A Brighter Web | Grow your business with digital marketing

B2B vs B2C: Why They’re More Similar Than You Think

Marketing has no shortage of acronyms, and B2B and B2C are two of the most important. These represent two large business categories, however, they’re not as different as you might think. Listen in as we compare and contrast these two types of companies (plus a few more).

What are the biggest differences between B2B & B2C marketing?

• In case of acronym confusion, “business to business” and “business to consumer”.
• B2B would be the company trying to sell cups to Starbucks.
• B2C is Starbucks marketing to consumers.

Why is it helpful to distinguish between the two?

• They’re in a very different state.
• B2B generally has specific goals, budgets and timelines.
• B2C is often more spontaneous. You may have a budget, like for a new laptop, but often it’s low-ticket items.

How are these similar?

• At the end of the day, they’re all humans.
• If we’re “working with Starbucks”, it’s not a faceless company. We might be working with Jennifer or Steve, not with “Starbucks”.

Why do we focus more on B2B?

• It’s a different area of expertise, and simply what we’ve chosen.
• We know how to make a difference for B2B firms.
• Solid B2C marketing is crucial (see: every TV ad), but is a very different approach.

Are there other options beyond B2B & B2C?

• D2C - Direct to Consumer, like Warby Parker
• C2C - Customer to Customer, like Etsy
• B2G - Business to Government, like some construction firms
• B2E - Business to Employee, like some online insurance companies.
• Probably many others as well.

Maximize Customer Testimonials and Case Studies For Your Business

Customer testimonials and case studies are everywhere within marketing. But what’s the difference between these two things, and how can your business use them? Let’s unpack how to maximize your customer stories.

What’s the difference between testimonials and case studies?

• Testimonials are direct quotes from your customers, clients, or vendors.
• Case studies are more in-depth examinations of a specific project with a client.
• Testimonials are better to be short; case studies can be longer.

Why are both important in marketing?

• People trust others more than what businesses say about themselves.
• Keep in mind, that even testimonials can be skewed and biased.
• Offer a range of reviews—balance the good and the bad.
• Some brands have used negative feedback to set themselves apart. (eg. Liquid Death)

Where can you use each one?

• Testimonials can be shared fairly widely.
  • In blog posts
  • On web pages
  • On social media
  • In videos
  • Within case studies
• Their short nature means they’re more flexible.
• Case studies are better off on your website—as a landing page or downloadable PDF.
• You can point all of these other marketing channels back to the case study.

How can you source testimonials?

• Ask clients directly - be sure to get permission either way!
• Online reviews
• Customer surveys
• Social comments
• Email responses
• Anywhere your ideal customers connect with you

What format should your case study take?

• About the client
• Their problem
• How they found you
• What you did for them
• The results

A Special 50th Podcast Episode!

We did it—we made 50 episodes of the podcast! Since most podcasts never make it past episode 3, we figured this was a time to reflect back on what we’ve learned so far and how we made it this far. Thank you for being a listener of the Brighter Web Podcast! 

Most listened-to episodes

• Getting Found Online with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Keeping Up With Key Business Metrics
• Keeping Your Email Marketing Legit
• 5 Parts of a Clear Business Messaging Strategy
• 10 Things You Need to Do Before Launching a Website

Some of our favorite episodes

• Why we never send cold emails
• Keeping your email marketing legit
• Why should you bother with website accessibility?

Other stuff we talk about

• What we've learned
• Our process for making the show
• Why we did the podcast

A Deep Discussion about Dealing with Digital Distractions

Buzz, buzz, buzz. No, it’s not a bee, but it’s equally as distracting—it’s another digital notification that’s pulling you away from your other priorities. Dealing with digital distractions is a daily dedication, but one we all must definitely deal with.

What are digital distractions?

• Pings
• Rings
• Beeps
• Buzzes
• The constant stream of notifications that break our concentration

What are some examples?

• Email notifications
• Slack pings
• Text messages
• Phone calls
• Status updates
• Social media notifications
• App badges
• News alerts
• Amber alerts

Why are these problematic?

• They break our focus and keep us in shallow work
• People can’t really multi-task like we think we can
• It keeps us pulled toward the urgent rather than the important
• They’re major time wasters

When should we be wary of distractions?

• During meetings
• During important work blocks
• Before bed
• During meal times
• When spending time with people who matter

Why does this matter in marketing?

• Because we’re competing for people’s attention with these distractions
• Because often these distractions are also marketing messages

How do we deal with digital distractions?

• Go on Focus mode (in a Mac)
• Turn off certain notifications
• Schedule time to check email and social accounts
• Set up timers for certain time-wasting apps
• Leave your phone in another room
• Take regular tech-free breaks during the day
• reMarkable, Kindle Scribe, clarity breaks
• Keep a “mind like water” so you can clear your head a bit more

Make Your Marketing More Sustainable with Evergreen Content

Constantly cranking out new marketing content gets exhausting quickly. Using evergreen content that can be recycled makes the content marketing rat race a little more sustainable. Here’s some approaches for how to create and use evergreen content in your business.

What is evergreen content?

• Topics that you can talk about at any point during the year
• Different from timely content that’s only relevant for a short period
• Evergreen content might change over time, but has a long shelf life

Why is this beneficial?

• It saves you from having to constantly generate new content
• It reinforces the most important themes in your business
• It gives you content to fill in during slower times
• It allows you to plan your content out in advance

How do you come up with evergreen topics?

• Think about the things you talk about often
• Consider what’s always relevant to your business over the long term
• Start with a short list and add to it over time
• These can be educational or promotional

What are some examples?

• Your main product or service offerings
• Your company's core values
• Your team members or company history
• Partner organizations
• Cross-promoting your marketing channels (eg. blog, newsletter, etc.)
• Your main calls to action

How do you use evergreen content?

• Come up with a list of topics
• Write up a blurb that’s easy to share with a link if applicable
• Save this content in an accessible space for your team
• Sprinkle these posts in your content calendar for various platforms
• Revisit annually to see how it needs to be updated or expanded

Taking Control of Your Online Business Reviews

Online reviews are often trusted more than other forms of marketing because they come from neutral third-party sources. You can’t fully control your brand’s reputation, but you can respond to negative reviews and encourage positive feedback.

Why are online reviews helpful?

• People trust objective parties more than your brand
• People use online reviews before they make a purchase
• These online sites make you more discoverable online

How can you get started taking control of your reviews?

• Search for your brand name online
• Claim all of the online review sites you can find
• Audit the information to ensure that it’s accurate
• Create accounts on the other sites that make sense
• Setup email notifications for when a new review is left

What are the most common review sites?

• Google My Business
• Yelp (consumer-facing)
• Facebook
• Clutch (services)
• Glass Door/Indeed (hiring)
• G2 (software)
• Industry-specific (Houzz, Upcity, Blue Bird, BBB, etc.)

What are tips for responding to reviews?

• Respond to everything— positive or negative
• Be timely— within a week or not at all
• Thank people for leaving a review
• Take negative comments to offline conversations

How can you encourage positive reviews?

• Link to it from your website
• Automated emails to new customers
• Scannable QR codes in brick-and-mortar locations
• Asking people in person
• Can’t offer anything in return
• 4.5 is ideal because people don’t trust 5.0 ratings

Connecting Digital and Traditional Marketing Channels

Believe it or not, there’s more to marketing than digital media. Websites can coexist with billboards, and email doesn’t replace direct mail. The best marketers learn how to leverage both of these types of marketing to work together.  

Why should people care about non-digital channels?

• Because some can be effective. 
• Not everything can (or should) be digital. You should have a balance of offline, too.
• While we’re a digital marketing firm, our main goal is to do whatever is best for our clients. 
• If that means using offline methods, so be it.

What are examples of offline channels to pay attention to?

• Direct mail
  • Mailboxes are emptier than before.
  • “Lumpy mail” can be very effective.
  • It’s slower and more expensive than email.
• Events
  • Speaking, tradeshows, conferences, networking, meeting folks, etc.
  • This is a great way to connect directly with people.
  • These require traveling and talking to humans.

What do offline channels have that digital platforms don’t?

• More of a personal touch.
• Zoom can be excellent, but it’s nothing close to an in-person interaction.
• They can survive an EMP.
• These channels can interact with your digital ones.

What’s the best way to balance offline and online?

• I try to bring one to the other. 
• We’re using online tools to drive people to our offline Meetups.
• Eg.I spoke at an offline event last week, but then connected with people online afterward.
• QR codes are another good way to point offline people back to online.

How can you effectively start to connect offline and online?

• Be intentional.
• I’m careful to “process” after events. 
• With that speaking event last week, I took time to record notes (from paper) into Obsidian, add new contacts to my phone contacts, and connect with folks on LinkedIn.

Creating Effective Video Content For Your Business

If you’ve ever been on the internet, you’ve probably seen some video content—it’s everywhere. Some platforms—like YouTube and TikTok—are completely video based. There’s a reason why video content is so effective, but it’s not that easy or cheap for every business to create quality videos. This episode is your guide to understanding video and where to get started.

Why is video so popular with digital content?

• Video is dynamic. It’s easy to consume (but difficult to create).
• Video creation is exploding which means there’s a plethora to consume.
• Video feels more personal because you can see people.

Why is video difficult to create?

• You have to account for both audio and visual.
• You need recording equipment and editing software.
• The files are larger and more complex.
• Quality is more elusive.

What kind of video content should we create?

• Video podcasts and vlogs
• Webinars and online training
• Livestreamed events
• Behind-the-scenes videos at your office
• Scripted video ads

What do I need to start making video content?

• An idea and a purpose
• A goal for how the video should perform
• A platform to share it on (eg. YouTube)
• A camera—a smartphone or webcam works, but DSLR is better
• A microphone—sometimes built into the camera, or you can upgrade
• A good shooting location
• A good on-camera subject
• Editing software

What are some marketing video tips?

• Create a plan for what kind of videos you want to create and why. Making decent videos requires an investment of time and resources, so you want to be reasonably prepared to go in.
• Start small and play around with some options. It doesn’t have to be an immediate home run.
• YouTube is a great platform for video, but it’s not the only one. Repurpose your video content across multiple marketing channels to make it more worth your time.
• Follow other companies to see what kinds of video content is effective for them. Don’t copy, but you can be inspired by brands both inside and outside of your industry.

The WordPress Magic Checkbox

There aren’t many magic bullets or quick fixes in digital marketing—but there are a few. One of them is this surprisingly powerful and sneaky checkbox in the backend of every WordPress site. Here’s how that Magic Checkbox works and why you should probably avoid it.

Today on the Brighter Web Podcast, we’re talking about the WordPress magic checkbox. We did an episode on the Magic Email, and this is another magical episode. We call it that because it’s a surprisingly simple fix that can generate nearly instant results.

What is the magic checkbox in WordPress?

• It’s the opposite of the magic email — the email is your way to get people to respond, and the magic checkbox is telling Google to go away.
• It’s a devastatingly powerful checkbox buried deep in the WordPress settings that can literally make or break your website, and it’s very easy to miss.
• Settings —> Reading —> “Discourage search engines from indexing this site”
• (quick bit about crawling and indexing)
• This adds a “noindex” to your site, and all major search engines will respect this.

Why shouldn’t most websites have the checkbox checked?

• You want Google (and Bing and DuckDuckGo) to see your site.
• Organic search is how most people find sites.
• Without being on their radar, you’re effectively invisible.
• People can still find your site from the URL, but you’re limiting your visibility.

What should you expect after unchecking the box?

• It’ll take some time—the result is not immediate.
• Google still needs to re-crawl your site to discover and index it.
• Depending on the size of your site, it could be a few weeks or potentially a few months.
• But you’ll start to see a noticeable change in the long run.

What are some reasons why WordPress has this?

• Development sites.
• Sites under construction.
• Too many of these development sites forget to uncheck the box when they go live.

What are some other things you can do to improve on-site SEO?

• Product excellent unique content, and don’t screw it up with things like this.
• Use Google Search Console for recommendations and insights.

 

Why We Never Send Cold Emails

Does anyone like being interrupted by unsolicited promotional emails in their inbox? Because that’s what cold emails are—and they’re not the only form of cold marketing. Let’s talk about why we don’t like cold emails and discuss some better alternatives.

Why we don’t like cold emails

• They’re an interruption in a place you don’t want to be interrupted.
• They feel like an invasion of privacy.
• They don’t stop even after being ignored.
• It’s frowned upon by email service providers.

Why do people send cold emails?

• Because it sometimes works (at a large scale)
• Because it’s the easy way out
• Because it’s a brute-force approach

What’s the alternative?

• Permission-based marketing lets people self-select into your marketing funnel.
• This “warms” people up before you hit them with a sales pitch
• Always allow people to unsubscribe and opt-out of the funnel.
• Introductions and networking. We send great leads to a lot of other web companies that are a better fit.
• Proper advertising (Google Ads, TV ads).
• Other digital marketing (SEO, etc).

Why permission marketing is better

• It’s more focused and has higher success rates.
• It takes more time but works by cultivating a relationship.
• People are more willing to talk to you when you provide value to them first.

How to build a permission-based marketing funnel

• Create valuable content (eg. blog posts, podcasts, videos, downloadables)
• Create a place where people can subscribe for updates
• Gate some of the content so people need to provide contact info
• Nurture this list with more value before you ask for the sale
• Create automated email series and newsletters to reel people in
• Don’t forget to occasionally make a strategic ask