There are a number of business tools every organizational setup puts to use to help get important jobs done. However, those who use these tools just use them for the purposes they were created for.
It is not a bad idea, but the business world is evolving and to make more reasonable progress, you need to think outside the box when using these tools.
Here are 5 ways to rethink your business tools in order to optimize their values?
1. Generate leads using videos
Usually, companies or business entities use video advertisements to promote their products so they can reach the wider community. This is a good move as it helps drive sales for the company. However, there are other ways to use these videos other than just to promote products. You can generate quality leads. How do you achieve this?
- Leverage social video’s high reach potential: Nowadays social video platforms are the norm. TikTok, Youtube, and Instagram have all experienced surges in the way they are patronized. So you can create accounts on these platforms and post your videos to generate better leads.
- Embed this video on your landing page: Your landing page is the most important page on your website so it should be the page with the highest lead generation potential
- Gate your content: This involves locking some of your site’s content behind a wall so that your website visitors have to input their emails to access it. The idea is for your users to do something before having access to your most important videos.
- Integrate the videos in your email marketing: Email marketing is still a significant lead generation tool. When you are attaching your important videos to this, you are poised for optimizing that option.
- Include a Call To Action (CTA) on your videos.
2. Create content advertisements beyond white papers
The use of white papers is usually effective for businesses that want to show off their business expertise. Its purpose is to show that a certain position is the best way to go or that a particular solution is the best option. However, you can promote this white paper for lead generation. How?
- You can send them as emails: Sending your white papers to existing customers, prospective clients and partners is a great way to promote it
- Create a well-optimized landing page: When you use your landing page for your white papers, it enables you to be able to capture more leads.
- Hiring a content syndication service: Another option to optimize the use of your white paper is by hiring marketing agencies or content syndication services. All you need to do is define your target audience and give them your white paper and they will handle it from there.
- You can use social media platforms to publicize your white papers also.
3. Optimizing your file sharing
There are four major methods of file sharing either within the organization or to the outside world. They are :
- Peer to peer networks
- File transfer protocol programs
- Removable storage media, and
- Online file-sharing services
These are especially helpful for professionals who need to further work on their skills and get new certifications. For instance, nurses that need to pass the NCLEX RN exam will want to share educational resources with one another. Unfortunately, this is not always easy as they may encounter certain problems.
A number of risks come with sharing files online but it is still beneficial if you do it safely. It is cost-effective, efficient, and people can collaborate on it since they have access to it from anywhere.
One main problem of file sharing is when the file is heavy. If you somehow successfully send those files out, your audience could get weary accessing them because of their sizes. You can optimize large file sharing by:
- Using a file compression software like 7-Zip
- Using a free online service like MASV
- Uploading them to a cloud storage service like google drive or dropbox
4. Optimizing the Google My Business tool
Most organizations use Google My Business to share their merchandise, hours, and location but this business tool can be put to greater use by using it to inform your existing customers and prospective ones about health and safety measures. This is very important to curb the spread of the recent coronavirus pandemic, especially since the lockdown is being relaxed with each passing day.
5. Drive local foot traffic with Twitter advertisements
If you own a business and you are not on Twitter, then you may be hiding your trade from a select number of people. Twitter is a social media platform that allows you to reach a vast majority with one post about your company. However, Twitter is not just for promoting online offerings. You can optimize its use by using it to drive local foot traffic when you do advertisements.
Rethinking your business tools to optimize their values is a very good business strategy. It can help you be ahead of your competitors in the game. The more you use the tools mentioned above, the more productive your team will become. If you can adopt them as a business owner then you will have more value for their use.
Contributed by Ariana Merril.
Reach her at: ariana.merril@gmail.com