Integrated Marketing Communciations Strategies & Tactics

Posted by iJoe on Mar 6, 2014 in Uncategorized

Integrated Marketing Communications Strategies and Tactics

A true integrated marketing communications plan is the development of marketing strategies and creative campaigns that weave together multiple marketing disciplines such as paid advertising, public relations, promotion, and social media.

In Addition to the online strategies below. Ijoe is experienced and expert in producing Business Collateral, Direct Mail, New Releases, Sales Collateral (.PPT), Radio Spots, TV Spots, and many more….

Get started with these options from iJoe Inbound Marketing:

Start with a Free Assessment – Get a free website marketability score.

CMS – Content Management System (An Editable Website) – Website redesign – develop a website on a user friendly/editable platform. Much like working in Microsoft Word. WordPress is our preferred platform.

SEO – Search Engine Optimization – get your website optimized and get found online in Google, Yahoo and Bing Search.

SEM – Search Engine Marketing – Adwords can bring you remarkable results even among the most obscure leads.

SMM – Social Media Marketing – Facebook ads target real human interests by using the “Interest Cloud Technique” — requires you to really get inside the head and shoes of the people you’re targeting. Advertise where the people are every day.

Landing Pages – Lead capture pages or a lander. Drive traffic to these topic pages to begin the lead nurturing process.

Facebook Storefront – Manage your entire online business through Facebook. Facebook in Lieu of a website – F-commerce.

LinkedIn Optimization – An untapped sales tool. Call me to review the Playbook.

Blog – add one to your website and implement a content strategy to get you up and running. A blog is a powerful tool for getting your website found in (organic) search.

Content Marketing – Thought Leadership – Own your topic online – Boundless opportunities for blog posts, social media posts and PR opportunities.

Inbound Marketing Specialist– Your first step in expanding your marketing team to include New Media and maintaining a consistent feed of content to grow your business online.

Mobile Marketing – One half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices. Optimize your website for mobility.

Got Questions? Contact me for a no obligation consultation.

Click Inbound Marketer to contact me.

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What makes the ULTIMATE [Inbound Marketing] Expert?

Posted by iJoe on Jan 7, 2014 in Uncategorized

It is believed that 10,000 hours in any specific task makes an expert. In Outliers:
The Story of Success, the author Malcolm Gladwell repeatedly mentions the “10,000-Hour Rule.” He claims the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours.

According to Gladwell’s theory, I am an (Inbound Marketing) Expert. For me, this is 5 years at the same task, Internet Marketing. Human Resource departments base your annual salary on the standard amount of professional hours per year, 2,080. I am using this formula for expert hours spent per year.

Experts with hybrid skills are the next generation of desirable employees in the coming decade according to Paul Roetzer author of The Marketing Agency Blueprint.

“The future of marketing belongs to the generalists, the hybrids,” Paul Roetzer.

Hybrid Skills

Hybrid marketing professionals are trained to deliver services across search, mobile, social, content, analytics, web, PR, and email marketing.

My career in Internet Marketing began over 5 years ago. Previous to that, I had 10+ years as a Marcom expert. Hybrid skills are part of my DNA. In 2008 I began mastering Inbound Marketing to include a formal education.

The application of Gladwell’s theory is a great starting point when hiring a consultant. Finding a marketing expert with hybrid skills is a certainly a bonus too.

Vetting an Expert

Start with their website. You can learn a ton about staff on a company’s website and in the company’s the blog. To further gain insight about key personnel, search for their names in LinkedIn. Research the owners and managers experience applying the 10,000-hour rule.

Transparency is key, if you do not find anything out about the people in the company you need to move on.

Passion and Emotional Intelligence (EI)

In order to keep working hard, one has to be motivated. Find a consultant who has a passion for what they do. At the core of motivation lies passion. Passion means dedication. Motivation is the engine and passion is the fuel. Find someone with fuel to handle your next project. Personally, I have a love for learning and that beaming light show up in all my interactions.

In addition to academic performance, professionals believe EI is the missing component in the success equation. EI is the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups. Take the Emotional Intelligence test here for free. I was pleasantly surprised with my results. Just by taking the 146 question test you will have an advantage in selecting a candidate/consultant that is right for you and learn quite a bit about yourself.

The information presented in this blog should arm you with the necessary tools to find an above average Inbound Marketing Consultant and/or any type of expert.

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Inbound Marketing Automation

Posted by iJoe on Sep 18, 2013 in Uncategorized

Online Marketing Automation requires a top-shelve software tool and a dedicated operator.

Do you have an Online (Inbound) Marketing Strategy?

Seeking customers via print, TV, radio, banner advertising, cold calls (Outbound Marketing) are one way communications.

Moving your business communications online is interactive and two-way. Customers come to you via search engines (Google), referrals and social media (Facebook/Twitter).

Proof of the Decline of Outbound Marketing:

86% people skip TV ads
44% of direct mail isn’t opened
200 Million have registered their phone numbers on the FTC’s ‘do not call’ list

Free Infographic, Inbound vs Outbound Marketing

What is Inbound Marketing?

Today, the majority of consumers begin their shopping experience online. Finding your business online is the first step to remain competitive.

Inbound Marketing summarized by Wikipedia:

Inbound marketing is advertising a company through blogs, podcasts, video, eBooks, enewsletters, whitepapers, SEO, social media marketing, and other forms of content marketing. In contrast, buying attention, cold-calling, direct paper mail, radio, TV advertisements, sales flyers, spam, email marketing, telemarketing and traditional advertising are considered “outbound marketing”. Inbound marketing earns the attention of customers, makes the company easy to be found and draws customers to the website by producing interesting content.

Get a free website marketability score – It reflects a snapshot in time. Analyzes your regular inbound marketing activities and uses those to calculate your current score. Top score is 100. Average scores range from 35-45. Click to contact Joe Lusso for a free analysis.

SEO gets you found online!

How much time per week does Inbound Marketing require to see results?

Once your infrastructure (Website and Social Media) is in place, approximately 20 hours per week. Automation tools have made it significantly easier to accomplish a digital legacy your pocketbook will love.

What skills should an Inbound Marketer have to succeed?

Experience is invaluable. In addition, source someone is who is certified and has a degree in Internet Marketing. Most entrepreneurs run the HubSpot marketing automation software themselves and others rely on Inbound Marketers/Consultants like iJoe Inbound Marketing to outsource the entire effort. HubSpot provides a well-designed onboarding process for you, your staff and/or your consultant.

HubSpot comes to mind for an all-in-one solution. This software comes complete with a dashboard to manage your entire online marketing needs. No need to redesign your website. This software integrates your social media and email solutions (Constant Contact). One dashboard completely manages your SEO, social media and lead nurturing. It’s an all-in-one Inbound Marketing software tool. The automation efforts are boundless – use the HubSpot Salesforce Connector to ensure accurate lead assignments to sales.

Do I need a website?

Yes. But, no need to redesign it or SEO it. HubSpot is your solution. Build your site in HubSpot or align your current website with the software. HubSpot software is well positioned to market your business online.

Who uses Marketing Automation?

Entrepreneurs, Small and Medium-sized Businesses, Mid-market and Enterprises. Click above to learn about the proven success of over 10,000 businesses across a variety of industries.

The most common results:

Doubled Revenue in the first year
Increased Revenue by 70% in the second year
Continued growth through a recurring revenue model

How do I get started?

Call iJoe Inbound Marketing to discuss your business goals. Get a free website marketability score to benchmark your current progress. We will review your marketability score and discuss a plan of action with you.

What costs are involved in launching?

Software packages can run from $200 a month up to $1,000 depending on your needs.
Website migration – $10/page (optional)
Inbound Success Training – $2,000 (required)
Inbound Marketing Consultant Co-Pilot or Pilot (optional). This is iJoe Inbound Marketing managing this entire effort. Longer commitments result in lower monthly fees. The recommended time commitment is 20 hours per week. Call to for a consultation.

Is there local support?

HUG! HubSpot Minneapolis Users Group – A local marketing automation users group. Learn first-hand what HubSpot users are sharing and implement all the best practices along the way. Meetings occur monthly. HubSpot is about setting high standards and establishing measurable goals to improve individual outcomes.

ROI

In 2013, an MIT Sloan MBA student completed a research study on the ROI of using HubSpot software. The following are highlights of the key findings.

Traffic Improvements: Overall, users experienced an average 2.7x increase in traffic after 12 months of active use.
Lead Growth: Overall, users experienced lead database growth of 30.4x after 12 months of active use.
Download the full report

Not ready for a complete online marketing automation program?

Get started with these options from iJoe Inbound Marketing:

Start with a Free Assessment – Get a free website marketability score.

CMS – Content Management System – Website redesign – develop a website on a user friendly/editable platform. Much like working in Microsoft Word. WordPress is a great platform.

SEO – Search Engine Optimization – get your website optimized and get found online in Google, Yahoo and Bing Search.

SEM – Search Engine Marketing – Adwords can bring you remarkable results even among the most obscure leads.

SMM – Social Media Marketing – Facebook ads target real human interests by using the “Interest Cloud Technique” — requires you to really get inside the head and shoes of the people you’re targeting. Advertise where the people are every day.

Landing Pages – Lead capture pages or a lander. Drive traffic to these topic pages to begin the lead nurturing process.

Facebook Storefront – Manage your entire online business through Facebook. Facebook in Lieu of a website – F-commerce.

LinkedIn Optimization – An untapped sales tool. Call me to review the Playbook.

Blog – add one to your website and implement a content strategy to get you up and running. A blog is a powerful tool for getting your website found in (organic) search.

Content Marketing – Thought Leadership – Own your topic online – Boundless opportunities for blog posts, social media posts and PR opportunities.

Community Manager – Your first step in expanding your marketing team to include New Media and maintaining a consistent feed of content to grow your business online.

Mobile Marketing – One half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices. Optimize your website for mobility.

Got Questions? Contact me for a no obligation consultation.

Click Inbound Marketer to contact me.

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Webpage SEO – ADD Title HERE – use keywords when possible

Posted by iJoe on Aug 15, 2013 in Uncategorized

H1 with Keywords

Paragraph copy copy with bolds and anchor links.

H2 with Keywords

Paragraph copy copy with bolds and anchor links.

H3 Keywords

Paragraph copy copy with bolds and anchor links.

In Platinum SEO Pack

Title (70 characters) : Long-tail Keyword 1, Long tail keyword 2, Long-tail Keywords 3

Description (155 characters): Place the first sentence of the article here in the description.

Keywords: Long-tail Keyword 1, Long tail keyword 2, Long-tail Keywords 3 + other relevant keywords here.

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Facebook Page in Lieu of a Website

Posted by iJoe on Jul 24, 2012 in Uncategorized

There are many reasons why you may consider this. Cost is a top reason why you may develop a Facebook page over a new website. The obvious popularity and functionality makes it an easier choice to go with. If you have an old HTML website and prefer not to pay a webmaster for making updates, a Facebook Page is a great option.

Think of your Facebook Page as a lean version of your website.

Include content relevant to engaging customers and acquiring new ones on your new Facebook Page. Your page should include everything a customer needs to know to be in business with you. As an added bonus your page will be connected to a network of 750 million people with a built-in membership component (Fans/Likes).

You can choose to create a basic Facebook page or a storefront (F-Commerce) where you sell items. Facebook is a proven tool where you can create a community around your business and generate leads for your business. And, get found by people who are searching for your products and services.

A basic Facebook page may include some extra tabs and apps. Click here for basic tips. The tabs may include a restaurant menu, a place for email subscriptions, a tab for weekly promotions/events, and a direct link to your YouTube channel. See example below. Apps could include the following.

Fan of the Week – This app automatically picks a Fan of the Week based on interaction and posts the message about the new Fan each week.

Booshaka – This application shows a list of all your top Fans by how much they interact with you.

Keep in mind anything you can dream of putting on your website you can put on your Facebook page. Some businesses sell products and use their Facebook page as a storefront. If you are not willing to add ecommerce to your old HTML website, this is a great option. Along with all the benefits of being on Facebook, you can sell directly from here. View basic Facebook page example 1 and/or example 2.

Facebook storefront (F-Commerce) features could include real-time inventory checks, social rewards (Coupons), exclusive-offer technology (Gift Cards) and a social product-launch feature, which creates momentum for new products by offering fans and followers exclusive early access. Shopigniter can assist you with bringing your page to the storefront level. Click here to learn about Shopigniter’s unique Social Promotions Engine and best overall functionality.

Learn how to start showcasing your products on Facebook here. Its as easy as uploading one product at time or a csv file for many products. If your looking for visual inspiration, check out the top 50 Facebook Stores and Facebook Store Solutions here.

Attaining metrics is an important and necessary function used to market your website. A Facebook Page can offer that same function. You have a few options, use Facebook’s built-in tool Insights, Google Analytics or HubSpot.

Once you have the infrastructure built, you need to create a content calendar. It’s as simple as plugging ideas into a weekly calendar and deciding what you will post on what days. Be creative, engaging and consistent.

In Summary, small to medium businesses don’t always have the resources to invest in getting their websites up to date or creating a new one. With a Facebook Page you can create a dynamic online presence that is both relevant and cost efficient.

Start now with these guides by HubSpot: How to use Facebook for Business and How to Master Facebook Marketing in 10 days.

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Do You Have a Blogroll Strategy?

Posted by iJoe on Apr 15, 2012 in Uncategorized

A blogroll is a list of links that may appear in the sidebar of your blog. These links may be favorite sites or professional affiliations. Usually the links in a blogroll have a direct correlation to the industry or business of the blog owner. I have a strict criteria for choosing blogs for the blogroll.

Typically I recommend listing five links in your blogroll. For many businesses this number allows for a good variety. Below are the criteria for settling on blogs in your blogroll.

Relevance to your brand/company
Traffic – see authority or total number of social media fans
Frequency of Posts – recent?
Comments – more than ZERO
Advertisers on the blog?

Relevance is very important. You want to attract readers to your blog that have similar interests. There’s an unwritten rule in the blogosphere that if someone lists you on their blogroll, you should reciprocate and add them. Link building is a high-level search technique to get you found faster online by Google. Not all parties may participate and reciprocate but it’s a great starting point to list another professional and/or relevant blog.

Traffic is an important factor in choosing a blog for your blogroll. If you are trying to build your business you want to align yourself with some high traffic websites. Below are two blog search tools to find blogs within your industry and learn more about their popularity.

Technorati

Get familiar with Blog Rating System in Technorati

Google Blogsearch

Google blogsearch is an excellent tool to find like blogs and technorati is a great tool learn more about traffic or as they call it authority. Again, high traffic websites are a best practice to include in your blogroll.

Sometimes we have a hard time finding a rating on technorati. If so, move to the next criteria for choosing a blog. If you find a blog that has a similar industry but there are no new posts for more than month. Move on! You want to choose blogs that have some activity.

Good blog activity may include both posts and comments. Comments are an excellent indication that a blog is active and generating traffic.

And lastly, blogs with advertising is a pretty good indication that they are generating traffic. Look for known brands on the blog site. If you see REI or any well known company, its probably a good choice for your blogroll.

Once your blogroll is created, plan to become an active blogger. Most people believe this is done solely on their blog site but this is not true. It is time to visit the blogs in your blogroll and begin commenting.

Becoming a though leader or participant in other blogs will drive traffic to your blog. As a thougth leader, show off your experise in your field of knowledge. You should devise a schedule to regularly comment in other blogs. Essentially, you should be posting weekly in your blog, other blogs, and in social media accounts.

Blogs are one of the highest level strategies for acquiring organic website traffic. HubSpot software can assist you with integrating all your tools into one dashboard. Obviously, the only thing HubSpot wouldn’t cover is your posts in other blogs. See my blog about Luring traffic to your website.