Starting and growing a small business is a journey filled with excitement and challenges. It's a path that presents both opportunities and obstacles, but with the right strategies in place, your chances of success can be significantly enhanced. In this article, I will explore five crucial strategies that every small business entrepreneur should consider. These insights are not just based on my own experiences but also draw from the collective wisdom of successful entrepreneurs who have navigated the intricate world of business ownership. Reinvest every dollar back into your business. Starting a business is an endeavor fueled by passion, and it's easy to be tempted by the allure of personal indulgence. The siren call of designer items, luxurious vacations and high-end vehicles can be hard to resist, especially when you begin to see success. I, too, fell into this trap early in my business journey. While these experiences were undeniably enjoyable, they redirected funds away from vital opportunities for business growth. In hindsight, I've seen many successful business owners reflect on similar early extravagances with regret. The lesson here is crystal clear: Reinvest every dollar back into your business to nurture its growth and ensure its sustainability. Minimize overhead costs. During the initial years of your business, it is critical to keep overhead costs to a minimum. This means steering clear of unnecessary expenses, such as leasing a spacious office or hiring full-time salaried employees. Consider alternative approaches, such as working from a home office or outsourcing fractional services. For me, I worked from home for the first three years and transitioned to a dedicated office only when the business had ample cash flow to weather economic downturns. Outsourcing offers the flexibility and cost-effectiveness needed to access specialized skills without the commitment of full-time staff. Personally, I've benefited from the expertise of virtual assistants who managed appointment setting, dispatching and daily operations of the company. By minimizing overhead, you can allocate more resources to your core business activities and remain adaptable to changing market conditions. Emphasize direct marketing over branding. In the early stages of your business, establishing a robust brand presence is a natural aspiration. However, expensive endeavors like TV, radio and billboards may not yield immediate returns on your investment. Instead, consider focusing on direct marketing strategies that enable you to connect directly with potential customers. These strategies can include door-to-door sales, targeted mailers and digital marketing techniques such as email campaigns and social media marketing. For example, at my company, we implemented a door-to-door sales system in our early years, successfully achieving millions of dollars in revenue purely through these efforts. Direct marketing approaches are often cost-effective and can yield quicker returns on investment compared to traditional branding efforts. As your business matures, you can allocate resources to branding initiatives. Implement a pay-for-performance model. When building your team, consider implementing a pay-for-performance model. This involves compensating your employees, including salespeople, marketers and technicians, based on their actual contributions to the company's success. Offer a base salary to cover their basic needs and incentivize them with commissions or bonuses for achieving specific goals and targets. I personally employ a flat commission percentage based on gross sales and offer additional bonuses for every IAQ (indoor air quality) product sold and for every self-generated lead. This approach can align the interests of your team members with the growth of your business. It rewards individuals for their efforts and can foster a results-driven work culture. Moreover, paying for performance can help you manage costs effectively, as you only compensate employees when they deliver tangible value to your business. Prioritize customer satisfaction and feedback. Happy customers are the lifeblood of any successful business. Make customer satisfaction a top priority by actively seeking feedback and addressing concerns promptly. Implement customer feedback surveys, conduct follow-up calls and encourage online reviews and testimonials. Show your customers that you value their opinions and are committed to delivering quality service. In our company, we aim to secure at least one referral for every three new customers, illustrating the importance of customer satisfaction in driving growth through word-of-mouth referrals. Conclusion As a small business entrepreneur, your journey to success is a voyage filled with challenges and opportunities. By embracing these five key strategies—reinvesting in your business, minimizing overhead, focusing on direct marketing, implementing a pay-for-performance model and prioritizing customer satisfaction and feedback—you can position your business for sustainable growth and long-term success. Remember that the choices you make today can have a significant impact on your business's future, so make them wisely and with a clear focus on your business's goals. Source: https://www.forbes.com Image Credit: GETTY
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A Business Development Manager (BDM) is crucial in steering a company towards growth and success. They are the linchpins in expanding business territories, forging strong partnerships, and unlocking new avenues for revenue. Finding how to hire the right business developer is crucial for any business looking to thrive in today’s competitive market. The Role of Business Development Managers Business Development Managers are the catalysts of growth in a business setting. Their significance lies in:
Traits of a Successful Business Development Manager The effectiveness of a BDM is often reflected in their traits. Key attributes include:
Drafting an Effective Business Development Manager Job Description A well-crafted job description is crucial in attracting the right business development people. It should include a clear role definition, qualifications and skills, company culture fit, and expectations for success. For guidance on creating a comprehensive business development job description, refer to industry-standard formats and examples.
Lead Generation and Collaboration with Sales Team The synergy between lead generation and sales is vital. Here’s how it works:
Trends and Market Analysis Staying ahead in business often means staying informed. BDMs contribute by:
How to Hire a Business Developer: A Step-by-Step Guide This step-by-step guide will walk you through the process, ensuring you find successful professionals who not only fit the role but also align with your company’s values and goals. Finding The Right Business Development Manager To locate top-tier business development talent, consider the following strategies:
Interviewing Business Development Candidates An effective business development role interview process is key to identifying the best candidate. Focus on past achievements, strategy formulation, relationship-building skills, and scenario-based questions. Incorporate interview questions to ask candidates that will reveal their strategic thinking and business acumen.
Verifying Past Successes and Achievements As you seek to hire a business development manager, it is crucial to validate the candidate’s successes. Here’s how: Reference checks, review of portfolios or case studies, and background checks are essential. In case of an unsuccessful candidate match, ensure to send out a professional interview rejection letter.
Integrating Your New Business Development Manager into the Team Seamless integration into your team is essential for successful onboarding. Introduction to team dynamics, strategy briefing, and mentorship programs are crucial. Implement onboarding best practices to ensure a smooth transition and quick acclimatization for the new manager.
A financial controller plays a critical role in building and leading a strong accounting team, which may include building a team with contractors and freelancers for added flexibility and expertise. Continuous Training and Skill Enhancement Continuous development is key to staying competitive. Regular business development training programs, market understanding, feedback, and performance reviews are crucial. Employ a training plan template to structure ongoing learning and development activities.
By following these steps, you can ensure a thorough and effective process for hiring a Business Development Manager. Remember, the right business development candidate is not just about skills and experience; it’s also about finding someone who resonates with your company’s vision and culture. FAQs: How to Hire a Business Developer When would a business hire a business development manager? A business typically hires a Business Development Manager when it’s looking to expand its market reach, explore new opportunities, or increase revenue. This is often during periods of growth, when entering new markets, or when trying to improve the company’s competitive position. What’s the difference between a business consultant and a business development manager? A Business Consultant generally offers expert advice on specific areas for a short-term period, focusing on solving particular problems or improving certain processes. In contrast, a Business Development Manager is a permanent role focused on long-term growth strategies, developing new business opportunities, and building client relationships. How does a business strategy influence the role of a business development manager? The business strategy sets the direction and goals for a company. A Business Development Manager aligns their activities and focus with this strategy. They identify and pursue opportunities that are in line with the company’s objectives, ensuring their efforts support the overarching goals of the business. How do business development managers use sales tools? Business Development Managers use tools to track and manage client interactions, analyze market data, and strategize their approach to lead generation and relationship building. These tools help them streamline processes, maintain client databases, and efficiently manage their pipeline of prospects and opportunities. Why is collaboration between the business development and sales team important? Collaboration between the business development and sales teams is crucial because it ensures a unified approach to market expansion and customer acquisition. While business development focuses on creating long-term value through relationships, networks, and strategic partnerships, the sales unit concentrates on converting these opportunities into actual sales. Effective collaboration leads to a cohesive strategy, better customer experience, and ultimately, increased revenue. Source: https://smallbiztrends.com
Email marketing can best be described as a marketing strategy that uses emails to generate measurable returns for your business. This differs in a few ways from a typical email you might send to a relative or coworker. First, a marketing email is sent to either a current or prospective customer. Second, while personal emails are often just relaying information, the goal of a marketing email is always to drive business-benefiting action. This is achieved through delivering value to your readers, often in the form of engaging content, coupons, and exclusive offers. Finally, while you may send out a personal email and move on immediately, marketing emails should be measured to see if readers are opening them and taking action. Why email marketing is the way to go Studies show that email marketing continues to outperform other digital marketing channels including social media and paid search. And with an average return of $36 for every dollar spent, investing in email marketing can have some serious payoffs. Email marketing has several advantages over traditional marketing channels, including:
Additionally, email marketing is relatively cheap. Whether you do it yourself, or through an email marketing provider, marketing to hundreds of customers via email is going to cost you peanuts compared to other channels of advertising. You can send targeted emails based on what you know about your customers – such as likes, dislikes, content preferences, age, location, and buying patterns. Consider this: according to a 2019 Radicati Group study, there will be more than 4.3 billion email users by the end of 2023, over 100 million more than the previous year. In other words, over half of the people on this planet use email right now. That sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But, think about it. Whenever you register with a new website or sign up for an account, you need to have an email address. Yes, it’s true you can log in with a social media account like Facebook, but you still need to have an email address to sign up for Facebook. Email is still the dominant form of communication and smart businesses are using email every day to turn prospects into customers. What’s more, email results are easy to measure. Constant Contact customers have real-time access to metrics like open rates, clicks, bounces, forwards, social shares and more. Eight things you need to know before getting started with email marketing: 1. Choose an email marketing service provider If you’re serious about email marketing, you need to work with an email marketing service provider. Working with a provider is the only way your business can leverage email marketing to effectively deliver messages to large groups of contacts or subscribers. You’ll also benefit from professional email templates, automation tools to help you expand, easy ways to manage and grow your email list, and tracking features that show you how customers are responding to your emails. 2. Gather contacts for your email marketing list Most businesses have some existing contacts when they start a mailing list. Think of the customers and people with whom you already have a business relationship. Maybe they’re contacts you email on a regular basis, or you could simply start with a few supportive friends and family members. Even if you’re building an email list completely from scratch, don’t get discouraged. Start by putting a paper sign-up sheet near your register, adding an online sign-up form to your website, and encouraging your social media followers and loyal customers to sign up. Whatever you do, don’t purchase an email list. Email marketing management is all about building and nurturing relationships; connecting with a smaller list of quality contacts is more impactful than blasting out emails to contacts that don’t even know your business. 3. Set up your welcome email The first email a new subscriber should receive is the welcome email. These are extremely important, for they set the tone of your entire email campaign. If your welcome emails don’t resonate with your audience, there’s a good chance that they’ll click the unsubscribe button. Therefore, you must get this right if you want to retain your subscribers and turn them into paying customers. Once set up, your welcome email sends to all new contacts, automatically. 4. Write persuasive messages This tends to be one of the scariest steps for business owners. You don’t want to sound too salesy or push too hard to get potential customers to buy your products, but at the same time, you want to convert them into paying customers. When thinking of email marketing campaign ideas, it helps to follow a repeatable process and break your message down into three important sections:
This simple three-step formula helps you stay focused so that you can write more effective messages. 5. Use personalization in subject lines The subject line of your email is one of the first impressions someone gets from your brand, especially when you’re sending them an email for the first time. Using what you already know about the customer in your favor should be your first priority while sending email marketing campaigns. Your subject line should be short and snappy — around 40 characters. You can draw attention by asking a compelling question, including a deadline for urgency, or just teasing your message. 6. Focus on customers, not your products Ever received a marketing email from your favorite brand that talks about multiple products available on their website, except none of them interest you? Yeah, that can get a little annoying. An email that’s cluttered with products that hold no relevance to the customer will cause them to lose interest in your email and maybe unsubscribe if it happens multiple times. When you’re dividing your readers into segments, make sure to remember at what stage of their customer lifecycle/purchasing cycle they’re at, as in whether they’re a new customer or someone who’s left something behind in their cart. A little extra effort when segmenting emails can go a long way. 7. Preview and test before you send You’ve spent hours creating the perfect copy and creative for the big anniversary sale for your business. As you hit send, you realize the promo code on the main banner is wrong. Uh oh! Not only have you lost potential customers, but you'll likely infuriate existing customers too. Similarly, if a link you’ve included in the email leads your readers to the wrong landing page on your website, or if it’s broken, customers may not want to do business with you. Make sure you check all the links and promo codes by sending a test email. Include multiple people from your team so they can check on them as well. 8. Track your results Email marketing doesn’t end with a send. You will want to track your open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribe rates, etc. and work to improve over time. You need to know which metrics will help you create a perfect email marketing strategy. These aren’t the only indicators of optimal email performance, but they’re a good start. Remember to A/B test different emails with different segments to see what works and what doesn’t. Learning from these metrics can further help you define your goals and answer some important questions – “Are customers opening my emails, are they clicking, and do they care at all?” Knowing what works and what doesn’t help you save time, effort, and money. How does email marketing benefit my business? One of the top benefits of email marketing is that it allows you to keep in touch with your customers on a consistent basis. Be it a simple, “Thank you for subscribing,” a cheery, “Welcome on board,” or a sincere Happy Birthday email is the easiest and most effective way to let your customers know you value them. Customers love it when a business treats them as an individual, not just like everyone else. That value should show in the emails you send, and the more value you provide to your customers, the more they’ll look forward to hearing from you. When that happens, it’s easier to get them to engage with your call to action. Key benefits of building a solid email marketing strategy: 1. Boost engagement & loyalty Emails triggered based on user actions have a better chance of getting a response than standard email campaigns. Whether your user is extending their subscription or buying a new product, you can leverage email drip campaigns to engage customers during the renewal or new purchase process. Whenever a user leaves an unpurchased product in their cart, use email automation to follow up and let them know that the product is still available for purchase. Your drip emails have a pretty good chance of closing the sale. Abandoned cart emails average a 43.76% open rate, an 8.76% click-through rate, and a conversion rate of 10.7%. 2. Promote relevant content When you’re aware of where a customer fits into your email cycle, it’s easy to send them content that’ll interest them and keep them engaged. Email campaigns become especially handy when you’re running a small business and cannot give as much time and effort to every customer and lead. Try targeting user segments with drip marketing based on which aspects of your service they use most, or what kinds of content they find interesting. 3. Help in increasing brand awareness Email marketing is a great way to develop your brand identity because it gives you a direct line to the email inboxes of your customers or potential customers. Once you begin creating valuable content for the customer, you’ll have an edge over your competitors. You can even use your emails to get useful feedback. Are customers happy with the content you’re providing? Would they like to learn something different? Use a survey or start a discussion on social media. Once you get them involved in the process, you’ll know exactly how to provide valuable content in your emails. 4. Boost sales Email marketing offers a great opportunity for impulse buying. You can entice a customer to make another purchase in a few ways:
Customers often act on impulse when they get an email letting them know about a relevant product which is related to their previous purchase. This is especially true if there is a relevant promotion. Start sending your emails with confidence! Like most things, email marketing management can seem slightly daunting at first. Building an email marketing strategy that fits within your budget and doesn’t utilize too much time or too many resources can be a mountain that seems too high to scale with ease. Email marketing is by far the best channel to attract new customers and turn existing customers into loyal ones. With effective marketing ideas, you can engage and connect with your customers to drive repeat sales and a steady revenue stream for your business. Source: https://www.constantcontact.com
To be honest, sometimes I, too, forget that LinkedIn is a social media platform and ripe for social media marketing. Its personality is so different from TikTok or Facebook, so much more serious than them. LinkedIn is the professional’s social network. These days, many employers and applicants find themselves spending time on the platform, but it’s more than just a networking site for people on either side of the job search. Today, it is a potent tool for lead generation, networking, and advertising. With over 950 million users, LinkedIn serves as a vast marketplace for businesses to showcase their products, services, and brand values. It’s more important than ever for business professionals to learn how to develop a LinkedIn marketing strategy. The platform’s character is unique. As you develop a social media strategy for it, it’s important to keep in mind these LinkedIn marketing tips that leverage its particular strengths. Let’s get serious about the serious person’s social platform and create content that educates, engages, and entertains. The potential of LinkedIn in your marketing With LinkedIn, you can improve your business’s reach. For example, international brands might take advantage of a user base spanning more than 200 countries and territories. However, LinkedIn is smaller than other social media platforms such as those operated by Meta. LinkedIn’s real value proposition lies in its ability to connect you with a better-fitting niche audience, improving your lead generation and helping you build an engaged community. Major players in the following industries have made a LinkedIn social media strategy increasingly popular:
It’s more common for business-to-business (B2B) companies to have a LinkedIn marketing strategy than for business-to-consumer (B2C) brands, but the platform is ripe with potential for both types of marketing. Lead generation Grow your number of followers — and potential clients — by publishing high-quality content. Like other social media platforms, LinkedIn also offers opportunities for sponsored content, in which you can pay to promote your posts to a new audience. LinkedIn excels when it comes to ad-targeting options, the choices marketers have to narrow their chosen audience. It allows you to target people by detailed information about your prospects’ industries and professional roles. This ability particularly helps B2B brands who need to find leads within other businesses, but everyone can use it to reach their ideal customers more efficiently. Community and engagement Unsponsored content includes posts on company pages, personal profiles, and articles. Businesses use it to engage and connect with their audience without paying for promotion. LinkedIn’s users are highly engaged. In the United States, 69% of users check in on the platform daily, with a further 15% using it several times a week. These users aren’t simply scrolling through posts without paying attention. In 2022, the average rate of engagement per impression was 3.16%. That’s substantially higher than Instagram (0.6%), Facebook (0.15%), or X, formerly known as Twitter (0.05%). This high level of engagement translates into increased visibility and higher conversion rates. Not to mention, it’s always more satisfying to talk to people when you know they’re listening. Credibility LinkedIn lends itself to thought leadership and high-value industry content. Brands can use it to improve their reputation in a field. It’s also one of the most trusted social media platforms, indicating that users assign posts a higher level of authority. Use LinkedIn to show off your expertise. Publish all of that hard-won, niche-specific know-how you’ve acquired over the years to an audience capable of appreciating it. Key steps to kickstart your LinkedIn marketing strategy A successful LinkedIn strategy lets companies expand their digital footprint and drive growth. After signing up for the platform, it’s important to take the right steps to leverage its potential. Identify your marketing goals and objectives What do you hope to achieve through LinkedIn? A clear vision is crucial. Take the time to define SMART goals, objectives that are:
Think of it this way — it’s impossible to know whether you’ve won without knowing which game you were playing. There are many possible objectives for LinkedIn marketing. Increasing brand awareness on the channel Reach a larger audience and work toward widespread brand recognition. Get your name and content in front of a large, relevant audience. Build to higher levels of recognition, making viewers increasingly likely to connect your brand to your mission. Generating new leads One of the main goals of any marketing strategy is to attract potential customers. Focus on creating compelling content that encourages LinkedIn users to fill out a form or otherwise contact you. Driving website traffic Use LinkedIn to direct users to your website. Announce new or special offers and tease blog articles on LinkedIn with a description or excerpt that encourages readers to click on the link. Increasing engagement Marketing on LinkedIn can help you build brand loyalty and community. Generate conversations by inviting others to interact with your posts. Engage with their material, too, if relevant. Establishing thought leadership LinkedIn is a great platform to share insights and show expertise in your field. If you aim to establish thought leadership, consider publishing insightful articles or hosting webinars on your area of expertise. Define your target audience and ideal customers Once you know your own mind, a successful LinkedIn marketing strategy requires you to know the minds of your audience. Start by defining your ideal customer persona. Because this is a social networking platform for professionals, focus on professional attributes. What’s their job role? What industry do they work in? What are their interests? Once you have a clear picture, you can tailor your posts accordingly. LinkedIn post best practices include audience-focused content, content created to serve a particular audience’s needs and interests. Consider joining LinkedIn groups that align with your target market. These groups offer valuable insights into your audience’s pain points and interests. It’s an opportunity for you to engage directly with potential customers. As you continue to use the platform, pay attention to your audience demographics. Are you reaching the right people? If not, is the problem with your content strategy or your definition? If you choose to pay for advertising, you’ll also be able to segment and target based on audience profiles. Optimize your LinkedIn business profile for business success Make sure that your business profile is optimized as part of your LinkedIn business strategy. People will want to know exactly who you are and what you offer. Once you have the following elements in place, don’t set and forget your profile. Keep it updated as your business evolves. Craft a compelling headline and summary Your headline and summary are often the first things people see when they visit your LinkedIn profile. They should instantly communicate who you are and what you offer, enticing visitors to learn more. Your headline should clearly articulate your business’s core offering. For instance, if you run a digital marketing agency specializing in SEO, your headline could be “Providing Expert SEO Solutions for Growing Businesses.” Your summary allows you to expand on your headline, providing a deeper look into your business. Include details about your mission, values, and key service. Showcase your experience and expertise This is no place to be modest. Brag away! LinkedIn is the perfect platform to showcase your business’s experience and expertise. Detail past projects, successful campaigns, and major accomplishments. Utilize professional visuals Visuals can significantly enhance your LinkedIn profile. They make it more engaging and can illustrate your work in a way that words alone cannot. Keep all images highly professional in tone and appearance. Photographs should be polished and, ideally, relevant to your work. Include relevant keywords Including relevant keywords throughout your profile can increase your visibility in LinkedIn search results. Think about the terms potential clients might use when searching for businesses like yours, and incorporate these into your headline, summary, and experience sections. For example, a continuing education company might highlight education keywords like “professional development,” “adult education,” and “online learning.” Remember, keyword stuffing can make your profile seem spammy and may be penalized by LinkedIn’s search algorithm. Instead, aim for the natural integration of keywords into your profile content. Develop a content strategy that resonates How can you best provide value to your audience? Here are five actionable tips to help create a social media strategy for LinkedIn. Share valuable industry insights and tips Sharing industry insights and tips not only positions your brand as a thought leader but also provides value to your audience. For instance, if you’re a financial planner, you could share tips on best practices or insights into the latest market trends. Not sure what people want to learn? Take LinkedIn’s content suggestions tool for a spin. LinkedIn’s AI inspiration engine asks you for your industry, location, and seniority. Then, it delivers trending articles and topics of conversation for your target market. Create engaging visual content Visual content significantly increases LinkedIn engagement rates. Material with quality images attracts more comments, and it tends to make up more than half of a brand’s posts. LinkedIn often lends itself to educational content, and visuals also help your audience understand and retain key points. You can improve accessibility by accommodating multiple learning styles while enriching the experience for all. Don’t limit yourself to static images. LinkedIn is particularly popular with video marketers, with 79% of them publishing there. Share product demos, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage. Develop a video marketing strategy for the platform or incorporate it into your ongoing marketing efforts. Share success stories and case studies Sharing success stories and case studies allows you to demonstrate the impact of your product or service, providing potential customers with tangible evidence of what you can achieve. Use LinkedIn articles for in-depth content LinkedIn articles allow you to dive deeper into topics, offering your audience in-depth insights. It’s the best platform by far for longer, written pieces. Articles establish your expertise and keep your audience engaged with your brand. They’ll take some effort, though. The most-shared articles on LinkedIn are between 3,500 and 4,000 words. Popular content includes actionable self-help material and interviews with industry leaders. Build and nurture your LinkedIn network It really is a social platform. LinkedIn marketing strategy includes developing the social networks your brand needs to grow. You have the opportunity to find more than an audience here — you can find a community. Inclusivity and diversity LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to reach and connect with people that you wouldn’t otherwise encounter. A diverse network can provide a breadth of perspectives, ideas, and opportunities. Seek to connect with people from different industries, roles, and backgrounds. Their contributions will broaden your perspective. Inclusive networking leads to a broader range of potential sources for social media content curation. Content marketing is about finding the right material to share as well as creating your own. Go beyond announcing your brand values and embody them when you spotlight creators from often marginalized groups. Connecting with others Start by connecting with people and brands you already know, but you can also reach out to other professionals and influencers in your industry. You never know what could lead to the next valuable account or partnership. When sending a connection request, always include a personalized note explaining why you wish to connect. This increases the likelihood of your request being accepted and paves the way for a future relationship. Consistent engagement A key part of social media for beginners is learning how to listen and participate in the community. Like, comment on, and share your connections’ posts. You should also respond to comments, invite feedback, and participate in discussions. These actions show that you value your audience’s input. Leverage LinkedIn advertising and sponsored content LinkedIn advertising is growing. In 2022, the platform generated $5.91 billion in ad revenue, a number projected to increase to $10.35 billion by 2027. You can run advertising through the LinkedIn campaign manager, which allows you to choose your objective and define your audience. As I mentioned earlier, LinkedIn’s comprehensive targeting options make it easy for you to reach the right people based on demographics, job title, industry, company size, and more. You can also target current contacts with special promotions, ensuring that clients and prospects see a post. No matter how effective the targeting, the success of a paid LinkedIn marketing strategy largely depends on the quality of your content. Sponsored content should still create value, alerting people to special offers or encouraging them to take a look at potentially useful material. Measure, analyze, and refine your strategy The most effective marketing strategies are constantly a work in progress, informed by ongoing data collection and reassessment. Track key performance metrics (KPIs) Use social media tools to publish content and evaluate its performance.
The KPIs that best measure social media performance depend on your primary objective. For some business owners, it makes sense to focus on engagement rates, while others should look at impressions and page views as brand awareness metrics. You can measure lead generation through CTRs, conversion rates, and new connections or followers. Finally, engagement, shares, and time spent all point toward improved thought leadership and reputation. Analyze content engagement and reach Use metrics to refine content as well as strategy. Which pieces gain the most views, likes, and comments? Build on past successes by using them as a model for future content. Refine your strategy based on insights Once you’ve gathered all the necessary data, it’s time to dive deep into analyzing the insights gained. This analysis will help you identify patterns, trends, and areas for improvement. For example, if your data shows that blog posts with infographics are generating more engagement, consider incorporating more infographics into your content strategy. If your reach is low, explore new ways to promote your content and expand your audience. Finally, don’t be afraid to experiment. Try something new, or evaluate different posts with A/B tests. Develop your brand presence today and get started on LinkedIn A strong LinkedIn marketing strategy can be a powerful part of your digital marketing efforts. Establish yourself as an authority in your field and build the community that surrounds and includes your brand. But I’ve gone on long enough. LinkedIn marketing is about finding your voice. Remember — the first step is to determine your primary objective and target audience for the platform. Are you looking to expand your professional network, find new potential customers, build your reputation as an expert, or increase engagement within your brand community? Once you know this, define the likely characteristics of this audience and the type of content they will find valuable. How does this group match or differ from your audience on other channels or social networking sites? Let these visions guide all LinkedIn strategies for business. Once you have the necessary clarity, you can start working on your profile, connecting with people, and publishing content. Success on LinkedIn may not happen overnight, but the platform rewards time and dedication. So why wait? Get started today. Source: https://www.constantcontact.com Image Credit: LinkedIn
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