Digital Marketing: Generating More Leads Online April 16, 2015 RickWhittington.com // 804.592.0190
What we ll cover today» Why online marketing and sales is crucial for B2B companies» Different options for localizing your website to reach new international customers» How your company can snag customers early in the sales process» How to generate more sales leads with your website than you thought possible» Real life examples of lead generation online» Q&A and discussion - we want your questions!
How the web has changed B2B selling
How the web has changed B2B selling» The buyer has almost total control in the sales relationship» Your sales person is no longer the information gatekeeper» The buyer is more informed than ever» Sales: from always be closing to always be helping» Your website: from contact us to educate us
Up to 90% of the sales process occurs before a buyer reaches out to your company. - Forrester Research, 2012
Source: moz.com
Dressing your website for success
Your website should» Be the hub of your online presence» Be a sales tool, not a brochure» Be a destination or next step for all of your marketing outreach» Be written for your customers, not your company» Be accountable for key metrics every month» Not be an art project» Not be a IT project
Your website should not
Do you really need to translate your website?» Depends on what countries you re targeting» Every language increases the time and effort needed to maintain your site» Consider effort versus return: For example, translating your site into Spanish gives you access to over 20 countries» Tip: Translate your best-performing content into other languages
Multilingual vs. regional website A multilingual website is any website that offers content in more than one language. www.yoursite.com/fr or www.yoursite.com/es A regional website is one that explicitly targets users in different countries. www.yoursite.ca or www.yoursite.co.uk
Multilingual websites
Multilingual websites PROS» More economical: Design and maintain only one website» Translations can be managed in one place» Easy for a visitor to toggle between languages» Makes your company look larger to search engines CONS» May not have as much visibility in search engines in other countries» Your company doesn t appear as localized in other countries» Possible website slowness due to server location
Regional websites PROS» Makes your company appear more local as if you have one or more offices in that country Examples: yoursite.co.uk or yoursite.ca» Delivers strongest signal to search engines that you are targeting a specific country» Can target different keywords in different countries CONS» More costly: domain fees, translations and separate websites to build and maintain
What about Google Translate? Using the Google Translate widget» Translation can robotic, unnatural, or culturally irrelevant to anyone who speaks the language natively» Generally not recommended» Can be acceptable when unsure about marketing targets» Website Localization: 7 Handy Tips For The Enterprise Website» http://bitly.com/websitelocalize
Cultural differences USA (cat.com) Middle East (middleeast-africa.cat.com)
Content differences USA (rockwellautomation.com) Portuguese (Brazil) (http://www.rockwellautomation.com/pt_br/overview.page)
Browsing differences
How to generate leads with your website
Remember what we know about your buyer(s)» Highly-considered purchase» Researching solutions and alternatives online, using web to learn» Up to 90% of the sales cycle happens before they contact your sales representative they research independently» Buyers don t want a sales pitch, they want to be armed with information that s helpful in the decision making process
Most companies don t get leads from their website because they lack a plan.
Your goal is to engage customers with the right information and the best possible experience at every stage of the buyer s journey.
Lead generation blueprint ATTRACT CONVERT CLOSE SEO Blog Posts Email Landing page / Lead form Lead Gen Offer The Complete Chemical Storage Guide for Wastewater Treatment Email Workflow / Nurturing Decision Stage Offer Talk to a Chemical Storage Expert CTAs Social Media
STEP 1: Create relevant blog content that addresses prospects needs to attract our target audience.
Blogs drive more traffic» Companies that blog get significantly more website visitors than those that don t
Blog content should be optimized with appropriate keywords so that it is easily found via search engines.
STEP 2: Create intriguing in-depth content offers to convert website visitors into leads.
STEP 3: Close leads into customers by providing additional information via email.» Here, the sales team follows up with leads to help close them to customers.» Blog content sent to leads via email can be used to reinforce the sales position.
STEP 4: Delight current customers to turn them into promoters of the brand.» Updates on social media help us stay top of mind with our customers.» Automated email sequence can regularly touch base with customers without bogging down the sales team.
Real life example #1 1. Searches for icao and sms faa timeline. 2. Finds blog post on setting a timeline for SMS implementation. 3. Clicks on the link to visit a company blog.
Real life example #1 4. Clicks the call to action on the blog to download a Safety Brochure. 5. Fills out name and email address to download a Safety Brochure. 6. New lead enters sales follow up process.
Real life example #2 1. Searches for fiberglass tank or plastic tank. 2. First result is blog post comparing plastic and fiberglass tanks. 3. Clicks on the link to visit a company blog.
Real life example #2 4. Clicks the call to action on the blog to download a product catalog. 5. Fills out name and email address to download the product catalog. 6. New lead enters sales follow up process.
Sounds too good to be true?
Google s mission is to organize the world s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Blogs help attract qualified prospects
Results are not immediate
Results» Scalability - more offers, more leads» Reliably full sales pipeline
How do you get started?
Understand your ideal buyers» What industry?» What challenges do they face?» What questions do they ask in the sales process?» What tone should you take?» What common objections do they have?» How do they decide when to work with a company like yours?» Resource: 4 Steps to Building Rock-Solid Client Personas - http://bitly.com/wcpersonas
Figure out what to write about» Ask sales reps what questions they answer most commonly» Address customer pain points» Comment on industry topics or trends» Help prospects decide between 2 options» Resource: What Exactly is a Business Blog? A Beginner s Guide http://bitly.com/wcbizblog
QUESTIONS?