HVAC Contractor Obtained 4 Jobs in 4 Days with Live Chat

Brian Starzec | HVAC Business Solutions, LLC | July 24, 2012

We implemented our HVAC Live Chat on our client's website - Ferrugia Mechanical - last Thursday, July 19th. Since then, Ferrugia Mechanical has:

Already Replaced 1 Air Handler
Scheduled 1 Equipment Replacement Lead
Scheduled 2 Service Leads

In addition, 1 more lead has not been scheduled yet as of this writing.

Why These Customers Preferred Chat over Calling

We communicated with the customers that engaged Ferrugia Mechanical via the Live Chat and they specifically chose to chat because they wanted to speak with a live person that could answer their questions.

They naturally assumed that if they dialed the phone number after hours they would have just received an answering service rather than being able to speak with someone that could actually help them through the Live Chat.

The Live Chat provided the reassurance that the website was active, closely monitored and that their needs would be met immediately.

Website Response Spiked
"I don't know what you guys changed but since adding the chat I am starting to receive submissions through my contact form when I wasn't getting very many before."
- Michael Ferrugia, owner of Ferrugia Mechanical

This was a pleasant surprise to all of us and was in-line with the customer feedback. By having the Live Chat, website visitors felt confident that completing the Contact Us Form would actually result in action.

What is Live Chat?
A service provided by HVAC Business Solutions that engages your website visitors with a proactive invitation to chat - see the image below:



If the chat invitation is accepted, one of our trained agents answers the visitor's questions and attempts to convert the visitor into a lead.

If the visitor is interested in setting an appointment, then our agents obtain the contact information (name, email and phone number) and immediately send it either by email or text message to a contact person at the HVAC company. If during business hours, we also offer to connect both parties by phone.

Live Chat Stats
Here are some recent stats conduct from an Internet marketing survey in 2012:

Chatters are 7.5 times more likely to convert
Chatters spend 55% more per purchase
The average percentage of website visitors who accept proactive invitations to chat is 8.5%
Best practice to answer chats within 10 seconds

Live Chat Benefits
This service is about gaining new business by demonstrating your ability to respond quickly and effectively to your potential customers:

Convert Your Website Traffic Into Business
Engage Visitors 24/7
Increase Customer Service Levels
Deliver Immediate Customer Assistance

Our Service
The bottom line is that we monitor your website 24/7, engage with visitors and convert them into leads.
No Contracts
No Monthly Fees
Pay Only for Leads
24/7 Chat Service

Give us a call if you are interested in learning more about our Live Chat service and how we can help you obtain more business from the traffic that is already on your website.

Sincerely,
Brian

40% of Consumers Say a Targeted Online Ad Has Made Them Feel Uncomfortable

Jason Hahn | DM Confidential | July 18th, 2012

A new report from TRUSTe finds that online behavioral advertising (OBA) has made 40 percent of consumers feel uncomfortable, while a majority of consumers say online privacy is an important issue that they think about often.

According to TRUSTe’s “2012 U.S. Online and Mobile Privacy Perceptions Report,” conducted online by Harris Interactive, 58 percent of responding consumers say they don’t like OBA. Meanwhile, 42 percent of smartphone users say privacy and security are top concerns, and 85 percent say they won’t download apps they don’t trust.

The report also found that 60 percent of adults are more concerned about online privacy today than they were last year. TRUSTe notes that 49 percent of consumers check for independent privacy certification or seals, up from 41 percent in 2011.

“Our 2012 findings show that managing consumer concerns through good privacy practices must remain on the forefront in order to stem mistrust,” said Chris Bable, CEO of TRUSTe. “With increased understanding about choices, the survey also shows that consumers react more positively to the potential value of new online technologies, such as OBA.”

According to the survey, negative feelings toward OBA drop from 69 percent to 40 percent when users believe that their personally identifiable information isn’t linked to their browsing behavior. Meanwhile, 61 percent of consumers are inclined to do more business with a site that offers opt-out choices for OBA, up from 55 percent last year.

The report also found that 94 percent of consumers deem privacy an important issue, with 55 percent saying it’s a really important issue they think of often. Meanwhile, 69 percent of consumers say they trust themselves most when it comes to protecting their own personal information online.

TRUSTe found that consumers are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to protecting their privacy, as 76 percent don’t allow companies to share their personal information with a third party, 35 percent have stopped doing business with a company or using their website because of privacy concerns, and 90 percent use browser controls to protect privacy.

Meanwhile, 40 percent of consumers say a targeted online advertisement has made them feel uncomfortable, 50 percent will opt out of OBA to manage their privacy and 53 percent believe personally identifiable information is attached to browsing behavior.

Regarding mobile concerns, TRUSTe found that 62 percent of smartphone users are aware that advertisers track mobile activities for mobile ads, but only 1 percent likes this.

Original Article...

7 of the Most Popular Social Networks for Business

Rebecca Corliss | HubSpot | July 17, 2012


People expect different type of content on each social media network. Not only does that mean the content you post to each network needs to be unique; it might also mean that you shouldn't be hopping on every single social network out there to meet your company's business goals.

But how do you even make that decision if you're new to the social media game? The best way is to get to know the different "personalities" of each network so you can understand how to leverage it best for your business. Using this article as your guide, you'll get to know some of the most popular social networks, learn what their super powers are, and determine whether they're a good fit for your brand. So let's analyze the key players in the social space, and talk about each of their strengths and weaknesses to help you decide who you should be hanging out with!

Getting to Know Twitter, The Buzz Generator

Twitter hit its 5 millionth user this past February, and the network is active and abuzz with links, chatter, one line self reflections, and just plain content. To inbound marketers, all of this content probably seems pretty great -- but it also means it takes a lot of work to get your  content to stand out in the crowd. Just look at how often HubSpot posts on Twitter to get our content some visibility in the news feed!

 

Twitter's Superpower

Twitter brings a viral, buzz-generating component to your marketing. For example, when a business has a massive group of people either sharing content or using a hashtag all at once, that has a big, very visible impact. Twitter is right for you if you are looking for a network where you can build a large audience that you can incite to action -- potentially all at once to create a viral effect. Mind you, that type of audience growth takes time ... but the value of creating such a large network sure pays off!

Getting to Know Facebook, The Humanizer

Facebook is most-used social networking site around the world. In fact, a recent study found it to be the top-visited social media site in 126 of the 137 countries studied. Still think your audience isn't using social media? Think again.

People use Facebook to keep in touch with friends, view their grandkid's baby pictures, discover content their friends are sharing, and more. It's a truly powerful connector. But how do companies fit into this social network that focuses so heavily on the human connection? Users expect companies on Facebook to act more like friends, and less like, well, companies. This means your updates should be friendlier, and show personality through photos and videos that make your brand seem more relatable. That's why we use Facebook to share things like important milestones in our company's life, just like you would with your friends and family!

 

 Facebook's Superpower

Facebook as a social tool will help a business become more likeable. By engaging like you naturally would with friends, your fans will respond and interact with you and your content in the way they feel most comfortable on that network -- colloquially. Use this to build a loyal fanbase who will view, click, and share your content so your reach continues to grow. If your company is not comfortable being a bit more flexible and friendly in its tone, however, Facebook might not be the best bet.

Getting to Know Quora, The Authority Builder

Quora boasts a slightly smaller user base than Twitter and Facebook with 1.1 million monthly users. But even though the network is smaller doesn't mean you should balk at its marketing potential. If you've ever participated in Quora's Q&A, you'll know that the quality of questions asked and answers provided is extremely high. While Quora might not be the right network for your business as a major traffic driver considering the lower usage volume, it could be a great place to build your company's authority and thought leadership, generating much higher quality leads (albeit at a lower volume) in the long run.

 

Quora's Superpower

Use Quora to build the authority of specific employees. For example, you could encourage your sales and marketing employees to search for questions your leads commonly ask, and provide insightful answers to which you can point future leads. What a great way to build trust and rapport!

Getting to Know Google+, The Search Optimizer

Google+ launched business pages in fall of 2011, at which point Google+ usage picked up as brands started creating their own pages and building their following. But since then, its been reported that usage has significantly decreased -- eMarketer reported that users only spend an average of 3.3 minutes on Google+ in a single session, down from 5.1 minutes in November 2011. Yikes. Looks like it's not incredibly active as a social network ... so what's the value? The value comes from its SEO support.

 

Google+'s Superpower

When you post your content to Google+, you're making it more likely your company's content will rank well in Google's SERPs. That's because, much to the dismay of many other social networks, Google is considering factors such as +1's of content when deciding how high to rank a piece of content. Google also started to index and feature Google+ status updates, author names, and 'Add to Circles' buttons in search results, making your activity on Google+ even more important for a strong organic search presence.

Getting to Know Pinterest, The Artist

Pinterest, the "newest" social network on the block, has actually been around since 2008! Gaining some serious popularity earlier this year, the network is an excellent tool for sharing and spreading a company's visual content. After all, images can often tell a far more profound story or give insight into a feeling in a more powerful way than mere text. If you're producing more visual content, you can easily share that content through channels like Pinterest by "pinning" it to a board. 

 

Pinterest's Superpower

Pinterest is easy to maintain and grow if you're more reliant on visuals than text in your industry. We do, however, recommend writing descriptions for every image you pin to provide further explanation for those looking to learn more about your pin. And before you go saying Pinterest is just for wedding planners and hairdressers, remember that your visuals could include anything from photos, to graphs, to infographics! They key with Pinterest is, when someone clicks your image to see the source, you're directing them to your website so you can convert all that Pinterest traffic. So go on, have a little fun with your social media marketing!

Getting to Know LinkedIn, The Professional

LinkedIn has a very distinct personality. It's the most suited-up network, generally rather conservative, and reserved for business-focused conversations. For B2B companies, LinkedIn is an incredibly valuable channel. In a HubSpot study last year, in fact, we found that LinkedIn is 277% more effective for lead generation than Facebook and Twitter. Since LinkedIn users are generally in a business-focused mindset, lead generation content that's extremely valuable and provides a solution to a common problem in your industry can work incredibly well.

 

LinkedIn's Superpower

Use LinkedIn to target other businesses -- if that's your goal, of course. Use your content to provide solutions to business-related problems, and people will naturally share your content in an attempt to boost their own clout, not to mention click your content so you can generate more leads. Don't be afraid of posting white papers and reports here, either -- this is the type of content that typically performs quite well on LinkedIn.

Getting to Know YouTube, The Story Teller

YouTube is different from the rest of the bunch for obvious reasons -- it's geared specifically towards video! And it has a lot of video. In fact, YouTube reports that 3 billion hours of video are watched each month on the social network. Video is a powerful story-telling mechanism, so it's no wonder marketers are using video to celebrate customer success, get customers excited about an event, or use music to teach someone something new. 

YouTube's Superpower

Use YouTube to tell important stories about your company, to entertain your audience, and even to educate them (ever thought of creating a how-to video?) As with most visual content, sometimes it's easier to get your message across with something a bit more interactive; and that's when YouTube comes in handy! You can also embed your videos in your blog or on other social networks so the videos can get more reach. Plus, YouTube is owned by Google ... you can bet those videos will be indexed in organic search!

After you understand the different personalities of each of these social networks, you're better equipped to determine which ones match the personality and needs of your brand. If you're just starting out in social media, it should help you approach these networks with less of a blind eye, and create content that better matches the tone of the content already on that platform.

Based on your brand, which social network do you think is the best fit for you? How does your use of each social network differ?

Original Article..

Paid Search up 17% in Q2 2012, Keyword Pricing up for the First Time Since Q3 2011

Jason Hahn | DM Confidential | July 18, 2012

According to Covario, paid search spending rose 17 percent in the second quarter compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, keyword pricing increased for the first time since the third quarter of 2011.

Covario’s quarterly global paid search spend analysis showed that spending on paid search advertising was up 17 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, and up 5 percent from the first quarter. The company called the second-quarter growth healthy, but noted that it was down from the spending that was observed during the previous three quarters.

“We expect things will further heat up in the second half of 2012, especially since early signs indicate creeping CPC inflation for paid search globally, which must be factored into advertiser budget plans,” the report noted.

In the Americas, spending was up 15 percent year-over-year and up 1 percent quarter-over-quarter. Covario maintains its forecast that annualized increases in spend for 2012 will fall in the 18-20 percent range.

In Europe and the Middle East, spend was up 2 percent year-over-year and up 1 percent quarter-over-quarter. Meanwhile, in Asia-Pacific spend was up 41 percent year-over-year and up 23 percent quarter-over-quarter, thanks to continued investment in China, Japan, India and the Australia-New Zealand regions.

Paid search impressions were up 7 percent year-over-year and 10 percent quarter-over-quarter, while clicks were up 18 percent year-over-year and down 1 percent quarter-over-quarter, and cost was up 17 percent year-over-year and up 6 percent quarter-over-quarter.

Google continued to dominate the global landscape, claiming 86 percent of spend, 91 percent of impressions and 68 percent of clicks.

Covario notes that spending on Google was up 16 percent from a year ago and up 5 percent from the previous quarter.

Yahoo-Bing, which continues to benefit from the implementation of “broad match,” saw its share of spend grow around 30 percent year-over-year and 3 percent quarter-over-quarter. The alliance maintains 7 percent of spend, 3 percent of impressions and 5 percent of clicks.

In the Americas, Google has about 90 percent of the search engine market, while Yahoo-Bing has about 9 percent.

Cost per click (CPC) for the five major global search engines (Baidu, Bing, Google, Yahoo and Yandex) was $0.80, up 6 percent quarter-over-quarter, the first increase since the third quarter of 2011. Baidu’s CPC was $0.19, while Bing’s was $1.32, Google’s was $1.01, Yahoo’s was $0.80 and Yandex’s was $0.61.

Original Article...