Category: CRM Blog Posts

Impression share may not be the ultimate measure of paid search success, but columnist Jacob Baadsgaard shows how tracking this metric can lead to paid search improvements that can really boost your bottom line.

Read the full article at: searchengineland.com

Running a small business is anything but a small effort. It takes lots of hard work and dedication, and when you have limited resources and staff, you’re often pulled in several directions at once just to close a deal. Instead of spreading yourself too thin, set yourself – and your business – up for success in 2017 with tools that increase productivity and improve efficiency without breaking the bank.

Keep track of everything customer-related

Using a customer relationship management (CRM) tool helps streamline your business and improve the customer’s experience with your company – ultimately leading to more revenue and growth. From initial lead management and customer communication to invoicing and customer payment, a CRM keeps track of where your customers are in the sales and marketing funnel, and helps you stay on top of sales processes at every step.

Stay on top of your numbers

You know it’s essential to keep track of your numbers, especially during tax season. QuickBooks Online manages your accounting needs without the hassle of software licensing on your desktop. One of the best features: you can access your files from anywhere there’s an internet connection, so you never need to worry about forgetting to reconcile your receipts again. It can also integrate with CRM systems, allowing you to view customers’ payment status and history within the tool.

Xero, another online accounting software, is designed specifically for small businesses. With the solution, your bank statements are automatically imported and categorized, letting you see cash flow in real time.

Stay on the same page with day-to-day takes

Project management apps that streamline workflow and centralize communication can give your team the chance to focus on your goals, rather than spending time figuring out what everyone needs to do. Trello is a project management tool that allows you to create boards, lists, and cards for any workflow setup. Create boards, share boards with various staff members, and collaborate using cards on the boards.

Manage documents

In today’s digital age, it’s important for businesses to have file sharing and file backup protection. Dropbox offers affordable plans, you can choose the storage space that best fits your needs and upgrades are available at any time. With free automation tools like IFTTT and Zapier, you can even set email attachments to save to Dropbox, saving time and protecting your files.

PandaDoc can also help with managing and creating files while closing deals faster. With this tool, you can create templates, plug in client-specific information and digitally deliver proposals. Additionally, with PandaDoc’s e-signature functionality, document analytics and in-line comments, prospects can request specific changes to the proposal and execute the contract from their desktop computers or mobile devices.

Email your customers seamlessly

Everyone needs to unplug occasionally, but let’s say you have an email that absolutely needs to go out while you’re on the move. The Boomerang extension for Gmail allows you to schedule emails. You can also set reminders for yourself to follow up on important emails, and keep a cleaner inbox.

When it comes to connecting with customers on a personal level, email is a critical tool for organizations of every size. This is where MailChimp – a free email marketing platform – comes in. Create and manage one or more email marketing lists, keep track of who’s opened your emails, etc. Emails can be personalized and automated, and sent at any time. By integrating MailChimp with your CRM, you can also share contacts and cut repetition while analyzing data to constantly improve your campaigns.

Want more tips for success in 2017? Join our Twitter chat at @InsightlyApp on January 18 at 11:00 a.m. PT.

 

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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.

“If you build it, they will come.” B2B content marketers who believe this mantra do so at their own peril. That line may have worked for Kevin Costner’s character Ray in the Field of Dreams, but such advice can prove dangerous for real-world marketers striving to meet their KPIs.

In the oversaturated digital world that we live in, it’s no longer enough to publish content on your site and expect your target audience to find it. You need to provide browsers with a powerful reason to stop what they’re doing and read, watch or listen to your content.

B2B Content Marketing is on the Rise, but with Varying Degrees of Success

While 93% of B2B marketers used content marketing last year, according to the Content Marketing Institute, only 48% said they felt successful in their efforts. These staggering figures show that while the vast majority of B2B brands have embraced content marketing over traditional advertising methods they are struggling to reap the benefits of this approach.

There are several reasons why B2B businesses struggle to see results from their content marketing efforts, but arguably the two most impactful are failing to make effective use of social media and not developing a sustainable keyword strategy. Read on to learn time-tested methods that you can implement today to start driving qualified traffic to your B2B site.

Use Social Media as Your Megaphone

Social media is an unparalleled content promotion tool that can drive quality traffic and leads to your B2B site. The best part? If you develop a social media strategy centred on directing organic traffic to your site you can do so at no additional cost to your business.

When marketing on social media it’s important to follow the four R’s. The four R’s are all about getting the right message, in front of the right people, in the right place, at the right time.

Avoid making easily preventable mistakes such as posting on platforms your audience doesn’t use or publishing in the wrong time zones for your audience by doing the proper research on your ideal customer. Then, once you’re fully equipped with this data, you can feel confident that your posts will be seen and you can watch the traffic roll in.  

Recommended actions:

• Develop a detailed buyer persona for your target customer(s) that you can use to tailor your social media strategy.
• For every new piece of content you create, write 5-10 different social media posts to share on your social media feeds that link back to your content on your site.
• Keep posts fresh and varied by writing posts with multiple headlines. Also try sharing interesting statistics or quotes from your content and adapting any written content into unique branded visuals or infographics.

If you’re stuck for ideas on how to make your B2B content more engaging, then read this great post on that subject from Expert Market.

Make Traffic Rain with a Keyword Strategy

It takes 29% of marketers in the United States and Canada at least two to three hours to write a blog post for their brand according to new data. That’s a lot of time, especially if you’re writing posts every week.

For such a large investment of time and energy, it’s surprising how few B2B brands develop a sustainable SEO keyword strategy to help people find their content on search engines.

When done right, a good keyword strategy can send hundreds of visitors to your blog posts for free. The great thing about this approach compared to other types of traffic generation activities is that it is sustainable.

Unlike on social media where the lifespan of a post ranges from a few seconds to a few days on average, the strategic use of keywords can land your blog post onto the first page of Google and generate traffic for months at a time.

Despite common myths around search engine optimization, you don’t need to be a SEO wizard to rank on page one of Google. If you focus your efforts on targeting niche keywords that are relevant to your business instead of generic, highly competitive terms then you are far more likely to reap the results of your SEO efforts.

Meet Anne, A B2B Content Marketer

Imagine Anne, a marketer in your team, decides to write a piece on “famous entrepreneurs.” Anne has done her homework and come up with a list of amazing entrepreneurs that she wants to profile. A little digging would find that there are 4.3k-6.5k Americans that search for this term every month.

Good, right?

Not necessarily.

Focusing on the keyword “famous entrepreneurs” means taking on internet giants like Inc.com, Wikipedia, and Forbes who have previously written on this exact subject, as well taking on niche sites dedicated exclusively to profiling famous entrepreneurs. Ranking for “famous entrepreneurs” could prove really difficult, especially if Anne works for a young B2B brand.

A more strategic approach would be for Anne to write on a topic that is related to “famous entrepreneurs”, but is more specific such as “famous black entrepreneurs.” With 100-200 Americans searching for this term each month, there’s a clear appetite for blog posts that share inspirational stories about successful black entrepreneurs. Moreover, since none of the major media sites have written on this subject previously, there’s a good chance that you could snag a page one spot in the search engine results.

On average, 33% of all traffic for a search term goes to whoever is in top spot in the SERPs, which means that aiming to rank number one for a niche keyword will prove far more valuable for brands then being on page eight for a keyword with a greater search volume.

Recommended actions:

• When planning your content calendar for the next quarter, dedicate at least 15-20 minutes to conducting basic keyword research around each of your blog post title ideas.

• Use tools like Moz Keyword Explorer and Google’s Keyword Planner to find angles or topics that haven’t been covered before but are related to your initial idea to increase your chances of bringing in traffic from search engines.

Creating original, enticing content that real people want to read while meeting your marketing objectives is what any industry expert would call a SEO win-win. For help optimizing your blog posts for Google, check out this great post from Yoast on how to write awesome, SEO-friendly content.

 

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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.

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Karla is a content and social media marketer at Expert Market within their London office. Karla is passionate about helping small businesses grow through content marketing and strategic planning, having founded her own marketing consultancy prior to joining Expert Market which serviced start-ups worldwide.

Likes on social media are great, but what we’re all ultimately after is more customers.

Read the full article at: www.inc.com

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!

 

	Take Your To-do List With You
	It’s easy to get stuff done while seated at your desk. Emails, voicemails, and proposals are just a few of the many things you deal with while in the office. But, what about when you’re on the go? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a presorted list of things that require your attention – but don’t require the full office environment? Whether waiting for your car to get new tires or standing in line at the BMV, there always seem to be moments when you could squeeze out a bit more productivity. Insightly can help you achieve this goal of enhanced non-desk output. To get started, follow these steps: Download the Insightly smartphone app here and open it. Tap on the “Tasks” option from the app’s menu to view all of your pending to-dos. (If you’ve never created an Insightly task, there’s never a better moment than now!) For additional filtering, consider setting up an Insightly “Project” called “Away” or “Brainstorm.” Link your new project to tasks that could be completed outside the office. (Note: Tasks can be linked to more than one project.) Now, any time you’re on the go, you have access to a list of to-dos that can easily become “to-done.” Important Note: Obviously, distracted driving is never a good idea. Wait until you get to the BMV before using this feature.
	Get More Involved with Blogging
	Your marketing manager is always pestering you to get more involved in the company’s content production. Like anything else, you’re a busy person and have little room for new projects. As has been well documented, blogging is a very effective way to generate traffic to your organization’s website. Search engines love it when you provide helpful, engaging information online. And, unlike paid advertising, a single article can generate leads for years after it has been published. So, how can you get more involved with blogging – without draining too much of your time? Here are a few ideas: Look in your “sent” email box for customer exchanges that could be repurposed into articles. When talking to satisfied clients, ask if they would let your marketing team do a brief interview. Record voice notes while on the go and forward them to your marketing manager for transcription and further cultivation. If you use a support ticketing system, look for common questions and answers to reuse. Forward sales and support documentation to your marketing team to spin into lead-generating content. Ask your vendors or other industry partners if they would like to submit articles. As you can see, in many cases, you won’t even have to do the writing yourself. Your staff is simply looking for help to get the ball rolling. Take a more proactive role in your company’s content marketing today – and reap the benefits in the future!
	Boost Your Motivation with Small Victories
	We’ve all been there. It’s Tuesday, and you’re not feeling much more motivated than you did on Monday. Despite your best efforts, nothing on your to-do list seems to really stand out as particularly interesting. What should you do? On days like this, it can sometimes help to look for small victories. For example, let’s say you really need to get started on a big presentation. It’s due by the close of business, but you just can’t get moving on it. Rather than staring at a blank presentation deck for thirty minutes, put the project aside and find something “bite-sized” to do. Examples on your task list might include: Sending an invoice Answering a customer’s email Pulling a report from Insightly Following up with a colleague on a project’s status Reviewing the day’s new leads Finishing your expense report By checking a few easy things off your list, you might get the momentum you need to tackle a much more complex project.
	Automate Your Sales Teams Monthly Tasks
	Effective sales reps do whatever it takes to make the deal happen. For this reason, many business owners give their sales teams significant latitude in defining their own work schedules. There’s nothing wrong with providing a flexible work environment. However, you also have to ensure basic responsibilities are being met. As a business owner, how can you strike this balance? Using recurring tasks can be a nonintrusive way to remind sales staff of their ongoing duties. Here are a few common examples you might enable for you sales staff: Turn in Expense Reports – Sales reps do more traveling than most employees. As a result, your accounting department may exert considerable effort simply reminding sales staff to submit timely expense reports. Automate this process by assigning a monthly reminder for each rep. Confirm Revenue Projections & Probability – Your forecast is only as good as your pipeline’s accuracy. Expected revenue is typically based on opportunity value and probability, so having your sales reps regularly confirm data integrity can be worthwhile. Circle Back to Stale Clients – Deals go cold for a variety of reasons. Some are no longer interested, but others might just be playing hard to get. Set a task so that your team allocates adequate time to stale opportunities. Do Outbound Cold Calling – If your organization does cold calling, it’s wise to prompt your reps to make time for it. The natural tendency is to focus on “hot leads” rather than sludge through a list of hang ups and rejections. A friendly reminder can ease this tension.

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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.

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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.

10 amazing things you probably didn’t know about New York https://t.co/wmubVpikfU via @@TelegraphTravel

Read the full article at: www.telegraph.co.uk

It’s downright frustrating when you feel as if you’re battling one problem after another without resolution in your company. Instead of moving your business ahead, you’re wasting time patching up problems. You need solutions, and a CRM just might be the fix you’re looking for.

Here are six common business problems that having a CRM platform can help solve.

1. Juggling (and Losing) Information

In business, there’s a lot to juggle. From incoming leads to outgoing customers and everything in between, you have a wealth of information at your fingertips. All of it is important, yet organizing it all is a struggle — especially when that information is coming in from various departments.

With CRM software, you can keep everything in one place. When a new lead comes in, a file for that contact is automatically created. As the sales team nurtures the lead, each person can make notes and updates in that customer’s file. When the marketing team needs to understand what’s going in the customer’s mind at the time of purchase, they can log in and view these notes. When the lead becomes a customer, the customer service team can continue to keep track of interactions in the customer’s file.

All of the information surrounding that one customer is stored in one place. Finding, managing, and organizing information instantly becomes simple.

2. Repeated Project Management Blunders

Customers need nurturing throughout their relationship with your business. From before the sale is made to after the product or service is delivered, your customers go through a certain workflow with your company. At each stage, they may be working with someone different in your company. And customers have different goals and different needs at various phases of the buying cycle. Addressing each of these different stages while delivering a seamless experience for your customer requires careful project management.

A CRM helps you stay on task so you never drop the ball (and potentially lose a sale) with your customer.

In your CRM, you can assign tasks to specific people. You can assign deadlines to each of those tasks. And you can use your CRM as a running log of what’s been done and what needs to be completed to keep the customer extremely satisfied with your business. Drill down to the details without losing sight of what the entire customer experience looks like from start to finish.

3. Unbalanced Budget

Is your budget off balance? You might be able to shave some money off your sales and marketing costs, while at the same time gaining more revenue with a CRM. Let’s break it down.

There’s a chasm between sales and marketing teams. These two teams rarely put their heads together to come up with new marketing campaigns or sales scripts. By working out of two separate silos, you’re losing money and customers by not communicating what works and what doesn’t between the two.

While both departments are busy working separately to get to the same goal, your customers are getting confused. Confusion while shopping is a surefire recipe for losing customers.

Bring the sales and marketing communications under one digital roof to bridge this gap. With CRM, both the sales and marketing teams can get access to the communication information they need to make better decisions. It’ll pay off because the customer will start to see consistent messaging, making it easier for him to work with your company.

4. Low Productivity

Ever heard the expression, “what gets scheduled, gets done?”

How about “accountability breeds responsibility?”

A CRM lets you schedule and assign tasks to specific people. It also lets you track who consistently follows through with tasks and who frequently drops the ball so you can hold your team members accountable. The end result? Boosted productivity.

5. Poor Customer Service

Customer service can make or break a relationship with your client list. If a customer feels well taken care of, he’s more likely to remain loyal to your company. On the flipside, poor service can cause your customer to bolt to your competitor.

A CRM platform improves your customer service levels by tracking customer needs in one place. If a customer has a complaint that the tech team needs to address, everything can be managed centrally in your CRM. The customer service agent can get updates on the progress toward solving the problem. If you need to loop in the accounting team to offer a refund, you can do that too. All of the players can collaborate in one area so the customer’s end experience is a good one.

6. Lack of Data in Decision Making

When it comes to making decisions about budget, marketing strategy, or sales cycles, are you shooting in the dark? Or do you have the right data to make informed decisions?

A customer relationship management platform gathers data throughout the sales process, while the customer works with your firm, and after a project is complete. This data can then be taken and put into reports that show why people didn’t buy, where you’re losing customers in the sales cycle, what’s causing your customers to leave, and more. The more data you have, the stronger decision-making abilities you’ll have.

Ready for CRM?

If your business is suffering from any of these — disorganization, high costs, low revenues, poor productivity and customer service, or a lack of data – it’s time to get a CRM system in place. Having a central place to manage all of your customer relationships helps streamline your business and improve the customer’s experience with your company, which ultimately leads to more revenues and growth.

 

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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.

While there are many reasons to use a CRM, few are more important than increasing sales.

Revenue growth requires a consistent attention to process improvement. To streamline workflows, many companies are turning to mobile CRM applications. Is mobile CRM right for your business? Would using one actually move the sales needle?

In this post, I’ll share four reasons why a mobile-friendly CRM can have a positive impact on sales.

Opportunities Often Develop Outside of the Office

Stop to think about your average day. Unless you work from home, there’s a good chance that a noticeable percentage of your time is spent engaging clients in person.

Without the right technology, it can be difficult to keep everything organized. Your trusty yellow notepad, while better than nothing, has been known to fail you. There have been times when you couldn’t read your own writing. Other times, your assistant overlooked important opportunities when manually keying in data. There’s also the inherent productivity drain associated with transcribing handwritten notes.

A mobile CRM, on the other hand, reduces the administrative burdens of your current process. New contacts, leads, company records, and opportunities can be easily entered (or updated) with a few taps.

Stop waiting until you get back to the office; rather, input new information as you receive it. You’ll save time, minimize oversights, and yield better CRM value.

Meeting Agendas are Already Pre-Built
It’s never wise to show up unprepared for a customer meeting. Unfortunately, you’re a very busy person and preparation takes time. Time that you don’t have.

A mobile CRM can prove to be invaluable for meeting prep. This is especially true if your CRM facilitates record linking.

For example, Insightly CRM allows you to link opportunities to contacts and/or organizations. Instead of digging through emails, documents, and project management systems for a coherent agenda, you could simply pop open the Insightly mobile app. From there, click on the organization’s name and view the associated opportunities. Now you have a real-time list of topics to discuss with customers.

Best of all, there was no extra work required by you!

Customers Appreciate Personalization

You’re in business to make a profit. That’s a given. However, before you can make a profit, you must first build solid relationships with prospects.

Mobile CRM technology can help you achieve this goal by delivering a more personalized experience. In addition to managing basic name and contact details, your CRM should also help you quickly capture and recall important notes. Having the following at your fingertips can lighten the mood and show that you care:

• Names of spouse & children
• Hobbies
• Interests
• Upcoming vacations
• Service anniversaries
• Community involvement
• Pet peeves

Create close proximity to the customer tidbits you need most. You may be surprised by the positive feedback you receive.

Sometimes You Just Need a Cheat Sheet

There’s nothing worse than being unexpectedly pulled into a boardroom full of people – especially when you can’t remember their names.

Avoid this situation by carrying a pocket-sized CRM. Simply pull out your smartphone device, launch the app, filter by company, and browse associated contact records. No more scrambling through social media accounts or calendar invites.

Insightly users enjoy the added convenience of automatic photo matching. The system scours countless social media profiles, associating the person’s online profile pictures with the correct contact record. With Insightly, there’s no guessing which person is which. The visual confirmation you need is in the palm of your hand!

Take a Mobile Approach to CRM

If your current CRM system does not offer a convenient mobile option, it’s time you look elsewhere. Spend time researching which software receives the best reviews on the various app marketplaces. After a few days of testing, you might be surprised at the noticeable increases in productivity and customer satisfaction. In time, these improvements will most certainly lead to a more fruitful sales pipeline.

 

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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.

 

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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.