But developing an effective success story is as much an art as it is a science.  At Juice Marketing, we’ve developed several best practices that enable us to deliver success stories to our clients that are compelling and resonate with their prospects.

So let’s take a look at 6 critical elements of an effective success story.

1 – Selecting the Right Customers

 There is a difference between a testimonial and a success story.  You may have a customer that absolutely loves working with you but has a difficult time articulating pains & benefits that were addressed or achieved with your solution.  If they simply say, “ABC Reseller is great to work with and the support has been wonderful,” you probably have the makings of a brief quote or testimonial that can complement your marketing collateral or grace your website.  On the other hand if your customer can articulate the efficiency gains and can quantify process improvements (i.e. Saved $$$, reduced labor by X%, etc.), you probably have the makings of an engaging story.

P.s. Shorter customer testimonials are a great marketing tool as well.  Check out our Customer Buzz program for VARs and channel partners.  It’s like a success story, but shorter.

2 – Conducting an Effective Interview

Asking the right questions during the customer interview is one of the most important elements of the process.  Remember that your customer is not in the business of providing success stories so they’ll need a lot of guidance in order to provide the ammunition you’ll need to develop an effective story.

Here are a few questions that we typically ask during an interview:

- Explain the challenges you faced using your old system?
- What are the business issues or pains that were addressed during the implementation?
- How have things improved today using the new system/solution?
- What benefits have been achieved?  How has it positively impacted your company?  Can you quantify those benefits?

3 – Quantify!!

Numbers (whether dollars, percentages or otherwise) are always compelling and lend credibility to claims being made in the story.  A statement such as “We saved money with our new system” is much less effective than “We eliminated $60,000 in legacy support costs of our old DOS-based system which resulted in a 7-month return on   investment.”  Getting your customer to quantify the benefits of your solution is probably the most challenging part of the interview process and is quite possibly an art form.

Rarely are efficiency gains and process improvements benchmarked before and after an implementation so it often requires a bit of creative thinking and resourceful questioning to extract the quantifiable data that will make the difference between a good and great success story.

4 – Creative Writing Skill

Here is where you make the interview come to life and add depth to the conversation.  Don’t look to your customers to provide you with eloquent quotes and statements that are absolute gems.  They are not in the business of marketing so most of the time you’ll have to take what they said during the interview and add a little character (also known as embellishment).  And don’t forget about the “story” part of the equation.  A boring statement of facts or something that reads like a transcript of the telephone interview probably won’t keep your readers engaged.  That’s where creative writing comes in!

5 – Format and Design

An appealing graphical layout will make the story more inviting to read.  Section headlines, featured customer quotes, and carefully placed graphical elements will also help break up text into “bite-sized” pieces and make it easy on the eye.  And while there is no standard length (it can be as short as 1-page, while others are 4+ pages), a 2-page format seems to provide enough space to convey important details without drawing the story out unnecessarily.

6 – Make it about YOU

Overall, the success story should convey YOUR capability as a technology solution provider and valued business advisor.  Avoid the temptation to focus on software and product features as this approach does very little to “brand” your company’s expertise nor differentiate your implementation technique from the reseller down the street.  If it’s all about the product, your solution becomes commoditized and the unique experience & implementation method that you bring to the table is devalued.

Success Stories that Sizzle

If you don’t have the time, resources, or are just too busy to develop success stories for your business, take a look at our Success Story program for Sage, Microsoft, and SAP channel partners.  Or mozy on over to our creative portfolio to check out a few sample success stories that we’ve created for VARs and technology providers just like you.

P.s. You might also be interested in reading “Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Existing Success Stories“

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Take it With You!  Download this Article in PDF format (Click Image Below)

6 Simple Steps to an Effective Success Story

This new Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 newsletter issue features:

- National Accounts … Managing Large Customers with Multiple Locations

- Is MAS 200 SQL Right for Me?

- FRx Data Conversion Utility… It’s Almost Ready for Primetime

- Building Customer Loyalty with Sage CRM

Click below to check out the sample issue

Be sure to contact us if you’d like a copy of this newsletter to send to YOUR customers and prospects. We’ll personalize it with your logo and company colors and provide you with a formatted PDF, HTML email, and article content with each issue.

Sample Issue (Click Image Below)

Sage ERP MAS 90 200 Newsletter

If your PDFs aren’t created properly, search engines will have a difficult time indexing the document which can render all that great content totally invisible (yes, PDFs can and DO show up in search results).

Here are 7 useful tips for optimizing PDFs to ensure SEO benefit and search engine visibility.

1) Add Document Properties and Metadata

Document Properties act like a table of contents, providing search engines with the title, subject, and keywords within a PDF.  Search engines use this information to quickly asses how strongly a PDF relates to a queried keyword without having to scan the entire document.

To assign document properties, go to File >> Document Properties and the following window pops up:

In this example, one of our keywords is “Sage ERP Support” which is included in the title, file name, and listing of keywords.

Things to Note:

The Title you specify in the Document Properties will displayed as the heading of a search result.  Be sure to include your primary keyword phrase in the title.

The Subject field acts like a meta description in search results. So create something description and compelling which will improve click through / conversion.

2) Keywords in Your File Name

As you can see in the example above, your file name should also include keywords.  In this case, the file name is “Sage-ERP-Customer-Support.pdf”

3) Use Hyperlinks and Anchor Text

Web crawlers can read the hyperlinks within your PDF document so be sure to include links to other pages of your website, your blog, other PDFs, etc.  Ideally, these hyperlinks also contain keyword anchor text.  In other words, use “Sage ERP Support” as clickable anchor text within the document rather than “Click Here” for more info.

These links also create more dynamic PDF documents.  After all, don’t forget that your PDF may be passed on to someone else who is not familiar with your company. Embedded links will make it easier for this unexpected reader to find their way to your website.

4) Use Text-Based Program to Create the PDF

Your PDF should originate from a text-based application like MS Word or other text-based publishing software. Using something like Photoshop (image-based) or scanning a printed document and then converting to PDF actually creates a big image file (not a true “readable” PDF) … that means there is no text for a search engine to “read.”

5) Make Sure Your Sitemap Includes PDFs

It’s a good idea to include links to PDF documents on your Sitemap page.

6) Size Matters

Do what you can to keep the PDF file size on the smaller side to minimize download time.  Not only has Google incorporated site speed in the SEO equation, it also spares your website visitors the hassle of lengthy downloads.  In fact if your PDF takes a while to download, a web crawler may just quit and move on to the next job.

Adobe provides a PDF Optimizer tool that allows you to “Optimize for Fast Web View” (as opposed to a “Print Quality” high resolution PDF that’s larger and takes longer to load).

7) Follow the Same Rules as Web Page Optimization

At the end of the day, here’s the thing to remember … when creating PDF documents, you should follow the same SEO Best Practices that you would in creating any other content in a web page.  That means using relevant keywords in the title tags, H1 headers, and body text along with many of the tips discussed above related to file size, links, and anchor text.

By creating better PDFs and implementing a few SEO best practices, you can improve organic search results and get better mileage out of all the content that’s on your website in PDF format.

Let’s hear your feedback … do you take the time to optimize PDF documents for search visibility?

So, what is syndicated content?

In a nutshell, it’s ready-made blocks of content that you plug in to your website.

But here’s the problem …

Google Hates Duplicate Content

You can think of “syndicated” as synonymous with duplicate … and Google penalizes duplicate content.  What’s the penalty? Crappy search results … not good for business.

So what’s the deal with the push to syndication?

Is Sage collectively unimpressed with channel partner websites?  Is it a “Big Brother” effort to control the messaging and content in order to protect the brand (in light of the tremendous Sage rebranding effort underway)?  Is it because they realize that Sage partners are accountants and IT guys at heart and creative writing just isn’t their bag?

Or maybe at the end of the day, it’s a simple matter of good intentions (easy website updates) gone bad via unintended consequences?

Unintended Consequences

What are those unintended consequences?  Here are three that come to mind:

1. Your Search Results Suffer – duplicate content is a sure way to lose search engine ranking fast (or bury your website even further in search results).  In fact, you’ll probably never outrank your competitor that has original, compelling, and keyword-optimized content on their website.

2. No Differentiation – Every once in a while, it seems that Sage promotes a book that they feel offers a good message to channel partners … a few that come to mind are Good to Great, Solution Selling, and Duct Tape Marketing.

Another Sage-recommended book that comes to mind is “Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition.”

If your copy and paste content is the same stuff your prospect is seeing on 4 other Sage partner websites, what does that say about your unique value proposition as a Value Added Reseller?

Where’s the differentiation?  If your message isn’t clear, here’s how the prospect will define your value … what’s your rate and how big of a discount can you offer?  Can you beat the competitor down the street who sells the same accounting software product?

3. It’s boring and full of gibberish – This probably isn’t as detrimental to your business … but all that syndicated content is boring.  It’s full of industry-specific jargon that says a whole lot of nothing.  A bunch of $60,000 dollar words where a $5 dollar word would have been more effective.

You know, all that stuff like “a comprehensive, best of breed, and world-class enterprise-level solution for your mission-critical applications that’s integrated, scalable, and user-friendly” … Huh?

How to Make Syndicated Content Work

Let’s be clear, syndicated content can play a role in your overall website strategy.

But you better have some high quality, original content elsewhere on your website that complements that plug-and-play syndicated stuff.

It also helps if you surround the syndicated content with common on-page SEO techniques like keywords in your title tags, URLs, and H1 Headers.

Lastly, you have the ability to customize the syndicated content a bit.  Do it!  You don’t want to recreate the wheel … but don’t just slap the out-of-the-box content on your website.  Tweak it a bit, give it some flair, and make it your own.

There’s no Shortcut to Success

Don’t give in to syndicated mediocrity.  Let the channel marketing experts at Juice Marketing develop content for your website or blog that’s creative, compelling, original, and keyword-optimized.

And if you’ve already got Zift Syndicated Content on your website, let us take a crack at helping you get the most out of that investment.  Hit us up via email – it’s time to put some JUICE in your MARKETING!

It seems that each year brings a flurry of predictions (like ‘the death of email’) and cutting-edge marketing tactics (you know, anything associated with social media) that are going to drive customers to your door by the thousands.  And while new marketing tools seem to crop up daily, the most important thing to keep in mind is this …

The basics of good marketing haven’t changed – timeless best practices like defining your target market, identifying your competitive differentiators, nurturing leads, and staying top of mind …

But the way people EVALUATE and BUY products and services has DEFINITELY changed.

Here are four things you should know about marketing in 2012 that can help you find new customers in this brave new socially-aware, Google-dominated world we do business in.

A Healthy Dose of Keywords

Keywords are paramount to everything you do.

Why?  Because search – and specifically, Google search visibility – is still top dog in marketing.  But if the content on your website isn’t optimized around important keyword phrases, Google is going to have a tough time finding you.  So, too, will the people searching for solutions to the problems that your products and services can solve.

Keywords should be strategically included on your website, blog entries, press releases, and everywhere else you’re posting content online.  The Google Keyword Estimator (www.GoogleKeywordTool.com) is a free tool that can be helpful in determining the relevance and search volume of keywords in your industry.

Social Media is More Than a Fad

In the past, the ability to build your brand, generate awareness, and stay top of mind was limited to costly tactics like direct mail and dreaded cold calls.  But social media changed all that.  No longer just a fun way to kill time, social media has become a legitimate way of building your business. It’s time to make 2012 the year you suit up and jump in to the deep end of the social pool.

Not sure where to start?  Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the largest and most widely used social networks out there.  If you aren’t already active on one or all three of them, it’s a good place to start.

It’s worth noting that Google and other search engines are now heavily influenced by activity on social networks. The more people that like, share, tweet, and link to your website, the better your search results are going to be.

Email is Still Highly Effective

While social media is the shiny new object attracting a huge audience, email hasn’t lost its luster.  Despite predictions of the death of email marketing, it’s still one of the most effective tools for converting prospects into customers.

“Conversion” is the operative term here.  Sure, social media is great for generating awareness and building an audience that recognizes your brand.  But when it comes to motivating that audience to reach into their wallets and become paying customers, nothing beats timely and targeted email communication.

Go Blog Wild

For many companies, blogging is the hub of their marketing communication … and for good reason.

First, Google loves the frequently-updated, fresh content of a blog so your search engine results will probably improve.

Plus, blogging is a great way to express your unique voice, personality, and thought leadership as a business … in a way that stodgy old, brochure-style corporate websites can’t.

Last, a blog can be dynamic and engaging because your readers can leave comments and contribute to the conversation.  Something a traditional newsletter and other one-way marketing communication can’t support.

A blog is also a cohesive way to implement the 3 marketing tips discussed above.  For instance, your blog entries can incorporate keywords to improve search visibility, you can share new blog entries with your social network and drive traffic to your website, and you can link to your blog from email communication which can improve readership.

Wordpress (www.wordpress.org) is one of the most popular blogging platforms because it’s easy to use and offers a huge variety of free design templates.

Don’t Forget About the Basics

As you look out into 2012 and decide which social media platform, marketing automation technology, or collection of marketing techniques is right for you, don’t forget about the timeless best practices that are critical in making any of those fancy new marketing tools work effectively.

Did We Miss Anything? What other marketing techniques do YOU think need to be considered in 2012?

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And once they see how powerful the combination of content, keyword optimization, and newswire distribution can be, they get excited and want to put more press releases out.  But inevitably, they end up asking themselves the same question …

What the heck are we going to come up with that’s “newsworthy”?

After all, the most successful press release strategies are built around frequency and consistency.  But frequency and consistency require fresh and compelling content.

So here are a few ideas that might get your creative Juices flowing (yes, pun intended) … oh and if you need help turning that idea into a compelling front page story, check out our VAR Marketing Press Release Program.

Download the List of Press Release Ideas or click the image below >>>

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So you went and got yourself a blog, posted a few entries and … well, nothing happened. No spike in traffic, no increase in revenue, and no improvement in your Google search results.  So what’s the deal?

One of the most common issues is that your content sucks!

But assuming the content on your blog offers something of value to your readers, the lack of activity might just be as simple as this … no one can find it.

Even great content needs a little help getting found by readers and indexed by Google.  So here are a few SEO tips every blogger needs to know.

Keywords, Keywords, Keywords

Make sure that keywords are strategically included in your blog entries (more on strategic placement below).  It’s also a good idea to use keywords that are both relevant AND popular enough that people are searching on them.  To determine keyword relevance and popularity, the Google Keyword Estimator is a good tool.

Titles Matter

With most blogging software, the title of your post is also reflected in the title tag for the page (a highly visible tag that Google reads).  So it’s important to include relevant keywords in your blog titles.  As always, balance is important.  This is where a little creativity is required. Use keywords in your title to draw in search engines while at the same time, make sure the title is compelling enough to draw in readers.

Keywords in the Permalink

Including keywords in the URL will make your blog post that much easier for Google to index.  For Wordpress users, this URL is called the “permalink.”  You can customize the permalink and sprinkle in your keywords.

For instance, we’ve seen plenty of Sage and Microsoft partners with blog entries that reside on a URL that looks something like this:  YourCompany.com/blog/articleID=1234 … when they’d get much better visibility out of a URL like this:  YourCompany.com/blog/erp-business-intelliengence-reporting

Consistency

Whether you update your blog once a month, every 2 weeks or once a day, consistency is important. Not only does it set an appropriate expectation among your regular blog readers, it trains Google’s web crawlers to come back to your website regularly and index the new content.

Anchor Text – Internal Linking

Take advantage of opportunities to create links from your blog entries to other areas of your website.  For instance if you mention Accpac Training in a blog entry, that term should be hyperlinked to a page on your website that provides more information about the training options you offer.

ALT Text for Images

Google’s web crawlers can only read and index text … so if your blog contains images, make sure to assign ALT text.  And be sure the ALT text incorporates your primary keywords.

Use Social Media

Use social media to promote your blog and link to your latest entries.  Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook have built the audience for you … it’s your job to redirect some of that traffic to your blog and hopefully gain a few new fans.

The Most Important Tip – Good Content

To be clear, good content trumps everything else.  So never sacrifice quality for something that’s stuffed with keywords and reads awkwardly.  Create great blog entries first, then go back through and look for opportunities to rephrase sentences, titles, and headings to naturally incorporate keywords.

P.s. Let’s face it … you didn’t start a business because you love to write.  So if you’re short on time and long on unfinished tasks, take a look at our Content Vault.  It’s loaded with professionally-written ERP, CRM, HR, and Nonprofit Accounting software articles that are ready to plug into your blog or newsletter.

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First, the image is eye-catching and sort of funny.  But to me, the thing that kicks this ad up a notch (and I think makes it effective) is the straight-forward, conversational copy.  Too often I see ads and articles laden with technology gibberish and million dollar words (when a $5 word would have done the job) that ultimately say a whole lot of nothing.  This one is direct and edgy.  Scroll down if you’d like to read the copy that accompanies the ad.

Ad Reads As Follows:

Your ERP system was built more than 20 years ago, when your PC had 4 megs of memory and your mobile phone was the size of a brick. Your trapped on an old version of software that’s difficult to update, costing you millions on maintenance fees and even more for bolt-on technologies that make your systems barely useable.

The cloud changes everything. When you run your business applications in the cloud, you are embracing a technology revolution and the competitive advantage that comes with it. Only cloud computing can deliver innovation at a pace that matches today’s global business – at half the cost of upgrading your current ERP system.

Human Resources, Payroll, and Financials in the Cloud

Here’s a link to a video posted on the SEOmoz website that offers some interesting insights about how Panda has fundamentally changed SEO.

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