A Tolkienian formula to writing case studies that convert

07/11/2012 By 7 Comments

This post is second in the series of posts dealing with content marketing collaterals and conversion. This first post about landing pages is here

LOTR case study that convertsLove a good yarn? Of course you do. You are human.

Stories are the best way to grab people’s attention, whether they are your neighbors or enterprise technology buyers.

And when it comes to stories, JRR Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings ranks up there amongst the best.

When you are using content marketing to reach out to your ideal clients, no collateral can match the effectiveness of a crisply written story, also known as case study, in persuading them to begin the sales conversation with you.

That’s why a good case study (or a customer success story) is worth its weight in gold. The Eccolo Media 2011 B2B Technology Collateral Survey Report found out that 68% of the respondents- the highest- considered case studies to be extremely influential in providing purchase information.

[Read more...]

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Bent out of shape because of low B2B website conversion rates? A fix is in

24/10/2012 By 8 Comments

broken navigation on B2B websiteEver met a guy who said, “Man, I love sitting in the middle of a traffic jam. It’s just so…relaxing” ?

If yes, he would also say, “I love spending 30 minutes on a B2B website to get product information. Those sites that give me the same info in 3 minutes are stupid.”

Traffic snarls cost the global economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year in wasted fuel and lost time.

Poorly designed websites similarly  are huge revenue sucks (a faulty button on the website of an online retailer cost them $300 million per year in lost sales).

But if everything goes according to plan, there are chances that the traffic problem can be solved.

Software that can create real time traffic flow maps using data from GPS sensors and accelerometers embedded in most smartphones is now being deployed in some cities to keep traffic moving constantly and even solve the problem of neglected potholes. It’s a fascinating example of Big Data and crowdsourcing in action.

But what of the problem of navigating through poorly designed sites that are failing to convert prospects to clients?

Contrary to what you might think, it’s not limited to getting a snazzy new logo or a better tagline.

[Read more...]

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Why (B2B Landing Page) conversion is like the TARDIS

26/09/2012 By 4 Comments

This is a first in a series of posts about improving conversion rates for different types of content on a typical website. Check out the post about case studies.

tardis landing page conversionThe TARDIS is a ship used by Doctor Who, an alien, to travel through time and space. From the outside the TARDIS looks like a phone box, while on the inside it has the square area of a mansion.

What does it have to do with website conversion?

Conversion rate optimization, on the surface is about increasing the click through on call to actions on a site. But dive deeper and the whole subject starts looking like a tapestry with strands of marketing psychology, design, copywriting and other stuff woven in.

Let’s talk about conversion rate optimization for landing pages today. [Read more...]

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Site audits- just what the Doctor ordered for an underperforming website

04/09/2012 By 5 Comments

Site Audit- Doctor WhoAudit.

That’s a pretty un-sexy word, and it reminds you of accountants, the tax department, endless paperwork and plenty of hassle.

Relax!

I am talking about an entirely different kind of audit that you will actually look forward to.

This one does not involve a government department or accountants.

You don’t need to get involved in it, save for answering some highly targeted questions about your business goals.

And best of all, you get a solid plan that can improve your site and help you properly sell yourself.

I am talking about a site audit. [Read more...]

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Why short B2B copy can turn prospects into runaway brides

02/08/2012 By 14 Comments

self sabotage in B2BHi B2B marketer, can you spare a moment to answer a few questions?

Do you enjoy betting against yourself?

Do you want to make the hard job of converting skeptical prospects to clients even harder?

Are you okay with plateauing or even declining revenues and profits?

If you answered YES to even one of these questions, please use short copy to make your case.

But if you want to move the conversation closer to getting a prospect to talk with you face to face you will have to use persuasive content to make your case.

And 8 times out of 10 that involves using long copy.

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11 reasons your B2B technology whitepapers are broken

19/07/2012 By 3 Comments

why are whitepapers broken?If you are a B2B company and you don’t use whitepapers in your marketing mix you will get your clock cleaned by the competition.

Study after study over the years has consistently shown that whitepapers are one of the most influential marketing collaterals ever.

In fact, the only thing that can beat them in influence is positive word of mouth or personal recommendations.

According to the Eccolo Media 2011 B2B Technology Collateral Survey Report

  • 62% of the respondents read whitepapers, second only from product brochures and beating other collateral like case studies.
  • 65% considered whitepapers to be very or extremely influential in purchase decisions, the highest for any content collateral.

This quote from the survey captures, in a nutshell, what exactly is it about whitepapers and B2B technology marketing [Read more...]

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The Secret Words That Keep Your Prospect Reading!

07/07/2012 By Leave a Comment

Secret words in copywritingThe secret of great copy is pretty simple.

If you can connect emotionally with your ideal reader and write a sentence that builds upon the preceding one as effortlessly as water rolling off a duck’s back you have done your job,

For B2B copywriters and content marketers  getting this skill right is even more important. Your copy is meant to persuade people to do something that hopefully ends with a substantial amount of money changing hands.

For this reason I have always believed that studying direct marketing sales letters  is one of the best ways to write great B2B copy.

DM copywriters can’t use anything other than words to convert readers. So they pull out all stops and use everything from a catchy headline that grabs readers by the throat, a lead that sucks them in, body copy that makes them nod their head in agreement and a finely crafted close backed by rock solid guarantees that has them whipping out their credit cards.

[Read more...]

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