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How Expert Roundups Can Increase Traffic to Your Site

Posted: 03 Dec 2019 08:00 AM PST

Quality link building is a crucial part of SEO and a key element for ranking your website atop Google search results. One strategy for effectively building organic traffic and links that direct to your website is to publish an expert roundup.

An expert roundup is a blog post that features a collection of quotes or interview answers contributed by a group of industry experts or niche influencers. Usually, the creator of a roundup reaches out to these people, who are authorities in their fields and can draw upon years of experience, and asks them one or two specific questions that they can easily answer. All insights that these experts share are combined and published in one single piece of content.

Expert roundups can be about almost any topic that interests a reading audience. While the subject may relate to a particular product or service, you should take educational in assembling the content. Be creative in selecting the most compelling topic. Assemble complementary perspectives that interlink to provide comprehensive together.

What are the benefits of using expert roundups?

Now that you understand what an expert roundup is, it is important to understand the benefits that come from incorporating this type of blog post into your content strategy

Increased traffic and social shares

Expert roundups often increase engagement and can create a viral effect, which may mean hundreds or even thousands of social media shares.

The secret here lies in the fact that many of the experts that participate in a roundup will share the content in which they are positioned prominently with their own followers. Since a roundup provides valuable insights from a diverse group of respected industry representatives, people are more willing to trust and follow the actionable advice provided therein.

The amount of traffic that a roundup attracts correlates to the popularity of a particular topic. While thousands of shares might be out of reach for a highly technical or specific law-related subject, compelling content can result in positive social media activity and reinforce your value when your article appears in search results.

Dozens of backlinks

Not every visitor that stumbles upon your roundup runs a blog or owns some other type of website where he or she can link back to your site. But some of them do. And if they like your work, chances are that they will reference it. I mean, this is the whole idea behind backlinks, isn't it? There are expert roundups that have landed as many as 500 links from more than 100 different domains.

Connect with people in your industry

An expert roundup is a great way to engage and connect with different people in your industry that could one day become your partners, investors and friends. Building these types of relationships allows you to earn trust and network through the process. It is much easier to converse with someone new when you are offering to feature them in your thought leadership article rather than contacting them for a favor or request.  And since you are promoting these people and their businesses for free, they are often more likely to return the favor by considering you for opportunities in the future.

Increased awareness  and authority

With the help of roundups, you can gain awareness for your business and position yourself as an industry authority. Even if you have never met all of your roundup participants, people now associate you with both the featured group of professionals and their expert advice.

How to create expert roundups

The drawback to expert roundups is that they usually require a significant investment of time and effort to organize into a memorable final product.

 

It's not like you simply reach out to random people and ask them the first question that comes to your mind. It's a bit more complicated than that. Here are four steps to consider when creating an expert roundup.

1. Ask the right question

Every roundup starts with the right question. The right question is one that your target audience really needs to have answered. In the best-case scenario, your roundup will provide solutions to a specific problem that people already have.

On the other hand, you have motivated experts to spend their valuable time to create a thoughtful answer. Avoid choosing a topic that's too complex because you may only receive a few quality responses or even no responses at all.

Also, keep in mind that the more detailed the main subject, the fewer potential contributors you will be able to find that have the appropriate knowledge that's needed.

2. Find the right experts

Your next step is to find the right experts. These people really have to know what they are talking about, because most of the content for your roundup will come from these third parties, so make sure that you do your due diligence. You want to look out for people who:

  • Have proven that they are capable of creating great content;
  • Have a name recognition factor
  • Have a large following to share your expert roundup

You can find experts by conducting a thorough Google search for compelling topics in your niche. You can also use Facebook, Twitter and other platforms to find posts from influencers.

One of the best sources for identifying knowledgeable experts, those who will most likely agree to contribute to your roundup, are other recently published roundups. By referencing other roundups, you have a long list of contacts on a single page. This simplifies the process of determining the right ones to approach.

3. Make contact

Once you have created a long list of experts that you would like to invite, it's time to contact them. You can do that by writing an email or sending them a direct message, such as through Twitter or LinkedIn.

It's customary that the majority of your prospects will not reply to your inquiry. Don't hesitate to send one or two follow-up messages in the event you didn't receive a response. The magic word is persistence. At the same time, don't push it too far, you don't want to bother anyone. 

The busiest and most successful people often have the least time for someone they don't know, until they realize it could be in their best interest to reply and contribute. It is oftentimes better to delay a roundup by several weeks or even month if that means you are going to offer a better perspective and include more contributors of influence.

4. Put everything together

After you've made contact and hopefully received a diverse group of responses, it's time to put everything together.

I always recommend including a short introduction at the beginning of the post and then featuring the insights that your experts provided. Don't forget to include the name and company of each person, and also add links to their business website or blog. Make sure the final article reads well and is a reflection of your high-quality standards.

Once you've published it, don't forget to send a direct link of your masterpiece to each of the contributors. This increases the chances that they will share the roundup with their own network.

An expert roundup is a great way to boost your profile and direct traffic to your site, so I recommend that you consider creating one for your website or blog.

 

How To Effectively Market To Millennials

Posted: 03 Dec 2019 07:00 AM PST

If your business has yet to create a strategy that markets to millennial customers, then it's neglecting a major component of its target audience. Millennials make up the second-largest generation in the U.S. after baby boomers. They're expected to soon surpass the older generation as they continue to grow and make up a majority of the buyer's market.

As their numbers increase, so does their buying power. The more you know this specific demographic of people, the easier it'll be to market to them and give them what they want so your business succeeds.

Millennial consumers differ from the generations before them because they grew up with technology, go further in their education, and encourage diversity. Their buying practices more closely align with their connection to a brand and its reputation rather than choosing the first option. 

Since there are so many cultural, economic and technological differences between millennials and the generations prior to them, it's crucial for businesses to market with these differences in mind. If you plan on marketing to a millennial customer in the same way you'd sell to a baby boomer, for example, you'll won't have many of them shopping with you. 

Since they make up a large portion of the buying market, your business must learn more about them if it's going to generate sales, build brand awareness, collect leads, and much more.

There are five different ways your business can market to millennials more effectively, including:

  • Being active on social media

  • Connecting through email

  • Featuring user-generated content

  • Providing stellar customer support

  • Implementing higher values 

Here is more detail on each tactic you should be using to attract more millennial customers.

1. Be active on social

If you're going to reach millennial consumers, then you need to be active on social media. Wherever they hang out is where you want to be, and since 98% of millennials own a smartphone, it's the perfect way to market to them effectively.

For your marketing efforts to end up successful, you first need to cultivate trust towards this demographic. Without it, you can't convince them to engage with your brand, purchase your products, or join your email list. With so many options to choose from, millennials are picky about who they buy from. So, you need to persuade them to choose you.

It's important not to spread your business too thin and try to manage every social media account out there. As long as you're on the same channels where they're active, you're good to go. If you want to grab their attention, you must create marketing strategies that appeal to them. 

Outbound marketing practices don't work on this generation, as they prefer to build relationships with the brands they invest in. You can start relationship-building through social media. Respond to posts they tag you in. Follow relevant industry hashtags to keep up with the latest conversations surrounding your brand. Post consistently to increase brand recognition. 

2. Connect via email

Most businesses already utilize email marketing to engage with subscribers and give them content. But for millennials especially, using this channel is an effective means of communicating. Around 73% of millennials prefer to communicate with businesses via email. Since it's important to give consumers what they want, you need to use it.

You can use email marketing for multiple reasons, including to:

  • Build brand recognition

  • Generate sales

  • Cultivate strong customer relationships

  • Drive traffic to your website

  • Promote discounts and special offers

Regardless of what your end goal is, you can use email to reach your millennial subscribers. Personalize your content so they feel like more than a number to your business. Consumers are more likely to buy from a retailer that personalizes the experience, such as remembering their name. 

Stay consistent in your branding so they know it's you and recognize you in their inbox. Too often, branding goes amiss in emails, which causes subscribers to delete them or send them to spam. That's the last thing you want if you're trying to reach your audience through email.

3. Feature user-generated content

Millennial consumers want to know that their purchases are practical and loved by others like them. Without reassurance, they feel unsure about buying something they may not like or use. They're more likely to trust the recommendations of friends, family, and even strangers above the brand itself. That's why adding user-generated content to your marketing strategy works when marketing to millennials.

User-generated content is anything produced by customers themselves that shows them using or enjoying your products and services. When posted online, it helps to spread the word and convince others in your target audience to check out your business. 

If you want your audience to produce and promote user-generated content for your brand, then bring the idea to life through different channels. Use social media, your website, and email to ask customers to create user-generated content and tag you when they post it. You can take it a step further and create a branded hashtag that makes it easy for users to see all the content under one specific keyword.

4. Provide impeccable customer support

When millennials face an issue with your business, they want speedy support that provides solutions. At the very least, they want to know you hear them out and care about them as more than just their customers. Millennial consumers proactively look to spend money on brands that treat them well. If you expect them to keep coming back, you must offer stellar, fast customer support.

Wherever they leave questions, concerns, or comments, it's your duty to reply promptly. The average response time from companies is 12 hours, which is much longer than the one-hour timeframe that customers expect. If you don't deliver according to their expectations, you won't bring in as many conversions.

You can improve your customer support by:

  • Speeding up response times

  • Using email autoresponders

  • Implementing live chat and chatbots into your strategy

  • Outsourcing customer service 

  • Collecting and analyzing customer feedback

  • Addressing customers by name

5. Implement higher values

With e-commerce marketing and the emergence of new businesses across the globe, millennials have more than enough options to choose from. In today's marketing world, having a quality product isn't enough to grab their attention and navigate them through the sales funnel. If you're going to successfully convert them into customers, your business needs to have values.

Give millennial consumers a good enough reason why they should do business with you over your competitors. The additional incentive solidifies their decision and makes them more comfortable going through the checkout.

Around 50% of millennials would purchase from a brand to support a good cause. They want to build relationships with businesses that care about significant issues and use their resources for the greater good. With more focus on climate change, hunger, and reserving resources, millennials look to buy from brands who give back to their communities and promote positive change. 

There are several things to consider when marketing to millennial consumers. They're different from the generations before them, which makes it important to market to them the way they want to be marketed to. With so many options readily available for them to choose from, you need to provide them with reasons why they should choose you. If you express higher values, quality customer support and active engagement through social platforms, you're sure to catch their attention and turn them into paying customers.
 

How Entrepreneurs Can Stop Getting Wrapped Up in the Day-To-Day

Posted: 03 Dec 2019 06:00 AM PST

  • All entrepreneurs get lost in the details of the business, but that approach is not scalable.
  • Having a CEO performing CEO duties is crucial to the health of the company.
  • By focusing on the big picture, entrepreneurs can more effectively identify what they want to accomplish and how to go about it.

All entrepreneurs have probably heard the well-worn advice "Work on your business, not in it." It sounds like just another corporate cliché, but it's a necessary caution because any entrepreneur is in danger of getting sucked into nitty-gritty employee work instead of assuming the big-picture CEO role. Take it from me. 

There was a time when my inbox overflowed with questions and a steady stream of people visited my office looking for help. I had trained my people to come to me when they had problems because I feared what would happen if I wasn't involved in every detail of the business.

For entrepreneurs, it's easy to get stuck trying to fill every role at once: The company may need its founder to manage day-to-day tasks in the early phases of its development, but there comes a point when that founder needs to be more of a captain and less of a sailor. Studies increasingly show that companies where founders assume and continue to play the CEO role perform more innovatively and profitably over time.

Their transition into full-time leadership requires trusting the employees they've hired to execute defined duties that contribute to the long-term health of the company. These are people with skills and expertise who know the expectations of their roles and how to go about getting their jobs done.

When a leader instead operates by simply giving his or her team all the answers – what I call leadership through expertise – it's often about satisfying the leader's own needs to feel successful and safe. Other leaders make mistakes out of their need to be important, be the center of attention, or gain validation for their ideas. Regardless, the habit of serving as a quality checkpoint turns the entrepreneur into a bottleneck that slows the workflow, stunts employees' individual growth, and detracts from the time leadership can dedicate to steering the company where it needs to go. It's a real danger, as 23% of startups fail because of weak founding teams.

An entrepreneur's job is to focus on the big picture and design the machine by which work gets done. Scaling a business does not require the CEO to be the best worker on day-to-day tasks; it requires someone to strategize how to scale revenue and deliver those services at scale.

Why it's key to refocus on the big picture.

No matter how good entrepreneurs are at their jobs, they cannot control the quality of work across a company once it has more than 15 employees. When the leader is still reviewing every detail, employees stop taking proactive action and instead begin to wait for the owner to do the work. Employees don't want to have to change direction after the boss comes in and tells them what to do differently, so they take initiative less often and wait to be instructed instead.

This creates a downward spiral in which the entrepreneur increasingly becomes both the team's coach and its goalie, though he or she can't both protect the goal and keep the endgame in mind. When a company reaches 15 or more employees, each objective becomes a full-time job.

If the CEO is still stuck in the day-to-day doing the employees' jobs, then no one is doing the CEO's job – and that doesn't bode well for the company's health and growth. Avoid getting lost in the business's minutiae by following these four steps for transitioning your focus to the CEO role:

1. Identify CEO priorities.

To define and focus to your role as CEO, take a step back. Ask yourself what three priorities only you, as the head of the company, are capable of delivering. Once you've identified those key initiatives, block off 10 hours per week to work on them. Not only will it help you zero in on ways to better guide your company, but it could also attune you to some of the trends in the market that require attending.

Think about your priorities through the lens of writing your own job description. You have probably already written job descriptions for others on your team: maybe the sales manager or the customer-facing representatives. But have you thought about the important duties and functions of your own role? If you were an external investor, how much time would you expect the CEO of a company to spend on each task in your job description? Break that time into a range of hours per week. For example, the CEO spends between three to five hours per week finding new business partners or acquisition opportunities. Undergoing this exercise can help you home in on the tasks and objectives you should prioritize and be your guide to getting the job done.

2. Role-play the worst-case scenario.

To further envision where you should spend your time in the CEO role, prepare for the worst-case scenario. It's critical to identify hidden shoals before they have a chance to sink your ship. Step back and look around. What are the top three threats that could kill your business or lead to its decline? If you're just starting to see cracks in the hull, create a timeline to help map the course for corrective action. This kind of strategic scenario planning usually involves understanding your issues and uncertainties and predicting the implications of possible situations.

Think about the three things your company needs to get right in the next one to three years. Who is working on these things, and how much time should you spend on providing your own input? This year, CEOs across the globe have found themselves pulled in a few similar directions. An increasing number of business leaders are prioritizing digital operations while trying to marry analytical insights to their own intuition. Other CEOs, meanwhile, are boosting their international political knowledge so they can steer their companies through any disruption in global trade. Once you've identified the threats on the horizon, consider how much time and effort you currently devote to making sure they don't harm your business's future.

3. Lead with questions, not answers.

Remember that line of people standing outside my door? They were there because I was the answer man. But over time, I realized I could better lead my employees by asking them the questions instead. Asking questions puts you in a mode of perpetual learning that not only helps your employees grow, but also helps focus your leadership as you seek input into big-picture goals.

Asking the right questions in the right moments is an art form. So how do you do it? Present an open-ended scenario for someone to work through and explain. To accomplish this, you might ask a "what" or "how" question: "What should we stop doing?" or "What would success look like?" or "How will you change your response after what you've just learned?" Then, follow up on the person's response in order to open up the dialogue and explore the situation. Instead of asking questions just to uncover why an employee made a mistake, present any difficult situation as an opportunity to learn and grow.

4. Design the machine that gets the work done.

Too many entrepreneurs try to create miniature versions of themselves who do the job the way they did it when the company was smaller. But the problem with that "mini-me" approach is that if all employees had an entrepreneurial bent, they would go off and start their own companies. Instead, it's the entrepreneur's job to design an organization in which all new hires can succeed without the five to 20 years of experience the entrepreneur has.

Entrepreneurs often lose touch with how the work actually gets done. Keep in mind that the way the work is executed in a five-person company where all the people wear multiple hats is very different from how work gets done in a 50-person company where the work is spread across specialists. Building a system that works requires meticulous planning, but it can be done. Start by taking a wide-angle view of your role in your business, taking stock of all you do to make it work. From there, break down the steps you take for each process, show how you get from Point A to Point B and all the possible alternate outcomes. Once you know what your process looks like, think about ways to either automate it or make your work more efficient.

When entrepreneurs are just getting started, becoming – and staying – intimately involved in the business's daily operations is an all-too-familiar trap. Luckily, extricating oneself isn't too difficult. It simply requires taking a big-picture view of what the CEO should accomplish and outlining the steps needed to truly build up the company to its full potential.

How to Find the Right Social Media Influencers for Your Business

Posted: 03 Dec 2019 06:00 AM PST

  • Influencer marketing is on the rise, with 63% of marketers working with at least 10 influencers per campaign. 
  • Business owners think audience engagement is the best way to measure the success of their influencer partnerships. 
  • Picking influencers in your niche can help improve your traffic, sales and engagement. 
  • Instagram, Facebook, and blogs are the most popular places to promote your business using these social media personalities. 

Consumers are more likely to buy a product or service if it's recommended to them by a friend. Many people view social media and blog influencers as friends, so a recommendation encourages their loyal followers to check out the company being mentioned. When a business owner or marketer works with an online personality to promote a product to their audience, we call this influencer marketing. 

Influencer marketing is quickly becoming one of the best tools business owners have at their disposal. A staggering 63% of marketers work with at least 10 influencers when they launch a new campaign. That number is expected to rise as marketing teams learn how to create meaningful connections with these internet celebrities. 

There are plenty of benefits to using this social media strategy to spread brand awareness, increase sales and improve engagement. In fact, social media plays such a critical role that 89.3% of business owners claimed that social media is somewhat or extremely vital to their success. 

If you're new to the world of influencer marketing, you probably have some questions. We are going to walk you through the various steps and decisions you must make if you want to use this valuable strategy 

Consider your marketing goals 

First, you'll have to decide on your influencer marketing goals. There are several great benefits you can achieve by working with the right personalities. Some of the most common goals business owners establish when working with internet personalities include:

  • Increase sales by dollar amount or percentage 
  • Improve engagement rate on social media 
  • Boost website traffic
  • Grow their email list

Your goals will determine the steps you'll take as you move forward. For instance, if your goal is to spread brand awareness and increase website traffic, you'll want to work with a macro-influencer, which consists of someone with a broad audience between 50,000 and 300,000 followers on any given social media channel. The reason you'll want to work with a larger channel is that you can reach more people with your brand. 

If you want to improve your sales, you may want to consider working with a micro-influencer. Micro-influencers generally have between 2,000 and 50,000 followers on their website or social media channels. These influencers are great for hosting a giveaway, promoting real customer stories, or by offering detailed product reviews. 

These activities require a more refined audience. Since micro-influencers specialize in one niche, there's a better chance that the consumers checking out your contest or product reviews are genuinely interested in your business.  

Once you decide on the goals you hope to achieve by using an influencer, it's time to move on to the next step. 

Fine-tune Your customer personas  

Before you approach an influencer, you should take some time to learn everything you can about your target audience. There's a good chance you've developed customer personas based on your target audience. In essence, customer profiles are designed to give you a ton of valuable information about the people most likely interested in your product or service. 

You'll want to review your website and social media analytics for common trends among your audience. For instance, if you notice that 80% of your audience is under 25, there's a good chance that you would benefit from an influencer who caters to a younger audience. 

Additionally, you can learn about your customer's pain points and use that information in your marketing material for influencers. For instance, CareerResume.com is featured on many popular YouTube channels. Their goal is to find good jobs for people, even if they have unique personalities and skills. This message ripples through all of their sponsored influencers in the form of fictional people with silly personality traits finding their dream job. 

It's essential that you understand your customers before you start looking for influencers. Failure to flesh out your customer personas could result in you picking out a partner that doesn't resonate with your target audience. 

Research popular influencers in your industry

Now that you understand your goals and customers, it's time to start looking for influencers. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and blogs are the most popular platforms for these internet personalities. 

You'll want to start your search on social media because 31.24% of all referral traffic stems from a social media platform. In other words, you have a better chance of seeing substantial results when marketing on YouTube or Instagram. 

Influencer blogs are also beneficial to business owners. There are plenty of reputable websites that are looking to feature you in a piece, both of which result in more visibility. If you offer your product or service to the blog, they may be willing to write their own reviews and personally expose your brand to their audience. 

When you're searching for influencers, you should always keep their target audience in mind. Their audience's goals and demographics must align with your own for the best chance of success. There are plenty of nuances you should stay mindful of in your pursuit. For example, if your demographic is women in their 30s, you wouldn't find success partnering with an influencer that targets teenage girls with fashion tips. Remember that your target audience should be a significant portion of the influencer's audience. 

You can learn about influencers by reading their archived blog content or checking out influencer posts they've promoted in the past. 

Set clear expectations

Narrow down your list of influencers and start sending our warm emails. Let them know that you've checked out their content, and cite some of your favorite pieces. Your goal is to show the influencer that you've spent time looking at their content and seeing if they are a good fit for your business. 

Once the influencer responds and the conversation gets rolling, set clear expectations. We suggest deciding on the following factors: 

  • One time promotion, or extended campaign
  • Payment (money, promotion, products, etc.)
  • Engagement expectations 
  • The type of content 

You'll find that addressing these issues helps frame the deal, so there is a mutual understanding. You'll also want to consider creating and sending custom URLs that you can track for future sales, discuss whether you'll allow them to promote on your website in the future, and of course, signing a contract. 

Follow up and review analytics 

Working with influencers means you'll have to follow up and review your analytics information regularly. Pay attention to details like traffic, engagement and sales from the influencer's social media channel or website.

There's a good chance that some influencer partnerships will fall through. Sadly, this happens with many partnerships, and it's hard to avoid. If you stay on top of your influencer campaigns and analytics, it will become easy for you to determine whether a partnership will work out on a long-term basis. 

Over the course of your career, you'll work with plenty of great influencers that help you reach your target audience. Now you know how to find, hire and negotiate with these social media personalities and bloggers. 

 

 
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