7 Reasons You Should Be Blogging

Posted on January 27, 2012 by nishajp

As we all know content marketing is a key component to becoming successful. Great content goes a very long way and that’s why so many marketers are putting so much emphasis on it. They have seen the results and know it works! If you are still on the fence about starting a blog for your company then read these 7 reasons why it’s a must for 2012.

  1. It’s a great outlet to show your expertise and become a thought leader. Make sure to do research on topics that your target audience wants to read, write thought provoking posts so more people will comment and share.
  2. It improves SEO rankings. In addition to the key words, meta tags and links on your web pages, the Google rankings are also determined by backlinks for your blogs.
  3. Wise BlogIt’s a fast way to get information out to your clients. Blogs are short, they should be around 3 paragraphs. This is great for people who don’t time to read books, long articles, or newspapers. Become a main resource of information for your customers.
  4. Blogs have the potential to create a unique competitive advantage to drive people to your website and motivate them to listen to you. The most popular blogs such as HufffingtonPost and Mashable create huge momentum.
  5. Blogs encourage feedback from clients. It’s a great place to start conversations on new ideas or products. They do not feel pressured to say the right thing or even respond, so if they do, you know that the customer is very interested in your company and it’s offerings.
  6. It helps boost your overall social media efforts and can lead to an increase in website traffic. Social media marketing is known to push people down a sales funnel. It can start with a Tweet or a posting on Facebook that links to a blog, which can then lead to a website that has the sales pitch.
  7. It’s a great way to announce new products and services your company is going to be offering. As I stated before, blogs encourage feedback and can help create interest and buzz. A video is a great way to do this!

If you know that you need to be blogging, but don’t have the time or resources then contact Wise. We are helping our distributors create and implement successful social media strategies each day!

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5 Principles to Follow for Email Marketing

Posted on January 18, 2012 by nishajp

A big component of inbound marketing is getting permission before sending anything to your target audience. This is especially true with email marketing. If people feel like they are having something forced on them then they are less likely to be receptive. It’s very important to define guidelines at your company and then make sure they are being followed. Below are 5 principles to follow for email marketing that you will want to add to your guidelines.

  1. Always get permission first – Failing to adhere to this is not only a violation of etiquette, it’s a violation of the law. Make sure every contact in your database has opted in to receive email communication from you. And if a contact has only opted in to receive a certain type of communication, such as coupons, don’t add them to other segments of your list.
  2. Email Marketing PrinciplesDon’t spam your email list – You don’t want your target audience to feel like they are being spammed, but you also want to make sure that you are touching each person enough times to stay on top of mind.  You will need to do some testing in this area to see what is right for your target audience.
  3. Don’t make it impossible to unsubscribe - According to CAN-SPAM laws, every email you send needs to provide recipients with an option to unsubscribe. You do not want to rub anyone the wrong way so you should make it as easy for users to unsubscribe as possible. To save potential unsubscribes, offer an option on your opt-out form for them to opt-in to a different type of email communication from you. Also, take this an opportunity to ask them why they are unsubscribing to improve your content.
  4. Scrub your list on a regular basis – Take the time to understand the difference between hard and soft bounces. This can help you maintain a clean email database and execute accurate reporting. Soft bounces indicate only temporary deliverability problems; hard bounces mean permanent deliverability problems in which those emails addresses should be deleted permanently from your database.
  5. Offer a plain text version of your email - There is nothing wrong with making your emails eye-catching by using HTML, but make sure to offer an unformatted, plain text version, as well. Because not all email clients know how to properly render HTML. By offering both options you will enable your target audience to view your email no matter what capabilities they have.

What other principles would you add to this list?

Photo courtesy of flickr

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5 Practices for Better Lead Management

Posted on January 4, 2012 by nishajp

Good lead management means that leads are not getting wasted and they are not getting contacted too early in the sales cycle. In order to have this happen sales and marketing really have to work together. If your lead management is not operating smoothly like you want it to be read these 5 practices below and start incorporating them into your lead management process to help smooth things out.

  1. Lead ManagementDefine what makes a valid lead. What constitutes a junk lead?  Do you only sell to a specific geographic region? Define who these specific people/companies are on paper so that the appropriate person can mark them as such in your database. This will save you a lot of time on wasted efforts.
  2. Adjust form fields to better qualify and distribute leads. How is your sales department divided? Is it by location or industry? Make sure that this is clearly defined so you don’t have your sales team making the wrong calls or visits. Run test on your landing pages to ensure you can capture the information you need to qualify and distribute leads correctly.
  3. Make sure that your sales team keeps an up-to-date database. It’s easy for lead records in your database to get out of date because of the large amount of communications in which your sales team is engaged. Train your sales team to keep records updated after every conversation so you can continue to get meaningful lead data and personalize your communications through the sales cycle.
  4. Make it easy for the sales team to input information into the database. Be specific on what information they need to be getting and what questions they should be asking.
  5. Create a process so that inquiries are handled in a timely manner. Companies that follow up within a few hours are more likely to have a valuable conversation with a key decision maker than if the sales person waits a day or two. Set up alerts to ensure leads with a high quality score are pinged to your sales team.
How have you improved your lead management? What has and has not worked?
Photo courtesy of flickr

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Buyers’ Behaviors Are Changing. . . B2B Marketers Must Adjust

Posted on December 19, 2011 by nishajp

B2B Buyers Behaviors

Changes in buyers’ behaviors are continuing to shift as social, digital and mobile marketing are evolving. B2B companies are finding it hard to find the right mix of strategies and tactics to implement. Below we are going to review a few of the changes that are currently taking place and how B2B companies can adjust their marketing efforts accordingly.

Buyers Want Relevant and Intelligent Information, Not Tons of Content

A big issue that a lot of buyers are having is the large amounts of information they are receiving.  Buyers are essentially being forced to be more selective and to get rid of what they think is non-relevant content.  They are making the perception of non-relevance within a few moments.  Due to this B2B Marketers must focus on standing out and offering relevant and intelligent information that buyer’s want and not just pushing out messaging content.

Buyers Want Humanized Buyer Experiences

Many B2B buying experiences still feel, look, and are acted out in very transactional ways. Buyers are not settling for anything less. They don’t care to speak with an automated system or purchase items through a web portal, they want the human interaction.  They do not want to feel like you really care about their business and are not just in it for the sell.  B2B Marketers need to focus on how to make humanized buyer experiences happen in this digital world.  Service is more important than ever now!

You’re selling to a network, not just one person anymore. 

Social technologies are allowing B2B buyers to expand not only their social network but also their collaborating network.  While we have been conditioned over decades to focus on a single target buyer, we are beginning to see that this will no longer work for B2B Marketers. Buyers are less and less representing themselves or behaving as individual buyers but more and more as a buyer network.  B2B Marketers need to get informed about what buyer ecosystems and buyer networks exist for their correlating industries.

Without a doubt there is a lot to think about for 2012. Is your old strategy going to cut it for the new changes in buying behaviors? It’s better to take a detailed look at this now before investing a lot of time and money into tactics that are no longer going to work. How has your marketing plan changed from last years?

Photo courtesy of flickr

Filed under: Integrated Marketing | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

3 Key Tactics To Having A Successful Blog

Posted on December 8, 2011 by nishajp

Many of the same tactics apply to optimizing a blog for search as for optimizing your company website. The difference is a blog presents additional opportunities for search optimization beyond what your company website offers. It’s a great way to gain exposure for your company and rank higher on search engines. Below are 3 tactics to help your blog increase your overall web presence and rank higher on topic related searches.

Creating keyword rich categories. The great thing about creating blogs is that you are not limited to the amount of categories you have. Create category tags that will be meaningful and useful to both human readers and search engine spiders. Make sure the name is descriptive so people visiting your blog for the first time can navigate through it easily. And for the most part only put post in one category. You don’t want the reader clicking on every category and finding the same post over.

Successful Blogs

Having clean code is essential. Google and many other search engines reward sites that have fast loading time. Make sure to find abide by the best practices guidelines for HTML and coding to ensure higher rankings. And if you are not familiar with html and coding, no worries, most the leading blog platforms handle it for you. I recommend using WordPress or Blogger and paid platform such as HubSpot are also search friendly.

Sharing Your Content. Share your content on your social media platforms, such as, Twitter and LinkedIn. The more links to your blog, the better for your rankings. Google tracks social signals as measures of the quality and authority of a blog. So while sharing your own content provides some SEO benefit, it’s very important to build a network of authoritative people in your industry that will share your content as well. Another way to gain exposure for you blog is to add social media badges to your blog that encourage readers to share you content. The easier it is for users, the more likely they are to do it. You can also post comments with backlinks to gain exposure as well.

One of the most important things to remember is to be patient and persistent. It takes time and consistent writing for your blog to gain credibility and start showing up higher in search rankings. What other tactics would you add?

Photo courtesy of flickr

Filed under: Search Engine Optimization | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

3 Tactics to Take Your B2B Selling Social

Posted on November 28, 2011 by nishajp

The core of the sales process, building trust and cultivating relationships, always remain the same. What’s changing are the tactics, so it’s important to start learning them now. More people are going online and on social media platforms to do research about companies and their products. You can adapt to these new changes in B2B selling by learning these tactics below to help you will selling.

  1. B2B Social Media SalesConnect with your target audience through LinkedIn and Twitter – First make sure to fill out your profile completely! Nothing turns people off more than when a profile isn’t completed. Second, connect to your closest relationships first, adding a thoughtful and contact specific note in the invitation. Then as you get more comfortable with the platform invite contacts to connect with after your first meaningful conversation. I also suggest using Twitter because this give your target audience a chance to see how you interact in a more laid back setting by your tone or what you share.
  2. Use social platforms as listening tools –  Listening to posts on such platforms like LinkedIn Groups from employees at your target customers and prospects can surface customer needs and sales opportunities. People can easily do this on their own, but to reap the most benefits companies can help automate and prioritize the most important information.
  3. Build trust through social media platforms – You can start building trust by sharing important updates in your industry or liking other people’s post. The subject matter should be educational and informative with no trace of a sales pitch. This is also a great way to stay on top of mind of you target audience. When you write interesting post consistently, they will start naturally gravitating to your page for that type of information which also helps with the trust factor.

Social media is a great tool for sales reps to gain exposure and new prospects without having to spend a lot of money. At first, this may take up a good bit of time, but as you get used to using the platforms and doing research, time will not be a problem. What other tactics would you add to the ones above?

 

Photo courtesy of flickr

 

 

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Tweeting For Businesses

Posted on November 17, 2011 by nishajp

Have you been thinking about getting on Twitter for your business? Some of the things you will want to consider is are you current clients, prospects and other industry leaders on Twitter? You want to make sure that you are using your efforts wisely. All social media platforms are not for every business. It’s best to do the research in advance before making the commitment.  If you know that you need to be on Twitter, but not sure what to do below are some ways that you can use Twitter to help your business:

  • Twitter for BusinessesTrade Show Marketing – Twitter is a great tool to drive offline interactions and increase traffic to your booth.  Use the conference hashtag in your tweets and promote offline gatherings and contests.
  • Customer Service – This is a great way to answer quick questions that customers have especially when they don’t have time to call in and wait on the phone.  Many companies including Comcast and American Airlines have been able to effectively use Twitter for answer customer concerns.
  • Building an Email Marketing List – Email marketing is still a major player in integrated marketing. Make sure you have information on your Twitter profile about how people can join your email list to continue getting more detailed information on your company and industry.
  • Understanding Trends – If you are a local or regional business it can be important to understand what is hot and top of mind in your area. You can use this information to come up with creative promotions and offers. Twitter’s local trending topics can provide interesting insight on what is creating the most buzz.
  •  Business Development – Business development is often about networking and building on those connections.  Twitter can help you get in contact with decision makers in certain companies in a laid back situation so they are more likely to interact.

As you can see Twitter is very beneficial in many ways such as doing research, promoting events, gaining new leads, and learning industry trends. Have you started your social media marketing efforts? If so, what platforms are you finding most useful?

 

Photo courtesy of flickr

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Tips for Creating a Website to Increase Conversion Rates

Posted on November 9, 2011 by nishajp

Many companies are very clever with their website designs and can easily grab their target audience’s attention right off the bat. But the hard part is keeping their attention. People are very busy so they want to know how a product can meet their needs, solve their problem or how they can get the product/service cheaper. Below are some key tips for not only grabbing your audience’s attention, but keeping their attention so you can have higher conversion rates.

  • Website DesignMake your website very user friendly. Do not use bright colors and fonts that will make people’s eyes strain. Keep it clean. Avoid using long paragraphs because no one is going to sit there and read them. Instead use bullet points and break up content with photos and videos. And put the most important information at the top.
  • Make content easy to find. A link that reads, “click here” doesn’t give your viewer much information. Instead, you should be clear and describe the destination within the text of your link. For example, a link that reads “Learn more about . . . ” works much better.
  • Always provide brief description when you have a video or photo being displayed. Everyone may not be able to view videos or photos depending on their browser, so it’s good to have a small description to ensure that they didn’t miss any important information and keep the viewer from getting frustrated.
  • Provide navigation at the top of each page so your viewer can easily go back to the homepage or jump to a specific product when they want to.
  • Make sure to provide contact information and make it easily accessible for the user. This will help prevent any new leads from getting lost.

As you can see there are many little things that must be reviewed. One of the best tactics is to have someone that has never seen your website to provide feedback. This is a great way to hear what your potential visitors may think when they view your site for the first time.  What other tactics do you have to add?

Photo courtesy of flickr

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Wise is RxPad approved in both Georgia and Florida!

Posted on November 3, 2011 by nishajp

Wise is very proud to announce hat it  is an approved manufacturer of prescription pad products with the Florida Department of Health, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy.

Prescription PadsFor Florida, effective July 1, 2011, Florida Statutes requires licensed healthcare practitioners purchase counterfeit-proof prescription blanks from vendors approved by the Florida Department of Health.

For Georgia, effective October 1, 2011, manufacturers of secure prescription pads must obtain approval from the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy and the approved scripts must include the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy’s seal of approval.

Wise surpasses all three characteristic categories required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with standard security features including void pantograph, heat sensitive Rx symbol, artificial watermark, blue or green background, a listing of all security features on back, reverse Rx, micro-printing, chemical reactive paper, toner adhesion coating, and the Georgia seal of approval.

For more information, please call 888-815-9473

 

 

Photo courtesy of flickr

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Tips for Educating Your Executive Team on Social Media

Posted on October 26, 2011 by nishajp

Social media can seem very overwhelming to someone who is not familiar with any of the platforms and how they work. Just likes it important to teach a new employee your company’s policies, it’s important to teach executives how to use these social media platforms as your company gets more involved. The best way to start is sitting with them and signing them up on each platform. Make sure to go through all the things they need to fill out and then check back with them after a while to see if it’s done. As you go through each platform explain the main purpose of each platform, the tone of communication that’s appropriate for that specific platform and types of content that pertain to it. Below are some other very helpful tips for educating your executive team on social media:

▪   Teaching Execs Social MediaShow them how to listen. Teach them what to look for and who they should be listening to. Show them how they can do research on various platforms. For example, on Twitter you can search for keywords that relate to your industry and on LinkedIn you can go to the Questions&Answer section for insight.

▪   Give them solid examples of the type of content they should be posting daily. A good idea is to create a list of generic posts that they refer to and put into their own words incase they get stuck one day. And make sure to go over things not to post as well.

▪   Communicate the importance of their involvement and show them how it actually affects your social media efforts when executives participate. I’ve seen companies state that their overall messages, likes and comments increased anywhere from 29% to 49% once their executive members got involved.

Executives have a lot on their plate so social media is probably not going to be on top of their priority list, so make sure to set goals for them that are attainable. Like posting 2-3 times per week opposed to everyday. And show them tools like Hootsuite, so they can make updates from the mobile devices and schedule them in advance. Are your executives currently involved in social media?

 

Photo courtesy of flickr

Filed under: Social Media | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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