Tag Archives: internet marketing

GDPR Data Protection [Infographic]

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GDPR-Data-Protection-Infographic-315Many consumers feel they don’t have control of their personal data. Because of this lack of trust, customers are hesitant to provide their personal information or purchase from them. These tips increase consumer trust and make it more likely they’ll share their personal info.

Data Protection Tips:

  1. Properly Communicate With Customers – Businesses should be clear. State who’s collecting the data, why it’s needed, what will be done with it, and who will have access to it. Also, the timeframe for when data deletion should be clearly explained.
  2. Receive Consent – Data should not be collected without customer consent. After a customer’s identity is verified a customer should be asked permission to retain their data. This consent should be verified again every 2 years.
  3. Give Them The Right To Opt Out Of Marketing – Many customers feel their information is only collected for marketing purposes. While this is not always true, it is a longstanding and common concern. Customers should always be given the opportunity to opt out of marketing.  At the very least they should be made aware that such an option exists.

Our thanks go out to the European Commission for this infographic on the GDPR.

3 Advanced Tips to Integrate Social Media and Blogging to Get More Leads

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3 Advanced Tips to Integrate Social Media and Blogging to Get More Leads-315According to Hubspot, marketers who use blogs generate 67% more leads than those who don’t. In fact, cost per lead using ‘SEO – content marketing’ (of which blogging is a major component) is the cheapest method when compared with other popular marketing methods.

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Social media can help you generate plenty of affordable leads too. As displayed in the above graph, its cost per lead is only higher than SEO – content marketing.

Social media and blogging are definitely effective for generating leads when used individually. But what if you used them together, would it get you more leads? And how would you go about this?

To find out read the tips I share below. How to integrate social media into your blog to get more leads.

Provide social login/sign up options on opt-in forms:

Social login is when you let people sign up for your blog’s newsletter or lead magnet with their social media accounts instead of typing in their email address and other details.

An example below is the landing page from Long Radius.

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As you can see they provided the option to either sign up for the guide with email or with social media accounts on Linkedin, Google+ or Facebook.

In the above post, they mention that the older version of the landing page only had an email sign up.

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This is a screenshot of the older landing page.

After they switched this version with the landing page offering social login they were able to increase conversion by 52%. This increase occurs because it is a lot easier for visitors to just click a button and add in details instead of typing them in.

An increase in conversions isn’t the only benefit this offers. The other benefit is that you will get your leads’ best email address. People love social media and spend several hours on it daily. So, when they sign up for a social media account they will use their best email address to make sure they get regular email updates.

Therefore, when you capture a lead using social login, you will get the same email address they use for their social media account. This will be their most used email address and will help you reach them better.

Social login can be easily set up with a social login tool.

Add it to your blog’s landing pages, popup forms, and other opt-in forms.

Track site visitors:

A study found that on average blogs convert only 1.95% visits to leads while the top 10% have a conversion rate of 4.77%. This means that even if you are among the top bloggers, for every 100 visits only about 5 will turn into leads. 95 of them will leave and might never return.

To convert more of these lost leads, you can use an advanced analytics tool for tracking website visits, so you can find individual audience members and reach out to them via social media.

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A tool like this provides specifics on the country they are from and the pages they visited to help you filter results. It also shows you if any of your Linkedin connections work at the company to make it easy to get in touch. If you haven’t got any connections that work here it will suggest people you can connect with.

If you are like me and mainly use your blog to get clients you will find this tool very useful. It also helps integrate Linkedin into your blog which is the best social network for B2B lead generation.

When I see a potential lead, I contact them with a Linkedin message. It works a lot like Linkedin’s ‘who viewed your profile’ feature. But it takes it to the next level by integrating your blog with Linkedin. If your blog generates a decent amount of traffic, you should definitely try this tool.

Add share buttons to encourage social recommendations:

Whose recommendations would you trust most on social media? One from a consumer or one from the brand itself.

I would definitely trust what a consumer who has no affiliation with a brand writes about them than what they brag about themselves. I am certain most people feel this way too.

Hence, you should make it easy for people to recommend your blog posts and lead magnets to their friends and followers by adding share buttons. This will drive more traffic and leads to your blog

If you want share buttons to offer strong social proof to everyone who lands on your website you should turn on the share count. Especially if your blog’s landing pages get shared a lot. When visitors see that the lead magnet has been shared plenty they will want to get a hold of it too because the shares indicate that it contains quality information.

Also, add the share buttons to the content’s page so people can share it while consuming the content or after they finish. Share buttons can be added to everything from videos to ebooks.

You can also add share buttons to your thank you page i.e. the page a lead is redirected to after signing up.

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Bryan Harris found that when he did this on his thank you page and offered some extra free content in exchange for the share 54% of people shared it. This drove 3,498 new visits which converted to 349 subscribers.

Therefore, you must include share buttons on your blog’s landing pages, in the content itself and the thank you page too.

Social media and blogging together get you more leads.

As you can see above when social media and blogging are integrated they do generate more leads. They work really well together. The techniques I have discussed here are also very easy to set up and run. Hence, you should try them and boost your lead generation.

How do you integrate social media into your blogging? Has this helped you generate more leads? Please leave your comments below.

[Infographic] How to Optimize your Site for Conversions

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[Infographic]-How-to-Optimize-your-Site-for-Conversions-315All marketing efforts lead to one thing: conversion. So even if your website generates a lot of traffic but still doesn’t get many leads, then it’s considered a failure.

So how do you turn it into a success? Some of these tips to optimize your site can help:

Speed up page loading

A delay as short as one second can cause a drop of 7% in conversion. Thus, remove the bells and whistles and go for a clean, crisp page that loads fast on desktops, laptops, and especially mobile devices.

Simplify site navigation

Nobody wants to find their way around a complicated site. Keep things straightforward by following a breadcrumb style of navigation. Make it easy for visitors to go back and forth across your site’s pages, and they’ll stay long enough to be converted.

Add live chat

People want instant answers to their inquiries, so responding via email or a callback doesn’t cut it anymore. A live chat works better in this regard. It works so well that for financial software company Intuit.com., it increased conversions by 20% and sales by a whopping 211%.

Make shipping free

No matter how small a shipping fee is, it’s still not as appealing as free shipping. If it’s not feasible to offer free shipping on any purchase, you can set a required minimum purchase.

Thanks to our friends at Websitebuilder.org for this informative and useful infographic to optimize your site for conversion.

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How to Use Social Engagement to Drive Website Leads

How to Use Social Engagement to Drive Website Leads

How to Use Social Engagement to Drive Website LeadsWe can all see the immense power of social media and the influence it has on the market. There are billions of people who use social media. You can use this power to your advantage, especially when it comes to driving leads to your website.

Understand Your Audience

To get the most out of your marketing efforts, it’s imperative you know your audience. Create personas that represent your major demographics, and then target your posts towards these personas.

Create Your Own Persona

Your audience will engage more with like minded people. And they can be offended if they’re being pushed with a heavy marketing agenda. Instead, create a persona that customers will want to interact with, leaving the overly strong marketing attempts by the wayside.

Pick the Right Battles

You don’t want to waste effort when driving website leads, so pick your battles accordingly. Choose the social media network your target audience uses and focus on it first. Then, set up accounts on other sites based on your availability to manage the accounts.

Tag Correctly

Tags are a great way for your target audience to find your message, but you must use them correctly, based on the guidelines of the social media site you are using. Instagram, for instance, allows you to have 30 different tags. Twitter, however, only gives 140 characters, so only use the tags with the most impact.

Crisscross Your Engagement Methods

Once you have several engagement methods, make sure to crisscross them for the ultimate exposure. Place a Twitter feed on your web page, post Instagram photos on your Facebook, and add links to your social media accounts in your advertising.

Work with Other Businesses

Small businesses can gain a lot from working with other companies, and the world of social media is no exception. Follow other businesses, engage with them, and you, your customers and business will reap the benefits.

Make Your Links Irresistible

The final step to direct traffic from your social media pages to your website is to post links to your newest blog post. Add text and photos to make it stand out.

Keep Learning the Ropes

Social media is constantly growing and changing. If you want to get the most out of it, you must change and grow, too. What works now to get traffic to your website from your social media accounts may be obsolete next year. Make sure that you’re regularly monitoring and researching to ensure you take the right steps to guarantee a successful campaign.

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[Infographic] How to Format a Blog Post for Readability

How to Format a Blog Post for Readability

How to Format a Blog Post for Readability

Here are some useful tips on how to format a blog post for readability. Let’s face it, without good content your blog isn’t going to generate a lot of traffic. But content isn’t everything. Formatting your blog for readability is just as important for keeping your readers engaged. Here’s a look at ways to ensure that your business’s blog is easy to read.

Tips to Format a Blog Post for Readability:

  1. Format is Everything
    Carefully formatting your blog is crucial to readability. Write or edit your posts with the page layout in mind.
  2. Use Short Paragraphs
    Reading online content isn’t as easy as other forms, such as newspapers. Make it easier by keeping paragraphs two to six sentences long.
  3. Use Images Wisely
    Images are an effective tool to help describe a point, but they can sometimes be too dominating. Add extra spacing around the image, especially if it’s close to a heading.
  4. Headers and Sub-Headers
    Long posts can be broken up effectively with headers and sub-headers. They’ll also draw in readers who are quickly scanning copy.
  5. Use Lists
    Help your readers scan posts fast and find information by using numbered or bullet-point lists.
  6. Column Width
    Constrain column width to enhance readability. A general rule of thumb is that columns should be no more than 80 characters (including spaces) wide.
  7. Font Size
    The bigger the type the better. Tiny print is hard to read anywhere, not just online.
  8. White Space is Your Friend
    Don’t make your blog too busy and distracting. Your readers will thank you for properly-used white space.

How to Format a Blog Post for Readability

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