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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!

 

	Build Forecasts in Insightly
	Have you ever tried Insightly’s forecasting functionality? It’s pretty nifty. Insightly’s expected revenue field is available to help you get more value from your pipeline data. Found within the opportunity report, “expected revenue” provides a logical, weighted forecast based on the opportunities currently being worked by your team. Adding this field to your opportunity report is quick and easy. Follow these simple steps: Log in to your Insightly account Visit this link to open the opportunity report Under the “opportunity” folder, find the “Expected Revenue” field Drag the field into the reporting area on the right Click the green “Run Report” folder Once added to your report, you should see a new column of data like this:   It’s important to note, however, that this report field will return empty data unless you’re already tracking two specific opportunity fields: value and probability. In case you’re unfamiliar with these fields, opportunity value is an estimate (in dollars) of a deal’s worth. Probability is a somewhat arbitrary percentage (out of 100% certainty) assigned by your staff. Insightly multiplies these two data points to arrive at each opportunity’s expected revenue. Need to share your forecast with a colleague or manager? As with any Insightly report, you can also export the data to a CSV. Simply click the “Actions” drop down after running the report, and exporting is just a click away.
	Get More Value from Your Sales Projections
	Aside from holding sales reps accountable, how else can your organization benefit from the sales forecasts generated with Insightly? Here are a few quick ideas: Capacity planning – An accurate picture of future demand can help you align necessary fulfillment resources. Does the forecast indicate a major uptick in next quarter’s orders? If so, do you need to hire new staff or expand your facility to accommodate? As your company refines the forecasting process, such data can become increasingly reliable for capacity planning purposes. Marketing priorities – If projected sales are lower than anticipated, could additional marketing resources be leveraged? For example, an email marketing campaign targeted to high value / low probability deals might increase the likelihood of close, thereby improving forecasted revenue. Sales allocation – Looking at your sales team, do you have your best reps working the right deals? By reviewing sales projections, you might learn that your top talent spends too much time chasing low impact deals. Keep or drop – Not every product or sales strategy works. In situations where sales have already stalled, looking at future demand can help management decide whether or not to keep pursuing a plan. If the past, current, and future look bleak, then it may be time to move in a different direction.
	Bookmark Your Most Visited Web Pages
	If you’re like most business professionals, your day is probably split between your inbox, calendar, social media accounts, shared web documents, and various places within Insightly. When you consider all of the back and forth, how much time is wasted simply by opening a new browser tab, keying in the first few letters of the web address, clicking a “login” link, and following the prompts? Surely there’s a more streamlined approach. Most web browsers today allow you to show or hide your “bookmarks bar.” If you’ve never enabled this feature in your browser, it’s an extra menu that appears below the web address bar. Usually about one centimeter tall, it’s a concise place to store 15 to 20 of your favorite web addresses. As you set up your bookmarks bar, don’t just settle for an app’s homepage. Dig a little deeper and link directly to the innermost pages. For example, if you’re a sales-minded person who likes to frequently check opportunity statuses, you might bookmark a pre-filtered opportunity page in Insightly. Here is a list of some other Insightly pages worth bookmarking. All open leads All open opportunities All open projects All open tasks My open tasks Insightly calendar Start by bookmarking the most common Insightly pages you visit and expand from there. Over the course of the year, this simple trick could save hours of non-value added clicking!
	Increase the Accuracy of Your Sales Forecasting
	Back to the topic of forecasting – how do you know for sure that your “expected revenue” data in Insightly is legit? At the end of the day, it does come down to the human factor and trust. Your users must be counted on to input reliable information. True as this may be, there are steps you can take to increase the validity of your forecast information. At the sales rep level, use the technology to foster greater accountability. For example, you might create a repeating task for each member of your sales team. The task could contain a quick link to his or her open opportunities and ask for confirmation of deal probability and estimated value. In order to qualify for certain performance-based compensation, you might require each rep to have completed this task before month’s end. No confirmation, no bonus. At the management level, it’s wise to continuously refine the reporting process. Do you have a monthly or quarterly management meeting scheduled to look at this data? Who will be responsible for tracking forecasted revenue versus actual sales? Once tabulated, what systems do you need to implement to reduce the divide between these two metrics? A tight correlation between expected and actual demand will, in time, make your forecasts more usable and beneficial to the company.

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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.

Content Marketing Institute offers a plug-and-play marketing plan tool set to help you create a new strategy or improve your existing initiatives.

Read the full article at: contentmarketinginstitute.com

You have heard it before: don’t put all your traffic eggs in one basket. By diversifying (and not relying on Google), you can grow your audience.

Read the full article at: www.problogger.net

 

Join us on Wednesday, January 18th, for a live Twitter Chat with author, business consultant, and dynamic keynote speaker, Pamela Slim. Pamela will be sharing practical advice about the many things you can do to refresh your approach to running your business… AND get a jump on start making 2017 your best year ever!

Pam will cover topics such as what technologies can significantly change the way you work and where to turn for motivation when you get stuck. Don’t miss this live Twitter event. Join us at: #LoveYourCRM.

 

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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.

Discover why Copyblogger is getting back to basics and how we can all improve our digital marketing and content efforts — together.

Read the full article at: www.copyblogger.com

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