4 Ways To Jumpstart Your Mobile Marketing Presence

Mobile media is the wave of the future.  Everybody knows that, but do we know why? The ability to do business and get things done while not being at a desktop computer and the affordability of mobile media are just a few reasons why people are upgrading from 'dumbphones' to smartphones. What does this information mean for your business? How can you get in on a piece of the action? Let's look at four different ways for your business to get in on the mobile media craze.

First, here's a little information on who is using mobile media. Over 50% of all mobile Internet users are over the age of 35, as shown in the infographic below, meaning they aren't just using their smartphones as a gaming system. These users want to pay bills online, check to make sure they turned the lights off in their house, schedule their child's next doctor appointment while on break at work, or find companies that can help them out professionally and personally. So, what should your business do to get started?

1. Mobilize your website: One thing businesses need to stop putting off is making their website mobile friendly. If you don't make this change, smartphone users will have a hard time accessing your website when they're on the go. If a potential customer can't easily find your phone number or email address while searching online with their smartphone, they'll be quick to move onto the next website that came up in their search. Mobilizing your website can easily be done by leveraging the HubSpot CMS for your next website.

2. Mobile social media: Next, as long as you have at least a Facebook and Twitter account, you're a step ahead. If you advertise that you're on these social media sites, people will look you up on their smartphones. Using these sites as a tool to promote specials and services will up your mobile traffic and ultimately create more business. Social media sites are also great for maintaining a healthy customer relationship. If they're pleased with your product or service, they will tweet it out to everyone following them. Can you say 'free marketing'?

3. App ads: A good portion of money and business that smartphones make are from apps.   Even if the app is free, there will be advertisements placed throughout the program, so businesses can get their brand in an app that they believe their customers will utilize.

Can you guess who controls the most mobile advertisement placements? That's right: Google. So not only is Google controlling your search results based on keywords and search engine optimization; now you will go through Google to have your ad appear on smartphone apps.

4. Build your own App: Instead of paying Google to place an ad in an app for you, why not build your own app? Building an app would make doing business with smartphone users so much easier. Compared to mobile sites, apps are quicker, easier to use and more impressive to consumers. There are different websites that can help you create apps, so if you're into making things easy for your customers consider going this route.

Hopefully these tips on mobilizing your company have been helpful. I'd love to hear opinions on the below infographic and others' thoughts on what makes the most sense for companies looking to jumpstart their mobile presence!

Image Credit

How To Track PPC Landing Pages With Google Analytics

So, your business is looking to attract new customers online. Your online content is optimized and good to go, you're blogging for business leads, and you've got social media tie-ins all set up. You've developed relevant landing pages for PPC ads, and you're finally ready to deploy your list of PPC ads and start raking in sponsored traffic. It's time to set Google Analytics up to track your PPC landing pages so you can see what visitors hit first, and whether or not your content marketing is performing at its best.

This actually does involve some work on your behalf. If you leave Google Analytics alone, it will track your data just fine, but it won't separate it into rich measurements you can actually use: in fact, PPC traffic and SEO/search result traffic is all lumped together as 'organic' traffic in standard reports. With patience and a bit of tech savvy, you can keep an eye on every little detail of your PPC campaign and have access to rich metric data on where your traffic is coming from within Analytics.

Tracking The Easy Way: Auto-Tagging With Analytics and AdWords

If you're using Google AdWords alongside Google Analytics, there is an automatic link tagger that will sort your AdWords traffic by keyword. No manual tagging or scripting necessary, just identify a few parameters and Google will do the work for you. To turn this on, go to your AdWords account settings and simply select the Auto-tagging checkbox.

If you have other campaigns outside of Google AdWords that you want to track, or you're running promotions that don't employ AdWords, manual tagging is necessary.

Tagging and tracking your PPC results requires appending tags to your landing page URLs within the links you provide potential visitors. This is the actual link you want people to click, so the link you tag should be what goes into AdWords or other PPC services; that is, it should be the link you want people to click. Tagging is straightforward and uses designations you set up in Analytics yourself to help you sort your campaigns. If this sounds confusing, don't worry: I'm about to show you an example.

The Hard Part, Made Simple: Google URL Builder

Google provides an incredibly useful URL Builder for users building a custom campaign. With this builder, you can add dynamic tags to your landing pages that Google Analytics will separate into discoverable traffic data for you.

Here's my example: let's say I'm setting a new PPC campaign for Content Equals Money. I've built a new webpage with the address http:// contentequalsmoney.com/PPCLandingZone.html. I paste this into the Website URL on Google's URL Builder tool, and now I need to build the tags that will set this apart from my other traffic data.

Campaign Source will be 'AdWords', since I'm implementing my PPC campaign through their service. My Campaign Medium is a description for what kind of medium this is through, like direct email, a physical campaign, or a PPC campaign. It's a PPC ad, so I'll use 'PPC.' If this was a link from a sponsored search term, I would fill the search term into the 'Campaign Term' box, but that's not applicable here and isn't required information. The campaign content is a text-based PPC link, so I'll fill 'textlink' into the box. My campaign needs a name so I know what it's from, so I'll say this is my 'PayPerClickAds' campaign.

Click Generate URL, and it gives me this:

http://contentequalsmoney.com/PPCLandingZone.html?utm_source=AdWords&utm_medium=PPC&utm_content=textlink&utm_campaign=PayPerClickAds

It looks like a jumble, but it's actually pretty easy to split up and see where your tags have been placed. Let's look at it again, this time with each separate element highlighted:

http://contentequalsmoney.com/PPCLandingZone.html?utm_source=AdWords&utm_medium=PPC&utm_content=textlink&utm_campaign=PayPerClickAds

I've divided each tag and its necessary operator with text formatting to show you more clearly how your URL tags are formatted. The extra tags on the end of your link will not actually affect the link you send people to, it only sends you valuable tracking data for Analytics purposes. Google's URL Builder tool has a helpful description of each tag below the builder itself, which will make constructing your URL easier to understand.

Bringing It All Together

Once you have your tagged link, supply it to your PPC campaign, and whenever your PPC ad shows up, users will click the link with these additional tags appended to it. When they do, Google Analytics will record this traffic with all of its specific tag data, allowing you to differentiate this traffic from the rest and see exactly where your traffic is coming from, for every tagged link you direct into your website.

After you've gotten enough hits with your tagged links, you can view your new data quickly and easily. Go to your Analytics dashboard, select Content, then Site Content, then Landing Pages. Google automatically keeps track of your landing pages based on what users first see when they hit your domain, so if you're directing paid or search traffic to a particular webpage, Google will naturally classify it as a landing page. From the Landing Page dashboard, you can search for the specific tag you want to look at in the search box, and analyze the results for yourself.

(special thanks to Luna Metrics for providing this image)

You can also set up an Advanced Segment to monitor overall incoming traffic from your campaigns, and a Custom Report to have a preconfigured report ready for analysis.

With a little planning and careful PPC strategy management, you can monitor exactly how your various ad campaigns are performing, meaning you spend as little wasted money as possible on ad campaigns that drive visitors to your services.

B2B Marketers Are Begging For Bad Data

In B2B marketing, bad data represents a huge lost opportunity. According to SiriusDecisions, companies with the best quality data drive 70% more revenue through marketing programs than those with simply average data quality.

Despite the cost of bad data, the practice of the average marketer guarantees bad data, and it may be getting worse each year. With a growing body of research showing current marketing practices are consistently delivering bad data, it is time for change.

What Is Your Content Really Worth?

You have seen the registration forms that go on and on, asking for information about an individual's role in the buying process, project budget, timeline and more. These forms are asking for far more than the content is worth.

Individuals simply are not willing to share this much information, and sometimes they do not expect to share any information at all.

Based on a recent study from DemandGen Report, most B2B buyers feel long registration forms are appropriate.

• Only 10% of individuals are willing to provide information beyond basic contact details for a webcast.
• Even fewer (6%) are willing to do so for an 'interactive presentation,' and the numbers are even lower for other formats, including white papers.
• Nearly half do not believe any registration should be required for case studies.

This is based on an additional question that was not included in the publicly posted survey results. Contact DemandGen Report directly for additional information.

The Data Is Bad

When you ask for information people don't believe they should need to provide, they lie. Rather than saying they have an immediate need, they say they have none. Rather than providing a real phone number, they make something up.

About two years ago, I was reviewing registration data. One particular record still sticks in my mind:

• The name, company and title matched (based on LinkedIn).
• The physical address was bogus, something like 123 Main St, but the company only had one location and it was easily identified.
• The phone number was for a salon on the same street. A quick Google Street View check confirmed the salon was across the street and the phone number was in the window!

In a (now older) report from TechTarget, the majority of people lie when asked about specific buying plans. Furthermore, willingness to provide accurate contact data like email and phone number is decreasing. Here is an excerpt from the report:

In a more recent (2011) study from JanRain (with a broader consumer base), 88% report having lied on registration forms.

Inaccurate contact information is one of the reasons the traditional approach to enterprise B2B lead generation is on its last legs and needs to be reimagined.

Key Takeaway
Are you asking for too much information? If so, you are begging for bad data.

Your Turn

What will it take for marketers to change their approach to registration? What marketers are already making this change successfully? Share your view in the comments below or with me on Twitter (@wittlake).

Thank you to Colin O'Neill for the Million Dollar Analyst Report graphic.

Heather Meza Delivers More Tips on Shifting Your Enterprise Into Content Marketing

Since we began publishing The Content Marketeer in November 2011, we've spoken with numerous communications-industry leaders in various stages of adopting content marketing. For many, the tactic is new, and implementing it requires some organizations to undergo significant cultural changes.

Back in March, Heather Meza offered Marketeer readers a glimpse into how Cisco Systems' Services Marketing Division is adapting as it enters new phases of digital publishing. Her story is unique, but the challenges are universal.

Meza shared her story with a captive audience during the 2012 Content Marketing Strategies Conference in Berkeley, California, earlier this month, where she honed her message into a nine-step 'journey.' Conference attendees tweeted about it enthusiastically as she delivered the presentation. (Peggy Gartin did a nice job tweeting all nine steps, with additional commentary, which we captured in Storify.)

For those who were not in attendance, Meza's SlideShare deck makes a great follow-up to our interview and serves as practical inspiration for other professionals looking to help their enterprises become savvy content marketers.

Take a look.

Marketing Reborn: Our journey to make the shift to content marketing

View more PowerPoint from Heather Meza

Quality Above Quantity: Time Management: Is Sorting Through Data Worth It?

When it comes to data, there can be too much of a good thing. Purchasing a big data list of potential new customers may seem appealing upfront, but don't forget about the cost of your time and energy putting that information into a contact list or creating a marketing plan. The reality is that many of those contacts might hit 'delete' before even seeing your message. Some may even reply 'unsubscribe' asking to be removed from any emails you send, which ends the line of communication and creates more work deleting the contact from the list of viable options.

When you first receive the data list, it looks like a gold mine of potential information. Once you start weeding out what's unnecessary, though, a good portion of those contacts will be deleted for a multitude of reasons. Sales prospecting is much more effective when you 'know' your customer! Whether you realize it yet or not, your best database is already in your computer or in your files.

In business today, yes, prospecting is important, but there's a more efficient way to do it and a better way to spend your time. A huge part of B2B sales prospecting simply involves taking care of and following up with your current clients.

A truly valuable use of time can be spent setting up a system that regularly follows up with both current and new clients. Since this is a task that can be easily delegated, find an assistant with solid consistency who can handle setting up and maintaining this system for you. Your part will be making the personal calls, attending the meetings, and writing the follow up e-mails, but the majority of the tracking of referrals and data contacts can be done by someone else.

Spending your time doing the portions that provide a personal touch will set you apart from your competitors, and your clients never even have to realize how much work is done behind the scenes by an assistant. The assistant will control the flow, and this frees you up to work on higher priorities.

The conclusion is that it may not be worth your time to sort through vast quantities of data. Your ability to parcel out projects and maintenance could be the deciding factor in how valuable that data can be for your business.

Do You Have Your 'Dream' Job? Why Not?!

When you got up Tuesday morning, after the long Memorial Day weekend, and started getting ready to head back to your job, what was your attitude? Were you raring to go, ready to get back to a job you love, doing the things you love? Or, were you like millions of other currently employed people who have come to absolutely dread returning to their jobs? In other words, can you honestly say that you now have your dream job, or not? And if not, why not?!

There are few things in life that are more psychologically (and often, physically) draining than having to get up each and every work day and go to a job that you may have come to loathe, or at least one that you know, instinctively, is going absolutely nowhere. Yet that's where MILLIONS of currently employed, very well-qualified and talented men and women find themselves today!

Go and get your dream job

It really doesn't have to be that way! You can change the situation. You can indeed land your dream job, not merely continue to trudge along in the one you now have. But you must be willing to face'and then abruptly lose'any fears or misconceptions you may harbor about today's turbulent job market. You'll have to step out of your 'comfort zone,' start branding yourself as a very desirable candidate, and then take a shot at grabbing the 'golden ring'!

I certainly understand why many people fear leaving their current jobs, no matter how bad these jobs may have become, to step out into the 'great unknown' that seems to characterize much of today's turbulent, somewhat unpredictable job market. Consider what noted motivational speaker and bestselling author Zig Ziglar had to say about this kind of irrational fear:

'For most people, the fear of loss is greater than the desire for gain,' he said.

Ziglar hits the nail right on the head here, as far as I'm concerned, and his astute observation goes a long way toward explaining why so many people will continue to put up with a mediocre, miserable, dead-end job'they are simply too afraid of losing what they now have, too paralyzed by inertia, to step out of their 'comfort' zone and seek a much more fulfilling, satisfying job, their dream job! Many will just continue to whine and moan about how awful their current job is and never even attempt to reach out for the 'golden ring.'

'If you were unemployed . . .'

As a 'headhunter,' I am in the marketplace each and every business day calling potential candidates, most of whom are currently employed, for positions I am trying to fill for my business clients. Oftentimes, here is the initial response I get from these professionals:

'No, thanks, I'm not looking for a job.'

Fair enough, I tell them, and then I ask this question:

'Knowing what you know now, if you were unemployed, would you interview for the job you currently have?'

Most of the potential candidates are somewhat taken aback by my question, at least at first. Once they recover, some will say that, yes, they would indeed interview for their current position, if they were unemployed. Significant to note, however, is that at least one-half of the candidates, after pausing for further reflection, say that, no, they probably would not!

It's the people who say 'no,' of course, whom I most want to reach and start them thinking about both their short-term and long-term career opportunities (or lack thereof) at their current job. Their 'no' answer paves the way for me to then pose a number of other key questions about why, if their current job is not completely (or nearly completely) meeting their needs and desires, they nonetheless stay in that job.

Here are the types of questions I ask these men and women:

• Are you staying in your current job because you're afraid to take the risk of finding a new one in today's job market?
• Is your current job really what you want to do for the remainder of your career? (Is this in fact your dream job?)
• Are you staying because you need the income you earn at your current job?
• Are you trapped by convenience, e.g., you don't want to have to move the family to another locale, change schools or otherwise introduce temporary chaos into your professional and personal life, etc.
• Are you staying because you feel your company 'needs' you?
• Would you feel guilty if you were to leave the company?

I have found that, usually, one or more of the reasons implied in these questions account for why the overwhelming majority of these men and women stay in their current jobs, even though they are not finding them professionally fulfilling. Maybe one (or more) of these implications also accounts for why you stay in a job that you find somewhat less than professionally fulfilling, why you hesitate to reach out to find your DREAM job. If so, let me give you some of my thoughts about why such thinking can be extremely shortsighted and ultimately self-defeating.

'There are no jobs 'out there''

If you are fearful of venturing out into today's job market, that fear is more than likely based upon an assumption (false, by the way) that 'there aren't any jobs 'out there',' and that you're 'lucky' to still have the one you currently have. If this is what you think, then you need to think again!

As I pointed out in a recent blog (Avoid a 'Take This Job and Shove It!' Approach to Resigning), for the past 17 months, more than SEVEN MILLION jobs have been available each and every month. FOUR MILLION of these jobs are being filled each month, but THREE MILLION remain unfilled, month in and month out, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report. Plus, as I also pointed out in that blog, in the last couple of months, some TWO MILLION currently employed people left their jobs each month and took new ones'the highest job movement activity in a decade! So, there is plenty of 'action' in today's job market'for the right people!

'I can't afford a salary cut'

Many employed people fear that they will have to take a salary cut if they move to a new job, and sometimes that may be the case, but it's certainly not always the case. Whenever I get such a response from potential candidates, here is how I respond:

'While money certainly is important, I think you would have to agree that it isn't everything, either. So let's put money aside for the moment. Assume you don't have your current monetary obligations. Would you still do the job you're in?'

It's important to keep in mind that salary is only part of a total compensation package. Increased or less-expensive benefits offered by a new employer, or a reduced cost of living at a new locale, may very well offset any salary decrease that could be involved, for example. What's more, the time to talk (or even to start seriously considering) total compensation is when you are actually offered a new position, not when you are still considering (or being considered for) the position. Hold off any reservations you may have about exploring a new career opportunity because of the initial salary being proffered. If you prove to be the right candidate for a position, believe me, a hiring manager can usually satisfactorily address many, if not most, of your lingering concerns, including salary.

'I don't want to uproot my family and move'

No matter how much you may like the area where you now live and work, if your job is taking a daily toll on you, it is also safe to bet it's taking an equally devastating toll on your family. If you're consistently unhappy because of your job, you can bet they aren't all that happy with their lives, either.

'I'd feel like a 'traitor' if I left when I'm needed'

Loyalty is certainly an admirable trait'when applied to family and true friends! When it comes to the company you work for, however, it is never more than a 'one-way street,' and that street begins'and ends!'with you, not the company that employs you. No matter how long you've been with the company, no matter what contributions you may have made to its success, they can'and will!''cut you loose' without more than a moment's notice! Let me relate a recent incident to you that more than amply illustrates my point here.

Not long ago I was recruiting for a regional sales manager's position. The potential candidate I was talking to was then serving in a regional sales manager's role, and when I asked him if he would have any interest in exploring the career opportunity I was presenting from one of his company's competitors, here is what he told me:

'I've been with my current company 12 years. I would feel disloyal if I even entertained the thought of interviewing for a job with our main competitor!'

You probably guessed it. Three weeks later the candidate called me up and asked if the position was still open because he had just been laid off. (It wasn't.)

Make no mistake about it, this kind of thing happens with regularity each and every business day and it can happen to anyone'including you! Don't even think about staying in a less-than-satisfactory job out of some misplaced sense of loyalty.

How a circus elephant is trained

The next time the circus comes to your town, walk around before the show and observe the elephants. Usually they are chained to a large metal stake pounded into the ground. Common sense would tell you that an animal as huge and as mighty as an elephant would have no difficulty whatsoever pulling up the stake and wandering off. And that would be true. Yet the elephants stay put.

How do they do that?! Well, it's simple. The animals are initially chained to an object that they can't easily pull away from, e.g., the trunk of a huge tree, etc. And once the elephants have convinced themselves that, when chained to any object (including the huge metal stake), they have no choice but to stay in place, they soon no longer even try to pull away!

Sound familiar? I hope so.

If I have convinced you to at least consider the many career opportunities that may be open to you today, if you don't now have your dream job, then I have accomplished my goal with this blog. You owe it to yourself, your family'to your own sanity!'to pursue what can become your dream job, and regardless of what you may believe, there really has never been a better time to do that than now!

NOTE: Be watching for future blogs where I will tell you how you can brand yourself to take full advantage of the many career opportunities that may be available to you in today's job market.

Author:

Skip Freeman is the author of 'Headhunter' Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever! and is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The HTW Group (Hire to Win), an Atlanta, GA, Metropolitan Area Executive Search Firm. Specializing in the placement of sales, engineering, manufacturing and R&D professionals, he has developed powerful techniques that help companies hire the best and help the best get hired.

6 Critical Steps to Take Before a Replatform

Say the word 'replatform' in front of most ecommerce experts, and they'll probably grimace.

There's no way around it: From selling the project to maintaining a timeline to ensuring third-party vendors are on the same page, there's a lot of pain in replatforming. And after investing months of time and boatloads of cash into a replatform, the result can still end up being a website that doesn't live up to expectations.

So how can you ensure your replatforming project doesn't fall short?

Brian Walker, VP & Principal Analyst, eBusiness & Channel Strategy at Forrester Research, revealed some critical steps to take before beginning a replatforming project, and some new data from a study sponsored by Monetate to prove why those steps are so important during the recent Retail Online Integration webinar, Successful Ecommerce Replatforming.

Six of Walker's recommendations:

1. Sell a program, not a project. Instead of describing replatforming as a 'project,' use the word 'program.' Research from Forrester indicates that key performance indicators (KPIs) take a hit after a replatform goes live. For example, 39% of companies surveyed by Forrester reported their conversion rates were negatively affected after a new platform was launched, while 44% saw a decrease in site load time. Walker says these numbers show that replatforming can't be sold as a once-and-done project, because odds are you'll have to continue to tweak and optimize the site post-launch. Best bet: Sell replatforming as a program that's important to the long-term capability of the site, not an immediate ROI-generator. Being clear about that upfront means expectations will be aligned, and there won't be an awkward conversation if KPIs take a dip.

2. Make sure the projected timeline and ROI are realistic. It's not just KPIs that will take a hit. It's also likely your replatforming timeline will, too. Forrester found the average replatform is delayed 4.2 months. Walker's suggestion: Sell the replatform as a three-year ROI, not a three-month ROI. After a replatform, there are sure to be usability and functionality issues that will need to be worked out, so building a cushion into your replatforming timeline is critical. And for retailers, that 4.2 month delay means that scheduling a replatform to go live in September or October could be the holiday kiss of death. So it's best to plan for a replatform to go live in Q1 or Q2 to make sure you'll have all of the tweaks worked out before the big shopping season.

3. Create a team instead of going rogue. 'As much as it might be great to go cowboy and reduce the number of dependencies across the organization [that are involved in the replatform], you'll be much better off forming a strong cross-functional team,' Walker says. From a change management standpoint, it's better to have more heads at the table so you can find out which changes will impact IT, sales, and other departments from the very beginning instead of trying to get everyone involved as the platform is about to go live.

4. Test your Customer Experience design before committing. Among the new research Forrester revealed: 63% of companies based their decisions to migrate existing and new features into a new platform on 'perceived ROI,' while 54% were motivated by a company wish list. Walker's take is that more companies have to test before a replatform. 'There's a lot of guesswork about providing the right customer experience,' Walker says. 'Much of [replatforming and redesigning sites] is going on hunch, going untested, not being examined from a quantitative standpoint. What seems like a great idea in the conference room is only great if the customer deems it so.'

5. Be clear on the tools and resources you'll need. It's critical to be clear about what you'll need to operate the site after a replatform. Here's why: If you launch a great customer experience, but can't manage the site afterwards, things can go belly up. So think about the specific resources and IT support you'll need to keep the site running post-launch, and list those upfront so nobody is surprised.

6. Do not go for the 'big bang.' One of the most common problems during a replatform is trying to do too much at once. Bundling a new site design with a new ecommerce platform and a mobile optimization project into the same replatform is just too much. Changing all of those features at once increases the chance something will go wrong. 'Develop a rational replatforming program and operations plan,' Walker says. 'Don't try to do too much at once across all of these application types and customer experiences. If you add too much scope to a replatform, you're just going to have to trim it down later anyway.'

If you want to find out more about best practices for replatforming, the full webinar featuring Walker and Eric Miller, Monetate's Director of Product Management, is available for free over at Retail Online Integration.