Obsess About the How’s, Why’s and Where’s

Being obsessive over weight loss numbers can be motivating, but also quite intimidating. The same goes with looking at the cold hard facts of marketing efforts. I know a million marketers who love checking their analytics and viewing the traffic that they get to their sites. However, they almost never check the numbers that matter most – the dollars, and the percentages.

The Dollars = The Amount of Sales or Revenue

The Percentages= How many of your site leads converted into Sales or Revenue?

Without a solid system of tracking actual results, it’s nearly impossible to keep track of what’s actually working. Although I hear complaints about the extra work that it takes to track a sales pipeline, (the process a sale goes through from a lead, to an opportunity to an actually sale) this process is imperative for a any marketer to discover the true cost of their efforts and the actual Return on Investment they are realizing. Would you blindly throw dollars into a campaign if it were you own money? You’d want cold, hard facts…right? Many marketers are lax on following strict pipeline management tractics, being that they work with client money – but the trick is to spend it like it’s not only YOUR money, but as if it were your last few dollars.

A Business’s $100,000 Marketing Mistake

I once worked with a client who was trying to market their site and their offline product for over a year…all by themselves.  I meet with them at their request, as they were at their wit’s end trying to figure out how to spend less and make more money. The first thing I asked them for was their analytics data and their conversion rates – neither of which they had.  So, I asked if they had tracked their leads over the past few years..at least keeping the customer’s name, region, and referral source. Again, they hadn’t. They also didn’t have solid data as to the actual campaigns they were running, or how much they all cost during their last fiscal year. Bad news. We went back into their accounting, and found they had spent nearly $100,000, gained only $30,000 in new sales, and had absolutely NO idea which campaigns produced which sales.

This is definitely not something you want to do. All of the world’s best marketers will tell you how important utilizing a CRM is. If you think you can’t afford one, there are many cost efficient solutions out there – even a few free solutions!

What was one of the biggest realizations that you made after implementing CRM into your marketing efforts?

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Here are:

The 5 Ways Your Website Tells you How You Can Improve Your Business

1. High Bounce Rates- What it means: People are likely not understanding what your site is about, or you’re not conveying your message in an easy to understand manner. Perhaps your web design is misleading, or your copy is not placed correctly. By testing (even split a/b testing with different front page layouts) you can gauge what keeps you users on the site, what what elicits their exit.
2. The Search Terms They Use to Find You: If you look at what people type info the search engines to find your site, is it relevant to what you sell? If not, you may want to re-think your Search Engine Optimization Strategy – or develop one if you don’t have one.
3. The Quality of Leads you are Gaining: If you sell something on your website, take a look at past leads. Have they converted into sales? If so, what percentage of your leads convert into sales? Surprisingly, averages generally rest in less than 10%. However, by making changes to your design, copy, and user experience, you can experiment with what works to convert leads into sales.
4. Customer Interaction: Does your website generate a lot of questions rather than sales? Are people confused as to your services or offerings? Take a look at what people are asking you, and be sure to be flexible when updating your website to reflect the customers needs. Check the pages that people go to for answers. Are they going to the FAQ section, or the “About Us” section to find the answer to that specific question?
5. Page Surfing Depth: How many pages did the average person look at on your website before they decided to leave? What were the top pages of content on your site? This information is priceless when updating your website to be used as a sales tool. If people aren’t really look at the pages of your site, it may be telling you that your site navigation is a bit confusing or mis-placed. If you’ve got a flash based site, be sure to integrate analytics into your code. Your site could be telling you that people are only concerned with one page of your site before they sign up or buy. Take this information very seriously and you’ll find that the customers literally ask for  the content they want to see by the pages on your site that they browse though.

In what ways has your website told you how to improve?

When you’ve started your own business or actually have executed a successful business marketing or strategy change effort, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s easy to think that you’ll make a quick income being the next internet marketer/influencer/internet celebrity. I mean, there are a few people out there who spew out the same tired blog tips, topics and speeches and still have an insanely loyal following. (No, I’m not naming anyone…)

While consulting, I have heard numerous horror stories of novice internet marketers costing small companies way more than their services were even worth, in addition to not being effective due to their lack of real-life experience. This really gives a lot of the experienced internet marketers a bad name. I’ve pretty much become labeled as a “Business Consultant” due to the overwhelming boom in inexperienced internet marketers. Not that I’m wishing any of these newbie marketers any ill-will. I do hope they find what they are looking for, and I’m definitely not here to trash talk. However, I’ve cleaned up a few messes, and understand that consultants who leave their clients disgruntled make it quite unsettling for other consultants who have to come in and straighten things out. It gets old.

My change in direction has become quite clear to me. As I’ve been mostly busy with my own businesses and projects, I’ve consulted on a few choice clientele that have needed much more than an internet marketer in their arsenal. I’ve become quite the advocate of Salesforce CRM over the past few years, and while many argue that it’s expensive; for the types of clients that I deal with, it has become an invaluable tool that tells them more than they could have ever dreamed about their business, hows it’s really ran, and how it should be  in terms of marketing, customer service/satisfaction, business processes, management, and policies.

Since I actually have my own businesses, I understand the needs of an actual business from a very thorough ideal. I’ve become more of a consultant from the conception process, to the growth initiative. I’m pretty much all over the place right now in terms of what I have been consulting on, so I’m not going to go into great detail on this blog post.

So that’s it – I am no longer an “Internet Marketer”. That term is played out and old, in addition to being highly irrelevant to what I now do. I’m hoping to pop in here every once in a while and share what I’ve learned along the way to others who are interested in conquering business as a whole.

Now that times are tougher, employers should really be looking to squeeze every bit of ROI out of every dollar they’re spending on direct and indirect marketing tactics. If you’re reading this blog, then it’s very likely that your company has implemented some kind of social media campaigning tactics within the past year or two. Perhaps you’ve learned how to integrate something like Google Analytics into the mix as well, but are you really tracking results based on the time spent on each task?

Some may say that micro-managing your marketing leads to over-thinking and too much time spent on often tedious reports and tracking. Some may also say that the CEO and CFO, and even perhaps the CMO shouldn’t be responsible for making sure correct tracking has been implemented.

All things considered, even some of the most seasoned internet marketers and CRM experts have been in the industry for less than 10 years.

By most other industry standards, you’d quite possibly still be a newbie.

This being said, I am a firm believer in every CEO having a very active role in the companies CRM and social efforts. Many CEO and VP clients of mine have argued quite a lot with me about this. They insist their VP or Marketing departments can handle it. The CFO generally has the best idea of the company’s culture, as well as hidden markets and niches that the company could be targeting with it’s efforts. They have a better idea of the sales that are closing, and the reasons for stalled sales for closing. In the end, the CEO should be consistently viewing and analyzing an 360 view of every 360 view.

I’ve compiled a few of the must-do tips for keeping accountability within your CRM and Social Media efforts:

• Track time spent on tasks. I know this seems a bit aimless, but if your employees are running social media campaigns, ask them to track their time. Using apps like Rescue Time or other time tracking resources help immensely.
• Keeping these tracked times in your CRM campaign management data is imperative for accountability. If your employees are spending 5 hours per day on Twitter, with similar ROI’s to a Facebook campaign they’re spending 2 hours on, this would alert you to perhaps have them focus on Facebook a bit more. There are many scenarios like this where you’d spot better and more efficient ways to use time.
• Build enthusiasm for accountability in your department. Let employees know that it’s not that you don’t trust they’re doing their jobs correctly, but for tracking and expansion purposes.
• Keep data clean. Clean data is happy data. Make sure all client and service data is correct. There should be no duplicates, as this can greatly affect your tracking.
• Consistently re-evaluate how and what you track within your business. CRM is like fine wine. It only gets better with age. The reasoning behind this is that with time, you should be fine-tuning and customizing your CRM solution to meet your business needs. No CRM solution should be utilized right out of the box. Make sure to take the time to learn everything that it offers. This includes the all important CEO.

I am currently in the process of getting my main website in order, which I’ve been meaning to do forever now. I’ve been lucky enough that the bulk of my clientele comes from referrals, repeat clients, or serial entrepreneurs who fancy perpetually picking my brain.

The Shape of Business to Come

So what have I seen in the business landscape over the past year? I’ve seen companies buckle down and focus on what’s really important. Old processes and policies are flying out like crazy…because they’re no longer working in this climate. A few aspects that all channel into Customer Relationship Management that I’ve been focusing on with my clients are:

• Where the Business is Coming From-  No longer can businesses be lacking in their tracking strategies. Every dollar counts now more than it ever did, and this is where it’s at. No where your business comes from. This is priceless information.
• How do I Make the Process EXCEPTIONAL? – Creating an extremely unique and awesome customer experience doesn’t require vast amounts of money, just a bit of creativity and know-how. This, along with stellar customer service creates a genuine loyalty around a brand and it’s product or service. Make it memorable and elicit conversation. It’s the cheapest and most effective marketing method around (still).
• Know it All – Make it someone’s job to know EVERYTHING about your customer. Their clicking habits, the A/B test page results, what makes them tick, what sites they frequent, where their money is being spent, what email campaign traits get the best responses, and so on. Organize this all into one central location and make a meeting out of it at least every quarter. You’d be surprised at how this type of information spawns innovation in your business. Don’t be afraid to tweak processes, ads, and marketing based on the information you find. This information is useless unless you act upon it quickly.
• Service though Social Media: If your customer is talking about you, that’s great. If they’re expressing dismay with you, social media is your opportunity to make it right, while showing the rest of the world that you CAN and are WILLING to make it right. Social media is an exceptional customer service tool, because it provides past records of challenges, errors, mistakes, and fixes that are priceless to your business. Be sure to log your customer service conquests online, with basic information on the customer, what their issue was, how long it took to solve the issue, what you did to solve the issue, how much it cost you, and so on.  If you have Salesforce, or some other CRM tool, be sure to log this information thoroughly. You’ll be so glad you did!

These are just a few things I am seeing for 2010.There is a lot more I’d like to write, but I’ll save that for another post. I wish you all a prosperous and safe 2010!

This leads me to my ultimate question:

Does “Going  Social” mean you have to broadcast every aspect of your life to the internet? Does it mean that you have to twitter or update every time you eat lunch, buy an mp3, or take a walk?

No! In fact, most people tend to be annoyed by these types of updates. Unless you’re a celebrity (the Hollywood kind), people really aren’t that interested in whether you’re talking your dog for a walk, eating dinner, or boarding a flight to Los Angeles airport. Updating, also known as lifestreaming, has becoming an integral part of social media. In actuality, most people aren’t looking for your life’s details, they’re looking for advice, a confidant, or simply a new friend they can meet for latte’s the next time they happen to be in your locale.

Being social really means  putting yourself out there. You should be in it to make friends first, and make business last. Social media users are getting smarter and smarter to even the softest marketing tactics, and they have voiced many times over that they want friends, not robots, sale posts, and business icons on their social sites.

If you don’t think people care much about “updates”, just look at Facebook’s controversial new homepage layout. It’s a lot like Twitter, right? Over the past few years, Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other prominent social media sites have integrated the “update” function into their layout. They have access to all of the stats that likely show how much users like this feature… especially if it’s now being utilized across all major social media websites.

And remember, “What Are You Doing” doesn’t only mean “what are you doing”.

It can mean:

• What advice do you have for your network today?
• What important lesson did you learn today?
• Did anything funny happen today?
• Is anyone in my area who wants to meet for lunch or coffee?
• I’m at a convention… anyone else here who wants to meet?
• How are you feeling, and why?
• Come across any good articles or funny photos you’d like to share?
• Ready to offer a helping hand to someone who perhaps need a Digg, Stumble, or other prop?
• Who can I help today? Let’s chat!
• What do you guys think of this product? I’m thinking of getting one…

Updates are so much more than trivial details. They are making friends, helping others, and a great opportunity to add value.

What is your favorite way to utilize site updates?

True Innovation and Business Success

This really made me think a lot about innovating in general. How many businesses do you see out there that are consistently trying to bring new into the world? New concepts, new ideas, new territory? Not too many, right? I mean, we all know Apple leads the way in this territory, simply because their type of innovation is generally the kind that most people can afford. Even I have an iPhone.  It was new, and it was very different. Truly an impressive piece of gadgetry.

Then we have the big money innovator companies like ultra high luxury car manufacturers, and amazingly high fashion clothing. These industries are in a consistent state of innovation. Last year’s product is hardly relevant today. Could you say the same about your business? If not, what if you could?

It would make you more money! It would be easier to market! HEY, it would be CHEAPER to market!

What if you took your concepts, and strived for innovation every time you re-marketed them? Consistent innovation where is generally isn’t called for… reminds me a lot of what Apple did. They changed a lot about technology in a relatively short amount of time. They made it trendy, colorful, and downright awesome at times. (and I’m not even a fangirl!)  They took a great product and made it more interesting. Gave it more appeal, and then charged quite a bit more money for it.

Innovating Makes Marketing Simpler

Imagine how tweaking a few of your products or services for the times can render better results when it comes to marketing? If your sales are down, perhaps you aren’t offering exactly what is being needed at that time. We fail and we learn. Tweaking a product or a service isn’t really admitting failure, it’s being strong, dedicated, and best of all; flexible. If you aren’t flexible, you’re losing out on a lot of money.

So go forth, grow your sales, make more money and sprinkle some innovation into your ideas!

Oh this guy has a lot of “Get Rich Fast” answers for you.

I am referring to the all-knowing awesomeness that is Google. If you’re like the average or above average web searcher, you’re constantly throwing questions at Google. If you don’t, don’t worry… then you’re actually using search terms, which generally renders better results anyhow. The other 80% of the populous seems to be on the “Ask Google a Question” train. They approach Google with their most burning questions, and expect an instant answer.

The Question is: As A Marketer – How Do I Capitalize On This?

The truth is that many internet marketers aren’t doing one of their most important due diligence tasks before throwing themselves fully into the internet marketing game; and that’s studying the search habits of those same users that they’re targeting.

What is your user really searching for, and how are they searching for it?

To answer this basic question, set up a blog or small site on any topic of niche’ that you’re looking to know more about. Grow the site, post regularly, and watch your web analytics closely. You want to look specifically at the search terms people are using to find your site.  What are they? You may notice some astonishing results. Some may seem completely irrelevant.

Many of the search terms that people are typing into Google to find your website are questions.

What kinds of questions are your users asking? What do they want to know? The answers may be surprising to you.

Some interesting questions some of my own readers used to find my site:

• “How can I Build Trust in Sales?”
• “Why no one ever notices my online marketing efforts?”
• “How do I admit marketing weakness?”
• “How Can I save money on my internet marketing?”
• “How did someone find my website?”
• “Is My Website Updated?”
• “How do I redesign my website?”
• “Why Isn’t my Business Growing?”

Take a look at the questions your users are asking to get to your site. This is really priceless information that you can really use to your advantage.

What are your users asking?

Generally, when I ask clients (or even other online marketers for that matter), what their Return Conversion Rate is, the response I receive is “my returnuh huh?” It’s funny that no one seems to know what I’m talking about. This is actually one of the more important metrics in Internet Marketing, yet so few people know anything about it.  So that leads me to my obvious question of the day:

Do you know what your Return Conversion Rate is?

When properly tracked, your return conversion rate has tremendous potential to push and pull your company in greater ways than you realize. It speaks sweet nothings into your ear… sweet data. Data that is very important in understanding your company’s brand awareness factor, service, and even overall culture. Yes, it’s that important. It’s that big.

What is a Return Conversion Rate?

Simply put, it’s when a potential customer visits your site, then leaves without converting (or buying anything), but later on returns to convert (or buy something). This measurement also includes first-time visitors who return, as well as exiting customers who eventually return to convert again.

If you own, or have worked for an online retailer, you know that great lengths are made to keep track of visitors on your site, and where exactly they’re coming from. You also know that rarely does a person purchase from a website on their first visit.  The average conversion rate for most new and returning customers on e-commerce site’s is 2%.

Yes, that’s it. Just 2%.

If returning visitors are a prime demographic for selling, why aren’t most marketers focused on converting these priceless visitors? Well, it’s not the easiest, and it’s quite time consuming. Internet marketers are now (more than ever) needing to shift their focus onto Customer Retention strategies.

Give Them Incentive To Stay

Customer retention hasn’t ever been more difficult than it is now. During our tough economic times, people are eager to change their spending habits. They’re willing to do almost anything to save an extra buck, even if it means changing their monthly cosmetic purchase to another online store… or worse, going to their local drug store. Times are changing, and if you’re going to be successful in business, you’ve got to stay flexible.

Each business has a special way that it can retain it’s current customers. You may be thinking big things need to be offered, but surprisingly, you’ll come to find that the little things seem to work just as well. For instance, Zappos.com starting offering free shipping to help keep their client retention efforts in momentum mode, and they have succeeded greatly. 75% of their customers are returning shoppers. They can justify a purchase with free shipping, and it’s really working for them. They have built a whole brand around their retention efforts, and many growing businesses should really take note. I can’t think of a better company with more clarity in their retention efforts than Zappos.

Retarget, Rebrand, and ReAdvertise

It’s time to take notice of your user’s habits and behaviors. Target your advertisements on what the person has done in the past. Retargeting is the most powerful way to grow that precious Return Conversion Rate.  Retargeting is also one of the only forms of advertising that can work with any size of retailer or business. The beauty of converting warmer leads is that is costs less, which is also a plus during times when many advertisers and marketers and looking to cut costs all around.

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Have you ever evaluated how trustworthy your brand, product, or service looks to an outsider?

If you happen to be in an industry where trust is already limited, then you’ve got your work cut out for you. Lawyers, investors, and network marketers rank among the lowest trusted in today’s society. Personally, I have an extremely hard time trusting Realtors. I can’t stand about 90% of them.  As a younger person who was recently looking for a home to buy, I can’t tell you how many times I caught the listing agent lying to me about things they had assumed I was uneducated about. This happened repeatedly. While not all Realtors are liars, those 10 that I came into contact with, happened to shape my views on how I perceived realtors as far as trust went.

Think about what it takes for you to really trust a person or an entire organization. What acts, displays, or gestures are you looking for when you’re initially deciding whether someone or something is trustworthy or not. We often perform our “trust” processes unconsciously, but if you really take a moment to brainstorm what factors make you trust, you’ll be gaining valuable insight on what you need to do to gain others trust.

Kurt Mortensen, the author of Maximum Influence and Persuasion IQ, defines the five C’s of trust as:

• Character
• Competence
• Confidence
• Credibility
• Congruence

* Does your personal brand or corporate identity emcompass these traits?

* How can we prove ourselves more trustworthy, without breaking the bank?

* How do you do it?

All comments and input are welcome! This is an open discussion after all!