Wednesday, June 12, 2013

SEO Techniques - A Love, Hate Relationship

There is a growing consensus among online marketers that over-
emphazing Search Engine Optimation (SEO) techniques is one of the worst things that a business can do -- not just because it's often a waste of money, but also because it can be counterproductive.  There is no telling how many company websites have been penalized by Google and Bing for their misguided SEO zeal. The bottom line is that, before your business goes overboard with SEO techniques, there are a few important cautions to consider.
 
SEO is not the end goal. To begin with, ask yourself this question: What's the purpose of your online business presence?  Is it to do SEO just for the sake of doing SEO -- or is it provide customers and prospects with superior products and services? The answer is the latter and, yet, many marketers get sidetracked, making the focus of their online presence on SEO rather than simply providing their products and services. SEO techniques are not necessarily helpful to your business. In many cases, they are simply distractions.
 
SEO can hurt. If you're familiar with Google's recent Panda, Penquin and Penquin 2.0 algorithmic update, you should know that SEO techniques can hinder just as much as they can help. Google is constantly seeking to reward websites that provide substantative, engaging content -- and to penalize sites that seek to "game" the system with SEO trickery. The recent Penquin 2.0 update, for example, penalized sites that used paid links and other duplicitous SEO practices.  The bottom line is that Google wants your site to focus on quality and content, not just SEO techniques and, as such, an overemphasis on SEO can actually hurt your website's online rankings.
 
True SEO meets customer and prospects needs. True search engine optimation is not about keyword stuffing, buying backlinks, or any other tricks and gimmicks.  True SEO is about answering customer and prospect needs and demands. What are your targeted customers actually searching for? What kinds of information are they seeking?  If you can provide them with the answers they need, Google will reward you for it. If you're too obsessive about flash-in-the-pan SEO techniques, Google will likely leave your site in the dust. Rather than treat Google as an obstacle to overcome, marketers should instead treat Google as an ally -- and that means playing by Google rules, not trying to circumvent them with SEO tricks. The solution is to focus on your core product offerings.
 
Source: Zsolt Bicskey, Business 2 Community
 

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Forgetting To Fish Where The Fish Are






 
 
 
 
Make sure your line is always baited and in the water. In other words, you must have your message in front of customers and prospects on a regular basis. Sporadic advertising efforts that come and go will cause you to miss out on significant chunks of sales opportunity. It's not the case of the big fish that got away; the big fist never new about you. Make sure you're attracting prospects while they are looking which should be every day, 365 days a year.
 
Today, virtually all engineering, technical and industrial buyers use print and online resources throughout their buying processes, including locating suppliers, manufacturers, components and products. That means you must make investments in appropriate media to reach this audience and forge more, and more frequent, connections with customers and prospects.
 
Focusing on lead quantity versus lead quality.
 
More leads! More leads! This may be your strategy, but it's more effective to have a balanced focus on both lead quantitity and lead quality. If marketing focuses lead generation efforts solely on quantity, fewer leads will convert to customers, more sales resources are wasted, and sales people will quickly learn to distrust leads that marketing generates. Ask any sales rep. They will tell you they'd rather have a handful of highly qualified prospects than a suitcase full of unqualified leads.
 
Abandoning brand exposure.
 
Brand exposure is so important, but some companies shove it aside in order to increase emphasis on lead generation. Yet, continually exposing customers and prospects to your brand keeps your compnay top of mind, increases lead generation opportunities and helps reduce sales cycle because prospects will already be familiar with your brand and value proposition.


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Buying Has Changed Forever - Part IV

 
"Stay In Touch" eamail campaigns are useful for all prospects that are not immediately ready to engage with sales. They form the backbone of your lead nurturing program by "dripping' out relevant content to prospects over time, helping to educate them and build trust and credibility for your company. By touching prospects regularly, they help keep your brand top of mind so that the prospect will contact you when they are ready to move to the next step.
 
A good place to start is with the "Buying Committee" -- the group of individuals that will be involved in the purchasing decision. Even at medium size companies (100 - 500 employees) research shows the average number of people involved in a decision is 6.8 -- and the number goes as high as 21 individuals on a buying committee at larger companies. Your nurturing content will need to to speak to each of them and address their unique needs.
 
Most of the people that you speak to at a company will fall under categories related to your marketing efforts, whether they have final say in the purchase or not. The category definitions may include the "Champion," a user with purchasing authority; the influencer, a person without the buying authority but with significant input, such as a consultant or middle manager or user; and the executive staff.
 
People want to do business with people. We're human, and we crave interaction with people who know us. When you build content especially for your buyer personas, you build a relationship with people before you've even met them.
 
 

MY OBJECTIVE:

To share common sense lessons learned with 40-plus years experience in marketing, sales and as a B2B publisher.

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