Marketing your business in today's fragmented digital world can be a daunting task. From over 10 years of experience in T H E web technologies and internet marketing, Blink;Tech has developed a proven method to help businesses find success on the web. Leveraging a sound and secure tech infrastructure, the latest inbound marketing strategies, and clear, accurate analytics, we've developed a Build, Promote, Evaluate process that continues to bring our clients new levels of success. S T R A T E G Y And now we are going to share some of that magic with you.... “Blink;Tech makes sure our law firm’s message reaches the people who need our help, and my partner and I can devote our full attention to clients and their cases.” Steve Wittmer, ESQ “Their approach of spreading high-quality content through social media is not only cost-effective, but offers residual returns that traditional advertising can’t touch.” Julian Yates, Sarasota Property Finders “In no time at all, the Blink;Tech team set us up on a new domain with a beautiful new website, and they put together a marketing plan to not only get us back on course, but advance into totally new territory with promoting our dental practice.” Dr. Jeffrey Chirillo, DMD A Comprehensive Guide to Our Proven Process for Successful Digital Marketing The Blink;Tech Strategy THE STRATEGY A Comprehensive Guide to Our Proven Process for Successful Digital Marketing 2 The Blink;Tech Strategy All Rights Reserved © Blink;Tech, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Blink;Tech www.blink-tech.com 3 The Blink;Tech Strategy TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...................................................................5 Today, Every Business is a Technology Business.................6 Why Inbound Marketing is Good for Any Business..............10 The 7 Virtues of a Killer Inbound Marketing Strategy...........13 What Value Does Your Website Add to Your Business?......17 BUILD..................................................................................21 Why and How to Have a Professional Website...................22 You’ve Been Hacked! A Small Business Guide to Website ..... Security................................................................................29 Blogging: The Marketing Gift that Keeps on Giving.............33 The Power of Blog Content for Small Business Marketing..37 The Basics of Blogging........................................................41 The Importance of Great Metadata to Your Online.............. Business..............................................................................45 Closing the Deal: The Power of the Landing Page..............49 PROMOTE..........................................................................53 Social Media and the Power of One....................................54 Getting Started on Facebook as a Business........................56 Using LinkedIn to Your Company’s Advantage: Healthily........ Aggressive Communication.................................................60 Marketing Your Business with Instagram.............................63 How to Create an Effective Pinterest Profile........................66 Is Twitter Still Worth Tweeting About?..................................72 Are You Making the Most of Internet Video?........................75 12 Points of Crucial Newsletter Know-How..........................78 EVALUATE..........................................................................83 The Art of Social Listening...................................................84 The Importance of Evaluation..............................................86 Turbocharge Your Business and Marketing Decisions with..... Data Visualization................................................................89 4 The Blink;Tech Strategy INTRODUCTION “The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.” ― Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Blink;Tech likes to pride itself on being a leader of technological advances in website design, development, and marketing. Throughout our history, we have experienced many situations that helped refine our process to create lasting impressions for our clients and ourselves. These experiences resulted in our Build-Promote- Evaluate method. B-P-E is a cyclical sequence that is ever evolving, building upon a strong foundation of proven marketing and development tactics. This book is a collection of our experiences, offering a firsthand look at that proven process which we follow for all our clients. While this book does contain quite a bit of knowledge, it is our hope that it will also offer you some understanding of what is involved with developing an effective web presence and make the most of the technologies available. 5 The Blink;Tech Strategy TODAY, EVERY BUSINESS IS A TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS Computers, software, network systems, and the Internet are essential parts of every business today. Technology is both a cost of doing business and an opportunity to grow your business. Technology forms the infrastructure of most every business and, via the Internet, is a major tool for attracting and retaining customers. Technology is used by businesses to: • Reach more potential customers with your brand message and value proposition. • Streamline operations, reduce costs, improve efficiency, maximize profit, minimize waste, and devote talent to core business activities. • Provide better service to customers, partners and suppliers. How much should you spend on technology for your business? The answer is, “It depends.” Assess how each digital investment will benefit your business. Will it bring in larger profits? Make your operation more efficient, thereby reducing costs? Mitigate your risks in one way or another? Your Online Presence How do your customers prfer to shop and buy? The Internet makes comparison shopping quick and easy. If your website doesn’t grab them, doesn’t speak in language that resonates with them, or doesn’t give them all the information they need to make a buy decision, they’ll click away to take a look at your competitors. 6 The Blink;Tech Strategy Social Media Seventy years ago, the must-have technology for business was a telephone. Twenty years ago, it was a website. Today, it’s social media. Depending on the nature of your business, you need to be interacting with customers and prospects on some subset of Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and other social media platforms. It can be overwhelming, so pick and choose carefully. It’s much more effective to use one or two platforms well than to deploy many poorly. Get the most from social media by tracking metrics within your social media accounts. These are the statistics you should be tracking: • Impressions and reach – An impression is a view of your post. Reach measures how many people saw your posts. • Mentions – How often your business is mentioned on social media. • Follower growth – The number of followers on your social media accounts and how much they grow over time. • Sentiment – The number of “likes” or other reactions your posts are getting. • Shares – How many of your followers share your content with others. • Location – Where are your followers geographically? If your brick-and-mortar store has few local followers, you may be wasting your efforts. • Conversions – Use Google Analytics to set up Goals to track visitors from different social networks. Conversions might include clicking on a link in a social post, filling out a contact form, or subscribing to a blog. Facebook’s advertising platform also offers 7 The Blink;Tech Strategy sophisticated conversion tracking all its own. With a little bit of technical know-how, any website owner can harness these powerful tools. Social media helps to create a community of customers and prospects who see you as more than just a business entity. They’ll view your business as trustworthy, and people buy from those they trust. Mobile In the United States, there are currently over 200 million smartphone users. It’s highly likely that the business prospects you want to reach use a smartphone not just for conversations, but for texting, accessing the Internet, and viewing your website. A site that displays well on a desktop computer must also be configured to render well on a tablet or smartphone. Google, knowing how many of its users view the web via 8 The Blink;Tech Strategy smartphone, penalizes sites that haven’t been updated. Sites that aren’t mobile-friendly are punished with lower search engine rankings, making mobile-readiness a critical success factor. Luckily, websites can be designed or adapted for mobile viewing fairly easily by knowledgeable web developers. Security Issues When it comes to a security breach, it’s not a matter of “if,” but “when.” While breaches at big corporations make the headlines, small businesses are also targets for hackers. Small businesses have more digital assets to target than individuals, but less security than large corporations. Take the security of your digital assets seriously. If cyber- security is not your area of expertise, hire someone who is an expert. Today, all businesses are tech businesses! 9 The Blink;Tech Strategy WHY INBOUND MARKETING IS GOOD FOR ANY BUSINESS In his book C-Scape: Conquer the Forces Changing Business