Technical and Marketing Communication: Content for a Convergent World

Here are some key points, from the Converting Leads webinars (CV101, CV201, and CV301), which I recently attended at Inbound Marketing University, coordinated by HubSpot. Make sure to check out these excellent resources on inbound marketing, available through HubSpot Inbound Marketing’s Presentations on SlideShare and the Inbound Marketing Wiki. HubSpot has also set up a related LinkedIn Group: Inbound Marketers – For Marketing Professionals.)

Class 7: Calls to Action and Landing Page Best Practices (CV101), Professor: Jeanne Hopkins (MECLABS, Marketing Experiments)

• Questions to Ask Yourself: “Can your Landing Page “close?” What do you want the Landing Page visitor to do? Pick up the phone and call you? Sign up for a free webinar, download? Go to another page for more information? Just click?”
• Instead of using a button for your call to action, consider using a link. For example: Buy a (fill in the blank) and never (fill in the blank) again!, See (examples of why you should click here)., Find out how (we’ve helped others)., What are the leading indicators that (fill in the blank here). Listen to an excerpt of (our webinar, podcast, information)., Call now for a free 10 minute consultation.
• Most difficult part of Landing Page Optimization for your company: “1. Limited resources in IT. 2. Marketing dept. doesn’t have time. 3. Lack of analytics. 4. Knowing what to test.”
• “Conversion is the process of successfully achieving the primary objective of a specific page or website.”
• Conversion Rate is the primary measure of conversion and is computed as CR% = (#Successes/#Actions) * 100
• Marketing Experiement’s Conversion Sequence formula is used to structure your approach to profitably maximizing Conversion Rate through Optimiization. It takes into account the motivation of the user (when), the clarity of the value proposition (why), the incentive to take action, friction elements of the process, and anxiety about entering information. 

Class 8: Inbound Lead Nurturing (CV201), Professor: Brian Carroll (MECLABS, InTouch, and author of Lead Generation for the Complex Sale (McGraw-Hill 2006)

• “Lead nurturing is a relevant and consistent dialog with viable potential customers, regardless of their timing to buy.”
• How to Execute Inbound Lead Nurturing: “1. Requires human touch via Teleprospecting. 2. Aided by tools that make it easy to continue conversation and make appropriate offers based on behavior and engagement. 3. Lead nurturing automation tools must support lower volume, ad hoc delivery, and track all touch points (phone, email, online, in person).”
• Measure nurturing results such as: % depths of contacts in sphere of influence, % of contacts that “opt-in” for nurturing, and % of contacts that become “sales ready” leads.  
• How inbound lead works:  1. Search,  2. Landing Page, 3. Form Submit, 4. Lead Qualification  and 5. Sales. (Nurturing occurs bidirectionally between Marketing and Sales, and between steps 4 and step 5.)
• Qualify Your Leads/Inquiries:  “Less is more. Consolidate and centralize inquiry information . Pick up the phone to qualify leads. Clear “hand off” on every lead.  Measure “sales pursuit” on every lead.” 
• Inbound Lead Nurturing Step 1: “Define Your Ideal Customer Profile. Common criteria includes industry code, revenue, employee size, trigger events, and sphere of influence.”
• Inbound Lead Nurturing Step 2:  “Define what your organization means by “lead,” before marketing begins. Here, sales lead readiness means a meaningful interaction (via phone or e-mail has occurred, with an individual meeting the requirements for a fully qualified company and audience. To qualify as sales ready, the individual must also demonstrate a specific need for and interest in your product or service.”
• Inbound Lead Nurturing Step 3: Lead Qualification via an Inquiry Form. The individual submits information via an Inquiry Form and receives a follow-up e-mail, providing more information and stating that someone will also call. Also remember to develop relationships via the phone. (“Confirm information on inquiry form. Ask for missing information from form. Get permission to “opt-in” for nurturing. Identify qualified leads.”)
• Inbound Lead Nurturing Step 4: “Understand and Capture Your Audience. Whom Do You Nurture?  How deep do you want to go?” (For Example: Influencer, End-User, Info Gatherer, Gate Keeper, Champion, Technical Buyer, and Decision Maker). Your database is the hub.
• Inbound Lead Nurturing Step 5: “Message Development. Create a message map based on role.”
• Inbound Lead Nurturing Step 6: “Build Your Lead Nurturing Library. Gather and filter relevant content based on message map.” Reuse available content before creating new content.
• Inbound Lead Nurturing Step 7: “Develop Lead Nurturing Tracks.” Identify the various content you will deliver through these tracks: direct mail, online, events, phone, and e-mail. Develop a schedule for when you will deliver various pieces of content through each track.
• Inbound Lead Nurturing Step 8: “Executing Lead Nurturing.” Tracking and Managing Your Leads by keeping a company touchpoint history.
• Articles by Brian Carroll:  What’s a Lead? Improve ROI With a Better Lead Qualification Process, How to Precisely Define a “Lead” Before Marketing Begins, Thought leadership for Lead Nurturing (content strategy), Content Ideas for Lead Nurturing.
• Other lead generation resources: www.startwithalead.com, www.leadgenerationbook.com, http://blog.startwithalead.com, and http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=1941474.

Class 9: Successful Email Marketing (CV301), Professor: Eric Groves (Constant Contact)

• Email marketing is “delivering professional email communications to an interested audience, containing information they find valuable.” Email marketing is not “junk email, unsolicited and unwanted email, SPAM, email from an unknown sender, or e-mail with dubious opt-out (if any).”
• For the same response, “direct mail costs 20 TIMES as much as email. Email ROI is the highest when compared to other internet marketing mediums.”
• Email Service Providers “automate best practices, provide easy-to-use templates, reinforce brand identity, address email to recipient only, manage lists – add new subscribers, handle bounce-backs, remove unsubscribes, improve email delivery, track results, and obey the law.”
• Steps to Successful E-Mail Marketing: *Making Connections (building a quality email list). *Informng Your Audience. *Growing Your Audience.
• Steps for Building a Quality Email List: List Building and Permission: *Build your list where you connect (service or sales calls, events and meetings, email signature, in-store guest book, and website sign-up). *Collect information and permission (include your logo and brand identity.) *Describe your email content and how often you’ll be sending. *Ask about your customers’ interests. *Ask for additional contact information, when necessary.
• Checklist: Are you collecting contact information at every customer touch point? Are you asking for permission as well as contact information? Are you clearly describing your email frequency and content?
• Steps for creating valuable email content. *What are your objectives? to promote (motivate purchases, increase event attendance), inform (inform potential customers, differentiate my business), or relate (increase loyalty). *Determine the appropriate content: Newsletters, Promotions / Invitations / Surveys, or Announcements. *Determine frequency, focus, and objective for providing content. *Encourage more referrals. *Email only essential information (Use bullets or summaries. Link directly to the information. Give instructions, if necessary.) *Include a Call to Action, such as links to click on, information to print out, phone numbers to call, instructions for reading the email, instructions for saving the email. (Describe the immediate benefits. What’s in it for your audience? Why should they do it now?)
• Email Content Checklist: Are you trying to promote, inform, or relate? What is your audience interested in? Is your email format branded and supportive of your message? Is your email concise and does it include a strong call to action? Does your content match your frequency and timing?
• Steps for Getting Email Delivered and Read: a. In the From Line: *Use a name your audience recognizes. *Include your organization name or brand. *Refer to your business in the same way your audience does. *Be consistent. b. Ask yourself before you send your message: Are your images working together with text to identify your email? Are you avoiding spam-like content in your emails? Is your From line familiar and are you using a familiar email address? c. Does your Subject line include the immediate benefits of your email? In the Subject Line: *Keep it short and simple. (30-40 characters including spaces, which is about 5-8 words). *Incorporate the immediate benefit of opening the email. 
• Steps for Increasing Email Click-Through and Response Rates: a. Understand difference between hard bounce (a permanent condition, such as a non-existent email address or misspellings/ no longer in use) and soft bounce (could be temporary, such as the server is down). b. Open tracking indicates level of interaction, not delivery. Use open tracking to spot trends. c. A click-through happens when your subscriber clicks a link to visit your website, downloads a file, takes an online survey, or sends you an email. Clicks are tracked by inserting special HTML tracking code in the link. Use click tracking to determine audience interests and goal achievement.
• Resources: Visit the Constant Contact Learning Center, where you can find out more on other online webinars, live seminars, and the Constant Contact online community. 

Related Links

• Inbound Marketing University: Kudos to HubSpot
• Inbound Marketing University: Stats of Note
• Inbound Marketing University: Getting Found (GF101, GF102, and GF 201) 
• Inbound Marketing University: Getting Found (GF202, GF301, and GF401)
• Inbound Marketing University: Analyzing Site Traffic (AZ401)