December 2019 - PROSAR Inbound Inc.

In addition to regular content additions to keep your website fresh and a maintenance program to ensure that your website is technically up-to-date and secure. Here are three things you can do to leverage your website more effectively:

Marketers learn that Features explain what something does, while Benefits describe why it matters to the user. Then they can internalize and personalize material, making them more likely to act on your information.

Regardless of what your organization does, you’re selling something: products, services, memberships, ideas, etc. — there is a persuasive purpose for your website. Making your content meaningful to the user and helping them visualize how it makes their life better or easier, will have greater impact. Take advantage of your website to effectively position your organization and its message with persuasive and contextualized content. [Read more: 5 Reasons to Use Content Marketing]

Content Audit

Do you know what content you have and how it fits into your overall marketing and sales goals? Don’t worry, most companies don’t. (This blog will help you get started: Own Your Content)

Having content is good, but in order for it to be strategic it needs to fit into a plan. The plan determines what you need, the audit reveals what you have, you determine how it fits into the overall strategy and what other pieces you need to fill the holes. To make this manageable, we use a spreadsheet with columns for:

Source (web page, blog, whitepaper, infographic, etc.)
Topic
Name/Title
Funnel (does it fit top, middle or low in the info/sales cycle)
Workflow (what workflow or campaign is it part of)
Usability (our own scale on how useful/effective it is for our audience)
CTA (is there a relevant/custom call-to-action/ad in the content

Improving SEO and AODA

Keywords are still important, but keyword stuffing will cost you. Google’s keen sense of good online content can sniff out the junk to determine what is truly a good resource with many layers and forms of relevant content. Meta data is still important as it is used in your search displays, so word your page titles and descriptions carefully, to engage potential readers as they search the web. Check out our 5-Minute SEO Check You Can Do Yourself.

For several years, Ontario has been rolling out the web applications of AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act), a set of guidelines to make Ontario more accessible for people with disabilities. Websites are now judged on whether they adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, AA compliance (except for live audio and video). The timeline for when compliance is required can be found on Ontario’s AODA page. In addition to being complaint, making your website accessible according to WCAG opens your website to a wider variety of potential prospects, improves SEO results and earns goodwill among clients. Check out our article on freindly user-content as a starting point.

Marketing Automation

Often referred to as Inbound Marketing, automated marketing enables a series of tasks to be automatically completed when triggered. For example, a client clicks on an e-newsletter link to your “Our Widgits” web page, and visits a specific new widget page three more times in a week. That shows some obvious interest, so your website may automatically send an email to the client with more information on that specific widgit, additional shipping information and a link to your delivery schedule. If your client clicks on the delivery link, another more informative email could be sent, and the appropriate sales rep sent a prompt to call said client immediately. II the client doesn’t click on the delivery link, then a different email with other information and an incentive might be appropriate, or links to relevant blog articles, or references from other clients who have ordered that widgit…

Point being, strategic tasks can be set up to happen automatically, accommodating for the receiver’s actions and sending the right information at the right time. It allows you to look after prospects’ and clients’ needs efficiently and effectively.

Use of dynamic content, presenting different content on a page for different buyer personas, further nurtures leads, and extensive tracking and reporting provides insight and intelligence to make the user-experience as rewarding as possible.

There is much that your website could be doing to better communicate and engage with your audience. Start taking some steps to leverage its potential.

Brand is not merely a cool logo. Branding is about creating an appropriate image for, and experience with, your organization; and positively positioning your organization in your audience’s mind.

Effective branding grabs your target audience’s interest and helps them to realize that you are of value to them, and then nurtures an ongoing relationship.

Without an actual brand and content strategy and ongoing stewardship, even well-crafted promotions can fall flat and even alienate your audience.

Here are three criteria to follow when defining your brand and promoting what makes you distinct.

Corporate Messaging

From your tagline to your corporate mission to the content on your website — what you say and how you say it is critical. What is the tone of your organization? Authoritative and instructional, understanding and guiding, carefree and irreverent… the goal is not simply to inform or impress, you should communicate with the intention of making relationships.

Consider your audience (which may include several distinct market segments) and try to engage with them in your writing and messaging. Even with different people creating content, each with their own voice, they can still infuse a corporate tone and positioning through their material. A branding strategy should explicitly outline the messaging objectives, desired corporate tone aa well as slogans and catch phrases.

For your audience to trust your organization, they need to identify or connect with you. Engage them with targeted content that is genuine and relevant to your company. Storytelling is a very effective means of communicating your message and brand, but that doesn’t mean telling tales. What you say and how you say it can provoke tremendous impact and stir emotion within readers; and they can usually tell when it is honest and legitimate.

Consider the User Experience

Whether your customer is on your website, on the phone or on-site, what do you want them to think of your organization? In addition to the branded identity and corporate messaging, does the environment reflect the essence of your organization? Do interactions with your company support your positioning?

The best logo and tagline will have little lasting effect if staff, service, store décor, website design, promotional email wording, etc., are not all aligned to reinforce the brand.

Considering what your brand represents as an experience supports your “story” and helps your audience engage with your organization. This leads to stronger relationships and greater loyalty.

Consistency

The purpose of branding is to go beyond simply creating awareness, and recognition. The goal is to nurture a trusting and loyal relationship. It’s a comprehensive undertaking that requires consistent use of your branded identity, in all formats.

It all stems from your mission, vision, value statement unique selling proposition, any guiding principles for your organization. A thorough understanding of what drives your organization and what it has to offer is the essence of your brand.

Content generation provides many digital options (web pages, blogs, emails, social posts, ebooks and brochures, whitepapers, etc.) and is an influential means of attracting and reaching out to your audience. Consistency in template designs as well as voice/tone help build a strong foundation for your brand (keep that style guide close at hand!).

An editorial calendar maps out what content will be written, by whom, how it will be published, and when. It allows a strategic approach (ensuring consistency in both frequency and focus) and overview to ensure you are creating content that is of value to your audience as well as supporting your brand.

A brand strategy requires ongoing monitoring and attention. It’s part policing and part promoting. Don’t be overzealous or near-sighted in your regulation. In these fluid times, acknowledge that things change and your brand strategy and implementation will need to evolve to stay current and relevant.

For further info on how branding fits into your marketing and sales process, read Understanding the Branding – Marketing – Advertising – Sales Relationship.

Month: December 2019

3 Ways to Improve Your Website