The problem is, however, a payment processing company’s target market could cover a wide range of businesses — merchants ranging from upscale retailers to small restaurants, healthcare or non-profit organizations, and even companies that use an unattended payments model. You also want to capture the attention of potential partners including VARs and ISVs that will include your solutions in their end-to-end point of sale (POS) systems.

One of the biggest payment processing company marketing challenges is juggling multiple campaigns aimed at different types of prospects. The content you create, your website and email blasts, and newsletters related to each campaign must direct different segments of your prospect list to information that will be of greatest interest to them– all while working together seamlessly to brand your company.

Reaching Merchant Prospects

To reach merchants, you need to make the complex simple. Detail the services you offer beyond credit and debit card processing, such as electronic check processing, mobile payment support, gift cards, prepaid cards, and e-commerce solutions. Also, let them know information such as rates, how soon they have access to their funds after a transaction, and how accurate and quick your processing services are — especially if you are leading the industry in these areas. Also, stress the value-added services that make you stand out from the competition.

In addition, offer calls to action (CTAs) that visitors to your website can download on topics such as PCI, data security, data analysis, and breaking news from the industry in exchange for their contact information. You can also build your prospect list by inviting visitors to your website to sign up for newsletters or alerts.

Although most website visitors are in the information-gathering stage, some will be ready to connect. Because of this, make sure your website also features easy-to-find CTAs for people closer to the bottom of the sales funnel, such as “request a quote” or “schedule a demo” forms.

Engaging VARs and ISVs

Resellers and developers working in the POS or related industry are most interested in how a partnership with you will help them grow their businesses. Provide information on your hardware and software partners so VARs can see how your payment solution could complement the end-to-end point of sale (POS) systems they design. Be prepared to showcase your success by providing statistics or case studies that show merchants use your solution long term, limiting churn.

For ISVs, highlight information on the resources you have available that support the development of new integrations — such as online tools, testing environments, and a forum where developers can connect.

This segment of your prospect list also presents one of the biggest payment processing company marketing challenges: demonstrating that you have your finger on the pulse of the industry and you’re ready for the future of payments. Impress VARs and ISVs with your knowledge showcased on an up-to-date website (in other words, take down “EMV is coming”) and make sure you are regularly posting blogs and adding new content. Potential partners will perceive your activity online as an indicator of how on top of things you are, and how responsive you will be when they need answers.

Different Types of Prospects, Different Results

One of the toughest payment processing company marketing challenges is measuring and analyzing the results of your campaigns. Because you target different types of prospects, the results of marketing campaigns will be different and must be evaluated on different criteria.

The SkyRocket Group studied the results of our work in the POS and payments industry over the past 13 years and established marketing benchmarks. We found, for example, marketing campaigns that target authorized reseller bases typically perform better (email open rates as high as 24% to 35%) compared to end-user campaigns (typically 8% to 16%). Our benchmarking study also found differences in how web traffic, lead generation, and social marketing campaigns differ in the POS and payments channel.

Inbound Marketing Channels that are Low Cost and High Impact

One of the reasons inbound marketing is a good strategy to adopt for marketing your payment processing company is that many of the strategies are very low cost while also delivering reliable results, especially when you combine them all together.

Email Marketing

Your company should have a professional way of communicating with prospects and customers, which is where email marketing can help. Emails don’t cost very much to send and there are many good email marketing software platforms out there like MailChimp and Constant Contact, as well as more sophisticated solutions that integrate with CRMs like Act-On, Pardot, and Hubspot.

Social Media

Being active on social media may not seem like a high priority for a payments processing company, but it is necessary. Without an active social media presence, you will be noted for your lack of participation, which can hurt your brand and potentially lead to lost interest. Having a steady posting activity will not only boost your brand, it will also have positive effects on your SEO.

Blogging

We cannot overstate how important blogging is when it comes to an inbound marketing strategy. The impact of having new content posted on your website is well-documented and it gives you post fodder for your social media accounts.

Website

If you don’t have a way to capture leads on your website, why even have a website at all? Your website is your most vital sales tool right now. The effort that you make to send emails, engage on social media and posting blogs is all going into a black hole if you don’t have a way to convert your leads. Learn the best practices for capturing leads and turning your website into the sales engine it was meant to be.

SEO
Search engine optimization is an ever moving target. However, there are some basic components you should know and have on your website. Having the right SEO structure and SEO-rich content costs nothing to implement, but you have to do it correctly to get an organic search ranking boost.

Who Has Time for That?

Admittedly, one of the biggest barriers payment processing companies have in developing a successful inbound marketing strategy is that many just simply don’t have the time to do it. It’s not always easy to find time to carve out of your day to dedicate to marketing. Often, it is the last item on the to-do list. But inbound marketing —the task that you never get to —is crucial to your overall sales strategy and driving potential customers your way.

If you are looking for someone to help execute your inbound marketing strategy, download our rate card to see what services SkyRocket Group can offer your payments company.

Invest in Your Marketing Strategy

Resolve to make inbound marketing for your payment processing company a priority in your schedule, and over time you will see results from your efforts. It’s possible to overcome payment processing company marketing challenges with a carefully planned strategy and consistent execution. Face your challenges head on and develop a plan to get the right marketing messages to the right prospects, and ultimately get the most return from your marketing campaigns.

The post Overcoming Payment Processing Company Marketing Challenges appeared first on SkyRocket Group.

1. Optimize Your Website for the Right Key Terms

Over 80% of people looking for a product or service begin that search online. Are you positioned to be found?  The number of technology companies that either do not have a website or have one that is not up to par is quite surprising.  Take the time to create a professional looking website—after all, it is your virtual business card.

Make sure the content of your website uses SEO (search engine optimization) tactics that optimize the pages to appear in search results for related keyword terms and phrases. Incorporating the right keywords and internal linking structure to your product pages, blogs, and pillar content turns your website into an inbound marketing tool that ensures when a potential customer is looking for a “POS system” in your area, your business will be found.

2. Create Educational Content

More than 95% of first-time visitors to your website are not ready to buy. They are in the information gathering, problem solving or research phase.  In order to keep your brand top of mind to customers in this stage of the buying cycle, develop content like whitepapers, e-books and checklists that are free educational assets. These materials should present value so that individuals at the top of the sales funnel are willing to fill out a form to download the resource. While developing educational and informative content takes time, having assets like this on your website will position your company as an industry thought leader. Additionally, your business will capture POS lead opportunities that otherwise may have gone unnoticed, allowing your team to nurture them down the sales funnel.

3. Execute Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing is a tactic that carries your message to a broader audience in hopes you can connect your brand with new potential prospects—or strengthen your presence with current ones. Outbound marketing casts a wider net, and allows you to potentially reach an audience you may not have targeted before. Outbound strategies can include sales literature, email campaigns, digital advertisements (social, pay-per-click, etc.), video demonstrations, and showcasing your products and services at a trade show.

4. Benefit from Manufacturer and ISV Relationships

Vendors are usually a great source for POS lead referrals. Take the time to understand what your business may need to do to receive leads. Realize that your ability to receive leads may rely on networking and relationships you have with manufacturer and ISV partners. The downside: many vendors require that you follow up on leads handed off and report feedback, so make the effort to do so or your lead source may quickly dry up.

5. Use Pay per Lead Programs

There are several companies whose primary business is to generate online leads for POS systems (and other product categories) and sell those leads for profit.  Often, these lead generation companies allow customers to build a profile of the type of lead they are interested in purchasing. Filters can be set so that leads can be purchased in a certain geographic region, by business type (think retail, restaurant, etc.), or by product interest (think hardware, software, total system).  In addition, any POS leads purchased that have false contact information like a bad phone number, contact, etc. can be returned for credit.  The downside: many of your competitors may be also be purchasing these leads—which can lead to potential price wars and lower margins.

6. Leverage LinkedIn Connections

LinkedIn is the ideal social network to capture POS leads if you are social-savvy. Make sure you have an individual profile and a business profile that is professional and easy to read. Then begin cultivating your connections, and engaging with clients, networks, and groups. Keep your conversations meaningful and celebrate the successes of those in your network. Leverage LinkedIn’s article tool to further the reach of your blog content to a wide network, while growing your own credibility as an industry expert.

7. Develop Strategic Partnerships

Most resellers are geographic in nature, typically cultivating opportunities in a certain city, state, or region.  Have you ever considered developing strategic partnerships with other companies that offer supplies or services to retailers or restaurants in your area? Often in the sales cycle, a new business will purchase equipment, merchandise, and supplies to kick start their operations first. What typically comes last is technology.  Create partnerships with retail store and restaurant equipment suppliers.  They are good sources for new stores, store redesigns, and POS system leads.

8. Offer Direct Engagement

The way you engage with your POS leads is important to your success. Many resellers choose indirect engagement, like a FAQ page where customers can look up the information they need. While this is still helpful, it would be wise to consider a more direct approach like a chat box. Customers can ask the questions they need and get the answers immediately without having to sift through a list of questions. This also allows you to provide better customer service and foster relationships built on trust right off the bat.

9. Discover Marketing Automation

There are innovative tools that can help you automatically generate more POS leads and then market targeted messages to those leads. Since POS system sales cycles are lengthy in duration, keeping your products and messaging at the forefront of your potential customers is key. Marketing automation allows you to easily and “automatically” send specific messages to a targeted audience based on actions they have taken on your website. Send follow up emails, encourage further engagement, and build trust in your brand easily and effectively.

10. Know When to Ask for Help

Implementing any of the above strategies can go a long way towards capturing POS leads. It’s also critical that you are consistent with your efforts. You can’t just send out one or two emails and expect a full sales funnel. Using a combination of these methods in your marketing strategy will maximize your chances of not only generating more leads, but ultimately closing the sale. It can be a full-time job in itself to keep up with these strategies. If you don’t have the in-house resources to market yourself the way you want, seek out an agency that specializes in your industry.

SkyRocket Group has over fifteen years’ worth of experience in marketing for the point of sale and payments industries. As an agency specializing in technology solutions, we not only speak your language, but help make your brand, products, and services easy to find, and hard to forget. For more information on how you can boost your marketing efforts and capture more POS leads, contact SkyRocket Group today!

The post 10 Proven Tactics for Generating POS Leads appeared first on SkyRocket Group.

The designer ends up wasting time spent on the initial designs, including losing some of the initial enthusiasm that comes with the start of a new project. Lack of communication in the design process can also strain the relationship between a designer, the project management team, and a client that can potentially lead to a parting of ways.

Below are some of the ways that you and your tech company’s marketing and design team can leverage the power of communication in to help create better, more engaging content and designs.

Information Flow

Sharing ideas and information is key to being successful within marketing. This is especially true for your technology company. Graphic designers, marketing coordinators, and the writing team need to be able to share information openly when it comes to implementing design into your marketing materials.

Working together on collaborative teams makes processes much easier. Ideas can flow and the team can give each other feedback as they work through the process. Marketing directors and project coordinators can give the creative and design teams the information they need to help accomplish the project within its set parameters. The graphic design team then knows what information they need in order to produce high-quality assets that will please clients.

By speaking openly and freely with an effective flow of information, your marketing team can avoid miscommunication. As a result, you team will end up providing the highest quality marketing materials to your company.

Creating Face-Time For Design

Throw out the age-old notion that graphic designers aren’t expected to have the best communication skills. Or that they only sit behind large screens all day. Although they don’t handle the day-to-day account management tasks, they should be willing and able to jump on client phone calls or attend meetings. This is especially true when it comes to talking through projects.

Creating face-time for your creative and design team helps facilitate communication in projects. In turn, this allows designers to speak with your team to let them know what can and can’t be done. This is especially important if your company isn’t well versed in design programs. This open communication helps to manage expectations across the board and creates stronger relationships overall.

Allows Design to Resonate with the Audience

Before your potential customers even talk to you or see your business. they likely do a web search of your company. What does the design of your website say about you? How would someone react to what your website’s design communicates?

Graphic design is ultimately a work of art. It functions as a communication tool and is something that your potential customers will notice about your business right away.

In turn, working closely with your marketing and design team will help you let the design speak for itself. Additionally, it will show your clients these areas of value:

• Showing purpose: A design with purpose speaks volumes. Not only will your customers be moved by your design, they will also be prompted to act on your marketing materials.

• Giving value: Value has more to do with than that of the design of your marketing materials themselves. Projects that are highly successful give the designers a sense of accomplishment and achievement.

• Creating a cohesive look: Creating multiple designs that are cohesive can be difficult. That’s why communication between designers, clients, and marketing directors help to create an overall cohesive look for your projects.

Producing Products and Activities

Graphic design functions both as a product that both agencies and in-house marketing departments provide to a company. In addition, it’s an activity for communication and design teams to be involved within a project. Therefore, it is essential that your teams communicate with one another as they embark on the journey. In the end, you will have creative marketing projects and materials that speak to your audience.

Keep in mind too, that the end goal of design is to produce a product that clients and internal marketing teams are thrilled with and also help them with their overall marketing goals. For example, a well-written and designed ebook will prompt a website visitor to follow the call to action trigger within the ebook. This helps your technology company generate more qualified leads than ever before while educating your potential customers about something they find interesting—ideally prompting them to make a purchase.

“Design is the conscious and intuitive effort to impose meaningful order.”- Victor Papanek

Without a doubt there is a lot of planning and exchanging of ideas when it comes to design work. Graphic design plays an overall vital role in enhancing the communication and marketing activities your tech company participates in with others.

Good designs will set you apart from your competition, but great designs will also help your business convey a message of credibility and professionalism. If you’re not sure where to start with your design or lack the time or in-house skills to complete your own designs, we can help. Contact our team of graphic design experts at the SkyRocket Group today to get started with your new project.

The post The Importance of Communication in Design appeared first on SkyRocket Group.

A content management system, most often referred to as a CMS, allows individuals and businesses to edit, manage, and maintain existing website pages in a single interface without needing specialized technical knowledge. 

When contracting a web design company to build a website, be sure that it is being built in a common CMS system, such as WordPress or HubSpot. This will allow your employees to make small content changes, and will allow the web design company to make layout and design changes more quickly and cost effectively. SkyRocket Group builds all of its client websites in easy-to-use CMS systems.

Here are three ways that SkyRocket Group has found content management systems to improve its clients’ overall business operations, generate more leads, and create greater customer relationships:

Work More Efficiently

From a design and build standpoint, working within a CMS will allow your web design company to build pages in half the time it takes to build pages from scratch, especially if the design requires custom coding. This will save you a significant amount of time and money. From an updating and maintenance standpoint, a CMS will allow your team to focus on specific areas of your website to improve — for example, creating and adding new posts to the company blog or developing content that helps you generate more qualified leads. 

Create a Uniform Look

When it comes to web and graphic design, there is no excuse for not having a clean, uniform look with functionality that caters to your customers and prospects. CMS templates help you and your web design company share ideas and ensure that the overall look and function of the website delivers.

For example, blog pages should all have a uniform look, no matter how they are laid out. Not only does this look clean and professional, it can easily indicate to viewers that they are on a blog page, as opposed to a product page, which serves an entirely different function. 

One of the most helpful features across many CMS platforms is the ability to create a template and only let content be added following that template. That way employees can adjust web pages as they wish, which keeps your design in check without the need to closely inspect the design of each page after it’s completed. 

Streamline Workflow 

Writers and web designers need to have constant communication in order to write and create content that not only reads well and makes sense, but also is visually appealing on a web page.

With a CMS, web and graphic designers can worry less about ensuring all design elements stay uniform within a web page and writers can also focus more on writing content and less about creating a web page layout. Simple templates allow content writers to plug content into the template and publish it themselves without the need to know HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.

In addition to streamlining workflow for designers and writers, content management systems also give businesses even more functionality for their websites. Plugins are tools developed for WordPress and other CMS platforms that help your business accomplish more than you thought possible. These tools can help with business functions such as:

• Lead generation and management
• Email marketing 
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Social media

Develop a Worthwhile SEO Ranking

Over 80% of B2B searches for technology products or services start with an online search. Your business should be leveraging your website and CMS to help you develop an SEO ranking that drives traffic to your website and turns unique visitors into qualified leads. 

Many content management systems allow you to optimize your title, content depth, keywords, meta descriptions and add call to actions all in a single text field without the need to install extra plugins or tools to your website. Intuitive CMS platforms can also add paragraph tags, make links clickable, and suggest SEO best practices to the user. 

Best of all you’ll be able to optimize for these three factors of SEO:

• Content marketing: attract, educate and brand to prospects with content that brings them to your page based on the content you write
• On-page SEO: optimize for keywords that allow potential customers to find your company and products
• Off-Page SEO: utilize tactics such as social media to drive traffic to your website and convert unique visitors into qualified leads

Helping Clients Find Success:

Content management systems are especially essential for B2B companies. They allow design partners to quickly and easily build web sites for businesses that not only look great, but are intuitive and drive traffic to the site. 

Whether you’re an inbound marketing expert or a just stepping foot into the marketing realm, a smart content management system will help you streamline almost all of your day-to-day demands. With a CMS in place, you can spend less time staring at your computer screen and more time doing business.

Contact The SkyRocket Group today to learn how we can help your technology company find success with your next website project.

Whether you’re an inbound marketing expert or a client of one, a smart content management system will help you streamline almost all of your day-to-day demands. With a CMS in place, you can spend less time staring at your computer screen and more time doing business.

The post Why A Content Management System Is Important appeared first on SkyRocket Group.