Back office outsourcing can help increase efficiencies and provide cost savings that allow businesses to focus on the projects and tasks that move the needle and drive growth.

24% of businesses outsource to help increase efficiencies (source: clutch.co). With highly skilled onshore and nearshore outsourcing services, it makes sense in 2023 to consider offloading back office functions.

Whether you are a startup bootstrapping your next product launch or a local small business looking for some data entry support, the below five outsourcing services can help with various back office tasks.

According to Clutch.co’s most commonly outsourced business processes, we’ve included vendors that can help with anything from bookkeeping to human resource management services.

5 Best Back Office Outsourcing Services of 2023:

1. Horatio – Best overall
2. Pilot – Best for bookkeeping, controller, and CFO services
3. Bambee – Best for small business Human Resources
4. Support Ninja – Best for data management and data entry services
5. Sofomo – Best for web development services

What are the Best Back Office Outsourcing Services?

Here are my recommendations for the best back office outsourcing services by use case of 2023:

1. Horatio

Best Overall

Horatio offers cost-effective nearshore back office support services that can help with anything from data entry tasks to customer service support. In addition, they are SOC and PCIS DSS certified, giving you trust that your privacy needs are handled securely.

Horatio’s workforce is 100% dedicated to your team, and they are committed to their agents, so turnover is low. This gives you confidence that their agents know the intricacies of your business. In addition, your team will be hand-picked with agents that align with your brand’s values.

Connect with the Horatio team to get tailored back office tasks tailored for your business needs.

Services:

• Back office solutions (tailored support)
• Data entry
• Invoicing processing
• Image retouching
• Billing inquiries
• Scheduling
• Omnichannel support

Price:

• Horatio operates on per agent per hour model. This simple pricing model typically leads to significant cost savings. There are no hidden fees.

Reviews:

• Clutch 5 stars
• Indeed 4.1 stars

2. Pilot

Best for bookkeeping, controller, and CFO services

Pilot is the go-to for startup and small business financial back office support that serves over 1,000 growing businesses. They can help with bookkeeping to research and development tax credit preparation. In addition, their support team can answer or connect you with a financial expert through their CFO services if you have any questions.

Accurate bookkeeping is a necessity for your business. However, monitoring cash flow and making sure your balance sheet is up to date can be time-consuming and keep you from working on the core areas of your business.

With Pilot, their bookkeepers learn the ins and outs of your business, integrate with your payroll and accounting software, and provide you with monthly financial reports.

With their CFO services, their CFOs will review your companies financials and help develop forecasts, budgets, or any needed items for investment meetings. Their CFOs have a wealth of knowledge and have grown hundreds of businesses, and raised significant amounts of capital.

Services:

• Bookkeeping
• CFO services
• Tax preparation
• Financial support
• R&D tax credit
• Expertise in startups
• Expert support and partnership
• Additional services (bill paying, invoices, etc.)

Price:

Pilot’s bookkeeping services are billed annually and adjust based on your business’s monthly expenses. Their CFO services are billed annually and are based on an hourly engagement. Tax preparation services are billed per year and must be purchased with Pilot bookkeeping.

• Pilot Bookkeeping has three tiers
  • Core starts at $599/month billed annually
  • Select starts at $849/month
  • Plus is custom pricing which includes core services plus add ons
• Pilot CFO services
  • Monthly engagement starts at 3 hours for $1,050/month billed annually
  • Annual budgeting and forecasting starts at $6,300
• Tax Preparation
  • Essentials package starts at $1950/year
  • Standard package is custom pricing that starts at $4,950/year
• Additional Services
  • AP/AR services start at $125/hour
  • Supplemental services start at $195/hour
  • Controller services start at $200/hour

Reviews:

• G2 4.6 stars
• Get App 4.7 stars
• Capterra 4.7 stars
• Software Advice 4.75 stars

3. Bambee

Best for small business Human Resources

The reality is not every business can afford to hire an in-house HR manager. According to Salary.com, the average HR manager’s salary is $109K. Again, though, we can all agree it’s necessary to have good HR policies in place to stay compliant.

Bambee offers automated HR solutions to ensure your business is HR compliant, starting at $99/month. They also offer dedicated HR managers to help when you need guidance. They support over 20 industries across all US states.

Their HR Autopilot services help with HR audits, training and certifications, establishing and updating policies, employee feedback, and business ethics features.

Their dedicated HR managers can help implement new policies, onboard new team members, coach during terminating employees, and much more.

Services:

• HR audits to identify HR compliant gaps
• Dedicated HR managers (craft HR policies, onboarding, employee retention, coaching, etc.)
• Craft and make sure HR policies are signed and up to date
• Onboarding and mandatory team training (workplace safety, business ethics, etc.)
• Staff performance tracking
• Employee feedback
• EEOC document storage
• Optional guided payroll add on

Price:

Bambee’s back office support services cover all your HR needs. Their flat pricing with no contracts starts at $79/month billed annually. Their pricing scales based on the number of employees. If you purchase annually, you save up to 20%.

• 1 – 4 employees – $79/month with payroll billed annually ($250 setup fee)
• 5- 19 employees – $159/month with payroll billed annually ($500 setup fee)
• 20 – 49 employees – $239/month billed annually ($1,000 setup fee)
• 50 – 500 employees – Contact sales to get a custom quote tailored to your needs

Reviews:

• Trustpilot 4.8 stars

4. Support Nija

Best for data management and data entry services

As someone who has worked in a startup, the tedious data entry tasks add up. Delegating the work to newer employees or interns is an option that can be used, or one can delegate the work to a 3rd party firm like Support Nija.

Support Nija can take the tedious data entry work off your team’s plate, which lets your team focus on the essential work. Support Ninja offers data entry services, OCR services, data conversion services, data processing outsourcing, list building, and much more.

Outsourcing data tasks can reduce companies’ overhead and ensure accurate data. In addition to data entry services, Support Nija offers other back office services like content moderation, customer support, and more.

Services:

• OCR services
• Image data entry
• Product data entry
• Scanning
• Data processing
• Specialized data entry
• Offline data entry
• List building
• Forms processing
• Ebook data entry
• ePub data entry
• Copy-paste
• Mailing list compilation

Price:

Support Nija uses role-based pricing, but since data entry needs vary, you’ll need to contact their team to get a free quote.

Reviews:

• Site Jabber 4.4 reviews
• Indeed 4.1 stars

5. Sofomo

Best for web development services

Development work typically isn’t classified under back office operations, but it’s one skill that many companies need as their business scales. That’s where Sofomo comes in. Sofomo has been a leader in development outsourcing for over ten years. They focus on building strong client relationships and offering superb quality development solutions.

Their development services cover back and frontend, mobile, cloud/AWS, Salesforce, and Microsoft stack. Their developers become an extension of your team while Sofomo takes care of all the administration and overhead costs.

Services:

• Backend developers (Ruby, Python, PHP, Node.Js, Java, etc.)
• Frontend developers
• Mobile developers
• Cloud/AWS engineers
• Salesforce developers
• Microsoft stack .net developers

Price:

Since development projects and needs can vary so widely, you’ll need to contact their sales team to get a custom quote.

Reviews:

• Facebook – 2, 5-star reviews

Wrapping things up:

In this article, we covered the top 5 back office services that can help your business delegate the tedious back office processes so you can focus on important tasks that can help you generate more profit.

Call Center FAQs:

What is back office outsourcing

Back-office outsourcing is when companies pay outsourcing vendors to help with back office tasks, including payroll, bookkeeping, tax prep, data processing, and more.

What are back office costs?

Back office costs include costs associated with tasks like bookkeeping, payroll, and more.

The post 5 Best Back Office Outsourcing Services of 2023 (By Use Case) appeared first on Mitchell Gould.

If you are in the market for inbound call center services, it’s crucial that you find a provider that understands your brand, product, and voice so that call center agents can provide the best customer experience.

It’s no secret that great customer experiences help retain customers, which ultimately helps boost a business’s bottom line. In fact, 95% of consumers cite that their brand loyalty is based on a brand’s customer service. (Source: cusotmerthink.com).

Below we cover the 7 best inbound call center services to help businesses with anything from seasonal customer support to highly technical product support.

Outsourcing all or a portion of your call center operations can allow your business to focus on other important areas like building products and scaling demand.

7 Best Inbound Call Center Services of 2023:

1. Influx – Best for seasonal demand and e-commerce
2. Go Answer – Best for small-medium sized businesses
3. Five9 – Best Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVA) and contact center
4. Support Your App – Best for product and tech support
5. Signius – Best for answering services
6. Fair Trade Outsourcing – Best for helpdesk support
7. Helpware – Best business process outsourcing

What are the Best Call Center Services?

Here are my recommendations for the best inbound call center services by use case of 2022:

1. Influx

Best for seasonal demand

Influx has worked with notable brands across industries, helping them quickly scale their support services. Influx provides a complete support ops team that’s available on-demand and 24/7 to help with various inbound call center services.

Their trained team can help with customer issues, questions, complaints, refunds, onboarding, pre-sales, and much more. In addition, they offer omnichannel support so their agents can assist your customers quickly across voice, chat, email, and social media.

The appealing thing about influx is they can help support seasonal demand and ticket bursts. So as your volume starts to scale, they can quickly deploy agents. They can scale up to 60+ experienced agents within one month. For example, Sendle maintained a 1 hour response time during 3x support peaks (source: influx.com).

Influx’s solutions cover ecommerce, startup, SaaS, WordPress, technical, and mobile application customer support.

Services:

• 24/7 Customer services support
• Support for ticket bursts and seasonal coverage
• Omnichannel support
• 3-level management with autonomous improvements
• After-hours coverage
• 24/7 support insights
• No commitments
• Launch in one week

Price:

Influx’s pricing model is pretty straightforward compared to many other inbound call center services. They offer pay-as-you-go pricing plans that include training and management. There are no setup fees. In addition, they have plans to support businesses that need a little coverage to large companies that need a lot of coverage.

Contact their sales team to see which model is best for your needs. All plans are month-to-month, and there are no commitments.

• Pay per agent
• Pay per response
• Pay per conversation

Reviews:

• Glassdoor 3.7 stars (employee reviews)
• 4 of their clients were on the Inc. 5000 list

2. Go Answer

Best for small-medium sized businesses

Go Answer is a multichannel contact center that offers 24/7, 365 bilingual inbound services for small to large businesses. They offer answering services, contact center services, and legal intake services.

They handle any type of communication across any channel (webchat, video, calls, etc.). They support multiple industries like contractors, hospitality, attornies, franchises, medical, and much more.

Avoid missed opportunities and never send a lead or customer to a voicemail with their answering services. Their live agents can handle calls specifically tailored to your business, creating an exceptional customer service experience.

More than 85% of people won’t call back if their call is missed (Source: aircall.com), which can substantially negatively impact your business’s revenue. Use an outsourced inbound call center like Go Answer to win more clients and support existing clients.

Features:

• Answering service
• Contact center services
• Legal intake services
• Live agents 24/7 (bilingual)
• After hours
• Order entry
• Appointment setting
• HIPPA Trained
• Legal Intake
• SMS and Email alerts
• Real-time dashboard and app

Price:

Go Answer offers a 30-day risk-free trial (No credit card required) for their answering services. Like most call center solutions, they have a few tiered plans that have a base month-to-month price structure. There is a $75 setup fee for all plans, and there is no long-term contract.

Pricing for call answering services:

• 30-day risk-free trial (no credit card required)
• Pay as you go – $50/month. $1.75 for each additional minute
• 100 minutes – $110/month. $1.10 for each additional minute
• 250 minutes – $250/month. $1 for each additional minute
• 500 minutes – $475/month. $0.95 for each additional minute
• 1,000 minutes – $900/month. $0.95 for each additional minute
• 2,500 minutes – $2200/month. $0.90 for each additional minute

Reviews:

• Trustpilot 4.5 stars
• Glassdoor 4.5 stars (employee reviews)
• Accredited BBB w/ A+ rating

3. Five9

Best Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVA) and contact center

Not all businesses want to outsource their call center operations. Maintaining 100% ownership of your call center allows you to keep a very close eye on performance and customer experiences.

That’s where Five9’s call center software and solutions come in. Five9 is a leader in cloud contact center software and has been in business since 2001. They serve over 2,000+ customers globally and 7 billion+ customer interactions annually.

With a cloud contact center, businesses can enable a 100% remote agent or hybrid workforces that are more functional and scalable compared to legacy on-premise call center operations.

Having great live agents is super important to the customer experience, and in 2022, allowing remote work creates a better work-life balance and can reduce agent churn. Thus, allowing your customers to have the best human experience across any part of their customer journey.

Their award-winning Intelligent Virtual Agent (IVA) and AI, can help automate lower priority incoming calls so your inbound call center agents can focus on the high-priority customer calls.

Features:

• Powerful workforce management tools
• Quality assurance
• AI, automation, and omnichannel communication
• Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA)
• Call recordings
• Analytics, real-time dashboards, reporting
• Agent scripting
• Post-call surveys
• CRM integrations
• Appointment scheduling

Price:

Five9 offers 4 flexible core bundles that include different functionality and features. Since every business has unique needs, you need to contact their sales representative to get a quote.

Reviews:

• Capterra 4.2 stars
• G2 3.9 stars

4. Support Your App

Best for product and tech support

Support Your App has served SaaS and Tech companies with outsourced customer support for over a decade. To ensure the highest data security and quality, they have multiple security standards and certificates like PCI, ISO 27001, and GDPR.

Support your app will study the intricacies of your software or hardware and your company culture to provide the best customer care. This allows them to offer exceptional tier 1-2 customer support.

Their onboarding process is simple and can have you launched in just one month.

Features:

• 24/7 support multi-lingual support (42 languages)
• Support engineers
• Omnichannel support
• Answering services
• Email services
• Appointment scheduling
• Help desk
• Live Chat
• CRM integration and inhouse software
• Tier 1-2 pre-sale and customer support
• Quality assurance

Price:

Like many call center services, you need to request a quote to get pricing. They have 3 tiers from backup team to full team dedication that offer varying levels of support and coverage.

Reviews:

• Clutch.co 4.3 stars
• G2 4.5 stars
• Glassdoor 4.7 stars (employee reviews)

5. Signius

Best for answerings services

Signius is a 100% US-based call center solution providing support to small businesses to fortune 500 company size businesses since 1994. They are headquartered in Illinois and have 12 locations across the US.

When a customer calls a customer service line, they want to speak to a live agent. With Signius, you get high-quality, trained live agents that are empathetic and enthusiastic about supporting your customers’ needs. Their live answering services are available 24/7, 365 days a year and they offer bilingual support.

Signius provides support across just about any industry and company size. They serve small businesses, healthcare organizations, attorneys, contractors, franchises, fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, universities, and more.

Signius has plenty of answering service integration capabilities that include, but are not limited to: Google Calendar, Calendly, Setmore, and Appfolio.

Services:

• 24/7, 365 day live answering service
• Bilingual support
• After hours/overflow
• Virtual receptionist
• Medical answering services (HIPPA Compliant)
• Customer care
• Direct response
• Disaster backup
• Help desk
• Secure online account access
• Technology solutions (client portal, IVR, secure messaging, voicemail)

Price:

Signius pricing will fluctuate depending on your business’s needs. They have 3 service pricing tiers, and you can connect with their sales team for a free consultation to customize a service plan that fits your business’s unique needs.

• Starter – $42/month. $1.22 per additional minute. 0 minutes included.
• Pro – $158/month. $1.15 per additional minute. 125 minutes included.
• Premier – $263/month. $1.13 per additional minute. 225 minutes included.
• 100% customized plan – Connect with their sales team to create a custom pricing plan
• Month-to-month agreements (no long term contracts)

Reviews:

• They have 3.5 stars on indeed from their live agents

6. Fair Trade Outsourcing

Best for helpdesk support

Fair Trade Outsourcing offers inbound call center services through their global network of call centers. Their help desk services include receiving and processing customer tickets and providing support to help users who need configuration/personalization assistance with a product.

Fair Trade Outsourcing has some excellent call center stats compared to industry averages. For example, their monthly attrition was only 1.9% compared to 10-12% industry average.

Why is this important? If you are outsourcing your inbound calls, you want to make sure high-quality call center agents serve your customers. Lower attrition typically indicates a better, more high-quality workforce.

In addition to inbound call center services, Fairtrade offers back-office support, data entry, and acquisition, IT support, and QA and engineering support.

Their agents go through different assessments, and you can work with their team to find what proficiencies in English and other competencies are right for your needs. For example, they have agents available with beginner to senior level English proficiency levels. This helps you balance cost and quality for your outsourcing engagement.

Services:

• Inbound customer support
• Secure, compliant facilities
• Guaranteed data protection
• Managed scalable teams

Price:

FairTrade’s low attrition rate compared to the industry standard makes them a great choice for high-quality outsourced customer care. To get a price for their services, you’ll need to request a quote on their website.

Reviews:

• Glassdoor 3.2 stars (employee reviews)

7. Helpware

Best business process outsourcing

In addition to inbound call center services, Helpware offers multiple other business process outsourcing (BPO) services. Their core services include customer experience and support, content control and verification, AI operations, back-office support, micro tasking, and much more.

Helpware services various industries including ecommerce and retail, SaaS, HealthCare, FinTech, Social media, Gaming, on-deman food, personal, and transportation, and the public sector. They have provided solutions for notable brands like Doordash, Headspace, Amazon, Microsoft, Cisco, and many more.

Services:

• Digital customer experience (Call center, answering service, chat, technical and email support, etc.)
• Content control and verification
• AI operations
• Back-office support (data entry, account setup, annotation, content moderation, etc.)
• Micro tasking
• Fully integrated API

Price:

Since Helpware offers multiple services and each client has different needs, you’ll need to book a meeting with their sales team to get a quote for their services.

Reviews:

• Clutch 4.8 star reviews
• G2 5 stars
• Glassdoor 4.9 stars (employee reviews)

Other noteworthy inbound call center options:

• GCS – Noteworthy for seasonal demand support

Wrapping things up:

In this article, we reviewed the 7 best inbound call center services by use case. Your business needs and customer support volume will depend on what you need from an inbound call center service provider. As you research providers, consider the employee ratings of each provider. A good indicator of how great their support will be can be somewhat inferred by live agent reviews. If you decide to keep your call center in-house, consider leveraging a cloud-based contact center solution to give you more flexibility in your setup.

Call Center FAQs:

What is an inbound call center service?

An inbound call center service is where live agents answer calls and provide customer support on behalf of a business.

What services can a call center offer?

Call centers can offer many different types of customer support, such as answering calls, setting appointments, troubleshooting technical issues, resolving customer issues and complaints, onboarding new customers, pre-sales, refunding items, and much more.

What’s the difference between inbound and outbound call center services?

The difference between an inbound and outbound call center is that agents are answering calls from customers or prospects in an inbound call center. In an outbound call center, agents make calls to reach customers or prospects.

The post 7 Best Inbound Call Center Services of 2023 (By Use Case) appeared first on Mitchell Gould.

In this guide, we’ll cover the “how-tos” and “strategies” that will help guide you to creating an effective keyword plan for your website, ad campaigns, or YouTube channel.

Proper keyword research can minimize the time it takes to scale your traffic and boost your ROI.

Worldwide there are approximately 3.5 billion searches on Google each day (source). The good thing is that there are a lot of great keyword opportunities for your content to rank for! We’ll focus on Google’s search engines (Google and YouTube) as they make up the largest search engine market share.

Let the search begin!

Introduction to keyword research:

This section will cover the basics of keyword research, like different types of search intent, keyword attributes, and use cases. This will help formulate a strategy by generating keyword ideas that make the most sense for your objectives.

What are the different types of keywords?

There are five different types of keywords to consider in the keyword research process.

They are categorized by the different types of search intent. Meaning, the user is looking for specific types of content to satisfy their search.

1. Informational Intent: Searchers that are looking for informational content like answers to questions, facts, statistics, etc.
   1. Example of informational searches:
      1. How to write a blog
      2. What is the capital of Texas
      3. Seattle weather
2. Navigational Intent: Searches that are looking for a particular website or page. Many users will search for a page instead of typing in the exact www domain of the page.
   1. Examples of navigational searches:
      1. Salesforce login
      2. Gmail
      3. CNN
      4. REI
3. Commercial Intent: Searchers looking for additional information about a product or service. Their intent may be to compare products or learn more about a particular service. These tend to be valuable keywords as the user is gathering more information before making a transaction.
   1. Examples of commercial searches:
      1. best website builder
      2. Shopify reviews
      3. Wix vs Squarespace
      4. residential home painters
      5. best winter jacket
4. Transactional Intent: Searches that are looking to complete an action like buying a service or product.
   1. Examples of Transactional searches:
      1. buy groceries online
      2. black Friday gopro sale
      3. lawnmower for sale
5. Local Intent: Searchers are looking for products or services for a specific location. These types of searches usually include a regional or geographical location or “near me” in addition to the main keyword.
   1. Examples of Local searches:
      1. Home Depot near me
      2. Donut shop in West Seattle
      3. San Diego yoga studios
      4. Portland OR certified accountants

What are short tail and long tail keywords?

Short tail keywords are searches that consist of one to two words. They are less specific, which can make it harder to understand the searchers’ intent and tend to have higher search volumes. Example: “blue”, “laptop”, “b2b marketing”, “old cars”, etc.

Long tail keywords are searches that consist of multiple words that provide additional cues to the intent of the search and have lower search volumes. Example: “What is the best website builder?”, “b2b marketing strategies”, “how to sell an old car”, “best laptop for college students”, etc.

Now that we got a basic understanding of the different types of keywords, let’s get into the details of keyword research for different marketing channels:

How to do keyword research for Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

The goal of an SEO strategy is to increase a website’s organic traffic. In order to do that, one needs to identify keyword opportunities where you can rank on the first page of Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs).

Here are the steps to take when doing keyword research for SEO:

1. Brainstorm and create a keyword list using different methods (described below)
2. Understand topical authority and how the keyword relates to your content strategy
3. Review keyword difficulty and search volumes

1. Brainstorm and create a list of keyword ideas for SEO:

There are a lot of free tools to help with keyword research, though I have found Ahrefs paid tool to be the best for generating keyword ideas and evaluating keyword difficulty.

It isn’t free, but most serious bloggers and SEO’s use Ahref. Try Ahref’s free for 7-days (not affiliated).

Here are the best ways to create a list of keywords:

A. Review what keywords your competitors rank for:

On Ahrefs, you can enter a competitor’s website and see which keywords they rank for.

You can use filters to narrow down the results by looking at keywords the competitor ranks for on the first page of the Google SERPs. You can also exclude the competitor’s brand name.

In the below example, you can see which organic keywords quicksprout.com is ranking for in the first 10 positions of Google’s organic result listings.

The list is sorted by volume, so you can easily scroll through and get keyword ideas for your own site.

You can select keywords and save them to a list that you can then use to evaluate which keywords to create content for first.

In Ahrefs, you can also go into the content gap section under the site explore tab to see keywords that one domain ranks for but another does not.

The screenshot below shows a list of keywords neilpatel.com ranks for that quicksprout.com doesn’t. This can help you find keywords that you have not covered in your content, but are working well for the competition.

I also like to use Ahrefs chrome extension when reviewing a competitor’s website to see all the keywords that a particular page ranks for. Just click the Ahrefs chrome extension while visiting a website, and then click the keywords section, and a new tab will open up in Ahrefs with the keywords that the page ranks for.

B. Review matching and related terms on Ahref:

Under the keywords explorer section, you can go to matching terms and enter a keyword to get search terms that include that keyword. This is great for finding longer tail keywords and to get ideas for other types of content you can create.

In the screenshot below, you can see many different searches matching the keyword “keyword research” that I could create content for.

I could write about “keyword research” in general, create a blog post on “keyword research tools,” or even a list post of all the “free keyword research tools.”

The related terms section will give you terms related to a keyword you enter. In the below example, I searched “best keyword research,” and I got related results like “google keyword planner,” “answer the public,” “how to search words on a page,” etc.

This can help you discover related topics and keywords you can write about.

C. Use Google to get keyword ideas:

Since Google owns most of the search market share, it makes sense to use their tools to get keyword ideas and search volumes.

1. Google’s keyword planner
2. Google Trends
3. Google’s people also ask
4. Google’s related searches
5. Google’s autocomplete in the search bar

Google’s keyword planner:

To access Google’s keyword planner, you need to create a free Google Ads account. In your Google Ads Account, go to Tools and Settings → Keyword Planner.

From there, you can choose to discover new keywords or get search volumes and forecasts.

In the discover new keywords section, you can get keywords by entering some example keywords or by entering a website to generate keyword ideas.

Google will give you estimated monthly search volumes and other performance metrics like estimated cost-per-clicks (CPCs).

Google Trends:

Google trends is great to see how specific keywords and topics are trending over time. They also provide a breakout section that identifies terms that are seeing an increase in search activity.

You can adjust the geographic location, time range, categories, and search type (web search, image search, shopping, YouTube search).

Use this tool to understand how certain topics and searches are trending over time and to get keyword ideas from the related topics and queries section.

Google People Also Ask:

The Google “people also ask for” section on the Google SERPs provides additional searches and questions people have also search for related to the keyword you searched. This is great to get additional keyword and content ideas.

Here you can see the other things people search for related to “b2b marketing”.

If you click on one of the results it will show some information and also populate more “people also ask” queries that you can review.

Google Related Searches:

At the bottom of Google’s SERPs you can find the “Related searches” section that provides searches related to the keyword you searched.

Google’s Auto Complete:

As you type in a keyword in Google’s search bar, you can see the autocomplete search options which can be great for finding terms related to your keywords. You can type additional letters to see what Google auto suggests.

2. Understand topical authority:

Topical authority occurs when one writes and covers all areas of a topic. Case studies show that when a website covers all portions of topic, including the search terms that get little to no volume, Google’s knowledge graph will see you as an authority and possibly start ranking your pages higher on the SERPs.

This topical authority case study by Koray Tuğberk GÜBÜR shows how he was able to dramatically increase the organic traffic to a few sites by leveraging the concept of creating content based on topical maps.

Another popular SEO, Matt Digity discusses the concept of topical authority in many of his YouTube videos. Check his channel out for examples of how topical authority has helped him increase the traffic for his clients’ sites.

So when generating keyword ideas, don’t forget to include keywords that are relevant to your topic, even if the search volume is low.

You’ll definitely want to prioritize which keywords you create content for, but you should consider covering all aspects of a particular topic.

As an example: If I’m targeting the keyword “B2B Marketing”, I’ll want to make sure I have content written and internally linked on my site about all aspects of B2B marketings.

Like- What is B2B marketing, B2B marketing tools, B2B marketing strategies, B2B marketing plans, B2B marketing issues, B2B marketing channels, etc.

Source: www.oncrawl.com

3. Review keyword difficulty and search volumes:

Once you have a list of keyword ideas, you’ll want to prioritize which keywords you will target first.

The truth is, a lot of keywords are super competitive, especially if you are in an industry with large competitors.

To make the most use of your time and money, you can evaluate the keyword difficulty and prioritize your keywords by answering the below questions.

• What is the keyword difficulty in Ahref?
• Does a website with a low domain authority rank on the first page for this keyword?
• What are the Domain and URL ratings of the websites that rank on the first page of Google?
• How much search volume does the keyword receive?
• Does this keyword fit into my content strategy?

In Ahref, select a keyword from your list and look at the keyword difficulty. This gives a score on how difficult it is to rank on the first page of Google. Generally, the larger the number, the more difficult, though that’s not always the case.

I like to use this as an initial indicator. If it’s near 100, there’s little to no chance to rank for that keyword.

That doesn’t mean you should not write content for that keyword. It just means that it is improbable you will rank on the first page of Google. You can still write content for that keyword to use as a sharable asset that can help you get backlinks to your website. Also, covering that topic can still help build your topical authority in your niche.

That’s exactly why I’m writing this post, not to rank on the first page of Google. The term “keyword research” is super competitive, but I can still use this post to share online or include in guest post articles that can help build backlinks to my site, and in turn, help build my domain authority.

If you see a website with a low Domain Rating (DR) on the first page of Google for a keyword, that’s a good indicator that there is an opportunity to also rank on the first page of Google.

Typically a DR of less than 40 is a good baseline. If you see multiple organic rankings with less than 40, then chances are the keyword is less competitive.

You can also check the URL Rating (UR). If the UR rating is less than 20, there are fewer backlinks to that page, which generally makes it less competitive. If you see a UR rating of 30+, it can be hard to outrank that content unless you build a lot of backlinks to it.

In general, if the keyword has commercial or transactional intent and high volume, it will be more competitive as a lot of websites will have written content and built backlinks to that content.

For example, the term “best CRM” is mainly dominated by high DR sites like pcmag and Zapier.

From there, you’ll also want to evaluate how much volume the keyword gets.

I tend to focus on low to medium volume keywords (200 – 2,500 searches per month) that have websites with lower domain ratings.

How to do keyword research for PPC?

**This section will be updated in 2022**

You can use many of the same techniques for PPC keyword research that are used on SEO.

You can use Google’s KW planner to brainstorm ideas and get estimated cost-per-clicks which can help you forecast how much you want to spend on terms.

You can use a tool like Ahrefs or SpyFu to review the terms your competition is bidding on.

How to do keyword research for YouTube:

**This section will be updated in 2022**

YouTube is the second-largest search engine globally, making up about 3 billion searches per month (source: forbes.com). I like using a tool like VidIQ, which will give you estimated search volumes and how competitive a term is.

Wrapping Things Up:

Good keyword research starts with understanding keyword intent and then using a variety of processes like Ahrefs keyword explorer or reviewing Google’s “people also ask” and other SERP features to find additional keyword opportunities.

For PPC, you can use similar techniques to SEO and also leverage tools like SpyFu to see what other competitors are bidding on.

With YouTube, tools like VidIQ work well at getting estimated keyword volumes and related keyword ideas.

Frequently Asked Questions About KW Research:

What are the best keyword research tools for SEO?

The best keyword research tool for SEO is Ahrefs.

What is the best free keyword research tool?

The best free keyword research tool is Google’s keyword planner.

How to do keyword research for Amazon?

To do keyword research on Amazon, you can use a tool like DataHawk.

What is a search query?

A search query is a word or combination of words used in a search on any search engine, like Google.com. Here are some example of search queries: “how to train a dog”, “how to run faster”, “best hiking socks”, “best laptop”, “cafe near me”, etc.

The post Keyword Research for SEO, PPC, and YouTube (2023 Guide) appeared first on Mitchell Gould.

One of my favorite AI writing software tools is Grammarly which I first used back in 2013 to edit and proofread my college written finals. AI writing software features have come a long way since then, and now, in 2023, there are multiple AI writing solutions to choose from.

I put the below 7 AI writing software tools to the test by having them write most of the below content. We’ll discuss the features of each tool, use cases, and prices. So whether you’re looking to generate a blog post, create optimized social headlines, or even write a novel, we have you covered.

What is the best AI Writing Software?

Here are my top recommendations for the best AI Writing Software:

1. Jasper

Best Overall AI Content Writing Software

Jasper ai writing assistant software uses artificial intelligence to analyze your progress, understand what you’re trying to say, and generate ideas for the next sentence. Jasper’s machine learning has read over 10% of the internet, so it can cover just about any niche or topic you need to write about. Jarvis can also do it all for you. Just provide a few inputs to help direct Jasper, and it will write paragraphs, blog posts, briefs, and just about anything related to writing and take care of formatting, spelling mistakes, and find synonyms.

Features:

• Jasper commands: Jasper.ai commands are a set of instructions that allow you to interact with Jarvis. You can write a sentence and trigger a command to have Jarvis write additional content. For example, you can ask a question, and Jarvis will reply by typing the answer. Here’s a guide with some commands to try.
• Templates: There are a variety of templates that help you create content for different use cases like Amazon product descriptions, blog posts, creative stories, intro paragraphs, and more.
• Recipes: You can create and save workflows of Jarvis commands that can be used to create additional content.
• Documents: Create documents and use Boss Mode to type in Jarvis commands to generate content or access the AI template library for a more guided framework.
• Surfer SEO integration: Integrate with Surfer to write optimized SEO content while using Jarvis.
• Power mode: Access templates from within your document to create content for specific use cases that can be pasted into your documents.

Pricing:

Jasper offers a wide range of features for a very reasonable price. It is a great choice for content creators of all types. There is a special free trial offer that includes 10,000 words so you can try out the software before you buy it.

• 10,000 words free trial
• The Starter subscription starts at $29/mo and includes a total of 20,000 words/month.
• Boss Mode starts at $59/month and includes 50,00 words/month. Boss mode has everything from the Starter but includes the long-form documents, Jasper commands, blog post creator, and more
• The words/month can be scaled up for each subscription, incrementally raising the cost per month.
• Save 16% on either version when switching to yearly billing

Why we like it:

My two favorite features are the Surfer SEO integration, so you can optimize your content for a particular keyword while generating AI content and using the power mode to access templates for different sections of a blog post. For example, I’ll use the “Blog Post Conclusion Paragraph” template to help wrap up a blog post. Simply add a few inputs, and Jarvis will generate outputs.

Cons:

The plagiarism checker feature is an add-on and costs $0.03 for the first 200 words and $0.01 for each additional 100 words. You can add $10, $20, or $100 funds for the plagiarism checker. Their plagiarism checker is powered by Copyscape, which I’ve used before, but it would be nice to include the plagiarism checker in Jarvis’s plans. I typically use Grammarly to do a plagiarism check which is included in Grammarly’s plans.

Special Free Trial Offer

2. Anyword

Best Ad Copy AI Writing Software

We all know that generating compelling ad copy is time-consuming. That’s why Anyword.com exists- to take the pain out of creating persuasive marketing content. Their AI writer was trained on 250 million dollars ad spend, so it can help create optimized ad copy for any channel, meaning you can focus on more important things like developing strategic initiatives.

Features:

• Connect your ad accounts: Let Anyword’s AI writer learn from your ads so it can optimize copy that’s in a similar style to your own (business plan only).
• Predictive performance score: This evaluates your copy variations and rates them based on how optimized and likely they are to be successful. (business plan only).
• Original text suggestions
• Text personalization
• Preset keyword library
• Custom keywords
• Ad account integration
• API Integration

Pricing:

• 7-day Free Trial (no credit card required)
• Start at $19/month
• Business at $239/month
• Contact their sales team for enterprise pricing

Why we like it:

We were impressed with their Facebook post feature. We provided a couple of short sentences, and Anyword generated usable outputs that only needed a few minor tweaks.

Cons:

Overall this is a great ai content generator, and if you upgrade to the business plan, you unlock some key features like their predictive performance score. However, it would be nice if they had a long-form writing assistant like Jarvis so you can access different templates within a single document instead of creating a new project for different use cases. Also, their starter plan for $20/month only includes 15,000 words which can go quickly.

Get a 7-day Free Trial

3. Grammarly

Best AI Grammar Checker Software

Grammarly is the perfect tool for anyone who wants to write better. It uses artificial intelligence to help you catch grammar mistakes and improve your writing style. It can grammar check your essays, papers, emails, blog posts, and other documents. It also includes a vocabulary builder and plagiarism detector. With Grammarly, you’ll be able to produce polished, mistake-free writing that will make you look like a pro.

Features:

• Grammar, spelling, and punctuation checker
• Checks for contextual grammar mistakes
• Plagiarism checker
• Multiple integrations with emails, documents (like google docs), and social media
• Chrome extension
• Desktop extension to work in documents like Microsoft Word

Pricing:

• Their basic writing features are free
• Premium starts at $12/month
• Business plans start at $12.50/month
• You can save if you buy a yearly plan

Why we like it:

We’ve been using Grammarly for years and absolutely love it! It’s so nice to have piece of mind that your writing is error-free. The chrome extension is a game-changer making it easy to edit your emails and google docs or any other writing platform on a browser.

We also really like their plagiarism checker, which can be accessed in documents via the browser app.

Cons:

There are not too many negatives when it comes to Grammarly. Their plans are affordable, and the tool works great. One thing that would be nice is if it integrated with Google Slides. Currently, the browser extension doesn’t work with Google Slides, but that isn’t’ a big deal since we can use Google Docs to check our copy and then tweak anything in Google Slides if needed.

Get your free account

4. Copysmith

Best AI Writing Software for Eccommerce

Copysmith is a great AI writing tool that can help you write content that is both SEO-friendly and plagiarism-free. In addition, it has a host of features and use cases that make it an excellent choice for content creators of all types.

Features:

• Ecommerce product descriptions
• Ecommerce Bulk Generation for stores with a lot of SKUs
• Chrome Extension
• Multiple integrations (Google docs, Microsoft word, Shopify, and more.)
• AI proof-reader with subject matter expertise
• Folders for easy organization of all your files
• Templates

Pricing:

• Starter at $19/month
• Professional at $59/month
• Teams at $118/month for two users
• You will need to contact their sales team for a quote for enterprise-level service.
• 7-day free trial

Why we like it:

We like the available multiple integrations, specifically the Shopify integration, which automatically updates product descriptions from your workspace. They also have a bulk generation feature to create and update thousands of SKUs at scale.

Cons:

We like their Shopify integration, and UI is easy to use. However, we felt like their AI writer took a bit longer to generate outputs than other AI writers like Jarvis.

Start your free trial

5. Surfer SEO

Best AI SEO Content Scorer and AI Outline Generator

Surfer SEO is a tool to help you rank higher on the Google Search Result Pages (SERPs). It analyzes the top pages in the SERPs for a particular keyword and provides you with the terms and headlines you should use in your content to increase your chances of ranking on that keyword. You can also create outlines using their AI content generator, create briefs, and optimize your content as you write in Google Docs.

Here’s an example of the content score as I write this blog post. As you can see, my content score is pretty strong at 77 out of 100, and I’m using a lot of the suggested top terms.

You can see the AI-generated copy for headings in the outline section and easily copy them into your posts. For example, I used some of the suggested copy in this blog post.

Features:

• SERP analysis and content suggestions
• Outline builder with AI-generated content
• Works in all languages
• Content Auditor
• Jarvis Integration
• Google Chrome extension and Google Docs integration
• API Integration

Pricing:

• $59/month for the basic plan
• $119/month for the pro plan
• $239/month for the business plan
• Save 17% if you select annual billing

Why we like it:

We’ve been using Surfer SEO for a while and really like the content score, which helps us stay on track as we’re writing our articles.

Cons:

Surfer SEO has many great features and has been key to helping us create competitive articles in the marketing niche. Their AI content in the outline section is beneficial, but we would like to see more AI writing features at some point. They do integrate with Jarvis, so it’s not a big issue, but that does require people to have a Jarvis subscription in addition to Surfer SEO.

Start Ranking Your Content

6. INK

Best AI SEO Analytics Features

Do you have trouble coming up with ideas for your next piece of content? You’re not alone. We all struggle to come up with great ideas sometimes, and that’s where INK Editor comes in. Their AI co-writing & SEO sssistant can help you write better content faster than ever before by giving you the best possible topic suggestions based on what people are searching for online. It also helps optimize your articles so they rank higher in search engines like Google and Bing, which means more traffic to your site.

You can use their tools in the browser app and download their editor app that can be used from your desktop. Check out the examples below.

Features:

• AI writing assistant
• Advertising tools like an AI content generator for Google ads headline, YouTube video titles, description intros, and more.
• SEO optimization suggestions
• Productivity signals like word count and shortcuts
• WordPress Integration

Pricing:

• INK Free
• $35/month for Ink Pro
• $99/month for Ink Pro Unlimited
• Custom plans are available if you need more seats
• Savings are available if you select yearly billing
• AI generation costs 1 INK point (you have 50 INK points on the free plan and unlimited on the other plans).

Why we like it:

We like their INK SEO score and how it breaks things out into a few different categories. For example, “Word” tasks give you tips on how to improve your composition and readability. “Document Tasks” help with keyword usage and metadata items like adding missing image alt text.

We were happy with their ai writing assistant as well. INK requires you to write a sentence or two before generating more AI content. This helps guide the AI generator by continually feeding it some inputs.

Their tools are accessible via the browser app and can help with several things like generating copy for Facebook ads or creating listicles or hero text.

CONS:

INK has many great features and tools, so we definitely recommend it. However, we would like to see the editor be available within a browser. Currently, you need to download the editor to your computer. Tools like the Facebook headline generator are still available within the browser app, which we prefer.

Try Ink for free

7. Frase

Best SEO Analytics With an AI Writer

Frase.io is the ultimate content creation platform. It makes it easy to develop briefs, generate optimized SEO content, and write engaging copy. With frase.io, your team can quickly and easily create high-quality content and compare it to the content ranking in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Features:

• Outline builder
• Templates
• AI Writer
• Content Analytics
• Google Search Console integration
• Manual and AI-driven template creator to improve workflows

Pricing:

• 7-day trial for $1
• Solo plan for $19.99/month
• Basic plan for $44.99/month
• Team plan for $114.99/month
• Save 15% if you sign up for yearly billing

Try it for 7-days for $1

Why we like it:

We like their outline tool, which lets you select a set of keywords and then generates questions from the SERPs that you can then use to create an outline. From there, you go into the editor, where you can analyze the content ranking in the SERPs and optimize your content to fill gaps that the competition missed.

Their AI writing tool works pretty well and generated a few workable paragraphs based on a few lines of context.

Cons:

Their AI writer and SEO data like backlink and domain authority for search results is a $35/month add-on. However, their UI feels less user-friendly compared to Surfer SEO and takes more time to get familiar with.

Wrapping Things Up:

I hope this article has given you some insight into the best ai writing software. If you’re still on the fence about which one to choose, I recommend Jarvis, as it has an affordable starter plan with dozens of templates to help you with various use cases.

With all these tools, you have to provide inputs and help guide the AI writer to generate quality content that matches your intent. As AI technology progresses, we’ll see these tools continue to get better and more efficient.

Also, always use Grammarly or Copyscape to check for plagiarism. Since these tools use machine learning from existing content, they sometimes pull unoriginal content, so make sure to check before publishing.

AI Writing Software FAQs:

What is AI writing assistant software?

AI writing software is a type of software that uses artificial intelligence to help you write content. It can help you to generate blog posts, expand sentences, draft content briefs, write product features, create SEO-friendly content, and much more. There are several different AI writing software options available on the market, and each one has its own set of features and benefits.

How do AI writers work?

Artificial intelligence uses natural language processing (NLP) and computer algorithms to form a novel neural network. Artificially intelligent software trainers teach the neural system what makes for compelling reading. After acquiring vast understanding through intense repetition, robot authors will work to mimic real writers.

What are the best free AI writing tools?

• Simplified.co
• Grammarly (basic)

What is AI novel writing software?

AI novel writing software is a type of software that helps writers create stories or novels with the help of artificial intelligence. This type of software is designed to help writers with the structure and organization of their work and the actual writing process.

What is the best AI novel writing software?

• Jarvis.ai
• Shortlyai

How much does AI writing software cost?

Pricing for AI writing software can vary depending on the features and use cases offered. Some more basic tools are available for free, while more complex solutions can cost several hundred dollars per month. For example, Jarvis.ai, a popular AI writing tool, has a starter plan for $29/month.

Is AI writing good for content creators?

Yes. AI-written material is perfect for content writers to create copy for websites, advertisements, landing pages, product descriptions, and much more. There are various types of AI writing software that make predictions based on previously written data and then use machine learning algorithms for content creation. This helps free up time so content creators can focus on strategies and not just writing.

The post 7 Best AI Writing Software in 2023 (Tested and Ranked) appeared first on Mitchell Gould.

Well working on the digital marketing and reporting efforts of small to enterprise-level companies, I’ve learned that B2B software can help streamline processes, create better operational visibility, generate growth, and help businesses track and accomplish their goals.

A team must know which B2B software to use, implement it, and then use it as intended.

For example, suppose you will upgrade to a new CRM like Salesforce. In that case, it does little use to your organization if the sales and marketing teams are not using it or using it as intended.

So with the below B2B software list, make sure you have a champion to follow through with the implementation and adoption from teams and colleagues.

We’ll cover software that can help generate more leads, streamline lead nurturing, provide better customer experiences, boost SEO rankings, send proposals, and much more in the below list.

Let’s dive in!

Types of B2B software tools:

• B2B Lead Generation and Nurturing Software
• B2B Sales Enablement Software
• B2B Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Software
• B2B Data Visualization software
• B2B Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
• B2B Content Management Systems (CMS) Software
• B2B Landing Page Software
• B2B Content Marketing and SEO Software
• B2B Reputation Management Software
• B2B Email Marketing Software
• B2B Marketing Automation Software
• B2B Social Media Management Software
• B2B eCommerce Software
• B2B Marketing Analytics and Attribution Software
• B2B Video Hosting Software
• B2B Customer Experience (CX) and Help Desk Software
• B2B File Sharing software
• B2B Proposal Software
• B2B Phone Tracking Software
• B2B Call Center Tracking

What are the best B2B software tools?

Here are the best B2B software tools for you to start leveraging in 2022:

B2B Lead Generation and Nurturing Software

1. Seamless.ai

Reduce the time spent building prospecting lists. Seamless.ai gives you direct access to verified B2B decision-makers so you can spend your time reaching out and building relationships instead of scouring the web for the correct contacts.

2. UpLead

B2B prospecting tool with over 50 search filters to help you find real-time verified contacts. Use their chrome extension to get prospect sales info while visiting websites and LinkedIn profiles. They also have an email finder product that allows you to search for prospect emails by company name or URL.

3. Leadfeeder

Website visitor identification software lets you see which companies are visiting your site, how they found your site, and what they are interested in. You can use their segmentation tool to qualify and score high-quality leads, and it can integrate with your CRM. They also have a connector tool that can enrich the data in other tools like chatbots, landing pages, and Google Analytics. Their data is fully compliant with privacy laws and GDPR.

4. Lead Rebel

Similar to Leadfeeder, with a few fewer features, but still an excellent option for website visitor identification. You can get prospect contact details that you can then follow up on. Lead Rebel is GDPR compliant since they only track at the organizational level from open sources.

5. Chilipiper

Chilipiper is an advanced scheduling app that helps boost demand generation and sales. Their Concierge tool helps qualify leads and route them to the right team or content and allows the prospect to schedule a meeting right when they show interest (like after submitting a form for a demo).

6. Breadcrumbs.io

Contact scoring solution so you can prioritize leads most likely to drive revenue. In addition, their scoring model included Recency and Frequency variables to make scoring more dynamic. Breadcrumbs.io connects to your data sources, and then you can use your model or their model builder to start discovering revenue opportunities ASAP.

B2B Sales Enablement Software

7. Clickpoint

All-in-one sales and lead management platform to drive leads and improve sales performance. Their core features include outbound dialing, call routing, lead management, text messaging, sales analytics, and lead nurturing.

8. Wingman

Conversational intelligence platform to help you drive more revenue and elevate sales teams and processes. Packed full of features, Wingman offers call recordings that can be read and searched, real-time sales coaching, contextual cues to navigate challenging situations with prospects, and more.

9. Showpad

A modern selling platform with a set of tools to enable your team to serve prospects better and drive more closes. Their sales content management creates a centralized location for sales and marketing teams to find and add content and track which content is helping close deals. Learning management tools to onboard and prep sellers for any sales situation and in-deal coaching tools to help improve sales calls and best practices.

10. Mediafly

Revenue enablement solution that helps streamline creating content, sharing sales content, sales training, quantifying results, and more.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Software

11. 6sense

An account engagement platform to help you identify key accounts so your sales and marketing team can focus on the right opportunities. Learn where prospects are in the buyer’s journey and engage with them at the right time.

12. Openprise

No code platform that helps align sales, marketing, and tech stacks to achieve growth across many use cases using data, marketing, and sales automation.

Data Visualization software

13. Tableau

Making data-driven decisions is key to being competitive and generating growth. With the Tableau platform, you can connect your data sources and build analytical content that teams can analyze and leverage.

14. Looker

Data analytics platform for analytics and business teams. Create dashboards and views to get critical insights into your data that can help you scale and grow.

B2B Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

15. Salesforce

Most B2B professionals are familiar with Salesforce. It’s one of the largest CRM providers globally and has multiple integrations that can be used across marketing, sales, IT, service, and commerce teams. Use salesforce to provide better customer experiences, from engaging with new leads to customer support.

16. HubSpot

A powerful CRM platform that is easy to use and even has a free version. This is an excellent option for small to medium-size businesses and has tools to help grow your site’s traffic, manage qualified leads, provide customer support, automate workflows, and more.

17. Pipedrive

Known as one of the easiest CRMs to use, Pipedrive was built by salespeople for salespeople. Create sales flows, aka “pipelines,” and move leads through the stages until they close. Pipedrive comes with a robust sales automation system where you can automate administrative tasks so salespeople can focus more of their precious time closing deals.

B2B Content Management Systems (CMS) Software

18. Contentful

Manage content across all digital experiences using their centralized content hub that works across developers’ favorite tech stacks and frameworks. Their solution streamlines developers’ processes, giving content creators and project managers control to release content faster to target audiences.

19. WordPress.org

WordPress.org is one of the most popular open-source CMS platforms in the world. It’s a fully customizable self-hosted platform with many paid and free tools you can integrate for different use cases like lead management, SEO, and much more.

20. BigCommerce

Headless ready eCommerce solution so you can use any front-end experience while having the peace of mind of a scalable, secure, customized eCommerce backend.

B2B Landing Page Software

21. Unbounce

Want to generate more PPC leads, highlight a new whitepaper or case study, or even promote a new product? Unbounce is an excellent option for creating pre-optimized landing pages from templates or scratch.

22. Instapage

Over 4 million landing pages have been built on InstaPage (source: instapage.com), making it one of the top landing page builders on the market. It comes with easy integrations to quickly get things like Google Tag Manager, and GDPR set up. It also allows you to add custom code if you want to go beyond the out-of-the-box options and has a team collaboration feature built-in.

B2B Content Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Software

23. Brighlocal

Is a local SEO platform with tools to help you grow your local SEO rankings, manage your reputation, and get more leads. They have small business to enterprise-level solutions that can save you time and eliminate risk areas that can impact your rankings.

24. Ahrefs

Ahrefs has a lot of powerful features to help boost your SEO program. Their Keyword explorer tool gives you search volume and competitive metrics to evaluate a keyword’s competitiveness. They also have a keyword ideas section to help you brainstorm terms you may want to target. In addition to keyword insights, they have features to review domain names, content and track your rankings. If you only have the budget for one SEO tool, I recommend this.

25. Conductor

An enterprise-level organic marketing platform to help build and run a comprehensive SEO program that understands your audience, identifies opportunities, creates engaging content, and measures performance.

B2B Reputation Management Software

26. mention

With so many platforms a customer or prospect can leave feedback about an organization, it’s crucial to be aware of it so you can respond effectively and quickly. Mention has four key features to keep you up-to-speed on your brand’s reputation. Create custom alerts with Boolean operators; monitor across millions of sources for mentions of your brand and products with reporting and organization features; a hub to schedule and post your social media content.

27. Synup

Serving small to enterprise-level businesses, Synup helps you build your organization’s reputation online by notifying you of reviews and using natural language processing to highlight and aggregate reviews with different sentiments. In addition to reputation management, they offer business listing management, performance tracking, and content management solutions.

B2B Email Marketing Software

28. ActiveCampaign

One of the top email automation providers, ActiveCampaign’s platform gives you a ton of control and options over your email campaigns. Some of the futures included triggered emails based on particular customer behavior or interactions, broadcast emails, targeted emails, email auto-responses, funnels, scheduling, and more. In addition to email automation, they have platform features for messaging and text, machine learning, landing page templates, and more.

29. Braze

A customer engagement platform that helps you segment audiences, craft personalized messages, and connect with customers at the right moment across channels.

B2B Marketing Automation Software

30. Pardot

Pardot is the marketing automation tool that works directly with the Salesforce CRM. It’s a powerful B2B marketing automation platform that helps marketing and sales stay aligned through lead scoring and nurturing so sales can spend more time on hot leads that have a higher probability of closing.

31. Hubspot

Hubspot’s marketing automation tool does more than just automate emails. It can be used to automate workflows for lead scoring, lead routing, triggering webhooks, copying data, and many other use cases that can save you time on repetitive tasks.

32. Autopilot

Autopilot offers automation solutions for SaaS, B2B, and Ecommerce clients. Their B2B solution leverages their Customer Data Platform (CDP) to analyze insights and create actions that can be taken as your prospects move through the buyer’s journey.

33. Maropost

Create custom workflows that you can use to automate emails, text messages, web content, and social media posts.

B2B Social Media Marketing Software

34. SocialPilot

The social media space constantly evolves and involves multiple channels like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, etc. It can be daunting to stay on top of everything, but that’s where a tool like SocialPilot comes in handy. SocialPilot is a social media scheduling and publishing tool with team management and collaboration features that helps you post across channels all from one platform.

35. SproutSocial

Focus on high-value and high-priority items by using SproutSocial to automate your social media scheduling and posting. Beyond scheduling and posting, their Social Listening feature helps you identify what customers are saying, so you can engage correctly and create marketing strategies that speak directly to your customers’ needs and wants.

B2B eCommerce Software

36. BigCommerce

The BigCommerce platform supports both B2C and B2B commerce. Their B2B features consist of B2B optimized themes, API integrations, price lists and customer groups, corporate account management, invoice portals, sales representative quoting, and more.

37. Tradeshift

Accounts Payable (AP) automation and e-pay solution that also has a global list of suppliers to help elevate your digital supply chain.

38. Skubana

Eccomerce inventory and order management platform that provides a unified hub to keep track of all channels. Some features include automated data flows for order management, order bots, a centralized database for all suppliers, order analytics for better efficiency and operations.

B2B Marketing Analytics and Attribution Software

39. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is Google’s free analytical tool to track website traffic and performance. You can set specific events and goals to track and review performance from different traffic sources. In addition, Google Ads and Google Search Console integrate with Google Analytics so you can deep dive into performance for paid and organic traffic.

40. Segment

Segment is a Customer Data Platform (CDP) that helps businesses store and organize all their data and create customer insights so you can provide personalized customer experiences through real-time segmentation.

B2B Video Hosting Software

41. Sproutvideo

Sproutvideo is a B2B video hosting platform for live and on-demand video. My favorite feature they offer is the in-player CTAs that you can use to capture leads with their post-play screens. Check out their site to see the whole host of features, but to name a few, they have multiple security capabilities like video access logs and geo-restrictions, account management features, playback analytics, engagement tracking, video landing pages, video SEO, and much more.

42. JWPlayer

JWPlayer is a video hosting platform with live-stream, on-demand, monetization, and engagement features. They offer ad integrations and Video Player Bidding to help drive revenue without slowing down playback for your viewers.

B2B Customer Experience (CX) and Help Desk Software

43. Zendesk

Zendesk offers out-of-the-box and fully customizable customer service solutions for small to enterprise-level businesses. That means as your business scales and support gets more complicated, Zendesk can be configured to your needs helping you provide the best customer experience. Some of their top features include a ticketing system, messaging & live chat, help center, answer bots, live chat, reporting, and analytics, to name a few.

44. Sprinklr

A unified customer experience platform to help your business capture and analyze data across multiple channels that you can then use to create and implement highly optimized brand awareness and customer experience strategies.

45. Freshdesk

Omnichannel support platform to help boost organizations’ customer service experiences. Top features include ticketing, self-service, reporting, field service management, remote support, and team collaboration.

46. Zoho Desk

Zoho includes some AI-powered features that differentiate it from other customer service platform providers. One such feature is their AI-powered customer sentiment prediction to analyze the meaning of customers’ messages. In addition to AI capabilities, some of their top features include remote support, help desk software, ticketing system, live chat ticketing, email ticketing, call-center support, and more.

B2B File Sharing software (enterprise file sharing)

47. WeTransfer

We’ve all needed to send a massive file before. Whether that be an excel forecast, design mockups, archived documents, WeTransfer makes it simple to send big files to colleagues or clients. Send unlimited files with no size limit with their premium subscription or up to 2GB for free if you periodically send files.

48. Filemail

Share any size files with Filemail. Top features include secure file transfers, tracking, fast transfers, GDPR compliance, website integration, custom branding, and more.

B2B Proposal Software

49. PandaDoc

PandaDoc offers proposal and document workflow software to optimize and streamline proposals, quotes, contracts, e-signatures, forms, and more. In addition, PandaDoc has solutions for sales, marketing, HR onboarding and integrates with most CRMs.

50. Proposify

Proofsify’s platform streamlines the proposals process by organizing and tracking all proposals from a central hub and includes easy-to-use branded templates with customizable content, proposal live chat features, an online signature tool, and more.

B2B Phone Tracking Software

51. CallRail

CallRail helps you track and properly route call sources so you can understand which sources deliver the best ROI. In addition to call tracking they have, form tracking, conversation intelligence, and lead center management products.

52. CallTrackingMetrics

A call tracking platform that also provides call analytics so teams can identify opportunities and strategies to enhance campaigns and customer experiences.

B2B Communication and Call Center Software

53. Dialpad

Dialpad offers business communication products like business phone systems, messaging, and team video conferences. They also have customer engagement features like contact center support and AI-enabled capabilities for sales outreach.

54. talkdesk

Talkdesk is an end-to-end contact center solution with products like contact center software, self-service experiences, omnichannel engagement, workforce engagement management, and much more.

55. Invoca

Invoca captures all data from phone calls with searchable transcripts and audio recordings and leverages AI to get insights from all calls so you can analyze and scale efforts that lead to sales and optimize low-performing efforts and campaigns.

Wrapping It Up:

In this list, we covered a variety of B2B software tools that can help you drive more growth in your business. Remember, with any of these solutions, it’s essential to have a champion oversee the implementation and adoption.

FAQs:

What is B2B software?

B2B software is software that provides solutions for other businesses. An example of B2B Software would be an email automation tool like ActiveCampaign, which helps companies automate emails and workflows.

What is B2B SaaS?

B2B SaaS software is used by businesses to help solve particular problems. Some software-as-a-service examples included call tracking, customer support, lead generation software, to name a few.

Is B2B the same as SaaS?

B2B is not the same as SaaS. B2B stands for Business-to-Business, which means the business’s primary customer is another business and not an individual. SaaS stands for Software-as-a-Service and means the software provides a service to its customers, but its customers can be either a business or an individual.

What are some B2B software companies?

Here is a quick list of some B2B software companies:

• HubSpot
• Salesforce
• CallRail
• Tableau
• Zendesk
• SproutSocial
• Invoca
• Instapage
• Seamless.ai

The post 53+ B2B Software Tools to Leverage in 2023 (By Category) appeared first on Mitchell Gould.

Optimizing your local online presence is a must in 2023 if you want to get more leads, clients, and brick-and-mortar foot traffic.

These tips will help your business reach more local customers when they are online looking for your service or product.

This list includes both paid and free local online marketing strategies so you can take action no matter what your budget is.

Online marketing can be overwhelming at first, so I recommend focusing on 1-2 tips at a time. If you don’t have the time or you need to focus on other areas of your business, I’ve included tips on finding a local online marketing agency or a digital marketing consultant.

Here are the best local online marketing tips to get more leads and customers in 2023:

1. Set up and optimize Google My Business (GMB)

Google My Business is how local businesses show on Google. It allows your business to be listed on Google Maps if you have a physical location and organic search results when someone searches your business or services on Google.

It can show in a few different formats depending on the exact search and if the user is on a mobile or desktop device.

The more optimized this is, the better chance you have at your business showing when a person searches for a term relative to your business.

You can create or manage your GMB listing by visiting Google’s Business Profile Manager. Completing your profile only takes a few minutes and is done through a step-by-step process.

Cost: Free

Here are some items that are eligible to show on your GMB profile:

• Name
• Address
• Phone
• Hours of operation
• Website
• Attributes
• Reviews
• Photos
• You can view the whole list here.

What makes GMB listings show?

• A user searches your business name
• A user searches for your service in your service area. EX: “Seattle plumbers”
• A user searches for your “service” + “near me” term on Google. EX: “plumbers near me”

How to optimize your listing:

• Make sure all your details are always up to date
• Complete each section of the setup
• Make sure you have the correct category for your business selected
• Add photos
• Get and manage reviews
• Check out the Search Engines Journal’s complete guide to GMB for more in-depth steps

Pro Tip: Send a personal thank you letter to past customers with whom you had a good rapport and ask for a positive review on your GMB profile. Reviews help boost credibility and rankings. Also, make sure to respond promptly and address any negative reviews.

2. Improve your local Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) includes techniques that help your website rank for searches on Google. For example, when a user searches for something like “West Seattle CPA,” a good SEO strategy will help your website show in the first result on Google.

Cost:

Free if done by yourself

Consultant or agencies (varies by scope, but generally around $300 – $3,000 per month)

Create localized content:

You can improve your rankings on Google’s organic search results by optimizing for local searches. That means you will want to have content on your website related to your business and mention your local area.

For example, if you have a residential painting service in Seattle, you could include local terms and relevant local information:

EX: “We’ve been providing residential home painting services in Seattle for over over 15 years. Our office is located in West Seattle, and you are welcome to come in and collaborate with our design team to completely tailor your project. Our team uses the most up-to-date paints and procedures to ensure that your paint job lasts for many seasons in the unpredictable Pacific Northwest climate.”

Local content examples:

• Local services pages (a page for each location you serve)
• Location-specific terms in the content
• Location relevant content (i.e., community, weather, events, etc. that is specific to your location and industry)

Source: terapainting.com

Onpage SEO optimization

In addition to local search content, you can optimize your on-page SEO. This just means making edits/updates to your site and content that make it easier for Google to crawl and read your website.

Google has bots that read and index your site. If they can’t correctly read your site, it can impact how you rank.

How to improve your on-page SEO:

• Make sure your pages have meta descriptions
• Make sure your content is formatted with headlines and subheadlines
• Use image alt-text
• Internally link pages
• Make sure your site works well on mobile devices
• Check out HubSpot’s complete on-page SEO guide for more tips and steps

3. Optimize your website for mobile visitors

In 2022 the number of searches from mobile devices will continue to grow. In 2014 – 2019 alone, there were over 94 billion local search queries in the US (source: statista.com). That’s why it is so essential that your website is mobile-friendly. You want your potential customers to have an easy time navigating your site and make it easy for them to get in contact with you.

First, check if your site is mobile-friendly using Google’s mobile-friendly test tool.

If your site is not mobile-friendly, it’s usually due to some common issues- like having small text that is hard to read, the content not fitting on the screen, or clickable elements like buttons to close together.

If your website is hosted on a landing page builder like Wix.com or Squarespace.com, you should be able to fix things in the editor pretty easily by enabling the mobile-friendly setting. If you use WordPress or another custom platform, take a look at updating your theme to a mobile/responsive theme.

How to make your website mobile-friendly:

• Use a mobile-friendly theme
• Ensure text is not too large or small
• Clickable buttons should not be too close together
• Make navigation as simple as possible
• Reduce page load times

4. Make a click-to-call phone number

If you have a local business that needs to generate more leads, consider making a click-to-call phone number show at the top of your page on mobile devices.

Phone calls tend to have a much higher conversion rate, and 65% of customers prefer to contact a business over the phone instead of filling out a form (source: invoca.com).

The phone number should be in the hero section of your website, which is the topmost portion of a page that you see before scrolling down. You can also include click-to-call buttons throughout your content or on or above lead forms.

5. Submit your business details to local business directories

In addition to GMB, you can submit your business details to directories, increasing your chances of having your profile viewed by potential customers and helping with your Google Search rankings.

Source: architectsindex.com

Business directory examples:

• Yelp
• Yellow Pages
• Apple maps
• Bing places
• Nextdoor

Here is a list of 22 local business directories you can use to start.

In addition to some more prominent directories like Yellow Pages and Bing Places, you can search for directories related to your industry. Brightlocal has a great resource with the top business directories by industry that you can browse and submit your business’s details to.

Here are the steps you can take to get your listing added:

1. Visit the directories website
2. Check if you are already listed. Most directories have a search function to search your business name in the directory quickly.
3. Most directories will have a “add your listing” button
4. Follow the steps and list your business.

6. Run geo-targeted Paid-Per-Click (PPC) search ads on Google

Google PPC ads show on the Google Search results above the organic listings. They are great because you can bid and show ads based on the term a user searches on Google, and you only pay for each click. That means you can bid on specific terms with high relevance and intent for your business.

Along with bidding on specific terms, you can target specific locations and radiuses as small as one mile.

When a user clicks a search ad, they will be directed to the page of your website that you specify. Ensure that the page has a clear call to action like “get a free estimate” or “call now” so the user knows what steps to take.

Steps to setting up PPC search ads on Google:

1. Create a Google Ads Account
2. Compile a list of keywords you want to target
   1. “location” + “service/product” EX: Seattle house painters
   2. “service/product” “near me” EX: house painters near me
   3. “service/product” EX: house painters
3. Determine the location you want to target (usually your service area or the city your business is located in)
4. Set up and run your campaign – YoutTube step-by-step guide

Depending on your industry and the terms you want to bid on, Google can become very expensive. I recommend working with a consultant or agency unless you have time to learn the nuances of Google Ads to avoid unnecessary spending.

7. Run geo-targeted call-only ads and call extensions on Google

In addition to PPC ads, you can run call-only ads on Google and call extensions that show your phone number on the ad. In fact, 70% of mobile searches click on call ads to connect with a business (source: invoca.com).

Learn how to set up your call-only ads from this call-only ad tutorial.

Learn how to set up your call extensions from this call extension tutorial.

8. Run Local Services Ads on Google

Another great local online marketing tactic is local services ads. Local services ads show at the top of the Google search results and include a verified badge. You must go through the verification or screening process after creating a profile.

These ads generate more leads and are only available for select industries. Google automates them, so you only need to set up your profile and determine a budget, and Google will automate the rest. You control your budget, and you can pause the ads when you like.

Visit Google’s Local Service Ads page to get started. They have account specialists available to help you set them up.

9. Run geo-targeted Facebook and Instagram ads

With Facebook and Instagram, you can create paid ads that target specific interests and demographics of users. Like Google ads, you can target specific locations or radiuses around a particular area.

When running a Facebook ads campaign, the most common placement for ads to show is on a users’ Facebook and Instagram feed.

You can use Facebook’s ads library to search for competitors to see what types of ads they are running.

Check out this tutorial by Shopify on creating a Facebook and Instagram ad campaign.

I hope you found that list helpful. If you have any questions about the above steps, feel free to send me an email, and I’d be happy to help or point you in the right direction.

How to find a local online marketing agency:

There are many local online marketing services that can help with the above tips. You can do a quick Google search and look for businesses in your area.

When you reach out, be sure to ask for examples and results from their past projects. Aso, confirm the cadence you will be reviewing performance and make sure expectations on deliverables are clear.

Some of the above marketing strategies, like SEO, do take time before you see results, so keep that in mind as you assess performance.

5 tools to help with your local online marketing:

1. Google Page Speed Insights – Check your page load speed
2. Google Mobile-Friendly Test – Check if your site is mobile-friendly
3. Brightlocal – All in one local search management platform
4. Google Keyword planner – Get search term volume estimates
5. Canva – Create social ads
6. Facebook ads library – Review paid social ads from other businesses

Local Online Marketing FAQs:

What is local online marketing?

Local online marketing is the process of implementing digital marketing strategies that help businesses connect with their target local customers to generate more revenue. Some strategies include local SEO, geo-targeted paid ads, Google My Business optimizations, and more.

What is local digital marketing?

Local digital marketing involves creating local online marketing campaigns to get more customers.

How do you do local marketing?

To do local marketing, you need to create digital marketing campaigns that target a specific audience for a given location. This can be accomplished through SEO, updating, and monitoring business listings, creating paid search ads for geo-related keywords, and much more.

How can I promote my business online locally?

You can promote your business online locally through targeted paid ads on Google Ads and Facebook.

What are some examples of online marketing?

• A home remodeling contractor creating a Facebook ad targeting an audience interested in home services for a particular zip code.
• Buying local services ads on Google to promote your business at the top of Google’s search results page.

The post 9 Local Online Marketing Tips to Get More Clients in 2023 appeared first on Mitchell Gould.

As organizations continue to create an online presence, a job as a marketing manager will continue to be a great choice in 2023 and beyond.

The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects the marketing manager occupation to grow about 10% from 2020 to 2030 (source). Marketing managers also benefit from competitive salaries with an average base pay of $104,000 in the USA (source).

Marketing managers will play a significant role in navigating the ever-changing digital marketing landscape in 2023 and beyond and will be sought after by organizations to use critical thinking and strategic decision-making abilities to create competitive marketing programs.

Here are the 5 steps to become a marketing manager, which are further defined below with actionable advice:

1. Learn marketing skills
2. Get an entry-level marketing position
3. Develop management skills
4. Apply for a marketing manager position
5. Continue to develop in your marketing manager career

What does a marketing manager do:

A marketing manager develops and executes marketing strategies, tactics, and campaigns to grow a brand’s awareness and revenue.

They work cross-functionally with other teams like product, developers, and finance to align on goals and targets and to create the necessary promotional marketing material (like landing pages, ad creatives, blog posts, leadership thought pieces, and much more.

Depending on the type of organization, a marketing manager may oversee and manage a team of marketing associates that help execute the plans that they create and develop.

What types of organizations do marketing managers work for?

• Large corporate level businesses

• Small businesses

• Agencies

In larger corporate-level businesses, marketing managers typically report to the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) or marketing director and oversee a team of marketing associates. They may focus on one or multiple marketing channels, like social media, content marketing, paid search, etc.

In small businesses, marketing managers typically report to the Chief Operating Officer (CEO) and oversee multiple marketing channels. They are responsible for executing social media plans, running remarketing campaigns, and more. They may manage a few team members or work independently by themselves.

In an agency setting, marketing managers oversee the agency’s clients’ marketing performance and strategy and manage multiple team members to help execute the marketing strategies and tactics for those clients. In addition, they typically work closely with the CEO of the agency.

What are the different types of marketing managers?

Depending on the organization level, a marketing manager may oversee one or multiple marketing channels. Here are the different types of marketing managers

• Digital marketing managers

• Social media marketing managers

• Content marketing managers

• Paid search marketing managers

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) marketing managers

• Affiliate marketing managers

• E-commerce marketing managers

• Brand marketing managers

• Email marketing managers

• Events marketing managers

What are the requirements to become a marketing manager?

The requirements for becoming a marketing manager are to have some level of education or certificates and to have on-the-job experience in some type of marketing role.

A formal education is not required, though recommended if you work for larger corporations that typically require a bachelor’s degree or higher.

In place of a formal degree, one can obtain certificates that can be much cheaper and faster to obtain. But, first, check the requirements on the job postings to get a sense of what is required as they vary from organization to organization.

How to become a marketing manager in 5 steps:

Start your journey to becoming a marketing manager in just 5 steps. As a marketing manager, you can enjoy a great income, and remote working opportunities as more brands rely on marketing managers to navigate their online marketing performance in the post-pandemic world.

The best marketing managers are continual learners with a growth mindset. They continue to develop their skills over time and help mentor their team members to become the best versions of themselves.

Source: FS.blog Carol S. Dweck, Ph D.

Listed below are the steps you can take to become a marketing manager:

1. Learn Marketing Skills

In 2022 and beyond, there are several ways to gain marketing skills. Many organizations will require a bachelor’s degree in a related field, like business administration, business management, or marketing.

Some smaller level organizations, like small businesses or agencies, won’t require a formal education if the candidate has sufficient professional experience and is a subject matter expert in a particular marketing discipline, like social media marketing.

A. Earn a degree or a certificate

There are multiple degrees and certificate options that one can pursue to help land a marketing manager position. Make sure you choose a degree that will help you become a great communicator and problem solver. You can tackle just about any situation you will come across as a marketing manager with those skills.

Here are the best bachelor level degrees to consider:

1. Any Liberal arts bachelors degree
2. Marketing
3. Advertising
4. Business administration
5. Business management
6. Business management information systems

Here are the best certificates to consider:

Many universities and colleges offer marketing certificates. When searching for a certificate program, look for a curriculum that will focus on marketing strategy and decision making in addition to digital marketing fundamentals.

Online certificate programs:

1. UC Berkley Extension – Certificate Program in Marketing
2. Digital Marketing Institute – Certified Marketing Expert
3. Northwestern Kellog School of Management – Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing
4. General Assembly – Digital Marketing Immersive

Source: digitalmarketinginstitute.com

B. Learn the fundamentals of digital marketing

In 2022, digital marketing fundamentals can be learned for free or cheaply on platforms like YouTube and Udemy. The advantage of taking a formal certificate program will be a structured approach that you can follow. However, one can still self-educate with a bit of planning effort and learn the core marketing concepts.

Digital marketing fundaments include understanding different marketing channels, ad platforms, and marketing strategies.

Audience targeting fundamentals:

The goal here is to understand your target audience and how you can help them. For example, what are their online behaviors, and what offer would help them solve their problem?

You’ll want to define a user persona to understand the interests, demographics, behaviors of your target audience, which you can then use to craft compelling content, ads, and other marketing material to reach and serve that audience.

The most common marketing channels:

• Paid Search – Advertising on Google and Bing using text-based ads that show on Google’s search results.
• Paid Social – Advertising on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Creating written content and website optimizations with the aim to rank the content on the first page of Google’s search results.
• Email – Creating email outreach and nurturing campaigns using email.
• Content marketing – Creating and distributing content online like, videos, blog posts, social posts, etc.

The most common ad platforms in digital marketing:

• Google Ads (includes YouTube ads)
• Microsoft Ads
• Facebook Ads
• LinkedIn Ads

The most common marketing strategies and tactics:

• Top of funnel brand awareness- Advertising to a target audience to increase a brand’s awareness and eventually move users to the bottom of the funnel to purchase a product or service.
• Prospecting- Using paid channels to advertise an offer to your target audience with the goal of them taking action like buying a product. Example: REI bidding on terms to show ads on Google when a user searches for best-hiking tents.
• Remarketing- Reengaging with users who have already interacted with your website or content.

Here are courses you can use to learn digital marketing fundamentals (free and paid)

• Google Ads certificates (Google Skillshop) – Free
• The complete digital marketing course – Udemy – About $20 depending on Udemy offers
• Ahrefs SEO course – Youtube – Free
• Simplilearn Google Ads course – Youtube – Free
• Andrew Ethan Zeng – Facebook Ads course – Youtube – Free
• Simplilearn email marketing course – Youtube – Fee

Source: udemy.com

Also, here is a list of marketing tools that marketing professionals commonly use.

C. Learn how to analyze data

In 2022 and beyond, it’s critical that marketing managers have excellent analytical skills. Marketing managers oversee the performance of different marketing initiatives, so it’s crucial they can review data and communicate the results to senior leadership like the Chief Marketing Officer.

Data and marketing performance courses (free and paid)

• Data-driven marketing – Udemy – About $20 depending on Udemy offers
• University of Virginia – Marketing analytics course – Coursera – Paid
• Google Analytics course – Google – Free

2. Get an Entry-Level Marketing Position

After gaining some skills and understanding the fundamentals of marketing, it’s time to put your learning into practice by finding an entry-level marketing position. First, update your resume to highlight your skills and education, and then apply to jobs.

A. Update your resume

Hiring managers love to see relevant experience at the top of resumes, so highlight your newly learned skills and relevant experience first.

You can use this template for your resume.

Make sure your LinkedIn profile reflects your resume.

I also highly recommend creating a professional website using your name or a variation of your name as the domain. Showing that you can create a website, even if it’s basic, and using a website builder platform like Squarespace will make you stand out among candidates without a website.

B. Apply for a position relative to your experience

To find jobs relative to your experience, you can begin reviewing job boards like Indeed and LinkedIn.

Here are some positions you can search for on job finding platforms:

• Digital marketing manager
• Marketing Intern
• Entry-level marketing jobs
• Social media manager
• Paid search manager
• Google Ads specialist
• Marketing associate
• Marketing specialists
• Paid media marketing manager
• Associate marketing manager
• Advertising managers
• Marketing assistants

3. Learn Management and Strategic Skills

A significant role of a marketing manager is to provide strategic direction and guidance to team members. Therefore, as you gain more on-the-job experience, you should nurture team management and strategic decision-making skills.

A. Learn team management and delegation skills

Identify high priority and low priority items and delegate tasks to team members. You can use a 2×2 matrix to help you identify the top priority items you should be working on and the lower priority items you can delegate to team members.

Source: productplan.com

When delegating tasks, listen to your team members to make sure they understand the tasks and guide them if they have any questions or concerns about the task.

B. Interpersonal communication with teams and clients

It’s essential to focus on being a great listener and to focus on credibility.

Whenever you are working with a team member or client, be clear in what you are going to do, do the thing you said you were going to do, and follow up by letting the person know when it is done.

If any issues arise during that process, follow up with them and let them know.

C. Team collaboration skills

A good team collaborator listens well, provides suggestions, and receives and gives productive feedback. When working with teams across departments, make sure to bring a positive attitude and look for ways to add value to the project or team.

D. Learn strategic decision-making skills

As a marketing manager, you will be responsible for making decisions and communicating those to critical stakeholders of the business. It’s essential to understand data and trends to help guide your choices and their short and longe term impacts.

You can develop these skills over time through your professional experience, and you can also supplement your on-the-job experience with a course like LinkedIn’s Decision Making Strategies.

E. Budget management skills

It’s important to understand how to manage a budget against the goals and strategies set.

If you focus on generating the most revenue, you will want to focus on the channels that provide the best return. On the other hand, if you are focused on introducing your brand to more users, you will focus on channels that offer high-quality impressions to your audience.

Here are a few formulas that can be helpful to assess budget performance.

• Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) = Revenue / Ad Spend
• Percentage Change = Value 1 / Value 2 – 1.

ROAS Example: This month, there is $150,000 in revenue with $60,000 in expenses for social media ads on Facebook and Instagram. The ROAS would be 150,000/60,000= 2.5. So for every $1 on ad spend, you generated $2.5 in revenue. Depending on the business’s goals and other operating expenses, this can be an acceptable or unacceptable ROAS.

Percentage Change Example: This month’s spend is $10,000, and your budget target is $15,000. You can use this formula to see how far ahead or below you are pacing to the target. 10,000/15,000 – 1 = -.3333 so you are pacing 33.33 % below the $15,000 target.

4. Apply for a Marketing Manager Position

Now that you have some professional experience, an understanding of digital marketing fundamentals, and some subject matter expertise in a particular digital marketing area, it’s time to start searching and applying to marketing manager jobs.

Update your resume with your most relevant experience towards the top and highlight some key projects you have worked on. Make sure to include the results you have accomplished with numeric figures.

For example, Increased revenue by 10% from implementing a multi-channel remarketing campaign.

Then start applying to marketing manager positions across job-finding platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed or reach out internally to your network.

5. Continue to develop in your marketing manager career

To be a successful marketing manager, you need to continually improve and learn. Marketing is rapidly changing with tactics, strategies, and ethical decisions to consider regarding privacy and security. Make sure to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and self-educate.

Those are the 5 steps on how to become a marketing manager. I hope you found that useful and I wish you great success in your marketing and career endeavors.

Frequently asked questions about marketing managers:

How much does a marketing manager make?

Marketing managers typically make about $82,00 to $146,000 per year (source: salary.com). However, this range can vary depending on location, level of experience, education, additional skills, and more.

Here’s an example from 2022 when searching for marketing manager roles in Seattle, WA.

Marketing manager interview questions?

Marketing managers’ most common interview questions are behavioral-based interview questions that can be answered in the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result). In addition, be prepared to provide specific performance-based accomplishments.

Which degree is best for a marketing manager?

The best degree for a marketing manager is a liberal arts degree that will provide you with critical thinking and problem-solving skills and allow you to make strategic decisions and solve problems.

How long does it take to become a marketing manager?

The timeline will vary depending on where you are starting from. There is no exact timeframe, but a reasonable estimate is about 2-5 years if you start with some foundational skills and experience. If you have more experience or team management knowledge, you can become a marketing manager quicker, and if you are starting with no skills or job experience, it may take longer than that.

The post 5 Steps to Become a Marketing Manager in 2023 (Earn More $) appeared first on Mitchell Gould.

In this guide, you will find the best B2B marketing strategies to grow and scale your business. We’ll cover strategies within digital marketing, content creation, website optimizations, analytics, and attribution.

I recommend keeping it simple and focusing on 1-2 of the below strategies at a time. Remember, what gets measured gets done. So through all of this, ensure to select key performance indicators to track and manage so you know what strategies add value to your organization.

What is a B2B Marketing Strategy?

A B2B marketing strategy starts with research and setting goals and is then executed utilizing various channels, tactics, and tools. This list should serve as a brainstorming tool to help you find B2B marketing strategies that you can test and refine to grow your business. 24% of B2B marketers do not have a formal B2B marketing plan (source), so use this list to help formulate your B2B marketing strategy.

What are the best B2B Marketing Strategies?

The best B2B strategies will vary depending on your vertical and where your target audience spends their time.

If you can generate many leads but have trouble qualifying them, then a strategy focused on generating more qualified leads is better than someone who has qualified leads and needs help converting them into sales. Your B2B marketing strategy for the latter will possibly involve more efforts focused on nurturing and tools to manage your leads better.

Here is a list of 33 of the best B2B marketing strategies.

Best B2B digital marketing strategies

1. LinkedIn Ads – Highly targeted ads using LinkedIn profile attributes

With over 63 million decision-makers and ten million-plus C-level executives using LinkedIn, it makes it an excellent B2B marketing platform to reach businesses (source). In LinkedIn ads campaign manager, you can select from hundreds of LinkedIn targeting options to build your target audience. For example, displaying a single image ad on the LinkedIn feed with a compelling offer to your target audience can help acquire qualified leads.

2. Facebook Ads – Brand awareness ads leveraging demographics data

Facebook can be great for building brand awareness, engaging with your existing audience, or remarketing to users that have already visited your site. In this Facebook Blue Host Case Study, the popular web hosting service saw a 3.2 lift in campaign awareness utilizing video ads to reach their small business owner audience. Although not as robust as LinkedIn for B2B target audience options, Facebook still has multiple demographic and interest targeting options to reach your ideal audience.

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3. Bing Paid Search – High intent keywords for B2B audiences

According to Microsoft search network data, 27% of searchers are senior-level business decision-makers, and they also hold ~14% of the world’s share on PC devices Source. This makes Microsoft search ads an excellent choice for advertising on keywords that your target audience would search.

4. Microsoft Audience Ads – Display ads using LinkedIn profile data

With the acquisition of LinkedIn ads in 2016, you can now leverage LinkedIn profile attributes to target your ideal audience on Microsoft’s audience network. Bing audience ads show on networks like yahoo, MSN, ask.com, etc.

5. Google Paid Search Ads – Bidding for high intent B2B keywords

The beauty of paid search ads on Google is you can show near the top of the search engines results page for high intent keywords.

First, start by doing keyword research to develop a list of keywords to bid on and test. Focus on keywords with B2B intent like “enterprise project management software” where identifiers like “enterprise” show B2B intent.

Create a relevant landing page with a beneficial call to action- like a free demo, free consultation, or a gated asset like a white paper.

6. Google Display Ads- Remarketing to your website visitors

Use display remarketing to show ads on the display network to users that have visited a particular product or service page on your site. For example, you can retarget the users on your site that visited your pricing page with ads that promote a special offer on pricing or reiterate the benefits of your service and product. The goal here is to move users from the awareness stage to the consideration and eventually the conversion phase.

7. Google Display Ads- Prospecting to potential customers

There are multiple display prospecting targeting options available for google display. You can target by placements, topics, keywords, demographics, and more. For example, with topic targeting, you can target users that matched premade category topics from Google. In addition, you can test different topics that are most relevant to your business.

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8. YouTube Ads- Generate brand awareness

Over 70% of viewers say that YouTube makes them more aware of new brands, and viewers are four times more likely to use YouTube to find information about a product or service (source). Create a quality video ad and target users searching for relevant topics or channels on YouTube.

YoutTube

Best B2B content marketing strategies

9. Video content- Visually show your B2B product or service.

Viewers retain close to 95% of a video’s message compared to 10% from reading text. (source). Here are a few great pieces of content that are great in video form:

• Client testimonials
• Demo videos
• How-to videos
• Explainer videos
• Event recaps
• Case studies

Video services like play play can make creating videos less time and resource-intensive.

Videos can be used on websites, landing pages, youtube, and across other channels.

10. Blog Posts – Provide a valuable B2B list post optimized for search engines

Begin with researching the keywords that you want to target for your post. You can use a tool like Ahrefs to find medium volume lower competition keywords in your industry. Then work on creating valuable content around that keyword. Lists posts make great linkable assets, so you can use this to build links to the post over time.

Here’s an example of a 5 item post from Salesforce:

11. Lead magnets – Offer a solution to a business’s problem

A strong lead generation magnet will help solve a problem. Clearly show the benefits that the user will get from the magnet will help with conversion rates. You can use services like leadgenapp.io to easily integrate forms into your website.

12. Email marketing – Segment and nurture prospects with emails

First, segment your email audiences into groupings based on their needs and what content they find the most useful. From there, craft an email around their needs. There are multiple tools to help with segmenting, brainstorming content, and tracking your email campaign success.

13. Ebooks – Create a valuable asset from existing content

Do you already have a ton of content that can be bundled into an Ebook format? These can make great linkable or lead magnet assets. Need inspiration? View over 200 ebook examples published by Hubspot

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14. Whitepapers – Show your industry expertise

White papers are excellent for showing your expertise in your industry. For example, has your business led a study, collected valuable data points, or shared any other valuable insights? Whitepapers are great for showcasing content like this. Use a service like compose.ly to help you draft the perfect whitepaper.

15. Case Studies – Show a real-life example of your value

Tell a story of how you have helped another business succeed. Showing the value you added to another organization through a case study can make a great linkable asset or SEO piece of content. Use Hubspot’s case study template as a starting point.

16. Checklists – Simplify a process for your prospective clients

Checklists are easy to make and can provide a lot of value to potential customers. They can be included in blog posts, in ads, or as lead magnets to drive more leads. First, identify a pain point or a problem that can be simplified using a checklist. Create the checklist and begin promoting it.

17. Guides – Become the industry expert by creating an in-depth guide

Gain credibility and authority in your industry by creating a comprehensive guide on a particular topic or pain point that your customers face.

18. Reviews and Testimonies – Showcase your credibility

Testimonies help build credibility by showing the positive result you have generated from other clients. Utilize internal or external tools like TrustPilot to get reviews and testimonials that can be used throughout your content.

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19. B2B Calculators – Help businesses understand the monetary impact of an action

Create a simple B2B related calculator to show the potential savings for prospective clients. Check out this total cost of ownership calculator example from Cohesity for inspiration.

20. Webinars – Establish authority and engage with participants

Webinars are another great B2B marketing strategy that can be great for establishing your authority and engaging with your audience. They can be low-cost from a production standpoint. They can be used to address industry trends and engage and answer questions for prospective leniency that can be furthered funneled into your lead generation efforts.

Source

21. Industry reports – Help prospective clients understand their industry

Creating content with industry statistics and insights can be super valuable for prospective clients and poses you as an expert in your industry. Becoming the hub for content like this can create great linkable assets to increase your SEO authority and rankings.

Best B2B lead nurturing strategies

22. CRM Platforms – Manage your leads in a centralized location

Use a customer resource management (CRM) platform to understand the value of your leads. Understand and track where in the funnel your leads are. This will be great to understand which sources and channels lend the best value to your business. You can then focus on those segments of the audience for future content and marketing strategies.

23. Lead nurturing – Follow up and engage with your leads ASAP

A study by Drift found that only 10% of B2B companies were responding to leads in 5 minutes or less. According to a Harvard study, connecting with online leads in the first 5 minutes dramatically increases your chance to qualify the lead and avoid it going cold.

• Ensure your sales team is getting leads in real-time and not daily.
• Ensure your lead distribution rules are set up to make sure quality prospects are connected with a sales rep

Source

24. Live chat software – Chat with potential leads in real-time

Engaging with active users on your website is a great way to generate high-quality B2B leads in real-time. Use a chatbot service like Drift to engage with visitors on your site.

25. Lead distribution tools – Ensure the right leads are getting sales attention

Setup your CRM or lead distribution tool to send leads automatically to your sales team in real-time.

Best B2B website strategies

26. Mobile Optimizations – Enhance your mobile experience

Less than 38% of marketers track their web and mobile analytics (source). With more users searching and making decisions on their mobile devices. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly and optimized to drive action even from mobile devices.

27. Landing pages – Create conversion-optimized forms

Make sure your pages have a clear call to action and optimized form to collect leads. Keep the on-page copy short and digestible and highlight key benefits on the page. Using a tool like ZoomInfo or Slintel to gather additional lead info while reducing the number of form fields to increase the form conversion rate. The below example from Slintel makes the free trial easy to start by just having a business email required to get started.

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28. Website – Ensure it is optimized for SEO and conversions

Follow search engine optimization best practices to ensure your content and site are ranked in Google’s organic listings. Follow on-page SEO and technical SEO best practices to ensure your site is indexed correctly by Google. You can have the best information and content on your site, but you will not get traffic if it’s not formatted how Google reads sites.

Also, make sure you use a call to action to capture prospecting leads no matter where they are in the sales funnel journey.

Best UX tools to help optimize your B2B marketing website

Maze – Remote user testing platform to make informed data decisions

Hotjar – Understand website user behavior to prioritize work and optimizations

Best B2B tracking strategies

29. Google analytics – Ensure proper tracking to understand key metrics over time

To understand the success of any B2B marketing campaign, you need to track and measure performance. Use google analytics to track sessions, page views, and other vital metrics like specific user goals completed on your site.

30. Amplitude – Get valuable data insights into top-performing customer paths

Understand which actions on your website are leading to the most value using amplitude analytics. See the complete journey that a customer takes on your website. Use this data to test and refine the key paths on your website.

31. Attribution – Understand which channels have the best ROI

If you have multiple B2B marketing channels, it’s essential to understand the value and return from those channels. Since a customer’s journey may touch multiple channels before becoming a lead or a paying customer, it’s crucial to have correct attribution to understand what efforts are generating the best return. Use a tool like Ruler Analytics to attribute correctly

Source

Best B2B marketing automation strategies

32. Marketing automation software – Save time with automated workflows

Best B2B ABM Strategies – Focus on your key target audience

33. Account-based marketing (ABM) – Align with sales teams to identify key accounts

Many times marketing teams and sales teams operate in silos. For example, sales want one type of lead while marketing is prospecting for a different kind of lead. Your B2B marketing strategy needs to incorporate sales feedback to be a success. Make sure to align with your sales team to identify key accounts and understand any feedback they get from the field to inform your next steps.

B2B Marketing FAQs:

What is B2B Marketing?

Business to business marketing (B2B) involves businesses marketing to other businesses and not individuals. Your B2B marketing efforts aim to get more companies aware of your brand and have them buy your service or product. In short, your ideal customer would be another business.

What is an example of B2B marketing?

An example of a B2B marketing effort would be to target a business’s executive-level decision-makers like a CEO or Director with LinkedIn ads for a free demo of your business’s service or product.

What is an example of B2C marketing?

An example of a B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing effort would be to have google shopping ads for a t-shirt where your potential customers would be individuals and not businesses.

What is an example of a business that does both B2B and B2C marketing?

An example of a business that serves both B2C and B2B clients can be a car manufacturer like Chevy. They may sell a fleet of cars to rental agencies or other companies and also sell directly to consumers at their Chevy dealerships.

Depending on your specific vertical, service, or product, there can sometimes be an overlap in your marketing efforts that might attract both B2B and B2C clients. For example, bidding on google ads keywords for “accounting services” may generate both an individual or a business looking for accounting services. If your business serves both B2B and B2C clients, then having a plan to attribute and manage this is key to measuring performance and ROI on your marketing efforts. On the other hand, if you only serve businesses, you can optimize towards refining your marketing efforts to exclude time and spend on individual consumers.

What is account-based marketing (ABM)?

Account-based marketing is a B2B marketing strategy where sales and marketing collaborate to identify and prospect potential clients that will result in the highest return. You focus on a few key accounts and bring them from a new lead to a closed account. First, identify key accounts, then identify the key decision-makers of those accounts, solidify which channels and relevant content you will use for marketing to your target audiences, then execute the plan and track performance.

What is B2B content marketing?

B2B content marketing uses information in many forms of mediums (blog posts, videos, articles, emails, etc.) to educate and grow your visibility to your target audience about your business and eventually have them take a desired action, like signing up for your service or buying your product.

What is an example of B2B marketing

Generating leads for your business by adverting a free demo or consultation to executive-level members of another company using LinkedIn ads .

What does B2B stand for?

Business-to-business.

What are some examples of B2B companies?

Salesforce (customer relationship management software for businesses)

Asana (project management software for businesses)

Leadfeeder (identifies website visitors to track and generate leads)

The post 33+ B2B Digital Marketing Strategies and Tips (2023 Ultimate Guide) appeared first on Mitchell Gould.

Want the short answer? My pick for the best AI Call Center Software is Five9. Read on to compare more of the top providers in this space.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) call center software is becoming more popular as businesses strive to redefine their customer experiences. 

As customers, we’ve all been there. On the phone, clicking through endless staircases of prompts, annoyed with long interactive voice response (IVR) flows, wishing to just speak to real human agents. All while hoping we don’t get redirected through another series of steps after finally reaching an agent.

Wait times, being on hold, long sequences, long workflows, and subpar customer service help, breed customer dissatisfaction, impact call center teams, and negatively impact businesses’ bottom lines.

Poor customer service experiences are why 80% of customers end up switching to other brands (Source: Qualtrics).

So, what’s the solution?

That’s where AI call center software comes in. It helps boost both the customer and human agent experiences.

With AI, call centers can reduce wait times, streamline processes, personalize customer interactions, track and gather data, which can lead to increased sales and reduced customer churn.

This is super important as 83% of customers expect immediate engagement when contacting a company (source: Salesforce)

Additionally, AI-powered software can help with agent coaching, onboarding, realtime-training, automating repetitive and monotonous work, which reduces agent churn so you have happy and qualified agents to serve your customers.

The average call center turnover is between 30-45%, so any improvement on retaining staff definitely helps a businesses bottom line (source: qatc.org).

So without further ado, let’s dive into the solutions to help increase customer satisfaction and redefine call centers in 2023.

What is the best AI Call Center Software?

Here are my top recommendations for the best AI call Center Software in 2023:

1. Five9

Best overall Cloud Contact Center with AI

Five9 is a leading provider of cloud-based contact center software. It offers a complete suite of products that allows businesses to manage and monitor customer interactions. 

Five9 is one of the few contact center software providers that offer both cloud and premise-based deployment options. So if you aren’t ready to move to the cloud, their products and solutions can still support you and help boost your customer experiences. 

Their AI solutions aim to reduce costs and increase productivity that ultimately improves both customer and agent satisfaction. Their practical AI can pass monotonous and repetitive work to an intelligent virtual agent (IVA) so live agents can work on the more complex and rewarding tasks. 

IVA can handle lower-tier customer service requests and even help upsell products or services after the customer’s initial request has been resolved. Check out their AI and Automation webinar to see a use case in action.

Five9 also has a robust partner network that allows businesses to easily integrate with their CRM solutions (like Salesforce, Zendesk, Microsoft, etc.). They have great thought leadership pieces as well and are an industry leader in the CX space.

Key Features:

• AI Agent Assist to help guide agents and streamline workflows
• Intelligent cloud-based contact center
• Omnichannel routing
• Unified communications to drive first contact resolutions
• CRM integrations and SDKs
• Workflow automation
• Reporting and analytics
• API integrations
• Workforce optimization

Pricing:

Call centers typically have unique customer needs, so you need to fill out a quote to get details on their pricing bundles. Their pricing scales depending on your organization’s needs.

• Core Bundle: Includes voice functionalities
• Premium Bundle: Includes the core bundle + digital engagement features like chat and email
• Optimum Bundle: Includes the premium bundle + workflow optimization features
• Ultimate Bundle: Includes the optimum bundle + workflow automation

Reviews:

• G2 Winter 2022 Leader
• G2 3.9 Stars

View a Demo

2. Balto

Best call center AI real-time guidance

Balto’s AI enabled system provides real-time feedback to call center agents so they can say the right things live on calls and provide the best customer experience or sales experience. Real-time guidance closes that gap between insights and implementations since agents can course-correct during calls.

They have 3 different products including real-time guidance, real-time QA, and real-time coaching. They cover a wide variety of use cases like customer experience, sales, compliance, and quality insurance. They provide these solutions across a range of industries like, insurance, home improvement, direct to consumer, and more.

Key Features:

• Real-time coaching
• Manager intervention for at-risk calls
• Dynamic prompts for discovery questions and rebuttals
• Reporting to scale top-performing behavior
• Compliance monitoring using Smart Checklists to guide agents word-by-word and to notify agents when they’ve said something non-compliant.
• Automatic call scoring

Pricing:

If you’re interested in learning more about Balto’s pricing, be sure to request a demo as they currently don’t have their price list on their website or other sources like Capterra and G2 Review.

Reviews:

• G2 High Performer Spring 2021
• G2 Leader Winter 2022
• Gartner Cool Vendor 2021
• G2 4.7 stars

Get a Demo

3. Talkdesk

Best AI call center automation

Talkdesk is a cloud-based contact center platform with a ton of AI features. With the help of AI, businesses can predict and pre-empt customer needs, deliver personalized service across channels, review workforce analytics, and drive better knowledge management.

They have a no-code AI model training feature that allows non-technical customer service staff to provide inputs to improve the AI models that can then power better automation in contact centers.

Key Features:

• Conversational AI with Talkdesk Virtual Agent
• AI Trainer
• AI-powered self-service
• Agent Assist
• Knowledge management
• AI workforce management
• Interaction analytics
• Quality management

Pricing:

The Talkdesk CX cloud essentials package is $75/month per user and includes access to the AI platform. Prices move up with the CX cloud elite package at $125/month per user. For industry level CX solutions, you can request a quote.

• CX Cloud Essentials $75/month per user
• CX Cloud Elevate $95/month per user
• CX Cloud Elite $125/month per user
• Industry level – Request a quote

Reviews:

• G2 4.4 Stars
• G2 Best Usability Mid-Market Winter 2022
• G2 Top 100 Best Highest Satisfaction 2021

4. InteliWISE

Best AI Voicebot for call centers

InteliWISE’s Voicebot offers programmable voice automation solutions for customer service. The Voicebot uses natural dialogue to help assist with a customer’s questions and problems and can be programmed to pass more complex situations to live agents. With Voicebot, agents have more time to focus on complex problems which help cut costs on each interaction.

InteliWISE also offers an enterprise-grade Chatbot for service and sales. It uses a natural language processing (NLP) engine that can help understand customer inquiries and proactively assist and engage with customers.

Key Features:

• Voicebot conversational AI for automated voice conversations
• Turn-key solution that can be implemented in a day
• Programmable dialogue
• Call Center and CRM integration tools
• Train and manage NLP and NLU for personalization
• Live agent escalation
• Ready to use templates
• AI Chatbot
• Ai Chatbot for e-commerce

Pricing:

• $0 Free 14-day trial
• AI voicebot pricing starts at $119/month
• AI chatbot pricing starts at $99/month
• Contact Center pricing starts at $49/month per agent

Reviews:

• Capterra 4.2 stars

5. Bright Pattern

Best AI automated routing

Bright Pattern is a cloud-based contact center software that offers AI capabilities to help customer service reps provide faster, more personalized customer service. Bright Pattern’s AI capabilities include the ability to automate routine inquiries through self-service flows so agents  can focus on critical tasks. It also has the ability to recognize customer sentiment from a customer inquiry and recommend the best response.

Key Features:

• Automated routing
• Automated notifications and alerts
• Speech to text recognition
• Conversational IVR and self-service
• Omnichannel quality management
• Full context bots
• Cloud-based
• CRM integrations

Pricing:

With Bright Pattern, you can choose from a variety of packages that are tailored to your business needs. They offer the voice select, pro package, and premium package that include different capabilities and features. You can request a quote to learn more about their pricing models.

Reviews:

• G2 High Performer Winter 2022
• G2 4.3 Stars
• Capterra Emerging Favorite 2021 (Predictive Dialer Software)
• Capterra 4.7 Stars

Request a Demo

6. Genesys

Best AI omnichannel contact center suite

Genesys provides contact center and customer experience solutions. It has been in business for more than 25 years and has over 10,000 customers in more than 100 countries. Some of their features include omni channel routing, workforce engagement management, voice services, automatic call distribution (acd), and AI tools to help with personalized customer experiences.

Their AI solutions can be integrated quickly and can help with cross channel communication so agents can see the full customer journey and support history to quickly assist and reduce the average ticket time.

Key Features:

• Omnichannel customer support
• Predictive engagement
• AI chatbots
• AI voicebots
• Workforce engagement
• Predictive routing
• Agent Assist
• Speech and text analytics

Pricing:

Genesys has a few different pricing tiers that can support small business to enterprise-level contact centers. Contact their sales team to get a demo and discuss rates.

7. Coveo

Best omnichannel search software for call centers

Coveo is an AI-driven search and AI-powered customer engagement platform that redefines how companies interact with their customers. Coveo’s AI capabilities enable companies to surface the most relevant content and insights from across their entire organization in milliseconds. This provides customers with a more personalized experience and allows companies to make better decisions faster.

Their service and support solutions include call center support solutions that can help boost first-call resolutions. For instance, their machine learning and AI technology enables predictive search so customer service agents can find the answers they need quickly.

Their AI can also help with personalized content recommendations based on a user’s purchase history and speed up self-service resolutions.

Key Features:

• Integrated intelligent search
• Customer journey insights with cross-channel data stitching
• Personalized content recommendations
• Customer activity insights
• Content health tracking
• Omnichannel analytics
• Customer self-service
• Chatbot AI

Pricing:

• Free trial
• Base plan starts at $600/month
• Pro plan starts at $1,320/month
• Enterprise volume-based pricing

Reviews:

• G2 Leader Winter 2022
• G2 Reviews 4.1

Other notable AI call center solution providers include:

• Avaya
• LivePerson
• SmartAction
• Nice
• Mitel
• Google Cloud
• Amazon
• IBM
• Observe

Wrapping things up:

Whether you are looking to move your call center operations to the cloud or transition from IVR to an IVA solution, we’ve covered some great AI call center tools that can help boost your customer experience in 2023.

AI Call Center FAQs:

What is call center AI?

AI call center software is software that uses artificial intelligence to automate tasks that a call center agent usually performs. It can handle common customer service tasks such as handling customer inquiries, providing customer support, route calls, and troubleshooting customer problems.

How is AI used in call centers?

AI is used in call centers to provide call analytics, predict customer sentiment, provide self service options, route calls, and virtual assistant customers via chat bots or through interactive voice agents.

Can AI replace call center agents?

AI cannot replace call center agents. AI can significantly increase performance in call centers by automating repetitive tasks, assisting customers with lower tier support, and help prioritize customer requests based on intelligent insights, but human agents will always be needed to help solve more complex customer inquiries and problems.

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The post 7 Best AI Call Center Software to Redefine Your CX in 2023 appeared first on Mitchell Gould.

Want the short answer?

My pick for the best lead distribution software for lead routing to sales teams in 2023 is: Leadsquared

My pick for the best lead distribution software for selling your leads in 2023 is: Boberdoo

Lead distribution software helps you distribute leads, route leads, and assign leads so you can make sure leads go to the right sales rep or lead buyer at the right time.

It allows companies or partners to take on more leads, prioritize leads, reduce response times, and streamline sales which ultimately helps you get more closed deals that impact your business’s bottom line.

One of the major benefits of lead distribution software is that it can drastically reduce response times. Contacting leads within one minute can increase the likelihood of conversion by nearly 400%, according to Velocify’s sales optimization study (Source: Velocify).

This post will focus on two main use cases of lead distribution software.

One for routing your leads to sales reps, and two, for routing leads to 3rd party lead buyers. The latter scenario is mainly used by lead generation companies that sell leads to one or more buyers.

What is the best lead distribution software for lead routing?

Here are my top recommendations for the best lead distribution software for lead routing to sales teams.

1. Chilipiper: Best lead routing with scheduling

As sales and revenue teams know, lead management is critical for identifying the best opportunities and moving leads through the sales funnel.

One issue many B2B organizations struggle with is managing leads, which directly increases wait times. Businesses can lose the opportunity to engage with ~70% of interested prospects when you make them wait to book a meeting (Source: Chilipiper.com)

That’s where Chilipiper comes in; their Concierge tool and lead routing solutions eliminate wait times so interested prospects can get routed to the right salesperson and instantly book a meeting based on availability.

In Chilipiper, you can create rules to qualify leads, so the high-value leads are routed to your top-tier sales reps, and your lower-value leads can be routed to nurturing efforts like gated content or email drip campaigns.

Chilipiper integrates directly with your CRM and marketing automation software to create and track events for all your leads.

Features:

• Distribute leads in real-time
• Qualify and route leads based on priority
• Instant book meetings
• Smart booking links for instant bookings in nurturing content
• API and connector integration (Zapier, Tray.io, Workato, etc.)
• Hubspot and Salesforce CRM and marketing automation integration
• Office 365 and Google Calendar integration
• Zoominfo and form enrichment integrations
• Landing page integrations

Price:

Chilipiper has a few different product plans and bundles depending on the needs of your business. Their lead distribution and routing software pricing starts at $30/user per month. The price goes down to $20/user per month with annual billing.

All products and plans:

• Concierge (instant scheduling form web forms)
  • User license + different pricing tiers
  • Starts at $45/month per user for the license and $225 for the lowest tier.
• Distro (lead routing software)
  • Starts at $30/per user per month
• Handoff (Route meetings across teams)
  • Starts at $25/user per month
• Instant Booker (Instant scheduling for sales/CS reps
  • Starts at $15/per user per month
• Events (Meeting Automation for in-person events)
  • Starts at $20/per user per month for the license plus $250 per month for the platform fee

Reviews:

• G2 4.7 stars
• Top 50 office products 2022

2. Leadsquared: Best lead distribution software for B2C

Leadsquared has over 250,000 sales, marketing, and call center agents using their platform to scale productivity in both B2B and B2C verticals. Leadsquared is more than a lead distribution platform; their products include a sales CRM, mobile CRM for field agents, marketing automation, and an application portal.

The key to driving more sales is connecting quickly with high-value prospects. To reduce response times, sales teams need a lead management tool that can distribute leads based on a variety of attributes and logic.

With Leadsquared, you can set distribution logic for every type of lead scenario, so the lead is directed to the right sales rep or agent at exactly the right time. Assign leads based on agent attributes such as seniority, performance, potential deal size, and lead attributes like preferred language, product interests, and more. Use lead limit settings so sales reps aren’t assigned more leads than they can handle.

Leadsquared also has a robust lead distribution system for B2C self-serve applicants. So if an application is completed, those leads can be routed directly to a processing team. If applicants drop off during the application process, real-time follow-ups can be made as well.

Features:

• Lead distribution for straightforward or complex flows
• Distribute based on lead and agent attributes (match leads to the perfect sales rep)
• CRM lead distribution based on application statuses
• Assign leads based on lead and field agent locations
• Round robin lead distribution which you can add more complex lead routing rules for agent shifts, lead quality, etc.
• Auto-distribute a churned agent’s leads
• Sales Execution CRM
• Mobile CRM
• Marketing Automation
• Application portal

Price:

Leadsquared has plans for their CRM, marketing automation, and field force. To access their lead distribution solutions you can contact sales to review their standard plan which includes all the basic features plus 50,000 contacts and the lead distribution features.

Reviews

• G2 4.5 stars
• G2 Leader Winter 2022

3. Kubaru: Best lead distribution for Salesforce

Kubaru is an all-in-one solution for automating lead and case assignments for businesses that use the Salesforce CRM. It’s available on the Salesforce AppExchange for a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.

Kubaru is simple to use and makes assigning leads, cases, and other records in Salesforce easy. They offer round robin routing, weight and limit settings, attribute filtering, load balancing, automated reassignment, scheduling, notifications, and more which all function to reduce lead response time.

One great feature is assignment matching, which ensures similar leads or contacts get directed to the same sales rep. This helps streamline the work for sales reps and helps elevate the client/customer experience.

As an added bonus, many of the reviews on the app exchange praise Kubaru for having extremely responsive and helpful customer support.

Features:

• Round robin
• Criteria-based assignment (skillset, location, language, product interest, etc.)
• Weights and limits
• Load balancing
• Scheduling
• Auto reassign
• Territory management
• Notifications
• Assignment matching
• Duplicate matching
• Active rep assignment
• Member auto-sync
• Reimbursement
• Analytics

Price:

Kubaru’s pricing is as simple as it gets compared to other lead distribution software. Their pricing has no hidden fees and includes all features. Pricing is $15/month per user and you can contact them for volume discounts if you have a lot of users.

Reviews

• Salesforce AppExchange 5 star reviews
• G2 4.9 stars

4. Distributely: Best lead routing solution built for HubSpot

Distributely is the only customizable lead routing solution solely built for HubSpot. It’s built by the revenue performance management firm New Breed, and was also listed as a HubSpot partner of the year in February 2020.

The power of Distributely is that it sits directly on HubSpot and only takes minutes to set up. Their features enable incoming leads to be routed to the best sales rep to reduce response times. You can also scale efficiencies by creating automated sales follow-ups through HubSpot as well.

Their lead distribution tool is customizable and can be configured based on the level of sophistication and complexity that is needed.

Features:

• Built for HubSpot’s CRM
• Integrate with HubSpot workflows
• Manual weighting
• Automatic weighting
• Routing schedules
• Round robin
• Rules engine
• Sales territories

Price:

Distributely’s pricing is pretty simple and includes all features for $30/month per user. You can purchase Distributley and manage your subscription directly in the HubSpot app marketplace.

Reviews

• HubSpot 2021 Impact Award (for New Breed, Distributley’s parent company)
• G2 3.9 stars

5. CallTrackingMetrics: Best call routing software

Inbound phone calls turn into clients 10x to 12x more than web form leads (Source: Marketingdive.com), so it’s critical that your inbound phone calls get routed efficiently and properly to the right sales reps.

With CallTrackingMetrics, calls can be routed based on a caller’s online activity, history with your company, or by custom fields you enter into the software. This allows you to identify high-value callers that can be assigned to your highest-performing sales reps.

Their smart router is easy to set up and configure by creating simple rule-based if/Then logic for just about any scenario you would need. They have advanced features like call queues, geo routing, and call recordings which can help you further streamline your inbound leads flow and process.

Source: CallTrackingMetrics.com

Features:

• Smart call routing for leads based on conditions like demographics, online activity, and more.
• Call tracking
• Call automation
• Call analytics
• Call queues
• Geo routing
• Call recordings
• Multiple platform integrations

Price:

All plans have a billed monthly portion and a usage portion. Usage is based on call volume and duration. You can use their cost calculator to estimate your usage cost. All plans come with one month free and unlimited free chat licenses for 30 days.

• Performance Plan
  • 39/month + usage
• Growth plan
  • $99/month + usage
• Connect plan
  • $299/month + usage
• Enterprise
  • Contact sales for a quote based on enterprise-level needs

Reviews

• G2 4.5 stars
• Crozdesk 4.5 stars
• Capterra 4.5 stars
• Top performer SourceForge
• Google Partner and HubSpot App Partner

What is the best lead distribution software for selling leads?

Here are my top recommendations for the best lead distribution software for selling leads.

6. Phonexa: Best lead distribution software with a marketing suite

Phonexa’s lead management software has many features that make it a great choice for lead generation companies. Their lead distribution features utilize custom-set configurations to automatically distribute leads with ping tree technology.

Ping tree technology allows lead generation companies to sell to a network of 3rd party buyers based on filters and price which helps you drive a higher revenue per lead.

With more selling and distribution options, a business can attract more buyers and serve them based on their goals. This makes distributing leads to your external partner more efficient and faster.

In addition to distribution, Phonexa offers lead tracking and analytics features to help track performance and identify opportunities for generating more revenue.

Beyond being a lead management platform, Phonexa offers other services like, call tracking and distribution, email & SMS marketing, cloud phone systems, suppression list management, click tracking, and automated accounting.

Features:

• Lead distribution
• Lead tracking
• Ping tree and ping post technology
• Lead analytics
• Predictive modeling
• Real-time reporting

Price:

All of Phonexa’s packages come with their marketing suite of solutions. They offer tiered pricing and custom plans. Fixed costs, like lead tracking and distribution ping prices change with each tier. They operate on a monthly billing structure and include a contract.

• Lite suite starts at $100/month
• Premium suite starts at $500/month
• Enterprise suite has custom pricing

Reviews

• G2 4.9 stars
• G2 Higher performer Winter 2022

7. Boberdoo: Best overall lead generation software

Boberdoo’s lead distribution software has been serving lead generation companies since 2001. With Boberdoo you can route and distribute web and phone leads. I’ve personally used Boberdoo at a lead generation company I worked for to match and sell leads to buyers.

With Boberdoo, you can create custom filter sets to define how you want to route leads. You can create custom filters based on lead prices, geographic parameters like states and zip codes, and much more.

Boberdoo assigns leads to the correct buyer based on your filter sets, and then delivers leads to the buyer via email or custom integrations with CRMs and lead management systems.

You can create partner logins so your buyers can access their leads, transactions, and billing. Using a payment integration you can set up credit card billing to allow for automatic or scheduled payments from your buyers.

Boberdoo’s support is really responsive which is great. They have a ticketing system and are very responsive to high-priority requests.

Features:

• Multiple distribution logic variations
• Unique filtering options using filter sets
• CRM and LMS integrations
• Multiple billing options
• Unlimited admin partner and vendor logins
• Pin post options
• Call routing
• Form builder
• Lead exclusivity
• Live transfer routing
• Multiple lead verticals
• Business automation
• Lead delivery system
• Call center verification

Price:

Boberdoo’s pricing is based on a variety of factors like web leads, calls, and pings so you’ll need to request a consultation to get a custom quote for your business.

Reviews

• Capterra 4.7 stars

8. Aggregatur: Best lead distribution software with a tracking suite

Aggregatur is a lead distribution software that’s been in business since 2005. Similar to Boberdoo, their main features allow you to route and sell leads to buyers based on criteria you set so you can maximize your revenue for every lead you generate.

Their lead distribution software prices leads in real-time and routes leads to the correct buyers or sales team members. You can route leads based on multiple factors like location, campaign source, time of day, any data field you add, and much more.

You can deliver leads via email, text messages, or webhooks and you can track performance using their analytics dashboards.

Aggregatur allows you to match costs with sales data so you can truly calculate ROI of your marketing campaigns.

Features:

• Lead distribution
• Call routing
• Campaign tracking
• Smart pricing
• Website integrations
• Real-time reporting and dashboards

Price:

Aggregatur’s pricing models scale with your business so the pricing increases with the amount of leads you sell. All plans included marketing automation, website integrations, phone tracking & routing, reporting & analytics, client services, data integration, and more. There is a one-time onboarding fee of $900 that includes 30 days of hands-on configuration of your account.

• Startup package – sell 1,000 leads – $249/month
• Growth package – sell 3,000 leads – $499/month
• Advanced package – sell 10,000 leads $799/month
• $900 onboarding fee
• Call tracking fees – $5/month for a toll-free number, and $0.059/minute usage fee

Reviews

• Capterra 5 stars

9. LeadsPedia: Best lead distribution for performance marketers

LeadsPedia is a lead distribution and call tracking and routing platform aimed at performance marketers.

Their lead distribution software can be used to capture leads, validate and append data, and deliver leads all in real-time. Delivery can be made by server post, ping/post, email, SMS, and batch.

LeadsPedia allows you to double-check leads for duplication, validate leads by a number of options like IP address, emails, and much more.

Features:

• Distribution types (round robin, weighted distribution, price, etc.)
• Multiple lead delivery methods
• Delivery schedules per lead buyers
• Delivery filters
• Delivery Caps
• Lead routing rules
• Unlimited verticals
• Real-time reporting
• Fraud detection
• Lead import
• Geo-targeting
• Targeting rules
• Upload returns
• Sub Affiliates
• Pixels and postbacks

Price:

LeadsPedia has 4 subscription plans with 3 of them being tiers based on lead volumes and an enterprise option that is custom priced based on a business’s needs.

• Starter plan – $1,000/month
• Lite plan – $1,500/month
• Premium plan – $2,500/month
• Enterprise plan – custom pricing

Reviews

• Capterra 5 stars

Wrapping things up:

Depending on your business’s needs, there are multiple lead distribution software tools to help route leads to sales teams and to lead buyers. Depending on the scale of your leads, pricing will vary for each of the above products mentioned.

What is lead distribution software?

Lead distribution software organizes and routes leads to internal teams or 3rd party lead buyers using criteria set in the system.

What is the best software for lead sales?

The best software for lead sales is Boberdoo which is a lead distribution tool that allows you to capture incoming leads from multiple sources, filter the leads, and deliver them to the correct buyers.

How can you distribute leads?

You can distribute leads using a lead distribution software tool like Chilipiper that will assign and route leads to the best sales member or lead buyer based on the criteria you set.

How to set up a lead distribution system?

To set up a lead distribution system you will need to purchase a plan with a lead distribution software tool that will then allow you to configure routing rules, pricing, and delivery methods.

The post 9 Best Lead Distribution Software for Routing and Selling – 2023 appeared first on Mitchell Gould.