As the second day of #B2BMX came to a close, attendees signed off with better insights into modern marketing and the best tools and tactics for success. Just under 3,000 attendees immersed themselves in Keynotes, Lunch & Learns and Breakout Sessions to learn how to set themselves up for success in 2021.
Andy Crestodina, Co-founder and CMO of Orbit Media, kicked the day off with his opening keynote, “10 High Value Actions To Get Ready For The Rebound.” Throughout the session, Crestodina provided a series of actionable insights that B2B companies can start working on to prepare for selling in a post-Covid world.
Capping the night off was Dan Gingiss, Chief Experience Officer of The Experience Maker, with his keynote, “How A Remarkable Client Experience Is Your Best Sales And Marketing Strategy.” During his talk, he emphasized the value of generating engaging customer experiences by being “WISER:”
- Witty, relying on the use of casual, clever language;
- Immersive, providing consistency and creating engaging experiences across all mediums;
- Shareable, in terms of social media content;
- Extraordinary, creating better client experiences; and
- Responsive, as there’s a 15% churn risk if you’re unresponsive on social media.
Remixing Sales Pages To Gain A Competitive Advantage
When clients spend hours online searching for business solutions, the various websites might start to be blend together as they grow weary. Gingiss recommended that organizations take a few steps to revamp their online presence to help stand out from the crowd. Although updating sales pages and websites may seem daunting, Gingiss assured marketers that these changes do not need to be overly show-stopping — they just need to be a little above ordinary. He recommended scoping out competitors’ sites and switching up the language brands use on their website to create a unique tone or theme that increases ease of navigation and promotes engagement.
During his keynote, Crestodina cited traffic and conversion rates as the most important numbers that websites should focus on when making these upgrades. Organizations should add clarity and reduce uncertainty, as well as increase findability and take on the perspective of the visitor to answer any potential questions. Marketing teams can collaborate with sales teams, for example, to craft a comprehensive FAQ section that addresses common buyer questions.
Additionally, Crestodina cited the power of testimonials, as customers look for first-party reassurance that they are bringing their business to the right place. He suggested relying on “the laws of visual hierarchy,” which include video testimonials as the strongest, followed by image-based statements and simple text accounts. These testimonials should drive prospects into willingly submitting their information.
Gingiss added that consistency and fluidity are essential to creating an immersive brand experience. Customers look at your company as a unified entity, not a disjointed organization. The focus should be on creating experiences from a customer’s first point of contact and continuing it throughout the partnership.
Refreshing Blog Content To Draw In Audiences
Crestodina explained that blog content typically outperforms other content, gets the most conversions and traffic and supports email list growth. Gingiss backed this up in his keynote by citing the comparative lack of blog posts against other content — while only six million blog posts are published every day, 650 million tweets are sent daily and 259 billion emails are delivered each day.
However, Crestodina acknowledged that completely revamping blog content would be a time-consuming feat. Instead of creating entirely new content, you can give blogs a facelift by adding depth and detail, internal links, quotes, examples, statistics and interactive elements.
To help identify which blog content needs the most attention, Crestodina broke it into four parts:
- Traffic champs, or pages that the receive greatest amount of search traffic and feature strong calls to action to bring prospects to internal product/service pages;
- Potential champs, or pages that rank high or have high authority but low relevance;
- Falling stars, or pages with declining search traffic; and
- Better “mousetraps,” or pages with high conversion rates.
All four types of content build upon the others through internal links and leverage each other’s strengths to fill gaps and make the content stronger.
Crestodina explained that clients are at the height of their interest after purchasing a solution or product. To that end, “thank you” landing pages should include mentions of when the client can expect to hear from you and provide opportunities for more action, such as an email list subscription, links to social media channels and internal website links to provide more information.
“You need to differentiate yourself, so you stand out and be memorable,” added Gingiss in his keynote. “Use this an opportunity for a little humor and let your hair down. Rely on casual language; you don’t have to be boring.”
Engaging and intriguing thank you pages help ease the buyer’s remorse that typically comes with big purchases and signed contracts, explained Gingiss. Marketers can reassure customers that they made the right choice by involving them in the celebration, which could be as simple as sending a snail mail “thank you” card.
Renewing Online & Social Media Presence
As simple as it sounds, Crestodina recommends brands take the time to research their company on Google to discover insights such as:
- What site links are being shown the most (and therefore need the most updating);
- Which competitors are bidding on the brand;
- Potential partners;
- Questions people typically ask regarding the organization;
- Related searches and search phrases; and
- Any reputation issues.
When an alert’s received that a company was tagged or mentioned in another article, check out the page, Crestodina added. Make sure the company is linked and, if it’s not, reach out to the editor with an update request. They’ll either link or they won’t, but it’s nothing to get worked up about, he said.
Crestodina also recommended that all social media profiles should feature mini calls to action and provide reassurance for the reader instead of a generic, uninformative “about us” section. Social media bios should be enticing — businesses should discuss what they can offer prospects and give people a reason to follow them. Make sure pictures are prominent and legible, and pin high-value articles to the top of the feed.
Gingiss explained that an organization’ssocial media should emulate the engaging experiences provided throughout the buyer’s journey. He added that a chunk of those 650 million daily tweets typically discuss a client’s experience with a brand, whether it was good or bad.
“When we think about what gets shared, it’s mostly negative experiences — especially on social media,” said Gingiss. “‘Meh’ doesn’t get shared; it’s a so-so experience. If you’re giving people a ‘meh’ experience, they’re not talking about you. Thirty percent of consumers say they’d share a negative review online after a bad experience, while 49% said they’d post a positive review online after a good experience.”
Following reviews of any kind, Gingiss suggested brands follow up, maintain their company’s tone and respond to clients accordingly.
However, a company’s social media profile is one thing, while employee profiles are another. According to Crestodina, employee accounts should build their personal brand, identity and reputation. This includes professional headshots, a strong bio discussing what they do, the value they add, plus skills and endorsements.
At the end day of the day, marketing and selling is a human-based activity, and taking little steps to strengthen a company’s online persona, connect with humans and personalize experiences in an engaging way is what will provide brands with an advantage as the world starts to emerge from the Covid slump.
“You’re selling to human beings, who are consumers in their other lives,” said Gingiss. “Whether you like it or not, you’re being compared to the best consumer buying experience your customers have had — make it memorable.”
