Member engagement, retention, and growth are undeniably linked. According to the Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report, “Associations that reported an increase in member engagement in several areas are more likely to report one-year and five-year membership growth and an increase in their renewal rate over the past year.”

However, these insights still leave associations wondering how they can engage members and keep them invested in the organization. From personalized communication strategies to multichannel outreach, there are many ways that your organization can leverage strong marketing techniques to strengthen members’ loyalty. In this guide, we’ll review the association marketing tools and the metrics your organization can track to boost engagement.

How Can Effective Marketing Boost Engagement?

There are many reasons associations market their offerings, such as events, networking opportunities, and exclusive resources. While marketing is commonly used to spread awareness of the organization, attract new members, and drive more revenue, it also engages current members. Their engagement then supports the long-term success and stability of your association.

As Fonteva explains, effective marketing and subsequently boosted engagement can lead to:

• Increased retention. Members who are more invested in your organization are more likely to renew their membership.
• Community-building. Retaining members over the long term builds an established member community, which is why many members join an association.
• Non-dues revenue. Members’ other purchases of products, education, and events that provide much-needed funding to fuel your association’s work.

From social media to email, your marketing strategies allow you to connect with members year-round, strengthen your brand identity, and conveniently engage members through the platforms they use every day. However, to generate the most engagement from your marketing streams, you must be strategic about the kinds of messaging and platforms you employ.

You can gauge how effective your strategy is by tracking essential marketing metrics based on member responsiveness. Let’s review some of the most important metrics to keep an eye on.

Key Marketing Metrics for Measuring Engagement

A single marketing and communications strategy won’t appeal to every member. To deeply engage your members, you need to adjust your outreach to match members’ individual needs and preferences.

This is where data can guide your marketing and communications strategies. By paying attention to the right metrics, you can understand whether members are engaging with certain marketing streams and whether those channels are being used effectively.

In particular, be sure to track these marketing metrics:

• Social media marketing. This includes marketing via social media platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram. These platforms are equipped with built-in metrics that are easy to view, helping you understand which content and campaigns your members respond positively to.
  • KPIs For This Channel: Channel return on investment (ROI), number of followers, and the number of likes, mentions, and tags
• Email marketing. This includes any day-to-day communications and campaigns you send to members via email. These metrics reveal who and how many of your supporters engage with which email campaigns. From this data, you can also determine what kind of content is performing well and plan your steps to improve future email campaigns.
  • KPIs For This Channel: Channel ROI, email open rates, and click-through rates (CTR)
• Association website. This includes insights from the various aspects of your website, from your landing pages to the lead-generating content on your blog. These metrics can help you understand how members find your organization and digitally engage with you.
  • KPIs For This Channel: Number of visitors, which channels lead visitors to the site, search queries that lead to site visitation
• Event outreach. Metrics surrounding your association’s event marketing may align with any of the above metrics. However, other important information to assess includes attendance and satisfaction with the event experience. Gaining insights along these lines makes it critical to survey attendees about their experiences and track key event marketing metrics.
  • KPIs For This Channel: Attendance rates, paths to registration, overall event satisfaction, and attendee feedback

Once you’ve collected this critical data, use it to assess the performance of each marketing channel and campaign. Additionally, you can segment your data based on members’ interests and engagement with your marketing materials.

For example, while your younger members may respond well to your social media content, you may focus your email marketing campaigns on older members for higher open rates.

Marketing Tools to Boost Member Engagement

To effectively engage your members and streamline your marketing efforts, software solutions are an invaluable resource for your association. In particular, the following tools can make a world of difference when it comes to tracking, strengthening, and managing your association’s marketing and engagement strategies:

• Association management platforms. Leveraging association management software (AMS) unlocks powerful engagement tools across your marketing channels. In addition to monitoring member responsiveness, this solution equips organizations with event management, financial management, and data reporting tools to streamline the daily responsibilities of running an association.
• Social media marketing software. Social media platforms come with an array of readily available multimedia tools and community-building features, like the ability to edit videos and share others’ content. These tools can help you design and create more engaging content, closely monitor your campaigns, and thoughtfully engage with members.
• SEO software. Search engine optimization (SEO) software allows you to track your online content’s authority, thought leadership, organic web traffic, and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). With these features, you can strengthen your association’s online presence and digital content marketing strategy by making your website more easily discoverable for online searchers.

While you may be hesitant to invest in new technology, digital marketing tools are tailor-made to help your organization better connect with members, reduce time and labor costs, and create effective marketing initiatives. The benefits of these solutions far outweigh the initial investment costs.

Engaging your members is an ongoing process that requires continuous work from your association. As you implement new strategies and track the performance of your techniques, you’ll inevitably need to adjust your approach in some areas. Not to mention, your members’ preferences will change over time. As they do, so should your engagement tactics.

However, these metrics and best practices should ease the struggle of maintaining a strong engagement strategy. With these insights and the right software solutions, you will be well on your way to crafting more engaging, inspiring, and personalized marketing strategies for your association.

Video content is king, and its potential to boost conversions is unparalleled. About 91% of businesses currently use video as a marketing tool because harnessing the power of video can transform your engagement strategies and skyrocket your sales.

There are many ways to use video to your advantage. From dynamic product demos to captivating customer testimonials, videos offer a versatile and engaging way to connect with your audience.

If you aren’t using video marketing, there’s no better time to start. This article will explore six practical ways to increase conversions using video content, helping you turn viewers into loyal customers.

Quick Takeaways

• Enhancing your FAQ section with videos can better explain concepts and show you care about your customers.

• Creating unboxing videos helps put potential customers’ minds at ease by showing them exactly what to expect.

• Responding to emails or social media interactions with personalized videos can humanize your brand and leave a memorable impression. 

• Hosting live Q&A sessions, product launches, and interactive content like live polls encourages real-time engagement to increase conversions using video.

1) Use Videos in Your Website’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

There are a number of ways to use videos, but one of the most overlooked areas is with a site’s FAQ.

Every company’s website needs an FAQ page, regardless if it’s a product, service, or information you provide.

Video is great for FAQs for two reasons:

• First, videos are better at explaining a concept than simply writing out an answer.
• Second, using videos shows you care about your customers. You went the extra mile to ensure they got the information they needed.

Aside from answering questions and educating your audience, FAQ videos work as a platform for authority building, particularly if you’re addressing a query that focuses beyond just your product or service but the industry in general.

2) Unbox the Product

Here’s an idea:

Take a video of yourself opening the box customers will receive when they order from you.

Of course, if your product only requires a simple download, there won’t be any physical boxes to open. However, you can still show what the download will include and how to install it.

For any product you’ll be sending via mail, this is a great way to put potential customers’ minds at ease. Show them exactly what they can expect.

While this technique is especially popular with affiliate marketers, plenty of other companies use it to increase conversions using video.

Another approach is to encourage customers (or video bloggers with a decent subscriber base) to post a video of themselves unboxing your product.

According to MNTN Research, about 62% of people who view unboxing videos do so because they’re researching that particular product. In addition, over 90,000 people search for these videos on YouTube monthly.

Why this fascination for unboxing, you ask?

The answer is twofold: first, anticipation; second, product information.

3) Use Videos as Replies

Another way to use videos is to send them as replies to people’s emails or tweets.

Some companies use videos when people unsubscribe from their emails. In the case of Groupon, a video would come up that allowed you to “punish” a man named Derrick, the person cited as being responsible for the irrelevant email you were sent.

You were then given the option to take pity on him by re-subscribing. This strategy often worked, and, if nothing else, it made a memorable last impression.

This method may or may not work for your business, depending on the service you provide and your clientele.

But what can work, depending on the execution, are videos in Twitter replies.

If you get questions, compliments, or even complaints through Twitter, you definitely want to address these as soon as you can.

Video is a unique way of not just responding but reminding your audience that there’s an actual human being on the other side of your Twitter profile’s avatar.

Also, depending on how useful and helpful it is, the response getting shared across the platform always helps with marketing.

4) Record Testimonials

Keep in mind that you or your employees don’t always have to be the ones doing the videos.

One extremely effective way to increase conversions using video is having satisfied customers get in front of the camera and tell others how happy they are with the results you delivered.

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Testimonials are great for conversions. But don’t stop at a testimonial if you want to take things to the next level. Instead, use customer videos as case studies.

This strategy means creating longer, more in-depth videos, but boosting your conversion results should prove this extra effort worthwhile.

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5) Demo Your Products

Whether you sell CRM software or lawnmowers, convincing customers that your product is worth their money becomes easier if they know exactly what they’re purchasing, down to the very last detail about how the product works.

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In the past, companies had to explain their product through copy. Often, this was a tedious undertaking involving step-by-step instructions that could easily total a dozen or so pages.

With video, what used to take pages of copy will now take just a minute or two of video.

If you sell a software product, screencasting platforms or demo builders allow you to record your screen so viewers can watch your video as if your program is running on their own computers.

6) Leverage Live Video

Live video is a powerful tool for engaging your audience in real time, building a sense of community, and increasing conversions. Here are some practical ways to leverage live video to boost your conversion rates:

Q&A Sessions

Hosting live Q&A sessions is an excellent way to engage directly with your audience and increase conversions using video. These sessions allow potential customers to ask questions and get immediate answers. Addressing their concerns in real time builds trust and credibility. Here’s how to make the most of live Q&A sessions:

• Promote in Advance: Announce your Q&A session on your social media channels, website, and email newsletters to ensure a good turnout.
• Prepare Key Points: While live sessions are spontaneous, having a few key points or common questions prepared can help guide the conversation.
• Engage Actively: Encourage viewers to submit questions through comments and respond to them promptly. This interaction makes the audience feel valued and heard.

Product Launches

Live video is an excellent way to create buzz and excitement around a new product launch. It lets you showcase your product in real-time and demonstrate its features and benefits. Here’s how to effectively use live video for product launches:

• Create Anticipation: Tease the product launch in the days leading up to the live event to build anticipation.
• Showcase Features: Use the live video to give a detailed demonstration of the product, highlighting its unique features and benefits.
• Exclusive Offers: Offer exclusive discounts or early access to viewers who watch the live event, incentivizing them to make a purchase.

Interactive Content

One of the main advantages of live video is the ability to interact with your audience in real-time. Encouraging viewer participation through comments and live polls can make your content more engaging and increase conversions. Here’s how to make your live videos interactive:

• Ask Questions: Pose questions to your audience throughout the livestream to encourage engagement and gather feedback.
• Live Polls: Use live polls to get instant feedback from your viewers on various topics. These polls engage your audience and provide valuable insights.
• Acknowledge Comments: Respond to comments and mention viewers by name to make them feel involved and appreciated.

Leveraging live video creates a dynamic and interactive experience that engages your audience, builds trust, and drives conversions. Q&A sessions, product launches, and interactive content offer the unique opportunity to connect with potential customers and encourage them to take action.

The Power of Video Marketing

Incorporating video into your marketing strategy is a game-changer for increasing conversions. Using video can help you connect with your audience on a deeper level, drive engagement, and boost sales.

Start integrating these strategies today and watch your business thrive. You’ll also need written content to complement your videos, and that’s where Marketing Insider Group can help with our Content Builder Services. Book a free consultation to learn more.

You have to talk to your leads. After all, effective sales conversations are crucial to closing deals and building lasting client relationships in B2B sales.

According to a study by Invesp, 80% of leads don’t translate into sales, and failing to nurture those leads is the main reason for this issue. This gap highlights the importance of well-designed sales conversations that address client’s needs and position your solution as the best choice.

Understanding your client’s pain points and leveraging technology are vital as you develop the right message to attract and retain potential buyers. This guide will examine essential elements that will transform your sales interactions and improve your success rates.

Quick Takeaways

• Sales conversations educate and build consensus among multiple decision-makers.

• Thoughtfully designed sales conversations simplify the sales process and provide a consistent framework for comparing performance.

• Alignment with buyers ensures all key points are covered and enhances effectiveness.

• Designing sales conversations provides insights and identifies risks for the entire organization, informing product marketing, training, customer service, and sales management.

Why Design Sales Conversations

For complex B2B solutions or value sales, “how you sell” is more important than what you sell. This sales type requires educating and gaining consensus from numerous buying team members. Square 2 Marketing reports there could be 40 or 50 touchpoints leading up to a sale, so developing a plan is crucial. At this level, it’s ALL about sales conversations.

The objective is to create value for customers and differentiation for vendors through conversations that deliver insights and useful ideas. Sales conversations must be relevant to the interests of each buyer and based on their stage of consideration to optimize sales.

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We’ve learned that emails perform best when developed using proven design principles and A/B testing. Why wouldn’t we apply the same rigor to more complex and important sales conversations?

By thoughtfully designing key touch point conversations, you:

• Simplify a complex and daunting set of tasks for salespeople
• Improve sales team efficiency by not requiring each person to figure out each conversation for themselves
• Accelerate new salespeople’s time to proficiency
• Establish a baseline for comparing performance across rep execution
• Ensure they are aware of all the popular sales terms
• Make feedback happen naturally, with a focus on specific aspects of each conversation

Designing effective sales conversations is an important part of the broader trend of creating “a compelling customer journey.”

Sales Alignment

Poor sales alignment with buyers is a common B2B sales weakness. The problem is that sellers feel a natural urgency to accelerate the sales process.

Over decades of coaching salespeople, we know salespeople regularly fail to complete their full meeting agendas. By not managing their “Air Time,” they miss the opportunity to confirm key meeting points and establish the next steps.

The value of sales conversation design goes far beyond improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and selling experience of individual salespeople.

This exercise also informs people across the organization in ways they almost never experience. It’s an opportunity for specific checklist points to be fully considered and appreciated by product marketing, training, customer service, and especially sales management.

These areas, when considered, are sources of insights and risk identification. They improve understanding of specific support salespeople require.

Examples of client epiphanies we’ve seen include the realization of the need for research, customer explanations, or better proof points. Often, visual and other conversation support tools are identified as well.

Adopting a Provocative or Challenger Customer Sales Approach

The CEB work documented in the book “The Challenger Customer” introduces the idea of developing “commercial insights” based on buyers’ mental models of their business. It provides research that indicates a major selling obstacle is dysfunctional buyer decision-making. Specifically, the buying team’s inability to reach a consensus on the right approach to solving a business problem is an issue.

If you apply this sales approach, you must help your salespeople “make functional buying groups, not just find them, by taking control of the purchase process and ensuring collective learning happens.”

This step involves salespeople facilitating group interaction to “get the entire group on board with a broader vision of what they should be doing in the first place, irrespective of supplier.”

CEB concludes that collective learning is “by far the single biggest driver of deal quality we found in all of our data.”

Clearly, these kinds of conversations require design. Organizations must develop the competency to design many types of sales conversations effectively.

Steps To Design Sales Conversations For Key Touch Points

Pre-planning your dialogue isn’t about scripting every conversation. Think of this as similar to an architect who designs building specifications. The builder then applies their skills in the art of execution. However, the core design is provided by an architect following careful planning, consideration, design, and testing.

These are the primary activities we suggest you conduct:

Map Your Sales Conversations

Leverage your buyer’s decision process from your content strategy or sales playbook development. Assess the conversations and decisions at each buying stage to identify your key touch points. Google refers to these as ZMOTs — zero moments of truth.

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Use Case Requirements

Start with the most critical touch points. Define conversation and content use case requirements for each engagement. Identify, in bullet fashion, options and considerations for:

• The context for each conversation
• Key stakeholders who participate at each stage or touch point
• Business problems and underlying causes
• The topics or themes you’ll discuss
• Possible buyer decisions
• Activities, questions, info requirements, and sources
• Your sales objectives
• Desired outcomes
• Next steps
• Competitive considerations

What To Say in Your Conversations

The source for “what to say” and “how to say it” should be available from your content strategy work. You can quickly extract and edit it for each stage and context factor. Otherwise, interview your best reps for this information.

Frame the key conversation points based on:

• Business problems-causes
• Impact (Costs)
• Solution approach: Required capabilities
• Topics, key Points, and insights to discuss or deliver
• Value model
• Decision questions or objections
• Customer education points and support

How To Say It

Develop these sections in as simple and modular a way as you can. Focus on providing recommendations and key conversation guidance points more than full narratives. Include specific language, such as words and phrases to use and avoid when it makes a significant difference.

In performing this work, you may discover fresh insights. Be sure to add those to your content strategy frameworks.

You’ll also want to:

• Develop Sales Analysis Questions for diagnostic conversation and the core sales practice of “selling through questions”
• Put language to the “what to say” points
• Develop each core conversation, such as point of view, storyline, value
• Design core explanations of key points and insights, stories, subject expert quotations, metaphors/analogies

Ensure you highlight specific words and phrases to use and avoid and document them in a conversation template. Two important conversation elements that are frequent and egregious omissions from sales guides are analysis questions and stories.

Ask the Right Questions

Sales professionals know that asking the right questions the right way is a primary sales technique. Provide your sales teams with those questions.

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This technique applies to suggestions for conversation starters, ways to raise important points, and the entire diagnostic conversation.

Along with questions, stories are an important conversation technique. However, salespeople, especially new hires, need an inventory of sales stories, customer testimonials, and examples that align with key touch points and selling purposes. Providing well-constructed and easy-to-deliver stories with visual support puts your salespeople on the right track, no matter their experience level.

How To Deliver Your Message

Since many sales conversations are not conducted live and in person, consider how your salespeople will conduct or deliver sales conversations.

Use this exercise to define the visual and other content salespeople need to make their conversations effective. Once you’ve completed this work, you should have a robust list of content your sales organization requires.

If your sales training organization has developed training modules for key conversation elements, capture those links for this work as well. If not, this work will identify the most important and challenging conversations for your salespeople.

Develop sales practicums to help them learn and practice these conversations. We recommend you introduce each discussion with a video that models quality delivery. Then, have salespeople practice with a live, interactive role-play.

Leveraging Technology in Sales Conversations

Technology plays a crucial role in enhancing B2B sales conversations. Leveraging various tools enables your salespeople to streamline their processes, maintain better relationships with clients, and deliver more compelling presentations.

Using CRM Tools to Track and Manage Conversations

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools, like Salesforce or HubSpot, are essential for tracking and managing your sales conversations. These tools help you keep detailed records of all interactions with your clients, including emails, phone calls, and meetings.

Using a CRM helps you access important information about your clients, such as their preferences, previous conversations, and purchase history. From there, you can personalize your approach and build stronger relationships, improving your sales effectiveness.

Utilizing Video Conferencing Tools for Remote Sales Meetings

Video conferencing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet are indispensable for conducting sales meetings. These tools allow you to connect with clients from anywhere in the world, making it easier to schedule and hold meetings without the need for travel.

Video conferencing also adds a personal touch to remote interactions, as it enables face-to-face communication, which helps build trust and rapport. Features like screen sharing and virtual whiteboards can enhance your presentations and make your meetings more interactive and engaging.

Incorporating Sales Enablement Tools for Presenting Solutions

Sales enablement tools, such as PowerPoint, Prezi, and interactive demo platforms, help your team create and deliver compelling presentations. These tools showcase your products or services in a visually appealing and interactive manner, making it easier for clients to understand and appreciate the value of your solutions.

Interactive demo platforms allow clients to experience your product firsthand, which can be highly persuasive. You can tailor your presentations to address the specific needs and pain points of your clients, making your sales conversations more effective.

Craft the Narrative

Designing effective B2B sales conversations involves thorough preparation, structured interactions, active listening, and leveraging technology. Researching your clients, understanding their needs, and using tools like CRM systems and video conferencing help you create more personalized and impactful sales conversations.

Communication starts with the awareness stage, so developing the right brand content strategy is vital. That way, potential buyers will feel like they already know your company, making the sales process more manageable.

Marketing Insider Group can help push your brand forward with our Content Builder Services. Reach out to learn more or book a free consultation with our team.

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategic approach focusing on targeting and engaging specific high-value accounts rather than a broad audience. The idea is that companies can foster deeper relationships and drive greater ROI by tailoring their marketing message to individual companies.

The results don’t lie, as Brafton reports that ABM initiatives create an ROI 97% higher than other marketing methods.

However, you’ll have to address challenges associated with account-based marketing along the way. Obstacles like creating custom content, aligning ABM with the rest of your marketing strategy, and determining which accounts to target can create challenges for your company.

This article examines eight common ABM challenges and provides actionable ways to overcome them. From there, you can unlock the full potential of ABM and achieve your desired results.

Quick Takeaways

• Account-based marketing targets specific high-value accounts to develop relationships and create higher ROI. 

• Determining which accounts to target involves defining your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), leveraging data and analytics, and prioritizing accounts showing engagement signals.

• Close collaboration between sales and marketing teams is crucial for refining target lists and ensuring cohesive ABM strategies.

• Regularly review and adjust your target account list based on new data and market changes to stay responsive to emerging opportunities.

1. Account-Based Marketing Only Supports Outbound

Account-based marketing has reinvigorated the direct-mail marketing industry. It’s as if most of the case studies involve tales of some sort of direct mail-based outreach to executives at targeted accounts that resulted in impressive returns and engagement within those accounts.

What we don’t hear much about is leveraging an account-based strategy with inbound tactics. As a result, it may lead some to believe that ABM doesn’t play well with inbound or a content strategy — and that is far from the truth. Truly strategic Account-Based Marketing folds account-based considerations into developing a content strategy, which is what will best fuel your inbound marketing efforts.

The outbound content most tactical account-based marketers are using is typically product-focused and does not serve to educate and establish trust with buyers. The result? Lots of impressions but low engagement.

Consider the foundation of a good content strategy — the development of personas for all of your buyers, including influencers as well as decision-makers across the buying committee.

Adding an ABM layer to this means that you need to figure out what types of companies are in your sweet spot, zero in on the specific needs of buyers from those types of companies, and prioritize the development of personas from “premium” account types.

Creating content that speaks to the needs of buyers from target accounts across the entire span of their buyer’s journey will create the complimentary inbound component to the obvious outbound tactics that can be applied to ABM.

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2. Account-Based Marketing Alienates Prospects and Customers

Of course, account-based marketing isn’t perfect. There will be failures along the way, especially as you target some customers and not others.

Some campaigns leave some potential buyers and existing customers feeling either left out or unappreciated by excluding them from opportunities. Mistakes could include:

Excluding Existing Customers in Favor of New Ones

It is much easier (and less expensive) to support an existing customer than to land a new one. In fact, the origins of account-based marketing are often traced back to expanding your presence across key accounts that are already customers.

Recent applications, however, seem to be exclusively focused on new acquisitions. Ignore existing customers at your own peril. Excluding them from your marketing strategy means you will lose market share, strategy or not.

Focusing on Specific Accounts and Leaving Some Buyers Feeling Underserved

If your marketing efforts are highly visible, such as at a content marketing event or on social media, you run the risk of losing potential buyers due to insensitive messaging or “elitist” tactics. Tread lightly and consider carefully how your marketing efforts will be perceived. Never alienate a viable buyer simply because they are not “on the list.”

Truly strategic ABM accounts for buyers that might fall outside the parameters of your target list while still focusing on the companies that are the most likely to buy.

3. Integrating ABM with Overall Marketing Strategy

Integrating Account-Based Marketing with your overall marketing strategy is crucial for achieving cohesive and effective marketing efforts. According to WifiTalents, 91% of marketers using ABM see larger deal sizes, and their average deal size is 171% greater than before.

The key to successful integration lies in aligning ABM with your company’s broader marketing goals and tactics. This alignment ensures that ABM does not operate in isolation but complements other marketing initiatives. For instance, while ABM focuses on key accounts, it should also support and be supported by:

1. General brand awareness campaigns
2. Content marketing
3. Digital marketing efforts

Integrating ABM

To effectively integrate ABM, start by identifying the common goals between ABM and other marketing strategies. This could include shared objectives like:

• Increasing brand awareness
• Generating high-quality leads
• Driving sales in specific market segments

Once these common goals are established, develop a unified strategy that leverages the strengths of both ABM and other marketing tactics.

For example, use insights gained from ABM to inform your content marketing strategy, ensuring that the content is highly relevant and tailored to the needs of key accounts. Similarly, digital marketing campaigns can be designed to not only target a broader audience but also to specifically engage decision-makers within identified key accounts.

Remember, the integration of ABM with your marketing strategy isn’t going to be a one-time effort. It’s an ongoing process. Regularly review and adjust your strategies to make sure they remain aligned and effective in achieving your marketing objectives.

4. Customizing Content for Specific Accounts

Customizing content for each account in ABM is a game-changer.

So, how do you nail this?

Start by diving deep into understanding your target accounts.

• What challenges are they facing?
• What goals are they chasing?

For example, if a target is grappling with digital transformation, your content should offer insights and solutions that speak directly to this issue.

The next step is making sure this tailored content reaches the right people. It’s not just about sending out emails or posts; it’s about connecting with key decision-makers and influencers in a way that resonates with them. Whether it’s through targeted emails, social media, or custom web content, the aim is to engage them with material that feels like it’s been created just for them.

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Lastly, keep an eye on how your content performs and be ready to adjust. If certain topics get more engagement, focus more on them. If a particular style gets more response, use it more. It’s all about being flexible and responsive to what works for each account.

5. Account-Based Marketing Puts Sales In Control of the Marketing Process

Marketing has come a long way over the past decade, largely due to the rise of marketing technologies that allow us to better measure the return on our efforts and investments. Marketers are now able to prove:

1. What is working
2. What drives leads
3. Which leads turn into opportunities
4. Which marketing programs drove the most revenue

However, poor visibility into turn-backs (marketing “qualified” leads rejected by sales) and perceived problems with lead scoring and closed-loop reporting still hurt us when it comes to establishing value and measuring performance.

Account-based marketing proponents (like myself) often cite that highly scored leads get ignored by sales because they are coming from companies that they don’t feel that they can sell to.

The establishment of a target account list and the adoption of an account-based marketing strategy that leverages that list can serve to solve that problem. However, there is a tendency to take this too far — giving sales control of the list and a license to reject qualified leads that are not “target accounts.”

Marketing needs to work with sales to compile the list but needs to own the list and the strategies and tactics used to market to that list. These tactics need to be both inbound and outbound.

We also need to:

• Account for qualified buyers coming from outside “the list” and establish clear and precise lead scoring and lead management practices.
• Maintain service-level agreements with sales detailing responsibilities that account for qualified leads coming from both inside and outside the list.
• Build our Demand Process to focus on supporting a buyer’s journey and engage buyers with the tactics that drive revenue.

6. Scaling ABM Efforts

Scaling your ABM efforts is a big step, but it’s totally doable with the right approach.

So, how do you scale up without losing the personal touch that makes ABM so effective?

First, focus on getting your data and insights right. This means having a solid understanding of your target accounts and continuously refining this knowledge. As you grow, your ability to collect and analyze data should also expand, helping you to make more informed decisions.

Next, think about how you can use technology to your advantage. Automation tools can be a lifesaver when it comes to scaling. They help manage the increased workload without compromising the quality of your interactions with each account. But remember, automation should enhance your strategy, not replace the personal elements that make ABM work.

Another key aspect is ensuring your team is on the same page. As you scale, keeping everyone aligned becomes more challenging but also more important. Regular training and communication can help maintain a unified approach.

Finally, don’t forget to measure and adjust as you go. Scaling up means new challenges and learning opportunities. Keep an eye on your key performance indicators and be ready to tweak your strategy as needed.

7. It is Difficult to Measure and Monitor Account-Based Activity

There are some inherent limitations in the technologies we are using that do not support an account-based marketing strategy.

Some new technologies have come to the fore, seeking to address these difficulties. Engagio, for example, works to supplement your existing marketing automation platform with an account-based view into engagement and activity.

Demandbase has long offered tools that work within your web analytics to monitor account-based activity across your web properties (among other account-based outbound marketing offerings).

As popular interest in ABM has grown, technology vendors are rising to the challenge with some impressive technologies to add to the stack.

Technology is not a silver bullet, however. It seems too easy to lose sight of the simple fact that incorporating account-based considerations into content strategy and lead management processes will best bolster any account-based marketing strategy and drive revenue. The best technologies fail without a solid demand process strategy to drive them.

Demand Generation

The most effective account-based marketing programs take a strong demand generation strategy and build upon it by folding account-based considerations into the tactics that drive the best returns for your company.

The truth is that a strategic demand generation process that incorporates content strategy, inbound and outbound engagement tactics, and a lead management process can trump any account-based marketing strategy.

You need to master the fundamentals first. Once that is done, adding some strategic account-based components will take you to the next level.

8. Choosing the Right Accounts to Focus On

Determining which accounts to target is a foundational step in ABM that can significantly influence the success of your campaigns. Selecting the right accounts ensures that your efforts and resources are focused on prospects most likely to convert and deliver high value to your business.

However, this process can be challenging. Here’s how to navigate it effectively:

Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Start by defining your ICP. This profile is a detailed description of the perfect customer for your business based on characteristics such as industry, company size, location, revenue, and specific pain points. Your ICP should reflect the type of accounts that are most likely to benefit from your product or service and have the highest potential for long-term value.

Leverage Data and Analytics

Utilize data and analytics to identify accounts that fit your ICP. This involves analyzing your current customer base to find common traits among your best customers.

Look at firmographic data (such as industry and company size), technographic data (the technology they use), and behavioral data (their interactions with your brand). Tools like CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, and data providers can be invaluable in gathering and analyzing this information.

Prioritize Accounts with Engagement Signals

Next, prioritize accounts that show engagement signals. These signals include actions like visiting your website, downloading resources, attending webinars, or engaging with your content on social media.

These behaviors indicate interest and a higher likelihood of conversion. Tools like intent data providers can help identify accounts actively researching solutions like yours.

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Collaborate with Sales Teams

Work closely with your sales teams to refine your target list. Sales teams have firsthand knowledge of account interactions and can provide insights into which prospects are more likely to convert. This collaboration ensures alignment between marketing and sales, a critical factor for ABM success.

Assess Potential for Growth

Consider the long-term growth potential of each account. Some accounts might not offer immediate high returns but could grow significantly over time, making them valuable targets for sustained engagement and nurturing.

Regularly Review and Adjust

Finally, remember that determining target accounts is not a one-time task. Regularly review and adjust your target list based on new data, market changes, and business priorities. This flexibility allows you to stay responsive to emerging opportunities and challenges.

Following these steps systematically identifies and prioritizes the accounts most likely to drive success for your ABM efforts. As a result, you’ll invest your resources where they will yield the highest returns.

ABM Starts With the Right Content

ABM can be challenging, but the results speak for themselves. This marketing method helps you develop beneficial relationships and partnerships to push your brand forward.

Content is vital to the ABM process because the materials you send out must engage with the audience and encourage further interaction. Marketing Insider Group can help you out with our Content Builder Services. Reach out to learn more or book a free consultation with our team.

Social media is more than just a platform for personal connection. It’s a powerful tool for businesses, influencers, and individuals to share their stories and engage with a global audience.

With over 5 billion active social media users worldwide, the potential to reach and influence people has never been greater. Creating content that resonates and is widely shared can amplify your message, foster community, and drive engagement.

But what makes content shareable?

Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or a social media novice, learning some tips and strategies will help you create compelling content that stands out in the crowded social media landscape. This article examines the art and science of crafting posts that capture attention and inspire shares.

Quick Takeaways

• How you write and publish social media posts impacts your reach, online authority, and overall success.

• Sticking to proven techniques offers the best results.

• After figuring out the fundamentals, you can get creative to stand out from competitors and capture your audience’s attention.

• Keeping your posts concise, authentic, and evergreen across all social media channels can help.

Writing Social Media Content That Wins Every Time

Instead of reinventing the wheel, stick to proven techniques for writing social media posts. You should use a different structure for posting on each channel. Once you’ve nailed the fundamentals, you can add your own ideas to get creative and stand out.

Follow these best practices for writing social media posts for the big five: X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok.

1. Posting on X (Twitter)

While X can feel tricky with its tight character limit, it offers many opportunities for businesses to speak out about relevant topics and engage in authentic conversations with followers. You may still feel the pressure to keep to the old 140-character limit, but today, you have room to use up to 280 characters for every Post.

Best Practices

• Try to constrain your Posts to 71 to 100 characters to grab people’s attention fast and encourage engagement. This practice also leaves room at the end for your Twitter handle if someone retweets your post.
• Keep hashtags short – under six characters whenever possible. Sticking to one or two highly relevant hashtags is a good benchmark to hit.
• Only address one topic at a time.
• If you have more to say than you can fit in a Post, you can link to a blog post or website that goes more in-depth.
• Use a tool like TinyURL to shorten lengthy website addresses.
• Add a captivating image.
• Tag people (when appropriate).

2. Posting on Facebook

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Despite its flaws, Facebook remains the world’s most popular social media site, with about 3 billion active monthly users. You can use various posting techniques successfully on Facebook, but there are some general guidelines you’ll want to follow. We encourage you to play around with them to find the best methods for your particular business and following.

Best Practices

• Include an eye-catching visual with every post to increase engagement.
• Share videos. Facebook reports that 50% of time spent on the platform and Instagram involves watching videos.
• Stay positive.
• Add an exclamation mark now and then to add excitement and grab users’ attention.
• Ask questions to encourage readers to leave comments and share your post with others.
• Use one or two hashtags to engage in more extensive discussions.
• Consider creating your own branded hashtags to use consistently (e.g., #justdoit).
• Stick to around 40-80 characters for maximum performance.

3. Writing Captions for Instagram

Some businesses do a superb job of posting quality, captivating photos on Instagram, but they struggle with writing complementary captions. Captions can increase engagement and help you connect with readers in a way that images may not.

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Best Practices

• Mind the 2,220-character caption length limit. You can also use up to 30 hashtags per post.
• Remember that just because you can write a lot doesn’t mean you always should. The ideal length for regular Instagram posts is 138-150 characters.
• Shoot for 5-10 hashtags to grow your audience while avoiding “shadow banning.” Make sure each one you use is highly relevant.
• Think about how you can add to your photo and increase engagement. It may include asking a question or adding a call to action (CTA).
• Break up longer posts into different sections by hitting the enter/return key a couple of times.
• Add emojis creatively.

4. Posting on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a professional B2B platform that connects different organizations and encourages collaboration. It’s a great place to share news and insights from your business or industry, along with enlightening work-related topics. Keep in mind that this platform is more text-based than many other social media channels.

Best Practices

• The optimal length for a LinkedIn status update is around 100 characters, but you can go longer. At 140 characters, LinkedIn will cut off messages with a “See More” button.
• The platform discriminates against status updates containing links, pushing more businesses and individuals to take advantage of LinkedIn Publishing (posting an entire article on the channel).
• If you want to publish a post on LinkedIn, longer articles tend to perform better. Aim for around 2,000-word posts. Include a headline, subheaders, and other elements to organize your content and make it scannable and easy to read.
• Add up to 3-5 relevant hashtags.

5. Pinning on Pinterest

Like Instagram, Pinterest is a highly visual platform. Pin descriptions can help boost engagement and describe the images you share.

Best Practices

• Use proper grammar and punctuation.
• Keep an informative tone.
• Avoid using “salesy” language.
• Don’t use hashtags.
• Write clear titles and descriptions. Use up to 100 characters for titles and 500 characters for descriptions.
• Use precise language to describe your Pins accurately.
• Include relevant keywords in your descriptions and a CTA that makes users want to click to learn more.
• Your brand should be the focal point, so don’t forget to include your logo.
• Learn more about the best practices for different types of Pins on Pinterest Business.

6. Creating and Captioning TikTok Videos

TikTok has taken the social media world by storm, becoming one of the most popular platforms with over a billion active monthly users. Known for its short, engaging videos, TikTok offers a unique opportunity to create content that can go viral quickly.

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TikTok videos are typically 15 to 60 seconds long, focusing on creativity and quick, impactful storytelling. The platform’s algorithm favors engaging and interactive content, making it easier for a broader audience to discover videos.

Best Practices

• Hook Your Audience Quickly. The first few seconds are crucial to grab the viewer’s attention, so use vibrant visuals, intriguing questions, or bold statements to draw people in.
• Keep It Short and Sweet. While you can use up to 60 seconds, shorter videos (15-30 seconds) often perform better.
• Use Popular Music and Sounds. TikTok thrives on trends, so incorporating popular songs and sounds makes your video more relatable.
• Leverage Trends and Challenges. Participate in trending hashtags and challenges. This practice boosts visibility and makes your content relevant and timely.
• Be Authentic. TikTok audiences value authenticity. Show your personality, be genuine, and avoid overly polished content.
• Engage with Your Audience. Respond to comments, collaborate with other users, and encourage interactions.
• Use Text. TikTok allows hashtags, tags, and text-based content, and playing around with those features can open your business to an entirely new audience.

3 General Tips to Keep in Mind for Social Media Posting

Here are three quick tips to remember when you find time to sit down to compose some posts and publish content on various social platforms.

• Be genuine: Authenticity can go a long way. Avoid being too promotional or “salesy” on social media. People would much rather engage with an actual human – with real emotions and opinions.
• Keep it concise: When in doubt, keep your posts short and to the point.
• Stay evergreen: Most social media posts don’t stay front and center for long. They can quickly get buried in users’ feeds. However, if your posts are evergreen, you can easily reshare the same content again in the future, saving yourself time and getting in front of more people.

Gain Your Audience’s Attention With Social Media Content

Creating shareable social media content is a blend of understanding your audience, leveraging trends, and producing authentic, engaging material. Each strategy plays a crucial role in boosting your content’s shareability, from crafting attention-grabbing headlines and utilizing compelling visuals to participating in trending challenges and engaging with your audience.

Whether it’s the quick, vibrant videos on TikTok, insightful articles on LinkedIn, or visually appealing posts on Instagram, the key is to create content that resonates and inspires action. As you navigate the social media landscape, remember that creativity and adaptability always stand out.

Grabbing your audience’s attention is only part of the battle because once you get them to your website, you want them to return for more. As a result, investing in high-quality blog content should be a priority.

Marketing Insider Group can assist with our Content Builder Services. The result is content that stands out and is shared widely, amplifying your brand’s impact. Contact us to learn more or for a free consultation.

Industrial marketing caters to businesses selling products and services to other companies rather than individual consumers. Unlike consumer marketing, it involves longer sales cycles, higher-value transactions, and complex decision-making processes involving multiple stakeholders.

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Roughly 57% of industrial buyers compare their suppliers online before speaking directly to the firm. This statistic means your content marketing strategy is vital because it’s your first interaction with most buyers. As a result, aligning your marketing strategies with the buyer’s journey can significantly enhance engagement and conversion rates.

Understanding and adapting to the industrial professional’s buying process is essential for successful marketing. This guide will take you through the nuances of industrial marketing, providing insights on how to tailor strategies to meet the specific needs of industrial buyers.

Quick Takeaways

• Industrial marketing involves selling products and services to other companies.

• There could be multiple decision-makers contributing to the process.

• Learning how industrial buyers operate is vital.

• Success is dependent on your marketing strategy.

The Three Stages of the Industrial Buying Process

Every industrial purchase involves three stages. Discovering these stages offers a guide as you learn the nuances of industrial marketing.

1. Research

When researching, the buyer searches with the intent to discover answers to questions, learn solutions to problems, or identify providers of a particular product or service. In response, the seller should aim to be discovered by the buyer as early as possible in the buying process to maximize sales. The earlier this discovery, the more influence the seller can have on the often long buying process.

2. Evaluation

Next, the buyer develops a short list of products or service providers and begins evaluating each in depth. The seller’s job is to qualify their business and prompt a sales conversation. Note that much of the industrial buying process happens before contact is ever made with a salesperson. An educational website with engaging content is critical if you want to attract the right attention.

3. Purchase

The buyer has reached the point of decision. Marketing should have done its job, and it’s up to sales to close the deal.

How to Align Your Industrial Marketing Strategy with Your Buyer Process

Because the mindset of a buyer – your potential customer – is very different during each of the three distinct phases of the buying process, you must carefully consider how you can fulfill their needs and solve their problems during each. These six steps should help guide you along the way.

1. Identify Your Buyer

Who is involved in the buying process within your target audience’s company? Engineers seeking specs? Purchasing departments seeking low bids? Business owners seeking long-term partnerships?

You must clearly identify your buyer before you can think about making a sale. If you don’t, you’ll be inefficient in your marketing efforts.

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2. Identify the Buyer’s Needs

Which problems are your buyers trying to solve?

Are they trying to overcome challenges?

What solutions do they think they need?

What solutions do they actually need?

Answer these questions, and you’ll start down the path of truly providing value for your potential customer.

3. Learn Where Buyers Get Information

Where do your buyers gather information online? Do they first go to search engines like Google and Bing, or are there primary reference industry directories and trade journals? Are industrial sector resources like ThomasNet or GlobalSpec relevant?

Insist on only fishing where the fish are. It’s common sense, but it’s surprising how many companies settle for less.

4. Learn the Specifics of What They’re Trying to Learn

What keywords do you suspect customers are using in their searches? They could be searching by:

• Product
• Service
• Problem
• Solution

Real data can be gathered through sources like the Google Ads Keyword Planner to validate or negate what you suspect to be true.

5. Answer Their Questions

There’s simply no better place than your own website to answer common questions and provide the beginnings of solutions to those problems through written, visual, or watchable content. Educational content actually helps your buyer and begins to establish trust in a way that promotional marketing language very rarely will.

This is web marketing 101.

6. Compel Your Website Visitor to Take a Lead-Generation Action

Right now, your website visitor is an anonymous person. They don’t have a face, name, phone number, or email address. You need to ensure you prompt a real conversation before that anonymous visitor leaves and never comes back.

“Gating” educational content behind a form that requires at least an email address in order to access allows you to trade something of value for your prospect’s contact information. And this, in turn, enables you to take control of the sales conversation.

Tips for Making the Most of Your Industrial Marketing Strategy

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Conduct Market Research

Thorough market research is the foundation of effective industrial marketing. Use surveys, interviews, and industry reports to gather information on your target audience. Understanding their needs and pain points helps tailor your marketing messages and solutions to address their specific challenges.

Build a Strong Online Presence

About 67% of the global population uses the internet, so your online presence is crucial. Create a professional, user-friendly website that clearly communicates your products and services. Ensure it includes detailed product descriptions, technical specifications, and case studies that highlight successful applications of your offerings.

Utilize SEO techniques to improve your website’s visibility on search engines. Additionally, maintain active profiles on social media platforms like LinkedIn, where many industrial professionals seek information and network.

Leverage Data and Analytics to Refine Marketing Strategies

Data and analytics are powerful tools that can significantly enhance your marketing efforts. Use analytics to track the performance of your marketing campaigns and understand which strategies are most effective. Monitor website traffic, engagement metrics, and conversion rates to identify areas for improvement.

Network and Build Relationships within the Industry

Building strong relationships within the industry is critical to successful industrial marketing. Attend industry trade shows, conferences, and networking events to connect with potential clients and partners. Building a network of industry contacts can provide valuable insights, open doors to new opportunities, and establish your reputation as a trusted player in the market.

Stay Updated with Industry Trends and Innovations

The industrial sector is constantly evolving with new technologies and trends. Stay informed about the latest developments by subscribing to industry journals, following relevant blogs, and attending webinars and workshops. Understanding the latest trends and innovations can help you anticipate market needs and position your offerings as cutting-edge solutions.

Navigating the complexities of industrial marketing and aligning your strategies with the buying process isn’t easy, but making the effort helps you build successful, long-lasting relationships with industrial professionals.

Become an Expert in Your Industry Today with MIG

Creating engaging and well-written content is a significant piece of the industrial marketing puzzle because it can help establish your company as a thought leader within your industry. From there, you’ll be more likely to attract readers looking for the expertise you provide, and in turn, your readers will likely become buyers.

Marketing Insider Group can help as you develop a content database with our Content Builder Services. Contact us to learn more about the content we create, or book your free consultation with our team.

If your business isn’t using Google Ads, you’re probably missing a large chunk of your target audience. These ads can be incredibly efficient when utilized properly, although there’s more to the process than throwing a few ads online and hoping for the best because you’ll need to efficiently organize your Google Ads spend.

Fortunately, strategies like leveraging location and time of day controls, utilizing negative keywords, avoiding keyword bloat, and optimizing ad groups with A/B testing can work wonders for your campaign. From there, you can refine your advertising efforts and maximize returns.

Because the business world is so competitive, you need to make every advertising dollar count. This guide offers four tips for optimizing your Google Ads spend to save money and enhance your campaign’s effectiveness.

Quick Takeaways

• Making the most of Google Ads is vital for most businesses.
• Location and time controls, negative keywords, avoiding keyword bloat, and optimizing ad groups are part of the process.
• The result is less waste with your Google Ads spend.   
• Your business will see growth if you optimize your online advertising campaign.

1) Location and Time of Day Controls

Most businesses have a clear understanding of where their target audience is located — whether it’s a 10-mile radius around a store location, within a set of designated market areas, or across several states.

If you aren’t sure where your target audience is (or if you’d prefer to double-check that your assumptions accurately map to reality), Google Analytics provides a robust set of tools to help you identify your website traffic sources.

Access Your Report

To access your report, log in to Analytics and select:

1. Reports
2. Audience
3. Demographics
4. Location

This view gives you complete website usage data.

If you have conversion tracking enabled (you should), you can overlay that filter onto your map of website visitors, providing you with a detailed geographic breakdown of your website visitors and converters.

Once you are confident that you’ve identified where your target audience resides, set up “Goal Set” or “Ecommerce” under the “Explorer” section to focus your SEM efforts on searchers in specific areas. This step allows you to geo-target your ads, helping eliminate spending for clicks that never help your business.

For businesses currently using location targeting, a best practice to maximize your search advertising spend is to set bid adjustments for specific target areas (zip codes, radii, etc.) within your target market that are generating your highest-quality traffic.

Ad Scheduling

Another best practice to ensure your ads are visible to valuable traffic is to use ad scheduling or “dayparting” to adjust bids based on the hour of the day.

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For example, if you own a dry-cleaning business that closes at 6 pm on weekdays and are marketing through call-only ads, it’s a good idea to turn off the ads after 6 pm to avoid paying for calls that no one will answer.

Similarly, if you run a B2B marketing agency on the East Coast, odds are most of your potential clients won’t be searching for you in the middle of the night. In that case, scheduling a bid adjustment decrease from 8 pm to 7 am can help you minimize your Google Ads spend on clicks that are unlikely to convert.

On the other hand, I’ve worked with multiple accountants and lawyers (especially estate and divorce attorneys) with local practices who receive an incredible number of qualified leads at traditionally off-peak (weekend, late-night) times.

As a general rule, before implementing any bid adjustments or ad scheduling, check your website’s analytics (use the same procedure as noted above for location; then add time as a secondary dimension) to identify the times with the highest goal completion and conversion rates.

Once you feel confident you understand when your target audience is browsing your site, create ad schedules based on:

• Your business type
• Time zone (You can schedule different bid adjustments for each time zone if you operate in multiple)
• Ad type (For call-only ads, you’ll want to make sure your business is open, etc.)

Continue Monitoring

After your bid schedules are in place, be sure to monitor them on an ongoing basis. A bi-weekly review of Google Ads spend/website traffic by hour of the day report can provide valuable insights. It can also help you maximize your budget.

As you review your reports, if you notice a particular time of day is producing a high volume of conversions, schedule a bid increase of 10 or 15% and observe the results.

If it produces additional new conversions, keep it. If not, remove it. Likewise, if a time of day is responsible for a large volume of non-converting clicks, consider adding a bid decrease.

2) Negative Keywords

Negative keywords are the forgotten uncle of geo-targeting. They’ve been around forever, and they’re massively under-appreciated.

Put simply, negative keywords are the inverse of a traditional keyword. Where a keyword directs Google Ads to show the ad when a search containing a particular keyword is queried, a negative keyword prevents Google from showing your ad for searches containing your negative terms.

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Depending on the match type your marketing campaigns employ, negative keywords can be lifesavers.

Poor Use of Ads

A telecommunications client of ours had previously had a poor experience with search advertising. They ended up spending several thousand dollars on a campaign without receiving a single lead despite more than 1,500 clicks.

As we dug into their campaign, we discovered that the prime culprit behind the failure was a lack of negative keywords.

Of the 1,500+ clicks generated, 99.9% were triggered through Google Ads’ broad match criterion – and the queries themselves were, by and large, irrelevant to the client’s business.

For a company that sells business phone systems, a Google Ads spend of $11.58 for “ways to start a business online for free” is a bad idea.

A Better Way to Spend

There are two primary approaches to creating a negative keywords list for your search advertising efforts: proactive and reactive. The best practice for almost every business is a hybrid of both methods.

Proactive Negative Keyword Management

Proactive negative keyword management involves actively identifying (either through common sense, a pre-built negative keyword list, or an interactive negative keyword tool) negative keywords based on your business and goals. Generally, it’s best to create a baseline list of sure-fire negative keywords and refine/expand the list using reactive tactics.

Reactive Negative Keyword Management

In contrast to the proactive method, a reactive approach uses Search Queries reports in Google Ads. These reports allow you to inspect the actual search queries. From there, you can look at the keyword and match type that triggered each click.

If you see any terms that aren’t relevant to your business, you can add them as negative keywords directly from the report. To make the most out of this method, you should review your Search Queries reports regularly. Usually, bi-weekly is sufficient.

3) Avoid Keyword Bloat

For many companies, keyword bloat is a silent revenue killer. Put simply, keyword bloat is what happens when advertisers bid on (way) too many keywords to avoid missing out on potential customers.

The story usually goes something like this: In the beginning, the company’s search advertising efforts are limited to a handful (or fewer) of campaigns, each with a half-dozen ad groups and a small, targeted, well-researched group of keywords.

The campaign works well and produces a high return on ad spend (ROAS). Over time, the business grows. Due to its past success, the business owner(s) decide to increase their search advertising efforts.

From there:

• Services and products change
• The company enters new markets
• Time goes on, and terminology changes.
• New campaigns, ad groups, and keywords are added to reflect these changes
• Outdated and no longer applicable keywords aren’t removed

Eventually, the company’s campaigns start to produce fewer conversions despite a relatively constant number of clicks. Search impression share decreases. The campaign’s once-strong (ROAS) begins to plummet.

Symptoms of Keyword Bloat

The symptoms of keyword bloat aren’t as obvious as those of poorly configured controls –in many cases, the campaign continues to produce a large number of clicks from, prima facie, qualified prospects during prime business hours.

The problem is that many of those clicks are generated by unproductive keywords with little (or no) chance of producing a conversion — and preventing your budget from being used by relevant, productive keywords that are generating results.

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Here’s a quick test you can perform to see if keyword bloat is contributing to your wasted Google Ads spend: In the Google Ads interface, pull a series of (if you have sufficient data) quarterly reports for the past eighteen to twenty-four months.

For each quarter, write down the following metrics:

• Conversion rate
• Cost per conversion
• Search impression share

If keyword bloat is a problem for your campaigns, you’ll see a clear pattern emerge as you examine the reports chronologically (start with the oldest and move toward your current report) — your conversion rate and search impression share will decline while your cost per conversion increases.

If you see a massive change in any (or all) of those metrics, keyword bloat is likely costing your company a great deal of money. As a general guideline to what counts as “significant”, look to see if all three metrics are relatively constant (within 15%), both from quarter to quarter and from your oldest to your current report. If the metrics are consistent, keyword bloat is likely not a problem for your account.

Eliminating Keyword Bloat

The most successful strategy for eliminating keyword bloat once it has taken hold of your campaign is to purge the campaign of all of the bloat – all at once. This may sound extreme, but it’s the most effective way I’ve found to eliminate the issue and return your campaign to profitability.

Here’s the procedure:

1. Go to the keywords tab under your bloated campaign
2. Download and save all of your keyword data (just to be safe)
3. View your campaign data for the past 3-6 months (I usually start with 6 months. If bloating still exists, reduce the window)
4. Add the following filter: Conversions < 1. This step will remove all of the keywords that have generated at least one conversion over the period selected in Step #3
5. Select all of the remaining keywords and remove them
6. Remove the filter from Step #4. What’s left is every keyword that produced a conversion within the timeframe you selected in Step #2 – your best keywords
7. Using your updated keyword list, sort by cost per conversion (CPA) and eliminate any remaining keyword with a CPA that is 30% higher than your maximum target CPA.

You’re probably thinking this sounds a bit insane, extreme, or both. After all, you’ve worked for years building your search campaigns. You’ve meticulously crossed your T’s and dotted your I’s. Now I’m telling you to tear it all down. The reality, for most advertisers, is the digital marketing equivalent of the 80-20 rule: 20% of your keywords drive 80% of your revenue.

This method forces you to focus 100% of your company’s advertising spend (vs. the 20% or less you were previously) only on the keywords that are contributing to your bottom line. For most clients, we’ll see a dramatic turnaround within a month or two – conversion volume and search impression share will increase substantially while CPA decreases.

4) Optimize Ad Groups and A/B Test Copy

Once you are confident that your search advertising campaign includes proper controls and a focused list of quality keywords, it is time to hone your search ads. Here’s what you should know:

Common Problems with Generic Ad Groups

If your company is similar to most, your search campaigns include a few hundred keywords broken into three to seven ad groups, each of which triggers one of two ads. On multiple occasions, we have seen client campaigns with a single, generic ad copied across dozens of ad groups containing thousands of keywords.

The common problem with this structure is twofold:

1. Ads for each ad group are virtually identical and generic. This results in a reduced “ad relevance” score and a lower anticipated click-through rate (CTR) – two heavily weighted factors in Google Ads’ calculation of your keyword Ad Rank. Ultimately, this results in paying a significantly higher cost per click than your competition
2. In most cases, having near-identical, generic ads across groups is a result of lumping together a large group of loosely related keywords into a single ad group, preventing the creation of specific, targeted, and relevant search ads

In extreme instances, loosely organized ad groups with generic ad copy can result in paying 30%, 40%, or even 70% more for the same click – quickly exhausting your daily budget and missing dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of potential customers every day.

Creating Targeted Ad Groups

As you begin the optimization process, start by separating your keywords into related “buckets” – this could be by product type (for example, one ad group for shoes, one for bags, one for accessories), service type (e.g. one for divorce law, another for estate law) or theme (dog supplies, cat supplies).

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Using Website Structure as a Guide

If you are unsure what type of ad group is best, your website structure is a safe place to start. As a rule of thumb, main navigation items or overarching service areas are best suited to the campaign level; specific products/services/items (subpages and sub-subpages) under the main navigation or overarching service area provide excellent guidelines for ad groups.

An added benefit to this approach is the ability to use each sub-page as a final URL, directing traffic from individual ad groups to a highly relevant webpage.

Optimizing Landing Pages

If the destination website includes landing pages (and it should!), a best practice is to have at least one landing page per campaign (and, in most instances, two or more landing pages per campaign).

Regardless of industry, the ultimate goal of search ads should be to provide the visitor with the maximum amount of relevant information possible based on the searched query.

To accomplish this goal, start with your new ad groups. Review (again) the keywords included, then start brainstorming several versions of ad copy that are specific to the terms included in the ad group.

Do not be afraid to be specific – if a prospect is searching for “living wills” or “coach handbags”, the prospect is more likely to click on an ad that prominently includes those terms than a generic ad from a company with which they are unfamiliar.

Refining and Reviewing Ads

As a best practice, aim for three to four unique search ads per ad group. Once these are complete, review each ad from your prospect’s perspective (or, better yet, ask a friend or colleague to review each ad).

Picture yourself querying a search for one of the keywords and seeing one of your newly crafted ads. Ask yourself: is this ad relevant? Does it encourage interaction? Would you click it? Through this process, always remember to be honest with yourself – at the end of the day, self-deceit is only going to result in a wasted Google Ads spend and additional time spent correcting the issue.

Running and Evaluating Ads

Once you are confident the newly crafted ads are targeted, relevant, and engaging, upload them to their ad groups. You can then adjust your campaign ad delivery to “rotate ads evenly for 90 days, then optimize.” Next, take a step back and allow the ads to run for a set period of time.

Conducting A/B Testing

Following the predetermined period, revisit your ads. Identify the one(s) with the highest CTR and conversion rate and eliminate the others. If two are within 10-15% of each other, keep both.

Your next step is to begin A/B testing using the “winner” from the above test as a control item:

• Create new versions with slightly different headlines or body copy – but not both
• Repeat the above procedure – the goal of A/B testing is to maximize your ad relevance, CTR, and conversion rate, optimizing your campaign and reducing your cost per click (CPC)

Throughout this process, be impartial and ruthless. No matter how clever or captivating you believe an ad to be, don’t keep it if the data doesn’t support it.

What Happens When Your Google Ads Campaign Doesn’t Perform

A poorly performing Google Ads campaign can harm your business in several ways.

Wasted Money

When your ads don’t work well, a lot of your advertising budget is spent without bringing in many customers. This happens because your ads aren’t reaching the right people or aren’t convincing them to buy. Inefficient ads mean you spend more to get each customer, which can strain your budget and cut into profits.

Low ROI

The goal of advertising is to make more money than you spend. If your ads perform poorly, it means you’re spending more to get customers than the money you make from them, leading to losses.

Reduced Quality Score

Google rates the quality and relevance of your ads. Poor performance lowers this score, which means you’ll pay more for each click. Your ads will also show up less often. This makes it even harder to improve your ad performance without spending more money.

Missed Sales

If your ads aren’t effective, you’ll miss out on potential customers and sales. Your ads might not reach the right audience or fail to persuade them to act, so you miss opportunities to grow your business.

Harm to Brand Reputation

Badly targeted or poorly designed ads can annoy people and give them a negative impression of your brand. Irrelevant ads can damage how potential customers see you.

You don’t want to throw money at your Google Ads campaign only to see it fail. Taking the time to optimize your ads and target the right audience puts your company in a much better position moving forward.

Make the Most of Your Google Ads Spend

Optimizing your Google Ads spend strategy might sound a little crazy. After all, you could have to start from scratch. However, it’s worth the effort if you get your desired results.

By leveraging location and time-of-day controls, utilizing negative keywords, avoiding keyword bloat, and refining ad groups and copy through A/B testing, you can take your company’s advertising efforts to the next level.

Each of these methods targets specific aspects of your ads, ensuring they reach the right audience at the right time and with the right message. Embracing these best practices not only helps in cutting unnecessary costs but also maximizes your return on investment.

Learning how to make the best use of Google Ads and other paid advertising tools can be overwhelming, but we can help. Contact Marketing Insider Group to learn more about paid media advertising services, or book your free consultation with our team.

We live in an exciting era where brands have nearly limitless opportunities to connect with their audiences. Acting like publishers has become a game-changer, with 91% of B2B marketers utilizing content marketing to reach customers and 86% of B2C marketers following suit.

This strategy isn’t just a trend; it’s a proven path to success. When brands embrace the role of publishers, they craft compelling narratives, provide valuable insights, and build lasting relationships.

Content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional marketing yet costs 62% less. By sharing their stories, expertise, and passion, brands can engage more deeply, foster trust, and drive growth.

This article explores why brand publishing is crucial for modern organizations and how this approach can transform their engagement strategies. Get ready to learn about the power of content marketing and discover how your brand can thrive by thinking and acting like a publisher.

Quick Takeaways

• Consumers are overexposed to advertising, making it more challenging to reach them.

• Content creation offers a solution to this issue by providing value to readers.

• Brand publishing involves allocating dedicated resources and maintaining a consistent, professional approach to your content.

• The result is an engaged audience that sees your brand as a thought leader.

Why Content Marketing?

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Brands have begun to think and act like publishers because of the growing cost and increasing opt-out rates for many types of marketing. The average person sees around two million ads per year and subconsciously ignores most of them.

In addition, customers only open about 63% of emails from brands, and only 2% of those emails result in a single click. Cold calls go unanswered by more and more of us. And, of course, most of us fast-forward through TV ads.

Pushing promotional messages at consumers today just doesn’t work. We scroll right past the content we don’t want to see. So, the only solution is to become the information consumers want to see. And that is why brands have started producing content people are looking for.

Whether it’s news, helpful tips and tricks, or even entertaining videos, brands that aren’t creating content their audience wants are just wasting their marketing dollars.

Following The Leaders

The results speak for themselves. American Express’ Business Class is one great example of a brand acting like a publisher. They created their site “to help small business owners get more business.” They did this by hiring professional writers and experts in small business who wrote about the things that would be helpful to small business owners – to give them the information they needed. As they grew their target audience, they invited readers to open an account.

The site quickly became their largest source of new card members. Not because they beat their readers into submission. But because they added value first. They earned the attention of their future customers. They provided helpful information. And their own business grew as a result. New business has to be earned. Publishing is the cost.

At SAP, we modeled our own site, Business Innovation, after this. It was launched in 2012 to provide a platform for internal and external thought leadership. It quickly grew to our 3rd largest platform after our corporate website and our customer community network.

Today, Business Innovation is part of the corporate site, but remains an integral part of the company’s communication with its customer base.

Biggest Mistakes Marketers Make

The biggest mistake brands make when making the shift to publishing is to think in terms of “campaigns.” Being a brand publisher doesn’t mean you create an Ebook. And it’s certainly NOT about making “viral videos.” It’s really a cultural shift away from the “campaign brain” and towards continuous content development, curation, and distribution of content that results in conversations, community, and, ultimately, conversion.

As marketers, we often overestimate the importance of our company/product/solution in the minds of our buyers. We need to truly think in a customer-centric way.

I have found that there is a direct correlation between our ability to provide value online and our ability to gain an audience’s attention offline. All of those interactions have to be real and authentic. That’s what builds trust.

Is Content Marketing Just A Buzzword?

Some people in marketing and some business leaders think content marketing is just a buzzword. Or a fad or trend that will go away in a few years. I believe it’s become the most important aspect of marketing and the best way for businesses to gain new customers because it is the biggest gap between what our customers want and what brands currently publish.

Some business leaders reach for a higher value and truly seek to help their customers. These are the business cultures that will find success in content marketing and brand publishing. The others will have to fake it before they make it. And frankly, today’s consumers are too smart for brands that are insidious in their brand publishing efforts.

Content Marketing Ground Rules

I believe in a couple of content marketing ground rules:

• Take the brand out of the story
• Make the reader or your customer the hero of the story
• Create content that is interesting or compelling

You’ll also want to create a content marketing strategy:

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This strategy ensures you’re reaching the right people with your content and that it’s generating the desired results.

How to Act Like a Publisher

Shifting to a publisher mentality involves rethinking how your brand approaches content creation, distribution, and audience engagement. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you make this transition:

Run Content Creation Like a Separate Business

Treat your content creation process as if it were an independent publishing house. This step means allocating dedicated resources, including a team of writers, editors, and content strategists.

Establish a content calendar to plan and schedule your posts, ensuring a steady flow of high-quality material. Just as a publisher would, prioritize consistency and professionalism in every piece of content you produce.

This approach not only enhances your brand’s credibility but also ensures that your audience always has something new and valuable to look forward to.

Build a Content Strategy Around a Purpose or Mission

Successful publishers have a clear mission that guides their content. Your brand should do the same by identifying a core purpose that aligns with your values and resonates with your audience.

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For instance, if your brand sells eco-friendly products, your content strategy might focus on sustainability, environmental education, and green living tips.

This mission-driven approach helps create a cohesive and compelling narrative that can attract and retain a dedicated audience. Your content should consistently reflect this mission, creating a unified voice and message across all platforms.

Make Your Reader the Focal Point

At the heart of every successful brand publishing story is a deep understanding of its audience. Similarly, your brand should prioritize its readers’ needs, interests, and pain points.

Steps you can take to achieve this goal include:

• Conducting thorough research to understand who your audience is and what they care about
• Creating content that addresses their specific challenges, answers their questions, and provides actionable insights
• Engaging with your audience by encouraging comments, feedback, and interaction on your platforms

This reader-centric approach fosters loyalty and positions your brand as a trusted resource and community hub.

By running your content creation like a business, centering your strategy around a clear purpose, and making your readers the focal point, you can successfully shift to a publisher mentality. This transformation can drive deeper engagement, build stronger relationships, and ultimately lead to greater success for your brand.

What Is The Future of Content Marketing?

Brand engagement is evolving, and acting like a publisher is no longer optional but essential for success. By running content creation like a separate business, brands can ensure professionalism and consistency, leading to a stronger, more credible presence.

Building a content strategy around a clear mission helps to create a cohesive narrative that resonates deeply with audiences, fostering trust and loyalty. Most importantly, making the reader the focal point of your efforts ensures that your content remains relevant, engaging, and valuable.

These strategies enhance your brand’s visibility, drive meaningful interactions, generate leads, and build lasting relationships with your audience. Embracing a brand publishing mentality transforms your company from a mere seller of products or services into a trusted source of information and inspiration.

Now is the time for your business to adopt these trends and revolutionize your marketing approach. Marketing Insider Group can assist you as you craft your brand’s image through content generation. Contact us to learn about our Content Building Services or book a consultation.

As the digital landscape evolves, there’s a belief that the corporate website is decreasing in importance. After all, corporations have access to social media, mobile apps, and numerous online platforms, so interacting with customers through a website isn’t as common as in the past.

However, corporate websites still play a role for companies of all sizes. Many businesses don’t use them for product promotion because they have e-commerce sites to fill that void, but these websites remain useful tools.

Corporations use their official websites to shape their online presence according to their brand values and identity. These sites also give a company credibility and act as a central hub where customers, job seekers, and investors can find first-hand information on the organization and its history.

Is the corporate website dead?

No, it’s very much alive and well, but it’s evolving from a point of sale into an information hub where visitors can learn about a company, its history, and its inner workings. This guide will explore the evolution of corporate websites and examine why businesses still need them despite the countless other online options they have available.

Quick Takeaways

• Corporate websites aren’t dead because they provide customers with information and offer credibility.

• These websites are now an information hub instead of an e-commerce destination.

• Corporations can use their official websites to interact and engage with customers.

• These websites must keep up with customer expectations to stay relevant.

Why Your Corporate Website Should Die

If you’re still doing things the old way and using your corporate website as a sales vehicle, you’ll want to make some changes. This way of doing things creates an inconsistent customer experience for most buyers and disconnects them from the brand and its message.

Companies should abandon their corporate website as a marketing vehicle due to the overwhelming evidence that most visitors scan the page and leave because they are not looking for information about your products.

Corporate website visitors are looking for useful information like:

• Best practices
• Tips
• Human stories

They also want interactions with real people.

About 38% of visitors stop visiting websites that don’t capture their interest, so creating engaging and relevant content is vital.

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Instead of boring your customers with product descriptions, you have an opportunity to kill off your dull corporate website. From there, you can rebuild it as a community engagement platform that acts as an interactive hub for visitors.

Corporate Websites and Authentic Interaction

Back in 2010, Brand Consultant Simon Mainwaring wrote a blog claiming brands would no longer create their online presence on their corporate website but instead through social exchanges across the internet.

The blog also defines a massive change in the role of the brand manager to become one of a “social officer, facilitating as many moments of authentic interaction with consumers each day as possible.”

Mainwaring contends that “this shift is largely complete as we see brands shifting their media weight from traditional to social media, sharing stories across multiple channels and responding in real-time, and training their employees to become social media brand advocates. So while the corporate website persists, it has now been reframed as a point of departure for customer engagement, rather than a destination.”

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This sentiment holds true today. Over 62% of the world’s population uses social media, so ignoring it isn’t possible. You’ll need to use multiple channels to reach your audience.

However, that doesn’t mean your corporate website isn’t important, as it can work in conjunction with your social media presence to shape the brand’s voice.

Coca-Cola’s Corporate Website Journey

Once upon a time, the Coca-Cola company declared the death of its own corporate website. They re-launched their website under the tagline “The Coca-Cola Journey. Refreshing The World, One Story At A Time,” which featured content driven by their “Unbottled” blog.

I had met their super-sharp Group Director of Digital Communications and Social Media, Ashley Brown, a few months before this announcement and was just blown away by what they were doing.

Even more importantly, they paused six weeks in, looked at the data, and realized that what they thought would resonate with their audience wasn’t working.

They endured their way through an “editorial scramble” based on hard data and implemented a new design and content strategy based almost completely on the kinds of stories their audience wanted.

According to Ashley:

“Replacing a transactional corporate website with a digital magazine upended how we work.”

He continued:

“The corporate website is dead, and ‘press release PR’ is on its way out.”

Today, Coca-Cola’s website is full of brand information outlining the company’s

• Vision
• History
• Sustainability goals
• Investor information

It also has company news, a careers page, and social media links. It’s a prime example of what a corporate website should be when you use the platform to its full potential.

The Evolution of Corporate Websites

Over 51% of customers research brands online before buying anything, so you need a corporate presence that shapes this information. Corporate websites are changing, though, as technology and consumer preferences evolve.

Mobile Technology

With the rise of smartphones and tablets, users expect seamless browsing experiences across devices. Websites now adapt fluidly to different screen sizes, ensuring accessibility and user-friendliness. Ensuring you have a solid mobile strategy and tracking its effectiveness helps ensure you’re getting the most from your corporate website.

Website Management

Content management systems (CMS) are also revolutionizing website management. These platforms simplify the process of creating, updating, and publishing content, empowering businesses to maintain a fresh online presence with minimal technical expertise.

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A Custom Experience

Personalization plays a pivotal role in enhancing user experience. Corporate websites now leverage data insights to tailor content and recommendations based on individual preferences and behaviors. By delivering relevant and engaging content, businesses can forge deeper connections with their audience and drive conversion rates.

The evolution of corporate websites revolves around adapting to changing user expectations while leveraging technology to streamline management and enhance engagement. These websites aren’t dead, but they have a new purpose, and brands must adapt to give customers what they want.

The Future of Corporate Websites

Is your corporate website dead? Only if you aren’t using it to its full potential.

These websites fill a vital role online by giving you full control over your brand’s voice and enabling you to interact directly with customers. If you aren’t using your corporate website in this way, it might be time to make a few changes.

Taking the time to update your corporate website could make a massive difference for your brand. We can help you take this step with our Content Builder Service. Book your free consultation today to find out more.

A picture might be worth 1000 words, but you might as well be speaking gibberish if your images aren’t engaging and relevant.

Images highlighting and accentuating the writing should accompany your content, keeping the reader on track and providing additional value. When it comes to content marketing, selecting the right pictures or graphics is a vital part of the process because it makes it more likely the reader will retain the information you present.

There’s research to back this idea up, as the average reader will only recall about 10% of written content three days after reading it. However, that individual will remember 65% of the information you present visually and verbally.

The images you choose are part of the puzzle, so you’ll want to put some effort into selecting the right ones. This guide will explain the importance of choosing the optimal images for content marketing and offer information on how to find them.

Quick Takeaways

• Engaging and relevant images are crucial in content marketing.

• These visuals enhance content comprehension by making it easier to grasp complex ideas.

• Factors like size, emotional impact, consistency with your brand, and relatability matter when selecting images.

• Understanding how to source images is vital to stay legal and ensure they align with your brand.

The Power of Image Relevance

In content marketing, selecting engaging images is like choosing the right spices for a recipe – they can make all the difference. Here’s why image relevance matters:

Capturing Attention

There’s so much content out there that standing out from the crowd is next to impossible. However, when an image aligns with your content’s theme or message, it creates an instant connection, enticing viewers to stop scrolling and dig deeper into what you have to say.

Enhancing Understanding

Relevant images provide visual cues that complement your written content, making it easier for your audience to grasp complex ideas or emotions. They guide the reader, helping them understand content that could otherwise be challenging.

Improving Recall

Our brains are wired to remember visuals better than text. By incorporating relevant images, you’re giving your audience memory boosters. When they reflect on your content, those images serve as mental bookmarks, helping them recall your message with clarity and ease. Since 85% of buying decisions are made on an unconscious level, it makes sense to access that part of the brain.

Increasing Engagement

Relevant images can evoke emotions and spark conversations. They add flavor to your content, making it more engaging and encouraging interaction. The result is a deeper connection with your audience.

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Selecting relevant images for your content isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about strategically enhancing every aspect of the reader’s journey. It grabs their attention and leaves a lasting impression, so you’re on their minds well after they leave your website.

Tips for Selecting (Seemingly) Original Photos

A lot of marketers struggle when sourcing images. While we’d all love exclusive access to an arsenal of custom photos, videos, and infographics, most marketers lack those resources.

The search for unique images is challenging, and today’s media-savvy audiences add to the problem. Legal repercussions are possible when using images illegally, too, which is a path we don’t want to go down.

If you rely on stock photos, there are some steps you can take to get the most from those pictures. Here are some tips on selecting images that resonate with your audience while staying on brand:

1. Consider the Size – Ensuring your images are the right size for your website is critical. If an image is pixelated or poorly produced, it will hurt your brand. Selecting high-definition images in the appropriate sizes is a great place to start.
2. Elicit An Emotion – Finding images that evoke emotion can help with brand recognition. Your readers are unlikely to remember your specific content for long, but the feeling you give them will last well into the future.
3. Be Consistent  – From the tone you use in your writing to the images you select, you want everything you produce to fall within your brand’s scope. For example, if you run a healthcare client’s website, the tone should be more clinical than conversational. The same goes for the images on the website. Consistency also applies to the cropping and filters you apply to your image. If all your images are black and white, you do not want to put a vibrantly colored photo in one blog post.
4. Stay Relatable – If you use images of people in your content marketing campaigns, ensure they reflect your target audience. For example, if your customer base is primarily young professionals, using an image of a mid-50s C-Suite executive will not work.

Original infographics are the best-performing visuals, but stock photos aren’t that bad and compare favorably to video presentations and charts. It all depends on how you use them.

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Your images might not be original, but your customers are less likely to notice if the pictures fit the rest of the brand’s profile. Selecting the right photos lets you speak directly to customers, helping generate the desired response.

Sourcing Your Visual Content

While using your own images is ultimately best when developing your content marketing strategy and keeping your legal team out of your day-to-day activities, various resources are available to those who need them. Here’s a quick overview of some terms you’ll see and what they mean.

• Stock Photos – These typically high-quality images allow you to filter through topics to find something relevant to your content. Stock photos is a blanket term that applies to various image types.
• Creative Commons – You can use these images for free, although attribution is recommended and sometimes required.
• Editorial Use – You can’t use these images for commercial reasons, only editorial content.
• Rights-Managed – These stock photos have a one-time use limitation per purchase. You’ll have to buy the rights a second time to re-use the image.
• Public Domain – You can use these images as much as you want for any purpose without attribution.
• Royalty-Free Images – These high-quality photos are usually less expensive than stock photos, and you can use them multiple times without paying extra. However, you can’t edit or resell the image.

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Sourcing images through these channels will make your life easier as a marketer because of the sheer volume available. However, there are multiple sites you’ll want to look at to ensure you end up with the best possible images to suit your brand.

Best Places to Find Images For Content Marketing

Where do you find stock images? There are plenty of spots to look, and there’s something for every campaign and budget.

For all images, please check the copyright status and attribution requirements. This step will prevent many future headaches.

Some of the best places to find stock images include the following:

• Burst
• Getty Images
• Gratisography
• Flickr
• iStock
• Pexels
• Pixabay
• Shutterstock
• Unsplash

This list isn’t exhaustive, and you’ll undoubtedly find alternatives as you search. Just remember to use all images legally and ensure they match your brand for the best results.

The Visual Side of Content Marketing

Using images as part of your content marketing strategy is about more than aesthetic appeal. There are scientific reasons these visuals work and can drive traffic for your brand moving forward.

If the mere thought of sourcing and attributing images sends a chill down your spine, we’ve got you covered with our Content Builder Service. Reach out to learn more, or book your free consultation today.

Think of a high bounce rate like a quick handshake—it can be good or bad depending on the context. Bounce rate is a key metric that shows the percentage of visitors who land on your site and leave without clicking through to another page. It’s like a snapshot of first impressions.

In some cases, a high bounce rate could be positive. For instance, if a visitor finds exactly what they need on the first page, like a contact number or a specific answer, and leaves satisfied, your site has done its job efficiently.

However, more often than not, a high bounce rate signals issues like confusing navigation, slow loading times, or content that doesn’t meet the visitor’s expectations. This can lead to missed opportunities and potential revenue loss.

Understanding both sides of the bounce rate is essential. It helps you gauge whether your website effectively meets user needs or if it’s turning potential customers away. Today we’re exploring how you can manage and optimize your bounce rate, turning more visits into meaningful encounters.

1. Provide High-Quality, Relevant Content

You’ve probably clicked on a result in Google search that looks promising only to find a page of useless information, which sends you straight to the “back” button. This situation is highly frustrating for users, hence why Google considers bounce rate an important factor when judging the quality of your site.

To make sure you’re meeting the needs of searchers, ensure that you’re publishing great content – not just adding in keywords for the sake of it.

You can also improve the relevancy of your content by checking your stats to see the actual search terms that people are using when they find your site. If your existing content isn’t already addressing these search terms, edit it or add new content to meet their needs.

2. Improve Your Navigation

When a new user lands on your site, it should be immediately apparent how they can navigate to the information they’re looking for.

A clear and well-organized menu is normally the backbone of a good navigation system, and adding search functionality also helps users to find where they want to go quickly.

Make sure your menu labels are simple and make sense. Group similar items together so users can guess where to find specific information easily. You can also add breadcrumbs—these are small links at the top of the page that show users how they got to their current location. This makes moving around your site easier and helps them feel less lost.

These steps not only make your site easier to use, but also help it rank better in search results.

3. Ditch the Pop-Ups

Pop-ups are highly effective at boosting your conversion rate; however, they are also highly effective at annoying your visitors. This is especially true for badly designed pop-ups that cover the whole screen on mobile, or that are difficult to close.

If you don’t want to get rid of pop-ups entirely, it’s worth experimenting with some different options such as those that are activated only when a user scrolls to the bottom of a post or demonstrates “exit intent.”

4. Speed Up Your Site

If a user has to wait too long for the page to load, they’re likely to become frustrated and hit the back button. This is especially true for mobile users, over half of whom will leave if a page takes longer than 3 seconds to load.

There are usually several ways you can speed up your site by using caching plugins or a CDN, compressing images, minimizing HTTP requests, and considering switching web hosts.

You can also make your site faster by simplifying the code. Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights tell you exactly what to fix to make your site load faster. Also, make sure your hosting plan fits your site’s needs—especially how much visitor traffic you get. A slow host can make your site slow, too, and make people leave your site more often.

5. Design for Mobile Users

It depends on the industry you’re in, but on average over half of your web visitors will be browsing your site on a mobile device.

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If your website is hard to read and navigate on a small screen, they’re probably going to go away and find another site that meets their needs better.

Make sure your website is responsive and tested thoroughly for mobile users so that it’s attractive and easy to use.

6. Improve Content Readability

A wall of text with little white space can be very off-putting for users, who may well click away to find content that’s a little more visually appealing.

Make your content more attractive and easy to read by breaking it up into short paragraphs with plenty of sub-headings, bullet points, highlighted sections, and images. You should also use a relatively large font size to make sure your text is easy to read.

Also, consider your writing style and if writing in a simpler language with a more casual style will make it more appealing and readable.

7. Use Eye-catching CTAs

What action do you want the user to take when they’ve finished reading the content on the page they land on? Make sure it’s crystal clear with an enticing CTA that will encourage users to click on it and find out more about what you have to offer.

To make your CTA stand out, focus on color and size that catch the eye but still fit with your website’s design. Placement is also key; put your CTA where visitors naturally look, like near the end of a post or at the center of the page.

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We also like to use words that create a sense of need or excitement, like “Grab Yours Now” or “Don’t Miss Out,” which can push visitors to act right away. Also, think about personalizing CTAs for different visitors. For example, a new visitor might see a “Discover More” button, while someone who has visited several times could see a “Get This Deal Now” button.

8. Update Old Posts

If you have content that’s a few years old but still ranking well in Google, make sure it’s still useful and appealing to users by updating it regularly.

It can be very off-putting to click through to a search result and see that the information is out of date, but if you update your content periodically and add the date it was last updated to the top of your post, this shows both the user and Google that you’re on the ball.

9. Fix Broken Links

Broken links result in a poor user experience that will cause your bounce rate to go up. Regularly updating and checking your links should be part of your routine website maintenance.

Remember, every broken link can potentially lead to lost opportunities to engage a visitor or make a sale. You can use tools like Google Search Console to monitor for broken links and errors so you can fix them promptly.

Moreover, making sure all links lead to the intended destinations boosts your site’s credibility and keeps your content accessible. Consider scheduling monthly reviews of your website’s links as a best practice to maintain a healthy, user-friendly site.

Lastly, implement a helpful 404 error page to help users find the information they were looking for – a search box is always a helpful addition.

10. Add More Internal Links

One of the easiest ways to keep people on your site for longer is to direct them to other information that might be helpful or interesting for them without them having to go hunting for this.

You can do this by adding contextual links to other pages in your content and listing other related content at the end of each blog post; there are plugins that can do this for you automatically.

This improves the user experience and helps to keep them on your site for longer, so keep an eye out for internal linking opportunities wherever you can.

11. User Experience Personalization

Personalizing your website’s user experience can dramatically cut down your bounce rate. It’s not just about making visitors feel special; it’s about delivering the content they find valuable right off the bat. According to recent data, 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that recognize, remember, and provide relevant offers and recommendations.

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Here’s how it works: By analyzing user data, you can tailor your website dynamically to fit different visitors’ needs. For example, a new visitor might get a pop-up inviting them to check out an introductory blog post. In contrast, a returning visitor could see suggestions for advanced tutorials or exclusive offers that align with their previous interactions.

When visitors find what they need faster, they stick around longer. It’s that simple. Personalization makes visitors feel understood and valued, which encourages them to engage more with your site.

Starting out is straightforward. Use tools to track visitor behavior, then segment your audience based on their actions and preferences. Adjust your site’s content accordingly to make every visit feel personalized. Whether it’s changing the featured products, customizing call-to-actions, or adapting content recommendations, these tweaks make a significant difference.

Reduce Your Bounce Rate Today with MIG

Making your website a place where visitors want to stay is key to reducing your bounce rate. Keep checking what works and what doesn’t, and tweak things to keep your visitors happy. Stick with these tips, and you’ll see more visitors sticking around instead of bouncing away.

Ready to reduce your bounce rate? The first step is to create high quality content that engages your audience. Get started today by checking out our weekly blog content service, or schedule a free consultation now to learn more!

Retargeting – sometimes referred to as re-marketing – is an effective form of online promotion that helps businesses reach people who have previously visited their website.

Why do you need it? Well, because it’s easier than ever to lose a sale online.

Think of it like this: you successfully drive a potential customer to your site with great content or social media engagement.

But then their phone rings. Or they have to take a quick meeting. Their child calls their name. They look up at the TV and forget to return. Or one of a million other potential distractions in our fast-paced world get in the way.

They could be lost forever. Or — you could use retargeting to get them back to your site.

Typically, most websites convert 3% of users on their first visit. Retargeting allows brands to get in front of the 97 percent of visitors that haven’t yet converted – whether they weren’t ready to buy or got distracted during the checkout process.

Without retargeting, bounced users would be lost forever. It’s time to learn how you can bring them back.

That’s what we’ll cover in the sections that follow. You’ll learn what retargeting entails, why your business should be using it, which platforms to do it on, and best practices to maximize ROI of your content.

Quick Takeaways:

• Retargeted web visitors convert at a 70% higher rate.
• Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social platforms are effective places to use retargeting.
• Retargeting ads are most effective when they incentivize, are personalized, and/or leverage high-value content.

The Real Customer Journey

As a marketer, you probably conceptualize the customer journey as some sort of linear timeline that leads the prospect neatly toward conversion. That might mean visiting your website, downloading a free eBook, reading the eBook, understanding the value of your service, and making a purchase. The next minute, a sales rep reaches out to the new customer, welcomes them, gives them the information they need, and the rest is history.

“Here’s a fact that should make you uncomfortable: Approximately 92% of people who visit your website are not yet ready to purchase your product or service. They might be interested, but they’re not quite ready to convert.” – Forbes

In reality, the customer journey is typically not so linear. People visit your website more than once, with visits spaced over weeks or even months. They check out your social media platforms, read a blog you published two years ago, and subscribe to your mailing list but fail to open a single email. Eventually, they decide to contact you — they’re undecided. Your sales rep does a great job of easing their concerns and, finally, they make a purchase. Same outcome. Very different process.

Marketers need to be aware of and account for the real customer journey, the convoluted tangle of activity that is unique to each and every buyer. One of the best ways to do that is with a retargeting campaign.

What is Retargeting (or Remarketing)?

So what exactly is retargeting? In short, retargeting is the process of monitoring the behavior of your web visitors so you can drive them back to your site later.

It’s done by adding code to your website that tracks user actions by placing cookies in their browsers. You can then use that information to show them targeted ads when they’re elsewhere on the internet.

Those requests you get to “accept all cookies” when you visit a new website? It’s retargeting in action. Brands are asking your permission to track what you’re doing so they can show you ads that are relevant to you.

The majority of users won’t take action unless they feel like they know a business – even trust a business. A marketing rule of thumb suggests that a customer needs to be exposed to a brand seven times before they can make a purchasing decision.

Retargeting builds the visibility of your brand by directing ads to users that have already shown interest in your product or service, usually by visiting your website.

Retargeting offers exceptional potential for personalization and highly sophisticated campaigns. A user that abandons the checkout process can be shown a different set of retargeting ads than a user that quits your site without adding anything to their cart. You can customize ads for a whole range of triggers: web visits, email openings, newsletter sign-ups, link clicks, lead magnet downloads, and more.

When executed effectively, this level of personalization promotes trust. And when a customer starts to trust your brand, they are likely locked in.

“All things being equal, we always gravitate toward the option we trust most and the option that presents the fewest barriers.” — John Hall at Forbes

Retargeting may also deliver a higher marketing ROI than other digital channels as it focuses your marketing spend on people that have demonstrated interest.

Today 87% of marketers use site retargeting to attract potential customers back to their website. Given that only 2% (!) of web visitors convert on their first visit to any site, it’s a smart strategy for brands to capture low-hanging fruit in their web traffic and avoid losing prospects who will likely convert with a little bit of encouragement.

How Does Retargeting Work?

There are two types of retargeting: pixel-based and list-based. Each has advantages that you can use to bolster your campaign goals.

Pixel-based retargeting

Pixel-based – or cookie-based – retargeting uses a JavaScript code to anonymously track your audience across the web.

It works like this: you add a small, unnoticeable piece of code to your website. This code is known as a pixel and won’t impact your site’s performance. When a new user lands on your website, the code drops a browser cookie. When your cookied visitor browses the web later on, your retargeting provider will display ads to them.

List-based retargeting

List-based retargeting works only when you have someone’s contact information in your database. List-based retargeting involves uploading a list of email addresses to a retargeting campaign – generally on a social media platform like Facebook – and serving ads only to those on that list.

Why Retargeting Needs to Be Part of Your Digital Strategy

Let’s look at 3 reasons why retargeting should be part of your digital marketing strategy and the benefits your brand will experience from doing it.

Retargeting helps build brand awareness

Awareness campaigns allow you to re-engage web visitors through relevant products, new features, and announcements and are typically pixel-based.

Awareness campaigns are not as narrowly targeted as other campaigns, meaning you can expect a lower-than-average click-through-rate. That being said, conversions aren’t the goal here. Impressions and engagements are more meaningful metrics to track.

Awareness campaigns are often the precursor to more targeted, lucrative conversion campaigns.

Retargeting increases conversions and sales

Conversion campaigns encourage users to take a next step – whether that involves completing the checkout process, filling out a landing page form, downloading a freebie, or making a purchase. Conversion metrics to track include website clicks, cost per lead (CPL), and form submissions.

Conversion campaigns can be facilitated by both pixel-based and list-based retargeting strategies. For example, you can use a pixel-based ad to generate leads – advertisements might direct a user to a landing page where they can enter their information. Then, you can use a list-based campaign to retarget users that submitted the landing page form. These second-round advertisements encourage users to make a purchase.

Consumers actually like retargeted ads

The consensus view of retargeted ads has always been tainted with a little bit of uncertainty about their use of individual consumer data. And there’s no doubt about it — consumers do worry about their online privacy.

At the same time, however, they are also more aware than ever that brands are using their information to advertise to them and target their buying preferences. And they still browse and buy online at a rapidly increasing rate.

Here’s what it comes down to: retargeting doesn’t turn consumers off as long as it’s done ethically (AKA you’re only retargeting people when it actually makes sense and they’ve agreed to your privacy policy).

In fact, recent research has found that 25% of consumers say they actually enjoy seeing retargeted ads. And while a quarter of consumers may not seem encouraging, actual consumer behavior suggests that number is quite a bit higher.

Here’s what the numbers tell us:

• Retargeted ads earn a click-through rate 10x higher than regular display ads
• Retargeted website visitors are 70% more likely to convert
• 3 out of 4 consumers notice retargeted ads when they see them

Image Source: Invesp

It’s helpful to think about this in the context of your own life, too. We all see ads for products and brands we’ve briefly visited without buying from. But rather than get annoyed, our interest is usually sparked again. We may click on the ad to look at it again and rethink whatever reasoning we had before for not buying. We may follow the brand on social media for updates.

Retargeting is a massive opportunity for brands to cut down on lost sales by reminding consumers why they were interested in the first place and incentivizing them to come back and make a purchase.

Where to Retarget (Other Than Your Website)

Google and YouTube

Google and YouTube are the two most visited websites in the world, with a casual combined 85 billion monthly views (nbd). You can target ads on these massive platforms with Google Ads on the Google Display Network.

Most consumers are doing their brand and product research using Google search. What better place, then, to have your ads displayed to convince users to choose you?

Facebook and Instagram

Ads on the two platforms are both run under the Meta Business Suite. You add the Facebook Pixel to your website’s code. When users take an action on your site (for example, adding to cart or making a purchase) the pixel is triggered and they’ll see retargeted ads on both Facebook and Instagram.

Learn more about the Meta Pixel here.

TikTok

TikTok has exploded onto the scene over the past two years. It’s easy to assume this platform might be best for targeting younger audiences, but the truth is there are tons of audiences on TikTok that encompass a range of ages and interest areas.

For example #MomTok — moms sharing tips, stories, and advice — is one of the most active corners of the app. #BusinessTok, #FitnessTok, and #BookTok are some of the other most popular hashtag-driven interest groups on the app. These are only a few examples. In other words: retargeting on TikTok is for every type of audience.

LinkedIn

For B2B companies or brands targeting a more corporate or professional audience, LinkedIn could be an ideal platform for your retargeting efforts. You can add the LinkedIn Insight Tag to your website to begin tracking your visitors and serving them ads on the LinkedIn platform.

Use Cases for Retargeting Campaigns

1. Abandoned Shopping Carts

The abandoned shopping cart doesn’t have to be the end of the engagement. A retargeting campaign can encourage users to revisit their cart and complete the checkout.

Abandoned checkout campaigns are typically delivered by email. The email will address the cause of the abandonment – whether that be timing, pricing, or a distraction – and offer a solution – a discount code, free shipping, or some other exclusive offer.

2. Time-limited Deals

Someone has expressed interest in your product or service – you can use a retargeting campaign to create a sense of urgency, to design a now-or-never situation for the user. For example, you might offer a limited-time discount. If they don’t take action now, they’ll miss out.

3. Product Showcase

Dynamic retargeting techniques can help you lure users back to your site by showcasing products they viewed when visiting your website. Personalized product showcases remind a user just how interested they were in your product, encouraging them to revisit the product page and take the plunge.

Retargeting Best Practices

Incentivize

The thing about web visitors you retarget is that they have shown interest in your brand already, but for some reason they weren’t motivated to make a purchase (or maybe they did but haven’t been back to make another one).

The way to convince them? Offering incentives. Consider this: you see a pair of shoes you love. You almost buy them but you think “Well, they’re just a little too pricey. I’m going to pass.”

A few days later you see those shoes you love, except they’re being offered at a discount. Your main argument for not buying the shoes is gone. You’re much more likely to  go back and make the purchase.

Incentivizing your retargeting audiences is worthwhile because you eliminate one of the biggest roadblocks to purchase: concerns about price.

Here’s an example from American Express:

Personalize

Like all other kinds of online experiences, consumers want their retargeted ads to be personalized to their preferences. Nearly 80% of consumers say personally relevant ad content from brands increases their purchase intent.

Adding simple phrases that are unique to a person’s experience with your brand (i.e. “You left this item in your cart!” or “Based on your previous purchase, we think you’d love this!”) can be what makes your ad stand out to your audience.

Here’s an example from Airbnb, which shows a listing from a destination this user already searched for:

Image Source: WebFX

Leverage Content

Content drives more organic traffic than any other method of digital marketing. That said, targeted ads are the highest-converting of all methods. Why not combine the two for maximum ROI?

Consider the types of content your web visitors interact with and/or what content created by your brand would be most relevant to them. Promote it through your ads, emphasizing how it can help users solve problems, learn something new, or accomplish an important goal.

Content that can be effectively marketed through retargeting ads include:

• Blog articles
• How-to guides
• Checklists
• Webinars and video demos
• Ebooks and whitepapers

Here’s an example from Unbounce:

Image Source: Sprout Social

Nothing demonstrates the value of your brand and established authority better than great content. To maximize conversions, be sure you include strong CTAs with your content telling users what you want them to do next (like sign up for emails or start a free trial).

Over to You

Retargeting is a powerful tool, but it’s not always straightforward. It’s crucial that you track and analyze the success of your retargeting campaigns to refine your approach and optimize your ROI.

Great content creates a strong foundation for your advertising, retargeting (on different platforms) as well as other digital marketing strategies. The team at Marketing Insider Group can deliver you optimized, ready-to-publish blog content every single week for one year (or more).

Check out our SEO Blog Writing Service or schedule a quick consultation with me to get started!