Rethinking Your Buyer Persona: Who is the Real Decision-Maker?

July 01, 2015 at 07:00PM

It’s commonly known that buyer personas are essential to any successful inbound marketing strategy. But, in the B2B industry there have been some interesting (and even seismic) shifts in the last two years, causing the need for the buyer personas you created even just six months ago to be re-evaluated and possibly redone. If your B2B inbound marketing strategy has not been as effective as you like, this could be the reason why.

The fact that 89% of B2B researchers are searching online for solutions is not groundbreaking news. What is newsworthy is who these investigators really are in 2015.

The Real Buyer Persona Is The Online Researcher

A common misconception by many B2B marketers is that they should target the final decision makers, or C-suite executives.

When identifying buyer personas, it is crucial to look not just at the top of the funnel, to the financial decision maker who will be saying yes to or approving the contract; but to the layers of influencers along the lead funnel, all of those involved in the buying or decision making process from the very beginning of the research and prospecting phase. Many companies make the mistake of identifying their buyers as only those at the top of the food chain. But is the CEO or CFO the actual person searching Google for solutions? The CEO may identify the challenge, but the research phase is most often someone else’s responsibility.

The reality is that a many of the oldest Millennials (those born from the early 1980s to early 2000s) are in their early 30s, and are now moving up in their careers, playing a bigger part in purchasing decisions. And, of course, while there are some very well-known C-Level Millennials at some of the biggest tech companies, the majority of top B2B executives are Gen X’ers and Boomers.

Just as the entire marketing industry has dramatically shifted in the last few years, so have those sitting in the decision making seat, and even more important to inbound marketers, the researcher’s seat.

The Millennial B2B Buyer

A study, The Changing Face of B2B Marketing, published in March 2015 by Google and Millward Brown Digital, revealed some interesting insights to which every B2B marketer must pay attention.

New Reality: Almost Half of all B2B Researchers are Millennials

Google noted that even just a few years ago, in 2012, the age demographics of B2B buyers were fairly evenly spread across generations. In 2014, that shifted by 70% with almost half of all B2B researchers falling into the 18-34-year-old category.

It’s no surprise that this age group automatically turns to digital channels for any information they might need, personally or professionally. Most Millennials hardly remember a world without the internet and technology as we know it, the majority having used email, search engines and cell phones for most of their lives (and certainly all of their professional careers). It’s how they are naturally inclined to think and act.

New Reality: Non C-Suite Researchers Influence B2B Purchase Decisions

Historically, B2B strategies have focused primarily on C-level executives, which is not as impactful today when connecting with B2B influencers and researchers. The Google study revealed, that while 64% of the C-suite have final say, so do 24% of non-C-level B2B professionals, and 81% of the non-C-suite has a say in purchase decisions.

So, if your B2B company is focused on marketing only to the CEOs and CFOs of the world, you’re likely missing a huge opportunity to be found by the most influential researchers who are seeking you out.

In her book Buyer Personas, Adele Revella, Founder of the Buyer Persona Institute, also discusses this very important topic. She reminds us that the top level executives are not likely involved in the details of how solutions were first discovered, evaluated and decided upon, and therefore are not the primary targets for buyer persona interviews in the development phase. Revella says:

“The more senior the buyer, the less likely that person will be to be able to provide important details about how the final outcome came to pass. Add this to the difficulty of scheduling any extended time with the senor C-Suite level executives, and you can see why we don’t often recommend that you interview the economic buyer.”

What Does It All Mean?

Businesses must have a deep understanding of their audience to create the right content for them, at the right time. B2B researchers and influencers are now proven to be much younger than previously thought, so you have to make sure you are giving them the content they want, where and when they need it.

Still stuck in the process of creating the right buyer personas? Download SPROUT Content's free guide to developing and using buyer personas to help fill your lead funnel with full, clear and helpful content that’s for the right people. 

 

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7 Important PR Lessons Every Content Marketer Needs to Learn

July 01, 2015 at 06:00PM

I tried to explain public relations to my grandmother once ...

This was many years ago, back when PR pros cut press coverage from publications we could actually hold in our hands, and few marketers talked about SEO in everyday conversation.

“So, it’s advertising,” she’d say, and I’d try again to explain that, no, it’s not.

“Advertising is about paying for attention; PR is about earning it.”

I don’t think she ever got it, and she’s not alone. Most people still think PR is some kind of black magic flacks work on the press -- you sprinkle a little witch’s potion, and TA-DA! You’re in The Wall Street Journal. But PR is a more strategic, sustained practice than that, and it’s a field content marketers need to understand as owned, earned and even paid media continue to intersect.

Below are seven PR lessons for content marketers (and for my relatives who still don’t understand what I do).

7 PR Lessons Every Content Marketer Needs to Learn 

What is PR?

If your impression of PR pros is influenced entirely by Publicist Samantha Jones from Sex and the City or Fixer Olivia Pope from Scandal, you probably think the whole industry is busy planning parties and solving national crises (while wearing really fabulous pantsuits). The reality is somewhat less exciting -- but it’s also much more relevant to content marketers.

PR is about getting a company in front of the right audiences at the right time, with messages that make its spokespeople sound like human beings, not marketing super bots.

Today, that effort has a lot to do with content creation and distribution. The press, analysts, bloggers, prospects, venture capitalists, and other influencers want compelling content. In real life, Samantha and Olivia would be spending much of their days drafting articles for contribution or creating premium content with a team of writers and graphic designers.

What do journalists want from external content creators?

Every publication that accepts contributed content has some kind of guidelines for what they’ll take, and most follow the same best practices content marketers do. Editors will ask you to draft articles that keep their audiences in mind, offer helpful guidance to readers, are compelling and easy to read, leave out the promotional stuff, and deliver something fresh that won’t be published anywhere else.

Sound familiar?

These are many of the same parameters content marketers follow everyday.

Are contributed articles the only content PR handles?

The short answer? Not by a long shot.

Strategic PR is about solving business problems, so if the business problem is, say, a lack of leads at the top of the funnel, content can be a big part of the response. Depending on the exact scenario and the resources, a full-service PR team might recommend publishing on various social media channels, launching a comprehensive blogging program, creating a push around premium content (such as an ebook or series of infographics), putting out an email newsletter, or even a combination of these tactics.

Whatever the recommendation, a PR team can explain the supporting assets and workflows that need to be in place, as well as measure the results to determine what’s working and what needs to shift.

Do PR and content marketing compete?

Content and inbound marketing evolved at a time when PR was evolving, too. Just as marketers started to embrace strategies for drawing target audiences to them instead of pushing messages out to the masses, PR was experiencing a shift driven in large part by the shrinking media landscape.

There are now fewer journalists typing away in newsrooms and reporting back from the field -- 20,000 fewer than in 2008, according to a count Gigaom put out last year before closing its own doors. But that doesn’t mean there’s less need for copy.

And while many web-based publications are eager to publish more material to attract readers (hello, inbound), editors are looking for expert content contributions. If an editor wants a 2,000 word article from your CEO on an industry issue, is that a PR request or a content marketing request? Or is that question completely dated in the integrated marketing era?

Is PR measurable?

Yes, and if anyone tells you differently, run in the opposite direction.

Just like content marketing, goal-based PR should provide tangible business results -- not just a list of press hits. The metrics marketers use to measure awareness, engagement, lead generation, investor interest, sales, and other goals are the same ones you can use to measure PR.

"Of course, your PR efforts are even more measurable when your website is well-equipped with lead generation forms, tracking tools, and automated follow-up systems that allow you to capture visitors and convert them into real prospects and customers," explains Rod Thomson, president of The Thomson Group, a Sarasota-based PR and messaging firm.

And while it can be challenging to sort through all of the information at hand, it helps to use questions to focus your analysis.

Are you getting mentioned in analyst reports? Are influencers talking about you on social media? Are readers clicking through to deeper content from your blog? Where are visitors going once they hit your landing pages? Are they converting? After a quarter, six months, or a year of PR efforts, how have you progressed toward your primary strategic business goal?

These are the kinds of questions PR pros should be able to answer about any campaign.

If PR and content marketing overlap so much, what’s the benefit to having both?

If you’re lucky enough (or smart enough) to have PR and content marketing experts on your team, you’re in great shape to influence targets everywhere -- from the media to analysts to website visitors to social media followers and beyond.

Your PR pros and content marketers can support each others’ activities, inspire each others’ creativity and keep messages coordinated to better support your overall strategic goals.

How can content marketing teams best align with PR? 

Content marketing and PR teams need to communicate.

If you’re promoting a new ebook, for example, your PR counterpart might be able to repurpose that asset for contributed content, social media outreach, influencer engagement, media pitches, and more. On the flip side, a successful media campaign should spark ideas for you about which messages are resonating, what prospects want, and how to incorporate that into future content creation.

These days, it’s my kids who are asking me to describe what I do for work. I have been much more successful in explaining it to them than I ever was back when I first entered PR and relatives asked me to define the industry.

To my daughters, I say, “I help companies tell stories people want to hear.” I imagine content marketers tell their families something similar, and that is a good thing for practitioners in both fields.

 

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7 Customer Loyalty Programs That Actually Add Value

July 01, 2015 at 02:00PM

Did you know it costs a business about 5-10X more to acquire a new customer than it does to sell to an existing one? Not only that, but on average, current customers spend 67% more than new customers. 

In light of statistics like these, businesses must think about what they are doing to keep their customers coming back to their business. And if you’re like 65% of marketers, your company has implemented a loyalty program.

To learn how to use customer loyalty programs for your business, download our free guide here.

But is your loyalty program working?

According to the 2015 Colloquy Customer Loyalty Census, American households hold memberships in an average of 29 loyalty programs, but are active (meaning earn or redeem at least one per year) in only 12 of them. Companies lose money on time and effort, and customers get no more value from the businesses to which they are "loyal."

So how do you keep your business out of that one-third segment? How do you convey enough additional value in your programs to keep your customers coming back?

It’s time for marketers to look beyond convoluted rewards systems and offer actual value to customers using their loyalty program. To get you started, here are some ideas for customer loyalty programs that might work for your business.

7 Customer Loyalty Program Ideas for Your Business

1) Use a simple point system.

This is the most common loyalty program methodology. Frequent customers earn points, which translate into some type of reward. Whether it’s a discount, a freebie, or special customer treatment, customers work toward a certain amount of points to redeem their reward.

Where many companies falter in this method, however, is making the relationship between points and tangible rewards complex and confusing.

"Fourteen points equals one dollar, and twenty dollars earns 50% off your next purchase in April!"

... that’s not rewarding, that’s a headache.

If you opt for a points-based loyalty program, keep the conversions simple and intuitive.

Although a points system is perhaps the most common form of loyalty programs, it isn't necessarily applicable to every business type. It works best for businesses that encourage frequent, short-term purchases, like Boloco.

Case Study: Boloco's Boloco Card

Boloco, an American restaurant chain known for its burritos, is an example of a company who does the points-based loyalty program well. Customers swipe their stylish Boloco Card at every purchase, and the card tracks the amount of money spent. Every $50 spent earns the customer a free item. It doesn't matter if that free item is a super jumbo burrito or an extra small smoothie: It's free once the customer records $50 on their card. Boloco speaks the language of its audience by measuring points in dollars, and rewards in food and drink items.

Source: Boloco

2) Use a tier system to reward initial loyalty and encourage more purchases.

Finding a balance between attainable and desirable rewards is a challenge for most companies designing loyalty programs. One way to combat this is to implement a tiered system which rewards initial loyalty and encourages more purchases.

Present small rewards as a base offering for being a part of the program, and then encourage repeat customers by increasing the value of the rewards as the customer moves up the loyalty ladder. This helps solve the problem of members forgetting about their points and never redeeming them because the time between purchase and gratification is too long.

The biggest difference between the points system and the tiered system is that customers extract short-term versus long-term value from the loyalty program. You may find tiered programs work better for high commitment, higher price-point businesses like airlines, hospitality businesses, or insurance companies.

Case Study: Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

In addition to earning miles, Virgin Atlantics' Flying Club allows members to earn tier points. The club inducts members at the Club Red tier, then bumps them up to Club Silver and then Club Gold.

• Club Red members earn miles on flights and get discounts on rental cars, airport parking, hotels, and holiday flights.
• Club Silver members earn 50% more points on flights and have access to expedited check-in and priority stand-by seating.
• Club Gold members get double miles, priority boarding, and access to exclusive clubhouses where they can grab a drink or get a massage before their flight.

Seem complicated? They created a comprehensive benefits table so customers can easily understand the extra benefits they'll receive as they move from Red to Silver to Gold. The key is to offer benefits in the early stages to hook the customer into coming back. Once they do, they’ll realize that "gold" status isn’t unattainable, and offers really cool benefits.

Source: Virgin Atlantic

3) Charge an upfront fee for VIP benefits.

Loyalty programs are meant to break down barriers between customers and your business ... so are we seriously telling you to charge them a fee? In some circumstances, a one-time (or annual) fee that lets customers bypass common purchase barriers is actually quite beneficial for both business and customer. By identifying the factors that may cause customers to leave, you can customize a fee-based loyalty program to address those specific obstacles.

According to a 2015 study of 500 leading global brands, cart abandonment rates reached 75.6% across retail, travel, and fashion. This abandonment is often caused by "sticker shock" after tax and shipping prices have been applied. Below, we'll take a look at Amazon, the ecommerce giant that's found a way to combat this issue using a loyalty program with an upfront fee.

This system is most applicable to businesses that thrive on frequent, repeat purchases. For an upfront fee, your customers are relieved of inconveniences that could impede future purchases. Amazon's mastered this for ecommerce, but this model also has potential to work for B2B businesses that deliver products to businesses on a regular basis.

Case Study: Amazon Prime

For $99 a year, Amazon Prime users get free, two-day shipping on millions of products with no minimum purchase, among other benefits.

Why is this a great example? Because it provides enough value to frequent shoppers for them to feel like it's really benefitting them. Actually, analysts estimate Amazon loses $1-2 billion per year on Prime. But the company makes up for it in increased transaction frequency: According to a 2015 report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, Prime members spend an average of $1,500 per year on Amazon.com, compared with $625 per year spent by Amazon customers who aren't Prime members.

Source: Amazon Prime

4) Structure non-monetary programs around your customers' values.

Truly understanding your customer means understanding their values and sense of worth. Depending on your industry, your customers may find more value in non-monetary or discounted rewards. While any company can offer promotional coupons and discount codes if they want to, businesses that can provide value to the customer in ways other than dollars and cents have a unique opportunity to connect with their audience.

Case Study: Patagonia's Common Threads Initiative

Patagonia, an eco-friendly outdoor apparel company, realized that its customer needed more than just points and discounts from a loyalty program. In conjunction with eBay, it implemented the Common Threads Initiative in late 2011 to help customers resell their highly durable Patagonia clothing online via Patagonia's website.

The Common Threads program builds on Patagonia's brand of sustainability and creating a high-quality product. Plus, it matches perfectly with the company’s target audience by providing a value they know customers really care about. 

Source: Patagonia

5) Partner with another company to provide all-inclusive offers.

Strategic partnerships for customer loyalty (also known as coalition programs) can be super effective for retaining customers and growing your company. Which company would a good fit for a partnership? Again, it boils down to fully understanding your customers' everyday lives and their purchase processes.

For example, if you’re a dog food company, you might partner with a veterinary office or pet grooming facility to offer co-branded deals that are mutually beneficial for your company and your customer. When you provide your customers with value that's relevant to them but goes beyond what your company alone can offer them, you're showing them you understand and care about their needs. Plus, it'll help you grow your network to reach your partners' customers, too.

Case Study: American Express Plenti Program

American Express has a huge partner base with companies across the country. The company's Plenti program, launched in May 2015, lets consumers pool their rewards from various retailers like Macy's, AT&T, Rite Aid, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hulu, and more. Plenti members earn points for shopping at these stores and redeem points at these stores by linking their existing store loyalty card to their Plenti account. For example, customers can use Plenti points they've earned from something like renting a car from Enterprise in order to pay their AT&T phone bill.

Flexibility is the biggest appeal here for customers, since points can be earned and redeemed at a variety of retailers. According to Fortune Magazine, "For the companies, even ones like Macy's that already have huge loyalty programs, Plenti is a way to tap into the broader customer base of its partners, save on program costs, and lift sales by offering a more appealing program to customers."

Source: Interbrand

6) Make a game out of it.

Who doesn’t love a good game? Turn your loyalty program into a game to encourage repeat customers and -- depending on the type of game you choose -- help solidify your brand's image.

With any contest or sweepstakes, though, you run the risk of having customers feel like your company is jerking them around to win business. To mitigate this risk, it's important to make customers feel like you’re not duping them out of rewards. The odds should be no lower than 25%, and the purchase requirements to play should be attainable. Also, be sure your company's legal department is fully informed and on-board before you make your contest public.

When executed properly, this type of program could work for almost any type of company -- even an off-the-beaten-path B2B company. If your audience enjoys having a little fun and purchases frequently, this type of program can make the buying process both fun and engaging.

Case Study: GrubHub's Yummy Rummy Sweepstakes

GrubHub, an online food ordering and delivery website, has run its successful Yummy Rummy sweepstakes since 2011. Once customers place three unique orders through GrubHub, regardless of price, they get to play a game for a chance of winning free stuff. Players choose one of four cards and have a 25% chance of winning a free dessert, drink, GrubHub credit, or other cool stuff.

Casey Winters, who was part of the GrubHub team that launched the sweepstakes in 2011, advises in a LinkedIn post, "You should strive to think of your program as constantly evolving to stay interesting to your users. This will make your program stay effective for longer as well as give you the flexibility to tweak elements to make it more interesting to you as the business. I have seen many companies stuck with a program they no longer think is effective, but too afraid to shelve it because of potential user backlash."

Source: GrubHub

(Want to learn more about how to run a contest on social media? Read this blog post.)

7) Scratch the "program" completely.

Considering how many marketers offer loyalty programs, one innovative idea is to nix the idea of employing a program altogether. Instead, build loyalty by providing first-time users with awesome benefits, hooking them in, and offering those benefits with every purchase.

This minimalist approach works best for companies that sell unique products or services. That doesn't necessarily mean that you offer the lowest price, or the best quality, or the most convenience; instead, I’m talking about redefining a category. If your company is pioneering a new product or service, a loyalty program may not be necessary. Customers will be loyal because there are few other options as spectacular as you, and you've communicated that value from your first interaction.

For example, one of the most innovative companies on the planet implements this strategy: Apple.

Case Study: Apple

Even the most loyal Apple customers don’t get special rewards or discounts ... because it doesn't offer them to anybody. Apple "enchants" customers by delighting them with a product or service the very first time.

"The loyalty is voluntary and long-lasting," explains Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki.

Apple has plenty of supporters, both online and offline, ready and willing to rave about its product. For them, loyalty happens organically.

How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Loyalty Program

As with any initiative you implement, there needs to be a way to measure your marketing success. Customer loyalty programs should increase customer happiness and retention, and there are ways to measure these things (other than in rainbows and sunshine).

Different companies and programs call for different analytics, but here are a few of the most common metrics companies watch when rolling out loyalty programs.

Customer Retention Rate

This metric is an indication of how long customers stay with you. With a successful loyalty program, this number should increase over time as the number of loyalty program members grows. Run an A/B test against program members and non-program customers to determine the overall effectiveness of the loyalty initiative. According to Fred Reichheld, author of the Loyalty Effect, a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a 25-100% increase in profit for your company.

Negative Churn

Churn is the rate at which customers leave your company. Negative churn, therefore, is a measurement of customers who do the opposite: either they upgrade, or they purchase additional services. These help to offset the natural churn that goes on in most businesses. Depending on the nature of your business and loyalty program, especially if you opt for a tiered loyalty program, this is an important metric to track.

Net Promoter Score

NPS is a customer satisfaction metric that measures, on a scale of 1-10, the degree to which people would recommend your company to others.

NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors (customers who would not recommend your product) from percentage of promoters (customers who would recommend you).

The fewer detractors, the better. Improving your net promoter score is one way to establish benchmarks, measure customer loyalty over time, and calculate the effects of your loyalty program. A great NPS score is over 70%, and your loyalty program can help get you there. (Read this blog post to learn how to use NPS surveys for more powerful marketing automation.)

Customer Effort Score

Customer Effort Score (CES) asks customers, "How much effort did you personally have to put forth to solve a problem with the company?"

Some companies prefer this metric over NPS score because it measures actual experience rather than the emotional delight of the customer. A Harvard Business Review study found that 48% of customers who had negative experiences with a company told 10 or more people. In this way, customer service impacts both customer acquisition and customer retention. If your loyalty program addresses customer service issues, like expedited requests, personal contacts, or free shipping, this may be one way to measure its success.

Have you implemented a customer loyalty program? Share what tactics worked (and what didn't) in the comment section.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in April 2012 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

                                     

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Does Your Ecommerce Attribution Model Tell the Truth?

July 01, 2015 at 01:00PM

After pouring money into marketing for your ecommerce company, you want to know where your traffic comes from, right? The launch of a particular campaign could involve pay-per-click ads, email marketing, social media posts, blogs, guest posts, and mentions in online magazines. How could you possibly track where your buyers found you with so many possibilities? 

There are quite a few attribution models available, with perhaps the most widely used being Google Analytics. It’s true that Google Analytics will help you identify the click that led buyers directly to your page, and that’s pretty helpful, in the end. But…does it tell the whole story?

The Google Analytics Story 

We like Google; don’t get us wrong. It’s a pretty powerful free tool that gives you a lot to work with. The problem is this: Google Analytics only tells you the last page a buyer was on before they clicked through to your ecommerce site. Basically, you get only that one point of referral. What does the story look like then?

Once upon a time, the end.

“But wait!” you say. “Where did the customers go? What did they do? When was the turning point that convinced them to make a purchase?”

And that’s the problem with the Google Analytics story.

The HubSpot Analytics Story

What you really need is a story that goes something like this: Once upon a time, Chris Customer saw his friend retweet a company’s video. It looked pretty funny, so he clicked through to watch. Amazingly enough, the video called his attention to a particular need—one he hadn’t realized existed. So, Chris Customer navigated his way over to the company website to do a little digging. After he got the information he needed, he visited the Facebook page to see what others might say.

There, on the Facebook page, he was able to read some of the reviews for the product, both good and bad. With plenty of information to digest, Chris took a few weeks to think. The company got a little worried that he’d forgotten about them, so they sent a quick email nudge to make sure Chris was still interested in their products. Because he opened the email and clicked through to the website, the company felt reassured. Then, one day, he jumped online, did a quick Google search to find the company again, and clicked the first link that appeared, which just happened to be a PPC ad. The end.

Wouldn’t that be a thrilling story? You’d know every touch your brand made with Chris Customer from beginning to end. Can you give the PPC ad the credit for selling the product, or does the first tweet get the credit? What about all the little interactions in between? Having the whole story helps you determine where you should put more marketing attention and where you can let things relax.

What kind of attribution model have you trusted so far? Wouldn’t you like to know more of the story so you can better plan your marketing?

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Creating a Survey? 7 Tips for Getting More Respondents

July 01, 2015 at 12:00PM

For marketers, tracking meaningful data is key to understanding how to generate leads. Of this data, pointed feedback from prospects and customers is especially valuable. 

The best way to collect it?

Surveys.

Done well, a single survey that follows best practices can yield eye-opening information -- the kind that forever changes the direction of an organization for the better. On the other hand, a poorly written survey will return useless data while creating a frustrating experience for the respondent.

So, why do these long, agonizing surveys persist?

Too often, marketers and researchers fall into the trap of focusing exclusively on their own need for answers, and not enough on the experience they create for the respondents. When that occurs, respondents sometimes take shortcuts through the survey (if they finish it at all), and neither party wins.

To right that wrong, we've laid out seven helpful tips to nudge your respondents through a whole survey in a way that creates a positive experience, without sacrificing the actionable information you’re seeking.

7 Tips for Creating Surveys People Want to Take

1) Explain why someone should participate.

When requesting input from someone, remember that you’re asking the person to take precious time and energy out of their day to help your organization. In cases when you’re not offering an incentive for participation, it's important to keep in mind that you’re essentially appealing to the good nature of your contacts. (The hope is that after all those metaphorical back scratches you’ve given, they'll be willing to scratch yours.)

So whether you’re soliciting feedback via a website page, an email, or some other means, you'll want to emphasize why it’s worthwhile for someone to weigh in. Specifically, what will your organization do with the information your respondents provide? Why should your respondents care about that? How will your respondents benefit from sharing their perspectives?

Here’s a little secret: In nearly every case, survey responses help your organization serve your customers and potential customers more effectively, right? Include that in your introduction. If you make it easy for people to see how completing your survey may improve their lives, they often feel more inclined to participate.

Here’s a great example of an enticing survey invitation from Contently:

As you can see, this approach is actionable, explanative, and incentive-driven. Well done, Contently. 

2) Set expectations properly.

Have you ever taken a survey that felt like the Energizer bunny of surveys? You know, the kind that keeps going and going and going and ... you get the point.

By the end of it (assuming you even made it that far), you probably felt like you’d taken the Bar exam. (And any lawyer will tell you that's definitely not the experience you want to create for your respondents.)

Suffice it to say, much has been written about considerations for survey length. Whatever the final question count turns out to be, it’s in your best interest to help your respondents plan accordingly. 

For starters, tell them approximately how long they should set aside to complete your survey. This will help to ensure that they don’t have to rush or abandon the survey because of a time constraint. In some instances it can also be beneficial to use a survey tool that indicates the respondent’s progress throughout the survey using a progress bar. According to Survey Monkey, “Progress bars can basically act like a coach, encouraging people to keep on trucking and reach that finish line.”

Survey Monkey gives you the option to specify what information the progress bar displays, where it's located, and even -- in a separate window -- what colors it is.


Whether or not that functionality is available in the survey tool you’re using, it doesn’t hurt to add written checkpoints into the survey like, “keep the helpful feedback coming -- you’re more than halfway done” and “only two more questions to go." These minor additions can mean the difference between your respondents quitting the survey or sticking it out for a couple more questions.

One more note on setting expectations: Sometimes, your survey asks more of the respondent than simply answering a few simple questions. For example, you may ask your respondent to upload a photo or complete a task offline and rate their experience afterwards. In cases like this, it’s worth giving your respondents a heads-up in your introduction that the survey they’re about to take requires extra effort. (It also wouldn't hurt to incentivize them for going above and beyond.)

3) Speak your persona's language.

When writing a survey, there’s often a temptation among marketers to make the phrasing of questions as dry and bland as possible. For many, this is probably rooted in the fear that inserting superfluous language may influence the results of the survey.

That’s a legitimate concern. After all, surveys aren’t supposed to entertain -- they’re supposed to elicit meaningful feedback. But surveys don’t have to be boring. In fact, surveys can and should engage the participants enough to inspire creative and constructive input that can be used to empower you to enact real change. 

Though it sounds obvious, the best way to write a survey like this is to speak like a human being. As you would with your keyword research, use language that your respondents would use and will easily understand. That means minimizing your usage of acronyms, jargon, and phrasing that might confuse them.

Here are a handful of writing tips to consider when creating a survey that is engaging and free from bias:

• When you know you’re asking a particularly tough or demanding question, acknowledge it.
• Thank respondents in advance for providing thorough, candid answers.
• Offer words of encouragement if you’re requesting a detailed, open-ended response.
• Provide help text so that a respondent fully understands how to answer a question (so long as it doesn’t influence how he/she responds).

Including this kind of language demonstrates an appreciation for your respondents, and it will further propel them through the survey.


4) End on a high note.

Once your respondents have answered all your questions, you should give them the chance to have the last word. Rather than doing the survey equivalent of a “dine and dash," conclude instead with a question like this:

"Thanks again for taking the time to complete this survey. Your input means a lot to us, and it will help us improve our ability to serve customers like you more effectively in the future.

Before you go, do you have anything else you’d like to add?

• No, I’m all set
• Yes, I’d like to add: [open text field]"

Whether or not a respondent takes advantage of this opportunity to weigh in, it’s one that they'll see and appreciate because it’s an invitation to share (even more of) their own ideas and opinions.

However, if they do decide to chime in, their responses tend to be incredibly valuable. In fact, having written and reviewed hundreds of surveys, I've found that the real gems of insights almost always surface in this final question. Here are some examples of the feedback you could expect participants to touch on at this stage:

• Pointing out things you may have forgotten to ask.
• Circling back on topics that may have only occurred to them after the opportunity to share feedback on that given topic.
• Identifying questions or answer options that may have been unclear in the survey, and therefore are worthy of taking into account as you conduct your analysis.
• Sharing new product or service ideas.
• Providing helpful anecdotes that shed further light on who your respondents are, and context for why they responded as they did.
• Expressing their gratitude for the opportunity to contribute. (It's helpful to keep those folks in mind, should you need another round of input.)
• Offering other top-of-mind thoughts about your organization because they simply may not know where else to share it.

5) Take your own survey.

When you’ve put the finishing touches on the survey you're writing, take a step back, refill your coffee mug, and then take your own survey with a fresh set of eyes. Review your introduction and each question for clarity and empathy, and ask yourself:

• Have I built a compelling case for why someone should take this survey?
• Is this the kind of survey my respondents will realistically start and finish?
• Are all of the questions I’m asking absolutely critical to my learning objectives?
• Does the language in this survey take into consideration the language that my respondents use and understand?

If your answer to these questions is “yes”, and you’ve adhered to survey-writing best practices, then give yourself a high five. You’re ready to field your survey.


6) Close the loop.

What happens when a lead closes into a customer? Do you ignore them and move on to the next sale?

Of course not. Once closed, you continue to delight your customers so they become promoters of your organization. 

And your survey respondants should be treated no differently. 

After they've completed your analysis, the goal is to close the loop by explaining what you did with their input. By following up in this way, you're creating an opportunity to delight your respondents. Considering they've probably grown used to not hearing back from organizations in the past, this gesture will ensure that they feel as though their voices have genuinely been heard. 

And after such a delightful experience, they’ll often be more likely to participate when you request their assistance in the future. They might even be willing to spread the news of their positive experience:

“HOLY SMOKES, I told XYZ Company what to do, and they actually listened!”

In the instance that your organization conducts its analysis and determines not to make any decisions or take any action, that’s not an excuse to leave your respondents hanging. You should still politely explain to them why your organization has decided not to make any moves. Often, the justification for no action is as intriguing as immediate action. Not to mention, that refreshing honesty will help to keep your organization in your respondents’ good graces.


7) Share the wealth.

Depending on the sensitivity and confidentiality of the information you're requesting from respondents, consider making the raw, anonymous results from the survey visible to respondents. This way, each person who completes the survey can see how their own responses compare to those of their peers. Again, it’s a surprising and delightful form of instant gratification. More than that, it’s a way to learn from -- and bond with -- others with whom they have something in common.

In Survey Monkey, the option is available under the Collect Responses tab when creating a survey. It looks like this:

One very important note: If any of your questions ask for personal identification information, do not display the results to respondents.

Before you start creating your next survey, bear these tips in mind, take a walk in your personas’ shoes, and make sure that you’re weighing your own learning objectives against the needs and agenda of those going out of their way to lend a hand.

What other methods do you use in order to elicit high-quality and complete survey responses?

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The Key to Driving Consistent Growth: Understanding Costs

June 30, 2015 at 05:00PM

I have a confession to make. I’m a revenue (sales) guy. I can think about, conceive and vision growth opportunities without even trying. On the other hand, thinking about (and understanding) costs doesn’t come so easily to me.

I’ve learned that understanding your costs is crucial to creating profitable revenue consistently, sustainably and scalably. Unfortunately, very few small and mid-sized companies understand their sales cost structure well enough.

This creates two potential problems (one obvious and one not-so-obvious):

1. If your costs are too high, you’ll struggle to grow profitably and your very sustainability will be threatened.
2. If your costs are too low, you may very well struggle to gain the momentum and velocity you need to break through the noise, separate yourself from your competition and achieve your sales growth goals.

An important metric to understand is customer acquisition cost (CAC). While this metric is very common with SaaS companies, my experience is that it doesn’t get the attention it deserves in other industries. It’s important that you understand your CAC, the contributors to CAC and the model you’re implementing to manage it.

With a clear understanding, you can ensure that you are investing wisely in growth. A lack of understanding makes it impossible to determine the effectiveness of your sales and marketing efforts. In this post, I outline the process we recommend for building out your sales cost model and how to monitor its effectiveness alongside your sales and marketing investments.

Calculating CAC

Determining your customer acquisition cost is a relatively simple calculation. You calculate it by dividing the total costs associated with generating new customers by the number of new customers you gained in a specific period of time.

When determining your costs, only include the costs associated with getting new customers. Do not include the costs of retaining or servicing them. If you’ve got salespeople who have responsibilities for both, you must prorate those expenses according to how they spend their time. The same is true for any technology or other sales and marketing overhead.

Here’s a sample calculation based on one year (note: you can run this calculation for any period of time, but for this post every example is based upon one year):

 

In this case, it cost this company just under $20,000 to acquire each of their 17 new customers. But, here’s the unanswered question: is that good or bad? Did this company spend too much to get their customers, or could they have benefitted from investing more?

Determining Where Your Costs Should Be

To answer that question, you need to determine what your target CAC% is. Calculating target CAC% is done by dividing your CAC by the average lifetime value of a customer. Average lifetime value simply measures how much money a customer contributes to your business over the lifetime that they are with you.

To determine lifetime value, we recommend using a variation of gross profit in the calculation. The variation is determined by taking the value of the sale and reducing it to only the non-sales, direct costs of what is being sold.

Let’s go back to our example. In this case, our sample manufacturing/distribution company earns an average gross profit of $24,000 per customer per year, and their average customer lifetime is 3.5 years. So the lifetime value of the typical customer is $84,000 and the CAC% is 23.5% (calculated by dividing their CAC (19,702.94) by their average lifetime value ($84,000)).

The next step in the process varies depending on several factors, such as the type of business you’re in, your revenue model and how aggressively you’re growing. Most sales and marketing benchmarks recommend that CAC be targeted between 20% and 35% for growth businesses.

As a general rule, here are some key contributors to determine where on the range yours should be:

 

As a side note, if you’re a very young business you should often go above these norms.

Given the nature of their business, our sample company is in a reasonable range. However, one could make the argument that if they invested more in customer acquisition, they’d be able to grow faster and more profitably.

The next step in this process will determine whether that argument can be won.

Establishing Your Optimum Lead Generation Model

One of the most common mistakes I see companies making that aren’t growing at the sustained rate they desire is they’re not allocating enough resources towards the top and middle of the funnel (the lead generation and lead management functions).

To be able to clearly answer the question about the effectiveness and sustainability of your effort, you must dig deeper into the CAC numbers and determine which parts of the process are your costs being allocated. A simple model to use is:

• Lead Acquisition Costs Percentage – what percentage of your customer acquisition costs are allocated to create sales qualified leads (SQL).
• Sales Acquisition Costs Percentage – what percentage of your customer acquisition costs are allocated to support the new-sales process.

Let’s go back to our sample manufacturing/distribution company and see how it stands up. By using the same numbers as we did to determine the overall CAC but changing the % allocated column to reflect the percentage of costs that go towards creating an SQL, we can determine the cost per SQL.

 

Now we’re quickly able to see that less than 10% of their acquisition costs are geared to support lead generation, and more than 90% go to supporting the actual sales process. This is a formula for stagnation.

Knowing the company that this data is based upon, they’re challenged because they feel that their sales team is at capacity and they’re still not getting the growth results they want. They would be far better off allocating more money toward the top and middle of the funnel to create more sales qualified leads and/or to improve the quality and readiness of those leads when they get into the hands of the sales team.

Here again determining how much money you should invest in the lead generation efforts is highly influenced by the business you’re in and the model you’re using. We recommend that anywhere between 25% and 60% of your CAC be allocated to the creation of SQLs. The following items will help determine how to split your acquisition costs between lead generation and sales:

• How complex is your sale?

The more complex the sale, the more you’ll want to allocate towards the sales process, and therefore be on the lower end of the scale. Don’t make the mistake, however, of under-allocating resources towards lead generation, nurturing and conversion.

• What’s the value of the sale?

A higher value sale will often allocate more towards the sales process and a smaller percent towards lead management.

• Do you have a defined sales development team?

If you don’t, you should consider one. This would put you towards the middle or even upper band of the lead cost percentage continuum.

• How much of the sale do you want done before it gets in the hands of a salesperson?

A growing trend in the world is empowering the customer to do more of the sale on their own so that when they get to your new-sales team, they’re better educated and ready. This would mean you’d allocate more of your CAC towards lead management.

The Benefits of Allocating More Resources to Lead Generation

When more money is allocated towards lead generation and management, your sales process becomes much more efficient and effective. You’re able to increase the volume and velocity of your lead generation, thus enabling you to increase the average sale value and your closing ratio. Research shows that companies that manage leads well enjoy 50% more sales ready leads (Forrester Research) that make 48% larger purchases (The Annuitas Group).

Up to this point I’ve been highlighting how to calculate and use this data when looking at the results of your efforts. This data is equally important when planning for the future. Determining what you can and should invest in each part of the revenue generation process is valuable when determining the tactics you will use, how you will implement them and how you’ll track your progress.

We call these numbers your target costs. To determine this we created The SQL Target Cost Calculator. Now let’s go back to our manufacturing/distribution company and figure out how much they should be allocating towards creating SQLs (for where they are now and what they should do to drive better results). 

 

Over time, as you improve and enhance your process you’ll see that your sales costs, and even acquisition costs, will decrease. While this is a strong indication of an effective process, don’t make the mistake of under-allocating resources as you may kill the very momentum you worked so hard to create.

 

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Can't Focus? 5 Ways to Overcome Distractions at Work

June 30, 2015 at 02:00PM

How often have you or one of your coworkers uttered the phrase, "I wish there were more hours in a day"?

Between work, your commute, the gym, cooking, kids, happy hours, baseball games, knitting, your band, and whatever else it is you try to squeeze in -- oh yeah, I almost forgot sleep -- it can be hard to accept that 24 hours in a day is all you get.

But acceptance is the first step. The second? Making the most of your time at work so you can get more done in less time. Learning how to maximize your time will lead you to perform better, feel better, and allow you to give your all to the slew of things you do outside of work that make you the human you are.

We get it, though. Sometimes, the office can feel like a game of whack-a-mole -- you never know where the next distraction will come from. (And it can be stressful as heck.) To help you be more productive at work, here are five tips for how to avoid and overcome distractions at the office.

But first, do a time audit.

The biggest mistake people make when trying to increase their productivity? Not taking the time to learn what it is that distracts them.

Is it email? Twitter? The news? Your boss? These are common distractions we all deal with at some point or another, but what is it that affects you the most?

For one week, keep a log of what you do with your time both inside and outside of work. Time management expert Laura Vanderkam calls it the 168 Hours Challenge. Log your time using a spreadsheet, Evernote, a physical journal -- whatever works for you. To determine where you spend your time online, try a time tracker like RescueTime to record how long you spend on certain websites and apps. And at the end of the week, review how you balance different activities at work.

Many of you might be tempted to skip this step because it seems like a time suck. Aren't we supposed to be saving time, here? My advice: Don't overlook this one. While logging your time for a full week will take a little extra effort on your part, it's an investment that'll teach you an enormous amount about how you actually spend your time -- and it could save you hundreds of hours in the long run.

Once you've identified what distracts you, it's time to come up with strategies to help you overcome those distractions. Here are some ideas to get you started.

How to Overcome Distractions at the Office

Tackle the small stuff later.

Your coworker stops by your desk to ask a quick question. A calendar invite comes in and you need to check your schedule. Your phone buzzes -- you got mentioned on Twitter! Distractions like these might seem small and insignificant, but they quickly add up over the course of the day.

What's worse, once distracted, it takes the average person 23 minutes to get back to the original task, according to a study of digital distraction. In other words, tackling small tasks as soon as they come up can seriously interrupt your flow.

"When you're interrupted, you don't immediately go back to the task you were doing before you were interrupted," says Gloria Mark, who spearheaded the study. "There are about two intervening tasks before you go back to your original task, so it takes more effort to reorient back to the original task."

"Also, interruptions change the physical environment. For example, someone has asked you for information and you have opened new windows on your desktop, or people have given you papers that are now arranged on your desk. Often the physical layout of your environment has changed, and it's harder to reconstruct where you were. So there's a cognitive cost to an interruption."

To limit these distractions, HubSpot Growth Marketer Scott Tousley suggests finishing your current project first, and then tackling those tiny interruptions. Or, if you're working on a long-term project, rotate between periods of work and short periods of rest, during which you can cross those little things off your to-do list.

In the meantime, invest in a good pair of noise-canceling headphones, turn off push notifications on all your devices (including your desktop computer), and put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode.

Block off specific time for email.

Chances are you're spending way too much time checking your email. According to a report from the McKinsey Global Institute, the average person spends 13 hours a week (28% of their workweek) reading, deleting, sorting, and sending emails.

Sure, many of us have jobs that require responses to emails within a few hours at most, but it's important to take that literally. You have a few hours to respond to that email, not a few minutes. Approaching email like you need to respond this very minute or the world will end is likely severely limiting your productivity during the day.

One solution to this problem? Email batching. This apporach requires you to tackle email during specific times of day depending on your needs. A schedule like the one below can help you curb your email addiction, limit the time you spend transitioning from task to task, and increase overall productivity.

Image Credit: Sidekick

Still having trouble? For a more disciplined approach, download the Chrome extension "Block site" to literally block Gmail.com during specific times of day. (Read this blog post to learn how to set this up.)

Schedule in "distraction time."

There are a lot of different theories and methodologies out there for how to manage work and rest time during a typical workday.

The popular Pomodoro technique, created in the late 1980s, involves dividing up time into 25 minutes of work followed by five minutes of rest. A study by the Draugiem Group found that the employees with the highest productivity spent 52 minutes working, followed by 17 minutes of rest.

The common denominator here? Schedule in "distraction time" where you can focus on something other than work. Researchers from the University of Illinois found that "deactivating and reactivating your goals allows you to stay focused. ... When faced with long tasks (such as studying before a final exam or doing your taxes), it is best to impose brief breaks on yourself. Brief mental breaks will actually help you stay focused on your task."

Block meetings in a row.

Ever had meetings that stopped and started within 30-60 minutes of one another, where you spent most of that awkward, in-between time checking email, reading the news, and haphazardly looking at your notes? That's lost time that can really cut into your productivity.

So, in the same vein as blocking out time for email and down time, schedule meetings back-to-back wherever possible. "That way, you're not losing productvitiy between them and trying to get back into the "flow" every other hour," says Leslie Ye, a writer for HubSpot's Sales Blog.

(While you're at it, make sure the meetings on your schedule are ones you actually need to attend.)

Physically remove yourself from distraction.

Sometimes, the best way to avoid distraction is to literally move yourself away from it.

Ginny Soskey, section editor of HubSpot's Marketing Blog, suggests booking a conference room to get away from coworkers and really get stuff done in a quiet space.

Brittany Leaning, content strategist at HubSpot, finds that getting into the office early -- before everyone else arrives -- helps her boost productivity. "I like to grab a coffee, find a quiet space, put my feet up, put my headphones on, and pump some classical music," she says. "Then, I proceed to write my face off until lunch."

Best-Selling Author Stephen King agrees. In his book On Writing, he strongly recommends that people "close the door" when writing to shut out the rest of the world and let people know you're working and don't want to be disturbed.

How do you overcome distractions at the office? Share your tips with us in the comment section.

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