With brick and mortar stores, it’s easy. If a customer comes in and makes a purchase, that’s a sale. While ultimately that’s still the goal, the process of getting to the sale is much more involved now than simply putting an ad in the Yellow Pages. With all the new ways to spread the word, how do you know you’re improving conversion rates from interest to sale and having an impact?

One of the best ways is to track your communication, ideally through an employee working in social media monitoring productivity. Metrics like how many questions have you received through your channels, how many positive/negative interactions have you had and how many thank you’s have you received are valuable, as is how those interactions have grown or changed over time. These twitter tactics and Facebook practices show that you care about your user/customer base.

As well, utilizing link, shortening services such as bit.ly or tinyurl allow you to track the number of clicks over time as well as the source of those links (and where they’ve been shared,) allowing you to track how your customers interact with each other.

So how does this translate to your business growth? It’s all about what people are saying, and if your business is a positive contributor to the social media world (marketing on twitter or Facebook) and considerate of the way your customers access you, word of mouth will take over on its own.

Lou Perseghin lives in Providence, RI and works for a non-profit managing volunteers, recruiting members and handling marketing efforts.

Image from sbsearchmarketing.com

(Little did I know that years later this would become content for blogs.)

That’s who you had in mind when you started your business, isn’t it? But it’s amazing how that simple but essential concept—doing what’s best for the customer—can be lost, especially as a company grows. Are your business practices actually hampering your ability to serve your clients/customers/readers?  Are you so focused on impressing the board, your colleagues, or even yourself that you’ve lost sight of the end recipient? Seth Godin tackled this subject in a great and typically succinct blog post last month:

Every campaign that I’ve ever seen fail has failed for precisely the same reason: it pleases the wrong person. Think about it… it wouldn’t have launched if it hadn’t pleased the boss or the client, right? Pleasing the wrong person meant failure.

If you’re in marketing, will your marketing content dazzle your customers as much as your colleagues?  Think about the customer and how they will respond. If you’re designing a product, don’t get so caught up in ground-breaking innovation that doesn’t actually benefit the consumer in the slightest.  Joe Pulizzi also addressed this issue in June, asking “Whose Business Are You Developing?” Your services should be developing your customer’s business. That is your endpoint. Your own business will grow as a result of concentrated efforts to really help your client.

In theory, content marketing is all about serving the customer. It means giving your consumers something of value, particularly information, in order to pique interest and gain trust. But when drawing up ideas for your content, whether you’re hiring freelance writers or a marketing agency,  make sure your ideas are based on what your  customers will want to see.

It may sound idealistic and oversimplified, but the root of all commerce really is the consumer. Paying attention to the little guy and making sure that he is satisfied is what will ensure your success. Especially now, with so many tools available for each individual to broadcast their opinions to the world, it is even more important to make sure you keep your consumers in mind. What do they need? How will they respond to whatever changes you have implemented?

Nicola Fairhead is an ideaLaunch editorial intern with a ferocious appetite for writing, editing, and consuming content.  She has quickly become a content marketing evangelist.

Image courtesy of http://www.branchesoflancaster.co.uk/images/newimages/red%20%20tape.gif

Last weekend, I witnessed an astonishing thing. Concrete personal benefit as a direct result of my social networking efforts.  The Creator’s Project, “a new network dedicated to the celebration of creativity and culture across media,” held a competition on its facebook page. Whoever could accrue the most “likes” on a single post would win two tickets to the Creator’s Project official launch in New York, featuring musical performances, films, and art exhibits.  Simple.  A friend of mine dutifully wrote a post, then sent a facebook message to a limited circle of friends with an emotive and humorous back story, a link, and a simple request.

Not a bad start, but not a great one either.  And definitely not enough to secure a win. Your main base of friends/readers/customers/what have you can be your greatest promotional asset. Don’t be afraid to appeal to them, albeit sparingly. Luckily I didn’t need to be asked—the content marketing deviant in me immediately came to life. Surely this was the perfect opportunity to use social networking as a marketing tool? After a solid hour’s effort, I solicited a large fraction of my friends list, with five separate drafts tailored to different audiences within my network.

Making a demand of the network you’ve spent so long cultivating can be a delicate process. Keep these key points in mind when you start drafting:

• Make it personal. No one wants to be bullied by a robot.
• Provide some back story so your readers know what they are supporting. But don’t drag it out.
• Acknowledge that you are asking something of them.
• State your gratitude along with any benefits they could receive.
• Humor helps, but make sure to be sincere.

While my recruitment rate was less than 50%, that in addition to my friend’s previous efforts was enough to secure two tickets to the Creators Project’s New York event.  And there you have it! Concrete results.

In this case I made a request based on my confidence in existing relationships.  And that is why you’ve spent so much time cultivating your company’s online persona. You too are developing relationships that you can one day call upon. Provide support for your target market.  Return their comments. Show that you care about their input. If you have really taken the time to invest in solid content marketing that actually provides a service for your readers, you may find that they’ll be willing to champion your cause when the time comes. Then when you really need them, go ahead and make the ask.

But the real winner in this story, of course, is the Creators’ Project. I can pat myself on the back all I want, but by offering even the mere chance of something truly phenomenal, they got me to do their work for them. The Creator’s Project facebook page is gaining fans daily by transforming existing followers into active recruiters.  Have you offered your readers something spectacular lately?

Nicola Fairhead is an ideaLaunch editorial intern with a ferocious appetite for writing, editing, and consuming content.  She has quickly become a content marketing evangelist.

Image courtesy of http://andpluckyourstrings.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/man_loudspeaker.jpg

In the world of blog marketing, people link to your content, not websites. Those few friends who read your blog are your most valuable asset, your first link to driving traffic inbound. Linking your existing social networks is the best way to employ this established group, but you’ll need to do some work on your end.

According to web information company Alexa, Facebook is the second most visited website in the world. Adding a ‘Like’ button to your posts is an unobtrusive way to promote your blog downstream to the networks of your friends. Having friends share your links in this way will bring a new audience to your site; it’s up to you to give the content to keep them coming back and, ideally, sharing your posts with their own networks.

Another quick and easy way to get the word out is to see who’s ‘Liking’ your content and engaging them. Saying thank you and promoting their site through your own network goes a long way in building a base of readership.

Two simple changes can help you steadily build a base of readership for your blog, but it’s up to you to offer them a reason to keep coming back!

Lou Perseghin lives in Providence, RI and works for a non-profit managing volunteers, recruiting members and handling marketing efforts.

Image from glamtings.files.wordpress.com

Proper Preparation

1. Find out what keywords search engines rank your current site and copy for by using the Google keyword tool.
2. Choose a small number of keywords to target with each page’s website content. This will help the search engines send the best traffic to your site based on exactly the information each page offers.
3. Decide if the new website copy will be linked to in copy that already exists. Often new website content is written to expand on something that is written about on an existing page. When this is the case be sure to know the exact keyword phrase to be linked so it can be properly incorporated into the keyword strategy.

Making it Happen

1. Start by looking over the keywords and phrases that the website copy will target. Double check the tense and part of speech of the specific phrase to make sure that they will easily be incorporated into the same website content.
2. Don’t overuse the keyword phrases. One on the most common mistakes is to attempt to include the targeted keyword phrases as many times as possible in the content. Keywords should make sense in context and should not stand out to the user who is reading the copy. As a rule of thumb the keyword should appear once in the first paragraph and one to three other times in the page, depending on the length of the copy.
3. Remember the goal of the copy. Writing only for the search engines can hinder the user’s experience.

Jennifer Gniadecki loves to write. You can find her on any given day writing lists, blog posts, articles, assignments, outlines or fleshing out story ideas on her laptop.

Image from victorywebproductions.com

If you hire an outside content marketing agency to supply articles and blog posts for your website, these tips will help you evaluate writers, so you know you’re getting website content that works.

1. Avoid jargon. Emphasize keywords in your website content, but avoid jargon exclusive to your industry. Customers and prospects visiting your site may not understand what you mean. Speak in plain language.
2. Avoid buzzwords and catch phrases. Buzzwords can make your writing sound dated. Even though tweets on Twitter have a half life of just a few minutes, website content attracts visitors for years after it’s written. When “perfect storm” or “stimulus” or “guru” has fallen out of vogue, your words will continue to haunt you on the site and in Google searches forevermore. There’s another good reason to substitute a buzz word with a more specific phrase, highlighted in this article: Your audience tunes it out. You can do better than the word of the minute. Be creative. Coin your own catch phrase, wait for it to go viral, and eventually, turn into a cliche. You can do it. Just think outside the box. (Kidding!)
3. Write about benefits. Benefit-oriented writing—especially in your headlines, but throughout the copy, too—sells your product or service in a subtle way. Don’t save the marketing for sales-specific pages. Keep reminding people what your product or service can do for them. Good website content doesn’t take a break from soft-selling.

Dawn Allcot is a full-time freelance writer and blogger. She frequently writes about technology, business, parenting and paintball.

Image from walyou.com

Are you trying to improve conversion rates from your landing pages? Here are three mistakes could be costing you visitors and sales.

Landing Page Optimization: 3 Mistakes To Avoid

1. Don’t dazzle me with automation. Most web users hate to feel like they have lost control of their browser. Avoid too many flash intros, auto play music or dancing, flashing graphics. The most common response to over the top web special effects is for visitors to immediately close their browsers in order to regain control.
2. Don’t ask me for too much information. Lengthy registration forms can kill the conversion rates of your landing pages. Some experts estimate that you lose 30% of your respondents for every registration field you ask visitors to complete. Stick with the minimum requirements you need to effectively communicate with your potential customer going forward.
3. Don’t end the conversation abruptly. Once I’ve filled out your registration form, will I find myself on a simple “Thank you for registering” page, or will you give me the option to go further? Provide me with links to more information or invite me to download a free eBook. Maybe I can follow you on Twitter or become a fan of your Facebook page. Whatever you do, don’t be the one to hang up first.

Landing page optimization should be focused on simple design, while always considering a possible next call to action for your visitors.  Most important, always be testing!

Britt Reints is a freelance writer living in Orlando, Florida. She is leading a statewide crusade against auto play music.

Image from webbuildinginfo.com

In today’s social media landscape, conversation is a two-way street. Well, by definition, conversation always refers to interaction between two (or more) people. But too many bloggers and content writers forget this important rule, thinking they can talk at their customers—instead of “with” them—and still achieve the results they desire.

There are a number of ways to open a dialogue with your website visitors through the content you provide.

Widgets—Widgets give readers an opportunity to stay up-to-date on important changes to your website, industry news, and other topics they may not want to miss by means of an RSS feed. Set up widgets that let your customers add your site to their RSS, XML or iFrame feeds so they don’t forget about you.

Newsletters—Weekly newsletters delivered to your customers’ email box is yet another way to reach out. Provide brief articles with a link to your website for more details.

Mailbag / Letters—Let readers email you with questions relevant to your industry and answer them in your newsletter or on your website.

We love Betty White's appearance in this year's Super Bowl ads!

Most people really don’t care for advertisements and blatant marketing pitches. The popularity of the Tivo is evidence of that. However, each year, people who have zero interest in football gather around the television – to watch the ads.

Why is this? Because the cost of a spot during the Super Bowl is so expensive, advertisers pull out their big guns to make their commercial truly worth it: Memorable, entertaining, surprising, uplifting – even controversial – and all in 30-second, 45-second and 1-minutes bites. In case you missed them, you can take a look at all the 2010 Super Bowl ads on Creativity Online (oh, and New Orleans won by the way).

It goes to show you that if you can give value to people and entertain them, which is the whole premise behind content marketing, people don’t mind the sales pitch that comes with it. We also learn from the Super Bowl ad phenomenon that prioritizing the audience and what they get out of your marketing effort makes a big difference in your final product (be it an ad, a blog post or another content marketing tactic). Compare one of the Super Bowl XLIV spots to a non-Super Bowl ad of the same company. Which one is primarily about your entertainment and which one is primarily about product features? Which one shows the most creativity and which one features predictable (even cliched) writing? By simply setting a different audience-driven goal the outcome is better.

Think about this when you’re developing your content marketing. Are you thinking about whether your audience, readers or customers are truly getting anything out of your work? Is it unique? Is it something people will want to talk about and share with others? It’s a big task, so consider contracting a content marketing company or hiring a freelance writer to help you achieve something truly buzz-worthy.