Introduction: The Power of Content Marketing for Professional Services

With the rise of digital media, content marketing has become crucial for professional services brands to connect with their audience effectively. Learn about the strategies that can take your brand to the next level.

Create and Reinforce the Market for Your Service

Align your content strategy with your audience's position in the buyer's journey. Focus on creating and reinforcing the market for your services by addressing your ideal customer's pain points and providing solutions that showcase your brand's value.

Build Interactive Diagnostic Tools to Capture Email Newsletter Subscribers

Invest in interactive content to engage your audience and capture leads. By offering tools like quizzes or calculators, you can provide value to your audience while building a high-quality email list for future conversions.

Create Exceptional Differentiation with Exceptional Content

Demonstrate your brand's expertise and credibility by investing in exceptional content. Produce valuable resources, unique insights, and educational articles to differentiate your brand and attract a more discerning audience.

Ensure Product and Conversion CTAs Are Logically Placed

Optimize your content with strategically placed CTAs to increase conversions. Prioritize customer experience and place product and conversion links where they make sense to improve user engagement and trust.

Create Enough Content for Early Stage Leads

Address the pain points of early-stage leads by producing content that educates and informs. Introduce your services naturally throughout your content to attract attention and showcase how your brand can provide solutions.

Confidently Compare Your Service to Your Competitors

Stand out from competitors by comparing your services through in-depth content. Highlight your brand's strengths and unique selling points to position yourself as the best choice for your audience.

Create Detailed Service-Focused Video Content for Social Media

Utilize video content on social media to engage your audience and showcase your services. Create informative and entertaining videos that resonate with your target audience and drive brand awareness and customer acquisition.

Don't Forget About SEO Best Practices

Optimize your content for search engine rankings to improve visibility and attract organic traffic. Conduct audience and keyword research, create high-quality resources, and implement SEO best practices to maximize reach and enhance content discoverability.

Final Thoughts

Maximize the potential of content marketing for your professional services brand by creating valuable content that positions your brand as an authority in your niche. Prioritize content that resonates with your audience and establishes your business as a reliable service provider.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does marketing fit into business strategy?

Marketing is an integral part of any business strategy. Marketing is key to every business strategy. Without sales, marketing would not be possible. Marketing is an essential part of any business strategy.

Not everyone realizes how important marketing is. Marketing is often viewed as just spending money on advertisements. Marketing is much broader than that. Marketing includes everything you do in order to communicate the company's identity, position and value in the marketplace.

As you consider your business, think of these questions: What image do I want to project? How will my customers view me? How should my world perceive me?

If you don’t answer these questions you haven’t thought of marketing yet.

What are the four types of marketing?

Marketing can be broken down into four distinct categories: Direct Mail Marketing, Traditional Advertising and Public Relations. Each goal has a different purpose and should each be used for its intended purpose. You can combine them to achieve your goals.

What is the difference between marketing and advertising?

Advertising is a form of communication that promotes products or brands. Advertising is usually accompanied by a clear call for action, such “Buy Now!” Click here or “Buy Now!”

Marketing, on the other hand is a way to communicate your company's vision, mission, and values with potential customers. Marketing also helps build relationships with current customers and prospects.

For instance, if you sell shoes online, you may use marketing to tell your story about who you are and what you offer. You might talk about your background, philosophy, or commitment to quality. You could even share testimonials of satisfied customers. Or you might even create an event where you give away free pairs of shoes to encourage people to visit your website.

Marketing, or telling stories, is in essence about telling stories. Advertising is about selling goods.

What are the five marketing concepts?

These are the five main marketing concepts

1. Branding – Your brand is the image people associate with you. It is what people think of when they hear your name. It is important to have a consistent brand identity across all media.
2. Positioning – How you position yourself in your market. What is the best way to describe yourself?
3. Message – This is your message's content. What is your point What's the point?
4. Marketing mix – This combines channels, pricing, and promotions to deliver your message to your target audience.
5. Measurement – How do you measure success?

Is there any risk associated with digital marketing

Yes, digital marketing has its risks.

For starters, you must ensure you protect your online reputation by being careful about what you say on social networks.

It is important that you ensure your content is original, and not copied from others.

In addition, you run the risk of losing control over your brand image online if it isn't closely monitored.

If someone uses your information without permission, you could be at risk of identity theft.

How to Protect your Online Reputation

1. Take Care of What You Share on Social Networks
2. Ensure all Content Is Original and Doesn’t Infringe On Any Other Person’s Intellectual Property Rights
3. Monitor your Brand Image
4. Use strong passwords
5. You should not use personal information without permission
6. Notify us immediately of any unauthorized activity
7. Don't Post Photos Of Yourself Or Others In A Disturbing Way
8. Never divulge your Social Security Number
9. Keep up to date with the most recent news
10. Avoid Scams
11. Secure Password
12. Always Be On The Lookout for Updates
13. Don't share too many details
14. Don't give out your credit card number without being vigilant
15. Do Not Send Money Through E-Mail
16. Look out for fake websites
17. Remember That Bad Reviews Can Hurt Your Business
18. Regularly review your credit reports
19. Pay attention to your privacy settings
20. Ask someone you know before sharing anything

How can you use search engine marketing to your advantage?

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is one of the most essential components of digital marketing. SEM can include paid-per-click ads, sponsored links and display ads, as well as paid inclusion, search engine optimization, social media marketing (SEO), video marketing, mobile advertising, and more.

Statistics

• A poll earlier this year found that 14% of older Gen Z's had bought an item in the previous six months based on an influencer's recommendation. (influencermarketinghub.com)
• Today, 81% of brands around the world have affiliate programs. (influencermarketinghub.com)
• Companies that use personalization are seeing revenue increases ranging from 6-10%. (blog.hubspot.com)
• Many experts recommend you share 20% of your promotional content and 80% of other valuable content you find. (marketinginsidergroup.com)
• In 2017, 34% of marketers cited co-branding as the most effective way to increase the number of email subscribers. (influencermarketinghub.com)

External Links

youtube.com

• YouTube
  

blog.hubspot.com

• 21 Successful Co-Branding Partnerships – Why They Are So Effective
  
• HubSpot Blog
  

hubspot.com

• YouTube Marketing: The Ultimate Guide
  
• Chatbot Builder Software for Free
  

statista.com

• Statista
  
• Statista: E-commerce in the world – Statistics & Facts
  

How To

What is your marketing strategy?

Did you hear the phrase “If You build it, they'll come” many times?

Well, you're wrong.

While it takes hard work to build something, it isn't enough to attract customers. Internet Marketing Principles will help you reach your target audience to grow your company.

Internet Marketing Principles refer to the guidelines marketers use in creating websites, blogs, emails campaigns, and social media profiles that generate leads, and sales.

These Internet Marketing Principles can be used to generate traffic, capture emails, close sales, and sell handmade jewelry online.

Here are some examples from Internet Marketing Principles.

1. Content is king – Your content needs to be unique and compelling. If you copy someone else's content, you'll lose credibility as a source of information.
2. Build trust – People trust recommendations from friends and family over advertisements and Adsense. You should only recommend products that you trust.
3. Keep it personal. People prefer talking to people and not robots. You want your website to look real and not robotic.
4. Offer value – People will only give out free stuff if you feel they are getting something in return. For their contact information, give them something for free.
5. Storytelling is a powerful tool for connecting with your audience. They enable you to share your story with your audience and help you connect with them.
6. Giveaways – Give away products to increase brand awareness and build loyalty.
7. Use of call-to actions buttons is crucial because they prompt users into taking action.
8. It is important to test all aspects of your website before it goes live.
9. Keep it simple. Simple is always better than complicated. Keep it simple whenever possible. The simpler your website, the easier it will be to maintain and update.
10. Clear goals are easier to measure.
11. Measure everything. This is critical for improving your marketing efforts.
12. Focus on conversion. Conversion refers to turning browsers into customers.
13. Get feedback – Feedback allows you to improve your marketing efforts.
14. Track your results – Tracking your results allows you to identify areas that could be improved.
15. Repeat – The repetition of a pattern creates momentum.
16. Optimize Your Marketing Efforts – Optimization ensures your marketing efforts are efficient.
17. Stay consistent – Consistency keeps your brand recognizable.
18. Reward yourself. – Rewards encourage you to keep going.
19. Learn from others. – It is a great way to avoid making the same mistakes.
20. Never stop learning – Always seek out new ideas and techniques.
21. To achieve sustainable growth, think long-term.
22. Trust your gut – Sometimes, your intuition is the best tool for guiding you through life.
23. Treat each day as a trial run. Mistakes are inevitable, but they teach us lessons we wouldn't otherwise learn.
24. Learn to understand your weaknesses. Understanding your strengths will give you an insight into how you can overcome obstacles.
25. Don't be discouraged. Everybody fails at some point. But don't let failure discourage you. Just try again.
26. Take risks – Taking risks is sometimes necessary to move forward.
27. Enjoy the journey. It is vital to live a happy, fulfilled life.
28. Be passionate – Passion fuels motivation.
29. Be who you really are. It is essential to build relationships.
30. Know yourself – Self-knowledge can be essential for self-improvement.
31. Find your tribe. It is vital to establish a supportive network of like-minded people.
32. You can create a visionboard – Vision boards are great for visualizing the future.
33. Ask questions. Questions are the gateway into knowledge.

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By: Travis Jamison
Title: Content Marketing Strategies Every Professional Services Brand Should Use
Sourced From: blog.scoop.it/2024/10/31/content-marketing-strategies-every-professional-services-brand-should-use/
Published Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2024 09:41:02 +0000

Search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing play crucial roles in driving online success. SEO focuses on optimizing your website for search engines to discover and rank your content effectively. According to First Page Sage, the first organic result on Google for a search term receives a click-through rate of nearly 40%, driving immediate traffic to your site. Subsequently, content marketing involves creating engaging material to attract and retain your audience, ultimately increasing your website's visibility and traffic.

Understanding SEO and Content Marketing

SEO content marketing is a powerful combination of creating valuable content and optimizing it for search engines to enhance visibility and drive sustainable traffic. By incorporating keywords, meta tags, and internal links, your content becomes more discoverable to search engines and reaches a broader audience. Meta tags provide a summary of your content to search engines, while internal linking improves site navigation and distributes page authority, further enhancing your online presence.

The Importance of SEO Audits

An SEO audit is a crucial process to review your website's compliance with the latest SEO standards, identifying potential issues that could hinder your content's ranking. The audit typically covers technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO, focusing on optimizing site architecture, page speed, mobile-friendliness, and building authority through backlinks and external mentions.

Role of Technical SEO Audits

Technical SEO audits are essential in identifying and resolving issues that may impact your content's performance. Common issues such as broken links, slow page speeds, and mobile-unfriendly designs can be detrimental to user experience and search engine rankings. By conducting regular technical audits, you ensure that your content is accessible and optimized, leading to higher search rankings, increased traffic, and improved engagement.

Technical Elements of an SEO Audit

During an SEO audit, it is crucial to examine various technical factors that influence your content's search engine performance. This includes reviewing website structure, mobile-friendliness, page speed, crawlability, and indexing. Ensuring a well-organized site, optimizing for mobile viewing, improving page speed, and enhancing crawlability and indexing will contribute to a more efficient and competitive website.

Enhancing Content Marketing with Regular SEO Audits

Regular SEO audits play a vital role in enhancing your content marketing efforts by ensuring your content remains optimized for the latest SEO standards. By keeping up with algorithm changes, boosting visibility and engagement, and developing a solid content marketing strategy, you can maximize online visibility and drive long-term success. Incorporating SEO and technical audits into your strategy can lead to immediate improvements and sustainable growth in your online presence.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 4 functions in marketing?

Marketing is the art of creating demand and products.

It provides information about the organization's offerings and values, as well as how they impact customers' lives.

Marketing is also a way to stimulate interest and increase awareness about an offering. It can even drive action (or purchasing) when an invitation is issued.

The following are the four functions that marketing has:

1. In order to create demand, you must build relationships with potential buyers in order to convince them that there is value buying your product or services.
2. Stimulating Interest – This involves increasing consumer awareness of your product or service.
3. Building Awareness – This is the process of making sure that your customers are aware of your product or service, and why they may want to purchase it.
4. Driving Action – This is ensuring that customers make purchases once they are aware of your products or services.

What are the 5 marketing concepts?

The following five marketing concepts can be used:

1. Branding: A brand is a person's image. It's the first thing people associate with your name. A consistent brand identity is essential for all media.
2. Positioning – How you position yourself in your market. How do you describe who you are, and why should anyone care?
3. Message – This describes the message. What is your point? What is your point?
4. Marketing mix – This is a combination of channels, pricing and promotions that enables you to reach your target audience.
5. Measurement – How do I measure success?

What are some indirect marketing examples?

You can think of indirect marketing methods that you could use to promote your company. One example is a social media campaign that encourages people to upload pictures of their products. This would help spread your brand's message.

Advertise in local papers if you are an auto shop owner.

Others include posting advertisements on bulletin boards or sending coupons to customers’ e-mail addresses.

Indirect marketing works well because it doesn't cost much money.

But trusting people takes time. You'll need patience as you promote your business.

Also, you need to monitor how effective your campaigns perform. Track the number leads generated by each method.

This will give you a better idea of which methods work best for your business.

What are the 4 types?

Marketing can be divided into four types: Direct Mail, Traditional Advertising, Public Relations, Digital Marketing, and Public Relations. Each of these categories has different goals and should only be used for specific purposes. You can then combine them to accomplish your goals.

How to Build an Ecommerce Marketing Plan?

First, identify the products and services you wish to sell. This should include products and services related to your business but also have enough variety to keep customers interested.

The second step is to determine how much advertising, promotion, and other marketing strategies you will need. You may need to use multiple methods, such as direct mail, email blasts, social media sites, search engine optimization, and more.

Once you know how much money you need, you can start developing a budget for each method. You might want to consult an expert in e-marketing if you aren't sure which marketing strategy is best for you business. They will help you decide which method is right for your business.

Once you have a plan you can begin implementing it. This can be made easier by hiring someone to do the job for you.

There is no need to start from scratch and reinvent the wheel. Rely on proven strategies that have been successful for other online stores. Make sure you test everything before you make any major changes.

Remember that your ultimate goal should be to increase sales and profit. Your eCommerce marketing strategy should consider both long-term and short-term goals.

If you're looking for a way to boost your sales, read our article about eCommerce marketing tips. We hope they can help you achieve your goals!

What are the main types of marketing?

Marketing is the act and communication of ideas, values, messages, and information to consumers. We often use the term marketing interchangeably with advertising. Marketing encompasses more than advertising. Marketing is all communication that promotes and markets a product or service.

Marketing has three main components: branding, promotion, distribution. A company's branding is the way it represents itself to its target market. Promotion is the process of attracting attention to your brand via paid advertisements, promotions that are free, and other public relations activities. Distribution is the method of delivering your message to your target audience. Distribution can be done via traditional methods such as television, radio and print. But, the new technology has made it easier.

What's the difference between marketing or advertising?

Advertising is a type of communication that promotes products and brands. Advertising is usually accompanied by a clear call for action, such “Buy Now!” Click here or “Buy Now!”

Marketing, on the other hand is a way to communicate your company's vision, mission, and values with potential customers. Marketing also helps build relationships with current customers and prospects.

Online sales of shoes can be a great example of marketing. You may use marketing to tell a story about you and what you have to offer. Talk about your values, philosophy, and dedication to quality. You could share testimonials from satisfied customers. You could even organize an event in which you give away shoes for free to encourage people to visit you website.

Marketing is all about telling stories. Advertising is about selling things.

Statistics

• Meanwhile, a PartnerPath poll found that co-marketed ads help 68% of consumers arrive at a buying decision before even speaking to a salesperson. (influencermarketinghub.com)
• In 2017, 34% of marketers cited co-branding as the most effective way to increase the number of email subscribers. (influencermarketinghub.com)
• From 2020 to 2022, eMarketer predicts that digital marketing will grow by 36% and take up 54% of marketing budgets! (marketinginsidergroup.com)
• According to statistics, 60% of online shoppers worldwide actively search for coupons before purchasing from a virtual shop. (influencermarketinghub.com)
• A poll earlier this year found that 14% of older Gen Z's had bought an item in the previous six months based on an influencer's recommendation. (influencermarketinghub.com)

External Links

influencermarketinghub.com

• Benchmark Report: The State of Influencer Market 2021
  

neilpatel.com

• How SEO can help you build your brand
  
• Marketing Automation: What is it, Examples & Tools [2022]
  

youtube.com

• YouTube
  

moz.com

• SEO Learning Center, Moz
  
• [Case study] How we ranked #1 in a high-volume keyword in under 3 months – Moz
  

How To

20 Best Affiliate Marketing Strategies to Try In 2022

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online. This is one of the easiest ways you can get started. You must first sign up with an affiliate program like Commission Junction or ShareASale, then place links to your blog or website. When someone clicks on one of these links, you'll be paid a commission.

Here are 20 ways to market your affiliate business in 2022.

1. Create a Content Calendar
2. Google Adwords
3. Start your podcast
4. Join A Blogging Network
5. Register Your Email Address
6. Get Paid For Reviews
7. Make an Impact as an Influencer
8. Offer Free Trials
9. Start a Membership Site
10. Amazon: Buy Products
11. Write Articles
12. Start a YouTube Channel
13. Host Events
14. Develop A Mobile App
15. Promote Your Business Online
16. Run Facebook Ads
17. Register for a Twitter Account
18. Increase Instagram Followers
19. Be open with your customers
20. You can make more money long-term

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By: Giana Reno
Title: The Role of SEO in Content Marketing: Why Technical Audits Matter
Sourced From: marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/the-role-of-seo-in-content-marketing-why-technical-audits-matter/
Published Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 10:00:04 +0000

What is B2B marketing? Marketing Insider Group published the post What Is B2B Marketing?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is eCommerce Marketing?

Ecommerce marketing is simply online shopping. It is the act of selling products online. This includes buying goods from companies and selling them over the web. If you're an individual seller, this would also include selling on eBay. You might also own a business where you sell products for profit. Selling products online is the best way to make money.

Here are some additional details on eCommerce marketing:

It is important to determine what kind of products you wish to sell in order for your eCommerce site to be successful. Next, choose whether you want to sell a single item (e.g. a book) or multiple items (e.g. books and DVDs).

Once you have an idea of the products you want to offer, it's time to search for suppliers. A supplier is an organization that manufactures and sells the product you wish to sell. You would, for instance, need to find a supplier that makes and sells greeting card products if you were to begin selling them.

Once you have found a supplier you will need to set up a website that displays the products and allows buyers to buy them. Some suppliers will provide templates, while others will require that you design the template. Once you have a website, you will need to market it. This involves posting articles on forums and websites, advertising on Google Adwords and emailing relevant contacts.

Promoting your eCommerce business can be done in many different ways. These include email marketing, search engines and social networks.

• Email marketing is a smart choice for most companies. It's cost effective, easy to use, and delivers great results. However, generating quality leads requires a lot of effort and time.
• Search engine optimization (SEO), is a technique that improves a website's ranking for certain keywords. Link building is a common method to improve pages' rankings in search engines.
• LinkedIn and Facebook are important for business promotion. These sites are used by many people every day to connect with their family and friends. Posting interesting articles on these sites can help you reach thousands of potential customers.
• Mobile apps are also a valuable tool for eCommerce marketers. People love to shop on their smartphones and tablets. An app allows you to reach customers wherever they are.

In summary, eCommerce has become a big business. There are many ways you can promote your business. You can reap the benefits from eCommerce marketing if you make wise decisions.

Are there risks involved in digital marketing

Yes, there are several risks involved in digital marketing.

You must first protect your online reputation through being cautious about what you share on social media.

You should also make sure that all your content is original.

In addition, you run the risk of losing control over your brand image online if it isn't closely monitored.

You could also be vulnerable to identity theft if your personal details are used without your consent.

How to protect your online reputation

1. Take care of what you say on social media
2. Ensure All Content Is Original And Does Not Infringe On Anyone Else's Intellectual Property Rights
3. Monitor your Brand Image
4. Use Strong Passwords
5. Don't share personal details without authorisation
6. Notify us immediately of any unauthorized activity
7. Don't Post Photos Of Yourself Or Others In A Disturbing Way
8. Never divulge your Social Security Number
9. Stay up-to-date with the most recent news
10. Stay Away from Scams
11. Secure Password
12. Always Check For Updates
13. Don't give away too much information
14. Don't give out your credit card number without being vigilant
15. Avoid sending money by E-Mail
16. Beware of fake websites
17. Bad reviews can damage your business.
18. Check Your Credit Reports Regularly
19. Keep an eye on your privacy settings
20. Ask Someone Who Knows You Well Before Sharing Something

What are the four functions marketing serves?

Marketing is the art of creating demand for products and services.

It gives information about the company's offerings and its values and how they affect customers' lives.

Marketing is also a way to stimulate interest and increase awareness about an offering. It can even drive action (or purchasing) when an invitation is issued.

These are the four functions of marketing:

1. How to Create Demand – This is about building relationships and convincing potential buyers that your product or company has value.
2. Stimulating interest – This is when you increase consumer awareness about your product or service.
3. Building Awareness – This refers to ensuring that consumers know your product or service and why they might want to buy it.
4. Driving Action – This is the act of ensuring that consumers purchase your product or service after being made aware.

Statistics

• Meanwhile, a PartnerPath poll found that co-marketed ads help 68% of consumers arrive at a buying decision before even speaking to a salesperson. (influencermarketinghub.com)
• Many experts recommend you share 20% of your promotional content and 80% of other valuable content you find. (marketinginsidergroup.com)
• According to statistics, 60% of online shoppers worldwide actively search for coupons before purchasing from a virtual shop. (influencermarketinghub.com)
• A poll earlier this year found that 14% of older Gen Z's had bought an item in the previous six months based on an influencer's recommendation. (influencermarketinghub.com)
• 81% of brands employ affiliate marketing, and eCommerce sites are particularly good candidates. (blog.hubspot.com)

External Links

blog.hubspot.com

• 21 Successful Co-Branding Partnerships – Why They Are So Effective
  
• HubSpot Blog
  

hubspot.com

• YouTube Marketing: The Ultimate Guide
  
• Chatbot Builder Software for Free
  

influencermarketinghub.com

• The State of Influencer Advertising 2021: Benchmark Research
  

statista.com

• Statista
  
• E-commerce worldwide – statistics & facts
  

How To

Here are top brands' online marketing tips and tricks

It's important to ensure your audience is able to understand the content you are creating for online marketing. If your audience doesn't care about your product or service, why would they care about your blog posts?

If you are creating a website about fashion accessories, be sure to include fashion accessories-related content. Not general web design tips.

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can be a powerful way to promote your company. Social media platforms allow businesses to connect with customers and share their information.

You also have the opportunity to make connections with current and potential clients via social media.

Content that encourages sharing with friends and engages users is a good idea. Shared content often reaches more people and increases traffic to your site.

Regular updates keep your content relevant. It is better to post daily or weekly than once a month.

Posted content is more popular because readers expect new content.

Include links within your content that lead back to your homepage. This allows visitors to find more resources on your website.

Mobile-friendly content is essential. Mobile devices now outnumber desktop computers. A recent survey found that more than half of internet users now access websites through their smartphones.

It's important to test the site on different devices, such as tablets and smartphones, in order for it to look good on small screens. For website owners and developers, mobile-first is a must.

It's also not all about aesthetics. Mobile sites are more likely to convert better than desktop websites. Mobile websites are more user-friendly than desktop sites. They also load faster, due to their smaller size.

Make sure your content is relevant to your audience.

————————————————————————————————————————————–

By: Michael Brenner
Title: What Is B2B Marketing?
Sourced From: marketinginsidergroup.com/marketing-strategy/what-is-b2b-marketing/
Published Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2023 11:03:28 +0000

Marketing Insider Group's post, The Top 7 Content Marketing Mistakes That You Must Stop Making Today appeared first on Marketing Insider Group.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between marketing and advertising?

Advertising is a form of communication that promotes products or brands. Advertising is usually accompanied by a clear call for action, such “Buy Now!” You can also click here.

Marketing, on the other hand is a way to communicate your company's vision, mission, and values with potential customers. Marketing also helps build relationships with current customers and prospects.

Online sales of shoes can be a great example of marketing. You may use marketing to tell a story about you and what you have to offer. Talk about your philosophy, history, and commitment towards quality. You could even share testimonials of satisfied customers. Perhaps you can even hold an event where people are encouraged to visit your website by giving away free shoes.

In short, marketing is about telling stories. Advertising is all about selling products.

Why is it important to define your brand?

Your company's brand is nothing more than a promise you make to your customers. A brand promises specific qualities and benefits that make your company stand apart from other companies. Your brand is what makes you stand out from other companies in your industry.

A brand gives you credibility and authority. Potential customers recognize your logo as a sign that you stand behind your products and services. They trust you because you've earned their respect.

Your company's culture is also part of your brand. If your employees feel passionate about your brand, it probably reflects your passion for your product or service.

Your brand is not just words and images. It's a promise to which your company lives up. It's your promise to give value to your clients.

There are several things you should consider when developing your brand. First, you want to choose a name that clearly describes what your company does. For example, if you run a bakery, you'd probably pick something like Sweet Dreams Bakery. You'd choose DreamSpark Software if you were running a software firm.

Next, think about how your brand will look. Will your logo be easily identifiable? Will your colors match your corporate identity? Do you plan to use logos?

You'll also want to think about how your target audience sees your brand. Can you project a friendly and helpful image? Do you seem trustworthy and professional? Do you appear knowledgeable and experienced?

These are all the questions that you should answer before building your brand.

What are the most effective digital marketing strategies I can use from my home?

Digital marketing is a cost-effective way to reach customers that spend most of their time online. It's also an excellent opportunity to generate leads for your business.

You can promote your brand using social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also make use of email marketing tools for sending emails to prospects and potential clients.

There are many ways to market your product/service using digital media.

As long as you know how to effectively use these channels, getting started should be no problem.

What are the four functions marketing serves?

Marketing is the art of creating demand for products and services.

It contains information about an organization's products and values as well as the impact they have on customers' lives.

Marketing also stimulates interest in an offering, builds awareness of the offering, and ultimately drives action (or purchase) in response to an invitation to act.

Marketing can be divided into four functions.

1. You can create demand by building relationships with potential customers and convincing them that your product/service is worth their time.
2. Stimulating interest – This is when you increase consumer awareness about your product or service.
3. Building Awareness – This refers to making sure consumers are familiar with your product and services, as well as why they might be interested in buying them.
4. Driving Action – This means that you ensure that your customers take action after learning about your products or services.

Are there any potential risks in digital marketing?

Yes, digital marketing has its risks.

To protect your online reputation, it is important to be cautious with what you post on social networking sites.

Also, you must ensure that all of your content is original and does not infringe on anyone else's intellectual property rights.

You could also lose control of the brand image you project if you fail to monitor your online presence.

Last but not least, identity theft may occur if someone uses your personal details without you being present.

How to protect your online reputation

1. Be careful about what you share on social networks
2. Ensure that All Content Is Original, and Doesn't Infringe upon Any Other Intellectual Property Rights
3. Monitor Brand Image
4. Strong passwords are important
5. It is best to not divulge personal information without consent
6. Notify us immediately of any unauthorized activity
7. Don't Post Photos Of Yourself Or Others In A Disturbing Way
8. Never divulge any Social Security Number
9. Keep up to date with the most recent news
10. Avoid Scams
11. Choose a Secure Password
12. Always Be On The Lookout for Updates
13. Don't give away too much information
14. Pay attention when you give out credit card numbers
15. Do Not Send Money Through E-Mail
16. You can check for fake websites
17. Remember That Bad Reviews Can Hurt Your Business
18. Regularly Check Your Credit Reports
19. You Need to Keep an Eye on Your Privacy Settings
20. Ask Someone Who Knows You Well Before Sharing Something

What are the top 5 social media marketing strategies you recommend?

Social Media Marketing is an excellent way to market your business online. It's an excellent tool for spreading brand awareness and generating leads and sales. Here are five ways to use social media marketing to boost your business.

1. Create a Facebook Fan Page – This allows you to interact directly with customers on Facebook. You can also upload files such as photos and videos.
2. Twitter Promotes Your Business – Twitter can be used to promote your business and connect with others. Use hashtags to increase visibility.
3. Post videos on YouTube – Many people love to watch them. If someone likes what they see, they may click to visit your website.
4. Host live events – Live events allow potential clients to meet you face-to–face. They can ask about your products and services.
5. Respond to Customer reviews – Positive customer reviews increase trust and promote repeat purchases. Negative comments should be addressed quickly.

Statistics

• Today, 81% of brands around the world have affiliate programs. (influencermarketinghub.com)
• From 2020 to 2022, eMarketer predicts that digital marketing will grow by 36% and take up 54% of marketing budgets! (marketinginsidergroup.com)
• According to statistics, 60% of online shoppers worldwide actively search for coupons before purchasing from a virtual shop. (influencermarketinghub.com)
• This allows us to deliver CPCs that are 80% less than average and CTRs 4-5 times higher than average. (marketinginsidergroup.com)
• Companies that use personalization are seeing revenue increases ranging from 6-10%. (blog.hubspot.com)

External Links

neilpatel.com

• How to Use SEO To Build Your Brand
  
• Marketing Automation: What is it, Examples & Tools [2022]
  

hubspot.com

• YouTube Marketing: Your Ultimate Guide
  
• Free Chatbot Builder Software
  

influencermarketinghub.com

• The State of Influencer marketing 2021: Benchmark report
  

blog.hubspot.com

• 21 Successful Co-Branding Partnerships – Why They Are So Effective
  
• HubSpot Blog
  

How To

What is your marketing strategy

What number of times have you heard the expression, “If I build it, they shall come”?

Well, you're wrong.

While building something takes effort, it's not enough for customers to be attracted. Internet Marketing Principles are necessary to reach your target audience in order to grow your business.

Internet Marketing Principles is a set of guidelines used by marketers for creating websites, blogs or email campaigns that generate leads and sales.

These Internet Marketing Principles can be used to generate traffic, capture emails, close sales, and sell handmade jewelry online.

Here are some examples of Internet Marketing Principles.

1. Content is King – You must make your content unique and memorable. You will lose credibility as a source for information if you copy content from others.
2. Building trust – People are more likely to trust recommendations from their friends and families than Adsense or advertisements. So, if you recommend a product, make sure it's trustworthy.
3. Personalize – People prefer to speak to people, not robots. Your website must look like a human being and not robotic.
4. Value – People are more likely to give away their stuff if it's something they value. For their contact information, give them something for free.
5. Tell stories – Stories are powerful tools for connecting audiences. They enable you to share your story with your audience and help you connect with them.
6. Giveaways – Give things away to spread brand awareness and build loyalty.
7. Using call-to-action buttons is important because they prompt users to take action.
8. Make sure you test everything before you publish your website.
9. Keep it simple. It is more effective than being complicated. It is best to keep things simple when possible. Your website will be easier to manage and update if it is simpler.
10. Set a clear goal. This will make it easier for you to measure your results.
11. Measure everything – It's crucial to measure your progress towards your marketing goals.
12. Focus on conversion – Conversion means turning browsers into buyers.
13. Get feedback. Feedback can help you improve your marketing efforts.
14. Track results – By keeping track of your results you can identify areas where you need to improve.
15. Repeat – The repetition of a pattern creates momentum.
16. Optimize Your Marketing Efforts – Optimization ensures your marketing efforts are efficient.
17. Stay consistent – Consistency keeps your brand recognizable.
18. Reward yourself – Rewards motivate you to continue doing well.
19. Learn from others. This is one of the best methods to avoid making the same mistakes again.
20. Never stop learning.
21. To achieve sustainable growth, think long-term.
22. Trust your gut. Sometimes, intuition can guide you through life.
23. Treat each day as a trial run. Mistakes are inevitable, but they teach us lessons we wouldn't otherwise learn.
24. Learn to understand your weaknesses. Understanding your strengths will give you an insight into how you can overcome obstacles.
25. Don't get discouraged – Everyone fails at least once. But don't let failure discourage you. Try again.
26. Accept risks – Sometimes, it is necessary to take risks in order to move ahead.
27. Enjoy the journey. To live a happy life, it is important to enjoy the journey.
28. Be passionate – Passion fuels motivation.
29. Remain true to yourself – It's important to establish relationships.
30. Know yourself – Self-knowledge can be essential for self-improvement.
31. Find your tribe – Finding a supportive community of like-minded individuals is invaluable.
32. Create a vision board – Vision boards are great tools for visualizing your future.
33. Ask questions. Questions lead to knowledge.

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By: Michael Brenner
Title: The Top 7 Content Marketing Mistakes You Need To Stop Doing Today
Sourced From: marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/the-top-7-content-marketing-mistakes-you-need-to-stop-doing-today/
Published Date: Tue, 08 Nov 2022 11:00:32 +0000

Do you ever wonder how some people on Instagram gain so many followers in a short amount of time or on a consistent basis? Some people are celebrities or influencers, but nowadays, many are not.

The below article explains 15 easy ways to increase your following on Instagram.

If you prefer watching a video instead of reading content, watch this, as it will help, but I still recommend reading the article as it breaks down the steps.

Today, you don’t need fame to gain Instagram followers over time. It might take a little extra work, though.

No matter which step you’re on in growing your Instagram presence, there is a way to create an attractive, high-quality, unique experience with your audience. I’m going to help you get your Instagram right where you want it.

Get More Instagram Followers in 15 Steps

• Step 1: Determine the overall purpose of your Instagram account
• Step 2: Come up with a content strategy
• Step 3: Design your profile for maximum engagement
• Step 4: Post photos that grab attention
• Step 5: Add long image captions to your post
• Step 6: Add strategic hashtags
• Step 7: Create a posting schedule
• Step 8: Locate and follow your target users
• Step 9: Follow 50 users per hour
• Step 10: Become an active member of the community
• Step 11: Partner and cross-promote with relevant users
• Step 12: Run challenges and contests
• Step 13: Run Instagram ads
• Step 14: Link your Instagram to your offline customer
• Step 15: Keep tabs on what’s working so you can continue to optimize your performance

Introducing Instagram

While I feel like this platform needs no introduction, some of you may be new to it.

So, I’d like to give you a few quick facts.

Instagram is a photo-sharing mobile app. It was launched in 2010 as a typical freebie app. There were a lot of other photo apps, but Instagram hit the sweet spot and started to grow exponentially.

They grew so quickly and organically that Facebook took interest and bought them for $1 billion in April of 2012.

As of February of 2022, Instagram has more than 2 billion active users worldwide!

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The Evolution of Instagram

Instagram used to be a basic app. You took a picture, you put a filter on it (to make yourself look better), and then you shared it with your small Instagram following.

That was it. No bells. No whistles. Nothing fancy.

That’s no longer the case.

Today, Instagram is packed with tons of features, from automation features to fantastic filters. Once Snapchat started attracting millions of followers, and apps like Periscope leveraged live video, Instagram rushed to offer these features as well.

For example, you can edit photos using more advanced photo editing features instead of relying on Instagram’s built-in filters.

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You can also post Stories. Stories appear at the top of your friends’ feeds and appear there for only 24 hours. If you want to keep your Stories discrete, you can send them only to select friends or curated groups.

You can edit your pictures with text, drawings, and other special effects, much like Snapchat.

Now, Instagram has a heavier emphasis on video, like its latest competitor TikTok. Like TikTok, Instagram’s Reels and Live Video features are also catching on. Since 2020, there’s been a high emphasis on influencers and the creator economy. User-generated content and influencer marketing have launched the platform ahead, where live video streams can also be used for social ecommerce.

Instagram is not like most live video platforms, because the video can be saved for IGTV after you stream. You can watch live videos while they’re being filmed and then share them with your audience that missed it, adding to your content.

My goal in this article is to show you how to get followers, not teach you how to use every feature.

Still, it’s important to be aware of these features, because you’re going to be using them to increase Instagram followers as you grow your audience by the thousands each week.

Let’s jump in.

Fake vs. Real Followers and How To Spot The Fakes

It’s the nature of the game.

Some people will try to prop up their accounts by misrepresenting their reach – and by extension – their influence.

They purchase followers and likes from black market sites so they can appeal to brands for affiliate marketing purposes. Others simply do it for superficial reasons.

These fake followers are typically bots that add no value to the platform. Worse yet, they take away from the user experience that we all love.

And do you know what?

Spambots can’t really “like” your brand. They can’t give real insight that can impact your business. And they can’t spend real money.

Here are a few strategies that you can use to audit individual profiles:

Step 1: Determine the Overall Purpose of Your Instagram Account

This is fundamental.

If you’re on Instagram purely for the social aspect, you can jump over to the next step.

But if you’re interested in tying your efforts to a business or marketing goal, you need to determine what the overall purpose of your account is.

Instagram's data shows 90% of people follow a brand on the platform. However, because there are over 200 million business and company accounts on the network, your creative content must stand out from the rest.

By establishing a purpose or niche for your account, you can remind yourself why you started sharing your insights.

Once you gain a decent footing in your niche, you can then branch out and have the support of your loyal followers.

The point of this goal mapping exercise is to:

1. Make yourself accountable for a specific outcome. This way, you can measure your results, track your progress, and determine your ROI.
2. Improve the effectiveness of all the steps that you take moving forward. Your content strategy and everything else you do will be dependent on the goals that you’re working towards.

What does a goal look like on Instagram? It can be any number of the many uses that the platform provides.

The more specific, the better.

The more measurable, the better.

Here are some examples:

• Increase your brand storytelling efforts
• Improve audience engagement
• Generate a consistent affiliate marketing income
• Increase your product sales
• Drive more traffic to your website
• Convert more people to your email list
• Connect with influencers in your niche
• Show off your company culture so you can attract superstar team members
• Build buzz and momentum for an upcoming product launch

You can make these more concrete by attaching specific numbers to them.

For example, “start generating 5K/month in affiliate marketing income by the 31st of December.”

While specificity is important, your goals don’t have to be set in stone.

They can evolve as your business grows. They can take a complete turn if your vision changes. They can increase or decrease in scope.

You are the architect of this plan.

Step 2: Come Up With a Content Strategy

Now that you know what you’re working towards, it’s time to think about content.

I can tell you with all certainty that this is a critical part of the Instagram success equation.

Let’s briefly define content – it is anything you express through text, visuals, and whatever medium that Instagram allows.

If you create random content, you will attract random people who couldn’t care less about you. These people will be spectators and passers-by. They won’t take any action. They won’t move any growth needles for your business.

On the flip side, if you create content that is strategic and targeted, you will attract exactly the right kind of followers. They’ll care about your business, engage with your calls to action, and be of great value.

The task now is to map your content strategy into the business goals that you came up with in step one. This will ensure that you create the most impactful kind of content.

But first, let’s talk about something – often ignored – that’s critical to the success of your content strategy.

Context.

Most people either don’t understand what context means for social media or they ignore it altogether. In the end, their content ends up missing the mark.

Let me explain.

Essentially, these two should not exist without each other.

There are easy ways to understand content versus context and how they relate:

1. Content is what you create. Context is the meaning attached to what you create.
2. Content marketing is delivering quality information to your audience. Context marketing is delivering the right information to the right person at the right moment.

Do you see how they work as a team? How content would fall flat without context?

The question now is, how do you achieve that balance?

I like to think of content as the informational nugget and context as the stories that you use to deliver the message.

This means that to create the proper context for your Instagram content, you need to employ the elements of a story:

• What…
• Who…
• When…
• Why…
• Where…

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The “How” element is another piece of the puzzle. It refers to the medium in which you’re going to deliver that content.

On Instagram, users are conditioned for a medium that is largely visual, so you don’t have to spend time thinking about this. Photographs, videos, and stories are what will resonate with your audience.

As you can imagine, context is all very nuanced and becomes increasingly difficult when you have a large following. Even in a niche market, different people will connect to different stories.

Also, context switches as quickly as new information comes in.

The only way you can get these answers, and be on top of it when it changes, is to consistently engage with your audience.

Don’t just put out content and disappear.

Establish feedback loops, monitor the conversations, and be present in the communities that form around your business.

You’ll learn to tell the right stories and tell them well.

When it comes to your audience, storytelling is the way to remind them why they followed you in the first place.

Different types of Instagram content: When you understand context, your content strategy becomes amazingly simple.

In the first step, you came up with specific goals for your Instagram account. These goals will determine the type of content that you create.

What are your options?

People-centric content: Human faces are a big deal.

You can’t succeed on Instagram without humanizing yourself and your brand. Content that is true to you and your brand is what your audience wants to see.

By giving your Instagram followers free access to your life, you create an authentic, meaningful online community.

This type of content is especially powerful if your goal is to show off your company culture. Giving people a behind-the-scenes look at your team, their work processes, and how they interact with each other is digital gold.

Do what you do best and watch your Instagram followers grow. These posts evoke an emotional response in your audience and make them feel personally connected to your business.

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Need some ideas for content that is people-centered?

• Candid photos of employees hard at work
• Shots of team members outside of work, perhaps at a company retreat or team-building getaway
• Photos of your team supporting a social cause together
• Behind-the-scenes of workstations or tours of where products are made
• Pets at work (these aren’t people, but they evoke the same emotional response)
• Employee-curated content. Allow your employees to take over your Instagram account on different days and post from their perspective. HubSpot is a perfect example with their hashtag, #hubspotemployeetakeover.

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Product or service-centric content: Looking to increase sales? You can publish product-specific content.

Include strategically placed mockups of your products or showcase people raving about your services.

Here’s the thing.

Having a sales-oriented goal doesn’t mean you have to place the focus on the product or be overly promotional.

Prop up your product with a gripping narrative.

Nike does this visual storytelling brilliantly. They showcase their product by honoring great athletes. It’s the perfect balance of lifestyle and branded content.

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Some ideas for product, service, and brand-specific content:

• Give a sneak peek of a new product or behind-the-scenes of a product launch
• Show how your product is manufactured
• Shots of people wearing your branded clothing
• If you’re a service-based business, show off what’s in your work toolbox, e.g., photographers can feature their favorite camera or tripod

Text-based content: It’s no secret that quotes are a phenomenon on Instagram.

It doesn’t matter what niche you’re in, motivation and inspiration will always have an impact.

If you don’t have a lot of time or you’re just starting out on Instagram, I recommend starting off with quotes. They’re easy to create by using certain apps and are almost guaranteed to generate a lot of likes.

Some tips for creating text-based content:

• Share quotes that reiterate your brand message (Don’t forget to add popular hashtags like #instaquote!)
• Quotes from influencers or thought leaders in your niche market
• Shocking statistics or facts that aren’t common knowledge
• A quote from a customer raving about your business
• Newsworthy information about your business
• Quotes that highlight snippets of your brand story
• Recipes and other How-to posts that are relevant to your industry

User-centric content: Networks like Instagram run on user experience.

To outperform your competitors in that regard, you can:

1. Publish user-generated content (UGC)

This is where your content is created by other users. They could be your customers, brand advocates, influencers, site visitors, or any of your followers.

Buffer increased their following by almost 400% when they started user-generated content campaigns.

Not convinced? Here are some more benefits:

• Greater SEO capital – Looking at the world’s top 20 largest brands, 25% of their search results are links to user-generated content.
• Drives sales – Stackla found that based on their study, nearly 80% of respondents admitted user-generated content highly impacted their purchase decisions.
• Positively impacts engagement – No doubt, involving users in your content creation process will lead to greater interaction with your brand.

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So how do you get other people to create your content?

It’s simpler than it sounds. Here are some tips:

• Be clear and specific about what you want people to create. While you want to give users as much creative license as possible, you also don’t want your content to be off-brand or off-message.
• What’s your angle? Earlier, I referenced setting goals for the overall function of your Instagram account. Goal mapping can also be looked at from the lens of specific campaigns. If you’re going to start a UGC campaign, decide what the outcome will be for your brand.
• Credit your content creators. This is a great way to build goodwill and positive relationships with your audience. It’s also the right thing to do when you’re using somebody else’s work.
• Incentivize users to create better quality content. You can tie your campaign to a contest where the best content creators win something related to your brand.

2. Start “user action” campaigns

If you want to increase engagement, campaigns that encourage users to be active on the platform are the way to go. This is where you add captions that call your users to action or ask them a question.

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Some industry-specific examples:

• Landscape photographers may post a picture of a scenic place and ask users to “tag a friend you want to visit this place with”

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• A florist may post an image with different flower arrangements and ask users “which do you prefer: roses or orchids?”
• A food blogger may use a caption detailing a recipe and ask users to “tag a friend you’d like to prepare this with”
• A gym owner may post an image of a two-person workout and ask “tag a friend who you would like to do this workout with”
• A wedding photographer may post an image and ask users to “tag someone who’s getting married soon”
• Fashion bloggers or brands may post an outfit and ask their followers to “tag a friend who can pull this off” or “which pieces would you rock?”

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To be clear, these are not the only types of content that you have in your toolbox. But now that you have an idea of what your options are, here’s a simple three-step formula for coming up with what to publish:

1. Select your theme (product sales, company culture, engagement, etc.).

2. Think about the Who, What, Why, When, Where, and How that surround your theme.

3. Create and publish a mix of content based on your ideas.

Step 3: Design Your Profile for Maximum Engagement

The first thing you’ll need to do is to create an Instagram profile that people will be interested in. This matters. Your picture, your name, profile name, and your description are your digital billboard on Instagram. People will look at it, browse your photos, and check out your website.

Everything starts here.

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If you’re just getting started with Instagram, the process will be simple and straightforward during the signup process.

If you already have an Instagram account, you can change your profile name and username.

First, tap on the profile icon at the bottom right corner.

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Then, tap “Edit Profile” at the top of the page.

Now, change each of the following to something that accurately reflects who you are and the value you provide.

1. Name. I recommend using your real name.

2. A profile photo. Use a photo that is warm, approachable, and trustworthy.

3. Username. Your username needs to be unique. If your name is already taken, add some words or phrases that make it distinct.

4. A URL. Point this to your website if you have one. This URL is the only clickable link that you’ll be able to provide on Instagram.

5. A bio. A brief description about yourself. Make this description as warm and engaging as possible. An emoji or two won’t hurt.

How to increase the visibility of your Instagram profile?

Making your profile swoon-worthy is just one part of the equation.

You now have to drive as many eyes to your account as possible so you can increase your follower count and level of engagement.

Here’s what you can do to make it easy for users to find and follow you:

• Promote your account via your email list. Place a link to your Instagram profile in the footer or closing of every newsletter. You can even include a link in your email signature of your personal and business emails.

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• Place social media badges on your website. Do not overwhelm your users with a choice of 9 different social media platforms. Keep it to 3 or 4, including Instagram of course.

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• Place your account handle on business cards, stickers, brand memorabilia, thank you notes when customers purchase a product and any other physical thing connected to your business.
• Ask your followers on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and your other social networks that you’ve already built a following on to connect with you on Instagram. While cross-posting is not always a great idea, it’s possible to sync your Facebook account with your Instagram. This way your posts will appear on both platforms, and you can tap into your Facebook reach.

Step 4: Post Photos That Grab Attention

Stunning visuals are the lifeblood of Instagram.

That’s where it all started, and no matter how the platform evolves, it will always be a central part of it.

In this step, you need to build a collection of attention-grabbing posts.

Here’s how.

Step #1: Create a visual theme for your account

Our brains are built for visual stories. In fact, we process images 60,000 times faster than text.

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If you want to tell visual stories that stick in the minds of your followers, you need to develop an overarching theme for your account.

Here’s why it’s beneficial:

• You come across as having put more thought and effort into your account (Even if you didn’t). The result is that your perceived value increases and people are more likely to follow you.
• Your brand will be more memorable. When you have consistent visuals, your brand image is continuously being reinforced every time you publish a post. On the other hand, if you publish content with no unifying marker, there’s no way you’ll stand out among the 4.2 billion posts that are published daily.
• If it means anything, the statistics are in your favor. It’s been tested and proven that great design converts better.
• Consistency breeds trust. When you show up with a degree of sameness, your followers come to depend on you.

So how can you come up with a visual style guide for your profile?

It’s easy – and you’ll also find that consistency does not have to mean boring.

Here are some tips:

Tip 1 – Use similar brand elements that you use on your website and other social media platforms.

Disclaimer: You don’t have to be repetitive and robotic.

What you can do, however, is be consistent enough to evoke a feeling of familiarity in everything that you post.

This includes fonts, brand colors, logos, and even the way in which you use language.

Tip 2 – Experiment with patterns and shapes to create a unique layout.

The way that the Instagram feed is laid out in a grid makes it great for creating uniform patterns. The checkerboard layout is quite popular but can be made unique in so many ways.

To top it off, it looks great!

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Tip 3 – Stick to one color palette

I’ve seen accounts that post entirely in one color. The only variation is the different shades.

I’ll be honest – it takes commitment, but the result is beautiful.

If you don’t feel strongly about any particular color, you can always stick to a combination.

Either way, color-based visual themes are very effective.

Tip 4 – Use a dominant filter

Celebrities use this technique a lot.

That’s because their accounts have different purposes and are used to document their lives rather than for branding.

When you stick to one filter, all your images will have a congruent hue. If you’re building a personal brand and you haven’t niched yourself into a box, this is a great option.

Tip 5 – Use motifs

This is a literary technique that is used in movies, books, and other literature. For the purpose of your Instagram feed, it is a dominant element that frequently shows up in your visuals.

Here are some examples:

• A particular pose that you do in all your photos
• An action that you do all the time
• A type of prop that always shows up in your background
• A symbol (could be your logo or even a specific emoticon)
• A particular environment that recurs in your photos. Perhaps you want to subtly feature cityscapes or maybe grassland. (You don’t have to be a landscape photographer to use these elements)
• If you’ve crafted a particular narrative for your business, you can tell that story using motifs. Airbnb, Virgin, Nike, and Apple do this very well on all their online platforms, including Instagram.

Now that you have some guidelines for creating an overall theme for your Instagram posts, here are some tools that you can use to create them:

• Canva
• PicMonkey
• Stencil
• Photovisi
• BeFunky

Step #2: Use the following best practices when publishing your photos

Post original photos – No one likes to see an Instagram account that is stacked with stock photos or reposted viral pictures. They don’t connect and convert as well as real images. So, use your own photos.

Make sure your photos are relevant – Whenever you post a photo, think about the group that you want to attract. Who are these people? What will grab their attention?

Prompt followers to engage by using calls to action – We walked through this in detail when we looked at content strategy. The single best way to improve engagement is to write “user-action” captions for your posts.

Use the Geotagging function – When you add a location to your photo, you’ll get more visibility. Why? Because your photo “lives” in that location. Anytime someone searches for photos taken within an area, they will see your photo.

Instagram posts that include a location see 79% higher engagement than posts not tagged with a location.

Here’s how you can do it:

Tap “Add Location” on the new post screen.

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Instagram provides you with a list of possible locations to choose from.

However, you can type in any location you want to, and Instagram will show you a list of the popular nearby locations.

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I recommend choosing a popular location, so your post will get more visibility.

Step 5: Add Long Image Captions to Your Post

This is one of the most overlooked tactics in sharing photos. You should add several paragraphs of valuable written content to your post.

You’re allowed to write 2,200 characters. em>That’s a lot! For reference, 2,200 characters in this article will take you from the beginning all the way down to the paragraph that ends with “curated groups.” (CTRL + F to find it, and see how long 2,200 characters can stretch!)

Instagram will show only three lines of your image caption in users’ feeds. But that’s okay. If you can grab attention with those first three lines, you’ve won.

Instagram has a nasty thing about not allowing line breaks. The easiest way I’ve found to overcome this issue is by writing my post in my Notes app, copying it, and pasting it into Instagram.

To make things quicker, I open Notes on my MacBook which syncs with Notes on my phone. I type the caption completely and spell-check it.

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I open the note on my phone and copy it. Then I open Instagram and paste it into the caption.

Boom. Instant juicy content, and line breaks where I want them.

A long and interesting image caption is the number one way that I’ve found to get people to comment on and like my posts.

Other tips for writing great captions:

• Don’t bury the lede. Yes, you have 2,200 characters that you want to use up, but your most important content should be written first. Two reasons: most people hate to read, and Instagram will only show 3-4 lines of text in users’ feeds.
• Always include a call-to-action. Ask a question, tell users what to do next after they read your post, encourage people to share, or anything else that will motivate them to engage.

You have to lead with a great picture, but a good picture isn’t enough. Everyone’s already doing that. You have to add more value by producing more written content!

Step 6: Add Strategic Hashtags

You can Instagram all day long, but if you’re not using hashtags, you won’t grow your audience.

It’s that simple. Hashtags give you visibility. Instagram users hop around on hashtags like a bored person channel surfs. They click from hashtag to hashtag to hashtag, occasionally stopping in to check out an interesting user.

But which hashtags should you use?

If you use bland hashtags like #happy and #selfie, you’ll get some people to notice your post, but it won’t be the right kind of people.

Your goal is to get targeted followers, remember?

I’ll show you how to do it but first …

How do hashtags work – You may be tempted to use the same hashtag strategy as you do on Twitter or Facebook.

It differs on Instagram.

Think of hashtags as a catalog system.

When you post a piece of content, you use a relevant hashtag that describes your content.

For example, if you’re a full-time traveler and you post a picture of you writing from your laptop on a beach in Thailand, you may use the hashtags #Digitalnomad, #Barefootwriter, #Thailand, and #Beachbum when you publish it on Instagram.

Anyone who’s interested in the nomadic lifestyle or in visiting Thailand can find your content by searching for these hashtags. So, in essence, they serve as navigation and also improve the overall user experience of Instagram.

A hashtag can be:

• Location-specific
• Lifestyle-specific
• Brand-specific
• Product specific
• Community-specific
• Challenge- or contest-specific
• Campaign-specific
• Event-specific
• Subject-specific

You now know how hashtags work. Let’s get into some best practices for using them on Instagram.

Add hashtags in a comment, not in the actual photo – I recommend putting your hashtags in a comment on your own photo.

Why? First, it looks a little bit nicer. Your image caption should be clean and nice-looking. Hashtags tend to make things look messy.

Second, it keeps your caption distinct. Hashtags aren’t for people to see. They are for people to find you.

Third, you can add more hashtags. If you’ve filled out your image caption at the character limit, don’t worry. You have more room in the comments.

Be specific

Generic and popular hashtags like #instagood and #happy may have a larger reach, but they don’t have as much engagement as specific tags.

Specific hashtags mean:

• You’re appealing to a more targeted audience
• More emotional appeal – and as you know, emotion is the fast lane to the brain.
• You’ll have more engagement

Of course, you don’t want to be ultra-specific to the point that nobody would even think about searching for your hashtag. That would defeat the purpose.

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A long-standing hot topic on Instagram has always been the sweet spot for the number of hashtags to use. The Instagram Creators account recently announced that it’s best to only use 3 to 5 hashtags per post.

I know this may feel like a trick from Instagram, but let’s be real – using some hashtags do help boost your post. There may not be an optimal number, but paired with aligned content, hashtags can yield high engagement.

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How to find relevant hashtags:

Step #1 – The first thing you want to do is create a spreadsheet or note file on your phone to store your hashtags.

I recommend spending a couple of hours putting together a database of hashtags for your profile. It’s a more effective strategy as opposed to searching for them for individual posts.

Step #2 – Start by typing a general hashtag that relates to your industry or audience

Go ahead and type a broad hashtag that is relevant to your audience.

For example, you may type “#digitalmarketer.” Notice what happens in Instagram when you do this.

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Instagram shows you a list of popular hashtags.

You don’t need to guess which ones are popular because you can see the post count on the right-hand side.

Add as many of these hashtags as possible, as long as they are relevant. Doing this will give you a clear idea of the types of hashtags to use, and where to use them.

When you find a list of hashtags that gets high levels of engagement, copying these and save them in your note file. That way, instead of typing them out every time, you can copy and paste them into your comment.

Step #3 – Stalk your competitors

Your competitors have the same target audience as you do so, don’t be afraid to swipe the hashtags that they’re using.

If it’s working for them, it will likely work for you.

Sift through their feeds and take a note of popular posts and the corresponding hashtags.

Step #4 – Determine which hashtags work the best

Not every tag in your database will be a success.

The best way to know is to test them and see which ones outperform the rest. Key indicators would be engagement metrics like comments, likes, shares, follows, and mentions.

Step 7: Create a Posting Schedule

If you don’t post on Instagram, no one is going to bother following you.

Here is what I recommend:

• Post 1-2 photos or videos (including reels) per day.
• Add 5-30 Instagram stories per day.
• Post 1 live video per day at the same time each day.

Let me break this down for you.

Post 1-2 photos per day.

The most popular Instagrammers post a lot of pictures.

There is a correlation between how often you post and how many followers you have.

So why do you want to post every day? Because you’ll get more followers and more visibility (which also gives you more followers).

Don’t stick to photos only. As Nike’s feed shows, you can get a lot of engagement from posting videos.

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Add 5-30 Instagram stories per day… Wow. That’s a lot of stories!

Sure, but it’s relatively easy to do. You can post videos or still photos. I recommend a mix of both.

Your Stories will cycle automatically like a video playlist. Even though each story lasts only 15 seconds, you can string them together to form a long video.

Post 1 live video per day at the same time each day – Live video hasn’t taken off on Instagram like it has on Facebook, but it’s still powerful.

I recommend doing your live video at the same time each day.

Why? Because a live video appears only while it’s being broadcast. If you broadcast at random times — times when your followers aren’t actively on Instagram — no one is going to know you were even on live video.

There’s an easy way to overcome Instagram’s live video limitations.

1. Post a photo to your feed that announces the time you’ll be broadcasting live.
2. Post a story every day that announces your upcoming live broadcast.
3. To catch the audience that missed out, save your live on Instagram under IGTV

You’re ready to roll. Your audience will be prepared for your broadcast, and ready to tune in.

To start a live video, tap the plus sign in the upper right corner.

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Then, press “live” from the drop down menu.

You’ll press the live button, the app will notify your followers you’re live and let you know….

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You’re live!

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Live videos are the first in line in the story carousel. In other words, as long as you’re live, more people will see you.

The more often you can post live videos, the better. Experiment with different times of day to see which time works best.

Step 8: Locate and Follow Your Target Users

Believe it or not, everything we’ve discussed up to this point has been a simple introduction.

You may be thinking, what?! What about the massive amounts of followers?

If you follow the steps above, you will be attracting users at a rate of 20+ per day, and probably more.

First, you’ll get followers slowly, and then the speed picks up over time. During your first few days following this guide, you may only get 5 new followers a day.

Within a week, however, the velocity will pick up.

Now, however, it’s time to put things into hyper gear. In this step, I’ll show you how to find your tribe and prepare for an avalanche of followers.

First, locate your top competitors.

Who are the Instagram users who already has a big following in your niche?

Find them, and start to follow their followers.

Here’s how.

Tap the find icon from the Instagram feed screen.

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You’ll see a display of popular videos and posts.

Tap the “search” bar at the top.

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Tap “tags” and begin searching for a term that is relevant to your industry.

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I noticed that “#socialmediamarketing” has over 18,500,000 posts, so I tap it first. Here’s what I see.

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These are considered “top posts,” because they were posted by users with a lot of followers, or they have a lot of likes and comments.

One or more of these photos was posted by a power user — someone with a lot of followers.

I’m going to tap one of the photos at the top.

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Immediately, I noticed that this photo has over 1,000 likes. It’s likely this account sees high engagement regularly.

I also noticed that the photo was posted by @theadnetwork. I may have never heard of @theadnetwork, but they are obviously posting photos within my niche. And those photos are obviously popular.

So, I tap their name in the upper left corner. Here’s what I see.

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I notice that they have 48K followers. This is a large following. I want to follow their followers.

Here’s the rationale. If these people chose to follow @theadnetwork, then they might choose to follow me, too. I’m in the same niche, same industry, and am providing just as much value (if not more!).

I tap “48K” to see the list of followers.

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I can follow every one of these users by tapping “follow.”

You should follow this process multiple times to find more influencers in your space. Also, you should find the influencers who have the most engaged audience.

Repeat the above process every day as you seek to build new followers. Every time, the experience will be different. Experiment with it until you find the pattern that delivers the highest number of followers.

Here’s that process in bullet point format:

• Tap the search icon.
• Tap the search bar at the top of the screen.
• Tap or swipe to tags.
• Type a tag that is relevant to your industry.
• There are probably dozens if not hundreds of tags you could use.
  • This is where you should branch out and experiment with different tags.
  • I also recommend exploring the “related” tags that Instagram displays at the top of the screen. You can find valuable tags and users that people are engaging in using this list.
• Tap a top post within that hashtag.
• Make sure that the account that posted has a lot of followers (rule of thumb: They should have more followers than people they are following).
• Tap the number of followers they have.
• Begin following these followers.

Step 9: Follow 50 Users per Hour

How many users can you follow, and at what rate?

Nobody, except a few select Instagram developers, knows the exact numbers.

Obviously, Instagram wants to keep users from abusing the system by spamming people with useless information. Therefore, they have some restrictions in place that keep you from following too many people.

The limit seems to be 7,500.

It’s going to take you a long time to reach 7,500. So what should you do?

Follow at least 50 users per hour. If you try to follow too many people within a certain amount of time, you’ll no longer be able to follow people.

Instagram won’t ban your account. They will simply prevent the “follow” button from working.

What should you do then? Wait an hour, and try again. Most likely, you’ll be able to follow more people.

Do you think that following 50 users might take too much time? It doesn’t.

Here’s how it works. You can do this in just a few minutes each hour.

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Repeat this process as often as possible.

As you follow users, many will begin to follow you back. If you are actively posting, engaging, and providing value, then you will quickly begin to attract a following.

If you don’t have the time, or just simply don’t want to do this manually, you could use a service like Kicksta to do it for you.

Step 10: Become an Active Member of the Community

Instagram isn’t just a broadcast platform. It’s a community of people who are helping each other, providing value, learning, and growing.

Personally, I’ve found a lot of inspiration on Instagram. I’ve met new people. I’ve learned new things. It’s been a great place for personal development and networking.

Here are the things that you should do in order to become an active member of the Instagram community and to grow and cultivate your audience at the same time:

• If someone follows you, follow them back. Obviously, you want to avoid following spam accounts.
• If someone comments on your photo, reply with a comment directed toward them. Mention them, using @, in the comment.
• Like the photos that have hashtags that you’re interested in.
• Comment on the photos that contain hashtags you’re interested in.
• Like other people’s comments on photos that you’re interested in.
• Send direct messages to people who you’re interested in, or who provide a lot of value.
• In your photo, tag users who you know personally, or with whom you’ve formed a relationship on Instagram.
• Ask questions or invite feedback in your posts.

There’s a difference between being a publisher on Instagram vs. being a participant.

I encourage you to become a participant.

Step 11: Partner and Cross-Promote With Relevant Users

Want to grow your Instagram in record time?

Partnering with other influential users on the platform is the surest way to get there.

This way, you get to tap into their following and funnel it into yours.

Cross-promoted content is effective for a few key reasons:

• We trust the recommendations of our peers
• We rely on consensus and the opinions of others to influence our actions (including purchase decisions and who to follow online)

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The step-by-step play for cross-promoting your content with other users:

Step #1: Invest enough time in the groundwork so you can choose the right partners.

You want to select someone who’s not a direct competitor but has a following that matches your target audience.

This way, the relationship can be set up for an equal exchange of value.

You can either:

1. Spend time sifting through hundreds of profiles to find the best matches. It’s time-consuming, but it works best, particularly if you’re on a tight budget, or don’t want to spend any money at all.

Tips for searching Instagram:

• Research a hashtag and check out posts with lots of engagement (likes, shares, comments). If you don’t have much to leverage, it may be best to start off with a low-hanging target with moderate engagement.
• Look for users with a history of cross-promotion. The best method is to look at accounts that have content where someone else is attributed as the content creator.

2. Search through a marketplace of influencers. Several sites make it easy to find and connect with the right partners.

This approach is better suited if your goal is to increase brand awareness or ramp up product sales.

Be mindful that many influencer marketplaces listed may require monetary compensation rather than exchanging value without money.

A few options:

• CreatorIQ
• https://www.revfluence.com/ GRIN
• https://www.influencerdb.net/db/?page=1&idb_sort_instagram=ig_instagram_score&hashtag-count=1 Mavrck
• #paid
• In Beat

Step #2: After you’ve pinpointed the best partners, focus on what you can do for them.

Here’s the deal:

If you’re just growing your account and you want to tap into someone else’s following, they’re the ones with the leverage.

This means that you have to think about what you can bring to the table.

What do they need right now? How can you make their lives a little easier? What are they working on right now that you can contribute to?

Answer these questions, and you have the perfect in.

I recommend establishing a relationship first or at least getting on their radar before you ask for something.

This way, you’re more likely to succeed.

Step #3: Set clear terms for your partnership

There’s nothing like miscommunication to sour a relationship.

Ideally, you want your partnerships to be long-term. Otherwise, you’d have to continuously be searching for new influencers every single time you’d like branded content with influencers.

To make sure that the process goes smoothly for both of you:

• Make sure that you both are clear on what’s being exchanged
• Establish a timeline
• Honor your deal

Step #4: Make the most out of the cross-promotion

If you want to increase the momentum and impact of cross-promoted content, it will require some extra work.

Promote the content on other social media networks, announce it to your email list, and ask users to engage.

Step 12: Run Challenges and Contests

If you’ve ever thought long and hard about growing your Instagram account quickly, this tactic has been on your radar.

Give out a freebie, and people will come knocking down your door, right?

Anyone who has run a successful contest or challenge will tell you that this is not the case. In fact, it requires a fair amount of preparation and strategy.

When done right, it can be an extremely effective way of getting traffic and new followers to your Instagram account.

Here are the details that you need to work out:

So… what type of contest will you run? The type of contest will determine how people can take part in your giveaway. Each of these methods of entry has its benefits and downsides.

(i) Follow to win – Participants have to follow your account to enter the contest. Be prepared for a percentage of people to unfollow you after the contest is over.

(ii) Like to win – Participants have to like one of your photos to enter.

(iii) Comment to win – Participants have to comment on a piece of content to win.

(iv) Enter your email to win – Participants have to submit their info to enter. If your goal is to get more followers, you may want to skip this method or combine it with another method that gives you that outcome.

(v) Participate in the challenge to win – This is where you call on people to do something specific, like posting a photo and using a hashtag that you’ve created for your challenge. You can also set your challenge across several days, asking participants to do something different on each day and posting their results. This is the most participative type of contest, and it has the highest level of engagement.

(vi) A combination of methods – Participants have to perform several qualifying actions to enter the context. Any of the methods above can work together. It’s up to you and the goal that you have for your contest. Be mindful that you don’t want the barrier to entry to be so high that people get turned off by the process.

What are the rules? Every contest needs a set of guidelines.

It ensures that there are no disputes after the contest has run its course.

Your rules should include:

• The contest duration (what date and time does it begin and end)
• The prize and how the winner will be chosen
• The method of entry

How will the winner(s) be chosen, and what is the prize? The tricky thing about using contests to grow your following is that you will be attracting people who aren’t necessarily interested in you or what you do.

They simply want to win.

The way to deal with that is to offer a prize that is closely aligned with your brand and business goals.

Some examples:

If you have a self-improvement blog, your prize can be some inspirational and self-improvement books.

If you own a tech company, you can give something that’s complementary to your product.

This way, there’s overlap between the contest prize and your Instagram content. Participants will be less inclined to unfollow you after the contest is over.

How will you promote the contest? Simply setting a contest in motion is not enough.

You need to gain as much momentum and traction as possible.

To drive awareness, you can:

• Create a viral-worthy hashtag and encourage participants to use it
• Promote the contest on all your social media channels
• Link to the contest on the homepage of your blog
• Announce the contest to your email list
• Write blog posts about it and pay to boost them on Facebook, so they reach more people
• Allow people extra entries for referring new participants

It’s also a good idea to write a follow-up piece on the winner, and the prize received. If your prize was a service or something results-driven, you could create a thorough case study of the winner’s before and after.

Step 13: Run Instagram Ads

Sometimes the most effective way is simply to pay to play.

That’s where paid promotions come in.

As you know, Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012.

This is significant because running ads on Instagram is the same as running Facebook ads. They’re controlled through the same ad manager.

If you’ve run Facebook ads in the past, you’re likely familiar with this method.

In any event, I’ll walk you through the process from start to finish.

The step-by-step play for running Instagram ads:

Step #1 – Connect your Instagram account to your Facebook page.

If you’ve already done this once, you don’t have to do it every single time you run an ad. But if you haven’t already linked the two accounts, go to “Settings” on your Facebook page and click on “Instagram Ads.”

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After you click on “Add an account,” you’ll be prompted to fill in your Instagram username and password.

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You’ll then be asked to select which Facebook ad account you’d like to use for your Instagram campaign. If you have more than one ad account set up, select the appropriate one.

Step #2 – Go to the Power Editor or Adverts Manager to create your Instagram campaign

Now that your accounts are connected, you can run your Instagram ads from your Facebook account.

You can either click “Create Campaign” in the Ad Manager or go to the Power Editor to create your ad.

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Step #3 – Select the objective for your campaign.

You have three different categories to choose from:

• Awareness – Increase your brand awareness, local awareness, and reach.
• Consideration – For driving traffic, increasing engagement, getting more app installs, increasing video views, and lead generation.
• Conversion – For conversions, product sales, and store visits.

Simply click on the category that you’re interested in. You can only have one campaign objective.

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After you click on your objective, name your campaign and click “Continue.”

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Step #4 – Create your advert set and define your ad audience.

Your audience can be defined by location, age, gender, language, and other detailed demographics. If you have saved audiences, you don’t have to create a new one.

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Next, select your ad placement, budget, and duration of the ad set.

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Once you’ve decided how much you’re going to spend and how long your ad will run for, it’s time to select the format of your ad.

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Finally, select your images and write your caption. You can preview the ad to make sure that everything looks good. Click “place order,” and that’s all there is to it.

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Step #5 – Set up a retargeting campaign

Retargeting ads are set up using more or less the same process as normal ads. Only this time, you’re targeting people who’ve already engaged with your business.

Maybe they visited your site, your opt-in page, or abandoned their cart before making the final purchase.

How do you know who those people are?

The Facebook pixel. This is a tool that allows you to track the actions that people take on your website as well as measure the effectiveness of your ads.

Ideally, you should install the pixel on your site even if you have no immediate intention of running an ad. This way, it can track as much data as possible, so your campaign will be more effective.

To get the pixel on your site, you can either install it manually or use a WordPress plugin.

Manual installation of the Facebook pixel:

Go to the Adverts Manager and find “Pixels” under the area labeled “Assets.”

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If you’ve ever run Facebook Ads, chances are you’ve already created a pixel. If not, you’ll be asked to create one.

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Select a name for your pixel and click “Create Pixel”.

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You will get a Pixel code that you can copy and paste into your website header.

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Alternatively, you can simply install a WordPress plugin called PixelYourSite. All you have to do after that is enter your Pixel ID in the settings of the plugin. Your ID can be found on the top right-hand corner of your Ads Manager dashboard.

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Once your pixel has been installed, it will begin collecting data immediately. Running a retargeting campaign is simply a matter of creating a custom audience to include anyone who has visited your domain or specific pages.

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The remaining steps are the same as what we walked through earlier for setting normal Instagram ads.

Step 14: Link Your Instagram to Your Offline Customer

Have you ever thought about how you can leverage offline interactions to grow your online presence?

Very few people do.

The thing is social media platforms and websites are not the only places that people come into contact with your business.

Particularly if you run an e-commerce site, you have plenty of opportunities to connect with users offline.

Here’s how you can make the most out of these interactions:

First, add your Instagram handle to physical product packaging.

The package that your product is shipped in is a unique part of the customer experience.

It’s a direct point of contact and presents the most opportunity because many people neglect it.

Next, consider placing a hashtag on the actual product.

Several popular brands have used this technique where they print hashtags on their products.

During the 2012 Olympics, Adidas and Nike featured their own campaign hashtags on their footwear.

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Finally, be sure to Incentivize customers to follow you and promote your brand.

Sometimes, your customers need an extra push to take action. Here are some ideas:

1. Run a monthly contest asking customers to take a selfie with your product and post it on Instagram. Make sure they tag your Instagram page and add your specific hashtag. Every month, you can announce a different winner. Their followers will be inclined to check out your page and follow you.

2. As soon as you make a sale, ask customers to post a video talking about why they decided to invest in your product. Again, ensure that they tag you and use your product-specific hashtag. You can give them cash back or a coupon for a subsequent purchase. This can both increase sales and improve your following.

Step 15: Keep Tabs on What’s Working so You Can Continue To Optimize Your Performance

These steps are not the end-all, be-all of Instagram marketing.

Instead, they are powerful strategies that you can bet on to increase your following.

But guess what?

The platform is continuously evolving. New features are always being introduced. Old tactics become obsolete.

It is up to you to track which methods are working for you. I’d say the best measure of success on Instagram is how engaged and loyal of a following you have.

Having hundreds of thousands of followers who don’t take the time to interact with your content is pointless.

Keep monitoring the results that you get after implementing each step so you can keep optimizing them.

Some Key Performance Indicators to look out for:

• Click-through rate – How many people are clicking on your links. You can shorten your website links using a URL shortener like Bitly. It also allows you to track how these links perform.
• Traffic – How many unique visitors are you getting from Instagram to your website?
• Follower growth – How many followers have you gained? Which tactics had the biggest part to play? Have you lost any followers?
• Interactions per post – What’s the total social capital of each post? This includes the usual stuff like comments and shares.
• Growth of branded or product-specific hashtags – If you’ve created any hashtags, how has your popularity and reach increased?

Learn from your analytics rather than the vanity metrics.

The level of insight from analytics will help you understand the type of content your audience engages with and likes most.

With the insight from analytics, you can see how your Instagram followers increase without building a community blindly.

FAQs

What is the trick to increasing followers on Instagram?

If you want to follow my formula: start with determining the purpose of your Instagram account. Form your content strategy that will drive maximum engagement and attract the attention of those in your niche. Be strategic not just with your content but in your captions and hashtags. Your reach in your niche and potential audience can grow when you target them.

Other than running Instagram ads, you can launch challenges and contests to nurture your audience. Remember, you can take your reach offline through events or product packaging. Just make sure you’re optimizing your performance by listening to the analytics because the data is coming from your audience.

How do I spot fake Instagram followers?

Do an Instagram audit. The signs of fake followers are when your account has unusual numbers that fluctuate but also don’t match your engagement. Accounts that post spam comments or have minimal details on their page can be run through a fake follower or bot detection tool. Your Instagram posts can be shared, liked, commented on, and engaged with by real people. People appreciate it when someone on the other end responds.

How often should I post on Instagram?

The Instagram post cadence I recommend looks like this:

• Post 1-2 photos or videos (including reels) per day.
• Add 5-30 Instagram stories per day.
• Post 1 live video per day at the same time each day.

Conclusion

Social media, in general, can sometimes feel like fighting a losing battle.

You try to create content that will grab attention, move masses of people to action, and get them hooked on you for good.

The results are not always encouraging.

But this time, it’s different.

Why?

I really do believe that there has never been anything as prolific as Instagram. It is a remarkable place for personal branding and sales. Any ordinary person who puts in the right combination of strategy and effort can win big on this platform.

Yes, it can be challenging to build a following.

Yes, there’s a lot of noise.

But is there a way to build a powerful tribe of targeted followers? Absolutely.

I have used these exact steps for myself and my clients to attract more than 300 followers every single day.

One of the best parts about it is that these Instagram followers are bot-free. As long as I’m providing valuable content and regularly contributing as a member of the community, they will keep showing up to engage with my content.

Not only that, they’ll spread the word, and my following will continue to grow.

Eventually, you’ll reach a similar point. You won’t have to follow other users as aggressively. Instead, people will start flocking to you.

By that point, all your hard work would’ve paid off, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a powerful Instagram influencer.

Are you using Instagram as part of your marketing strategy? What are some of the tactics that are working for you?

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By: Neil Patel
Title: 15 Ways to Get More Instagram Followers
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/how-to-get-300-real-targeted-instagram-followers-per-day/
Published Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2022 19:05:00 +0000

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Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

Do you want to skip the read and get right to my top pick? The best VOIP phone services for most people are Nextiva, Ooma, or Ringcentral.

Buying VoIP for your business is going to save you money over a traditional phone line. And if you are already using a VoIP service from a clunky provider, you may be able to switch to something sleeker without losing anything except the frustration.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) may sound complex, but it simply means making calls over your internet connection instead of using the old analog phone line. If you are thinking about switching to VoIP for the first time, you are going to be blown away by all the advantages you get with making calls over the internet. 

More than just saving money, VoIP has far more features, is incredibly portable, and very scalable.

To write a truly helpful post for my readers, my team got in touch with leaders who have used VoIP in different ways.

You can find about 80 percent of what you need to know about VoIP anywhere on the web—here’s the 20 percent you can’t find anywhere else.

We spoke with:

• Gregg, who manages IT services for a living. He knows the good and bad of different VoIP options and helps businesses stay protected from hacks.
• Jason, who has been working in call centers for nearly 30 years and just bought VoIP for his enterprise organization. He’s attuned to what’s important for your employees, whether they’re remote or in an office.
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• Sarkar, who manages sales teams in the B2B SaaS space. He walked us through how to sync VoIP and CRM software with the fewest possible headaches.

Look, I know what works for a company like mine. By speaking with a range of experts, my team and this article can help a wider array of buyers with different use cases or situations than my own. 

There are companies looking to outfit offices in 20 countries. Others have to protect patient data. Some folks just want to stop using their personal mobile number for work. 

Here are the seven best VoIP phone service providers you can start using right away. After the reviews, you’ll find an in-depth buyer’s guide.

#1 – Nextiva Review — The Best Overall

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I hear a lot about the trends of working from home, but I don’t think anyone can say for sure what “office life” is going to look like two or three years from now. If you want your teams to stay functional no matter which way the wind blows, Nextiva is a solid choice.

It’s cloud-based VoIP, so your employees can come into the office, set up a desk at home, or use their phone on the go. Unlike an on-premises phone system, employees can use their phone without a VPN because they’re calling through Nextiva.

So, you have way less to worry about with security—which is definitely on the minds of managers who have people calling from hotels, coffee shops, and their home network.

The experts my team spoke with categorized it as a true plug-and-play system for businesses that want a dial tone without IT headaches. If your system is built on ten phones or fewer, you will have very little trouble getting Nextiva installed. 

One thing that Jason pointed out, however, was that you’ll need to put some thought into compliance if you plan to take credit card numbers over the phone. But, for the most part, security is handled by Nextiva because everything is routed through their cloud.

Nextiva can scale to hundreds of phones if need be. There will be some backend configuration to get everything going, but Nextiva will help you deploy with a guided installation process.

And unlike some of the other companies that offer this type of flexibility, Nextiva can outfit your entire office. Fax machines, conference phones, multiple offices–whatever your setup, you’ll be able to transition it to Nextiva’s modern platform. 

Level up your business phone by connecting it with email, text, and video—or centralize every channel within a single window for your employees.

All the call handling and user administration features you’d expect are included. And when I say they are easy to use, check out the Call Flow Builder that lets visualize how routing is set up:

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It can be tricky to configure auto attendants in some platforms, but it’s drag-and-drop easy with Nextiva. 

The company has done a lot to make everything as easy as possible on end users. If you’re wondering whether or not you have the necessary internet speed at your office, you can test it right now on Nextiva’s website. Simulate the traffic required for two or 200 phones. You’ll get info on speed, but also jitter and everything that goes into whether or not you can reliably make calls.

You can also use the site to test the speed of remote workers who need to be on call, which Jason highly recommended. If their home network doesn’t support VoIP, you may be looking at an expensive hiring blunder.

Nextiva offers 24/7 support for every plan. That’s not typical, especially for VoIP at such an affordable price (which is currently on sale too!)

• Essential: starting at $18.95 $11.95 per month per user
• Professional: starting at $22.95 $20.95 per month per user
• Enterprise: starting at $32.95 $26.95 per month per user

These are the annual prices—it’s a little bit more per user to pay month to month, but you don’t have to sign a contract.

The Essential plan is going to work for many teams. It includes unlimited voice and video calling, a free local and toll-free number, and 1,500 toll-free minutes. That’s a lot more than you are going to get with other entry-level plans.

Unlike RingCentral, there’s no user cap for the Essential plan. This means you can offer more people unlimited voice and video at a low price, rather than having to upgrade once you hit 20 users.

For conference calling and business SMS, you’ll need the Professional plan. This comes with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zendesk integration. Essential only has integration with Outlook and Google Contacts.

At the Enterprise tier, you get integrations with CRM software and single sign-on, which is a huge boon to remote workers. 

Nextiva One is the company’s omnichannel solution. If customers reach out to you through a variety of channels in addition to phones, this might be a good idea. 

Your employees can see all communication with each account, which is really helpful if people are logging help desk tickets, chatting, reaching out on social media, and so on. 

Jason argued that omnichannel also makes administrators' lives easier. “I don’t have 10 systems to manage,” he described to us, “it’s all within the same system.” 

You can coordinate ecommerce with a call center or tie multiple brick and mortar stores into a single system.

You also have one bill as opposed to dozens and you’re not chasing down information across multiple platforms. If a customer has an issue, you can go back through the entire record quickly, regardless of how they got in touch.

Organization is just easier with Nextiva. Staying on the same page with customers and your employees is as simple as logging into the system, no matter where you are.

For teams that don’t have an office to coordinate activity, Nextiva is the best VoIP solution. 

It’s a product that employees new and old can start using immediately on whatever device they have. Should they ever have an issue, Nextiva’s reputable customer service is there to provide support.

If you are looking at the way features break down in the different packages and you don’t find a perfect fit, just reach out to Nextiva. You can purchase any feature a la carte. 

Build your system, your way, in less time with Nextiva. Get in touch for a seven-day free trial of the Essential package, or a demo of any other package they offer. Also, for a limited time get 25% off, plus a free phone, when you sign up!

#2 – Ooma Office Review — The Best for Adding VoIP to Existing SMB Phone Systems

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Ooma can help you include the benefits of business-class VoIP easily with no loss in productivity. 

If you have a phone that works, it can hook right into the Ooma system. No phones? Buy them from Ooma at a discount and skip the preconfiguration nonsense. They are plug and play out of the box.

Employees can make calls and collaborate with their colleagues in the Ooma mobile app, whether they are in the office or on-the-go.

One thing Gregg pointed out was how expensive it can get to customize your setup if you have to pay per extension. With Ooma, every user gets a number of free extensions: one for conferences, one for online faxing, and one for a Virtual Receptionist.

Virtual Receptionist is Ooma’s term for an auto attendant. You can set it to play custom messages about business hours, let callers dial by name, select a preferred language, or route the caller to another extension.

With other vendors—especially ones that cost as little as Ooma—you often wind up paying extra to enable online faxing. Some VoIP phone service providers don’t even accommodate it. 

When Jason sent his business requirement document to vendors, “two companies bailed out right away” because they weren’t able to set up fax machines. Most of the other vendors told him they don’t really do that, but they would try in order to get his business.

With Ooma, each of your users can set up their own fax extension for free.

Problem solved.

When it comes to integrating VoIP with existing equipment, Ooma minimizes the steps you have to take and maximizes your flexibility. Connect to Ooma Office via WiFi, ethernet, or use the base station to get analog devices on board.

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Think of it as a cloud-based VoIP solution that’s really good at accommodating your existing equipment. It might take some time to configure a large office, but the administrator portal is straightforward. It’s not the prettiest interface of all time, but it’s stupid simple to use.

While Ooma offers solutions for enterprise, their VoIP phone services for small businesses really stand out from the pack.

There are no contracts—a rarity in this product space. Usually to get the best price on VoIP, you need to sign up for a year at least. Ooma’s price is what it is. For small business, Ooma pricing breaks down into two tiers:

• Ooma Office: starting at $19.95 per month per user
• Ooma Office Pro: starting at $24.95 per month per user

Upgrading to Pro, you get the desktop app, video conferencing, call recording, enhanced call blocking, and voicemail transcription. You’ll also be able to host conference calls of up to 25 people, whereas Ooma Office has a limit of 10.

You don’t have the choice of selectively upgrading users with Ooma Office—it’s all employees on one plan or all employees on another. But, at just $5 per user to upgrade, you’re still falling in the average range for VoIP.

And, if you upgrade, you can set people up on their computers with a softphone, which means you have less hardware to buy. 

You can avoid buying phones without upgrading by having people call from the mobile app (which is included with Ooma office), though Gregg warned us that VoIP can be hard on a cell phone. “Yes, you save money because you're not buying physical equipment,” he said, “but it can drain the battery life right out of the device.”

Transition to the cloud at your own pace. Keep your equipment and manage it yourself with way less work than a traditional set up. Get a quote, sign up with Ooma, and start saving money today.

#3 – RingCentral Review — The Best for High-Volume Outbound Calling

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RingCentral gives you unlimited calling, texting, and video conferencing at a competitive price. If you just need the phones and texting, you can get an even better deal.

Forget about per-minute charges and set up employees with VoIP that’s easy to use. For call centers, customer service, sales—anyone who has people on the phone constantly will appreciate RingCentral. This is especially true if you have to train new employees all the time.

First off, they’ll be able to use the interface. It’s intuitive to anyone who has used a computer. Administrators and managers will find they can shorten the time it takes to turn rookie hires into skilled ambassadors for your company.

“You save a lot of money because you can identify hires that aren't doing a good job and wasting their time,” Makan told us. He’s set up a lot of telemarketing call centers with RingCentral and has really valued the ability to “tell right away who's worth the money.”

The ability to track calls, KPIs, and listen back to recordings was like night and day for him compared to working on a landline. Teams can listen back to calls that went well (or poorly) to get a sense of how to better capitalize on each opportunity.

The reporting features aren’t going to take a data scientist to glean insights from. Find your top performers and figure out what they’re doing. Identify people who aren’t a good fit and let them go.

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I hear a lot of marketing word salad like “this tool optimizes performance,” all the time. RingCentral walks the walk. 

“You can actually predict your sales,” Makan said, “I know it's difficult to fathom, but it’s true.”

He was able to figure out that 2,500 calls lead to one listing. This told him the number of minutes people needed to be on the phone in order to stay profitable. Over time, he could see how many listings an employee should be generating in their first month, second quarter, and so on.

You’re likely going to measure different KPIs, but it’s the same idea. With the kind of visibility that RingCentral provides, you can distill the numbers to simple metrics that hold employees accountable. You know ahead of time what your sales are going to look like, and you can scale up or down accordingly.

There’s a lot about RingCentral that’s well suited for large-scale calling. Admins don’t have to be IT wizards to add new users and give them access to specific resources. They’ll be able to provision new hires quickly. When someone leaves, they’ll be able to switch around accounts and recycle the number, so you don’t wind up paying for lines you're not using.

If you have turnover—as many high-volume calling occupations do—you need to be mindful of your database integrity. RingCentral makes it easy to limit access to resources and revoke it if need be. 

You're definitely going to be using a CRM (or some form of database) to call at scale. RingCentral integrates with a lot of them. You want to keep that information private.

Another liability for call centers that RingCentral helps you navigate is compliance, which is crucial if you are making a lot of cold calls or using an auto dialer. There’s a TCPA safe dialer, which helps agents avoid bringing a “robo-call” lawsuit down on your company. Instead of worrying about messing something up, they can focus on the person they are talking to.

The DNC list features are also easy to use. Integrate with third-party tools to constantly update your list, and quickly show your employees how to maintain your own internal list.

RingCentral is HIPAA compliant, which means the standard for privacy and security is incredibly high. Fines for HIPAA violations are very steep, and that’s not the worst that could happen.

Selecting from RingCentral’s range of packages, you can replace your phones with VoIP and save a little money or completely outfit an omnichannel call center. 

RingCentral MVP (formerly RingCentral Office) has four tiers to choose from:

• Essentials: starting at $19.99 per month per user
• Standard: starting at $27.99 per month per user
• Premium: starting at $34.99 per month per user
• Ultimate: starting at $49.99 per month per user

These are the prices if you sign up for a year of service, which reflect a 33% discount on the monthly rate.

The Essentials plan is capped at 20 users. You get unlimited talk and text, as well as document sharing, which can be helpful for sharing sales and customer service scripts. You also get team messaging, which is especially helpful in the days where not everyone is coming into a physical office.

With Standard, you get unlimited fax, video conferencing and integrations with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365. There’s no cap on users, either. 

But if you are going for high-volume calling, I really recommend getting Premium. You get the CRM integration that is so important for dialing into your metrics and communicating effectively at scale.

At $10 above the average cost of VoIP, Premium is a steal. Remember, that VoIP average is for voice only and with RingCentral MVP you’re getting texting, video, and advanced call handling features that other “average” plans do not include. 

Managers will be able to listen in on live calls and “whisper” advice. The employee can hear them, the caller can not. From what I found, features like this from other vendors were usually reserved for plans that cost upwards of $50. So in that sense, I’d consider RingCentral MVP well below the average price-wise.

RingCentral offers contact center software, as well, which will unify your communications. Your agents will be able to see a complete record of a customer's history. When did they call, when did they chat? It’s all right there. You’ll have to get in touch with RingCentral for Contact Center pricing.

This is my number one pick for people who have to make a ton of calls. RingCentral helps you protect yourself from a number of the liabilities that come with outreach at scale. It also gives you the viability and tools to stay efficient and maximize each employees’ ability to contribute.

Try RingCentral for free today.

#4 – Phone.com Review — The Most Affordable Professional-Grade VoIP

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Phone.com is a smart choice for businesses that are looking for budget-friendly VoIP. You can have unlimited calling or pay less for a set block of minutes each month.

One of the cost-effective features of Phone.com is that you can mix and match plans. Give your sales team unlimited plans while saving money on the employees that only use the phones occasionally.

And, with the Basic plan, you’re still getting most of the standard VoIP features like call handling, auto attendants, hold music and so on. You’ll have to upgrade to get HIPAA-compliant video conferencing, for example, but you can host up to 10 people in a regular session with Basic.

With most other vendors, you have to upgrade the plan for all your users. Phone.com can really help you keep costs down by giving users the features they need. This is one of those licensing irregularities that Gregg told us about, where it can work out well if you know what you’re doing.

Phone.com lets you pick what you need. Call recording and inbound faxing is extra, though you’ll be able to send faxes from your phone with any plan. 

Nextiva and RingCentral are a little bit more robust, especially when it comes to reporting and analytics. And, in terms of CRM integration, Phone.com is limited to AllProWebTools and Zoho.

But some businesses just need a reliable phone with call handling capabilities they can manage themselves. Phone.com does more than that, and it’s just enough cheaper than those other options to net your company serious savings without settling for a unreliable solution.

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Offer your customers the ability to text when they have questions. Phone.com keeps all of your employees' messages organized. Come for the phone system, stay for the messaging.

To use IP phones, you’ll have to be on an upgraded plan. The company offers really great prices on popular phones of all styles. You can use what you’ve got, too, as Phone.com supports a range of hardware.

Using your own equipment will definitely lessen the initial outlay, but in talking with Gregg we learned that older phones can get hacked. Just make sure that the processor isn’t too far behind what Phone.com is trying to sell you, and get ready to do some of the configuration yourself. You really can just plug and play if you buy equipment through Phone.com.

Pricing for Phone.com is low across the board. You'll get the prices below with an upfront annual commitment, which are 20% lower than opting for month-to-month billing.

• Basic: starting at $10.39 per user per month
• Plus: starting at $15.99 per user per month
• Pro: starting at $23.99 per user per month

Basic comes with 300 minutes, which are pooled for all your users. This just means Basic users share minutes instead of having to worry about going over individually each month. 

Each user also gets 1,000 pooled text segments. A segment is limited to 160 characters, which is way less than most phones can send in a normal text message these days. So it’s not 1,000 texts per month, unless you like to keep things brief.

Volume licensing brings the price down, both for users and for additional phone numbers. With 25 or more users, the price of Basic drops down to $8.99, Plus to $14.99, and Pro to $21.99. 

Considering that Pro can hold its own with many of the call center VoIP solutions I’ve looked at, it’s worth checking out if you need a lot of phones on a tight budget. With HIPAA-compliant voice and video, it could be a good option for medical practices looking to support telehealth.

You really have to get input from every person and department using the phone system. Figure out the technology and functionality you need to support. If Phone.com fits the bill, it’s going to be a smaller one than you’ll find anywhere else.

Phone.com gives you a low price that scales up better than OpenPhone, Grasshopper, and other lightweight VoIP solutions.

I wouldn’t use it to set up a call center—you’re going to have to fully rely on your CRM for all but the most basic reporting and analytics—but you’ll be able to get plenty of phones set up for normal business needs. 

If you are thinking about cutting the cord with your traditional phone line, this option is going to save you the most money. Sign up with Phone.com today, no contract necessary.

#5 – Grasshopper Review — The Best If You Need More Extensions than Phone Lines

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Grasshopper is a great option for small companies that want to establish a professional identity without buying a very complex system. 

I’m thinking about the restaurant owner that wants numbers for a few locations without having to pay for a traditional phone line going to each one. Or maybe the law firm that wants a few numbers with lots of extensions.

If you outline your business requirements and it turns out you only need the essentials, don’t pay more for things you don’t need. Grasshopper is going to set you up with everything you need for one flat rate each month.

You’ll get a suite of features designed for the daily work of a modern business, without the clutter aimed at larger organizations. There’s no need to upgrade just to access a particular feature. Every Grasshopper plan comes with unlimited calling, as well as every feature the company offers, such as setting up a phone tree, personalized greetings, call routing, and more.

There are even a few features, like instant response, that you won’t always get with other providers. If you miss a call, Grasshopper will automatically send a text message.

Simultaneous call handling and call forwarding lets you pass off calls to teammates when you’re busy. Voicemail transcription makes it easier to catch up on calls after hours.

Manage everything I just listed directly from the mobile app. Route calls exactly where they need to go—it’s just a few swipes on your cell.

You also get unlimited extensions with Grasshopper Small Businesses plans, and several free extensions with their other plans. Route calls to other numbers, mobile devices, informational extensions to answer FAQs, or a polite out-of-office voicemail. 

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Getting charged for extensions was something Gregg said people should watch out for in the contact they sign. The total cost can “go up real quick” if you have to pay for an extra line just to set up a voicemail extension.

With Grasshopper, you don’t have to worry as much. The entry level plan comes with one number and three extensions—perfect for the sole proprietor or founder to greet their callers with a professional menu and connect them with the right person.

Let’s take a closer look at your three options with Grasshopper.

• Solo: starting at $26 per month for one number and three extensions
• Partner: starting at $44 per month for three numbers and six extensions
• Small Business: starting at $80 per month for five numbers and unlimited extensions

As I said, it’s really just the basics. There’s no CRM integration or call recording, so think about Grasshopper as a way to replace your phone system rather than revolutionize it.

That said, if you’ve been trying to work magic with free VoIP like Google Voice, the ability to set up call routing may feel downright revolutionary.

It’s also going to cost less and be way easier to set up than it’s more robust competitors. Toll-free numbers might take a day to start working, but typically your number is ready to go when you sign up.

If you want to add an extra line, it’s $10 per month. That’s a lot more than Phone.com for extra lines, which is why I don’t recommend Grasshopper if you need a ton. Plus, the interface isn’t built for handling a big system anyway.

But for the small office, it’s perfect. It doesn’t matter where you or your business partners work—people can be out in the field when a call comes into the office, or in a different city altogether. Grasshopper makes it easy to ensure your calls get where they need to go.

Try Grasshopper for free.

#6 – PhoneBurner Review — The Best Off-The-Shelf VoIP for Sales Teams

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PhoneBurner is ready to rock. Are you?

This product is a little different than the other VoIP options on my list. It’s a sales engagement platform, so it’s not designed to replace your phone system. Rather it’s designed to give outbound reps the perfect tool for prospecting, selling, and closing deals.

Is the team remote? Do people like to work out of the office? Not a drama. Your users can phone in from anywhere and start working through your hottest contacts.

It contains a CRM and auto dialer software built into the platform. You’re not trying to make technology play nice—it’s all set up when you open the box. You can integrate with your own CRM if you want, or simply import your leads and start making up to 80 calls an hour.

I don’t know what your reps’ pace is now, but 80 calls per hour is smoking. There’s no “telemarketer” delay when the call connects, just crisp conversation like it’s over a phone line.

And, because the CRM is tied in, reps can see exactly who they’re talking to, what stage of the pipeline they’re in, and any notes left in the account.

Sarkar said that pretty much everyone in the B2B SaaS game is telephoning through sales engagement platforms now. The auto dialer makes your agents far more efficient by eliminating the busy work of dialing. “You barely have to click anything,” he said.

With PhoneBurner, you’re not manual dialing, tabbing through pages to find a number, or copy/pasting emails frantically before the next call. Instead, you can drop voicemails without waiting for the beep, send an appropriate email, or move a prospect to another folder with a single click.

For Makan, auto dialer software was crucial for large-scale outreach in telemarketing, but it was a pain to set up. You have to specifically program the CRM and the auto dialer. From there, it’s expensive to get the CRM software tuned to your industry. He mentioned one popular CRM option that cost $25,000 and $50,000, “just to get you all set up with the phones.”

With PhoneBurner, a lot of that work is off your plate. It’s not going to groom your database for you, but the fundamental CRM/auto dialer integration is already in place.

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The company takes it a step further by offering one of the most comprehensive onboarding packages that I have seen for any product. Their team works with you on goals before you set up, runs you through a test session, and then trains your team on how to use the platform.

You also learn how to build reports so you can track performance. It’s easy to do this wrong, on any platform, but your PhoneBurner advisor is walking companies through the process, week in week out. They’ll get you set up with dashboards, leaderboards, and all of it is going to be customized to your goals.

Leads are distributed automatically, based on rules you set. Toggle between pre-set configurations, like Round Robin or First Come First Served, or customize your own settings. Make sure leads get to the right agent every time, with only a small amount of work on the manager’s part. 

PhoneBurner isn’t cheap, but remember that this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison with the other VoIP providers because you are getting the auto dialer and CRM built in. 

• Standard: starting at $124 per user each month
• Professional: starting at $149 per user each month
• Premium: starting at $166 per user each month

These are the prices if you sign up for a year, which basically gives you two months for free compared to paying monthly.

You're getting unlimited dial minutes, which is obviously important if your reps are making a thousand calls each week. With PhoneBurner, that’s not hard to do.

Call recording is stored free for 30 days with the Standard plan, 60 days with Professional, and there’s no limit for Premium plans. There are also limits on the number of contacts you can store, which start at 10,000 on the Standard plan.

You’ll need to upgrade to Professional to get softphone capabilities. It’s not a big deal if you already have phones, but I imagine that’ll bother folks that want to use their tablet or computer.

With Premium, you get a dedicated inbound line, as well as some of the handling features. I would not recommend using PhoneBurner for serious inbound traffic—the other VoIP options are going to be way cheaper—but some teams will appreciate having a custom voicemail and the ability to forward calls.

On average, a rep can make 233% more calls with PhoneBurner than they can with a regular line.

Does the math pencil out for you? For Makan, it took 2,500 calls to generate a listing. What’s your metric?

If doubling or tripling your rep’s productivity sounds like a good idea, start a free trial with PhoneBurner today.

#7 – OpenPhone Review — The Best Way to Run Your Business From a Mobile Phone

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Jason warned us about going with the “newest and cheapest option,” so I was a little bit skeptical when I heard about OpenPhone. It’s only a few years old and it’s $10 per month.

That’s way less than the average cost of VoIP, cheaper even than some of the “budget” options I looked at.

But the more I discovered about the company, the more I liked it. OpenPhone is new, but certainly not fly-by-night. It’s a recent graduate of Y Combinator, the startup accelerator that helped launch AirBnB, DoorDash, DropBox, and Reddit.

Like those companies, OpenPhone has come to market with a new set of assumptions about how people are living and working. Instead of trying to replace a business phone system, as many Cloud-PBX’s claim to do, OpenPhone simply turns your mobile into a better phone for business.

It’s really aimed at the modern startup or small business, especially if the owner is one of those people who steers the ship from their phone. You’ll get a business number for your mobile phone. Go local, toll-free, or keep your own number, you choose. Porting your old number is 100% free.

Set up an auto-attendant so callers can get the information they need and connect with the right person. Establish a professional identity for your business in minutes. You’ll be reaching people on a stronger footing because you always know if an incoming call is business or personal.

There’s no hardware necessary and no more giving out your mobile number. Keep your privacy. Get numbers for your team and let them keep their privacy, too.

Where OpenPhone really steps away from the crowd is the shared inbox. You can have multiple people call and text from the same number. They can even make calls from that number at the same time. 

A lot of phone systems don’t include text messaging, let alone allow multiple users text in the same thread. With OpenPhone, you can text the way you normal humans do:

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Tag users with @mentions to bring the right people into the conversation quickly. Group messaging is really helpful for collaboration, especially since you can send files, videos, and GIFs.

You’re just not limited with texting the way you are on a lot of other VoIP phone services. You can send snippets from templates as part of a campaign or auto-reply to missed calls and texts.

Managing contacts isn’t hard either, as you get limited CRM integration with Google Contacts or via Zapier. You can use HubSpot for a more robust CRM solution as well, which allows you to store recordings and view message histories with ease. 

Keep in mind this is not going to be a full-blown CRM solution the likes of which I’ve described with PhoneBurner and others. You’ll need to get into HubSpot to make changes to contacts, for example.

Because it’s a young company, there will be additional and deeper integrations “in the future,” which I know can be frustrating. But if you are a young company as well, HubSpot’s free CRM software plus OpenPhone is just about the cheapest way I can think of to deliver the essential benefits of connecting VoIP and your CRM. 

• Standard: starting at $10 per user each month
• Premium: starting at $25 per user each month
• Enterprise: contact sales

Standard has most of what I’ve mentioned already, along with unlimited calling and texting. Bear in mind that it’s unlimited within the fair usage policy. According to the terms of service, for the Standard plan, you’re looking at 1,000 texts and calling minutes per month. 

Though it’s not truly unlimited, that’s pretty generous. Phone.com caps their entry level plan at 300 minutes and 1,000 text segments, which is likely a smaller number of texts.

The Premium plan comes with HubSpot integration and more collaborative features, like the ability to transfer calls and an advanced auto attendant that gives you a wider range of call routing features.

Extra lines are $5. So, for the price of standard VoIP (around $25 pretax), you could get a company of four set up on the Standard plan.

There are other free ways to get a business number for your mobile phone. Go for it. Getting off the ground you need to save every dollar—I get it—but there’s a point where the inconvenience of trying to work around something like Google Voice starts to cost you money.

OpenPhone solves most of those problems for $10 per month. 

How much does a single missed opportunity cost you? For a barber, maybe it’s a call from a stranger who would have spent thousands of dollars as a regular over the next few years. If only you’d been able to catch them.

It’s well worth checking out, and I have a feeling you’ll be hearing a lot about this company in the future. Try OpenPhone for free today.

What I Looked at to Find the Best VoIP Phone Services

I’ve been a small business owner who has needed the cheapest possible business line before. Like having a real number that people can connect to by using the “Contact Us” button on my Facebook page. I think it was still TheFacebook.com back then. 

Now, I have people reporting to me about our VoIP options in Brazil.

Growing from a one-man show to a global operation, I’ve been on a few sides of this conversation. We’ve built a marketing machine and I know how we use VoIP—but my team wanted to get a wider picture of what’s going on to help more of my readers.

Some of you have on-call IT support and months to demo the best options. Others are completely on their own running a business and can’t sacrifice more than a weekend in order to find the best VoIP phone service.

Either way, you need to be able to separate the options that are working well for other businesses from the one that’s going to work best for you.

My team reached out to other leaders in the field to see what things looked like from their perspective. We don’t sell VoIP, for example. So, it was really interesting to think through buying VoIP with Gregg, who runs a managed services provider. 

VoIP is just one of the IT services Gregg’s company manages, but over a few decades, he’s seen plenty of things go wrong, helped people out of bad contracts, and restored their business integrity after hacks. He offered a lot of insight on VoIP security and what people can do to make sure they’re not spending money on stuff they don’t need.

Technically, Gregg is a competitor with some of the services I recommend, but he was very frank and offered advice you are not going to find on any review site.

We also talked to Makan, who set up call centers for telemarketing in real estate. These are call centers where each employee is making something like 1,000 calls each week. His practical advice is hard-won in an industry that has a staggering attrition rate. 

“You’re going to let go of eight out of every ten people who work for you,” Makan told us. New hires have to be brought up to speed, coached, and—when they have to go—be safely de-provisioned in order to prevent your database from leaving with them.

And simple employee mistakes can cost thousands of dollars in legal fines because telemarketing is so highly regulated. 

But if you can do it right, the payoff is huge. Makan was able to use call center analytics to surface important metrics that guided his hiring, onboarding, and training. “We no longer have to keep employees for like a year and a half to see if it works or not,” he said.

In searching for the best VoIP provider, you’ll read a lot about using analytics to optimize performance. It’s not just marketing lingo. Makan explained how you can basically predict your sales with VoIP tied to a CRM, and scale hiring up or down accordingly.

Sarkar, a sales manager in B2B SaaS, also pushed the importance of VoIP/CRM integration. We talked a lot about how your sales strategy informs the buying decision. 

Are you in a mature market that needs to handle inbound inquiries, or are you selling a novel product that requires you to hit the phones and educate prospects over a cold call?

Configuring a CRM to work with your VoIP, can be a ton of work. Sarkar helped us see how some companies save a lot of time and effort by using a sales engagement platform like PhoneBurner.

There’s just a lot to think about, depending on where you’re coming from. Jason has worked in call centers since 1992. He’s seen the market evolve from desk phones to headsets to AI. His eye for distinguishing meaningful advances from shiny objects that get you nowhere is unrivaled.

Talking through his experience with purchasing enterprise VoIP was extremely helpful in understanding how buyers have to work through their options methodically and coordinate with multiple departments to find a VoIP service that works across the entire organization.

And even though the scale is different, a lot of his guidance serves as practical advice for the small business owner. How do you know if remote workers have good enough internet for VoIP? How do you evaluate the quality of integration between VoIP and your key business software? 

You may not have to buy as many phones or connect as many locations as Jason, but these questions still matter.

We covered a lot of ground in the interviews and research. Here are the three biggest takeaways that I think will benefit anyone shopping for VoIP:

1. The ability to self-manage is crucial: It used to be that you had to call your service provider to make any changes to your phone system. Want to add a user? Change a call path? The options I chose are simple enough to administrate without having to loop in IT. Admins won’t need technical support to accomplish their daily work. The problem is that some of the “bigger names” in the industry are stuck in the past. “It's very cumbersome and convoluted,” Gregg told us. “End users are not making changes to it.” Avoid those and go with something you can manage yourself.

2. Identifying all of your business requirements early will save a lot of pain: Check in with every department that’s going to be using VoIP. What do they need, what would be nice to have, and what’s superfluous in their eyes? Your solution has to cover executives and receptionists, who will be using VoIP in different ways. You may be able to replace equipment like fax machines and conference phones—or you may have to find something that plays nice with inventory you want to keep. Jason created a detailed business requirements document and sent it to vendors. A few dropped out right away, which saved everyone time.

3. VoIP plus your other software and channels is the key: I’m really going to hammer on the CRM integration below because it was so important to almost every expert we talked with. But let me emphasize here the opportunity you have by connecting VoIP to your other business software.  If your voice communication is tied in with live chat, email, texting, video, and social media, employees have everything in one place. They are looking at a complete relationship during every conversation, regardless of where it started. It also makes your billing a lot less complicated, especially if you have multiple offices. One bill for all your communications.

I looked for VoIP you can use right away. Admins will be able to make sure everyone is set up, and new hires will gain fluency quickly in the modern system. No more six-month deployments. 

Companies like Ooma, RingCentral, and Nextiva can set up large offices very quickly. And if you have a small office, you may be able to get started this afternoon. 

I wanted to find a few different products that work across every channel. These omnichannel solutions are more expensive, for sure, but they were worth it for virtually every expert my team talked with. It makes everyone more efficient because they're not logging into different accounts and losing track of conversations. 

I also looked at products that have a more limited selection of integrations and channels. These are way cheaper. Not everyone is trying to run a call center with VoIP—it could just be they want an 800 number on their ecommerce website. As long as their callers are routed correctly or greeted by a professional voicemail after hours, it’s all good.

Really, a lot of people get VoIP because they don’t want to give out their personal number for business anymore. OpenPhone will do just that. Grasshopper is perfect for the small office that needs the essentials covered and nothing more.

Alternatively, you can find a great deal on basic plans from some of the larger VoIP service providers. Ooma Office is a good deal no matter how you slice it. The Essentials plan from Nextiva is well within the small business price range, and can completely remove the need for an expensive traditional phone line.

Let’s walk through the big factors you have to consider. Evaluate your options like an expert by taking in the perspective from industry veterans and sales leaders.

Baseline VoIP Features

I want to focus on what makes these products different, not overwhelm you by describing every feature for every product. Once you start digging into VoIP, you’ll find that 30-40 different features is the low end in terms of what you get.

Every option I picked covers what I consider the baseline VoIP features, with some minor exceptions. You won’t hear me call them out unless there’s something superlative about how a vendor does it.

To be make my list of recommendations, the providers had to include:

• Call handling features like call forwarding, call transferring, call waiting, and extensions, so that you never miss a call, no matter where you are.
• Menus and auto attendants that let callers dial a certain department, listen to business hours, and so on.
• Call recording that provides a history and playback of all calls, which is useful for training and sometimes necessary for legal reasons.
• A mobile app that turns your cell phone into a business line
• Online fax to replace the need for traditional machines while also digitizing documents automatically.
• Softphone capabilities to let you make calls from desktops and tablets with just a headset.
• Video calls and conferencing for meetings, webinars, telehealth, and more.
• Voicemail transcription that turns your missed calls into a quick read by text or email

Some of the “entry-level” VoIP packages aimed at companies with five to ten employees only come with limited versions of these features. You may have to pay extra for call recording, for example, or go with a more expensive plan to get unlimited online fax.

Plans vary between basic business phone systems and premium solutions for call centers. The latter come with much more customizable call handling features, multi-level auto attendants, and deep reporting features that a small team isn’t going to miss.

Making a Cost-Effective VoIP Purchase

Traditional phone service, after tax, would be somewhere around $50 – $70 per month. In my research, I found many users switching to VoIP because they were paying a lot more than that.

I think this is how people “cut their phone bill in half” by switching to VoIP. They were getting dragged over the coals by their current phone provider. For people with a reasonable phone bill, the savings may not be so dramatic.

“It's not some magic savings,” Gregg told us. “You'll be saving a little, but not as much as you would think with your monthly phone service.” 

But, since you’re probably going to be paying per-phone, even a $10 savings each month will add up quickly. The more intelligently you can select a provider, the greater your savings will be.

Let’s run through how to assess the sticker price, the real price, and everywhere you can cut costs by finding a system that fits your business.

Gregg said VoIP costs about $25 per user per month on average, which is basically what I found in my research. This is if you are paying for the phones outright or using softphones. If you’re renting desk phones, it’s typically about $10 per month extra, bringing the cost of VoIP to about $35 per user each month. 

Call it $40 per month after taxes and fees. It’s not providers padding the bill, just the unavoidable government-mandated surcharges for the Universal Service Fund, which brings telecom to rural parts of the country and supports 911 emergency numbers. 

Now you are definitely going to see VoIP for cheaper than $25 per line. I’ve included simple VoIP solutions like Phone.com and OpenPhone that are less than half that. 

Typically, the tradeoff with the really low cost plans is that you’re getting a set block of minutes per month, whereas plans of $25+ tend to come with unlimited calling in North America. 

For sales, customer service, and other use cases that require people on the horn all day, unlimited calling is a must-have. When you go over your set block of minutes, your VoIP savings can disappear.

If you are using auto dialer software over VoIP, you really need to avoid per-minute pricing. Makan did the math out during our conversation: if you have 100 employees expected to make 200 calls a day, you're looking at 100,000 minutes per week. That's way too much call volume to survive being billed by the minute.

Some providers, like RingCentral, Ooma, and Nextiva, offer plans in the $20 range for unlimited calling. So you can pay below average, but not have to worry about massive overage charges.

Another factor that can potentially lower the total cost of VoIP is understanding the licensing. For instance, is it going to cost you extra to add an extension? Are you paying per user, per line, per call path? Vendors don’t all charge the same way.

Gregg cautioned us that a lot of people don’t understand exactly how they’re paying in the contract. They go to customize something on their end, thinking it's free, and then get shocked when the bill comes at the end of the month.

With Grasshopper, even the cheapest plan they offer comes with three extensions for free. This is great for a small business that wants one line for a few departments, or a startup that needs a basic phone tree. 

Phone.com costs less to add a new number than Grasshopper, but you don’t get free extensions. The different arrangements can be confusing, but if you take the time to understand what you need, you can play it to your advantage.

If you are really trying to get VoIP on a budget, Jason warned us that you have to be a little cautious. It’s really easy to spin up a VoIP company these days—the technology is not new—and he laid out some horror stories of badd apple vendors pretending to offer reputable service and dropping clients as soon as they get their money.

“And since it takes about 30 days to port over a number, you're kind of out of luck if that happens,” he said. The U.S. Department of Justice has prosecuted these cases, clawing back millions of dollars from phony VoIP fraud schemes.

Better to be safe than sorry, and use a VoIP provider like Grasshopper or Ooma that’s been around awhile. Or, a household name like RingCentral that is a publicly traded company. “I can't imagine they would dump you in 10 days or anything like that,” Jason said.

Cloud-Based or On-Premises System

You can get VoIP infrastructure installed in your office (on premises), or use the internet to connect to the service (cloud-based). Either way, you’re paying less than you would for a traditional phone line, but there are important differences to understand.

There is a much higher initial cost of equipment if you go with an on-premises deployment. You have to buy the PBX, phones, routers, switches, etc., whereas a cloud-based provider hosts all of that themselves.

You can buy desk phones with a cloud-based solution and many people do. But, you don’t have to so long as you outfit employees with a softphone or a VoIP mobile app.

“When it’s cloud-based, you don’t have the big outlay,” said Gregg. “But you’re not really missing out by not getting the equipment because these systems come with a ton of functionality.” Some of the key capabilities he talked about were:

• Your employees can work from anywhere in the world with internet 
• You’ll be able to self-manage features menu systems and call routing
• You can scale up without buying equipment, and scale down without waste
• You don’t have equipment to maintain and monitor

These are four of the top reasons why I only recommended cloud-based solutions. 

Like any solution someone else is hosting, you do sacrifice a little backend control. You are limited to the features they provide, whereas an on-premises system can be completely customized to fit your exact needs.

But the end user can do the vast majority of what they need to with Ooma or Grasshopper. A shop-owner with zero IT experience can add an extension for a new employee or make changes to information about holiday hours provided by their auto attendant.

Most people get the control they need without the responsibility that comes with maintaining a system. If you need hundreds of phones and super customized configuration, an on-premises system may be your only option. That’s going to require IT overhead—hiring an MSP like Gregg to install, maintain, monitor, and replace your equipment—or hiring an in-house staff.

For many business owners, it would be a dream not to stress about the phones. The cloud-based providers I looked at offered nearly 100% uptime, and some offer financially-backed SLAs.

Like Gregg told my team, “You’re not so worried about the end at the main office being up at all times because your employees are connecting directly to the cloud-based server.”

The simplicity here is even more important if people are telecommuting or working out of the office a few days a week. It’s much harder to secure communications between external users and an on-premises system.

I’ll say more about that in the security section, but modern employees need access to company services at all hours. As such, cloud-based is becoming a lot more popular. 

Greg told us flat out, “If you’re SMB in the ten phones range—give or take—it’s not worth it to do on-prem anymore.”

Larger companies will have more to think about, but VoIP providers like Nextiva, RingCentral, and Ooma can help you get set up regardless of what kind of deployment you need. With these vendors, you can really get the best of both worlds or make the transition to cloud at your own pace.

What Kind of Internet Speed Do I Need for Clear Calls?

Calls have to be clear. You can’t compromise on that, or you’ll wish you had your landline whatever the price.

So how do you make sure your setup handles VoIP?

Here’s the nuts and bolts of what I found: VoIP is not going to work on DSL. Cable might be okay for a small office, but it won’t be the greatest. 

Fiber is what you want. It has the bandwidth you need and the upload/download speeds are the same, unlike cable. 

Everyone we talked to about VoIP told us that running low on bandwidth is going to start causing issues—dropped calls, echoing on the line, and terrible conversations.

Here’s the thing, VoIP doesn’t need a blazing fast connection. 

Gregg said that 100 kbps is good. 140 kbps is “like the most ideal, pristine phone call.” 

So, if you’re on a 1 mbps line, you could potentially make ten phone calls. “Granted, you always wanna overcompensate for fall offs and whatnot, but that's all you need speed wise,” he added.

Nextiva and RingCentral have VoIP plans aimed at smaller companies that don’t have commercial office infrastructure. They will let you test your connection right on their website. You’ll get all the information you need to figure out if you’re ready for VoIP, or you need to upgrade your internet first.

We’re not talking about a massive pipe here, the problems you run into are the stability of the connection. If you’re downloading a song, who cares if it takes two or three extra seconds? You wouldn’t notice. But when you’re having a conversation, even a slight delay is going to be a huge pain. 

Any delay over 150 ms (that’s milliseconds) and your meaningful conversation is now impossible. For reference, a call over a landline has a delay of about 45 ms, so 150 is definitely the upper limit of what you want. 

Any higher than that, you’re talking over someone or they missed what you said. 

Making cold calls, helping an irate customer—it’s hard enough already. No one wants to repeat what they’ve said. And it’s not going to be good if someone mishears a credit card number.

“Where it becomes an issue,” said Gregg, “is if you have a cable modem that only has 5 mbps on your upstream, and everybody in the office is uploading stuff to Dropbox, OneDrive, and things like that, eating up that bandwidth.”

Remember the dark days where someone couldn’t be on the internet and the phone at the same time? Don’t go back. Make sure you’ve got the bandwidth to accommodate all of your users with all of their tasks.

Network and Hardware Considerations

Now you can have all the bandwidth in the world and still get bad VoIP quality if your network isn’t configured properly. 

Small businesses don’t have to worry so much about this. According to Gregg, “If you only have five phones, maybe even as high as 10 phones, sure you could just dump them in on a network.”

He advised running a separate VLAN for anything beyond 10 phones in a single location in order to avoid quality issues. Separate the phones from the computers and prioritize voice traffic in the routers. This way, whatever your employees are doing won’t affect the quality of your calls. 

Even with the so-called “plug and play” systems, you’re going to want to put some thought into network configuration if you are putting in more than 10 phones. “I mean you can just plug them in,” said Gregg, “but I wouldn’t be too hopeful about the quality.”

But it’s not just phones to think about. “The fax machines in the conference rooms really threw me for a loop,” Jason explained. “I’m like: I'm just buying a phone system!” 

You have to be methodical. Where do the phone lines need to go? Are they connected to the security system? If you have PoE, you can just plug the ethernet cable into the phones, but if not, you’ll have to make sure there’s power running everywhere you want a station.

With a cloud-based service, you’re going to have to let the vendor behind your firewall. 

Jason had an issue where one of his guys missed a key thing about the firewall requirements, and it delayed his VoIP deployment by about six months. “I was not too happy,” was all he said about that.

If you have a lot of traditional phones and fax machines that you want to keep using, I’d recommend Nextiva, RingCentral, or Ooma. They offer analog telephone adapters (ATAs) that allow you to VoIP-enable landline devices.

This allows you to phase out your old system gradually, instead of trying to Hercules your company through a massive (and much more expensive) transformation. It’s going to be painful to switch no matter what, but how long can you justify investing more money in an old PBX that’s twice as hard to use for half the functionality?

One last thing about using old phones. It’s great if you can use what you have or get a deal somewhere rather than going through the vendor. 

Yet Gregg has encountered problems with aging phones. Hackers will try and log into the phones to start making spam calls. “We were seeing upwards of 100,000 attempts a day on a single phone system,” he recalled. The processors on the older phones weren’t powerful enough to withstand all the incoming requests, and the attack crashed the system.

So, definitely be on the lookout for deals and try to make the most with the equipment you already own. But just be cautious about buying a phone that has an older processor, because it might be a vulnerability. 

Plus, when you buy a phone directly from your VoIP vendor, it’s pre-provisioned. It’s got a secure connection out of the box. When you start piecemealing things, you may lose that desirable plug-and-play functionality.

Make Sure Remote Workers Are Up to Speed

Cloud-based VoIP gives you complete freedom to go remote with ease. Connecting external users to an on-premises system has a lot more hurdles in terms of cost and security. 

But even if you go cloud, which I highly recommend, there are a few things to be thinking about.

Remote workers need a solid internet connection for VoIP. When Jason hires someone working from home, the job post says they have to have a locked and secure WiFi. 

He also has them take a speed test to make sure that their connections are robust enough to be able to take phone calls. He requires a minimum of 20 mbps download and 10 mbps upload. 

It’s just a generic speedtest, nothing fancy. He sends them the link, they send back screenshots to verify. Jason said most people “blow those upload/download times out of the water,” but you need to be sure.

With telecommuting employees, you also have to think about training and management at a distance. I know I’ve said that the premium VoIP plans from vendors like RingCentral and Nextiva are aimed at the call center crowd. Well it’s also true that those features become really important for collaboration when there is no office.

Sharing documents within the platform, like phone scripts, or the ability for a manager to listen in on a new hire’s first live calls—you can provide more support to develop your employees, even when people are working from home.

For a small team, OpenPhone can work really well. People can share an inbox, tag calls, leave comments, and ensure that no opportunities are missed.

People love to be able to work on the go, even if they’re not fully remote. One thing that surprised Jason was how important the mobile app was to the executives. They wanted everything forwarded to their cell.

Mobile apps are great, but they’re not without their downsides. Gregg said VoIP on mobile was great for saving money, but he wasn’t so keen on it as a full-time stand-in for using a computer or desk phone. “It’s nice in a pinch,” he said, “but if you wanna watch a cell phone battery drain out before your eyes, that's a great way to go.”

Integration with CRM

My team asked Jason what the biggest thing you can do to help reps and agents is, and he said integration with your CRM. 

This was a tune we heard from everyone, and it dovetails with my own experience. CRM software is a total game changer when it comes to growing your business and providing service to customers.

Look for a VoIP phone service that has integration with your CRM. If you don’t have one, Nextiva and PhoneBurner have one built in that you can start using immediately. 

The technology’s not new by any means, but CRM software has gotten really good in the last couple of years, and a lot less expensive. When you combine a CRM’s ability to track customer information with quality voice communication, the resulting experience for your employees is amazing.

A customer calls and their account information pulls right up on screen. There’s no digging for a file or asking for a customer to provide their name, ID, order number, etc. 

Sarkar talked with us about how it increased his sales reps’ efficiency. “You get to have more conversations by cutting out the extra time you spend figuring out who’s calling.”

Really, every interaction is streamlined, which makes your reps and agents way more productive. If a customer has an order, the rep can see where it is. There are no extra steps to verify who’s calling, or ask them to dig up a purchase order number.

Saving seconds on every repetitive task adds up quickly. Employees can click-to-dial numbers within the CRM. Account information is centralized and agents can leave notes about calls. Everything is stored in a way that makes sense. 

Makan put it well when he said, “Compared to a traditional phone system, voice over IP integrated with the CRM is hands down like: before iPhone [versus] after iPhone.”

The ability to record calls within the CRM was a huge factor for a lot of the people we spoke with. “In the past,” Jason said, “the systems that I've had for recording were kind of separate from the CRM, so I had to go chase that down. If somebody called in, I'd have to be like who do you talk to? When did you call? And that would be kind of a nightmare.”

When Jason moved to a new VoIP provider, integration with their CRM was the deciding factor. His company communicated on so many channels, all of which are recorded. The integration makes the process of listening back much easier. 

“If you complain about a rep or something like that,” Jason said, “I can take your phone number, plug it in, and find every single call you've ever made over the last year, every chat, every email, every contact. It’s super simple. [It] saves me on time tracking down calls.”

For Makan, call recording was essential for assessing employee performance. “Traditionally, you give someone a dummy phone,” he said. “You don't know how many calls they made, who they talked to, or what the level of conversation was.” 

With VoIP, you can do quality control much easier. Listening back to the calls is easy. What went right? What could be improved? Identify who needs training and who’s not a good fit.

Makan explained how it really helps managers conserve their time and energy for quality candidates. They know who to invest in and who to send on their way. “I mean, you can tell in like 60-90 days. Any excuse they give, you can just listen to the quality of the calls.”

Be on the lookout for VoIP providers that showcase direct integrations with your CRM (and other software, for that matter). You absolutely have to demo it to see how that integration drives and works on a day-to-day level. If you want that “super simple” experience Jason was talking about for recording calls, the integration has to be tight. 

Also be aware that the initial setup of your CRM and VoIP is going to take some time, especially if you are tying in multiple channels like talk, text, and chat. You need to customize it to fit your industry and use-case because the software is fairly general purpose out of the box.

“You can really geek out on it,” said Makan, “and that’s the challenge.”

Sarkar was a big fan of sales engagement platforms because they have the CRM built-in and they are already tuned for the job. Obviously you don’t want to use them for customer service, but something like PhoneBurner is going to supercharge a sales team with a lot less configuration required.

Convenient Compliance Tools Employees Can Use Without Thinking

There are a lot of regulations protecting consumers from getting robo-calls or having their credit card information stolen. So if you are making a lot of calls or taking financial information over the phone, there’s going to be telemarketing and privacy laws you don’t want to mess with.

I’m glad those regulations are there, but new hires (or just plain carelessness) can break a law by accident and get your company a heavy fine. I found that a single call to someone on the national Do-Not-Call registry could result in a five-figure penalty.

A single slip up could cost anywhere from $11,000 to $43,000. And that’s per call, as in you could get multiple fines if one of your employees screws up. If it happens multiple times, I doubt the government’s going to hit you with a smaller fine.

Or think about HIPAA compliance for healthcare providers. Accidentally exposing a patient’s protected health information can result in jail time. This is true even if the company didn’t know a violation had occurred.

And yet companies make calls and share private information all the time without going bankrupt or winding up in the slammer. This is because they use good VoIP providers that make compliance convenient for employees. Your agents get the proper tools so that they can focus on the customer instead of how to stay in the clear of arcane compliance laws.

Regardless of how big a business you are, if you are making a lot of outbound calls (especially if you’re using auto dialer software), you need to update your DNC list and use it to scrub those numbers from your call lists.

RingCentral, Nextiva and include easy-to-use features to make sure your DNC list is up to date. PhoneBurner has integrations with DNC.com in order to keep people safe.

Makan, whose agents made thousands of calls a week, said that Zoho CRM in conjunction with RingCentral was the cheapest possible way to set your employees up for success. You just have to keep up on your DNC list grooming, “because that's something you're gonna run into a lot, and they need to scrub the numbers that they call up.”

Recording calls is another area where compliance is important. These laws vary state to state.  In New York, you don’t have to tell people the call is being recorded. In New Jersey, you do. 

Products like RingCentral let you automatically notify people that the call is being recorded, so you’re covered. This allows your teams to think less about how to make legal calls.

Jason told us about one of the features that sold him on going with their VoIP provider. It’s illegal to record credit card numbers, so employees need to remember to pause the recording while they take that information. 

“And as you can imagine,” he said, “if you take 1,000 or 1,500 calls a month, you're bound to forget that a couple of times, or miss it, or forget to pause, or forget to unpause, which is a big no-no in our area.” 

The VoIP service he chose automated this process within their CRM so employees didn’t have to think about it. As soon as their cursor was in the payment info box, the call stopped recording. 

“So my reps don't have to remember to turn that off, and that's just super easy,” Jason said. “I don't have to worry about PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance. I don't have to worry about, ‘Hey, if you forget, tell me so I can go delete the call out of the system.’ What if we delete the wrong call?”

Take every opportunity you can to automate compliance. The potential liabilities from a single oversight are enough to justify the cost of spending a little more each month on your VoIP, CRM, and training.

Security

No one wants to pay for $20,000 worth of phone calls they didn’t make. That’s what happened to a client of Gregg’s before they properly secured their VoIP. Someone hacked it and used it to start blasting out scam calls. 

Security is a major concern for any internet-based service, and VoIP is no exception. 

It’s pretty straightforward for on-premises systems if all your phones are in one location. Set rules in your router so that no one can connect to the phone system except the phone service provider. 

Gregg said, “As long as that's configured you're solid, and you can't get hacked because the traffic can't get there from anybody else.”

Securing an on-premises system gets a lot harder if you have people working from home, which is why a lot of companies are opting to go the cloud-based VoIP route. Residential addresses don’t have static IP addresses, so you can’t set rules in your router. 

“The only appropriate way to do it is using a VPN service,” explained Gregg. “If you leave the ports open so that anyone can connect, you'll see that the phone system will get hammered constantly.”

With cloud-based VoIP, the provider is ensuring that the right people are calling into their system. You still have to maintain good security hygiene at your company—long passwords, principle of least privilege, and de-provisioning old accounts.

These last two points are really important. You need to make sure that employees only have access to the data that they absolutely need. If possible, they should have read-only access. And when employees leave, you have to de-provision them.

For one thing, you don’t want to pay for old accounts that aren’t in use. If you have high turnover, be careful to re-use old numbers you’re already paying for, rather than buying extra ones. You don’t want to be shocked by a bill that has dozens of lines you're not using.

“People need to be aware of sabotage,” said Makan. “If you get a disgruntled employee, they can wipe out the database, if you don't back it up. Or they copy it. Or they just start corrupting the numbers and changing things in there.”

If you adhere to the principle of least privilege and are on top of booting old users out of the system completely, the risk of sabotage is near zero. If not, you’re putting your data integrity in jeopardy.

VoIP phone services like RingCentral, Nextiva, and Ooma make it easy for administrators to keep track of who has what privileges. You won’t need an infosec credential to keep all the accounts locked down.

Conclusion

My top recommendations are Nextiva, Ringcentral, and Ooma. They are affordable, reliable, and easy to set up.

If you need a full-fledged VoIP platform on the cheap, consider Phone.com.

Grasshopper is great if you're more worried about having enough different extensions instead of unique, dedicated phone lines. 

Need something that's more suited to support your sales teams' efforts? Look at PhoneBurner for a sales engagement platform that includes an auto dialer.

If you're a solo operator or just someone who is sick of having to use your personal number for running your business, OpenPhone gives you an easy and cheap way to get a professional number and VoIP service.

Recapping my top picks and what they're best at:

1. Nextiva – Best overall (For a limited time get 25% off, plus a free phone, when you signup!)
2. Ooma Office – Best for adding VoIP to Existing SMB Phone Systems
3. RingCentral – Best for high-volume outbound calling
4. Phone.com – Most affordable professional-grade VoIP
5. Grasshopper – Best if you need more extensions than phone lines
6. PhoneBurner – Best off-the-shelf VoIP for sales teams
7. OpenPhone – Best way to run your business from a mobile phone

Don’t forget to consider your requirements, budget, and the criteria we talked about as you go through the process of choosing the best VoIP phone service for your business. 

Are you currently using a VoIP provider? What's your experience with using VoIP?

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By: Neil Patel
Title: The Best VoIP Phone Services (In-Depth Review)
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/voip-phone-services/
Published Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2022 14:00:00 +0000

GroovePages Tutorial: How To Create A URL Redirect

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RESOURCES

About GrooveFunnels (Start Here)

Groove Digital: Messages From Our Founders (Mike Filsaime & John Cornetta)

GrooveFunnels WalkThrough: Groove Partner Program

GrooveFunnels WalkThrough: GroovePages For Affiliate Marketing

GrooveFunnels WalkThrough: Partner Program Affiliate Promotional Tools

GrooveFunnels WalkThrough: Set Up Custom Domains On GroovePages

GrooveFunnels WalkThrough: GrooveSell | How To Create Product Funnels

GrooveFunnels WalkThrough: GrooveSell | How To Set Up Products

GrooveFunnels WalkThrough: How To Set Up Your Own Affiliate Program System

GrooveFunnels WalkThrough: Create Urgency (Countdown Timer)

GroovePages Tutorials

GrooveSell Tutorials

GrooveFunnels Sample Promotional Videos

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Do you want to design more complex pages that require presenting information in tables?

You can use this process to learn how to use borders and create tables using the border options in GroovePages.

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Are you having trouble sizing the width of your elements in GroovePages?

In this video I show you how you can size the width of your elements to match the size that you want.

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If you have anything you are struggling with, head over there and request a video training for it 😉
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Are you wondering how to re-use your own designs?
In this short video you will learn how you can use your own designs again and again so that you don't have to start from scratch.
There are a couple of ways so you can explore which one you like the best 🙂
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Did you miss our previous article…
https://wpmage6.com/?p=2341