Better Marketing in Less Time

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The integration of CRM and marketing automation tools has lead to increased sharing and visibility of marketing & sales information within those departments and the wider organisation. AI is now more than ever doing the heavy lifting to deliver sophisticated, data-driven insights to help organisations win and retain more customers.

 

CRM and marketing automation tools such as Salesforce, Hubspot and Prospect.io make it easy to use AI-based features where you need them and integrate them into your business over time.

 

AI FOR ALL BUSINESSES

Instead of hiring more data scientists and marketers, small and medium-sized businesses can use third-party tools with easy-to-use interfaces and efficient machine learning functions to connect their data and workflow to get a smarter picture of their customers.

 

THE POWER OF HUBSPOT

Marketing automation software automates marketing actions or tasks, streamlines marketing workflow and measures the results of marketing campaigns.

Hubspot is the world’s top inbound marketing platform, which integrates blogs, social media monitoring and publishing, contacts, SEO, email marketing, marketing automation and analytics in one user-friendly and powerful platform.

 

Hubspot’s 18, 000 customers worldwide use software and services to transform their outbound marketing ( cold calls, email spam, trade shows, TV ads, etc. ) into incoming lead generation, allowing them to leverage remarkable content and integrated experience to deliver leads and better sales  results – not to mention their great online training which helps you grow in your understanding of how best to target customers.

 

TALK TO YOUR IT DEPARTMENT

Humans and AI applications form a very complementary team when it comes to social media marketing.

For social media AI applications to really flourish they must interface with the business analytics and business intelligence applications used in their IT department.

 

If used strategically, the use of AI in a company’s social media and business intelligence efforts can go a long way toward putting (or keeping) the customer at the centre of their organisation.

 

POWER IN THE DATA

AI in marketing will undoubtedly continue its rapid expansion. Companies that track and store their historical and real-time sales and marketing data will be the first to benefit.

But as with other technological advances in marketing ( such as CRM or modern marketing automation software ), the market will naturally reduce the cost of integration and learning curves, and small and medium-sized businesses will be able to access AI’s capabilities almost as well as their larger competitors.

DON’T BUY EMAIL LISTS

With tools like Prospect.io you don’t need to buy email lists anymore. You simply need the name and company of the person you are trying to reach and Prospect.io can find the email for you. Using publicly accessible data and clever AI algorithms Prospect can match a name to an email to 100% accuracy and then you can send drip email campaigns to those customer to uncover the business opportunities. Always remember to provide the prospect with an optout message and respect the boundaries and then use Prospect.io as your very own target audience detective tool.

 

ECOMMERCE & AI

Advertisers and e-commerce companies have the most to gain from machine learning because of the ease of measurement and quick feedback needed to train and improve machine learning algorithms. Drip is the world’s first ECRM Ecommerce CRM designed to build personal and profitable relationships with customers on a scale. Ecommerce marketers all over the world are beginning to see their customers in full color with Drip features such as comprehensive tracking, hyper-segmentation and robust email marketing automation.

 

SMALL BUSINESS & AI

 

In order to achieve digital marketing success, thousands of small businesses use AI via Facebook and Google’s advertising platforms. With more options than ever before, small businesses are building powerful AI strategies without having to hire data scientists or expensive marketers.

 

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

If you are new to using artificial intelligence and automation in your sales and marketing approach then start with the basics:

  1. Start with the data – use what you know about your current customers to drive information gathering for your ideal customer. Store it in a place where it can be shared across different tools.
  2. Find a new tool – you know already what gets your customers attention and brings them to you. Find a tool that makes that process easier, faster and/or fills the gaps that you really wish you could do now.
  3. Use the data and the new tool together – trial a new marketing campaign with improved data and tools
  4. Go back to step 1 and repeat!

If you still have questions please give us a call to find out how we can support your newer, smarter approach to marketing your business.

Call Today 1300 796 771

Snapchat filters: The future of business advertising?

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How do businesses attract new customers and continue to engage with their existing audience when traditional mediums like print and live TV are in decline? The simple answer is to move online but that approach won’t cut it in a world where people need to be targeted specifically.

TV still has a place but it’s not like the 60s when the whole country would be watching the same show – shotgun marketing isn’t going to get you the returns you need.

The future of marketing is in the platforms that prospective clients use like Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat.

The Basics

Snapchat is a social media app that allows user to send messages, videos and pictures to their contacts but the catch is that media is only available for 24 hours. Now, Snapchat has added custom filters that allow you to add frames or even replace your face with a custom graphic.

The custom filters Snapchat has added to their app has given endless marketing possibilities to businesses. The majority of Snapchat users are millennials and post-millennials and with a market of over 100 million users worldwide (over 3 million here in Australia) you have an insanely large audience to target. If you’re after a conversation with millennials, then this is where you will find them.

Snapchat’s inherent functions allow you to connect with your customers in the following ways:

  • Sharing your story or brand through images or videos
  • Personalise filters that tap into the authentic marketing movement
  • Analytics built into the app that track views and content so you know what works

On top of this, you get a free platform that is nearly completely organic in terms of content. If you’re not using Snapchat or any social media for your marketing strategy, you’re missing out on a major opportunity to increase the ROI for your advertising budget.

How It Works

So how do you get in on this game changing form of marketing? To get started you should understand some of the basic requirements. For example, in order to create a custom filter you have to have a location where it will be applied and a design. You also have to determine the length of time the custom filter will be available.

It is crucial that you plan your targeting for custom filters. You’ll want to understand how the filter will be used and who will be adding them to their “stories”. Essentially, who will see your custom filter? Design is important, your filter needs to be memorable and humorous – Taco Bell’s filter made users’ heads turn into tacos for example.

Make the Most of Your Location

A defined location is a requirement of a custom filter and a successful custom filter campaign will largely be determined by the location you choose.

Custom filters can only be used by people within a certain, designated area. Everyone can see it and read it – so you can be sure your message has the ability to travel far and wide – but in order to use it, your audience has to be in your defined area.

Create a persona of who will use your filter and choose a venue that suits their interests or they are likely to visit – such as a local art or music festival. Your audience doesn’t want to be “sold” to so try to avoid restricting the location to your store as they won’t feel like you’re trying to create something fun they can share with their friends.

Unlimited Marketing Potential

Using Snapchat and custom filters to market your brand is an engaging and personal way to connect with your customers. You’re also using a relatively new and trendy form of marketing which also clicks with your target demographic – millennials and post-millennials.

This brand of marketing accepted and even expected by this audience. The results of early adopters explain why so many are jumping onboard. However, it’s still early doors for this type of marketing so now is a good time to get ahead of the curve and ride the wave. Snapchat custom filters are the next big thing worth getting in on the ground for.

Moving from television to social media marketing and other digital platforms makes sense, especially if you have a limited budget and want to maximise the ROI of you commercial resources. Contact us today to discuss how we can help leverage free to use social media features to engage your customers.

 

 

 

Your Google marketing plans, what now, what next?

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Once upon a time a big advertisement in the phone book was the new business investment that kept giving all year. Everyone used the phone book, at home, school, work and 20 years ago it was a good as being on the front page of Google.

Then 10 years ago this search tool called Google meant that you could ask any question, from any computer and get a list of results that were ranked by how relevant they were to what you had searched for. The opportunity to solve life problems with a few clicks, and get business the same way was an insanely powerful idea.

Implementing successful SEO strategies for customers even just 5 years ago required skill and strategy but most importantly it was financially viable for companies of all shapes, sizes and industries. Results were relatively immediate in comparison to today.

Then a few things changed in the SEO landscape in the last few years:

  • The sheer number of companies competing for the front page increase significantly
  • Google invested heavily in changing their search algorithms according to the  mechanics of how a website works, not just the content in the site
  • Everyone started using their mobiles for search, not just their desktops or laptops

 

The net result is that it takes more hours, more site tweaks and a larger investment than in past. It is still a great long term marketing strategy but in place of SEO as a single marketing strategy has come the targeted marketing on in places that make the most sense for your business.

If you need final confirmation on why you should be on social media, its because its where you can cost-effectively reach your customers. We don’t advocate a scatter gun approach, we think you should get on the platform that gives you the best opportunity to reach your target market.

Facebook – over a billion users, it is a fantastic place to reach the end consumer where they are, at the times that they will be thinking about buying your products

LinkedIn – More than 250 million business professionals, this is where you connect to the people you already know, so that you can connect to the people they know. There is no better place to get an introduction to a company by networking with one of their employees.

You Tube – The power of this personal video streaming platform should not be underestimated. We all use it and we are happy to view an ad for the sake of it being free so why not consider this opportunity to pull in customers.

These platforms don’t just allow you to create your own targeted ads, they allow you to sponsor content you have put together so the sales approach can be softer where it needs to be.

As a final summary point, Google SEO and PPC (paid advertising) are still incredibly powerful marketing strategies. But investing in advertising on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and others allows you to cost-effectively apply your marketing strategy and get quick answers on what works best and then refine and repeat.