Are you interested in social media but unsure of where to start? Or what platform is right for your company’s needs? We’ve made an infographic to help you learn about the differences in social media platforms so you can better choose how to get involved and start connecting with your customers on a personal level.

CRM stands for “customer relationship manager” and it’s a type of database software that helps you organize your prospects, customers and sales activities. CRMs can also be known a contact management database.

Why should you use one?

Spreadsheets and Outlook are fine for some things, but to really get ahead with your marketing and sales, you’ll need a full-blown database. Especially if you need to share data with other people on your staff or your sales team.

I’m often surprised when we work with established companies, some that have been in business for 15 or 20 years, and they don’t have a good CRM system in place. They keep important data — like customer and prospect lists — in spreadsheets and Word documents buried deep in the folders of their network.  Then, when the time comes to send an email newsletter, promote an event, or even run reports on their sales cycle, they’re left with a mess of duplicate documents or missing data.

How to get one…

If you and your sales reps are still emailing spreadsheets back and forth, the good news is that there are easy-to-use, affordable web-based programs that you can start using today!

Check out some of the web-based CRMs we like below:

1 ) Zoho CRM

This is our favorite and the one we use at FatCat Strategies. It’s very customizable (custom fields, custom reports, custom worklflows, etc) and we’ve been able to integrate it with our email through Google Apps.. We’ve also helped several clients customize a Zoho CRM account for their specific needs.

2 ) Highrise

Pros: Very user friendly, easy-to-navigate interface. Includes a 30-day trial.

Cons: Lacks the ability to add custom fields.

3 ) Karma CRM

Another easy-to-use CRM with a free-trial and relatively low monthly price for small teams.

4 ) Nutshell

Includes pre-configured sales & pipeline reports. Includes ability to add custom fields. And it has an iPhone app!
www.nutshell.com

5 ) TeamLab

Claims to be an “office in the cloud” complete with a group calendar, project tracking, CRM, email integration, document sharing and more.

6 ) Nimble

CRM with a social media twist. Integrates with your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts.

7 ) CapsuleCRM

Includes integrations with several online accounting & invoicing systems.

8 ) OnePage CRM

Company tagline is “happy sales”…how could you not like that? Specifically designed to help you focus on follow ups and sales. Integrates with Google Apps.

9 ) Batchbook

Includes social media monitoring tools, integrations to other popular online tools (like EventBrite and MailChimp). Can be customized for your business with “super tags”.

10 ) Insight.ly

Integrates tightly with Google Apps and includes project management modules.

But wait… now you actually have to start a blog… What do you do first?

At the bottom of the page, there is an excellent webinar from Vertical Response (an email marketing tool) called Getting Started With Blogging.  It’s Blogging 101 in about 42 minutes.

Here are a few highlights from that webinar (sprinkled with a few opinions based on my own experience):

First you have to choose a blogging platform.  Our favorite is WordPress.  We have built several websites and blogs on WordPress, and it’s very user friendly.  (If you interested in a custom website design, check out our Web Design Package.)

Your biggest concern is probably “What the heck am I going to write about?”  The webinar below gives a long list of ideas for coming up with content, which included:

• Give advice/expertise
• Provide comprehensive “how-to” articles
• Lists: Top 10, Best/Worst, Dos & Don’ts
• Re-purpose content while adding your own perspective
• Case studies (include a problem, solution & results)
• among others (watch webinar for full list)

As I said before in 3 Reasons to Start a Blog, one way to determine content is to go through old emails and find questions that you seem to be answering over and over again, and turn those answers into a blog post that you can reference later.

And don’t be afraid to throw a few anecdotal thoughts in there, even if they don’t have anything to do with your business (See Catvertising).  If you see something that’s funny, chances are other people will think its funny.  And they might appreciate a break from the more serious content they read the rest of the day.

Also, if you’re like me, you probably troll the internet for news throughout the day, from Yahoo, CNN, Twitter, Mashable, and other blogs.  Anytime I read something that makes me stop and automatically form an opinion about the topic based on my prior experience, I try to write down that thought.  If it’s interesting enough to get me thinking quickly, it is usually interesting enough for me to spout off a few quick sentences.   And the more you do it, the more often those sentences will turn into a blog post.

So take a look at the webinar, and if you have any other questions about getting started, give us a call!

1. It helps with SEO – If you have a website, then undoubtedly you have heard about Search Engine Optimization.  While there are tons of services out there telling you that you have to spend money with them to improve you search engine ranking, the truth is this: the best thing you can do for your website is consistently and regularly update it with relevant content, which is pretty much the definition of a blog.
2. It lends to your credibility and expertise – When prospects are researching your company, having a up-to-date blog will show them that you know what you’re talking about.  It will show you’re an expert in your field, and that you’re keeping up with trends in your industry.
3. You can use all that content again! – Do you ever feel like you get asked the same question all the time?  (Maybe a question like “Should I start a blog?…” )  Do you feel like your typing the same response into your email over and over again?  Next time, write a blog post that addresses the frequently asked question.  Then, the next time someone asks you, you can say “That’s a great question, check out this blog post that addresses it.”

Have I convinced you?  Great!  But I’ll bet your next question is… How do I start a blog?  Check out the next post in the series: How to Start a Blog.

Photo credit: moxliukas

Enter the explainer video.  It’s an easy-to-watch, animated “elevator” speech that can tell your complicated story in just a few minutes.  The idea is to quickly help a prospect understand how you can help them solve a complicated problem.

We’ve recently seen several online marketing animations that inspired us to make one of our own.

Check out the steps below to see how we did it.

Step 1: Create a storyboard

 I drew out a fairly detailed storyboard with a simple/approachable feel for the illustration style, without thinking too much about the style, and mainly focusing on what would be communicated in each frame and how many frames there would be. I collaborated with my co-workers to finalize the overarching message and how we could communicate it quickly through a simple story.

Step 2: Experiment with Illustration Style

After the storyboard was finalized, I began experimenting with creating the main character of our story, Mary the Caterer. I knew once I could create a good styling of her, the rest of the illustrations could follow suit.

Step 3: Draw Outlines of Individual Frames

Now that I knew what the style would be like for all the illustrations, I could start illustrating the individual frames. I prefer to use the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. I based my illustrations on the sketches I had done in the original storyboard, while adding in more details and personality. At this stage, there is a great deal of focus on proportions and spatial aspects.

Step 4: Add Color and Finalize the Individual Illustrations

Adding color to the illustrations is really what gives them their personality and depth. Choosing the correct colors to give the illustrations a whimsical, approachable feel, but also feel somewhat realistic is a long task that takes tons of experimenting and variations.

5. Repeat

Then, I repeated Step 4 33 times until I had all my final illustrations!

 6. Import Individual Illustrations into Adobe Flash File

Next, I imported the illustrations into an Adobe Flash file and set each of them in their own frame.

7. Write and Record Your Script

My coworkers and I then wrote the script together and I recorded both of them reading it aloud in Garageband. We chose the best version and added catchy music behind the narration.

8. Import the Audio, Sync the Frames, Finalize Gaps

I went through and listen to the audio one frame at a time to sync what was being said in the narration to what was happening visually in the illustrations. At this stage, we found gaps in the story where the video was held on one frame for too long and was lagging in pace. So, we went back to the drawing board and added some more illustrations in the frames that were to long to keep an even pace.

9. PUT THAT ON THE WEBSITE!

And the final step was to slap that baby on the website. We decided to place it on our “Monthly Marketing Retainer” page as it seemed to pertain the most to that information and was geared towards a prospect looking to be a monthly client.

I hope you enjoy it, and we’d love to make one for you too!

The second thing it takes to be success on Facebook is time.  Creating a company page is a very small part of the overall effort.  You have to engage your Facebook following by posting new and interesting information on a consistent basis.

One thing you can do to get people more engaged is promote your company page with your personal profile.  Here’s a great article by Josh Cunningham on www.SocialMediaToday.com entitled Don’t Look Silly on Your Facebook Page: Share, Don’t Like.  Cunningham explains the best way to use your person profile to spread the word about content on your company page.

Contact us for more tips on using social media to market your company.

FALSE.  Your company’s website is part of its marketing / communication plan, and marketing and communications is an ongoing cycle.  You should have step two planned before you even launch step one.

Unfortunately, communication tasks are usually the one that get put on the back burner when other opportunities present themselves.  Even though marketing actions are what get your company’s name out to the public and prompt sales, it also seems to be the thing that always gets put off until tomorrow. When this happens a useful and current tool like a website turns into an out-of-date model that everyone’s already seen.

The best way to combat this is to develop a system to regularly discuss changes and decide what content to add and update.

Here are a few step to follow when making a plan to keep your website up-to-date:

• Assign “Content Authors”  — If your company already has multiple managers for different divisions, these managers can gather content for website updates on their own divisions, and can update the website even as little as once every other month. And if you don’t have divisions, then form a team of employees who are responsible for gathering new content for different parts of the company. If you have two or three divisions, this means that your website is getting updated at least once a month.

• Appoint a “Team Leader” — However you organize this “team,” it’s a good idea to appoint a team leader.  This person will not only be there to gently remind the other content authors about upcoming deadlines, but can also make sure that duplicate information isn’t getting posted, and that the website still remains consistent.

• Set Target Dates– It’s not necessary to add new content everyday, updating your website every month, or every other month, is sufficient. But…

One important note about changing your web site: Don’t “throw out the baby with the bathwater.” Keep your style whenever possible.  Imagine it from the customer’s point of view; if your web site is constantly changing style and colors, it won’t be recognizable. And the potential customer who is searching the web, who is looking for the “trademark look” of your company, won’t be able to find it easily. Make sure your brand is the “voice” of your company.

Power to the people

All the steps above are great, but how does the new content get posted? Do all your changes have to wait on one person with special software before they make it on your web site?  If so, your website is stuck in the past.  Now, there’s a better, faster way, and we can show you how it works.

With a fancy new website, we can give your people the power to make their own website updates. That means your web site stays fresh, your people are empowered and happy, search engines love you and all is right with the world.  Now who wouldn’t want that?

E-mail newsletters offer many benefits beyond a printed form, and can be easily segmented to reach out to different audiences including:

• current customers
• past customers
• prospects
• vendors
• sales reps
• current and potential employees

To get the most from any e-mail campaign, you’ll need to do some homework.

6 basic steps to planning your e-mail marketing campaign:

It’s all about the list!

Before you start to think about what you want your e-mail to say, or how you want it to look, you need to think about who you’re going to send it to…

Collecting data should be an ongoing process and you need to collect as much subscriber data as possible from every touch-point.  List acquisition is just the beginning.  If you follow list acquisition best practices (build your own list, ask for permission, validate addresses with a welcome message, etc.), you’ll have the right data that you need to begin a conversation with each subscriber.  But that’s only the first step in good list practices.

Once you have your list, don’t stop there. List hygiene is critical.  To get the most from any list you should have an ongoing process for:

• correcting misspellings
• managing bounces
• removing invalid addresses
• auditing and segmenting

Create an Editorial Calendar.

Marketing is all about consistency, and that includes e-mail marketing. All too often, companies will launch their first e-mail without a follow up plan.

Take the time to map out what you’re going to say, when you’re going to say it and to whom. Then spread the writing assignments around the office, that way all the work doesn’t fall on one person.

Make it Relevant.

It’s time to remove the phrase “e-mail blast” from your vocabulary.  Nothing kills your audience faster than sending unwelcome, uninteresting, and unneeded e-mails to your subscribers so stop blasting out the same message to everyone on your list!

Instead of trying to come up with a generic message that appeals to everyone, or, gasp, sending a message out to your whole list whether the information is relevant or not, take a few minutes to segment your list.  Profiling doesn’t have to be complex. Even simple segmentation works well.

Design It.

When planning your e-mail strategy, there are several design factors that you must consider as design effects deliverability, usability, and conversion.

Be sure that you use a designer who is familiar with the differences between e-mail marketing and web design.  E-mail has a completely different set of rules and errors in the code may cause your e-mails to render incorrectly.  It’s also important to be aware of the differences of each e-mail client.  Your e-mail might look fabulous in Outlook but horrible in Gmail.

Calls to Action.

This one is for those of you who are new to e-mail marketing.  Important messaging and calls-to-action must be kept above the fold, or in the top 300 pixels of the e-mail.  If these items are lower, they might not be visible without scrolling.  Your calls-to-action should be clear, concise, and quick.  “Download Now” might work better than “Click here to download more information.”

Also, your calls-to-action should link to specific, targeted landing pages.  If someone clicks on a button in your message expecting to download a white paper, they shouldn’t land on your homepage.  People don’t have time to search for the information on your site so if you’re not taking them to the right place, you’ll lose them.

Statistics.

Now that your e-mail message has been launched, you can sit back, relax and watch the stats roll in!

Reporting and tracking subscriber data is generally handled through your ESP.

Be sure to track the metrics that matter (click-through, conversion, etc.), as it will help you figure out the ROI for your campaigns and you’ll know the value of each subscriber.
Need more help? Call us, we love this stuff.

1. Create an idea library
   • When you see promotional materials that catch your eye, save them for reference.
   • Figure out why you prefer some pieces to others and repeat these positive characteristics in your materials.
2. Use design elements consistently
   • Your readers should be able to identify where the piece is from, even if your company name is not on it.
   • Stick to a few consistent design elements—logo, typefaces, graphics and colors—on all your materials.
3. Focus on the reader
   • Put yourself in their position and ask “Why should I care?”
   • Give readers practical information they can use.
4. Use white space effectively
   • White space is the empty space in your promotional piece. It is your friend.
   • Too much information — jammed into every available space — will confuse and overwhelm your readers.
5. With Design… less is often more
   • If your materials are too busy, your readers will struggle to find your message.
   • A simple, clean, organized layout makes your materials look professional and have more impact.
6. Give people a reason to respond
   • Coupons, special offers, promotional pricing… experiment with different offers to see what your target market responds to.

Here are a few tips that will not only help you gather testimonials, but will also teach you how to weed out the most useful ones!

1. Use your “thank you’s”. If a customer sends you a glowing letter, immediately ask for permission to use what they’ve said as a testimonial.
   • Most clients probably aren’t sitting at home, wondering how to send you praise about your service, so get proactive. Send a letter to clients who are happy with your service asking for their opinion of your business.
2. Ask for feedback. Make sure to state that constructive feedback on how to improve your services are also welcomed. By not asking for a testimonial, you’re showing that you’re eager to please your clients and willing to make changes to do so.
3. Offer a promotion. Consider offering a discount or special promotion for those who respond to your request for feedback.
4. Use their own words. Ask your clients to write the testimonial themselves. Writing something and having them sign it will usually sound unbelievable. But the clients own words show sincerity.
   • Don’t try to polish the customer’s words so it sounds like professional ad copy. Testimonials are usually much more convincing when they are not edited for style. Writing your own testimonials sounds phony and will hurt your credibility.
5. Longer is better. A few short words sound too generic and may even sound like they’ve been edited to take out unflattering info. A few sentences are enough to be clear but not so overwhelming that no one wants to read them.
6. Look for specifics. “We love your product,” could refer to nearly any business but “Your service techs quickly fixed our network problems. Jim even showed us to prevent problems!” personalizes what your business can do.
7. Attribute the testimonial to a real person. “Sally T. of Raleigh” doesn’t sound as believable as Sally Thomas, Office Manager for Thomas Insurance of Raleigh. “Sally T.” sounds like she’s trying to remain anonymous.
8. Get permission! Make sure you also explain you want to use their full name and business name.
9. Keep asking…Request testimonials directly on your web site or include a line in outgoing emails.
10. Return the favor. Offer to write testimonials for other companies you do business with in return for testimonials written for your company. In your praise to them, it’s easy to also promote your own business.

If your marketing needs attention, call FatCat Strategies, we can help.