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Solutions to Common Lead Generation Problems

Generating leads for your business is not an easy task. It requires a lot of work. If it would make you feel better, we’d want to let you know that there is a ton of other marketers who are also struggling with the same troubles.

In this article, we have rounded up some of the most common lead generation problems along with the solutions to help you get things rolling in the right direction. Read on and we’ll tell you more about it.

Low traffic

Your ability to produce a steady stream of traffic is important as it affects your ability to turn visitors into leads and leads into paying customers.

If your traffic is leveling off, then optimization is necessary. That being said, you might want to conduct keyword research. On-page SEO practices like the use of keywords in your title tags, headers, meta-description, links and URL will help you boost your search engine results ranking.

Unqualified leads

Producing tons of leads is great, but it’s the quality of incoming leads that will influence the success of your business.

The best way of addressing unqualified leads can only be summed up in 2 words: buyer personas. In order to capture the right leads, you first have to determine your target audience and capture their attention.

Tight budget

If you think lead generation is challenging, it could be even more challenging if you are working on a tight budget. When the money tree shrivels up, you should have a plan in place in order to sustain lead generation.

If you are focusing on traditional methods or PPC, we’re not surprised why you are sweating profusely. Well, we’re not insinuating that inbound marketing is free, but there are a lot of methods that you can use without sucking up your entire budget.

Lead generation doesn’t always have to be costly. This is especially true if you think smarter, not harder.

 

 

 

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How to Use Video Marketing to Boost Your Business

According to a survey done by comScore Inc.,a global digital marketing service, the average Internet user watches about 185 videos each month. This includes advertising videos, personal videos, entertainment and news clips, etc.

Videos are a great way of engaging your audience in a way images and texts alone cannot. By adding video to your marketing campaign, you can give heart and personality to your business, while demonstrating your authenticity. Additionally, video is capable of providing as much as 50% conversion rate.

If you have no idea what type of video you should create, here are a few tips that will help you produce informative and entertaining clips that will also reveal the human side of your business.

Use customer testimonials

Nothing is more compelling than hearing your clients explain how your products or services helped solve their problems or improved their lives. Use this video to help prospective customers see themselves in the stories of these people.

Demonstrate your products or services

Instead of telling your current and potential customers how your business works, it would be best to show them. In other words, take your how-to guides to the next level and bring it to life. Mind you, educated buyers are more likely to make purchases.

Product reviews

The best products reviews usually come from trusted third-party reviewers. These types of videos can be found from various business portals to YouTube. Feel free to partner with reliable third parties and ask them to create products review for your business.

Corporate overview

These videos are mostly considered as the equivalent of company brochures.  Corporate overviews are usually intended to provide your audience a better idea about your company. These types of videos often include the executives, owners, key products and company history.

Visual stories

Visual stories usually include motion graphics, animations and illustrations with a voice-over. Videos of this kind are intended to explain complex products in a simpler and more compelling manner.

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Ways to Attract New Readers and Keep Them Interested

Increasing traffic is one of the biggest challenges a blog owner face, but there is nothing more challenging than attracting new readers and converting them into regular visitors. Readers are fickle and gets bored easily. There is a whole world of entertainment out there, if your posts do not interest them, they’ll abandon your blog and start looking for something that would feed their curiosity.

Follow a posting schedule

The publish date of your most recent post is one of the first thing most people look at when they visit your blog for the first time. If the last one was posted a few months ago, then readers won’t even bother coming back to check for newer contents. If your schedule is loaded, keep a regular schedule and make sure to come up with at least one blog post a week or twice a month. This will keep your readers coming back for more. Also it’s a great way of showing them that you are committed to your blog.

Respond to comments

Visitors would be happy to know that you are taking note of your readers’ comments and is actually responding to them. Responding to comments is a great way of starting a conversation with your audience and making them feel appreciated.

Keep content relevant

Keeping your content relevant is the key to building credibility in your niche. Your readers will stop coming back if they cannot relate to your contents. While writing about a new topic may drive new readers to your blog, they may not come back once they realize that the post that caught their interest is only a one-time thing.

Start a series

Writing a series is a great way of capturing the attention of new readers and would keep them coming back for at least one more time. Also, first timers may be interested enough to click through your internal links.

Make sure to include a note in the first part of your series stating the schedule of when the second part will be due. Most importantly, don’t forget to link to the previous parts of the serious as your progress. Readers would love to follow the series and be able to click back to catch up on the parts that they have missed.

 

 

 

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Signs That Your Blog Readers Are Getting Bored

Whether you’re doing it for pleasure or for your business, having a set of loyal readers can be rewarding. But how would you know if they actually liked your recent posts or not? If you fail to capture the attention of your audience, they are more likely to stop visiting your site and move on to the next site.

Here are a few signs that your readers are starting to get bored. Read on and try not to send your readers to dreamland.

Traffic to your blog drops

If the traffic to your blog suddenly drops, this means that some of your regular readers are no longer returning to read your most current blog posts. It may also mean that your website has been penalized after a search engine update took place.

Either way, it is important to make use of your analytical skills in order to determine the real cause of the problem. If the reduction in traffic was a result of a search engine issue, then it would be easy for you to bring back the traffic that your site used to have.

You no longer receive any comments

An interesting blog post will most likely receive a few comments and compliments. In some cases, a discussion may follow. Since you can’t see their reaction, let us assume that the lack of comments mean that they don’t have anything worthwhile to say or they got bored reading the article and decided to move on to another blog.

Write in a conversational tone and feel free to ask for opinions. If you can capture the attention of your readers, get them to air their opinions and participate in discussions, then you have a great chance of keeping them interested.

Interest in contests and giveaways is poor

They may not be interested in the prize. Yes, that may be true. However, if your readers are not showing any interest in joining your contests or giveaways, then this is a clear indication that they are not feeling the excitement that they once felt when visiting your blog.

The prizes do not necessarily have to pricey. Instead, choose something that would be of great value to the people in your niche.

 

 

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How to Bounce Back From A Social Media Disaster

Social media disasters may come in a range of fails and embarrassments. Insensitive statements and inappropriate opinion may reflect poorly on your company. Add this to the fact that social media is very public in nature, one mistake may become potentially disastrous.

If you have accidentally sent out a regrettable status update or tweet, don’t panic. Calm down and see if the situation is salvageable. If you’re not sure what to do next, read on and use these tips to help you bounce back from a social media disaster.

Disaster response

Being on the verge of jeopardizing your company’s reputation, it is important to come up with a thoughtful and well-crafted response. As much as possible, avoid a knee-jerk reaction.

In most cases, businesses are not prepared in handling social media disasters. Responding quickly and inappropriately will only make matters worse. Calm down and take a moment to deliver a carefully-worded and rational response to your fans and followers.

Accept your mistake

Everyone makes mistakes, including the most savvy social media marketers. However, the worst part of committing a mistake is by acting like nothing wrong has happened. Whether you have criticized a customer, made an offensive comment or post, or something else, it would be best to accept your mistake and be accountable for your mistakes.

We understand that damage control is on top of your priority list, but deleting the post or comment and acting as if nothing happened can hurt your reputation.

Rebuild your image

A lot of companies have survived a social media disaster, and so can you. After everything has been done, you now have to rebuild your image. Mind you, this may involve an extensive process and you’ll have to work for it for a long period of time.

The key to stopping a social media disaster is by building an incredible brand image. This can be achieved by serving your customers well. At the end of the day, it’s about being honest to your customers/clients and humanizing your brand.

Taking appropriate action immediately after committing a mistake will not only reduce harm, it can also save your brand’s reputation.

 

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Using LinkedIn As A Marketing Tool

After learning the tricks to social media marketing tricks, it is time to put these concepts to work. If you are in need of business to business networking, then LinkedIn is the best place to start.

Of all the social networking platforms, LinkedIn is considered to be the most professional. Used by more than 135 million business professionals worldwide, this should be a part of your social media marketing strategy.

If you are like most people, you might be using LinkedIn as an online resume. Take advantage of this platform and use it as a marketing tool. Read on and incorporate these recommendations into your marketing campaign.

Status updates

This is one of the best ways in keeping your connections informed about what is happening to your business. Post status updates on a regular basis in order to appear active to the LinkedIn community. You can also use links and drive them to your site. Sharing contents that is related to your business may also be a good idea.

Blog posts

Every time you post a blog on your website, important details like the title, abstract and the link to your post will automatically be posted to your LinkedIn profile.

Events

If you are organizing an event or are speaking at an event, you are free to create a LinkedIn event in order to help you promote this event and generate interest.

Presentations

If you have posted a Powerpoint presentation in Google docs or SlideShare, you can also attach this presentation in your LinkedIn profile.

Twitter

If you are an active tweeter, you can always integrate your status updates with your tweets in order to keep your followers and connections informed.

Creative portfolio

Users with a creative portfolio are given the chance to post it to the Behance Network. Once you’re done, you can showcase your work in your LinkedIn profile.

Recommendations

You can easily request recommendations from your LinkedIn connections. A collection of recommendations that highlight your experience and expertise would significantly enhance your profile.

 

 

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Social Media Red Flags: 5 Signs You’re Using it Wrong

The sheer value of social media marketing combined with the rapid rate in which these platforms are progressing is something most business owners and companies cannot cast aside.

Social media marketing works and is here to stay. Everybody knows that. But that does not necessarily mean you’re using it right.

In an attempt to help you, we have outlined 5 signs that you’re using social media wrong plus a few tips on how to fix it.

Not updating regularly

Not sticking to a regular posting schedule is the most common mistake new social media marketers commit. If your profile runs dry for a few days or weeks, your followers may fall out of habit of checking in with your business.

Your tone is inconsistent

The internet is a noisy place. If you wish to cut through that noise, then you have to employ a unique tone for your business. Employing a unique voice will help you build trust, build and maintain your reputation and engage in meaningful conversations with your followers. Without it, your message shall be left twisting in the wind.

You are constantly broadcasting

Social media is all about interaction. Sending your thoughts in a one-ways fashion will not help you in any way. Instead, you’ll be missing out on the powerful benefits of engaging with people.

You ignore negative comments

No matter how popular your company is, you can’t prevent negative comments from coming. Instead of ignoring or deleting them, it would be best to offer your sincerest apology, provide them with a candid explanation and any actions you might want to take. Plus, re-assure your client that this won’t happen again in the future.

You are focused on quantity

When it comes to building a social media following, you should not focus on quantity alone. You may have a lot of followers but if your engagement rate is close to non-existent, then you’re definitely doing it wrong.

Build a following that would help you grow your business. Try to connect with people who would find your contents useful and whose content you can benefit from as well.

 

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Growing Your Business Network with Social Media

If your business or company is struggling to find new customers, you can count on social media to help
you build your business network. However, before you can sell, keep in mind that creating a trusted
relationship with your potential customers is of great importance.
In this article, we’ll give you a few tips on how to use social media to find prospects and leads for your
business and establish a relationship with them.
Converse with people on Twitter

Tweet chats are recommended for building a network as they are seen as one of the most effective lead
generation tools in social media. The best thing about this is that everyone starts out as a stranger.
Eventually, they begin to know each other and may develop a relationship that extends beyond the
regular chat.
Here, you may encounter people who ask you questions. Since your reply is only limited to 140
characters, you have to be as concise as possible. Also, let them know that you are open to accept a
direct message and would be interested to carry the conversation further through another platform or
by phone.

Join LinkedIn groups
LinkedIn provides its users an opportunity for connecting with people who fit their prospect profile.
Here, you can find a specific group you’re interested in.
In the header navigation, just hover on “Interests” and click on “Groups”. From here, you can use
specific keywords to search for groups that are relevant to your business or company. Feel free to check
out each group and join a group with members who might be interested in what you offer.
Please be reminded that this is not a selling place. Build a relationship by being helpful and offering
services to the other members.

Share insights from an event
If you have attended a conference or trade show, feel free to share the highlights of the said event with
people who weren’t able to attend. This will help you attract people who are interested in the same
niche.
Share your notes through social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. Also, don’t forget to include
the event’s official hashtag in your tweets. This will include them in the conversation. Most importantly,
this post will be visible to other users who are not following you. You have to pay attention to user who starts following you as they could be your new prospects. And when the time is right, reach out to them
and offer your services.

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Using Social Media in Job Search

Social media can be used in job seeking and marketing yourself to future employers. Unfortunately,
most students and graduates are unaware of it. One study revealed that less than 40% of the graduates
would consider marketing themselves to job recruiters online. Meaning, the remaining 60% are missing
out on the opportunity of using social media to help them land a job.

Facebook


There are a number of sites which are used for social networking and professional networking. While
your Facebook account may not help you capture the attention of your potential employer, you
shouldn’t ignore it for job-seeking opportunities.
Some employers use it in promoting their brand. Some also offers graduate programs, which allows
potential candidates to interact with the recruitment staff. This could help you pick up a few tips about
the recruitment process and emerge as a well-informed candidate.

Blogs


Blogs are another great way of improving your chances of getting hired. By writing your own blog, you
can showcase your writing skills, your enthusiasm towards your audience and your knowledge of a
particular area. Also, if you can establish yourself as an online authority, then you’ll surely be ahead of
other candidates. Your blog will provide potential employers an insight on how you work and your
passion for the industry.

LinkedIn


If you’re not yet on LinkedIn, then now might be the right time to create an account. Survey revealed
that 93% of online recruiters are using LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a business-oriented site with over 90 million users from different parts of the world. This
provides an opportunity to network professionals from different employment sectors. So, make sure
that your LinkedIn profile sells you effectively to online recruiters. Also, adding a photo in your profile is
a good idea. With a professional-looking photo displayed in your profile, people are 4 times more likely
to connect with you.
Though LinkedIn has fewer users, this site is acknowledged as the number one site in Europe for
business networking.

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