According to just released data from Pew…. YES… Â Millennials are far more likely than their elder brethren to be searching for God via the Internet. In fact, they’re almost 5 TIMES more likely to seek the Almighty on the web then Baby Boomers and this might be the most important marketing stat you’ll read all …
You can’t sell if you can’t persuade. We all know that. But what you probably haven’t figured out yet is that digital content is the most persuasive tool in your sales & marketing toolbox and you’re not using it correctly. In my 2014 Content Marketing World talk — Using Content as Your New Sales Force — I talked about …
How often do you make a purchase that you don’t fully understand? I know I do all the time. If my house needs a new roof, I have to hire roofers who will provide the materials and complete the installation. But I know nothing about roofing! How do I make an informed decision about who …
Travel planning is entirely different today than say even 10 years ago. Today’s travelers are invisible prospects to you and your marketing team, often until after they’ve made their vacation destination selection. Combine that with a consumer whose needs are more complex, stresses more numerous and media choices that have literally exploded over the last …
What Is A Social Sales Force? Simply put, a social sales force is comprised of motivated, unpaid ambassadors and influencers — what we at Converse Digital call Social Agents. Social Agents introduce you to prospective visitors online through Facebook posts, Instagram pics and Twitter taunts telling everyone how much fun they’re having. And they don’t …
Not only do podcasts offer numerous benefits over text- and video-based content—they are easy to create, convenient to consume, and they can expose new audiences to your brand— but by using an interview-based show format, your podcasts can also be fantastic social selling,  networking and sales prospecting tools. Why Do Interview Podcasts Work? Think about …
If you’re looking for an opportunity to change up your digital marketing or to give your readers a different way of experiencing your content, podcasting can be an easy, inexpensive option. Podcasting is the regularly scheduled production and distribution of audio content. While podcasting is a commonly overlooked marketing medium, podcasts offer a number of …
A typical salesperson starts his day with a database full of unqualified prospects—a database that was populated by buying advertising, attending trade shows, purchasing prospect lists, or other networking activities. So, who do you call first? How do you know where to start? Here’s a proven way to help your salespeople find the prospects that …
You can’t turn around in marketing today without hearing someone or some company talking about Influencer Marketing. It seems every company wants to figure out how to leverage an influencer marketing strategy to grow their brand and sales. But from what I’ve seen, more are doing it wrong than right and new research suggests new …
What if I told you I could create a 161% change in consumer perception by simply changing the background of a headshot photo? Would you believe me? Would you believe that something so small could cause such a massive improvement in your consumer marketing programs? And not just any perception, a meaningful one — the …
I was reading an interesting statistic this morning that “almost 69% of online shopping carts that contain at least one item are later abandoned, according to the Baymard Institute, an e-commerce consultancy based in Copenhagen which analyzed 31 studies over the past few years. That is up about three percentage points from 2012, says Christian …
It’s no secret that I think Twitter Chats are an excellent social selling opportunity. If you’re not sure about this social media tool, check out the simple video I created, Twitter Chat Explanation Video. Now take the power of Twitter Chats (TweetChats) and Webinars (with supporting hashtags) and Twitter Hashtags and add the new Nimble’s Smart Contacts App and you …
On May 1st, Converse Digital turned five — five years of helping clients turn conversations into customers. But as I sit here reflecting on what I’ve learned over the last year, two overriding lessons overshadow everything else. Such universal truths. Such simple rules. Rules that I’ve spoken of before, but yet, it took the events of …
Back in 1950, psychologists Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachter, and Kurt Back launched a study to investigate how friendships developed among students at the new Westgate Complex at MIT. They found that the strongest friendships developed between students who lived next to each other on the same floor. Where friendships developed between students who lived on …
Mardi Gras has, and continues to be, one of the most well known, interesting and misunderstood free festivals in the world. An enormous content marketing and digital marketing opportunity for brands — think brand activation, content creation, brand awareness, social media opportunities and good old fashioned sales incentives trips — Mardi Gras offers it all. …
Recently the super smart Jeff Rohrs of ExactTarget/Salesforce wrote a great post about the lack of CTA’s (Call to Action) in Super Bowl ads. You can read it here. In it, Jeff makes the argument that Super Bowl advertisers that fail to place a mobile friendly CTA in their ads are guilty of “marketing malpractice” …
We’ve all been taught that you only get one chance to make a first impression. Which begs the question — why are so many people forgetting that on LinkedIn? This is the blocking and tackling of social selling my friends. But so many are doing it so wrong… so let’s talk about how to structure …
You can’t sell if you can’t persuade. We all know that. But what many sales people haven’t figured out yet is that digital content is often the most persuasive tool in the salesperson’s toolbox. In my 2014 Content Marketing World talk — Using Content as Your New Sales Force — I talked about this new sales & marketing dynamic. Since …
My friend Scott Stratten has a great part in his UnSelling keynote. He talks about how the sale is not the end but the beginning of the customer transaction and relationship. This holiday season I had the opportunity to really see Stratten’s theory in action and it reinforced how companies must change their way of …
Recently one of my Converse Digital clients, SlideBatch, a content curation and publication platform, and I had an interesting conversation about the definition of content curation. After much discussion we came to the conclusion that much of what passes for curation today is actually filtration. This then prompted SlideBatch to launch an interesting Content Curation Project …
Everything you once knew about marketing and sales prospecting is wrong. Or at the very least, social selling is quickly rendering it obsolete. Once upon a time, companies treated information about their product as sacred. After all, information is power. The traditionally held belief was that a company’s marketing efforts should force prospective customers to call and …
Prefer to listen versus read helpful information on social selling and sales prospecting with social media and content marketing? Well today you’re in luck. Recently Tyler Anderson interviewed me for his Casual Friday podcast where we talked in depth about what social selling is and isn’t. Today I’m sharing that with you and for those …
Instagram’s new Hyperlapse IOS app is taking the tourism content marketing world by storm. Heck, it’s got everyone’s attention. Almost overnight (after its release) my Facebook feed switched from a never ending stream of ice bucket challenges to Hypersnap videos. But here are three reasons I recommend brands, and tourism destination marketers in particular, steer clear of …
The reason your sales prospects love all the free, helpful content marketing you create is because they end up using it against you. Self-educating buyers are using Google Searches and your (and your competitors’) digital content marketing efforts to do their homework. And they think they know what they need to know in order to …
Last week while driving my six year old son to camp, he asked me an interesting question. Â “Dad, how do you become famous?” I responded that you do something notable and worthy. He then went on to ask me to define worthy. Which I defined is doing something meaningful for the world. Something that made …
While watching Luke Bryan, the headliner closing act on Saturday night, at the 2014 Bayou Country Fest I was struck by two things. First, his pandering techniques (to get the crowd into the show) and second, the number of folks heading for the doors during his encore. This was the headline act, the keynote speaker …
There is a scary trend rolling through the digital domain. A trend that if left unchecked, will lead to failed content marketing and lead generation programs. Yet, as you read posts penned by content marketing agencies and lead generation thought leaders, listen to popular podcasts or attend conference session lead by the leading digital minds, …
Over the last couple of years, a few hundred members of the diabetic community came together for the world’s first, and only, virtual diabetes conference. Registration was completely free and attendees could join from a computer, smartphone or tablet. And this ability to create virtual events is what I firmly believe is the future of social …
Great design, stellar content and loads of traffic don’t mean anything without sales. And even before that goal is achieved, a step-by-step process of conversion is occurring as prospects move closer to customer or client. And if you want to achieve success, you need to understand and stay abreast of the latest thinking in landing …
Content marketing is a widely recognized driver for effective, inbound sales lead generation programs. While largely heralded as a way to drive inbound leads there is another, even more powerful reason that ad agencies should develop a consistent content marketing program. The Traditional Benefit of Content Marketing Content drives all digital marketing lead generation programs. …