The Fundamental Guide To Lead Generation

#ConquerLocal
The Fundamental Guide to

Lead Generation
Written by: Brock Andony Edited by: Jessica Beuker and Dan McLean
Layout and Design by: Rory Lawford
Additional contributors include: Jamie Taylor, Bryan Larson, Dani Mario, Catriona Barcoe,
Austin Harrison, Anna Tavares, Cam Adraincem, Colleen McGrath, and Edward Sedgwick
Executive Summary
Lead generation: the process of procuring external interest in a product,
service, or solution for the purpose of kickstarting the sales cycle.
Lead generation is an age-old concept, originating in (and prospering in)

word-of-mouth marketing tactics that were leveraged for hundreds of
years. Then there were billboards and decals. Then, with the industrial
revolution, came the development of the printing press—unlocking
a new form of lead generation—the newspaper. Then, over the past
hundred years of technological development, we’ve further witnessed
the introduction of magazines, radio, TV, email, and finally, the
internet. Today, lead generation is explicitly tied to the internet. Within
the internet lies a breadth of social marketing channels and digital
communication tools.
Lead generation has also become essential. If your business operates

in the B2B space, then lead generation must be at the forefront of your
sales and marketing efforts. Without a well constructed strategy, you
run the risk of failing to deliver your value proposition to prospective
clients, and you also risk losing the resulting business to competing or
alternative offerings.
The stakes are high.
Fortunately, this guide will provide an in-depth exploration of every

lead generation tactic and strategy that’s currently available to modern
marketers. From product-led growth, to content marketing, to account-
based strategies, you will find it all within the pages of this guide.
Though not all of these tactics and strategies can be leveraged

simultaneously, you should utilize this guide as a tool to evaluate various
lead generation alternatives and construct an integrated communications
strategy that aligns with your organization and your unique goals.
The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 2 www.vendasta.com

What is
Lead Generation?
Simply put, lead generation is the systematic process of acquiring
new business interest.
That being said, it’s important to clarify that lead generation is different
from sales or business acquisition as it is not explicitly tied to the
procurement of new business. As a matter of fact, lead generation has
become an inherently B2B term, corresponding to the acquisition of
interest at any point along the buyer’s journey.
The modern buyer’s journey is comprised of five primary steps, those being:
1. Interest and awareness
2. Search
3. Research
4. Purchase
5. And experience

Lead generation tactics and strategies can be leveraged at any stage
of the buyer’s journey. Now, before we get into the purpose of lead
generation and the specific tactics you can deploy, there are a few
additional definitions that you should add to your repertoire.
Lead: A lead is a viable customer/client for your business or offering.

This viability can be determined based on any number of demographic
or firmographic factors and must be assessed on a case to case basis.
Marketing qualified lead (MQL): An MQL is generally a prospect that has

been deemed “tall enough to ride the ride,” meaning that they’ve exhibited
interest in your offering and meet the initial customer requirements.
Sales qualified lead (SQL): An SQL is any lead that has been
successfully vetted by both the sales and marketing teams and deemed
to be ready for the next stage of the sales process. SQLs occur in
organizations that have complex offerings and tiered sales processes.
Product qualified lead (PQL): This is a newer school of thought that aligns
with the notion of product-led growth. A PQL is defined as any prospect
that has experienced true value through a free trial or free version of your
product offering. Under this model, less selling is required as the prospects
have experienced value before they are sold on an upgrade.
Leads can be generated at any of these levels, or can graduate to these

levels through the proper nurturing tactics. But before we get into
those tactics, let’s briefly explore the history of lead generation.

Lead Generation: A Brief History
Lead generation is not new. Though the terminology may be, people
and businesses alike have been leveraging lead generation tactics since
the market days of the middle ages.
Here is a quick overview of lead generation over the centuries:

• 25 BC - 500 AD: Roman markets are bustling with people and the
tact for word-of-mouth marketing is refined.
• 1400s: The Gutenberg press is invented.
• 1800s: Coloured billboards and posters are created and the
telegraph is used for marketing.
• Early 1900s: Door-to-door selling boom and radio/TV marketing
make their introduction.
• Mid 1900s: Call centers become a marketing staple, TV continues
to prosper, and email marketing enters the scene.
• Late 1900s: The first ever CRMs are developed, the internet is
invented, and internet marketing begins to take flight.
• 2000s: The social media phenoms are born, mobile phones
and mobile apps are invented, and information becomes more
accessible and democratized than was ever possible before.
Source: Brand Driven Digital
It’s important to understand the history of lead generation, because

history provides an explanation of why we are where we are today.
Why Lead Generation is Essential

Lead generation is not new. Though the terminology may be, people
and businesses alike have been leveraging lead generation tactics since
the market days of the middle ages.
For B2B businesses in 2020, to simply “do marketing” is not enough.

Running a Facebook ads campaign and writing blogs without any rhyme
or reason is not enough. If you want to succeed in the modern era,
your business must methodically set objectives and execute marketing
programs with surgical precision.

There are three primary reasons why lead generation is absolutely
essential to your business:
1. Lead generation tactics force you to clarify your target audience
and your unique selling proposition(s).
2. Taking a lead generation approach to marketing ensures that
analytics and objectives are at the heart of your effort.
3. Lead generation directly impacts sales and business outcomes.
Data needs to govern the scope of your efforts and inform your
decisions. In fact, a study of 1,070 companies by LeadCrunch found
that only 4 percent of them used a data-driven approach to generating
leads, but that this same 4 percent outperformed their competition by
greater than 500 percent in terms of sales productivity and efficiency.
That is the lead generation way, and that is why it’s SO essential to your
business success.
The Future of Lead Generation

It’s difficult to say for sure, but my intuition says: mass personalization.
The founder and CEO of LeadCrunch.ai puts it like this:
“The future of lead generation will be defined by the unprecedented

ability for artificial intelligence to find high-precision targets, then qualify
them at machine speed and scale.”
There was a time when marketing was all about mass communication;
getting your message out to the greatest volume of people at a minimal
cost. However, with the growth in technological advancement and the
introduction of artificial intelligence in marketing technology, it is now
becoming possible to tailor the prospect experience more than ever
before and to do it at scale.
This is the future that technology is enabling, and this is also the future
that customers are demanding.

Lead Generation
Table of Contents
1. Social Media Marketing 8 7. Word-of-Mouth 176
What is social media marketing? 9 What is word-of-mouth marketing? 177
Why is social media marketing important? 9 Why is word-of-mouth marketing important? 177
What is the future of social media marketing? 13 The future of word-of-mouth marketing 179
1.1 Facebook Organic 16 7.1 Referral Marketing 183
1.2 Facebook Ads 23 7.2 Business Association Memberships 187
1.3 LinkedIn Organic 31 7.3 Affiliate Marketing 189
1.4 LinkedIn Ads 36 7.4 Product-Led Growth (PLG) 193
1.5 Instagram Organic 44
8. Traditional Advertising 199
1.6 Instagram Ads 49
What is traditional advertising? 200
1.7 Twitter Organic 57
Why is traditional advertising important? 201
1.8 Twitter Ads 61
What is the future of traditional advertising? 203
1.9 Influencer Marketing 68
8.1 Radio Ads 206
2. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Search Ads 73 8.2 TV Ads 208
8.3 Magazine Ads 213
3. Content Marketing 80
8.4 Outdoor Ads 218
What is content marketing? 81
8.5 Sponsorship 224
Why is content marketing important? 81
8.6 Guerilla Marketing 226
What is the future of content marketing? 84
3.1 Blogs 87 9. Hiring a Lead Generation Company 230
3.2 Video Content 94
10. Event Marketing 234
3.3 Thought Leadership 96
What is event marketing? 235
3.4 Infographics 102
Why is event marketing important? 236
3.5 Guides 106
What is the future of event marketing? 237
3.6 Case Studies 111
10.1 Hosting a Conference 240
3.7 Webinar Marketing 116
10.2 Virtual Events 248
3.8 Podcast Marketing 121
10.3 Attending Conferences 257
4. Search Engine Optimization 128 10.4 Speaking Opportunities 262
5. Email Marketing 138 11. Account-Based Tactics & Strategies 266
What is email marketing? 139 What is account-based marketing? 267
Why is email marketing important? 139 Why is account-based marketing important? 268
What is the future of email marketing? 143 What is the future of account-based marketing? 270
5.1 Outbound Email Marketing 146 11.1 Direct Mail 272
5.2 Email Newsletter Marketing 150 11.2 DM Marketing 275
11.3 Cold Calling 279
6. Content Syndication 155
What is content syndication? 156 Summary 283
Why is content syndication important? 159
What is the future of content syndication? 162
6.1 Forum Marketing (Quora) 163
6.2 Medium Marketing 168
6.3 Public Relations 171
#ConquerLocal
Lead Generation
Social Media Marketing
#ConquerLocal
1. Social Media
Marketing
What is social media marketing?

Social media marketing can be described as all efforts made to promote
your brand through both paid and organic social media avenues. Social
media marketing occurs on a variety of platforms, some of the most
prominent B2B ones being: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
If properly deployed, social media marketing should be an integral part

of a comprehensive marketing strategy and should serve to build your
brand, better communicate with your audience, and drive your sales and
marketing outcomes.
Social media marketing can be broken out into five core pillars:
• High-level strategy
• Planning and publishing
• Listening and engagement
• Analytics and reporting
• Advertising
This chapter of The Comprehensive Guide to Lead Generation will

explore how to deploy integrated B2B social strategies that touch on all
five of these pillars.
Why is social media

marketing important?
Social media is the future of collaboration, communication, and
socialization. Social media marketing is quite likely a major determiner
of future B2B success. Here are some of the top reasons why every
business should be leveraging social media as part of their marketing and
advertising strategy.

1. Your audience is on social
Top social media channels are home to hundreds of millions (if not
billions) of monthly active users. Growing an organic audience on some
of these platforms should be a chief priority for all B2B marketers, and
leveraging paid channels can be a cost effective and focussed way to
further amplify that reach.
Here is a breakdown of social media platform users around the world:

Source: SproutSocial
Though certain platforms cater to slightly different user bases, you can
be sure that your audience calls at least a few of these platforms home.
For example, if you’re a software company that’s aiming to connect with
financial professionals, then LinkedIn is going to be the best vehicle for
doing so. However, if you’re a photographer looking to market your work
and generate new leads, then Instagram will be a better fit for you.

2. Drive multiple business outcomes
Social networks used to be hubs for people that wanted to connect and
share content with their friends. Then businesses realized the potential
in connecting with their audiences through these platforms. Today,
social networks help businesses do everything from lead generation to
customer service.
Here are just a few ways that social media can be used to drive business
outcomes:
• Monitoring. Through mention tracking, modern social media
platforms (like Facebook) enable businesses to monitor
conversations that are happening surrounding their brands so
that they can collect feedback, stay relevant, and engage in the
discussion.
• Reach. Social media is one of the fastest vehicles for both building
and growing an audience. Whether through the use of hashtags/
shares in organic marketing, or by injecting some cash for paid
promotion, social is one of the most cost effective ways to place
your message in front of an interested and engaged audience.
• Insights. Built-in page analytics and ads dashboards allow business
accounts to acquire real-time feedback on different messaging,
identify top performing content, and constantly monitor overall
performance.
• Support. Business pages have become major focal points for
customers that are looking to receive after-purchase support and
service. Staying active on these channels is a critical component in
executing a comprehensive social media marketing strategy.
3. Build your brand
Brands are the lifeblood of businesses. They allow consumers to build

emotional connections with the businesses that they interact with.
Social media is unique because it allows businesses to express more

brand attributes than other (more traditional) formats did. Where brands
used to be built on radio jingles, newspaper advertorials, and what
people had told their friends; social media has since allowed brands to
connect with consumers at a greater depth than ever before.

Here are a few reasons why social media is a special branding mechanism:
• Social platforms serve to reinforce brand continuity when properly
aligned with web and other consumer facing media.
• Frequency is a key determiner in shifting consumer attitudes and
motivating action, and frequent brand experiences can be created
with minimal resources through organic social media marketing
and low cost social media advertising.
• Social media can build trust and communicate a greater degree of
authenticity. Stuffy corporate content doesn’t work on social media.
Instead, businesses should focus on fostering a strong brand
voice, communicating values, sharing cultural content, and readily
engaging with consumers.
Source: Instagram @vendasta
4. Social media marketing is cost effective
By cost, I mean time, resources, and money. In comparison to other

programs, social media marketing presents one of the greatest
opportunities to optimize all three of these costs.
In terms of time, a HubSpot study determined that 84 percent of

marketers were able to significantly increase their website traffic with as
little as six hours of social media related labour per week.

In terms of resources, most businesses can build a social media program
without the need for any outside technologies or services. However,
for those that want to pursue more aggressive social media growth,
scheduling software like Social Marketing or Hootsuite can remove a lot
of toil for your team. And if your team is still looking for more, you can
always hire an agency to fulfill your social media marketing and digital
advertising needs. Find out more here.
In terms of direct costs, there are none associated with an organic

campaign. However, paid campaigns can easily be scaled to match your
budget and demand requirements. In 2020, the average social media
advertising spend for B2B businesses ranged anywhere from $200-
$50,000.
If properly leveraged, social media is the gateway to stronger client

relationships. Being active on these major social media channels is
critical not just to drive awareness, but also to provide valuable customer
feedback channels, and to drive additional conversions and sales.
5. Lead generation happens here
At the end of the day, the outcome of all B2B marketing and advertising
efforts is lead generation. Fortunately, social media is one of the most
powerful mediums for achieving this end.
Here are the stats:

• 74 percent of people rely on social networks to help with their
purchase decisions.
• 80 percent of B2B leads originate from LinkedIn alone.
• Revenue increases for 24 percent of businesses when leveraging
social media for lead generation.
• 53 percent of businesses believe that social media will be the best
source of leads in the future.
What is the future of

social media marketing?
Social media is one of the most rapidly changing landscapes in the world.
Twenty years ago the term had barely been conceptualized. Ten years
ago, Facebook ran the world. Today, most consumers subscribe to 9
different social media platforms and spend over two hours per day using
those platforms. And new challenger platforms are rapidly emerging
(TikTok?).

Three of the most prevalent trends that will be sure to effect the future of
social media marketing are as follows.
1. Video dominance
According to a study by Adobe, 52 percent of marketing professionals

claim that video content generates the strongest ROI as compared to all
other content formats.
Video is the optimal platform for everything from explainer videos, to

feature releases, to exclusive behind-the-scenes content, to product
testimonials, and everything in between.
Source: Instagram @slackhq
2. Limited accessibility content
Also known as ephemeral content, this is any content that has a limited
lifespan or an expiration date. In other words, the usage of story posts on
platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. Additionally,
platforms like LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and Skype are also working on
integrating story style features into their product suites.

Ephemeral content is effective
because it provokes a sense of
urgency in consumers. It also
provides a higher involvement
marketing format, from which users
can interact with custom lenses,
GIF integrations, polls, consumer
drawing functionality, and more.
Additionally, stories allow brands
to share more bite-sized content
that might not be suitable for full
posts, such as: brief educational
posts, quotes from articles, event
promotion, and exciting cultural
content.
Deloitte Digital is a brand that has

mastered the art of ephemeral
content:
Source: Instagram @deloittedigital
3. More influencer marketing
This one might have you rejoicing, or it might have you rolling your eyes. I
fall somewhere on the latter side, but the numbers don’t lie.
Here’s what you need to know about influencer marketing:

• It’s a 10 billion dollar industry.
• 63 percent of consumers trust influencer messages more than
branded messages.
• In a study conducted by Convince and Convert, 58 percent of
participants said that they purchased a product in the past six
months as a result of an influencer recommendation.
These numbers are only expected to climb as the purchase power of Gen
Z continues to grow, and these younger consumers continue to embrace
influencers wholeheartedly.
The following sections will explore the case and strategy for social media
marketing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

1.1 Facebook Organic
Pros:
1. It’s free!
2. Your audience is more inclined to trust organic content. If
someone has willingly followed your branded Facebook account,
then they are much more likely to engage with your content as
opposed to an unsolicited newsfeed ad.
3. Question posts. If you’re looking to gather audience insights/
feedback, or do quick and dirty consumer research, Facebook is a
great place to do so. The trick is to keep your questions short and
to the point.
4. Video reigns supreme. If your business is creating lots of original
video content, then there is an opportunity for you to improve
traffic and engagement. Short-form videos are effective for diverting
traffic to other pages (like your blog), long-form videos will garner
the greatest reach and engagement, and live videos are most
effective for collecting data or engaging followers immediately.
5. Facebook groups. Facebook marketers should create their own
business group, plus join and actively engage with other Facebook
groups. This is a great way to build meaningful relationships with
users and prospects.
Cons:
1. Reduced reach. Recent algorithm changes have dramatically

limited the reach that business account holders had come to
expect from organic posts. In fact, organic post reach is currently
hovering around the 1 percent to 6 percent range.
2. External link limitations. Sharing content that originates outside
of the platform, such as your blog, your YouTube page, or otherwise
will be given the least reach and the least resulting engagement.
3. User preference. Where Facebook was once the ruler of social
media, it now carries a largely negative user perception, due to the
scandals, data breaches, and ad infestations that have wrought the
platform over recent years.

How to launch an organic Facebook campaign
1. Perform a page audit
Facebook business pages are robust. It’s important to have your account
set up as a business page and have properly filled out all of the relevant
sections. It might seem mundane, but some simple tweaks will go a long
way towards improving your online brand perception.
Some of the most important sections for most B2B businesses include:
• Completing your “about” tab so that users and prospects who
discover you for the first time can quickly understand your
business. Contact info is critical; about, company overview,
story, products, and business categories are high priority.
Information,such as the founding date and your mission statement,
can help to round out the page.
• Ensure you have a high resolution logo/profile picture, and an eye-
catching and creative wallpaper image that also serves to explain
your offering.
• If you haven’t been closely monitoring the reviews page, then
this is a great place to go to better understand what customers
are saying about you. If your review score is below a 4 out of 5,
then it is something you need to work at so that you don’t risk
deterring future traffic.
• Photos provide a quick gauge as to whether or not your team
has been successful in creating a branded experience across
your recent posts. A quick scroll through all of the photos on
your page will provide insight into things like color usage, vector
usage vs image usage, and just the overall brand impression that
your page is creating. Great pages should have a clearly defined
brand experience that can be easily seen by scrolling through
the page photos.
2. Set growth goals
Depending on your industry, a lot of business happens on Facebook.

Unfortunately, determining and measuring ROI can prove challenging
with organic social media tactics. That’s why it’s imperative that you set
clear and measurable goals for all of your efforts.

Here are some steps to help you set great goals on Facebook:
1. Start with a broad objective.

a. Increase local engagement and build a stronger
brand community.
b. Generate leads for a new product or service offering.
c. Generate leads for the core product or service offering.
2. Apply the SMART framework.

a. Specific. Clearly stated and simplified.
b. Measurable. One or more metrics can easily be applied.
c. Achievable. Possible within your current resource scope.
d. Realistic. Are you reaching for the stars or setting objectives
that fall within your core competencies.
e. Timely. Define your timeframe, be it weeks, months, or a year.
3. Apply metrics to your SMART goal. Once you’ve beefed up your

objective with the SMART principle, you need to identify specific
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics that will measure
your success. Each objective will have unique KPIs that are worth
reporting, and these should be rather easy to determine. Here
are a couple examples:
a. Increase brand awareness on Facebook by generating a 30
percent increase in website clicks over a one month span.
i. KPIs: post reach, total page impressions, profile page
link clicks
b. Generate 10 leads for “x” new products over the next 30
days by posting on Facebook once per day.
i. KPIs: post link clicks, post engagement, post reach
Some broader (Facebook specific) goals that could be applied to the

SMART framework include:
• Increase engagement through shares specifically (since Facebook
posts tend to earn more shares than those on other platforms)
• Build feedback loops by creating and maintaining a Facebook
group
• Uphold great customer service by interacting and engaging with
customers and prospects

3. Construct a content calendar
Frequency is a major consideration in the Facebook algorithm. That’s why

businesses need to be active in order to optimize their organic reach. The
best way to do so is by building a content calendar. Content calendars
can also ensure that you stay on track with your objectives.
There are a few ways you can go about building a content calendar.
Firstly, you can create your own via spreadsheets.
Secondly, you can look to leverage project management technology like

Trello or Asana to build a content calendar. These platforms are very user
friendly and often have necessary functionality in a free tier, but they are
not capable of translating your calendar into actual social posts.
Source: Asana Blog
Thirdly, you can use scheduling software to build a content calendar,

and schedule your social posts in advance. This option is by far the most
efficient use of time and resources, but generally comes with a price tag.
Example solutions include HubSpot, Hootsuite, and Vendasta.

Source: Vendasta’s Social Marketing
In order to avoid duplicate work, you’re likely going to want to include all
of your organic social platforms in this calendar. The following sections
will refer back to this process and these suggestions.
4. Perform a post audit
One of the greatest benefits to organic social marketing with Facebook

is the breadth of information that’s available to business users. You
should take advantage of this data by performing an audit on your top
performing posts to benchmark your successes, as well as identify
winning content, tactics, and techniques.
Here’s how to perform a quick post audit:

1. Navigate to insights on the left sidebar.
2. Click on the posts section.
3. Analyze your recent posts based on desired metrics (reach, clicks,
engagements, etc).
4. Identify top performers.
5. Do some research on average social performance metrics of others
in your industry and compare against yours.
6. Begin to look for trends and similarities that might separate your
top performers from the rest of the pack.
7. Try to replicate these successes in future posts.
8. Compare performance and continue to benchmark against

previous post performance.
Source: Vendasta’s Facebook
5. Get posting
Now it’s time to leverage that content calendar you’ve created, and take
the lessons you’ve learned from assessing your top posts, and put those
into action with new social content.
Here are a few posting tips:

• Mix up your post formats. Over the years, Facebook has expanded
the posting options available to users. Today, B2B companies can
leverage text posts, video posts, embedded link posts, live posts,
story posts (image or video), as well as the full suite of ad offerings.
• Try upping the ante with your image and video content. For
example, this might mean experimenting with new tricks on
photoshop to add a little pizzazz.
• Experiment with posting at different times of the day.
• Experiment with your posting tempo. As long as you are posting at
least five times a week, experiment with higher post volumes (some
have reported effectiveness with up to four posts per day).
• Never use engagement bait or other spam tactics.
• Try and evoke an emotional appeal (unless it would be very off-
brand). Think of the last Nike ad you saw and try to emulate some
of the techniques that were used.
• Try running a contest.
• Try posting user generated content.

Bonus: Try the dollar-a-day strategy
This strategy ventures somewhat beyond the bounds of typical organic

Facebook marketing, but can be a great way to utilize a little bit of budget
to increase your reach and more readily identify your best posts. Coined
by Dennis Yu, CEO and Founder of BlitzMetrics, this strategy employs a
technique of boosting your top social media posts with a one dollar per-
day bid and amplifying that spend on posts with viral potential.
Here’s how it works:

1. Create great posts that share original content and genuine
knowledge (Dennis Yu suggests video content of yourself
specifically).
2. Identify your top performers. Dennis suggests that for a post to be
considered great, it should have an above average reach and be
generating engagements at 10 percent of that overall reach.
3. Select the right target audience for each post that you decide to
boost. If you’re a marketing agency and are posting about digital
marketing strategy, then selecting an audience with a digital
marketing interest would be wise.
4. Boost each of these top performing posts with a one dollar per-day
bid for seven days.
5. Dump fuel on some fires and put out others. After seven days, top
performers among your selection set should become very obvious
(Dennis suggests that 90 percent of your posts are likely to fizzle
out). Now, Dennis recommends that you ramp up your dollar
per-day bid for an additional 30 days on that top 10 percent in the
hopes of finding your unicorn post.
6. Stack additional budget on your unicorn posts as the ROI will be
high. You can also experiment with switch-boosting strategies which
involve the customization of audiences to extend the life of the ad
(creating a custom audience if attending a conference one month,
then switching it for the next month).
Download the “Dollar-a-Day Social Marketing Strategy” to find out more.
Note: This strategy was proven on Facebook, but can also be applied to other
platforms (particularly Twitter and LinkedIn).

1.2 Facebook Ads
Pros:
• User base. As of the beginning of 2020, Facebook is home to

2.6 billion monthly active users, making it the largest social media
platform in the world. That number alone is a compelling reason to
explore the original “social network”.
• Cost per lead (CPL). Like all advertising platforms, the level of
spend is entirely up to your discretion. However, in terms of CPL,
Facebook remains the best bang for your buck. The average cost
per lead on Facebook coming into 2020 was $1.72.
• Available audiences. Being home to 2.6 billion users means that
Facebook has the largest potential prospect base of any advertising
platform in the world.
• Effectiveness. Although effectiveness (based on conversion rates
and CPL) has diminished somewhat over recent years, the fact
of the matter is simple: Facebook ads are still effective. In fact,
67 percent of social advertisers deem Facebook to be the most
effective ad platform.
• Targeting and retargeting. Get into the nitty gritty by targeting
people based on age, gender, location, job title, industry, marital
status, and interests. Retargeting allows you to serve ads against
users who may have visited your website, used your mobile app,
or provided their email address. Then, use lookalike audiences
to expand your marketing efforts based on users similar to your
current audience.
• Ease of use. Facebook Ads Manager is the original social ad
platform, meaning that it has some of the most advanced options
available to advertisers, but it is also one of the easiest for new
users to navigate.
• Robust analytics and tracking. Unparalleled is a word that could
be used to describe the depth and breadth of reporting capabilities
baked into Facebook Ads Manager.
• Viral potential. Let’s face it, no one is going to share your Google
Ad with a friend, but if you have a hilarious ad (Manscaped ads
come to mind for me), then you might reach new audiences at no
extra cost.

Cons:
• Limited enterprise effectiveness. If your target audience is

predominantly companies with 100+ employees, then Facebook
isn’t going to be the optimal platform for you. If this is your target
demographic, then you better explore Facebook’s big brother
(LinkedIn).
• Loss of platform preference. Years of over exposure to ads,
data breaches, and public scrutiny have undoubtedly weakened
“The Social Network”. As millennials and Gen X cling to Snapchat,
Instagram, and Tik Tok, ad effectiveness has certainly declined.
• (Potential) metric misreports. Over the years, there have been
claims that Facebook has inflated numbers on video play metrics,
app referrals, and repeat visitors. However, Facebook claims to have
fixed these errors.
How to launch a Facebook ad campaign
1. It all starts with your unique selling proposition (USP)
The first step in any ad campaign is to isolate your unique selling

proposition(s). For some companies, the USP is obvious and may already
be established. For example, Unbounce is a B2B company that has both
a simple and great USP: convert more. Landing pages are their game, and
the result they drive is simple.
Source: Unbounce

However, for other companies, USPs can become much more
complicated to determine. If you are one of those companies, there is a
general process that can help you isolate your USP(s).
1. Create a list of competitors and competing offerings

2. Use this list to identify your unique attributes and differentiating
qualities
3. Hone in on customer benefit qualities, not product qualities
4. Shape those qualities into a customer promise
5. Work and rework until you’ve identified ideal keywords
6. Cut it down, USPs should be short and impactful
7. Test and adjust until you’re driving optimal conversions
Here is an example of one of our USP-based ads that caters to one of

our primary audiences and has been highly effective in generating leads
via Facebook.
Our offering is a little more complicated than landing pages, but

the proposition to marketing and advertising agencies is still rather
simple: grow your business from point solutions to a comprehensive
marketing offering.

2. Identify your audience
The easiest way to find your audience is by digging into the advanced
audience mining capabilities that are baked right into Facebook’s
Audience Insights.
Source: Facebook Audience Insights

1. Use Audience Insights to analyze the people that are already
following your page as well as people that follow other pages, have
specific interests, fall within various demographics/psychographics,
and more. These variables allow you to fine tune your targeting and
create audience lists based on your needs.
2. Create and save these audiences within Audience Insights.
3. When creating your next ad in Ads Manager, these audiences will
be available for you to choose from.

3. Set up tracking with Tag Manager and Ads Manager
Before you launch any campaigns, you will need to add your Facebook
pixel to Google Tag Manager.
Here’s are the steps you need to follow:

1. Log into Google Tag Manager
2. Navigate to your website’s container and click “Add a new tag”
3. Choose “Customer HTML Tag” and add a name for your tag
4. Navigate to “Events Manager” on Facebook and select “Add Event”
5. Select “Install code manually”
6. Select “Copy Code” to copy the entire base code
7. Return to Tag Manager and paste the entire code in the HTML
container
8. Click the “Advanced Settings” dropdown and select “Once per page”
under “Tag firing options”
9. Under “Fire On,” select “All Pages”
10. Create the tag
If you need further assistance, find out more here.
4. Identify your CTAs and conversion goals
What action are you enticing? Are you expecting prospects to fill out
a Facebook lead form? Are you redirecting them to a landing page? A
page on your site? A blog perhaps? What is the next step in the buyer’s
journey?
CTAs are not a science, and you may want to experiment with a variety
of the aforementioned CTAs (as well as others) to identify the best
performers. The key is to make sure that your CTA aligns with your ad
messaging so that it doesn’t create a disjointed user experience.
Once you’ve decided where you want your ad traffic to go, then you’ll
need to set conversion goals in Ads Manager.

Here are your objective options in Facebook Ads Manager:
Source: Facebook
Based on your offering and the stage of the buyer’s journey that you are
aiming to impact, there are a variety of options available. That being said,
if you have a fairly complex product/service offering, “Lead generation”
will almost always be the best objective to fill your inbound sales funnel.
5. Create eye-catching visuals/videos
It’s time to talk about audio-video (AV) and design. Competition on

Facebook is fierce, and if you don’t have world-class graphics and video
content to pair with your ads, then you aren’t going to earn your share of
audience attention.
Here are some tips for visuals on Facebook Ads:

• Use text in your graphic if your CTA is conversion focussed (ex. A
guide download).
• Text free visuals can be impactful if your CTA is educational (ex. A
blog link).
• Use real people in your graphic if it aligns with your copy.
• Location specific visuals can drive greater engagement if you have
the bandwidth.
• Think about standout visuals, not necessarily standout colors. It’s true
that certain colors (ex. Red) will demand attention from your audience,
but if you want to convert viewers, the secret sauce is in showing them
something that doesn’t look like every other ad in their newsfeed.

Here are some tips for videos on Facebook Ads:
• Keep them short. Fifteen seconds or less is a good benchmark if
you want to get full-length views from prospects.
• Add captions so that your video makes sense without audio as most
users have autoplay audio turned off.
• Use real people and real product screenshots as much as possible.
Vector-based video is becoming a thing of the past.
These are a few general best practices, but the reality is that the only way
you will find out forsure what exactly works best for your business is by
testing extensively.
6. Create ad variants
One of the greatest digital advertising mistakes you can make is not
creating ad variants. By creating variants, you can test different copy,
different images, different CTA text, etc. This allows marketers to identify
top performers and turn off variants that aren’t up to spec.
When launching a new campaign, it’s best practice to create four ad

variants. This allows you to split test two different graphics with two
different text pairings at any given time.
Here’s an example from AdEspresso:
Source: AdEspresso

7. Monitor and optimize your campaign
When running Facebook ads, your work is never done. Optimization is

arguably the most important part of the entire process.
Here are some best practices for Facebook ad optimization:

• Continually introduce challenger ads. Once you’ve honed in on your
best variant in a given campaign, turn off the bottom performers and
create new ads to replace them. Best practice is to use elements from
your top performer in each new variant (ex. Graphic in one, text in
another, CTA in another). This is important because these challengers
might grow to outperform the original top variant.
• Experiment with new audiences. If you have a top performer, try
running that ad against a new audience.
• Ramp up the budget on top performing ads and reduce the budget
on low performers. Allocating budget to testing is important, but don’t
burn ad spend on campaigns that aren’t converting.
• Experiment with different value propositions and CTAs. For example,
if you are aiming to drive a conversion, try one variant with a demo
form CTA and one with a sign-up CTA.

1.3 LinkedIn Organic
Pros:
1. B2B lives on LinkedIn. Although LinkedIn doesn’t boast the
largest user base, it’s a concentrated community of professionals,
meaning that there is a lot less waste for B2B marketers. In fact, 61
million LinkedIn users are senior level influencers and 40 million are
in decision-making positions.
2. Long newsfeed lifespans. Unlike Twitter and Facebook algorithms
that focus primarily on recency in filling the newsfeed, LinkedIn focuses
on engagement. That means that as long as your posts are continuing
to generate likes, comments, and shares, then your posts will continue
to live in the news feed for days—and sometimes even weeks.
3. Niche hashtags. If you want to reach users outside of your core
follower base, niche hashtags can be a highly effective way to reach
relevant professionals (ex. #b2bleadgeneration is much more
effective than #marketing).
4. Community mentality. Where platforms like Instagram and
Twitter can be prone to unfavourable comments and replies,
LinkedIn has a far stronger community mentality. Question posts
can be an effective means of leveraging this to promote knowledge
sharing and relationship building.
5. Audience insights. LinkedIn allows all business accounts to define
their target audience and then access content suggestions based
on that audience. This feature can be used based on the accounts
you already follow, or the entire LinkedIn community (if you have a
smaller follower base).
6. Users want to interact with brands.
Cons:
1. Reaching younger audiences. If your target buyer persona is
under the age of 35, LinkedIn actually has somewhat low audience
penetration. According to Statista, the 2019 audience penetration
rate of internet users by age segment yielded 16 percent across
users aged 15 to 25, and 27 percent across users aged 26 to 35.
2. Short newsfeed lifespans. The engagement based algorithms
that can keep LinkedIn posts in the newsfeed for days on end are
the same algorithms that can have your posts written off before
they really see the light of day. Quick engagement and high levels of
engagement are massive determiners of organic success on LinkedIn.
3. User base. LinkedIn has 675 million monthly active users, coming in as
the second smallest user base among social platforms (next to Twitter).
That being said, it is a highly focussed and highly engaged audience.

How to launch an organic LinkedIn campaign
1. Beef up your LinkedIn page
Many conversions on LinkedIn actually stem from company page visits, so

you don’t want to miss out on those.
Key areas to focus on include:

• Company description. This is the first thing a prospect will read
when they land on your company page.
• Location. This is especially important if you serve a localized market.
• Hashtags. Up to three hashtags can be added to your profile to
enhance your searchability by industry and offering.
• Custom button selection. This is your primary CTA, so ensure that
it’s driving traffic to your desired destination, be that your website, a
contact us page, a sign up page, or otherwise.
2. Set growth goals
Refer to the objective setting section (1.1) under organic Facebook

strategy to refine these broader goals into actionable objectives.
Some LinkedIn specific B2B goals include:

• Sales qualified leads that can be directly attributed to organic
social efforts.
• Growth in average post engagement (reactions, shares, and
comments).
• Increasing branded page actions (website clicks, directions clicks, etc).
• Improved LinkedIn group/community presence by joining groups and
engaging with other members.
3. Do some hashtag research
LinkedIn users are increasingly using hashtags to help them search up

relevant content on the platform. That means that there are two reasons
for you to do some hashtag research. Firstly, so that you engage in the
conversation on relevant topics/hashtags. Secondly, so that you can use
those hashtags in your posts to drive new traffic organically and spark
conversations.

Here’s what you need to do to:
1. Add a tab/section to your existing spreadsheet/document
2. Start searching hashtags based on your industry category, SEO/
PPC targets, competitors, and buyer characteristics (ex. #marketing
if you’re an ad agency, #leadgeneration if that’s a service you offer,
#hubspot if that’s a competitor, or #restaurantproblems if that’s a
market that you serve).
3. Follow relevant hashtags so you can use your personal account to
interact and engage with the people and the businesses that are
using them.
4. Use LinkedIn to get additional hashtag suggestions. On your
personal account homepage, you will want to navigate to your left
sidebar. On the bottom of this sidebar is a “Discover more” button
which will provide you with suggestions on new people to connect
with and new hashtags to follow based on your account behavior.
5. Organize your hashtags based on the ones that you’re following, as
well as the categories listed in step 2, and get ready to start using
them in posts.
4. Join the conversation on hashtags that you follow
LinkedIn is a buzzing business community. “Stranger danger” certainly

doesn’t exist here, and most people are willing and interested to engage
with brands and people that they might not know personally. Posts
stemming from hashtags that you follow will show up in your newsfeed
alongside the content being posted by other accounts and connections
that you follow.
Source: LinkedIn

There are a few ways that you can engage with these posts:
• Like/react to the post
• Comment on the post and provide your opinion on
the issue at hand
• Share the post if you think it would be valuable to your network
• Connect with the person that posted
• Send that person a direct message pertaining to the post
The trick here is to ensure that you’re never selling anything, only
engaging in an authentic and genuine way. After all, in the B2B space,
people always want to feel that they’ve arrived at their own conclusions
and not as though they were sold.
5. Add LinkedIn posts to your content calendar
Akin to the previous two social platforms, frequency is still important with
business posting. That’s why it’s important to include LinkedIn in your
content calendar.
See the Facebook section for more in-depth insights into creating a
content calendar.
6. Curate great posting content
You’ve got all of the building blocks in place, but now it’s time to construct
the posts that are going to make or break your organic success on the
platform for B2B business.
Here are some critical tips to optimize your posts:

1. Keep it business oriented. Your latest vacation doesn’t have
a home on LinkedIn because it’s not what users enter the app
to discover. After all, 80 percent of all B2B leads originate from
LinkedIn, so make sure that you get down to business with your
organic posts.
2. Say more with less. Studies have shown that posts with shorter
character lengths can see up to an 18 percent boost in organic
engagement.
3. Embed catchy content. Edgy headlines and eye-catching graphics
will make your posts much more clickable, and the more clicks you
generate, the better your odds of being favored by the LinkedIn
algorithm, and the more traffic you are successfully directing to
your site.

4. Leverage hashtags (carefully). Now that you’ve done all of this
great keyword research, your first instinct might be to slap a bunch
of hashtags onto your posts so that you can reach the greatest
breadth of people. That would be a mistake. LinkedIn doesn’t limit
the number of hashtags that you can put on each post, but the
more you use, the more spammy your post will appear, and the less
engagement they will get. Best practice suggests that, like Twitter,
three hashtags is plenty. You can either have these tags tail your
post, embed them in the text content, or else separate them with
a paragraph break. Being that these tactics can all be effective, it’s
simply a stylistic decision.
5. Post a few times a day. The more often you can post, the more
favour you will earn in the eyes of the LinkedIn algorithm, and the
better engagement all of your posts will receive. The trick here is to
use the same embedded content, but change the copy so that a
greater portion of your audience has a chance of seeing it.
6. Leverage automation. LinkedIn is just one platform, and
managing multiple posts per day on numerous platforms can
become a burden. Thankfully, there are tools like Hootsuite and
Social Marketing that can alleviate some of the strain in organic
social media marketing.
Bonus: Experiment with SlideShare

Have you heard of
SlideShare? It’s the slide
hosting service that can
translate presentations,
infographics, and other
visual content into adaptable
formats that can be
embedded on the LinkedIn
SlideShare site or other
sites. This matters because
SlideShares reach 70M
unique visitors per month.
Source: envatotuts+
Check out this LinkedIn

help page to find a step-
by-step guide to using
SlideShare with LinkedIn.

1.4 LinkedIn Ads
Pros:
• LinkedIn is the B2B holy grail. As a matter of fact, according to a

study conducted by Grafton, an alarming 80 percent of B2B leads
originate from LinkedIn.
• Account-based functionality. LinkedIn was built for enabling
business-to-business commerce. That makes it the ideal platform
for businesses to connect and engage with other businesses.
• Advanced targeting options. When you’re targeting a B2B
market, certain audience variables, like job title/position become
more important. LinkedIn enables you to narrow your market with
advanced variables like location, job title, job function, seniority,
company name, company size, industry, degree, skills, professional
interests, and more.
• Personalization. Sponsored InMail is a great way to deliver
customized messages directly to members of your target audience.
This can be effective for inviting users to download gated content,
inviting users to an event, or even motivating a purchase.
• Ad variety. LinkedIn offers a number of ad platforms, some of
which are unique to the platform. The primary offerings include
sponsored content, sponsored inmail, video ads, dynamic ads,
carousel ads, and display ads. This variety allows LinkedIn to cater
to the needs of almost every B2B marketer.
• The Lead Accelerator. LinkedIn goes beyond the first touchpoint
by enabling users to track high-value prospects and deliver
additional ads that can be customized for those high-profile
accounts. It also has remarketing features that can be turned on
based on recent website visitors and account lists.
• Industry leading conversion rates. A year long study by
HubSpot found that LinkedIn ads more than triple the conversion
rate of Google Ads. Where Google Ads customers can expect a
conversion rate in the ballpark of 2.58 percent, HubSpot users
experienced an average conversion rate of 9 percent on LinkedIn.

Cons:
• COST. LinkedIn ads are substantially more expensive when
compared to the other social ad platforms. For comparison, the
average CPC of Google Ads has been reported at $3.35, while
LinkedIn ads average $5.74.
• The spillover effect. In the B2B landscape, prospects are unlikely
to engage with your brand on the first touch point. The result of this
can be leads that originated on LinkedIn manifesting themselves in
organic conversions. In other words, the prospect saw your ad on
LinkedIn (maybe even clicked through), then they closed the tab,
but got thinking about it later, so they started researching you on
their mobile device and converted from that second touch point.
• Limited reporting and analytics. Where the Facebook Ads
Manager can offer industry leading insights, LinkedIn’s Campaign
Manager is limited in comparison.
• Bumpy user experience. LinkedIn Campaign Manager is getting
better with every update, but the user experience remains somewhat
bumpy, with glitches being a regular part of the ad setup experience.
How to launch a LinkedIn ad campaign
1. Start by identifying your unique selling proposition (USP)

If you haven’t already, use the tactics outlined in section 1.1 to help you
isolate your USP.
2. Choose your ad objective

First things first, choose your ad objective. Being that most B2B leads
aren’t as willing to convert on lead ads, we’ve often found that a
“Website visits” objective can be as effective or more effective than other
conversion objectives.
Source: LinkedIn

3. Find your audience
There are a couple ways to isolate your audience on LinkedIn. Firstly,

you can use the tools and segmentation variables that are built into the
Campaign Manager to target prospective customers. Secondly, you can
create custom audiences leveraging lookalike and audience expansion
style strategies. And lastly, you can upload a list to target specific LinkedIn
accounts/companies. For an expansion on the list approach, visit section
3 under Account-Based Tactics and Strategies.
Here’s how to build an audience on LinkedIn:

1. Start by defining your audience location (the only mandatory
targeting parameter on LinkedIn). Get specific or keep it broad.
2. Build your audience based on optional variables
a. Company: connections, followers, industry, name, size.
b. Demographics: age and gender.
c. Education: degrees, fields of study, member schools.
d. Job experience: function, seniority, title, skills, years of experience.
e. Interests: groups and member interests
3. Ensure that your target audience estimates remain over 50,000 for
sponsored content and text ads, and over 15,000 for message ads.
4. Consider A/B testing your audiences. This can be done by
duplicating your campaign and slightly altering your audience
parameters.
Note: LinkedIn also has audience templates available if it’s your first time
creating an audience.
Here are a couple ways to use AI to create custom targeting on LinkedIn:

1. Enable audience expansion as you build your audience. This feature
will automatically identify additional audience members that are similar
to your specified target audience, and add them to your campaign.
This is best used when targeting specific facets where there is a risk of
missing members, such as: job titles, skills, groups, etc.
2. Create lookalike audiences. Lookalike audiences behave much in
the same way, but are best used when looking to hone in on specific
audience variables through a lead generation campaign objective.
3. Use matched audiences features. This allows you to coordinate
your LinkedIn targeting with other business data, like re-engaging
website visitors or nurturing existing prospects.

4. Determine your ad format
LinkedIn offers three ad formats that can all be effective if paired with
the right content and the right audience. The three choices include
sponsored posts, message ads, and dynamic ads. Your choice in ad
format will also serve to help you identify your CTA (and vice versa).
Sponsored content appears in the newsfeed and resembles an organic

post with the exception of a “Promoted” designation and a CTA button.
Benefits to sponsored posts:

• The most organic ad format as it appears in-line with other organic content.
• Users are conditioned to consume ad content in the newsfeed.
• Image, carousels, and videos can all be used as the primary ad content.

Message ads are ads that are delivered via LinkedIn InMail. They are
delivered in a similar fashion that a DM to a connection would be, but
they are accompanied with a sponsored designation.
Benefits to message ads:

• Greater personalization. InMail messages behave a lot like email in
the ways that they allow advertisers to personalize their messaging
with variable tags, like company tags, and more.
• More content. Sponsored and dynamic ads are both limited in the
volume of content that can be used, but InMail messages offer a lot
more room for elaboration.
• Great for niche markets and hyper-targeted audiences.

Text and dynamic ads are banners that appear on the side carousels of
various LinkedIn pages. These are a little different than your standard
banner ad, however, as they allow marketers to personalize them to
address users by name and profile picture.
Benefits to text and dynamic ads:

• Great for company spotlight based ads, content ads, or job posting ads.
• Great for generating awareness when paired with other
LinkedIn ad formats.
5. Create your visuals
Depending on your chosen ad format(s), you will want to either create

graphics or video content. These are general insights to help guide your
content creation, but the reality is that the only way to know for sure what
will perform best for your brand is to test both formats with different
messaging against different audiences.

Here are some tips for LinkedIn ad graphics
• Ensure that sponsored images are 1200x627 and that carousel
images are 1080x1080.
• Keep it real. Authenticity reigns supreme on LinkedIn, so integrating
photography is always a good idea. Faces are powerful, but product
pictures can also be powerful depending on the industry in which
you reside.
• Overlay text that supports your offer. There are few cases when
using some text on an image ad is not a good idea. The graphic
is the first piece of your ad to garner audience attention, so
presenting your offering or key details in the image can be a great
way to drive further action.
• Consider adding a “button” to the image. Adding a graphical button
is a great way to boost performance by giving your audience
another place to convert.
Here are some tips for LinkedIn ad videos:

• Ensure that videos also meet either the 1200x627 or 1080x1080
dimensions.
• Use a “Video views” ad objective if you are simply trying to generate
awareness. Otherwise, a lead generation objective will still be
effective for driving conversions with video content.
• Add captions so that the video makes sense without audio being
that most users have autoplay audio turned off by default.
• Include a clear CTA in the video as well as the ad copy so that there
is no confusion surrounding the action that you are trying to elicit.
6. Write your ads
It’s important that you always start every LinkedIn campaign with four
ad variants. This gives you a chance to test different graphics, different
text, and different CTAs while also optimizing your ad rotation (LinkedIn
rotates four ads per day). It’s best practice to do a two-image/video, two-
text split so that you can determine the best performing combinations
before you introduce new challenger ads.

Here is an example of a Vendasta competitive campaign that’s queued for launch:
Source: LinkedIn Campaign Manager
Pro-tip: If you are running blog ads, try removing the CTA button entirely so
that the ad looks organic when it appears in the newsfeed. We were able to
increase our click-through rate by more than 300 percent when we used this
trick on a batch of radio ads that we ran.
7. Optimize, optimize, optimize
After your campaign has been running for some time and has generated
leads, clicks, or otherwise, then you can begin to tweak your ads to
optimize your performance.
Here’s how to best optimize your ad performance:

1. Eliminate the worst performers. Certain ad variants are going to
outperform others, and it’s your job to eliminate the ads that aren’t
living up to expectations. However, when you turn one variant
off, you should always create a challenger ad that is crafted in the
image of one of your top performers. You should continue this
process of turning off ads and creating challengers for a few weeks
until you’ve identified clear champions.
2. Tweak audience variables. Once your ads have begun achieving
your desired results, you will be able to gain new insights through
the demographics function. Once inside your campaign, if you
click on demographics near the top, LinkedIn will provide you with
detailed information on the professionals that have clicked and
converted on your ads. These insights can help you adjust both
your content and your audience segmentation.
3. Inject new media content into top performers. After a few months,
even top performing content needs a refresh, otherwise you run the
risk of creating ad fatigue and experiencing performance drop-off.

1.5 Instagram Organic
Pros:
• Hashtagging. Instagram gives users the opportunity to not only
follow accounts, but also to follow hashtags. This provides B2B
marketers with a massive opportunity to reach new prospects
through hashtags that they might be following, and entice them to
engage with your brand or offering.
• Graphic dependency. If you have a physical product, or a service
that is easy to depict graphically, then Instagram is a potential gold
mine in not only paid, but also organic strategy.
• User base. Since mid 2018, Instagram has maintained over 1 billion
monthly active users, making it the second largest social platform in
the world, only falling behind Facebook.
• Low B2B competition. Only 25 million B2B companies around the
globe are currently leveraging Instagram for business purposes.
• Engagement. According to a study conducted by TrackMaven, B2B
companies experience their highest engagement ratios, which means
that your posts will get the most engagements as a percentage of
your followers across all of the major social platforms.
Source: TrackMaven

Cons:
• Graphic dependency. This point earns itself a seat on both sides

of the line because depending on your offering, it can be a benefit
or a drawback. It can be a drawback if your offering cannot be easily
captured in an appealing way; ergo, service businesses.
• Link integration. One of the greatest challenges with Instagram is
the fact that business accounts cannot insert links directly into their
posts unless they are verified
• People and culture focus. Instagram users aren’t interested in
your latest blog content, so doing B2B marketing on Instagram is
often more of a support mechanism to your other channels—a
place to share achievements and showcase culture so that you can
build trust among prospective customers.
How to launch an organic Instagram campaign
1. Set growth goals

Some Instagram specific B2B goals include:

• Growth in relationships with industry leaders and influencers.
• Increased brand awareness through a regular posting cadence,
hashtag strategy, and outreach.
• Growth in top of funnel (TOFU) website traffic.
• Attracting top talent through powerful cultural content.
Note: For B2B businesses, it can be difficult to drive conversions from the photo-
first platform, but it is the optimal place to achieve many of the above objectives.
The fastest way to grow your Instagram following and attract an

interested and engaged audience is through hashtag strategy.
Here’s how to find relevant hashtags:

1. Navigate to the Insta pages of your existing clients and see what
hashtags they’re using. This can be a great way to track down niche
hashtags that might be popular among your target audience.

2. Use your SEO strategy to help identify hashtags. If you’ve already
got a strong keyword strategy in place, then you should use your
existing keyword library to help you expand your hashtag research.
3. Search a breadth of hashtag categories. Community hashtags
(#lovetheocean), branded hashtags (#Inbound), audience
descriptive hashtags (#fitnesschicks), product descriptive hashtags
(#carwraps), niche hashtags (#3mcarwraps), and location-based
hashtags (#torontogymlife) should all be researched and leveraged
(if applicable) in your organic posting strategy.
4. Let Instagram do the heavy lifting. As you begin typing in hashtags,
Insta will populate a number of suggested tags, and these
suggestions can be very helpful in expanding your search.
5. Investigate each prospective tag. You’re going to want to scroll at
least the top nine posts on each tag to determine if the hashtag
aligns with your brand and services your audience.
6. Don’t forget to log all of your keyword research into a spreadsheet
so that you can continually expand it and refer back to it later.
Here’s what you need to know about hashtags before you start posting:
• There are two places where you can use hashtags on Instagram:
in the post caption or in the post comments. Functionally, these
strategies both perform the same, but it can distract from other
CTAs in your caption if you also include hashtags—so keep that in
mind as your team decides on a strategy.
• Instagram limits you to 30 hashtags per post, and studies have
shown that the best engagement rates are achieved when
using 11 or more hashtags (79.5 percent interaction rate per 1k
followers with 11 hashtags).
• Use a combination of higher density and lower density hashtags to
diversify your impact.
• Don’t use the same hashtags in every single post, otherwise you
eliminate the opportunity of reaching different audiences across
multiple posts. Testing different combinations might also reveal
different results, so it’s critical that you remain fluid in your posting.
• Never use gimmicky hashtags like “#follow4follow” and
“#likeforlike”. These hashtags aren’t targeted, attract the wrong
traffic to your page, and can dilute your brand in the eyes of your
existing audience.

3. Add Instagram posts to your content calendar
Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, your content should look a little
different on the photo-first platform. Whereas the aforementioned
platforms are geared towards informational content, Instagram is better
suited for cultural content. You will still want to build Instagram posts into
the same content calendar, but you will want to focus your Instagram
content on workplace happenings, awards, and micro-video content as
opposed to sharing blogs, long-form videos, and posting questions.
See the Facebook section for more in-depth insights into creating a
content calendar.
4. Capture great images
Instagram is an image first platform, unlike it’s Twitter counterpart. This

means that many viewers don’t even make it to the caption, so you need
to ensure that your images are enticing enough to direct action or direct
your audience towards the details in the caption.
Here’s what you need to keep in mind when capturing photos for Instagram:
• Shoot in high definition. Whether you’re using your phone or a
camera, ensure that you’re shooting images in the highest possible
resolution. This allows you to crop and condense them later as you
see fit.
• Maintain a consistent style. This is not to say that you can only post
pictures if they have white backgrounds, but your page should have
a very distinct style as users scroll through your posts.
• Use natural light and avoid image filters. We all remember the
early days of Instagram when everyone ran sweet Clarendon filters
on every post. Fortunately, those days are behind us, and so too
should they be behind your business. Additionally, the usage of
natural light serves to enhance the authenticity of your posts.
• Take vertical photos when possible. Standard Instagram image size
is 1080px x 1080px, but 1080px x 1350px is effective for portrait,
and 1080px x 608px is effective for landscape. That being said, the
taller your photo content is, the more newsfeed space you’re going
to occupy.
• Send a message. You don’t necessarily need to be selling something in
every photo, but you should have a goal or outcome in mind for each
post. As you will see in the example below, the goal of this post was to
position Vendasta as a subject matter expert in the UX/UI spaces.

Source: Instagram @vendasta
5. Keep it fun
Instagram is not as business intensive as a platform like LinkedIn, so you

shouldn’t be afraid to showcase some personality in your posts.
Here are some fun ways to keep your Insta page lively:
• Use Instagram stories. Since 2016, Instagram stories have been
a great way for users to showcase more of their day-to-day
happenings and focus less on image quality. Brands can leverage
stories to show off behind the scenes business activity, promote
events, conduct polls, and more
• Publish video content. If your company has created a great video,
then Instagram is the ideal platform to amplify it’s impact. How-tos,
promotional product videos, and cultural happenings are just a
few ways that you can leverage video.
• Live streams. If you want to take your video strategy to the next
level, try live streaming presentations that are public friendly.
• Host contests. Contests can be a great way to promote a conference
or event while also growing your Instagram page organically. Make
sure and have a clear CTA (ex. Tag 3 friends to be entered), give
away something valuable, and prepare for an influx of engagement.

Bonus: Use the $1.80 strategy
Gary Vaynerchuk coined the “$1.80 strategy” for what he describes as:
leaving your two cents on 90 Instagram posts per day. This is a bonus
section because it’s incredibly time consuming and labouring work, but
it can also be a great way to boost your organic following by targeting an
active and engaged audience of potential customers.
Here’s the process:

• Search up relevant hashtags (use your existing hashtag research)
• Scroll through the top posts on at least 10 of those hashtags
• Like those posts
• Leave your two cents in the comments until you’ve commented on
roughly 90 posts
• Repeat each work day
Check out this in-depth article on Instagram for Business to find out more.
1.6 Instagram Ads

Pros:
1. Instagram ads aren’t intrusive. Whether leveraging newsfeed
ads or story ads, Instagram users don’t find ads disruptive, in fact,
most users actually enjoy the ad content they are being served.
2. Instagram users are among the most engaged. Regular Insta
users spend 53 minutes per day on the platform.
3. Shopify integration. If you leverage Shopify to enable
ecommerce, then you can easily integrate Shopify with Instagram
and sell products instantly through the platform.
4. Access Facebook data. Ever since Facebook bought Insta,
the two networks have been connected, enabling audiences to
easily transfer, as well as the ability to launch entire Instagram
campaigns straight from your Ads Manager dashboard.
5. Users discover brands on Instagram. In fact, 83 percent of
Insta users discover new products and services on the platform.

6. Users like businesses on Instagram. Ninety percent of users

follow at least one business account, 78 percent see brands as
popular, 76 percent as creative, and 72 percent as committed to
building a community.
Cons:
1. Younger audience demographics. The largest Instagram user
segments are 18-24, with a 75 percent penetration rate in the US
and 25-30 with a penetration rate of 57 percent. This means that
high cost business-based products might not reach the desired
(older) audience on this platform.
2. Fashion and beauty focus. If you look at the top 20 most
popular brands on Insta, they all fall within the fashion or beauty
categories with the exception of Starbucks coming in at #20.
This means that B2B products have yet to achieve such brand
prevalence and user preference as of yet.
Source: Business of Apps

3. Influencers run the Gram. Users flock to names like Cristiano
Ronaldo (234M followers) and Arianna Grande (196M followers).
Messages delivered from the likes of these names hit much
harder than any brand can ever hope to alone—but this
presents influencer marketing opportunities.
How to launch an Instagram ad campaign
1. Start with your unique selling proposition (USP)
isolate your USP.
2. Use Facebook Ads Manager to build your campaign
Although Instagram allows you to run ads directly through their platform,
the best way to enhance your campaign targeting, monitor performance,
and save time is to use Facebook Ads Manager.

1. Connect your Facebook business page to your Instagram
business account (if not done already).
2. Navigate to Facebook Ads Manager. If you choose to run ads
natively on Instagram, you will be drastically limited in your
segmentation and targeting variables.
3. Select “Create”.
4. Choose an ad objective that supports Instagram as a placement.
5. Select “Continue”.
6. Fill in the details for your ad set.
7. Choose your placement option. If running “Manual Placements,”
you can choose to place your ad on Instagram. Or, if you choose
“Automatic Placements,” your ad will run across a variety of
formats on both Facebook and Instagram and optimize the
value you get out of your expenditure.
8. Select continue.
Find out more here.
3. Choose your ad format(s), objective(s) and CTA(s)
If you choose to use manual placements, then Instagram offers six

different ad variations that B2B companies can leverage to enhance lead
generation efforts.

Here are the six formats and some further objective/CTA details:
1. Story ads. Story ads appear in between the organic stories of
Instagram users and can be used in both photo and video format.
These ads are best used to complement photo ads in-feed and
receive the highest engagement levels of all ad formats on the
platform.
2. Photo ads. These are the equivalent of standard feed ads, but
they’re all about the imagery on Instagram. Photo ads are most
effective if your brand is already creating high quality visuals or has
the means to do so.
3. Video ads. These also appear as in-feed ads, but offer advertisers
120 seconds to broaden their sensory appeal through auto-play
content in either landscape or square format. Video ads are most
effective for simple offerings where an emotional response can be
evoked in a short period of time.
4. Carousel ads. This is a variation of photo ads that allows users to
swipe through a series of product or service offerings that all have
their own associated link. These are beneficial for advertisers that
are looking to highlight multiple products, tell a multi-part story, or
really explore a complex service offering.
5. Collection ads. This is an edgy ad option that was essentially built
for the ecommerce application, as it allows users to click an ad and
be directed to an Instagram-based storefront where users can
actually make a purchase.
6. Ads in Explore. Explore is where users go to discover content from
accounts that they aren’t following. These ads do not appear directly
in the explore recommendations, but rather, in the newsfeed after
a user has clicked on a post. Both regular photo and video content
can be used in explore for additional placements.
Across these placements, there are a variety of objectives and CTA

buttons available to marketers. Here are a few of them:
• Available objectives include: app installs, brand awareness, catalog

sales, conversions, engagement, lead generation, messages,
reach, store traffic, or web traffic.
• CTA button options include: apply now, book now, book test drive,
call now, check availability, contact us, donate, download, get
directions, get showtimes, get quote, get offer, install now, learn
more, listen now, open link, order now, play game, preregister,
request time, see menu, send message, send WhatsApp message,
shop now, sign up, subscribe, use app, or watch more.

Your choice in ad format(s) and CTAs should be informed by your
broader social media marketing strategy and overall marketing objectives.
For example, if your marketing success is measured based on app
installs, then pairing a story ad campaign with a “app install objective and
either a “download” or an “install now” CTA would be a logical tactic.
Explore Instagram business ad formats further here.
4. Create compelling visuals/videos
Imagery and videography are more important on Instagram than Facebook,

LinkedIn, or Twitter because Instagram was born as a visual-first platform.
Here are some tips for photos:
• Shoot in 1:1 ratio (1080x1080) for newsfeed photos and 9:16
(1080x1920) for stories.
• Focus on realism. Real people and real photography are two of the most
powerful tools available to Instagram marketers. Skip the after effects and
think more about capturing an authentic shot that tells a story.
• Try and say it without the words. Unlike platforms like LinkedIn where
it’s advised to use text in your imagery, Instagram newsfeed photos
generally perform better without the text or with minimal text.
Source: WordStream

Here are some tips for videos:
• Shoot in 1:1 ratio (1080x1080) for newsfeed videos and 9:16
(1080x1920) for stories.
• The first second matters A LOT. Instagram users are perpetual
scrollers, so you don’t have time to be artsy with slow openers.
What can you show in the first second that will compel your
audience to stop and watch further.
• Add captions. Like most social media platforms, autoplay audio is set
to mute by default. Captions ensure that viewers get the message
regardless of whether or not they have their audio turned on.
• Evoke an emotional response. Try and think of creative ways
that you can use your product or service to make prospects feel
something.
• Organic sells. The less your video looks like an ad, the more likely
it is to perform. If your content can mesh and blend well with the
other content in your prospects’ feeds, it will be met with much
warmer perceptions.
Source: AdEspresso

Here are some tips for stories:
• Shoot all photos/videos at 9:16 (1080x1920).
• The first slide of your ad is make or break. A study by RivalHQ
determined that brands are losing about 20% of their audience by
the second frame of their story ads. Great ways to grab attention
right away include distinct colors and interesting graphics.
• Clear and concise messaging. You have a maximum of 15 seconds
to convey your message in a single slide. That means you need to
get to the point as quick as possible.
• Maintain brand visibility. It can be especially easy for your branding
to be overlooked on story ads as there are often so many other
stimuli. Try to cleverly integrate or overlay your branding into visual
elements, or focus on your products in the imagery that you use.
Also try and keep your colors on-brand.
These are some general guidelines that should help to improve your
overall performance, but the reality is that you won’t know definitively
what will work best for your brand until you experiment with some
different content.

5. Create ad variants
Following the same four-variant principle that is most effective on

LinkedIn and Facebook, it is generally advised to craft two text samples
and two image samples that can be split tested in a four variant
campaign. This will allow you to test different visuals and content to
determine top performers.
Here are some tactics to test in your ad variants:

• Single line text for newsfeed ads. Instagram users don’t give the
text much attention, so try keeping it to a single line that reinforces
the CTA or message delivered in the photo/video.
• Product images. If you have a physical offering, try and showcase it
with high resolution photography in either newsfeed or story ads.
• Video testimonials. If you have a B2B service offering, testimonials can
be an effective way to provide social proof in an engaging matter.
• Experiment with CTAs. “Learn more” style CTAs are generally more
effective for complex offerings, whereas “Shop now” can be a
powerful purchase driver for B2C products.
6. Monitor and optimize your campaigns
Instagram ads should be optimized in a similar fashion to their Facebook

peers. In fact, if you are running both simultaneously, you can easily
monitor and optimize all of your ads from the Ads Manager dashboard.
That being said, here are some Instagram specific recommendations:
• Benchmark CPLs, click-through rates and other key metrics against
averages in your industry to accurately measure performance.
• Introduce challenger ads. Once you’ve identified the top
performing variants in a given campaign, you need to turn off
the bottom performers and introduce new challenger ads. Best
practice is to leverage either the same image/video as a top
performer, but try new text—or vice versa.
• Experiment with special offers. Although often perceived as
spammy on other platforms, offers can actually be an effective way
to drive clicks on Instagram.
• Try lookalike audiences. If you have a large following, you should try
running follower lookalike campaigns that will allow you to reach
prospects that have the most in common with your biggest fans.
• Refresh graphics/videos every few months. Struck gold on an ad?
Just like a gold mine, it will eventually run dry. That’s why it’s important
to have new content ready to inject into those top performing
campaigns for when their effectiveness begins to dwindle.
See Section 1.2 for Facebook Ad optimization recommendations.

1.7 Twitter Organic
Pros:
1. Hashtag reach. Unless you’re a zoomer, you’re probably old

enough to know that Twitter was the original hashtag platform.
But, not only is it the original, it’s also one of the most effective
platforms to generate hashtag traffic on (next to Instagram). Just
don’t use more than three per post or else engagement rates will
start to fall.
2. Twitter attracts non-users. In fact, 500 million people view
Twitter pages and posts each month without logging into an
account. Most of this traffic stems from organic search traffic that
is being directed to Twitter.
3. Twitter lists. Twitter has a feature that allows any user to create
a list of accounts. This list can then be selected and only activity
from the accounts on that list will be shown. This is a great way to
research prospects for account-based marketing strategies.
4. Twitter users are older, more educated, and earn more. If
you have a sophisticated product or service, then it’s likely that
your target audience is on Twitter.
a. The median age of twitter users is 40
b. 42 percent of US Twitter users have college degrees
c. 41 percent earn over $75,000 a year
Cons:
1. Chronological news feed options. Unlike other top social

platforms that deliver each user curated content based on
their algorithm, Twitter gives users the option to filter based on
chronological order. This means that post timing is more important
on Twitter than other platforms.
2. Crowded feeds. Similar to the issue that faces Twitter advertisers,
Twitter feeds tend to be more crowded than other platforms,
which can make it easy for your followers to miss your posts.
3. Limited audience. As mentioned earlier, there are only 330
million monthly active users on Twitter as of the end of 2019.

How to launch an organic Twitter campaign
1. Set objectives

Some Twitter specific B2B goals include:

• Building a community around a branded hashtag.
• Growing a peer/influencer network by collaborating with others in
your industry.
• Increase brand awareness through followers, retweets, and reach.
• Increase leads through Twitter-specific traffic
Twitter invented the hashtag, so you better believe that using hashtags
in your posts is a must. Hashtags serve the purpose of grouping tweets
and conversations around similar topics, so that users can easily find and
interact with them. As B2B marketers, hashtags serve the purpose of
providing additional reach and exposure to otherwise limited posts.
Furthermore, LinkedIn and Instagram have also become major

proponents of the hashtag, so from here on out, hashtags will become an
integral part of your organic social media strategy.
Here’s how to do hashtag research on Twitter:

1. Start a spreadsheet or a document to log all of your hard earned
research (besides, you’re going to need it for LinkedIn and
Instagram as well).
2. Audit competitors and clients to determine high intent hashtags.
3. Audit your SEO targeted keyword lists and current PPC terms to
determine possible hashtags.
4. Research each prospective hashtag and assess the accounts that
are following it, as well as using it, to ensure that it is the right
intent for reaching your target audience.
5. Start to categorize your hashtags based on their origins (branded,
trending, product, event, seasonal, etc).
6. Start picking and pairing some of these hashtags with upcoming
post content and measuring results to determine winning
hashtags.
7. Rinse and repeat.

3. Develop a distinct Twitter style
Tweets should look a little different than other posts on Facebook,

LinkedIn, and Instagram. Authenticity is a big proponent of a successful
organic Twitter presence, and this can be created by identifying and staying
true to your brand voice. B2B brands like Adobe have been successful in
growing a large and dedicated audience on Twitter by leveraging brand
collaborations, featuring consumer generated content, promoting new
features, and directing traffic to impactful website content.
Source: Twitter @Adobe
Tips for creating an authentic Twitter voice include:

• Don’t break your brand guidelines.
• Don’t use too much humour if it’s not part of your broader brand
identity (if you’re familiar with Wendy’s Twitter presence, then you
know that too much humour can be a risk).
• Address topics that matter to your target audience.
• Keep messages short and impactful (even more so than other
social platforms).
• Avoid jumping on trends to try and stay relevant.

4. Add tweets to your content calendar
The best part about building content calendars across multiple platforms,
is that you can essentially post the same content across most of them—
just make a few small changes. Odds are good that Facebook, Twitter,
and LinkedIn content is all cross-compatible.
See the Facebook section for more in-depth insights into creating a content calendar.
5. Experiment
Twitter is quite a distinct platform compared to it’s colleagues in this
section. That being said, there are some different methodologies that can
really engineer your success.
Here are some of the best experiments you can run on Twitter:
• Try various tweet times. Since many Twitter users still organize their
feeds by recency, posting at certain times can yield greater post
performance. If you’re in the B2B space, you should be cognizant of
the work hours of your target audience relative to their times zones.
• Repeat your tweets. As a byproduct of the above, it can be useful
to tweet to the same blog or piece of content a few times over the
span of a few days (with different captions of course).
• Length and style. Try running really short tweets with no image,
try longer tweets with an image, try posing a question, try posting
thought leading comments, try referencing other influencers, etc.
• Try different link structures. One of the more recent updates
enabled users to generate preview windows for web links (like
LinkedIn and Facebook). But, many brands still use shortened text
links with great success. Or, if you’re feeling really edgy, you could
even try both in the same post.
Source: Twitter @Vendasta

1.8 Twitter Ads
Pros:
1. You only pay for performance. Unlike other platforms where

you might not achieve your desired object and invest hundreds or
thousands in the meantime, Twitter only bills based on achievement
of your goal/action (ex. You pay for clicks or installs rather than
engagements and impressions).
2. Keyword targeting. This is a unique Twitter ads feature whereby
you can target specific tags that your desired audience might be
engaging with (ex. You could use #ppcchat if you’re a marketing
agency and want to engage with the ppc community on Twitter).
Source: WordStream
3. Limited competition. As compared to the other social platforms

that are home to millions of advertisers, Twitter is only home to
130,000 business advertisers.
4. Low CPC. In Q3 of 2017, Twitter reported that cost per
engagement declined 54 percent year-over-year while ad
engagements increased 99 percent in that same period. The result?
Clicks can actually cost cents on Twitter.
5. Link embedding. For years, link embedding was never an option
on Twitter, but that has recently changed, allowing advertisers to
hyperlink blog posts or feature previews instead of just a shortened
URL like the olden days.

Cons:
1. Limited analytics. The breadth and precision of Twitter analytics

is not comparable to that of Facebook or Google, so don’t expect
any advanced features to accompany your campaigns on this
platform.
2. Twitter is cluttered. This is a user experience bit, and unlike
Instagram where it’s almost impossible to miss an ad, Twitter users
might just stumble right past your content.
3. Limited audience. As of 2019, Twitter was reporting 330 million
monthly active users, which is still more than LinkedIn, but much
less than Facebook and Instagram. LinkedIn is also a more focused
B2B platform as compared to Twitter.
How to launch an effective Twitter campaign
1. Start with your unique selling proposition (USP)
isolate your USP.
2. Choose your ad objective
Here are your choices:
Source: Twitter for Business

Here are some additional details to help guide your objective selection:
• Awareness
• Reach. Classic billboard style advertising. The more eyeballs,
the better, and you’re billed per 1,000 impressions.
• Consideration
• Video views. A little further down the funnel, you might want
to introduce a salesy video. You get billed per view.
• Pre-roll videos. Your video ads get put in front of the videos of
premium content partners, and you get billed per view.
• App installs. Great for SaaS companies looking for a quick
download, and you only get billed per download.
• Website clicks or conversions. Classic digital ad CTA where you
will get billed per website visit.
• Engagements. Best paired with promoted tweets that you’re
aiming to maximize likes, replies, and shares for. You are then
billed per engagement.
• Followers. Best paired with a promoted accounts campaign
and you will be billed for each new follower that you acquire.
• Conversion
• App re-engagements. Get existing app users to get back into
your app, and you’re billed for each app click.
3. Choose your ad format
On Twitter, there are only a few different ad formats which makes it

rather simple for users to launch B2B campaigns.
Here are the available Twitter formats:

• Promoted tweets. These are
your standard newsfeed ads that
are prompted to people outside
of your existing audience. These
ads consist of text, image/video
(with video autoplay), as well as
hyperlinked URLs. These ads
will appear in user timelines, on
user profiles, and at the top of
search results for both mobile and
desktop users.

• Promoted accounts. This is an opportunity to promote your
brand’s entire Twitter account. These ads are displayed in
potential followers’ timelines, the “Who to follow” suggestions
pane, as well as search results windows.

• Promoted trends. A promoted trend shows up on the right-
hand side of the newsfeed on desktop as well as the first result
in the “For you” section under explore. When clicked, trends will
see the search results for that topic, but with one of your branded
tweets as the top result. As seen below, Twitter also recently
released video and GIF support for this ad type.

• Promoted moments. These are essentially Twitter story ads,
allowing users to curate a collection of similar tweets that tell a story.
4. Create your audience
Twitter allows users to create audiences from a variety of demographic,

audience, and custom features. The most unique segmentation
variables are surrounding the ability to isolate Twitter users based on
the conversations that they might be participating in on the platform, as
well as targeting users based on their movie and TV preferences as a key
interest variable.
Here are some of those features:

• Demographics
• Geography, gender, language, and age.
• Device models, carriers, OS versions, and platforms.
• Audience features
• Conversation targeting.
• Event targeting.
• Tweet Engager targeting.
• Keyword targeting.
• Movies and TV show targeting.
• Interest and follower lookalike targeting.
• Custom audiences
• Audiences from lists.
• Audiences from the web.
• Audiences from mobile apps.
Find out more details on these ad formats here.
5. Set up your ad group and bidding strategy
Twitter is somewhat unique when it comes to ad groups and bidding

strategy. Although it might be easier to stick to a single ad group, you
should run multiple so that you can experiment with different audiences,
creative, timing, budget, and more.
Other platforms generally don’t allow you to target different audiences

within the same campaign, so this can be a great way to test theories and
prove hypotheses without costing you too much time.
Now, it’s time to set your bid type. For those new to Twitter ads,
“automatic bidding” can be a great way to see how bidding works and
establish benchmarks for future campaigns without blowing your budget.
However, if you want to get serious about your Twitter ad game, then you
may want to test “target cost” and “maximum bid” options.

Why target cost?
• You identify what an action (website clicks) is worth to you
(ex. $4.00).
• The Twitter ad algorithm will win you bids at auctions above and below
this mark (ex. $3.50 and $4.50) to create this average, providing access
to larger markets that may have exceeded a set price.
Why maximum bid?

• You determine the most that you’re willing to pay for an action at
auction, setting a firm ceiling on your ad spend.
• The ad algorithm will still win you auctions that are below
your maximum bid.
6. Write your ads
There are a few things you’re going to want to keep in mind as you craft
text content for Twitter:
• Clear
• Concise
• And compelling
H*ll, we could even call it the 3 C’s of Twitter text. But that’s pretty much
it. Twitter is an impact-first platform, so the more you can say in fewer
words, the further your message will carry. Oh, and make sure you do it
in less than 280 characters or else Twitter is actually going to cut you off
(you should aim for less than 140 characters).
This same logic should go into your CTAs as well. There should be no
confusion surrounding the action that you are trying to solicit.
For enhanced Twitter CTAs, consider the following:

• Match language and style to your ad objective. If video views is
your primary CTA, then don’t try to also redirect traffic to your site
with a shortened link.
• Experiment with CTA styles (shortened links, embedded links,
Twitter page views, etc).
• Make it direct. Soft sells and obscure offers don’t work on Twitter.
Clearly explain the offering in text, and then state the CTA directly.

7. Create visual content
When words aren’t exactly the emphasis, visuals become even more
important. First of all, you’re going to want to be sure that you’re adhering
to Twitter’s creative ad specs (which can be found here).
Some tips for greater visual impact on Twitter include:

• Quality first. There’s no room for mis-sized or low quality pictures
and videos on Twitter.
• Make sure your imagery is eye-catching so that users actually stop
scrolling through their feed.
• Leave some ambiguity so that the user takes the time to read the
post and digest the CTA.
• Get creative surrounding events. Being that Twitter is highly
frequented as a news outlet, event-based strategies can be highly
effective.
Check out this March Madness related ad by Wendy’s:
Source: Twitter @Wendys

8. Monitor performance and optimize
Here are the best optimizations you can make with the help of your
Twitter Analytics dashboard:
• Kill the worst performers. If campaigns are under-performing as
compared to expectations and other campaign variations, then
they should be tweaked or replaced with new challengers.
• Consider increasing your bid on campaigns that are performing
well and may reach a larger audience with a larger bid.
• Replace creatives on long running ads to minimize wearout.
• Try injecting stats or data points into the text of lower
performance ad variants.
• Consider separating mobile and desktop targeting and run
different ads to each. Mobile users are more receptive to shorter,
more engaging copy/visuals, whereas desktop users might be
more responsive to more in-depth ad content.
Find additional insights from Twitter here.
1.9 Influencer Marketing

People trust people. This has always been true in sales and marketing,
and it’s increasingly so in the modern B2B marketing space. However,
when most people think of influencer marketing, they imagine that local
celeb that’s doing not-so-subtle promotion for a local clothing store on
his or her instagram page. This is classic B2C, but influencer marketing is
actually more effective in the B2B space.
According to Biz Journals, 91 percent of B2B purchases in the United

States are influenced by word of mouth.
A consumer might take a chance on that $30 tee, but that $3,000
software subscription for their business is a different story. That’s why the
B2B referral isn’t going anywhere and influencer marketing is one of the
fastest ways to create that engagement.

Here are a couple examples of effective B2B influencer marketing campaigns.
1. Microsoft and National Geographic partner with female adventure

photographers to advocate for women in STEM
Source: Shane Barker
2. American Express’ Amex Ambassador Campaign
Source: Grin

Pros:
1. Earned newsfeed space. Unlike traditional paid ads that

are sometimes seen as pollution in the newsfeed, influencer
recommendations appear organically and promote better
goodwill for your brand.
2. Personal brand loyalties. Consumers tend to develop stronger
relationships with personal brands than with business brands.
A byproduct of this is an increased likelihood of consumers to
consider product or brand recommendations stemming from a
person, rather than a brand or a branded ad.
3. Reach otherwise difficult customers and markets. Some
markets are particularly resistant to conventional advertising
tactics, or might be difficult to reach through conventional
means, but influencer strategies offer a more organic approach
to acquiring that reach through blog, social, or otherwise.
4. High cost/benefit ratio. According to a study by Tomoson,
businesses are earning $6.50 for every dollar spent on influencer
marketing, and the top 13 percent are making over $20.
5. Influencer marketing + Instagram = seriously high impact.
There’s a reason that both of the influencer marketing examples
I drew upon were sourced from Instagram. Firstly, 59 percent of
influencers prefer Insta. Secondly, engagement rates on Insta
average 7.2 percent as compared to 1.4 percent on the likes of
Twitter. And lastly, because Instagram users actually don’t mind
sponsored content.
Cons:
1. Delayed ROI. Ideas take root much slower in the B2B space.
Although influencer efforts may be reaching the right audience
and conveying the right message, it will undoubtedly take time and
message repetition to convince the right people to take the next step.
2. Attribution. As suggested above, B2B purchases are much
more intricate and involved than most B2C purchases, and
directly attributing lead generation to influencer efforts can often
prove difficult.
3. Identifying the right influencers. If you are having a hard
time reaching your audience in the first place, then it’s unlikely
that you are aware of influencers that they are engaging with.
Fortunately, there are software solutions that can assist on this
front. Platforms like CreatorIQ, Popular Pays, and Mavrick are a
few of the industry leaders.

4. Identifying the right platform. Determining whether you
should be pursuing a blog partnership, a social partnership,
or otherwise can also be a difficult feat. However, some of the
above listed platforms can also assist on that front.
5. Cost. Depending on whether you are using micro influencers,
mega influencers, and the frequency with which you are
launching sponsored content—costs can become rather high.
How to launch an influencer marketing campaign
1. Identify objective
The first step is always identifying what your goal for the influencer
campaign will be.
Some possible B2B influencer campaign objectives include:

• Build or strengthen brand awareness
• Drive social engagement/interactions
• Improve TOFU conversions (newsletters, free trials, etc.)
• Collect customer insight/data (surveys, analytics, etc.)

2. Look for existing advocates
Once you’ve identified what you want out of your campaign, then you can
begin working to identify the “who” of the equation. And quite often, the best
place to start for this step is within your company’s existing social circles.
The “who” must be:

• Someone with a sizeable social following on your desired platform
(minimum 5,000)
• Someone who influences your customers. If you sell software to
local business clientele, then you’re going to want to target someone
that has strong relationships with local businesses within a target
community (ex. Sacramento)
Now, the larger your company, the easier it will be for you to find
advocates within your existing social circles.
3. Contract negotiations
B2B influencer contracts should be negotiated for much longer terms

than their B2C counterparts. According to Convince & Convert, you
shouldn’t expect attributable results from an influencer marketing
campaign for up to six months. As a result, they recommend that you
should negotiate influencer relationships that last one year at a time.
4. Content creation
Influencer marketing content takes a bit of a different form than that of

many other paid and organic campaigns. Unlike your Facebook ads, the
content is likely to be created by the influencer and then approved by you.
In order to facilitate this, you will have to provide the influencer with
whatever materials they need to promote your offering.
Some key materials include:

• Custom URLs/promo codes
• Swag or other promotional materials
• Additional production materials if negotiated
5. Track performance
As mentioned above, custom URLs and promo codes should likely be

used to enable attribution. You will then want to monitor site traffic and
conversions stemming from the influencer and map that performance
over the duration of your contract.

Lead Generation
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Search Ads
#ConquerLocal
2. Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Search Ads
Okay, I called it Search Ads, but what I really mean is Google Ads, because
(let’s face it), nobody uses Yahoo and I’m pretty sure Bing doesn’t even
exist anymore.
Google Ads look something like this:
Source: Hallam
Google Ads are those search results that pop up when you look for
something, notice those little green “Ad” boxes, promptly scroll past, and
then begin actually browsing the real search results.

But wait, that’s not what searchers actually do. As a matter of fact,
Sparktoro determined that Google Ads earn a 11.38 percent CTR on
Google, which can represent a substantial volume of traffic on terms that
are generating thousands of searches per month. Furthermore, three
quarters of people say that search ads actually make it easier to find the
info that they’re looking for.
Pros:
• The pay-per-click principle. Similar to the Twitter ad interface,
you only pay when an individual actually takes action on your ad
(clicks on it).
• Closely monitor spend. There’s no minimum expenditure and
you can set your maximum spend per day, per month, and per ad.
• Targeting. There are a number of different targeting parameters
available to Google Ads users. The primary variables include
keyword search terms, display/text formatting, age, location,
language, day, time, frequency, and even devices.
• Best-in-class tracking and transparency. Unlike the
aforementioned social platforms that can often lose tracking
before point of purchase, Google Ads will track every single action
a user takes after that ad click. Whether they made a purchase,
searched for your business and requested directions, downloaded
an app, or placed a phone call to your business—you see it all.
• Instant results. Tactics like SEO can take weeks, LinkedIn is only
gonna hit on the weekend, and Insta ads might need half a dozen
impressions before they get the click, but Google Ads can start
generating traffic right now.
• Google Ads grew up. In the olden days, text Google Ads were a
lot smaller, but since 2016, the available text has grown and new
options like sitelinks and structured snippet extensions can enable
you to own even more of the SERP.

Cons:
• Competition. Depending on your industry and the size and
volume of your competitors, some keyword terms can be
incredibly difficult (or impossible) to compete on.
• Cost. In alignment with competition, costs can also prove to be a
substantial barrier to Google Ad successes. Google Ads operate
on a bidding structure which means that you select how much you
are willing to pay per click, and this “bid” will determine your rank
relative to other advertisers that are bidding on the same terms.
• Complexity. The byproduct of all of the advanced targeting
capabilities offered by Google Ads is that the platform itself can
be somewhat difficult to navigate. This can make it challenging for
the average marketer to efficiently navigate the dashboard and
launch effective campaigns. It’s often advised to hire a specialist or
outsource this work to a team of professionals.
• Landing page dependency. The fact of the matter is that your
Google Ads might get clicks if you’re bidding high enough, but
they’re never going to convert unless the landing pages you have
attached to them are also top notch (text and design).
How to launch an effective PPC search campaign
When you’re first starting to think about running a Google Ads

search campaign for your own business or for a client, you may feel
overwhelmed with all the things you think you need to do right off the
start. “I need to spend hours perfecting my ad copy”, “I need a list of a
1000 keywords before I can start!” your worries can go on and on and
eventually you will paralyze yourself. That’s where the “Lazy Man” formula
comes into play.
Here’s how it works.
1. Start by making assumptions
Going into your first campaign, all you can do is make assumptions.
You’re assuming the ad copy that you’ve written is going to resonate
with your potential customers, you’re assuming your bids are going
to be perfect, and you’re assuming your list of keywords are going to
encompass all the searches you want to rank for. The reality is that
untested assumptions are rarely correct and the only way to know for
sure is through repeated testing and iterating.

2. Decide on your goals
What metric will make this campaign successful?

• Phone Calls
• Purchases on your website
• In-store visits
• Lead form fills
Now that you have your goal in mind you can begin to tailor the
campaigns to that specific goal.
3. Build out your Google Ad campaign structure
When starting a new campaign(s), structure the account as you go and as

you create more campaigns.
At the campaign level, consider the following when deciding on how to

separate your campaigns:
• How much you’re willing to spend on clicks or conversions
from your ads
• As you can only change your budget and bidding settings
from a campaign view, it’s important to consider what type
of bidding strategy each campaign is going to take.
• Networks and geographical locations where you want
your ads to show.
• Other top-level settings that affect clusters of ad groups
It helps to think of setting up your ad campaigns like headings on your

website. Odds are those are your core business offerings, and that’s
where you want to start with Google Ads. For example, if you were an
electronics seller your website might have headings across the top for
shopping televisions and cameras, so you would want to make those the
themes of the campaign.
Source: Google

4. Organize your ad groups
Once the campaigns are set up, you should look to populate the
campaign with your ad groups. An ad group contains one or more ads
that share similar targets.
Each of your campaigns is made up of one or more ad groups.

Use ad groups to organize your ads by a common theme. For example, try
separating ad groups into the different product or service types you offer.
When deciding on what your ad groups should be, think in terms of the
sections or categories that fall underneath your campaign themes, or
your business core offerings.
For example, with our electronic seller the campaign with ad groups
would look something like this:
Source: Google
Remember, the whole point of the ad group is to align keywords, ad

copy, and landing pages. If your structure isn’t doing that as effectively as
possible, it’s probably the wrong structure or it needs to be reworked.
Now that the framework is in place, we want to get these campaigns live
so that we can collect data as fast as possible!

5. Keyword research + bid strategy
With the lazy man build, we don’t need to spend days building out an
extensive list of keywords—that will come later. For now, brainstorm
possible keywords that you think customers would search for when trying
to find your product. Use Google’s Keyword Planner to find some initial
keywords that you can use to get your ads running.
When deciding on what bid strategy to use, we recommend starting with

a manual CPC bidding strategy. Manual CPC gives you the most control
over what your bids should be and it gives you the most usable data that
will fuel your decision making later on. Set your bids aggressive, this is
called the Google Ads ramp. Setting aggressive bids at the start will allow
you to build your quality score faster, which results in cheaper CPC’s
earlier.
6. Ad copy creation
Creating ads can be one of the most daunting tasks. You don’t want to
write bad ads that don’t convert. But here’s the thing, you have no idea
what’s going to be a good ad and what’s going to be a bad ad because
you don’t have any data yet.
So, this is what you do: create three text ads that systematically use three
types of copy.
• Emotional copy.
• Pricing actionable copy.
• Feature-based copy.
By creating these three different types of ad copy, you will gain data on
which type of copy influences customers to buy the product/service
you’re offering.
7. Analyze, reflect, and adjust
As with any ad strategy, one of the most important steps is continuous

improvement. Whether you experience early successes or failures, it’s
important to reflect on your learnings so that you can make changes and
improve your next campaign.

Lead Generation
Content Marketing
#ConquerLocal
3. Content Marketing
What is content marketing?

According to the Content Marketing Institute:
“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on

creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to
attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive
profitable customer action.”
Content marketing strategies should focus on creating real customer

value rather than primarily pushing product or value statements. Think
of it as a pull strategy, whereas paid advertising would be more of a push
strategy.
Consumers have become increasingly tired and wary of advertising

clutter. That’s why content marketing is one of the most prevalent and
powerful programs available to B2B marketers.
Content marketing encompasses a range of mediums, including:

blogging, video, thought leadership white papers and reports,
infographics, and more. This section will cover eight different aspects of
content marketing.
Why is content marketing important?

Purchase cycles in the B2B world tend to be much longer than those
in the B2C space. B2B purchases are often larger, require greater
scrutiny, have more layers of approval, and prospects generally need
to be educated and nurtured through a buyers’ journey before a
sales conversion will occur. One of the most effective ways to convert
a business buyer to a sale is through a content marketing strategy
designed to help move them through a series of decision-making steps.

1. Lead generation and customer acquisition
A study by marketing software developer, Hubspot, found B2B marketers

who use blogs as part of their content-marketing strategy generate 67
percent more leads than B2B marketers that don’t. And more than half
of these marketers turn those leads into new customer acquisitions.
But blogs are just the tip of the iceberg. An effective content marketing
program must also encompass email, video, thought leadership, success
stories, guides, infographics, webinars, podcasts, and more.
2. Content marketing caters to

the entire customer’s journey
The customer’s journey isn’t what it once was as modern buyers now
perform most of their research online. As much as this has harmed
some businesses, it has also created massive opportunities for content
marketers to help steer conversations.
Here’s a map of the modern customer journey:

As you can see in the illustration, above, various content marketing asset
types appear at each stage throughout the journey. But, this anecdote
may put things in perspective:
You’re a marketing agency. You wrote a blog on “email

marketing for local businesses”. You optimized this article and
have it ranking #1 on search. A local restaurant is conducting
a Google search and lands on your blog. They read the blog
and discover you have also created “email marketing templates”
as a downloadable. They convert on a content form, and your
business generates a lead. This restaurant is now aware of your
business. Since conversion, you placed this lead on an email
nurture campaign. They become interested in your business and
perform a search for your name. They find your business as the
top result because you have a completely optimized website,
full of great content. Everything looks good, but they want some
extra assurance. They decide to check out your Facebook page
and find a steady stream of great content being shared as well as
a 4.8 recommendation score. They then convert on your website.
From there, your sales and support teams are able to leverage
blog, success story, and informational guide content to further
educate the prospect and secure a sale. After the sale, social
media posts and new blog content become critical resources
for the new partner as they continue to grow and expand their
marketing efforts.
As you can see, content marketing is critical to moving prospects from

awareness, to acquisition, to retention. Content marketing is a must
for B2B businesses that want to outmatch the competition and deliver
unparalleled value to customers.
3. SEO & website optimization
It’s a simple equation:
Great content > ranking opportunities > increased website traffic >
increase website conversions > more business > more feedback
Keyword-optimized blog, information guide, and video content generates

substantial website traffic from these search terms, which should correlate
to increased conversions and stronger feedback loops so that you can
continue to optimize your website funnel for content, CTAs, and more.
Check out Search Engine Optimization and Website Marketing to find out more.

4. A world of content syndication possibilities
Once you’ve created high-quality content, you then have the opportunity
to reformat and syndicate it across a variety of other platforms and
channels. For example, blog content can be leveraged for paid ad
campaigns, baked into email drip and nurture campaigns, transformed
into video, republished on content platforms like Medium, and more.
Check out Email Marketing, Content Syndication, and Social Media Marketing
for additional insights on amplifying your organic content.
5. Content is the gateway to thought leadership
If your business has subject-matter expertise in certain areas, then you

should look to own the important discussions in those areas. Content
enables you to do that.
Creating great content is no small feat. Research and innovation are

required. A content marketing initiative helps to drive development
outcomes, leads to the discovery of original insights, and ensures your
company remains current on the most recent and relevant industry
changes and trends.
Check out Thought Leadership to uncover further insights on commanding

the conversation as opposed to simply following it.
What is the future of content marketing?
In a word: authenticity.
Content marketing isn’t going away any time soon. If you’re a fan of dot.
com business author and guru, Seth Godin, you’ll know he often refers
to content marketing as “the only marketing left,” because content
marketing is inherently more authentic than many of it’s paid peers.
The B2B consumer is educated and the more they feel they’re being
sold something, the less likely you will be to convert that lead. Content
marketing drives a prospect towards an eventual sale through education,
helping them make insightful and informed decisions, and focusing on
what’s important to their businesses or organizations.

That being said, there are also specific changes that you can expect.
1. More video (especially livestreams)
Video is already the second most prominent form of content for both
B2B and B2C marketers.
Source: Statista
The reason for the growth in video is simple. Video retains consumer
attention better than any other platform, and more than 50 percent of
consumers say they want to see video from those brands with which they
regularly interact. Additionally, a study by LiveStream found that 80% of
consumers say they would rather watch a live video than read a blog post.
With behind the scenes production, messages can be carefully crafted

and manipulated, but live video forces the producer to deliver the
message in a concise, real, and genuine manner.
2. Personalization
In alignment with the general marketing trends, content marketing is

projected to become more personalized. Users increasingly expect a
more tailored experience when they engage with brands.
This has created a demand for dynamic content delivery formats, such as
personalized recommendations and adaptable webpages. These formats
are typically easier to create for a B2C audience where personalized

newsletters and automated product recommendations are much simpler
to deploy. However, in the B2B realm, it requires marketers to explore
account-based style strategies that include dynamic web pages, account-
based video, and personalized product-led shopping experiences.
Check out Product-Led Growth and Account-Based Marketing to find out
more about deploying these strategies at your company.
3. Data-driven content
With more noise on the SERPs than ever before and 70 million new
WordPress blogs appearing every month, it’s becoming more important
than ever to ground your content decisions in the analytics.
This means that content marketers should:
• Spend more time conducting keyword research and on-page
optimizations.
• Set clear metrics and outcomes for all content initiatives so that
success can be clearly measured.
• Get really serious about ROI. If you can’t directly attribute your
content efforts to the creation of new business, then you have a
major data gap.
4. Content tailored towards voice search and smart devices

According to Statista, 3.25 billion people around the world are currently
using voice search through smart devices and voice enabled assistants.
Current speculation is that more than six billion people could be using
voice search by 2022.
With more than half of the world using smart mobile devices, content
marketers need to pivot their strategies and better optimize for voice search.
Some of the top changes to anticipate include:

• Even longer-tail keyword searches. Where a prospect might type
in a search for “2020 lead generation strategies” in a web browser,
a voice search might look more like “What are the top lead
generation strategies in 2020.” This means that content marketers
should start experimenting with different heading and title
structures that are more conducive to long-tail keyword searches.
• Q&A content. Often voice-search users are looking for quick
answers to their questions, so content marketers should likewise
look to answer questions in their posts as a means to land more
feature snippets on question-style searches.
If you’ve already mastered all of these strategies, then I recommend that you
check out Devon Hennig’s 17 Content Marketing Strategy Tactics for Lead
Generation to find further inspiration.

3.1 Blogs
An integrated blog and SEO strategy should be the foundation of your
overall B2B content marketing strategy.
Here is a sneak peak of Vendasta’s top 12 highest performing blogs on a

monthly cadence:
Source: Vendasta
As you can see, we’re generating thousands of leads a month from blog
content and it fuels our inbound revenue motions and keeps our sales
funnels full.
Pros:
1. It’s evergreen. Unlike other strategies that continually require
resources and attention, blogs are basically a one time deal.
Other than minor periodic updates, a single blog can bear lead-
generation fruit for years.
2. It’s effective. At Vendasta, the percentage of blog MQLs that have
converted to SQLs is 88 percent. The result has been hundreds of closes.
3. It’s a nurturing mechanism. When leads convert on longer-
form content (like blogs), they’re a lot hotter than those that
convert on an ad form. Blogs allow prospects to self-educate, and
become more well informed before they solicit a demo, sign-up, or
take other action.
4. It’s remarketable. A blog is just the beginning in terms of the
possibilities available to content marketers. Once it is published,
a blog can be shared on social media, paired with ad strategy,
posted on bookmarking sites, and republished on other sites. But
we’ll get into that more below.

Cons:
1. It’s time consuming. Creating a blog requires much more time

and effort than something like a social post. According to a survey
by Orbit Media, a 1,000 word blog post takes an average of three
hours and 16 minutes to complete. And longer, in-depth posts
generate 9-times more lead-generation successes.
2. SEO strategy dependence. Blogs are only as effective as the
keyword strategy that they’re paired with. Without adequate
keyword research, strong on-page optimizations, and off-page
work, blog posts aren’t likely to succeed.
3. They’re not all home runs. Depending on the audience you’re trying
to reach, the topic you’re engaging with, and the associated keyword
difficulty, blog success can vary. However, with a focussed keyword
strategy and a talented team of writers, the opportunity is vast.
4. It requires a medium- to large-sized team. If you truly want to
achieve successes like we have seen and like other B2B companies
have seen, then you’re going to need a team. It is unlikely that the
lone startup marketer will not be able to achieve blog marketing
success.
How to create great blog content
1. Start with keyword research
Publishing a blog without keyword targeting is like driving a car without

a steering wheel. If you want to get to destination lead generation, then
keyword research is a must. The objective of blog keyword research is
to identify keywords that your prospects might be using for information
or product based searches, then creating conversion-driving blogs with
those keywords.
Here are a few steps to get you moving in the right direction:
1. Leverage a tool like Ahrefs, SEMrush or Bruce Clay’s SEOToolSet
for accurate research and investigation
2. Do consumer research (online research, surveying, etc) and
identify customer search patterns
3. Use your keyword research tool to identify top keyword opportunities

4. Identify ranking opportunities that align with customer intent
a. Terms that have a keyword difficulty (KD) of less than 10
b. Terms with a high search volume (minimum 150/month)
c. Terms with a high click percentage (greater than 50%)
d. Terms with a low average backlink volume (less than 10)
e. Terms that aren’t dominated by high authority sites (like Salesforce)
Source: Ahrefs
Source: Ahrefs

5. Identify at least three keywords to target per blog, with a primary
focus on the highest opportunity term (the “Having same terms”
function on Ahrefs is a great way to discover similar keywords or
keywords that share the same parent term).
2. Determine your primary CTA
Your CTA is everything. Getting traffic to your blog is only half the battle.
Once there, readers need to be converted into leads through the
acquisition of contact information or converted into users through a
free sign-up or get started CTA (for freemium or product-led offerings). A
CTA that’s designed to convert should appear both high up in your copy
- perhaps no lower than the third paragraph - and at the conclusion. To
ensure success, this CTA should directly correspond with the topic and
primary message of the blog.
Source: Vendasta Blog
This is the conclusion that appears in a top-performing Vendasta

blog that redirects visitors to view the G Suite page in the Vendasta
Marketplace. It pairs a text CTA with an ad banner to secure the action.

A few important CTA considerations are:
1. Only direct one course of action, don’t muddy the waters with
multiple CTAs.
2. Don’t force the issue. CTAs should be included near the beginning
of the blog and near the conclusion, but don’t overwhelm the
reader with CTAs throughout the copy.
3. Consider color and design. Contrast demands attention, and
different colors often suggest different things (ex. green might
imply peace or signal environmental queues).
4. Reduce text and make every word count.
3. Build an outline
Great blogs start with strong outlines. Heading structures and the usage
of keywords in headings are powerful ranking signals for blog content.
These outlines are generally based on a combination of style as well as
SERP features of other ranking content.
Blog content can take a few different formats based on the keyword
scope and outlines will vary depending on the target keyword.
According to TrafficThinkTank, keywords can fall under any one of seven
categories. Based on the category, you can then determine the best
content format (listed left). Of these content formats, comparisons,
listicles, alternatives, knowledgebase, and cancellations are all potential
blog types. Product features and reviews should typically be reserved
for product pages and review sites, but there are certain cases where
blog content can be highly effective.

Once you’ve determined the keyword category, the general blog formats
are as follows:
• Comparisons
• Introduction
• Product breakdown
• Subsequent categories
• Conclusion
• Listicles
• Introduction
• Necessary definitions
• Numbered list of products, services, etc
• Conclusion
• Alternatives
• Introduction
• Introduction of the solution needing
• List (possibly numbered) of alternatives
• Conclusion
• Knowledgebase
• Introduction
• What is ___?
• Process for accomplishing task/objective
• Conclusion
• Cancellations
• Introduction
• Steps for how to cancel
• Conclusion
• Product features (if applicable)
• Introduction
• Content to support or expand on a product page
• Conclusion
• Reviews (if applicable)
• List of product reviews, generally reserved for sites like G2

4. Fill in the gaps
The actual writing of a blog is where you get to have a little fun and put
pen to paper.
Keep the following items in mind as you begin crafting your content:
• Forty-three percent of readers skim blog content, so

• Use short paragraphs, graphics, headings and subheadings,
and bold and italicized text formatting.
• Long-form blog content performs better on search
• The average length of top-performing blogs on Google is 1,140-
1285 words
• Longer blog posts generate 9-times greater lead-generation
success than short-form content.
• Write in conversational style.
• Big words often muddle the message, so use words that
readers readily understand.
• Be clear and specific.
• Even in a 2,000-word blog you need to quickly get to the point
so that you don’t lose the reader’s interest.
• Use statistics.
• Credited citations add validity to your arguments, so use well
founded statistics in your content.
• Strategically insert keywords.
• Your core keywords should be used in your title, in your first
paragraph, in a few of your headings/subheadings, in your url,
and should have a text density of at least 2 percent.
• Tools like the Yoast plugin for WordPress can be helpful in
guiding you with in-text SEO optimizations.
• Be careful with links.
• It is both good writing and SEO practice to include outbound
links to other sites, especially those that have high authority. But
don’t link to competitor sites and redirect visitors and SEO juice
to a site you might be trying to beat.
5. Check out Chapter 6 for a content

syndication strategy
Once the blog is published, the post-promotional work you do is just as

important to the success of the blog as the work that went into planning
and creating it.

3.2 Video Content
Video is no longer the format of the future, it’s the format of today. Users
increasingly prefer video content, and so do the search engines that
enable them. This section will detail the ins and outs of creating video
content that can be leveraged across a breadth of marketing campaigns.
Pros:
• Video drives conversion rates. According to HubSpot, placing
video on a landing page will boost conversion rates by 80 percent.
• Video can be attached to numerous mediums. In addition
to landing pages, video can be attached to email, posted to social
media, used in social ad content, among other things.
• Search prioritizes video. As video content continues to grow
in popularity and prevalence, recent Google algorithm updates
have further prioritized video content. Additionally, YouTube is
the second largest search engine (next to Google), which means
posting video content on YouTube can double your potential for
traffic generation.
• Video is a trust mechanism. Making false claims is nothing
new in the media world, and fake video testimonials are among
the more recent techniques that unethical advertisers are using
to spread misinformation. That being said, the benefit to video
is that it provides marketers with an opportunity to really “show”
your story and your performance, where it’s much easier to falsify
performance in the written word.
• Shareability. There’s a reason why video content goes viral faster
than any other medium. Research shows that 92 percent of mobile
video consumers share video content with others.
Cons:
• Cost of production. Whether you are outsourcing video
production or have an internal team, production cost for high
quality video work can be high in comparison to other mediums.
• Video ages. Unlike written blog content that can be evergreened
and is typically low maintenance, video content can quickly
become outdated and is much more difficult to update.
• Other stimuli become a factor. Unlike website content that
allows you to completely control the user experience, videos
posted on platforms such as YouTube become subject to terms-of-
service agreements, including additional video recommendations
and a high stimuli user environment.

How to create great video content
1. Determine the outcome of the project
Setting clear objectives is a critical component in the video creation

process. That’s because video is high involvement, high cost, and time
consuming—so most brands can’t afford to waste time going back to the
drawing board halfway through a project.
Possible video project objectives include:

1. To use as a conversion driver on a series of landing pages
2. To improve time on page on key website pages
3. To drive conversion rates in social ad content
4. To enhance click-through on an email campaign
2. Decide whether to outsource or internally produce
Outsourcing is best if:

• You have a smaller team
• You need a rapid turnaround
Internal production is best if:

• You have dedicated videographers
• Turnaround aligns with your timeline
3. Build a script or construct a storyboard
Often both are necessary, but a script may be the best place to start. Lay out
your thoughts in words and recognize that it doesn’t need to be perfect.
4. Leave it to the professionals
Once you’ve completed all of the pre-planning and pre-production, it’s

time to let the internal or external experts go to work.
5. Review and revise
If you’re working with a contractor, it’s important that revisions are included
in the contract. This is your chance to fine tune animations, make any
necessary tweaks to the audio, cut unnecessary parts, add in new ones, or
whatever else you deem necessary to make the best video possible.

3.3 Thought Leadership
Thought leadership can be defined as any form of content that is a
completely original work. It is designed to foster audience trust in your
audience by positioning your business as a subject-matter expert on a
given topic. It means bringing new ideas, insights, or perspectives to the
table, and do so in an easily digestible and compelling manner.
One of Vendasta’s most prominent examples of thought leadership

content was our renowned churn study:
Source: Vendasta Churn Study
This study analyzed data from 100,000 businesses that use the Vendasta
platform. The objective was to determine the leading causes of client
loss among marketing and advertising service providers and sought to
determine strategies for better retaining those clients. This study and
resulting media coverage, promotion, and remarketing has generated
hundreds of shares, dozens of backlinks, and has led to the conversion of
hundreds of MQLs over the past two years.

Pros:
1. Thought leadership builds credibility and trusted status.

Insights gathered from original research demonstrate thought
leadership, offer unique value to your customers, and help to
elevate your trusted advisory status.
2. It fuels other content production. Once you’ve conducted
research and published an original work, you’re only half done.
Thought leadership should then be paired with an organic blog
strategy, video content production, and content syndication efforts.
3. It’s PR friendly. Unless you’re Facebook, it can often be difficult
to generate media coverage for your brand. Insightful research
will always be of more interest than marketing and sales pitches to
third-party publications that are searching for great stories that will
directly benefit their audiences.
4. It makes great gated content. At the end of the day, it’s all
about lead generation. Thought leadership content is among the
best content to place behind a form wall.
Cons:
1. Not every business has access to primary data. At Vendasta,

we have the luxury of housing massive amounts of client data,
which makes it much easier to generate thought-leading content.
But if your business does not collect or only has access to limited
data, then this marketing tactic may not be a realistic pursuit.
2. It’s high-involvement work. Generally speaking, great thought
leadership content requires leadership involvement, business
intelligence teams , and perhaps more than one content writer
and editor.
3. Not all of it lands. The said reality is that you might put all of this
work into creating great original content, but if no one sees value
in it, then it may have been wasted time. To combat this, consumer
research is almost a must. In fact, with our Challenges Agencies
Face study, we began our work by conducting a massive survey on
marketing agencies to determine a state of the union, and then
better hone in on the challenges these companies faced.

How to create thought leadership content
1. Answer these three questions

1. What are you trying to prove or explain?
2. Will it provide unique or original insights to consumers?
3. Why does it matter to your target audience?
These are the fundamental questions you should consider before

beginning the process of creating thought leadership content. If you
cannot clearly articulate answers to these questions and validate your
answers with data, then you may need to explore a different angle.
2. Determine your desired format
Thought leadership can be created and expressed as blog content,

contributions to other publications, research papers, videos, virtual
events, pdf style guides, or any combination of the above.
Determining the best format for your project primarily depends on the
desired outcome. If lead generation is your goal, then it might be wise
to create a gated pdf and pair it with blogs that have clear CTAs to the
gated asset. However, if your desired outcome is reach and impressions,
then you may want to consider executing a PR strategy with exclusive
contributions to major publications.
Check out PR marketing to find out more about acquiring earned

media placements.
3. Build an outline
Once you’re confident that you’ve identified a subject, you’re ready to

craft an outline. Regardless of your chosen format, the outline will be an
essential element in the success of your thought-leadership endeavor.
Here are the steps to formulating a strong outline for thought leadership:
1. Clarify the scope of work. What is the project objective? Is the
subject broad or narrow? What creative freedom do you have?
What is the desired format?
2. Brainstorm an initial outline. Always start with your existing
knowledge on the subject and use that to carve out the first draft
of the outline. Structure it as a table of contents.
3. Consult the experts. Odds are good that there are experts within
your organization who can help you develop your project outline.
4. Do your research. Once you’ve exhausted your existing
knowledge as well as that of other internal experts on the subject,
it’s likely time to look externally.

4. Create a work-back schedule
Create a project timeline to ensure timely completion of the task.

Schedules and project plans aren’t necessary for smaller content
projects, but can be impactful to the success and turnaround of larger
projects. Key components of the workback schedule include: task lists,
task descriptions, assignees, and due dates.
Here are the steps for creating a work-back schedule:

1. Organize columns by date. The columns of your schedule should
be set up in a calendar format so that tasks/deliverables can be
pegged to specific dates.
2. Organize rows by tasks. Rows should identify various tasks as well
as scheduled work and completion dates for each.
3. Include assignees and projected durations. Accountability is key
in large content projects, so be sure each task has someone
assigned to it and a projected duration.
4. Optional additions:
a. Fixed due dates. If there are immovable due dates, then these
should also be noted in your schedule.
b. Color coordination. If there are various project phases that
might involve different teams, you may want to consider using
color to denote these divisions and a key to explain the colors.
The end product should look something like this:
Source: Ext Marketing
Paid tools like Asana and Trello can also be helpful in the creation and
organization of these schedules.

5. Research
With thought leadership, there is always a research stage in your

development process, and this is often the most important step of all.
If you truly want your work to stand it out, you should try and leverage
primary data to inform your content. This can be information that lives
within the software you develop, in the client data you hold, or in survey
result findings.
Great thought leadership can be built from secondary data, but primary
data provides more original findings and often correlates with a greater
overall impact. If using secondary data, use reputable expert sources
such as Forrester and Gartner. Look to tell an original story from third-
party data.
6. Tell a story
Great thought-leadership tells a story. And all great storytelling follows

an outline, often described as, the hero’s journey - an age-old storytelling
structure that sees a character venturing to find something they need,
being confronted with conflict, finding a wise mentor who provides
guidance, then overcoming that conflict and realizing some kind of
growth and development.
Here is the classic outline:
Source: Wikipedia

However, this exact formula should not be directly applied with thought-
leadership content. But, certain parts of this formula can be extrapolated
and used to create stronger reader engagement.
Here’s how you might apply this framework to thought leadership:

1. Position the reader as the hero.
2. Present pain points as the source of conflict in the reader’s journey.
3. Position yourself as the wise mentor by providing thought-leading
innsight and guidance to help them overcome the conflict.
4. Show the reader a path whereby challenges are solved with the
help of your business.
7. Publish, market and remarket
Always ensure that adequate marketing muscle is allocated to the

promotion of your work.
Key areas to focus promotional efforts include:

• Social Media Marketing to amplify the reach of your content
through organic and paid avenues.
• Content Syndication tactics like forum marketing and PR strategies
to acquire earned space in external media.
• SEO and blog strategies to build backlinks and improve organic
conversions.
• Add the content to new and existing email campaigns.
• Formulate speaker pitches from the content produced.

3.4 Infographics
An infographic is text and imagery that provides information in an easy
to digest format. Infographics provide a quick and impactful way to easily
consume important insights.
Here is an example of one of our recent infographics:
Source: Vendasta
Pros:
1. Say more with less. Infographics transform what might

otherwise be paragraphs of text into an easy to digest visual
format.
2. Numerous applications. Infographics can be placed in case
studies, guides, email campaigns, and social posting content.
3. Shareability. Great and useful infographics are often shared
and made into posters that might be posted on office walls. A pro
tip is to keep your social share buttons close to wherever your
infographic is being published to make it effortless for viewers.
4. SEO appeal. Google Trends reports a steadily growing interest
from online users in infographics. Images and infographics are also
growing in importance as rank indicators.

5. Memorability. If you are trying to educate prospects on a certain
industry topic or a certain aspect of your business offering, then
graphics can be a powerful medium for doing so.
6. Viral potential. According to a study from MDG Advertising,
content that contains visual elements like infographics generate 95
percent more views than content without.
7. Users prefer infographics. A Vendasta partner survey on
content consumption patterns sought to determine preferred
content formats across our market base. The results determined
that next to case studies and guides, infographics are one of the
most preferred content formats. Below, are some findings:
Source: Vendasta Content Consumption Survey
Cons:
1. Design expertise is required. Not just anyone can create a
high impact infographic, or pick up an Adobe subscription and
teach themselves how. Therefore, it’s ideal if you have an internal
designer that you can lean on or have a line on an external
designer that you can outsource your work to.
2. Miscommunication. Just because a visual message might be very
clear to you as the ideator or designer doesn’t necessarily mean
that it’s also going to resonate well with your target audience.
Testing and feedback loops can be a good way to avoid this.
3. Time. The reality is that all design work takes time, so you should
always plan afew weeks in advance when creating an infographic—
whether it is being otusoruced or done internally.

How to create impactful infographics
1. Identify the topic
Infographics should align to topics that your target audience deems

important. Shortlist potential topics then consider those that could be
more effectively and easily explained through a visual representation.
2. Use your data
Statistics create compelling infographics. They lend credibility and offer

definitive proof points. Whether you are drawing this data internally or
externally, it is always important to include figures in your infographic.
3. Create a rough “napkin-style” draft
It can often be difficult to explain your graphical inspiration in words,

which is why it’s always best to create a wireframe. This doesn’t have to
be anything fancy, but should provide high-level design parameters and
style queues.
Here is an example of an infographic wireframe:
Source: PointVisisble

4. Send it off for design
Whether you outsource graphic design work or have it done internally it’s
always beneficial to seek professional insights into the design and style
that you are hoping to achieve.
Considerations might include:

• Color preferences
• Style (photorealistic, vector, etc)
• Dimensions (landscape, vertical, square, etc)
• Text/graphic balance
5. Publish and promote it
Distribute your infographic via a variety of marketing channels.
Some of the best include:

• Embedding in relevant blogs
• Posting organically on social media
• Publishing in paid campaigns, specifically Instagram stories
• Leveraging in email campaigns

3.5 Guides
Guides are pieces of long-form content that help your customers and
prospects solve problems they might be facing. Sometimes these guides
are also referred to as “Big Rock” assets. These big rocks are buyer/
customer facing assets that are generally gated and often take the shape
of “definitive guides.”
The goals of these guides are as follows:

1. To own a broad topic and many conversations. For example, this
very guide was created to own the topic of lead generation, and
content marketing is one of the conversations within that umbrella
that we are also trying to own.
2. Create an anchor for future content. Great guides should lend
themselves to the creation of other content, such as blogs,
infographics, slide shows, videos, webinars, ads, and more.
3. Help your audience succeed. Guides should always aim to provide
your audience with the insights and information that help them do
their jobs and drive their outcomes.
4. Generate leads and conversions. At the end of the day, these
are designed to be magnets that drive lead acquisition through
download forms.
Here is an example of one of Vendasta’s most successful guides:
Source: Vendasta’s Challenges Agencies Face Guide

Pros:
1. They provide a complete approach. Purchase decisions

for complex solutions typically involve a process that includes
education on how to think about problems and challenges,
consideration around the tools, tactics and technologies that
can help, and how to ultimately decide what option may be right
for me and my business. . Research and product guides can be
tremendous assets for educating readers, generating leads, and
accelerating a sales cycle.
2. They make great gated content. Guides offer useful and
valuable information, and many prospects are willing to share their
contact information to acquire them. .
3. They are evergreen. Most guides remain relevant information
sources for upwards of 3 to 5 years and can easily be updated with
new industry information and statistics.
Cons:
1. Time and resource requirements. Great detail must be paid

to quality when preparing long-form content, such as a guide. To
truly be compelling, these guides should exhaust an entire topical
discussion and provide real value to the reader—two things that
are not easily done without a substantial investment of time and
resources.
2. Topic identification. Guide topic opportunities are not always
abundantly clear, and if they are, competitors have likely covered
them already. That’s why it’s always best to start with the customer
and work to address their needs (which likely match the prospect’s
needs). Doing this can help you identify unique ways that you
can approach topics and discussions that may already be heavily
trafficked. Moral of the story: fully research your topics before you
embark on creating your guide.

How to create great guides
1. Start with a desired product or research outcome
With guides, you should always start with a hypothesis. This hypothesis
should be one that aims to solve problems that customers or prospects
might be facing.
Ask yourself some of the following questions:

• What are the desired actions that I am hoping to move my
audience toward?
• Are these actions founded on my research?
• What value will my guide deliver to the reader?
• Will this guide help my readers do their jobs and be successful?
2. Use a template
A basic guide template might look something like this:
3. Tell a compelling story
Guides are generally longer in nature than other content formats. To

maintain reader attention, you need to tell a story that points to a clear
course of action. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing readers halfway
through, and potentially before you’ve had a chance to deliver your
CTA(s). To tell more compelling stories, you should leverage the hero’s
journey framework.

Source: Wikipedia
Here’s how the hero’s journey can be applied to guide creation:

1. Position the reader as the hero.
2. Present pain points as the source of conflict in the reader’s
journey.
3. Position yourself as the wise mentor by providing thought-leading
innsight and guidance to help them overcome the conflict.
4. Show the reader a path whereby challenges are solved with the
help of your business.
4. Ship it off for design
Giving your guide a great graphical look is worth the time and investment.
Like so many things, first impressions matter and your graphical
treatment not only helps to draw readers in to your narratives, but using
great graphics to augment and enhance your copy will keep them there.
Important design considerations include:

• Branding. Does your guide meet your existing brand and style
guidelines? What colors and typeface will be used? Where will your
company logo be affixed?
• Title design. What do you want the front cover of your guide to
look like? This will be the most prospect facing part of the guide
prior to a download.

• Imagery. What imagery have you included and how will it be
showcased in your guide? Will it require additional custom design
work? Will it be in-line with text? Surrounded by text?
5. Publish it
There are a couple items to keep in mind when you publish your guide:
• Have you gated the asset? Creating a landing page with a

download form is a critical component in turning these valuable
assets into powerful lead generators. When you build your
download forms, you should think about what information you
would like to acquire. Do you just want an email address? Or do
you want a name, email address, employer, and phone number?
Or somewhere in-between?
• Where will your landing page live? Some companies have “content
libraries” that they use to house all of their gated assets, others
host these assets or their blog sites, and some simply publish
them on their core site. All three of these tactics are effective, so
use whichever best aligns with your current content strategy.
6. Promote it
Some of the best marketing tactics for big rock guides include:
• Marketing it on organic social media.
• Publishing blogs that give a sampling of what’s in the guide and
entices readers to sign up and download the entire thing.
• Promoting it with paid social media campaigns.
• Baking it into drip and content nurture email campaigns.
• Looking to have your content republished on other external media
if it’s a major piece.

3.6 Case Studies
Case studies are in-depth examinations of the success a client has
achieved by using your product or service. These are powerful
testimonial examples to share with interested prospects - particularly
those looking to make a decision - and explain what challenges your
customer was looking to solve, how your solution was applied, and what
successful and measurable outcomes were achieved.
Here is an example of one of Vendasta’s most recent case studies:
Source: Vendasta’s Elevated Web Solutions Case
Pros:
1. Proof of performance. It’s important to demonstrate the ROI
that customers can expect to achieve in their investment in your
solutions and services, and case studies are among the most
compelling ways to do so.
2. Building trust. Opinions from people outside of an organization
will always speak much louder than any words that can be
fabricated by marketers. Case studies show the story, using the
voice of actual customers, rather than relying on a marketer to tell it.
3. Success stories are great selling tools. Most sales teams can
never have enough resources to help them sell. Case studies are
among the best you can provide.
4. Success stories drive conversions. Case studies are bottom-
of-funnel (BOFU) content and typically among the last consumed
content assets prior to a purchase decision. A great and convincing
case study is often the tipping point.

Cons:
1. They’re intensive, not expansive. A case study is an

investigation into the success of a single case and doesn’t
accurately reflect the broader value or ROI that might be achieved
by other customers.
2. Difficult to acquire. Customers may be reluctant to share
opinions,insights, and what might be deemed competitive
information. You’ll need to convince them that perhaps there’s
mutual benefit to be gained in telling their story.
3. They don’t age quite like fine wine. Unlike other evergreen
marketing tactics, a case study is a snapshot at a particular time.
Keeping case studies timely and current means continuing to
gather more. It makes an already difficult job that much harder.
How to create great case studies
1. Recruit your most successful customers and strongest

advocates
Case studies are best if done on a company that is both a brand

advocate as well as a top performer. Your finance department and
customer support teams can help you find these customers.
2. Use a template
A basic case study template might look something like this:

You will want to work through the company challenge through to the
result and impact section, then go back and fill in the key findings, key
deliverables, CTAs, and complete the executive summary.
3. Connect with the client
Generally the best way to connect with these partners is to get a warm
introduction via email then book a phone interview. This is where you
pitch the case study to them and ask if they would be willing to share
some of their information (revenue growth, info on basket size, etc). That
being said, many customers may be hesitant to participate in the creation
of a case study due to the sensitivity of the information required.
Here are some tactics to help you sell the value of the case and secure the
necessary information:
• Creating mutual benefit. A customer might be convinced if the
success story might likewise be used by them to demonstrate the
R
excellence of their company. Think about building something that
n g e s
Challe
promotes their great brand, too. Alternatively, you could negotiate
the creation of two separate cases—one for your purposes, and
one for the customer to use in their own marketing.
o n s Fa ce
• Enticement. This is a heavily debated topic, but it often helps if
you can sweeten the deal a bit for the customer by offering them
advanced access to new tools, discounts on products/services, or
StatiS e ll D igital Solu
tions
Need to
other incentives. This is a grey area, and is seen as unethical by Why You
many. If you do consider leveraging incentives, then just ensure that
the results and findings are not influenced by the incentivization.
enges of
4. Ship it off for design vercoming the chall
A guide to o tions,
digital solu
ustaining
Whether you outsource your design work or have an internal team, it’s always ad ding and s nue.
, and gro wing reve
important to ensure that your cases and guides get the design love that they cing churn
redu
deserve. With proper design, your message will resonate that much stronger
with prospects and convey a much higher degree of professionalism.
Here are some pro-tips for leveling up your case design:

• Put your key takeaway in the title or subtitle. With most cases,
there will be a clear takeaway. This should be placed right in the
title of the case so that prospects know exactly what to expect
from the study.
• Use direct quotes. It’s far too easy to falsify case studies, so adding quotes
is like layering on an extra layer of trust for your readers. In fact, 70
percent of people will trust a recommendation even if it’s from someone #Conquer
Local
that they don’t know.

Here’s a Vendasta example that features a key takeaway in the subtitle
and a quote, right on the title page:
• Draw on emotional triggers. Emotive, persuasive, and action-based

language will encourage prospects to take action beyond the
pages of your pdf. Common term examples include the following:
results that speak volumes, drive results, delight customers, etc.
Insert these trigger words into headings to drive the most impact.
• Frame your key results. The most important findings and most compelling
results should be highlighted so that readers that are skimming can easily
find this information. Here’s an example from Venngage:

5. Publish it
Publishing and marketing strategy for case studies looks quite similar to
those tactics deployed on guides and thought leadership content.
Here are a couple publishing considerations:

• Have you gated the asset? You should entice site viewers
with key takeaways from your cases, but never make them
publicly available. Making them available to all eliminates the lead
generation potential that your case would otherwise have.
• Create a landing page to house the gated asset. Make sure
that this landing page is on-brand and aligns with the design and
message of your case study.
• Internal linking. Case studies and case study content can and
should be baked into other parts of your website, beyond their
landing page. Consider linking case studies on your homepage, on
product pages, on testimonial pages, and more.
6. Promote it
Case studies have immense value and immense marketability. To get

• Bake case studies into
the most out of your work, there are a few promotional tactics that you
email drip and nurture
should deploy:
campaigns. Case studies
are most impactful between
• Leverage the pdf study as a sales asset that your sales reps can
the consideration and
present to prospects to help propel them further through the
decision stages of the
buyer’s journey and closer to that decision stage.
buyer’s journey, so position
• Promote it on your website by using pull-quotes from the these emails strategically.
customer on your core website. Rotating testimonial features on
• Promote your case study on
your homepage can be a great place to subtly promote a powerful
paid social and pay-per-click
case study while also providing social proof to site viewers.
(PPC). Adding case study
• Create a blog network around your case study. Leveraging the links to landing pages for
key value propositions demonstrated in your case, seek to create Google Ads is a great way to
a handful of keyword targeted blogs that have your case as the drive conversions that aren’t
primary CTA. directly sales focussed. Paid
• Create videos with the customer to compliment the case study social media is also a great
and add to your social media marketing strategy. channel to expand your
reach, but don’t use new
• Deploy and organic social strategy by posting about the case study
audiences with this bottom-
frequently over a number of months following the publish date.
of-funnel content. Lookalike
Bonus: do some hashtag research and try to expand your organic
audiences are likely your
reach by targeting hashtags that are highly trafficked by your
best bet with case content.
target audience.

3.7 Webinar Marketing
Webinar—a word derived from “web seminar” is exactly that: a virtual
learning session that can be used to provide education to prospects and
customers while also driving marketing outcomes.
Source: Vendasta’s “Become a Website Expert” Webinar
Pros:
1. Webinar attendees are generally leads. Between 20 to 40

percent of external webinar attendees become qualified leads.
2. Webinars drive sales. In addition to lead generation metrics, an
additional 2%-5% of webinar attendees become paying clients.
3. Webinars are engaging. According to MakeSocialMediaSell,
webinars retain the attention of 40 percent of viewers.
4. Webinars build authority. If your company has enough
information to host a one hour webinar on any topic, then you are
probably an authority in your industry, and the webinar serves to
reaffirm that.
5. Webinars can accelerate sales cycles. Prospects that might be
in the middle of the purchase decision might be pushed through
the funnel faster through an informative and educational webinar.
6. Webinars are lower cost. It’s a presentation without the need
for an auditorium or boardroom.

Cons:
1. Attendance drop off. Unless you’re charging webinar

attendees, there’s little incentive for guaranteed attendance.
In fact, it’s estimated that only half of those who register for
webinars actually attend.
2. Technical issues. Virtual sessions always run the risk of
technology failure.
3. Interaction and distractions. The engagement of a live event
cannot be easily replicated online. Virtual presentations are more
passive and less dynamic than buzzing auditoriums full of people.
Live presentations often create opportunities for greater audience
interaction as well. Without the same level of stimulation, virtual
sessions are bound to be more prone to distractions.
How to create a webinar
1. Find your topic
Step one is the topic of your webinar. In identifying a topic, you not only
want to identify something that attendees want to learn more about, you
also want to be able to map it back to your product or service. A topic
that is timely may amplify interest, particularly if it addresses something
urgent that requires immediate attention (ex. work from home best
practices in the midst of a pandemic).
Other considerations include:

• Will you offer some type of promotion to attendees?
• Should you consider multiple webinars if it is an important topic
that requires discussion beyond an hour?
2. Make sure you’re using the right software
Some of the best webinar software on the market include:

• Livestorm
• Zoom
• Zoho Meeting
• ClickMeeting
• GoToWebinar
• EverWebinar
• ON24
Note: these are all paid options with free tiers or free trials

3. Find your presenter(s)
The beautiful thing about webinars as compared to something like

presenting at an event is that they are a lot more casual. That’s not to say
that you don’t need to keep attendee interest, but you also don’t need to
be a world-class presenter to deliver a great session. You can even get
away with using scripts and other information resources to assist you.
A presenter should be:

• A subject matter and/or product expert
• A competent speaker
• Genuinely interested in doing it
4. Schedule your webinar
When you book a date for your webinar, there are some important
considerations that you should keep in mind in order to drive optimal
attendance.
• Day of the week. Monday’s and Friday’s should be avoided as most

people are either ramping up or winding down during these days.
• Time of day. Morning’s are generally much more hectic for
business people, so 1-3pm eastern time is generally the best
window for booking a webinar in North America.
5. Make a plan and rehearse
There are a few items you will want to keep in mind as you plan your webinar:
• Most webinars are an hour—45 minutes for presentation and 15

minutes for questions.
• One slide for every one to two minutes is a good rule of thumb as
you construct your presentation.
• Reiterate the most important points.
• Your format should be: introduce the overarching value, provide a deep
topic exploration, introduce your product with a soft sell, and then recap.
• Speak to your customers, not above them. Language should be
simple and direct.
• Anticipate questions and prepare frequently asked questions
(FAQs) based on your topic. If the webinar is product-based, keep
a list of the questions about your product that actual customers
have asked.

Once you’ve gone through this list, created your slides, scheduled your
webinar, done a couple practice runs, wrangled up attendees, you should
be ready to deliver.
6. Promote your webinar
There are a couple things to consider with respect to the marketing of

your webinar.
The mandatory stuff:

• A registration landing page
• Organic social media posts to promote the session
• Email marketing to invite known prospects to register
The optional stuff:

• Paid ads to target prospects and other external markets
• Customer wide emails to advertise the webinar
• Engaging sponsors as a marketing tactic for big sessions
• Creating a promotional video
• Promotional pop ups on your website
• Follow up emails to collect feedback and further engage attendees
7. Execute
Now you’ve just gotta sit down and present your content.
Here are a couple of things to keep in for presenting:

• Send a last minute reminder email 1-2 hours prior to the start of
your webinar.
• Allow for some flexibility as certain audience questions might
shift the direction of the conversation. Control it by choosing
which questions to answer live. If the topic is very specific, those
questions are generally the best ones to take offline.
• Speak slowly and confidently so that the audience can easily
understand you.
• Use your mouse to highlight items on the slides that you want the
audience to see.
• Ensure that you are presenting in a distraction free environment.

8. Post-webinar production
If you aren’t reproducing your webinar content and conducting webinar

follow-ups, then you’re missing out on substantial marketing opportunity
from content that’s already been created.
Here are some post promotion ideas for your webinar:

• Send out the recording and slide deck. Not all who register will
actually attend the webinar, so sending out a follow-up with the
content is a great way to engage leads that might not have made it
to the session.
• Post the video content online. Posting your webinar content on a
branded YouTube channel is a great way to get some additional
traction and potentially have your content rank for topical results
on YouTube searches.
• Use slides to create sales decks. If your webinar is product

focussed, there might be a great opportunity to convert some of
your content into sales collateral.
• Ask for feedback. A brief attendee survey is a great way to get
insights into what parts of the webinar the audience enjoyed most,
and where there might be room for future improvements.

3.8 Podcast Marketing
What began as a niche platform for health-conscientious hipsters has
blossomed into one of the biggest learning and advertising platforms in
the world. Additionally, the learning economy is quickly becoming one of
the largest in the world, and no platform is more endeared than that of
the podcast. Whether you’re a busy executive or a frontline employee,
almost anyone can find a few minutes to soak up new knowledge.
Source: Spotify
Pros:
1. The breadth of consumption situations. Listeners can easily

tune into a podcast from the office, the couch, the gym, the bus, or
practically anywhere else that headphones are considered socially
acceptable.
2. Dedicated listeners. According to Improve Podcast, regular
podcast listeners consume approximately eight hours of podcast
content per week. This is a massive opportunity to build brand
relationships with your target audience.
3. Affluent listeners. 60 percent of regular listeners have a four-
year college or graduate degree and 41 percent of listeners come
from households with an average annual income of greater than
$75k, with the largest listener group falling between $100k-150k
(17 percent). These stats suggest that podcast listeners are well-
educated, have strong financial standing, and are much more
likely to occupy decision making roles in the companies that
employ them.

4. Ad effectiveness. A Nielson study found that podcast ads elevate
purchase intent by 10 percent and that 61 percent of surveyed
listeners described themselves as likely to buy after hearing a
podcast ad. This is a massive opportunity, whether you’re simply
interested in running podcast ads on other shows or want to run
branded ads on your own show.
5. It’s a growing market. 197 million Americans listened to a
podcast last year (67 percent) with that number projected to hit 75
percent in 2020.
Cons:
1. Legwork. It’s no small task to launch a podcast, and creating

a podcast means meeting an obligation to your listeners. It’s
essential to produce original content every week or two. It takes
time to produce and requires marketing after release.
2. Editing software requirements. You want your content to be
professional, and this isn’t possible without using premium audio
editing software, such as: Adobe Audition, Pro Tools, Audacity,
or GarageBand. These softwares come at a cost and have rather
steep learning curves.
3. Brand risk. If you launch a same-name podcast, then whatever
content you create on your podcast is effectively providing
feedback back to your flagship brand. Alternatively, if you launch
a brand extension, then you are dividing your audience, diverting
resources away from your core brand, and might not have the
same lead generation capacity.
4. Equipment costs. You’ll need to invest in some equipment to
create a podcast, even an amateur one. A digital recorder setup
will cost somewhere between $100 and $380, and a mixer/
microphone setup will likely add an additional $200 - $300.
Purchasing podcast ad placements
Let’s explore the basic process of purchasing an ad slot on an existing

podcast.
1. Find the right show
What podcasts speak to your target audience? Does the subject matter
align with your offering? These are two key questions to ask as you shop
potential shows to advertise on.

Once you find potential candidates, you will want to listen to a few
episodes from them to ensure that they are a good fit for your brand.
You will also want to gauge the way ads are present to make sure that
they will positively portray you.
2. Reach out
Not all shows are open to taking on sponsors, others are eager to do
so. Vendasta’s Conquer Local podcast began ad free and has recently
started running one ad slot per episode.
Generally contact information can be found on podcast websites or social

media accounts and inquiries can be made via the recommended channels.
For example, here is the sponsorship link for The Tim Ferriss Show, found on
his homepage:
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show
3. Negotiate ad price and slot
Purchasing podcast ad placements can be a cost-effective means of

generating real brand interest for your business. The current industry
averages for podcast ads are as follows:
30-Second Ad CPM 60-Second Ad CPM

$18 $25
Source: Advertise Cast

CPM is “cost per mille”, otherwise known as cost per 1,000 listeners. To
put this in perspective, a podcast with 10,000 listeners will cost you $180
for the 30 second placement and $250 for the minute.
Additionally, there are three different ad slots on most podcasts: pre-roll,

mid-roll, and post-roll. Pre-roll ads are those that run before the onset of
the episode, mid-roll are those that run part-way through the episode,
and post-roll are those that run after the conclusion of the episode.
Post-roll are less expensive as most listeners will tune out once the host
concludes the episode.
Purchasing an ad on major podcasts such as the Tim Ferris show or

others will cost more. However, the aforementioned CPM rates can form
a basis for negotiation.
4. Setup tracking
Attribution can be a challenge with podcasts. You can’t track anything

comparable to impressions or clicks. The best way to track any podcast
derived leads is to use promo codes or to direct listeners to a custom
landing page where you can monitor traffic.
5. Write and proof your advertisement
The process varies from advertiser to advertiser, but generally you have a
lot of discretion when it comes to scripting your ad. With most podcasts, you
will draft some ad copy that will be reviewed by the podcaster, who will offer
feedback or make changes. You can then proof the final revision before it
goes live. Note that most ads are voiced by the host, and not a third-party
voice. This is beneficial as it serves to build trust with the audience.
How to launch your own podcast
1. Find a host
Every great podcast has a great host. This is the anchor of the show—the
interviewer or the monologuer—and whatever else you may need them to be.
• Some basic host qualifications include:
• Industry expertise
• Charming/charismatic personality
• Strong presentation skills
• Network (influencers within your company might already have
substantial social following which can help construct an initial
listener/subscriber base)
• Willingness to invest significant time

2. Find your niche
This step is a mix of finding a subject area in which your company excels,
one that isn’t already heavily saturated with other business podcasts, and
one that delivers real value to your target customer market.
Finding this sweet spot will require research on existing podcasts,

consumer analysis, surveying, and a bit of creativity. Perhapsyour niche
is more mainstream or you have access to proprietary information. Or
maybe you just know you can do it better than anyone else.
3. Name the show
Here you can choose whether to use your business brand or launch a
brand extension. There are benefits and risks to both strategies.
Same name Brand extension

Pros Pros
• Transfer of value/brand • A clean slate
attributes • Greater perceived
• Easy to convert listeners audience value
Cons Cons
• Risk of negative feedback • Harder to convert listeners
to flagship
4. Record the first batch of episodes
You will always want to record your episodes in batches whenever

possible. This will minimize work for the host and as well whoever is
doing the post-production work.
The first episode should be a pilot where the host introduces

themselves and delivers the value proposition for the show in an
interesting and original way. After that, you can segue directly to
interviews or monologues that pertain to your subject area and speak
to your target audience.

5. Promote the pilot
Before you air a pilot, you will want to set up seperate social media
accounts and promote both the show and these accounts on your
flagship to recruit listeners from your existing business audience.
If your host is an influencer then he or she can recruit from personal

followings on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media.
6. Launch the pilot
Now, before you publish the pilot, you’re going to need to make a
decision as to what platform you want to use as your podcast hub. A few
of the best podcast platforms are Spotify, Soundcloud, and Red Circle.
From these platforms, you can then set up RSS feeds so that the show
can be disseminated across all of the major podcast channels (iTunes,
Stitcher, etc).
7. Maintain a regular publish cadence
When you launch a podcast, you are creating expectations for future
and regular episodes. You need to clearly articulate the cadence with
which you will be publishing shows, and adhere to it. Taking time off is
reasonable, but too much time between episodes risks losing listeners,
so choose your cadence and your time off wisely.
Case: Conquer Local Podcast

At Vendasta, we have experience with starting a podcast, having launched
the Conquer Local podcast as a brand extension in 2018. The show is
hosted by Vendasta’s own CCO and EVP of Sales, George Leith and seeks
to answer tough questions in the ever-changing world of B2B sales.
Source: Conquer Local Podcast

Since its inception, the Conquer Local Podcast’s audience has grown to
more than 600 subscribers and 10,000 monthly listeners. The Conquer
Local Podcast has listeners in approximately 50 countries around the
globe, including South Africa, New Zealand, Poland, Canada, and the
United States.
The show’s success can be attributed to Mr. Leith’s thought leadership,

sales experience, and sales influence. The show was created under a
brand extension shared by Vendasta’s annual user conference, and
capitalized on an open opportunity to provide insights into the B2B side
of sales.
The podcast has grown and blossomed into a community and academy
that is helping B2B sellers across the globe master their craft.
Check them out here:
Conquer Local Community

Conquer Local Academy

Lead Generation
Search Engine Optimization
#ConquerLocal
4. Search Engine
Optimization (SEO)
SEO is one of the most coveted aspects of internet marketing. In layman’s
terms, SEO is the art and science of building websites, webpages, blogs,
and otherwise, that rank on organic searches. Being that Google and the
other major search engines have never fully disclosed the elements that
comprise their complex ranking algorithms, SEO has blossomed into a
multi-billion dollar industry (almost 80 billion to be exact).
In order to become the master of your own (internet) destiny, there are
two major components of SEO that you need to master—on-page and
off-page optimization.
On-page optimization
On-page optimizations consist of all actions that you take on your own
site and your own pages that influence your ability to rank on various
keywords and search terms.
Examples of on-page optimizations include:

• Optimizing title tags
• Tuning content for keywords
• Managing/editing your internal link structure
• Organizing/reorganizing your url framework and sitemap

We know that on-page optimizations are still VERY important because
Google said so themselves.
Source: How search algorithms work
Off-page optimization
Off-page optimizations consist of everything that happens outside of your
own site that influence rank, with off-page SEO predominantly pertaining
to backlinks and mentions. Although certain elements of off-page SEO
are simply out of your control, there are elements that you can influence
to help drive up your page rank.
Examples of off-page optimizations include:

• Link building
• Social media posting and engagement
• Guest posting
• Forum posting (will dive deeper under Quora/Medium strategy)
• Relationship building
• PR strategy
Off-page factors are important because they indicate to Google what

others think about the content that you’re providing. For example, if
you’re generating a ton of backlinks to a blog, that suggests that the
content is of high value to readers.

What success looks like
In the B2B world, the less it seems like you’re selling, the more impactful
your lead generation tactics will be. The difference between a prospect
receiving a Facebook newsfeed ad for lead generation software versus
a prospect willingly searching for the best lead generation software and
stumbling across your company’s blog is huge. That’s why SEO strategy is
integral to a successful content marketing campaign.
Here is an example of a Vendasta blog that has brought in hundreds of

qualified leads and led to substantial B2B partner acquisitions.
Source: Ahrefs
This blog was published and optimized over a year ago and has become
an evergreen source for lead generation. Just imagine if you had
hundreds of blogs and site pages doing the exact same thing. This is the
opportunity in SEO.
Pros:
1. An enhanced user experience. Most ranking factors in the

Google algorithm are meant to gauge the positivity of the user
experience, and push the highest value pages to the top of the
SERPs.
2. Improved brand recognition. The more search terms your
company can rank for, the more eyes your brand will receive, and
the more your reputation will grow among your prospect base.

3. Increased organic website traffic. As your rank improves
on various keywords, you will begin to acquire new traffic from
relevant users and interested prospects.
4. Increased lead volume. According to a study conducted by
Devrix, inbound tactics (referrals, social media, content, SEO) are
the primary lead source for B2B companies, accounting for over
40 percent of total lead production.
5. Increased close volume. According to a study done by Search
Engine Journal, SEO-based leads have a 14.6 percent close rate,
ranking the highest of all lead generation tactics.
6. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. SEO can be tedious work,
but once you’ve optimized your site, created keyword-targeted
content, and promoted off-page factors, then you just sit back and
reap the benefits of your labour.
Cons:
1. Delayed ROI. SEO efforts take time to be realized. First Google

must index your content, then you have to generate sufficient
backlinks, and then (if your entire site is strong), you might begin
to climb the ranks. Most SEO firms will tell you that this process
requires four to six months.
2. Specialized training. Many companies that tackle SEO strategy
internally require third-party training to acquire the skills needed
to implement a successful strategy. Fortunately, there are some
great SEO trainers like Bruce Clay that are readily providing such
training.
3. Technological reliance. Without the help of at least a couple
tools, it’s impossible to launch a successful SEO strategy. Some of
the best SEO software solutions that you can choose from in 2020
include SEMrush, Moz Pro, and Ahrefs.

How to build an SEO strategy
There is no single answer that will have you ranking on hundreds of new
keywords and elevate your domain rating overnight. However, there are a
number of steps that will help you get there.
1. Set-up a blog (if you don’t already have one)
Blogging is the fastest way to start generating real revenue from your
SEO efforts. A blog page that is frequently publishing content allows you
to grow your domain rating, while also allowing you to target numerous
keywords outside of the core pages on your site.
Note: I will be using Ahrefs to outline most of the remaining strategy
2. Perform an audit
After you’ve launched your blog, it can be helpful to get a baseline on

your current site standings. You can do this by using a tool like Ahrefs
to analyze each of your pages based on attributes such as: backlinks,
referring domains, organic keywords, organic traffic, and more.
Source: Ahrefs

3. Make a list of topics
Start by listing out all of your core competencies and product offerings.
For example, if I were a CRM software company, some of my possible topics

might include:
• CRM software
• Marketing automation
• Email marketing
• Social media marketing
• Live chat
4. Turn those topics into keyword opportunities
Each of the topics that you have identified should now be the basis for
a number of keyword opportunities. Start by using a tool like Ahrefs
to search some of these topics. What you are likely to find is that most
of your topic categories will be WAY too competitive for you to have a
chance for ranking on them.
For example, here is the SERP and KD forecast for “email marketing”
Source: Ahrefs
Ideally, you will want to find keywords that have:

• Keyword difficulty of less than 10
• High search volume (minimum of 100)
• Have a high click percentage
• Are the right intent

Next, use the “Having same terms” search expansion on Ahrefs to start
unearthing real keyword opportunities.
Source: Ahrefs
As you can see here, there are a number of related opportunities with low
keyword difficulty and relatively high search volumes, such as crm email marketing.
This keyword can then be categorized and form the foundation of a blog.
5. Organize your keyword opportunities
Next, you’ll need to determine the type of content that each of your keyword
opportunities will require. To do this, I like to reference this matrix from the
TrafficThinkTank. Almost every keyword opportunity you uncover should fall
under one of these seven categories: product features, comparisons, listicles,
reviews, alternatives, knowledgebase, and cancellations.
Source: TrafficThinkTank

The category that each keyword falls under will inform the content that
you should create for that keyword. That being said, unless you have a
veteran blog/SEO team, I wouldn’t recommend targeting cancellation
based terms.
6. Create your content and optimize for on-page
Key things to remember with on-page optimizations

• Your content should be at least 1,000 words in length.
• Your focus keyword (and tertiary keywords) should have
strong keyword densities in the text (2 percent+).
• Include your focus keyword in image alt text, but make
sure it fits naturally.
• Include the focus keyword in your title, at the front if possible.
• Use keyword variations throughout the body.
Note: If you have a WordPress site, tools like Yoast can be helpful in
guiding you through on-page content optimization.
7. Do some off-page work
Time to do some backlink building. The first step here is going to be

leveraging the content syndication strategies from section 2.8, and if
it’s a major article, you might also want to integrate some PR marketing
(section 5). After that, backlink building becomes a tricky and tedious
process. Unless you have an internal team, you might want to consider
outsourcing to an SEM specialist.
8. Set-up tracking
You’re going to want to make sure that you create some dashboards to
track your growth and success—and Data Studio is the best platform for
doing so. Alternatively, depending on the CRM that you’re using, there
may already be built-in SEO tracking functionality.
Some key metrics that you will want to track include:

• MQLs
• SQLs
• Percentage SQLs
• Presentations
• Closes/sales by category or subscription tier
• Optional: upgrades, downgrades, churn

Source: Data Studio
Note: this is a brief summary of SEO strategy. If you truly want to invest in
driving major SEO results for your business, consider partnering with an
external consultancy like Boostability, or consider taking training from an
agency like Bruce Clay.

Lead Generation
Email Marketing
#ConquerLocal
5. Email Marketing
What is email marketing?
Email marketing might be the most powerful organic B2B tactic that you
have at your disposal.
The applications of email marketing are diverse and the impact is high.
Whether you’re looking to market an event, do outreach for a new piece
of content, promote a new product or service offering, distribute a
survey, collect feedback, or perform good old fashioned demand gen—
email marketing can help.
Why is email marketing important?

You may have heard that email marketing is old news, but it is still one of
the most powerful tools in the modern marketer’s arsenal.
1. Email marketing is cost effective
According to Campaign Monitor, the ROI on email can be as high as 4400

percent. That’s $44 in revenue for every dollar spent on the program.
Even if we round down to $40 per every dollar invested in email, here’s
how that ROI metric compares to other marketing programs:
Source: Neil Patel

Email is efficient because it’s content-based, so labour is the primary cost.
Unlike digital ads or traditional media alternatives, email doesn’t require
any direct paid expenditure. The only external costs that are associated
with email marketing are CRM subscriptions and the cost of purchasing
lists when doing outbound work.
2. It’s versatile
Email impacts every stage of the modern buyer’s journey.
Here are just a few of the ways that you can use email to impact both the
buyer’s and customer’s journey:
Source: Vendasta
Let’s expand on those points a bit:
• Inspire and educate. This stage is about generating awareness

for your brand. The two primary ways to do this are through cold
outbound emails to new contacts or by sending re-engagement
emails to old contacts that have gone dark. Both of these formats
should be value driven and not sales pitches.
• Connect the dots. Once you’ve got your hat in the ring, you’re
going to want to get these prospects considering you. Generally
re-engagement campaigns also span into this stage of the journey.
However, one of the most effective tools for driving consideration
is the content nurture which provides contacts with a steady
stream of value-based content from your brand, further proving
your value and subsequently pushing prospects towards a sales
conversation.

• Why you? Now it’s time to sell. You’ve proven your value, now you
need to reinforce that you are the best decision for prospects.
This is generally done through a combination of direct sales
communication and the usage of sales drip campaigns. Sales drips
are generally structured based on key value propositions so that
prospects feel that they are being sold something unique.
• Satisfaction. One of the greatest mistakes that marketers make is

ending their communication after the sale. This is a pivotal time in
the customer journey and will be a key determinant of the lifetime
value of the customer. Newsletters can be a great way to provide
additional value beyond the sale, but post-purchase drips can be
even more instrumental in reinforcing that the right decision was
made, adding additional value and starting up-sell and cross-sell
conversations.
• Cross-sell and up-sell. Outside of post-purchase drips, new

release emails can help customers stay up to date with company
happenings and also advertise products and services that the
customer may not have adopted yet.
• Delighted ambassador. Review campaigns can help you to

strengthen your brand image by beefing up your review scores,
and surveys can provide invaluable feedback and business
insights. However, you want to reserve these campaigns for
customers that are strong advocates and long-term loyalists.
Otherwise, these tools could have the inverse effect.
3. Tracking and attribution
Email marketing is one of the easiest advertising programs to track

and measure performance. So long as you are using an email platform
(Constant Contact, MailChimp, etc) or a CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot,
Vendasta, etc), then you should have access to delivery rate, open rate,
CTR, conversion rate, bounce rate, unsubscribes, spam complaints,
forwards/shares, and more.

Source: Sales and Success Center
Additionally, some platforms may provide further insights into

engagement rates over time, attributable ROI, mobile and desktop metric
separation, cookie-based web tracking, and total revenue generated.
These insights are invaluable because they enable you to make informed
decisions and serve to make email a powerful standalone tool, as well as
a powerful tool for an integrated communications strategy.
4. Email effectiveness
The proof is in the pudding, so they say. But don’t take it from me, here are
the stats:
• Most email campaigns average an open rate of ~24 percent.
• The average click-through for most campaigns is ~four percent.
• The number of active email users is forecasted to reach 4.3 billion
in 2023.
• 293.6 billion emails are sent and received everyday.
• 72 percent of people prefer to receive promotional
communications via email.

• In the US, email accounts for 17 percent of total digital budgets
and produces 24 percent of revenue.
• 56 percent of marketers consider email to be the most effective
customer retention tactic.
In other words,your audience is using email, your audience is receptive to

email marketing tactics, and email can be directly correlated to an uptick
in conversions, sales, and retention.
What is the future of email marketing?

Email is changing, but it’s not going anywhere. Email marketing plays a role
through every stage of the buyer and customer relationship. Understanding
this new marketing funnel and leveraging new and emerging technologies to
enhance your efforts will be the future of email marketing.
Source: Campaign Monitor
1. More automation
Machine learning and AI are changing the scope of email data

capabilities. Email automation is not new, but these new technologies are
going to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of existing tools.

Here are some of the improvements you can expect:
• AI enhancements in A/B and multivariate email campaign

optimizations. Instead of manually making changes to different
emails to optimize for performance, AI brings the possibility of
these campaigns optimizing themselves autonomously. Basically,
picture AdEspresso for email.
• Autonomous compliance functionality. GDPR, CAN-SPAM, CASL,
and other anti-spam regulations have dramatically limited the
opportunity in outbound email marketing. Marketers must be
more careful than ever before if they wish to avoid the steep fines
that accompany any breaches in these clauses.
• Enhanced variable functionality. Most of us know the variable
company and name tags well, but what if we could insert variable
GIFs, or variable messages based on LinkedIn bios? That’s the
future of email marketing technology, and the perfect segway into
the next prediction.
2. Greater personalization
It’s no longer going above and beyond to deliver highly personalized

marketing content. Today, it’s an expectation. Email inboxes are fuller
than ever, and if you want your content to earn the eyeballs that you
need to generate leads, then it better make the reader feel like you are
speaking to their specific needs and their unique situation.
Here’s how email personalization is going to change in 2021 and beyond:
• It will go beyond demographic and psychographic list

segmentation. Slicing and dicing your email lists to group similar
recipients is probably not enough. Start thinking about more
personalized questions, prompts, or checkboxes that you could
use to better understand prospects when they register for email
lists or consent to receive email notifications.
• It will become more insightful. Rather than analyzing surface
metrics like open rates, CTR, and conversions; emerging
technologies will enable email marketers to glean behavioral data
and information from a variety of web-based sources to better
gauge recipient intent. This will open the door to personalized
conversations based on unique needs.

3. Interactive email content
Email alone isn’t going to be enough in the coming years. Marketers

need to start thinking of email as the doorway to further marketing and
engagement opportunities.
Experts speculate that over the coming years, email will increasingly grow
to resemble miniature web experiences. That means more embedded
video content, more design elements, and potentially even baked-in
chat or shopping functionality. Furthermore, AI leveraged to promote
interactivity could potentially “pull user-generated content into emails
dynamically, creating more compelling storytelling and increasing read
and engagement rates” according to Kent Lewis of Anvil Media.
This is all speculative, but experts agree with a certainty that there is
room for innovation in the realm of email marketing.
Though there are many possible adaptations of email marketing strategy,

this section will explore the three broadest and densest subject areas
in email marketing, those being: outbound acquisition, re-engagement
campaigns, and newsletter marketing.

5.1 Outbound Email Marketing
Pros:
1. It’s cost effective. For every dollar spent on email marketing, an

average return of $32 can be projected.
2. It’s efficient. A study performed by McKinsey found that email
marketing is up to 40 times more effective than social media
alternatives.
3. It accelerates the purchase cycle. The same study also proved
that email marketing corresponds to a buying process that’s three
times faster.
4. Scalability. Few platforms enable you to personalize
messages at the scale that email marketing does. However,
this personalization is only possible through the usage of email
marketing software or a CRM.
5. User base. There were 3.7 billion email users in the world in 2017,
with that number expected to grow to 4.3 billion by 2022.
6. Tracking and reporting. Most email marketing enabled
software comes with sophisticated built-in tracking and reporting
functionality.
Cons:
1. Differentiation. Everyone and their dog is engaging in email

marketing, so standing out in the crowd for more than a
controversial subject line can prove to be a bit of a challenge.
2. Compliance. With the installation of GDPR and all subsequent
email based regulations, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to email
anyone without first establishing the proper permissions.
3. Formatting issues. There are dozens of email clients, and it can
be difficult to format your content so that it looks perfect across
different platforms. Technology like Litmus can be incredibly
helpful for testing emails, but this is very time consuming work and
still isn’t a foolproof solution.
4. Technology dependence. Without a software solution, you are
simply not going to be able to scale this tactic.

How to launch an email marketing campaign
1. Purchase some software (if you haven’t already)
If you plan on getting serious about email marketing, you’re not going to
be able to effectively do so without the support of software.
Some of the best email marketing solutions for B2B sellers are:
• ActiveCampaign
• HubSpot
• Constant Contact
• Omnisend
• Autopilot
• Vendasta
2. Compile an (ethical) account list
Source: Vendasta
There are a few different methods of legally procuring email addresses.

Firstly, if you’re emailing internally or to an existing client base, then this
information should all be stored within your existing software and you
have implied permission to do so.
Secondly, if you want to perform outbound outreach, then ensure that

you have acquired express permission. To acquire express permission,
you must have acquired contact details via a form, through a registered
email aggregator, or send an invitation email to receive further email
correspondence prior to launching your campaign.
Note: the United States remains the wild west when it comes to email
outreach, so all forms of outbound email are still entirely legal.

3. Write your campaign
“Campaign” is a bit of a misleading term as it can be as simple as a single

email for bulk application. If you’re familiar with this process, this should
be one of the easiest parts of the process. Craft some catchy subject
lines, put some variable tags in to make it personal, throw some edgy
copy in the middle, and then do it all over again for however many emails
you’re including in the campaign.
Source: Vendasta Platform
Some tricks for high impact subject lines include:

• Framing them as questions
• Format is as a list (The top 5 tips for…)
• Use sentence case to keep it conversational
• Use psychographic/demographic cues (Does your CEO know…)
• Spark controversy (but not too much)
Some tricks for better performing copy include:

• Keep it short and sweet
• Address a pain point
• Don’t be salesy
• Deliver a sprinkle of value (but save the majority of it for the CTA)
Oh, and make sure that you always have complete contact details as well
as an unsubscribe link at the bottom of your emails.

4. Test your campaign
As mentioned above, with a sea of different email clients being used by

your recipients, it’s critical that you perform a formatting check. Tools like
Litmus allow you to proof your emails across some of the biggest email
clients, such as: Outlook, Windows Mail, Android, Gmail, Samsung Mail,
Yahoo, AOL, various Apple IOS platforms, and more.
Source: Litmus
5. Launch your campaign

5.2 Email Newsletter Marketing
Email marketing remains one of the most effective marketing channels
available to B2B marketers. To put it in perspective, a study by Monetate
discovered that email-based leads convert into paying customers at a
rate of 4.24 percent, as compared to 2.49 percent of search leads, and
0.59 percent of social media leads.
Check out section 6 to find out more about general email marketing
strategy.
Newsletters boast one of the greatest ROIs of all marketing channels. In

fact, according to Litmus, newsletters have been shown to garner a $42
to $1 ROI. The downside? There might be a bit of legwork involved in
turning your vision into the productive lead generator that you desire.
At Vendasta, we leverage newsletters to drive a number of outcomes. Firstly,

we ran a partner focussed newsletter to help promote new blog content.
1. The Local Marketing Scoop
Source: Vendasta
Secondly, we have been running a weekly internal newsletter for the

purpose of keeping our acquisition division on top of relevant data and
accountable for successes and failures. Being that this is an internal
memo, it is a more relaxed style with almost all of the relevant info
contained directly within the email.

2. Acquisition Demand Gen Newsletter
Source: Vendasta
And lastly, we also (briefly) launched an enterprise focussed newsletter under

a slight brand extension. This newsletter was created for the purpose of
attracting large business prospects by providing a curated user experience
and highly specific content for decision makers at large organizations.
3. The Art of Enterprise
Source: Vendasta

These are just a few of the possible outcomes that can be achieved with
a newsletter strategy.
Some of the top reasons to launch a newsletter include:

1. ROI. $42 to $1 is significant and could be a game changer for your
team if you can achieve product market fit.
2. Value first. When marketing in the B2B landscape, leading with
value is critical. Newsletters can be a great platform for starting the
conversation by giving value first.
3. Shareability. Where ads don’t exactly entice referrals, value-
focussed newsletters can easily generate referral subscriptions.
In fact, QuickSprout determined that email subscribers are three
times more likely to share content via social media than prospects
from any other sources.
4. Tracking. By using UTM links and share buttons, newsletters can
make it easy to track prospect motions and bring attribution right
back to the source.
Some of the drawbacks to newsletters include:

1. Labour. As mentioned earlier, running a weekly or biweekly
newsletter can be labour intensive. Not only do you have to make
weekly modifications and ensure the delivery of the newsletter,
you also have to ensure that you have adequate blog content,
news content, ad content, or otherwise, to fill each issue. In order
to be successful, this almost always requires a team.
2. Slow lead times. Unlike Facebook ads that you can turn on in
minutes, this is a long term strategy and it will likely take weeks or
months to realize the fruits of your labour.

How to launch a newsletter
1. Identify the objective of the newsletter
Not to sound like a broken record, but this is almost always the first step
when launching any new marketing tactic or strategy.
Some possible strategic objectives might include:

• Demand generation (as seen with the Art of Enterprise).
• Engagement and retention (as seen with the Local Marketing Scoop).
• Education (as seen with the internal usage of the Acquisition
Demand Gen Newsletter).
• Monetization (turn the newsletter itself into a revenue generator
through paid subscriptions or ad revenue).
2. Create a landing page
When it comes time to market your newsletter, you’re going to need a

place to direct traffic where they can convert on a subscription. These
pages are generally quite simple in nature.
Here is an example of OpenView’s newsletter subscription page:
Source: OpenView
3. Leverage some software
For newsletters, my recommendation is mailchimp. Though Mailchimp

has expanded out of email and into more of the marketing stack, their
email software is still one of the best and easiest to use. You will be able
to schedule an automatic delivery, set-up RSS feeds to save you editing
time, and much more. In terms of designing your newsletter, you will find
templates and tools to help you, even on the free version of the software.

4. Ensure you have a steady stream of content
If your team isn’t creating enough content, be that blog, case study, guide,
video, infographic, or otherwise, then you’re going to have a difficult time
creating a compelling newsletter. Generally newsletters are published
on a weekly cadence, but if you foresee content production as being a
blocker, then you may want to consider a biweekly cadence.
5. Recruit Initial Subscribers
Start with your client-base. Write a short email campaign that can be
delivered to your existing clients to inform them of your new newsletter
and ask them to subscribe. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it mitigates
the risk of your first few newsletters being delivered to a nonexistent
subscriber base. Secondly, it can be a great way to strengthen your client
relationships by providing more value to those interested parties.
6. Market and remarket
Now you just have to get the word out to the rest of the world!
Some of the best channels for marketing your newsletter include:

• Adding opt-in CTAs on your blog posts
• Organic social media
• Paid social media
• Running contests and giveaways to encourage referrals

Lead Generation
Content Syndication
#ConquerLocal
6. Content Syndication
What is content syndication?
Content is king. But, if you’re a content marketer (or if you’re familiar with
the craft) then you know how difficult it is to ensure that your content is
getting the attention that it deserves. Even if your company has a popular
blog, newsletter, and social media channels, publishing on these platforms
alone may only earn your content a couple hundred views (maybe fewer).
Content syndication is the act of republishing blog, case study,

infographic, or video content across a number of websites or platforms.
The aim of this is to optimize the impact of high-value content by placing
it in front of a variety of different audiences. There are a few ways that
content can be syndicated.
Large industry publications generally designate syndicated content with a

note like this one:
Source: Fast Company

Other publications are often quite fond of syndication tactics as they allow
them to provide their readership with fresh content, while also amplifying
reach for the source. However, much of the syndicated content that you
see on the web is disguised as original content (at a glance).
Here is an example of how we generally like to denote our syndicated

content when we cross publish to Medium:
Source: Medium
Alternatively, sometimes we also like to use syndicated content as a

teaser aimed at directing readers back to our site, like this:
Source: Medium

But, Medium and Fast Company aren’t the only places that content can
be syndicated.
Here are some of the most popular syndication strategies available to

marketers today:
1. Outreach to other websites and blogs. This can be a great way
to generate awareness for your brand by reaching new audiences,
but the chief risk here is that you will get little traffic back to your
site without a strong incentive for readers to do so.
2. Social media. Posting a blog link on your social media sites is the
bare minimum for social syndication. However, marketers can take
this a few steps further by publishing full length blog content on
LinkedIn, publishing infographics on sites like Pinterest, or even
publishing slide decks on SlideShare.
3. Medium. Medium is equal parts social network, blog, and
forum, and it’s completely accessible to anyone on the web.
Post on Medium to unlock additional SEO opportunities, reach
new audiences, and potentially have your content delivered in
personalized newsletters or placed behind the Medium paywall.
4. Paid syndication. This category belongs to companies like
Outbrain and Taboola that are in the business of creating
“Recommended for You” and “Around the Web” ads for online
news articles that link back to your website.
Source: CNN
5. Forums. Quora, Reddit, and Tumblr are the biggest names in
this space, and they boast massive opportunities for marketers to
amplify their syndication efforts through micro-content that can be
derived from larger content pieces.
6. PR strategy. Getting your work published in a major publication
like Fast Company is no small task. That’s why a dedicated press
strategy can be instrumental in getting your work placed in these
influential news sources.

Why is content syndication important?
Content without syndication is kind of like having a product without a
distribution network to back it. Syndication strategies allow marketers to
maximize the impact of everything they produce, from blog articles, to
videos, to podcasts, to infographics, and everything in between.
1. It’s nitrous for content marketers
When you publish a blog, the only automatic reach that you receive is
whatever may result from your current web traffic, and what you might
realize in SEO value a few months down the road. By building a more
integrated syndication strategy, you are effectively supercharging the
reach and the impact that your content would otherwise have.
The effect of content syndication is simple:

1. Accessing a larger audience equals greater reach.
2. Authority backlinks serve to improve your domain authority and all
subsequent website marketing tactics.
3. Greater reach translates into greater web traffic.
4. Greater web traffic means an increase in conversions.
Here’s an anecdote:
Without syndication
You publish a blog on your website which averages just over 30,000 monthly
visits. You have a newsletter that distributes your content to an email list of
3,000. As a result of your publication, you earn 300 pageviews in the first
month, 50 in the second month, and 20 in the third month. By month four,
your blog begins to rank on the low end of the top ten for a long-tail search
term and starts to generate ~30 monthly visits from organic.
With syndication
Alternatively, you publish the same blog, earn all of the same organic metrics,
BUT, you also deploy a syndication strategy. Here is the net effect:
• You reformat and publish it on Medium and refer an additional 20
clicks per month.
• You post tidbits of your content on Quora and generate hundreds of
answer views per month.
• You get the piece republished in SearchEngineJournal (SEJ) and get an
additional few thousand reads which translates into greater awareness,
an influx in direct organic leads, and a handful of referral leads.

• Your article on SEJ gets shared hundreds of times on social, leading to
thousands of additional brand impressions.
• The improvements to your backlink profile grow your domain authority
and help your PPC team, improve your organic rankings on dozens of
keywords, and more.
2. It’s low cost
Unless you are pursuing paid syndication tactics or outsourcing work,

then your only input cost with content syndication is the time, effort, and
expertise that it requires. External website/blog publishing, social media,
Medium, forums, and PR strategy are all tactics that can be executed
under your own roof.
3. Long lifespan
Like content marketing itself, content syndication tactics are generally

one-time efforts that bear fruit for months and years to follow.
For example, this is a Medium article that Vendasta syndicated over

two years ago, and we are still earning 30-100 reads per month as a
result of this article’s rank on organic search. This has been without any
optimizations or dedicated effort to maintain rank.
Source: White-Label and Private Label Business Opportunities

A Quora post that was drafted and published around the same time
as this article has also been a major source of web traffic for us, having
generated well over 20,000 views organically.
Source: Quora
4. Backlink profile
Your website is your virtual doorway. In the physical world, you put a
fresh coat of paint on your door and revamp your storefront to ensure
that you are driving traffic through the door. When you want to improve
your virtual doorway, one of the best ways to do so is by increasing your
domain authority—and the fastest way to achieve that is through your
backlink profile.
However, there are a few warnings that you should heed:

• Not all backlinks are created equal. A backlink from a spammy
site with low domain authority will actually serve to damage your
backlink profile. Alternatively, a backlink from a highly accredited
domain (like Inc) can work volumes in terms of improving your
authority.
• Beware of content duplication. If identical (or nearly the same)
content is being shared on multiple sites, Google will actually
penalize you. The best way to avoid this is through the use of a
canonical tag. This is a little bit of code that tells search engines
that a certain URL is the master or original copy of the content.
Source: Moz

What is the future of content syndication?
Apart from a couple discrepancies, the future of content syndication is
largely dictated by the content sector itself. Some of the biggest changes
coming to content marketing include: an emphasis on video content,
greater personalization, more data-driven decisions, and content
optimized for voice search and smart devices. Outside of these, the
greatest syndication specific items are as follows.
1. Push notifications
In 2019 and 2020, more people performed organic searches on their

phones than ever before . This means that as users increasingly consume
content on mobile devices, push notifications will continue to grow in
value for content marketers.
Source: Statista
Here’s how push notifications can be leveraged in content syndication:

• For social media updates. Fifty-seven percent% of users prefer push
notifications from social media platforms—so brands need to become
diligent at posting and reposting their content on social media.
• For email. Newsletters that are disseminated through email can be a
fantastic way to sneak into the push notifications of your prospects.
• For blogs/publications. Though this is one of the lower interest
areas, with only 9.24 percent of mobile users preferring push
notifications from these sources—this is arguably the most direct
form of syndicated communication through push notifications.

2. Greater competition for earned media
Content is being created at the greatest velocity in the history of

recorded time. In fact, there are estimated to be over 10 million new
blogs being published every single day, not to mention the volume of
content being published across the sea of other mediums available
to marketers. In this content indfused world, brands will have to fight
increasingly hard to successfully syndicate their content with desirable
and high authority news and media outlets.
This section will explore three specific facets of content syndication

that will drive the greatest impact for your business, those are: forum
marketing, Medium marketing, and PR marketing.
6.1 Forum Marketing (Quora)

Quora marketing is a little tidbit of gold for B2B marketing teams
that have time on their side. This strategy hinges on the repurposing
and reproduction of existing content on two of the greatest content
syndication platforms on the web.
What is Quora?
Quora might very well be the most powerful content marketing asset
that you’ve probably never heard of. In essence, Quora is the question
and answer platform for content creators. Like Medium, it’s also a place
where you build a profile and develop a network

Pros:
1. Reach amplification. Just like dropping a blog link on your

organic social feeds, leveraging these content platforms allows you
to broaden your reach even further in an organic way.
2. Ranking potential. Quora is a high authority site, which means
that many questions actually rank on major keyword terms in the
SERPs. For example, the site’s Ahrefs domain rating is a 91 (out of
100) which is likely higher than that of your business site.
3. Additional earned media opportunities. Your content can
become curated for personalized newsletters that are sent to
every Quora member everyday, allowing for additional reach
opportunities.
Cons:
1. You don’t always strike gold. Not every Quora answer will rise
to the top of the ranks and drive traffic to your site, and not every
medium answer will actually rank for the desired term(s).
2. It can be a time suck. To avoid content duplication penalties
from the search indexes, you will have to rewrite nearly all of the
content for each Quora post, and each Medium article.
How to execute this strategy at scale
This a more time-consuming tactic than slapping a blog link on LinkedIn.

However, the results can be well worth the investment if you follow
these steps.
1. Never start from scratch.
If you want to scale this strategy, then every Quora post or Medium
article should be based on a blog topic or content topic that you or your
team have already tackled. Ideally, the author of the original content
should be the one to write the Quora posts as well (because they know
the content best). This is a key component in saving you time and
resources while also driving overall impact.

2. Do a little research
You’re going to want to start researching some Quora questions to

answer before you begin curating your responses. As a good rule of
thumb, you want to focus on questions that have at least twice as many
followers as they do answers. Naturally, the fewer the answers, the
greater your chances of becoming the top answer.
Source: Quora
However, there are two exceptions to this rule. Firstly, you may also want
to answer questions that might not have the follower support if they are
keyword terms. For example, “what is demand generation?” is a keyword
term that receives 1,000+ searches a month in the United States alone,
and has a low enough keyword difficulty that a Quora answer may still
have ranking potential.
Source: Quora

Secondly, you may want to answer a question if it’s top answers are
generating thousands of views even though there might not be a
substantial follower base, or an oversized answer base. Take this same
term for an example:
Source: Quora
Source: Quora
Once you’ve determined your answer opportunities (and saved them for
later), you’re ready to start creating your posts.
3. Change at least 50 percent of your content
if you duplicate your content exactly, then you will be penalized by

Google, which will serve to impair your ranking opportunities on both
your original content as well as your reproduction.
As a good rule of thumb, always change at least 50 percent of your

content when you move it to another platform. On Quora, it’s generally
best practice to simply paraphrase your blog or guide work into tidbits of
content that can be digested more easily than the entire piece of content.

4. Insert UTM links
The most important part of this process is telling readers what to do

and where to go next. If you just helped them uncover new business
opportunities, then odds are good that they’re ready to take the next
step (wherever in the buyer’s journey that may be). If so, then you need
to be sure to provide them with a link in that direction, and for the sake
of your lead generation data, you will want to ensure that you have
tagged that link.
5. Call a friend
Quora uses the good ol’ fashioned “upvote.” Get your peers/colleagues to
give your Quora posts some upvote love so that your answer has a better
chance of outranking other answers on the thread.
6. Watch and wait
Not every bit of content you create will be a gold mine, that’s the reality
of all content-based strategies. Once you’ve put in the work, you simply
sit back and wait to see which of your posts/articles become all-stars,
and then watch the traffic roll in. It doesn’t take long before you can be
generating thousands of views on Quora, and if your CTAs are efficient—
many of those views may translate into B2B leads.
Source: Quora

6.2 Medium Marketing
Similar to Quora marketing, Medium is another great way to syndicate
your content across the web.
What is Medium?
Medium is a few things. Firstly, it’s a major news and content syndicator.
Secondly, it has grown into one of the largest blogging communities in
the world. Thirdly, it’s also a content management system that you can
use on your website (kind of like WordPress).
Pros:
1. Domain Authority. Medium is a very high authority site by all

accounts. It’s domain rating on Ahrefs clocks in at 93, and it’s domain
authority on Moz is 92, giving content on the site a substantial edge
over many sites competing for space on the SERPs.
2. Publishing opportunities. Various publications within Medium
may come across your article and seek to place it behind the
Medium pay wall as part of their promotions. If this happens, you
might get your content distributed to a segmented audience at no
cost to you.
3. Claim multiple spots on the SERPs. Both of these sites have
substantial domain rating, which means that Quora answers/Medium
posts also have a chance of ranking on the SERPs. For example, here
is a Vendasta blog topic where we were able to rank number one with
our original blog post, and then were also able to claim the number
three spot by republishing similar content on Medium.

Source: Ahrefs
Cons:
1. It’s time consuming. Next to PR work, rewriting an article for

Medium can be one of the most time consuming syndication
strategies available.
2. Anticipate failure. The reality is that most articles published
on Medium may not ever see the light of day—unless they are
carefully targeted for certain keywords, or are picked up by a
Medium publisher.
How to remarket content on Medium
1. Start with existing content
As this is another syndication tactic, you should always be starting with an

existing piece of content. This content should generally be one of these
three things:
• Blog
• Case Study
• Guide
2. Change at least 50 percent of your content
As with Quora, it’s important that you aren’t posting duplicate content to
Medium. At the very minimum, you will want to be sure to change all of
your headings/subheadings, all of your introduction and conclusion, as
well as the first sentence after every heading/subheading.

3. Insert UTM links
Like all content strategies, you should always provide readers with a clear
CTA at some point within your text. There are three prominent ways to
do this on Medium. The first is to create the article like a preview snippet
and redirect readers to your site to read the full article.
Source: Medium
The second is to simply add a casual CTA at the end of your post that
states that the content was originally posted on your blog, and then leave
a link. This is a more organic way of doing it and might entice further
investigation from readers.
Source: Medium
The final method is to include a compelling CTA closer to the start of

your Medium article with the hope of redirecting traffic to your desired
destination before they have finished reading the article.

4. Give your new content a boost
Medium is a platform that ranks content based on “claps” and getting

your team members and peers to leverage their own Medium accounts
by giving your posts a few claps can be a great way to instantly build
some credibility for your new post.
6.3 Public Relations

Public relations (PR) is just a very specific form of content syndication
that has the potential to turn otherwise one-hit-wonder content into
recurring revenue machines. To be a little more specific, PR is (in a
marketing context) the practice of leveraging news and media channels
to help syndicate content and promote your organization to the broader
public. PR also includes the management of stakeholder, investor, and
governmental relationships with the aim of supporting business goals
and objectives.
PR strategy has three main prongs, those being owned, paid, and earned:
• Owned media is the press you can create through channels you
own, such as: social media, newsletters, and other programs that
have already been covered.
• Paid media is when you pay for media coverage or mentions.
Examples of this category of PR include advertorials, native
advertising, speaking spots, or sponsored webinars.
• And lastly, earned media is when you acquire industry news
mentions, stories, and reviews in an organic matter. This is by far
the most valuable press, and the most difficult to acquire.
Here is an example of one of Vendasta’s most recent PR coverings:
Source: The Globe and Mail

Pros:
1. It’s about who you know. If you or a member of your team has a
strong network, especially in the media space, then it can be rather
easy for your company to earn press space.
2. Viral potential. If you can get a story picked up by one major
outlet, others are likely to take interest and follow suit. Then
bloggers might start talking about it, then half the country might be
talking about it before you’ve finished your second cup of coffee.
3. High credibility. Having a regional or national news network
talking about your story is about the most credibility you can
achieve in a promotional venture. Clients, bloggers, and internal
channels may have perceived bias. The news media is considered
by most to be a more unbiased source of information.
4. ROI. If you have a well connected PR/marketing team, then
generating press may be rather easy and could lead to
massive results in terms of traffic, leads, and sales with minimal
involvement or expenditure. All you need is a strong email list and
understanding of news/trade publication needs.
5. Domain authority. PR activities are almost always backlink
generating activities, and backlinks from high authority sites (like
major media outlets) can have a major impact on the domain
authority of your website.
Cons:
1. It’s about who you know. On the flip side, if you do not have strong
media connections or relationships, then it can be hard fought to
earn even a single media mention without substantial cause (millions
of dollars in VC investment, launch of new technologies, etc).
2. Specialized skills. The reality is that most marketers suck at PR.
Oftentimes, PR professionals, or people with experience in the media
field are the best candidates for navigating the tricky waters of PR.
3. Limited control over the message. Oftentimes, if your story is
picked up by a major news outlet, they’re going to cut the story to
best align with their focus. Byproducts of this can be a diluted or less
compelling message than you may have hoped for.
4. Backlink policies. Many media companies actually have policies
against backlinking to websites, leaving mentions as the primary benefit.
5. Inconsistent results. Generating earned press is a lot of work, and
the results can be highly inconsistent. Your company might publish a
piece of thought leadership that gets articled on by three major news
networks and drives thousands to your website, or you might try to
get your content picked up for three months to no avail.

How to launch a PR marketing campaign
1. Get yourself a PR manager
If you’re serious about earning media mentions and press for your
company, then you should look to hire a PR manager. Alternatively, you can
always look to outsource this work to a PR firm (as with most strategies).
Key PR manager skills include:

• Excellent communication for public functions,
press conferences, and other events
• Writing skills for drafting press releases and publishing
company news
• Creativity so that they can craft unique stories and perspectives
• Research skills for uncovering new opportunities
2. Set goals
Start by benchmarking your PR performance over the previous quarters/

year. Then take a look forward and craft goals for the growth you’d like to
achieve over the upcoming quarters/year.
Possible objectives might include:

• Number of earned media mentions
• Number of paid media mentions
• Number of owned press publications
• Number of website visits or increases in site traffic
• Backlink profile (domain clout)
• Total media mentions, possibly broken out by tiers
• Share of voice as compared to competitors
It will be important to measure your objectives through the duration of

your PR strategy.
3. Familiarize yourself with the PESO model
The PESO model is an assessment of different types of media based on

four primary categories: paid, earned, shared, and owned.

Source: SpinSucks
As you can see, there is a huge volume of content formats that belong to
each one of these four categories, or somewhere between.
That being said, there are some important designations that need to be made
about each category:
• Paid. This category pertains to any owned media that is boosted
with a paid promotional component. Therefore, paid doesn’t exist
without the creation of owned media formats.
• Earned. This is the most coveted and most desirable category, and
is generally the end goal of all PR work. This is when news outlets,
digital publishers, or any other media entities publish stories on
you without any paid incentivization.
• Shared. This category is predominantly the syndication tactics that
your team applies to owned media assets that does not require
any allocation of funds.
• Owned. This is where it all starts. PR doesn’t work without the
creation of press-worthy news or content, and this leads us into
the next section of the process.
4. Generate press-worthy content
Major news and media outlets aren’t going to pick up a story unless
it’s going to be of interest to the greater public. That means that major
awards and accolades, major investments, important local events, and
new thought leadership content are among the most press-worthy
updates you can market to the media.

Press worthy content can also be broken out based on Al Tompkin’s Five Motivators:
1. Money
2. Health
3. Safety
4. Family
5. Community
The idea is that the more of these motivators that you can touch on with
your media pitch, the more likely your topic is to resonate with a media
audience (remember: journalists are looking for messages that impact
the most people.
5. Implement PR tactics
Now it’s up to your PR manager to start generating some buzz for your
brand. It’s best to create a project plan surrounding desired activities so
that progress can easily be tracked.
But, before you begin deploying tactics, there are a few key questions
that you should consider. Firstly, who is your audience? Are you going to
better reach your audience through a trade publication or do you want
to be featured on local news? And what are your customers interested
in? Once you clarify who your audience is and what they’re interested in,
you will be able to tailor your message and tactics accordingly.
Possible tactics include:

• Engaging media influencers and building relationships
• Attending local events
• Hosting events
• Applying for major awards
• Reaching out to major publishers
• Writing owned media releases
• Collaborating with content teams and leadership to create thought
leadership content
• Collaborating with other companies on mutually beneficial events,
talks, or awards

Lead Generation
Word-of-Mouth
#ConquerLocal
7. Word-of-Mouth
What is word-of-mouth marketing?
When was the last time that a friend recommended a restaurant,
clothing shop, or cafe to you? Or you to a friend? These soft social sales
happen all of the time in the B2C space—but they are just as prominent
in the B2B world. Business people love making product and service
recommendations to their peers and colleagues.
Therefore, word-of-mouth marketing can be defined as any tactic that

facilitates the organic transfer of information about your brand via
personal endorsement.
Traditionally, word-of-mouth marketing required direct person-to-person

communication, and was achieved when raving fans or brand advocates
would recommend products, services, or brands to their friends and
colleagues. However, new digital formats have made it possible to
achieve similar outcomes without the need to have people in the same
room as one another. These digital enabled formats are often referred to
as viral marketing or buzz marketing.
Therefore, modern word-of-mouth marketing now encompasses person-

to-person communication, targeted efforts to promote referrals, as well
as digital efforts to motivate referrals and endorsements.
Regardless of the platform, what word-of-mouth marketing really does

is shed a light on the power of your existing customer base. And when
done well, word-of-mouth marketing can kickstart viral growth loops that
can alter the trajectory of your company.
Why is word-of-mouth marketing

important?
Word-of-mouth marketing is the most organic and arguably the
most valuable medium in the world. In fact, 64 percent of marketing
executives believe that word-of-mouth is the single most effective form
of marketing. There are a few reasons for that.

1. Trust
Ninety-six percent of customers don’t trust ads. Years of scandals,

false promises, untasteful publicity stunts, and offensive content have
driven consumers to become highly skeptical of most marketing and
advertising mediums.
In (arguably) the most suspicious consumer climate in history, it can be

difficult for marketers to get their message across. Fortunately, word-of-
mouth tactics are among the oldest and most trusted means of spreading
information. That’s largely due to the social nature of people and the trust
that people place in those that are closest to them. In fact, 92 percent of
consumers trust referrals from friends and family over other media sources.
In order to infiltrate these referral conversions, there are a few things that
marketers need to do:
• Provide social proofing. This means that you need to spend less
time hawking your products or services and more time encouraging
satisfied customers and advocates to share their thoughts.
• Adopt a genuine voice. Ads playing on the latest meme trend
might be good for a laugh, but they won’t instill trust within your
target audience.
• Ensure that your promises are realistic. There is no room for major
discrepancies between your offer and your delivery.
2. Viral potential
Word-of-mouth marketing often behaves a lot like compound interest or even.

A brand says something, 10 people hear that message, those 10 people tell
five each, those 50 people tell another five, and so on and so forth.
Here’s what word-of-mouth strategies look like in action:
Source: Jason Clemens Media

In fact, the average US citizen will mention different brand names an
average of 60 times per week (primarily offline). Additionally, 66 percent
of these conversations are mostly positive, with only 8 percent being
deemed mostly negative. That means that each of those positive
conversations is an opportunity for your brand to spark a viral referral
network (as shown above).
3. Word-of-mouth drives purchases
Leads are great, but sales are better.
According to McKinsey, word-of-mouth marketing is the primary factor

behind 20-50 percent of all purchase decisions. This corresponds to
$6 billion dollars in annual expenditure that can be directly attributed
to word-of-mouth activities. This demonstrates that word-of-mouth
marketing is not only effective for generating leads, but it’s also one of
the highest converting channels. As a matter of fact, referral leads at
Vendasta (referral program, organic referrals, etc) have averaged a close
rate of 50% over the span of the company’s 12-year history.
4. Community
Word-of-mouth marketing naturally creates a more engaged fan-base.

And when you don’t just have customers, but you have fans—it becomes
much easier to build a community of loyalists around your brand.
Brand communities can be as simple as a pack of raving fans across a

breadth of social platforms and situations. Brand communities can be
physically enabled by groups and events (either online or offline). But,
regardless of the format, brand communities are of immense value to
the brands that they represent.
The community success equation is simple: Communities foster loyalty.

Loyalty leads to retention. Retention leads to revenue. In fact, Bain & Co
estimate that a 5 percent increase in customer retention can effectively
boost a company’s profitability by up to 75 percent.
The future of word-of-mouth marketing

To put it simply, the future of word-of-mouth marketing is more word-
of-mouth marketing. With greater ad fatigue than ever before, today’s
consumers have also grown more skeptical than ever before. This means
that marketers should focus heavily on the instigation of organic value
transfers—both on and offline.

1. More online word-of-mouth marketing
Othertimes referred to as viral marketing or buzz marketing, these

online word-of-mouth strategies are becoming imperative. Although
previous signals were that in-person word-of-mouth would make a major
comeback, Covid-19 has driven people back online. This means that
communities, groups, forums, and social media are resurging.
Some of the primary implications of online word-of-mouth include:

• The ability to better monitor branded conversations. Software like
Reputation Management allows brands to scan the entire web and
be informed whenever and wherever their brand is mentioned.
This allows brands to better understand their customers and
better engage in their conversations.
Source: Reputation Management
• Reviews and reputation are everything. When every stage of the

buyer’s journey is online, you need to ensure that you have a
digital reputation that you can be proud of and not one that will
deter future customers.
• More opportunity to spark conversations. This means that
deploying social media strategy aimed at creating viral sharing will
likely become even more effective than before.

2. Instigating referrals through experiences
One of the best ways to spark a viral referral chain is through branded
experiences. These experiences can be easily created through
traditional media tactics such as outdoor advertising and guerilla
marketing. Over the next decade, you should start to think about how
your brand might be able to better integrate experiential marketing into
a word-of-mouth strategy.
Check out how Netflix sparked conversation about the 6th season of Black
Mirror in Europe:
Source: Viral Loops
Check out outdoor advertising, guerrilla marketing, and other media

advertising strategies here.

3. Product-led growth
The most budding development in the word-of-mouth space is that

of product-led growth (PLG). PLG is a specific type of viral marketing
that focuses on creating powerful product experiences. The idea is
that the product experience is so fantastic, that acquisition, expansion,
conversion, and retention all become primarily driven by satisfied
users. Though this strategy was born in the software-as-a-service
(SaaS) space, it has been adapted and applied across a breadth of
other B2B industries.
The keys to creating a product-led strategy are:

• Making the user experience your first priority.
• Giving buyers all of the tools they need to self-educate, rather than
pushing sales collateral.
• Cross-functionally focussing on ways to make your product or
service the #1 lever. This means asking yourself these types
of questions: How can my product become our primary lead
magnet? How can my product become our top sales rep? How can
my product help customers to become successful?
PLG strategies naturally lend themselves to the creation of devout brand

advocates, and these are the people that are going to be willing to shout
your brand’s name from the rooftops.
This section will explore referral marketing strategies, business association

marketing, affiliate marketing, as well as product-led growth strategies.

7.1 Referral Marketing
Eighty-two percent of Americans seek recommendations from their
networks when considering a purchase.
Referral marketing is a strategy whereby you encourage passionate and

devoted customers/advocates to refer your business to their personal
networks. This is effectively the organic version of affiliate marketing.
Pros:
1. Great for big ticket items. If your product or service is a major

purchase decision, then a lone ad isn’t going to close the deal.
Prospects are likely to perform more research and consult people
that they trust. If your brand has a strong group of loyalists (both
on and offline), new prospects will easily find the reassurance they
need to help drive that purchase decision.
2. Great for B2B SaaS solutions. Platforms like Trello, Dropbox,
and Gmail have catapulted their growth with the use of referral
marketing. Under these models, ambassadors are generally
rewarded financially or with product discounts (similar to affiliate
marketing).
3. It conveys trust. Any word-of-mouth based program is always
going to have a major impact on purchase decisions. In fact, 91
percent of B2B purchases are influenced in some way by word of
mouth.
4. It’s low cost. A referral program operates on incentives (be
those two-way or one-way) which means that you’re essentially
just discounting new sales, so it requires no direct marketing
expenditure.
5. Referrals generate referrals. This type of program has a spider
web effect, whereby referred customers are more likely to become
advocates and ambassadors themselves.
6. It works. At Vendasta, partner referrals are our greatest revenue
generating lead generation program, by A LOT—check this chart.

Source: Vendasta
Cons:
1. Incentives weaken the referral. If peers of your ambassadors

find out that the referrer is being incentivized to provide referrals,
it can seriously weaken the intent of the referee.
2. Great solutions might already be generating serious
referrals. As we all know, you don’t need to be incentivized
to become a brand advocate, and if your offering is already
producing a large volume of advocates, a program like this might
actually serve to devalue your solution and weaken your referral
network.
3. It doesn’t work well if you serve a limited market. Consider
that your solution is a scheduling software, built specifically for
restaurants. Restaurant owners might be hesitant to refer your
solution to other restaurants in their market because your tech
might be a competitive advantage for them.
4. There are no guarantees. Certain marketing programs offer
predictable growth patterns, but referral marketing is not one of
those. You might generate a handful of referral leads one month
and 60 the next month.

How to launch a recurring referral program
Contests and giveaways can also be an effective short term referral

tactic; however, this section covers the steps that you will need to take to
launch a referral program that can be run year round.
1. Set goals
This is always an important step, even though referral programs tend

to be somewhat unpredictable in nature. Generally you will want to set
goals based on lead volume or revenue (though revenue is a lagging
indicator, so volume is likely a better metric).
2. Determine incentives
Incentives can be two-way or one-way. Two-way incentives provide both

the referrer and the recipient with discounts or cash incentives. One-way
incentives are directed to the referral partner alone. Best fit will depend
on your line of business and your customer base.
Next you will need to determine whether you want to offer discount
incentives or cash incentives. Both are effective, but a University
of Chicago study found that non-cash incentives are actually 24
percent more effective at boosting performance as compared to cash
alternatives. One of the easiest non-cash incentives you can offer is
account credits that can be applied to future business with you.
And lastly, you will need to determine a volume for the incentive. Is it a
percentage of the new business acquired? Is it a fixed rate? This will need
to be analyzed based on your industry of operation, and may need to be
broken out for different categories of referral partners.
3. Identify possible advocates
Advocates can stem from a variety of different sources:

• Who are your most passionate customers? These are the first
people that you want to short list as potential program candidates.
• Who are industry leaders that might be interested in talking
about you?
• Do you have influential peers that believe strongly in what your
business does?
• Do you have vendor relationships that could become more
mutually beneficial?

4. Create resources for referral partners
The larger the purchase decision, the more resources you will need to
provide referral partners with. Word-of-mouth is key, but prospects are
likely to want to do a little more research on their own.
Some of the best resources you can create include:

• Newsletters that can easily be subscribed to
• Active blog content
• Custom landing pages
5. Reach out
Unless your contact list is expansive, then you will want to make
outreach a very personalized step. If it is expansive, you may want to
deploy some automation software to help scale the process (ex. email
campaigns). Otherwise, you will want to identify the best time and
platform for outreach to each potential partner.
Then, pick up the phone, send that LinkedIn DM, send that text, book
that Zoom meeting—whatever you’ve gotta do.
6. Set up tracking
There are a few metrics that you have to be tracking:

• Who was referred, and who by
• Date and time
• Conversion or sale
• If sale, revenue potential
In order to best enable this, custom UTMs for referral partners are a
must. Additionally, you may want to explore a CRM to better enable
advanced tracking parameters (if you aren’t already using one).

7.2 Business Association Memberships
Business associations are local entities that operate on a membership
basis. These entities sell memberships and then provide their members
with various services and opportunities to interact and engage with
other businesses within their local markets.
Some of the most famous business associations in the US include:

• U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Community Groups
• The SBA’s SCORE Association
• Business Network International (BNI)
• The Local Chamber of Commerce
• The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)
Outside of nationally recognized organizations, there are also thousands

of localized industry and trade associations that might be even better
suited to your business.
Pros:
1. You have a local business audience. If you are predominantly

selling to businesses within a local setting, memberships to the
local area Chamber of Commerce and other organizations can be
a great way to build relationships with prospects and start a sales
conversation organically.
2. Attract talent. Most business organizations offer opportunities
for their members to speak at events, sponsor events, or even
host events. These are all great opportunities for businesses to
build a reputation within their communities, which can help to
serve a different kind of lead generation (attracting talent).
3. Sponsorship opportunities. If you are looking to leverage a
sponsorship strategy, local business organizations can unlock key
opportunities to sponsor business events that serve your target
market. For example, if you are a marketing agency, sponsoring a
local business awards event hosted by a Chamber of Commerce
could be a pristine opportunity to generate high intent leads.
4. Networking. Since most business organizations work on an
events basis, the same networking opportunities that apply to
conferences also apply here.
5. Partnerships. Marketing isn’t always about the sale. Business
organization memberships can help to foster relationships that might
unlock future partnerships that could drive marketing outcomes.

Cons:
1. Unseen costs. The majority of membership organizations either

have a fixed membership fee or else a tiered one based on company
size. These costs are generally quite affordable, but it’s the additional
costs of attending networking events and award ceremonies that can
make this an expensive avenue of lead generation.
2. Lost time. To get the most out of a business organization
membership, you need to drink the Kool-Aid. That might amount
to a few hours a week of lost time for members of your team.
3. Delayed ROI. Purchasing a membership and going to one
breakfast session is not going to generate new business for
your company. It’s going to take time and dedicated involvement
to generate leads, but these leads are going to be built on
foundations of trust and credibility.
4. Potential conflicts. The reality is that joining a local Chamber
might effectively park you in the same room as some of your top
competitors. It’s crucial that you and your team are ready and able
to manage these situations with poise.
How to build a membership marketing strategy
1. Research local organizations
The local Chamber is always a great place to start, but there might be
industry specific organizations within your community that might prove Bonus: Sponsor events
to be even better uses of your resources.
Pairing your association
2. Purchase a membership membership with a
sponsorship strategy can be
Most of the associations make it incredibly easy to become a member. highly effective. For example,
One call with a member services representative and you should be well most Chamber of Commerce
on your way. entities host annual business
award ceremonies to
3. Attend events and build relationships recognize local business
achievements. Not only can
The majority of these organizations communicate primarily through you apply for these awards,
email to advertise local events (breakfasts, lunch & learn sessions, etc). but putting your name in front
Attending these events can be a great opportunity to meet influential of this elite business audience
business people within your local market. Additionally, there may be can create a lot of interest for
opportunities for you to present at certain events which can build even your brand.
greater goodwill for your brand.

7.3 Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is essentially the process of generating income by
marketing another company’s products or services.
Here’s what the process looks like in action:
Source: BigCommerce
You’ve probably seen these types of promotions in the consumer goods

market, but how exactly does it work in the B2B space?
The answer?
Almost the exact same. In a B2B context, you need to think of affiliate
programs as paid referrals. B2B affiliates can be customers, brand
advocates or simply industry marketers looking to make a buck.

Pros:
1. It conveys trust. If your clients are SO satisfied with your offering

that they are willing to promote it to their networks, then they
obviously trust your product/service, and this trust is conveyed to
all of those that they share the message with.
2. Referrals work. At Vendasta, our partner referrals are our
leading revenue generation program, with external referrals
coming in second, and inbound calls coming in third. And affiliate
marketing is essentially paid referral marketing.
3. Expand reach outside of conventional markets. Your
customers might have access to markets that would otherwise be
inaccessible through direct marketing channels.
4. It’s low involvement. Unlike many organic programs, there is
almost zero legwork involved in launching an affiliate program
(other than affiliate screening).
5. You only pay per lead. Although affiliate rates tend to vary
substantially, they are all commission-based, meaning that you
only pay when a lead is generated or a sale is made. This makes
affiliate marketing one of the lowest risk avenues for you to
explore.
6. Quick returns. Most strong affiliates only need a couple months
to start generating leads for your business.
Cons:
1. Fraudulent affiliate activity. Some affiliates may attempt to

perform fraudulent behavior, like cookie stuffing, so it’s critical
that you perform in-depth reviews on all affiliate applicants and
consider using software to help better monitor affiliate behavior.
2. There’s a lot of noise. Currently, 81 percent of brands and 84
percent of publishers are leveraging affiliate marketing tactics,
contributing to a 6.8 billion dollar industry in the US alone.
3. Affiliate vetting. You want high-quality and relevant referrals,
that’s why it’s important that you don’t take on every affiliate with
an interest. You will want to investigate each affiliate’s website
and social platform, and even conduct introductory calls where
possible.

How to launch an affiliate marketing program
1. Decide if affiliate marketing is right for your business
Affiliate marketing might not be a good fit for your business if:
• You have small profit margins
• Your product or service is low cost or freemium
• Your customer lifetime is short
2. Do some competitive benchmarking
A great place to start is with your competitors. For example, if you’re a

software company, you might want to check out the affiliate programs
that competitors are running to see how they’ve structured their
commission, what rates they are offering, and even how they present
and market their program.
3. Determine your referral rate(s)
This rate should be directly tied to the lifetime value of your customers,
and can also be compared against the cost per lead (CPL) of other
programs.
A basic lifetime customer value can be derived with the following equation:
Source: Gunderson Direct
4. Build a landing page
With an affiliate program, you need a landing page where you can
direct traffic from promotional channels and present the benefits for
interested affiliates.

This doesn’t have to be anything too fancy, but important attributes
are earning potential, payout information, fit assessment, and
communication expectations.
Source: Vendasta Affiliate Program
4. Advertise your program
You’re going to want to use a combination of the various marketing

tactics and strategies outlined within this guide to promote your affiliate
program.
Some of the best channels for promoting an affiliate program include:

Bonus: Explore affiliate
• Organic social media so you can connect with existing clients and
opportunities for software
advocates
you already use
• Email if you have existing partner/client lists
• Targeted ad campaigns to industry influencers Looking to add an extra bump
to your existing revenue
streams? Consider becoming
5. Filter through applicants
an affiliate for the software
you already use. At Vendasta,
You likely won’t want to accept all of your affiliate applicants. However,
some of our top affiliates are
those you do accept will be entirely up to your discretion. Big brands
our customers.
like Twitch only accept noteworthy applicants and celebrities, but
most brands don’t quite have that luxury. You may want to filter your
Interested in becoming a
applicants by fit, following, and relationship.
Vendasta affiliate? Check out
our affiliate page here.
6. Pick your affiliates and let them sell!

7.4 Product-Led Growth (PLG)
Product-led growth is a simple principle which suggests that if you build
a great enough product, then the product itself will be both your best
salesperson and your best marketer. That’s not to say that the other
strategies in this guide are not valuable, because not every business can
easily create an insatiable in-product or in-service experience.
Sales-led companies focus on procuring customers the old fashioned

way, by investing resources into a sales team that moves buyers through
a purchase cycle. Marketing-led companies behave in a similar manner,
diverting more resources into marketing spend. On the other hand,
product-led companies focus on making a product so accessible, friction-
free, and so desirable, that users can’t help but try it, and then upgrade,
and then upgrade again, and the rest is history.
The Product Led Institute defines product-led growth as follows:
“Product-Led Growth is a life raft that will save you from the
flood of rising customer acquisition costs and decreasing
willingness to pay for your product. “
Here’s how that looks in action:
Source: Product Led Institute

In a product-led strategy, you must first understand the value that you
bring customers, then you need to clearly communicate that value, and
then you need to ensure that you can deliver on that value. This means
that there’s no such thing as “telling the truth in advance” with a PLG
strategy. Perceived value must equal in-product experienced value or
else your conversion rate will suffer the consequences.
Pros:
1. You have a product or service worth loving. This is the

BIG one. The reason that companies like Slack have been
tremendously successful is that they coupled a product-led
strategy with a game changing piece of software.
2. Paid marketing costs are on the rise. As of 2017, Facebook
was reporting a 171 percent increase in cost per thousand
impressions (CPM), a 20 percent increase for Twitter, and a
44 percent increase for LinkedIn. And those numbers have
continued to climb over the past three years.
3. Decrease cost of acquisition (CAC). A study by ProfitWell
determined that overall CACs have increased by over 55 percent
in the last five years.
4. Free trials and freemium are expected. As the market
for digital solutions continues to evolve, so have customer
expectations. If you can’t provide prospects with a means of
trying before they buy (whether you have a product or a service),
then they are more likely than ever to consider an alternative.
5. Widen the top of the funnel. Spend less time acquiring leads
and more time qualifying them. With a product-led strategy,
prospects can spend their time trying your product rather than
filling out demo forms and waiting for a sales rep to contact them.
6. Improve the user experience. Rather than pushing out your
marketing message, a product-led strategy enables you to do a little
less selling, allowing customers to come to you at their own pace.
Cons:
1. PLG isn’t one-size-fits-all. A perfectly executed PLG strategy

on the wrong product may amount to limited success. You have
to have a product or a service that’s truly worth loving, accessible,
and easy to use—especially for first time users.
2. Complex products don’t sell as well. Slack is often used as
the model for PLG because anyone (even your Grandma) can sign
up and figure out how to use the software. If your product is an
enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform like Oracle, then a

test-drive probably isn’t going to be enough to solicit a sale. For
complex products, great in-product onboarding becomes a crucial
step in implementing a product-led strategy.
3. Services are tricky. PLG is a growth strategy built for software
offerings and it isn’t perfectly transferable to other industries.
For example, if you’re a marketing agency, it might be difficult to
productify something like fulfilment services.
How to become PLG enabled with Vendasta
This might seem like a strategy that is out of reach unless you sell
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), or IaaS, or PaaS, or any-other-letter-of-the-
alphabet-as-a-service. But that’s not entirely true. Vendasta is enabling
B2B solution providers to adopt PLG strategies by leveraging our white-
label platform. Here’s how it works.
1. Experience PLG for yourself first
Vendasta allows anyone to create a free account (without credit card

commitment) so that you can get access to most of the platform and
explore some of the software functionality before you decide if you want
to take the conversation to the next level.
Source: Get Started with Vendasta

2. Explore the platform
Now is your chance to tell us what your main goal is with the Vendasta
Platform. Are you here to “Find new Products to sell”? Or to “Attract more
customers”? Let us know where you want to start, and we will guide your
experience. Want to achieve more than one of these goals? No worries,
you can always come back to this screen and start a new journey.
Click around and see what we’re all about. Discover products available
for resell, set up users, add accounts, configure a customizable
ecommerce store, start adding your branding, and more.
Source: Vendasta Partner Center

3. Experience express products
The best way for you to deliver a product-led experience to your

customers is through Vendasta’s express products. Express products
are Vendasta’s owned and operated solutions that each come with their
own client facing freemium experience.
Vendasta’s express portfolio includes the following solutions:

• Ecommerce websites
• Customer communication
• Reputation and reviews
• Online presence and SEO
• Social media management
• Email marketing tools
• Automated analytics
• And the ability to build your own express products
Additionally, you can start providing your clients with Local Business
Online Toolkits (LBOTs) on the free tier of the Vendasta platform. The
LBOT is a tailored solution set of express products that is designed to
enable your clients to start doing business online.
4. Upgrade to a partnership that suits you
To unlock unlimited toolkits and the full power of the Vendasta

platform, consider upgrading to a paid subscription. Vendasta offers
four subscription tiers as well as an enterprise partnership program
depending on your unique business needs.
Source: Vendasta Pricing

5. Build your client-facing Business App
Here is where you begin to differentiate yourself from others in the

market. Once you’ve configured all of your solutions as well as chosen
Vendasta express solutions, then: pick, price, and package new solutions
from the suite of 100+ apps and services available for resale through
the Vendasta Marketplace. Offer great products like WooCommerce and
WordPress enabled ecommerce, G Suite, Microsoft 365, Listing Sync Pro
(powered by Yext), and hundreds more.
The Vendasta Business App is where you build your prospect facing PLG
experience. The Business App is home to:
• Configurable (and automated) reporting dashboards
• Your digital storefront, filled with all of the products and services you offer
• Access to all of their products and services through an integrated
user interface
• Billing and invoicing functionality
Source: Vendasta Business App
6. Adjust your messaging
This step is critical. Once you’ve refabbed your offering, you need to
refab the way you present it to prospects as well.
Key changes will include:

• Optimizing CTAs to be more focussed on either product 7. Dominate your market
interactions or finding further information.
• Adjust demo buttons to be more trial focussed or contain “get The last step is to take
started for free” actions. your new offering and
new messaging to market
• Change messaging to be more value-based and less sales-based. and begin to crush the
You need to think of your website less as a sales mechanism and competition.
more as an information mechanism.

Lead Generation
Traditional Advertising
#ConquerLocal
8. Traditional
Advertising
What is traditional advertising?
Traditional advertising can be defined as all forms of non-digital media
marketing. This includes outdoor advertising, radio advertising, TV
advertising, print advertising (ex. magazines), public advertising (ex.
sponsorships), as well as guerilla marketing.
Source: McDonald’s

Some of the key characteristics of traditional advertising programs include
the following:
• They are non-digital (with the exception of TV which falls
somewhere in the middle).
• They are predominantly top-of-the-funnel tactics.
• They utilize mass-market strategy as opposed to segmentation
and hyper-targeting.
• They aim to stimulate sensory engagement from consumers.
• They are generally flashy and attention grabbing by nature.
Why is traditional advertising

important?
There is a common perception that traditional media has become less
effective in the face of digital alternatives. That’s not true. As a result of
shifting perceptions and increased digital advertising spends, strategic
usage of traditional media can often drive greater lead generation
outcomes at a lower budget than some digital or online alternatives.
1. Top-of-the-funnel traction
According to the American Marketing Association, traditional advertising

is actually more effective than social media advertising in stimulating
brand awareness and driving consideration. Social media was also
proven to positively impact these variables, just to a lesser degree.
Additionally, the study found that traditional advertising tactics lead to

an increase in social sharing and more positive brand engagements.
Therefore, when used in conjunction with digital media formats,
traditional advertising is a powerful awareness generator and has an
indirect impact on brand preference and new customer acquisition.
2. Digital virality
Traditional advertising is inherently non-digital in nature, but digital media

has made it possible for great media advertising to achieve viral coverage
on digital platforms.

For example, TV-first ads can earn massive sharing potential when they
are also posted on digital video platforms such as YouTube. This ad by
the Dollar Shave Club generated 12,000 new orders within the first 48
hours it was aired.
Another great example of traditional advertising earning viral traction

was the billboard ad that BBC created to promote their Dracula show.
In just one week, the time lapse video of the billboard transforming
from seemingly random stakes, to a vampire’s shadow amassed over
seven million views on social media, and was additionally mentioned in
over 40 articles.
Source: Talon Outdoor

3. Emotional appeal
One of the most powerful aspects of traditional advertising is the sensory

appeal that can be created through more tangible mediums. Digital
advertising formats rely primarily on visual stimuli, but traditional formats
can evoke different emotional responses.
Here are a few examples:

• Radio is audio first, provoking listeners to use their imaginations to
visualize product and service experiences.
• TV is a powerful mashup of audio and video and presents a
pristine opportunity to do some storytelling.
• Magazines and print are both physical objects as well as visual
stimuli. Some publishers even integrate scented components to
their magazine ads which can increase audience engagement
further.
What is the future of traditional

advertising?
Media advertising isn’t the bustling business that it once was, but industry
contraction and new technologies are presenting a certain degree of
opportunity for affluent and interested advertisers.
1. Richer data
The greatest challenge facing remaining traditional media outlets

is that of accountability. Most traditional channels are unable to
replicate the measurability and pure richness of data that is available
on digital channels. And data is critical as it helps marketers make
more informed decisions.
Enriching the tracking potential of traditional media formats is no small

feat—but there are budding developments in the space.
• Here are a couple of the most interesting developments in
traditional media today:
• Retina tracking with billboards. JWT and JCDecaux partnered to
create a campaign for the Jetstar airline. In this campaign, they
used eye tracking technology above the billboards to determine
which destinations billboard viewers were most interested in
traveling to.

• A/B test ads on TV. Brightline is a TV ad company that has been
experimenting with A/B testing TV ads (similar to how it’s done on
digital formats) to identify top performers. They have also been
experimenting with question based ads and the speculation is that
they are working towards the development of a “choose your own
adventure” style TV ad delivery.
If technologies like this can continue to enrich the data that can be
derived from traditional media, then marketers will be able to
2. Decline
Traditional media is in a state of decline, that is a fact. Here is a chart

visualizing the breakdown of various advertising expenditures as a
percentage of total market expenditure over the past decade.
Source: Statista
As you can see, digital media continues to grow in prevalence, while

many traditional mediums, such as directories and newspapers, are
quickly fading out of the frame. As a matter of fact, U.S. print newspaper
revenue has dropped more than 75 percent since 2000, and 32
percent of marketers believe that traditional paid advertising tactics are
the most overrated.

That being said, this decline isn’t necessarily a bad thing for advertisers, as it
also introduces a degree of opportunity:
• Less traditional competition means more ad slots for interested
advertisers. Where it used to be impossible to get prime-time TV
ad placements, many networks now have vacancies.
• Stagnant and declining advertising costs. Where many digital
marketers have witnessed the increased cost of Facebook ads,
most traditional channels have stagnated in price or are currently
in a state of decline. For example, the cost of U.S. print advertising
has dropped 6 percent since 2016.
Media advertising tactics remain among the most effective awareness

generators available to marketers. This section will explore strategic briefs on
radio, TV, magazine, outdoor, sponsorship, and guerilla marketing strategies.

8.1 Radio Ads
Before television, radio was a central source of entertainment, culture,
and, accordingly, advertising exposure. Radio was one of the leading
authorities on music and popular culture throughout the latter half of
the Twentieth Century. Today, it’s often considered somewhat less viable
than other lead generation options, but the medium continues to be
effective when approached properly. Here are some steps to get the
most out of the outreach that radio can offer.
Pros:
1. Cost. The cost of radio ads can vary widely depending on time-
slot and frequency, but with some research and a cooperative
station, you can likely find a cost-effective radio campaign for the
scale of your business.
2. Short lead times. Unlike TV counterparts, you can likely phone up
a local radio station and have an ad running within a week or two.
3. Creativity. As an audio-only medium, radio has both limitations
and opportunities. With radio, you’re less limited, creatively, than
you are by the budget and logistic restrictions of television, for
instance. Ultimately, radio listeners are often more receptive to
clear, informative ads than they are to imaginative scenarios—not to
mention the dreaded “two-person conversation” radio ad format.
Cons:
1. It’s audio only. Selling a service can be simple in words, but if you
have a physical B2B product, it may be hard to position without a
visual component. That’s why most radio ads you hear are service
focussed.
2. It’s local. Radio is a great platform to engage with B2B purchasers,
but radio is also limited by its locality. If you serve clients across
a large region, you may have a hard time finding a broadcast
company with audience alignment, as well as the stations and
reach to satisfy your desires, which can make radio a complex buy.
3. Clutter/competition. If you’ve listened to the radio during peak
hours recently, you’ve likely noticed that the ad volume is pretty
substantial. It can be hard to find the best time to optimize your
reach while minimizing ad overload with listeners.

How to launch a radio ad campaign
Pick a format
If you’re advertising in your local market, start by picking a station, or

group of stations, whose format(s) fit your target demographics. This
shouldn’t be too difficult as the formats should align closely with any
marketing personas you’ve already developed. For instance, if you’re
addressing a younger demographic, go with a pop station; for an older
audience, go with a news and talk station. Those are just a few examples.
Call the station
Radio sales reps are waiting by phones all day for a business like yours to
call and will be more than happy to get you started on a campaign. If you
start the process of creating and running radio ads yourself, the assigned
salesperson will want to bring you in for a meeting as soon as possible.
Book a meeting
After you’ve been in contact with a station and its sales reps, you’ll likely be
booked into a meeting or two for your ad’s creative development. These
meetings will probably feature a creative director and one or two copywriters
who will take the main points you want to make with your ad and express
them in radio-friendly copy that’s suitable for their voice artists.
At the same time, you’ll be taking the first steps to figure out which time
slots—and the associated price range—is right for you.
Make sure you’re happy with the ad
You’ll be in contact with the station’s creative team to discuss the script’s
details and will probably receive a recorded and produced test version of
the ad within a week or so. After a round or two of revisions, you’ll have
an ad ready for radio traffic.
If you would like to write and voice your own commercials, many radio
stations will make this possible and book you into their production
studios for a voicing session.
Monitor your ad and its success
Traditional media outlets, like radio, are often measured by traditional

results such as increased sales (ideally), more foot traffic, and simple
instances of “Hey, I heard your ad!”. These are all certainly helpful—and
the station(s) you advertise with will be very intent on hearing this kind
of old-school ROI—but they do leave something to be desired in the way
of modern, actionable metrics. Ultimately, radio is more effective when
backed up and monitored using complementary digital solutions.

8.2 TV Ads
Unless you’re a very young entrepreneur, you grew up in the second half
of the Twentieth Century and TV advertising has, in all likelihood, been
a significant part of your media and advertising awareness. Although TV
ads might not have the power and draw they once had (for reasons listed
below), the medium still has the creative capacity and outreach to make a
significant impact on your marketing success.
Pros:
1. Trust. In the B2B space, trust is everything, and TV ads convey a

greater degree of trust than most other traditional platforms.
2. Emotional appeal. We’ve all seen the emotional Procter &
Gamble ads, or any one of the number of empowering Nike ads.
There is no doubt that TV ads have the potential to cut deep and
drive real buyer influence.
3. It’s a household favorite. Consumers are accustomed to TV ads,
and though these ads have become a low involvement medium,
most consumers still prefer TV ads over the other traditional
alternatives.
4. National campaign potential. With something like a billboard
purchase, you are only going to reach a localized market. TV allows
you to reach across the country if your offering has a high retail
reach or is ecommerce enabled.
Cons:
1. Cost. TV ads are expensive in both ad space as well as production.

Costs vary dramatically based on channels, providers, and time
slots, but the average cost is $115,000 for a 30 second national ad
airing.
2. Difficult to localize. In contradiction to radio ads that can be
difficult to reach outside of local parameters, TV ads can present
issues if you need to isolate to a local market. If your B2B audience
is local, TV ads won’t be an efficient allocation of resources.
3. Involvement. The first TV ad aired in the mid-fifties. Over the
past half-century, TV consumers have grown very accustomed to
ignoring commercials.
4. DVR. In the current era of cable TV, a huge portion of viewers
record a program, watch it later, and completely skip over the
commercials.

How to launch a TV ad campaign
1. Refine positioning
Before you even begin to shop networks or agencies that might be able
to create your ad, you need to get real serious about your positioning.
You likely have a strong understanding of your ideal customers and
where your offering sits with respect to them. BUT, do you know
what TV channels they watch and what shows they watch on those
channels? These are crucial questions to both answer and understand
with respect to your positioning before you move forward in the TV
advertising process.
2. Find the right ad agency
Creating a TV ad is an art and most companies lack the internal expertise

to do great TV work without any outside assistance. For that reason, most
companies should at least consult with a creative agency that specializes
in TV ad creation.
Here are some steps to help you track down the right agency:
1. Do some research. Consult review sites and other listicles to
identify top contenders in the market.
2. Try to shortlist local agencies. TV ads are often production
intensive work, and it can be difficult to work with an agency that is
halfway across the country.
3. Interview agencies. Build a set of selection criteria and use these
to assess various creative candidates to determine the best fit for
your business.
Here are some of those criterion you should keep in mind as you assess
agency candidates:
• Fit. First and foremost, you should feel a sense of cultural
alignment between the agency and your company as well as your
desired outcomes.
• Experience. Most agencies have a bit of a niche, or at least an area
of expertise. By assessing past work, you can get a pretty strong
gauge for whether the agency in question will be a good candidate
for your project.
• Results. At the end of the day, you want to partner with an agency
that has a proven track record of success.

3. Find your big idea
The first step in creating your ad is determining the big idea. Every great
TV ad has a big idea. The big idea is the primary value proposition or
primary message that you want viewers to take away from the ad.
Here are some big ideas that you might be familiar with:
• “The best men can be.” This was the message in a series of
controversial ads that were created by Gillette that address
the bullying, sexism, misconduct, and harassment that have
long been a part of toxic masculine Western male culture. The
campaign challenges men to take action and stand up for values
that truly matter. Though this campaign was met with much
criticism, it is undoubtedly one of the most prominent “big ideas”
over recent years.
Source: Plugged In
• “Stay thirsty, my friends.” You might recognize this one as the

decades old slogan for Dos Equis beer. These popular ads feature
“the most interesting man alive” partaking in a variety of daring
adventures and exploits, and sipping the occasional beer.
• “Got milk?” This legendary ad focussed on the detrimental effects
of a life without milk.
These are just a few of the big ideas that have driven massive outcomes for
the brands that they have served.

4. Write your script
You’ve got your idea, now it’s time to start thinking about execution. The
first step is creating a script. We’ve all seen thousands of TV ads over
our lives, and we all have a loose idea as to the tone, pacing, and style
that make great ads. That being said, executing a big idea in as little
as 30 seconds (and a maximum of two minutes) is usually a lot harder
than you think.
Here are some top considerations as you write your TV ad script:

• Brevity. Keep your sentences short and punchy and avoid using
waste words such as: basically, much, so, etc.
• Video requires more time. You aren’t going to be able to squeeze
as many words into a TV ad as you might be able to in a radio ad.
You need to be conscientious of allowing enough time for acting
and execution.
• Clarity. There should be no doubt what the viewer is supposed to
take from the ad. Are you simply trying to generate awareness with
a creative product message? Are you trying to direct viewers to
your website? Make your message and CTA clear.
• The eyes closed test. If you close your eyes and listen to your ad
script, does it still make sense? TV viewers often do other things
on commercial breaks, so you should design a message that is still
effective with audio alone.
5. Produce your ad
Now it’s time to shoot your ad. This is where having the right creative
agency and production equipment is invaluable. A great agency should
not only guide you through shooting and editing, but also help you fine
tune your script and make your big idea truly come to life.
Here are some of the most important production factors:

• Timing. You purchase ad slots in 30 second segments, so ensure
that your timing is precise—there is no leeway in this department.
• Location. Where do you plan on shooting your content? In an
office or workplace? On the street? In a home? Will you need to
book space and hire actors to make this happen?

• AV alignment. Audio and video need to work in complete harmony
for your ad to be effective. If you’re talking about a product, make
sure it’s in the shot while you’re talking about it.
• CTA. Companies like Pepsi and Nike can afford to pour millions of
dollars into branding ads—you probably cannot. That means that
you should focus on instigating action. Strong TV CTAs include: visit
us today (+ location), call now, order now, purchase online at _, etc.
6. Schedule your ad
The first step in scheduling your ad is determining your network. If you

have a men’s grooming product, ESPN might be a great network for you
to target. Alternatively, if you have a local marketing agency, a local news
station might be a better fit for your brand.
Once you’ve determined your network, you will need to choose a

timeslot. The men’s grooming product might be most effective at 7pm
local time, whereas the local marketing agency might be more effective
at 7am or 9pm. You will also need to outline a desired frequency. This
should be specified in ads per hour as well as a desired timespan that
you want to air the ad for.
The final scheduling consideration should be pricing. Once you’ve identified

viable networks and possible ad slots, you will want to compare prices and
reach potential to determine the best fit based on your budget.
7. Measure success
TV ads are among the most difficult to directly measure beyond reach.
The network you are working with should be able to provide you with
statistics on viewership as well as a rating point measure.
Beyond that, there are a few ways to drive greater attribution:

• Custom offers. By using certain discount codes, vanity URLs, or
custom landing pages, you can track traffic that is coming direct
from ad viewership or referrals from ad viewership.
• Monitor total website traffic surrounding ad airtime. If your ads
are referring to a website, then they should drive a spike in traffic
surrounding the hours that they are airing. This can be tracked in
Google Analytics.
• Custom segments in Google Analytics. If you are targeting a
specific segment of your market, then you should be able to
filter based on that market within Google Analytics to monitor for
spikes in traffic.

8.3 Magazine Ads
Magazines may seem like a thing of the past, but there are still 7,218
magazines being published in the United States alone. In fact, since 2012,
there has actually been an increase in overall magazine readers (see
below).
Number of magazine readers in the United States from 2012 to 2018
Source: Statista
Much of this increase can be attributed to digital magazine sources

like Apple News (formerly Texture) as well as magazine sales through
Amazon Prime and other digital newsstands. With the ads in these digital
magazines becoming more creative and interactive, the medium is
evolving all the time.
Pros:
1. Targeting. With most traditional advertising options, targeting

is fairly limited. But, with magazine placements, you are able to
target potential customers based on psychographic preferences
(through your choice of magazine placement). You can also choose
magazines based on their local or national nature depending on
your target audience.

2. Sensory appeal. With a radio or audio advertisement, you
can only appeal to one sense. However, with a magazine
advertisement, you are placing a physical object in the hands of
your prospect, adding a visual component, and could even go so
far as to add a scented component to your ad—if you really want
to get creative.
3. High audience attention. People rarely stumble across a
magazine in 2020. The reality is that magazine subscriptions are
built on high interest which leads to a highly engaged reader.
4. Sales promotion opportunities. It might seem old school, but
depending on your line of business, you could attach coupons or
other promotional fixtures to your magazine ad which encourages
prospects to take the next step in the buyer’s journey.
Cons:
1. Limited narrative. Unlike TV and radio where you have an

opportunity to tell a story surrounding your offering and/or your
brand, a magazine ad is like a snapshot at a point in time. This
can be problematic for complex product or service offerings. For
example, if you are advertising a
2. Long lead times. Unlike radio ads which offer rapid turnaround,
magazine ads are much slower. You have to find the right
magazine, purchase an available ad slot in an upcoming issue,
solicit design work, wait for distribution, and then your lead
generation will begin.
How to launch a magazine ad campaign
1. Define advertising objectives
What are you trying to achieve and at what stage of the buyer’s journey?
These are the questions that you need to answer before you launch a
magazine campaign. Generally speaking, magazine ads are most effective
at influencing the earlier stages of the buyer’s journey.
More specifically, these are some of the best B2B magazine ad objectives:
• Generating awareness. Magazines can be a great way to generate
new awareness by reaching new markets. When researching
possible magazines, consider the audience variables that each
presents and use these to help you choose an outlet that will
produce optimal new awareness.

• Launching a new product or service. If you know that your
audience aligns with readership of a certain magazine, then
running some ad sets to promote new product/service offerings
can be a great way to incite interest.
• Seasonal pushes. Magazines are published on regular cadences,
which makes them the ideal platform for seasonal offers.
2. Identify what you want to promote
Are you promoting a specific product or service? Are you promoting your
brand as a whole? Are you a B2C company? Are you a B2B company?
These are all critical questions to have answered before you begin
shopping for magazines so that you can ensure that you are picking a
destination that best aligns with your offer.
3. Choose your magazine(s)
This is the most important step of the magazine advertising process, as

each magazine generally has a very distinct readership. In choosing your
magazine, you are subsequently choosing your target audience, your
budget, and more.
Here’s how to decide on the right magazine:

1. Research. You know your audience. Use the same “interest”
variables that you might be using to segment audiences on paid
social to start researching industry publications. For example, if
you are a marketing agency that serves a lot of restaurants, you
likely have clients who are interested in cooking magazines. From
there you might determine that EatingWell or Bon Appetit are top
candidates for your consideration.
2. Download media kits. Media kits are what magazines produce to
help advertisers educate themselves on the audiences that the
publication caters to.
Source: Bon Appetit Media Kit 2020

3. Assess alternatives. Potential magazines should be assessed
based on pricing, publish frequency, and audience parameters.
From here, you can determine the best fit for your brand.
4. Purchase ad slot(s)
Once you’ve determined your preferred magazine, you will need to

decide on the size and frequency of your ad delivery which will then
inform your cost.
Source: Eat Magazine Media Kit 2020
5. Construct your creative
With many magazines, the publisher will actually provide you with
professional design services if you desire. Though this can be an easy
way to ensure a quick campaign turnaround, I recommend that you
either produce design internally or outsource the work to an agency.
The reason I say this is because relying on the publisher’s design team
generally leads to more generic ad creation. If you want something that’s
truly going to stand out in the crowd, looking externally is wise.

Here are a few things to keep in mind with magazine creative:
• Clear and concise copy. Generally speaking, less text is more in
the magazine ad world. That means that you need to convey your
message in just a few words.
• Don’t be afraid of white space. White space can be a powerful tool
to highlight text, accentuate graphics, and also make your ad easy
for the reader to digest.
• Include compelling imagery. Product graphics, illustrations with
people, and vibrant colors are powerful tools for acquiring reader
attention.
• Include a call to action. Direct readers to your website or
elsewhere so long as it aligns with the copy that you’ve included in
the ad.
• Include additional contact information. This is particularly
important if you are advertising in a local magazine. You will want
to make sure that viewers can easily find you.
• Be unique. How could you style your ad so that it looks unlike
anything else that might appear in the magazine?
6. Measure performance
Like most traditional media formats, it’s often difficult to generate precise
attribution from magazine ads.
That being said, here are a few variables that you can track:
• Distribution. The publisher will be able to provide you with the
number of issues that are distributed via direct mail, and the
volume of issues that are sold via retail.
• Promo codes and unique offers. Pairing your campaign with
custom promo codes or unique offers can be a great way to
attribute the leads that you generate.
• Vanity URLs and custom landing pages. If you direct traffic to
through a UTM’d link or to a campaign specific landing page, then
you will be able to directly gauge ad related traffic and subsequent
actions taken.
• QR codes. If you have a large enough ad slot, you could consider
baking a QR code into your ad as a means of enticing immediate
action and easily tracking those activities.

8.4 Outdoor Ads
Simply put, outdoor advertising includes everything that consumers are
exposed to outside of their homes or businesses.
Outdoor advertising encompasses:

• Billboards: traditional, digital, bulletin boards, mobile billboards, etc.
• Transit: cab, bus, boat, train, subway, etc.
• Street furniture: bus shelters, kiosks, benches, parking garages,
bathrooms, etc.
• Ambient or guerrilla style advertising also falls under this category
Here are some world-class examples of outdoor advertising:
1. Regional Environmental Awareness
Source: Smashing Hub
2. Adidas: Petr Cech
Source: Smashing Hub

3. Hot Wheels
Source: Digital Synopsis
4. Copenhagen Zoo
Source: Digital Synopsis
Outdoor advertising can be an important medium in the B2B space. It

is not a medium that will drive bottom-of-funnel activity, but it can be a
highly effective awareness generator.

Pros:
1. Wide audience reach. If you purchase an outdoor ad, your

primary audience metric will be reach. That being said, segmenting
your viewership becomes much more complicated with outdoor
advertising.
2. Intrusivity. This may seem like a drawback, but it really isn’t.
Consumers cannot simply skip your advertisement after 5
seconds. They can choose their involvement to an extent, but
certain subconscious processes will always be at play with outdoor
advertising.
3. Memorability. As you saw above, if done well, outdoor ads can
be unforgettable.
4. Locality. For B2B companies that primarily operate within a local
context, outdoor advertising can be very powerful. For example,
if you are a local marketing agency, you can likely rent a billboard
that is a couple blocks away from your front steps, and that
billboard might translate directly to prospect walk-ins.
5. Frequency. If you rent a billboard in a high-traffic area, you are
likely to affect the same commuters every single day. Few other
advertising platforms can deliver this level of audience interaction.
6. Cost. Naturally, advertising costs vary dramatically based on
location (and traffic volumes).
Cons:
1. Waste. With an outdoor ad placement, you are effectively

reaching every set of eyeballs that comes into contact with that
ad. Though location can provide some segmentation, most
outdoor ads offer little in the way of targeting and will be subject to
substantial waste.
2. Wearout. Unlike a Facebook ad that will continue to target new
people and only provide a certain volume of impressions per
person, outdoor ads can accumulate far more impressions. That’s
why rotating ad content and locations is key to the success of
outdoor ad placements.
3. Complicated media purchase. Who owns the ad slot on that
bus stop? How do I get in contact with them? When is that bus
stop going to be available? Are there other bus stops that boast
a similar volume of impressions? What are the media design
parameters? There are a lot of elements at play with most outdoor
ad purchases which can make these purchases complex.

How to launch an outdoor ad campaign
1. Conduct a deep exploration of your target audience
Outdoor advertising or out-of-home (OOH) advertising is arguably the

most difficult lead generation tactic to target, so it’s critical that you have
a deep understanding of your target audience—and think about your
target audience in a different way.
For example, one of your primary consumer demographics might be

upper middle class new york businesspeople. But, now you need to ask
yourself, are these people that travel via cab or via subway? Because the
answer to that question will help inform your ad destination.
Additional audience questions to ask yourself include:

• Where does my target audience work?
• What are the commuting patterns of my target audience?
• What does my target audience do for leisure?
• Where does my target audience live?
The answers to these questions can help you approximate the various
commuting patterns of your audience so that you can choose ad
placements that fall within those parameters.
2. Set an objective
OOH advertising is primarily a top-of-the-funnel tactic, therefore,

so should your objectives. Most OOH ads are designed to generate
awareness or to incite product interest so that viewers will take their
information search online. A sample objective for an OOH campaign
might be to increase organic website traffic by 25% over one month.
3. Choose your location
Using the commuting patterns determined in step one, you should look
to cross-reference local OOH advertisers with placements that fall within
your desired commuting channels. Another important consideration is
the nature of your business. For example, if you are advertising a store
within the downtown area, then placing a billboard along major roadways
that head downtown would be an advisable strategy.

4. Produce your creative
OOH advertising creative is a little different than most other traditional

advertising mediums.
Here are some tips for better outdoor advertising creative:

• Make them interactive. The more that viewers engage with your ad,
the more memorable it will become. For example, McDonald’s has
been known for creating digital billboard ads that are interactive
games that viewers can play for a reward.
Source: YouTube
• Make them functional. Brands like IBM have popularly created

billboards that double as shelter due to the shape of them and the
overhang that they create.
• Give them depth. BBC’s promotion of their Dracula series
leveraged stakes and strategically positioned lights to create the
shadow of a vampire’s face, but only after dark.
These are just a few examples of how other advertisers have driven
increased impact with OOH ads. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try
new tactics with your outdoor ad campaigns.

5. Measure results
There are a couple ways that you can measure outdoor advertising results:
• Web traffic. If awareness is your primary objective and your ad
is well done, then there should be a spike in website traffic to
correspond with the air time of your outdoor ad. This can be
tracked in Google Analytics.
• Hashtags. Leveraging an outdoor ad to drive social media
engagement can be a great way to create and measure buzz as
you can easily track the number of times a hashtag has been used
on all of the major social media platforms.
• Promo codes and unique offers. Campaign specific promo codes
and offers are a great tactic for measuring campaign conversions.
• Custom URLs and landing pages. You could also direct outdoor
ads to unique UTMs or landing pages so that you can more directly
gauge the volume of new traffic that your ad is soliciting.

8.5 Sponsorship
Sponsorship marketing is when your business or brand funds an event
or organization with the goal of mutual benefit. You receive positive
publicity, and the event/organization receives valuable funding from you.
Pros:
1. Generate awareness. Sponsoring a local foodie event might

not push prospects to pick up the phone and call your financial
services firm, but it might push your name into their consideration
set for future needs.
2. Foster brand associations. When sponsoring an event, team,
individual, or otherwise, you are aligning your brand with the
values of that entity. That’s why brands like Adidas and Nike heavily
sponsor and support the Fifa World Cup.
3. Build goodwill within your community. If you are operating within
a local context, then sponsorships can serve to help you strengthen
your image by demonstrating your support for local happenings.
4. Relationship building. As a bit of an extension on the goodwill
piece, sponsoring business events or awards ceremonies can be a
powerful mechanism for sparking business relationships.
Cons:
• Audience misalignment. If your target audience is not a part of

the crowd of the event or the fans supporting the team, then you
are effectively burning advertising dollars. In order to combat this,
your team should perform a sentiment analysis to ensure that you
are minimizing waste.
• Potential controversies. Dare I mention Fyre Festival? Or
maybe Lance Armstrong’s admission of guilt in using performance
enhancing drugs? These are not the images that brands want to
be associated with, and this is one of the risk that all brands take
when pursuing sponsorship marketing.

How to launch a sponsorship campaign
1. Identify local events
Firstly, you will want to start by researching local events.
Some of the best places to shop events are:

• Your local tourism page
• Ticket pages like Eventbrite and Ticketmaster
• Events pages run by your municipality
2. Shortlist events that cater to your target market
There is no science to this part of the process, you simply have to use
your discretion to identify events where your target demographic might
be in attendance.
For example, if you’re a marketing agency, sponsoring a local grunge

band likely isn’t going to be the best way to reach local business owners.
Alternatively, sponsoring a KidSport event might be a great way to put
your name in front of a ton of local business owners.
3. Reach out
Most events have to work hard to secure sponsors, so if you are actively
reaching out, most event coordinators will be delighted to hear from you.
From here, you simply need to negotiate your sponsorship package, and
make the investment.

8.6 Guerilla Marketing
Defined by Investopedia,
“Guerrilla marketing is a marketing tactic in which a company uses

surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a
product or service. Guerrilla marketing is different than traditional
marketing in that it often relies on personal interaction, has a
smaller budget, and focuses on smaller groups of promoters that are
responsible for getting the word out in a particular location rather
than through widespread media campaigns.”
You may better understand guerilla marketing as pop-up shops, sidewalk

art, temporary outdoor fixtures, provocative bus/train advertisements,
experiential shops, and pop-up events. Guerilla marketing is essentially
outdoor advertising taken to the next level by encouraging audience
engagement and interaction.
It’s basically what marketing would look like if Banksy was running the show.
Here are some world-class examples of guerilla marketing:
1. Nike Run Ad
Source: My Modern Met

2. Folgers
Source: Creative Pool
Pros:
1. Low cost. “Guerilla” implies the fact that the campaign is being
done on a reduced or minimal budget. This is made possible by
the fact that guerilla campaigns are generally localized and meant
to create a greater depth of experience rather than a particular
volume of experiences.
2. High impact. Guerilla campaigns target customer emotions, and
brands that stimulate emotions generate three times the word-
of-mouth reach as brands that do not. Additionally, 90 percent
of customers are more likely to buy from a brand that they have
been referred to from people they know and trust.
3. Positive impact. Unlike many other media formats that can be
too intrusive and invoke low involvement audience responses,
guerilla campaigns are often well received, highly memorable, and
serve to reinforce positive brand attributes (if done well).

4. Audience interaction. Many guerilla marketing formats
encourage the audience to actively engage or participate with your
brand. Pop-up shops/events and experiential outdoor fixtures
often drive consumers to participation, which can accelerate the
buyer’s journey substantially.
5. Viral potential. With a smartphone in every hand, guerilla
marketing campaigns have grown increasingly impactful as a single
physical location can quickly become an international sensation.
Cons:
1. The risk of a negative response. Guerilla marketing strategies

can easily (and often do) backfire, which can lead to negative press,
fines, and immeasurable damage to your business’s reputation.
2. Measuring success. Once again, attribution is a major blocker
with guerilla strategies. This is particularly so if your company is
leveraging multiple lead generation tactics at any given time. For
example, an uptick in website traffic and organic demos could
be the result of a guerilla tactic, or it could be the result of the
influencer campaign you just launched.
3. Diluting the message. B2B offerings are generally much more
complex than their B2C counterparts which can make it more
difficult to convey a message in a simple and engaging manner. As
a result, oversimplification of your message can become a factor,
leading prospects to develop misconceptions about your offering.
How to launch a great guerilla marketing campaign
1. Start brainstorming
Originality is the primary success factor when it comes to launching a

guerilla campaign. You need to come up with something that is going
to jar viewers—something that’s never been done before. However,
this “something” also needs to clearly map back to your brand and
your offering.
2. Think low-budget
Guerilla marketing was born out of low to no-budget marketers trying to

make a big impact. Although most modern campaigns still come at a cost,
you should always try to think of ways that you can minimize that cost.

3. Pick a location
Next to the actual idea, location is the most important consideration for
guerilla campaigns.
The best locations are:

• High traffic
• Easily accessible
• Disruptive
4. Acquire necessary permissions
One thing that folks often forget is that you can’t just go out and paint a
flight of subway stairs or setup a pop-up shop in downtown New York
without those activities being green lighted by the local municipality.
5. Execute it flawlessly
Guerilla marketing is not like digital advertising where you can continually
tweak and optimize your campaign. With a guerilla program, you have
one shot to create a ton of buzz, and then you disappear.
Poor execution can damage your reputation. Amusement is your goal,

but you do not want to go through with it if you risk offending people or
breaking the law.

Lead Generation
Hiring a
Lead Generation Company
#ConquerLocal
9. Hiring a Lead
Generation Company
Sometimes it isn’t worthwhile to expend the time or resources required
to pursue certain marketing outcomes. Sometimes it’s easier to
outsource work to a specialized team, and that’s where lead generation
companies come in.
Pros:
1. Unlock new expertise. Internal marketing teams are often

forced to become marketing generalists. In other words, they
are expected to become experts in website, SEO, copywriting,
paid ads, and more.These generalists are great assets to your
teams, but there are people that make a career in pay-per-click
advertising, and there is no substitute for that depth of knowledge
and experience.
2. Get more out of internal resources. You are likely leveraging a
CRM like Salesforce or Hubspot, but you are more than likely not
using it to its fullest potential. By hiring an external agency to assist
you in your lead generation efforts, you may uncover new ways to
leverage the software that you are already paying for.
3. Shorten the sales cycle. By adding some external horsepower
to your lead generation efforts, you can be sure to accelerate your
lead gen process and (subsequently) your sales process.
4. Inject new ideas. Sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective
to come up with a groundbreaking idea, and a third-party lead
generation partner can be just that for your business.

Cons:
1. Risk of discontinuity. As much as it can be comforting hiring

experts in the field of lead generation, you must also balance the
fact that no one knows your business better than the people that
work in it.
2. Quantity over quality. With lead generation companies, you
generally pay for the lead regardless of how qualified it is, so
you might experience lower booking and close rates from leads
procured from lead generation companies.
3. Shared leads. Some lead generation companies might be
providing the same leads to other competing businesses in
your market. This means that they get paid multiple times while
subsequently weakening your odds of closing the account. This is
one of the reasons why you need to be very particular about what
company you hire.
How to select a
lead generation company
1. Do some research
To ensure that you get the best bang for your buck, you should do some
heavy research into lead generation companies.
Some of your primary considerations should be:

1. Reputation. Are they well revered? Do they have a proven track
record of success?
2. Experience. How long have they been in business? What
certifications do they have?
3. Alignment. Do they specialize in certain industries? Certain
objectives?
4. Cost. How do they bill? How do they stack up against others in the
market?
5. Timeline. Can they meet your objectives in the desired timeframe?
Check out the list of top lead generation services on G2 to start your search.

2. Hire a company for a trial period
Oftentimes, contracts with lead generation companies can be as long as

one year. Before you get into this long-term commitment, you should
always inquire about a trial period where you can determine first-hand
if the company is a good fit and if performance is going to meet your
expectations. If not, this can give you the freedom to commit to a trial
with another company without the risk of serious financial loss.
3. Negotiate a contract, but only sign it on your terms
If you’re serious about partnering with a lead generation company, then

make sure that you get everything you want out of the deal.
Some things you will want to negotiate are:

1. Degree of involvement. Is your company going to be approving
every ad that’s run?
2. Technology used. Will the lead generation company have access to
your CRM and technology or will they be using their own?
3. Reporting. What is your desired cadence? What metrics do you
want to see?
4. Budget. Do you require a fixed budget? Do you want to allow
flexibility to drive top performing ads?
5. Billing. What is your preferred method of payment?

Lead Generation
Event Marketing
#ConquerLocal
10. Event Marketing
What is event marketing?

Event marketing is a form of experiential marketing that leverages
groupings of people to drive the promotion of your brand or offering.
These events can occur either in-person or in a virtual setting so long as
person-to-person interaction is fostered.
Source: Conquer Local 2019
There are a number of different forms of event marketing in a B2B

context, from hosting conferences, to attending events, to speaking at
events and conferences. This section will explore each of these as well as
the implications of virtual events.

Why is event marketing important?
Event marketing is one of the oldest and most effective forms of
marketing. Here are just a few of the reasons why you should consider
leveraging event marketing tactics as a part of your greater marketing
strategy.
1. Event marketing is the most valuable marketing channel
An event marketing study on B2B businesses conducted by Bizzabo

determined that most marketing respondents (41 percent) believe
that event marketing is the most effective channel for driving business
outcomes. This 41 percent occupied a greater share than content
and email marketing combined. Additionally, a study by the Content
Marketing Institute found that 75 percent of content marketers believed
in-person events to be the most effective content-based initiative.
Furthermore, the same Bizzabo study also found that 95 percent

of respondents believe that in-person events specifically provide a
necessary and valuable opportunity to form connections in an ever-
digital world.
2. Leadership buy-in
It’s not just marketers that are fired up about events, business leaders
around the world are also ready and willing to invest in event marketing.
When asked, 84 percent of leadership respondents stated that they
believe in-person events are key contributors to their company’s
successes. Furthermore, 63 percent of these respondents also cited
plans to grow their event budgets for next year.
However, there is a caveat to this interest, as it is primarily hinged on the

ability to prove ROI. In fact, leadership is 2.2x less supportive of events
when event organizers are unable to prove positive ROI.
3. Sensory appeal
Event marketing is a key form of B2B marketing because people are

social beings. Marketing tactics that involve person-to-person interaction
and promote sensory appeal resonate much stronger with prospects.
Virtual events provide a platform for prospects to engage with visual

and audio stimuli. In-person events create an opportunity to add smell,
taste, and touch to the prospect experience. Careful consideration and
coordination of sensory appeals can dramatically increase audience
engagement.

4. The proof is in the performance
Here are a few stats to reinforce the validity of various event marketing strategies:
• Eighty-four percent of in-person event attendees report a more
positive view of a brand, product, or service after attending their
event.
• The most successful companies in the world are spending 1.7x the
average on live events.
• Ninety-eight percent of users reported an increased purchase
inclination after attending a product activation event.
What is the future of event marketing?

The world is in the midst of a dramatic change in the way that events
are held and the way that people interact with one another. It might
be awhile before we see conferences at the size and the scope we had
seen them grow to over recent years. However, it is also creating new
opportunities in digital-first event formats.
Some of the biggest trends coming to event marketing are detailed below.
1. Virtual events & hybrid events
Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions have led to the cancellation,

rescheduling, or virtualization of thousands of major events. This $1.5
trillion global event industry shuttered to a halt along with all of the
extended expenditures on airfare, accommodations, and transportation.
Though many events will likely return to their pre-Covid formats,

speculation is that many will remain virtual or at least partially virtual. That
is because in-person events like conferences are huge cost buckets—and
virtual adaptations are able to replicate the most important portion of
those events without the overhead.
The benefits of digital communication have been widely reported,

with 86 percent of participants in online meetings reporting equal or
improved levels of engagement as compared to in-person alternatives.
Plus, many of the biggest names in the annual events space (ex. Google)
have readily embraced online formats by virtualizing their events (ex.
Google Cloud Next).

2. Less populated venues
We all know the crowded convention floors and over-capacity

presentation rooms that often characterized pre-Covid conferences. As
a result of shifting perceptions and changes in interest, it is probable
that large venues will sell fewer booths and fewer tickets as a means of
ensuring better social distancing measures. This change will correspond
with increased costs for organizers and attendees alike.
Increased social distancing will also impact the quantity and quality of
networking opportunities available. Conversations will be hindered, post-
event networking will be reduced, and you can forget about the handshake.
Source: Google Cloud Next 2019
3. Social integration
Social media platforms have been increasingly used to market events

and provide more immersive in-conference experiences. Changing
perceptions on events will only drive further investment in social media.
Here are some of the specific changes you can anticipate:

• Micro video content. Ephemeral content is already growing in
popularity, and bite-sized video content can be a great way to
promote event happenings without giving too much away.
• Social communication. Consider a panel discussion setting. Now,
rather than passing microphones or requiring attendees to
compromise social distancing to ask a question, what if they were
to use an event hashtag to post their questions to Twitter?
• TikTok. Most businesses are in the interest or evaluation phase
of TikTok adoption and events will likely become a key driver of
ongoing adoption. That’s because events offer a great platform for
both businesses and users to capture and share impactful chunks
of video content.

4. Interactive experiences
Event organizers will continue to pursue innovative new tactics and

technologies that enable them to drive greater engagement with
attendees.
Apps are becoming a conference requirement, with 83 percent of event

organizers already creating and leveraging event apps. Though many
apps only offer basic calendar style functionality, you can expect the next
gen of conference apps to be equipped with more technologies, like
attendee catalogues, direct messaging capabilities, immersive exhibitor
pages, and more.
Rapidly evolving artificial intelligence and virtual reality solutions are

creating a world of opportunities for conference organizers. In fact, 87
percent of event planners intend on leveraging augmented reality tech,
and 88 percent plan to deploy virtual reality solutions. These technologies
can create immersive and sensory experiences for attendees, whether
they’re on the convention floor or halfway across the world.

10.1 Hosting a Conference
Pros:
1. Brand development. Not every company (or brand) has the

means required to host a conference, and doing so can be seen
as a bit of an elite move. It is especially valuable for your brand if
you host the conference under the same name as your business,
or through a well known brand extension that’s tied to your core
brand.
2. Product launches. If you want to get in the good books with the
product marketers at your company, hosting a conference is one
of the fastest ways. There is rarely a better platform to present
new product launches or new feature debuts than in front of a
highly engaged conference audience.
3. Knowledge and expertise. Inviting thought leaders and industry
influencers to speak at your event can be a great opportunity for
your team to acquire new knowledge and skills.
4. Recruiting. Conferences present a prime opportunity to attract
industry talent and scout out potential future employees.
5. Credibility. If your company is applying for grants, awards, or
otherwise, having hosted a conference can go a long way in terms
of boosting your credibility.
6. Relationship building. Hosting a conference is a great way to
network with customers, partners, and prospects in order to build
stronger relationships. As an example, certain customers might be
keen to meet the executive team of your company, but this simply
might not be feasible without a live event.
Cons:
1. Cost. According to Social Tables, the cost of a venue generally

runs over $1,000 an hour, event apps start around $1,500, the
cost of meals rings in at $200 per attendee, per day, speakers
will cost anywhere from thousands to hundreds of thousands,
there will be lost time for all staff in attendance, travel/
accommodation expenses for those staff members at roughly
$250 a day, thousands of dollars for rentals and AV equipment,
and thousands of dollars for whatever additional advertising you
deem reasonable. And that’s just to land you a pretty cookie-cutter
conference. Swag, decor, parties, and any additional experiences
all run extra.

2. ROI attribution. Determining the net economic benefit of
a conference can be one of the most difficult tasks that B2B
marketers engage in. Some of the most frequented outcomes of
hosting a conference include greater revenue per paying client,
and an influx of new organic or direct leads, but it can be difficult
to correlate this revenue directly to the conference.
3. Planning and management. Hosting a conference is a major
burden and isn’t something that can be strung together in a
couple months. Conferences often require at least a year of
planning, a year to sell tickets, and a team dedicated to ensuring all
outcomes are met both prior to and during the conference.
How to host a successful conference
1. Start planning early
Hosting a conference is no small feat. It takes a full year to ensure the

success of an annual conference, and if it’s your first crack at hosting a
conference, you’re going to need to start planning more than a year out.
Here’s what you need to do first as you start your journey towards hosting a
successful conference:
• Build a budget and a project plan.
• Decide on a theme or core message. Each conference should have
a focus, and this is presented through the theme or message that
you pair with the conference. Keep it short and relatable to your
audience (ex. building unforgettable B2B brands).
• Hire an events manager or build a dedicated team. A manager or
dedicated conference staff can be a great way to keep your team
on track.
• Choose a date (or at least a date range).
• Start mapping out your ideal agenda. It’s unlikely that things will
work out exactly as you hope, so remain flexible as well.
2. Choose the right location
Location is one of the most important factors in building conference

marketability because most conference attendees see these events as
“business vacations”.

Your choice of location should be hinged on the following factors:
• Travel. If attendees across the breadth of your target market
cannot easily drive to the event or jump on a direct flight to your
desired destination, then you might need to reconsider.
• Fit. Different cities have different cultures. New York is finance,
Nashville is country, LA is film, Toronto is hockey, etc. The content
of your venue should not feel unnatural in your chosen location.
• Originality. You don’t want to host a conference in Great Falls,
but you probably shouldn’t host a tech conference in Austin either.
Try and think of locations that are a style fit with your audience
that they may have never considered traveling to.
• Timing. Pairing your event with other major happenings can
further entice attendees. For example, Vendasta’s 2020 Conquer
Local Conference was scheduled for the days prior to the Grand
Prix in Montreal.
• Amenities. This is where the vacation factor comes into play. You
want your attendees to be more than comfortable, so that every
facet of their conference experience is above and beyond. At the
minimum, this means great rooms, complimentary meals, up-to-
date conference equipment, and workout equipment.
• Venue. The city of choice is only the first half of the battle. Next,
you need to make sure that there is a suitable venue available
for your desired date range. Possible venues include convention
centers, sports centers, hotels, etc. You will also need to consider
hotel/resort capacities to accomodate a good percentage of
attendees.
• Vendors/catering options. A critical aspect of venue selection is
the quality of vendor/catering services available.
3. Acquire partners/sponsors
Partnerships can often make or break business conferences. As you

saw, the cost of hosting even a small conference can easily run tens of
thousands of dollars, and larger events can run hundreds of thousands.
It can be difficult to recoup these costs without the support of sponsors
and investors.

Here are a couple steps to securing event partners/sponsors:
• Turn to business partners. Have you received funding from a VC
firm? Are you a software company with major integration partners?
Assess your business and peer network to determine potential
sponsorship candidates, then reach out through their preferred
form of communication.
• Turn to your most successful and satisfied partners. At Vendasta,
we have found success in looking to our proudest Marketplace
partners (such as Boostability) to secure mutually beneficial
sponsorship relationships.
• Turn to companies with a localized interest. There are likely
businesses at your conference destination that would be able
to reach their target audience by sponsoring your event. In
order to find these companies, platforms such as Eventbrite,
SponsorPark and Sponeasy can be used. However, ensure
that the businesses you consider aren’t direct competitors or
substitutes for your brand.
4. Secure great speakers
Oftentimes, the speaker lineup can make or break your conference.

In fact, 89 percent of conference planners cite this as being the most
difficult part of the process.
Here are some steps to help you secure an unforgettable speaker lineup:
1. Construct your wishlist. You’re probably not going to land Jeff
Bezos, but with a dedicated effort, you might land major figures
within your industry. Technology like Eventbrite can be helpful if
you don’t know where to start or where to set your sights.
2. Reach out to your wishlist. This can be done through LinkedIn,
email, phone, or otherwise.
3. Pitch your event. Here is where you discuss compensation,
potential topics, and other pertinent information.
4. Reach out to partners/sponsors. If not already negotiated, you
should provide partners and sponsors the opportunity to present
at your event.
5. Source internal talent. Odds are that your company is home to
some thought leaders and influencers that would make great
conference speakers. This can also help meet demand generation
objectives through soft selling and product pitches.

5. Make it unique
With past Vendasta conferences we always tried to make the attendee

experience unlike any other event that those professionals would attend
all year. Step one was showing some good old fashioned Canadian
hospitality and injecting as many “eh’s” into casual conversation as
possible. Step two was doing some seriously cool stuff with attendees..
Here are a couple examples:
1. An afternoon of drinks at the top of the Banff Tramway
Source: Conquer Local
2. A spin class on the shore of the historic Hotel del Coronado after a
beach party the night before
Source: Conquer Local

6. Promote the event
When promoting a conference, you should always start with your existing
audience; be these clients, advocates, friends, influencers, or otherwise.
A great place to start is by creating a promotional video that can be
leveraged across other platforms to generate buzz.
Some of the best channels to engage your existing audience include:

• Email campaigns. Use email to introduce the event and further
convey the end of early-bird pricing windows, important speaker
updates, and any other hyper-relevant information.
• Organic social media. Most of your clients and advocates are likely
already following your social accounts, so what better medium
is there to soft-sell your event. Better yet, create unique social
accounts for the conference and use your branded account to
share content from this page. Creating a conference hashtag can
also help to drive engagement prior to the event.
Source: conquerlocalcon Instagram
• Create blogs and press releases. Certain members of your

audience may only subscribe to your blog or your newsletter, so
writing at least one blog can help you get the word out.

After you’ve delivered the message to your existing audience, you will
want to start engaging an external audience.
Some of the best channels for engaging an external audience include:

• Leverage sponsors. Being that sponsors have skin in the game,
they are very likely to be interested in promoting your event to
their audience.
• Host giveaways. Attendees that have already registered are likely
to have peers that are also within your target market. Hosting
giveaways for room and event upgrades can be a great way to
entice attendees to tag their friends and procure external interest.
• Run ads on social media. Running paid promotion, particularly in
the geographic area of the conference can be an effective way of
engaging potential attendees. That being said, carefully monitor
your spend as this can quickly become a revenue sink.
7. Create a conference app
Having a conference app can be a game-changer in terms of user

experience. I recommend Eventbrite as it is a more comprehensive event
software partner, but other apps can also be effective.
Some of the key benefits to events apps include:

• Increasing attendee networking
• Improving attendee engagement
• Easily manage the distribution of information
• Unlock deeper event insights and analytics
• Provide quicker responses to attendee questions and concerns
• The ability to conduct live polls

8. Have a large team present to ensure seamless execution
The biggest mistake you can make is planning a great event, but not
having enough staff on-site to execute. You’re going to need event
leaders, technical staff, marketers, and salespeople, as well as general
staff/volunteers.
Here are the needs that each team should be meeting:
• Event leaders
These folks are running the show. Generally this team is composed
of the same people that organized the event as they have the most
intricate understanding of event operations. You only need a few
event leaders on the scene—too many and you might encounter
communication breakdowns.
• Technical staff
These are your photographers, videographers, audio technicians,
and network technicians. There’s no magic number for these
people, but ensure that you have either brought all of the
necessary internal resources or have hired out individuals to meet
missing needs.
• Marketers
This team is responsible for turning around content in a moment’s
notice. If done well, marketers should be live posting content
throughout the entire span of the conference. A couple staff on
site should satisfy this need.
• Salespeople
These are your boots on the ground. You’re going to want to
send at least a few of your most charismatic sales reps to the
event so that they can keep attendees entertained and talk shop
when necessary.
• General event staff
These are the grunt workers. You need a solid team of hard
workers that can help with setups, teardowns, attendee requests,
and also engage with attendees on behalf of your brand. The
volume of general event staff will likely correlate with the volume of
attendees (a ratio of 2 - 5% should suffice).
Pro-tip: Aim to dominate the social channels of attendees. During our

last conference in San Diego, the marketing team was producing a steady
stream of social content (to the tune of 15 plus posts per day across
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram). This helps attendees navigate
the conference happenings and find fresh branded content every time they
look anywhere online.

10.2 Virtual Events
As we enter into this decade, and embrace the aftermath of Covid-19,
virtual events are going to become increasingly prevalent. That being
said, there are a couple different categories of virtual events that B2B
marketers can leverage to generate demand.
Webinars
These are the simplest of the virtual events available to marketers. These
are short video presentations, held on a recurring basis, that can be used
to educate viewers on product releases, thought-leadership, research
findings, and more.
Source: Vendasta Weekly Webinar
Explore webinar marketing strategy here to find out more about creating
great webinar content.
Connect sessions
Think “virtual networking.” This is a newer breed of virtual events that

is one part webinar and one part virtual networking. Generally it is
characterized by discussion rooms that are hosted before/after webinar
style presentations. This gives micro event attendees an opportunity to
have those “hallway” conversations in a digital setting so that personal
connections can still be built.
Virtual conferences/expos
These are generally characterized as large, full-day, or multi-day events

that were traditionally in-person, but have been adapted for online
consumption. Key characteristics of these events are short presentations,

long presentations/keynotes, panel discussions, and Q&A discussions.
Attendees generally have the freedom to come and go as they please
while these discussions and presentations are happening.
Pros:
1. Cost reduction. The costs to both your business and your

attendees when hosting an in-person event are substantial. With
a virtual event, your costs are essentially just your time, so you can
dramatically reduce the cost to attendees, or even make the event
free.
2. Infinitely scalable. Where physical events have capacity
limitations, virtual events are bound by no such restrictions (other
than your zoom subscription level).
3. Easier to manage. If you’ve ever hosted a conference, or
even attended one, then you can appreciate the amount of
coordination, time, and resources that actually go into making sure
an event goes off without a hitch.
4. Show flexibility in the midst of a global crisis. With the effects
of Covid-19 in full effect, the ways in which your business has been
able to respond to the circumstances has become a testament to
your flexibility as well as your perseverance.
Cons:
1. The experience. The excitement, the networking, the business

vacation factor, the excuse to bust out your favorite suit—all of
those elements are lost when tuning in from the comfort of your
desk, from anywhere in the world.
2. RSVPs are meaningless. In a world where RSVPing is as simple
as clicking yes on a Google calendar invite, accountability becomes
irrelevant.
3. Distractions. At a conference, you are immersed in your
surroundings and the experience. At home, you have to worry
about your spouse, your kids, your pets, etc.
4. Loss of sponsorship opportunity. When hosting a physical
event, sponsorships can be a great mutually beneficial way for your
brand and others to collaborate to cover costs while also fostering
business relationships. However, it’s often much more difficult to
secure mutually beneficial sponsorships for virtual events.

How to drive impact in a virtual event setting
1. Start with your content
When gathering in-person, weaker content can still drive impact as a

byproduct of the environment. However, when content is shared virtually,
the quality and the delivery have to be top-notch to keep your audience
actively engaged. This holds true whether you’re hosting a webinar or a
large virtual conference.
Ask yourself the following questions when evaluating topical content:

• Is there measurable interest in the topic?
• Is it a topic that matters to my audience?
• Is it timely?
• Is the information up-to-date?
• Can we provide original data or insights on the topic?
• Does it naturally relate to a product, service, or solution that we offer?
If you can answer yes to most or all of these questions, then you have
something that speaks to your audience, is worth sharing, and will
contribute to the achievement of business objectives.
2. Carefully select your date(s) and time(s)
It’s easier to command definitive bookings with in-person events as

attendees have virtually no choice but to make your event a priority.
However, when negotiating with attendees that are tuning in from
remote settings, you have to be sensitive and aware of the external
factors that might be affecting your audience.
Here is a step-by-step process to finding the optimal date(s) and time(s):

1. Select a date range that works best for you and your team.
2. Eliminate holidays and surrounding days from the calendar.
3. Research competing/tertiary events to ensure that you are not
forcing your audience to choose.
4. Select an appropriate day or multiple days pending the scope of
your event.
5. Perform an assessment to segment your audience by timezone.

6. If possible, perform an activity assessment to determine when
your audience is most engaged online.
7. Schedule your event for times that best suit your audience based
on their behavior and the timezones in which they reside.
• Bonus: if you have a very large and physically diverse audience,
consider hosting multiple sessions so that interested parties
can all tune in at a time that is convenient for them.
3. Determine priority metrics
With virtual events, there are two categories of metrics. Firstly, there
are those pertaining to the live airing of your event. Secondly there
are those pertaining to the republishing and reproduction of content
following the event.
Here’s what you should be tracking for each:
1. The live event

• Attendees.
• Q&A engagement.
• Increased web, blog, and social traffic.
• Lead generation (attendees that acted on a given
CTA during or immediately after the event).
• Conversion rate.
2. The post event content

• Engagement metrics on published video content,
such as: likes, comments, shares.
• Watchtime, views, viewers, etc.
• Lead generation (attendees that acted on a given
CTA after the event).
• Conversion rate.
Though these metrics are heavily influenced by the additional marketing

muscle that you apply to pre-promotion and post-promotion, they
will become important tellers when you evaluate your lead generation
against the overall marketing expenditure on the event.

4. Determine attendee “cost”
Don’t think of cost in the traditional sense, think of cost as what you are
asking from attendees in exchange for the content that you’re providing.
This cost should be relative to the cost of putting the event on as well
as the perceived value of the event. Therefore, webinars shouldn’t be
charging a fee, but a multi-day virtual expo with Gary V headlining might
be worth a small sum from attendees.
Some of the best ways to “charge” virtual event attendees are as follows:
1. Contact toll. This is the classic webinar sign-up prompt where

a user has to provide their name, business email address, and
employer in order to register for the event. This is a low cost
to attendees and allows the host to add each attendee to their
mailing list. Email tolls are best used for webinars, connect
sessions, and smaller conferences/expos.
Here is what Vendasta’s webinar registration page looks like:
Source: Vendasta’s Upoming Webinars
2. Ticket toll. There’s a fine line between putting a price on a virtual

event because it’s worth it and pricing out interested prospects.
Another consideration here is a tiered ticket structure. Tiering your
tickets to include more VIP packages can add to the allure of your
event and create an opportunity for those interested parties to
directly engage with speakers, organizers, and more.

3. Free admission to all. Unless you’re Google, I wouldn’t
necessarily advise this. A completely free live-stream makes it
hard to measure metrics. It can make it difficult to recoup costs
on larger events unless they are covered through sponsorships.
Free admission can also serve to devalue your brand in the eyes
of consumers, unless you already have a strong top-of-mind
awareness with your target audience (once again, think Google).
5. Promote the event
Promotional effort should vary depending on the size and scope of

your event. A bi-weekly webinar might only be worth two-weeks of
promotion on organic social, but a virtual conference with noteworthy
speakers should probably be paired with an extended ad strategy, email
campaigns, promotional video, as well as organic social.
Here are some tricks to improve your impact on virtual event promotion:
• Use social media. As mentioned above, social media promotion is
a must, but the scale of your time and resource investment should
always reflect the scale of the event. A big event should employ
a large budget and substantial resource allocation. Learn more
about social media marketing here.
• Build a dedicated web page or landing page. This one is a must.
This page should be true to the brand, be home to key event
information, set expectations, have an agenda, showcase pricing
or a sign-up form, as well as any relevant resources.
• Leverage email. At the very minimum, you should be sending
a save-the-date email to follow-up an event registration/ticket
purchase. For larger events, you may want to use the registration
list to send out weekly emails to keep the event top-of-mind and
offer special incentives for attendees. Learn more email marketing
tricks here.
• Do some serious branding. There are a lot of virtual events
being hosted, and without elaborate props, displays, and lights,
it can be difficult to differentiate yours from the rest of the pack.
Though brand continuity should always be maintained, consider
experimenting with more vibrant colors and edgier graphics so that
you can stand out online and wherever else you market the event.

6. Host the event
Hosting a virtual event is much less stressful than an in-person one

because there are fewer moving parts. Outside of the unavoidable
technological issues, your only real concern is the platform you’ve chosen
to host on.
Here’s a bit more info on a couple of the top platforms for virtual events.
Zoom
Zoom is one of the pioneers in the space and one of the biggest names
in virtual events today.
Though Zoom boasts capabilities for events, summits, sales kick-offs,

all-hands meetings, roadshows, training sessions and more, Zoom is
generally a best fit for webinars, meetings, or small to mid-sized events.
Key benefits:
• Meetings capacity up to 1,000
• Webinar capacity up to 10,000
• Easy browser connectivity for joinees
• Polling, chats, Q&A, reactions, and other social assets
• Breakout rooms for grouped discussions
• Integrates with Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot, PayPal, Zapier, and
hundreds of additional names

vFairs
This is a newer name in the event space with some really unique event
functionality. Explore vFairs if you’re aiming to host a more interactive and
experiential event, like a virtual job fair, trade show, or open days.
Source: vFairs
Key benefits:
• Global network compatibility
• Custom event landing pages
• 3D virtual event lobbies
• Interactive booths for exhibitors
• Virtual briefcases for attendees to save assets
• Built in chat rooms and messaging tools
• Mobile adaptive
Note: these are just a couple recommendations, but there are hundreds of
other great virtual event solutions available.
7. Repurpose event content online
One of the greatest benefits to virtual events is the ease with which
content can be repurposed and disseminated online.

After your event, consider using your recorded video content for the following:
• Gating the video assets to drive future lead generation.
• Creating pull quotes from presentations that can be designed and
posted to various social media channels.
Source: VendastaCon 2018
• Turning long-form presentations into bits of micro video content

(less than a minute) that can easily be digested on social media.
• Using a transcription service so that audio tracks can be converted
into blog/website content.
• Creating infographics from high impact discussions that can either
be gated, placed in blogs, or shared on social.

10.3 Attending Conferences
Covid-19 is sure to change the conference dynamic forever, and it will
take time before the full impacts are revealed. That being said, attending
conferences is an age old method of procuring new business, fostering
stronger relationships with existing audiences, as well as learning and
developing the skills of your team.
Pros:
1. Networking. First and foremost, this is the primary benefit for

attending conferences and business events. That is because
relationship selling is a key driver of B2B business, and business
relationships are much easier to foster in person. In fact, according
to Bizzabo, 47 percent of business leaders agree that in-person
events are the most important channel in terms of achieving
business objectives.
2. Education. Sending staff to industry relevant conferences
presents a great opportunity for those attendees to acquire new
skills/knowledge that they can bring back to your organization. This
is an investment in both your employees and your organization.
3. A break from routine. While attending a conference is not entirely
a break from work, it is a break from the day-to-day grind and can
be an effective way to recharge key members of your team.
Cons:
1. Lost time. Time that your staff spend at conferences (generally 2

to 4 days, plus travel) is time that is not being spent on the phones
(sales), optimizing campaigns (marketing), making decisions
(leadership), or so many other pivotal business functions being
met by every facet of your organization.
2. Cost. Conference tickets generally fall somewhere in the range
of $800 to $2,100 (not including any volume or early registrant
discounts). But, then you need to factor in the costs of travel and
accommodations which you can safely expect to cost an additional
$1-3K per attendee.
3. Employee recruitment. As an employer, you need to seriously
consider the reality that sending top talent to conferences is also
introducing your top talent to potential swaths of recruiters and
other potential employers. The average cost of training a new
employee is generally 20 percent of their annual salary, and it’s
almost impossible to put a price on top talent.

How to dominate a conference floor
1. Plan beforehand
Jumping on a plane and heading out to a conference without doing any pre-
planning is kind of like heading into the office without brushing your teeth.
Some of the best pre-planning tactics include:

• Researching other attendees and creating a list of people/
businesses that you hope to engage with at the conference.
• Purchasing a booth. If you want other attendees to respect
you and your brand, then you better invest in a booth on the
convention floor, as well as the gear to deck it out.
• Shipping or bringing custom swag that can be distributed from
your booth. Try and think of unique and memorable items that you
can distribute from your booth. Nobody is going to remember the
globe stress ball that they picked up at three different booths.
• Booking meetings for your days on the convention floor. If
amplified with paid social media promotions, a simple Meeting
Scheduler link can go a long way in terms of filling your calendar
with valuable meetings before you even arrive.
2. Prepare strong elevator pitches
Conference networking is generally fast-paced, and your conversations

will lose their impact if you’re unable to cultivate interest and provide
value to those you speak with. The best way to do this is with an
elevator pitch.
Expert sales leader George Leith suggests that an elevator pitch should adhere
to the following:
• Fall within the 30-90 second range
• Be easy to understand and digest
• Evoke interest and excitement
• Convey desired brand/product attributes
• Be adaptable to different audiences
• End with a hook that pushes the conversation further
One pitch won’t suffice either. Depending on the breadth of your

product/service offerings, you will want to have at least a few (if not a few
dozen) pitches at your avail.
Check out George’s full article on crafting perfect elevator pitches to find out more.

3. Dress well and rest well
Proper rest and the right wardrobe are basic requirements if you really
want to make the most of your day at an event. Rest will ensure that
your head is in it and that you’re quick on your feet. The right wardrobe
will ensure that your confidence is at its apex. Combine the two and you
should be ready for almost anything that the day throws your way.
4. Make every minute count
Networking events and conferences are exhausting and that’s because

(if done well), they should leave almost zero downtime. At any given time,
you should be doing one of three things: attending speaker sessions,
manning your booth, or shaking hands and making introductions.
One of the best ways to get more done is to divide and conquer. If
you’ve sent a team to the event, then have one person man the booth,
one provide demos at the booth, while another one attends important
sessions throughout the day.
Pro-tip: quality over quantity. Don’t go to a networking event or conference

with a lead generation volume in mind. Instead, really focus on building
quality relationships and investing your time into a handful of people rather
than spending a few minutes with a hundred.
5. Attend the extra-curriculars
The most value to be had at a conference happens in the later hours of

the day. The after parties tend to loosen attendees up (the drinks don’t
hurt), and create a more relaxed networking atmosphere.

But it’s not all fun and games, here are a few of the unwritten rules:
• Keep things that you hear at these events in confidence. Secrets
tend to be spilled, and it’s expected that you don’t take advantage
of this.
• Don’t interrogate people, socialization should be your only
objective.
• Stay until the end if you want to get the most benefit out of the
event. Plus, there is almost always another party, but you have to
stay to the end if you want to receive that invite.
• Dancing is risky… unless you’re good, then by all means.
6. Take work beyond the convention floor
Taking valuable people out for dinner or drinks after a long day at an
event can be one of the best ways to really foster strong connections
with new acquaintances. These one-on-one interactions are much better
environments if you’re trying to get someone to open up to you.
Here are some tips for stronger post-event engagements:

• Don’t talk too much shop, try to get to know the individual on a
more personal level. The goal of this is to build a relationship, not
to make a sale.
• Be prompt and dress the part.
• Be careful with trouble foods that may be messy or overly
disruptive to conversation (ex. spaghetti, lobster).
• Don’t touch your phone for the duration of dinner.
• Always pay the bill.
7. Follow up
This is the most important step of all. Conferences and events can be
chaotic, and unless you absolutely bedazzled all of your new contacts,
then they aren’t likely to follow-up with you—so that becomes your job.
What to do:
• Only follow-up with qualified leads, and try to determine both fit
and level of interest. Bonus: plugging this information into your
CRM can be valuable for all future sales interactions.
• Follow-up within a day or two of the event so that the contact
doesn’t forget about you.
• Only follow-up on one platform (ex. Email, phone, or LinkedIn).
• Personalize each message heavily so that recipients know that you
put in the effort and value the connection.

What not to do:
• Spam the contact with follow-up emails, DMs, or phone calls.
• Send a generic email blast to every new contact. This is the fastest
way to burn otherwise valuable leads.
Here’s what I mean:
Source: Sales Hacker
• Hand leads off to sales immediately. This is relationship selling and

it will require the usage of your personal connection to nurture the
lead towards a sales conversation.

10.4 Speaking Opportunities
I’m going to list off a couple names for you.
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Tony Robbins
• Grant Cardone
These are the names of a few people that have built massive business
success on a foundation of public speaking. That being said, this is not
a guaranteed path to lead generation, but it can serve as a powerful
mechanism to drive awareness for your brand, generate word-of-mouth
buzz, and also engage directly with your target audience.
Pros:
1. Communicate directly with your target audience. By nature

of the fact that you can accept or decline speaking engagements at
your own discretion, you can ensure that you only speak at events
that cater directly to the target audience of your business.
2. Seriously increase your credibility. If you are well versed in
a subject area within your industry of operation, then you are
effectively positioning not only yourself, but also your business as
a leader in that domain. Just ask yourself, what would VaynerMedia
be without Gary Vaynerchuk?
3. Promote your own stuff. It’s become common practice for event
speakers to promote their own offering/brand. You can further
leverage this opportunity by taking swag, business cards, or other
branded tokens that can help with brand recall.
4. Financial rewards. If you’re a talented presenter and have
powerful primary information to share, you can demand a pretty
penny for your services. HBR suggests that amatuer speakers
might earn $500 - $2,500 for a talk, beginners might earn $5,000 -
$10,000, vets might draw $10,000 - $20,000, and famed speakers
(like bestselling authors or industry thought leaders) can expect to
earn $20,000 - $35,000.
5. Networking opportunities. This one’s a given. But, there’s a lot
less legwork required when you’re a presenter, as other attendees
are going to be much more inclined to approach you.

Cons:
1. Finding the right conference/event. The sad reality is that most

speaking opportunities won’t be worth your time, so be careful in
your search.
2. Attribution. Once again, it can be incredibly difficult to track
future business back to a presentation without manually surveying
every new client.
3. Providing original insights. Unless your company has access
to primary research data, or you (or a member of your team)
have developed an original strategy, it can be difficult to provide a
captivating presentation.
4. Skill required. It takes time, experience, expertise in one’s field,
and a certain level of transformative thinking to deliver a true
thought leading presentation to an audience of experts. If you get
on the stage and don’t meet these requirements, then you run the
risk of damaging your reputation.
How to secure high-profile speaking opportunities
1. Find your niche
As you begin your public speaking journey, you’re never going to gain
traction as the 10,000th person specializing in sales. But, you might find
opportunity and demand in a category like real estate marketing.
Here are questions that you should ask yourself as you search for your niche:
• In what subject areas do I have experience?
• In what subject areas do I have expertise?
• Are any of these subject areas in-demand topics?
• Do any of these subject areas align with my business outcomes?
• Am I a thought leader or do I have any original insights that I
can present?
• If not, is it possible for me to become a thought leader or acquire
primary data?
• Can I effectively map various topics back to my business?
2. Acquire necessary training
Full disclosure: you’re going to have to be a pretty competent speaker if

you want to stand a chance with this tactic. Some people are naturally
predisposed to public speaking, but there is also training available to help

you hone these skills. Toastmasters is an international organization that
specializes in public speaking training, courses are available on LinkedIn,
and academy’s like MasterClass may also be worth considering.
3. Start small and build a reputation
The fastest way to open the doors to new speaking opportunities is by

building some cred. Start small with internal presentations, presentations
at business associations that you may belong to, or other small scale
speaking engagements.
Not only do these smaller events help you to refine your skills, they also
help you to build your digital resume through video content production.
Having these presentation videos that can be showcased on YouTube, a
personal site, or otherwise can go a long way in terms of boosting your
credibility with event coordinators.
4. Research larger events/conferences
Once you’ve tackled a few smaller events, you might be ready to graduate
to the big leagues. There are a couple tricks that can dramatically
increase the speed and effectiveness of your research process.
Those tricks include:
• Google it. Too obvious? Perhaps. The trick here is to conduct

searches based on your geography. For example, if your niche is
real estate marketing and you live in LA, then you might want to
enter a search like “california real estate conference”. And if you
don’t find enough in the SERPs, then the related searches section
can also be helpful (image #2)
Source: Google

Source: Google
• Use software. Have you ever heard of Agent? Agent is a tool

that provides users with a list of events based on industry, size,
location, and other search parameters. It also provides users with
contact information so that they can begin the application process
without any further toil.
• Once you’ve conducted some event research and identified a list

of opportunities that would be suitable for you, then there’s just
one thing left to do.
5. Contact event coordinators
When events are searching for speakers, they likely have certain criteria
that they would like candidates to meet. If you can meet this criteria
(or are close) and are interested in the gig, then you should begin the
application process.
Here are some tips to drive the success of your application:

• Start the process at least 3-6 months prior to the date of the event.
• Invest some time. Be specific and customize your messaging for
every single message you send.
• Sell yourself. Don’t get too lengthy, but deliver a few sentences
explaining who you are, what you want to speak about, and why
you’re a great fit for the event.
• Follow-up if you don’t receive a response within a few days, and
again if you wait another week.

Lead Generation
Account-Based
Tactics & Strategies
#ConquerLocal
11. Account-Based
Tactics & Strategies
What is account-based marketing?
Unfortunately, B2B marketing isn’t always as simple as turning on some
Facebook ads and waiting for the leads to come pouring in. Sometimes,
more precise and deliberate actions need to be taken and that’s where
account-based marketing (ABM) tactics come into play.
To quote the old adage, “ABM is fishing with a spear instead of a net.”
ABM tactics are a little different because they involve flipping that
inbound funnel on its head. Rather than casting a broad net in the hopes
of uncovering leads, companies instead pick their ideal clients and try to
acquire them very strategically.
Source: Neil Patel
Based on this model, ABM can be defined as a one-to-one approach to

business marketing where prospects are engaged on an individual and
personal basis.

Why is account-based marketing
important?
ABM is a tactical approach to marketing and a critical angle for any
business that sells to large clients. A successful strategy will enable
businesses to pursue higher value opportunities and engage with
prospects earlier in the buyer’s journey.
But it’s not just that. Here are the top four reasons why ABM remains such a
valuable marketing program.
1. Sales and marketing alignment
Sales and marketing teams often operate in silos, and this problem is
often accentuated in larger companies. It’s a simple equation: the larger
your sales and marketing teams are, the more difficult it is to foster
alignment.
ABM strategies serve to improve alignment as they require

collaboration from both sides of the fold. For example, a direct mail
campaign is best served with a side of timely cold outreach. However,
for this to be effective, sales reps need to be well versed in the contents
of the direct mail packages as well as the delivery schedule. This
ensures that they are able to execute their calls with the appropriate
messaging and in a timely manner.
2. Enterprise acquisition
Enterprise purchase decisions are complex and are generally

accompanied with lengthy sales cycles. In fact, most enterprise deals
involve 10 people in the decision making process, take seven plus
months to close, and require dozens of total touchpoints. But, the work
is often well worth the reward as most enterprise deals fall north of
$50,000 per anum.
In these complex sales scenarios, one-to-one marketing has always been the
most effective method of eliciting interest from enterprise organizations and
pushing the sale through the appropriate value channels.

Here are some of the key differences in the enterprise buying process:
Source: Sales Hacker
Small to medium sized businesses are not as strictly bound by protocols

and workflows as compared to their enterprise colleagues. As a result,
they generally navigate the sales cycle much quicker. Enterprises require
more due diligence; ergo, more meetings, demos, phone calls, emails,
etc. Fortunately, these are all items that can be facilitated through a
dedicated account-based sales and marketing effort.
3. ROI
One of the most compelling reasons to leverage an account-based

marketing strategy is the proven ROI. According to a study conducted by
the Information Technology Services Marketing Association, 84 percent
of businesses leveraging an account-based strategy report it as the
greatest revenue generator across all of their campaigns, with 45 percent
reporting that ROI to be at least double.
4. Data-driven decision making
Though some ABM tactics prove to be more difficult to track (ex. open
rate on a direct mail package), other tactics often prove highly insightful
and data rich for marketers (LinkedIn DM engagement, direct mail
response rates, number of ad touchpoints before a conversion, number
of calls before a demo, etc).

Broader marketing campaigns provide volume insights, but account-
based activities yield a greater depth of insights which can then be
applied to your greater social, content, and email strategies.
What is the future of account-based

marketing?
With nearly all marketing programs trending toward greater
personalization, ABM tactics are only going to grow in both prevalence
and impact.
1. Scalability
With constant advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning,

ABM programs are quickly becoming more scalable than ever before.
To drive optimal effectiveness, ABM programs require multi-platform

prospect communication in a concerted effort. In the past, engaging
target accounts through multiple channels with precision made it
impossible for marketers to attack more than five or 10 accounts at
a time. However, powerful CRMs, advancements in ad platforms, and
specialized tools are beginning to open the floodgates to ABM at scale.
Here are some of the most prominent advancements for scaling ABM:
• One-to-one ad functionality on Facebook and LinkedIn. Both of
these platforms now allow users to upload a list of target contacts
and run campaigns to these specific accounts rather than forcing
usage of the built-in audience variables.
• Increased variable functionality for email. We all know the name
and company variable tags, but emerging technologies introduce
the future possibility of variable GIFs, variable messages based on
LinkedIn bios, and much more.
• Dynamically personalized website experiences. Tools like Sketch
allow marketers to create dynamic websites that tailor the user
experience based on variables such as: company name, location,
industry, and more.
2. ABM as a research tactic
As alluded to above, savvy marketers are using ABM campaigns to mine

deeper audience insights that can be used to improve other one-to-
many campaigns. Over the next decade, it’s projected that B2B marketers
will increasingly rely on account-based tactics to perform prospect and
market research that can then be applied to one-to-many campaigns for
paid social, content marketing campaigns, email, and more.

3. More complex and integrated programs
Most of these tactics are less effective when used in isolation, but more
effective when used together—or as part of a strategic and deliberate
account-based program. Postcard marketing alone generates an average
response rate of 4.4 percent and digital marketing clocks in at an average
of 0.12 percent. However, when used together, performance on both
tactics increases.
Over the coming years, account-based marketers will increasingly

collaborate with sales and combine account-based tactics into more
complex and integrated campaigns as a means of driving effectiveness.
Account-based marketing encompasses a broad array of 1:1 marketing

tactics. This section will explore four of those tactics in detail: direct mail, DM
marketing, account-based paid campaigns, and cold calling.

11.1 Direct Mail
Direct mail can be one of the most effective platforms for driving
engagement in a hyper-targeted way.
Pros:
1. It’s a personal touch. As with many account-based initiatives,
direct mail allows you to put a face and a name in between your
brand and the recipient of the message. This often goes a long way
in terms of procuring genuine prospect interest.
2. It’s creative. To be fair, there was a time when mailing anything
was far from creative, but as digital channels have taken the
communications sector by storm, an old fashioned touch can
actually be not only creative, but highly memorable.
3. High open and read rates. 53% of Americans read every single
piece of mail that they receive, and an additional 21% at least skim
every piece of mail they receive.
4. High response rates. A recent study by the Data & Marketing
Association determined that average response rates for previously
engaged targets was 9%, and 5.1% for cold prospects.
5. It integrates well with other strategies. Direct mail
effectiveness can be enhanced by pairing it with other digital
strategies like LinkedIn outreach, email campaigning, paid ad
campaigns, custom landing page construction, etc.
Cons:
1. It requires mailing addresses. Oftentimes, the personal
information required to launch a direct mail campaign can not be
easily collected via a Google search. Under these circumstances,
ABM marketers must purchase information from data
aggregators—but this isn’t a perfect solution either as sometimes
contact information is dated.
2. Setting up tracking can be difficult. Naturally, you can’t track
the physical package beyond delivery, but what you can do is
leverage CTAs to enable tracking. This can be done by creating a
custom landing page for each recipient, using personalized URLs,
custom phone numbers (with redirects), or exclusive offers.
3. Scalability. For direct mail to work well, it requires a high degree
of personalization and attention to detail. This can be almost
impossible to scale the resources required to create custom
letters, landing pages,
4. High cost at high volume. If you do have the resources to scale
your efforts, then cost becomes a factor. Printing materials, cost of
mailing, labour, and resources all become major cost factors.

How to launch a direct mail campaign
1. Build your mailing list
This is generally the hardest part of the whole process. Fortunately, there
are a number of sources and methodologies available to marketers that
are looking to acquire direct mailing information.
Some of these sources include:

• Purchase from list brokers. This is a best fit if you have a large prospect
list or might be unsure of the exact businesses that you want to target
(outside of basic industry parameters). That being said, for most lists,
you better expect to pay somewhere between $45-$200 per thousand
names, and potentially more based on the breadth of information you
require. Some of the top names in the game include: LeadsPlease,
Prospects Influential List Brokers and ListGiant.
• Manually crawling digital directories. This can save you a few bucks
but is only worthwhile if you know what businesses you want to
engage with and have a short list of targets.
• Scraping lists from social media accounts or groups. This is generally
reserved for more technical companies, and is a bit risky since
regulation varies as to what is ethical and what is not. It’s recommended
that you consult an expert before pursuing this alternative.
But finding the right audience is key. According to Entrepreneur, the first
40% of the impact of a direct mail campaign is derived from sending it to
the right people in the first place.
2. Create your packages
At the minimum, you’re going to need envelopes, stamps, and

personalized letters for every recipient of the campaign. But, if you really
want to jazz it up, you might want to consider sending case studies,
custom swag, or other items that might make the package even more
interesting for recipients.
Here are a couple pro tips:

• Nomatter what content you send, keep it short and punchy. It’s
estimated that 40% of the direct mail’s impact is derived from the value
of the offer, so don’t muddy the message with unnecessary copy.
• Design is important too. An additional 20% of the impact comes
from the design and writing of the piece.
• If you’re planning to send swag or other physical attachments,
make sure they tie into the value proposition you are trying to
present—don’t just send expensive gifts hoping to build goodwill.

3. Make them measurable
The best way to measure readership and action is to direct recipients

online or straight to their phones. This can be done by setting up custom
phone numbers for each recipient that redirect to one central line, by
providing unique URLs with redirects, using unique promo codes to be
entered online, or a host of other options.
4. Ship em
If you are planning on launching a large campaign (to the tune of

thousands), then you may want to test a certain portion of the campaign
to gauge effectiveness before you invest in marketing to the entire list.
5. Record results and reflect
The stats are certainly promising, but as we know from our experience at
Vendasta, actually results tend to vary dramatically. When we used direct
mail as a component in a broader ABM campaign to 10 large enterprises,
we were able to close one deal which spoke volumes on that initial
effort. In a second attempt, we launched an ABM campaign to 50 target
accounts and have yet to realize any revenue from that push.
Track your results, make tweaks to the program, and measure every step
along the way.

11.2 DM Marketing
DM marketing is essentially the digital counterpart to direct mail marketing.
It’s the process of leveraging the various social media platforms available to
us to directly engage with prospects around the world.
Pros:
1. It’s instant networking. Yes, in-person networking is more

effective, but if you have to wait half a year before that conference,
then you might miss out on an opportunity entirely. Direct
messaging allows you to spark that conversation today.
2. It’s person-to-person. Unlike other programs that are often
delivered through your brand, direct messaging provides you with
an opportunity to foster relationships with the recipients that can
then become gateways to the brand that you represent.
3. Upsell opportunities. Though this section focuses on direct
message marketing as an outreach mechanism, there is also the
opportunity to deliver promotional offerings to existing customers
through direct messaging on the platform of your choice.
Cons:
1. It has prerequisites. Unlike other alternatives, you cannot

directly jump to into this tactic. On all four of the major social
platforms, you must be connected with (LinkedIn), friends with
(Facebook), or followed by (Instagram and Twitter). The exception,
however, lies in the fact that you can message those outside of
your network on Facebook and Instagram, but those messages will
show up as message requests, and recipients can choose whether
or not they would like to accept them.
2. It can be invasive. Unlike direct mail packages which are often
treated as a bit of a novelty, direct messaging can be perceived as
invasive by recipients if not well executed.
3. You’re battling preconceptions. Let’s face it, for most of us, a
direct message on any social media platform is likely synonymous
with spammy offers, slimy sales pitches, or automated marketing
messages. As a result, some individuals dismiss DM content before
giving it a real chance.

How to launch a DM campaign
1. Gather your target list
If this is used as a component of a well executed strategy, then you

should simply be able to consult a list that you’ve already purchased or
procured to secure the names of your target prospects. But, if not, you
don’t need any sensitive information (email address, phone number, etc)
with a DM strategy, so you can potentially avoid spending money and
simply search individuals up on the social platform of choice.
2. Choose a credible social account
Don’t make the mistake of using a business account to deliver a personal

message. People are already hesitant to engage with unsolicited
messaging from a person, let alone from a brand. Also make sure that
the message is being sent from a credible individual. At Vendasta, we
often use our CCO’s LinkedIn to conduct DM marketing. This account is
used because George is a well revered leader and industry influencer
that also has tens of thousands of followers.
Source: LinkedIn
3. Send that friend request/follow/connect
There are two reasons why you will want to send that request before you
engage in any marketing activities.
1. It opens the door. As mentioned above, sending a request and

earning (or that follow) that audience is a prerequisite
2. It warms up the prospect. Jumping straight to the sales pitch
rarely works, and that is ever more true within the scope of direct
messaging.

4. Script your message
You want the messaging to feel personalized, but you also can’t afford
to write a completely unique message to each and every DM recipient.
The best way to mediate these competing interests is to do some light
customization on every message, but to have a typed template that you
can copy and paste into every message.
Something like this:
Source: George Leith’s LinkedIn
Some pro-tips for crafting your message include:

• Giving not asking. The second that you ask for anything in your
opening message, the second that you’ve lost that prospect
(probably permanently).
• Using original copy and content. Everyone can smell an automated
message from a mile away and that’s exactly the impression that
you want to avoid.
• Depending on the nature of your message and your offering,
consider opening with a personal compliment. This can help to
build goodwill with the prospect.

5. Choose your platform(s)
The example above was a direct message following a successful

connection request on LinkedIn. That being said, direct messaging can
also be highly effective on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Your choice, then, should depend on the content of your message and
the intent of your message.
Here are some of the best use cases for each of the aforementioned platforms:
• Facebook (Messenger)
You have an existing personal relationship with the recipient.
• Twitter
Niche audiences
Members of hashtag communities.
• LinkedIn
High involvement offerings with larger price tags.
Offers to existing partners.
• Instagram
Low involvement purchases.
6. Deliver your message
Copy, paste, tweak, send, repeat.

11.3 Cold Calling
This is more of a sales tactic than a marketing tactic, but there are steps
that marketers can take to enable sales reps to have more successful
cold outreach campaigns.
Pros:
1. Acceptance rates. Where email response rates can often be low,

69% of surveyed buyers in 2019 reported that they accepted one
or more cold calls in 2019. Additionally, 57% of C-level executives
report that they value the information received from phone calls
with sales reps.
2. Instant feedback. Unlike most marketing strategies and
tactics that don’t reveal direct feedback (as it’s often hidden in
the performance metrics), cold calling provides marketers with
an opportunity to acquire feedback on messaging and value
proposition almost immediately. This enables marketers and
salespeople to master their pitches.
3. Human connection. There’s a reason that networking is still
one of the most effective sales and marketing mechanisms in
the business world—that reason is the human connection. Most
digital formats are very impersonal and “cold” in nature. Cold
calling actually provides a chance to have a warm conversation
with prospects and gauge things like personality, sense of humour,
interest, and so much more that simply isn’t possible in an email or
direct message.
Cons:
1. It can be perceived as pushy and intrusive. There is a negative

aura surrounding the notion of cold calling, and unless you can
deliver some real value in a genuine way, then recipients may try to
find a way out of the conversation as quickly as possible.
2. High involvement activity. Unless the prospects that you’re
calling upon are large revenue opportunities, then there may not
be sufficient ROI to prove the validity of this activity.
3. Success may be limited. Studies have shown that only about 1%
of answered cold calls actually convert to appointments. That’s why
cold calling is best served in conjunction with other account-based
tactics.
4. It can damage morale. Rejection is hard, and 63% of surveyed
sales representatives stated that cold calls were the worst part of
their job.

How to launch a cold calling campaign
Note: these steps are crafted from the perspective of the marketer that is
enabling the program, whether they are also the ones on the phones or
whether the calls are executed by a sales team.
1. Secure phone numbers for your target accounts
Phone numbers (especially direct lines) can often be much more difficult
to secure as compared to email addresses. That being said, there are still
a number of sources that can help you procure phone numbers for your
target accounts.
Some of the most prominent sources include:

• Business association membership lists (consult Paid Tactics and
Strategies, section 8 to find out more).
• Google searches (don’t expect personal contact information, and
this technique will not scale for large calling lists).
• Various data and listing aggregators. Companies like Leadfeeder,
LeadGenius, Zoominfo, and DataFox are just a few of the major
players in this space.
2. Construct calling scripts
As a marketer, it’s likely that it will be a sales rep that is executing on the
call, but marketing should always work with sales to construct scripts.
Although you want these conversations to be fluid and natural, there are
a few pointers that can enhance their effectiveness and improve your
chances of booking that next call.
Here are some pointers:
• Keep your intro short. Introduce your company and your first
name, don’t dump your resume on them.
• Always ask if now is a good time for them to chat. This shows that you
respect their time and helps to build goodwill right out of the gate.
• Craft a list of questions that you intend to cover over the course
of the call. But, don’t stick to these like glue, keep the conversation
fluid and natural. Some possible questions might include:
• Tell me about your company and your role.
• What are your goals? And what metrics are you
responsible for?
• What are the biggest challenges that you and
your team face?
• What would a successful outcome look like?

• Then introduce your product or service offering as it pertains to
the needs that you’ve identified. Present the value proposition but
don’t get too salesy on this opening call. The object is simply to
solicit enough interest for a follow-up call.
• Ask them if they’d be interested in booking another call to discuss how

your offering could help them with “x” challenges that they’re facing.
• Practice it with your team or in front of peers to get feedback

before you (or sales) start making calls.
Check out Cold Calling Tips and Techniques to find out more.
3. Execute the calls
Most sales reps aren’t particularly fond of making cold calls, so it might require
some pressure from marketing to ensure that calls are actually made.
Here are some pointers (for the sales rep):

• Research each prospect before you pick up the phone so that
you can better understand the prospect and build rapport quicker.
• Call at the right time. In the B2B space, it’s a good rule of
thumb to always try and call between 9 and 4 (in the recipient’s
time zone).
• Open with confidence. Remember that old adage about selling
yourself first? The recipient is going to know right away whether
or not you’re nervous, and if you aren’t confident in yourself, then
why should the prospect trust what you’re trying to sell?
• Focus on discovery and understanding. Try and get to know
the prospect through their needs and desires. This is where your
question list comes into play.
• Show value in the discovery call. There are a few ways that
this can be done, but the most popular include: sharing success
stories on companies like them or providing them with real
business opportunities.
• Listen. After you introduce yourself and your offering, you should
spend most of your time listening to the prospect. This can help
you identify specific needs and identify future objections.

If you really want to ramp up the success of your discovery calls, use sales
automation tools like the Vendasta Snapshot Report. The Snapshot is an
automated needs assessment tool that enables our partners to identify
real business opportunities for the marketing agencies, tech companies,
and media companies that we serve.
Source: Snapshot Report
4. Reflect on the call
The only thing that sales reps might resist more than actually making the
calls is taking notes and recording that information in a CRM. However,
this is an essential part of the process as it enables the rep and the
marketing team to make improvements to the script, gauge the intent of
the prospect, and make plans for the next call (if the first was successful).

Summary
Lead generation is the gateway to business growth. This guide provides
an exploration of some of the most prominent and proven lead
generation strategies for companies that operate in the B2B space. Each
strategy detailed herein has a unique set of benefits, a unique set of
drawbacks, as well as a fundamental exploration of how to leverage it in a
lead generating campaign.
At the end of the day, the most important takeaways with respect to
lead generation are as follows:
1. No strategy is intended to be used in isolation and almost all lead

generation tactics benefit from an integrated marketing approach.
2. Lead generation is more parts science than art. Leveraging this

toolset will help you achieve your marketing objectives and overall
business outcomes.
3. Lead generation is just the beginning of the customer lifecycle.
Vendasta was recently named The Best Marketing Automation Platform

of 2020. If you’re interested in taking the next step to level up your lead
generation, expand your revenue channels, and grow your business, then
sign-up for free and get started with Vendasta today.
G E T S TA RT E D FO R F R E E
410 - 22nd Street East facebook.com/vendasta

(15th Floor) @vendasta
www.vendasta.com Vendasta Square /company/vendasta-technologies-inc-/
1-855-955-6650 Saskatoon, SK S7K 5T6

Lead Generation
Written by: Brock Andony

Edited by: Jessica Beuker and Dan McLean
Layout and Design by: Rory Lawford
Additional contributors include: Jamie
Taylor, Bryan Larson, Dani Mario, Catriona
Barcoe, Austin Harrison, Anna Tavares, Cam
Adraincem, Colleen McGrath, and Edward
Sedgwick
#ConquerLocal

The Fundamental Guide To Lead Generation

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#ConquerLocal

The Fundamental Guide to

Lead generation is an age-old concept, originating in (and prospering in)

Lead generation has also become essential. If your business operates

The stakes are high.

Fortunately, this guide will provide an in-depth exploration of every

Though not all of these tactics and strategies can be leveraged

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 2 www.vendasta.com

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 3 www.vendasta.com

Lead: A lead is a viable customer/client for your business or offering.

Marketing qualified lead (MQL): An MQL is generally a prospect that has

Leads can be generated at any of these levels, or can graduate to these

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 4 www.vendasta.com

Here is a quick overview of lead generation over the centuries:

Source: Brand Driven Digital

It’s important to understand the history of lead generation, because

Why Lead Generation is Essential

For B2B businesses in 2020, to simply “do marketing” is not enough.

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 5 www.vendasta.com

The Future of Lead Generation

“The future of lead generation will be defined by the unprecedented

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 6 www.vendasta.com

Social Media Marketing

What is social media marketing?

If properly deployed, social media marketing should be an integral part

This chapter of The Comprehensive Guide to Lead Generation will

Why is social media

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 9 www.vendasta.com

Here is a breakdown of social media platform users around the world:

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 10 www.vendasta.com

3. Build your brand

Brands are the lifeblood of businesses. They allow consumers to build

Social media is unique because it allows businesses to express more

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 11 www.vendasta.com

Source: Instagram @vendasta

4. Social media marketing is cost effective

By cost, I mean time, resources, and money. In comparison to other

In terms of time, a HubSpot study determined that 84 percent of

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 12 www.vendasta.com

In terms of direct costs, there are none associated with an organic

If properly leveraged, social media is the gateway to stronger client

5. Lead generation happens here

Here are the stats:

What is the future of

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 13 www.vendasta.com

According to a study by Adobe, 52 percent of marketing professionals

Video is the optimal platform for everything from explainer videos, to

Source: Instagram @slackhq

2. Limited accessibility content

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 14 www.vendasta.com

Deloitte Digital is a brand that has

Source: Instagram @deloittedigital

3. More influencer marketing

Here’s what you need to know about influencer marketing:

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 15 www.vendasta.com

1. Reduced reach. Recent algorithm changes have dramatically

The Fundamental Guide to Lead Generation 16 www.vendasta.com

1. Perform a page audit

2. Set growth goals