Are you looking for better ways to connect with your business clients and customers? In today’s world, reaching your customer base and target audience via social media marketing isn’t an option; it’s a requirement. In other words, if you’re not connecting to current and potential clients online, business growth and sustainability opportunities are extremely limited.

Read this article to discover how to make better business connections with customers and clients through social media marketing.

However, let’s first recognize that every company conducting business online will connect with their current customers, clients, and target audiences differently. And there are some guidelines we must take advantage of when incorporating social media marketing strategies with them.

When executed correctly, social media provides the ideal scenario for building lasting B2C and B2B relationships and making meaningful connections.

We’re discussing the following:

1. 1. WHY social media marketing works!
   2. HOW to start a social community
   3. WHAT to post
   4. WHEN to post
   5. WHERE to find digital marketing support

Social Media Marketing Still Works… When You Work It Right

Gone are the days when businesses considered social media too impersonal for establishing nurturing relationships and conducting business with customers or clients online. Yet, using social platforms as an extension of your digital marketing campaign efforts has proven to be the best way to make meaningful connections with current and potential customers!

In truth, SMM remains an innovative strategy for the following achievements.

• Getting to know your customers’ preferences and needs better
• Connecting with them in their preferred social spaces
• Reaching them when they’re already online searching for products, services, information, and for entertainment

First, set up your online social communities properly.

And the most critical aspect of starting a social media community is choosing the platforms your customers and target audiences use most. It also helps to ensure your social platforms best complement your business industry.

Choose Your Platform

For example, utilizing Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter offers various ways to develop connections with social media users. And even if your business already has its own social platform page, you can step-it-up a notch by establishing an online community exclusively for your followers and clients/consumers. Some social media platforms, like Facebook, provide a free option for creating social groups on your company terms.

Begin Posting with Purpose

And once you’ve set things up, it’s imperative to begin posting regularly with industry news, product updates, and interactive activities. As you build your online culture, you provide an avenue for current and potential customers to become a part of a vital community that shares their values and ideals.

Monitor Comments and Follower Feedback with Care

Lastly, ensure you stay on top of online responses and posted comments from your followers. When there is a problem, connect immediately and offer viable solutions to reassure them that you care and hear them²!

In addition, their comments and responses provide vital insights into who your customers are, what they like and need, and what isn’t working for them. Overall, social media communities offer another level of quality assurance and meaningful rapport for your customers and targeted audience.

What should you post? Pictures and videos and demos— Oh my!

When it comes to business social media posts, it’s not just about HOW often you post, but also WHAT you post! In truth, what you post is more important. Why, may you ask? Because what you publish must always create reasons for current and potential customers to keep coming to your platforms and end at your responsive website.

Show rather than tell.

People prefer watching videos and demos about products and services rather than reading about them 8 to 1. So, instead of consistently creating text posts, shake things up by incorporating video³ content and demos that include creative details about the following.

• 1. Your Business
  2. The Culture
  3. Vital Industry News & Future Insights
  4. Product Uses & Features
  5. Excellent Customer Service & Testimonials

Make your posts about more than just business.

Another perk of employing SMM is the ability to be slightly informal online and more relational with your followers. Your posts don’t have to be all about business; instead, consider sharing personal stories about how your product or service made someone’s life better and more productive.

People love authenticity in posts. So, if your company has a remarkable culture and a well-knitted community of positive people⁴, be open to sharing business stories and outcome updates regularly. Followers enjoy viewing posts about the exciting things happening within the company and how the culture celebrates staff, leaders, and their customers/clients.

And in addition to company news, products, and services, consider promoting industry topics pertaining to key social media events happening nationally and internationally. Humorous, intelligent, insightful, and inspirational posts can merit significant boosts in your following!

When should you post? Well, it depends!

You can utilize a variety of factors to determine the best times to post. Hootsuite, for example, offers professional recommendations on what times are best to post on social media. Those suggestions are based on the following:

• Your industry type
• When your followers are most active online
• What times to post based on social topics/subjects

Speaking of topics and social subjects, you should always post about things your company supports, especially during real-time local events, national news, and social headlines. Posting about community trends and hot topics is a great way to support what you value most and display your business stance on the issues. But be careful in this, however, by keeping your content clean, insightful, and highly professional.

When your company rallies around critical issues or supports vital community organizations and causes, tell your followers about it! During those times, it’s okay to toot your own horn and rally their additional support towards the cause.

Whether you have a large corporation or a local business, there are plenty of entities to support that are bigger than you and help guide your followers to also rally behind something great! Collaborating with organizations and supporting something other than your business shows your audience that you CARE and helps create brand awareness.

Overall, these posts, including engaging pictures, content, and videos (when appropriate), should be launched in real-time or ASAP so people can engage in the moment.

Essential Social Media Marketing Tips to Consider

And on a fundamental note, consider the following three posting tips—

1. 1. Best Times- Posting in the afternoons or evenings on Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays is ideal, as followers are more likely to begin winding down their days.
   2. Track & Measure- It would help if you also considered checking campaign performances and visitor behaviors by viewing monthly reports and analytics. This data provides additional insights into when your followers are online, which platforms they prefer, and when they visit your website.
   3. Post Conveniently– When you know they’re on, that’s the best time to post.

Where can you find true social media marketing success? Look no further than BUILDINGBLOCKS!

Let us assist your business with social media and other digital marketing campaigns. We aim to ensure you receive a tangible ROI and accurate results!

So, connect with us online to schedule your meeting time, or call 281-203-0529 for immediate assistance.

References

1. ^{Featured Image- Social Media Business Collaboration. Image concept by Austin Distel. Thank You!}
2. ^{We Hear You. Business response concept by John Tyson. Thanks!}
3. ^{Facebook video capture concept by Sticker Mule. Thank you!}
4. ^{Inspiring business post concept by Ian Schneider. Thanks!}

The post Make Better Connections Via Social Media Marketing appeared first on BUILDINGBLOCKS.

 Lead generation is a prime aspect of any business’s success. It’s the process of attracting and converting potential customers into leads – people who are interested in your products/services and have provided their contact information.

And from there, you can nurture and convert those potential leads into paying customers. This blog post explores eight various strategies and best practices for effective lead generation. So, freely skip to the strategies that interest you the most!

Successfully leveraging lead generation strategies means using the following.

• • Target Audience Research
  • Content Marketing
  • Website Development & Optimization
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Email Marketing & Automation
  • Paid Ads
  • Referral Marketing Tips
  • Analytics Tools
  • Partnering with BBMS

1. Know Your Audience

As we always say, ‘The first step in successful lead generation is knowing and understanding your targeted audience.’ So, you’ll want to ask yourself the following questions when it comes to marketing to your ideal audience:

1. Who are they, and what do they want?
2. What are their pain points and challenges to getting what they want?
3. What motivates them to get it?

And once you’ve gained a clear understanding of the audience you’re addressing and serving, you can begin tailoring your lead generation campaigns to attract and meet their needs and preferences.

2. Create Valuable Content

We also consistently tell business owners¹ that developing valuable and relevant content is a crucial strategy for lead generation success. However, the ultimate goal here is to always offer content that addresses your target audience’s pain points and provides solutions.

And since ‘Content is King,’ great content allows you to incorporate this strategy into your:

• Blogs
• Video marketing pieces
• Social media posts
• Infographics
• And even e-books

In other words, what you “say” in your communications matters to your audience. And by regularly offering valuable content and adding it to your website, you’ll attract the right potential customers to your site, capture their contact information consistently, and keep your current customers happy!

3. Optimize & Develop Your Website for Lead Generation Conduciveness

Optimizing your website and ensuring it is responsive is highly conducive to turning it into a powerful lead-generating tool. And this fact also includes having clear calls-to-action (CTAs) throughout your site, such as “Download our e-book” or “Sign up for our newsletter.”

It would help if you also had landing pages specifically designed to capture contact information from potential customers. Lastly, ensure your landing pages are optimized for conversions with compelling headlines, clear benefits, and simple forms.

4. Use Social Media for Lead Generation

Another powerful tool for successful lead generation is utilizing social media marketing. For example, you can use LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to connect with potential customers.

In addition, these platforms allow you to share relevant content and promote your products or services.

Social media platforms are also great for running targeted ads and promoting lead magnets (e.g., free e-books, webinars, or consultations) that capture contact information.

5. Leverage Email Marketing Campaigns

Email marketing is another highly useful way to successfully generate leads. For example, you can use email to promote your content, offer discounts or special deals, or invite potential customers to a consultation or webinar.

In addition, email marketing automation through software programs, like MailChimp², can generate up  to 3x more leads! So, make certain your emails are personalized and tailored to your target audience’s needs and preferences.

6. Run Paid Advertising Campaigns

Paid advertising campaigns, like Google Ads or Facebook Ads, are also powerful ways to generate leads. And once you begin to target specific keywords, demographics, or interests to reach potential customers, you’ll find those who are likely to be interested in your products/services. So, ensure your ads are compelling and offer a clear benefit to the viewer.

7. Use Referral Marketing

Referral marketing is a strategy that business owners can utilize to incentivize existing customers into referring their friends and family to their business. For example, this strategy could be used in a referral campaign where you offer a discount or reward for each referral.

Yet, the true beauty of referral marketing is generating new leads and building trust with potential customers by leveraging your existing customer base!

8. Partner with Us for Measurable Results

Finally, measuring the results of your lead generation efforts is essential to overall marketing success. For instance, using analytics tools can help track website traffic, lead conversions, and sales. In addition, you can also use A/B testing to experiment with different strategies and see which ones are most effective.

So, by measuring your results, you can refine your lead generation strategies and improve your ROI. And with our partnership, you’ll be able to foster, deepen, and eventually strengthen your relationships with current and potential customers each time they interact with your business!

Remember, lead generation is a critical aspect of your business’s success!

By knowing your audience, creating valuable content, optimizing your website, using email automation, and social media, running paid advertising campaigns, leveraging referral marketing, and measuring your results, you can effectively generate leads and turn them into paying customers.

It’s time to take your business growth to the next level! So, download our FREE Lead Generation Checklist below, or call 281-203-0529 for immediate assistance.

^References

1. ^{Business owner and relevant content online concept by Brooke Cagle.}
2. ^{MailChimp Photo Image Icon. Thank you!}

The post 8 Lead Generation Strategies for Marketing Success appeared first on BUILDINGBLOCKS.

Yes, it’s true; extraordinary things can come in small packages. And this certainly applies to small businesses, where 33 Million establishments were operating in 2024, according to Forbes Advisor. And from that population of thriving companies, 8 Million ‘Mom & Pop Shops,’ or those starting out that way, made up nearly one-fourth of US small businesses. These facts leave us with two main questions: ‘Are Mom & Pop small businesses making a comeback?’ And ‘How can they best leverage digital marketing in the 21^st Century?’

Whether you consider your operation a Mom & Pop Shop, a Veteran-owned company, or a start-up, small businesses remain key contributors to our nation’s economy. In addition, they’re very much alive and thriving in this post-pandemic era. And with digital marketing, they will continue to grow!

This blog about marketing Mom & Pop small businesses features the following topics:

• • Today’s Small Biz
  • Taking Mom & Pop Online
  • Having an Online Presence
  • A Standout Brand
  • Having a Stake in the Community
  • Service Excellence is a Must
  • A Solid Online Connection
  • From One Mom & Pop to Another

What Makes a Small Biz a Small Biz?

Today’s small to mid-sized businesses, by definition, consist of company size, number of operating locations, and revenue attributes. And according to the SBA, one or more of the following criteria defines what we currently view as a small business.

1. Has less than 500 employees, or a range of 100 to 1500 for a mid-sized company
2. Operates as a micro-business (Up to 7 staffers)
3. Obtains annual revenues under $40 Million
4. Has one or multiple locations with contracting and virtual staff
5. Operates via sole-proprietorship, partnership, S Corp, or LLC

Take Your FREE Marketing Self-Assessment

Why ‘Taking Mom & Pop to Market’ is Important- Incorporating Digital Marketing in a Modern World.

A functioning business can only survive these days with consistent online marketing activity. Today, clients and consumers look to the internet more than ever, especially with their smartphones¹, to locate reliable resource information for their product and service needs. And although ‘word of mouth,’ or ‘referral marketing,’ still works for many local businesses, an online presence can provide another level of convenience and expand your reach by leaps and bounds. In other words, digital marketing with an SEO strategy can take your business places that word of mouth simply cannot!

However, businesses can win only if they play the digital marketing game. To us, a company that’s not online today is like a great person who chooses to broadcast from an AM radio station. And those who know them personally will be the only ones listening— for a while.

Your small business should consider the five MUST HAVES to experience true digital marketing success in the 21^st century! And they are as follows:

#1— HAVE AN ONLINE PRESENCE

Is your business invested in digital marketing to stay industry competitive? As I stated above, taking your Mom & Pop Shop online is imperative to ensuring people outside the community also know it exists.

Of course, some companies prefer not to grow, and that’s fine for them. Yet, if you want to grow, expand, and experience substantial ROIs like other successful companies, you must consistently generate and convert new leads into happy customers. And the only way to achieve these things is to establish a digital marketing presence. Being online allows you to connect with current and potential customers in multiple ways that best meet their needs on their buying journey. It also allows your business to become an industry leader and viable resource in the community.

#2— HAVE A STANDOUT BRAND

Do customers encounter what makes your shop stand out as unique from the rest? If so, you’re well on your way to continued success, especially if you’re using online marketing to enhance your brand management² campaigns!

However, if not, then it’s time for a brand establishment. If you’ve read any of our blogs, we recently posted a 3-part series on how to establish, operate, and grow a leading digital brand. In addition, the two chief pillars of having a standout brand are:

1. Knowing how to constantly make genuine connections with your customers/clients, and
2. Learning to build and maintain their trust

Those two elements are the key ingredients to help ensure customers consistently have positive encounters and experiences with your brand.

#3— HAVE A STAKE IN THE COMMUNITY

Do you participate in community activities and invest in opportunities to help people know your company exists? This must-have is essential to becoming a leading Mom & Pop or small business within your community. The more you market your business online, connect with the local community, and then participate in activities and causes that are important to the people³, the more stake you have.

And the more current and potential customers see your company serving the community, the more likely they are to frequent your business. Putting friendly faces and service excellence to business names is crucial to helping customers connect to your brand and their experiences with your product or service.

Fortunately, SEO and online marketing provide opportunities and creative ways to:

• Expand your reach.
• Generate leads.
• Engage more with the people in your community.
• Connect with them at a loyalty level!

#4— HAVE SERVICE EXCELLENCE

Is your customer service experience something people look forward to or fret about? Prayerfully, your answer is the former. The need for excellent customer service goes without saying but must be reiterated, especially as a company grows.

In truth, digital marketing can provide the best solution for winning with happy customers⁴. For example, asking for online customer reviews and product/service ratings is crucial to building credibility and developing a solid brand. The more people experience quality service and assurance, the more they will frequent a business, review it positively, AND recommend it to others.

And for bad reviews, companies can even redeem themselves and help salvage an unpleasant customer experience by immediately responding to their needs and offering solutions to help remedy the situation. Without online marketing, these kinds of connections are difficult to maintain.

Below are some recent stats about customer service reviews!

1. Over 90% of people have made purchasing decisions based on online reviews
2. Yelp gets nearly 27,000 customer reviews every 60 seconds
3. Over 8 out of 10 people use Google to assess local businesses

#5— HAVE SOLID DIGITAL MARKETING CONNECTIONS

Are you utilizing social media and a responsive website to stay connected to current and potential customers? Our last must-have for marketing your small business in the 21^st century is to have and maintain solid connections with customers and clients. And the top two ways to accomplish great connections are through a website that works (your ultimate digital marketing tool) and social media marketing.

Your SEO website must consistently be interactive, responsive, and resourceful. In other words, it must be “alive and performing” optimally at all times. Whatever solutions your small business provides must be available and accessible to online visitors to keep them returning to your site. The fastest way to have a customer click out of your site is to have one that provides a poor mobile UX and UI. When people cannot connect to your business online, you lose them.

And social media platforms provide creative and informal ways to connect with your customers and maintain contact. For instance, people love to post great customer experiences with a product or service, especially a local Mom & Pop Shop. If your business vibe and solutions match the customer’s values and needs, you’ve already made an instant connection⁵. So, leverage social media platforms to:

• Maintain contact and easy online accessibility.
• Keep customers up-to-date on what’s happening.
• Generate leads and reach more customers.
• Create an online community of like-minded people.
• Invite customers to events and special activities— like new product lines or services.
• Offer special sales promotions and savings.

From one Mom & Pop and Veteran-owned business to another, we’re here to help you grow!

All you have to do is take the first step by clicking below to take your FREE Marketing Self-Assessment! However, you can also connect with us online to schedule your own consultation or call us at 281-203-0529.

^References

1. ^{Get found via online mobile search. Image by Henry Perks.}
2. ^{Brand management and recognition—Starbucks mug. Image by Harmen Jelle Van Mourik.}
3. ^{Business and Community Concept. Image by Robert Bye.}
4. ^{Ideal Customer Service. Image concept by Blake Wisz.}
5. ^{Customer connects GIF- Digital Marketing Online by That’s Journal. Tenor.}

The post Marketing Mom & Pop Businesses in the 21st Century appeared first on BUILDINGBLOCKS.

’Tis the season again when businesses anticipate year-end marketing results, ROIs, and begin finalizing plans for next year. And with just 64 workdays left in 2022, it can feel like we’re running out of time. Yet, even in this last quarter, there’s still an opportunity to achieve successful lead generation outcomes and go out with a bang! And most of that success can come from incorporating the five critical strategies discussed in this article.

If you’re like most executives and entrepreneurs, you enjoy leveraging opportunities to integrate innovative strategies to your ultimate advantage. So, now’s the time to put your best business marketing initiatives to work and help turn hot leads into happy customers!

Jump to your favorite lead generation insights for the end of the year!

• • Let’s discuss ‘timing’ first.
  • #1 Put Your Best Foot Forward
  • #2 Learn to Earn Their Trust
  • #3 Utilize Social Media Platforms
  • #4 Nurture Your Leads
  • #5 Ask for Referrals & Feedback
  • Get quality leads to your website!

Is there a ‘best time’ to incorporate a lead generation campaign?

The answer to that question is— Yes and No! ‘Yes,’ in the sense that the best time means you’ve launched a well-thought-out campaign early enough to measure and obtain favorable results over time. And ‘No,’ in the sense that when, which month, or what date doesn’t matter. Why? Because launching in time to get at least 60-90 days of actual lead generation results is what’s most important.

In essence, launching a successful campaign to obtain the desired ROI is all about:

1. Industry demand
2. Understanding your particular sales cycle
3. Precise campaign planning and execution, and above all—
4. STRATEGY!

The bottom line? Regardless of when you conduct a campaign, it’s best to initiate customer-centered lead generation strategies. By that, I mean making their experience with your brand easy enough for them to stay engaged and eventually convert. In addition, you must always ensure that each campaign has a focused CTA (call-to-action) that results in each prospect obtaining something valuable in exchange for gaining their contact information.

So, let’s dig into five top lead generation strategies you can incorporate for an excellent year-end campaign!

#1— Emphasize your industry expertise as a means of moving up on SERPs.

Nothing is more satisfying than doing a Google search and getting a plethora of great top-page results. And as a business, you’re confident in offering the perfect product or service solution that ideal customers are searching for and need. Thus, highlighting your industry expertise is a vital strategy to apply to every lead generation campaign you run.

Two Tips for Strategy Success:

1.  Strategy success¹ begins with consistently publishing content marketing that speaks to your industry niche and the value solution customers need and desire. Overall, people eventually convert once they find what they’re looking for and learn they’re engaging with a knowledgeable and resourceful company.

2.  Another aspect of success with this lead generation strategy is remembering that more of today’s buyers opt to do their online research first before deciding. So, becoming a product or service expert in your respective industry means getting people to trust your company for specific solutions. Likewise, keeping them educated with resourceful content helps encourage their decision to purchase, and also enhances your online SEO efforts.

#2— Becoming a trusted resource is another vital strategy for successful lead generation.

Once you’ve learned to highlight and feature your company expertise by providing vital information to leads, pledge to do that consistently. In doing so, you eventually become a trusted resource or “industry leader” in your field.

Since no business is perfect, there are those rare times customers become unhappy with their service experience. However, when you work with them and other potential customers directly to bring about resolve, you reassure them that you care about their experiences with your brand. And in turn, you also enhance opportunities to generate more sales leads and new business.

Overall, the more your business engages with customers and consistently provides industry insights, the more you gain their trust as they value your recommendations.

#3— Get “Social” with your customers and new leads through digital networking.

Engaging and interacting with potential customers is a top priority for generating new leads for your company. Fortunately, social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn², and Facebook continue to play a dominant role in how we conduct and receive business in the 21^st century.

Incorporating SMM, or Social Media Marketing, as part of a digital marketing strategy is one of the best lead generation tools, especially for the ‘Smartphone Consumer’ generation. The beauty of using SMM is that companies can offer valuable industry insights, resources, and products or services while also requesting to connect with customers.

At the same time, social platforms also provide opportunities to connect to potential leads more personably, targeting customers by offering the specific solutions that interest them the most. Again, SMM affords innovative ways to connect, offer lead magnets, engage, and nurture new leads through the sales funnel into conversion.

Tip for Strategy Success:

Did you know that LinkedIn currently generates the highest B2B visitor-to-lead conversion rate across all social media platforms? So, allow us to encourage you to stay connected to customers through SMM. By doing so, you continue to nurture them through consistently sharing relevant and valuable content.

The ultimate goal of utilizing SMM is to keep spotlighting your business as a trusted industry resource solution. And when using social media best practices, like calls-to-actions, content bits from email marketing, and blog insights with each post, you soon discover they’re vital to helping drive leads to your website.

#4— Once you start generating quality leads, nurture them by staying in contact.

Part of nurturing leads is keeping in contact with past referrals; remember, they are leads too! However, not every lead we generate through our campaigns will be ready to convert on the spot. So, instead of ignoring them, we must nurture them through the process of conversion.

As I stated earlier, people like to do their research. Therefore, some of your generated leads may need a little more time to decide on a purchase as they’re vetting for the best solution possible. And for this reason, nurturing them through the sales cycle is key to helping them convert.

So, stay in contact to nurture them during special occasions and news events, and by scheduling consistent times to send out “touchpoints.” Touchpoints help keep them dating and engaged with your brand through marketing tactics and strategies like email promotions, social posts, surveys, downloadables, and blog publications.

Nurturing Leads During the Holiday Season

The Holidays always present excellent opportunities to run lead generation campaigns. For example, you may ask, ‘How so?’ Well, as people consider spending time with loved ones, sharing gifts, and anticipating ways to improve their lives in the coming New Year, they typically become more inclined to search for product/service solutions.

Therefore, targeting your lead nurturing³ campaigns around providing a viable solution is a great way to connect with potential customers. Ask yourself, ‘How can our brand help customers or business clients accomplish their year-end goals?’ Your answer will put you on the best path toward converting leads.

In the end, you’ll find that focused campaigns offer opportunities and solutions that help customers and clients achieve their goals.

Interesting Year-End Lead Generation Strategy Stats!

• • New leads are nine times more likely to convert when companies follow up with them within five minutes of an encounter.
  • Email marketing automation produces higher ROIs than any other lead gen tool.
  • Nurtured leads produce 20% more sales opportunities and spend 47% more than non-nurtured leads

#5— Don’t forget to ask customers for referrals and feedback.

One of the best strategies for successful lead generation is asking customers for feedback and referrals. Obtaining these forms of data are crucial to building your business marketing database, credibility, and to building lasting relationships.

Feedback

When companies solicit customer or client feedback, that act sends a direct message to customers that you value their experiences with your brand. Asking also shows that you care about keeping quality service a top priority.

Lastly, feedback helps inspire new business ideas while improving service and product delivery. It ultimately keeps you aware of what they need and value from your company. And in the end, maintaining a happy customer⁴ base is key to bringing in more leads.

Referrals

When your customers and clients are happy with their quality service, asking them for referrals becomes easy. In fact, they will make sure to share with others the qualities and reliance they value from your business. So, collecting referrals from existing customers further builds your customer base so you can generate even more quality leads.

Get help with your next lead generation campaign!

Did you know that outsourcing your lead generation efforts trumps handling it in-house? The main reason for this fact is that you already have much to focus on with running your business. Yet, partnering with the right digital marketing firm is the key to delivering quality leads to your website!

BUILDINGBLOCKS wants to partner with you as your outsourced marketing department OR an extension of your current marketing team. In any case, we aim to help target and increase your efforts so you can build business and obtain a significant ROI. So let’s meet to discuss your marketing needs before the Holidays! Schedule a convenient meeting time online, or call 281-203-0529 to get started!

^{Image References}

1. ^{Lead generation strategy success. Photo concept by Kraken Images.}
2. ^{LinkedIn photo concept by Souvik Banerjee.}
3. ^{Holiday Candy-cane heart shape- Lead nurturing photo concept by Isabella & Zsa Fischer.}
4. ^{Latino business woman providing feedback, Photo concept by Mateus Campos Felipe.}

The post 5 Strategies to Generate New Leads by Year’s End appeared first on BUILDINGBLOCKS.

However, in this particular case, what you don’t know about using key performance indicators and understanding analytics CAN hurt.

Although it’s normal for us to fail at business from time to time, success only comes if we keep getting back up! And unlike John Wanamaker’s experience of wasting money on business advertising 100 years ago¹, no 21^st-century business has to waste resources or time! Instead, we can learn from every mistake and make the necessary adjustments to ensure progression.

Thankfully, these days we have modern digital marketing with its various metric tools, like key performance indicators. KPIs serve as benchmarks to help us measure campaign success in multiple ways. However, the most essential thing any marketing VP, CEO, or business owner should know is KPIs mean nothing if their marketing efforts and strategies aren’t producing quality leads.

Before moving on, view Jason’s clip on “Marketing Performance Reporting!”

In this article you’ll gain insights on the following:

• • Understanding KPIs
  • Top 3 KPI Characteristics
  • Lead Generation and Performance Reporting
  • What’s most important to digital marketing success?
  • How to stop wasting your Inve$tment Dollar$!
  • What working with BUILDINGBLOCKS Looks Like

To put first things first, let’s understand the best ways to measure our digital marketing success – using KPIs.

Since every business is different, the metrics and measurement tools we put in place shouldn’t be the same for each company, not even those in the same industry. Also, to fully benefit from your marketing investment dollars, it is vital that you first understand what KPIs are and how they work.

We like to think of key performance indicators as “benchmarks” that provide us with highly useful insights on how we’re progressing. And though they show typical metric values, they also indicate how our business is performing compared to the goals we set and industry averages.

For instance, before your company sets its benchmarks for an email marketing campaign, you’ll need to know the average industry click-through rate, so you’ll have something to compare with your actual open rate. In other words, KPI numbers tell the story of our progress and whether we’re passing or failing in our campaign efforts.

Top Three Characteristics of Key Performance Indicators

1. 1. Offer comparative and comprehensive digital insights to help guide future actions.
   2. Can incorporate objectives and company goals
   3. Allow you to evaluate and adjust settings with SMARTER methodology over time – (SMARTER goals are goals that are: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely, Evaluated, and Reviewed)

Our Seven Key KPI Benchmark Measurements

There are many key performance indicators companies use to measure and determine the marketing success of various campaigns. But BUILDINGBLOCKS focuses on KPI measurements that are associated with digital marketing lead generation.

Our choice indicators help tell a story to our clients who choose our services, like email marketing automation and digital ads.

1. 1. Conversion Rates (CR) – the measured percentage of leads that actually converted/completed a CTA
   2. Cost Per Lead (CPL) – the established pre-paid price or cost for each generated lead
   3. Click-Through Rates (CTR) – simple formula of # of clicks/impressions; it’s the quantity of clicks an ad receives divided by the times that ad is shown
   4. Cost Per Click (CPC) – a pre-established price for the number of times an online display is clicked
   5. Cost per Action (CPA) – the cost associated with the action taken by a potential customer
   6. Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) – the cost of a campaign’s capacity to attract new leads and potential customers based on sum total sales
   7. Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) – your regular ROI is based on your ad spend, but marketing ROI is based on the overall effectiveness of a marketing campaign

With lead generation and performance reporting, we aim to educate and empower businesses through their digital marketing ventures.

We’re about ensuring that your company investment puts the correct KPIs in place to measure progress for success. In the world of online marketing, there are two main categories of data that business marketers must track. The first tracking category is analytics, and the second is the number of leads generated within a specific time period.

Analytics is extremely vital as it helps us develop performance reporting and indicate if your campaigns are delivering the results you expect. Through analytics, you can determine:

• Whether or not you’re on the right track with your campaigns
• If you’re using the proper marketing tactics

But even more important than analytics are the leads that your campaigns generate. Hence, the beauty of incorporating the proper performance indicators is that they help you understand if what you’re using is actually generating revenue returns. So, our primary purpose for key performance reporting is to confirm whether or not your online advertising is generating leads that fit the persona of your ideal customer.

So, why are KPIs so vital to digital marketing success?

When we look back 100 years and consider marketing in the 1920s, lead generation was very different. We immediately think of radio advertising, word of mouth, door-to-door salespeople, and print media. Print media included store signs², newspaper ads, posters, and those good-old-fashioned flyers that you’d see people passing out to strangers on the streets. And like Mr. Wanamaker, measuring marketing success and lead generation was very difficult to determine. Why? Well, because back then, outbound marketing was the order of the day.

However, modern digital marketing can always determine where our investment dollars are going if we use KPIs. In truth, you really won’t know how well your campaigns are performing unless you check the numbers. And since the numbers and values you receive from using the correct performance indicators don’t lie, correct calculations mean accurate analytical results.

We recommend that you start with Google Analytics to initiate the gathering and processing of your marketing data. Use it as a template to create your own customized report. And once you’ve gathered enough pertinent data, you can begin checking actual campaign results compared to industry benchmarks.

Fortunately, with KPIs, you can make necessary adjustments to your settings and focus on the tools that bring in the most qualified leads. Hence, that’s how you confirm where your investment dollars and going and which tools are working to yield an ROI.

There’s one sure-fire way to stop wasting your “Inve$tment Dollar$” — consider seeking help from a trusted marketing partner!

Look, we’ve been in advertising and marketing for over 18 years. And in all those years, our top mission is to help businesses protect their bottom line. Unfortunately, over the years, we’ve seen agencies place significant emphasis on campaign performances from the perspective of analytics.  Meaning they focused on getting more traffic to their websites, putting more clicks on ads, and offering more form fills.  Well, none of those tactics mean anything if your business isn’t growing from your online marketing efforts.

When visitors experience your brand online via company website, landing page, email, or ad, you must engage them to act upon arrival. Connecting with and engaging them dramatically increases the chances of conversion.

Remember, KPIs provide data in helping you understand which marketing channels are generating revenues and which ones are not. And if the leads you generate through your marketing campaign efforts are not converting, allow us to assist you.

At BUILDINGBLOCKS, we define performance monitoring by meeting with you on a bi-weekly basis to:

1. Provide you with a list of names, emails, and/or phone numbers of the leads we’ve generated through our advertising efforts
2. Determine which of those leads converted into customers –
   1. Whether they were ideal prospects,
   2. or didn’t fit your ideal customer profile
3. Then, calculate the revenues those new customers represent for your business

This discipline of ongoing performance monitoring is critical to optimizing the conversion rates of your ideal customers. Furthermore, it’s a core foundation for our success in managing your campaigns.

Let’s meet to talk more about KPIs and marketing performance reporting. Connect with us online, or call 281-203-0529 for immediate assistance.

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2. ^{Image: Wiki Commons – Retrieved February 21, 2022.  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greenwood_Avenue_south_of_Easton_Street,_Tulsa,_OK.jpg}

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Jump to what interests you the most!

• • Improving CRO [Conversion Rate Optimization]
  • Three basic facts about bottom-funnel leads
  • Why companies are retargeting & refocusing on leads at the bottom of the funnel
  • The key to your bottom line
  • Benefits of remarketing to bottom-funnel leads
  • The most crucial digital marketing benefit to your business

Traditional marketing maintains the idea that businesses must focus their sales energies on lead generation at the “Top of Funnel.” Then, nurture them through the sales cycle on their buyer’s journey. In theory, this technique certainly helps promote brand awareness by familiarizing customers with a business. Yet, it’s also time-consuming and may only yield a small percentage of conversions over an extended time period.

Before reading more, learn the tips that will help you optimize success and improve CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization).

Marketers should know the three basic facts about bottom-funnel leads and conversions.

HubSpot surveyed a group of salespeople and found that only 7 percent of those they polled believed the leads they received from digital marketing efforts were, in fact, high-quality leads. With such low percentages, perhaps it’s time marketers consider focusing more energy on their “Bottom of Funnel” leads instead.

So, what should your business know and understand about bottom-funnel leads?

1.    These potential customers or clients have come close to the end of their buying journey.

They already know what they want and have completed all the necessary research to make their final decision. When people intend to purchase a product or service, they usually conduct searches with specific keywords. Such keywords can include search phrases like – ‘bulk restaurant supplies near me,’ ‘top family dentists Houston,’ or ‘landscape equipment Milwaukee.’

2.    Bottom funnel leads will answer calls to action on relevant digital marketing platforms.

The bottom-funnel customers are those who have subscribed to an email marketing database, interacted with your business on social media, and downloaded content from your website. When they reach this point, you must follow up with them to ensure they have all they need to convert and make a successful purchase.

3.    They are people who are ready to purchase.

By the time prospective clients reach the bottom of your sales funnel, it means they’ve found value in your company and have demonstrated a high interest in purchasing your product or service. In other words, they are the low-hanging grapes that are ripe and ready for picking.

Why should today’s digital marketing strategies focus on investing in bottom-funnel sales?

Successful companies are beginning to see that they’re spending way too much time on top-funnel leads. However, please note that no one thinks filling the top of your sales funnel with potential clients is a bad idea. In fact, outstanding businesses know the essence of maintaining a steady stream of new leads coming through the sales cycle.

Yet, from the standpoint of getting new leads to convert over time, it takes much longer to maintain and move them through the funnel from top to bottom. In truth, it is quite uncommon to obtain the perfect funnel system for converting customers. But any unconventional and innovative strategy that helps enhance sales will make a massive difference to your bottom line. Therefore, if you have a sizable number of promising leads at the bottom of the funnel¹ close to conversion, it may prove profitable to invest in retargeting to this refined audience.

Remember, the key to your bottom line is what you do with bottom-funnel leads.

According to recent remarketing stats, visitors and leads are 70 percent more likely to convert and close when companies retarget digital ads on their websites.

This statistic means that digital marketing ads work when you consider retargeting bottom-funnel leads. All you’ll need to do at this point are three things:

1. Focus your digital marketing dollars on explaining WHY your product/service is the best solution.
2. Offer FREE resource solutions that are engaging and relevant to their problems or needs.
3. Stay connected to them by conducting weekly “touchpoints” to let them know you are available for them.

There are five crucial benefits to remarketing to bottom-funnel leads.

First – Companies can obtain enhanced data.

Bottom funnel lead conversion helps businesses see which strategies worked best and led each customer to the point of close. Also, companies can use that same data to tweak and adjust other phases of the sales funnel to tailor resources, attract more quality leads, and improve lead movement.

Second – You’ll get refined leads of a higher quality.

Today, three out of ten salespeople believe it’s more challenging to obtain conversions. However, when focusing on bottom-funnel leads, companies can work with more qualified customers ready to convert. Fortunately, with the concentrated data received from the potential leads they attracted towards the bottom of the funnel, businesses can optimize nurturing tactics and database marketing automation strategies to improve conversions further.

Third – Marketing teams see improved lead conversion numbers.

When focusing on the prospective customers at the bottom of the sales funnel, you can accomplish multiple goals quickly. For one, you’ll improve your overall lead generation numbers simply because those customers are closer to making a purchase decision.

And since the primary goal of converting qualified leads to close is a big win for everyone, companies generate revenues faster from bottom-funnel leads. In turn, they also see quicker returns on their investments.

Fourth – Sales funnels are more optimized.

When companies apply what they’ve learned from bottom-funnel leads to other areas of the sales funnel, the entire sales cycle becomes more efficient. In other words, your digital marketing efforts become optimized. Even more, you can reduce customer acquisition costs and improve your ROI because of knowing which tactics to continue investing in and which ones to stop utilizing.

Discover the fifth benefit of refocusing your digital marketing efforts to bottom-funnel lead generation.

The final benefit is obtaining an outsourced digital marketing partner who will help improve your bottom line. When partnering with us, you have an assurance that we’ll put your marketing dollars to work with the intent of you seeing a return on your investment.

So, put our experience to the test and connect with us online or via phone call at 281-203-0529. We’re excited to hear about your marketing needs and share how we can best serve your organization!

^References

1. ^{BOFU Sales Marketing Image Concept by – Campaign Creators.}

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With stats like those above, it’s no wonder why more businesses have begun focusing on creating video marketing strategies to reach consumers better. Today’s video technology enables companies to reach their audiences on a more personal and customized level. Are you ready to learn why online video is the new focus for businesses? If so, keep reading and discover the five most prominent things you need to know.

Video marketing is second only to “being there” live.

Most companies now understand that video marketing offers a deeper level of connection with their customers and clients. In fact, videos provide the closest way for businesses to be there for their customers outside of face-to-face contact. Since the pandemic, our world has had to find new ways to connect, socialize, and continue exchanging viable information. Consequently, online video marketing trends fulfill those necessities in various ways while also providing the desired level of personal service.

Most importantly, businesses must choose platforms that best help them establish an identifiable brand presence online. Their first step, however, should include video marketing that answers questions, addresses solutions to pain points, and offers accessible information based on customer needs.

This article dives deeper into the realities of video marketing and how this trend heavily impacts how companies must now conduct business. To put it plainly, we believe video marketing is the new focus for digital online marketing success, and it’s here to stay!

Video marketing also offers a broad range of platforms that businesses can leverage to reach customers.

While YouTube is a powerhouse for video marketing, it’s far from the only platform companies can utilize for their marketing strategy. Today, we have access to high-traffic social media channels like Facebook Live¹, Instagram Stories, and LinkedIn. Marketers leverage video production to develop creative content marketing ads, virtual events, webinars, vlogs, and live streams through these platforms.

Furthermore, each venue provides unique video technology that helps businesses improve their capacity for generating quality leads. They also help companies stay connected to current customers. In a recent Wyzowl study, over 70% of businesses reported that video marketing helped increase their conversion rates.

Incorporating videos into a responsive website is an innovative marketing strategy poised to promote business growth and sustainability.

Did you think we wouldn’t mention website videos?  Think again! Business websites that include videos, for example, are 50 times more likely to increase organic search results. This increase is because videos are incredibly compelling, and Google likes pushing content pages that include them. The beauty of using videos also means you can update your site page content, publish it online, and substantially increase search results. So regardless, there’s no running from website video marketing in 2021.

And in case you hadn’t noticed, today’s company homepages are no longer static and for a good reason. Why? Because website visitors will literally abandon a homepage within seconds if –

• The page is confusing
• Your website fails to capture their attention or pique their interests
• It doesn’t offer the type of information or solutions they seek

So, what does video marketing really mean for your business?

Fortunately, companies that strategically integrate video marketing access on their sites continue to prove invaluable. Videos offer a significant advantage and the strategic tools needed for generating leads to your website, then helping visitors stay online to find what they need while also moving them through the sales funnel. Therefore, your business can’t go wrong with online clips that immediately greet, connect, and direct visitors to their desired products, services, and information. Click below to see what Jason has to say about who’s visiting your website and why!

Bottom line: website video marketing ensures your target audience remains focused on your value proposition. It also generates the right leads to your site while encouraging people to respond to intriguing calls to action, further helping you convey the connective brand messages that get results. These facts are essential to video marketing success because viewers will never forget information when they can actively engage in it.

If your business is going to include video marketing, be sure to provide responsive mobile device access.

These days, mobile devices continue to provide customers with the quickest access to online marketing through video. So, businesses must consider updating their marketing efforts away from the fast-fading days of people reading sales pages or long emails. Instead, they should consider utilizing more interactive marketing through online videos. With video marketing, your business can present the same content but on a platform that works responsively, regardless of the device customers use.

Keep in mind that email marketing and automation are still highly effective strategies that companies can use to reach various customers. However, no business should ignore the fact that 80% of people use their smartphones to access apps and company websites. And with such high percentages of people accessing online information via smartphone videos, businesses can clearly grasp its massive reach. Therefore, making proper adjustments to develop responsive websites, set up social media platforms, and incorporate mobile access for online videos are the next crucial steps businesses must take to stay relevant to customer needs.

Source: Video Marketing Statistics for Small Business in 2021

Virtual events, webinars, and live streams have also been etched in stone as a part of online video marketing.

Although they began out of need well before COVID-19, virtual events have crystallized and are also here to stay. Since the pandemic, many companies have discovered a host of benefits from hosting webinars, live streams, and virtual events. In fact, today’s virtual seminars, workshops, and conferences now offer the following perks:

1. An increased ROI due to expanded participation
2. Maintenance of safety protocol and procedures, as well as compliance with local, state, and federal regulations
3. Increased accessibility for participants
4. A broader and sometimes global audience reach
5. Less overhead costs
6. Real-time interactions and increased communications/responses
7. Full event access to every speaker, activity, and experience for participants

Consider partnering with professionals who are ready to drive your business towards online marketing success.

If your company has been seeking information on how to implement, revamp, or improve your digital marketing efforts, it’s time to connect with us. We’re ready to share insights on video production and many other marketing services to obtain the success you desire.

Contact us today online to share your needs and interests, or call us directly at 281-203-0529. At BUILDLINGBLOCKS, our goal is to provide a customized online marketing strategy that helps companies improve their customer service efforts while also realizing their ROI goals.

1. ^{Photo by Sticker Mule on Unsplash}

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March 2021 Google Commercial – Content marketing at its finest!

1. Content marketing should incorporate an innovative strategic approach.

Innovative content strategy always focuses on developing and providing consistent information that is highly valuable and relevant to its audience.  And if your content is answering your audience’s questions, then the strategy you employ will continue generating quality leads. The strategy approach should also consider which types of online platforms and channels to use when you’re pumping out content. The chosen channels should be best for helping you connect with your audience based on their search behaviors and product or service needs.

Overall, you’ll want your content marketing strategy to positively impact your ROI while also keeping your customers well-informed. And the best way to ensure you get a return on your investment is to have a strategic marketing plan of action or IMPACT in place.

2. Great content marketing will also have a clearly targeted audience and specific aim.

Traditional advertising still concentrates most of its’ spend and energy on marketing to reach new and potential customers. However, with content marketing, your business gets to hone in more on capturing a clearly defined audience of existing customers. Companies can utilize strategic, digital content marketing to build more vital B2B and B2C relationships through the exchange of continuous, conversational information.

So, when businesses provide content that connects and matches their target audience’s interests, it keeps customers coming back. In turn, that same content also begins to draw new potential customers in and generate more leads. When you have current clients and potential customers seeking similar product and service information, as well as sharing that content, you’ve successfully targeted your audience.

Here’s what you need to know about Digital Content Marketing vs. Traditional Advertising.

3. Make sure your online marketing content drives profitable customer action.

We think Julia McCoy’s research with the Content Marketing Institute says it best –  great content can generate up to 3x more leads and cost over 60% less than your typical outbound marketing spends. Yet, when you get quality leads to visit your website, does the content on the site or landing page encourage them to do something about their service or product interest?

A crucial part of defining a profitable content strategy is aligning it to customer personas and preferred search methods within their buying journey. To simply increase content output can be tempting for some companies. However, when they skip steps in the process, like having content that addresses their problems or including a call-to-action, they can miss out on new business opportunities.

When driving customers into action, your business needs to fully understand customers’ needs and provide content that addresses those needs. Content marketing must also connect with online visitors while including creative tactics that drive them into action. Remember this, customers don’t always ‘buy-at-first-sight,’ and that’s fine. Your aim is to consistently develop and redevelop content marketing that keeps them interested long enough to convert (buy). So, ensure that your intriguing information at least draws people in and keeps them interested in exploring solutions and eventually moving them into action.

4. Does your business consistently distribute relevant online content?

There is always something important to say and share with your target audience when it comes to content marketing. The moment a business becomes “silent” online, speaking the same language as most other digital marketing ads and sales promoters, is the exact moment it loses its unique voice.

Nothing impacts an audience’s decision-making more than consistent and relevant content distribution. That’s why most companies must first establish their unique brand messaging through the voice of their customers. Afterward, they should continue to consistently push out content that constantly piques interest and aligns with the established brand. For best results, they should pump content through the lead generation channels their customers most prefer, like social media platforms, blogs, video marketing, and email marketing automation.

If your content and brand messaging don’t have a unique voice or identity connected to your defined audience, that voice could soon disappear into a market saturated with similar content.  So, make sure you’re consistently putting out fresh and relevant content that is solutions-oriented.  We mean ensuring your content marketing answers questions accurately and provides the insights your online visitors need to know.

5. Lastly, your content marketing should provide educational information instead of promotional sales and advertising jargon.

Traditional marketing relies heavily on big brand promotions and pushes the benefits and trusted quality of a product or service. And this method is acceptable for well-known companies like Coca-Cola, Ford, Disney, Home Depot, or Starbucks. Why? People know they can rely on these brands for top products and services. However, for most other businesses, successful content marketing must also include elements of educational insight.

Today, people want and need content that answers questions and solves problems or pain points, while also providing much-needed insights that make lives better. Since the Coronavirus pandemic shocked the entire world in 2020, these days, people need reassurance more than anything else. And with the unprecedented volume of questions people asked online, it’s apparent consumers prefer trusted, straightforward, and reliable information. Educational content helps consumers cope and improve their current life circumstances.

So, content that educates and informs online visitors helps position your company as an industry expert and reliable resource. Most importantly, this type of information establishes customer trust and reinforces the bond between consumers and companies.

How would you define your business’ content marketing and SEO efforts?

Overall, some companies are confident they’re on track with generating leads through strategic content marketing and SEO best practices. There are many other businesses, however, that are not so confident. Yet, in both cases, BUILDINGBLOCKS can help further enhance current efforts or develop strategies and tactics for companies in need of a marketing partner.

Get Your FREE SEO Analysis!

There are many more characteristics of successful content marketing you can start applying today to give your marketing strategy a much-needed boost. To learn more or for additional digital marketing assistance, connect with us online, or call us at 281-203-0529.

The post Content Marketing: Common Characteristics to Your Success appeared first on BUILDINGBLOCKS.

Some businesses still think SEO is about their particular product or service and strategizing to help potential buyers find them online. But SEO isn’t just about that; it’s more-so about how people find services and products through search behaviors. This article discusses how business owners can learn to set up better SEO strategies to match searches and make real connections with their target audience. Ready to dig in? Watch Jason’s video first, then read on.

The most significant thing business owners need to know about SEO has nothing to do with their product or service.

We believe the first and single most important thing about mastering SEO for your business is understanding search behaviors. How do people find solutions, information, and opportunities online? Do you know how your target audience is finding you online, that is IF they are finding you at all? What are their search behaviors and the buying journey they take to find your company’s product or service as an essential solution, opportunity, or source of information? Most companies don’t fully understand search behaviors, and that’s okay because owners have more important things to consider when running their business.

Whether your business offers B2B or B2C products and services, you must realize that people are most likely not looking online for your particular product or service name. Instead, they’re typing keywords and phrases that will link them to solutions. So, if your product or service has keywords related to their search, you’ve set up your SEO correctly. Even more, you’ve positioned your business to be found by your ideal audience. Before we talk more about how SEO helps bring prospects to your website through lead generation and how you should engage them when they find you, let’s discuss the top problem businesses experience.

Many businesses, unfortunately, make this grave mistake when it comes to SEO.

Let’s say a cosmetic company offers a procedure and supplemental products for men with thinning hair or hair loss. We’ll call the procedure the ‘Vitta-Grow Hair Implant Solution,’ and the supplements are ‘Vitta-Grow Haircare’ products. This business’ website has keywords like ‘implants,’ ‘men’s hair,’ the ‘Vitta-grow’ name, as well as the company name. However, there are no matching keywords that directly connect a searcher’s problem or concern on hair loss to their website.

Unfortunately, this is where missed opportunities occur in that visitors cannot effectively find this particular solution to their thinning hair and loss issues. But, keywords like ‘hair loss,’ ‘thinning hair for men,’ ‘male pattern baldness,’ and ‘hair implants for men’ would have been more relevant to search behaviors. Even cosmetic retailers looking for products to sell for men could also find similar product solutions. However, the Vitta-Grow company would have had to apply the right keywords and SEO strategies.

Does this scenario make you curious about your SEO status? If so, click the link below to learn how you could get an SEO score rating on your website.

Request a FREE SEO Analysis

Here are a few things we want you to know and understand about search behaviors and why people visit sites.

1.    We know about how many times people search online each day.

If you’re like most people, you search for products, services, or information online at least three times a day. And according to HubSpot, Google processes nearly six billion online searches per day worldwide! However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, these numbers have increased substantially as online marketing search behaviors and frequency have changed.

2.    People prefer SEO snippets and some descriptive information in their search results.

Search results with featured snippets have close to 3% higher click-through rates than those without snippet descriptions. This means the average visitor is more likely to click on a featured result when descriptive information and keywords match their search.

3.    SEO keywords and phrases are “key” to every search.

Over 75% of online search volume comes from people using top keywords or keyword phrases to connect to product or service needs. Often, if a keyword is extremely broad or popular, people will use long-tail phrases with more specifics to pinpoint their search.

Just about 25% of search volume actually occurs outside of those top million popular keywords. Yet still, words that pertain to particular problems and solutions bring about the search behavior people will invoke to find specific business offerings.

4.    Some people still ask questions during their search.

In fact, nearly eight percent of Google search queries usually pertain to ‘what,’ ‘why,’ ‘how,’ ‘where,’ and ‘when’ questions. So, what’s the best way to find an answer? Ask a question. Google loves it, and the engine is already keen on providing people with the best search results possible.

5.    People tend to click more when they get great SEO results on a page!

Here’s another interesting fact on search behaviors – Over 20% of online searches lead to multiple clicks on the results page.

Source:  Teknicks- Marketing Research Survey: Google Search Behaviors

FYI: SEO is all about capturing and connecting your business with your target audience’s search behaviors.

There are multiple reasons why people conduct searches. Most times, they’re looking for information, be it locations, service and product ratings, and solutions to problems. According to Google, some online researchers find preparation and curating for an upcoming experience emotionally rewarding, so much so that they use search to optimize life. Furthermore, when people find what they’re looking for online, it helps reduce anxiety.

Overall, potential customer research provides a greater sense of control. For example, people learn what to expect and have more confidence in understanding how they can best benefit from a product, service, or experience.

Online searching does the following:

• Helps online visitors create the best experience – they know what to expect and which selections to make ahead of time.
• Gets researchers excited about their experience with a particular product or service
• Increases the power of conversion through easy purchasing and access to needed products and services
• Offers convenience – saving time and money for consumers
• Online research helps consumers feel more confident and less anxious.

Again, when a company sets up their website SEO to make vital connections to their target audience, they help make the consumer’s search experience exceptional.

So, how’s your website functioning in 2021? Is it generating the leads you want? If you don’t know, it’s time to find out!

Get your FREE Website Analysis

Below are some things your business can do to tailor SEO, get found online, and help customers find the solutions they need.

Setting up on-site SEO strategies on your website pages and applying best practices is crucial to online searchers finding your products and services. Do you need to drive more traffic to your website and help guide online visitors and prospects in their search? The following provides information on a few things you can do.

Boost your SEO locally

Consider online directories like Google My Business to claim your page, as well as making sure other online business listings, like YELP and YP, are all up-to-date with accurate NAP citations. For instance, your company name, address, and phone number are equally vital to helping potential customers and businesses find you online.

Use SEO keywords efficiently

Be sure to diversify them, utilize keywords in your headers, and tag them to your images. Remember, relevant keywords are the most effective way for researchers to find you online.

Apply and develop your content strategy

Always provide relevant and engaging content for your visitors. Effective content marketing is the only way to “nail it” when connecting with your audience. If your content is engaging and interactive on every platform, you increase your chances of converting visitors to loyal customers.

Remember to add SEO snippets and meta-descriptions to all your web pages

When your site pages show up on search results, you’ll want to have a snippet description that includes keywords to help offer relevant information.

Develop your product and/or service pages around keyword intent

When your company sets up its website pages, you’ll also want to base SEO and content on the consumer’s searched keywords.

Figuring out how to set up SEO is something no business owner should attempt to do alone.

If you’re wondering about your website’s status and how your SEO is currently set up, give us a call at 281-203-0529. We’re always excited about conducting FREE website and SEO analyses for companies curious about how well their sites are performing.

At BUILDINGBLOCKS, we make it easy to connect with us. Whether you’re looking for more information, or if you’re a veteran-owned marketing company, freely connect directly with us online. We look forward to chatting and hearing more about your business marketing needs!

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Discover the joy in knowing the difference between SEO and lead generation marketing concepts.

Since the start of the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic, we’ve seen how difficult it has been for companies to figure out where to put their business focus. Should we concentrate on lead generation or start working to increase SEO performance?

From our standpoint, however, the application of both concepts is vital to any successful digital marketing campaign. We’ve also learned that connecting the two concepts and how they matter to companies is not as easy for business owners to understand fully. So, allow us to explain here.

Search Engine Optimization – SEO

SEO is a marketing method that helps businesses improve their website visibility and inbound traffic as people search online for solutions to problems and seek opportunities. Companies can increase their SEO efforts organically or through SEM (Search Engine Marketing); paid advertising. Search engines like Google, for example, help rank each keyword search based on how people seek information online. Basically, SEO is the process of refining website pages to increase their rankings on a search engine results page. Again, the milestone of SEO is to increase website visibility and traffic visits from people looking for answers to problems or seeking opportunities.

Lead Generation

Wondering how lead generation works? Well, its focus is to effectively capture the interest of online visitors to products or services and ultimately produce a sale. Lead generation is an essential process for all B2B and B2C companies, and we help companies learn its five irrefutable laws for success. Overall, lead generation does three critical things for your company:

1. 1. It helps support healthy business growth
   2. Lead generation helps attract qualified leads to your website, and
   3. It provides a transition from business prospects to loyal customers

Tis’ the Season to connect SEO with lead generation to help generate traffic to your website and drive qualified leads down the sales funnel.

Experienced marketers know how to apply SEO best practices and produce the most significant impact on generating qualified leads. However, the connection involves specific steps to sales funnel success:

Know Your WHY & WHAT

The first step to connecting SEO to lead generation is to know why your company or business exists. To answer this, you must know what product or service solution your business offers to the ideal customer. Does the potential buyer or customer know that you exist and how you can help them? How does your company help improve the lives of those who patronize your business?

Apply Superb CONTENT to Improve Lead Generation

The second step is to apply exquisite and relevant content marketing about your product or service solution. Divine content is what captures the right kind of visitors and leads to your website. Consequently, it would help if you also learned your ideal customer’s search behaviors and what keywords and phrases you need to connect their searches to your solution. Then, when you create content for your website landing pages, blogs, and email marketing, it matches what they’re searching for online.

ENGAGE Your Site Visitors

Thirdly, you should always engage your visitors online. Once they’ve reached any page on your website, you must ensure that they immediately find their solution. To keep visitors engaged on your site, you’ll want to make page content, calls-to-action, purchasing and download options, lead magnets, and additional invites to seek more information readily available. Prospective leads will likely stay on a site that offers relevant quality content and a user-friendly experience.

Overall, this is a high-level description of how SEO can affect lead generation.

So, which website errors can kill your marketing SEO efforts and leave no impact on lead generation?

Unfortunately, there are five critical website mistakes or oversights that businesses commonly make, which can destroy SEO performance. They are as follows:

1. Creating content that doesn’t connect with users’ intents or what they’re searching for online

It’s one thing to research high-volume keywords that pertain to your product or service and then revise your site content with relevant keywords. And it’s an entirely different thing to utilize SEO keywords that visitors are actually looking for as you move them through your sales funnel. Content relevancy is vital in helping drive traffic to a website and closing sales. In fact, it’s the most essential SEO ranking factor.

So, business owners should always consider how potential customers are searching for solutions rather than providing content filled with keywords that pertain to what they do or offer. For example, if you’re busy providing more informational content about a product or service, you could miss opportunities to close sales. Although your SEO and lead generation efforts get visitors to your site, it doesn’t matter if you don’t make sales. For instance, if you don’t offer a buying option to those looking to purchase your product or service, you’ve missed an opportunity to increase revenue.

2. Site structured data problems

One issue that can cancel out your lead generation efforts is the structured data on your website. Data structure is the technical way businesses present their information on a particular webpage. Google describes this as the standardized way of providing page information and how its content is classified.

In its simplest state, structured data denotes code in a specific format. However, what’s most vital is that search engines like Google can decipher the structured data on a website. Reading code helps them determine what each page is about and categorize it to simplify someone’s online search to find it. So, poorly-coded structured data can result in a site not having a review snippet if it even shows up on a search page. If you’re looking to get your structured data correct and include a review markup, check out Google’s structured data testing tool.

3. Boring Metadata or Lack of Meta-descriptions

In case you didn’t know, metadata is crucial to both SEO and lead generation concepts. Therefore, you must provide excellent and enticing information about each page of your website. Web developers will program your site to send metadata from each page to a search engine; this is a top SEO best practice feature. So, when someone pulls up a page from your website, that brief data will appear in the search [head] section.

Metadata can also come in various forms, like meta titles – which help determine page ranking and the meta-description. Above all, you’ll want to make sure your metadata immediately captures visitors’ attention and pulls them onto your website. If the information is uneventful, typical, or ill-written and lacks the vital words visitors are searching for, visitors will not click over.

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4. Multiple primary site pages with content targeting the same SEO keyword or keyword phrase

Similar keyword focus on the key pages of your website can hurt SEO efforts; and, in turn, will do nothing for lead generation. When this error happens on a site, each page essentially competes against itself, and search engines have a hard time ranking page content – even if the content is relevant to the user’s search.

Focusing on the same keyword can also dilute the positive effects of keyword link building. Overall, you don’t want your pages to have lower CTRs, diminished authority, or lower rankings on search engines. In the end, this form of page competition within your site will cause substantial missed opportunities and nullify lead generation efforts.

5. Slow and sluggish page loading times

How long would you wait for a website page to load after you’ve clicked on it for more information? If a site’s pages take more than 3 seconds to load, visitors will promptly leave that website without engaging with its content. Thus, page speed is an important search ranking factor. Consequently, Google won’t even rank a site when its pages take longer than 3.2 seconds to load, or if visitors often leave the site after a few seconds because it’s not responsive or user-friendly. All of these factors directly affect SEO and lead generation by extension. Check out these web page speed statistics from Google!

See how your business can start benefiting from the best of both worlds.

In the story of the nativity, the bright star would have represented the role that SEO plays today in generating quality leads and guiding people to their need for a solution. Christ’s birth was a gift to the entire world, offering the solution of salvation, joy, and peace to all of Mankind on earth. SEO offers visible information and inbound marketing tactics that guide users to relevant quality content and solutions that meet their needs.

Overall, we believe that when you combine SEO best practices with lead generation strategies, it will result in both generating and getting more leads to your site. As digital marketing continues to evolve, companies can learn to utilize SEO better and see it as a critical aspect of their sales funnel, streaming in more qualified leads. At the same time, when you set it up correctly, SEO can turn your site into a great lead generating tool because it helps prospects find you online.

In case you didn’t know, professional marketing partnerships still matter when it comes to your online success.

If you run your business like most, you have a host of important things to focus on to continue growing. So, why not let us help you? SEO is the one concept you cannot ignore if you need more effective solutions and tactics for generating quality leads.

Revamping your on-site SEO and lead generation efforts isn’t as easy as you may think. You’ll need a trusted marketing partner with expertise and technical assistance to ensure improvement and help you reach your goals.

BUILDINGBLOCKS is here to help you develop or polish-up on SEO best practices that result in quality lead generation. We’re ready to work with you to help improve your online marketing efforts. So, if you’re ready to discuss keyword research, content marketing, on-site SEO, link building, and even how to correct SEO errors, connect with us online or call 281-203-0529.

We pray you have a very safe and Joyous Christmas & Happy New Year!

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