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HOW TO BECOME A

WHATrsquoS KEEPING YOU FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

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Written by

John BoniniDirector of Inbound Marketing

As the Marketing Director at IMPACT Branding amp Design John oversees the companyrsquos entire lead generation and branding strategy utilizing blogging premium content creation social media marketing search engine optimization and video marketing in order to help grow the company and expand its reach

Under Johnrsquos direction IMPACT has experienced significant growth in its blog subscribers social media following as well the companyrsquos overall traffic and lead generation

In addition to his work at IMPACT John has also been interviewed and featured in several industry leading publications including the Wall Street Journalrsquos SmartMoney MarketWatch as well as the HubSpot blog

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GET STARTED

GET RESULTS WITH IMPACTIMPACT is an inbound marketing agency focused on generating more qualified traffic and leads from your website to ultimately drive sales and produce results Request a free assessment with IMPACT below and learn how we can help you transform your marketing

Strategic PlanningYour path to success starts with a plan

Convert LeadsEngage your visitors amp capture more leads

Campaign DevelopmentBuilding the tools you need to succeed

Grow SalesNurture your leads amp shorten your sales cycle

Drive TrafficBoost your brand visibility ampprove your expertise

Marketing AnalysisUnderstand the ROI of every marketing activity

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In 1965 Mick Jagger belted ldquoI canrsquot get no satisfactionrdquo in one of the earliest hits in the illustrious career of The Rolling Stones

48 years later consumers feel a similarly passionate response to many of the marketing messages they come in contact with on any given day

The message is there But therersquos no context Like many teenagers of the Woodstock era they feel misunderstood

This is exactly why so many companies are struggling in the era of the Internet and mobile device theyrsquove lost touch with how to speak directly with their target audience and more importantly how their target audience interacts with brands

THE POWER IS NOW WITH THE CONSUMER

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The road to Marketing Superstardom is paved with the failures of companies who havenrsquot evolved with the industry and the technology thatrsquos transforming it

Ask yourself if yoursquore one of the following

bull Garage Band ndash Playing oil-stained garages No one knows who the heck your company is Even worse your mom is yelling for you to turn down Bummer

bull Cover Band ndash Sure you have some recognition but you have no real brand identity of your own Yoursquore struggling to stand out among the competition

bull Opening Act ndash Your ability to stay current has allowed you to stay somewhat relevant Yoursquore very close to the big stage but still need that edge

In order to avoid being a one-hit wonder your marketing must be awesome

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So you wanna be a Marketing RockstarAccording to HubSpot sixty percent of companies will execute inbound marketing strategies in 2013

But what does that mean for you

The first step is identifying where your marketing currently stands From there wersquoll show you the way for making the adjustments necessary to become a Marketing Rockstar

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Sure therersquos some glory in playing oil stained garages That is only if you have no intention of ever ldquomakingrdquo it and playing out in front of other people

Despite how great you think you are no one knows who the heck you are

So how do you know if your company is still in the ldquoGarage Bandrdquo phase of marketing rock stardom

GARAGE BAND

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The following may be some reasons

No real strategy

Weak online presence brochureware website

No blog

No keyword research or implementation of any kind

No social media presence

Your website has no lead generation opportunities

Not utilizing email marketing

No marketing automation

No sales and marketing alignment

Unaware of website analytics

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Your Big BreakWant to get out of the garage It starts with shifting your mindset Significantly

Right now you clearly havenrsquot bought into the modern methods of lead generation and unfortunately for you this will be your undoing Yoursquore also still relying on lead generation methods that have lost effectiveness considerably over the past decade

This is hurting you If you havenrsquot felt the effects yet you will soon

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Inbound is no longer a secret Itrsquos proven And itrsquos time you got moving in the right direction

The first step is shifting your allocation of resources toward a more unsolicited lead generating approach that focuses on creating a powerful online presence which right now you simply donrsquot have

HubSpotrsquos 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report

revealed that inbound delivers 54 more leads into the

marketing funnel than traditional outbound leads

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Those print advertisements yoursquore allocating budget toward Declining physical subscriptions are rendering this extremely ineffective Instead consumers gather information from mobile devices tablets and search engines

Direct mail Ohhellipyou mean that stuff that comes in the mailbox People pay most of their bills online now what makes you think theyrsquoll respond to your solicited marketing messages Even worse itrsquos much harder to track and measure the success of any direct mail campaign when compared to email where any marketing software will track open and click rates

The bottom line is consumer behavior has changed dramatically your marketing strategy needs to follow suit

With the Millennial and ldquodigital nativerdquo generation now representing the largest demographic in the United States itrsquos critical you take their unique buying behavior into account

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Said Pamela Vaughan Inbound Marketing Blog Manager at HubSpot

ldquoAs Millennials wersquove grown up with access to so much technology that enables us to do things in our own

time Itrsquos why we prefer text messaging over talking on the phone watching our favorite TV shows on

demand and why we donrsquot wait around for the 1000 news to stay informed ndash we get it exactly when we

want it online and through our mobile devices

Because of this wersquore particularly averse to any marketing that doesnrsquot cater to our inclination for

on-demand content Fail to cater to that on-demand nature and yoursquoll miss out on a big chunk of the

Millennial pierdquo

Start focusing on creating a powerful online presence This all starts with a lead generating website rather than a stale brochureware type website yoursquore currently trying to pass off

Provide a valuable educational experience through resourceful content in order to attract more visitors rank higher in search engines and generate more leads

BrochurewareDonrsquot let your website look like an online marketing brochure only talking about you and how your visitors can contact you Without any calls-to-action or remarkable content how do you expect to interact and engage with visitors and leads

COVER BAND

Donrsquot get me wrong therersquos certainly nothing wrong with strapping on a Gibson Les Paul and shredding to ldquoSweet Child Orsquo Minerdquo in front of a crowd of forty-somethingrsquos trying to relive their formative teenage years

And while you may have some recognition you have no real brand identity of your own

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As a result itrsquos extremely hard for your brand to separate itself from the competition and control a share of the market

The same goes for your online presence While you may be driving some traffic yoursquore really not doing much to set yourself apart from your competitors particularly those who have a more powerful online marketing strategy

If you donrsquot make the necessary adjustments yoursquore going to be playing the local bar circuit far longer than yoursquod like

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Herersquos Why

Identified goals but no strategy for reaching them

Features a website with poor navigation and minimal lead generation opportunities

Inconsistent blogging strategy

Unaware of keywords that are currently driving traffic

Posting to social media but no real engagement or sharing

Minimal conversions due to lack of remarkable content

Send very few emails with no clear goal or understanding of performance or metrics

Some marketing automation with no strategy or understanding of contacts

Sales and marketing talk but no quality lead identification

You know how many visits your website generates but arenrsquot sure where theyrsquore coming from

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Content

Album

Content

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Content

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Content

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Content

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Content

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Content

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Your Big BreakYour problem isnrsquot necessarily that you havenrsquot bought into the more modern approach to lead generation but rather that you simply havenrsquot put the time in to implement them effectively or simply donrsquot have the time to do so

Your focus needs to be on making your website the hub and central focus for your entire business and getting the most out of the tools and strategies needed to execute a successful campaign

This means creating more content Blogging more Improving your search engine rankings Increasing your social media engagement Revamping your email strategy

Obviously this requires more time and resources By shifting your budget from outbound methods in order to implement these methods or by partnering with an agency yoursquoll notice a much more powerful online presence that drives a higher volume of relevant traffic and generates more high quality leads

OPENING ACT

Yoursquore very close to headlining The big stage The big time

The problem is whenever yoursquore playing the arenas are usually half empty You havenrsquot given your

audience a reason to show up in large numbers just yet

The good news is that you arenrsquot far off With just a few adjustments you could be well on your way to Marketing Superstardom

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The problem here isnrsquot that you havenrsquot realized the value of blogging social media or even inbound marketing Where yoursquove struggled is in the details

While you may be generating leads from your website you have yet to develop a lead nurturing strategy to effectively push these leads further down your sales funnel

In fact you may not even have a clearly defined sales funnel yet Without one you can never efficiently track and nurture your leads through the sales process

While yoursquore very close to marketing rockstardom yoursquore still off the mark

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Herersquos Why

Have documented goals not sure if it will work

Features a lead generating online presence but lacks mobile optimization

Blogging consistently but lacking in readers shares comments and subscribers

Implementing keywords ndash not tracking performance

Consistently posting to social media but not driving followers back to your website

Yoursquore having trouble separating qualified leads from unqualified

Sending frequent email blasts to entire contact list with no target audience in mind

Utilizing marketing automation although no real lead nurturing strategy

Sales and marketing understand quality leads but arenrsquot setting SQL goals and running reports

Yoursquore aware of traffic and lead sources but unsure which marketing initiatives prove ROI

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20

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Your Big BreakYour problem is with the details

You have goals but arenrsquot sure if the strategies you have in place will get you there

You have a lead generating website but it isnrsquot optimized for mobile devices

How important is mobile optimization

Rachel Sprung Brand amp Buzz Coordinator at HubSpot weighs in

ldquoI think itrsquos important to remember that people want to digest

everything as quickly and easily as possible We want to read on

the go on our mobile devices

If your website isnrsquot mobile we will immediately go to another companyrsquos website that isrdquo

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Also having your sales and marketing teams agree on your quality lead identification statement will take you to the next level

You canrsquot sell to everyone You need to know who is more likely to buy and focus your marketing efforts on attracting and converting these types of prospects

This will allow you to have a much clearer picture of your target audience which in turn will allow for sales and marketing to be more productive

Start by creating detailed buyer personas which are basically fictional representations of your target audience They detail everything from demographics behavior on your website and information regarding their company

Once you have a better idea of who your ideal prospects are you can more effectively create more relevant content that aims to push them further down your sales funnel

STAGE

ToFu

MoFu

BoFu

The house lights are turned down lighters are clutched high in the hands of your admiring audience The spotlight is placed solely on you

You are a Marketing Rockstar

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But what does this mean exactly

Well for starters it means that you understand how the modern consumer is digesting and receiving content and yoursquove adjusted your marketing strategy in order to reach and engage your target audience more effectively

Consumers no longer value the ldquotouchrdquo of paper Theyrsquore not responding to print advertisements or direct mail coupons They also donrsquot your marketing messages interrupting the things they want to consume So instead you are what they want to consume

People are using smartphones tablets and laptops to consume and digest content and media You get this

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23

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But what does this mean exactly

Well for starters it means that you understand how the modern consumer is digesting and receiving content and yoursquove adjusted your marketing strategy in order to reach and engage your target audience more effectively

Consumers no longer value the ldquotouchrdquo of paper Theyrsquore not responding to print advertisements or direct mail coupons They also donrsquot your marketing messages interrupting the things they want to consume So instead you are what they want to consume

People are using smartphones tablets and laptops to consume and digest content and media You get this

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24

Impactbndcom

Simply put you understand what your ideal prospects want and more important know how implement the

strategies necessary to attract them

This is what inbound marketing is all about

Herersquos a snapshot of your marketing strategy

Has a clear 12-month strategy to achieve SMART goalshellipthatrsquos working

You have a lead generating mobile optimized website that shortens your sales process

Your consistent blogging is driving traffic and leads and generating shares

Yoursquove seen improved search rankings by successfully tracking amp implementing relevant keywords

You have a large following that consistently visits and engages your site

You generate a high volume of quality leads drastically shortening your sales process

Yoursquore sending highly-targeted emails to segmented lists of your contacts

Yoursquore nurturing a high volume of leads through sales funnel with automation

Sales and marketing have shortened your sales process

Yoursquore tracking and measuring lead and traffic sources adjusting your campaign accordingly

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Companies who have shifted their budgets toward inbound marketing strategies have seen continuous improvements as the industry continues to change

Because of this more and more companies are making the transition to inbound In fact according to HubSpotrsquos 2013 State of Inbound Marketing ldquonearly 60 of marketers have adopted inbound marketing strategies and more than 80 of those executing inbound marketing have integrated it into broader company goals People are also investing more in inbound as budgets for this strategy have grown nearly 50 in each of the past three yearsrdquo

Traffic numbers are up Leads are flooding in More importantly consumers are getting what they want Theyrsquore more satisfied

And so are the companies employing inbound marketing strategies

Also in HubSpotrsquos report is the statistics that 41 of marketers confirm inbound produces measurable ROI Inbound leads are also delivering superior cost per lead and cost per customer numbers

Higher ROI Lower cost per lead

Thatrsquos what being a Marketing Rockstar is all about

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Need Help

THANK YOU FOR READING

Learn Follow Connect ShareFor more helpful ebooks visit

httpwwwimpactbndcommarketing-resources

Request a consultation to learn how IMPACT can help

GET STARTED

IMPACT Branding amp Design is an inbound marketing agency that specializes in all of the services listed above

TALK TO AN EXPERT TODAY ndash wwwimpactbndcomgetstarted