| Date post: | 21-Jan-2015 |
| Category: |
Business |
| Upload: | rc-thornton |
| View: | 788 times |
| Download: | 5 times |
2. Your web presence can be an extremely powerful tool to generate businessif you do it right! Stats: 85% of consumers are searching for local business online, but 63% of small businesses dont have a website. 91% of people use Google & other search engines to find information they need on the web. Local businesses are spending exponentially more to advertise online, with a growth from $21.2 billion in 2011 to an estimated $35 billion in 2015; a 65% increase in 4 years! Traditional advertising growth is expected to stagnate during this time period. Your customers are already online; shouldnt you be too? 860-812-4341 [email protected] Stats Source: 150 Smart Stats about Online Marketing 3. A search for Connecticut accountant rendered 7 million results; wouldnt it be great to be #1? Heres why it matters: -75% of searchers never go beyond the first page, -32.6% of people will click on the first Google result, the second one only gets about 9%...imagine what lower ones get! 4. But referrals / Chamber of Commerce events / something else have done a great job in the past! Why do I need the internet? Your goal isnt to eliminate other lead-generation methods. Your goal is to open up a new method; one that can work for you even when youre not doing outbound marketing. Example: SCORE- Most business comes from word-of-mouth, but internet referrals come in a strong second place. 860-812-4341 [email protected] 5. Why marketing on the internet works: Get in front of people who are already looking for you. Targeting people is substantially easier. Very easy to measure the ROI, compared to other forms of advertising. Marketing on the internet is mostly inbound marketing, which is lower cost and more effective than traditional marketing methods. 860-812-4341 [email protected] 6. What is inbound marketing? Providing value before asking for something in return. Think about when you search online: youre looking for answers to your questions. Why? People are more in control of what information they receive. E.g.: Do Not Call list, SPAM filters, 86% of people skip TV ads, 44% of direct mail never opened. Make them want to receive your information! 860-812-4341 [email protected] 7. Inbound v. Outbound Marketing Inbound Marketing Customers come to you (already interested). Marketers provide value. Marketers seek to entertain and/or educate. Earn your way in Examples: Blog articles, social media, presentations (like this one!) Inbound marketing is friendly, fun, and a perfect approach for the internet. Outbound Marketing Customers are sought out (hope theyre interested). Marketer provides little to no added value. Marketer rarely seeks to entertain or educate. Bug your way in Example: cold calls, purchased ads, door-to-door sales 860-812-4341 [email protected] 8. How does Inbound Marketing Work? Use your website to position yourself as an expert. Educate your visitors. Make it easy for people to get in touch with you. 860-812-4341 [email protected] 9. Case Study- 860-812-4341 [email protected] Eager to share important information. Video highlight key information without forcing prospect to look through site. Issues that matter to clients clearly highlighted. Actively collects e-mail addresses in exchange for newsletters (these become leads). Easy to find on a variety of social media. 10. Compare this with the typical CPA website 860-812-4341 [email protected] Generic, text-based site with piles of hard-to-sort-through information (hard for prospect to differentiate this CPA firm from competition.) 11. The cost per lead of inbound marketing is lower than traditional marketing methods, and the effectiveness is proven. Inbound marketing costs 62% less than traditional outbound marketing. Percentage of companies reporting customer acquisition through these channels: Company blog: 57% LinkedIn: 57% Facebook: 48% Twitter: 42% Source: Mashable.com 860-812-4341 [email protected] 12. How to Build a Powerful Web Presence Key thought: how can I add value to my visitors? 860-812-4341 [email protected] 13. Elements of a Powerful Web Presence using Inbound Marketing Powerful Web Presence Useful website Promoted well Easy to find Engages with prospects 860-812-4341 [email protected] 14. Useful Website (Content creation and layout). Content creation is the most important aspect of internet marketing. Excellent content provides free, useful information that: Is easy to understand Easy to share Gets people asking more questions. Examples are blog articles, short videos, whitepapers, and podcasts. Excellent layout makes it easy to find this content, and to interact with prospectives. 860-812-4341 [email protected] 15. Example: 860-812-4341 [email protected] www.genspring.com Key questions laid out on homepage. (Content creation) Can scroll through other key questions. Firms value-added concisely described. Easy for prospectives to get in touch. 16. Example: Hosted a webinar (content creation) Articles on topics people care about (content creation). Articles divided into relevant categories that are easy to sort through. 17. Example Commonplace topic that a large number of people would care about Over 5,000 views Company is directly branded on the video. Videos dont have to be overly-theatrical, as with this video, which was filmed at a desk. 18. Promoted Well How are you going to get people to your site? Social media Guest writing Have a strategy for how to do this. 860-812-4341 [email protected] 19. Does social media matter for my accounting firm? 340 million tweets are sent out daily 61% of LinkedIn users use LinkedIn as their primary professional networking medium. 1 on 7 minutes online is spent on Facebook 1 billion people are on Facebook. 48 hours of footage are uploaded to YouTube every minute. 860-812-4341 [email protected] 20. What social media can do for your CPA firm. Keep customers informed of company news Makes it easier to get word-of-mouth referral Makes it easy for interested people to find out more information. Builds links Useful as a customer service tool. 860-812-4341 [email protected] 21. Example: 860-812-4341 [email protected] Logo and other branding / information easily included. Easily share updates with followers. Those who like your page are able to easily follow your firms progress Followers can interact directly with your firm. 22. Guest Writing Make it easy to promote yourself and your firm. Write for accounting or target-market publications: 860-812-4341 [email protected] 23. Heres how it benefits you: Youll get this at the end of an article: Your name A link to your website Contact information. Build yourself as an expert while directly getting credit for doing so.860-812-4341 [email protected] 24. Easy to Find Search engine optimiziation: At its core, SEO is very simple: how do you know what people are looking for, and how do you optimize your web presence to be easily found? Example: What do your prospectives search online to find you? Hartford CT accountants, Hartford Connecticut accountants, Hartford CT CPA firm, etc. When you know what people are looking for, you can create your content to match what people want. Suppose you found out people usually search Hartford CT CPA firm. You can write an article called: The Top 5 Things to Look for in a Hartford CT CPA Firm 860-812-4341 [email protected] 25. How to Do This- Google Keyword Tool 860-812-4341 [email protected] You type in a search term to analyze how many people search it Results appear, showing # of searches Other keyword ideas are given. 26. Engages with Prospects Actively tries to collect information, and offers exchanges for doing so. Interactive elements. Comment boxes Email us if you have any questions Asks for input. Goal is to build a sense of community! 860-812-4341 [email protected] 27. Example Free deck of branded cards for sharing information. Prospectives exchange their information for the deck of cards. 28. The Genspring example is slightly elaborate, but the model works with exchanging e-mail addresses for whitepapers or other similar downloads. Free e-book for sharing name and e-mail address 29. Where do I start? A long-term plan is the first step, answering questions such as: Whats my ultimate business goal? (Delight current clients, generate new leads, become a well-known expert on a particular subject matter, or something else?) How much time am I willing to devote to this? What are my 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 12 month benchmarks? You can download a sample plan here at the RCJ Creative website. If you dont know where youre going, any road will take you there. Dont be fooled into thinking you can do this all yourself; work with a professional who understands your business model and will take some of the work off of your back. 860-812-4341 [email protected] 30. Thanks much for reading! Feel free to contact: R.C. Thornton President, RCJ Creative Group 860-812-4341 [email protected] 860-812-4341 [email protected]
