B2B Marketing for $100 - B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #173
Monday, November 17th, 2008As I was working on my FREE list last week I noticed I seemed to also be building a list of things that we as B2B Marketers can do that require minimal cost, like less than $100.
- StumbleUpon advertising – be very targeted with your ad and your landing page. Each click only costs you $.05. I’ve only heard good stuff about this, we’ll be trying this one immediately.
- Long Tail PPC keywords – think niche, pick words or phrases people would use to search for your EXACT solution. The landing page is just as important as your ad. You’re goal is to convert unknown visitors into known leads. Remember you can track companies visiting your landing pages using ReachForce Convert.
- Survey Monkey or Zoomerang – both have free versions or subscription pricing (for more features) of about $20/per month. Create a survey and use it for lead generation, thought leadership or PR. People are interested in what their peers think and are doing, share your results with the participants.
- PRWeb – write a news release and link it up. Add an offer to the news release or offer additional content on a landing page with the full announcement.
- Start a blog – you can do this for free but you might consider investing in your own look (vs. stock templates and photos). Regularly updated content helps your SEO too.
- Video/Podcast Series – you can add them to your website and use them for lead generation programs. Get a FLiP camera and set up your YouTube account and you’re ready to go. Remember to keep your videos and podcasts short and to the point.
- Email campaign - If you don’t already use an email or marketing automation system, check out VerticalResponse. Emails start at less than $.02 a piece.
I’m sure my short list is only a beginning of things you can do for about $100, please feel free to add to the list if you’ve got more.
Tune In For Tips on Predictably Irrational Consumer Behavior - B2B Marketing and Sales Tip #159
Thursday, October 16th, 2008A few months ago I spoke at a Marketing Profs conference and had the good fortune to meet and listen to Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions, discuss the paradoxical choices consumers often make.
Recently, Ariely spoke with the Marketing Subgroup of the Bootstrap Network on the topic of consumer behavior. Brian Massey of Conversion Sciences captured and posted a Podcast of the discussion. If you can suffer through the first few minutes of boring introductions, you’ll be treated to a very interesting discussion on the value of “free” and how it influences behavior.
Ariely claims that “free” is the Kryptonite that cripples our decision-making no matter how rational we think we are. He claims the “freemium” models that Web 2.0 sites use to lure audiences are not as effective as a discounted service. He argues that once free is introduced, that’s its perceived value.
Perhaps, but in the B2B world, there’s nothing like a free widget or product trial to capture visitors and contact information. It all depends on how you structure the offer. A wonderful example of this is HubSpot and their Website Grader tool. The allure of using the free Website Grader tool was enough to get me to give them my contact information. Once I used it to identify problems that needed solving, I was all too eager to buy the product to help me fix the problems. Oh, and there’s also the issue of how I found Website Grader…giving away a free tool is great link bait – the most powerful SEO tactic I know.
For more predictably irrational fun, check out the Predictably Irrational Blog.
Podcasting and Video Made, Well, as Easy as Possible - ReachForce Book Club
Thursday, September 25th, 2008Podcasting and video can be very scary to use…buying new equipment and software, and then learning how to use it all. The procedure might be a little more difficult than just writing text, but the outcome of engaging your audience is worth it. And if that doesn’t sell you, then what David has to say about it will. It sold me!
“The potential to deliver information to buyers in new and surprising ways is greater when you use a new medium. And while your competition is still trying to figure out ‘that blogging thing,’ you can leverage your existing blog into the new worlds of audio and video and leave the competition way behind.”
Who doesn’t like to watch a short video (mostly if it is funny) while reading a blog post? I won’t speak for everyone, but I am willing to bet the majority does. And it might seem scary at first, but putting a podcast or short video together really is not all that hard. Luckily, David has some tips for us to use as well:
For Podcasting
- Show preparation -gather ideas and create a script
- Recording when you are near your computer -use a microphone that delivers audio into your computer (need software here)
- Mobile recording gear - is required if you are going to be moving around interviewing people at different places
- Phone interviews - require a digital recording switch device that connects to your telephone
- Editing your audio files - optional
- Postproduction editing - sometimes includes running a noise-reduction program and sound compression
- Tagging the audio -adding text-based information about the audio to make it easier for people to find
- Hosting and distribution - so people can easily obtain your podcasts
- Promotion - you must provide links to your show
- A companion blog - to discuss the content of each show, and will also help to be indexed by search engines
For Video
- Posting to video-sharing sites - like YouTube, just shoot and upload
- Developing an online video channel - usually used with a unique URL
- Attempting stealth insertions to YouTube - dangerous, YouTube will find inauthentic video
- Vlogging - “video blogging” by embedding a video into a blog post
- Vodcasting - a podcast with video tied to a syndication component
- Inviting your customer communities to submit video - to help generate viral marketing interest
Our friends over at HubSpot recently posted a really funny video about imbound vs. outbound marketing that was a real success. They told us it only took an afternoon to come up with idea, write it, shoot it an edit it. See…worth it!
Audio Content Delivered Through Podcasts – ReachForce Book Club
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008Let’s start from the top here. Does everyone know what a podcast is? If you do, skip the next paragraph. If not, you need to know so keep reading.
“A podcast is simply audio content connected to an RSS feed. The medium does not specifically require iPods although that’s how the word was derived. You can listen to a podcast on an iPod (or any other MP3 player) or directly from your computer – no iPod required.”
Simply put, podcasts are another way to reach your audience. Some people prefer to read information (whitepaper downloaders), some prefer to participate in events and other prefer to have access to information they can consume on their own time at their own pace.
Podcasts have become a viable option in our marketing toolkit. David includes a few good ideas to help get you thinking about how you might use podcasts as a part of your marketing mix and I threw in a few ideas too.
- Customer service depts. can use podcasts to deliver “how to” information about the products a customer has bought
- Podcasts are great for marketing to a mobile/traveling audience.
- Podcasts can be lead generation offer options - “You’re 5 minutes away from learning…”
- Don’t forget to turn your webcasts into multiple podcasts for niche targeting
- Instead of writing another dreaded customer case study, consider interviewing them live and creating a podcast to post to your website.
The B2B Lead Podcast #4 – Adapt or Die – Marketing and PR in the Blogosphere and New Media
Monday, October 15th, 2007As new media has pushed its way into B2B marketing, many marketing departments reacted by hiring a specialist to tackle these new forms of marketing and PR, especially blogs. But as these new media have come to replace many traditional media and really become now media, all marketers need to accept blogging and twitter and YouTube and become educated, so that not just one member of your marketing organization understands these communities. In this podcast, I interview Josh Dilworth to discuss the changing landscape of marketing and PR in new media.
The B2B Lead Podcast #3 – Making a Viral Campaign Successful - Seeding
Monday, October 15th, 2007The thought of undertaking a viral campaign may seem a bit daunting. But say you have created the perfect video, now how do you actually get the right people to view it and pass it on – the whole point of a viral campaign. In this podcast, listen to my interview with Josh Dilworth at Porter Novelli to explore how detailed planning and execution of the seeding component made my viral campaign at NetQoS a major success.
The B2B Lead Podcast #2 – whurley on the Power of Social Media
Friday, October 12th, 2007The following podcast was also recorded at the BusinessWire Changing Face of Influence event but it features William Hurley or whurley, as he is better known. whurley is the Chief Architect of Open Source Strategy for BMC Software. He created a blog (http://opensville.org), which earned a Technorati ranking of 179 in just 90 days. To put that into perspective, the NetQoS blog www.networkperformancedaily.com has more than 5000 readers a month and is ranked 41,000.
The B2B Lead Podcast #1 – WagEd’s Digital Strategist Discusses PR in the Digital Age
Friday, October 12th, 2007The following podcast was recorded at a recent BusinessWire lunch seminar I attended. The topic for the event was The Changing Face of Influence: A Wire-Side Chat about PR in the Digital Age. Listen in as Waggener Edstrom’s Digital Strategist, David Almacy, discusses trends shaping the future of communications and the speed at which information travels today. Almacy was also the director of e-communications at the White House, and as the primary owner http://www.whitehouse.gov. He shares some fascinating insights about his experiences working with the President and First Lady on communications initiatives.
