In part one of our three-part series focusing on Parqa’s proven process we covered Brand Credibility. While five years ago a company could use their website as a “brochure,” in today’s environment your website MUST be your best sales person. Your website must portray your image as a Company and provide content that helps you build credibility in the market place if you want to attract the best clients and candidates.
In part two of our series we move on to discuss the value of online visibility. Online visibility consists of three main components Social Media marketing, Content marketing and Search Engine Optimization. Now that you have built your online brand, you need people to become aware of that brand.
Just like the old saying, “if a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it, does it make a noise?” You probably have great relationships in whatever industry you serve but you can only grow so much with the same clients year after year. What happens if you build a brand awareness campaign and people you have never talked to come to you?
Social Media Campaigns
Online visibility starts with a social media campaign. Social media campaigns leverage Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets to share with the world who you are, what you stand for and what you do. A good social media strategy is not simply trying to sell to a potential lead, it demonstrates the value of working with your company to clients and candidates.
The proper social media strategy can include many components including; sharing content that you have written that will add value to your ideal buyer. It also includes sharing information about what is happening in your company such as new hires, company parties and awards you have won.
Not all content you share must be hand-crafted by you and your team. Sharing industry information and key articles from other sources shows that you are staying on top of industry trends.
Content Marketing
Content for social media campaigns, search engine optimization and creating lead magnets is all part of a comprehensive content marketing strategy. Content such as blogs, whitepapers, e-books and salary guides shared on social media help add value to your market and help you be visible to passive clients and candidates so that when they have a need they reach out to you.
Your content can also be repurposed on your website to increase your visibility in search engine rankings and provide value to clients who land on your website. Lastly, e-books, salary guides and other long-form content can be used as gated content to drive leads for your business.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is all about structuring your content in a way that makes Google and other search engines more likely to present your site in search results. Using content on your site and in your blogs and other forms of content that are relevant and contain the right keywords positions you as a subject matter expert when google comes looking.
Being an A player in Google’s eyes for keywords that are important to your business and industry is one of the cheapest ways to be found on the internet. How many times a day do you search google for something? How many times do you make it past the first 2-3 options? You rank in the first 2-3 by paying attention to content that search engines are looking for and optimizing your site to match.
Our next blog will look at the final component, lead generation. Now that you are credible and visible online, how do you attract and nurture leads to use your services?
Jared Hummel COO, PARQA
Jared is an experienced professional with history of building start-up organizations into winners. As the COO of Parqa, he brings his financial expertise and passion to enhance growth and find solutions to complex operating and execution challenges, both internally and externally. He enjoys decision making and leadership in his daily responsibilities. Jared has had the opportunity to work in complex manufacturing and service-driven environments and through complex financial transactions that have allowed him to build a very broad skill set in the operations and financial management of closely-held high growth companies.
Jared graduated from Hamline University with a degree in Business Finance and Political Science. In addition, he served on the Advisory Board of Emerge Community Development a non-profit that helps ex-offenders enter or re-enter the workforce.
