Think back to the last time you shared a post on Facebook or retweeted someone on Twitter. What was going on inside your head at that precise moment? What was it that made you share that post? This is the […]
Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog
How To Create Content To Attract Social Shares
--
Written by Steven Eastlack, Surefire Social
The post How To Create Content To Attract Social Shares appeared first on Search Engine People Blog.
It's the great marketing paradox. We spend hours brainstorming and months testing the copy of our calls-to-action, but whether we ask our users to Sign Up Now, Start a Free Trial, Get Started, Request Access, or Learn More, all we really want them to do it click the button.
Just click the button.
So why do so many of our quality leads fail to comply with our simple request? The way your CTA button is set up on a landing page is just as important as the CTA itself. Otherwise, it's a button to nowhere.
Visual appeal is everything. Before they see your CTA button, your landing page is the first impression your potential customers will have. Choose attractive, simple imagery – if your page is cluttered, your visitors won't know where to look. Color scheme also is important: Using complementary but contrasting colors help a page to pop.
Notice how the below example from PopSurvey is coordinated with shades of blue, allowing the pink in the logo and CTA to pop out on the page. The secondary CTA, “Pricing & Sign Up” in the header is a slightly duller pink that still stands out but doesn't distract from the main call-to-action button.
Ensure your page is easy to read and draws the attention of your customers' eyes – don't make them strain to read the text. The following landing page from Website Magazine is cluttered, has too many distracting colors, and small text. It's impossible to know where to look!
Customers won't have the patience to stay on your page if they don't know what you're offering. Use clear, strong wording to elicit the quick reactions that all good Calls-to-Action invoke.
Active verbs like “join” or “discover” can make people feel like they'll be a part of something or learn something new. Negative questions like “worried?” and “confused?” can tap into human fears – always an attention-getter. And make it personal and urgent – use pronouns like “your” or “my” to convey ownership, as well as time-sensitive words, as in “Get my free newsletter now.”
Dollar Shave Club is the perfect example of this. They speak to men (notice the “No commitment”) in a take-it-or-leave-it offer. Do it or don't. Either way, it's impossible to miss that big CTA.
The copy here is also fantastic. It flows well, the value proposition is clear, and each sentence subsequently gets shorter up to the CTA.
At Socedo, one of our landing pages, is frill-free. We're still A/B testing variations around “Start My Free Trial” or “Start My 14-Day Free Trial.” Regardless, previous testing has confirmed that the phrase “Free Trial” is crucial to our CTA buttons. It's simple and to the point, and users know exactly what will happen when they click the button. No matter where you look on our site–the landing page, the navigation, or the blog–you'll see a blue button with the “Free Trial” copy.
But just like any marketing strategy, you should always be A/B testing. What works for one brand might not work for another, and things can change over time.
Drive more leads by offering your unique selling point. When a customer clicks on your CTA button, they should know why it will benefit them. Start with a confident headline on the page that conveys a key value you offer, and support it with a subhead that explains it. Follow with clear button copy that encourages users to claim these benefits.
If you're like everyone else – boring and wordy – you won't get your customers to pay attention or even to think about clicking your CTA. Add personality, emotions and enthusiasm to help draw in customers.
This landing page from Manpacks is fantastic and hilarious. It has a header with a clear benefit, in this case convenience on men's essentials. Then the subhead explains exactly what Manpacks offers. By the time the user reaches the CTA button, they already know what they are going to “Get Started” with.
Sqord is a fitness and game tracking wristband for kids. Their landing page isn't bad. It has a coherent color theme that reflects the audience and the product, the button pops, and it gets to the point. The headline is catchy but not very specific, and the subhead only provides a few more surface-level details: “Sqord is your online world, powered by real world play.”
By the time the user reaches the button text “Buy Sqord Membership & Gear” it's hard to know what they're actually buying. Is it the wristband, the app, or both? And why should I care?
You always want what you can't have, right? It's all about urgency. Customers hate missing out on a short-term offer. Focus on deadline phrases such as “limited time” or give them and end date. Add exclusivity to your product, when appropriate, with phrases like “while supplies last.” And CTAs that save money will always be a winning tactic. Customers can't ignore it.
This landing page from Slope, a visual marketing platform, creates FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) by implying only a limited number of people will be allowed access to the beta. In addition to avoiding this negative, the button creates a positive experience of exclusivity. If you're one of the select few who request early access, you'll be part of the inner club–the talk of the town at your next marketers' get-together.
You'll probably notice a pattern to the successful landing page CTAs mentioned here. They all have a high-benefit header, an explanatory subhead, and a button with active verbs. They all have a coordinated color palette, with the button standing out. They all get right to the point.
Most importantly, they all have some level of creativity. You can read as many prescriptive tips for CTA buttons as possible, but at the end of the day, it's the unexpected element of your page that will give you the edge for higher conversion rates.
About the Author: Aseem Badshah, Founder and CEO of Socedo. Socedo helps sales and marketing professionals leverage social media data to discover, qualify, and nurture leads, automatically.
As a MarketingExperiments blog reader, I can already assume a few things about you. You're an evidence-based marketer. You are an effective communicator. You have an exceptional understanding of marketing. You are skilled at analyzing campaign effectiveness. And you have experience in a wide range of marketing disciplines.
But if you were pitching yourself at a job fair, and could emphasize only one of these elements about yourself, which would it be?
Savvy marketer that you are, I'm guessing you would first size up the company you're applying to - ask questions of the recruiter, take a look at the booth and read some of the literature - before deciding what value to highlight when presenting yourself.
The way you approach marketing your products and services should be no different.
Don't bury the lead
Almost every product or service has several ways it benefits customers. Your challenge is to determine the value focus - which element of value will you lead with in your marketing.
You may highlight more than one element of value as secondary benefits on your website, in your print ads and in your email marketing. However, there likely is a place within your marketing where you have to choose what the primary value focus should be - the headline of your print ad, the hero space on your homepage or, perhaps, the entirety of an email.
Let me give you an example from my own customer journey.
Connect with customer motivation
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns
I recently purchased a Nissan LEAF. In looking at other cars compared to the LEAF, the car I chose offered many elements of value that Nissan highlights on its website:
Photo: RACC
These are just a few of the possible value elements that popped into my head. I'm sure there are many more.
When I was at the car lot, the salesman was able to size me up, ask me a few questions and determine my motivation. This meant he could easily pivot from one value focus to the other based on my responses.
Nissan has a bigger challenge on its microsite for the LEAF. Which points should it emphasize most prominently?
The path Nissan has taken at the top of its microsite is not to include a value focus at all. In fact, there isn't even really a headline.
The closest thing to a headline is “2016 Nissan LEAF®.” This does serve to orient the visitor that they are on the right page, but it doesn't present any value.
The other two major emphasized elements do not focus on the value either. Rather, before presenting value, the LEAF microsite communicates the cost (in this case, the starting price of its base S model) and an anxiety reducer (in this case, range anxiety, by highlighting how far the car can drive).
Below the fold, the microsite starts communicating value with a rotating animation of six banners (what used to be known as a Flash banner) listing different elements of value.
Simply put, Nissan has not chosen a value focus for the LEAF on this microsite. (This is not unique to the LEAF for Nissan; this microsite is a template it uses for all of its car models.)
Now, one could make the argument that visitors to this microsite are already so motivated that they don't need any value communication and their bigger concerns are price and range anxiety.
However, even if they are already motivated, you should reinforce that value once they hit the site. After all, a car purchase is a major decision, and you want to keep driving them up the funnel. It's also a way to let them know the LEAF is the car for them. “Hey, we understand you. You're among friends.”
Also, there are likely many less motivated car buyers who are just kicking the tires on several cars, and thus visiting many car sites. By leading with value (and the right value focus), you have the opportunity to turn those few moments of interest into deeper research about the vehicle you're selling.
If we take a look at the nearest competitor to the Nissan LEAF - the Tesla Model S - we can see that its landing page does lead with value. (It might be a stretch to consider these two models competitors due to the huge price discrepancy - and therefore, possibly differing motivations of its buyers - but they are the two best-selling all-electric cars in the U.S. and comprise 58% of all pure electric cars sold in the United States in 2015.)
Like the LEAF's page, the headline is pure orientation - “Model S” - however, the copy below focuses on value such as “Highest Safety Rating in America” and “Autopilot with Autosteer and Summon.”
How to determine your product's value focus for your marketing
We've discussed how it's important to communicate value in your marketing. But how do you determine what the value focus should be? Here is a simple process to get you started:
Step #1. Understand the product
Effective marketing merely clarifies the value inherent in the product, so begin with the product itself. What elements of value does it provide to customers? If you weren't involved with the product creation, talk to product developers, business analysts or business leaders who were. Then read professional ratings and customer reviews of your product to get an outside perspective on how well the product delivers on that intended value.
Step #2. Determine the persona
As I said above, there are many reasons to love a LEAF. If I were running a print ad about the car in “Organic Life” magazine, I would focus on the zero emissions and environmental/sustainability aspect. However, if I were writing an ad for “WIRED” magazine, I would focus on the techie/early adopter aspect. Your products likely has more than one customer segment. Before creating the messaging for a specific customer touchpoint, determine which segment or segments you will be communicating with.
Step #3. Ask the customer
Interview current and previous customers. Those who didn't buy. And those who are just in the segment you're targeting who may not even know about your product. Participate in forums and LinkedIn Groups that are popular with different customer segments. Talk to customer service, sales and other customer-facing positions in your organization. Read the magazines, blogs and Tumblrs that your ideal customers read, listen to their podcasts, and monitor their communication on social networks. Conduct focus groups. These are just some examples of ways you can ask customers what element of value most resonate with them.
Step #4. Test
The customer is always right. But the customer doesn't always know what he wants. So it's not enough to just ask your customers about value. This data simply helps you create hypotheses to test with real-world customers to see which value focuses generate the best response. Test value focus in your email. Test in your PPC ads. Identify elements of value that could be the most compelling value focus, and then run follow-up tests throughout the customer journey to discover how to best message that value focus.
You can follow Daniel Burstein, Director of Editorial Content, MECLABS Institute, @DanielBurstein.
You might also like
3 steps for laying your value prop testing groundwork
How to use social media to help discover why customers buy from you
Value Proposition Development [Online course from MECLABS Institute]
Schadenfreude (n.): Pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.
Who doesn't like watching a good fail? As long as the subject isn't seriously injured, we can all enjoy a hearty laugh at the guy who slips on the banana peel, the woman who gets her shoe caught in a grate, or the kid getting bopped by the family cat. Even if you're the one who fails, you know eventually it will be a funny story you can tell at parties.
While these minor pratfalls are all in good fun, failing at influencer engagement isn't as entertaining. Instead of a few bruises and an amusing anecdote, an influencer outreach fail can end your campaign before it starts. And there are far more ways to fail than you might imagine.
But you don't have to be a cautionary tale. There are more ways to win at influencer engagement than there are banana peels in your way. At TopRank Marketing, we create and manage influencer marketing programs for some of today's top B2B and B2C brands. We made the mistakes so you don't have to. Over time, we have built a solid strategy for building lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with influencers.
To help you avoid being the object of other marketers' schadenfreude, we created a new eBook, 15 Ways to Fail & 25 Ways to Win with Influencer Engagement. We asked some of our favorite marketing influencers how people have failed to build relationships with them in the past, then added advice based on our years of experience.
The result is a first-hand account of how to succeed in influencer marketing, with insight from both influencers and the marketers who excel at creating relationships with them.
Here are a few ways marketers failed to engage our influencers:
Reaching out cold: “I get requests from people I know really well every week. What makes you think I'll make time to work with you if I've never interacted with you before? Take some time to comment on my posts, rate my podcast, review my book. I'll return the favor in a heartbeat.” Andrew Davis, Founder, Monumental Shift Click to Tweet
Inappropriate asks: “As in asks for promoting your product (books, webinars, conferences, etc.) in exchange for affiliate revenue: Please DON'T.” Carlos Gil, Head of Global Social Media, BMC Software Click to Tweet
Asking too soon: “My pet peeve is when someone follows me on Twitter or Instagram and/or fans me on Facebook and immediately reaches out to me with a request to check out their business.” Kim Garst, Bestselling Author and Keynote Speaker Click to Tweet
Using the wrong communication channels: “Sending me a message about LinkedIn using Facebook.” Jason Miller, Group manager, Content Marketing & Social Media, LinkedIn Click to Tweet
Impersonal pitches: “When companies send out generic en masse pitches, like a robo-call, but via email. The personal touch can make or break an influencer's decision to engage.” Chad Pollitt, Co-Founder & VP of Audience, Relevance Click to Tweet
Lack of credibility: “Competition for effective influencers' time is high, so reaching out using a Gmail address and pointing to a little known brand hosted on a hyphenated domain with poor design isn't going to motivate anyone to engage.” Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Marketing Click to Tweet
Lazy duplicated messages: “When you get that really interesting Tweet inviting you to take a look at something and then when you click through to it you also see that they have composed basically the same message to 579 other people on Twitter.” Jon Jantsch, Founder, Duct Tape Marketing Click to Tweet
Delegated, impersonal outreach: “Reach out to me directly yourself. Do NOT delegate this critical step to your marketing agency, PR professional, team member, assistant or intern. Do it yourself and make your note personal. If you want me to respond, I expect you to do the asking yourself.” Heidi Cohen, Chief Content Officer, Actionable Marketing Guide Click to Tweet
Asking without giving first: “Not greasing the skids. Influencers are most likely to add commentary if there is some kind of existing relationship. This means at least some kind of history where the person reaching out has already been sharing the influencer content.” Joe Pulizzi, Founder, Content Marketing Institute Click to Tweet
Being too salesy: “Asking for 30 minutes of my time to discuss a “partnership” – which actually means you want me to sell your stuff to my clients.” Ardath Albee, CEO & B2B Marketing Strategist, Marketing Interactions Click to Tweet
Asking them to sell for you: “Your influencer is there to help you increase the awareness, association and consideration of your brand in a certain space – not to shill for you.” Gerry Moran, Global Head of Social Media, Cognizant Click to Tweet
Too much focus on the brand: “Don't tell me your story, let me tell my story. 'LESS fabrication, MORE facilitation' = a boost to your Return on Relationship, #RonR” Ted Rubin, Social Marketing Strategist, Evangelist & Acting CMO, The Rubin Organization Click to Tweet
Placing too many demands on the influencer: “Set the tone and rules upfront. Influencers can't be expected to take part in everything you do, so say that. Set the ground rules and expectations.” Bryan Kramer, President & CEO, PureMatter Brand Marketing & Interactive Click to Tweet
Spamming with automated messages: “Signing up for an app that spams your “top influencer” with automated messages is a sure path to a rocky relationship.” Glen Gilmore, Principal, Gilmore Business Network Click to Tweet
Failure to follow up: “Not following up with that blog post, eBook, or copy of the interview the influencer contributed to. Influencers are indeed interested in seeing the fruits of their labors.” Rebecca Lieb, Principal, Conglomotron LLC Click to Tweet
If you have a few scrapes and bruises from your past influencer marketing attempts, it's time to be an example instead of a cautionary tale. Check out the SlideShare below for the tips you need to start winning:
Take these tips with you wherever you go: Download your copy of 15 Ways to fail & 25 Ways to Win with Influencer Engagement.
Learn Even More Influencer Marketing Wins at Social Media Marketing World
On April 19th, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden will be presenting the “Influencer Marketing Playbook: How to Identify, Qualify & Recruit Effective Influencers” at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego. If you like what you saw here and want to learn even more from one of the top authorities on influencer marketing, be sure to check out Lee's session details.
Disclosure: LinkedIn Marketing is a TopRank Marketing client.
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[eBook] Influencer Engagement: 15 Ways to Fail & 25 Ways to WIN | http://www.toprankblog.com
The post [eBook] Influencer Engagement: 15 Ways to Fail & 25 Ways to WIN appeared first on Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®.
Think back to the last time you shared a post on Facebook or retweeted someone on Twitter. What was going on inside your head at that precise moment? What was it that made you share that post? This is the […]
Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog
How To Create Content To Attract Social Shares
--
Written by Steven Eastlack, Surefire Social
The post How To Create Content To Attract Social Shares appeared first on Search Engine People Blog.
It's the great marketing paradox. We spend hours brainstorming and months testing the copy of our calls-to-action, but whether we ask our users to Sign Up Now, Start a Free Trial, Get Started, Request Access, or Learn More, all we really want them to do it click the button.
Just click the button.
So why do so many of our quality leads fail to comply with our simple request? The way your CTA button is set up on a landing page is just as important as the CTA itself. Otherwise, it's a button to nowhere.
Visual appeal is everything. Before they see your CTA button, your landing page is the first impression your potential customers will have. Choose attractive, simple imagery – if your page is cluttered, your visitors won't know where to look. Color scheme also is important: Using complementary but contrasting colors help a page to pop.
Notice how the below example from PopSurvey is coordinated with shades of blue, allowing the pink in the logo and CTA to pop out on the page. The secondary CTA, “Pricing & Sign Up” in the header is a slightly duller pink that still stands out but doesn't distract from the main call-to-action button.
Ensure your page is easy to read and draws the attention of your customers' eyes – don't make them strain to read the text. The following landing page from Website Magazine is cluttered, has too many distracting colors, and small text. It's impossible to know where to look!
Customers won't have the patience to stay on your page if they don't know what you're offering. Use clear, strong wording to elicit the quick reactions that all good Calls-to-Action invoke.
Active verbs like “join” or “discover” can make people feel like they'll be a part of something or learn something new. Negative questions like “worried?” and “confused?” can tap into human fears – always an attention-getter. And make it personal and urgent – use pronouns like “your” or “my” to convey ownership, as well as time-sensitive words, as in “Get my free newsletter now.”
Dollar Shave Club is the perfect example of this. They speak to men (notice the “No commitment”) in a take-it-or-leave-it offer. Do it or don't. Either way, it's impossible to miss that big CTA.
The copy here is also fantastic. It flows well, the value proposition is clear, and each sentence subsequently gets shorter up to the CTA.
At Socedo, one of our landing pages, is frill-free. We're still A/B testing variations around “Start My Free Trial” or “Start My 14-Day Free Trial.” Regardless, previous testing has confirmed that the phrase “Free Trial” is crucial to our CTA buttons. It's simple and to the point, and users know exactly what will happen when they click the button. No matter where you look on our site–the landing page, the navigation, or the blog–you'll see a blue button with the “Free Trial” copy.
But just like any marketing strategy, you should always be A/B testing. What works for one brand might not work for another, and things can change over time.
Drive more leads by offering your unique selling point. When a customer clicks on your CTA button, they should know why it will benefit them. Start with a confident headline on the page that conveys a key value you offer, and support it with a subhead that explains it. Follow with clear button copy that encourages users to claim these benefits.
If you're like everyone else – boring and wordy – you won't get your customers to pay attention or even to think about clicking your CTA. Add personality, emotions and enthusiasm to help draw in customers.
This landing page from Manpacks is fantastic and hilarious. It has a header with a clear benefit, in this case convenience on men's essentials. Then the subhead explains exactly what Manpacks offers. By the time the user reaches the CTA button, they already know what they are going to “Get Started” with.
Sqord is a fitness and game tracking wristband for kids. Their landing page isn't bad. It has a coherent color theme that reflects the audience and the product, the button pops, and it gets to the point. The headline is catchy but not very specific, and the subhead only provides a few more surface-level details: “Sqord is your online world, powered by real world play.”
By the time the user reaches the button text “Buy Sqord Membership & Gear” it's hard to know what they're actually buying. Is it the wristband, the app, or both? And why should I care?
You always want what you can't have, right? It's all about urgency. Customers hate missing out on a short-term offer. Focus on deadline phrases such as “limited time” or give them and end date. Add exclusivity to your product, when appropriate, with phrases like “while supplies last.” And CTAs that save money will always be a winning tactic. Customers can't ignore it.
This landing page from Slope, a visual marketing platform, creates FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) by implying only a limited number of people will be allowed access to the beta. In addition to avoiding this negative, the button creates a positive experience of exclusivity. If you're one of the select few who request early access, you'll be part of the inner club–the talk of the town at your next marketers' get-together.
You'll probably notice a pattern to the successful landing page CTAs mentioned here. They all have a high-benefit header, an explanatory subhead, and a button with active verbs. They all have a coordinated color palette, with the button standing out. They all get right to the point.
Most importantly, they all have some level of creativity. You can read as many prescriptive tips for CTA buttons as possible, but at the end of the day, it's the unexpected element of your page that will give you the edge for higher conversion rates.
About the Author: Aseem Badshah, Founder and CEO of Socedo. Socedo helps sales and marketing professionals leverage social media data to discover, qualify, and nurture leads, automatically.
As a MarketingExperiments blog reader, I can already assume a few things about you. You're an evidence-based marketer. You are an effective communicator. You have an exceptional understanding of marketing. You are skilled at analyzing campaign effectiveness. And you have experience in a wide range of marketing disciplines.
But if you were pitching yourself at a job fair, and could emphasize only one of these elements about yourself, which would it be?
Savvy marketer that you are, I'm guessing you would first size up the company you're applying to - ask questions of the recruiter, take a look at the booth and read some of the literature - before deciding what value to highlight when presenting yourself.
The way you approach marketing your products and services should be no different.
Don't bury the lead
Almost every product or service has several ways it benefits customers. Your challenge is to determine the value focus - which element of value will you lead with in your marketing.
You may highlight more than one element of value as secondary benefits on your website, in your print ads and in your email marketing. However, there likely is a place within your marketing where you have to choose what the primary value focus should be - the headline of your print ad, the hero space on your homepage or, perhaps, the entirety of an email.
Let me give you an example from my own customer journey.
Connect with customer motivation
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns
I recently purchased a Nissan LEAF. In looking at other cars compared to the LEAF, the car I chose offered many elements of value that Nissan highlights on its website:
Photo: RACC
These are just a few of the possible value elements that popped into my head. I'm sure there are many more.
When I was at the car lot, the salesman was able to size me up, ask me a few questions and determine my motivation. This meant he could easily pivot from one value focus to the other based on my responses.
Nissan has a bigger challenge on its microsite for the LEAF. Which points should it emphasize most prominently?
The path Nissan has taken at the top of its microsite is not to include a value focus at all. In fact, there isn't even really a headline.
The closest thing to a headline is “2016 Nissan LEAF®.” This does serve to orient the visitor that they are on the right page, but it doesn't present any value.
The other two major emphasized elements do not focus on the value either. Rather, before presenting value, the LEAF microsite communicates the cost (in this case, the starting price of its base S model) and an anxiety reducer (in this case, range anxiety, by highlighting how far the car can drive).
Below the fold, the microsite starts communicating value with a rotating animation of six banners (what used to be known as a Flash banner) listing different elements of value.
Simply put, Nissan has not chosen a value focus for the LEAF on this microsite. (This is not unique to the LEAF for Nissan; this microsite is a template it uses for all of its car models.)
Now, one could make the argument that visitors to this microsite are already so motivated that they don't need any value communication and their bigger concerns are price and range anxiety.
However, even if they are already motivated, you should reinforce that value once they hit the site. After all, a car purchase is a major decision, and you want to keep driving them up the funnel. It's also a way to let them know the LEAF is the car for them. “Hey, we understand you. You're among friends.”
Also, there are likely many less motivated car buyers who are just kicking the tires on several cars, and thus visiting many car sites. By leading with value (and the right value focus), you have the opportunity to turn those few moments of interest into deeper research about the vehicle you're selling.
If we take a look at the nearest competitor to the Nissan LEAF - the Tesla Model S - we can see that its landing page does lead with value. (It might be a stretch to consider these two models competitors due to the huge price discrepancy - and therefore, possibly differing motivations of its buyers - but they are the two best-selling all-electric cars in the U.S. and comprise 58% of all pure electric cars sold in the United States in 2015.)
Like the LEAF's page, the headline is pure orientation - “Model S” - however, the copy below focuses on value such as “Highest Safety Rating in America” and “Autopilot with Autosteer and Summon.”
How to determine your product's value focus for your marketing
We've discussed how it's important to communicate value in your marketing. But how do you determine what the value focus should be? Here is a simple process to get you started:
Step #1. Understand the product
Effective marketing merely clarifies the value inherent in the product, so begin with the product itself. What elements of value does it provide to customers? If you weren't involved with the product creation, talk to product developers, business analysts or business leaders who were. Then read professional ratings and customer reviews of your product to get an outside perspective on how well the product delivers on that intended value.
Step #2. Determine the persona
As I said above, there are many reasons to love a LEAF. If I were running a print ad about the car in “Organic Life” magazine, I would focus on the zero emissions and environmental/sustainability aspect. However, if I were writing an ad for “WIRED” magazine, I would focus on the techie/early adopter aspect. Your products likely has more than one customer segment. Before creating the messaging for a specific customer touchpoint, determine which segment or segments you will be communicating with.
Step #3. Ask the customer
Interview current and previous customers. Those who didn't buy. And those who are just in the segment you're targeting who may not even know about your product. Participate in forums and LinkedIn Groups that are popular with different customer segments. Talk to customer service, sales and other customer-facing positions in your organization. Read the magazines, blogs and Tumblrs that your ideal customers read, listen to their podcasts, and monitor their communication on social networks. Conduct focus groups. These are just some examples of ways you can ask customers what element of value most resonate with them.
Step #4. Test
The customer is always right. But the customer doesn't always know what he wants. So it's not enough to just ask your customers about value. This data simply helps you create hypotheses to test with real-world customers to see which value focuses generate the best response. Test value focus in your email. Test in your PPC ads. Identify elements of value that could be the most compelling value focus, and then run follow-up tests throughout the customer journey to discover how to best message that value focus.
You can follow Daniel Burstein, Director of Editorial Content, MECLABS Institute, @DanielBurstein.
You might also like
3 steps for laying your value prop testing groundwork
How to use social media to help discover why customers buy from you
Value Proposition Development [Online course from MECLABS Institute]
Schadenfreude (n.): Pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.
Who doesn't like watching a good fail? As long as the subject isn't seriously injured, we can all enjoy a hearty laugh at the guy who slips on the banana peel, the woman who gets her shoe caught in a grate, or the kid getting bopped by the family cat. Even if you're the one who fails, you know eventually it will be a funny story you can tell at parties.
While these minor pratfalls are all in good fun, failing at influencer engagement isn't as entertaining. Instead of a few bruises and an amusing anecdote, an influencer outreach fail can end your campaign before it starts. And there are far more ways to fail than you might imagine.
But you don't have to be a cautionary tale. There are more ways to win at influencer engagement than there are banana peels in your way. At TopRank Marketing, we create and manage influencer marketing programs for some of today's top B2B and B2C brands. We made the mistakes so you don't have to. Over time, we have built a solid strategy for building lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with influencers.
To help you avoid being the object of other marketers' schadenfreude, we created a new eBook, 15 Ways to Fail & 25 Ways to Win with Influencer Engagement. We asked some of our favorite marketing influencers how people have failed to build relationships with them in the past, then added advice based on our years of experience.
The result is a first-hand account of how to succeed in influencer marketing, with insight from both influencers and the marketers who excel at creating relationships with them.
Here are a few ways marketers failed to engage our influencers:
Reaching out cold: “I get requests from people I know really well every week. What makes you think I'll make time to work with you if I've never interacted with you before? Take some time to comment on my posts, rate my podcast, review my book. I'll return the favor in a heartbeat.” Andrew Davis, Founder, Monumental Shift Click to Tweet
Inappropriate asks: “As in asks for promoting your product (books, webinars, conferences, etc.) in exchange for affiliate revenue: Please DON'T.” Carlos Gil, Head of Global Social Media, BMC Software Click to Tweet
Asking too soon: “My pet peeve is when someone follows me on Twitter or Instagram and/or fans me on Facebook and immediately reaches out to me with a request to check out their business.” Kim Garst, Bestselling Author and Keynote Speaker Click to Tweet
Using the wrong communication channels: “Sending me a message about LinkedIn using Facebook.” Jason Miller, Group manager, Content Marketing & Social Media, LinkedIn Click to Tweet
Impersonal pitches: “When companies send out generic en masse pitches, like a robo-call, but via email. The personal touch can make or break an influencer's decision to engage.” Chad Pollitt, Co-Founder & VP of Audience, Relevance Click to Tweet
Lack of credibility: “Competition for effective influencers' time is high, so reaching out using a Gmail address and pointing to a little known brand hosted on a hyphenated domain with poor design isn't going to motivate anyone to engage.” Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Marketing Click to Tweet
Lazy duplicated messages: “When you get that really interesting Tweet inviting you to take a look at something and then when you click through to it you also see that they have composed basically the same message to 579 other people on Twitter.” Jon Jantsch, Founder, Duct Tape Marketing Click to Tweet
Delegated, impersonal outreach: “Reach out to me directly yourself. Do NOT delegate this critical step to your marketing agency, PR professional, team member, assistant or intern. Do it yourself and make your note personal. If you want me to respond, I expect you to do the asking yourself.” Heidi Cohen, Chief Content Officer, Actionable Marketing Guide Click to Tweet
Asking without giving first: “Not greasing the skids. Influencers are most likely to add commentary if there is some kind of existing relationship. This means at least some kind of history where the person reaching out has already been sharing the influencer content.” Joe Pulizzi, Founder, Content Marketing Institute Click to Tweet
Being too salesy: “Asking for 30 minutes of my time to discuss a “partnership” – which actually means you want me to sell your stuff to my clients.” Ardath Albee, CEO & B2B Marketing Strategist, Marketing Interactions Click to Tweet
Asking them to sell for you: “Your influencer is there to help you increase the awareness, association and consideration of your brand in a certain space – not to shill for you.” Gerry Moran, Global Head of Social Media, Cognizant Click to Tweet
Too much focus on the brand: “Don't tell me your story, let me tell my story. 'LESS fabrication, MORE facilitation' = a boost to your Return on Relationship, #RonR” Ted Rubin, Social Marketing Strategist, Evangelist & Acting CMO, The Rubin Organization Click to Tweet
Placing too many demands on the influencer: “Set the tone and rules upfront. Influencers can't be expected to take part in everything you do, so say that. Set the ground rules and expectations.” Bryan Kramer, President & CEO, PureMatter Brand Marketing & Interactive Click to Tweet
Spamming with automated messages: “Signing up for an app that spams your “top influencer” with automated messages is a sure path to a rocky relationship.” Glen Gilmore, Principal, Gilmore Business Network Click to Tweet
Failure to follow up: “Not following up with that blog post, eBook, or copy of the interview the influencer contributed to. Influencers are indeed interested in seeing the fruits of their labors.” Rebecca Lieb, Principal, Conglomotron LLC Click to Tweet
If you have a few scrapes and bruises from your past influencer marketing attempts, it's time to be an example instead of a cautionary tale. Check out the SlideShare below for the tips you need to start winning:
Take these tips with you wherever you go: Download your copy of 15 Ways to fail & 25 Ways to Win with Influencer Engagement.
Learn Even More Influencer Marketing Wins at Social Media Marketing World
On April 19th, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden will be presenting the “Influencer Marketing Playbook: How to Identify, Qualify & Recruit Effective Influencers” at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego. If you like what you saw here and want to learn even more from one of the top authorities on influencer marketing, be sure to check out Lee's session details.
Disclosure: LinkedIn Marketing is a TopRank Marketing client.
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[eBook] Influencer Engagement: 15 Ways to Fail & 25 Ways to WIN | http://www.toprankblog.com
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