Inbound Marketing Age

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) was introduced across Europe in May 2018 to strengthen individuals’ rights when it comes to the handling and processing of their data.

As inbound marketers, we’ve always put the power in the hands of our prospects - and the GDPR champions that notion, so it's a regulation we should all willingly, and easily abide by.

Our communications and the ability to generate leads are dependent on high-quality data acquisition. Landing pages are an integral part of that acquisition process, so it’s natural to be dubious over the thought of tweaking and overhauling your existing landing pages and conversion paths. What if we put prospects off? What if people choose not to tick the box?

It’s not uncommon for marketers to shy away from creating case studies.

Customers are often reticent about publishing those telling numbers and details and, more importantly, revealing their secrets to competitors. 

Or perhaps, like many, you underestimate the impressiveness of your results and success.

In this post, we'll address each of those challenges, but not before we touch on some of the most vital features of a case study.

Case studies can be important content marketing tools. There is ample reason for considering them as a part of your strategy. So let's dive straight in; here's how you can craft a winning and most a crucially, a converting case study.

Where do B2B marketers start with voice searches?

As individuals, AI assistants and smart speakers such as Alexa and Siri are now a familiar partner in many peoples' everyday search for answers, solutions and content.

But since they’re usually more closely associated with B2C brands, do B2B marketers really need to worry?

Google is notoriously tight-lipped about its ranking factors, and that doesn't look set to change in 2018.

It’s no secret that SEOers base their entire careers on educated guesses, experimentation and speculation.

Will Google ever disclose their algorithms? Who knows.

Will you ever reach page one? With hard work and perseverance, yes.

But wait, isn’t email marketing dead?

Email was the pinnacle of nineties marketing. Transforming mass communication when it became free and available to all, email revolutionised how we reach our customers.

Nowadays, we have access to free social media, targeted banner advertising, Google ads, pay-per-click. You get the picture.

A conversion is the process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another.

More specifically, in inbound marketing, a conversion describes the point at which a stranger on your website becomes a lead or a paying customer.

Conversion paths are therefore a critical component in the nurturing process, and failing to produce a tailored and effective conversion strategy could be to the detriment of your business growth. 

To avoid losing out on high-quality conversion opportunities, you'll need call-to-actions (CTAs) that your visitors respond positively to, all of which are underpinned by strategic conversion paths.

A poorly devised SEO strategy ahead of a site migration is a recipe for disaster. A site migration in itself can be an extremely onerous task; one that requires considerable planning, consultation and attention to detail. But when SEO is treated as an afterthought, your search engine visibility will be compromised.

Given the right execution strategy, it can happen smoothly, efficiently, and can preserve all that hard-earned SEO. 

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Call-to-actions (CTAS) are the smallest nuggets of copy on your web page, with arguably, the biggest job.

We could be talking as little as two words. However, two words that are the difference between a visitor converting to a lead or bouncing off the page. It's for that reason they demand so much time, effort and research to develop.

There's a common misconception that writing microcopy is 'easy' because it's so short. However, having fewer words and space means there's even less room for error. Conversions can hang on as little as one word or colour; get it wrong, and you risk losing leads. 

An effective lead generation strategy is a culmination of approaches that when combined, enhance your reputation, increase website traffic, and as a result, attract a steady stream of qualified leads. There are individual strategies that will enhance your overall approach, but what it really requires is a holistic effort.

This might not be the first time you’ve heard of 'ABM' (accounts based marketing).

Previously known as ‘key accounts marketing,’ ABM assumes that B2B buying decisions are down to a group of people, rather than an individual.

Therefore, as opposed to using broad, traditional marketing techniques, it relies on a close alignment between sales and marketing to identify key influencers and decision makers within a business, supplying them with personalised, relevant, and compelling content.

The deadline is imminent, and by now, most organisations should have their houses in order when it comes to GDPR.

It’s likely you’ve recently received a flurry of "can we still contact you" emails from B2C companies that you’ve previously bought from, or shown some interest in. You may have even heard of some companies deleting all their contacts in a fit of panic, fearful of falling foul of the new compliance measures.  When it comes to B2B marketers, many are taking a more systematic and considered approach to how they use and handle data sensibly.