Shama Hyder

These are two different questions. 1) A boss who doesn't "grasp" content marketing can be educated. 2) A boss who doesn't "value" content marketing is just a bad sign because what it actually means is that they are choosing to ignore how their customers buy. Buyers are 70% THROUGH their buying journey by the time they even think about contacting you. That means the first vendor they reach out to wins the business 84% of the time. So, how do you win in this new landscape? You have to be that first vendor. You've got to dominate the early stages of the buyer journey with a powerful trifecta: earned media, content marketing, and social media. Saying you don't value that is the same as saying you don't value customer acquisition.

In my experience working with multiple professional service firms thru the years, referrals aren’t the problem. They get those. So, what’s the problem? What they want is predictable revenue. What they get with referrals as a sole source is feast or famine. Referrals should be just one single channel for new customer acquisition. Businesses that use a multi-channel approach outperform their competitors who don’t by a mile.

Don't forget the most important aspect of conversion optimization....time. Today, according to Forrester, it takes 27 touch points for someone to go from prospect to buyer. Aim for consumption as much as you can because consumption + time = conversion.

The biggest fail? Not training sales in how to USE the marketing collateral created. And, I don’t mean a gated landing page. For example, do they know how to use earned media to move prospects thru each stage of the funnel? This is a crucial part of how marketing and sales can work together beyond just handing them contact info and calling it “leads.”

Consider the tale of 'Turn The Page,' a local bookstore tucked away in a city's corner, experiencing low foot traffic + sales. The bookstore's ace? a community of passionate book lovers. 'Turn The Page' initiated a monthly book club, featuring local authors for readings and dialogues. As word spread, their community expanded, leading to jam-packed events with nationally recognized authors. This wasn't merely marketing, but an earnest attempt to engage their community. As the local media started reporting these events, the bookstore found itself in the limelight, riding a wave of earned media and benefitting from a PR victory. Their sales soared by a staggering 200% in two years, reinforcing the impact of community-oriented marketing.

Here is a sneaky secret we use for clients - Geotargeting ads Geotargeting is a type of digital advertising where you customize your ads for people based on their geographical location. The beauty of this approach is that it allows you to reach people who are most likely to be interested in your offerings, which in this case, are the folks attending the tradeshow. But it gets even better. If you can figure out where attendees are likely to be before and after the event—say, local hotels, popular restaurants, or landmarks—you can adjust your geotargeting to these areas as well.