With the uproar over last week’s EU Referendum, in which the U.K. opted to leave the European Union, lots has happened: Donald Trump released yet another controversial tweet, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron tendered his resignation, Scotland threatened to make another bid for independence and other countries have threatened to leave the EU.
Publishers worldwide have covered the topic from nearly every angle, thus creating another story in itself: Outlets rely on nontraditional formats to win the public’s attention in an overwhelming sea of information and content. There is no surprise there, considering the fact that a recent study found that interactive content formats demand more attention than non-interactive ones.
In the midst of such a controversial topic that seized worldwide attention and triggered strong emotional responses, these five publishers understood that it was necessary to speak with their readers, not at them.
Fortune asked its audience via a poll: “Should it Brexit or Bremain?” The item, published before the vote, presented a list of pre-referendum arguments and asked readers to read through, and then come to their own conclusion before casting their vote. Interestingly enough, the results differed from those of the real vote, showing that the majority of those who interacted with the poll voted to remain in the EU.
The Telegraph opted for a swiper format to gauge its audience’s take on the topic. This item made it easy for readers to cast their opinion, on which speakers performed well during BBC’s Brexit-focused debate, resulting in 184,000 views.
Lifestyle and fitness publication Men’s Health used a trivia quiz to apply a health-conscious approach to the matter. In an item asking, “Is the EU Good for Your Health?,” the editorial team successfully educated its readers about the EU’s influence on day-to-day well being concerns.
U.K. publication The Tab chose to take the humoristic route, asking their audience, “What’s Your Brexit Strategy?.” The outlet employed a personality quiz that included light-hearted questions such as, “How long would you survive in the wild?,” and results such as, “Live on a fishing boat in the North Sea.” The humour reflected the mood of the nation and impressed The Tab’s readers, garnering an 89 percent completion rate and an average of 2.5 minutes spent on page.
Last but not least, The Huffington Post employed a chat-like format to break down the untruths contained within a flyer campaigning to leave the EU. The conversation, which took a comedic approach similar to that of The Tab’s item, pinned reason and sanity against a right-wing party in the U.K. to point out the hilarity of the document.
The above showcases that pairing good content with the right medium– in this case a format–is the catalyst for compelling content readers crave. Outlets that opt to employ interactive content formats and transform their sites into platforms in which readers can voice their opinions will undoubtedly earn the vote of their audiences.
Psychological barriers routinely put chains around workplace creativity, stalling both projects and careers. To unlock your innovation, recognise these three most common hurdles and apply the easy fixes.
conformity
If you’re a conformist at work, you say and do what you think others expect you to do and say, aligning your beliefs, attitudes and behaviours with current norms. Honesty is difficult and, subsequently, so is building the trust you need to share your original ideas.
Fixes:
Ask your boss for some independent projects.
Ask questions, especially “Why…?”
Use phrases such as “I think…”, “In my opinion…” and “I would…” to remind yourself to speak with independence.
Spend time with those from other cultures to see what others do and believe.
fear of judgement/looking like a fool
Lower-level workers often fear being judged during the creative process because they don’t want to lose the chance for perks or promotions; upper-level workers don’t want to destroy the reputation they’ve built. If you fear being judged, you probably feel nervous when you have to show your work or are asked for your opinion. You also might think things like “If I do X, they’ll…” or “I don’t want them to…”
Fixes:Tell yourself “They’re on my side.”Make a list of your well-received ideas or products to remind yourself others have judged you positively and that rejection isn’t guaranteed.If you have a negative reaction to others’ work, challenge yourself to identify the root of that reaction. Then come up with something positive about the concept. The less you judge others negatively, the less you’ll expect others to judge you negatively, too.
ready acceptance of the obvious
Obvious solutions usually are easy to come up with, but they tend to be creative wastelands. Acceptance of the obvious likely is a problem for you if don’t come up with multiple options or jump to get to work without questioning what you were told to do.
Fixes:Set aside your initial idea for 24 hours to give yourself time to think of other options and avoid selection based on hot emotional reaction.Practise combining opposites.Take classes, research and read so you’re more aware of alternatives.
the creativity is there — claim it!
Most employees–including you–have creativity inside. They just need to free it. Doing this involves changing habits, which can take time and get you out of your comfort zone. The good news is, anybody can use the strategies outlined here. Recruit your coworkers and even your boss to support you, and encourage them to challenge conformity, fear of judgement and ready acceptance of the obvious, too!
Different social networks have different user bases — even the major ones. For example, 72% of adult internet users are on Facebook, while only 25% are on LinkedIn, according to Pew Research Center. Each of those networks attract users for different reasons, and cater to different user behaviour.Just because a network is hot right now, doesn’t mean you should be using it. The key is to figure out where your personas are engaging on social media and figure out a strategy for connecting with them there. (Don’t have personas yet? Check out our persona templates to get started.)Note: Keep in mind that the personas you’re targeting might differ between departments. For example, your recruiting department may be looking to engage with different folks than your marketing department.
2. will this account fill a need that is different from one of my other accounts?
If you have a social channel for your company already, you likely already have an audience that’s interested in receiving your content and updates. Congrats, that’s hard work.When you start a new account, you are building that audience all over. Don’t do the work for nothing. Unless there is specific content that your audience cannot receive in the original area, or there is a need to serve a new user base, there might not be reason enough to create another account.In other words, don’t create a need for a new segment if it isn’t already there. Creating a new account should be to drive a business need, not to create one from scratch.
3. do i have the time required to build an account
If you are going to have a handle represent your brand it is important for that handle to be meeting the expectations of the customers. Most commonly that means building a sizeable following and consistently posting to the account. Otherwise, the handle can look inconsistent with your other handles — or worse, dormant.That being said, it takes time to build and publish to a new account (multiple hours a week for several weeks). This is a laborious process that requires a big time commitment in order to be successful. Before committing to your new account, take a look at the calendar and see what your team can realistically handle.
4. do i have the time required to monitor the account?
This is the one that surprises most people. When you open up a direct channel of communication, your audience will use it. Being able to monitor an account is imperative for a good brand experience. This expectation of service can be great if you’re looking to start a support account, but trickier if your account has primarily a marketing function.Keep in mind that expectations will be different depending on the network you’re considering. On Twitter, 70% of surveyed users expect a response from brands, and 53% want that response in under an hour. Brands that don’t respond actually hurt their brand reputation. Facebook is also encouraging faster responses by giving brands who respond to 90% of messages within 5 minutes a “very responsive” icon on their pages.While you may have a slightly longer grace period for brand comments (like on Facebook or Instagram), when people are reaching out to you directly on an account, they are doing it because they want a rapid response.Check out this handy guide to learn how to monitor your social media effectively.
5. what is the plan for content planning/creating?
This may be the most time-consuming part of your social strategy, but some (myself included) would say it’s the most important. Content is what will keep your social channel front of mind, and it’s also what will bring in the views, interactions, and leads. Suffice to say, when creating a channel you should have a plan for sustained content creation.When thinking about your new social channel, consider where you will be getting the material and how you’ll be able to sustain this to create multiple posts a week. Remember, this content should also serve a unique function from your existing accounts.
6. how many posts/week am i able to commit to this account?
Posting consistency is key. Once you have a content plan, be sure that you’re able to keep up a consistent posting schedule as well. After all, your accounts aren’t doing much for you if you’re not posting from them. Dormant accounts also can give off the impression that you don’t care, or can’t commit to brand followers.Exactly how often you post is dependent on network and industry, but you should plan to have at least 1-2 Facebook posts a week, and 4-5 on Twitter (if not more). For some of the quieter networks with less links to click (think: Snapchat, Instagram, etc.), you can manage posting a couple of times a month, rather than weekly.Need help figuring out a posting schedule? Check out our templates.
7. do i have budget to help build/scale this account?
Money talks on social media. This is an unfortunate truth we are seeing more and more often. While you don’t really need budget to build out an account, a little spend can go a long way for boosting posts or putting yourself in front of new followers — especially on algorithm-dependent networks such as Facebook.If you choose to put your money behind advertising in social, watch it carefully. Define goals beforehand, and put it into a network that is really worthwhile for you. Each network has a slightly different way of handling paid advertising. For more on how to navigate paid social advertising, check out this free guide or click on any of the respective links below:
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Snapchat
(Note: Snapchat ads can be quite expensive. You may want to consider an on-demandgeofilter instead).
8. what is the goal of this account? how will i know if it’s successful?
When you’re launching any initiative it’s important to know what value it will bring you, how you know you should double down on your efforts, or when you may want to cut and run.Whether your success is measured in leads, applicants, or share of voice, knowing your goals can help you prioritize your time and report your wins back to your team more effectively.
9. why is time spent on this social account more valuable than time spent doing other marketing activities?
If you’re feeling good about the questions above, you’ve hopefully determined that creating a new social account will take you a healthy (but totally worthwhile) amount of time. Now you have to ask yourself: Am I best spending my time creating content for this specific channel, or should I consider other marketing tactics (running experiments, optimizing emails, hosting events, etc.)?At the end of the day, it comes down to you and your team. Specifically, to whether or not you can create and sustain a new account to a degree that feels worthwhile to your company. If these questions have you planning a run for the hills, perhaps a new account is not the right fit. At least not right now. On the other hand, if they have you feeling excited about the content you’ll post with this account, or the goals you’ll be trying to hit, sounds like you have some creating to do.
FREE Limerick & Cork Events:
Sales & Marketing Workshop
Where: Savoy Hotel, LimerickWhen: June 21st 2016Time: 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Where: Rochestown Park Hotel, CorkWhen: June 29th 2016Time: 9.30am – 11.30am
You know the feeling when you search for something on the internet, then click on a “related article” or other link … and before you know it, you’ve charted the entire Russian Revolution?
Yeah … I’ll be the first to admit it: I do this a lot. It’s a dangerous side effect of having a job that requires internet research. It’s one thing to mindlessly browse the web outside of work or when you’re on a break. (In fact, I have a great list of the best sites for wasting time on the internet for times like those.) But it’s another entirely when you’re supposed to be doing actual work.
You might feel like getting lost in the black hole is inevitable, but there are tools out there that can help you prevent it from happening. For example, StayFocusd is a Google Chrome extension that breaks the black hole browsing cycle by blocking distracting websites after a set amount of time. You have a set amount of time to browse a certain website per day, and after that time expires, you’ll get this message in your browser:
8. working through your lunch break
Eating at your desk doesn’t just make you antisocial. According to NPR, it’s also “bad for thinking, bad for creativity, bad for productivity, [and] bad for your body.” Sadly, though,only one in five people actually leave their desks or the office for a lunch break.
To be fair, if you’re among those people who take lunch at your desk instead of taking a break, it may not be your fault. Perhaps it’s not built into your office culture, or maybe you have a deadline that’s pressuring you to squeeze every waking moment out of your day.
But research shows taking the midday break can be mentally rejuvenating — and, in many ways, more productive than plugging away at your desk between mouthfuls. The best way to take a lunch break is to remove yourself from your desk or workspace and eat somewhere else — like a cafeteria, restaurant, or public park. Better yet, build your network at work by eating with a colleague. (Here are some more ideas for what to do during your lunch break. My favorite is probably “build a helicopter obstacle course.”)
9. not listening. (like, really listening.)
One of the sad consequences of being constantly distracted is the epidemic of only halfpaying attention — and thinking that’s OK. You might think that any time someone else is talking and you’re not, that means you’re listening.
That, or you’re reading that email that just came in. Or checking to see why your phone buzzed. When you’re in a meeting, how much can you really be paying attention when your laptop is open?
Not only can not listening carefully cost you relationships, it can also cost you in the time it takes to make up for whatever information you missed. Becoming an active listener is a critical part of becoming more emotionally intelligent. This mean really, truly paying attention to what people are saying — and it’s a skill that’ll set you apart in both your professional and personal life.
10. saying “yes” to every meeting
Being “in the zone” is when you lose yourself in whatever you’re doing — so much so that you lose track of time. It’s one of the keys to both happiness and productivity at work.
… And nothing disrupts that flow like a meeting. Especially an unnecessary one. It turns out that the average person wastes 31 hours in meetings per month. These unnecessary meetings are ones where you or the organizer isn’t prepared, you didn’t really need to be there, and so on.
Want to get those 31 hours back? Here are a few suggestions:
Be sure you’re only attending meetings you actually need to attend. If you don’t see yourself actively contributing to the group, politely let the meeting requester know that you won’t be able to attend.
If you’re the one calling the meeting, send invitees a note, description, or some sort of heads up along with your calendar invitations. This’ll give them an idea of why they were invited or need to be there. Try an app like Do or Solid to help keep your meetings organized and actionable.
Schedule meetings in bulk if you can. This is a strategic way to ensure the time youdo have outside of meetings is spent as productively as possible, since it takes peoplean average of 25 minutes to refocus after switching tasks.
Speaking of which …
11. multitasking
Multitasking can seem inevitable in our modern, ever-connected lifestyles. But research shows it can make us less effective, increase mistakes and stress, and costs the global economy.
Think you’re an exception? Consider this: Only2% of the population is capable of effectively multitasking. For the other 98%, all it does is cause us to be 40% less productive and make 50% more mistakes than non-multitaskers.
Remember that bad habit of not listening? People do that a lot during meetings when they try to multitask — whether it’s reading and responding to emails and messages, scrolling through their Twitter feeds, or something else. In fact, 92% of professionals admit to multitasking during meetings, and 41% admitted to doing it often or all the time.
Getting out of the habit of multitasking is difficult, but certainly doable. Removing notifications from your work computer (see #5) and putting away your cell phone (see #6) are two great ways to start. Other ideas include establishing a no-laptop rule for meetings, using the Pomodoro Technique (where you work in sprints in a way that complements the body’s natural ultradian rhythm), and planning your day in blocks that include built-in breaks.
12. playing with your phone before bed
Have you ever lay in bed with the lights off and spent a few minutes scrolling through your phone to respond to last-minute texts and emails, check your Twitter feed, or scroll through Instagram? Now, raise your hand if those few minutes have ever turned into half an hour, forty-five minutes, or even an hour.
Imagine how much more sleep you could’ve gotten that night if you’d simply gone to bed when you first turned the lights off.
But it’s not just about the amount of sleep — it’s also about quality of sleep. Studies have shown that people who gaze at a backlit screen right before bed actually report having lower-quality sleep — even when they get just as much sleep as someone who didn’t look at their electronics before bed. This is because presence and absence of light tell our brains whether or not they should release the sleep hormone melatonin that makes you tired. Because the LED lighting emitted by the screens on our electronic devices is so similar to daylight, it can trick our brains into thinking it’s daytime, causing us to stay awake for longer.
The best way to break this habit? Buy an alarm clock that’s not your phone, and charge your phone in a separate room so you avoid the temptation of checking it altogether. If you’re worried about missing an emergency call, then try sending those last-minute texts 30-60 minutes before you hit the hay. It’ll mean you get more sleep and higher quality sleep, leading you to operate at peak productivity the following day.
Are you ready to grow your business? Even if you have clear-cut objectives, use your answers to these 10 questions to help you fine-tune your efforts and grow your business successfully.By now, you’ve set a working direction for the year, established clear-cut objectives. Your first-iteration plan to reach them should be in place. This now seems like an ideal time to rethink the whole thing, doesn’t it? After all, one of the effects of internet time is that plans are subject to change just as soon as – or perhaps even before – they are written.
Along these lines of thinking, perhaps there are some items you missed. Maybe there are issues you didn’t have time to consider, or even things your mind touched on, but quickly passed over to deal with more urgent and pressing events. If you are off-cycle, and on the verge of a new period, you can use this exercise ex ante, rather than ex post. To help you stimulate your neural pathways and hopefully create an idea or two, I offer the following thoughts for your consideration. These “considerations” are not sequenced in order of importance. I think they are all important.
1. how far in the distance is your planning horizon?
Most companies today plan 12-24 months out, calling anything beyond that “vision.” Internet time implies a shortened time frame for activities, but does that time-collapse extend to a shortened vision as well? How much have you thought about what you will accomplish this decade? What will be your company’s impact on the millennium? (OK – perhaps millennium is too far out. What about the century?) You may say you have more pressing fish to fry. Your investors would like to see increased returns sooner than that. While this might be true enough, taking the long view can inform the short view, leading to greater returns for years to come. What do you see when you take the long view?
2. how are your prospects’ needs going to change?
How is their world affected by the dramatic increases in connectivity and the compression of time? What are you doing to understand their changing environment – their changing business issues? What are you doing to improve your customer’s business under these slippery conditions? To take it one step further, what do your customers’ customers want? While you are at it, you might stop to consider how your suppliers’ needs are changing? Could those changes open up new opportunities for you, or darkly portend changes downstream totally derailing your business model? What about your distributors? Is their world shifting? Can you both benefit?
3. who in your organization simply isn’t contributing?
As they say, your mileage may vary from individual to individual but everyone has the responsibility to go some distance, to make something valuable happen. Not everyone will make good on that implied promise. The often observed 80-20 rule applies to your staff as well: 20% of your people will produce 80% of the value.
That leaves 80% producing only 20%. Do the math: the bottom 10% of your organization produces almost nothing.
Who isn’t making the cut? Should you be doing something about it? You may think it beneficent to provide that bottom percent with a paying job – don’t. It isn’t. The non-performers know who they are, but they won’t cut the cord on their own. Do what you can to help them reach the bar, but if after a while they don’t make it, set them free to find an environment in which they can succeed. Free up your own resources for people who make a difference.
4. are you creating solutions to today’s problems?
What about next week’s, next year’s, or the problems of several years from now? How are you figuring out what those problems are going to be, way out there on the time horizon? Because the solution you sell today should certainly address today’s problems, but the solutions on today’s drawing board better not. Who in your organization is responsible for trend-tracking and forecasting?
Are you building scenarios for the future? What about prospect focus groups, or some other market-based feedback mechanism? Who is your resident futurist?
5. what do you believe about the business you are in?
For most people this is a strange question – we rarely spend time thinking about our own beliefs. The collection of beliefs you hold about your business – what the Germans call Weltanschauung – is decisive in most of the choices you make. How much risk to take. What’s risky and what isn’t. What projects and initiatives to undertake. What kind of resources you need and whom to hire.
Whom to partner with, or should you have partners at all?
Cooperate or compete. How to treat your team. What your customers should expect from you. How hard do you expect people to work?
All these decisions stem from your beliefs, and it will help you to make them explicit. Once you surface those beliefs, you can start to distinguish which are useful beliefs and which are not.
What is the benefit of a particular belief? Is this belief relevant to your current world, or is it a holdover from some past part of life? Then, when you are ready, you can experiment with new beliefs.
6. what are the obstacles to proceeding along your current path?
Yes – you’ve set a plan in motion, and you are taking steps toward its achievement. But what roadblocks may rise up to stop you? What things could get in your way – foreseen and unforeseen? (I know, if it’s unforeseen how are you going to see it? Use your imagination, that’s the point of this exercise.)
Rank these obstacles in terms of likelihood, then rank them in terms of severity. Consider how you might deal with them if they come up. The value of this is a) like the Boy Scouts, you are better prepared; b) you may illuminate issues you have been trying to sweep under the rug; and c) you just may invent a whole new approach to get where you are going, and it just might be better than what you are doing now.
7. what, if you only knew how, would you be doing?
What would you do now if you had additional resources – and should the lack of resources be stopping you? What, if you were sure it would be successful, would you jump on right away? What would you begin immediately, if your resources were limitless? (Yes, limitless can be relative.) What are you betting the future of your company on? What would you be willing to bet the future of your company on?
8. what are the most important issues, right now?
Make separate lists for issues in your market and issues in your company.
Which of these issues are you dealing with, which ones are on the backburner, and which ones aren’t even in the kitchen? What are the processes you use to deal with these issues? Which issues are you ignoring, or hoping will go away?
What breakthroughs might be possible by addressing or resolving issues in the latter category? Where are you “resolving” issues by compromising? What possibilities are available by refusing to compromise, or by breaking your compromises? What old stories or old ways of looking at things make these compromises seem inevitable? Where could new technologies (either material, virtual, or societal) be applied to break these compromises?
9. what are you sacrificing to accomplish your current objectives?
The definition of sacrifice is giving up something of value for something of even greater value. Did you intend to give up that thing of value, or is it a thoughtless byproduct of your other choices? Do not dismiss this lightly.
In your business there are a number of priority-conflicting critical success factors. These include profitability, product development, new sales, customer satisfaction, recruiting and retention, revenue growth, sufficient capital – which one gets the most attention? And in this operating cycle – will each area get the attention it needs? Even in a lower position of priority, these areas cannot be neglected. What isn’t getting done that needs to be done and how are you going to do it?
10. what is the purpose of your organization?
I don’t just mean increasing shareholder wealth that simply won’t inspire your people to greatness. What besides that – a given – is the purpose of your company. Purpose is not something you invent, it is there already – you have to uncover it. Why do you come to work each day? What do you hope to accomplish in the long run?
What about your executive team? Your individual employees – why do they come? What do they think they are doing each day? Do you know? Have you bothered to find out? You’ve just completed a planning cycle, and I’m asking what your purpose is! If you can’t answer this question easily, now would be a great time to start.
Bonus question for consideration: Are there any questions I’ve listed above that you do not have easy answers to, but wish you did?
Getting new customers for your business is hard work, but it’s necessary if you want to be successful. Here are 10 ways you can get the attention of new prospects and turn them into loyal customers.
Your business needs a steady influx of new prospects in order to be successful. Whether you’re in sales and looking for new customers or you’re a freelancer looking for new clients, you need to know how to attract prospects to your business. While the rise of the Internet over the last couple of decades has forever changed the way that business is done, the top professionals know that getting new prospects and retaining clients requires a mix of old and new techniques. If you’re looking for a leg up as you prospect for new customers, here are ten helpful tips to get you started.
make use of social media
The first step to acquiring new prospects is to use social media to your advantage. Creating Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts for your business is free and can exponentially increase the exposure of your company. More importantly, since these platforms have become ubiquitous, prospective clients may be turned off if your business doesn’t have a social media presence.
keep content fresh
Consistently updating your website and social media accounts with new content is a great way to stay relevant and show prospects that you’re actively engaged with your industry. Find articles, infographics or studies that are related to your business and post links on your social media accounts. Additionally, it can be helpful to maintain a weekly blog to showcase your own opinions and personality.
use testimonials
One of the best ways to attract new prospects is to show off your existing ones. If you know that you’ve provided a customer with a particularly positive experience, ask them for a testimonial. These testimonials don’t have to be elaborate or embellished. Simply providing proof that you can deliver on your promises will help to give faith to prospective customers.
network
Making use of the Internet can go a long way towards attracting new prospects, but personal connects are the lifeblood of business. Whenever possible, engage with prospects and clients face-to-face in order to give them a personalized experience. By making an effort to get to know everyone you work with individually, you can create a stronger bond, increasing the likelihood that they decide to do business with you.
expect resistance
It’s human nature to follow a set routine. As you prospect for new clients, don’t be surprised if you encounter resistance from people who feel set in their ways. If you sense that a prospective client is hesitant about doing business with you, listen to his or her concerns and do your best to address each of them accordingly.
get referrals from existing customers
One of the easiest techniques for finding new prospects is to make use of your existing customer pool. Talk to your clients and see if they know of anyone who could also benefit from your services or expertise. Remember that word of mouth can be incredibly powerful, and by having an existing client refer you to a prospect, you can greatly increase the likelihood that you land the new customer.
Social media is ever evolving. Starting out originally as a way for the Internet savvy to stay in touch online, over the years it has grown to infiltrate nearly every aspect of our lives. Now it is a fundamental part of marketing for brands both big and small. A properly maintained social media page can actually make or break your business!
This isn’t a surprising development. Back in the early days of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg was obsessed with his mission to convert his social platform into a viable business advertising tool. Today, using social media for brand engagement and awareness is so natural that we would never question its importance.
Keeping an Eye on the Other Guys
Social media isn’t only about keeping up with your customers–it is about keeping an eye on the competition. Other brands in your industry are launching their own social media campaigns every day, and they are reaping the results. You need to be aware of the progress, their campaigns, and especially their attempts to poach your business and profits.
Social pages make it easier to do this than in the past. Here are eight social analysis tools that let you analyze and learn from competitors’ social media tactics:
Facebook Page Analyzers
BuzzSumo–I can’t say enough about BuzzSumo and its list of both free and paid tools. One such feature is the Facebook Page Analysis. Use it to get a direct comparison between your Facebook page and that of your major competitors. Add a whole list of pages to analyze side by side, making it a quick and simple tool to use.
The graph shown in the “8 Free Tools To Analyze and Track Your Competition On Social Media” graphic near the top of this post is only one of the many views the BuzzSumo Facebook analysis feature provides. Another one of my favorites shows top engagement by time of day.
Use it to search for influencers by keyword, filter them by location, and then save them to lists. Find out which influencers are promoting which competitors. Spot trending stories about to go viral. Use searches by keyword to know what to create to best reach your target audience. This is by far the most popular social analysis tool used by serious content marketers.
Fanpage Karma–Don’t be fooled by the plans listed on the website, Fanpage Karma also offers a free version of its services. The free version is very basic, but it includes a few features that allow you to monitor your social media page and those of other brands.
You can monitor only one fan page at a time on the free plan; you can monitor unlimited pages with a paid subscription. From using the tool, here are some of my favorite insights:
Learn who your most engaged page supporters were over the last 30 days. Find out who spreads your competitors’ messages and brands to their followers.
Posts per day: When does a fan page usually post? What about the weekend?
Engagement per day: Which time slots work best for fans’ posts?
Ad cost: What would the cost have been to reach the same number of people with paid ads in other marketing channels as a fan page reached with its posts.
LikeAlyzer–I love this tool because it offers something a lot of tools don’t: real explanations. If your page is weak in an area, LikeAlyzer lays out exactly what that area is and how you can fix it. To compare your site to other pages, just have a fan page of a competitor’s brand analyzed.
The above graphic gives you an idea of how the tool works–showing which areas of a page are working and what needs to be worked on. The only downside is that you have to search each page separately, save the results, then manually go over them. There is no comparison feature built into the app.
Tools for Analyzing Twitter
Twitonomy–Easy to use, very detailed, and visually stunning, Twitonomy combines all the analytical data you need into one single, multi-widgeted report dashboard.
You can track both your competitors and influencers, so you always have your finger on the pulse of your industry’s social activity. Plus, you get actionable insights on everything from your followers’ interests and needs to your own growth over time.
Tweetdeck–Tweetdeck is free, and is still one of the best Twitter listening dashboards around. You can monitor a number of accounts, keywords, and locations through customized columns.
Power users tend to set up one column per major competitor to listen to fans and customers. If you add “-filter:links” to your search, you’ll listen to tweets that contain no links (these tend to be real people’s conversation).
If you are not a fan of using a desktop app, here is a list of tools you can browse to find an alternative.
Comprehensive Analysis Tools
Cyfe–This is a multipurpose marketing dashboard which is one of the most used social analysis tools. With Cyfe you can set up a separate dashboard to listen to your competitors using the following widgets and so many more:
Twitter search
Google Plus search
Google alerts
With Cyfe’s inexpensive paid version, you can add an unlimited number of widgets for multiple competitors and different search queries. Hopefully by now you’ve heard of Cyfe and set up your business or social dashboard with at least the five free widgets they provide. You can evenaggregate all your SEO data into one dashboard.
Klear–Part competitive analysis tool, part listening software, Klear is one of the more thorough of tools on this list. The app is geared to provide information on influencer marketing which is great for Twitter users in particular. Unlike many other free plans, Klear offers its primary features for you without having to upgrade.
Klear also has a nice list of free tools for you to utilize that are compatible with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Sadly, Klear has not moved on to platforms like Pinterest.
SEMRush–SEMrush recently added a Social Analysis Tools feature that allows you to compare your social media pages with the pages of your major competitors.
The best part: you can set up weekly reports to be emailed to you for you to track your progress versus your competitors’.
More Tools for Discovering Your Competitors
WhoICompete: A free tool that finds competitors that rank for two or more of your target keywords.
SiteGeek: You can easily locate additional sites your competitors own; analyze how they are using extra sites for marketing and beyond.
Followerwonk: Find Twitter users who work for your competitors; limit your search to bios and search for your competitors’ brand name.
SimilarWeb: Expand your list of competitors by finding “similar” sites to yours or your current competitors.
Are You Using Any of These Social Analysis Tools?
Do you have a social analysis tool that helps you track and analyze your competition on social media? We would love to hear about it! Let us know via a tweet to @GrowMap or comments on Facebook (just search for GrowMap) or discuss this post with us on Inbound or GrowthHackers. Send us your case studies, anecdotes, and tips and you may see them in a future post.
Every sales proposal represents an opportunity to grow your business. After spending years in business and sales, I have seen how the ability to put together a well-crafted proposal is crucial to achieving advancement for yourself and your business. Here are key elements to include:
let your audience know what to expect
People generally don’t like surprises, so a brief overview of your key points is a good start. Remember KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. It is your job to make it easy for the person reading the proposal to understand it. Don’t put them to the test of doing the work for you; they won’t.
include persuasive elements
The purpose of a proposal is to persuade your prospect to buy your product or service, to persuade them that your product or service is something they will benefit from and is something they should not live without. Develop materials that support your final objective of getting them to buy your product/service—include statistics, testimonials, references, or quotes.
recognize customer needs
A winning proposal will overwhelmingly serve the customer. Whenever you write a proposal, ask yourself: What audience will be reading my proposal and who is the decision maker? What is important to my customer? What are the best ways to address the issues and present my solutions? Your proposal’s message and benefits should be orientated to the audience, company and industry it addresses.
tailor your proposal
Now that you know your customer, make sure your proposal is tailored directly to that unique customer and their unique business goals. Also, always address your proposal to the correct individual(s). People love hearing/reading their names and it makes the experience that more personal.
create positive perceptions
Proposals that create positive perceptions of the product, service, and brand drive results. You have the unique ability to design your proposal for each customer to make your solution and company look positive. Taking time to examine competitors and demonstrate how your product/service is better can create a positive perception you will want your prospect to think about while making their decision.
include a call to action
Make sure you specifically ask your prospect what you want them to do. Remind them that they can choose to purchase today or ask if you can move forward with invoicing. Asking your customer (in writing or vocally) personally by name can be the single greatest way to quickly move from prospect to customer. You can say, “Mr. Johnson, after reviewing this proposal would you please provide me with your approval to move forward by signing your name on the indicated areas?”
review and edit
Your audience is more likely to respond affirmatively to your proposed solution (call to action) if the points you have made steer them in the right direction. Make sure you review your proposal and make any necessary edits so that your proposal includes sufficient reason(s) to take action. Ask yourself: Will the contents of this proposal create the desired action that I am asking for?By taking into account the above elements before writing your next proposal you have already improved your chances of winning the business!
E-commerce websites are constantly being tweaked and optimized to allow for better user experiences, yet one of the most important features is often overlooked—we’re talking about filter and sorting capabilities. And if your website isn’t accounting for better filtering and sorting, it’s likely that you’re missing out on sales.
e-commerce: don’t overlook filter and sort capabilities
On any given e-commerce website, there are generally two different ways a user can find a product: browse or search. Browsing is the equivalent of going into a store and meandering around until you find something that interests you. This is what you do when you’re out shopping with friends. In terms of e-commerce, browsing looks like scrolling through inventory and clicking on listings that capture your attention.Then there’s searching. Using our in-store example, this involves entering a store, identifying the right aisle, and strategically narrowing your focus until you find the exact product you came to purchase. In e-commerce, searching is supposed to be even easier–that is, if you use filters and sorting tools.“When done right, filters enable users to narrow down a website’s selection of thousands of products to only those few items that match their particular needs and interests,” writes Christian Holst, co-founder of Baymard Institute. Filters are those neat dropdown menus that let you sort based on price, style, size, etc.“Yet, despite it being a central aspect of the user’s e-commerce product browsing, most websites offer a lackluster filtering experience,” Holst continues. In fact, he points to the fact that only 16 percent of major e-commerce websites offer a “reasonably good” filtering experience.Considering that filtering is so important, this is an alarming statistic. And as a small e-commerce business owner, your website’s filtering experience more than likely doesn’t fall under the label “reasonably good.” This is a problem that should not be overlooked.
3 tips for better filter and sort functionality
The good news is that there are ways to improve the filter and sort functionality of your site. Here are some helpful tips:
1. give users viewing/sorting options
Today’s customers like options. But if you’re going to offer a wide selection of products, you must be willing to present them in an organized manner. One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that shoppers can only buy what they can find. As such, you need to offer as many different filtering options as you can.For starters, make sure you’re offering multiple display options. This means both a grid and a list view. If you’re unfamiliar with the difference between the two, check out this page from Home City for an example of how each one looks. As you can see, the grid view presents four thumbnails across, whereas the list view presents the thumbnails in a vertical fashion.Secondly, you need to include basic filters. These may change depending on the industry you’re in and the products you sell. For an example, let’s look at this product’s page from Kohl’s. It gives customers the ability to sort based on size, category, accessories, trends, and featured brands. Then there are subcategories under each of these. That’s what you call offering plenty of options!
2. enhance the search bar
The search bar is very important, yet often neglected. While filters are important, sometimes a customer just wants to use a search bar because it’s the quickest option. There are a lot of good examples of effective search bars, but FootSmart has one of the best. The search bar lets you input any brand name, keyword, or item number and instantly see results. Then, once the results are populated, the user can further filter based on other options.If you offer filtering options without a search bar, you only have half of the equation. Make sure your filtering options and search bar are working in tandem with one another for a lasting user experience.
3. provide category-specific options
As previously mentioned in the Kohl’s example, it’s important to include category-specific options. These are filters that apply to a specific product. For example, TV categories would include things like refresh rate, screen size, and picture, whereas a shoe category would include things like material, sole color, and season.Unfortunately, 42 percent of websites don’t account for category-specific filters. This is unfortunate, since all it takes is a little more work to include these subcategories.
putting it all together
Filtering is very important to your e-commerce website’s overall user experience. If you want customers to enjoy their shopping experience, make more purchases, and return in the future, then you need to invest in improving the filter and sort capabilities on your site. Keep these tips in mind and you’ll be better off than even some of the biggest e-commerce players on the Internet.
The latest in a long line of buzzwords in the world of recruiting new employees is “recruitment marketing.” This is a fusion of career recruitment and marketing elements commonly employed in search engine optimisation.
To some people recruitment and marketing sound like two completely different areas, but the fact is marketing experts are increasingly collaborating with recruitment professionals to develop ads for online job boards that have a new and very different impact.
make keywords count
Research has suggested that the same keywords and phrases that are popular in search engine searches should also be used in job ads. When a job seeker arrives at a job board, chances are they have done a search for the job they are looking for via Google first. To ensure your job ad reaches the right audience you have to employ this thinking into your ads so the search engines index them and they appear at the top, or very near, on the results pages.
So, if you have a fancy job title, it’s potentially going to struggle to work if your target audience is searching for a more common phrase.
leave it to the pros
Online jobs boards are saturated with information that can be both helpful and detrimental. Yes, there are a lot of job seekers out there looking for their dream role, but think of how many companies are churning out job ads that all sound the same.
A marketing expert will analyse the content of the ads and create something that really stands out from the crowd and includes those all-important search terms. This can help enormously when you have to fill a vacancy quickly or one that has been languishing for weeks with very little interest.
make the most of your company brand
It’s human nature that a job seeker will see a position they are interested in and then do a bit of homework on the company offering the job. This becomes even more important if it’s a company they have never heard of before and want to check out its credentials.
You should make full use of social media to make sure your brand is out there, and create a strong online and social media presence. If your company’s online presence currently consists of a couple of lines in an online local business directory, then your chance of attracting applications from the top talent are slim.
how marketing is best used in recruitment
Marketing is essentially a process which is employed to determine which types of message will most successfully motivate specific target audiences to act in certain ways. When you think about it, online recruitment works in much the same way, using terms that will appeal to readers and motivate them to apply.
For example, “Cloud Systems Administrator in Stockport” will attract job applicants, whereas “Head of Information, Systems, Cloud and Infrastructure” won’t because it’s not a term people would use when searching.
Recruitment marketing takes this to the next level by utilising marketing tactics to target specific audiences rather than the general public. Once an audience of specific job seekers is identified, the search terms people are most likely to use can be determined and killer job ads created. The content contained in the ads should rank high on the search engines, and also on searches within the jobs board themselves.
If early figures are anything to go by, combining SEO with your job ads could well be a match made in recruitment heaven.