Archives for January 2016
Digital Marketing Tips | Getting the Attention of Your Customer
Customers are overloaded with messages vying for their attention, making their focus an increasingly valuable thing. In the crowded sea of marketing, what are the most effective ways to capture your customerâs attention?
One of our core values here at Viral Solutions is to âGive Back.â Part of Viral Solutions giving back is through the hosting and sponsoring of local Infusionsoft User Groups. Although we host, and facilitate these groups, they are for YOU. We cover topics that you suggest or request. We cover all things Infusionsoft, and even some things that are outside of Infusionsoft. We encourage your feedback, thoughts, and opinions in the meeting as well as in the private Facebook group thatâs free to join: Infusionsoft User Group on Facebook. Currently, we host Infusionsoft User Group Meetings in Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; and Detroit, Michigan. Bring your questions, requests, or problems and we will help you answer them. If you would like to share a success story, we welcome that as well!
Meet with small business owners and Infusionsoft users like you to discuss marketing tips, sales advice and discover new ways you can use Infusionsoft.
1. Understand your audience. Customers are more likely to remain focused when they are engaged in something they enjoy. This makes it invaluable to know your customer and speak their language. What are they saying about your product? Who is your customer? What do you know about them? With this education, how can you best engage that customer?
2. Know where they are. Physical demographic information can be useful, but in this instance, weâre talking about your customerâs media presence. Are they big on Facebook, but not on Twitter? Are they most responsive to email newsletters? Do they prefer print or digital? Are they looking at web advertisements? Are they on YouTube? Gathering the answers to these questions allows you to create a specific target that is more likely to capture your audienceâs attention.
3. Make it worth their while. If a customer feels understood and connected with you, they are likely to give you more focus. Are you only marketing your product, or are you also marketing useful content that is relevant to their interests and needs? Showing an inclination to the interest of your customer indicates that your company is self-aware and understanding of your buyerâs perspective.
4. Use technology to your advantage. Video marketing is having its moment right now. Customers are busy and multi-focused, so they are hungry for easily accessible and digestible information. Video is the perfect medium to serve this — it shows and tells in a vibrant, engaging medium that is easy to access and understand. Now that Twitter and Facebook auto-play videos in their feed, the time is ripe to explore video marketing.
5. Hone your unique selling proposition (USP). Simply stated, a USP is that âthingâ your company does that makes you different from your competitors. What sets you apart? Customer service? Price? Product placement? Identify your USP and then begin to market with that in mind. Test it in online ads, and see what works. Donât be afraid to refine your tactic if the first try isnât successful — your USP should consistently be evaluated.
For more digital marketing tips, get in touch with the Viral Solutions team today.
by Christine Kelly
CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Copyright 2015 Viral Solutions LLC
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner and an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Digital Marketing | Top 10 new sources for trends and more
Staying on top of the latest in digital marketing can take endless time and energy. Quality sources for news about the newest trends and how-to articles are scattered around the web. Below, weâve compiled 10 of the most useful news sources for digital marketing information.
- Search Engine Land
Digital marketing is an umbrella term for the targeted, measurable, and interactive marketing of products or services using digital technologies to reach and convert leads into customers and retain them.The key objective is to promote brands, build preference and increase sales through various digital marketing techniques. It is embodied by an extensive selection of service, product and brand marketing tactics, which mainly use the Internet as a core promotional medium, in addition to mobile and traditional TV and radio. Digital marketing activities are search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing, and e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, eâbooks, optical disks and games, and any other form of digital media. It also extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as mobile phones (SMS and MMS), callback and on-hold mobile ring tones.[2] The fundamental concept in digital marketing is based on the inbound marketing approach or generally its called customer centric approach.
Search Engine Land provides daily news coverage of the search marketing industry. It takes a journalistic approach to reporting on industry trends, companies and developments. The coverage is timely and thorough, making it a great resource for industry professionals.
This source is also focused on the search engine industry. Search Engine Watch offers visitors insight and analysis of industry trends, often breaking down new ideas into simple, easy-to-read how-to articles.
Social Times is run by AdWeek and gives visitors and diverse offering of current trends and news in the social media universe. Itâs a good resource for information without too much analysis.
Started as a blog, Search Engine Journal offers a blend of search news, how-to articles, tips and tricks. While news isnât its primary focus, it is a useful source for those relatively new to digital marketing.
Social Media Today is a good source when you require up-to-the-minute news on whatâs happening in the social media world. This is a place where social media experts can dispense and discover industry news.
Mashable is a reputable source for social media news and has been referred to as a âone stop shopâ for the latest information in the digital realm. Thereâs a fair amount of content dedicated to tech developments, too, making it a great place to learn whatâs new in mobile, gadgets, entertainment and more.
This site is an excellent bookmark for any content marketer. With a variety of useful topics, Content Marketing Institute provides educational information that is useful for professionals looking to produce valuable content.
This blog provides a thorough, entertaining array of topics beneficial to the content marketer. Subjects like social media, advertising, infographics and other online marketing strategies are covered in longer, more in-depth articles.
Moz gives a new take on key content marketing areas: search engine optimization, quality content, and digital marketing trends. Articles are supplied by industry professionals and offer tips, tricks and insights.
Copyblogger is less news-focused and more craft-focused. With loads of advice for generating quality content, it also supplies actionable articles that instruct your own content creation.
“Get Access To the Ultimate Marketing Library. We Call Them âExecution Plansâ Because This Ainât About LearningâŠItâs About Doing! This Is Your Chance To Finally Own My Most Treasured Collection of Business Growth Checklists, Reports, ÂCheat Sheets and Standard Operating Procedures Literally Everything I Use To Grow and Operate My 12 Different Businesses.” ~ Ryan Deiss
by Christine Kelly
CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Copyright 2015 Viral Solutions LLC
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner and an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Digital Marketing | Top 10 new sources for trends and more
Staying on top of the latest in digital marketing can take endless time and energy. Quality sources for news about the newest trends and how-to articles are scattered around the web. Below, weâve compiled 10 of the most useful news sources for digital marketing information.
- Search Engine Land
Digital marketing is an umbrella term for the targeted, measurable, and interactive marketing of products or services using digital technologies to reach and convert leads into customers and retain them.The key objective is to promote brands, build preference and increase sales through various digital marketing techniques. It is embodied by an extensive selection of service, product and brand marketing tactics, which mainly use the Internet as a core promotional medium, in addition to mobile and traditional TV and radio. Digital marketing activities are search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing, and e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, eâbooks, optical disks and games, and any other form of digital media. It also extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as mobile phones (SMS and MMS), callback and on-hold mobile ring tones.[2] The fundamental concept in digital marketing is based on the inbound marketing approach or generally its called customer centric approach.
Search Engine Land provides daily news coverage of the search marketing industry. It takes a journalistic approach to reporting on industry trends, companies and developments. The coverage is timely and thorough, making it a great resource for industry professionals.
This source is also focused on the search engine industry. Search Engine Watch offers visitors insight and analysis of industry trends, often breaking down new ideas into simple, easy-to-read how-to articles.
Social Times is run by AdWeek and gives visitors and diverse offering of current trends and news in the social media universe. Itâs a good resource for information without too much analysis.
Started as a blog, Search Engine Journal offers a blend of search news, how-to articles, tips and tricks. While news isnât its primary focus, it is a useful source for those relatively new to digital marketing.
Social Media Today is a good source when you require up-to-the-minute news on whatâs happening in the social media world. This is a place where social media experts can dispense and discover industry news.
Mashable is a reputable source for social media news and has been referred to as a âone stop shopâ for the latest information in the digital realm. Thereâs a fair amount of content dedicated to tech developments, too, making it a great place to learn whatâs new in mobile, gadgets, entertainment and more.
This site is an excellent bookmark for any content marketer. With a variety of useful topics, Content Marketing Institute provides educational information that is useful for professionals looking to produce valuable content.
This blog provides a thorough, entertaining array of topics beneficial to the content marketer. Subjects like social media, advertising, infographics and other online marketing strategies are covered in longer, more in-depth articles.
Moz gives a new take on key content marketing areas: search engine optimization, quality content, and digital marketing trends. Articles are supplied by industry professionals and offer tips, tricks and insights.
Copyblogger is less news-focused and more craft-focused. With loads of advice for generating quality content, it also supplies actionable articles that instruct your own content creation.
“Get Access To the Ultimate Marketing Library. We Call Them âExecution Plansâ Because This Ainât About LearningâŠItâs About Doing! This Is Your Chance To Finally Own My Most Treasured Collection of Business Growth Checklists, Reports, ÂCheat Sheets and Standard Operating Procedures Literally Everything I Use To Grow and Operate My 12 Different Businesses.” ~ Ryan Deiss
by Christine Kelly
CEO and Queen Bee | Viral Solutions LLC
Copyright 2015 Viral Solutions LLC
Prior to joining Viral Solutions, Christine held executive leadership roles at some of the largest small business consulting firms in the USA. Her experience includes leading direct reports of over 130 remote sales agents who generated $38mm in annual revenue. She obtained her Marketing degree from British Columbia Institute of Technology. Bring her C-Suite experience to your small business. Although our company is virtual, and we can work with you wherever you are located, she is located in Denver, Colorado and owns a second home in Vancouver, BC Canada.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner and an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Digital Marketing Tactics that No Longer Apply in 2016
In the ever-changing digital world, keeping up with the most current marketing strategy can be tricky, but itâs absolutely necessary. Here, we outline digital marketing tactics that are on their way out in 2016.
While building our business, we used many tools available from the software industry. Tools such as SalesForce, ACT!, Jeffrey Gitomerâs Ace of Sales, Excel spreadsheets and enough other items I could name â that right now are making me ill thinking about. We are business minds first. We found Infusionsoft as our solution to our problem. We have become Infusionsoft experts, by building our business with this amazing tool, our certifications only reinforce it. Infusionsoft is a type of sales and marketing software that helps owners of small businesses to track their leads and stay organized. We work with you to help you develop the best plan with your business and help you get set up with these services, optimize them to fit your needs and give you any other assistance you need to get started. You can either have us help you implement your Infusionsoft strategy or let us take the keys and do it for you.
- Static websites. The internet is a constantly evolving being, which means your website should be, too. Almighty Google pays attention to your siteâs traffic — when a consumer bounces from your site and quickly returns to search results, this indicates to Google that your page does not provide content entirely relevant to the inquiry. Commit to consistently updating the content of your site with timely, pertinent information. Additionally, you should go a step further. Make landing pages by search topic. Google does not like their customers to have to navigate your menu system. What your prospect searches for, is where they should land.
- Poor quality back-links. Years ago, Google determined that the easiest way to judge the value of a website was by the number of other websites with links to it. This created a system where the more back links a site had, the higher it ranked in Google results. The flaw in this, known as âblack hatâ marketing, was when businesses and agencies began back linking to fake sites with irrelevant, poor-quality content. Google has since updated their technique and now drops sites with spammy back links in their rankings. We like to evaluate the quality of a link by its Moz ranking.
- Focus on keywords. Echoing the issue illustrated above, keyword stuffing was once a quick and easy way to arrive at the top of a search query. However, Google once again became wise to this tactic, and now scans your site for meaning, rather than a specific keyword phrase. Repeating the same keyword is now far less important than creating useful, quality content for your consumer. For example, phrases like âauto repair,â âvehicle repair service,â and âcar repair shop,â place your site in the same category, where Google is concerned. This tactic was not only out in 2015, it was out in 2010.
- Failing to utilize social media for more than promotion. One of the key benefits of social media is its ability to provide a one-on-one customer service experience. Because the internet never sleeps, consumers also expect social media customer support to be available at, essentially, all hours. Illustrate that your business has a reliable social media customer support system by responding quickly to customer inquiries and engaging them on social platforms. Furthermore, understand that the primary purpose of your social page is to create a community, to serve those in need (remember your inbound call center – have them man your Facebook page).
- Having a non-mobile site. Hereâs the hard truth: sites without a mobile-optimized version now rank lower in Google rankings. What the search engine knows is that most consumers will get their content through a mobile device in 2016. To keep your visibility on the web, check out your site on a mobile device. Google has also created a simple test that tells you whether your site is mobile-friendly or not (https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/).
- Thinking email is the only way to connect. Email is not the only way to present your solution to your prospective customer. Remarketing and retargeting campaigns, tied to social media pixels, custom audiences and Twitter cards are very effective. Direct marketing via SMS text message is also worth migrating to.
Itâs now officially 2016, which means itâs time to say goodbye to the digital marketing tactics of yesteryear. Contact us at Viral Solutions for assistance!
Copyright 2015 Viral Solutions LLC
by Thomas von Ahn | Chief Elephant Slayer
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again.
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
Mastering Your Mindset in 2016 & Beyond
The Holidays are over. Emails, messages, and reality haven't skipped a beat. Perhaps, you were lucky to have a few days off during the last part of 2015 and the first couple of days of 2016. Even more fortunate if you used that time to work on you versus getting over an over-indulgence that may have transpired during that time off. Regardless, time doesn't stop and neither do deadlines. The first Monday of 2016 may have felt outrageously awesome or just another reminder that you need to get your stuff together. In reality, we all may experience these emotions throughout the year, but what if we master our mindset? Here, we look at three strategies to consider in mastering your mindset in 2016 and each year after that.
Evaluate where you are at this very moment. Do you feel good about yourself? If so, that is excellent. If not, what about yourself doesn't make you feel good? What is it about you now that is so different from the person that you want to become?
1. Who do you want to be? Yes. This question is so basic is it nuts that is the first thing you must answer and be clear upon when establishing your mindset for 2016. Think about this for a minute. Think about yourself. Evaluate where you are at this very moment. Do you feel good about yourself? If so, that is excellent. If not, what about yourself doesn't make you feel good? What is it about you now that is so different from the person that you want to become? The ability to decipher where you are today and the person you wish to become is the first step of identifying what you will need to do to become the perfect version of you.
2. What behaviors do you need to become the best version of you? Power comes from behavior and actions, not knowing what to do and choosing not to do it. There is power the lack of action, but for purposes of achieving the mindset that supports the perfect version of you, there must be behaviors and actions that support that vision. Here, it is helpful to identify the “must” behaviors that support your ideal mindset and lifestyle. Take an inventory of “must” behaviors you need to help you move from your current state to your desired state.
You have everything inside of you to make the changes you want for your mindset – today and each day.
3. What actions will you do today and each day to start and maintain your 2016 mindset? The time to align vision, behavior and action are now. The ability to connect the dots of where you are and where you want to be is one thing, but the dots will not get you there, your behavior and actions will. Identify the key behaviors and actions that you must incorporate each day. Think about how the behaviors and actions will have a direct impact on your mindset. Next, identify challenges that could interfere with the behaviors and actions. The identification of prospective solutions to overcoming barriers and self-sabotaging behaviors and actions is essential to staying the course and achieving a sustainable mindset.
Wherever you are in your life, your mindset matters. There will be ups, downs, side-turns, u-turns, and everything in between that can derail your mindset from time to time. The key is not to fall victim of a negative mindset or lose hope in changing your mindset. You have everything inside of you to make the changes you want for your mindset – today and each day. The key is recognizing and using your personal power to make the changes you want and not buck up with excuses. Be the person you desire to become, a little each day and set yourself up with the right behaviors and actions to support this sustained mindset.
by Katie Doseck, PhD MBA
Chief Visionary and Strategic Ace Up Your Sleeve | Viral Solutions LLC
Copyright 2016 by Viral Solutions LLC
Katie Doseck, PhD MBA | Chief Visionary & Strategic Ace Up Your Sleeve. I catapulted my experience with extensive education, trainings, and personal coaching; earning a PhD in Organizational Management with a specialization in Human Resource Management, MBA in Organizational Leadership, and BA in Law & Liberal Arts. Subject Matter Expert (SME) areas: Human Resource Management, Employment Law, Organizational Change, Change Management, Resource Planning, Strategic Planning, Talent Management, Selling & Sales Management, Training & Development, Decision Making Models, Project Management, Customer Relationship Management, and Motivation. Dr. Doseck is based out of Logan, Utah.
We help overwhelmed small business owners duplicate themselves – so business can be fun again
Viral Solutions LLC is a Digital Marketer Certified Partner, an Infusionsoft Certified Consultant, a Google Partner – Certified in AdWords and a Mobit Certified Partner.
