Contents Introduction... 1 Website Development... 4 Content... 7 Tools and Tracking... 19 Distribution... 20 What to Expect... 26 Next Step... 27
Introduction Your goal is to generate leads that you can convert into sales. You d love to generate those leads on your website using digital marketing elements such as SEO, content marketing, email and social media. You re willing to invest money to achieve that goal. But you want to be able to track the results of your investment. You want proof that your investment is generating leads. To achieve your objective you need to develop a lead generation and nurturing system that is automated, driven by digital marketing and able to track every lead throughout the entire process. Our goal is to help you do that. In this ebook, The Digital Marketing Blueprint, we ve created a plan that details how to create an automated lead generation and nurturing system using digital marketing. 1
Whether you re a B2B or a B2C company selling a product or service, or a Notfor-Profit organization looking to gain and nurture new donors, our Digital Marketing Blueprint can help you achieve your objective. We ve created this Digital Marketing Blueprint to explain the process that we use in our own business and to provide you with a basic guide to follow if you choose to do it on your own. The Digital Marketing Blueprint deals primarily with generating leads via Inbound Marketing, which is the process of driving potential customers to your website and then converting them into leads. 2
Just to review some of the inbound marketing statistics: 89% of US internet users search online before making a purchase. 93% of adult internet users are on Facebook. Companies with blogs show a 67% increase in leads to those that do not blog. 10.3 billion searches are conducted on Google every month. 70% of the links that search users click on are organic (non paid). Research shows that up to 60-90% of decision-making in B2B is made before the decision-maker approaches the supplier. Before he ever speaks to a sales representative, a customer will have just about made his decision based on his own research. That s why your content and digital marketing is so vital to your sales process. While we are strong believers in the long term success rate of inbound marketing, we also recognize the need for outbound marketing techniques (such as cold calling) as part of an overall sales strategy. For most businesses, a hybrid strategy combining both inbound and outbound marketing will be most effective. The exact mix will depend on the particulars of each company. Your website will serve as the engine that will power your digital marketing lead generation system. It is where potential customers will learn about you and your product or service -- and convert into leads through one of your calls to action. This is where our process begins. 3
Chapter 1 Website Development 1. Platform We ll build your website using the Wordpress content management system (CMS). It s stable, easily maintained and scalable, and has thousands of free plugins available. Most importantly, using Wordpress will save you money in the long run because you ll be able to make updates to your content without requiring the help of a developer. To read more about why we exclusively use Wordpress, click here. 4
2. Design Most internet users judge a company by the look of their website. An unprofessional looking site that clearly looks like it s been thrown together with little to no attention to design or appearance does not inspire trust. Users will quickly move on to the next site. That s lost business for you. We ll design the look of your website to reflect the image that you want your customers to see. Whether you re a high tech startup, manufacturing company, professional services firm, healthcare provider or any other type of business, we ll make sure you project the professionalism, trust and quality that you need to attract customers and make sales. 3. User Experience While the aesthetic design of your site is important, making sure users can easily and quickly find the information they re seeking is vital. Research shows that users will leave a website after just a few seconds if they are unable to find what they are looking for. We ll organize the information and messages you want to convey and structure your website so that visitors can easily and quickly find them. A properly structured website is also a fundamental element in effective SEO (search engine optimization). 4. Speed In order not to lose your visitor, your site needs to download as fast as possible...and then some. People don t have the time or patience to wait as 5
your site downloads. It needs to appear almost immediately. Speed is also a factor in Google s ranking system. Slow websites can be penalized and drop in search rankings. You can check your website s speed with Google s free PageSpeed Insights tool. We ll make sure your website is fast! 5. Mobile Responsive More than half of all internet searches happen on a mobile device. That s why your website needs to look as good on a mobile screen as it does on a desktop. We build your website to look good on all devices including ipads and smart phones. 6
Chapter 2 Content Why is Content Important? Research shows that up to 60-90% of decision-making in B2B is made before the decision-maker approaches the supplier. That decision-making is based, to a large extent, on online research. A CEB (Corporate Executive Board) study of more than 1,400 B2B customers found that those customers completed, on average, nearly 60% of a typical purchasing decision researching solutions, ranking options, 7
setting requirements, benchmarking pricing, and so on before even having a conversation with a supplier. SiriusDecisions reports that 70% of the buying process in a complex sale is already complete before prospects are willing to engage with a live salesperson Two-thirds to 90% of the buying cycle is completed before a B2B buyer ever speaks with a sales rep. Forrester Business buyers spend just 21% of buying cycle in conversations with salespeople, instead spending 23% of the time in conversations with peers and colleagues and 56% of the buying cycle searching for and engaging with content IDG Connect Buyers often get 70% to 90% of the way towards making a final decision on whether to purchase your product or service before speaking with a sales rep. They do extensive research into the product. Most of that research happens online. That s why it s vital for your online content to provide the right information to the right people at the right time. We think of content as being the fuel that powers the automated lead generation process. We re experts at creating it. Here s the process we use. 8
Who is Your Target? 1. Personas Before creating a single web page, blog post, whitepaper, ebook or social media post, we determine exactly who your target customer is. In marketing jargon this process is called creating a marketing persona. For example, if you are a company that sells accounting software for small businesses, your target persona might be small business owners, controllers or bookkeepers. We ll work with you to figure out who exactly should be your target. There could be several personas. We ll need to thoroughly understand your personas to determine the best way to reach them. - What kind of content do they read? - Where do they look for information? - What questions are they asking? The answers to these questions and others will help us decide what kind of content to create and where to share it. 2. Keywords Now that we ve established your target personas, we need to determine what words they would use to search for your product or service. This is called Keyword Research. We use several different tools to help us determine the right keywords for your business. 9
The keywords that your personas are using to search for your product or service serve as the foundation upon which your content will be built. Using the right keywords will greatly increase the probability of your content getting found by your target market. The best way to determine what content to create, using your keywords, is to first figure out what questions your target personas are asking and then answer those questions. In other words, when someone types in a keyword phrase in their search engine, they are looking for the answer to a question or the solution to a problem. If you can anticipate their question or problem and offer an answer or solution, you have a much greater chance of getting found and of creating a relationship with that person that could eventually result in a sale. So before creating content we develop a list of questions that your target persona might be asking related to your product and service. This list serves as the basis of our content plan. The Right Content at the Right Time Buyers go through a process before they are ready for a sales call. This is called the buyers journey. Here s a graphical representation of the Buyer s Journey: 10
In the awareness stage buyers are searching for answers to basic questions they have, to determine whether there are solutions to the problem they are experiencing. Example: A marketing director needs to drive more traffic to the company website in order to generate more qualified leads. He does a Google search for ways to increase website traffic, and reads some general articles about SEO. In the consideration stage buyers already have an awareness of basic solutions and they are now committed to figuring out whether those solutions apply to their specific problem. Example: The marketing director recognizes the benefits of SEO. Now he wants to determine whether those solutions will be effective in his situation. Is the solution cost effective? Are there proven results in situations similar to his? 11
In the decision stage buyers have decided that they need to implement a specific solution. They are now committed to choosing the product or vendor to provide that solution. Example: The marketing director decided that he needs to implement an SEO solution on his website. He now tries to find the best provider of that solution. Your content will be responsible for helping the buyer navigate his journey and arrive at his destination: your product or service. This graphic illustrates the automated sales process and related content assets, in relation to the buyer s journey. It is your Lead Generation Funnel. 12
The metaphor of a funnel is used to describe the lead generation and sales process. Prospects enter at the top of the funnel. As they then go through their buyer s journey you try to answer their questions and objections to keep them moving further down the funnel. Not all of them will make it all the way to the bottom. Some might not be financially qualified. Others might not be ready to make a purchase. Some might end up choosing a different solution or vendor. But the ones that do make it to the end of your funnel will be ready, willing and able to engage in a sales call and hopefully a sale. The process of getting prospects into the top of the funnel and nurturing them all the way down to the bottom begins on your website and ends with your final offer. Here s a description of our process. 1. Website Content and Blogging Using the target personas and keywords we ve determined, we create all of the content on your website pages. All content is original and tailored towards your target audience. 13
In addition to your website pages we create a blog to which we regularly add blog posts. We craft your content so that it answers the questions that your potential buyers are asking and gives them the information they need to make their final decision. Every web page and blog post has a specific call to action designed to bring the potential buyer into your lead generation funnel. Without a call to action in every piece of content, you are leaving leads (money) on the table. The call to action might be a subscribe button or a contact form. At the very least, your phone number should be easily visible on every page. 2. Premium Content - Awareness Stage An effective way of getting prospects to give you their contact information is to offer them a free download of a whitepaper or ebook containing information that they find valuable. We create this piece of content for you. This premium content serves 2 purposes: 1. It establishes trust and thought leadership. 2. It provides valuable information to help the buyer move forward in his journey. 14
The premium content piece will end with a next step offer that contains your specific product or service information. This offer is for buyers who are ready to move to the Consideration Stage. It is a branded offer, relating specifically to your company and how your product or service can help solve the buyer s problem. The branded offer could be an ebook (like this one that you re reading), free trial or anything else that offers value in the context of pitching your company. 3. Automated Emails After downloading your premium content, the buyer will receive 3 automated emails scheduled 5 days apart. These Awareness Stage emails must be designed to answer the common questions that come up in your natural sales process. Once you adequately answer the questions, the buyer will be more likely to consider your solution to their problem. Some examples of common questions might be: 1. How much does your service cost? 2. How long will it take to implement? 3. How long will it take to see results? These questions can be answered by delivering helpful emails that link to relative content. After these questions are answered using email, a targeted blog article or another content asset, the prospect will be much more likely to consume information about your products and services. 15
This process of lead nurturing ensures that leads at the Consideration Stage will reach out to you without feeling the pressure of a sale. Every email will contain your next step branded offer. 4. Branded Offer - Consideration Stage Having entered the Consideration Stage, the buyer has made an important decision; he has settled on which solution among the many options available to him will be the best solution for his particular problem. At this stage in the buyer s journey, the prospect s need for information shifts. Convinced of a solution, he is now in search of a solution provider. The role of the Brand Offer is to educate buyers about how your specific company/brand will deliver the solution that will solve their problems. It should give them a taste of what the experience of working with you will be like, preparing them for a more direct interaction with sales at the Decision Stage. That does not mean, however, that it should be written like an advertisement. This content is branded but still educational. When a lead gets stuck at the Consideration Stage, they most likely have some pushbacks or objections about working with your company. Again, the method for reaching out to these leads and unstick them is through an automated set of emails, delivering content that addresses their pushbacks in the sales process. Your emails must be designed to address the common pushbacks or objections to working with you or purchasing your products. These pushbacks 16
usually come up later in your natural sales process. Once you overcome the objections, the lead will be more likely to decide to work with your brand versus your competitors. Common pushbacks include: Your services are too expensive. You don t have enough experience in our industry. It will take too long to see results. These pushbacks need to be addressed with targeted content, again delivered via automated email messaging. 5. Decision Stage At any point in the buyer s journey, the buyer can enter the decision stage and contact you directly. You can then begin your sales process leading up to closing the deal. The offer that brings the buyer into the decision stage from the consideration stage is usually either: a free consultation where the buyer gets value a free assessment or plan of action While the latter requires a higher degree of investment, it offers greater value for the client and might therefore garner more interest and contacts. Now it s time for you to move forward and close the deal! 17
The Ones that Didn t Make It Not every buyer that enters your lead generation funnel will make it to the decision stage. There could be various reasons: No budget Not ready to invest Not convinced they need the solution They chose a different provider Regardless of the reason, once you have their contact information you should keep them in the funnel and continue sending them occasional automated emails or updates to maintain their connection to you so that when they are ready, they ll know who to contact. 18
Chapter 3 Tools and Tracking We use a variety of tools to track every lead that enters your funnel and to create and track the automated email sequences for each stage in the funnel. We provide you with the lead data to help you when you do decide to engage those leads in your sales process. For example, we can tell you which premium products the lead downloaded and the pages on your website that he visited. This can give you insight into his particular interests or hesitations. We also track and analyze the email open and click thru rates and the website analytics and we use that data to continuously tweak and improve our strategy and process to get you even better results. Unlike other agencies, we do not require our clients to purchase or subscribe to expensive automated marketing tools. 19
Chapter 4 Distribution Getting Your Content Noticed Once we have your website and automated lead generation funnel built and in place, complete with premium content offers, emails and blog posts, the next step is to get prospects into the top of your funnel. In order for your lead generation to work, you need to drive traffic to your content. You can have the greatest content in the world, but it isn t worth much if no one reads it. 20
We can drive prospects to your content in several ways. 1. SEO Search Engine Optimization is the process of making a website appear in a search engine s organic (or unpaid) search results. SEO employs various techniques and methods including keyword research, content creation, onpage optimization and link building. When applied properly SEO can result in raising a website s ranking and position in search engine results and dramatically increase the amount of website traffic. Google processes 3.5 billion searches every day. Studies show that 94% of people click on organic rather than paid search results, and 92% of those clicks happen on the first page. That means when people are looking for a product or service, they re probably searching for it on Google. If you want them to click on your link, you need to rank as high as possible in those search results preferably on page 1. The more visitors you drive to your website, the more chances you have of converting them to customers. We apply the most up to date and effective SEO methods to increase the probability of your content ranking highly on Google and other major search engines when someone searches for your specific keywords. 2. Social Media The statistics are pretty loud and clear: the chances of your potential buyer spending time on some form of social media are pretty darn high. 21
What social media networks you choose to focus on will depend on the kind of product or service you re selling. For B2B companies, the statistics clearly show that Linkedin is the best place to distribute/promote content. More importantly, it is the most effective place to generate leads. For B2C companies or organizations, Facebook and Twitter are more effective for sharing content and engaging with potential buyers. 22
We determine what social media outlets you should be using and we promote your content and brand effectively. Each social media outlet has its own unique style and means of engaging users. One size does not fit all in social media. Content sharing and posts need to be tailored for the specific social media outlet being used. And simply posting your content is not enough. You need to engage and interact with users and create relationships in order to build your brand, drive traffic to your site and generate leads. We do all of that for you. 23
3. Relationships Guest posting is when you publish an article or post on another blog. It s a great way of getting your content exposed to a different, and likely new, audience. Ideally the blog you guest post on caters to your target market and has a large readership base. But getting the opportunity to guest post on a popular blog is usually not easy, unless you re the undisputed leader in your field. You need to have amazing content but, more importantly, you need to develop a relationship with the blog owner. Otherwise, why would someone let you leverage their audience? Relationship building takes time and effort, but it can pay off big time. One post on a popular blog can drive thousands of users to your website. That can translate into a heck of a lot of leads. We help you build relationships with influential bloggers in your industry or field, to get you that chance at a successful guest post. 4. Pay Per Click (PPC) Pay per Click advertising is one of the most cost effective forms of paid advertising, since you only pay if someone clicks on your ad. That doesn t mean that it s cheap. Getting your ad on the top of page 1 on Google could be very expensive, depending on the keywords you re targeting. Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin all offer PPC ads too. We can help you determine whether PPC makes financial sense for you, and create and manage all of your PPC campaigns. We do not fund the actual advertising campaign. 24
5. Direct Email Campaign If you already have an email list of subscribers or users, or a rented list of prospects, we will create an email campaign to reach out to them and invite them to view your content. This is a great way attract prospects into your funnel who you might have some connection with, but who have not yet become leads. Important Driving significant traffic to your content and into your funnel can take time. Doing it organically can take anywhere from 6 to 18 months. Every client will measure success in this area differently and setting realistic goals is important. Without an existing email list or the willingness to invest in purchasing or renting one or on advertising aggressively, driving traffic will probably be more of a slow and steady process. However, your content will never expire and it will continue to drive traffic and generate leads for as long as it exists. The speed at which you want to rev up your lead generation engine is to a great extent up to you. The more resources you are willing to invest, the quicker you ll see results. 25
Chapter 5 What to Expect If you decide to hire us to create your automated lead generation system for you, here s an idea of what you can expect. The first thing we ll do is ask you lots of questions so that we understand your business objectives, customers, competition and challenges that you re facing. Then we ll create your customized digital marketing blueprint. We ll spend the first one to two months building and optimizing your website (design + content + seo), creating your premium whitepapers or ebooks, setting up your automated lead tracking and email system and writing the emails and blog posts that will nurture your leads through the stages of your funnel. We ll also need to create some initial blog posts to begin driving traffic with. And we ll setup your social media accounts and pages, and work on your seo. As you can see, there s a huge amount of initial work required in order to get your website lead generation system up and running, which is why we require a larger portion of our fee at the start of the project. By month three, traffic to your website should be increasing and leads should be entering the funnel. We ll continue to create and distribute content and work on SEO throughout the duration of the project. 26
We ll continuously be reporting and analyzing metrics on all aspects of the website and lead generation, and making changes as required to improve the process. You ll be able to see exactly what we ve accomplished, what s working and what still needs improvement. And you ll be able to use the lead data to improve your sales closing process. As we said in the last section, the digital marketing lead generation process can take time, so you need to have patience. But we re confident that you ll start seeing positive results (meaning new leads!) within three to six months. We want to be your partner in helping you generate leads and grow your business. Next Step The next step, after you ve read this ebook, is to schedule a free consultation with us so that we can create a customized digital marketing blueprint and price quote for your company. To schedule your free consultation click here or email us or give us a call at 973-797-9896. 27