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Effective Tactics for Behavioral Health Clinics to Enhance Click-Through Rates

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Adrienne Wilkerson

 

In today’s digital world, the success of behavioral health clinics often depends on their ability to connect with potential clients online. A strong online presence can help build trust and drive traffic to your website, leading to higher clickthrough rates. But how can you ensure your clinic stands out in the crowded digital space? In this post, we’ll explore several strategies that can help behavioral health clinics improve their online engagement and attract a wider audience.

There are many ways to make your online presence more appealing and accessible. You can do this by making meta descriptions that convince people, using social media in a way that makes sense, targeting specific keywords, improving website performance, and personalizing calls to action. By implementing these strategies, you can create a more compelling and user-friendly experience, ultimately boosting your clickthrough rates and reaching those who need your services the most.

Optimize your meta descriptions

Meta descriptions are the short summaries that appear under the title of your webpage in search engine results. They are a critical part of behavioral health marketing because they can have a big impact on whether a user decides to click through to your website. A good meta description not only tells the user what the page is about, but also encourages them to learn more. This is your first opportunity to make a good impression and get people to your site.

To maximize clickthrough rates, it is crucial to incorporate pertinent keywords into your meta descriptions. These keywords should mirror what potential clients are searching for, increasing the likelihood of your descriptions appearing in their search results. For instance, if your behavioral health clinic specializes in treating anxiety, including the phrase “anxiety treatment” in your meta description can enhance your search engine visibility for that keyword.

But it’s not just about the keywords. You also need to make sure your meta descriptions are engaging and to the point. Keep them around 150-160 characters so that they don’t get cut off in search results. Use active language to show people what they’ll get from your services and why they should click. A great meta description can be the difference between someone clicking on your site or someone else’s.

Finally, make sure that each of your meta descriptions is unique. It’s important to avoid duplicate descriptions and instead create a unique description for each page. This will help search engines understand the value of each page and make your site more appealing to users. Unique meta descriptions can help your pages stand out in search results, which can lead to higher clickthrough rates and more engaged visitors.

Increase social media engagement

Increasing social media engagement is a critical part of behavioral health marketing that can help you increase your online presence and drive more traffic to your website. Consistently posting to your social media channels is key. By posting regularly, you can keep your audience engaged and your clinic top of mind. This can help build trust and reliability with potential clients who are looking for behavioral health services.

The content you share on social media should resonate with your target audience. Understanding their needs, concerns, and preferences allows you to create posts that are informative, supportive, and engaging. Share success stories, mental health tips, and updates about your clinic’s services and events. By sharing useful content, you not only get more followers but also connect with your current ones, making them feel like they are part of a community around your brand.

Engaging with your followers is a vital part of your social media strategy. By responding to comments and messages in a timely manner, you show that you value their feedback and are dedicated to building a relationship with them. These interactions can help to build trust and loyalty, making your clinic a trusted source for behavioral health services. Additionally, engaging with your audience can provide you with valuable insights into their needs and preferences, allowing you to better tailor your services and content.

By posting often, sharing important content, and talking to your audience, you can greatly improve your social media presence. This, in turn, can lead to heightened levels of engagement and increased traffic to your website, ultimately optimizing clickthrough rates and broadening your reach.

Target long-tail keywords

In the competitive world of behavioral health marketing, you need more than general keywords to stand out. Long-tail keywords—multi-word phrases that are highly specific to your services—can help you improve your online visibility and search engine rankings. By targeting these niche search terms, behavioral health clinics can attract a more targeted audience, increasing the likelihood of engagement and optimizing clickthrough rates.

The process of identifying effective long-tail keywords starts with research. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs can help you identify the specific phrases your target audience is using to find services like yours. For example, instead of targeting broad terms like “mental health,” consider phrases like “cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety” or “child psychologist near me.” These longer, more specific phrases have less competition and are more likely to match the needs of your potential clients.

Once you have pinpointed your long-tail keywords, the next step is to seamlessly integrate them into your website content. This includes your blog posts, service pages, and even your meta descriptions. By creating helpful, informative content around these keywords, you will make your clinic an expert in your field. This will make your website a useful resource for people who want behavioral health services. Keep in mind, the ultimate goal is not just to boost traffic, but to attract visitors who are genuinely interested in what you offer.

Moreover, the strategic use of long-tail keywords can significantly boost your SEO endeavors. Search engines are designed to favor content that delivers comprehensive, pertinent information to users. By pinpointing specific niche phrases, you’re effectively signaling to search engines the high relevance of your content to a particular audience. This can translate to elevated search engine rankings and, in turn, increased organic traffic to your site.

Targeting long-tail keywords is a strategic approach to behavioral health marketing that can yield substantial benefits. By understanding and leveraging the specific needs and search behaviors of your target audience, you can create a more compelling online presence, ultimately driving more engaged visitors to your clinic’s website and optimizing clickthrough rates.

Improve website speed

Enhancing website speed is a pivotal facet of behavioral health marketing that can dramatically improve user experience and bolster clickthrough rates. In today’s fast-paced digital environment, swift and seamless website loading is an expectation. Websites that lag behind can result in increased bounce rates and diminished engagement, as users are prone to seek out faster alternatives. Hence, it is imperative for behavioral health clinics to make website performance a top priority, ensuring a user experience that is both smooth and gratifying.

Regular website audits are a critical part of identifying and addressing performance issues. By conducting comprehensive audits, you can identify what may be causing slow load times, such as large image files, too many plugins, or unoptimized code. Once you have identified these issues, you can take steps to address them and ensure your website loads quickly and performs well. For more specific tips on au

One of the most effective ways to speed up your website is to enable browser caching. When a user visits your site, the elements on the page are stored in a cache, or temporary storage. This means the next time they visit, the browser can load the page without having to send another HTTP request to the server. The result? A faster loading time for your website. By enabling browser caching, you can significantly reduce the time it takes for your website to load, providing a more efficient and enjoyable experience for your users.

In addition to browser caching, optimizing images is another effective way to enhance website speed. Large image files can significantly slow down a website’s loading time, especially on mobile devices. By compressing images and using appropriate file formats, you can reduce the file size without compromising image quality. This optimization not only improves load times but also ensures that the visual content remains engaging and informative for your users.

The strategic use of plugins is another key to boosting your website’s speed. While plugins can enhance your site’s functionality, an excess of them, or those that are not optimized, can hinder performance. Keeping your plugins up-to-date regularly will help make sure your site is working well and responding quickly. Focus on the ones that are most important. By following these steps, you can maintain a website that reflects the high standards of your behavioral health clinic.

Personalize your calls to action

Crafting compelling calls to action (CTAs) is a crucial part of behavioral health marketing that can dramatically improve clickthrough rates. A well-crafted CTA encourages users to take the next step, whether that’s scheduling an appointment, downloading a guide, or signing up for a newsletter. The key to an effective CTA is personalization. By aligning your CTAs with the specific content of your blog post, you can ensure that they are relevant and specific, and therefore more likely to resonate with your audience.

To make your CTAs more engaging, use strong, action-oriented verbs that encourage immediate action. Words like “discover,” “explore,” and “start” can create a sense of urgency and motivation. Personalization techniques, such as addressing the reader by their name (if known) or referring to their location, can make the CTA feel more tailored and compelling. For instance, a CTA like “Start your mental health journey today in [City Name]” can be far more effective than a generic “Learn more.”

Creating a sense of urgency is another powerful tactic. Incorporating words like “now,” “today,” or “limited time” can nudge readers to act promptly rather than putting it off for later. For example, “Book your consultation now” conveys a sense of immediacy that can drive higher clickthrough rates. Additionally, testing different CTA approaches is crucial for understanding what resonates best with your target audience. A/B testing various phrases, placements, and designs can provide valuable insights into what drives the most engagement.

By meticulously crafting and personalizing your CTAs, you can significantly enhance their effectiveness and drive higher clickthrough rates for your behavioral health marketing efforts. Tailoring your messages to the specific needs and preferences of your audience not only increases engagement but also builds a stronger connection with potential clients, ultimately leading to better outcomes for your clinic. Furthermore, incorporating urgency into your CTAs can also be a powerful tool in driving conversions. Phrases like “Limited time offer” or “Only a few spots left” can create a sense of scarcity and encourage individuals to take action before it’s too late. However, it’s important to strike a balance and not overuse urgency in your CTAs, as this can come across as insincere or manipulative. By finding the right balance and using urgency strategically, you can create a sense

To conclude, the strategies outlined in the article provide a comprehensive roadmap for behavioral health clinics aiming to enhance their online visibility and engagement. By optimizing meta descriptions, increasing social media activity, targeting long-tail keywords, improving website speed, and personalizing calls to action, clinics can significantly boost their clickthrough rates. These efforts not only attract more visitors but also build a trustworthy online presence that resonates with potential clients, ultimately fostering a stronger connection and driving successful outcomes in the competitive digital landscape of behavioral health services.

 

Mastering LegitScript: Behavioral Health Clinic’s Essential Guide for Certification and Monitoring

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Adrienne Wilkerson

 

LegitScript certification helps healthcare businesses prove their credibility and adhere to industry standards. It ensures that only trustworthy companies can market their services online. This guide explores the certification process, why it matters for addiction treatment facilities, and how LegitScript’s monitoring solutions enhance compliance and marketing success.

Key Takeaways

  • LegitScript certification enhances credibility for healthcare businesses, helping them stand out in a competitive market while ensuring compliance with industry regulations.
  • The certification process is rigorous and involves thorough application reviews and on-site inspections, ensuring only businesses committed to high standards achieve certification.
  • LegitScript’s monitoring solutions assist businesses in maintaining ongoing compliance and safeguarding reputations, crucial for navigating the complexities of the online healthcare landscape.

Understanding LegitScript and Its Role

An illustration depicting the concept of LegitScript and its role in online health services.

LegitScript’s mission is simple yet powerful: to protect internet users from scams and inform them about legitimate businesses. Originally formed to shield individuals from counterfeit pharmaceuticals, LegitScript now plays a crucial role in ensuring customer safety and trust in various healthcare services. This mission is more critical than ever as the online pharmacy market for pharmaceutical products continues to grow.

Regulating this market, LegitScript ensures customer safety and elevates the standards of online healthcare businesses. The organization utilizes a combination of big data and human expertise to maintain high accuracy in its risk analysis. This rigorous approach benefits facilities by assisting them in complying with industry standards and regulations, thereby improving their reputation.

LegitScript collaborates with businesses and governments to stay ahead of emerging trends and threats in the online healthcare space. This partnership keeps LegitScript at the forefront of protecting public health and maintaining the integrity of online healthcare services. Additionally, LegitScript collaborates with the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) to enhance the trustworthiness of digital advertising in the addiction treatment industry.

The LegitScript Certification Process

The LegitScript certification process is a thorough and involved procedure designed to ensure that businesses comply with all relevant legal frameworks. Businesses start by submitting a detailed application, including documents like employee resumes, business licenses, and compliance information. This process provides a comprehensive view of the business’s operations.

After the initial application review, businesses agree to on-site inspections and audits to demonstrate adherence to legal and ethical standards. These inspections verify the application information and ensure ongoing compliance.

The certification process typically spans 2 to 4 months and involves application fees ranging from $500 to $2,500, with an annual fee that can reach up to $3,500. This rigorous process ensures that only businesses committed to maintaining high standards of practice receive LegitScript certification.

The result is a certification that holds significant value and credibility, recognized across the healthcare industry and by major internet platforms.

Why LegitScript Certification Matters for Addiction Recovery Facilities

An illustration highlighting the importance of LegitScript certification for healthcare businesses.

LegitScript certification serves as a vital verification tool for your facility, distinguishing legitimate treatment centers from fraudulent ones. It enhances the credibility of addiction recovery clinics and provides a competitive edge in a crowded market. With the certification, your facility can build a reputation for reliability and trustworthiness.

Other healthcare businesses, alongside online pharmacies, must also enhance their online presence and digital strategies, especially in light of changing consumer behaviors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Compliance with applicable laws is another critical aspect of the certification process. LegitScript ensures that healthcare businesses adhere to all relevant regulations, which is crucial for effective risk management and safeguarding against potential legal issues. This compliance is particularly important for online pharmacies and telemedicine providers, where the stakes are incredibly high.

LegitScript certification is acknowledged by major platforms like Google and Meta, allowing certified businesses to advertise their services and products, including CBD products and controlled substances. This recognition not only broadens their reach but also validates their legitimacy in the eyes of potential clients and customers.

Benefits of Being LegitScript Certified

An illustration showcasing the benefits of being LegitScript certified.

LegitScript certification ensures healthcare businesses comply with laws and regulations. It is crucial for securing approval for card-not-present transactions with major credit card companies, which are vital for maintaining smooth and efficient business operations.

Additionally, LegitScript helps businesses comply with FDA and FTC requirements for accurately labeling CBD products. This compliance not only ensures that products meet legal standards but also builds trust with customers by validating the legitimacy and safety of the products offered. Businesses that are LegitScript certified can confidently assure their customers of the quality and compliance of their products.

Certification safeguards a business’s reputation. Maintaining high standards of practice and compliance helps businesses build and sustain credibility in the competitive healthcare industry.

Common Challenges in the LegitScript Certification Process

Despite the numerous benefits, businesses often encounter challenges during the LegitScript certification process. One common issue is with ad approvals, particularly when content is flagged as ‘restricted medical content’ even if the business is LegitScript certified. This can be frustrating, especially when changes in Google’s ad review process lead to inconsistencies in ad performance.

Algorithmic inconsistencies complicate matters, causing variations in approval statuses even for businesses with similar ad structures. These challenges require businesses to stay updated with evolving policies to avoid compliance problems. When ads remain under review for extended periods, requesting manual reviews can expedite the process and ensure timely approvals.

Effectively implementing LegitScript’s compliance measures can prevent incidents that attract negative media attention, safeguarding the company’s reputation. Overcoming these challenges requires a robust strategy and continuous monitoring to ensure sustained compliance and business success.

LegitScript’s Impact on Addiction Treatment Providers

An illustration representing LegitScript's impact on addiction treatment providers.

Addiction treatment providers face unique challenges, and LegitScript certification has a profound impact on their operations. To advertise on major platforms like Google, addiction treatment centers must be LegitScript certified and obtain addiction treatment certification. This requirement extends to all businesses in the addiction treatment industry, ensuring that only legitimate providers can promote their services.

Certification increases online visibility, allowing certified providers to advertise on platforms such as Google and Bing without limitations. This enhanced visibility helps treatment centers reach a broader audience and attract more clients. Moreover, the rigorous standards of LegitScript certification contribute to the quality of care provided by these centers.

LegitScript’s partnership with Google Ads has reopened advertising opportunities for certified addiction treatment centers, enabling them to compete effectively against unscrupulous providers. This partnership is crucial for maintaining a level playing field and ensuring that patients receive care from reputable and certified treatment centers.

An illustration representing LegitScript's monitoring solutions.

LegitScript Monitoring Solutions for Behavioral Health Facilities

LegitScript’s monitoring solutions create a safer and more transparent online environment. Providing critical data helps businesses manage and reduce online risks. These monitoring services are essential for maintaining compliance throughout the merchant lifecycle, ensuring that businesses remain in good standing.

Their proactive monitoring solutions include vetting prospective merchants and merchant monitoring existing ones to ensure ongoing compliance with compliant payment transactions. This approach helps detect transaction laundering and other fraudulent activities. By identifying these risks early, businesses can take corrective actions to mitigate potential issues.

LegitScript’s partnership with White Bullet further enhances its capabilities in detecting intellectual property infringements. With a team of regulatory experts, LegitScript provides comprehensive monitoring and risk management services, flagging potentially harmful activities and ensuring compliance with legal standards.

An illustration representing LegitScript's support for CBD product compliance.

How LegitScript Supports Compliance for CBD Products

The regulatory landscape for CBD products in the United States is complicated. It continues to change frequently. Businesses dealing with CBD products must understand and adhere to federal and state regulations to remain compliant. LegitScript certification is crucial for qualifying both the website and the listed CBD products for advertising.

Certification ensures that CBD products are third-party tested and free from excessive THC levels, adhering to the 0.3% THC limit defined by the 2018 Farm Bill. This compliance is vital for meeting legal standards and avoiding potential legal issues. Additionally, CBD product labels must comply with requirements set by the FDA and FTC.

By ensuring compliance with these regulations, LegitScript helps businesses build trust with customers and establish a strong reputation in the market. This certification is essential for successfully navigating the regulatory landscape and maintaining a competitive edge.

Protecting Your Clinic’s Reputation with LegitScript

An illustration depicting the protection of business reputation with LegitScript.

LegitScript certification protects your business reputation. It helps businesses communicate their legitimacy and build trust with customers. Ensuring compliance and legitimacy aids businesses in avoiding negative publicity and reducing reputational risks.

Building brand equity is another significant benefit of LegitScript certification. Maintaining a positive public perception is crucial for long-term success, and LegitScript’s rigorous standards ensure businesses uphold high standards of practice. This certification is especially important for digital businesses, where trust and credibility are paramount.

By leveraging LegitScript certification, businesses can enhance their online presence and attract potential clients. This certification is not just about compliance; it’s about building a trusted brand that customers can rely on.

An illustration representing LegitScript's impact marketing success for addiction treatment clinics.

How to Leverage LegitScript Certification for Marketing Success

Businesses should integrate LegitScript certification into their marketing strategies to maximize its benefits. Identifying and blocking ineffective keywords maximizes PPC budgets in competitive sectors like healthcare. Effective call handling prevents waste in PPC spending, as missed calls can significantly impact overall costs.

PPC campaigns should be part of a broader digital marketing strategy, balanced with SEO efforts to ensure a comprehensive approach. Annual evaluations of PPC campaigns can help account for seasonal business fluctuations and optimize performance. Establishing realistic expectations for the timeline and costs associated with PPC campaigns can help align stakeholder goals.

Maintaining consistent PPC spending is important for sustained success. Additionally, using strong visual content in PPC campaigns can boost conversion rates and enhance overall marketing effectiveness.

Summary

In summary, LegitScript certification offers numerous benefits for healthcare businesses, from ensuring compliance and enhancing credibility to enabling advertising on major platforms. The certification process, while rigorous, is well worth the investment for the dividends it provides in reputation and customer trust.

By mastering LegitScript certification, businesses can safeguard their operations, build a trusted brand, and achieve marketing success. Taking the steps toward certification is not just about compliance; it’s about positioning your business as a leader in the healthcare industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is LegitScript certification?

LegitScript certification ensures that businesses meet legal and ethical standards, providing you with confidence in their legitimacy and safety. Embrace this assurance while navigating your choices!

How long does the LegitScript certification process take?

The LegitScript certification process typically takes about 2 to 4 months, so stay patient and focused as you navigate the steps! Success is just around the corner.

Why is LegitScript certification important for addiction recovery clinics?

LegitScript certification is crucial for healthcare businesses as it boosts credibility, ensures legal compliance, and enables advertising on major platforms like Google. Achieving this certification can significantly elevate your business’s trust and visibility!

What are the common challenges in obtaining LegitScript certification?

Obtaining LegitScript certification can be tough due to ad approval issues, algorithm inconsistencies, and the need to keep up with evolving policies. Stay proactive and adaptable to overcome these hurdles!

How does LegitScript support compliance for CBD products?

LegitScript supports compliance for CBD products by ensuring they adhere to federal regulations, including THC limits and proper labeling. This proactive approach helps you navigate the complexities of the market confidently.

Harnessing the Power of AI in Behavioral Mental & Behavioral Health Marketing

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Adrienne Wilkerson

In today’s fast-paced healthcare environment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we think about marketing. “Harnessing the Power of AI in Behavioral Mental & Behavioral Health Marketing” looks at how AI is changing marketing strategies in the behavioral healthcare industry. From using data to make smarter decisions to creating personalized experiences and streamlining operations, AI is helping healthcare marketers deliver better patient experiences. This guide will help you understand how AI can be used in behavioral healthcare marketing to make data-driven campaigns and decisions and streamline research. Are you ready to unlock the potential of AI and the future of behavioral healthcare marketing?

AI in behavioral healthcare: revolutionizing marketing

AI has the power to help behavioral healthcare providers better understand their target audience, personalize marketing campaigns, and improve overall engagement strategies. By analyzing large datasets, AI can provide deep insights into patient demographics, preferences, and behaviors, which can be used to tailor marketing efforts. When marketers create highly targeted and personalized campaigns, they can increase engagement, generate more qualified leads, and ultimately drive revenue growth.

AI-driven analytics are a powerful tool for understanding patient preferences, treatment outcomes, and market trends. By using AI to analyze data, healthcare marketers can better understand patient needs and preferences, identify successful treatment approaches and stay ahead of industry trends. This data-driven approach can help behavioral healthcare marketers make more informed decisions about their strategies and deliver better patient experiences.

Data-driven insights: empowering informed decisions

Artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed behavioral healthcare marketing, providing data-driven insights that enable marketers to make informed decisions and keep their clients ahead of the competition. This transformative technology uses big data analytics to uncover hidden patterns and trends within large amounts of patient information.

By examining demographics and engagement patterns, AI-driven analytics offer a comprehensive understanding of individual needs and preferences. This knowledge empowers marketers to tailor their efforts with precision and get the right message to the right client. AI also gives valuable information about market trends, competitors’ actions, and patient feedback. This helps marketing teams and agencies change their strategies quickly and stay ahead of industry shifts.

AI-powered sentiment analysis is transforming the way behavioral healthcare marketers approach marketing. By looking at online conversations and social media, marketing teams and agencies can understand how people think and find ways to improve their marketing campaigns. By using feedback, reviews, and information from public social media posts, they can make better recommendations about improving service offerings and building brand reputation.

Personalized engagement: tailoring experiences

In the behavioral healthcare marketing space, AI is revolutionizing the way providers connect with their patients. By utilizing advanced algorithms, AI can segment audiences with incredible precision, allowing providers to create messaging that speaks directly to the needs of each patient segment. No longer are providers forced to rely on broad, generic campaigns—AI helps them connect with their patients on a more personal level.

AI-powered chatbots take patient experience to the next level by providing real-time engagement and support. These virtual assistants can respond to patient inquiries, immediately, address general concerns, and even schedule appointments, ensuring patients feel heard and cared for. This increased level of patient engagement builds trust and loyalty and has a significant impact on patient satisfaction and treatment outcomes.

Automating workflows: streamlining efficiencies

Artificial Intelligence has transformed the way behavioral healthcare marketing is done. By leveraging AI, providers can automate workflows, improve patient experiences, and provide marketers with the information to make smarter decisions.

AI can automate administrative tasks, such as data entry and scheduling, which allows providers to spend more time focusing on patient care.

But beyond these efficiencies, AI also personalizes patient interactions. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can provide real-time support and guidance, which can improve patient engagement and satisfaction. As AI continues to evolve, we can expect to see more advanced applications, such as predictive analytics and sentiment analysis, that will further optimize behavioral healthcare marketing.

By harnessing the potential of AI, you can take your marketing efforts to the next level, make the most of your resources, and deliver better care to your patients. The smart use of AI in behavioral healthcare marketing is the key to better patient outcomes and industry growth.

Ethical considerations: ensuring responsible use

The potential of AI in behavioral healthcare marketing is vast, but ethical considerations must be addressed to ensure responsible and ethical use. Data privacy is paramount; healthcare providers and marketers must follow data protection regulations to protect sensitive patient information. Obtaining user consent and transparency are critical to building trust and ensuring patients feel respected and in control of their data.

All in all, AI continues to be a dynamic tool for elevating behavioral health care marketing because of the amount of data and research it provides, the way it can streamline administrative tasks, and tailor an experience for the client. However, as with any new tool, there is still a lot that is unknown and open and honest communication is required to establish and maintain patient trust.

The Art of Building a Winning Company Culture for Your Mental Health Practice

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Adrienne Wilkerson

In today’s competitive business world, the key to success goes beyond just financial performance. It’s about creating an engaging, vibrant, productive, and positive work environment that attracts top talent, drives innovation, and encourages employee happiness. In this article, we’ll explore the key elements of a meaningful and motivational workplace. We’ll discuss the importance of having a clear company purpose, the power of shared values, and the role of open communication. We’ll also cover some tips on creating a sense of community, belonging, and recognition that will help take your company to the next level.

Why it’s important to know your why

At the heart of a strong company culture is a deep understanding of your organization’s “why.” This concept goes beyond just making money and gets to the very core of your company’s reason for being. It’s about defining the fundamental purpose of your business and the shared values that will help guide your team. When you take the time to understand these things, you can build a strong and vibrant company culture that will resonate with both your employees and your customers. 

The best place to start in clarifying your “why” is to ask yourself why you started the business in the first place. What is your why? Sometimes, your why comes from something you are against. This sounds strong, but it is true. The reason you started your company or organization could have been to provide better customer service or to take care of an underserved market, but it could also be because you saw an opportunity to right a wrong. Maybe a competitor was charging too much in the industry, or you believed someone in the market was taking advantage of clients. There can be many reasons you started your business, and if you really think about it, almost no one says they started a business to make money. There are lots of easier ways to just make money than starting your own company. Most of us started our companies or organizations to help people with problems. 

Defining your company’s purpose and values is the first step in creating a strong company culture. When you define your company’s purpose and values, you have a guiding compass for your team to follow. This helps align everyone’s efforts and actions to a common vision. It also provides a clear path for decision-making. When everyone in your company knows what your purpose and values are, they can make decisions that are consistent with those principles and long-term goals. When employees understand the “why” behind their work, they feel a greater sense of meaning and purpose.

A well-defined company’s purpose and set of values also act as a powerful magnet, attracting like-minded individuals who believe in your mission. These individuals are not just employees; they are passionate contributors who share your vision and want to make a difference. By effectively communicating your company’s “why” to potential employees, you can build a team of highly motivated and engaged individuals who are committed to your organization’s success.

Unleashing the power of shared values

Shared values are the foundation of a strong, vibrant company culture. They are the guiding principles that define your company’s identity and provide the framework for your employees’ actions. When shared values are effectively communicated and reinforced in fun and positive ways, they can unite a group of individuals and transform them into a cohesive team with a common purpose.

To fully leverage the power of shared values, it’s critical that you, as a leader, consistently model and reinforce those values through your actions and decisions. This will create a ripple effect throughout the organization, inspiring employees to align their own behavior with the company’s values. Encouraging open dialogue and providing opportunities for employees to contribute their ideas and perspectives will further enhance the sense of shared ownership and commitment to the company’s values.

Recognizing and celebrating employees who consistently walk out the company’s values is a powerful way to reinforce desired behaviors and strengthen the company culture. When employees see their colleagues being acknowledged and rewarded for living the company’s values, it reinforces the importance of those values and motivates others to follow suit. This creates a positive cycle of reinforcement, where employees are inspired to embody the company’s values, leading to a more engaged and productive workforce.

By fostering a company culture that is grounded in shared values, organizations can enhance employee happiness and satisfaction, leading to increased productivity and improved business performance. A strong company culture also serves as a magnet for top talent, attracting individuals who are drawn to the organization’s values and mission. Ultimately, shared values are the key to building a company culture that drives success and fosters a sense of purpose and belonging among employees.

Fostering open and honest communication and feedback

Fostering open and honest communication and feedback plays a pivotal role in cultivating a winning company culture. When employees feel comfortable expressing their ideas, opinions, and concerns, it creates an atmosphere of trust, respect, and psychological safety. This, in turn, enhances employee engagement, creativity, and overall job satisfaction.

Establishing clear channels for communication is paramount. This includes regular check-ins, one-on-one meetings, team huddles, and open forums where employees can voice their thoughts without fear of judgment. Active listening is just as important as providing opportunities to speak. Encouraging employees to express themselves without interruption and truly hearing their perspectives demonstrates a genuine interest in their well-being and growth. Organizational values should emphasize the importance of open and honest communication, setting the tone for respectful interactions at all levels of the organization.

As a leader, you need to model the behavior you want to see in your employees. When you are transparent, approachable, and open to feedback, you create an environment where open communication can thrive. Addressing conflicts promptly and constructively, rather than letting them fester, will further build a foundation of trust and collaboration. 

Equally important is the provision of professional growth opportunities. When employees feel invested, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated and to contribute their best ideas. This not only benefits the individual but also fosters a culture of growth and innovation throughout the company.

By nurturing a culture of open and transparent communication, companies create an environment where employees feel valued, respected, and heard. This, in turn, leads to increased employee satisfaction, improved decision-making, and a stronger sense of camaraderie. Ultimately, it contributes to building a company culture that attracts and retains top talent, driving business success, and enhancing employee happiness.

Building a sense of community and belonging

Building a sense of community and belonging is the foundation of a strong, winning company culture. When employees feel connected to their colleagues and the organization as a whole, they are more engaged and satisfied in their work. It is a basic human need to be part of something bigger than ourselves. So, it is vital to help employees see the bigger picture and understand how what they get to do on a daily basis matters. There are several strategies that can help create a cohesive, productive, and creative, work environment that fosters camaraderie and a shared sense of identity among employees.

Encouraging informal gatherings, such as team-building activities, social events, and regular catch-ups, provides opportunities for employees to interact beyond their immediate work responsibilities. These interactions help break down silos, foster cross-functional collaboration, and create a sense of camaraderie. If your team is remote or hybrid, it is even more important that you invest the time to come up with creative ways to help the team feel connected. 

Implementing mentorship programs that pair experienced employees with newer hires not only facilitates knowledge transfer but also creates a support system that enhances a sense of belonging.

Cross-functional collaboration is another key element in building company culture. Encouraging employees from different departments to collaborate on projects promotes a shared understanding of the organization’s goals and objectives. When employees know that their work is important to the team’s success, they feel more connected to the company.

Recognizing and celebrating milestones and achievements as a team further reinforces the sense of community and belonging. Acknowledging individual contributions and team successes fosters a positive work environment and motivates employees to strive for excellence. Celebrating these milestones together creates a shared sense of accomplishment and strengthens employee bonds.

By using these strategies, companies can create a strong sense of community and belonging. This helps employees feel happy, engaged, and successful. A vibrant company culture emphasizing community and belonging fosters a positive work environment where employees feel valued, connected, and motivated to excel. Investing in building company culture yields tangible benefits for both employees and the organization, leading to increased productivity, creativity, and a winning company culture.

Recognizing and rewarding achievement

Building a company culture that values and rewards achievement is a key component of creating a motivated and thriving workforce. By establishing a clear system of recognition and rewards that are tied to the company’s values and goals, you can help employees feel a sense of purpose and belonging.

A culture of recognition starts with acknowledging and celebrating the accomplishments of individuals and teams, no matter how big or small. This can be done in various ways, such as regular team meetings, company-wide events, or informal shout-outs. When employees feel appreciated, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated to go above and beyond. Employee satisfaction and organizational values become key drivers of your company’s success.

In addition to verbal recognition, tangible rewards are a key factor in motivating team members. Bonuses, promotions, travel incentives, extra time off, and additional benefits are all effective ways to recognize outstanding contributions. These rewards not only serve as financial incentives but also demonstrate the company’s commitment to valuing and investing in its employees.

Moreover, the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and expertise is crucial in creating a culture of success. This can be achieved through various platforms such as internal presentations, workshops, or project showcases. When employees can share their knowledge and skills, they feel a sense of achievement and are more likely to be innovative and engaged in their work.

Finally, promoting peer-to-peer recognition and gratitude is a potent way to cultivate a supportive and collaborative work atmosphere. A culture where colleagues acknowledge and celebrate each other’s accomplishments strengthens the team and fosters a sense of togetherness. This can be facilitated through simple acts such as sending thank-you notes, offering verbal commendations, or instituting an employee recognition initiative.

By implementing these strategies, organizations can cultivate a culture that values and rewards achievement, leading to increased employee happiness, motivation, and overall success. A winning company culture is one where employees feel appreciated, motivated, and inspired to excel, ultimately contributing to the long-term success and prosperity of the organization.

Boost Your Success: Understand How to Determine the ROI on Your Marketing Campaigns

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Adrienne Wilkerson

Marketing ROI (return on investment) is all about figuring out how much bang you’re getting for your buck from your marketing efforts. Understanding marketing ROI is like having a roadmap for your marketing strategies. It helps you see what’s working and where to spend your money wisely. In this article, you’ll learn how to measure, calculate, and improve your marketing ROI, making data-driven decisions to boost your business’s performance.

Key Takeaways

  • Marketing ROI is an essential metric for businesses that helps measure the revenue generated relative to marketing costs, allowing businesses to justify expenditures, assess strategy effectiveness, and make budget decisions based on real data.
  • Accurately calculating marketing ROI involves using metrics like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Employing these metrics helps you understand the long-term impacts of your marketing efforts and optimize your investment strategies.
  • Measuring marketing ROI can be tricky because it’s hard to accurately attribute results to specific marketing efforts, especially when customers interact with multiple touchpoints before making a purchase. To get a clearer picture, it’s helpful to use advanced analytics tools and adopt a comprehensive measurement framework that considers all channels. This approach can simplify the process and improve the accuracy of your ROI calculations.

Understanding Marketing ROI

Marketing ROI quantifies the revenue generated by a marketing campaign in relation to its cost. It showcases the return on investment from diverse marketing programs, enabling businesses to:

  • Validate their marketing expenditure by showing the revenue produced by these initiatives
  • Assess the effectiveness of marketing strategies
  • Make data-driven decisions about where to allocate time and budget

This metric is vital for you as a business owner to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and refine your strategies.

A precise calculation of marketing ROI aids in understanding how your marketing activities contribute to total revenue generation. It helps businesses leaders optimize their budget allocation for future marketing campaigns by identifying which strategies and channels drive the most sales. There are different types of marketing ROI metrics, including:

  • Cost per acquisition (CPA)
  • Sales cycle days
  • Engagement duration
  • Customer lifetime value (CLTV)

Each of these metrics provides unique insights into the effectiveness of various marketing efforts.

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is a particularly important metric in marketing ROI. It represents the total worth of a customer’s business over their entire relationship with the company and offers a long-term perspective on marketing investments. A focus on CLV enables businesses to formulate better decisions regarding customer acquisition and retention strategies, catalyzing sustainable profit and revenue growth.

Calculating Marketing ROI

To calculate marketing ROI, the basic marketing ROI formula is (Net Profit / Total Investment) * 100. This involves dividing the net profit generated by a marketing campaign by the total costs incurred and then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage. This simple yet powerful formula provides a clear picture of how much profit is being generated for every dollar spent on marketing, allowing you to effectively measure marketing ROI.

Yet, we often have to take into account elements like customer acquisition cost (CAC) and customer lifetime value (CLV) in the marketing ROI equation. For instance, the Customer Lifetime Value ROI can be calculated using the formula: (Customer Lifetime Value – Marketing Investment) / Marketing Investment. By incorporating these metrics, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of the long-term impact of their marketing efforts and make more strategic decisions about where to invest their resources.

Key metrics in calculating marketing ROI include customer acquisition cost (CAC), average gross margin, and marketing cost. These metrics help determine the efficiency of different marketing channels and campaigns. By focusing on these metrics, businesses can identify high-performing strategies and optimize their marketing efforts for better results, while keeping marketing costs in check.

Precise ROI measurement is pivotal in guiding data-driven decisions, fostering sustainable profit and revenue growth, and focusing marketing ROI measurements. Hubspot reiterates the importance of knowing your marketing ROI and gives us another way to look at the ROI formula in their article: A Simple Guide to Marketing ROI

Image credit: Hubspot ROI Formular from their A Simple Guide to Marketing ROI article

Ideal Marketing ROI Benchmarks

A good rule of thumb for marketing ROI is to aim for a ratio of 5:1. This means that for every dollar spent on the marketing budget, the business should generate five dollars in revenue. Achieving this ratio ensures that marketing efforts are profitable and justify the investment. However, bear in mind that this benchmark may fluctuate based on the industry and particular business objectives.

An exceptional marketing ROI ratio is typically around 10:1. While this level of return is considered outstanding, it isn’t always attainable or necessary for every business. The key is to set realistic benchmarks based on industry standards and continuously strive to improve marketing efficiency. Aiming for a solid marketing ROI allows businesses to make knowledgeable decisions regarding their marketing strategies and budget allocation.

Real-world Examples of Marketing ROI

Real-world examples can provide valuable insights into how businesses have successfully optimized their marketing strategies to achieve high ROI. For instance, content marketing has proven to be highly effective, costing 62% less than traditional marketing methods while generating three times as many leads. Businesses that allocate a significant portion of their marketing budgets to content marketing often report high success levels. In fact, over 67% of marketers report generating business demand or leads from their content marketing efforts. One of our clients, Health Centered Dentistry, has seen an increase of 367% in conversions based on organic search based on quality content marketing.

Personalized marketing is another powerful strategy for boosting ROI. DirectTV, for example, used demographic data to personalize their homepage for new movers, increasing user engagement despite offering fewer incentives. Similarly, we worked with SeaView Mental Health to increase their brand awareness in their local community by connecting elements that were personal and relevant to them. They serve a small community so it was important that the marketing had that “insider, local” feel to it. These elements resulted in a 71% increase in web traffic while the cost they invested to get that traffic went down by 317%! These examples highlight the importance of leveraging data to create targeted and personalized marketing campaigns.

Behavior-triggered email campaigns are also effective in improving ROI. Many SaaS companies use these campaigns to re-engage users, resulting in higher completion rates for sign-ups and setups. A winter apparel store combined sales and weather data to pinpoint the best times for promotions, significantly improving their advertising effectiveness. These real-world examples demonstrate how data-driven decisions and targeted campaigns can lead to exceptional marketing ROI, and inform future campaigns.

Challenges in Measuring Marketing ROI

The task of measuring marketing ROI can present challenges due to a myriad of factors. One of the main challenges is the complexity of attributing revenue to specific marketing touches, especially in multi-touch scenarios where a variety of interactions contribute to a sale. Additionally, marketing effects often occur over extended periods, making it difficult to attribute results to specific campaigns.

Another challenge is the need to connect the dots between marketing campaigns and the achievement of marketing goals. Running multiple campaigns simultaneously complicates the process of tracking spending and performance for each individual campaign. Establishing a baseline for calculating incremental value delivered by marketing is also a critical yet complex factor.

In the subsections that follow, we will examine the specific challenges encountered in multi-touch attribution and omnichannel campaign measurement in greater detail.

Complexity in Multi-touch Attribution

Multi-touch attribution involves tracking multiple customer touchpoints, which complicates accurate ROI measurement. Different attribution models, such as:

  • ‘last click’
  • ‘first click’
  • ‘linear’
  • ‘time decay’
  • ‘position-based’
  • ‘data-driven’

distribute credit differently across touchpoints, each with its pros and cons. Choosing the right model significantly impacts the perceived marketing ROI.

Direct revenue attribution assigns all revenue from a sale to a single marketing touch, while indirect attribution distributes the revenue across multiple touches, adding further complexity to accurately measure ROI. The challenge lies in selecting an attribution model that accurately reflects the contribution of various marketing efforts to the overall revenue.

Omnichannel Campaign Measurement

Omnichannel campaigns require integrating data from various online and offline channels, which complicates the process of accurately measuring ROI. For example, 60% of marketers measure the success of their social media activity based on the sales it generates. However, integrating data from different channels and ensuring consistency in measurement can be challenging.

Accurate ROI measurement in omnichannel campaigns involves using advanced analytics tools and establishing a consistent sales baseline. By focusing on both online and offline measurements, businesses can gain a comprehensive view of their marketing performance and make more informed decisions about their campaigns.

Best Practices for Accurate Marketing ROI Measurement

The adoption of best practices for measuring marketing ROI can considerably enhance accuracy and insights. One key practice is defining specific, measurable KPIs early on, which helps in tracking and measuring the success of marketing campaigns. Utilizing analytics tools, such as Google Analytics or Cyfe, can track cost per acquisition and other crucial metrics.

Segmenting marketing activities allows for easier tracking of ROI by measuring metrics for each specific activity separately. Creating a measurement dashboard with key marketing metrics helps in achieving sales goals by tracking activities like email subscribers, social media followers, and inbound calls. Holistic measurement frameworks that combine financial and non-financial metrics provide a more comprehensive view of marketing’s impact.

Tracking the customer journey and focusing on KPIs like cost per acquisition and customer lifetime value can provide a detailed understanding of marketing ROI. Additionally, using share of voice metrics, such as PR and social media impressions, can offer insights into the broader impact of marketing campaigns.

Justifying Marketing Spend

Providing evidence of an effective marketing ROI is pivotal for validating marketing budgets and guaranteeing continuous investment in marketing strategies. By accurately calculating the ROI of current efforts, marketers can:

  • Prove the effectiveness of their campaigns
  • Justify their budgetary needs to executives
  • Ensure continued investment in marketing initiatives that drive revenue and growth

This evidence-based approach ensures continued investment in a marketing strategy that supports future marketing efforts, driving revenue and sales growth while considering the sales growth marketing cost.

Aligning marketing efforts with sales teams’ needs and goals creates a seamless customer journey that drives conversions. For example, Hubspot retargets website visitors based on their behavior to address common objections and encourage completion of sign-ups. By demonstrating the tangible results of marketing efforts, businesses can secure the necessary resources to sustain and expand their marketing strategies.

Optimizing Marketing Efforts Based on ROI Insights

Enhancing marketing efforts based on ROI insights entails focusing on the appropriate audience and fostering a culture of perpetual optimization. ROI data helps marketers allocate budgets properly by identifying high-performing channels and strategies. For instance, maximizing ROI in B2B marketing involves making data-driven decisions that align with business goals.

Marketers can use data from paid advertising campaigns to enhance SEO by identifying the most profitable keywords. Measuring customer interactions and sentiment on social media can highlight the effectiveness of marketing strategies. Focusing on long-term impact, such as brand awareness and customer lifetime value, helps track the overall success of marketing efforts.

Adopting a culture of continuous optimization and iteration based on data and insights is necessary for maximizing ROI. By regularly analyzing performance and making adjustments, businesses can ensure their marketing efforts remain effective and aligned with their goals.

Monitoring Marketing ROI in Real-Time

Real-time monitoring of marketing ROI with the aid of analytics tools can yield valuable insights and facilitate data-driven decisions. Tools like Google Analytics help track metrics such as top traffic sources, bounce rates, and conversions. MarketingCloudFX, powered by IBM Watson, tracks leads, phone calls, and email campaigns, offering a comprehensive view of marketing performance.

Some useful tools for marketers are:

  • Kissmetrics: allows tracking user behavior across different devices, tying data back to real people, which aids in understanding customer journeys
  • BuzzSumo: tracks social media metrics such as brand mentions, keywords, and content engagement, helping marketers measure the impact of their social media activities
  • SEMrush and Ahrefs: provide SEO analytics, including keyword performance and competitor analysis, essential for optimizing marketing strategies

These tools can greatly optimize marketing efforts, enhancing their overall performance.

By leveraging these tools, businesses can gain real-time insights into their marketing efforts, justify their spend, and optimize campaigns for better results.

Resources for Further Learning

For individuals seeking a deeper understanding of marketing ROI, numerous resources can offer valuable insights. ‘Marketing ROI: The Path to Campaign, Customer, and Corporate Profitability’ by James D. Lenskold is a highly recommended read on this topic. ‘Lean Analytics’ by Alistair Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz focuses on metrics and analytics, including ROI.

Other useful books include ‘KPI Checklists’ by Bernie Smith and ‘Measuring Marketing: 103 Key Metrics Every Marketer Needs’ by John Davis. These resources offer comprehensive guidance on understanding and improving marketing ROI.

Summary

In conclusion, measuring marketing ROI is essential for assessing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and making informed decisions about budget allocation and strategy adjustments. By understanding the key concepts, challenges, and best practices, businesses can optimize their marketing efforts and achieve better results. Remember, continuous optimization based on data and insights is crucial for maximizing ROI and driving long-term success. Embrace these strategies, and watch your marketing efforts soar!

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Marketing ROI?

Marketing ROI measures the revenue generated by a marketing campaign in comparison to the cost of running it. It helps evaluate the effectiveness of marketing efforts.

How do you calculate Marketing ROI?

To calculate Marketing ROI, use the formula (Net Profit / Total Investment) * 100.

What is a good benchmark for Marketing ROI?

A good benchmark for Marketing ROI is to aim for a ratio of 5:1, with 10:1 considered exceptional. Achieving these ratios indicates a strong return on investment in marketing efforts.

What are some challenges in measuring Marketing ROI?

Measuring Marketing ROI can be challenging due to the complexity of multi-touch attribution, integrating data from various channels, and establishing accurate baselines for incremental value. These require careful consideration and robust data analysis.

What are some resources for further learning about Marketing ROI?

You can further your understanding of Marketing ROI by checking out books such as ‘Marketing ROI’ by James D. Lenskold, ‘Lean Analytics’ by Alistair Croll and Benjamin Yoskovitz, ‘KPI Checklists’ by Bernie Smith, and ‘Measuring Marketing: 103 Key Metrics Every Marketer Needs’ by John Davis.

Be Honest: Show your Team “Your Human Side”

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Adrienne Wilkerson

Building a strong, cohesive team requires mutual trust and open communication. As a leader, you play a pivotal role in fostering this environment. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by embracing honesty, even when it’s painful, hard, or embarrassing. In this article, we’ll explore the significance of honesty in leadership and how it can transform your team dynamics. We will delve into the power of vulnerability, discuss real-life examples of honesty with your team, and address the challenges and exceptions to honesty. With that said, let’s embark on this journey of self-awareness and integrity, unlocking the potential for a truly remarkable team.

How to build trust with your team

Establishing trust within your team is crucial for cultivating a positive work environment and encouraging collaboration. As leaders, our conduct and actions are pivotal in this process. Here are some practical tips to help you build trust:

  • Be forthright and open about your thoughts, emotions, and decisions. Transparency is the bedrock of trust. Tractifully, share your reflections with your team and be candid about your objectives and the reasons behind them. This will cultivate a culture of authenticity and encourage your team to reciprocate in kind. It’s amazing how powerful it is for your team to understand your why.
  • Keep your word. Trust is earned through consistently fulfilling your promises. Even in the face of adversity, make sure you follow through. If, by chance, you cannot keep a commitment, be forthright and transparent about the reasons.
  • Acknowledge your missteps and own up to your actions. We all err, but accountability fortifies trust. Show the strength to admit when you’re wrong and take ownership. This reflects humility and integrity, which are the cornerstones of trust-building.
  • Be consistent and even-handed in your interactions with team members. Show that you value fairness and consistency. Bias and special treatment can undermine trust. Base your decisions on the employee’s merit and your company values, making sure everyone is accountable to the same high standards.
  • Respect the privacy of your team members. Trust also means respecting the privacy of your team members. Keep confidential information confidential, and don’t share personal details without their consent. Respecting privacy builds a sense of security and trust among team members.

By following these guidelines and consistently embodying honesty and integrity, you can lay the groundwork for a robust trust relationship with your team. Trust is the bedrock of a successful team, fostering effective collaboration, open communication, and a work environment that is positive and productive.

Why vulnerability is powerful

Being vulnerable with your team doesn’t mean oversharing or revealing deeply personal information that makes you uncomfortable. It’s about acknowledging your limitations, admitting your mistakes, and expressing your emotions in a way that humanizes you and makes you more relatable to your team. When you show vulnerability, you’re not only demonstrating that you’re human, but you’re also creating a safe space for your team to be open and honest with you. This can lead to stronger trust, better communication, and a more positive work environment overall. 

The power of vulnerability lies in its ability to demonstrate your courage to be authentic and your trust in your team to reciprocate. It enables you to connect on a deeper level, fostering empathy and understanding, which, in turn, cultivates stronger, more supportive relationships. Honest leadership transcends mere truth-telling; it’s about creating an environment where everyone feels empowered to bring their true selves to the table.

Moreover, vulnerability can be a catalyst for stronger connections within your team. By opening up, you set the stage for others to do the same, fostering a spirit of unity and trust. This, in turn, can lead to a more collaborative, creative, and innovative environment, as team members are emboldened to share their ideas and take calculated risks.

Furthermore, vulnerability is a potent leadership tool. By being open about your own missteps and the lessons you’ve learned from them, you set a powerful precedent for your team. You show them that it’s not the mistake that matters but the willingness to grow from it. This fosters a culture of continuous improvement and personal development among your team members.

Vulnerability is not a sign of weakness but a demonstration of strength and courage. By being open with your team, you show that you trust them to support you and that you are secure in your own abilities. This can help to build a strong foundation of integrity and create a positive work environment where everyone feels valued and respected.

Examples of being honest with your team

Being honest as a leader means more than just sharing the good news and successes. It also means being open about challenges and vulnerabilities. Here are a few examples of how to practice honesty as a leader:

  • Sharing personal experiences: Being open about your own mistakes, failures, and challenges humanizes you and encourages team members to be more authentic and comfortable with their own imperfections. This fosters a culture of vulnerability and trust within the team.
  • Acknowledging areas for improvement: Regularly assess your performance and openly discuss areas where you need to grow or improve. This demonstrates self-awareness and a commitment to personal development, inspiring your team to do the same.
  • Actively seek feedback: Encourage your team members to provide honest, regular feedback about your leadership style, decisions, and areas for improvement. This shows that you value their input and are open to constructive criticism.
  • Apologize when necessary: We all make mistakes. The important thing is to own up to them. When you mess up, be quick to say you’re sorry and take responsibility for your actions. This will build trust and show your team that you’re accountable for your decisions.
  • Leading by example: Your actions are more powerful than your words. By consistently embodying integrity and honesty, your team is more likely to follow your lead. Honest and integral leadership is contagious and can have a profound impact on the culture and performance of the entire team.

By being honest, even when it is difficult, you create an environment where trust, vulnerability, and open communication can flourish. This, in turn, creates a positive work environment and allows your team to work together effectively and reach their full potential. Remember, to lead your team from the back, you must first be willing to show them your human side.

Why honesty is not always easy

Just because the benefits of honesty are clear, it doesn’t mean being honest is always easy. For example:

  • Being honest can sometimes lead to conflict and tension, especially when addressing sensitive issues or delivering difficult feedback. 
  • Admitting mistakes or failures can be challenging, as it requires acknowledging one’s own shortcomings and potentially facing criticism or judgment. 
  • Honesty also involves a level of vulnerability, as it exposes our weaknesses and imperfections to others.
  • Being truthful can cause a fear of repercussions. 
  • The truth might spark uncomfortable discussions, strain relationships, or even lead to professional setbacks. 
  • Honesty can be inconvenient or time-consuming, as it often demands thoughtful reflection and articulate communication to ensure the message is conveyed appropriately.

As difficult as it can be, especially at times, honesty is a cornerstone of effective leadership. By being honest, you demonstrate your integrity and set a powerful example of authenticity and transparency for those around you. Honesty fosters a positive culture where open communication is the norm and your team members feel valued and respected. Embracing honesty, even when it’s challenging, is a critical step in building a successful team and creating an environment of trust, collaboration, and leading from behind.

When to keep things confidential

There are times when maintaining confidentiality is essential to protect your team, your organization, and individuals’ privacy. Here are some instances where leaders should keep information confidential:

  • Sensitive Information: Certain information, such as financial data, trade secrets, or upcoming product launches, should remain confidential to prevent unauthorized access or potential harm to the company’s competitive advantage.
  • Personal Information: Respecting the privacy of your team is paramount. Personal information, such as medical conditions, family matters, or financial situations, should only be shared with an individual’s consent. Being an honest leader means respecting your team as individuals and protecting their privacy.
  • Upcoming Announcements: Information that is not yet ready to be shared publicly, such as upcoming promotions, organizational changes, or financial results, should remain confidential until the appropriate time for disclosure. Premature release of such information could lead to confusion, speculation, or even harm the company’s reputation.
  • Reputation Protection: Confidentiality is key to safeguarding the reputation of your team and the company. Revealing negative or sensitive information about colleagues or the organization without the right context or permission can be detrimental to relationships and trust.

By understanding when to keep information confidential, leaders demonstrate integrity in leadership and uphold the best interests of the team and the company. Maintaining confidentiality fosters a culture of trust, professionalism, and mutual respect, allowing teams to thrive and collaborate effectively. Leading your team from the back sometimes means knowing when to keep certain matters private for the greater good.

Making Mistakes is Important for Healthy Company Culture

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Adrienne Wilkerson

I’ve been running one business or another since 2001, and there are a few things I’ve learned the hard way over the years. One of them is just how much a business challenges you to grow into a better version of yourself. Don’t get me wrong- you can start, grow, and run a business without allowing it to change you. You can be stubborn and force the company and the people in it to conform to you and your way of doing things. But if you let it be, there is so much more to it than that.

Running a business, a department or a team involves many challenges and dynamic professional and personal growth opportunities. As each one comes up, you’ll have the chance to embrace it and grow, or avoid it and probably have to keep repeating the same challenge over and over and over again. Perhaps that is the difference between people who just run a business and those who lead. People who lead want to grow, change, and become better versions of themselves. And you can find leaders in every layer and with every title imaginable in any business. Because, sadly, you can run a business and not be a leader. You can be a manager and not be a leader.

One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned over the years is admitting that I was wrong! I’m happy to admit that something isn’t working, and we need to pivot. I’m great at pivoting, but I don’t like to have to do it because I made a mistake. Talk about having to go around and around the mountain before I learned this one. There is nothing like leading people and running a business to expose every mistake you’ve ever made! In my younger years, I got pretty good at always explaining why that thing went the way it did, and I could usually skirt around the fact that I made a mistake. However, with some valuable help from friends and my business partner, I realized I was spending a lot of energy trying to come up with explanations to justify the mistake.

Let’s face it: running a business is about making mistakes, and that was a mindblower for me. There seem to be a couple of different types of business leaders that fall into this category. Some don’t want to decide because they fear making mistakes. So, they stay in the information-gathering stage and never seem to get enough information actually to move forward with any action. Others will also be afraid of making wrong decisions, so they refuse to and instead force or manipulate others into making the final call so they always have a scapegoat. Then others do what I did and find a way to explain away the mistake through outside circumstances or people. I’ve also seen the manager or business owner who is more than willing to make a decision, and if it goes wrong, they pivot and move on as fast as possible and hope no one remembers that they were the ones who made the call in the first place. They often gloss over mistakes and focus on the next step in the next phase.

Regardless of which one of the above resonates with you, let me share that one of the most significant areas of growth we have to make as leaders is to embrace making mistakes. As leaders of a business, a department, or a team, we make A LOT of decisions daily. Facing decision burnout is a real thing. In fact, it’s such a thing that leaders like Steve Jobs and others wore the exact same thing every day to eliminate a decision they had to make that day. They recognized the importance of the limited number of decisions “in them” on any given day and worked to maximize their focus on the ones that mattered.

So, we make a lot of decisions every day. What happens when we make the wrong ones and failure occurs? For me, I had to grow and shift the entire way I looked at mistakes and failures.

The story goes that once someone asked Thomas Edison if he was daunted by how many times he had failed at creating the light bulb, he responded, “I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

Some people seem born with this mindset; I had to learn it. I had to start with three words that were some of the hardest for me to say… “I was wrong.” Or “I messed up.” Either version was oh so hard, but to be honest, I found freedom in owning the mistakes instead of investing so much energy in trying to explain them away. I embraced Edison’s mindset and even his words. I started realizing I could own that I messed up and acknowledge that it didn’t work, and I could try again; it wasn’t the end of the world.

Talk about a game-changer!

It felt like a muscle that got stronger the more I worked it, the more often I said, “I messed up, and that didn’t work. Let’s try again. Let’s try a different way.” And it became more like second nature to own my mistakes and failures and to be able to learn from them and move on to something even bigger and better!

Dr. Nelson Mandela said it well, “I either win or I learn.” And trust me, when building a business and running a team, you will learn a lot.

The more I owned my mistakes and failures and looked for ways to grow, the more incredible things started happening in Beacon. My team also started feeling free to own their mistakes and failures. Instead of judgment, we found a new level of respect for each other. Because guess what? We all knew when someone messed up, and we usually knew who it was and why. So many times, it’s only you who thinks no one else knows that you messed up. But when someone, especially the leader, won’t own up to a mistake or failure, it handicaps the entire team and limits everyone from learning and growing. Many leaders believe they will lose the respect of their team if they admit they made a mistake. I’ve not found this to be accurate; if you have, then you probably have the wrong team, or it will take a while to shift your internal company culture. But that shift has to come from us first as the business leader. It takes courage to be the first to own failure, but the reward is so worth it.

Another profound outcome was that we all started making more mistakes. I know that it sounds counterintuitive to call that profound, but it was. Why? Because we were making more mistakes because we were trying more new things, we were innovating and pushing our boundaries. When we let go of the fear of failure and mistakes, we found the freedom of expression, adventure, and the unknown that led us to incredible new places and discoveries. But if we are so bound by our fears, failures, and mistakes that we won’t try coloring outside the box, we will forever be bound by the box and our mistakes! And that is a miserable, dead-end place to be.  

It is worth pointing out that there are different kinds of mistakes. Some come from pushing the limits and growing, and then there are the mistakes that come from laziness, fatigue, burnout, incompetence, a heavy client load, and more. They are similar but oh so different, and when a company is growing fast and/or there is a lot of change in an industry, it can be hard to tell the difference between the two. The first step is owning the mistake, then you can identify if it was the result of innovation or negligence, then you can figure out what you and your team need to learn and adapt to.

It is our responsibility as leaders to create a culture of learning and innovation, which means we must encourage mistakes and failures. They will always go hand in hand. As leaders, we get to be the first to step up and own our mistakes. We must have the courage to say, “I messed up. Here’s what I learned, and here’s what we’re going to do differently next time.” And when we lead this way, we hold space for our entire team to do the same. Commit to this type of change and watch it transform your company, team, or department!

From Founder to CEO. Can it be done? Part 1: Founders

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Adrienne Wilkerson

One of the biggest challenges visionaries and founders often face is the transition to President or CEO. According to a Harvard article “By the time the ventures were three years old, 50% of founders were no longer the CEO; in year four, only 40% were still in the corner office; and fewer than 25% led their companies’ initial public offerings.” Those are some pretty sobering numbers, even if you never expect your company to go public. So why is it so hard for founders to transition to being CEO’s? We’re going to tackle this in several parts, so welcome to part 1 where we explore what it means to be a founder.

What does it take to be a good founder?

In my experience, there are two basic types of founders. The first are those who have already been making a product or providing a service at another company and they decided they could do it better on their own, these are often the technician or production founders. The other is someone who sees a need or a problem they believe they can fix so they set out to do that-the how is almost irrelevant, these are the visionary founders. Both types of founders want to provide quality and value to their clients and both want to make a difference in the lives of others.

In either case, it is important to know that flexibility, innovation, and adaptation are key elements that make a good founder. Regardless of whether you’re already an expert at creating the widget or you’re figuring out a better way to solve a problem, you will have to innovate, test the market, and adapt.

So what does it actually take to start a company? When I think about the early years of Beacon and what got Jennifer and me through I think of the following skills:

  • Scrappy: We were always willing to do whatever it took to make things work and since we were self-funding our own growth we never had enough cash flow. This forced us to get scrappy and creative. We had to do many of the early office renovations ourselves and enlist the help of friends, family (thank God for my husband’s construction skills), and employees. We all pitched in to assemble and move furniture, paint walls, and whatever else needed to happen.
  • Innovative: This one is similar to scrappy but different in my mind. Innovative has more to do with generating creative solutions to challenges the industry was throwing at us. We were first to market in Alaska as a digital marketing agency and there weren’t a lot of models to follow so we made it up as we went along. For example, we realized that since social media marketing was a new concept to Alaska, we had to do a lot of education as part of the sales process, and that education didn’t stop after the client signed. So we started offering marketing classes to the public and made them free to our clients. We taught them how to do what we did. This quickly increased the understanding of the public on the benefits of digital marketing and improved our clients’ understanding of what they were paying us to do every month.
  • Perseverance & Grit: Starting a company is hard. It just is. Anyone who tells you differently is trying to sell you something. Don’t get me wrong, it is one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do, but almost nothing outside of raising kids will leave you so frustrated and sleep-deprived. To start a company you have to have grit, that willingness to do the hard things, and the perseverance to do it day in and day out. There are really big highs and truly deep lows and you honestly have to be seriously stubborn and refuse to stop working toward your dream.
  • Naïve: This might sound weird to some, but if you’ve ever started a business before you’ll relate. There is a strange, blind naïve that comes with being a founder. You’re just sure everything is going to work out. Just because it didn’t for that other person…well you’re sure it will be different for you, because it’s you. There is a blind faith amongst entrepreneurs that we will achieve our vision, even if we can’t tell you exactly how. This was certainly true of Jennifer and I as founders. We started Beacon in 2012 with no money, just the belief that this was a huge opportunity for small businesses and we were the ones to help!
  • Visionary: This is one of the hallmarks of a good founder….vision! When Jennifer and I merged businesses it was because we had a vision for how much digital marketing was going to disrupt traditional advertising and how it could transform marketing for small businesses. We could see the change that was coming and we wanted to bring that change to bear for small businesses.

Being a Founder

Starting a company is often something that comes as a response to a need or a problem, rarely do any of us founders start a business because we want to get rich. Money is a helpful tool but it isn’t the why that drives most of us to start a business. The founding years are times of a lot of hard work and investment of time because we believe in our cause. This is why the list of traits for a founder are so important and you’ll notice the desire to make money isn’t on that list. Yes, we all need to make money, it keeps the lights on and enables us to feed our families and pay our employees (very important things), but it won’t get us through the early challenges and sleepless nights.

What does get founders through is a cause bigger than themselves, a knowledge that they are making a difference. The belief in this cause is what fuels us to push through situations that would stop most people in their tracks. A new company needs a founder who can inspire people to come and join the cause. A person who can see the vision and who is willing to try new things, fail, learn, and try again…over and over again. Founders tend to create a company around them; their vision, their style of communication, their working style, and typically the founders know everyone in the company. This works great when a company is just starting but there will always come a time when a founder needs to decide what the next step is for their company. Come back for part 2 as we explore what happens when a company starts to out-grow its founder.  

Company Culture of Innovation! Pros vs. Cons

Picture of Adrienne Wilkerson

Adrienne Wilkerson

How does it effect a company culture when it’s leaders are willing to “jump off the cliff and build the airplane on the way down?” 

Entrepreneur: Someone who jumps off a cliff and builds a plane on the way down.

I can’t remember where I first saw or heard this quote, but I’m pretty sure it was on Pinterest back in the day when Jennifer and I first merged businesses. Needless to say, it resonated and it is something I’ve used a lot over the years in an attempt to explain our crazy culture.

To say Jennifer and I are comfortable with risk is the understatement of the decade, especially when we started in 2012. There is a blissfully naïve element to every entrepreneur, we’re sure we can make it work—no matter what. We’re sure we can overcome whatever obstacles building a business throws at us and as our Chief Revenue Officer, Ken Okonek, says—we always bet on ourselves.

I’ve heard it said that if an entrepreneur really knew what it was going to take to start a business then they probably would never do it; that our naivety is really the only reason we think it’s reasonable to build the plane on the way down, but call it what you will: eternal optimism, naivety, blissful ignorance…whatever: it doesn’t change the fact that being willing to “jump off the cliff and build the airplane on the way down” applies to so much more than starting a business, it is about building the business too. To scale a business, especially scale it aggressively, you are going to have to be constantly innovating. This means you and your teams are going to have to jump off the cliff again and again and again.

Bold. Innovative. Courageous. Daring. Visionary. Pioneering. Resourceful. Driven. Motivated. Determined. Adventurous. Risk-taking.

These are all words that inspire us. We like watching movies where the hero is all of the above and triumphs against all adversities and obstacles. It inspires thoughts of being a part of something greater than ourselves; of making a difference in our world. I have come to realize there is both a light and a dark side to this level of comfort with risk. There are challenges of course but benefits as well.

What are the cons or the challenges we’ll face?

Uncertainty: Embracing this approach means operating in a highly uncertain environment, which can lead to unpredictable outcomes and risks.

Resource Constraints: Building the airplane on the way down requires significant resources. Resources don’t just mean funding, thought that is usually the most important. Resources also means getting the right team togther as well as all of the other resources necessary to build a product or offer a service.

Adaptability: Companies must be able to pivot quickly and consistently in response to changing circumstances and new information.

Risk of Failure: People must be prepared to accept and learn from failure, and there is always a high risk of failure in this approach.

Pressure and Stress: The high-stakes nature of this approach can lead to significant pressure and stress for company leaders and employees.

Lack of Structure: Operating in a highly uncertain environment can lead to a lack of structure and clarity, which can be challenging for leaders and employees to navigate.

What are the pros? Are there benefits?

Rapid Innovation: Embracing uncertainty and taking bold risks often leads to rapid innovation and the development of groundbreaking products or services that can improve people’s lives.

Adaptability: Companies that embrace this approach are often highly adaptable and able to pivot quickly in response to changes.

Competitive Advantage: The bold and unconventional nature of this approach provides a competitive advantage and the ability to differentiate in a marketplace, even a busy or overcrowded one.

Learning and Growth: Embracing uncertainty and taking bold risks can lead to significant learning and growth opportunities.

How does that affect your team?

Here are some of the things we’ve struggled with and worked on improving and addressing over the years.

How do you find the right people who are willing to jump with you? Is always a significant challenge for several reasons. Firstly, people who are willing to jump and build the airplane with you are rare. Finding people as comfortable with risk as you are is understandably hard. There is a saying that if it was easy, anyone could do it. The fact that it is hard is part of the reason it is the select few that succeed at it. So have some grace with the people you recruit if they are less risk-tolerant than you. In fact, it is good to surround yourself with people who are a little more hesitant to jump than you. My co-founder, Jennifer, and I have always laughed that while we are both willing to jump off the cliff, she is usually first and I’m usually right behind her after I grab a few things or at least make sure I throw some tools down before me. It is actually vital to the success of any endeavor to have a balanced team and make sure to staff your weaknesses.

First, you have to identify and own your strengths and weaknesses as well as those of your team and then you have to staff them. The key is a balanced team. You want people with various levels of comfort with risk and change. If you have an entire team who is all rushing to be the first one over the edge there is a very strong chance you won’t have any tools or assets to build anything on the way down. A balanced team increases the chances you will have enough of both to make a pretty passable airplane before you hit the bottom. The challenge with a balanced team is that you are combining people with opposing strengths and skills to create balance and that can create friction. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe friction can be a good thing. But if you haven’t created a team that is comfortable with constructive conflict and has enough shared values to find the most creative and effective solution as a result of that conflict, then you will just have friction and nothing will get solved.

In an article published in the Harvard Business Review, Dr. Amy Edmondson coined the term “psychological safety” and it is a concept that has gained a lot of traction in recent years. While even Dr. Edmondson owns that it is more art than science, the idea of creating an environment that is safe for people to express their ideas, concerns, and to even try and fail is paramount to high-functioning teams. I would say that without creating an environment of psychological safety it is virtually impossible to have constructive conflict. Instead, you will have avoidance and a lot of drama going on under the surface that undermines the team’s ability to build that airplane, let alone be comfortable with jumping off the cliff.

Balance is imperative to every high-functioning team, but it is also important that you have the right combination of people and you understand each person’s comfort with change otherwise you risk burnout.

Our employees who are less risk-averse have told us over the years that they often feel a little more intimidated to raise their hands in various situations because they don’t want to hold the team back or be the wet blanket as it were. So as leaders, it falls to us to go the extra mile to seek out their thoughts and perspectives. We need to make a point of making sure they are heard.

Having a company culture that values risk-taking and pivoting frequently also leads to the potential for high burnout rates. Often the burnout first shows up in those less comfortable with risk and they are your warning sign of trouble ahead. I have found that when you have leaders who like to jump first and figure it out on the way down, sometimes they are halfway down before they realize half their team isn’t there with them, they are burned out at the top of the cliff. Leaders need to take steps to plan for the inevitable burnout for themselves and the team.

One of the ways to keep burnout from taking over is to keep the vision alive and your why in focus. There needs to be a very good reason why you are taking the risks and bringing everyone else along for the ride. If it is just the adrenaline rush of taking risks everyone is going to burn out, you included, and for what? What was the goal? What was the purpose for all of the stress and sleepless nights? As leaders, we must keep our why in focus for ourselves and our team lest we lose everything in the rush.

Most founders tend to be the type of people comfortable with a lot of risk, otherwise they wouldn’t have started a company in the first place. Keep in mind that you need to hire some balance into your team to be able to build a company that is successful in accomplishing the goal. As founders who are natural risk-takers, we need to own our weaknesses and hire to balance them out. Once you get the right team in place make sure you stay hyper-aware of the pros and cons and how a company culture that is comfortable with risk can lead to burn out.

Is your social media marketing producing results?

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Adrienne Wilkerson

Originally published on June 12, 2018. Updated on July 9, 2020.

So you have your social media editorial calendar and you’re consistently posting good content and putting ads out there on social media. Congrats! Good job! Way to be proactive!

The next question, naturally, is how effective are your efforts? Is your hard work producing results? It’s great if the phone is ringing more or there is more foot traffic at your place. But do you know where it’s all coming from? If you don’t this is a great article for you! Getting out there and being active as a business on social media is at least half the battle. However, if you’re not paying attention to the results and where they are coming from, there is a very real possibility you’ll burn out on social quickly. Here are three things to consider to make sure your efforts are producing the results you want and need.

Does Your Social Media Marketing Have Reach?

When we talk about reach in social media marketing, it means something similar to what you would expect: How many people could see something published by you. It doesn’t mean how many people are engaging with your content, but the total number of eyes that could be seeing the posts you put out.

While reach is important to keep an eye on, it isn’t the blockbuster measuring stick it used to be. In the earlier days of social media marketing, there were considerable bragging rights tied to the number of fans or followers you had. This got so bad that at one point brands and even celebrities were “buying” likes, followers, and fans from random places like Thailand, Cambodia, and others. Facebook caught on to this disappointing fad and shut it down rather quickly. Now the focus is on quality over quantity. Yes, you want the number of fans you have to consistently grow over time. However, making sure you engage the followers you do have is now more important than just being the one with the most fans.

The number of impressions is a valuable metric to track on Facebook because it means someone saw the post or interacted with it in some way. Twitter, on the other hand, counts an impression when a post is delivered to a particular Twitter accounts stream. They do not say that someone has seen the tweet, just that it would show up somewhere in a person’s stream. Make sure you keep this in mind as you are comparing stats. In my experience, impressions, especially on Facebook, are more important than your reach numbers. I say this because reach is about the potential and impressions is about those who have seen your material.

Are You Getting Leads from Social Media?

Having quality engagement and reach on social media is a good start, but the goal of these efforts is to drive traffic and leads to your company. I believe social media has a lot of power in generating brand awareness. It is foundational that the public knows your business exists. Awareness is the first step, and while it is more intangible than getting a customer, it carries a lot of value.

Once people are exposed to your company, then you want them to choose you over the competition. You want them to become leads, which are potential new clients. For the most part, we consider followers or fans as leads when they make the jump and click on a post, an ad, or tweet that takes them to your website or a landing page. Some people will give your business a call directly from Facebook, but honestly, this is rare. Leads typically will reach out via your website or a landing page when they are ready to make a buying decision. We do see a fair number of our clients get business via a direct message on Facebook as well.

Google Analytics is a great tool to track the amount of traffic that is coming from social media to your website and if you use a landing page creation service like LeadPages you will have their tracking metrics to look at as well. If your social media marketing isn’t generating the amount or the type of leads you want, that usually means you aren’t on the right platform, or your content isn’t engaging the right customer.

Are Your Leads Converting to Customers?

The final step in the process is making sure your leads are converting to clients. Usually, you have to do this tracking internally because in involves making sure you know which of your new customers were referred to you by social media. If you are marketing through multiple channels, make sure you track which one is delivering better quality leads. That is then the one you need to put the most effort into.

To be honest, this final stage of tracking is often the one most overlooked. There are no easy tracking tools like Google Analytics to automate it for us. Instead, we have to train ourselves and staff to consistently ask the right questions to gather the date we need to prove ROI from our social media efforts. However, it is well worth the extra time and attention to close the loop.

Social media marketing is a powerful tool for businesses in Anchorage and across the US. Part of what makes it so powerful is the tracking that is available to everyone who does it. The monitoring gives us the data we need to prove what is working and what isn’t. The information we get paints a roadmap by which we can guide our marketing to be as effective as possible. Without this data, we are driving blind and throwing our money away. If for any reason, your social media marketing is not getting the results you want, the answers are probably in the data we discussed in this blog and my blog on the effectiveness of your social media. With that information, you can tweak and adjust your marketing until you are getting the clients you want from your social media marketing.

How to tell if your social media marketing is effective

Picture of Adrienne Wilkerson

Adrienne Wilkerson

Originally published on May 10, 2018. Updated on June 30, 2020.

You’ve started your own business. You’ve got a steady stream of customers. You’ve got a website. You’ve got a great reputation and plenty of word-of-mouth recommendations. Things are going well – really well – and you’re looking to take your business to the next level. Social media marketing will play a key part of this, so if you haven’t already, it’s time to set up some accounts. From there, you can develop a social media marketing strategy.

Want to cut to the chase? Schedule a free consultation.

Getting started with social media marketing

First things first, what accounts do you need?

Well, it depends a little on your business, but we always recommend Facebook and LinkedIn. These two create a solid foundation. Facebook is the biggest social media platform in the world, which means it has enormous reach, as well as a really comprehensive advertising platform that means you can connect directly with your target customers. LinkedIn is a business networking platform, which is a great way to connect with other business leaders in your area and stay across the latest trends and developments in your sector.

Of course, there are many other platforms available for businesses to join. If your business is lifestyle based, very visual, or primarily works with women, you might find it helpful to have an Instagram page. If your business primarily works with young people, you might want to consider a TikTok. If you work in a technical field and most of your customers are men, you could consider investing in YouTube. Different platforms are optimized for different demographics, and each one has its pros and cons in terms of ROI.

When you’re starting out, however, Facebook and LinkedIn are great first steps.

Read more: What are Facebook Ads and how to we use them?

How social media marketing works

Second, you’re going to need to develop some content – but how can you tell if it’s working?

There are four key factors that determine whether your social media marketing strategy is successful or not: reach, engagement, leads, and conversions. We’ll delve into the first two in a little more detail below.

Social media marketing for reach

Put simply, reach means the people who are seeing your messaging. This includes the people who follow your account, as well as the people who see any ads you run across the network. As you can imagine, the bigger the reach, the better your chance of targeting the right people, so it helps to develop a big audience.

This means publishing the kinds of content that people actually want to see – for example, things that are interesting, amusing, or helpful. It could be a snippet of important local news, a how-to guide to solving a common problem your customers face, or a personality filled post with an accompanying image that will brighten someone’s day. This will make you memorable and will ensure as many people follow you as possible.

However, social media marketing is different than traditional marketing. In the pre-internet days, advertisers would post messages everywhere, with the hope that casting a wide net would generate a few bites from the right consumers. Facebook’s biggest attribute is undoubtedly its ability to cultivate audiences based on interests. The people following you will be interested in your business, as well as your products or services, which makes them far more likely to take you up on any offers, deals, or promotions you’re running.

As you can see, reach is a really important component of your social media marketing strategy, so we recommend spending a little bit of time thinking about your target customer and creating a buyer persona. Then, it’s a great idea to sit down and create an editorial calendar with a bunch of ideas of interesting and engaging things you can post and share to capture this person’s attention. Make your account as interesting as possible!

Read more: 10 tips for optimizing your social media.

Engagement is the core of social media marketing

Once you’ve built your reach, you need to focus on engagement. You’ve figured out who your target customers are, you’re posting interesting content, and you’ve built up a solid audience of current and prospective buyers. The next step is to elicit a response from them, which will ensure you’re top of mind when they need you. There are three main responses you will want to watch for and track: likes, shares, and comments.

Likes

Likes are important on a post because they show the algorithms of most platforms that this content is something people “like,” which means it warrants making it into more people’s feeds or a higher ranking in search results. Also, people tend to pay more attention to a post with more likes; it means to us that this post is “popular” and we should follow the crowd and like it too. It’s a relatively passive response, but it means your posts will show up in newsfeeds extending past the collection of people who follow your account. Free advertising? Sign us up!

Shares

Shares have a lot more value than likes, because it functions as an endorsement. Pay attention to how many shares your posts receive, because the more, the merrier. When your material is being shared, that means you are hitting the mark and producing content your followers find interesting enough to share with their friends. Essentially, they are putting their name behind the material once they send it out to all of their friends, colleagues, family, etc. This is great when it comes to building awareness of your brand and promoting special offers.

Comments

Comments are a good indicator of engagement because they mean that your material is resonating with people and they want to take the time to leave a comment. Of course, there’s no way to control what people will say, and you may get a mixture of positive and negative feedback, but we encourage our clients to open up comments for a couple of reasons. First, comments show that your material is hitting the mark with your target audience. It’s not boring! Congrats. Second, allowing comments is an excellent opportunity to have a conversation with the people who have chosen to view the content your company is putting out. Anytime you can have a conversation it is a great chance for you to engage and learn more about your customers and prospects.

Read more: Facebook Ads – what analytics should I track?

Leads and conversions in social media marketing

That’s all we have time for today, but stay tuned for another blog about using social media to develop leads and drive conversions. In the meantime, you can read more about capturing qualified leads with landing pages, or if you work in the functional medicine sector, how you can use marketing to convert leads.

Ready to get started? Schedule a free consultation.

12 tips for a strong email marketing strategy

Picture of Adrienne Wilkerson

Adrienne Wilkerson

Originally published on June 7, 2018. Updated on June 26, 2020.

We all get a ton of email these days. In fact, according to DMR, 205 billion emails are sent daily and the average office worker gets 121 emails a day! That means there’s a lot of competition when you’re trying to implement an email marketing strategy. The email jungle gets even thicker when you consider that there is only an 18% open rate for desktop users.

The question, then, is how do you make sure your email stands out instead of blending into obscurity? The truth is that email marketing can be an incredibly effective tool to educate people about the great products or services your business has to offer, especially if they’ve visited one of your landing pages and they’ve signed-up for your mailing list, a free consultation, or a free download.

Keep reading, and we’ll run you through some basics to keep in mind when you’re developing your next email. We recommend you use these tips frequently and liberally for the best results.

Want to skip to the good stuff? Go ahead and call us.

Artboard 1

Why is email marketing important?

Email marketing is a really useful tool, and it can be used in a number of different ways. If people have signed up and indicated they want to learn more about your products or services, go ahead and teach them. It’s also a great way to build loyalty and trust in your brand. You can do this by offering perks like special rates, access to competitions, limited-time offers, prizes, exclusive question-and-answer sessions, and much more.

Once people have a good experience with your emails, they’ll be much more likely to open them, read them, and reach out to you. It also means you’ll be first in mind when they do need your products or services – for example, if you’re a HVAC company, you want to be front of mind when their boiler breaks. If you’re a fintech company, you need to be at the top of the list when they’re looking for a new POS software. If you’re a general contractor, you want them to think of you when they need to upsize their home to accommodate their growing family. You get the idea. It’s a great way to build a positive brand experience over time.

Not sure how to start? We’re email marketing experts!

Is email marketing effective?

You betcha. Email marketing is incredibly effective, when it’s done right. That’s where it gets important to read the fine print. Spam does no-one any favors. Neither does sloppy copy, rambling text, or blurry images. You need to keep your emails sharp and polished with lots of value. Here are some of the tried-and-tested email marketing tips we actually use for our own emails:

#1 Have a strong subject line

A well-crafted subject line can be one of the most important parts of your email marketing campaign, because it’s your first impression. Your email needs to hook people and make them curious enough to click and open it. Ideally, keep it to seven words or less, but don’t forget to do some A/B testing because some audiences respond better to longer subject lines. Always ask a question with the goal of making them curious. Using numbers is a great idea for your subject lines, for example, 12 Tips for a Strong Email Marketing Strategy. (Oh hey! That’s the title of this blog post! #genius) The second headline and be more descriptive. Focus on using action verbs like 5 hacks or 3 best tips to engage people and pique their curiosity. Lastly, you can use brackets to indicate what the person is going to be opening or viewing in the email. For example [infographic] or [case study pdf].

#2 Create exclusivity

Everyone wants to feel like they are part of something special, especially if it means they’re getting something before everyone else. Apple does an amazing job at this when they send out their emails announcing their new iPhones. Everyone on specific email marketing list gets an email inviting them to take advantage of their “Pre-Ordering” offer. Considering people camp out at the Apple stores to be some of the first to get phones, it can feel pretty special to get the chance to pre-order and have the phone just show up at your door! Another way to make people feel like they are part of an exclusive club is to send them a link for information prior to it going public. Send your subscribers a link to your newest blogs or offers the day before (or even hours before) they go public.

#3 Be friendly and considerate

Remember, your amazing email marketing campaign is one of about 121 other items in their inbox. It’s a good idea to call that out, and acknowledge that it is a big deal they took the time to open your email. Make it worth their while! Delight them with great photos, engage them with fun titles. Create something that will genuinely make their day better. Show them how special they are to you for taking your time and turning out quality content. Make sure you are talking to the person opening the email, not AT them. No one wants to feel talked at, but we enjoy having a conversation.

#4 Be generous and positive

Continuing in the vein from number 3, if you make a point to make the viewer happy, they will look forward to seeing and opening up your emails. Whenever you can be generous, give something away. How can you make their day better, how can you make them happy? What can you give away, you may ask? Great question. Here are some examples of email marketing winners:

  • eBooks
  • eCourses
  • White papers
  • Case studies
  • Coupons
  • Free trials
  • Blog posts
  • Free assessments
#5 Make it scannable

One way you can make their day better is by making the information in your email easy to read! Break up your content with photos and subheadings; be concise in your verbiage and if you have a lot of text that needs to be communicated, or post it as a blog on your website and use the “read more” option in the email. It’s also a great way to get some traffic back to your website. Remember, they have a lot of items to get through, and your email marketing campaign needs to be respectful of their time.

#6 Don’t let them forget

This might seem like a no-brainer, but your email marketing campaign should keep reminding readers about what it is that you do and how you can help them. Your business may be the center of your world, but they might have only heard of you in passing, so create a great impression every time.

Courtesy of Vero
Courtesy of Vero

Got the idea? Call us and let’s get started.
#7 Encourage conversion

Statistically, we see that when people are given clear ways to make conversions, they are more likely to do so. This is especially true when viewers are given small ways to engage and convert. Small options could be “Tweet This” or “Follow us on Facebook. These small opportunities don’t require much of the viewer and give them a way to engage with your email marketing campaign.

#8 Make the next step clear

One of the cardinal rules of email marketing is to be very clear on what the next step you want the subscriber to take. Content Rate Experts stress how important it is to be very clear and obvious what you want them to do. The question you want them to answer is “What do I need to do next?” You want to make sure there is a very clear way for them to answer that question and take the action you want them to take. One of the most effective ways to help viewers take the next step is to use buttons. They are clear, basic, and effective. If you want people to click on something, give them an obvious button. Make sure it is not a subtle color but clearly, stands out from the design.

#9 Segment your emails

Just because you can send someone an email doesn’t mean you should. What we mean by that is that not EVERYONE in your email list should get EVERY email you send out. Email marketing is a long game, you need to build trust with the people who are getting your emails. Make sure the offer or the information in the email is relevant to the person getting the email. For example, if they are a long-time customer, they shouldn’t get the welcome email or the email with the special for new customers.

Instead, make sure they get an email with a coupon because you value them as a long-time, loyal customer. If you’re wondering how you should segment your email marketing lists, start with your end goal (i.e. increase sales, expand brand awareness, increase engagement on social media, increase event registration) then work backward from that point and map out the journey you want the customer to take to get to the goal. Here are a few ideas of how you could segment your lists:

  • Past purchasers
  • Past asset downloaders
  • Hot leads
  • New subscribers
  • Current but not hot leads
  • VIPs
#10 Leverage social proof

Online reviews have become one of the mainstays of people’s buying decisions, so factor that into your email marketing strategy. People trust what others say online. According to Vendasta…

Artboard 2

#11 Plan ahead

Use an editorial calendar and plan out ahead of time what your email marketing strategy is going to cover, and when. Having a plan provides for time to edit, edit, edit. No matter how effective a writer you are, it is always a good idea to have a second pair of eyes on your work prior to publishing. Following your editorial calendar also allows for time to invest thought and really put some time into your email marketing. The effort you put into the email will show through for the viewers. The difference between an email that is hastily thrown-together email and one that is well thought out and considerate of the subscriber’s time in palpable and appreciated.

#12 Respect SPAM rules

Finally, it is critical to know the rules laid out in the CAN-SPAM act. Each infraction could result in a $16,000 fine so it pays to be aware of and adhere to the rules including the seven basic rules. Be aware that you must make it clear when someone gives you their email that you will be adding them to your mailing list. Just collecting email addresses at a conference (for instance: “throw your card in the jar and be entered into a drawing”) is not enough. You must let the people know that not only will you be entering them into a drawing, but that their address will be added to your email marketing list.

Let’s send some emails. Schedule a free consultation.

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