What is your 5%?

We’re working with a client who is launching his book at the end of April and I’ve been privileged to have beta read the book.  It’s about a huge adventure and highlights the amount of planning that is required for even a relatively short-term undertaking.

One of the messages that was clear was that even a 1% improvement can make a significant difference.  It reminded me of some learning I acquired during a business course I did some years ago.  The focus was ‘how do I grow my business?’  The answer was:

• Increase your prices by 5%
• Increase your customer base by 5%
• Increase your spend per customer by 5%

5% is a small amount, but when you multiply this up, the result is surprising.  It’s not an overall increase of 5%, it compounds to become more. Over a year this can make a big difference.

So take that lesson and apply it in other areas.

• What would happen if you worked for 5% more hours a day?
• What would happen if you looked at your email 5% less of your time?
• What would happen if you used your mobile phone 5% less?
• What would happen if you stopped working for 5% of the customers that are least productive?
• What would happen if your staff were 5% more effective?

I’m sure you can come up with your own 5%s - what could you do to improve your business?  It may take short-term investment of time, effort or even money - but the long-term improvement could be transformational.

Do you want more of the same old thing - or are you ready for a positive change?

Yum, yum - another video!

People talk about video consumption - we’re consumers of video - and, it seems, we’re addicted!  Do you go on YouTube to check something out and lose an hour or more watching entertaining or interesting video - and you still haven’t finished your to do list for the day?

There’s that subconscious knowledge that, if we don’t watch it now, we’ll probably forget it exists in ten minutes time - let alone come back later to watch it (good luck with finding it without a link).  It’s FOMO.

What makes us watch the videos that YouTube serves up?

Well, apart from the fact that their algorithm works out what we like if we’re logged in when we watch anything, and will serve up similar stuff, it’s whether it looks interesting/entertaining.

That means the thumbnail that shows up needs to tell us what to expect.  If it’s just the first still from the video that may not be the case, so it’s important to create a thumbnail that gives a title and a short overview - and perhaps an image from the video that is quirky, interesting, funny or enlightening.

Did you know …

If you don’t watch a video to the end (or at least a substantial portion of the actual video), 

YouTube doesn’t count it as a view?

Do your videos show up in searches?

People use YouTube like a search engine - the difference being that they don’t then leave the site - they stay on it and keep watching more videos.  That means your videos need to be optimised for your key phrase:

• In the title
• In the tags
• In the description

Pick ONE key phrase (use answerthepublic.com for inspiration) and integrate it into your title, in the meta tags on your MP4 file and in the description that you enter when you upload the video. 

When it’s uploaded add an overview below it and pin it to the top of the comments. 

TIP: put the video title between asterisks and it will save as bold text.

When you’ve uploaded it:

• Watch it to the end
• Add a comment
• Like the video
• Like the comment

This all adds to the optimisation and helps your video to turn up towards the top of the searches for your key phrase.

Give them more

When someone has chosen to watch one of your videos, it’s a good idea to give them some more.  This is where cards come into play.  You can add a card to suggest another of your videos to an existing video.  This gives people who are interested in your kind of information more of the same kind of videos.

It’s an easy way to get more views.

So, how delicious are your videos?  Are they getting plenty of consumption?

The long and the short of it

Emails come in many different shapes and sizes - but what works best?

That’s a loaded question!  There are plenty of marketers who will tell you that long copy works - even though your personal view doesn’t support that.  Do you hate reading those long emails with carrots dangled almost at the end of every paragraph?  Yes, me too.

However, I do read some long emails - as long as I find the experience enjoyable.

Does that mean you need to find a way to write compelling long emails?  Not at all.

It depends on what the purpose of your email is.

It’s all in the headline

The first challenge for any email marketer is to get people to open the email so your first headline needs to be the subject line.  This is the ‘open me’ part - that subject line needs to capture the receiver’s attention and interest or intrigue them enough to click and open it.

However, it’s not the only headline you need.  There’s a second headline that comes at the top of the email that gives the reader more reason to actually read on.

Peter Thomson advises that this second headline should tell people who it’s for and what’s in it for them.  So the second headline can be quite long and might be something like:

How small business owners can get 5 times more leads in half the time

Or 

Are you a dentist who wants to build your private practice by 30%?

Or

The solution every coach needs to keep new clients coming all year round.

You get the idea.  This tells people that the message is for them and why they will benefit from reading on.

If your headline is on target, the rest of the email can be as long as it needs to be to elaborate on and explain the information in more detail.

Action stations

Not every email is to sell.  If the person you’re sending it to has already bought something, an email campaign may be intended to add value and enhance your reputation and memorability.

It may be that the person has signed up to your list via downloading of your lead magnet and you want to ensure they get maximum value.  Your email campaign may contain reminders to read and use the information in their original download - and also additional information of value.  If you’re smart you’ll also offer additional ‘paid-for’ value too - but the primary content will be more value-based.

If you’re promoting a product then a clear call to action is important, but try to add value too.  Companies like B&Q and HomeServe send out emails containing links to useful blogs full of tips and value, while also promoting whatever their current offer is at the same time.

This kind of value/promotion means fewer people will unsubscribe as they see the value - even if they’re not ready to buy right now.

This isn’t an opportunity to put a very long article - you can tease the value material and send people to your website to read the full article.  A one paragraph tip is often enough to add value and create that feeling of reciprocity in the reader.

Long or short?

My advice is to say what you have to say and then stop.  Don’t pad out your email with excess verbiage.  If you can say it in three lines - do.  Your reader will thank you for it - the rule of good writing is to keep it short and simple!

Are you getting the right leads?

Lead generation is the lifeblood of your business, whether it’s finding new customers who have not heard of you before, warming up your network or developing advocates who will recommend you.

There’s more to finding clients or customers than simply posting a few notices on social media.  To get the right leads you need the right strategies.

Take a step back from there - to get the right leads, you need to know what the ‘right lead’ actually looks like.  

• What kind of company - size, turnover, number of staff, industry?
• What kind of problems do they have and how can you solve them?
• What is the decision maker like - what are their drivers?

You may end up with more than one profile - one of our clients has four!  But each profile needs a strategy to educate and influence them.  That doesn’t mean you’re running separate sets of social media, blogs, newsletters, etc., but it does mean that your activities need to feature the content that will interest, attract and entertain that audience, in the right places.

Your lead generation system

Many people think a free digital document will bring in lots of potential clients - but don’t think past that.  A great lead magnet may get you lots of interest and help to educate and influence some of the people who download it.  But did you tailor your free document to your target market’s needs or is it just a general document with some tips or advice that’s fairly generic?

Your lead magnet should be highly targeted, addressing the specific needs of your ideal client.  The purpose is to get people to self-identify as potential clients and downloading a highly targeted lead magnet will do that.   Basically, they’re putting their hand up and saying ‘I need this kind of help’.

That doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy, but at least they have a demonstrated need and, if you keep delivering value to them, when they’re ready to buy, you’ll be right at the top of their list.

The lead magnet is only the first step.  It needs following up with a nurturing process - usually a set of automated emails.  

But it also needs promoting so people know it’s there - get the news out via your social media posts, newsletters and don’t forget to add the link to your email signature as well as on your website home page.  Don’t hope to grow an effective lead magnet by just having a form on your website or creating a landing page and hoping people will find it.

Show off your knowledge and skills

You do this by education - in other words demonstrate your knowledge on social media, blogs, in your newsletters, on YouTube or with a podcast.  

Get your knowledge out where your target clients are looking in the press, broadcast media and by guesting on other people’s podcasts or YouTube channels. 

The more people hear/see you talking knowledgeably about your core subjects, the more they will rate you as an expert.

Strategy before tactics

First the goals - what you want to achieve, then the plan and finally action.  Get your ducks in a row and it will all fall neatly into place.  No goals, no plan, just lots of action will get you poor results!