The Current State of Marketing and Sales

The Current State of Marketing and Sales

The Current State of Marketing and Sales

Buying Behavior is Changing Rapidly

Consumer buying behavior is changing constantly, depending on the latest devices, technology or economic conditions. As professional marketers I believe it’s our job to have a pulse on this buying behavior. It’s our job to sift through the information and distill it in a way that helps your organization make more informed marketing, sales and business decisions.

Things have been unfolding at a rapid pace the past few weeks. Let me share a few insights that we’ve garnered from conversations and other resources:

  • In general, internet traffic has increased by roughly 50 percent.
  • Organic traffic and conversions are a bit of a mixed bag. It really depends on the industry.
  • The pandemic is rapidly shifting buying behavior. There’s obviously been an uptick in online purchases and 13 percent of consumers are using this opportunity to discover new brands.
  • The cost of digital ads like those on Facebook or Google Ads has fallen significantly. We’re seeing some clicks cost as little as three cents.

With some industries booming and others at a standstill, you might be wondering what your marketing and sales looks like in the coming months. In my last article, I wrote about the importance of continuing to market, but I want to take a closer look at what exactly that means.

Right now, experts and economist predict that consumer spending will resume anywhere within three to 18 months. You should be working now to prepare for that uptick because the most successful organizations see big wins during the upswing, not when the economy is at its peak.

Selling When Few Are Buying

For many industries, now is not the time to sell. Simply put, many companies are not making purchases – or at least large purchases outside of immediate COVID-19 needs. Rather than selling, focus on building relationships. If you look at any sales cycle, cultivating initial rapport with a lead or prospect is step number one. Building rapport is nothing more than making a connection with someone and establishing a relationship – that’s what you need to work on right now. In the near term, your goal should be to remain top of mind. Demonstrate that you’ll be available when the customer or client is ready to buy.

Strengthening Your Marketing

If you’re not generating significant sales right now, strengthening your marketing should be a priority. Here are a few steps to take.

Revisit your target market. I harp on this one quite a bit, even when business is smooth sailing. Remember that the best marketers have a strong understanding of their audience. Use this time to clarify who you need to reach and how.

Identify your ROI positive channels. Rand Fishkin used this phrase in his latest Whiteboard Friday and it perfectly sums up how to approach any active marketing campaigns.

You don’t want to blanketly cut your budget. Instead understand what’s working and what’s not. Analyze specific campaigns or keywords to understand what can be temporarily paused and what can continue to run so you maintain visibility.

Continue to leverage your subscriber list. This is another thing I harp on constantly on our podcast! Your subscriber list is your biggest marketing asset. Make sure you remain in communication with the individuals who actively want to hear from you.

Use this time to educate and prepare for future marketing. If you are slower than usual, it’s a great time to educate yourself on channels or tools that you’re not actively using. Maybe that’s Google AdWords or YouTube. You don’t need to become an expert, but it’s wise to have a basic working knowledge of the tools available.

Now is also a great time to revisit your past content and understand what can be updated or re-purposed. Ensure your content is ready when people start buying again because they will, and they’ll be looking for thought leaders like you.

Many organizations don’t know how to market during times of uncertainty.  If you have questions or want to discuss next steps, don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Marketing During COVID-19: Advice and Best Practices

Marketing During COVID-19: Advice and Best Practices

Marketing During COVID-19: Advice and Best Practices

Organizations Can Not Only Survive, But Thrive 

In April of 2009, I took a crazy leap of faith and started Hersh PR and Marketing. I was 23 years old, essentially fresh out of college and I had no idea how the Great Recession would play out. Fast forward to 2020 and it’s become clear that many of the lessons I learned in the early years of my business can be dusted off and applied once again. Unexpected events such as floods, earthquakes or epidemics can rattle even the most prepared business. The events that have unfolded in the past several weeks have demonstrated that it’s important to have well-document strategies for your business that are based on sound data and can be revised quickly as economic conditions shift. During this time, I suggest that you have the right individuals participating during your internal conversations about business strategy and marketing. Be mindful that your initial reactions can and will affect the perception of your organization and it’s smart to have an external (third-party) voice participate in these conversations.

Don’t Exploit the Situation

I’m not a fan of (extreme) fear-based marketing tactics* and now is certainly not the time to capitalize on people’s fear. Attempting to make a quick buck as a result of COVID-19 is extremely short-sighted. Play the long game (more on that below) and be very mindful of the messages you’re distributing.

Don’t Stop Marketing

It’s easy to “turn off” your marketing. It’s extremely difficult to rebuild your momentum when you attempt to turn it back on. Studies going as far back as the 1920s indicate the advantages of maintaining or even increasing your marketing budget during a weak economy.

The relative noise level in your particular industry might drop as competitors cut their budget, creating an opportunity for you. This is also a great time to project stability and strength.
As my long-time business advisor Ron Finkelstein said, “I’ve seen companies cut marketing in times of crisis and it’s the single biggest mistake they can make.”

Think Long-Term

It might be tempting to focus time and money into short-term sales and promotions. But for many businesses that’s either not an option or could result in long-term damage to their brand. Consider retailers like J. Crew and Banana Republic. During the Great Recession, they conditioned consumers to never-ending sales. Ten years later they continue to struggle to sell items at full price. For many of Hersh PR’s service-based business clients, offering discounts would immediately cheapen the brand. Right now, it’s wise to focus on brand-building initiatives that support your mission. Remember that clients will return and will be in need of your products and services.

Flex Your Creative Muscles

Over the past week, I’ve witnessed some incredibly creative marketing – virtual bingo on Instagram, video trainings and businesses supporting those out of work. Now is the time to flex your creative muscles. Try something you’ve been thinking about for ages but didn’t have the time to implement. Create the video you’ve been brainstorming, but perhaps held-off because you wanted the production value to be “perfect.” Leverage the resources you have and market heavily to your existing clients. They need, and probably want to hear from you.

Many organizations don’t know how to market during times of uncertainty.  If you have questions or want to discuss next steps, don’t hesitate to contact us.

*Generating action such as a phone call or a sale from potential clients will involve a level of healthy fear. For example, you can give clients a feeling of exclusivity without using doom and gloom.

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5 Common Problems with SMB Websites + How to Fix Them

5 Common Problems with SMB Websites + How to Fix Them

5 Common Problems with SMB Websites + How to Fix Them

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Meet the Author

Liz Hersh is the founder of Hersh PR and Marketing, a digital marketing agency. Together with a team of marketing professionals she helps clients generate leads and increase revenue. 

Small Business Websites Lack a Strong User Experience  

Your website is still a critical touch point in your sales process, giving you the opportunity to connect with potential customers and demonstrate your ability to deliver an amazing service. Maintaining a website that connects with and converts leads is crucial to growing your business.

After building and maintaining hundreds of small business websites, we’ve seen several patterns emerge. These five common problems that can negatively affect your website’s performance. The good news is that these challenges are easy to solve with a little time and the right resources.

Poor Mobile Experience

83% of mobile users say that a seamless experience across all devices is very important and yet only 17% of websites are considered mobile friendly by Google.

When building your website, take into consideration all screen sizes and build it according to the latest responsive design standards. Now more than ever, people are accessing websites from their mobile devices. Today’s tech tools make it easy to build beautiful looking mobile websites that result in positive interactions with your brand. 

How to Fix It: Invest in mobile responsive design so your customers have the best experience on your website on their devices.

Missing a Clear Call to Action

Conversions require a relevant call to action (CTA) that’s easily visible. A call to action moves a customer closer to working with you. Potential customers won’t be inclined to take the next step if it’s unclear what they should do next.

Is the first step in your buyer’s journey educational? Perhaps they should download a free guide or review product specs.

Is your product highly customizable for the unique needs of each client? Perhaps you want to highlight case studies that demonstrate your ability to partner with customers and solve complex problems.

The customer journey is different for every business. It’s your job to test and understand what moves them closer to becoming a customer with the right CTAs placed strategically around your website. 

How to Fix It: Make it clear and obvious what you want the website visitor to do. Include several different types of CTAs throughout your site. Measure and track your progress to see what performs the best.

Zero On-Page Optimization

Optimizing for Google strengthens consumer trust and value. When a business ranks high in organic search results, it generates a certain level of trust, respect and credibility which are necessary for brands relying on digital channels for leads.

Visibility on the internet involves technical and creative and strategies to encourage traffic, leads and sales – but optimization isn’t one and done. It’s an ongoing task. While the frequency of these updates will be determined by the competitiveness of your specific niche/keywords, you must make this a priority.

How to Fix It: Make sure you periodically update on-page elements like title tags and meta descriptions. Keep the content (blogs and case studies) and imagery updated as well.

Completely Ignoring Your Small Business Website

As many small and mid-size businesses discover, managing and maintaining a website can be especially challenging if you don’t partner the right professional. Front-end content updates are essential to demonstrate your expertise. And technical support ensures your site remains up and running.

Without the proper support, many websites are left for dead. Your website should do more than simply exist! It’s a tool that can communicate valuable information about your business and your services. It’s easy to spot a website that hasn’t been touched: the graphics begin to look dated, blog content is old and the mobile experience is less than ideal.

How to Fix It: If you’re unable to hire an in-house professional, it’s best to outsource this work to a trusted partner, freeing up your internal team to focus on what they do best.

Not Giving Visitors a Reason to Stay on Your Site

Do the visitors of your website leave after just checking out a few articles or pages?

Do they spend significant amounts of time surfing your website?

A little more than half of all website visitors spend less than 15 seconds on any given website, and we obviously want these visitors to hang around longer than that.

Publishing original content such as blog articles, case studies, podcasts, videos or white papers gives visitors a reason to explore your website. As you build trust and credibility, your website becomes a more powerful sales tool for you. Search engines continue to reward new content, so keep this in mind if your goal is to attract more organic traffic.

How to Fix It: Develop a content strategy to position your SMB as a thought-leader. Commit to something manageable, even if it’s one new piece of content per month.

Next Steps for Your SMB

Remember that a website is always in development. The time and energy you spent on your current website was not wasted – it’s a great place to start. Now is the time to update your site so it converts leads and grows your business.

Hopefully the tips above will help improve website conversions. Have more questions about improving your website?  Reach out to us directly.

Editor’s Note: This article was last updated in April 2021.

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Why Website Content Matters + How to Update It

Why Website Content Matters + How to Update It

Why Website Content Matters + How to Update It

Content Provides Value and Supports Your Digital Strategy 

A well-rounded digital marketing strategy includes many elements. From paid ads to organic search engine marketing, your brand needs to be present and visible on numerous channels. However, there is an underlying component that fuels it all: content.

Content is arguably the most important component of your digital marketing and your website. It can set you apart from the masses by demonstrating your knowledge, expertise and capabilities. Other elements such as design, photography and video are important, but it’s the content that will speak directly to the customer’s needs and wants.

Content is also present in every step of the sales funnel. When your audience is looking for a solution to their problem, they seek professional insight in the form of blog articles, checklists or white papers. When your audience is closer to making a purchase, they will further explore your services, case studies or testimonials.

The bottom line is that along with having a great design for your website, it’s also vital that the information you’re providing is high-quality, relevant, and can convert visitors into qualified leads.

Quality Content on Your Website

What is quality content and how can it be incorporated into your website? It can take many forms but there are several elements that all high-quality content contains.

It Provides ValueYour audience wants a solution to their problem. To craft high-quality content, it’s necessary to understand exactly what your audience needs and wants. When you understand their pain points and goals, you can write content that directly addresses them.

It Has a Long LifespanThe term “evergreen content” refers to content that remains useful for many months or even years after its initial publish date. It can be shared many times over or repurposed into different formats like video and podcasts.

It Fuels Your Digital StrategyAs mentioned, content is the foundation for most digital marketing strategies. From email marketing to social media to PPC ads, you can attract and engage your ideal audience with the right content.

It Moves Your Audience Through the Sales FunnelGreat content can help you build relationships with an audience and inspire them to take action. Think about and craft content that is not only informational, but also inspiring, motivational and directs the reader to next steps.

Keep the Content on Your Website Updated

Actively maintaining the content on your website can be a significant undertaking. Everything ranging from blog articles to service pages need periodic updates. Unfortunately, many SMBs have an outdated website. A website should never be stagnant. An untouched site creates a disconnect for your audience and potentially harms the brand you’ve spent time building.

Publishing new content or updating existing content is well worth the investment. If it’s done correctly, you’ll see an improvement in your search rankings and improved engagement on your site. Here are several suggestions to ensure your content conveys the right message:

Update Older Pages and Articles

Posts and pages published years ago need periodic updates to ensure they remain evergreen. Updating statistics, timelines and major milestones ensures that you maintain your authority and trustworthiness as a source. Updating your pages/posts will also signal to search engines that a page is still relevant to searchers.

Revamp Your Keyword Strategy

Search intent and keyword trends are always changing. You should continually reassess your keyword strategy when updating your content. You might have pages ranking for keywords that no longer generate the search volume they once did. This could be an opportunity to refresh the content and target new keywords.

Create a Website Content Calendar

A documented content schedule will help you stay consistent with your updates. It can keep you focused on the content that’s relevant to your audience. You can also keep track of when pages and articles were last updated, or make note of new content ideas.

Final Thoughts

As search engines get smarter and buyers get more selective, your written message is more important than ever. As time consuming as it is, the dedication you give to updating your content contributes to short and long-term success. Your audience will appreciate the value you provide, and you’ll enjoy strong growth and conversion rates.

Hopefully the tips above will help improve your website content. Have more questions about running successful marketing campaigns? Reach out to us directly.

Editor’s Note: This article was last updated in June 2021.

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5 Common Problems with SMB Websites + How to Fix Them

5 Common Problems with SMB Websites + How to Fix Them

Your website is a critical touch point in your sales process, giving you the opportunity to connect with potential customers and demonstrate your ability to deliver an amazing service. Maintaining a website that connects with and converts leads is crucial to growing your business.

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7 Marketing Metrics You Should be Tracking in 2021

7 Marketing Metrics You Should be Tracking in 2021

7 Marketing Metrics You Should be Tracking in 2021

Don’t waste time on meaningless metrics. Learn how your company can measure goals and track performance with these KPIs.

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Use Data to Run More Effective Campaigns 

Marketing metrics are more accessible than they have ever been, taking most of the guesswork out of how well your campaigns performed. But it can also be very easy to lose yourself in the amount of data that you encounter.

Mastering digital marketing has changed. It used to be about discovering certain marketing metrics that could be measured. Now it is about focusing on the metrics that matter the most.

Of the dozens of marketing metrics that you can track, there are seven that not only matter tremendously but also fall in line with the inbound marketing approach that we follow. The goal of inbound marketing is to generate more leads through your website which can place you in control of the sales cycle, allowing you to pursue stronger partnerships with potential clients.

Once you have a good handle on these seven metrics, your organization will run more effective campaigns. You’ll find that your internet visibility is stronger, and your expertise is in much higher demand.

Here are seven marketing metrics that you should be tracking and improving.

Website Visits and Traffic Sources

Visits to your website is a very simple metric to track, and often the most important. Traffic is one of the best indicators of not only how effective your message is, but also how responsive your target market is.

In fact, a lot of the metrics we’ll be exploring revolves around traffic. Website traffic can be grouped into four main groups: Direct, Organic, Referral and Paid. 

Direct Traffic

These are visits that come from anyone who directly enters in the URL of your website or social page into a browser.

Direct traffic is also generated by those who click on a bookmark or a link that was put into an email, a comment, or in a chat room.

Organic (Search) Traffic

This kind of traffic typically comes from search results that are not the result of a paid ad. Organic traffic is a direct result of the search engine optimization efforts of the content on your website or social media page.

Referral Traffic

Referral traffic is traffic that comes from third party websites. Like organic and direct traffic, referral traffic is not the result of a paid ad. Instead, it is the result of links from press releases, guest posts, business directories, or other social media pages.

Paid Traffic

When someone arrives at your website by way of an advertisement, it is known as paid traffic. In order to get the most out of paid traffic, you’ll want to set up proper analytics software so that this particular kind of traffic is tracked the right way.

All four forms of traffic should be tracked regularly, but the two kinds that you should prioritize the most are organic traffic and direct traffic since they are strong indicators of credibility with search enginges and existing clients. 

Pro Tip: Use your existing data in Google Analytics to create a baseline. Understanding your baseline is critical to developing an effective marketing strategy.

Ready to take action? Let’s have a conversation

Time Spent on Site

Tracking how much time visitors spend on your website is just as important as monitoring the kinds of traffic your website gets.

In fact, time spent on a website can tell you the story of how effective any given marketing campaign truly is.

Take paid advertising, for example. If visitors to your website navigate away from it seconds after clicking on the advertisement, what does that say about your paid advertising campaign?

Increasing the visitors spend on your website or social media pages begins with making sure your strategy focuses on the pain points of any given buyer as well as content that addresses any challenges they may have.

Speaking of content, original content that has high value will not only get visitors to stay on a website for longer, it will also demonstrate to search engines how relevant your website is in any given industry.

Bounce Rate

When somebody has visited your website and navigates away from it without any kind of interaction, such as following a different link on your website or adding something to the shopping cart, they have “bounced” from your website. 

Like with time spent on a website, this bounce rate will determine not only how effective your marketing campaigns are, but it will also determine how much value the content on your website provides.

If this rate is anything higher than 60%, you’ll probably need to make some serious adjustments to how your website looks, the message it is trying to send, and perhaps some of your CTA dialogue.

One of the most effective ways to reduce bounce rates is to align the content of your campaigns with your landing pages, as well as addressing one or two major pain points of those who visit your website. This will not happen overnight and you are only going to see noticeable results if you make systematic adjustments to this over time.

Pages Ranked

Overall website success will always be related to search rankings. The number of pages you rank for will represent the number of opportunities for your potential customers to discover your website.

Ideally, you want all the different pages you have on your site to rank high. Google Search Console is a free tool that can track this for you in a general way, or you can upgrade to a paid tool if you want even better insight. Some of the paid tools also show you how your competitors are ranking.

Leads Generated

It is a common misconception that all visitors to a website is a lead that has been generated. This is not accurate at all. When someone visits your website, they are a potential lead.

Leads can only be generated by a CTA, or a call to action. Specifically, a website visitor needs to follow through on your CTA by entering some information in order to truly be a lead.

Determining the leads that have been generated per CTA in your content is one of the most useful of these marketing metrics, if not the most useful.

Like micromanaging your bounce rate, optimizing these leads to where you generate perfectly qualified leads does not happen overnight and will take time. Testing different CTAs is the best way to optimize leads.

Conversion Rate

Just like you need to know how many leads your CTAs are generating, you also need to know how many visitors to your website complete a desired goal out of the total number of visitors. This is known as a conversion rate.

A high conversion rate is ideal. Traffic doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t convert into leads who could possibly benefit from your services.

You can think of a conversion rate as a journey that a buyer takes that leads them to pursuing the products or services on your website.

There are three general phases that involve a different conversion rate for each. They are:

  • Awareness phase: This is when a buyer encounters the sales page.
  • Consideration phase: This is when a buyer moves from the sales page to adding items to the cart.
  • Decision phase: This is where a buyer enters payment information, physically ordering products or services.

 Just like there is a conversion rate for these three, there is also an opposing bounce rate for these. You will want to measure these against each other. Only then can you alter strategies and campaigns to improve conversions.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Probably one of the most important metrics to measure is ROI because it shows you how effective your campaigns are. 

ROI is best expressed in a percentage. For example, a $1000 investment that generated $1200 in revenue would have an ROI of 20% since 1200 is 20% greater than 1000.

Determine your target ROI during planning and strategy conversions. Then work backward to further define the resources required to achieve this goal. Consider all of the resources you have at your disposal when doing this with the understanding that successful marketing campaigns take time it achieve your targeted ROI. 

Next Steps for Your Marketing Team

Digital marketing strategies are a marathon, not a sprint.

This is why you should keep a close eye on these metrics and make adjustments as you go along. The same principles of traditional marketing apply to web-based marketing campaigns. You need to build trust and authority with your digital audience, using these metrics as indicators of your progress.

Hopefully the tips above will help improve website conversions. Have more questions about running successful marketing campaigns? Reach out to us directly.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated in September 2021

Liz-headshot

Meet the Author

Liz Hersh is the founder of Hersh PR and Marketing, a digital marketing agency. Together with a team of marketing professionals she helps clients generate leads and increase revenue. 

Read 
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5 Common Problems with SMB Websites + How to Fix Them

5 Common Problems with SMB Websites + How to Fix Them

Your website is a critical touch point in your sales process, giving you the opportunity to connect with potential customers and demonstrate your ability to deliver an amazing service. Maintaining a website that connects with and converts leads is crucial to growing your business.

read more

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