Generating views for videos can be quite hard for any company. Some have never tried to develop a video marketing campaigns for their users at all. This is an untapped gold mine for a lot of businesses. And deserves the attention of anyone looking to generate leads on the web. Your video marketing campaign(s) should be centered around your viewer and use the following for engagement techniques.

Unique & Creative Content

Any video marketing campaign should start out with a vision of how you want your viewers to interact with your brand. Whether you are looking to be informational, demonstrational, or abstract, you should put yourself in the shoes of your viewer. To better understand how they will digest your content. The creation of engaging content can be extremely powerful for developing your customer base and creating brand recognition.

Personalization

Personalization in video marketing campaigns can be leveraged with various data points. Mainly your user’s current or past web behaviors. This could be a first name, the name of company employees, and any other data point you could think of. This kind of personalization engages the viewer and demonstrates a perceived knowledge of their business and/or industry. Personalized advertisements make us feel like something was created specifically for us.

Longer Videos

While our attention spans may be shortening, longer videos are engaging users at high rates. If complex topics require time to explain, the explanation should get the time it deserves. The viewer will quickly understand the value of a long-form explanation.

Someone sticking around for a longer video is more likely to convert into a customer as well. Or at the very least, tells us they’re an engaged & valuable contact.

Interactive 360 Degree Video

VR experiences and augmented reality continue to improve and enter households across the nation. The possibilities are endless for demonstration videos, action videos, walkthroughs, and so much more.

Many users who find these videos entertaining say they would be willing to interact with brand videos if they were deployed. Major brands continue to enter this space and you could potentially benefit from the production of these types of videos.

Searchability – Search Engine Optimization

Videos contain metadata related to the topics found in the video. If you produce a long-form video, your video could be packed full of valuable keywords. This provides positive ranking effects on your website.

Businesses live and die on Google therefore it is important to have a plan for getting ranked on search engines for the keywords related to your product or service.

Using any or all of the above will help you create clients or customers that stay engaged with your product or service. Choose the ones that you think you can engage with and provide the best value, or contact us for a consultation today.

Quality content on a blog post or website is key to attracting prospective clients. At Sage Lion Media, every email we send, blog post we write, social media post we create, a call-to-action is included. In our blog today, let’s review what a call-to-action is and some best practices when creating an effective call-to-action.

What Is A Call-To-Action?

So what is a call-to-action? A call-to-action (CTA) is “an image or line of text that prompts your visitors, leads, and customers to take action,” according to Hubspot. It’s important to encourage prospects to contact your office or sign up for an event after reading a blog post or email. If they don’t, what’s the point of creating engaging content?

CTAs take prospective clients to a higher valued page on your website. If the call-to-action says, “Read more…” in the meta description on Google, this gets your prospect to your site. The page you direct that prospect to on your site should include another CTA which takes them further down the sales funnel.

Best Practices

Since CTAs are all over websites which shows it’s not rocket science to create. However, creating an effective call-to-action takes a little more finesse. Such as a converting CTA that sends a clear message about why they should click and delivers that promise immediately. Including an action verb is Rule #1 when creating a call-to-action that converts. But just because you said, “download” or “click” doesn’t mean prospects will download or click.  Here are Sage Lion Media’s rules to an effective call-to-action:

1. Actionable Messaging. Yes, you need more than an expressive verb to get people to click on a CTA but this is the first step. Without an action verb, you’ll just have a fancy graphic, words, and zero clicks.
2. Make it clickable. You can have the most creative copy in your CTA but if it doesn’t look visually appealing and clickable, you will miss out on a lot of prospects.
3. Create urgency. Nobody wants to be left out so let prospects know they need to download your ebook NOW! Include a countdown next to your CTA that informs prospects your ebook is only free for 48 hours. If you’re trying to fill up spots for an event, say, “Spots are limited. RSVP today!”
   
4. Focus on placement. CTAs should be weaved in naturally to a blog post. Typically you’ll find a call-to-action at the end of a blog but you can also place one in the middle, on the sidebar, at the top of the page. Whatever makes the most sense. Don’t go overboard and have a CTA in all locations.
5. Color matters. A CTA needs to stand-out. If the webpage is blue, the CTA should be a different color. Easy enough! Pick a contrasting color that is still in your theme so it will pop out on the page.
6. Size matters too. You want people to easily see the CTA but it can’t be too big that it takes away from the main content.
7. Clear and concise. An effective CTA is short and to the point. A prospect should know exactly what they’re getting once they click on the link.

Pro tip: We like to do A/B testing on CTAs for our clients. We’ll play around with wording, placement, and sometimes the color to see what gets more clicks.

Start Creating

While a call-to-action encourages a prospect to take one more step down the sales funnel to become a lead. That action can be a link in an email that says, “Shop Our Lightweight Tents Now” and guides the prospect to your company’s brand new line of backpacking tents. Whatever you want your prospective customers to do, creating a CTA that gets clicks can turn those prospects into leads.

In 2017, Donald Miller published Building a Story Brand and it has become a measure of standard across the internet marketing space. The overarching message instructs the reader to clarify their message so their customers will listen. So many of our clients come to us with a version of struggle related to the solution Donald presents.

Whether you are struggling to get your customers to engage with your brand, or you’re just trying to get your brand off the ground, we have the track record and knowledge to provide results with creative and engaging media. None of this ties together without clear and direct messaging exemplifying your brand.

Make Your Customer the Hero

Building a brand story based around your consumer develops a sense of trust and relationship someone wouldn’t experience with other forms of content buildout. Positioning yourself as a guide along the customer’s journey to finding and committing to their solutions keeps you at the top of your customer’s mind. You are developing a trigger point in the consumers mind that relates your product or service to a solution. 

Here is the flow of nearly every story in the words of Donald Miller:

“A CHARACTER who wants something encounters a PROBLEM before they can get it. At the peak of their despair, a GUIDE steps into their lives gives them a PLAN, and CALLS THEM TO ACTION. That action helps them avoid FAILURE and ends in a SUCCESS.”

Nearly every book you read, every movie you watch follows this plot line and we naturally notice when stories don’t develop in this fashion. Why shouldn’t your brand story follow the same model? To lead them through this process, we answer three questions. What do you offer? How will it make my life better? What do I need to do to buy it? If we can answer these questions well, we make the customer the hero and the product their solution.

Talk About Your Customer’s Problems

Relating to and engaging with your customer’s problems sets you up to understand why you are doing what you are doing. You’ve developed a product or service as a solution to a problem, but your customer may not know they have a problem. Writing about your customer’s problems shows you are just like them, and have created a product for them because you’ve experienced some of the same problems in the past. If you put those problems front and center in front of your customer’s you’ll let them use their own imagination to find you as their solution. Even though you have led them to water, they have to be the ones to drink. There are three types of problems any customer may face.

There are external problems, internal problems, and philosophical problems. External problems are physical, tangible problems, like products or services they need. Internal problems are problems they face internally, these are deeper, more personal fears and then we have philosophical problems. These problems are bigger than the basics of purchasing a product or understanding oneself a little better. If your product or service has a deeper meaning or impact, it would be worth employing this form of content as well as writing about internal and external problems.

Position Yourself as a Guide and Call Them to Action

As we’ve defined previously, customers are not looking for another hero. These folks are looking for a guide. When you think of fly fishing, what brands do you think of? When you think of hunting, which brands do you think of? Those brands have established themselves as “guides” for fly fishing and hunting, respectively. When someone considers these items, they know where they can go to get the information they are looking for and can trust. As the internet continues to expand and content farms keep pumping out generic content intended to rank on google, it is becoming more and more important so instead of clicking through organic search results, these folks are going directly to websites for information.

Once you have established yourself as a guide, it’s time to call them to action.  “Direct” calls to action come in the form of making a purchase, filling out a form, or picking up the phone. “Transitional” calls to action are things like testimonials, free trials, and free content. You probably come across transitional calls to action all the time without even realizing it.

Provide a Happy Ending

The last thing a hero in a story wants is a bad ending. It is important for you to paint a picture of success involving your product or service. Some terminology could include “imagine yourself in 6 months”, or “if this problem was solved”. This puts success in the mind of your consumer and ties your product to it. A solid happy ending will include one or more of the following:

1. Win some sort of power or position/status.
2. Be unified with somebody or something that makes them whole
3. Experience some self-realization or transcendence that makes them whole

If you can satisfy these basic human desires your client will leave with confidence and trust in anything you offer. Learn more about how Sage Lion Media develops engaging stories for outdoor brands by visiting our content marketing services page.

Outdoor Industry Marketing in 2020

The landscape is ever changing in the world of internet marketing as a whole as well as the outdoor industry’s niche, but the core values stay the same. As a product owner or service provider, you want to capture potential leads looking for your product or service, educate them on why your product or service is a better choice, and then make the process as easy as possible to convert those folks into a sale. Here are a few of the trends we are seeing as we approach 2020 in the outdoor industry.

Video Marketing

Video Marketing for the outdoor industry is becoming more and more popular as the user base shifts into a more technologically advanced crowd. With new technologies and strategies emerging regarding live video, augmented/virtual reality, and a high propensity for “vlogging”, engaging and informing your users in the creative avenues they are looking to be engaged and informed in is vital to a successful outdoor industry marketing campaign.  While the tech is advancing at a fast pace, so are the ways in which we can display that content to users. TikTok has emerged as a massive platform for video sharing, and the old faithfuls in Facebook and Instagram remain staples to any social media strategy in the form of paid ads or organic rankings/results, and 5G gets it to us more quickly and with better quality than ever.

Inbound Sales Tactics

Inbound marketing involves the placement of your product or service in front of your potential buyers with the intention of having gathered some information on them by the time you make contact. Some of the avenues for doing so would be shoppable content. This involves utilizing services like Google shopping, Amazon, and so on. Having your products available for purchase in the areas people are looking for them leads to sales and brand recognition. Instagram has also started allowing users to “swipe right to buy” on various products, allowing those who have engaged with your product and are interested to have the easiest path possible to purchase. Product Demonstrations and tutorials are also becoming more and more popular. Giving your users the tools to understand and utilize the product from the start can set you apart from the competition.

Voice & Visual Search

In 2020 it is estimated that 50% of all searches will be done with voice. This stat has certainly made the rounds, but what does it mean for your marketing efforts? The main area your strategy will change in relation is the types of keywords you will rank for in the future. For instance, someone may go to Google.com and type “New Outdoor Products”, while someone performing a voice search may phrase it as “What New Outdoor Products are on the Market?” While the core of the search remains the same (new outdoor products), the included keywords change the types of results that may come up. Massaging your content to include these more “conversational” based keywords is key to capturing this potential. Another area where search is improving is visual searches. People can now use their phone cameras to explore products to find out which product is in front of them. Say a friend has a really cool new gadget or product, you would be able to pull out your phone and perform a Google search based on what your camera finds. Ensuring your product is available and optimized on the various platforms ensures this process is as seamless as possible.

Paid Advertisements for the Outdoor Industry

Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence Allow More Customization than Ever

Paid ads have always been a staple of our marketing campaigns here at Sage Lion Media and we are constantly researching for changes in the space. Using tools involving machine learning and artificial intelligence, we have the ability to personalize ads at scale and segment your audience using more advance information. In 2020 users will see fewer organic results and many more contextual ads specifically targeted to the user. Ad personalization allows you to attach some type of personalization to the ad. It may have the person’s first name attached in the form of a “Hi Jerry, are you looking for ________?” or it could have something related to their previous experiences while browsing the web or with your product specifically. This personalization is intended to lead to higher conversion rates and more customization. Audience segmentation allows you to display advertisements to different subsets of people based on demographics and other factors. An example of this would be displaying more visual based ads to the 24-32 year old subset, and a more informational ad displaying for those in an older age group.

Content Marketing for the Outdoor Industry

Content is and will always be king. Your words tell the story you are looking to tell and should be built to bring your users along a journey. Some emerging trends we see popping up are experiential based content strategies, more focus on user interface and user experience, brand partnerships, and a real push for visibility on content based communities like reddit, LinkedIn, Slack, Facebook, Quora, and more. Creating an outdoor content strategy from the ground up with these new platforms in the mix keeps you at the top of mind no matter where your potential buyers are looking.

Lead scoring is a dynamic process that needs to grow over time. Treat your first foray into lead scoring as an experiment. You need to work closely with your sales team to make sure the leads you are identifying are really qualified to purchase. If you don’t have a sales team, then you need to monitor your data closely for any sign that it’s underperforming or that potential customers are abandoning.

Nobody’s signing up for our newsletter… We just aren’t getting any calls… Our site just isn’t converting enough leads…

Have you looked at your visits to leads to sales conversion rate and said any of the above?

We have many times.

As an Outdoor Inbound Marketing Agency, our number one job is to help get more people outdoors. That means more sales, more donations, and more leads for our clients.

We understand that anyone who lands on a site is a potential lead or sale waiting to happen. Sometimes, they need a little help getting there. That’s why we use content to teach, guide and nurture them along their buyer’s journey.

We see too many missed opportunities because clients assume their customer’s buyers journey is linear.

For Example: Customer lands on the website > They sign up for a coupon > They buy something.

But that’s not how the majority of visitors use a website. It is far too simplified in today’s digital world. First or second-time visitors to your site aren’t ready to buy yet, so a coupon won’t do them much good. They are still trying to figure out why they even need your product.  Or if your product will solve their problem

Visitors who are most ready to buy were probably going to purchase today and because of the coupon, you just lost an easy deal.

That’s not a great business strategy. We need a way to deliver specific content to leads at just the right time in their “Buyer’s Journey”

The first step for building out a Buyer’s Journey is mapping out the process from visit to conversion.

Instead of a straight line, your buyer’s journey is a complicated process of various touch points spread out across all your digital marketing efforts. To fully understand how your customer is interacting with your site, you need to walk in their shoes. Spend some time on your site adding things to your cart.

How did it feel?

Did you address any of their concerns or pain?

Does your content leave you wanting more?

We like to map a buyer’s journey in a graphic. This helps us understand how our visitors are interacting with different marketing efforts across all our channels. In addition, it lets us group pieces of content together for future retargeting efforts.

Once we’ve done this we are able to identify where our customers need “help” to cross hurdles and then automatically assign them a lead score based on their readiness to buy.

Higher lead scores mean more opportunities for engagement on your website and are more likely to buy. Lead scoring through HubSpot then allows us to give first-time visitors different content from buyers who are ready to purchase today. Our visitors are happier because we are able to deliver content that educated them, our clients are happier because we are able to convert more visits to leads and leads to customers, and we’re happy because it gives us many more opportunities to nurture and educate visitors at various touch points along their journey.

Finding Hidden Customers

The first time we turn on lead scoring for our clients using HubSpot we always find hidden customers who are waiting to have that final question answered before they purchase. They often just need a little nudge to get off the fence.

Lead scoring pulls those customers to the forefront and we are all able to see these missed opportunities. Once we have a handle for where they are we are able to deliver more targeted messages to their inboxes, or deliver more specific ads to them via social media, or simply pass them onto a sales team for further nurturing.

Generally speaking the more refined you can get in your message the more likely you are to find success.

Experiment and re-iterate

Evaluating each lead in this manner will help you dial in your scoring and build a robust accurate tool you can use to find hidden customers on your site.

As small to mid-sized outdoor companies grow, it becomes tougher to be the CEO wearing all the hats. You feel trapped between your need to grow and the realities of hiring an employee. And you’re unsure if you need a marketing agency or freelancer to help you. Continue reading…

A lead nurturing campaign is a series of (ideally) automated emails that move a lead from the top of the funnel to the bottom. Automated emails are ideal because depending on the volume of email sign-ups you receive, emailing each prospect can be timely.

Hubspot has a free, automated lead gen tool we like to use for our clients.

Email marketing is an essential tool for turning qualified leads into loyal customers. For every $1 spent on email marketing, outdoor companies can expect an average $38 return. If you’re marketing to businesses like we are, 86% of professionals prefer to use email when communicating. And contrary to popular belief, 91% of consumers want to receive promotional emails.

What Is A Lead Nurturing Campaign?

Customers and leads need to be nurtured because 50% of the time, they’re not ready to buy. And when companies focus on lead nurturing, they generate 50% more sales.

Outdoor marketers can capture leads through calls-to-action that take a visitor to a landing page where they can sign up to receive an offer or fill out a form. From there, marketers can start the lead nurturing campaign.

Welcome emails, like, “Thank You For Signing Up,” generate 320% more revenue on average than other promotional emails.

Now that you recognize the value of email marketing, would you be shocked if we said, welcome emails, like, “Thank You For Signing Up,” generate 320% more revenue on average than other promotional emails? Ok, we were a little shocked by this number too but it helps us prove to our clients that lead nurturing campaigns have a huge impact on sales. And creating an email lead nurturing campaign can help turn prospects into loyal customers.

Creating A Lead Nurturing Campaign

An effective lead nurturing campaign needs 6 ingredients:

• Segmentation
• Timeliness
• Strong Subject Line
• Relevant Copy
• Tracking
• Exit Strategy

Segmentation

One of the main reasons lead nurturing campaigns are so successful is it’s a chance for companies to get to know their customer. The more they know about the customer, the better they can serve them. You can’t help your customer until you understand their problem. So if they’re looking for a camo jacket for hunting, you wouldn’t send them irrelevant information on rod holders for walleye fishing. Segmented campaigns have a 14% higher open rate and 100% higher click-through rate than non-segmented campaigns.

Segmented campaigns have a 14% higher open rate and 100% higher click-through rate than non-segmented campaigns.

So how can you segment if you know nothing about the customer? In the first email you send, ask! One of our clients has 2 different target markets: therapists and families seeking therapy. When they subscribe to the newsletter, we have them fill out a simple survey asking them to help us curate content that matters most to them.

Timeliness

The other day I was doing some online shopping on Chaco’s website. I signed up to receive their newsletter, clicked on some shoes I liked, and then left the page. I liked the shoes I was looking at but I got a call from a client and within an hour, forgot about Chaco and the shoes. A couple hours after I left Chaco’s website I got the following email. What a nice reminder!

Lead nurturing emails need to be timely. You don’t want leads to forgot your product or service and how you can help them solve their problem. But you also don’t want to annoy them. For products, we recommend emailing once or twice a week for a set period. Services take a little more time as you need to build greater trust before someone invests money into your guide service or wilderness therapy program. But these aren’t universal benchmarks. Track and see what works best for your company.

Strong Subject Line

Leads need to open your email whether it’s a lead nurturing campaign or just a monthly newsletter. Personalized subject lines perform 29% better than non-personalized. If you can personalize it, do it. You also want to add urgency and relevancy. Avoid salesy, click-bait subject lines. And always test when you can! We love A/B testing so we can better serve our client’s customers.

Relevant Copy

When a lead clicks “subscribe” after reading a blog on best fly fishing rivers in Montana, the follow-up email should have something to do with fly fishing rivers in Montana. Send them an email with the best bait to catch Yellowstone cutthroat trout. If the lead filled out your survey saying they are a therapist looking for educational resources on wilderness therapy programs, send them an email about what to look for in wilderness therapy programs.

You want to show leads you care about their problem and want to help them solve it. And since these are your first emails to a lead, try not to sell them a product or service right away. Provide value and nurture the lead before you pop the question.

Tracking

All campaigns should be tracked. Especially a lead nurturing campaign. Are leads opening the emails? Clicking through? What are they clicking on? What A/B tested subject line worked better? Keeping track of the success and failures of your lead nurturing campaign helps you improve. If no one is opening your third email, switch up the subject line. If leads are only clicking on one article in the email, delete the second one.

Exit Strategy

You turned a lead into a sale, now what? Attract more leads? Sure! But when we go back to Business 101, we know that gaining new customers costs 5-25 times more than keeping an existing customer. So instead of rushing to gain more leads, follow our inbound marketing methodology and delight your current customers. Leads that turned into customers through your lead nurturing campaign are engaged with your company, so keep them engaged. If they bought a boat seat, send them an email on how to install the seat. If they booked a room at your lodge, send them an email with the best restaurants nearby. Show your current customers you are the premier outdoor company by exceeding expectations.

Creating An Effective Lead Nurturing Campaign Can Lead To More Sales

A lead nurturing campaign guides your customer further down the sales funnel through a series of “getting to know you” emails. It’s easier for outdoor companies to solve a customer’s problems when they understand what they want and need. Show your customers you care through personalized, timely, and relevant content and watch your sales grow.

If you’d like to learn how Sage Lion Media can help you get started with an effective lead nurture strategy, contact us today.

Originally Published: August 7, 2018
Updated: March 4, 2019

We talk a lot about driving more traffic to your website, converting prospects to leads, and leads to customers. But do you remember learning in Business 101 that it costs more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one? That’s why it’s so important to always think about customer retention.

Acquiring new customers for your outdoor business is vital for growth. We get it. But don’t forget about your current customers. They have already purchased a product or service from you. If the experience was good, they’ll likely come back.

Your current customer base can also write a review, tell their family and friends, and even defend your company from criticism. So isn’t it time to turn your customers into promoters? We think so. In this post we’ll go over:

• How valuable your current customers are to future profits
• Other factors that play a role in customer retention
• How to delight customers and turn them into promoters

The Value Of Current Customers

The inbound marketing process attracts new customers, converts them into leads, closes the sale, and then delights.  And yet only 29% of businesses are focused on maximizing the lifetime value (aka delighting) of their customers. All stats prove the value of current customers far exceeds the value of new customers.

• The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70% compared to 5-20% for a prospect.
• A customer is 27% more likely to purchase from you a second time, 45% a third time, and 54% a third time.
• 80% of your future profits will come from 20% of your current customers.

Customers have endless choices. There is no longer one outdoor gear company. There are hundreds. And if a customer has a bad experience with your brand, they can pick a new one to buy all of their summer camping gear. Separate yourself by being one of the few companies who focus on keeping your current clients more than just satisfied. Focus on wowing them at every touch.

Customer Retention Factors

Customers have so many options to choose from when it comes to the latest outdoor gear or outdoor services. Several things factor into why a customer chooses one company over the other:

• Price: Many companies say they don’t want price-conscious customers and instead, value-based customers. Keep reading because delighting customers adds value to your product or service. But no matter how valuable your product or service is, the price is top-of-mind for customers.
• User experience: If customers can’t easily book a room online at your rustic cabin in the woods, you might lose them as a lead. If your online store for fly fishing rods takes forever to load, your prospect will look elsewhere. Creating new online experiences for returning customers will maintain or increase your customer retention rate.
• Communication: When communication is clear, transparent, and two-way, customers are more apt to come back. Communication is more than when you’re talking to a client on the phone. It’s being honest and factual in blogs. Clear directions in an email. And fast replies to Facebook messages.

Price, user experience, and communication will most certainly help you retain customers. But now it’s time to turn those customers into promoters.

Customer Retention

Everyone wants reasonably priced goods and services. They want their online shopping experience to be easy. And honest, transparent communication will keep them coming back. But when you delight your customers, you exceed their expectations and turn them into a promoter.

Delighting customers means:

• You answer their questions. You can do this with a blog post, responding to fans on social media, or replying to an email in a timely fashion.
• You help them out. Go beyond answering customers questions and provide additional resources or recommend additional services.
• Customers achieve their goals. Your product or service should help customers achieve their goals. You can find out your customer’s goals through surveys and creating buyer personas. But if your customer’s goal is to catch more fish, your fly rod or fishing guide better help them achieve that.
• You’re excited to help them. Customers take note when your team is enthusiastic and excited to help them. Even if it’s just showing a customer where the bathroom is. Customers want warm and personable interactions with your company.

It’s easy to turn customers into promoters when you focus on delighting them. A promoter is the millennial’s version of word-of-mouth marketing. Promoters of your brand write reviews, engage with your company, defend your company, and tell friends and family about how great you are. You can turn customers into promoters by:

• Giving them something. We all love free stuff so give them free stuff! It doesn’t have to be huge either. Send them an exclusive hat only available to customers who have purchased a certain amount. You can also give them a discount for being such a loyal customer.
• Get their feedback. If a customer keeps coming back to buy your company’s goods or services, there’s a reason. So get their feedback! Loyal customers want to be heard and if you recognize them by inviting them to a focus group they’ll feel extra special.
• Providing even better service. Southwest Airlines is known for their exceptional customer service. But loyal customers get even better service. A-List Preferred customers not only earn more points but they have a special number to call for quicker service.
• Inviting them to a special event. Invite your loyal customers to the grand opening party of your second rock climbing gym. Take your top clients to a sports game and wine and dine them in a suite.

Put Your Current Customers First

Delighting customers is the last part of the inbound methodology and one many marketers forget. Putting your current customers first turns them into second, third, and fourth-time buyers. Bonus: they also become brand promoters!

If you’d like to learn how Sage Lion Media can help you get started with an effective inbound marketing strategy, contact us today.

IFTD is coming up quick and if you’re like me, you’re looking for leads. Of course, I’m excited to check out the shiny, new gear and have late-night “meetings” with old and new friends. But if I came back to the office with a tan, hangover, and no leads, my team of marketing gurus would not be thrilled.

There are several things you can do before, during, and after the show to maximize ROI but the most important thing is to have a CRM. Now before you roll your eyes and say, “Not another ad for some expensive CRM system that my sales team and I will hate,” what if I told you it was free? And it’s easy? Automated? Easily organizable?

Are you still rolling your eyes? I’m sure some of you are and if so, I get it. Luckily this is a short read so you won’t get dizzy with your eyes rolling around. So let’s get to the point.

Hubspot CRM

Hubspot CRM is 100% free and will stay that way forever. There are some really amazing CRM systems out there and I’ll admit that Hubspot isn’t the best one on the market. But a lot of those CRM systems cost a gazillion dollars and have way more features than any small to mid-size company needs. And if you’ve ever been in sales and were forced to input a ridiculous amount of information into a CRM after one call, email, or visit than I’m sure you understand that CRM systems can go overboard.

So why not take advantage of a completely free CRM system that you and your sales team might actually like? And if you try it at IFTD and hate it, you didn’t spend a dime. Okay, moving on for those still rolling their eyes.

Email Notification

If you’re reading this then you most likely received an email from me and clicked-through to this blog post. Not to creep you out but I know exactly how you got to this blog post. Yes, I’m talking to you, Tom. How? With Hubspot’s email notification.

With Hubspot’s free CRM you can track exactly who is opening your emails, what they’re reading, and what they’re clicking on. From there, you can spend more time reaching out to prospects that are actively engaged in your product or service. And sure, other CRMs do the same thing but do they also give you real-time notifications directly to your email or even Gmail account? And is it free?

Build Custom Sequences

There is too much happening at IFTD for me to waste time sending emails during the show. And after the show, you and I will probably be getting a beer together. Again, talking to you, Tom. So quit wasting time in the hotel room sending emails and set-up automated and personalized emails to your prospects. You can easily spend one hour setting up a series of emails and schedule them to go out before, during, and after the show to a select group or individuals.

Meeting Calendar Scheduler

I remember the days when I sent at least 5 emails to one person just to pin down an hour of time to meet. No more! With Hubspot you can send a shareable link to prospects that syncs with your calendar and lets leads pick a time right away.

Interactions In One Place

It’s easy to see how your prospect is engaging with your service or product with Hubspot’s CRM. Find out if they opened your email or clicked on any links. And if they did, you can create a task to send a follow-up email or give them a call.

Convinced yet?

Yes, I’m partial to Hubspot because they make managing marketing initiatives for our clients and Sage Lion Media simple. But their CRM offers everything our agency needs for managing contacts, automating processes, logging activity, and providing robust data. We’d love to help you get it set up, there is still time before IFTD this year.

Book a 10-minute chat with me and we can help you implement the CRM heading into IFTD.

We juggle a lot as an inbound marketing agency. Each client has a different product or service which requires a different strategy to achieve their goals. While some agencies struggle working with a variety of clients, we thrive! I’m not saying we don’t want to pull our hair out sometimes but we love the challenge!

Technology has made staying on top of client tasks and goals much simpler. You hear us rave about Hubspot all the time and I’m not going to say they’re my number one choice in managing marketing goals, tasks, and automation but…(they’re definitely #1).

Another tool we started using this year is Databox and they quickly moved into our top 5.

What Is Databox?

Databox keeps “your KPIs front and center” by pulling data and analytics from different sources like Google Analytics, Hubspot, and Facebook. From there, you can create Databoards that track different goals.

Track Google AdWords

Track Facebook Ad Campaigns

Databoards are simple to manage and can easily be shared with my team as well as clients. Everyone is able to log-in to Databox and see how sales, marketing, and the overall business performed on a daily basis. From there, we can manipulate our strategy to make sure we crush our monthly, quarterly, and annual goals.

Crushing Goals

We are constantly finding new ways to improve with Databox and last month we crushed it! Our clients have lofty goals heading into the summer and one client in particular set a goal to increase online sales in April by 180% from last year.

Spoiler! We hit our goal by 134%! Almost double the sales from last year.

But how?!

We are lucky to have a Google Adwords whizz on our team and for this particular client, we wanted to attract more people to the site with ads from Google. We created a Databoard that tracked our Google Ads and keywords and kept an eye on it daily. We’d see which ads and keywords were performing the best and the worst. We’d remove ads that were getting zero clicks and put more money toward ads performing well.

Not only were we tracking ads and keywords but the performance of landing pages, emails, and overall conversion rates.

This plethora of data helped us easily stay in control of our Google Adwords campaign and maximize our client’s ROI. Needless to say, when we called our client for their monthly review they were ecstatic.

Give Me More Data!

We like tooting our own horn with all the positive data Databox provides but it isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes when we log-in we notice traffic to the website is down, conversion rate is dropping, or blog views are low.

And instead of running to my closet to cry for 20 minutes like my youngest daughter likes to do, we dig through the data a little more to find out why. Why are views, traffic, and clicks down? The “Goals” section allows us to quickly check in on our client goals and adjust our efforts accordingly.

Are You Convinced?

If you are a data junkie like we are then Databox is your new BFF! If you want more information on Databox, head on over to their site or contact us below to schedule a free consultation.

Are you that person that rolls your eyes when you see a friend calling you instead of texting?

Yea, me too. But when it comes to business, phone calls are important. Especially when your product or service can’t be sold through e-commerce. One of our clients manufactures and distributes heavy machinery. Their product is not something you can “add to cart” after you’ve perused the site.

With inbound marketing techniques, we increased new user traffic to their website by 131%!

Our client noticed an uptick in phone calls to the company but there was no way to track if those calls came from our superhero inbound marketing efforts (even though we knew they did). Insert: call tracking. Tracking phone calls to your sales department can help guide your digital marketing efforts.

Today we’re going to go over what call tracking is, why digital marketers should be tracking calls, and our favorite call tracking service.

What Is Call Tracking?

Call tracking is exactly how it sounds. Digital marketers can use unique phone numbers on digital ads, CTAs, etc. to see where the calls came from. Depending on the call tracking service, outdoor marketers can also record the phone call, see the length of the conversation, track if it converted to a sale, and several other metrics.

Why Digital Marketers Should Track Calls

Outdoor companies that close sales over the phone or provide a service should track their calls. And if I’m being 100% honest, I think every company with a phone should track their calls. The insight companies receive through call tracking can help maximize their ROI on marketing campaigns or help them understand their customer base more.

Real-Time Analytics

Call tracking allows you to have unique phone numbers on each digital ad or CTA your company has created. Every time the number is called, you can see exactly what advertisement led to a phone call. Based on the phone calls, you can see what ads are working and which ads you need to stop wasting money on. You can also adjust the tone, play with wording, and see if the ad performs better. Marketers can even track the customer’s journey on your website depending on the service you choose (we use CallRail).

Quality Assurance

If one salesperson is outselling another, wouldn’t it be wise to understand why? Call tracking services allow you to record inbound calls so you can help train your sales team. Salespeople can learn from each other how to close sales and delight customers.

Integrate With CRM Systems

Salespeople can save time tracking phone conversations when a call tracking service integrates with your CRM. Certain call trackers (like CallRail) will automatically send calls as leads and activities to our CRM of choice Hubspot. Marketing and Sales can see where and when the lead found your outdoor business on their dashboard.

How Do I Start?

There are several call tracking companies that provide a laundry list of benefits. If you didn’t notice, the service that got us hooked to tracking calls is, CallRail. After speaking to different companies, we found CallRail offers the best features for our outdoor clients at a fair price. The reports we provide each month help us make better marketing decisions moving forward. It also helps us become more transparent with our clients as we can show them when a digital ad flopped and what we’re doing to fix it.

Call tracking services provide a plethora of information that outdoor digital marketers can get lost in. While you don’t need Sage Lion Media to get a CallRail account, we could help you save time and money if you do. CallRail is a service anyone can sign up for but when you work with us, we take care of creating an effective inbound marketing campaign.

We take the time to make sense of the data and provide you the most meaningful information. We manipulate the tone, images, and content of advertisements and CTAs so your sales team gets the most qualified leads. We integrate your CRM, Google Analytics, and website with CallRail.

If you have the bandwidth to take full advantage of a call tracking service then we recommend CallRail. But if you’re not sure and want more information on how Sage Lion Media can convert, close, and delight customers through CallRail contact us today.

Have you noticed fewer ads the last few days?

The day of ad reckoning is upon us. Last June Google warned us they would start blocking annoying ads natively within their Chrome browser. Well, that day has come and gone, and the web seems like a nicer place right?

I want to shed a little light on what’s going on and how it might impact your outdoor marketing efforts. Especially if you rely on pop-ups to drive conversions.

It won’t block all ads, just the ones we all hate.

Google is trying to curb a rising problem, too many people are installing adblockers on their web browsers. In 2017 they joined the Coalition for Better Ads, they created standards for how marketers should improve ads for consumers. The ads shown below have identified as experiences that are banned from the standards.

Chances are you’re probably using some of these types of ads right now.

The two that we are concerned with are Pop-Up Ads and Large Sticky Ads.

Large Sticky Ads

Large Sticky Ads stick to the bottom edge of a page, regardless of a user’s efforts to scroll. As the user browses the page, this static, immobile sticky ad takes up more than 30% of the screen’s real estate.

A Large Sticky Ad has an impeding effect by continuing to obstruct a portion of the page view regardless of where the user moves on the page.

We don’t use these as much and never over 30% of the screen, but it’s worth noting. I have seen plenty of outdoor websites that add signups and specials in these lower areas. Blogs are notoriously bad for using this kind of ad.

If you use some of these types of ads don’t panic.

Google is probably out scanning the web looking for ads as we speak. To know if your site has been flagged you’ll need to check your Ad Experience Report in Google Search console. But it’s not actually in your search console yet. You need to hit this link to see your report.

First of all, you have time to adjust should you be flagged. You have 30 days to address any issues on your site. If you don’t, Google Chrome will automatically block the ads on your site. Visitors will see a warning that you are a bad advertiser and ads are being blocked.

Our strategy moving forward

As I mentioned we’ve been using a few of these ads on some of our client websites, because frankly, they work. Especially when you have a compelling offer. First of all, we’re not panicking but we are watching.

On any site we run pop-ups we are waiting for Google to crawl the site and update the report. Once we are flagged we will respond accordingly. There is still some gray area out there about what’s technically a pop-up and what’s not. So we’ll wait for Google to tell us if we’re in violation. So far we haven’t been flagged anywhere.

If we’re flagged we will rely on user triggers to display our ads. We use Opt-in Monster and HubSpot Lead flows to serve our pop-ups. Both have triggers we can use to only show ads that meet the requirements stated in the Coalition for Better Ads. These triggers include things like:

• Exit Intent (someone trying to leave the site).
• Ads that show up after certain interactions.
• Not requiring users to wait a certain number of seconds before content is shown.
• Showing different ads to mobile or desktop users.

We also want to continue to create unique and innovative ways to be seen by our client’s customer base that fall within Google Chrome’s ad standards.

If you’d like to learn how Sage Lion Media can help you get started with an effective inbound marketing strategy, contact us today.

It’s a new year which means new marketing trends to help grow your business. While some trends in 2017 are still relevant like blogging and social media, we did some research to see what new marketing tactics will help your company thrive in 2018.

Trade shows can have a huge impact on any size business. Over 80% of attendees have some sort of buying power so if planned correctly, companies can network with potential customers and even close deals on the spot. This is a chance for salespeople to take a break from the cold calling and emails and make a lasting impression in person.

Since trade shows can be costly, it’s important your business has planned well in advance with goal setting, booth design, premarketing, etc. To maximize your ROI, take a look at these last minute checks to ensure a successful show!

1. Charge Everything

Laptops, phones, iPads, tablets, anything that needs to be charged, charge it. The last thing you want is to be showing a demo on your computer and it dies. Or capturing a lead on your iPad and “low battery” pops up and there’s still five hours left in the show. Since 24-hour battery life on most electronics isn’t a thing, it’d be wise to pack extra batteries and power cords as well. And if you’re not located next to an outlet or you’re not sure, bring extension cords.

2. Have A Backup Plan

Having a backup plan for everything that could go wrong will give you peace of mind and will also continue to maximize your ROI at the show. Here are a couple scenarios that can happen to anyone and how to plan ahead:

• The booth was shipped well in advance but with holidays, extreme weather, or just incompetence, there’s no guarantee everything will arrive on time. Pack a company branded tablecloth and marketing materials in your suitcase just in case you arrive at an empty table.
• The marketing team put together an amazing slideshow for a meeting you planned with some prospects but the trade show doesn’t have the proper cords to hook it up. Pack extra cords and also print out copies of the slideshow on some nice paper in case there are tech issues.

Even if you plan for the trade show a year in advance, things happen. So always plan for the worst and just pack extra of everything.

3. Update Your Credit Card App

A lot of trade shows give exhibitors the ability to sell their merchandise to attendees. Whether it’s a B2B or B2C show, make sure you have the software to close the sale on the spot. There are several credit card apps you can download on a phone or tablet but you’ll want to check that it’s up to date. If it’s been a while since you’ve used the app, double-check it’s the most updated version. You don’t want a bunch of frustrated first-time customers who waited in line to buy a thermos, rod, or energy drink because the app needed a new update.

4. Pack Snacks & Water

Rule number 1 in trade show etiquette is to always have someone at the booth. Most companies send at least two representatives to manage the booth but if you’re a small company, your partner planned a lunch meeting, or someone is sick, you might get stuck at the booth by yourself.  Instead of leaving your booth for an hour to grab something to eat, pack some granola bars, a sandwich, or some nuts to munch on. Bring a water bottle as well because networking will leave anyone parched. And lastly, pack mints. No one wants to smell onion breath. No one.

5. Double-Check Your Lead Capture

The cost to convert a lead from a trade show is 38% less than a sales call so it’s vital to have some sort of lead capture. Collecting business cards is always a nice backup plan but fewer people carry them around these days. It also can be tedious manually inputting them into your CRM. Talk with your marketing team in advance about setting up a form on your website people can fill at your booth that automatically puts them in your CRM. Apps like Leadature, is another solution for capturing potential customers at the show. No matter what method you use to capture leads, double-check the day before and on the day of the show. If something goes wrong, see step 2.

6. Email Current Customers

The main goal of a trade show is to get new customers but this is also an opportunity to strengthen current relationships. A few days ahead of the show, email your current customer base and let them know you’ll be at the trade show. Delighting your existing customers with free passes, drink tickets, or some cool marketing swag can help with retention and future sales.

7. Post On Social

Not only do you want current customers to know you’re at a trade show but fans on your social media want to as well. Within your fan base are tons of potential customers who might be attending the same show. Leading up to the event let them know your booth number with a tweet or Facebook post. You can even post your schedule on Facebook and ask fans to message you to set-up more meetings. While at the show, post a Facebook Live video of you giving a demo of a new product.

Trade shows are the perfect opportunity to have face-to-face interactions with future and current customers. It’s important to take full advantage of this opportunity and using these last-minute checks will help you leave a lasting impression. If your trade show is in the Denver area, check out our post on making the most of your trip!

Good luck out there, exhibitors!

In the past, most outdoor wilderness programs focused their marketing efforts on traditional outbound strategies, including trade shows, telemarketing, print ads, and radio or television ads. But with the availability of technology, the focus has quickly shifted to inbound marketing strategies such as blogging, podcasts, webinars, search engine optimization, infographics, YouTube videos, and eBooks. The focus of inbound marketing is being discovered by customers, rather than going out to find them.

Inbound marketing helps draw prospects to your wilderness site, and gradually converting them into customers. Here are a few ways you can use inbound marketing for success.

1. Create Brand Awareness For Your Outdoor Wilderness Program

Outdoor wilderness sites can dramatically improve their brand awareness especially around the different programs you offer. You can tell success stories and highlight unique aspects of your trips that sets you apart from your competition. Potential clients are spending a lot of time researching options and comparing data points. Use videos, social media, and blog posts to start attracting those clients to your website.

Once you turn the money off for a pay per click campaign those leads stop filtering in.

2. Get More Leads With Less Money

Just like outbound marketing methods, inbound marketing requires some upfront investment. However, as your marketing resources grow, leads are pulled to the site over time compounding your growth. Unlike a paid-for-click (PPC) campaign where the leads go away once the money stops flowing, an inbound marketing plan will continue to organically attract users to the site over time.

3. Establish Credibility

Before people sign up to go on one of your trips, they want to be sure they are reserving a spot with a credible outfit. Inbound marketing offers outdoor wilderness programs a great opportunity to establish credibility with their customers.

For instance, if you are booking a month-long trip, you could create a series of blogs or videos that offer an overview of experiences that happen on a typical trip. In the process, you could answer common questions asked by families and prospects in the research phase. The more prospects see you as an authority in your industry, the higher your chance are of obtaining that business.

4. Target Qualified Customers

Inbound marketing is all about pulling in already interested customers. Unlike outbound marketing, you’re not throwing money at advertising that  is marketed to everyone. Instead, you are using specific keywords, blogs, and social media posts to attract the perfect customer. When you create content that your customers are searching for, it makes it easier for them to find you. They’ll sign up for your newsletters since you’ve established yourself as a thought leader. You’ll also save money since these leads are more qualified than leads coming from TV ads or other traditional marketing strategies.

5. Enhance Organic Search

Getting people to your website organically is all about SEO. And how do you increase your SEO? Blogs, keywords, social media, videos. When people are searching for wilderness therapy companies, they might start by Googling, “What is Wilderness Therapy?” “How can Wilderness Therapy Help My Teenager?” When you create blogs addressing these questions, you’re able to get these prospects on your website…organically.

Inbound marketing is a new way to approach prospects. While leaving the comfort of traditional marketing is scary, inbound marketing will help you gain more qualified leads, nurture those leads at the right time, increase brand awareness, and so much more. Are you ready to dip your toes into inbound marketing? Check out our blog on how inbound marketing can help you attract the right clients.

Quit handing out 10 cent trinkets at your trade show booth and start having meaningful conversations with future referrers. And please save your money on purchased email lists and grow your list organically.

These are just a few of the differences between traditional marketing and inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is a proven way to help grow your wilderness therapy business and attract the right clients. By attracting ideal clients through relevant content creation, opening the door for meaningful conversations, converting leads, and leaving a lasting impression on every customer, you can grow your wilderness therapy business.

Let’s take a look at how you can attract the perfect clients for your outdoor therapy business with inbound marketing.

Traditional Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing

Traditional or outbound marketing is the old school way of finding clients. It usually consists of plastering your message on every medium and hoping your customers will find you. Outbound marketing tactics tend to be interruptive to potential clients leaving a bad taste in their mouth.

Today the customer has all the power. They can research you and 50 of your competitors over a cup of coffee.

According to Hubspot, “Inbound marketing is focused on attracting customers through relevant and helpful content….and does not need to fight for potential customers attention” like outbound marketing. Wilderness therapy companies can use inbound marketing to attract qualified prospects with valuable content on blogs and social media.

Inbound Marketing isn’t some sleazy, sales trick where the customer leaves wondering why they even bought your product.  It’s attracting the right customers who are already interested in what you’re selling but might need help understanding your product.

Let’s take a look at the 4 steps to start attracting not only more but the right outdoor therapy clients to your business with inbound marketing…and it all starts with your website.

Attract strangers to your website

Websites are essential for wilderness therapy businesses to have. It is a way for potential customers to contact you with questions, see your services, and learn more about the company. It’s also an opportunity for you to pull in already interested clients to your website. Valuable content creation and a strong social media presence are two ways inbound marketers can attract ideal clients to their websites. Let’s take a look at blogs and social media.

Blogs

While it seems like everyone and their dog has a blog these days, the amount of companies that post blogs regularly and write content that their future customers want to read is quite small. It’s a missed opportunity for several outdoor therapy businesses but a chance for you to take advantage of! In 2013, Hubspot found that 92% of companies who blogged regularly acquired a customer through their blog.

Making blog posts a weekly or monthly habit is important but also making that content interesting to your future customers is the difference in attracting ideal customers. Remember how I said earlier that inbound marketing is attracting people already interested in outdoor therapy? It’s a lot easier converting those website visitors into customers when the content you write are topics they’re already searching for. Blogs shouldn’t be just about self-promotion. Wilderness therapy companies can write posts about:

• Five Mental Health Benefits Of Being Outside
• Four Tips For Dealing With Difficult Teenagers
• How Does Social Media Impact My Teen?

These are just a few things your potential customers might be searching about. By being found in topics your audience cares about you become a trusted source of information and potential customers begin to value your services.

Social Media

Just like a website, social media can positively impact your business if done correctly. And just like blogging, posting valuable content regularly can attract the ideal wilderness therapy clients. The blogs you start creating are perfect to include on your social media calendar. Here are some other ideas to include that will attract people to your social media and get them to your website:

• Put a human face on your brand. Social media is a chance for you to leave the sales pitch at the door and start acting like a real person. Post videos of your staff having fun. Have a Q&A with your CEO or therapists. Share images of the outdoors.

• Connect. Ask open-ended questions and get your audience to engage with you. When they do start interacting with your brand, respond! Don’t leave them hanging. Have a two-way conversation with your fans.

Convert Website Visitors Into Leads

Now that your website activity is going up, it’s time to turn those visitors into leads. To do so, you need to create a method that captures your visitor’s information. Call-to-actions (CTAs) on blog posts and landing pages is a simple way for you to guide visitors on your website. You can encourage them to sign up for your newsletters, download success stories, or sign up for a webinar. Whatever it is, you want to be able to get to know your website visitors so you can start addressing their needs and building trust and credibility.

Closing Time

You’re pumping out content and tracking website visitors….now it’s time to close. This is the hard part and possibly most time-consuming. It can take up to 13 interactions with your lead before he or she pulls the trigger so it’s important to stay hopeful and be patient. Managing those “touches” with your lead through a CRM system can help you stay on top of it. Hubspot found that CRM tools can increase revenue by 41% per salesperson.

Email marketing continues to be the most effective marketing channel to close leads.  In your emails you want your content to be less sales focused and more about solving their needs. Include FAQs and admission steps, as well as why your outdoor therapy company is the best for their needs.

Delight

While “delight” is the last step in the inbound marketing strategy, it really should be included in each step. Making sure that your potential and current clients feel heard and happy throughout the whole experience is what gets you more referrals. Whether it’s responding to a question on Facebook in a timely manner or resolving ax payment issue, it’s important to provide excellent customer service at every turn. Help improve your customer experience with survey and feedback tools. Nobody is perfect so make sure you’re learning your weaknesses and growing.

Are You Sold On Inbound Marketing?

Have you heard the quote, “I’d rather have four quarters than a hundred pennies?” The quote is about friendship but I think it applies to inbound marketing as well. Would you rather have 100 people calling you that don’t fit your ideal customer? Or four people who will truly benefit from wilderness therapy and can refer similar clientele?

Inbound marketing is a shift from traditional marketing but when done correctly, clients will start calling you instead of the other way around.

If you’d like to learn how Sage Lion Media can help you get started with an effective inbound marketing strategy, contact us today.

I started Sage Lion Media because I was passionate about the outdoors and pretty good at design. Having to sell my services was nowhere in the picture. I thought my work and a small link back to my website from the footer of our projects was all I needed to climb the ladder of success. That was enough, for awhile but the business slowly plateaued, I just couldn’t grow without making changes.

Luckily 2017 was a year of changes here at Sage Lion. We stopped being a design agency and transformed into a GROWTH Agency. Our number one mission is to help our clients grow. I owe a huge amount of this transformation to my Hubspot Coaches Katie Carlin and Dan Tyre. I was recently nominated by Katie and chosen to participate in Dan’s Pipeline Generation Bootcamp. Dan is a Director at Hubspot and was charged with helping me learn how to pick up the phone and call prospects. Good luck.

But over the course of eight weeks with 8 other “lions”, individual homework assignments, intense roleplaying, and one on one coaching I slowly came to realize the phone can be a powerful tool for developing leads and mastering the inbound sales process.

Here are my takeaways.

What motivates you?

I can show you the most amazing technique for improving your sales process but if you aren’t motivated to do them, every single day, you’ll quickly find excuses not to do them anymore. I’m too busy, let me just check this one thing, then I’ll call. Being able to re-center yourself around what’s truly motivating you will keep you grinding through the bad days. I’ve got a picture of my motivations pasted right next to my computer. It really helps.

Having a little fun can set you apart from the junk that ends up in your prospect’s inbox.

It’s ok to have fun

This one is pretty easy for me. I’m naturally a likable kind of guy and I enjoy chatting with people most of the time. The problem is your targets don’t want to talk to you. So how do you get around that? Try to have some fun. Send quirky email subjects.

One of my recent favorites to a saltwater guide: I spooked you like a trout angler casting to a permit.

Include .gif’s in your emails.

Subject: Hello from the outside…

Having fun makes you memorable and the best part is they actually work…

You can’t assume every person is going to hang up on you.

Be there to help – seriously

Don’t go into a sales call trying to sell. You’ll probably get slaughtered. I go into every call looking to help my prospects. Before I call I’ve spent around 20 mins looking at their site and trying to find opportunities to make the site work harder. The other side of the coin is the people you are calling may actually need help and they know it. You can’t assume every person is going to hang up on you. Every time I pick up the phone I remember to breathe, I glance at my motivation board and tell myself they need your help.

You need to practice

If you’re like me and you’ve never done sales calls you need to start role-playing. It’s weird at first, but it goes a long way to give you confidence in your own skills. If you have a buddy who is in sales practice with him. He’s probably heard it all. How will you answer questions like:

• How can I help you?
• Why are you calling?
• Who are you?
• We don’t need any.

Try this one the next time an unsuspecting prospect picks up the phone. “Ugh, looks like you weren’t expecting my call.” You have to really sell the ugh, you might even get a few to laugh.

Personalized Efficiency Helps

The Hubspot Sales tools go a long ways in helping you identify and connect with potential customers, quickly and easily. I’ve built out a series of prospecting sequences I send out to all my targets. But you need to take the time to personalize each email to the needs of your prospect. If you don’t, you’re no better than a spammer. Remember you are always helping.

You owe it to your employees

This goes back to my first point finding your motivations. As a small business owner I need to be driving the sales of the company. I’ve made too many excuses in the past which was cheating our team. Knowing that the team is relying on me motivates me to get off my ass and start calling.

What will motivate you?