ticking time bomb. The sooner you respond to it, the better.

There is no one magic formula for outbound sales success. There is no silver bullet subject line that will make everyone open your email. There is no best time to call a prospect.

Yet sales professionals are in a constant search for an elixir. To be honest, that was me at one point, too. However, with a proven system and some guidance, you can discover the follow up strategy that works best for you.

There are a lot of resources out there for identifying and creating your ideal client profile. Numerous posts have been written about creating a targeted leads list. There are hundreds of templates for your initial outreach emails.

That’s all great, but now it’s time to tie all of this together in a broader outbound sales strategy.

When creating your outbound strategy, you need to take into account four considerations:

1. Number of touchpoints
2. Outreach channels
3. Time between touchpoints
4. Content of touchpoints

1) Number of Touchpoints

Often times, sales reps will stop reaching out after two or three attempts. The rep thinks “I just gave them my best pitch. If they don’t buy now, I don’t know when they’re going to buy.”

But this is a mistake. The reality is that sales take time, especially big ticket deals. Much of the sales process hinges on where the prospect is in their buying journey, and there’s no real way to know with 100% certainty.

So how many times should you follow up?

Much research (and debate) has been devoted to this topic. While there’s no golden rule and you should find what works best for you, the general consensus among experts is seven or more touches. Here’s one thing that we know for sure: Persistence wins.

Of course, this isn’t the only piece of the equation. Even if there was such a thing as the perfect number of touches -- let's say it is in fact seven -- reaching out this number of times at the wrong intervals through the wrong channels or with the wrong message will doom your campaign.

Let’s look at the other pieces of an effective outbound sales strategy.

2) Outreach Channels

Email isn’t the only way to follow up. Pairing email with phone calls and social media outreach is usually a winning strategy. One effective practice is calling and immediately sending a follow up email.

If you really want to get on the prospect's radar without being a nuisance, add social media to the mix by favoriting a prospect’s tweet and then following them an hour later. When they follow you back, you can then send a direct message via Twitter.

You can use a similar approach on LinkedIn. Comment or "like" a post your prospect has written. However, stay away from Facebook and Instagram interactions. These channels are personal environments and not appropriate for sales talk.

3) Time Between Touchpoints

At what cadence should you check in with prospects? I recommend being a little more persistent early on, then tapering off if the buyer hasn't responded. We’ve seen great results sending the second touch a day or even 12 hours after the first. 

Forget about those reports and articles about “the best day to send emails.” Have you noticed they always change? One authority comes out and says Wednesdays at 3 p.m. are the best time of the week to send emails. Then, everyone start sending at that time. Guess which day is now a terrible time to send an email?

Here is an example of a cadence that we’ve found works well:

• Day 1: Call and email
• Day 2: Email and Twitter
• Day 3: Twitter
• Day 5: Email and LinkedIn
• Day 7: Email
• Day 10: Call and email
• Day 17: Email and Twitter
• Day 21: LinkedIn
• Day 28: Call and email

The days are going to vary a little depending on who you’re trying to reach. For instance, people lower on the corporate totem pole often don’t check their email during weekends. However, if you’re starting at the top, then you can follow this calendar to the day. Most directors and VPs check their email every day of the week, and at nearly every hour. We’ve even seen great results from sending emails to VPs at 5:30pm on a Friday!

4) Content of the Touchpoint

The content of your email is largely going to determine if you come across as an annoying pest or a persistent businessperson. Starting each successive touch with “just checking in” or “just following up” gets old fast.

Don’t be boring. Have a little personality. Here are four touchpoint content guidelines to follow:

1. Reemphasize business value. It’s all about what you can do for the prospect. Find a way to show them value. Talk to their pain points.
2. Offer insights. Again, make it about them and their benefits. It could be sharing a different way to approach their problems or a novel idea for how they can reach goals.
3. Educate. Don't pitch in your follow ups. Instead, offer a piece of valuable content, whether it’s a whitepaper, ebook, webinar recording, case study, etc.
4. Share news. Why do you think social media is so addictive? One reason is that people want to stay up on news. They don’t want to miss out on anything. Follow up with prospects by sending them relevant industry news, product updates, or competitive announcements.

Putting it All Together

Now that we have all the pieces of a successful outbound sales strategy, it’s time to start executing. Decide on a number of touchpoints. Vary the mediums you use to reach out. Assign a schedule to your touchpoints. Finally, decide on and create the content.

You can make all of these decisions in less than 20 minutes. Decide on your strategy, measure your performance, iterate, and improve.

On April 8, 2011, Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS shoes, did something radical: He asked everyone to go barefoot for a day.

One Day Without Shoes is now a yearly campaign dedicated to educating the world of how many children in developing countries grow up barefoot and without shoes, putting them at risk of infections and diseases.

TOMS already donates one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes it sells. This year, the company took it one step further. For every photo of bare feet tagged on Instagram, they gave a new pair of shoes to a child in need. At the end of the campaign, 296,243 photos were tagged—and the same number of shoes were pledged to children in the developing world.

Mycoskie understood the power of a good story. By making his customers a part of the narrative, he was able to make a much larger difference than if TOMS had simply donated the shoes without a social media campaign.

Every brand, every company, and every person has a story to tell, and visual storytelling is a very effective way of sharing your brand’s message and engaging with your customers.

I’ve uncovered some imaginative ways brands are using pictures to tell compelling stories that generate engagement on Facebook.

Storytelling in Marketing – Why Tell a Story?

We’re wired to respond to stories

Everyone loves a good story. A recent study conducted by Adaptly, Facebook, and Refinery29, found that campaigns on Facebook that told a brand’s story—they call it “sequenced content” here—before asking people to buy something were far more effective than those that focused immediately on making the sale.

In order to remember something, we first need to pay attention

We’re all overloaded with messages that reach us from every phone, tablet, or computer that we touch. It’s easy to quickly dismiss information that’s not relevant to us or that we don’t personally care about.

Storytelling makes information relevant. It makes us care.

As Paul J. Zak, Director of the Center of Neuroeconomics at the Claremont Graduate University, writes on the Harvard Business Review blog:

We discovered that, in order to motivate a desire to help others, a story must first sustain attention—a scarce resource in the brain—by developing tension during the narrative. If the story is able to create that tension then it is likely that attentive viewers/listeners will come to share the emotions of the characters in it, and after it ends, likely to continue mimicking the feelings and behaviors of those characters. This explains the feelings of dominance you have after James Bond saves the world, and your motivation to work out after watching the Spartans fight in 300.

This also explains why we respond to struggles more easily when we identify with the people who have endured them. If your fans view your brand and the people behind it as similar to them, they’re much more likely to trust you and continue to engage with you.

How to Tell Your Brand’s Story Through Facebook Images

1. Share “behind the scenes” photos

We’re curious beings. As marketers, we can satisfy this innate human curiosity by involving our readers and customers and showing them what happens behind the scenes of our businesses.

Zappos.com does this particularly well by sharing team photos and by having employees pose with the brand’s products.

2. Highlight your customers’ successes

When in doubt, focus on your customer.

In a recent Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs study, B2B content marketers reported that case studies in their campaigns led to a 70% effectiveness rate.

Case studies also act as powerful social proof that allow your fans and users to experience the journey of your product or service through another person’s story.

An excellent example is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s Facebook page, where the stories of current and former patients are shared almost on a daily basis.

3. Ask your customers to share their photos

We love photos of faces. We love sharing things about ourselves to feel more connected to the rest of the world. Viewing photos of others even helps us make better decisions.

As marketers, it’s easy to incorporate all three of those benefits by asking readers to share their own photos, especially of themselves interacting with our brands.

Sharpie does this in several creative ways, including a “Fan of the Week” feature that highlights a Sharpie user along with a work of art they’ve created using a Sharpie.

4. Have your photos reflect current events

After the Supreme Court of the United States ruled last month that state bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, brands all over the world, including here at Buffer, changed their profile images on Facebook to rainbow colors as a show of solidarity and support.

This, as it turns out, is a very good idea for increasing Facebook engagement. If your fans are talking about certain social or news events already,try joining in the conversation as a brand.

Indian cooperative Amul does this particularly well in their Facebook feed by posting cartoons that are directly related to something in the Indian or world news. The cartoons are branded incredibly well with recognizable characters from Amul’s marketing campaigns and always have a funny or clever twist on the event.

5. Showcase your successes

When you showcase your successes, you make users feel like a part of your company.

As human beings, we need to belong. Research shows, in fact, that belonging is fundamental to our sense of happiness and well being.

Water.org creates this sense of belonging and shared victory perfectly on its Facebook page by highlighting the difference its work—and its fans’ charitable dollars—have made in the lives of real people around the world.

6. Showcase your work/product in creative ways

Science suggests that human beings are biologically wired to like art. In a study in Brain and Cognition, the authors write:

“Art appreciation may be a natural process of the human brain, such that looking at visual works organically triggers memory, emotions like pleasure or fear, and processes that allow people to attribute meaning to new information they absorb.”

If you can create images that are creative or artistic in nature, you can engage your users and have their brain synapses firing away to make your brand more memorable and interactive. Nutella does this extremely well by placing a jar of Nutella in fun and creative settings.

7. Use hashtags

When it comes to Facebook, hashtags aren’t always a good idea. But brands such as Oreo have found that by using popular hashtags sparingly around current events or trends, it’s easier to be found and become a part of the conversation that users are already having.

8. Add inspirational quotes to your images

When it comes to inspirational quotes, there’s good news and bad news.

The good news is that you can get some likes fairly quickly, especially if you’re a new brand, and the message of positivity will often resonate with your fans.

The challenge is that we’ve been so inundated with quotes and inspirational sayings on pictures that their effectiveness has all but disappeared.

Penguin Random House gets over this little hurdle by sharing motivational images that are related to an author or the writing/reading life in some way. Often, they share something funny and relevant, which make their inspirational images extremely likeable and shareable.

9. Share your history and milestones

Some of IBM’s most liked and shared posts are those that go back in time and show how technology has advanced in the years since. By reflecting on your brand’s history and past successes and failures, you can make your users feel connected to you and create an emotional connection.

10. Make it personal

If you want a true connection with your fans and followers, open up your heart to them, like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg did after the death of her husband, in a post that went viral and inspired countless women to share their own stories.

When you allow your customers to see the strengths and the weaknesses, the highs and the lows of yourself and your brand, you create a connection with them on a basic human level and create fond associations with your brand.

Brands That Are Doing it Right: 5 Fantastic Examples

While storytelling appeals to our basic core, visual storytelling has an even greater impact—images engage with us not just on an intellectual, but also an emotional level.

Brands have quickly caught on to this fact and are using images in some very clever and creative ways to engage with their users and customers and create brand recollection and trust.

Here are some of my favorite examples. Do they give you any ideas that you can use on your own Facebook page?

1. Threadless: Creating Community

Threadless is a t-shirt company that has become immensely popular due to its community building and support of creative artists. On its Facebook page, designers are invited to take part in themed T-shirt designing competitions and Facebook fans then vote on the best designs. The winning T-shirts are created and sold by Threadless.

Why It Works: Designers love Threadless because they can come up with creative designs and be paid for them if they win. Customers get to vote on their favorite T-shirts and feel like they have a say in what’s being offered to them. And Threadless itself has created a community on Facebook that feeds itself, leading to a lot more interaction, word of mouth, and additional sales.

2. Nike: Inspiring Fans To Achieve More

With its tagline “Just Do It” Nike has been able to reach and inspire people from around the world. In keeping with its inspirational theme and motivational messaging, the company uses its Facebook page to create images that inspire to action.

Why it works: Nike’s branded images with the “Just Do It” slogan reach people who like to challenge themselves physically and who identify with the messages in these pictures.

3. Easy Lunch Boxes: Quick, Shareable Hacks for Parents

Anyone who’s ever had to pack a lunch for a child knows that you tend to run out of ideas fast. The Easy Lunch Boxes Facebook page has hundreds of lunch ideas for little ones, neatly packed into an Easy Lunch Box. What’s better—these pictures often come from bloggers who’ve used Easy Lunch Boxes and have new ideas to share.

Why It Works: These images work because they provide value to busy moms and dads who routinely struggle with ideas on how to keep their kids’ lunches healthy but creative. The product—the Easy Lunch Box—is always a main feature in these pictures, but never steals the show. It’s a fantastic way to show off the product without being overly salesy.

4. Fanta: Clever Contests that Boost User Engagement

On Fanta’s Facebook page, fans engage with the pictures in a completely new way: Through clues and contests. The images on this page are designed to create intrigue—users click away to Fanta’s website, where there are details of the contest and additional ways to interact with the brand.

Why it works: The images are bright and immediately visually appealing while also creating brand recollection instantly. The call to action is very subtle—built into the contest itself—but it’s powerful nonetheless.

5. Macy’s: Image Collections That Showcase Products

Macy’s Facebook page is packed full of images, offers, and apps. One of its most popular features is its collection of different items that feature in a set. Macy’s features these items with a link to the purchase page where they can be easily ordered.

Why it works: Macy’s takes the guesswork out of shopping by putting together like items for you to buy in a single click. These generates a lot of likes and shares, but also leads to sales of items that are featured as a result of a special sale, coupons, or current events.

Over To You

How do you use images on your Facebook page?

I’d love to hear about how you use your Facebook page, what images work best for you, and any experiments you’ve had success with.

Feel free to share your experiences in the comments or post links to other creative images and experiments you’ve seen on Facebook pages that we can all learn from.

I’ve blogged in the past about the challenge many companies have with closing inbound leads. We see it all the time here at Quintain. There are lots of companies that have been successful with inbound marketing. Their website traffic is steadily increasing, they’re pulling in lots of new leads, and the numbers look great – that is, until you look at the bottom of their sales funnel and realize they aren’t closing those leads. If you look harder, you might even find they aren’t actually working the leads.

These aren’t lazy or disorganized companies, so what is going on here? Sometimes we hear from sales teams that inbound leads just aren’t good. Other times we hear that there is no effective process in place to notify sales when a lead converts. And then other times, salespeople are contacting the leads but they’re not closing deals.

In most cases, it all boils down to one common problem. Prospective customers have changed the way they buy and in response, the company has changed the way it is marketing, but what they haven’t changed is the way they are selling. Why? Getting experienced sales people to change their behavior – the way they sell – is incredibly difficult, and maintaining that behavior change over long periods of time is even harder.

An easier solution is to simply hire people with the right behaviors and skill sets in the first place. There are lots of estimates about the true cost of a bad sales hire, and almost all of the ones I’ve seen are well into the six figures. Regardless of the exact amount, there is no denying that hiring the wrong person is costly. Not only will you waste money on salaries and training, you incur huge opportunity cost due to deals that don’t close.

So how do you hire an inbound sales rep that will be successful? It all starts with an understanding of the traits necessary for success, and then testing your candidates to see if they possess those traits.

Here at Quintain, we use the Objective Management Group’s Sales Assessment to evaluate potential sales reps for both ourselves and our clients. It’s an incredibly effective tool that has been proven to get great results. Whereas only 28% of salespeople hired without an assessment are found to be effective, a whopping 92% of those hired as a result of the OMG assessment are typically within the top half of their sales teams within one year of being hired. Pretty impressive, right?

The OMG assessment helps us evaluate sales candidates against 21 core competencies that are needed for successful inbound sales reps. These are traits that are necessary regardless of the products or services you are selling. They are broken down into four categories:

• The will to sell
• Sales DNA
• Tactical skill sets
• Ability to use systems and strategies

Here’s what each of these involves…

The Will To Sell

Measuring a salesperson’s willingness to sell takes into account four components. The first is whether they have a strong commitment for sales success. Are they willing to do whatever it takes to succeed? Many salespeople are conditionally committed, meaning that they’ll only do what it takes if it’s not too difficult or scary. For example, some salespeople don’t like to make phone calls, even if they get an inbound lead who has essentially raised their hand and said “call me.” They might agree in principle that a phone call makes sense, but they’re more comfortable reaching out by email and tend to default to that unless pushed.

The next trait that indicates a willingness to sell is a strong desire for sales success. How badly a person wants to succeed in sales is very important. When you lack strong desire, your incentive to do the hard work isn’t as strong.

Outlook is also important. It encompasses your attitude about the company, your job, your career, and yourself even in your personal life. When your outlook is not as strong as it could be – and that is often the case when someone is looking for a new job – it can affect your desire or commitment. It can cause things like excuse-making or other conditions that negatively impact your sales performance.

Think about yourself. Let’s say you have a lousy outlook in the morning. You get up. You’re having a bad day. How well do you think you’re going to interact with potential clients or prospects?

Finally, a sense of responsibility is important. When a salesperson steps up and takes responsibility for their results or lack thereof, they’re more likely to become more effective in the future. Salespeople who make excuses will seldom improve, as they fail to see the part they played in their own sales failures. For example, they might think “Well, I didn’t sell enough this month because I didn’t have any good leads or the product information isn’t good enough or the list I was given was bad.” Effective inbound sales reps that have the strong will to sell will take responsibility for their actions and won’t be looking for excuses for failure.

Sales DNA

With sales DNA, either you have it or you don’t. DNA can be hard to measure because its not something easily observable in an interview or during an application process. There are six components of Sales DNA:

No need for approval 

Many people choose sales because they’re told that they’re a perfect fit for a sales position. They could sell ice cream to Eskimos. They’re nice. They’re outgoing. Everybody likes them, and they thrive on that because they have a need to be liked. This may sound like a good thing, but it’s not. When you don’t have a deep-seated need to be liked, you’re more willing to have the difficult conversation with a customer and as a result, you’re going have a higher level of success. By contrast, sales reps with a strong need for approval will avoid the difficult conversations and push them off to their manager or tell the client what they want to hear in the hopes that they can fix it somewhere down the line. Think about the kinds of problems that causes. If you have a high need for approval and somebody is giving you excuses about why they need more time to make a decision and you’re accepting it, then this will delay the process to close.

Supportive buy cycle

The buy cycle is the way that a sales person makes a major purchase for him or herself. When someone buys in a way that supports the selling process, it is called having a supportive buy cycle. Most effective inbound sales people have supportive buy cycles meaning that they do their online research, appreciate engaging with a salesperson who isn’t going to waste their time going over ground they’ve already covered, and aren’t buying simply on price. This type of salesperson, will push to move discussions with prospects forward at a much quicker pace and won’t have empathy for stalling or price sensitivity because they don’t do that themselves.

Comfortable talking about money

A salesperson who is comfortable talking about money will have no problem discussing budget or increasing a budget or the cost of your product or service even if your prospect has said it costs too much. Sales people who are uncomfortable talking about money are typically uncomfortable escalating a question about budget or affordability to the next level. Their discomfort prevents them from helping a prospect figure out how to pay or where to find the money for a purchase. Sales reps who ARE comfortable with talking about money will have those conversations and think nothing of it. They’ll stick to their pricing instead of automatically giving a discount when it’s asked for. They’ll ask questions to try and solve the monetary shortage.

Controls emotions

An effective inbound sales rep will also control their emotions. I’m not talking about crying or getting angry and screaming. I’m talking about getting emotionally invested in a meeting. Sales reps who become emotionally involved tend to think about, analyze, create, or strategize – in other words, talk to themselves – when a prospect catches them by surprise or asks them a question they weren’t ready for. They become emotionally involved and start talking to themselves instead of sticking with the moment. That causes them to miss what’s being said. It affects their listening skills. When that happens, they’re more focused on themselves and how they should’ve answered the question instead of focusing on what the prospect is saying and they’re missing important points. At some point in this process they lose control of the interaction. A sales rep who has control of their emotions deals with those types of things in a different way. They take a step back, listen to what the prospect is saying, and give themselves a little time to respond. They won’t talk to themselves and strategize and have this whole conversation in their head while staring at the customer and not hearing a word they’re saying.

Supportive beliefs

Every one of us has as many as sixty beliefs that support the selling process. For example, you have the ability to be effective with senior level executives or sabotage it. You might not like making calls, or you might not feel comfortable talking to Presidents of companies. A truly ineffective rep will have ten or more of these self-limiting beliefs, whereas a strong inbound sales rep will have few, if any.

Rejection proof

Successful inbound sales reps don’t let rejection bother them. If someone says no to them, it doesn’t matter. They keep trying to find a way to get it done. Those sales reps that have a rejection issue tend to get bothered by it, and it slows them down. They don’t do as much work. They need more recovery time and that affects their bottom line.

Tactical Skills

There are seven tactical tactical skills that an effective inbound sales rep must have.

Hunting skills

The first is hunting skills. You might ask why hunting skills are important especially if you’re only working inbound leads? The truth is that in order to be successful at inbound sales you have to be skilled at hunting down additional information and finding out more about the client before you sit down and talk to them. So even if you are only working inbound leads, hunting skills – or what we might call “reaching skills” – are still important.

But the truth is most inbound sales reps have a responsibility to drive outbound leads as well and that means that they need to find opportunities themselves. They have to have really strong hunting skills to do that. Hunting skills doesn’t mean old school brick and mortar knocking on the door, walking in the office, and saying “Can I speak to the person in charge?” It has more to do with the ability or the willingness to prospect and develop opportunities in today’s digital world.

Inbound sales posturing skills

The posturing skill measures your ability to effectively position your company, your products, or your services in a way that makes an impression and helps you move a deal forward. With inbound leads, people have in most cases already done their homework. They‘ve learned a lot fast, and they’re going to expect you to build a strong relationship quickly and collaborate with them towards a result. To do this successfully, inbound reps must build relationships early, be problem solvers, think analytically, employ consultative selling, and have sales empathy.

Consultative sales skills

Selling has changed quite a bit over the years and today, it’s harder to reach prospects. They don’t have the time to meet. The engagement is very different than it used to be because they’ve done their homework ahead of time. In most cases, they don’t need you for information, and you’re invited into the process later. There is more price sensitivity because so many companies are putting their pricing on their websites, and in many cases, buyers view all companies the same.

Consultative selling can help an inbound sales rep address these challenges. It is helpful in selling on value instead of price, differentiating yourself, and establishing yourself as a trusted collaborator or adviser. To be a good consultative salesperson, you have to ask the right questions. You have to dig deeper. You have to know when not to answer a question and understand why the question is being asked in the first place.

Qualifying skills

All salespeople need to qualify, but sales reps that work inbound leads have a slightly different challenge than those simply doing outbound selling. Whereas outbound sales reps identify prospects that are a good fit for the company and then try to determine if the prospect has a need, with inbound leads, it is just the opposite. They have a demonstrated need, but might not always be a good fit. As a result, good qualifying skills are essential.

Qualifying inbound leads requires you to go deeper than identifying the prospect’s stated need and connect to the business need. This is often not uncovered until the reaching the 2nd or 3rd level of questioning. A good qualifier will ask about every facet of that process in addition to challenges and issues internally that could be preventing the lead from moving forward.

Presentation skills

When it comes to presenting a proposed solution to a prospect, the timing of the presentation is just as important as the presentation itself. At worst, prematurely presenting information to a client that’s in a research mode could cause you to lose the deal, and at best it could extend the time it takes to close the deal. The same is true for asking questions the buyer has already found answers to or spending time covering information they have already digested. Learning when to present and having the skill set to present at the proper time when there’s a commitment to make a decision – a commitment to buy – is an effective attribute of an inbound sales rep.

Closing skills

The closer competency is about the ability to convert qualified opportunities at the time they become closeable. While you may be happy to get the business at a later date, delays can be dangerous because oftentimes deals that fail to close at the first opportunity never close at all. The closer competency, or the ability to close, is about being able to recognize that moment in time when you can close and getting the prospect to make a decision.

Establishing relationships early

Establishing a relationship early in the sales process is critical. Oftentimes salespeople are able to establish rapport but fail to create a relationship. When relationships are developed early enough in the process, prospects feel more comfortable sharing important confidential information. This helps strengthen your ability to collaborate and shorten the sale cycle. This presents a problem in the inbound sales world where buyers are doing quite a bit of the research well in advance of contacting a sale rep, and sales reps in general are entering the sales process at a later time.

How do you correct this? Good inbound sales reps will actually develop the skill set required to become their own inbound marketers. They will see the value of getting in front of prospects earlier in the sales cycle and will actively participate in the content creation and promotion process. They’ll use social media and share content – both company content and their own original material. In doing so, they will make content with prospects and stay top of mind.

When the time comes to connect (whether over a phone call or in person), good inbound reps won’t jump right into selling. Instead they will engage with the prospect in a contextual way by referencing content they’ve downloaded or read and prove to the prospect that they understand their problem or need. This approach is effective in establishing rapport and opens the door for a sales conversation down the line.

Systems and Strategies

All of the traits and skills mentioned above are important, but they can’t be fully leveraged if your inbound sales rep isn’t using the systems and strategies that you’ve put in place. By this, I mean, will they follow your sales process? Are they going to use your CRM? Do they have the skills necessary to put together a plan of attack to achieve the sales goals you establish for them?

What Does Success Look Like?

Too often, when we interview candidates, we look for someone just like ourselves. Unfortunately, this isn’t a good way to hire and often results in a bad fit. The traits necessary for a good Sales Manager or VP of Sales are not the same ones necessary for a good inbound sales rep. Fortunately, tools like the OMG Assessment can help any company objectively evaluate candidates for sales positions.

Using the information provided by the assessment, you can identify those candidates that have the right sales DNA, possess the skills necessary for success, and will be able to thrive when working inbound leads. They will have a deep understanding of inbound marketing and how it works, and will quickly be able to apply what they know to working the leads they’re given and to developing their own inbound opportunities.

When I’m looking to make an important purchase, the first thing I do is check out product reviews on the internet. Whether it’s Yelp for restaurants, TripAdvisor for hotels, or Amazon for knick-knacks, reading product reviews help me make better buying decisions.

Business technology purchases are no less important. Research from Google demonstrates that 60% percent of B2B technology buyers read product reviews before making a purchase. This indicates that what buyers want most is to interact with a community of like-minded professionals through product reviews and peer discussions. Without these reviews, buyers can find it confusing to separate out the information they want from just marketing hype.

What is B2B Tech Yelpification?

B2B tech yelpification describes the way in which companies present buyers with peer reviews of B2B tech products to allow them greater insight into the product’s functionality. The funnel is dead, says May Petry, VP of Digital Marketing at HP, and social buying reigns instead. During the research process, potential leads are increasingly turning to their peers to ask for opinions and personal experiences to answer their important questions. The main difference between Yelp and these yelpified technology sites is that review sites validate users through means such as LinkedIn and personal interviews, eliminating the fear of fake advertising or competitors trying to attack rivals’ reputations. By filling the need for trustworthy insight from peers, the yelpification of enterprise technology helps buyers make more informed decisions.

What Prompted the Yelpification Revolution?

Both technology and technology buyers have undergone changes in recent years. While IT products were once massive and required vigorous installation, today, lots of solutions are SaaS models, small, or have easy installation. The population of buyers has also expanded from the typical head of IT to a more widespread group who might not have the same knowledge base. Also, for inexpensive technologies, some companies let departments purchase their own solutions without running them by IT, and some technology is even bought on an individual scale. These changes are causing marketers to modify their tactics in order to reach the full base of buyers.

People are excited about yelpification because it provides the information they want to know in a relatable, vendor-neutral form. A study by the Harvard Business Review found that “user reviews tended to reflect fairly accurately the judgments made by professional reviewers”, a statement I have found to apply to enterprise technology reviews. However, yelpified sites often allow for networking and have systems of transparency that let users make connections around the products they are interested in, as well as gain a greater understanding of how the product works in similar situations. Yelpification simplifies due diligence, assisting traditional IT buyers in quickly understanding how the solution works, as well as helping less typical buyers correctly find the best solutions for their company.

How Can Yelpification Help You?

With merely 10 reviews by verified users, a company can generate tens of thousands of impressions to buyers. This process can be more effective than pay-per-click (PPC) ads or sponsored posts, as it allows active conversations in real-time that aid buyers in their research. By following the five suggestions outlined below, you can easily take advantage of the yelpification revolution and point potential leads towards your company.

1. Don’t just wait for potential customers; join the discussion before it starts!

Reaching leads before they have already formed decisions is steadily becoming more difficult. According to LinkedIn, with two-thirds of the buying process done before even meeting with a sales representative, as a marketer, tapping into discussions about your product is a necessity. The yelpification process offers marketers the ability to connect with current and potential customers, who are increasingly looking to new channels of information outside of companies themselves. In fact, peer experience and product ratings are the most valuable sources of non-vendor content for technology buyers, according to a Forrester survey. When reviews permeate the market, often before a vendor has the chance to make contact, the impact of a review community can be invaluable in turning a prospect into a buyer.

2. Talk to your customers and ask them to write reviews.

Reviews help increase conversion rates. In a report from earlier this year, Yodle Insights found that while 89% of customers with a positive experience are willing to write a review of a local business if asked to do so, only 7% have ever been asked. Generating more reviews can increase orders 10-50%, depending on the amount and the average rating. These trends clearly indicate that professionals rely heavily on social buying to validate decisions, meaning businesses not involved in this process are missing a key opportunity to connect.

3. Engage your most enthusiastic reviewers and turn them into advocates.

Yelpification helps turn customers into advocates. Demand Gen Report’s 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey shows that 72% of surveyed professionals look to peer networks for information when making B2B purchasing decisions. So, it’s clear that influencers’ opinions have real weight in a buyer’s mind. Yelpified sites can provide a direct method for these professionals to be active in their support of your brand, without the implied bias of when their opinions are presented through your company. Additionally, these sites can be invaluable in identifying which customers would be excited to share their experiences with your brand and can help you to launch a successful customer advocacy program.

4. Respond to reviewers and take advantage of their feedback.

Responding to reviews shows customers that you care about their experience with your company and provides valuable feedback to manage your business’s image. Taking advantage of reviewers’ comments can help you to figure out where your products can be improved, instilling confidence in your brand and earning you loyal customers. Talk to your reviewers, help them with any issues they had, and thank them for taking the time to share. Showing that their opinion matters will make them more excited to be a part of your company…and will inspire them to continue sharing!

5. Accept negative reviews—they help you in the end!

A bad review can actually increase conversion rates by 67% according to research by Revoo. Users worry that when reviews are all positive, they are fake or being censored by the company. Having a few bad reviews mixed in with the good ones will help viewers see that the information is coming from an independent source and will provide credibility for your company.

With so much value placed on peer recommendations and experiences, it only makes sense that enterprise technology is undergoing a yelpification. In today’s market, customer reviews drive awareness and leads. Consolidating these opinions and providing a means for professionals to interact and discuss products allows for a stronger marketing strategy as well as more informed purchasing decisions.