79% of the United States population has a social media profile. I really don’t even need to go further. I could end the post right here with this statistic. If 79% of the population is somewhere, do you want your business to be there? If you answered "yes," then your business, no matter the industry, should use social media. Simply being present and intentionally representing your brand, on a platform which 79% of the population lives, is beneficial. A strategic social media strategy can also play a major role in the success of your inbound marketing strategy.

How your business can successfully use social media is an entirely different conversation. Some industries have really seen obvious success on social media. To name a few: restaurants, retail, real estate, entertainment and fashion. Many of these industries have a visual product, yet all of them still require informative content to be effective. Yes, some industries are more effective than others with social media marketing, but with intentionality, effort, and commitment, any company, in any industry, can benefit from social media marketing.

I hear a lot of people in marketing and business development that tell me that they "blog." But I want to know what they are doing with their blog... are they getting results from their blog or just wasting time to say they "blog" with no proof of success? Do they even know? Or... do they even want to know?

Did you know that businesses that document their strategies receive a 538% greater chance of succeeding in their efforts? No, that wasn't a typo. When everyone in your organization understands how they should be performing, where their weaknesses and strengths are, and why the business is proceeding the way it is, it becomes easier for everyone to work as a cohesive team and to reach business goals... no matter what department you're in. 

A part of creating solid documentation for a strategy is KPIs, or key performance indicators. These data points paint a clear picture of how the organization performs and how they should move forward. They are typically created in associate with a larger goal. For instance, the goal might be $20 million in revenue but the KPIs to track ongoing performance toward that goal might be monthly retention of clients, number of proposals presented each week, size of proposals, or leads generated from a specific marketing campaign. 

In the past, I've written about how a company's employees are one of the most valuable resources when it comes to the marketing efforts, and today I'm sharing a few ways that employees can supplement and support the marketing strategy to help drive better results.

We hear this a LOT. You regularly look at your website. You know how to navigate it. You update it when information changes or needs updating, but is it actually effective? Is your website doing its job? Does it represent your brand? Is it converting? What traffic are you seeing? What ROI are you seeing?

These are questions you should be asking to determine the effectiveness of your website. It’s time to stop thinking of how you see your website and time to start thinking of how your prospects experience your website. 

Marketing analytics can be overwhelming enough without having to translate the different terms included in your marketing reports. Understanding the terminology can be essential to ensuring you understand the results of your marketing efforts.

After looking over your marketing analytics, do you feel like you leave with more questions? You are not alone — our team of consultants are regularly asked to explain the difference between a bounce rate and an exit rate, and explain why the bounce rate matters.

The first quarter of the year flew by, and many are reviewing their Q1 marketing efforts. So how did you do? Are your marketing efforts paying off? How about those KPIs?

For those of you searching for some ways to improve your marketing efforts moving into the second quarter and the rest of the year, here are three tips to implement in your quarterly reviews to increase the success of your marketing campaigns moving forward.

Today’s economic indicators seem to be positive. Unemployment rates are down. GDP numbers are up. And it seems that more and more companies are meeting, and even exceeding, their revenue growth objectives. Favorable economic conditions are always welcome, but we all know that success just doesn’t happen. It takes hard work and preparation from a lot of people to grow a business.

Preparation can take a lot of different forms – hiring, training, building out processes, and leveraging new technology. Proper preparation also requires that we re-evaluate our infrastructure. Do we have the essential elements in place in which to build upon? Our houses have infrastructure – foundation, plumbing, electrical, heating, and air conditioning, etc. Our marketing has required infrastructure as well. Below is a list of the basic marketing infrastructure elements critical to growing a company.

Governments repair and build roads. Utility companies run new transmission lines and fiber optics. And at home, we attach rain gutters to our houses and add-on new rooms. These are all examples of enhancing infrastructure. Even at work, we get new computers, new phones, and new desk chairs. Those too are infrastructure upgrades. 

Sales and marketing organizations have infrastructures as well.  Websites, sales collateral, CRM, marketing automation, and email are all examples of marketing infrastructure basics. How often does your firm evaluate the status of your marketing infrastructure? Do you have everything you need? What are you missing? Is everything working as it should? Like any infrastructure (roads, bridges, roofs, plumbing, etc.), a marketing infrastructure can become less effective if it’s neglected. And a neglected marketing infrastructure will eventually lead to ineffective marketing plans and missed revenue targets.

When you invest in a new effort like inbound marketing at your company, or you enter into a partnership with a marketing agency, everyone expects to get results. No one does marketing for marketing’s sake. We want to establish our brand, build an audience, convert leads, grow a pipeline, accelerate deals through the funnel, and ultimately grow revenue. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Instead of experiencing the euphoria that comes with achieving goals, you suffer the frustration of unfulfilled potential.