Content Marketing and Your Business

By Erin Quinlan

You want to grow your business and you’ve heard of content marketing, but you’re not exactly sure what it is or how it could benefit your business.

Don’t worry, The Silent Partner Marketing has you covered.

Content marketing comes in many different forms and can be adapted for any business. It is a great way to increase visibility, gain a higher level of trust from customers, and increase customer loyalty.

We know that these are all good things.

The Silent Partner Marketing can handle all of your content marketing needs, including blog posts, images, videos, and much more!

We make it so that you get the exposure you want, without having to worry about it.

Blog posts are a big part of content marketing. Blogs are such a natural way to promote your message. By setting up a blog, you create a resource for your customers and a place that reinforces your brand.

At The Silent Partner Marketing, we’ll write the blogs and then post them for you. Easy!

Images are also important. According to one psychologist, 93 percent of communication is nonverbal, which means almost all of what you tell your audience happens outside the words you say. With pictures, illustrations, and graphics, you have an opportunity to make a real impact on your fans.

Who doesn’t love a great photo or photo gallery? We have one of the best photographers around. Trust us on this one.

There’s a world of variety within videos. No matter what type it is, however, a good video communicates a message in a succinct and memorable way. After you do the video, post it on YouTube and Vimeo. Both of these sites are great way to garner social signals for SEO and improved results for video search itself.

Did I mention he’s also great at producing awesome videos?

Testimonials are also a great thing to have. Endorsements from satisfied customers act as major social proof for your company’s value. Whether you post testimonials on your website, across social media, or strictly on review sites, the power of these comments is undeniable.

We know as a business owner, you love to hear that you’ve done a good job.

E-mail newsletters are a fantastic avenue for getting your message out to loyal followers – the key is providing highly relevant content that they actually want to read. Ask yourself how you can make your newsletter a must-read.All the follower will have to do is open his or her e-mail. And we all know that we check out our messages often.

“Newsjacking” is another method of content marketing. Take advantage of public interest in a hot news story by finding a way to connect it with your brand. Then write about it.

Makes sense, right?

A guide is a detailed and fairly long piece of content. Think of it as an epic blog post. It goes beyond the length, style, and approach of an ordinary blog post. The idea has to be something that your audience wants. This is another thing that we can handle for you.

People also love “how-to” content. First, identify a common problem. Then, come up with a solution. The model is simple: introduce the problem, introduce the solution, discuss each step of the solution, summarize the discussion, and provide a conclusion. The more thorough your explanation is, the better. 

How often have you found yourself Googling “How do I….” do whatever it is? 

If you’re looking to have some fun with your content marketing, you could do a contest. Before the contest, you can introduce it to your audience. If you are working with another brand, capitalize on their audience through cross-promotional posts. During the contest, you can share updates of how it is going. Once the contest has ended, you can create additional content by recapping the contest and letting everyone know how it went, who the winners were, etc.

This is a great way to get your name out there, have some fun, and produce content for your business.

Another thing you could do is to create a meme. We’ve all seen them. They go viral and they’re hilarious. That’s one of the great benefits of memes – they’re humorous. People love something that they can laugh at, share, and get a kick out of. The great thing about memes is that they can be adapted for use in any niche. 

Sound like some ideas you’d like to try out? 

Give The Silent Partner Marketing a call at 866-432-6456 or e-mail Kyle Reyes at kyle@thesilentpartnermarketing.com and we can get you started.

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Erin Quinlan is the Content Marketing Manager of The Silent Partner Marketing, a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology. You can find The Silent Partner Marketing on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Staying on Top of Your Online Reputation

By Erin Quinlan

Before someone walks into your business, they already know something – maybe many things – about your business. How?

Most likely, they searched your business online.

Ensuring that you stay on top of online chatter can be a full time job – but it’s a very important job. Reputation management allows you to monitor online activities and listings.

Not sure where to begin? Let us help. At The Silent Partner Marketing, we handle the reputation management aspect for our clients so they can concentrate on running their business.

With our reputation management services, it will ensure that you are aware of all places where people mention your business – from listings to positive or negative mentions and reviews, social updates.

We will also help you promote your business on Facebook, Twitter, and other places, and will track your followers. You will also receive automated reports to help you manage your business brand.

You should never underestimate the cost of a poor reputation. There’s one story that when potential customers searched a particular company’s name, 7 of the top 10 Google results were negative. After careful review of the rankings and prior-year revenues, it was estimated the venture was losing nearly $2 million a year in sales because of negative search engine results.

Ouch. It’s clear that online reputation management clearly has a big impact on a company’s revenue.

We know that it can be unsettling to wake up one day and see defamatory remarks appearing online, particularly when the items move beyond constructive criticism to include outrageous accusations and even slanderous or libelous remarks. 

What’s even worse is that the negative reviews are often on websites that rank high in search engines, so anyone doing a search on the company name will probably see them. Whether the comments are true or not, these negative search results jeopardize the company’s online reputation.

With this comes the chance for a loss in sales, negative press coverage, and hiring ability.

On the other side of things, you may have great reviews. You’re all set, right? Wrong. Just because the results are good today, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be that way tomorrow. Search engine results can change at any time based on recent news, social media, algorithm changes, or many other reasons. 

For this reason, creating and keeping a positive online reputation is a continuous, ongoing process.

In today’s world, any crisis will shortly be an online reputation crisis thanks to the real-time nature of social media. Even if it doesn’t make the news, blogs, tweets, and other social media can do great damage.

The first step is to do everything you can to prevent a problem from becoming a reputational crisis. That includes planning how to best use every online platform your brand is on. It also includes constant monitoring of online brand mentions and sentiment, and strong threat detection and protection.

During a crisis, you’ll want to have someone on call who can monitor your online reputation, assess the reputational risks of various events and solutions, and suggest reputation-protection measures.

That’s where we come in.

Because social media happens in real time, customers expect fast responses. To prevent minor problems from becoming a big deal – and to maintain a good reputation during a crisis – communicate and respond quickly. 

Fast communication is especially critical if the crisis involves product or service quality and safety, or the security and privacy of customer or employee information.

Ready to protect and grow your business? 

Give The Silent Partner Marketing a call at 866-432-6456 or e-mail Kyle Reyes at kyle@thesilentpartnermarketing.com.

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Erin Quinlan is the Content Marketing Manager of The Silent Partner Marketing, a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology. You can find The Silent Partner Marketing on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Video a Valuable Piece of Your Marketing Strategy

By Erin Quinlan

Not sure if your business really needs to use videography as part of your marketing strategy? Here are a few reasons why you should.

Customers spend their time watching videos. YouTube has more than four billion views per day, and is the second-largest search engine, right after Google (which owns YouTube). In addition, 78 percent of people watch at least one video a week and 55 percent watch a video every day.

Sound like something you may want to get in on?

The Silent Partner Marketing can help you. We have done hundreds of videos for dozens of clients to help them grow their businesses.

Still not convinced? Here are some other reasons you may want to use video.

Your competitors are already using it. In 2013, 81 percent of senior marketing executives were using online video content in their marketing strategies, up from 70 percent in 2011. Don’t get left behind!

Video is easily searchable. Video results appeared in almost 70 percent of the top 100 search listings on Google in 2012. Consumers are looking for your products and services, and they are probably doing this with an online search.

In addition, video is shared easily and frequently. More than 500 years’ worth of YouTube videos are watched daily on Facebook. More than 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter every minute. You want to get your product or service out there in a fun and shareable way.

How many times have you shared a video you saw on Facebook or Twitter? Probably many, right?

You can also level the playing field with video. Online video production will account for more than one-third of all online advertising spending within the next five years.

Video entertains, educates, and inspires. More than 60 percent of consumers will spend at least two minutes watching a video that educates them about a product they plan to purchase. Video is a great storyteller and keeps consumers glued to your site. The more time on your site, the better.

With video, you can have real-time feedback and interaction. Comments and response videos help you redirect your fire based on the customers’ feedback and needs. 

Video is measurable. Analytics are easily accessible and do a great job of telling how successful your videos are. In addition, videos last forever, making them more cost-effective over time. Unlike television ads that will eventually go away, video content stays online, continuing to work for you.

With video, your customer is one click away from the “buy” button. One study showed that 34 percent of apparel shoppers are more likely to purchase after viewing an online video ad, versus 16 percent after watching an ad on television. You can also put direct links in video descriptions, surrounding text, banners, or overlays that let viewers click directly on the video.

Video is about selling. Shoppers who viewed video were 174 percent more likely to purchase than viewers who did not. We know you want to sell your goods and services.

In addition, video is mobile. Online video now accounts for 50 percent of all mobile traffic and up to 69 percent of traffic on certain networks. Thirty second mobile video ads have an 88.3 percent completion rate. How often do you use your phone to educate or entertain yourself?

With video, you have the potential to be in people’s hands, understanding everything about what you offer, and one click away from them buying your stuff. What could be better?

Ready to get started? Give The Silent Partner Marketing a call at 866-432-6456 or e-mail kyle@thesilentpartnermarketing.com and we can help you get on your way.

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Erin Quinlan is the Content Marketing Manager of The Silent Partner Marketing, a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology. You can find The Silent Partner Marketing on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Is It Inconvenient To Do Business With You?

 By Kyle Reyes

Do you really want people to do business with you...or do you just want to say that you own a business?

It's a fair question.  Perhaps it's a question you never thought you'd be asked...but it's still a fair question.

Allow me to explain.

We have the unique privilege of working with all sorts of businesses.  Retail.  Restaurants.  Service-based professionals.  Car dealerships.  You name it - we work with them.

And while we selectively pick our clients based on individuals and organizations that we know have a strong process in place...we see many other businesses that seemingly could care less about making it easy for customers to do business with them.

Take, for example, the John Deere affiliate for Home Depot.

We ordered a lawn mower for our house.  What a FUN experience that was.  After four days of comparing reviews (GASP - you mean customers actually USE those reviews?), we decided that the rebate pulled us in.

After about a week, I received a phone call from John Deere.

"Sir, your mower is ready for delivery.  We're even going to have someone show you how to use it!"

So here I am thinking that the company actually values me as a customer.  Until, of course, they let me know when I could take delivery.

They don't do holidays.  Ok.  They don't do Sundays.  Fine.  They don't do Saturdays.  Now you're pushing it.

They don't do before 9....or after 5.

The window of delivery?  Sometime between 9am and 1pm.

Listen - I get it.  Half of our country doesn't work any more.  But those of us who DO work - and, ahem, who are buying the freaking lawn mowers - don't exactly have the luxury of keeping an enormous window open to make it easy for YOUR company to take our money.

So again, I ask you - do you really want people to do business with you?

A family friend mentioned to me earlier today that he recently visited a car dealership - twice.  Thank GOD it wasn't one of our clients.  He walked the lot...looked at cars...went in the showroom - both times.

And not once did someone come up to him and say hello.

"Oh well," he said.  "I guess they didn't want my money."

Perhaps it's time that your business takes a good look at the customers it has...and the customers it wants to have.  Are you making it easy for them to buy from you...or to decide to head over to the competition?

Let me make it really easy for YOU to do business with The Silent Partner Marketing.  Email us today by clicking here.  Perhaps this article inspired you to consider having us mystery shop your business for a start.

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Kyle Reyes is the President and Creative Director of The Silent Partner Marketing, a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology.  You can find him on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.  He's the Chuck Norris of marketing.  It's outrageous - we know.  That's kind of the point.

Why Should I Use Social Media for My Business?

By Erin Quinlan

You probably use social media personally, but have you ever thought about using it for your business?

Is it really worth the time and effort to build a social media presence? What are the benefits of using social media for your business?

Here are some numbers that might make you think.

Wishpond, a maker of online marketing tools, found that 89 percent of respondents said that social media marketing has generated more business exposure.

Increasing traffic was the second major benefit, with 75 percent reporting positive results.

Sixty nine percent of marketers use social media to gather marketplace intelligence, and 64 percent saw lead generation increase by using social media six hours or less per day.

Of marketers using social media for two or more years, 62 percent reported a rise in search engine rankings, and 62 percent of businesses with 10 employees or less reported that social media has reduced marketing expenses.

If these numbers sound good to you, give The Silent Partner Marketing a call. We can handle all your social media needs and get you on the fast track to a growing business.

Here are some other reasons why you might want to think about using social media and The Silent Partner Marketing to grow your business.

Social media can impact your organic search results. What does this mean? When it comes to impacting your website’s position in search engines, you need to create both optimized and compelling content if you want to be found. How does that work?

What social media does is it allows you to broadcast your content out to a wide range of interested readers. Interested prospects will visit your content, subscribe, tell their friends, and then link to it. Search engines pay attention to social signals like this when they decide how to rank links on a search results page.

Social media also allows you to offer better customer service. When looking for a way to field customer comments, concerns, and questions, you are going to find social media to be extremely beneficial. 

Customers can also validate your business on social media. The idea behind allowing customers to correspond directly with you is so that they can get the best customer service possible. When this occurs, it happens in a very public forum that can be seen by other prospects. Having great customer service and having everybody know about it can never hurt, right?

With social media, you can design your own online personality. Social media is a great way to display your business’ personality, as well as behind-the-scenes information about you, your employees, your workspace, and more. When you humanize your brand in this way, it makes it easier for consumers to connect with you and develop loyalty.

Nobody likes stiff, corporate robots. Real people are much better.

Another benefit of social media is that it lets you associate with other businesses. You are able to connect directly to the consumer, which means that you can also use the platform to connect to other entrepreneurs and business owners. 

You can provide value with social media. The idea that you can provide a truly valuable service to your target market means you are positioning yourself as an expert in your industry. Whether that’s educational and entertaining blogs, posts, or tweets, if you are solving a problem or providing information, you’re adding value that customers will appreciate.

It’s never a bad thing to be considered an expert and someone who can solve a problem or provide good information.

So, overall, social media will also let you gain the competitive edge. Social media can boost your search rankings, allow you to provide better customer service, build an effective online personality, connect with new business partners, build connections, and validate your professional standing – all while providing your consumers with the value they want.

Who wouldn’t want that?

If you do, give The Silent Partner Marketing a call at 866-432-6456 or e-mail kyle@thesilentpartnermarketing.com.

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Erin Quinlan is the Content Marketing Manager of The Silent Partner Marketing, a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology. You can find The Silent Partner Marketing on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. 

The Benefits of Content Marketing

By Erin Quinlan

Are you thinking about how to grow your business? 

Content marketing is a great way to increase visibility, gain a higher level of trust from customers, and increase customer loyalty.

These are all good things, right?

Did you know that blogs on company sites result in 55 percent more visitors? How about that blogs are 63 percent more likely to influence purchase decisions than a magazine? Or that 60 percent of customers feel more positive about a company after reading custom content on its site?

This sound pretty good to you? 

The Silent Partner Marketing can help you get there. We are your marketing team in the digital age. From social media, blogging, videography, and traditional and digital advertising and public relations, we are the consulting team that you’ve been searching for.

Want to know more about why content marketing is important?

With content marketing, your chances for going viral increases. If you create something that’s interesting and especially entertaining, you’ve got the potential to be seen by a much larger audience. One advantage of building a favorable audience is that you begin to multiply the outlets for your content.

Content marketing can make you money. And who doesn’t want to make more money? If a marketing strategy doesn’t help you make more money, don’t do it. Content marketing and it’s more edgy form, inbound marketing, deliver the goods better than any other strategy.

Content marketing generates sales more efficiently and it is one of the least expensive forms of marketing if done correctly. Sounds good, right?

It can also increase the number of sales. Also a good thing. Content marketing can help increase sales by meeting customers wherever they’re at in the buying process and moving them forward giving them the knowledge they need to take their next step.

Content marketing will also pull in unexpected customers. You can introduce your company to people who didn’t know you existed. By choosing topics that are on the minds of your customers and talking about them in helpful ways, you’ll attract them through search engines. 

You will also establish yourself as a thought leader with content marketing. By taking a bold stance in the marketplace of ideas, you’ll begin to establish yourself as the “expert.” It’s always nice to be thought of as an expert, isn’t it?

Content marketing positions you as a helpful resource, which is also a good thing. Your customers are looking for answers. If you’re not providing helpful resources for those looking for this information, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to gain credibility early in the buying process.

Content marketing helps make a personal connection. Be personal. Use your face. Be real. Make a personal connection. In fact, the more you emphasize your unique personality, the more you’ll create an advantage in the marketplace because there is no way for someone to compare you to your competition. You’re unique.

Content marketing builds valuable relationships with your audience. If you’re transparent about your knowledge, experience, questions, and so forth, just as in real life, you become more approachable. That trust forms the basis for future marketplace transactions.

If all of this sounds like where you want to be, give us a call at 866-432-6456. We can answer any questions you may have and help you on your way to a successful business.

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Erin Quinlan is the Content Marketing Manager of The Silent Partner Marketing, a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology. You can find The Silent Partner Marketing on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Beer, Pizza and Brainstorming

 By Kyle Reyes

One of the television stations I worked for had four meetings EACH DAY.

The meetings were wildly productive (sarcasm, anyone?).  Everyone would sit around and complain, then proceed to bash each other and shoot unique ideas down.

Ultimately, an overpaid member of middle management would prevail with his "story idea" - that he ripped right out of the local newspaper - thanks to a combination of our exhaustion and his scare tactics.

It doesn't just happen in newsrooms.  It happens in offices and board rooms across the country.

"Did you see what the competition is doing?  Why aren't WE doing that?".

Oh.  That makes sense.  Let's be unique by copying what they are doing.  Good.  And then everyone wonders why nobody stands out.

Each day, our team at The Silent Partner Marketing wakes up and goes to war.  We battle to make our clients stand out.  We help others to differentiate in a society that rewards mediocrity and penalizes creativity.

On June 1, The Silent Partner Marketing is moving it's offices and studio to Manchester.  It's the most centralized location in the state considering our clients - and our team - spans every corner of the state.

I don't believe in unnecessary meetings.  But I do believe in growing together.  And continuing education.  And pizza and beer.

So once a week, our team is going to get together in our new location for a bite, a brew and a brainstorming session.  We'll discuss current projects and initiatives, upcoming events, opportunities for growth, cross-promotional marketing and different educational topics that pertain to what we're working on for our clients.

I know, I know.  The HR people reading this are flipping their lids right now.

"Is he suggesting that we provide pizza and beer for all of our employees every week?"

No, I'm not.

Just the creative employees who your stifling, jaded, overbearing and overpaid middle management has been squashing the souls of for the past God knows how many years.  The hell with the rest of them.

Grab a case of local beer (we of course recommend our boys at Back East Brewing Company).  Grab some pizza (Vito's, anybody?) and watch what happens when you open Pandora's Box of creativity.

Or give us a call at The Silent Partner Marketing.  We'll take care of the rest.

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Kyle Reyes is the President and Creative Director of The Silent Partner Marketing, a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology.  You can find him on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.  He's the Chuck Norris of marketing.  It's outrageous - we know.  That's kind of the point.