I know, monster list posts are so last year, but I wanted to put together a resource that could be a bit of a guide as you navigate all of the various platforms, networks, and channels available today.
As I’ve written in the past, I currently point to sixteen distinct growth channels and have grouped the tools and resources by channel to make it easier to navigate.
Now, before you go into a click-induced coma, understand that my belief is you should be going as deep as possible in one or two channels and looking towards new channels as a way to amplify where most of your awareness and customers come from today.
If most of your clients are generated by way of referral, then by golly start there, build multiple referral programs and look to use channels such as partnering and content to amplify how you get referrals. Teach referrals to your customers and offer to teach referral generation to their customers in B2B settings.
In each of the channels below I’ve listed some of my favorite tools and then linked to article and resources where you can learn more about the topic in general.
So, don’t think of this post simply as a list, look at it as a table of contents to your education on the subject of Lead Generation and Conversion.
Have fun!
1. Referral Marketing– This includes intentional word of mouth activities, viral tactics as well as intentional referral generation.
Tools
- Ambassador – Online referral program, starts at $200/mo.
- Extole – SaaS platform w/optimized sharing & custom codes.
- Referral Candy – Easiest way to add refer-a-friend to your store.
Further Reading
- Referral Marketing Category on Duct Tape Marketing
- How to Build a Referral Program into Your Online Business
- The Do’s and Don’ts of an Effective Referral-Marketing Program
- The Referral Engine – John Jantsch – Yep, I wrote a book on the subject!
2. Public Relations– This includes activities aimed at receiving coverage in traditional media outlets.
Tools
- Prezly – Create your own press room in minutes, with a chosen url and embedding features. Enhance your brand’s identity with color options and logo/photo uploads.
- TrendKite – Easily measure the impact of news on your brand with custom dashboards.
- HARO – Help a Reporter Out is a great way to get linked to reporters looking for sources
- Instant Press Release – Tool that helps you write and format your press release.
- PRNewswire – Press release distribution service.
Further Reading
- Public Relations Category on Duct Tape Marketing
- The New Face Of Public Relations: Tricks And Tools Of Today’s Practitioner
- The PR Masterclass: How to develop a public relations strategy that works!
3. Online Advertising– This includes the use of pay-per-click platforms, social networks, display ads and retargeting
Tools
- AdEspresso – The easiest online tool to manage and optimize your Facebook Advertising Campaigns.
- Marin Software – Optimize your Search, Social & Display ads across channels and devices.
- GoogleAdWords – Advertising service for businesses wanting to display ads on Google and its advertising network. The AdWords program enables businesses to set a budget for advertising and only pay when people click the ads. The ad service is largely focused on keywords.
- AdRoll – Retargeting platform, making retargeting simple and profitable for companies and agencies of all sizes.
- WordStream – Service that manages PPC campaigns, but great info too.
Further Reading
- Advertising category on Duct Tape Marketing
- Lead Generation with Facebook Ads
- Facebook Canvas: How to Create an Immersive Facebook Ads Experience
4. Offline Advertising– This includes advertising in offline print and broadcast outlets such as magazine, TV and radio
Tools
- Postcard Mania – Great online tool to create offline direct main campaigns.
- Vista Print – The leading online printing and promotional products provider.
- Canva – Easy & free do-it-yourself creation of flyers, business cards, etc.
- Jelli – Self-service platform specifically designed for broadcast audio advertising; the easiest and fastest way to buy radio ads.
Further Reading
- Print Advertising is not Dead
- More E-Commerce Brands Are Turning to Television Ads. Is It Money Well Spent?
- Offline Advertising – How to do it correctly (free e-book)
5. Content Marketing– This includes publishing, optimizing and sharing educational content that draws search traffic, links and subscribers
Tools:
- BuzzSumo – Search tool that tracks content on all social networking sites and ranks them based on the number of shares on various social media platforms.
- Quora – Identify trends from consistently asked questions to inform your content creation efforts.
- Buffer – Use Buffer to schedule your content across Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for posting at the best times optimized for your account or at the times of your choosing.
- CoSchedule – Editorial calendar that plugs in to WordPress.
- DivvyHQ – Full featured editorial calendar for managing all content and content teams.
Further Reading:
- Content Marketing category on Duct Tape Marketing
- Content Marketing Tools You Can’t Live Without
- How to Create an Easy Content Marketing Strategy you will Actually Use
6. Sales Playbooks– This includes the creation of specific actions aimed at mining, generating, nurturing and converting leads
Tools:
- Nimble – One of the best social selling CRM tools.
- Pipedrive – Visualize your sales pipeline and keep the line moving.
- Contactually – Tool that helps you stay in contact with your most important relationships.
- Kite Desk – Describe your ideal prospect and get leads.
- AeroLeads – Prospect Generation Service provides you a processed list of prospects with valid email IDs.
Further Reading:
- How to Create Killer Sales Playbooks
- The Sales Development Playbook
- Duct Tape Selling: Think Like a Marketer-Sell Like a Superstar – John Jantsch – yep I wrote a book on this topic too!
7. Email Marketing– This includes the use of targeted and automated email campaigns based on conversion actions
Tools:
- Aweber – Features auto-responders and allows you to broadcast messages, run reports, and manage subscribers.
- MailChimp – Probably the easiest and most widely integrated email provider.
- ConvertKit – Provides InfusionSoft like automation capabilities without the InfusionSoft price.
- ActiveCampaign – Fully integrated solution for intelligence-driven marketing and sales.
- Wishpond – Lead generation platform with a variety of tools from contest management to drip email campaigns, pop-ups, etc.
- AeroLeads – Find Email Addresses of Decision Makers and Phone Numbers of Businesses with #1 Prospect Generation and B2B Lead Generation Software on the Web. Build Email List in Real-time
Further Reading:
- The Ultimate Guide to eCommerce Email Marketing
- 5 email marketing best practices for 2016
- Email Design Best Practices
8. Utility Marketing– This includes the creation of useful tools that stimulate traffic, sharing and brand awareness
Tools:
- Duct Tape Marketing’s Instant Press Release – Even people who have never written a press release before can crank out professional looking press releases in a matter of minutes.
- Simply Measured Facebook Page Analysis – Analyze your Facebook Fan Page’s audience, volume, content, engagement trends and much more.
- HubSpot’s Website Grader – How strong is your website?
Further Reading:
- Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is about Help Not Hype
- Rethinking Utility Customer Care: Satisfying Your Always-Connected, Always-On Customers
9. Influencer Marketing– This includes the practice of building relationships with individuals and outlets that can influence pre-established communities
Tools:
- Followerwonk – Tool that allows you to target Twitter followers by topic.
- BuzzSumo – I use this to find people writing great content that gets shared and who shares it.
Further Reading:
- The Definitive Guide to Influencer Targeting
- Why Influencer Marketing Is Creating Huge Return for Businesses
- Content Marketing 2016: Influencer, Topics and The Most Important Trends
- Digital Influencer: A Guide to Achieving Influencer Status Online
10. Search Engine Optimization– This includes on page and off page optimization activities aimed at generating organic search engine traffic
Tools:
- Moz – Inbound marketing and marketing analytics software subscriptions.
- SEM Rush – Find profitable keywords.
- SpyFu – Download competitors’ profitable keywords.
- Ahrefs – Combination tool that allows you to work on your own SEO and spy on competitors.
- Raven Tools – Suite of SEO and online marketing tools.
Further Reading:
- SEO Category on Duct Tape Marketing
- Backlinko – Brian Dean’s site is a great practical read with every post.
- SEO 2016: Learn search engine optimization with smart internet marketing strategies
- Six SEO Rules for 2016
- How to Optimize your Social Media Posts for Search Engines
11. Partner Marketing– This includes co-marketing activities run in collaboration with strategic marketing partners
Tools:
- BNI – World’s leading referral and networking organization.
- Co-marketing agreement – Tool for creating agreements with partners from Rocket Lawyer.
- Zift Solutions – Empower Channel Partners with Through Partner Marketing Automation.
- Impartner – Impartner PRM is the industry’s only turnkey PRM solution which can help companies have a new system up and running in 30 days.
Further Reading:
- Building Strategic Partner Networks on Duct Tape Marketing
- What Is Co-Marketing? A Guide to Co-Branding Marketing Campaigns
- 3 Tips for Small Business Strategic Partnerships
12. Social Media Marketing– This includes the act of building engagement on established platforms and networks such Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well as targeted industry platforms
Tools:
- Buffer – Great for sharing across platforms and my daughter works here so go buy this!
- Social Mention – Real-time social media search and analysis.
- AgoraPulse – Full social media management tool.
- Socedo – Socedo discovers the social prospects that match your custom criteria then further qualifies them via predefined engagement workflow.
- Follower Wonk – Dig deeper into Twitter analytics to see who your followers are, where they are located and how often they tweet. Find and connect with new influencers in your niche.
Further Reading:
- A Beginner’s Guide to Social Media for Small Business
- How to Use Social Media for Small Business
- Jon Loomer – pretty much the best resource for all things related to Facebook
- 14 Instagram Tools for Marketers
13. Online Events– This includes events such as webinars, demonstrations, and workshops conducted using online tools
Tools:
- Zoom – Lightweight online video chat platform for hosting meeting.
- GotoWebinar – The tool for online meetings and webinars for big audiences.
Further Reading:
- How to Do a Webinar Your Viewers Will Love
- Best Practices for Planning and Executing Webinars
- 17 Ways to Guarantee Nobody Misses Your Next Webinar or Webcast
14. Offline Events– This includes events such as workshops, demonstrations, seminars, trade shows, showcases and customer appreciation events
Tools:
- Eventzilla – Lets you setup a custom event registration page and sell tickets or accept registrations online in less than 5 minutes.
- MeetUp – World’s largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face.
- Eventbrite – Makes it easy for event organizers to sell tickets and manage registrations.
Further Reading:
- Three Feet from Seven Figures: One-on-One Engagement Techniques to Qualify More Leads at Trade Shows
- The 50 Secrets of Trade Show Success
15. Speaking Engagements– This includes the appearance of company representatives in sponsored speaking engagements at events such as industry conferences
Tools:
- MindTools – Course on public speaking.
- TED – Some of the best examples of short, impactful talks.
- Toastmasters – Local groups that meet to practice public speaking.
- SlideShare – Online portal for slide presentations.
- MeetUp – Tool for discovering professional events.
Further Reading:
- Steal the Show Podcast – Michael and Amy Port do speaker training and this is a great place to start.
- Top Ways to Get Speaking Gigs
- How to Get Speaking Engagement
- How to Speak in Public? The Ultimate Guide
Looking for a practical small business marketing speaker for your event – hire John Jantsch – Keynote, workshop, and small business marketing speaker
16. Community Building – This includes the intentional act of building and facilitating a community around a shared interest or topic related to the organization’s industry.
Tools
- Intercom.io – Tool that lets customers communicate from your website.
- Delighted – Great tool for gathering feedback from your customers.
- Ning – Build your own community platform.
- Facebook Groups – A Facebook feature that makes it easy to build a community on Facebook.
Further Reading