Inbound Certification
in terms of inbound, what is context?
content + context = inbound marketing
what is considered a shift from traditional to inbound marketing?
example: -CFO on-call once relied heavily on telemarketing and cold-calling to generate leads for sales -then shifted to inbound marketing by the team work on expanding the content offering on their website
why should you optimize for mobile?
-80% of internet users own smartphones -make sure webpages can be easily viewed on any screen size
what is a metric that measures lead generation?
-ROI -important to assess how your time was spent and what the numbers reflect -ex. "What is the conversion rate for this content?" -can be a tricky metric to measure -calculate conversion rate using Google Analytics, Buffer or HubSpot
what is a metric that measures content consumption?
-ROI -important to assess how your time was spent and what the numbers reflect -ex. "How many people have viewed this content?"
in what ways can you customize your content for Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn?
-Twitter- use 140 characters or less, link and image -Facebook- less than 250 characters and showcase brands personality, use 80 words or less, encourage engagement by asking questions, use photos, video and links but make it more personal than Twitter -LinkedIn- share rich, thought provoking, long-term content, keep the information professional
how are benchmarks used for social media reporting?
-a performance metric that allows you to compare your business results to other businesses in the industry -rely on historical company data and use these as benchmarks
why should you include a long-tail keyword in the title?
-a specific phrase that people are searching for -should be based on the topic you've chosen for the post -make the value of the post clear in the title
how can social media reporting help you analyze your marketing efforts?
-allows you to analyze your social media efforts and refine your social media strategy -provides you with an understanding of how your efforts rank, compared to your actual results
how can you tell if the blog has been formatted properly?
-are using bold section headers -whitespace -images
where does content fit into the inbound methodology?
-at every stage -attract: content is what blog posts are made of -convert: content is what your website forms leads people to, drives visitors to convert into leads -close: content is what builds that email that your leads are opening -delight: personalized content educates people and turns them into promoters
why should you write about educational content? should you write about your business?
-attracts your visitors and answers the questions or problems that people are searching for answers to -put yourself in the shoes of your buyer persona -write about your industry, not your business -you're trying to attract strangers to your site that have never heard of your company before -people will not find you through search engines if you are blogging for yourself
what different content formats are used in the different Buyer's Journey stages?
-awareness stage- analyst reports, research reports, ebooks, editorial content, white papers, educational content -consideration- expert guides, live interactions, webcasts, podcasts, video, comparison white papers -decision- vender comparison, product comparison, case studies, trial download, product literature, live demo
are different types of content offers distributed differently?
-awareness- want them to educate myself on issue, problem; problem-focused material -consideration- want them to learn more about solution; material is focused on a solution -decision- want them to learn more and choose the best solution for their specific problem; product of a company that helps the personas problem
what are the components of a persona profile story?
-background (basic details about person) -demographics (gender, age, race) -identifiers (buzzwords) -goals (personas primary and secondary goals) -challenges (primary and secondary challenges to personas success) -how we help (how we solve problems) -common objectives (identify personas objections) -real quotes (that represent persona)
how can you tell if they've optimized the page around the keyword?
-based on page title, URL, body, image alt-text
how can your company establish though leadership on social media?
-becoming a trusted source of information -share relevant industry content -will be trusted by personas and other professionals
what strategies can you implement to earn links, and why does each help?
-build relationships and make connections with authoritative sites and industry thought leaders -create content with input from industry thought leaders - they'll share the content, giving you new visitors and a new link -create content with input from industry thought leaders because you can: create a "best-of" resource list, interview an industry thought leader, write crowdsourced content and ask for an industry leader to write the forward of give a quote for an ebook
What are the inbound best practices?
-buyer personas -buyer journey -create remarkable content -leveraging your content
how can you optimize for getting found in local searches?
-by using directories or if location specific, create Google+ Local Listing page -will tie your business to a specific location
what is a CTA?
-call-to-action -a button that promotes an offer and links to a landing page -can be placed on website pages, blog and in your emails
in which stages of the inbound methodology can social media be used? how?
-can be used at every stage
how does a CTA help to convert visitors into leads?
-can't get leads without a conversion process -conversion starts with a CTA -conversion process includes CTA, landing page and thank you page -when a visitor clicks on the CTA, they are brought to a landing page where they fill out a form with their contact information turning them into a lead
how often should marketers check their social media results?
-check at least once a week -use results to inform your marketing in the week ahead
what are the elements of an optimized social media profile?
-company logo set as profile picture, header- want to be recognizable -clear, creative and concise company description- opportunity to introduce yourself to future customers, can use keywords to make it easy for prospects to find you -link to company website- invitation for your audience to learn more about you
What is inbound?
-creating marketing that people love -based off the inbound methodology
what is content defined by? how do you determine the purpose of a piece of content? what are the different formats of content and what's the difference between them? how do you pick the best format for a piece of content? what should you consider when determining a topic?
-defined by purpose -offers want to convert visits to leads -want to attract strangers to your website -format- what form it comes in, all about personas, how much time to you have to create it and now much info you want to present -topic- what are you writing about? one of the most important parts of content creation, use buyer personas and buyers journey for remarkable content and topic -ways to identify topics that matter: keyword search, internet forums, personas goals, popular industry news and personas challenges
what makes the right content for buyer personas?
-depends on topic -depends on their problems, goals, challenges
how do you determine where a content offer fits into the buyer's journey?
-depends where it fall within the buyer's journey and the three steps -awareness- problem -consideration- solution -decision- pick solution to your problem
how can you tell if a business has followed social monitoring best practices?
-determine inbound goals -monitor for the right terms -segment your audience -personalize responses
what is the first step marketers should take when developing their social media strategy?
-determine your inbound goals -SMART goals: -Specific -Measurable -Attainable -Relevant -Timely
how can social monitoring be used to develop a social media strategy?
-determine your inbound goals -monitor for the right terms -segment your audience -personalize responses
how do you go about researching buyer personas?
-do actual research -start by interviewing current customers -sample questions to ask: role, company/organization, goals, challenges, watering holes, shopping references
how can you tell if the blog has been optimized for search engines?
-have a page title -URL -title in body -image alt-text
how can you tell if they're offering a good user experience?
-have clear navigation -clear next steps
how can you tell if they're earning links?
-have other websites linking to them
how can you tell if they're promoting their content?
-have social sharing buttons -social following buttons
how can you tell if they are promoting their blog posts?
-have social sharing posts -social following buttons -links to their latest posts
why is promoting a good user experience important for SEO?
-helps grow your business -make sure website is intuitive and easy to browse -it will bring people back
what is a social media monitoring stream?
-helps you monitor the right terms -like a school of fish- a group of messages pulled together into one list based on something they all share -decide which term/terms these messages should have in common -start by focusing on the words that buyer personas use to describe your business -will change overtime as you become more skilled and your personas change
how does blogging help to attract new visitors?
-if your blog post attracts strangers that are looking for information on a topic, they will turn into visitors -they will flip through your post and read your information
why are images important to include in blog posts and where should they be placed?
-images break up text visually -grab attention and help readers understand posts at a glance -place one at the top of every blog post to entice audience -pictures should be loosely related to your content
what types of links should you include in your content and why?
-include relevant internal/external links within the content -hyperlink text with keywords that you'd like to rank for
what makes a good personal profile story?
-information on background -demographics -identifiers -goals -challenges
how can social media style guides enhance a social media strategy?
-is your social media rulebook -will establish a consistent way to respond to customers, share content, create posts and more -should answer questions like how many hashtags will I use in each tweet, should I use visuals, etc
what role does a CTA play in a conversion process?
-kicks off the conversion process -a visitor clicks on the CTA and it takes them to a landing page where they fill out information before being given the actual content
what are the different ways you could promote your blog posts?
-link internally to your blog posts -leverage your website (promote recent or popular posts on your blog sidebar and add a blog link to your main website navigation) -share posts on social media -promote posts via email
what are inbound links?
-links coming into your website -help search engines follow links between pages to see how they're related to each other
how does social media help you keep up with industry trends?
-listen for industry trends that will help you attract visitors and grow your business
which metrics should you analyze to track the performance of your blog? what does each metric tell you and how can you use that knowledge to improve performance?
-look at the numbers of views for each blog post - this is a good way to figure out which blog content is performing the best -filter your most popular articles by topic, author or channel of promotion -look at the number of clicks or the CTA at the end of an individual post
how do your buyer personas and the buyer's journey factor into your keyword research?
-make a list of keywords your buyer would search for and mimic the language that your buyer persona would use -you use the buyer's journey to categorize keywords by the stages of the journey -awareness- problem based keywords -consideration- solution keywords -decision- branded keywords
how can you determine which keywords people are using to find your site?
-may be using short, broad or long-tail keywords to find your site -drill down into keyword analytics -look at your current rank for the keyword, how many monthly searches it gets and what the competition/difficulty is
how do search engines find, understand and rank pages to show in search results?
-need to find most relevant, useful, trustworthy answers -send spiders to crawl through the web searching for that content -from the data, create a list of results -rank the results in order of popularity and authority of the websites
why are personalized responses important to your social media audience?
-need to listen to your personas and actually have a conversation -audience wants to feel special -personalized responses aren't all about solving customer service concerns- they can help delight customers too
what are online directories and why are they important to SEO?
-need to setup a page on the top online directories like YELP, chamber of commerce, or the Yellow Pages -directories are websites that help you get your name out there
how does blogging help to convert new leads?
-once people visit your site, you have opened the door to them -if they're interested in your content, they will more than likely become interested in your offers and turn them into leads
what is the buyers journey? what are the stages? how are they defined?
-one of the best practices in inbound -includes three stages: -awareness ("I have a sore throat, headache and I'm achy all over. What is wrong with me?") -consideration ("I have strep throat, what are my options for curing my symptoms?") -decision ("I can see my physician or go to the ER. I have insurance so I'll go to the ER.")
what is a buyer persona and how to you create it?
-one of the best practices in inbound -semi-fictional representative of your ideal customer based on real data and some select educated speculation about customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals -create by conducting actual research, not basing them on assumptions -start by interviewing current customers to get process rolling
how can you tell if a business has followed social publishing best practices?
-optimize social media profiles -create social media style guide -customize your content -share relevant industry content -publish on a consistent basis
how should you properly optimize a website page?
-optimize the page around a primary keyword -add the keyword to the page title and URL -if editing a live page, setup a 301 redirect that will direct the old URL to the new one, sending people seamlessly to the right page -add the keyword to the body, headers and image alt-text -place primary keyword in the meta description -each page should have a unique meta description, no more than 140 characters
where should you place your long-tail keyword and why?
-page title -URL -post title -image alt-text -used naturally in the body of your content and your header
how does content differ between pre- and post-internet eras?
-pre-internet- the main factor that limited marketers was physical space; limited amount of space=people fighting for it -post-internet- space is unlimited; there is a ton of content so it can be hard to capture the attention of your prospects; now fighting for attention
how can you tell if the blog is promoting other offers, and if the CTAs are appropriate?
-provide a subscription form -content offer is relevant to the topic at the bottom of the post -could use the sidebar to promote another offer
what is one method tho help manage your social publishing efforts?
-publish on a consistent basis -create a detailed publishing schedule -helps you stay organized and keep followers engaged
how do you pick an appropriate blog topic?
-put yourself in the shows of your buyer persona and what they're going to be looking for -write about problems and questions that people want to know about and find answers for
what are three things that should be kept in mind when creating a buyer persona?
-research -identifying trends -creating personas profile stories
why is it important to optimize a blog post for search engines?
-search engine doesn't look over your whole page but picks out keywords -want to optimize your page around your long-tail keyword
in what ways should you optimize your pages for search engines?
-search engines are getting smart and try to understand searchers intent -want to optimize content around a primary keyword
how are keywords used in social media monitoring?
-search terms around the conversation -search terms that your buyer persona audience is known for looking for (do your research)
in what ways can you expand your list of keywords?
-searching the web for alternatives -type each of the keywords into a search engine and see what the results are
What is the inbound methodology and what are the different stages that compromise it?
-set of stages that make a person go from being a stranger to a promoter STAGES: -attract- turn strangers into visitors; blogs, keywords, social publishing -convert- turn visitor into lead; forms, CTAs, landing pages -close- turn lead into customers; CRM, email, workflow -delight- turn customer into promoter; surveys, smart content, social monitoring
what is the difference between short and long-tail keywords?
-short keywords- harder to rank because there's lots of competition and are very general (ex. "shoes") -long-tail keywords- easier to rank because it's more specific and targeted (ex. "best women's running shoes for flat feet")
How does analysis fit into the inbound methodology?
-should be inherent in every thing done with inbound strategy -should come at every stage
how long should your blog title be, on average?
-should be shorter than 60 characters -Google only shows the first 50-60 characters of a title in search results
how are buyer personas critical to social media?
-social monitoring is a great way that marketers can gather information about buyer personas -how you begin to build relationships with people who want to be part of your social network -can also monitor what your personas are saying about you
how can social media help you with your content strategy?
-social publishing is how you distribute content -demonstrate your newfound knowledge by developing and distributing content that is right for your buyer persona -what you publish/how you publish will determine how your audience sees your brand
what is a working title and how is it different from your topic?
-something to work off of as you begin your post -start here to narrow topic down and focus on one single angle -a topic can breed multiple different blog posts and a working title is specific to one post -ex. topic- choosing paint colors, working title- The Best Colors to Paint Your Kitchen
what is whitespace and how does it affect your blog post?
-the empty area on the page -allows for people to focus on the content, not the clutter -want whitespace on the side, around title, between paragraphs, between images -makes it easier to read, digest and doesn't overwhelm people -use section headers, bullets or numbered lists to break up information
what is content?
-the message your inbound strategy delivers -without this, the internet would be empty -in every stage of the inbound methodology -pulls people from one stage to the other -fuel that powers a successful inbound strategy
how can your blog help you to build trust with your prospects? why is this important?
-the more you blog, the more people will start to look to you as an expert in the industry -it will build your credibility and reputation -building that trust with your prospects will turn them into customers down the road
in what ways does SEO help your inbound marketing?
-the process of improving your website so that it attracts more visitors from search engines -uses the inbound methodology
what are the different ways to leverage content?
-the right distribution technique gets the right content in front of the right person at the right time -webpages, social media, landing pages, business blogs, marketing emails, CTAs, etc
how can you tell if a business has picked the right primary keyword for a page?
-they addressed a topic their buyer persona wants to learn about -they mimic the language of the buyer persona -focused on long-tail keywords -used natural language and variations of the keyword
how can you tell if a business picked a good topic to blog about?
-they have an educational subject -writing about their industry and not themselves -a topic their buyer personas want to hear about
how can you tell if they're linking to other sources?
-they have an internal link to another page -external links to outside resources
What is the difference between traditional marketing and inbound marketing?
-traditional marketing- cold calling, cold emails, interruptive ads, more marketer centric (OUTBOUND) -inbound marketing- focused on SEO, blogging, attraction, customer centric
what are two ways marketers can segment their social media audience?
-twitter lists to help segment/classify audience (geographic location, lifestyle change, content your audience has already engaged in) -invite customers to join your business group, send a link to your social media group via email or during customer-only webinar
how can you tell if they picked a compelling title?
-value of the post is clear -have a long-tail keyword -is under 60 characters
why is promoting your content important for SEO?
-want to get your name out there and make people come to visit you -want your website to be intuitive and easy to browse -promote through social media and email -the more people share or like you, the more attention you will get, the more you will grow and the more trust you will gain with search engines
where and why should you include links within the content of your blog post?
-want to include relevant internal and external links within the content -show that you have done your research -link to outside sources, your page, etc.
why should you use your blog to promote your other offers?
-want to provide your viewer with that next step -use blog to strategically promote your current offers -feature CTAs on the blog sidebar, will appear on every post so they should target a large segment of your visitors -also include a CTA at the end of the post, should be relevant to the content that the visitor has just read
what are ways to brainstorm different topics to blog about?
-what are the most frequently asked questions? -what do your buyer personas need help with? -what do you wish people knew about your industry? -what are industry bloggers, social media and your competitors talking about?
what part does content play in inbound marketing and sales?
-when creating content, keep it educational -not educating buyer on who YOU are or what YOU do, but educating them on THEIR problems and solutions to those problems -distribution makes content relevant
what are keywords and how should you go about picking the right ones for your business?
-words typed into search engines, topics searchers are trying to learn more about -need to do keyword research: 1. make a list of keywords your persona would search for 2.categorize keywords by the stages of the buyer's journey 3. mimic the language that your buyer personas use 4. expand that list by searching the web for alternatives 5. determine which keywords people are using to find your site 6. decide which keywords have the best opportunity to rank for
how frequently should you blog? why?
-write constantly and frequently because the more often you blog, the more likely you are to get found -the more you post content the more your company will grow
why is it important to do keyword research around your blog topics?
-you need to know which keywords your buyer personas use and which are associated with your industry -you need to write about those topics to get found and start ranking higher in search results
how many topics should you focus on per post, and why?
-you should focus on one topic per post -you don't need to solve every problem in one post -will make the post clear for readers and search engines -will also allow for more traffic because you know people clicking through are looking for that specific topic
what is the difference between paid results and organic results?
-you want to be in the top organic results -organic is the closest match to the search query based on relevance and authority -paid are like ads
what's the relationship between links and SEO?
-you want to earn links to your content -search engines follow links between pages to see how they're related to each other
what are the different steps in the Content Process? what are the best practices for content creation? where does distribution fit into the Content Process and what are the different ways to leverage content there? why is it important to analyze content and what are the different metrics that can be used to measure content efficacy? why do we repeat the process?
1. plan- develop your content plan, define content, think of content purpose, think of content formats, think about personas, think about content topic and use buyer personas and buyers journey 2. create- always focus on mapping content to your personas AND where they are in the buyer's journey, less is more, make it easy for persona to consume content, keep it education not promotional 3. distribute- how you get your content out to the public, the right technique gets the right content in front of the right person at the right time, maximize shelf life of content 4. analyze- look over the results (number of visits, leads generated, social proof or shareability, inbound links, content performance by author/topic/format) 5. repeat- start the process all over again, repeat what is working well for you, all about experimenting and seeing what works
