by Chris Waszczak | Jan 15, 2019 | B2B Sales, B2B Telemarketing, Lead Generation, Outsourced Sales, Telemarketing Services
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
Getting on page #1 of Google or having 20,000 Likes on a given social media platform won’t get you anywhere. Email newsletters are destined for the trash, and all your efforts will be in vain—all of this will be true IF your content is stiff, boring, stale, lifeless. Without great, living content, even the most well-funded marketing efforts will fall flat.
You’ve probably heard it before: Content is king. ANY marketing medium is only as good as its content, including the way you use the written word, images, audio, and video to tell a story.
Ever hear someone say something like, “He was good looking, but boring as a cardboard waffle,” or “I thought she was cute till she started talking”? It’s easy to focus your marketing on being seen, but form without substance won’t get results. WHAT you say is even more important than where you say it. HOW you say it is paramount.
According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI):
“Content marketing is a…technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience—with the objective of driving profitable customer action. Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty…Consumers have simply shut off the traditional world of marketing. They own a DVR to skip television advertising, often ignore magazine advertising, and now have become so adept at online ‘surfing’ that they can take in online information without a care for banners or buttons (making them irrelevant). Smart marketers understand that traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective by the minute, and that there has to be a better way. Thought leaders and marketing experts from around the world…have concluded that content marketing isn’t just the future, it’s the present.” (What is Content Marketing? If You’re Not Content Marketing, You’re Not Marketing)
If you’re constantly pitching your products and services without offering something of value or interest to your audience, you are going to turn people away. However, if you’re educating, entertaining and engaging people with great content, you will see returns. Here are a few stepwise tips, based on the “AIDA” model to help you understand how content marketing leads to a sale, without giving the appearance of selling:
A: Get Attention—right away!
You will either catch or lose your audience within a few seconds. Don’t start your website, advertising, posts or updates touting your features or explaining who YOU are. Start with a gripping headline and an introductory paragraph that answers the question, “Why should I care?” Why are people searching for your services or products anyway, and what is their emotional state? Meet them at that place. Someone searching for “specialty coffee shop” is going to be in a very different state of mind than someone searching for “off-road vehicle repair.”
I: Draw the reader in and generate Interest.
Capitalize on the attention you’ve gained with interesting, compelling, and educational content. “According to the Roper Public Affairs, 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement. 70% say content marketing makes them feel closer to the sponsoring company, while 60% say that company content helps them make better product decisions. Think of this—what if your customer looked forward to receiving your marketing? What if when they received it, via print, email, website, they spent 15, 30, 45 minutes with it?” (CMI)
D: Compel the reader to make a Decision.
Your content should be so compelling and informative that the reader will decide that they simply must know more, that your company has what it takes to meet their needs. They may not yet be ready to buy—they may not even act for months—but if you can get them to decide that you are worth further consideration, then your content is working. You will have Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA), and they will act when they eventually need what you offer.
A: Lead the reader to take Action.
Provide your reader/visitor with a simple, non-threatening way to get more information, or gain access to an exclusive benefit. Make it easy and obvious, but don’t always go straight for the “Buy Now” button. Offer white papers, free consultations, free samples and other resources, along with the option to buy. Some people act in small steps, nibbling before they bite, so don’t try to set the hook too early.
Content marketing is a specialized skill; you may hire someone who knows how to build a gorgeous website or who knows Facebook inside and out, but if they are not a great content writer, then your marketing will fall short. Make sure that your sales and marketing team includes a Content Marketing specialist!
Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.
Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.
SalesFish Net of Sales Services:
- B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
- On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
- B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
- Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
- Online Presentations and Webinars
- Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
- Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
by Chris Waszczak | Jan 2, 2019 | B2B Sales, B2B Telemarketing, Lead Generation, Outsourced Sales, Telemarketing Services
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
There is one small word in the English lexicon that will kill a sale faster than any other. That word is “I.” Its close cousins me, we, us and our can also derail a deal faster than anything else. These short, but powerful, words will bounce visitors right off your website, hasten your mailer’s journey to file 13, compel viewers and listeners to change the station. No bueno.
It’s understandable that most businesses want to share THEIR stories, put themselves in front of the camera, hear their own voices online. But is talking about yourself any way to start a relationship? Dale Carnegie didn’t think so. In his classic guide, How to Win Friends and Influence People, first published in 1936, he outlined “Six ways to make people like you”:
- Become genuinely interested in other people.
- Smile.
- Remember that a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
- Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
- Talk in terms of the other person’s interest.
- Make the other person feel important—and do it sincerely.
Technology has changed our communications media, but it hasn’t changed our basic psychology. If anything, digital media have made your prospects more self-focused since with social media, “all the world’s a stage.” Your audience wants to be heard, known and understood—they want to have their stories told and to have others say, “You’re interesting.” Put them into the spotlight first, and they’ll be more likely to stick around to find out about you and your business.
Since you generally have just a few seconds to grab someone’s attention before they divert it elsewhere, it’s essential that you immediately establish: “I get you. I understand what you want and need.” Before you start giving solutions, demonstrate that you can relate to how they are feeling in that moment. Once you make that connection and your prospects feel understood, you can start to show how your products or services are relevant to their lives.
Here are a few simple things you can do to put the spotlight where it belongs:
- Whether you’re writing website content, an ad or a video script, start with the word “you.” It’s a good way to start a draft with the right focus.
- Next time you go onto your social media pages, remember this mantra: “Like, comment, share.” Visit other people’s sites, “Like” their pages and leave them with a friendly comment. Share their content on your page. Social media may be 21st Century, but the principles behind it are timeless—it’s still all about how to win friends and influence people.
- Become a student of marketing, a critic of ads. Evaluate all the marketing communications you run across today in the light of their focus: are they establishing rapport with their audiences, or talking all about themselves? You’ll soon find yourself paying attention to ads, rather than trying to tune them out. You’ll look at websites with a critical eye. It’s actually pretty fun to study other companies’ marketing and it will help you make yours better.
The truth is that it’s not about you. It’s about the customers you’re trying to win and the public you want to influence. Good salespeople know that every marketing communication—from print ads to website home page copy—needs to begin with telling their story, not yours. Put the customer in the spotlight and they will want to know more about you. The best way to get attention is to first give attention.
Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.
Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.
SalesFish Net of Sales Services:
- B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
- On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
- B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
- Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
- Online Presentations and Webinars
- Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
- Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
by Chris Waszczak | Nov 27, 2018 | B2B Sales, B2B Telemarketing, Lead Generation, Outsourced Sales, Telemarketing Services
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
The great ex-president, a self-made bull moose of a man lay against a fallen log, his face gaunt and pale. “Leave me and save yourselves!”
In 1914, Teddy Roosevelt and his son, Kermit, were nearing the end of an epic trip to explore the most mysterious and daunting tributary of the majestic Amazon River. Originally named Rio da Dúvida (River of Doubt in Portuguese) before being re-christened the Rio Roosevelt, the river’s winding waters snaked through nearly impassable jungle, with imposing rapids and waterfalls.
The expedition was lost and running out of supplies; the situation was dire. Just days ago, Roosevelt had slipped on the riverbank and sustained a gash on his leg, which was now infected. He was weakened to the point of being unable to go on. But his son Kermit was forged of similar steel as his father and refused to let him perish in the “Heart of Darkness.” With Kermit half carrying his father, the intrepid pair limped their way back to an inhabited area, where Teddy was able to receive care for his wound.
There’s a good lesson in this fascinating story for your business: When you’re ready to give up…don’t. There’s always a solution to virtually any problem, even the solution involves reaching out for help. For example, you may have lofty goals but a humble marketing budget. Reaching those goals may seem out of reach, but what if you could find another business to go in on some advertising with you? Perhaps a print ad is too expensive for your business, for example, but could afford to split the cost on a co-branded ad campaign? Working together, companies can achieve more than they can alone!
After Teddy and his son returned to the U.S., some were skeptical about the River of Doubt account they shared. Teddy took on his critics in a presentation sponsored by the National Geographic Society and proved their doubts misguided. In 1927 American explorer George Miller Dyott led a second trip down the river, independently confirming Roosevelt’s discoveries.
Make your marketing an adventure and don’t be afraid to explore options that can take you further than you could imagine! Be resourceful, don’t give up and seek ways to collaborate with others, and you’ll navigate your way through the jungle of business success.
To read the full story of this adventure, you can read T.R.s account of the expedition, Through the Brazilian Wilderness or the excellent River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Miller.
Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.
Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.
SalesFish Net of Sales Services:
- B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
- On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
- B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
- Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
- Online Presentations and Webinars
- Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
- Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
by Chris Waszczak | Nov 14, 2018 | Uncategorized
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
There are right and wrong ways to go about marketing, and the pitfalls are many. A lot can be learned by seeing how not to manage your marketing. This original blog series weaves together an entertaining story that will help you navigate 21st-Century marketing with a view from “the dark side,” as “Screwtape” teaches his apprentice “Wormwood” via email how to sabotage your marketing. Enjoy…
To: Wormwood
From: Screwtape
Subject: How NOT to Sell
My Dear Wormwood,
There is a way that seems right to a salesperson, but in the end it leads to the death of the sale. The art of selling is critical to the success of any and every business, which is why you must work hard to ensure your Patient’s selling is done wrong.
So here, my apprentice, are some points on how NOT to sell!
- Use the “power of persuasion.” Trying to persuade someone to buy your product or service usually means you are spending valuable time with someone who’s not very interested. It’s much better to spend one’s effort qualifying or disqualifying a prospect (something we don’t want the Patient to know), and then moving on quickly if it becomes apparent that a prospect isn’t a good fit.
- Sound like a salesperson. This is the best way to get hung up on or walked away from. Yes, it’s deceptively comfortable to use that sales voice so many others are using, but only for the salesperson. The best way to engage a prospect is to be genuine, as if talking to a friend or colleague. These days, people respond to realness and shun smooth talk.
- Pump up the enthusiasm! If you’re excited about your product or service, the prospect will be too…or not. Getting zealous can come across as disingenuous and frighten people away. I mean, really…how excited can you actually get about getting your teeth cleaned or buying software? In actuality, more people respond to a more measured and realistic approach.
- Pitch, pitch, pitch! But only if you want to be ignored. The truth is, your prospects don’t care about your product or service, they care about what you can DO for them. What problems can you solve? How can you make their life more enjoyable or pleasant? They don’t care that you’re now using the latest X35 bug spray, they care that you’re giving them peace of mind by ensuring those carpenter ants aren’t eating the frame of their house!
- Target everyone. You’re not going to sell to everyone, only to those who actually want or need what you’re offering. Maybe you’re a good enough salesperson to sell air conditioning to an Eskimo, but that doesn’t mean you should try. Truly good sales people target their sales to the most likely audiences and focus on those likely to buy without too much persuasion.
By all means, push these outdated sales techniques, my ward, and you will succeed in sabotaging the Patient’s selling efforts. Fail, and you will have problems of your own to deal with that I would not envy.
Your affectionate Uncle,
Screwtape
Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.
Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.
SalesFish Net of Sales Services:
- B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
- On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
- B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
- Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
- Online Presentations and Webinars
- Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
- Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
by Chris Waszczak | Oct 16, 2018 | B2B Sales, Lead Generation, Outsourced Inside Sales, Outsourced Sales, Telemarketing Services
Welcome to SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales, the most strategically biased B2B Marketing Agency, telemarketing services, telemarketing companies (sales agency) and digital marketing companies, serving Orange County, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest (Bend, Portland, Seattle). We gladly serve California and all 50 United States!
Is your marketing still in the Dark Ages?
In the last decade or so, the world of marketing and media has undergone absolutely seismic shifts. TV’s share of total media-watching time shrunk by 10.75 percent over a five-year period, and it continues to fall. More and more viewers are watching streaming TV, which does not even have ads. Digital devices take up more than half of all media viewing time. The future of advertising has been here for a while now, but many companies are struggling to adapt to the pace of rapid evolution—and that even goes for marketing agencies!
The rules of advertising have forever changed because of digital media. Ads that interrupt the viewing experience—so called “push” ads—often get tuned out or turned off. The public now has so many choices and vast control over which media they patronize on a regular basis. In such an environment, advertising must present content that naturally attracts the audience and holds their attention for a sufficient length of time. This includes gripping stories that engage and hold attention. “Storyselling” creates genuine value for a brand audience. If the value is not there, viewers will soon move on to more interesting narratives.
Audiences also are now viewing media according to their own schedules, rather than waiting for pre-scheduled programming. That means brand stories must be transmitted 24/7, and across a wide variety of media to be effective. A major key now is to have brand stories that are so compelling that they are eagerly shared across the various social media channels, maybe even gaining viral movement. Since there is so much content on the Web, it is critical that a brand effectively differentiates itself as unique and outstanding from the many competing voices—and that starts with a fresh and compelling message.
Marketing agencies need the vision and breadth of skills required to innovate advertising content and will produce returns for their clients. What is necessary is an integrated agency that fully understands brand management across a wide variety of media. Strategy and storytelling must integrate media efforts into a seamless whole, always keeping the audience’s needs and interests at the forefront of attention. This seamless integration of storytelling is what ultimately leads to content being shared on various social media platforms, moving a brand forward.
Advertising, Web design, and content marketing over the various platforms are challenging. Not only do they require great storytelling, they must be based on solid market research data. Technology has to measure itself and adjust to realistic feedback. The audience must be targeted with great accuracy, the message adapted to their behavior. In your efforts to grow, SalesFish is here to help you as a full-service agency—one that is always working hard to help you stay ahead of the crowd!
Call SalesFish today and our high-touch, dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals, and the marketing and sales tactics best suited to your specific needs. And, yes, we will also advise you on the best A.I. tools that actually work and complement the real people in your business!
Stay tuned for more relevant content on creating world-class digital marketing strategies and B2B telemarketing sales strategies. We at SalesFish Brand Marketing & Sales thank you for joining us in our commitment to unwavering strategic planning, B2B brand marketing and B2B sales execution.
Call today and our “high-touch” dedicated team will assist you in assessing your strategic sales goals to tailor our marketing and sales tactics to your specific needs.
SalesFish Net of Sales Services:
- B2B Direct Sales, Channel Sales and Marketing Strategies
- On-Site B2B Presentation, Negotiation and Sales
- B2B Telemarketing and B2B Telesales Services
- Cold Calls and Appointment Setting
- Online Presentations and Webinars
- Product Awareness and Announcement Calls
- Primary Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Surveys
- Experiential Event Marketing
- Pre and Post-Event Calls
- Audience Acquisition, Exhibit Sales and Sponsorship Sales
