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Physical Retail Is Not Dead Yet!
Amazon almost killed Best Buy.
Then Best Buy learned to Be a little more Like Amazon and it is doing great. You too can Be Like Amazon while not being like Amazon.
Any business, retail or services, online or brick and mortar can learn from these principles.
Build relationships, help people buy instead of focusing on selling them, understand your employees & customersâ motivation. Find ways to remove the friction in the experience through innovating your current processes.
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from SEO Tips https://www.bryaneisenberg.com/physical-retail-is-not-dead-yet/
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Does it Payless to pay less?
Do you want to get paid less for any value you bring to your customer?
Obviously not!
Do you prefer to pay more for products than they are actually worth?
Today Payless announce they are closing all their stores.
I want us to step back too late November/December of last year (yes only a couple of months back) and take a look at what we can learn from the PayLess disaster to understand how we need to adapt to stay ahead of our customers.
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What do I think is the future of local retail?
Could Amazon offer you
/ride sharing as part of Amazon Prime? Is the battle for brands over private labels really a big issue? I chat about this and more with Tyler Kern on todayâs MarketScale podcast.
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A short interview by InRiver
I had the privilege to sit down with the wonderful content team at InRiver to discuss revenue blind spots and my upcoming keynote at the InRiver PimPoint Summit on the 4th of April in Malmo Sweden,
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Every Action is an Expression of Belief
Our companies are nothing but the collection of action every one of our employees take.
What beliefs do your employees have about the organizations goals and vision?
In Alan Stein, Jr. new book Raise Your Game he quotes a famous Inc. magazine survey that first asked executives what percentage of their employees could name the companyâs three top priorities.
The executives guess 64%.
When the researchers conducted the survey of the employees, the actual number was a sadly, only 2%.
âTwo out of 100 employees knew what the company stood for. If you stop and think about how a companyâs priorities are literally the reason it exists, you realize just how mind-boggling that number is.â â Alan Stein, Jr.
It is vital for an organization to align their values and beliefs into an internal narrative that can be shared through the power of storytelling.
When we left our agency almost a decade ago this is what we discovered was the trait that almost all of our past successful clients and students had continued to leverage in their careers. They mastered the ability to tell the story of their customerâs journey though their customers eyes in a way that made it empathetic and relevant for the whole organization.
Today we lead workshops helping teams get in alignment.
P.S. I had an opportunity to jump on a call with my friend Chris Brogan recently. During the conversation I made some bold predictions, I wonder what you think of them.
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from SEO Tips https://www.bryaneisenberg.com/every-action-is-an-expression-of-belief/
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Write Like Your Readers Are The Laziest People on Earth
You can read this sentence.
The sentence is short, it uses simple words, and the subject is toward the beginning. These three components make any sentence extremely easy to read.
I know this is a simple example, and I donât mean to insult your intelligence.
But hereâs the deal:
Readability is essential to writing clear, concise, and compelling content.
Your content can wax poetic.
You can write complex, long sentences.
You can even write long-form pieces to tell a captivating story.
But if your content is confusing, complex, or long-winded, youâre missing the point.
Writing online is not like writing in your journal.
Youâre writing for a public audienceânot yourself.
As a copywriter, your goal isnât to woo readers with your mastery of the English language.
Your goal is drive results with your words.
Said another way, your words must compel your target audience to take a specific action.
To capture the attention of your audience, you must write readable content. Content your target audience can easily understand.
What this means for you and your business can be completely different from someone else.
What readability means for the healthcare industry versus content marketing can vary widely because the target audiences are different.
For the sake of this post, letâs assume youâre writing for the average adult.
The average adult in the United States reads at the 9th-grade level. In this example, your writing must be readable by someone in the 9th-gradeânot a graduate student.
To save your copy from the curse of knowledge, there are four practical ways you can may your content readable. Here are they are.
#1. Use simple words
Big words have two big problems:
Most people canât read big words.
Most people donât want to read big words.
If youâre writing for the general public, then your words shouldnât exceed the 9th-grade level. If they do, then you run the risk of losing your readers attention.
Besides, most people donât want to read what you write online.
People read online much like animalsâ forage for food.
Theyâre hungry and in search for something to eat.
The key to satisfying your readers is to use simple words.
What makes a word âsimpleâ depends upon the context.
But here are three guiding principles:
Use short words
Use familiar words
Use words with 1-2 syllables
By using simple words, your copy will be easy-to-understand.
#2. Begin sentences with subjects
Grab your readers attention with right-branching sentences.
These magical sentences are easy to read, minimize passivity, and they fuel your writing with action.
To write a right-branching sentence, you need to describe your main subject first and then modify it afterward with additional information.
Jordan Loftis, a ghostwriter and the former marketing automation lead at CoSchedule, suggests placing the subject and verb as close together as possible to create more movement in your writing.
To see what Iâm talking about, here are several right-branching sentence examples from Roy Peter Clarkâs Writing Tools:
âA writer composes a sentence with subject and verb at the beginning, followed by other subordinate elements, creating what scholars call a right-branching sentence.â
âRebels seized control of Cap Haitien, Haitiâs second largest city, on Sunday, meeting little resistance as hundreds of residents cheered, burned the police station, plundered food from port warehouses and looted the airport, which was quickly closedâ (Lydia Polgreen).
âHe didnât need a clock. He had been working in a tidal partner so long that he could fee a tide change in his sleepâ (John Steinbeck).
#3. Write to be scanned
Focus on your readers by making your copy easy to scan.
People frequently read online in an F-shaped pattern. They scan the page horizontally from left-to-right, and then they scan the left side of the page in a downward vertical movement.
Hereâs a visual illustration to show you what I mean:
Help your readers by accommodating to their reading habits. Here are some easy ways how:
Images
Sub-headings
Bulleted lists
Numbered lists
Block quotes
Pull quotes
Bold or italicize content
The key to writing scannable content is to use short sentences.
In this post, my average sentence length is 9.7 words.
Some people recommend 20-25 words per sentence. I donât have a hard rule I follow. Honestly, I just eye the format to see if my sentences are short. If I see a long sentence, then I make it shorter.
As you write, be sure to format your content with your readers in mind.
Writing readable content
Readability is about focusing on your readers.
Your goal as a copywriter is to connect with your audience and move them to action. The best way you can accomplish both of these goals is to write readable content.
These tips will help you to get started.
Apply these lessons.
See what resonates with your readers.
Observe your results.
If youâre like me, youâll need to continually revisit these lessons and improve upon.
Happy writing!
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from SEO Tips https://thecopybot.com/readability/
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Can you improve 2019 looking back at 2018 data?
I have been sharing more content on LinkedIn lately, are we connected there yet?
Have a great 2019.
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from SEO Tips https://www.bryaneisenberg.com/can-you-improve-2019-looking-back-at-2018-data/
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9 Tips on Writing a Blog Post People Will Actually Read
Writing for the web is different from writing for newspapers, magazines, or books.
The difference is not in the words you write. But in the way people read, which makes all the difference in the world.
When it comes to reading online, most people will not read what you write word-for-word. They will scan your post in search of what they are looking for. If you donât satisfy their appetiteâquicklyâthen theyâll move on.
For bloggers, this means that you cannot be like an abstract artist who splashes paint on a canvas in the hope of creating something compelling. There is an art and science to using words to communicate, engage, and persuade readers online.
What follows are nine tips to writing a blog post people will actually read. Use these principals as proverbial bumper pads for your writing to help you stay on course and hit your goal.
Click here to read the rest of the post at Stillhouse Marketing.
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from SEO Tips https://thecopybot.com/writing-a-blog-post/
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How Do You Handle Revenue Blind Spots?
Companies routinely have Revenue Blind Spots that cost them 20-60% of their revenue. It is like revenue that disappears without you knowing it or seeing it. It is like heat escaping from a poorly insulated home or water leaking from an old bucket. Or like the daily death by a 1000 cuts (think Sears). There are really small ones like a paper cut and others that run much deeper.Â
Here is an example:
Jeffrey and I are wrapping up a new keynote/workshop for 2019 titled, Revenue Blind Spots: Increase Your Sales with the Persuasive Momentum Framework. We are looking for two associations to deliver this keynote at in 2019. If you know an association that would benefit from this message please connect us.
Smart leaders like you instinctively know they have a blind spot and the miracle of breakthrough is usually hiding in the center of it. Systems and processes that were once true and reliable no longer serve you.
Donât feel bad. If there was any way you could see your blind spot they wouldnât call it a blind spot.
Every company has blind spots. Blind spots are the disconnect between customersâ expectation and their actual experience. Are brains are designed to create these blind spots to handle all the information coming at us. In todayâs world of increasing velocity of messaging and data we need solutions to recover these Revenue Blind Spots that cost companies between 20-60% of their revenue. Everyone knows what it feels like to make changes that make customers happier and increase sales. The challenge for companies is to pinpoint how to connect with customers. How to position their products and services in ways that sustain engagement.
Most companies donât have an awareness problem. Their challenge is sales conversion. They attract potential customers, but fail to identify obstacles in the funnel. They also fail to motivate customers, in the proper context, to propel customers through the customer journey. This has only become more challenging as consumers and companies move between channels â offline to online and back. Customers expect seamless and consistent positioning, messaging and engagement. Companies struggle to provide this at any individual stage, much less through the entire lifecycle of a customer.
The Eisenbergs provide keynotes, workshops and consulting that help reveal the blind spots and how to fix them. The Persuasive Momentum Framework anticipates then provides solutions for those blind spots. The Framework provides action plans for products, positioning, sales copy, promotion, content, user interface, testing and measurement. Teams use these action plans, innovating customer experiences to increase sales. Frameworks are also easier to implement than finding superstar talent.
Discover the single perspective that sales leaders share
Explore the two dimensions you can use to improve sales
Learn the three simple questions that speed the persuasive momentum of your entire sales system
Align your teams for better execution around the four pillars of success
Identify what your customers want so you can provide it
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from SEO Tips https://www.bryaneisenberg.com/how-do-you-handle-revenue-blind-spots/
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1,548% Increase in Blog Traffic: 1 Proven (Yet Overlooked) Tactic
Blogging isnât dead.
Blogging is still alive, and it can âŠ
Drive traffic to your website.
Generate new leads.
Establish your business as an authority.
But if youâre like many business owners or marketing leaders, your blog is probably lifeless. It no longer accomplishes the big goals I just mentioned. Itâs just sitting there dormant on your website, haphazardly groaning for attention.
Before you give up hope or take your blog off life-support, thereâs one tactic you should pursue to increase your blog traffic.
Itâs a tactic thatâs often overlooked and rarely discussed, and it could quickly and legitimately boost your blog traffic.
What is this magical tactic?
Itâs republishing your old blog posts.
I know this doesnât sound promising on the surface. But Iâve used this tactic on several different sites with similar positive results.
And this is the tactic I used to increase my blog traffic to one post month-over-month by 1,548%.
Let me show you:
This screenshot, which compares monthly traffic in March 2018 versus August 2018, shows the increase in monthly traffic before and after I made changes (no, this post did not receive a boost from social media or elsewhere in August).
This increase in blog traffic didnât happen overnight.
After optimizing this post, it took a couple of months for it to begin ranking for a variety of keywords.
Hereâs a birdâs-eye view of how this post started to increase in traffic after I implemented the changes:
This post was republished at the beginning of May, which led to the short spike that month. You can see a small dip in traffic in June, a slight increase in July, and a big leap in August as the post began to rank higher for additional keywords.
As you can see from this example, the traffic had previously plateaued and remained relatively the same month after month. After optimizing and republishing this postl, it went from receiving around 200 pageviews per month to nearly 3,300 pageviews per month!
Before you get too excited and start republishing everything on your site, I have some good news and bad news to share.
Hereâs the good news:
Optimizing old posts on your site can increase your blog traffic.
But hereâs the bad news:
This tactic doesnât produce the same results for every post on your site.
Since I donât want to end on a negative note, Iâm going to walk you through the process I used to identify this post (and many others) to republish, and the steps I took to optimize it to increase its ranking and traffic.
Click here to read the entire post at Stillhouse Marketing.Â
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from SEO Tips https://thecopybot.com/increase-blog-traffic/
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How Tithe.lyâs Conversion Rate Skyrocketed 155% Month-Over-Month with Live Chat
There are times when little decisions lead to extraordinary results.
Iâm not talking about the little decisions you need to make every day toward building a successful career, business, or fulfilled life. Iâm talking about the times when you make a seemingly small decision for your business, and it ends up having tremendous results.
This is exactly what happened at Tithe.ly.
Like every business, we were exploring ideas to increase our leads and boost our conversion rate. During this same time, we were also identifying ways we could better serve our customers with timely support.
After spending a few months reviewing a variety of solutions, Frank Barry, Tithe.lyâs COO, decided to add live chat to our site. He knew by adding this service to our site and adapting our team to this new tactic would be helpful. But itâs safe to say that all of us were blown away by the resultsâââespecially regarding the increase in our conversion rate.
As it turns out, after adding live chat to our site and making a few internal changes, our conversion rate skyrocketed 155% month-over-month.
Take a moment to let that number sink in.
Before diving into the steps we took to increase our conversion rate with live chat, Iâd like to start off by sharing more context about why we implemented this service in the first place.
Click here to read the entire article on Marketing & Growth Hacking.
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from SEO Tips https://thecopybot.com/live-chat/
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3 Reasons Why You Should Write Definitive Product Comparison Posts
Looking for ideas for your next blog post?
You should try writing a product comparison post.
Itâs basically just an article where you compare two (or more) popular products against each other. And it works like a charm in virtually every field.
Are you a travel blogger?
You could compare hotel chains, airline credit cards, or pit Airbnb against VRBO.
Food blogger?
You could compare blenders, weight loss programs, and recipe books.
Digital marketing blogger?
You could compare courses, website plugins, and SaaS tools.
As you can see, writing a product comparison post works in basically any niche.
And here are three reasons why I think you should give writing product comparison posts a try:
1. Product comparison posts are super helpful for readers
As bloggers, perhaps our biggest job is helping people save time by making the information they need more convenient.
In a crowded Internet, people have shared many ideas. But we can make readersâ lives better by presenting content in a convenient format.
Product comparison posts are a great example. By providing the information readers need all in one place, we can help them skip or reduce the tedious work of researching various solutions.
2. Product comparison posts are a great way to educate yourself
We all know using the best tools is essential. But finding the time to research different options is tough â and usually gets pushed to the back burner.
Writing a product comparison post allows you to kill two birds with one stone. You get a great blog post you can proudly share and a chance to become more knowledgeable about products that can help you and your readers.
3. Product comparison posts can make money
Many companies have affiliate programs bloggers can join that pay you for generating leads. If you write a definitive product comparison post about two relevant products and share it with your readers, you might convert a few people into paying customers â and earn a commission for yourself.
So, now that youâve read about the benefits of these articles⊠want to give it a try?
Hereâs how to write a definitive product comparison post
Follow these 4-steps to write a product comparison post that will convert massive amounts of leads:
Step 1: Pick two products or services your readers are interested in
Think through these questions to find the best products to compare:
Think of a problem your readers might face, and two solutions they might consider.
Think of a tool your readers might already use, and an alternative they might like to try.
Think of a tool you currently use, and some alternatives youâd like to try.
Step 2: Pick some facts about the products to highlight
As the name implies, your goal in a product comparison post is to highlight differences. One of the biggest mistakes you can make with this type of article is writing general product reviews and never pointing out any key distinctions.
Iâm not saying you have to pick a winner or make a one-size-fits-all recommendation. On the contrary, itâs usually a game of pros and cons.
For example, one product might have more features, while the other product is cheaper. Which is the better product for the reader? It depends on what they value more: Features or cost savings. Your job is merely to point out these differences.
Here are some areas you can highlight:
Pricing
Key features
Regions where the product is available (when applicable)
Reviews (if possible)
There will also be some topic-specific differences youâll want to highlight.
For example, this review of Daily Harvest and Green Blender, two popular smoothie delivery services, points out the differences in the size of the smoothies; whether the recipes are organic, gluten-free, or vegan; and whether the ingredients are shipped fresh or frozen.
Step 3: Do your research
Now that you have a good idea of what areas you want to cover, you can go on a scavenger hunt to find the answers. Company websites are where youâll probably want to start, but Google is a big help too â if you know the right tricks.
When you search a keyword followed by the name of the productâs website (âkeywordâ + âproductâs websiteâ), Google can often point you to the best pages for answers faster than you can find them by browsing.
A side-note about finding product reviews:
Reviews and ratings are an incredibly valuable data point to include in your product comparison posts because they quantify how satisfied customers tend to be with a product. However, finding scores to share can sometimes be difficultâ especially if you donât know where to look.
Food Delivery Guru has a great post comparing Blue Apron against Hello Fresh (two meal kit delivery services that send customers pre-portioned ingredients for cooking easy homemade meals.) Since retailers like Amazon donât sell these meal delivery subscriptions, you might think there would be no way to show reviews. But Food Delivery Guru gets around that by featuring the companiesâ Trustpilot scores.
Trustpilot is a website where customers can post reviews for products theyâve tried. There are many sites like it, and you can find these sites by Googling what youâre looking forâi.e., âHello Fresh reviewsâ.
Look for a reputable site that has a considerable number of reviews for both of the services youâre comparing. For example, if one product has a terrible rating but only three reviews, it would probably be unfair to use those metrics as the basis for a comparison.
Step 4: Write the post
You can be creative in the outline you choose to use, but remember, your job is to make the information easy to find and understandable.
Hereâs a basic outline Iâve found to be useful:
Acknowledge the problem the reader is facing
Mention the tools that could solve the problem
Quickly explain how the post will help readers pick the best option for their unique situation
Offer a side-by-side comparison chart for an easy overview
Write a short review of product 1 highlighting unique features
Summarize the pros of product 1 using bullet points
Write a short review of product 2 highlighting unique features
Summarize the pros of product 2 using bullet points
End with a conclusion that suggests which product is better for specific groups of people based on their circumstances (e.g., âIf youâre looking for the cheapest optionâŠâ)
Do I have to limit myself to only two products or companies?
Absolutely not.
Kindlepreneur has a great article that helps aspiring authors pick the best book writing software for their needs. Although the name doesnât explicitly say it, this blog post is really just a definitive product comparison post. In the write-up, the authors actually compare five different tools you can use to write books.To keep the post from becoming overwhelming, the authors do a few things really well:
They highlight mutually exclusive differentiators (like which book writing software works for which device), helping people quickly narrow down their options.
They keep their overviews for each of the five products short.
They use a lot of bullet points to communicate important facts with less text.
Over to you
Now you have some great reasons to consider giving a product comparison post a try, clear steps for how to write one, and several examples of great articles you can reverse engineer.
If you have any questions, be sure to post them in the comments!
The post 3 Reasons Why You Should Write Definitive Product Comparison Posts appeared first on Copybot.
from SEO Tips https://thecopybot.com/product-comparison/
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The 6 Most Devastating Content Marketing Mistakes
Making mistakes isnât fun.
They can cause setbacks, result in financial loss, or cause bad blood with your team. Thankfully, you can learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others. Or, in this case, you can learn from my content marketing mistakes.
Over the past six years, Iâve had the opportunity to work for some fantastic companies and provide content marketing support for a variety of product launches, including:
Serving as the senior content marketer for a fast-growing SaaS company
Directing the content strategy for a popular faith-based organization (1.2 million pageviews per month)
Launching dozens of book marketing campaigns, including several New York Times best-sellers
Overseeing the content strategy for best-selling author Jeff Goins
Providing content marketing support for national events, online courses, and albums
After reflecting on my experience, I wrote 6 Most Devastating Content Marketing Mistakes to help you avoid the big mistakes I made. This guide will help you steer clear of those mistakes and chart a course to help you maintain momentum.Donât feel like youâre alone in your work.
You donât have to figure everything out yourself.
Take a few moments to read this guide, digest the short lessons, and make sure youâre not wasting your time or money.
Click here to get your copy of 6 Most Devastating Content Marketing Mistakes.
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from SEO Tips https://thecopybot.com/content-marketing-mistakes/
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I Was Able to Combine My Passion for Religion and Content Into a Job I Love
The following is a conversation I had with Abby Wolfe from The Muse about my transition from working in a call center to serving as a content marketer.Â
If youâd told Jesse WisnewskiâSenior Content Marketer at Tithe.ly and founder of Stillhouse Marketingâ10 years ago that heâd have a content-focused career one day, he wouldnât have believed you.
âI always struggled tremendously with reading, grammar, and writing,â Wisnewski shares. âI just didnât apply myself. I actually did so poorly in high school English that I had to take a remedial course when I started college.â
After graduating college, he spent a brief time training to sell insurance before deciding he wanted to be a pastor. He resigned from the insurance industry, relocated to take an unpaid internship with a church, and then he started grad school for religious studies.
It was during his masters program that he really developed a passion for writing. But even this didnât make him consider a career in content. Instead, while still going to school part-time, he took a call center position for a communications company until something he was more interested in came along. He ended up being there for nearly three years. It was a tough time for him emotionally, as he was tired of spending time at a job he didnât love. But with a wife and four kids at the time, he couldnât leaveâhe had to help pay the bills.
In an effort to help, a friend told him about a job opening at a church that seemed right up Wisnewskiâs alley. But when he looked at the job description, it didnât really interest him.
âAnother opening did catch my eye, though,â he shares, âA staff writing position. I realized this was exactly the type of work I wanted to do.â Going with his gut, he applied. And since heâd been writing on the side, he got the job.
Since then, Wisnewski has held a few different content jobs, such as marketing manager and account manager at a few different publishing companies. In early 2018, he launched his own content marketing agency, and, most recently, he landed his current gig at Tithe.ly, an online and mobile-giving company for churches and ministries.
âWhen I saw this opportunityâthe chance to pursue the type of work I love at a company whose mission aligns with my valuesâI knew it was a match made in heaven,â he shares.
To hear more about my journey into content marketing, click here to keep reading.
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from SEO Tips https://thecopybot.com/the-muse/
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12 Uncommon Literary Devices to Give Your Writing Irresistible Style
So I bummed this book from a neighbor. Itâs a book on classic English rhetoric. Or verbal style.
She initially pulled it off her shelf to show me because of the name of the author: Ward Farnsworth.
Not an exact rendering of my last name (itâs Farnworth, no âsâ). And thatâs not pretentious posturing on my part â it has been that way for generations.
But it didnât really matter who wrote the book. I fell in love with it on the spot.
Each chapter is devoted to a literary device like anaphora, chiasmus, and litotes That may sound like nonsense to you, but theyâre just fancy words for rhetorical devices youâll quickly recognize.
Furthermore, each device is broken down into subspecies, complete with examples from notable sources like Shakespeare, Churchill, Chesterton, and the Bible (and I threw in a few by Tupac Shukar, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Bob Dylan).
What is a literary device?
Before diving into these uncommon literary devices, letâs take a quick detour.
Talking about literary devices, figures of speech and writing style can be intimidating for many.
After scouring the web and referring to a few additional books, I didnât come across an agreed upon definition of literary devices. So hereâs my take:
A literary device is a technique you can use to create a special effect on your writing.
Think about it this way.
When writing a story or making a point, you can just use the facts, which is totally fine for in some cases like journalism, or you can liven things up a bit with a literary device.
Hereâs an example of a literary device to illustrate what Iâm talking about:
âThe rain was heavy this afternoon as I walked to my car.â
âThe rain played tag with me as I ran to my car to get shelter.â
The first sentence is just a statement about the rain. It is what it is. Itâs like a reporter sharing her observation about todayâs weather, and it doesnât lead the reader to think anything specific about the rain.
The second sentence basically says the same thing. To make the rain come alive (âThe rain played tagâ), I used a literary device known as personification to create an image in the mind of the reader. I mean, who hasnât tried to run away from the rain?
Literary devices are tools writers can use that are similar to tactics producers can use in film, television, or theater. By adding makeup, using costumes, or utilizing computer graphics, producers can create special effects to convey a specific visual.
Hereâs one example of before-and-after scenes using special effects:
Sure, the producer could have asked the actor to wear a costume or put on makeup. But you have to admit; the computer graphics really takes the look of this character to the next level.
This is really how literary devices work in their basic form. They can add special effects to your writing and transform the experience of your readers.
Why literary devices are essential to web writing
Thereâs a lot of good substance out there. Hardly any style, though. This isnât an accident.
Most people who peddle content are tradespeople first, writers second. In other words, their authority rests in a discipline other than writing.
Sometimes their content feels as if itâs meant to feed a machine when the creator will tell you plainly that is not the case. They are writing for people, which is one key to writing a blog post people will actually read.
Fair enough. But technical writers also write for people.
A list of literary devices to add style to your content
I look at some pieces, though, and I think the designer probably got paid really good money. The writer, not so much.
This is not to say style should be a pretentious exercise in drawing attention to itself. It should not be a navel-gazing sentence by James Joyce or a long-winded, baroque one from Faulkner (whom I adore).
Great web writing demands the plainness of Hemingway and the clarity of Orwell and the playfulness of E. E. Cummings. And you can do it while honoring the simplicity of Strunk.
And mastering these 12 uncommon literary devices from Mr. Farnsworthâs book is a great place to start if you are a greenhorn ⊠a great place to beef up your skill set if you are a veteran. Enjoy.
1. Epizeuxis
Epizeuxis is a simple repetition of words and phrases. This literary device is often used for emphasis, and oftentimes, there are no additional words in between. The quick repetition of words or phrases will arrest the attention of your readers.
Epizeuxis examples:
âHoly, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!â
Isaiah 6:3
âNever give in â never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.â
Winston Churchill
âBut you never know now do you now do you now do you.â
David Foster Wallace, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
2. Anaphora
Anaphora is repetition at the beginning of successive statements. In writing or speeches, you can use this literary device to create an artistic effect, or you can repeat one phrase to weave together several points together.
Anaphora examples:
Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!
William Shakespeare, King John, II
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widowsâ houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
Matthew 23:13-16
3. Epistrophe
Epistrophe is similar to anaphora, but with a twistâthis literary device uses repetition of words or phrases at the end.
Epistrophe examples:
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.
1 Corinthians 13:11 (King James Translation)
âWhat lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny compared to what lies within us.â
Ralph Waldo Emerson
âThere is no Negro problem. There is no Southern problem. There is no Northern problem. There is only an American problem.â
Lyndon B. Johnson in âWe Shall Overcomeâ
4. Anadiplosis
Abnadiplosis is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and end of a sentence. This literary device creates a sweet flow in certain forms of writing.
Abnadiplosis examples:
âFear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.â
Yoda, Star Wars
âWe also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us.â
Romans 5:3â5
âThe frog was a prince / The prince was a brick / The brick was an egg / The egg was a birdâ
Genesis, âSupperâs Readyâ
5. Polyptoton
Polyptoton is unique in that itâs a repetition of the root word. For example, you can use similar words like âstrengthâ and âstrongâ instead of just repeating the same word.
Polyptoton examples:
âIt is the same with all the powerful of to-day; it is the same, for instance, with the high-placed and high-paid official. Not only is the judge not judicial, but the arbiter is not even arbitrary.â
â G.K. Chesterton, The Man on Top
âJudge not, that ye be not judged.â
Matthew 7:1
âNot as a call to battle, though embattled we are.â
John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961
âAbsolute power corrupts absolutely.â
Lord Acton
6. Isocolon
Isocolon is a literary device you can use to create parallel structures in your length and rhythm.
Isocolon examples:
âMelts in your mouth, not in your hands.â
M&Ms
âWith malice toward none, with charity toward all, with firmness in the rightâŠâ
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address
âIâm a Pepper, heâs a Pepper, sheâs a Pepper, weâre a Pepper â Wouldnât you like to be a Pepper, too? Dr. Pepper!â
Dr. Pepper advertising jingle
âHeal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.â
Matthew 10:8
7. Chiasmus
Chiasmus is a reversal structure used for artistic effect. With this literary device, you basically criss-cross phrases to convey a similarânot identicalâmeaning.
Chiasmus examples:
âMankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.â
John F. Kennedy
âWoe unto that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!â
Isaiah 5:20
âThey say money donât make the man but man, Iâm makinâ money.â
Tupac Shakur, âThug Passionâ
8. Anastrophe
Anastrope refers to an inversion of words, which will make perfect sense in a moment (assuming your a fan of Star Wars). You can use this literary device to emphasize a word or phrase.
Anastrope examples:
â Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing.â
Edgar Allan Poe, âThe Ravenâ
âJoined the Dark Side, Dooku has. Lies, deceit, creating mistrust are his ways now.â
Yoda
âI sing of arms and the man, who first from the shores of Troy.â
Virgil, the first line of Aeneid
âNever have I found the limits of the photographic potential. Every horizon, upon being reached, reveals another beckoning in the distanceâ
Eugene Smith
âHer mother is the lady of the house, And a good lady, and wise and virtuous. I nursed her daughter that you talked withal. I tell you, he that can lay hold of her, Shall have the chinks.â
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
9. Polysyndeton
Polysyndeto is a literary device where you use extra conjunctions (e.g., and, but)âfrequently in quick successionâto create a stylistic effect.
Polysyndeton examples:
âAnd every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.â
Genesis 7:3
âIf there be cords, or knives, or poison, or fire, or suffocating streams, Iâll not endure itâ
Shakespeare, Othello
âAnd St. Attila raised his hand grenade up on high saying âO Lord bless this thy hand grenade that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy. âand the Lord did grin and people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and âŠ'â
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
âI said, âWho killed him?â and he said âI donât know who killed him, but heâs dead all right,â and it was dark and there was water standing in the street and no lights or windows broke and boats all up in the town and trees blown down and everything all blown and I got a skiff and went out and found my boat where I had her inside Mango Key and she was right only she was full of water.â
Ernest Hemingway, âAfter the Storm.â
10. Asyndeton
Asyndeton is a writing style where you leave out conjunctions to write direct statements for effect. If used correctly, this literary device can create a beautiful, memorable rhythm in your writing.
Asyndeton examples:
âWe shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. . .â
Winston Churchill, âWe Shall Fight on the Beachesâ
ââŠand that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.â
Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
âThat we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.â
John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address
âAnd whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.â
Ecclesiastes 2:10
11. Litotes
Litotes is a figure of speech you can use to affirm something positive by making an understatement. After you take a gander at the examples below, youâll see that this literary device is commonly used in everyday conversations and popular literature.
Litotes examples:
âNot badâ (to say something is good)
âHeâs not as young as he used to beâ (meaning âheâs oldâ)
âKeep an eye on your mother whom we both know doesnât have both oars in the water.â
Jim Harrison, The Road Home
âI will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.â
Jeremiah 30:19
âAre you also aware, Mrs. Bueller, that Ferris does not have what we consider to be an exemplary attendance record?â
Ferris Buellerâs Day Off
12. Hypophora
In short, hypophora is when you ask a question and then answer the question you just asked. Unlike a rhetorical question, to use this literary device, youâll need to answer the question you pose immediately.
Hypophora examples:
âWhat made me take this trip to Africa? There is no quick explanation. Things got worse and worse and worse and pretty soon they were too complicated.â
Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
1 Corinthians 11:21-22
âOh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippinâ,
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedinâ,
I saw a white ladder all covered with water,
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
Bob Dylan, âA Hard Rainâs A-Gonna Fall.â
Another warning literary devices and style
I admit.
This could be an exercise in dilettantism. An argument for fashion over function. In the hard and fast competition found on a search results page, most people just want answers to their questions. They want substance over style. Function over fashion.
Fair enough.
That, however, is only true in a market that is not saturated. If you hobnob in an industry drowning in competitors, on the other hand, then substance alone is not enough. You need style â among other things â to stand out.
So, bookmark this post, then carve out some time to study these devices.
Question: How many of these devices did I use in this article?
The post 12 Uncommon Literary Devices to Give Your Writing Irresistible Style appeared first on Copybot.
from SEO Tips https://thecopybot.com/literary-devices-web-style/
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Interactive CTAs: An Introduction
Using video is a great way to engage your customers and prospectsâbut how do you channel engagement into action? Interactive CTAs (calls-to-action) or âeventsâ are one great way to drive specific, desired outcomes from your viewers and encourage them to step further down the funnel.
What are interactive events and why should I care?
âIn a nutshell, interactive events are areas of the player that have been created specifically to actively engage your viewers,â says Stephanie Yi, Solutions Consultant at Vidyard. âThey are meant to drive a specific desired action from the viewer while they are watching your videos.â
Instead of passively consuming your video content, interactive events allow you to point your viewers to a specific action youâd like them to take. This action could be filling out a form, visiting a specific webpage, watching another video, or even requesting a demo. This video provides a brief overview of what interactive events are and how they work in the Vidyard platform.Â
Certain kinds of events work best with certain types of contentâletâs have a look at how you can determine what kind of interactive event is right for your video.
How to leverage interactivity in your video marketing strategy
There are three main pieces you have to consider when creating an interactive video strategy:
The nature of your content
Your viewerâs ideal next step
The kinds of interactive events that are going to drive the best-desired outcomes
Weâll tackle each of these questions in turn. Letâs dive in.
What is the nature of your content?
Think about your video content. What audience is it meant to reach? What role does it play in your funnel?
Hereâs a quick primer on how different kinds of videos might fit into your buyerâs journey:
1. Awareness Stage (Top of Funnel) Videos
Videos in the awareness stage are designed to generate just thatâawareness. Think of things like company overview videos, thought leadership content, or any kind of short âinfo biteâ-style videos.
2. Consideration Stage (Middle of Funnel) Videos
Videos in the consideration stage can be a little more in-depth. Hereâs where product overview videos can come into play, as well as how-to videos and solution-based webinars. Â
3. Decision Stage (Bottom of Funnel) Videos
Videos in the decision stage help your buyer take the final leap and make a purchase. These can include things like customer testimonial videos, along with in-depth product demos.
Once youâve determined the nature of your content, you can start thinking about the kind of action you want to use it to drive. And that takes us to our next question:
What are your viewersâ ideal next steps?
Do you want to encourage them to consume more content? Identify themselves to you through a form? Initiate an opportunity? Consider the stage of your videos and how you can nudge your viewers closer to the next stageâor closer to a purchasing decision. Which leads us to our final consideration:
Which interactive events are going to drive the best outcomes?
1. Awareness Stage
In this awareness stage, you want to focus on softer CTAs that will encourage your viewer to explore more of your content and product offerings. Some examples might be links to other pieces of content, newsletter subscription forms, or links to learn more about your products.
2. Consideration Stage
In the consideration stage, you can start using more in-depth lead capture forms to profile your buyer. Here you can also use multiple links on a âchoose-your-own-adventureâ event to allow buyers to identify their intention or persona.
3. Decision Stage
The decision stage is the point at which you want to encourage your viewer to initiate an opportunityâso make it easy for them! Hereâs where you can use forms that allow them to reach out to you. Think demo requests, links to pricing information, or CTAs that allow them to book a meeting with an expert on your team.
We hope this post has been helpful and has inspired you to delve into your own interactive events strategy! If youâre ready to start setting up your own interactive events, check out our guide to events in our knowledge center that will help you get started. You can also check out our handy SlideShare presentation for additional information:
How to Generate Leads with Interactive Video CTAs from Vidyard
Are you already using interactive CTAs? Excited to get started? Let us know in the comments below!
The post Interactive CTAs: An Introduction appeared first on Vidyard.
from SEO Tips http://www.vidyard.com/blog/interactive-ctas/
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Why Top EMEA Marketers Are Ready To Adopt Marketing Automation
Demand creation budgets shrank in 2017, but SiriusDecisions made an interesting discovery: The highest performers beat the competition by spending that limited budget very differently. While average performers bought ads, high-performers leveraged white papers, trade shows, and interactive assets in new and interesting ways. Based on the findings of this report we have some EMEA Marketing Recommendations to help you continue to spend your limited budgets wisely while still beating the competition.
EMEA Marketing Recommendations
#1 â MAPâs
Many EMEA marketers are planning to integrate with a MAP (Marketing Automation Platform) in the next 24 months. MAPs are quickly becoming the cornerstone of the modern B2B marketing technology stack because they are more efficient, more powerful, and more cost-effective than using a diverse set of point tools.
Used well, marketing automation can tell the story of how your customers interact with your brand, your content, and the people in your company, throughout the entire customer journey.
Why add marketing automation to your stack?
A MAP can help you organize and manage those complex and time-consuming tasks that need to be coordinated with each other, including:
Social media marketing and other early-funnel tactics to attract leads
Content marketing that helps leads progress along the funnel and convert to sales
Email campaigns to generate engagement, nurture prospects, and onboard new customers
Asset creation, such as email and landing page templates
Forms and landing pages to capture lead data
Automated lead management, including qualification and hand-off to sales
List and data management, including segmentation for target marketing
Website analytics that reveals what people are interested in, and how they engage with your site
Campaign analytics that shows which campaigns really work and which channels deliver
Coordination with sales, including sharing customer relationship management (CRM) data in marketing campaigns
Efficient alignment of your inbound and outbound marketing strategies, multiple platforms and channels, and programs and processes, is a monumental, manual, tedious, nearly impossible job without using a MAP.
Implementing marketing automation can effectively bridge the gap between the various technologies, and empower marketing and sales to work closely together.
#2 â Lead Scoring
Many EMEA marketers are passing leads over to sales as soon as they get, vs implementing lead scoring but they are not alone.
79% of B2B marketers have not established a lead scoring model.
If you donât know where to start with lead scoring, youâre not alone. But that doesnât mean you shouldnât learn: companies that excel at lead nurturing have 9% more sales reps making quotas.
Lead scoring is a method for identifying sales-ready leads by assigning values (points) based on predetermined criteria, e.g., industry and job title, website visits, video views, webinar attendance, and form completions. The sum of the points is the leadâs score.
Companies that excel at scoring and nurturing leads generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost. â Forrester
Lead scoring offers a lot of value to your business, including:
Efficiency: Decrease the volume of sales-ready leads, so you arenât focusing on the wrong leads
Marketing measurement: Assess campaign effectiveness, and potential worth of opportunities
Operational excellence: Align organizational resources for more efficient conversion
Hereâs an example of what lead scores could look like for some individuals based on their behavior and engagement with common marketing and sales activities:
BehaviorVisitor 1Visitor 2Visited Landing Page (+3 Points)33Watched Explainer Video (+8 Points)8Viewed Case Studies (+5 Points Each)1020Viewed Pricing Page (+5 Points)55Opened Drip Email (+3 Points Each)36Attended Webinar (+10 Points)1010Total Score3152
In this example, Visitor 1 would fall under the interested category and would be funneled into a nurturing campaign of drip emails and marketing outreach, while Visitor 2 is qualified as a lead, and would be moved over to the sales team.
Dive deeper into how top European demand creators are spending their shrinking budgets with the SiriusDecisions Report on European Demand Creation Budgets and Tactics. In the report youâll learn things like:
Which assets high-performers spent more on
Which delivery mechanisms worked best for high-performers
Why interactive content (like video!) was 2017âs big winner
The post Why Top EMEA Marketers Are Ready To Adopt Marketing Automation appeared first on Vidyard.
from SEO Tips http://www.vidyard.com/blog/emea-marketing-recommendations/
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Stop Selling, Start Educating: How to Reach Todayâs B2B Buyers
You donât shop the way you did five years agoâso why are you still selling that way? Todayâs B2B buyers are more empowered than ever before. They do their own research. They read reviews. They price compare online. In comparison, we know from the B2C world, 90% of the buying decision is made before a potential customer even walks into a storefront.
Which means we need to be fluid. What worked 24 or even 12 months ago is now outdated. It simply wonât work anymore. Consumers donât want to deal with some pushy, charismatic wheeler and dealer. They want the best solution.
But donât start contemplating your next big career move or planning an early retirement party just yetâbuyers still need salespeople, just not in the ways that might immediately come to mind. Buying behavior has changed, with consumers showing much more hunger for information than for amazing deals.
So how can salespeople adapt to B2B buyersâ changing needs?
I want to share whatâs been working for me and my team over the last little while in the hopes that it will help you be more effective in your role and add more value to your buyers.
Here are some of the lessons Iâve learned:
1. Take on the role of an educator
Consumers are curious. They want to know more about your product so they can make the best possible decision for their business. And lucky for them, youâre the expert!
Rather than selling, seek to inspire. Show your B2B buyers what their business could look like if they decided to implement your solution. Provide resources and make yourself available for their questions, but donât push it. By positioning yourself as a resource, you can educate your prospect on the value of your product without coming off as overbearingâand chances are, your customers will trust you more for it. Â
2. Show value and inspire
Your success doesnât happen during the sales call. It happens afterward when your prospect is lying awake at night, thinking about the potential gain of implementing your solution or potential loss of not. Itâs your job to inspire that kind of reaction by helping them imagine a future using your productâand by showing your prospect what theyâd be missing out on by passing up this opportunity for their business.
I recently listened in on a successful cold call between our sales dev rep, Chris Wu, and one of the biggest global financial service firms. Looking to book a meeting, Chris cut to the chase saying, âif you spend the time researching this, one of two things will happen. One, you will be confident continuing on this year with XYZ Competitor, or two, it will become clear that you need to change and change quickly.â
Showing value in sales is nothing new. However, finding new ways to inspire and create opportunities to share value is something we can always work on. Even if youâre working the biggest, most traditional prospects, thereâs still a need to innovate. Maybe even more of a need.
3. A sales call by any other nameâŠ
âŠis dishonest and unhelpful to your prospects. If itâs a sales call, say itâs a sales call.
By being straightforward, you build trust with your prospect. More than that, youâll find that people are more willing to agree to talk to you when they know what theyâre getting into.
Do away with any vagueness. If you only need three minutes of their time, say it. Set a timer and hold yourself to those three minutes. Give them the opportunity to arrange a follow-up or keep chatting if theyâre still interested, but make them aware of when the three minutes has elapsed.
By showing that youâre respectful of their time, you demonstrate that youâre trustworthy and dependable.
 4. Be human
There is one part of the salesperson of yesteryear that isnât obsolete: the human connection. It sounds cheesy, but the truth is, we all have a little Cosmo Kramer in us.
via GIPHY
Buyers want an expert in their corner, someone to say: When you go down there talk to my guy Bob Sacamano. Mention my name & heâll take 30% off. We like to be recognized and feel special. Itâs just human nature.
I hope these lessons have been helpful and inspired you to think about your sales role in a new light. What are you doing to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of sales? Let me know in the comments below!
This post originally appeared on LinkedIn Pulse.Â
The post Stop Selling, Start Educating: How to Reach Todayâs B2B Buyers appeared first on Vidyard.
from SEO Tips http://www.vidyard.com/blog/start-educating-b2b-buyers/
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Before You Add Another Piece of Sales Tech to Your StackâRead This
The sales tech landscape is overwhelming. With more than 700 sales tech vendors and countless tools, itâs enough to make any sales leaderâs head spin. How do you decide which tools are worth your while and which ones are just bright shiny objects that will distractâor worse, detractâfrom your selling goals?
Never fear, intrepid leaders! Jill Rowley, CMO at Marketo, has the inside scoop on how to get the best value out of your sales technology. As an expert on marketing automation and a self-described âsalesperson trapped in a marketerâs bodyâ (she spent a decade building the marketing automation space as a sales leader at Eloqua) sheâs uniquely qualified to comment on how to make the best use of the seemingly boundless sales tools at your disposal. Hereâs her advice:
You need a sales tech strategy
As a teamâand ideally, as an organizationâyou need to have a unified tech strategy. This means understanding your individual business needs: the goals you have and the kinds of tools you need to achieve them. Jill recommends thinking about âthe pains and the challenges that our organizations are having that can be solved, in part, by leveraging technology.â
Additionally, she warns that what works great for a small business might be disastrous for an enterprise company, and vice versa. Even if something is a great piece of tech, if itâs not aligned with your business goals itâs going to be ineffective and costly.
Less is more
Think about it: for every new piece of tech you add, thatâs another tool that salespeople have to get trained on, remember their login for, and remember to check. Itâs better to have a few, carefully curated tools that work well together than all the latest shiny toys and a sales team that isnât able to leverage all of them effectively. Save your tech investments for tools that are aligned with your specific business goals and that work well with your existing technology.
Sales tech evaluation checklist
So what should you look for in new technology to avoid the pitfalls of bright shiny object syndrome?
via GIPHY
1. What is the problem or pain point that this technology will solve?
As Cogsworth says in my favorite punny Beauty and the Beast one-liner, âif itâs not baroque, donât fix it!â You should have a well-defined purpose for each piece of tech before deciding to add it to your stack. Does it solve a particular pain point? Allow your salespeople to reach goals you havenât yet been able to achieve? Think about how it will help serve your team and how it will, in turn, help them serve the customer.
And it if doesnât fit into your strategy? Save your budget for something else.
2. Does it integrate with your existing systems?
Next, consider your existing sales tech stack. How will this new piece of technology integrate with your existing systems? You want to make it as easy as possible for your salespeople to use so theyâll be happy to adopt it. That also means thinking about their existing processes and workflowsâhow will this fit in? Will it make their lives easier or add additional complications?
3. How will we implement it?
Finally, think about training and enablement. Who in your organization might be best suited to help you launch this new tool? Contemplating how to get the tool up and running before you even make your purchase decision will not only make your teamâs adoption much smoother if you decide to buy the tool, it will also help you decide whether the investment of time and training is worth it.
I hope this article has been helpful and inspired you to think critically about your next tech evaluation. Want to find out how we evaluate sales tech at Vidyard? Check out Business Development Director Dan Wardleâs post Evaluating Sales Technology: An Insiderâs Look.
What criteria do you use to evaluate new sales tech? Sound off in the comments below!
The post Before You Add Another Piece of Sales Tech to Your StackâRead This appeared first on Vidyard.
from SEO Tips http://www.vidyard.com/blog/add-sales-tech-to-your-stack/
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