Don’t look for shortcuts. Columnist Drew Eastmead explains why you shouldn’t rely too much on social media to drive website traffic to your business.
Read the full article at: marketingland.com
User intent: Why organic content trumps social media
How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar for a Year : Social Media Examiner
Want to deliver quality social media content for the next year? Discover how to fill a social media content calendar with a year’s worth of content.
Read the full article at: www.socialmediaexaminer.com
How Brands Can Build Trust with Millennials
Building trust with your millennial shopper is so vital in today’s retail climate. For retail marketers to be successful in reaching them, brands must present their value in an authentic way that meets millennial expectations.
Read the full article at: multichannelmerchant.com
7 Steps to More Productive Projects
It’s happened to even the best of consultants.
Despite your best efforts, the project you’re working on is far from over. With no end in sight, you’re starting to feel stressed. Will you ever get it done? How much is this really going to cost the client? Even if you finished it tomorrow, would the customer forgive you for letting it get out of control?
While you focus on getting things back on track, allow me to make the following recommendations for your next assignment.
- Define the Ground Rules
In many ways, today’s business world is much easier to navigate than it was a decade or two ago. The Internet is more accessible, devices are faster, and software exists for everything under the sun. With these advancements, however, new challenges have arisen. For starters, companies large and small now rely on dispersed teams. In fact, it’s not uncommon for teams to have workers from India, The Philippines, European countries, the United States, and other locations. The benefits are of course obvious: an around-the-clock workforce with unique perspectives and skills. The challenges, which are often overlooked, involve coordinating opposite time zones and fostering cohesiveness through a virtual environment.
With staff spread across the globe, it’s incumbent to set clear team rules. Consider these questions as you establish your ground rules.
Who will do what? Every team needs a leader, but it’s equally important to carefully match talent to the task at hand. Considering your team’s current skills, who are the best participants for this project? If you have a void to fill, consider recruiting through traditional methods or via one of the many freelancing marketplaces. Once you’re staffed up, be sure to introduce the team and define who will do what.
Which project management system? Accessibility is particularly important for virtual teams. Moving your project to the cloud can help improve visibility for everyone. There are a number of free project management systems available. If you’re already using Insightly, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that it’s actually an all-in-one CRM and project management system. Even if you’re on the free plan, you can start using Insightly’s project management features at no charge.
By what means (and how often) will we communicate? Some projects require daily updates. Others have longer timelines, which means a daily meeting is overkill. Based on your project, set clear expectations for meeting frequency and format. Does a conference call make sense? Or could a group chat get the job done?
Are we biting off more than we can chew? When a client asks for help, he may not realize the complexities of the request. Despite the customer’s pressure to solve every problem by tomorrow, be honest when sizing a project. If everything can’t get done at once, consider breaking things into multiple phases. It’s better to be realistic upfront than having to miss deadlines when it counts.
What’s our plan for dealing with issues? Try to think about things that could go wrong and develop contingency plans. It’s wise to at least consider the potential risks and prepare accordingly.
- Customize Your Workflow
If your team uses Insightly’s project management tools, customizing your workflow is very simple. At a high level, Insightly offers two distinctive paths for tracking projects: pipelines and milestones.
Pipelines allow you to break a project down into linear steps. When defining pipelines, it may be useful to think in a broader context of your business. For example, if your company does a lot of websites for clients, you might break pipeline stages as follows:
- Gather ideas
- Select template
- Launch dev site
- Write copy
- Finalize graphics
- Input meta tags
- Test
- Go live
- Post-launch work
Or, if you’re a software consultant, your project pipeline might look something like this:
Pipelines help you build economies of scale and reduce downtime. As one project ends, a new one can be kicked off following the exact same logical workflow. No more head scratching or trying to figure out what happens next.
On the other hand, if your project does not follow a sequential order, then milestones might be a better choice. Unlike pipelines, you can create milestones that overlap or happen concurrently. For example, the implementation of a comprehensive marketing campaign may include the following milestones:
- Email blast to existing customers
- Press release
- Social media announcement
- Blog article
- Update feature matrix on website
As with pipelines, each milestone can be linked to one or more tasks. In the previous example, your content writer may have several tasks, each with a different due date, priority level, and description.
- Link Projects to Other Records
Even with a cloud-based project management system, teams often find themselves still relying on external databases, spreadsheets, inboxes, and paper documents. Siloed data slows down the team’s trajectory, creating new bottlenecks and minimizing the likelihood of a timely completion.
Constantly seek innovative ways to share project-related information with your team. For example, Insightly allows you to build links from your projects to other records. Users may find value in linking the following records to their projects:
- Customer contacts
- Organizations
- Uploaded sketches or drawings
- Scanned invoices, quotes, or RFPs
- Other projects
- Related opportunities
With a few clicks, your team can have a 360-degree view of each project. No more digging through old emails, business cards, or spiral bound notebooks. Instead, each team member is empowered with the information he or she needs to succeed. (As the project manager, you’ll also start to hear fewer excuses relating to missing information. That’s worth its weight in gold!)
- Maintain an Archive of Related Correspondence
Speaking of record linking, wouldn’t it be nice to have a historical archive of all emails relating to each project?
Sure, you could tell your team members to funnel all communication through your chat portal. Or, you could encourage users to post “notes” directly in your project management system. In a perfect world, this all sounds great. In the real world, it’s probably not possible. Sometimes, email is still the best way to get a point across.
If you’re using Insightly, you’ll be pleased to know that each project has a unique link email address. As long as your team members remember to CC (or BCC) that specific address when sending an email, the “Emails” tab on the project will automatically save a copy.
To illustrate how this might work, imagine that you’re working on a graphic design project that requires frequent back and forth with the client. During the conceptualization phase, you need to get their approval (in writing) before finalizing the composition. At the end of the project, you need to send the final vector files along with your invoice. With Insightly, each time you copy your project-specific email address, the correct project is instantly updated. If, in the future, the client claims he never approved your design, you have the proof you need at your finger tips.
By the end of a project, you may have dozens of emails stored, which would have otherwise only been accessible by the person who sent or received the message. Now, everyone is on the same page.
- Automate as Much as Possible
Technology should make your life easier – not more difficult. Invest the time necessary to learn how your project management system could add additional value. Identify opportunities to further reduce administrative effort through automation.
Some project management systems, such as Insightly, offer a suite of project automation features. These may include:
Follow Up Reminders – What’s the point of assigning a task without creating accountability? To hold team members accountable, be sure to configure email reminders for tasks. Once configured, Insightly automatically nudges users as due dates approach. It’s one less thing you have to do.
Future Tasks – Sometimes, simply remembering to input a future task is a struggle. For tasks that need to occur more than once, consider adding a repeat schedule. With repeating tasks, you’ll no longer have to remember to remember. Insightly does it for you.
Future Actions – As your team gains experience, you may notice that certain actions always precede other actions. Building activity sets can help you knock down barriers, minimize oversights, and increase the productivity of your team.
A final thought about automation: don’t try to overdo it. A prudent automation strategy involves considerable thought and planning. Be careful and strategic in what you choose to automate. Otherwise, you may find yourself fixing things that didn’t need to be automated in the first place.
- Seek Data that Actually Tells You Something
The basic act of pulling reports offers little value, that is, unless you have specific key performance indicators (KPIs) in mind. Before you spend time building custom reports in your project management system, identify which KPIs offer the most insight into how your team operates. Most teams could benefit by tracking one or more of the following:
- Tasks that are currently overdue
- Users with overdue tasks
- Projects that are behind schedule
- Upcoming milestones
- Activity by pipeline or pipeline stage
- Projects that are over budget
- Work completed last week, month, or year
If you’re just getting started with reporting, be selective. There’s no point in tracking too many things at once. Pick the two or three most important metrics, explain their importance to your team, and develop a standard procedure for measurement. As your team becomes more comfortable with your process and expectations, you may consider rolling out additional reports.
Insightly users will appreciate the flexibility built into the reporting module. The drag-and-drop interface allows you to quickly access the information you need. Paid users can even schedule reports to appear in their inboxes, offering an added level of automation.
- Do a Retrospective
No project is perfect. Even with the most robust tracking and delegation process in place, you always have an opportunity to improve. For this reason, it can be very beneficial to host retrospective meetings upon the close of each project.
A retrospective can be as simple (or complex) as you wish to make it. At a bare minimum, the following topics should be discussed:
Accomplishments – Recap what went well and focus on individual contributions from the team. It’s important to make your workers feel valued and appreciated, so spotlighting accomplishments can go a long way to achieving this goal.
Budget vs. Actual – Did you finish above or below budget? If the project exceeded the budget, what was the cause? If you stayed under budget, perhaps you need to refine future estimates?
Improvement Opportunities – Going into the meeting, it’s probably a good idea to have a few improvement ideas written down. Open up the discussion and solicit the team for their suggestions. Depending on your company’s culture, asking for input may or may not bear fruit. However, simply asking for team input further establishes a team environment.
If you take the time to do a retrospective, be sure to capture the meeting’s outcomes in a document. Before moving on to your next priority, be sure to upload and link the retrospective summary report to the project’s record. This way, if you ever need to refer back to it, everything is highly accessible and all in one place.
As you do more retrospectives, it may also be beneficial (and somewhat amusing) to refer back to your meeting archives. Take note of how your process has evolved and seek ways to further optimize it.
Get One Step Closer to Better Projects
Project management is not easy. But, with the right approach and technology, you may find yourself feeling less stressed and more productive.
The most important thing to remember is that each project is an opportunity to improve. Despite the pressure you may be under, never lose site of the bigger picture. Circumstances, which are often outside of your control, can cause you to miss a deadline or fail to live up to customer expectations. You may be surprised how understanding clients can be – especially if you’re always open and honest.
Take the next step to more productive projects. Your clients – and your team – are counting on you!
At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a variety of verticals. Learn about Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.
Matt Keener is a marketing consultant and President of Keener Marketing Solutions, LLC. Matt specializes in content marketing and strategic planning, having helped numerous Saas (software as a service) companies and other small businesses worldwide. Read more of Matt’s work, check out his book, or connect with him on Linkedin.
How to Find Social Media Micro-influencers for Your Small Business
Want to promote your small business on a budget? Discover how to find and connect with micro-influencers who can promote your small business.
Read the full article at: www.socialmediaexaminer.com
Small business owners: 3 steps to creating accurate Google Analytics reports
Raw traffic data in Google Analytics isn’t always accurate. In this helpful how-to, columnist Dianna Huff shows Analytics beginners how to create a filter that excludes spam traffic and traffic from internal sources.
Read the full article at: searchengineland.com
6 Great Tools to Track Customer Engagement
Customer engagement is always a top marketing goal, but not all customer engagement is created equally. There’s a difference between reading a blog post, and taking the time to comment on it or share it on social media. Fortunately, there are a number of tools available to help you track customer engagement, getting a better sense for the overall picture and active engagement, too.
- Google Analytics
Google Analytics gives you a wealth of information, including what pages people are spending time on, and how long they’re staying on the content. The longer someone spends on your page, the better, right? You can also use Google Analytics to track the number of downloads on a file, so you can see who’s taking action.
But, because there’s a difference between someone just leaving your page open in their browser (passive engagement) and active reading through the content, you’ll want to turn to other tools to help you compare the active and passive engagement.
- Heatmaps
Heatmaps allow you see where users are spending most of their time on a page. Not only can this help you see where the activity is, it can also help you in web usability testing. Some heatmap tools are more advanced than others – Ptengine offers a free basic solution with built-in analytics, whereas Clicktale, for instance, is a premium solution with additional features such as scroll reach, link analytics, and even session replays that allow you to see exactly what users do while browsing your site.
- Your CRM
Your CRM keeps track of all customer interactions, so you can easily see who your most active and engaged customers are. At the same time, you can see who your least engaged and least active customers are. This allows you to dig deep into issues on a customer-by-customer basis so you can thank them for their loyalty, or reach out to find out why they’ve stopped doing business with you. You can use the information to adjust marketing campaigns for each segment accordingly.
- Your Blog’s Comment Section
It’s a basic measure of customer engagement, but looking at the comment section of your blog posts can help you get an idea of what’s resonating with your readers. The posts that have more comments are getting more engagement, but see if you can identify patterns. Are the posts on a certain topic getting more engagement? Is the day of the week or the time of the post that seems to effect engagement? Test various scenarios to see what you can do to increase blog commenting as a measure of engagement.
And if people are taking time to comment on your blog posts, be kind enough to reply, even if it’s just to acknowledge the comment. This lets your visitors know you pay attention, and you care, which can also encourage other readers who’ve remained silent to start commenting. If people don’t think you’re listening, what motivation do they have to speak?
- Social Analytics
Each social media network has its own analytics platform, which allows you to see how well you’re performing in terms of comments, likes, shares, and more. Social visibility will affect your engagement rates – if people aren’t seeing your posts, they’re not going to engage. But, engagement affects visibility, at least where Facebook is concerned, so it’s a bit of a catch-22. Vary your post types and timing. Post multiple times per day. Avoid being self-promotional all the time by following the 80/20 rule.
- Email Marketing
Your email marketing platform will have built-in analytics to help you see who’s opening your emails, who is clicking through the links in the emails, who’s deleting the emails, and who is unsubscribing. Opens are an indication of engagement, and clickthroughs are better.
Like with the blog and social posts, watch for patterns in topics, subject lines, date and time the message was sent, to see what works well with your audience to get the highest levels of engagement.
The tools you use to track customer engagement may vary from day to day, as each source provides a bit of insight into the bigger picture. Engagement may peak around a certain marketing campaign or season, depending on your industry, and with the data from various tracking tools, you’ll be able to make adjustments to your strategy to increase the quality and quantity of engagement.
At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a variety of verticals. Learn about Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.
8 Business Intelligence Tools for Content Marketers With Technophobia
Eight vetted business intelligence tools to help the technophobic content marketer – Content Marketing Institute
Read the full article at: contentmarketinginstitute.com
Creating a Sense of Urgency Drives Sales!
Turn It Up Tuesday: Tips from Insightly to Take Your Business to 11
Welcome to Turn It Up Tuesday, where we bring you 4 weekly tips—a tip on running your business, a tip on using Insightly CRM, a tip on improving your sales, and a tip on improving your life. Enjoy this week’s tips!
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Simplify Next Year’s Holiday Cards (with Insightly) |
| Although the holidays will soon be a distant memory, it’s not too early to plan for next year. If you send customer greeting cards, there’s simply no reason to write them out by hand. Remember, you have Insightly for a reason – use it!
As the next holiday season approaches (or whenever you send out mailers), follow these simple steps to prepare your mailing list with greater ease:
Before you forget, set yourself an Insightly reminder for mid-November 2017. You might save yourself (or your assistant) several hours of frustration next year!
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Get More from Your Marketing Newsletter |
Most businesses send out email newsletters. The benefits are obvious: staying top of mind, providing thought leadership, and generating clicks are just a few compelling reasons. However, unless you’re intentional with your newsletter, you run the risk of just being another annoyance to recipients. Consider these tips for enhancing your newsletter’s value: Think like your recipients: Put yourself in the shoes of those on your email list. Would you really want to keep receiving your newsletters? Just because people rarely complain, it doesn’t mean that they enjoy your content. What style and content adjustments can you make to increase subscriber engagement? Use rock-solid tracking: All of your marketing activities need to be tracked. Email marketing is no different. Most email marketing systems offer their own reporting capabilities. Some even permit integration to popular web analytic packages. Look for ways to track subscriber activity and review the data regularly. Mix in a few CTAs: It’s OK to tastefully mix in a few call-to-actions (CTAs) for your products or services. Customers kind of expect it, so don’t be shy. Just be transparent and always give subscribers the option to opt-out. Create a sense of exclusivity: Your blog is a great source for newsletter content. However, simply regurgitating what’s on your website into email format may not be enough. Dedicate some real estate to original content, which can only be found in your newsletter. You’re likely to see a boost in open rates!
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Design a Continuing Ed Plan for Yourself |
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Clients appreciate your expertise. Although much of what you know was learned through life experiences, a certain percentage of your knowledge originated from something you read online. Stop and think about a highly impactful video that you’ve watched or article you’ve read. How did you come across it? Perhaps you saw it on social media. Or, maybe a colleague forwarded it to you. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, but it’s very reactive in nature. You need to proactively seek information to stay competitive. But, how? Perhaps it’s time you implemented a simple continuing education system for yourself. It’s really not that hard. Here are a few ideas:
An important note here: be sure to actually make time to review the content you gather. Although you’re a busy person, setting aside a few minutes of continuing education time weekly can pay big dividends. Set a goal of learning one new thing each week, and you might be surprised by the outcome!
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Create a Sense of Urgency |
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What are you doing to proactively create a sense of urgency with your prospects? If your answer is “I’m not sure,” then it’s time you took a step back and reevaluated things. As our buddy Adam Honig at the Spiro blog points out, “It’s not enough to build value for the customer if you can’t also explain why they need to move forward as soon as possible.” So, what can you do to start making your leads feel more inclined to buy? Here are a few quick ideas:
Some customers simply need to be pushed. It’s not that they don’t want your products. Rather, they’re probably just too busy on other things.
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Send Us Your Tips. Would you like to share your tips with Insightly customers? Send them to us! If we use one in our weekly feature we’ll send you a $10 Amazon Gift Card! Contact us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or send us an email.
About the author: Matt Keener is a marketing consultant and President of Keener Marketing Solutions, LLC. Matt specializes in content marketing and strategic planning, having helped numerous Saas (software as a service) companies and other small businesses worldwide. Read more of Matt’s work, check out his book, or connect with him on Linkedin.
How to Use YouTube Cards in Your Videos : Social Media Examiner
Looking for ways to drive more views or engagement on YouTube? Discover how to create and use YouTube cards in your business videos.
Read the full article at: www.socialmediaexaminer.com
