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Author: Franz Malten Buemann

  • How to Get Buy-In from Some of the Top Marketing Leaders: 3 Execs Discuss What KPIs Matter to Them

    Whether you’re creating a new content campaign, launching a YouTube series, or revising your social strategy, you’re going to be asked the same question by leadership before getting their support: “How will this impact our company’s bottom line?”
    That can be a difficult question to answer — which is why it’s critical you know your key performance indicators (KPIs) to:
    a) measure the success of your program, and
    b) receive executive buy-in — which is typically a prerequisite for getting the budget and resources you need to successfully launch any new paid marketing program.
    There are so many different KPIs any marketer might use to measure success, including sales, web traffic, follower growth, conversion rate, or brand awareness. But which ones matter most to leadership? In other words: Which ones should you focus on if you’re seeking executive approval?
    Here, we spoke with executives at LinkedIn, G2, and HubSpot to uncover which KPIs matter most to them in 2023. 
    Coming Soon: Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader [Click Here to Add to Google Calendar]
    What KPIs Matter Most to Execs in 2023
    1. Reach and leads.
    If you work backwards from your company’s primary goal — of increasing revenue — then it makes sense that reaching new audiences and converting those audiences into qualified leads for sales would be two of the top KPIs that matter most to marketing leaders.
    As Jordan DiPietro, HubSpot’s VP of Marketing, told me, “As a marketing leader, it’s important to choose a KPI that is most aligned with your company’s overarching business objectives — it could be a revenue metric, it could be a reach metric, or in the case of HubSpot Media, it could be both! The important thing is that your KPIs and the action plans associated with those KPIs are ones that can be directly connected to the KPIs of the business.”
    For instance, DiPietro told me the two KPIs his team focuses on are overall reach (visits, opens, listeners, and views) and leads (net new contacts driven from media content).
    He says, “Our reach KPI is indicative of the fact that HubSpot wants to grow top-of-the-funnel awareness for the business. Our media team does this by increasing the reach of our blog content, newsletters, podcast network, and YouTube network.”
    He adds, “Our revenue KPI is indicative of the the fact that HubSpot is a SaaS business — so we want to generate leads that can be shared with the sales team in order to turn those leads into qualified leads, and then into satisfied customers.”
    When deciding which KPIs to focus on — whether you’re a marketing leader or individual contributor looking for buy-in — you’ll want to consider which metrics will directly connect to your organization’s broader goals. For instance, if your company is hoping to improve its customer retention, then you’ll want to focus your marketing efforts on KPIs like brand sentiment and churn rate.
    But perhaps most importantly — don’t choose too many KPIs. As DiPietro told me, “In terms of secondary KPIs, keep it simple. I’ve noticed that sometimes marketing teams can get too distracted by measuring and tracking and not focused enough on actual impact. So I think it’s fair to have a main KPI, and then I limit it at two sub-metrics.”
    DiPietro provides two examples of this. In one, let’s say you’re running a newsletter company that relies on advertising. In this situation, your main KPI is likely ad revenue, and your two sub-metrics might be subscriber growth and unique opens.
    Alternatively, if you have a subscription business, your main KPI might be overall revenue, and your two sub-metrics could be LTV: CAC and renewal rate.
    DiPietro advises, “Whatever type of marketing organization you’re leading — a SaaS team, a content team, a web strategy team, a media team — ensure you stay connected to the objectives of the business, ensure your KPI is laser-focused, and limit sub-metrics to two per KPI to avoid diluting your impact.”

    2. Number of marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and conversions to sales.
    Ultimately, marketers are only one part of the equation. Which means marketers can only pay attention to the KPIs they can control: Namely, leads and conversions.
    As Robin Izsak-Tseng, G2’s VP of Revenue Marketing, puts it, “Though most marketing teams have goals around pipeline, the fact is, marketing doesn’t open pipeline — sales does. Marketing’s role is to create awareness, demand, and inbound interest in your solution. There are factors outside of marketing’s control (changes in sales processes, for example), which can cause wild fluctuation in pipeline production.”
    Rather than focusing on pipeline, Izsak-Tseng suggests marketers focus on two primary metrics: MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads), and conversions.
    For starters, she says marketers should track a blend of metrics, including MQL production, as an indicator of inbound interest. It’s equally critical that marketing leaders pay attention to SAL (sales-accepted leads), since that is another indication of lead quality.
    A few other metrics Izsak-Tseng suggest marketing leaders focus on include:

    Conversion of total pipeline to revenue: To track how marketing-sourced pipe is performing against pipe sourced by outbound efforts. Since marketing-sourced pipeline is inbound, the conversion to revenue should be consistent and strong.
    CAC (customer acquisition cost): Track this over time. Rising costs can indicate diminishing returns on marketing programs — or show that it’s time to explore new markets.

    Izsak-Tseng adds, “All of these metrics give growth leaders a view of the full funnel and help us understand marketing’s impact on revenue (not just pipeline). Much of this can also be applied to retention. In 2023, when budgets are likely to be even tighter, teams that are primarily focused on acquisition need to embrace goals around renewals and customer growth. Finding ways to create greater value for your customers and community will protect revenue — especially during uncertain times.”

    Considering it costs 5-25X less to retain customers than capture new ones, it’s a good idea to focus on customer retention as a primary KPI. But customer retention isn’t always easy. To satisfy and retain more customers, you’ll need to:

    Build trust with your customers. Ensuring your account managers check-in and show support for customers over the course of a year — and not just when it’s time to renew — is critical for demonstrating to your customers that you care about them and their success.
    Implement a customer feedback loop. This will help you collect, analyze, and distribute customer reviews and surveys to strengthen areas of your customer experience that aren’t working for your current customers.
    Provide a personalized customer experience. Providing each customer with tailor-made solutions and content designed to fit their needs is vital for retention. Your customers don’t want to feel like they fit into a one-size-fits-all approach. Ensuring your organization helps them with their specific challenges and needs is critical.

    (P.S. Already a G2 customer? Click here for 20% off eligible HubSpot products, or get started for free.)
    3. Return-on-investment (ROI) and brand strength.
    During times of economic uncertainty when businesses’ budgets are tight, it’s become increasingly important to be able to demonstrate the ROI of your marketing efforts to your leadership team.
    In fact, one-third (33%) of marketing executives, VPs, and directors say that using data to demonstrate the ROI and business value of their efforts became more important in 2022.
    Jim Habig, VP of Marketing at LinkedIn, agrees that ROI is important — but he encourages marketers to think full-picture when they’re considering their top KPIs, too.
    As he puts it, “It’s paramount that we think about the full funnel when it comes to measurement. Of course, ROI is a slam dunk since it represents how our work directly impacts the bottom line.”
    He adds, “But let’s not discount the importance of other measures of long-range brand strength. With only 5% of buyers in-market at any given time, you need to ensure your brand creates pull for decision-makers now and in the future.”
    To create a strong brand identity, you’ll want to:

    Create a memorable brand voice.
    Communicate your consumers’ pain points — and how you can solve for them — effectively.
    Demonstrate how you’re different from your competitors.
    Broadcast your brand’s mission statement and brand values to build connection with your audience.
    Use type, colors, and imagery to represent your brand’s personality.

    If you’ve created a brand identity already but need to build brand awareness, consider channels that will help you reach new audiences — like podcasting, or other social media platforms. Alternatively, perhaps you can create a strong co-marketing campaign to build credibility in your industry and generate new leads.
    Once you’re investing in brand awareness, you’ll want to measure branded keyword search volume to see how many impressions and search volume your brand is getting. This will help you evaluate your brand awareness efforts over time — if your branded keyword search volume is rising, it’s a sign your brand awareness plays are working.
    While this is a strong starting point, you’ll need to do your own research to determine your organization’s goals for 2023, as well as your executive team’s marketing plans in particular. From there, you can determine how your KPIs for a specific marketing campaign or program might fit in.
    If you can’t see a strong through-line between your own KPIs and the KPIs of the business, it might be time to reassess where you’re focusing your efforts and whether shifting your strategy might better impact the bottom line — and help achieve buy-in from leadership.

  • 10 Techniques to Motivate Call Center Agents

    Working in a call center can be extremely rewarding, especially for those who enjoy customer service and sales. But it’s up to management to promote call center motivation and create a work environment where their agents can gain a sense of satisfaction from their work.
    It’s easy to say, “I’ll just hire someone who is self-motivated.” But even agents with strong work ethics are susceptible to burnout over time. If you plan to keep your team together for the long haul, you’ll want to make sure there are structures in place to support agent engagement efforts.
    But which tactics are the right ones for your call center? To help you navigate this process, we’ll break down the different types of motivators and highlight proven tactics to help you and your call center team get on the right path.
    The Contact Center Playbook for Improving Customer Satisfaction
    Types of Motivators (And Why it Matters)
    Selecting the right tactics to motivate your call center team can be overwhelming at first. A quick Google search will bring up a ton of tips and tricks, but it can be difficult to know which ones will work for you.
    Most of these tips will fall into one of two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. Let’s break down what they mean:
    Extrinsic Motivators
    Extrinsic motivators are perhaps the most common type of motivator associated with the call center. These involve offering external or material rewards for achieving goals, such as prizes, cash bonuses, or recognition.
    Here’s the kicker: while extrinsic motivators drive behavior, they can lower motivation in your employees. These often remind agents of their obligation to work and can reduce the likelihood they’ll go “above and beyond” in their role.
    You can still use extrinsic motivators in the call center, but they shouldn’t be your primary tool for leading your team. Ideally, intrinsic motivators will make up the foundation of your agent engagement strategy.
    Intrinsic Motivators
    Intrinsic motivators, as you may have guessed, nurture agents from an internal perspective. These techniques focus on investing in your agents, developing their skill sets, and encouraging their professional growth and development.
    To understand why intrinsic motivators are so effective, we need to consider basic human needs. Agents who feel supported, well-compensated, and happy at work will be better motivated to perform their daily tasks.
    Once these basic needs are met, the next stage involves appealing to your employees’ sense of autonomy at work, helping them understand how their daily work contributes to the overall business and guiding them in becoming experts in their role.

    TIP:
    While call center metrics like AHT and FCR are great benchmarks for performance, they aren’t great motivators. Prioritizing agent satisfaction and efficiency is the most effective way to achieve results!

    10 Ways to Keep Call Center Agents Motivated
    Now comes the part you’ve been waiting for: our comprehensive list of motivational techniques for the call center. The methods below are all intrinsic motivators, making them all great additions to your agent engagement strategy.
    1. Create a positive work environment.
    Whether you work in an office or remotely, it’s important to foster a work culture that makes agents feel safe, supported, and cared for.
    Agents should be able to keep a good work-life balance and shouldn’t hesitate to take paid leave as they need to. Flexible hours and schedules are also important parts of a successful work environment. In short, your agents should enjoy their time at work, and feel in control of their personal and professional commitments.
    2. Start with management and leadership.
    Remember the phrase, “do as I say, not as I do”? This line encapsulates what NOT to do when working to build agent engagement and motivation.
    Leading by example is the best way to ensure your team emulates the culture and values you want to see in your contact center. Prioritize training your management and leadership teams and hold them to those best practices.
    3. Set clear and attainable goals.
    There are few things more demoralizing than unachievable goals. While managers may see high targets as inspirational, agents will rarely view it the same way.
    It’s important to be realistic when setting targets with your agents and to make sure they are comfortable rising to the challenge. Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound) goals will help you achieve this.
    4. Give them the right tools and technology.
    No job is perfect, and call center work is no exception. At some point, every agent has been bogged down with processes and tasks that get in the way of completing their work. Fortunately, there’s excellent call center software that can automate the drab parts of the job, so your agents can spend more time supporting your callers.
    High call volumes are the bane of every call center agent’s work. Long hold times make for unhappy callers, making phone conversations challenging right off the bat. By offering a call-back solution as an alternative to waiting on hold, agents can spend more time solving customer problems instead of managing their frustration.

    TIP:
    Call-backs are a call center’s best friend! Use them to lower abandonment rates, improve customer satisfaction (CSat), and much more. Learn more about call-backs here.

    5. Encourage agent autonomy.
    Your agents want to feel in control of their workdays, but that can be difficult to do if they don’t have the autonomy to do their work well. If they’re constantly waiting on approvals and escalations, it can hinder their overall performance.
    By giving them the freedom to support their clients, you give them permission to go above and beyond in their work. Of course, you’ll need to invest in the proper training to make sure they’re up to the task. Trust us — it’s well worth the effort.
    6. Assign special projects.
    Call center work gets a bad rap for being repetitive and monotonous. Even the best call center agents will eventually tire of doing the same daily tasks over and over again.
    This is where one-on-one meetings come in handy. Encourage call center managers to get to know their agents, their goals, and interests. Look out for special tasks and projects that you can entrust to your team members so they can expand their skill-sets while taking a much-deserved break from the phone lines.
    7. Treat agents the way you treat your customers.
    Did you know that agent satisfaction directly affects customer satisfaction? If agent engagement is low, you’ll start to see CSat dip as well. It’s one of many reasons why it’s important that your agents feel challenged, supported and engaged in their work.
    Many of the tactics used in customer care can be applied to your employees. Focus on building strong relationships with them, and make sure you’re prioritizing their well-being. A workforce management tool can be helpful for tracking your progress as an organization.
    3 Workforce Management Practices to Implement in Your Call Center
    8. Offer feedback to your agents.
    Your agents want to know where they stand with your organization, so offering feedback is key. By highlighting the positives of their work, you remind them that they’re valued. Don’t sit on your compliments — they are meant to be heard!
    Constructive feedback is also an important part of keeping employees motivated. By challenging them to improve their skills and abilities, they will become more invested in their work and growth with the organization. Which brings us to our next point…
    9. Highlight growth opportunities.
    In an ideal world, the agents you hire will stay with your organization for years to come. Agents will be more inclined to act on constructive feedback if they know their efforts are helping them advance their career.
    To help them envision a future with your business, you need to show them the possibilities for career progression. Create a career plan with each of your agents and touch base with them regularly to ensure they’re on a path that will bring them professional satisfaction and growth.
    10. Listen to what your agents have to say.
    Your agents are skilled professionals with the ability to improve your business — so let them! Listen to their ideas and offer pathways to implement great suggestions. If they feel heard and see management taking their feedback seriously, they’ll be more inclined to step up and do their best work.
    Don’t make the mistake of taking your team’s feedback and not following through. If an agent offers a suggestion, the worst thing you can do is leave it on the backburner. Make sure you follow through on their comments and supply updates whenever possible, so they know their comments are making a difference.The post 10 Techniques to Motivate Call Center Agents first appeared on Fonolo.

  • Gatekeepers and judgment

    Infinity is seductive.

    1,000 emails take up just as much space (and cost just as much) as one. An online bookstore can carry every book ever published. And the long tail of music gives every single person a chance to share their work.

    The simplest thing to do is “let the market sort itself out.” No judgment.

    That’s what the algorithms of the tech world purport to do. No judgment about taste, quality or standards. Hands off about sources, repercussions or impact.

    It’s easier. And at some level, it seems more fair.

    Without the scarcity of limited shelf space, it’s easy to embrace infinity.

    But no judgment is still a judgment in itself. When a site publishes every idea on its platform, promoting each based on a non-published formula, they’ve made a judgment about the power of ideas and the way a community can evolve. This is new. Libraries, bookstores, radio stations–all of the keepers of our culture–danced with scarcity and influence and responded with judgment. If you can’t carry or promote everything, then judgment is the obvious response. Because you have to pick something.

    But when companies demur and refuse to make a judgment, infinity and scarcity collide. Institutional reputation and knowledge have value, and by ignoring them, the big tech companies are making a statement about that value. Each seems to be trying harder than the next to help users fail to understand what’s worth trusting.

    The fracas that is kindergarten has a useful function. It helps kids grow up. But if you need surgery, I hope you’ll go to the hospital, not the local elementary school.

  • #CXDay 2022 Energises Africa around CX

    Watch Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4qb4o3HPqw October 4 is #CXDay an annual global celebration of customer experience. CXPA is the organisation at the heart of better customer experiences. CX drives success in Africa, join other CXPA members in celebration of all the customer experience professionals who work in all industries to create great customer experiences. If you missed this opportunity to energise your organisation around driving success through CX or creating awareness for customer experience values. You still have time to plan to leverage CX Day for the upcoming year as you build up to the year end. It comes at a key point in the year which can feel like the most difficult in keeping momentum as the year is winding down to recognise the employees withing your org that have added value, maintains and innovates the customer experience at your company. ​ #ccxp #customerexperinece #customer #customerjourney #customercentricity #cxpa #CXafricaday #CXdayafrica This website was established to help you join the global #CXDay celebration as well as the celebrations in every region of the world: https://www.cxpa.org/get-involved/reg… submitted by /u/CXinTheCity [link] [comments]

  • Email Marketing for Agencies: A Breakdown

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    The post Email Marketing for Agencies: A Breakdown appeared first on Benchmark Email.

  • Is Digital Marketing Dying?

    I have read articles and seen youtube videos saying, DIGITAL MARKETING IS DYING, AI will replace everything. Facebook is dying! SEO will be Automated You have AI Tools in marketing replacing many jobs roles such as, Copy.AI, Quillbot, Paraphraser, Design.AI, MadgicX, Etc Having been in Digital Mar submitted by /u/mrzedddd [link] [comments]

  • Tracking Amazon best-seller ranking

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