When it comes to your B2B online marketing, make no mistake. Headlines make a big difference. Here’s what CEOs and CMOs need to know.

On every website page or blog entry you have an opportunity to include headlines. Search engines like headlines, and the more keyword rich the better. Headlines are designated in HTML code as H1, H2, H3, up through H6.

Bad Online Headline Examples

All too often, headlines on webpages are omitted altogether or written poorly. For example, a home page may have no headlines at all. The About Us page may have a headline “About Our Services,” when it could say “About Our Printing Services” or “About Our Printing Services for Realtors.” Instead of “Why Hire Us?” a headline could say “Why Choose ABC Printing?”

Blog Post Headlines that Work

When it comes to blog posts that you share with your connections on social media, the post headline is even more important. It should contain some keywords and at the same time be interesting enough for people to click on the link and read the post. The post can include some interesting subheaders to break up the post text that include keywords as well. These subheaders make a post easier to read and more keyword rich for the search engines.

Headlines that include numbered lists seem to get the most click throughs and popularity. Looking at a list of  popular blog posts by Hubspot (a well-known marketing software company), 15 of 24 of Hubspot’s most popular recent blog posts have headlines that include numbered lists, such as:

• 5 Awesome Landing Page Lessons From Real Life Examples
• 5 Tools to Battle Social Media Content Overload
• 25 Eye-Popping Internet Marketing Statistics for 2012

Headlines that include in-the-news celebrity or politician’s names also get attention and are definitely examples of “gaming the system.” Again, Popshared.com’s list of popular Hubspot headlines shared this week on social media include:

• How a 9-Year Old Successfully Newsjacked the GOP Primary
• How You (and Rick Santorum) Can Fix a Damaged Search Reputation

For an additional resource on writing effective headlines, check out Copyblogger’s page How to Write Magnetic Headlines.

Your website and blog post headlines matter!

They make a difference in whether or not you are found online. For more information about great headlines or for help with your online marketing, please contact us at New Incite today.

Santorum photo from Flickr, Some rights reserved by Gage Skidmore.

Lady Gag photo from Flickr, Some rights reserved by TJ Sengel

Does your online content make your phone ring? It did mine recently – I received a call about a post I did in 2009 from an executive at a financial services company on the East Coast.  He was trying to make a decision about how to launch a technology product and saw that I had written about his issue.

Quality, online content (even if it was written years ago) is the key to getting found online today. This means that you need to be strategic when you plan your content. Write about what you do and include keywords and phrases that will attract new customers and prospects. Provide quality information that solves problems, answers questions, and gives you credibility.

What kinds of content will fuel your online marketing machine? Here are some ideas:

1. Blog posts
2. Press releases
3. Tweets, LinkedIn and Facebook status updates
4. eBooks
5. Whitepapers
6. Articles
7. Videos
8. Podcasts

Once you post your content online, tell your followers on social media about it (see my previous post about this, How Social Media Feeds Your Online Marketing Machine). Provide a link so that they can easily access and read/listen/watch it.

How do you produce all this content? Have a plan and follow it with discipline. Repurpose your content to leverage your time and effort (see my previous post on this, Re-purpose Content with a Purpose). And finally you can hire outsource resources to either support your efforts or do the work for you. New Incite provides outsource content creation. For more information, please visit our Content Creation service page.

If you’re a business owner, chances are you’ve spent a lot on online marketing. You invested in a great corporate website. Then you paid for search engine optimization (SEO) and perhaps Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC).

You got traffic, but did you get results?

Now it’s time to invest in great content and a system for nurturing the qualified leads you get from your website and converting them to customers. What you need are the 3 C’s – Content, Connections, and Conversions.

Content

When someone lands on your website, they may spend some time looking around. Then they either leave (called a “bounce” in online marketing speak), or they may do something. If they do something that is related to a product or service that you offer, they may be a qualified prospect. How do you get them to do something? You need great content that they can download, comment on or share with friends or colleagues.

Connections

Once a visitor does something on your website, you have an opportunity to engage them. You can email them more information, connect to them on social media and offer more valuable content, perhaps – at a strategic point in their buy cycle – you can call them. Again, you need great content and now a a strategy for how you’re going to connect or nurture the prospect through their buying cycle.

Conversions

There are two types of conversions: one when the visitor engages with you or content on your site and becomes a prospect; and two, when the prospect becomes a customer. If you have great content and have engaged the prospect in a credible and valuable way, your chances of conversion will be higher. In the Inbound Marketing University course on Landing Pages,  Jeanne Hopkins, Director of Marketing at Hubspot, offered up this conversion equation.

C = 4m + 3v =2(i-f) – 2 a

Conversion  = 4xMotivation+ 3xValue + 2(incentive-friction) – 2xAnxiety

Jeanne explained that your conversion is a factor of motivation plus value plus buyer urgency less friction less anxiety. Friction is the amount of trouble or confusion that occurs when the visitor uses your website. Anxiety is the amount of concern the visitor has with providing information in order to download or engage with you.

Invest more resources in the 3 C’s – Content, Connections, Conversions – you’ll get a greater return on your marketing investment.

Today it’s not enough to have a search-engine-optimized website with static content. Search engines like Google rate sites based on the conversations that occur about you on social media.Your social media profiles become the spokes that feed your online marketing hub – your website.

A blog on your site that you update frequently ensures that the content is fresh, dynamic and current. Then, how do you get people to visit your website with its blog content? You get followers on social media sites and engage them in conversation, including information about the work you are doing, links to your blog posts, and links to articles/others’ blog posts/videos and other content that you like. You post relevant documents, images, videos on content-sharing sites. You push out news about you and your company using online press releases that have keyword rich links back to your site. You optimize your RSS feed.

All that activity, content, conversation point back to your website and blog. Traffic soars. More people find you online. Life is good!

It’s time to feed the online marketing machine!

There’s  a new normal in marketing, and if you want to be successful and get results from your marketing, it’s important to understand how things have changed.

Marketing has changed in the last ten or so years due to the disruptive innovation called the Internet. Because the Internet has changed the way people buy, marketers have to change the way they market. What has changed is buyer behavior. Buyers don’t want to be bothered by the interruption of ads or telemarketing calls. Buyers want information about products and services when they want or need to buy something. Buyers are in control.

Because of the focus on the buyer, a new term and a new activity has emerged in marketing today – lead nurturing. Lead nurturing is how marketing supports the buyer through the buy cycle and the four stages of awareness, information, assurance and loyalty.

According to Brian Carroll, it is marketing’s job to engage buyers and provide relevant and consistent dialog with viable prospects regardless of timing to buy. Part of this involves analyzing the buy cycle and identifying the right touchpoints with which to put information in front of the buyer.

This is a major paradigm shift – from Advertising Madmen who attempted to control buyers minds to Lead Nurturers who walk down the buying path with them. See the difference?

Photo from Flickr, Some rights reserved by Katherine_Davis

Today quality online content is a good way to attract qualified buyers who need information about certain problems, solutions and products. But a big question B2B marketers have is “What content do I give away, yet not give away the store (and potential sales revenue)?”

The answer comes down to three questions B2B marketers can answer for their buyers. Why should I do “it”? ;  What should I do to accomplish “it”? ;  How do I do “it”? (“It” could be install a software system, improve a website, repair a piece of equipment, etc.)

B2B Service Marketer – Answer Why and What

If you are a service provider who actually does the “How” and gets paid for “it,” your content should focus on the “Why?” and “What?” For example, a commercial lighting installer might put out information about the cost-savings, environmentally-friendly impact, and employee productivity increase that you get when you install new lighting systems – the “Why?”. The lighting company might also provide information on its recommended 7-step process for planning a lighting upgrade – the “What?”. But the lighting installer does not share how it installs and wires the system – that is what they are paid to do.

B2B Product Marketer – Answer Why, What and How

If you are a manufacturer of a product, your content can answer all three questions. For example, a bearing manufacturer can talk about why its prospects should buy its products, what problems the product solves, and how to do repairs using the bearing in another process such as doing a repair or building things that use bearings.

In the book The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott, he uses the example of a concrete industry organization called the Concrete Network. The Concrete Network’s ultimate goal is to increase demand for concrete, so its content includes blogs about why concrete might be an appropriate material in a variety of uses, what can be done with concrete (floors, counters, furniture, etc.), and how to use concrete. One of the things that makes this example really stand out is that the concrete industry is a mature, traditional industry, yet The Concrete Network is achieving success using new marketing tactics that include blogging, online press releases, and other social media messaging.

So when you push your content online to attract qualified buyers, make sure it’s high quality. Give away as much as you can without diluting sales revenue. The more you give, the more prospects you’ll attract and have an opportunity to convert.

…Or your inbox fill with inquiries? It does for me. So, if I’m getting results, why do many business people still say, “I’m on LinkedIn – now what?” (As a matter of fact, so many asked this question, Jason Alba wrote the book with the same name.)

So you’re on LinkedIn – now what?

I was the 102,794^th person to create a LinkedIn profile on January 7, 2004. (To figure out what number you were – see Jason’s blog entry, What Number Are You On LinkedIn? You can see your LinkedIn start date by going to Settings and looking at the date in the upper right corner of the screen.)

I wish I could remember who first invited me to connect, because today, over seven years later, LinkedIn makes my phone ring and my inbox fill up with inquiries from prospective clients and recruiters looking for an outsource marketing help. I do remember thinking the words, “I’m on LinkedIn – now what?”

Why do I get results?

I made sure my profile is complete. I listed details about each job I had as well as board and committee positions in organizations and associations. I made sure all my education degrees and certificates are listed. Having a complete and accurate profile can help more people can find you.

I connect strategically to colleagues, customers, clients, classmates and others. For some reason, I was very “religious” about connecting with my people over the last seven years. I’m very active and have led several Los Angeles association chapters and I’ve served on some national boards and committees. Not only did I invite every client to connect with me but also every committee or board member with whom I served, association members that I met, and high school,college and graduate school classmates as well.

I began by strictly adhering to LinkedIn’s suggested connection strategy- connect only to those whom you know and whom you would refer to others. Over the years I’ve changed my strategy a little and do connect to people who are obviously potential strategic connections and colleagues.

I’m relatively active on LinkedIn. I am a moderator/manager of at least one group; and I answer questions and participate in discussions. I linked my blog, my book recommendations, my Tweets, my presentations and other content to my profile. I update my status several times a week.

For a while, I had my Tweets (140 character micro-blog messages) automatically going from Twitter to my LinkedIn status, but I discontinued that automatic connection. I took it down when I realized that I was not tweeting certain messages because 1.) they were not appropriate for LinkedIn in my opinion; and 2.) if I wanted to Tweet a lot, I did not want my LinkedIn connections to see a fire-hose-full of messages blasting all over their LinkedIn home pages.

I’ve invested in learning about LinkedIn. I attended Chris Rollyson‘s excellent workshop that he did for the Institute of Management Consultants’ Annual Confab Conference. Chris works with global companies and government agencies to use disruptive technology for innovation. In 2008 he launched the Social Network Roadmap and the Executive’s Guide to Web 2.0 to foster aggressive adoption of Web 2.0 while mitigating risk. When he came to a conference in Los Angeles in 2009, I organized a Social Media Workshop that Chris taught, sponsored by IMC USA Southern California and graciously hosted by the Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business and Management. I also read blog entries and have participated in webinars on how to get results from LinkedIn.

As with all marketing, LinkedIn and other social media sites require discipline. Every year I set a goal for activity on LinkedIn and try to achieve it. It doesn’t matter if your goal is 1-5 status updates a day or 3 a week, answering 1-10 questions a week, or increasing your quality, strategic connections 10-100% in a year. The important thing is to plan incremental activity and measure your results.

Photo from Flickr Some rights reserved by nate steiner

[this blog entry was revised by the author on November 8, 2011]

Less than a year ago Facebook changed its privacy policies and clumsily lost the trust of some of its users – including those who wanted to establish a business presence on Facebook. The reaction was so intense I removed all mention of Facebook in the social media presentations I did for most of last year. But, now I believe the company has re-established some amount of trust with users. It has actually increased the number of privacy features available to users, and it seems to acknowledge the rights of its members. Even so, the perception lingers on – “Facebook is not safe for business!”

Here are some of the the realities (and corresponding misconceptions that business owners have) about Facebook that I believe make it a compelling marketing platform.

Reality: There Are More Than 600 800 Million People on Facebook

First, let’s face reality. Facebook has the highest number of members of any social networking site. On Facebook’s site they say they have 500 more than 800 million users. Wikipedia says they have 600 750 million. Believe me, your customers and clients are on Facebook.

Reality: Your Young Customers and Employees Like Facebook

A large number of young business people have experienced Facebook and identify with the brand. According to Nick Gonzalez, former writer for Techcrunch.com, social media speaker and creator of the page www.checkfacebook.com, 68.5% of Facebook users are between the ages of 18 and 44. The percentage by age range breaks down as follows:

• Age 18-24             30.9% or 45.8 million
• Age 25-34             22.3% or 33 million
• Age 35-44             15.3% or 22.6 million

If a young person comes to your web site, what do you think happens when they see the Facebook logo on your home page? Perhaps an emotional connection because that is a site on which they spend a lot of time and with which they identify?

Reality: Largest Adoption Rate in 2009 was Women Over 55

The last point lends itself to the next misconception. “Facebook is for kids.” In fact, in 2009, the fastest growing demographic on Facebook was women over 55. Moms and grandmothers stalking their kids and grandkids? Maybe. But they’re there. And, a lot of them work in business.

Reality: Your Company Page Is Not Visibly Tied To Your Personal Information

Your Facebook Company Page has no visible connection to your personal profile. According to Facebook’s structure, you can only create a Company Page if you already have a personal profile. Facebook doesn’t require that a personal profile be tied to a business page. But, when If someone lands on your Facebook Company Page because they searched for it or they clicked on a link from your email or web site, there is no way they can navigate to your personal profile. The only way they can see your profile is if they search for you, invite you to connect, and you “friend” them (accept their invitation to connect). The only exception to this may be if your profile is completely open to public view (a privacy setting option in Facebook).

Reality: Facebook Privacy Controls Are Sophisticated

If you do allow work colleagues to connect to your personal profile (and believe me, they will ask, because people want to connect to you and get to know you), Facebook’s privacy controls are some of the most intricate of any social network. For example, you can have your work colleagues see only your posts but not your friends’ and family members’ posts on your wall. With each status update you select options to control who sees it. When you are setting up your privacy settings, you can test the results by putting in the name of a work colleague and then viewing what they would see when they look at your profile.

Reality: Facebook Is a Marketer’s Dream

Hmmmm. An online profile which includes age, sex and geographical information? A profile that includes descriptions of how a person behaves and what they do? A profile, in which a person identifies what they love, like and hate? What brands they identify with? “Oh, you mean I can focus my marketing only on my target demographics and psychographics?” Facebook is rich with opportunities for targeting the right audience – it is pretty close to a marketer’s dream.

What are your thoughts on using Facebook for business? Agree or disagree? Are you comfortable with privacy on Facebook? Please comment below.

Photo on Flickr. Some rights reserved by Jimee, Jackie, Tom & Asha

Here’s a video that show you how to optimize your LinkedIn Profile website links with keywords. Making this easy change will help make your links more compelling so that visitors to your profile will be more apt to click on them and help optimize your profile so that you will come up higher on LinkedIn search results when users search for what you do.

If you prefer to read the instructions, I’ve provided them below. Please comment below if this information is helpful or if you have other questions about optimizing your LinkedIn profile!

Instructions on Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile Website Links

LinkedIn has generic defaults for the three links it allows each user to set up in their profile. This is OK, but who wants to click on a link that says “My Website?” Remember that visitors to your profile or web site listen to radio station WIIFM – What’s In It For Me? They are more likely to click on links that say something about the content, especially if there might be something on the website or page that adds value for them.

You can change the generic to custom descriptions of your choosing in a few easy steps. Make sure you use keywords that will help LinkedIn visitors find you when they search for certain skills.

1. First, go to Your Profile and click on the Edit Profile tab.
2. Scroll to the Website links below the Connections sections on your profile and click “Edit” on one of them.
3. You will see a screen that first allows you to select a title for the link. Use the dropdown list and select “Other.”
4. Now additional fields are available so you can enter a custom description and the URL for the link. Note that you can link to three different sites or three different pages on the same site or any combination of the two. Also, note that you are limited as to the number of characters, so you may have to get a little creative with your link naming.
5. Enter your custom descriptions and make sure you scroll to the bottom and click on “Save Changes.”
6. Return to your profile and make sure the changes show up.

Congratulations! You are one step closer to optimizing your LinkedIn profile!

The reason to engage in social media sites online such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook is to have authentic, engaging, transparent conversations with people with whom you want to connect.

With authentic, transparent engagement in mind, is it OK to outsource your social media to a third party social media company or consultant?

My answer is that it’s not all right to outsource your social media – completely. What I believe is OK and can get you better results as you get started in social media is to hire a social media consultant or marketing firm to help you analyze and plan your social media strategy. That person or company can also provide ongoing research,  analysis and content creation that fits your marketing persona and your social media strategy goals. At New Incite we call this our Back Office Social Media Support service (shameless self-promotion plug #1). With the Back Office Social Media Support service, we do the behind the scenes research, consulting and content creation and provide it to you for approval. You update profiles, approve and edit blog entries and message your followers. Transparent. Authentic. Engaging.

We also offer a turnkey solution, Social Media Total Outsource (shameless self-promotion plug #2). This is my second choice for our clients, because we’re doing all the back office work as well as all social media communications on your behalf. We’re as authentic and engaging as possible, because we spend time developing your marketing persona and strategy. We get your approval before any messages or communications are sent out. As time goes on and you see the benefits of engaging with followers gained through Social Media Total Outsource, our hope is you take over the communications and engagement and move to the Back Office Social Media Support service. I’d rather see you establish a social media presence rather than not, even if it means we’re doing all the work  at the beginning.

What do you think? Is social media outsourcing right or wrong?

Photo from Flickr, Some rights reserved by MattHurst