This document provides a 10-point guide for businesses to plan, launch, and market products and services in the United States using digital tools and strategies. It begins by outlining why disruption and digital adoption are important for businesses in the large and growing US market. It then details 10 key points to focus on, including delivering first value to customers, understanding the customer journey, leveraging brand messaging, gaining insights into competitors, and using tools to optimize conversions at every step. The overall guide emphasizes using digital strategies and data to effectively enter the US market and maximize opportunities for success.

1. GO TO MARKET USAGO TO MARKET USA
Presented by
A 10-point guide to plan, launch, and market products
and services in the USA using the power of digital

2. CONTENTS
AUTHORS
Zubin Mowlavi
Mika Nagashima
Brad Bortone
CeeCee Vandiver
Foreword 3
Why Disruptive? 4
Why You? 5
Plan 6
1 Deliver First Value To Your Customers 7
2 Why Your Competitors Are Winning 9
3 Put Your Brand To Work For You 11
4 Use Every Opportunity For Conversion 13
5 Test Your Hypotheses 15
Launch 17
6 You Need More Than Just A Website 18
7 Establish Your Thought Leadership Credibility 20
8 Get The Right Eyeballs On Your Content 23
9 Nurture Your Leads 26
10 Never Settle. 28
Conclusion 30

3. 3
$2.2 TRILLION
(£1.45 TRILLION)
We want you to remember this number,
because it’s the most telling figure we’ve heard to date
when discussing digital disruption in the United States.
But we’ll come back to that in a bit.
In a questionable global economy, businesses in
the U.S. have managed to not only stay afloat, but are
flourishing, thanks to their investment of time, money,
and resources into digital growth.

4. 4
entire U.S. business landscape, and
frankly that of the UK and many other
areas in the world.
Each year, we attend numerous
seminars and conferences that provide
surface-level thinking, and reiterate time-
worn business tropes most attendees
already know, and are probably already
using. We see Spark a little differently.
We’re here to help you build a roadmap
toward U.S. export and expansion by
delivering the resources that help you
move from planning your U.S. expansion
to profiting from it.
In other words, we’re not going to tell
you to map a customer journey. We’re
going to give you the tools to do it.
We’re not going to tell you to find a
competitive advantage. We’re going
to show you where to find it, and how
to leverage it.
And we’re not going to reiterate
why brand messaging is important.
We’re going to explain why the U.S., and
its wide range of cultures and buyer
behaviors, can make your brand mean
more things to more people.
There is a reason why small and mid-
sized businesses have become multi-
national brands by expanding to one of
the world’s most diverse, exciting, and
growing economies. It might sound cliché
to those who aren’t paying attention,
but the U.S. really is a land of opportunity.
From the ways we travel and commute,
to the ways we consume media and
enter t ainment , and even the way
we make purchases without cash
or cards, digital has disrupted the
IN THE UNITED STATES,
THERE IS NO “ONLINE”
OR “OFFLINE” BUSINESS.
THERE’S JUST BUSINESS.
DIGITAL
IS BUSINESS.
Disruptive innovation and technology are concepts that were
coined by Harvard business professor Clayton Christensen
15 or so years ago. The basic idea being that technological
innovation creates new markets and value by improving
or expanding an existing product in unexpected ways.
For example, even though a minor disruption was the invention
of the automobile, the big disruptor that emerged from
automobile creation was, in fact, the automobile assembly line.
In turn, DVDs weren’t disruptive. But DVD delivery
rentals were. As was the streaming follow-up.
Disruption, while exciting, has long had a negative
reputation for breaking industries that didn’t need
to be broken. Many feel it creates a business culture
defined by fear and terror, equating innovators to ravenous
vultures, preying on perfectly good business models
that were far from dying.
In reality, innovation isn’t the enemy. On the contrary,
disruptors are simply finding ways to improve things that
we didn’t realize needed improvement, but we are
better for knowing it now. Five years ago, many could
not have imagined that there could be a cashless
system to instantly hail a car through your smartphone.
(Yeah, we’re talking about Uber.) The taxi industry was fine and
functional (mostly), but Uber is inherently more convenient.
And CDs may still provide crystal clear audio, but for
$10 consumers can have a month’s worth of access to the
entire recorded history of music.
Disruption has transformed an already burgeoning U.S.
marketplace into a tech-fueled hotbed of commerce,
and an exciting destination for growing businesses
throughout the world.
WHY DISRUPTIVE?

5. 5
In fact, according to a 2015 survey by Deloitte Digital,
in the United States, disruptive tech influences are
expected to represent 64 cents of every retail
dollar by the end of 2015—to the tune of
Digital disruption isn’t exclusive to buyer behavior,
either. U.S. small and mid-sized businesses are
implementing leading technologies into their
operations to achieve the following for their
$2.2 TRILLION
(Yeah, there’s that number again.)
Let’s face it, you’re reading this because U.S. expansion was already in play for your business.
You know how strong the U.S. market is currently, and how it’s projecting to improve.
And you’re probably aware of how digital isn’t a “nice-to-have” for your growing brand.
It’s mandatory. So, we’re going to dispense with the grandiose statements, awash with bald eagles
and American flags.
In its place, we’ve devised a 10-point plan for turning your U.K. business dreams into another U.S.
success story. There is $2.2 trillion (£1.45 trillion!) in sales to share, and you need to be a part of it.
You know you want to expand, and you might even know it’s a feasible option. But you might not
know about the tools that are available to ignite your expansion. At least, until today.
Let’s get started.
WHY YOU?
customers, investors, employees, and other partners:
•• Predictive modeling and analytics, to win
greater market share.
•• Analytics to gauge efficiency beyond
buyer behaviors—warehouses,
fulfillment centers, and distribution-
related functions also can benefit.
Additionally, U.S. executives increasingly view
technology as a strategic asset that can drive
competitive advantage, and are taking a more
active role in technology decisions.

6. 6
PLANPLAN

7. 7
the one which, if you answer it, lays the foundation for
answering all the rest—is identifying what it takes (in
that two-tenths of a second) to keep your customer
interested enough to ultimately choose your brand over
your competitors. That is First Value—that moment of
real value or “win” that your customer will experience
during the buying cycle of your product. In this context,
it is the first positive experience a customer will have
with your brand.
Your goal is to inspire brand loyalty and create activists
for your brand. And in order to do that, you’ll have to
define what it takes to deliver their win.
It takes
less than two-tenths of a second
for an online visitor to form
a first impression of your brand.
How can you bridge the gap between your goods and
services and the customer base you believe exists
in the U.S.? How do you demonstrate real value to
your prospects, planning for the success you know
is imminent? Before you can answer those questions,
you first need to think about this: It takes less than
two-tenths of a second for an online visitor to form a
first impression of your brand. Your first real challenge—
DELIVER FIRST VALUE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
1

8. 8
Even if you already have an inkling of your customer’s
journey, there are nuances that will af fe ct your
customer’s decision-making that are specific to your
marketing tactics. Identifying these influences—which
include everything from demographics and regions to
keywords and preferred social platforms—will help you
lay a strong foundation for developing effective strategies.
•• Google’s interactive online tool (Fig 1.1) Map the
customer journey specific to your U.S. audience
and take the guesswork out of the equation.
Each touchpoint with your brand along
a customer’s journey is a marketing
oppor tunit y to digit ally inf luence
p u rc h a s e d e c i s i o n s — t h e F i r s t o f
which being the most important. You
wouldn’t wear sandals to a first date,
right? Defining First Value will help you
focus your efforts on building a strong
brand presence at key touchpoints all
along the customer journey.
•• Google’s interactive online
tool (Fig 1.1) Define specific U.S.
market touchpoints as they relate
to your customer’s journey.
•• Spark Customer Journey Map
(Fig 1.2) Personalize the customer’s
experience with your brand using
this free template.
Figure 1.1 Google’s Interactive Online Tool
Figure 1.2 Spark Customer Journey Map
MAP OUT YOUR CUSTOMER JOURNEY
DEFINE YOUR TOUCHPOINTS
Your first touchpoint might come when your customers are on the move. More than 50% of all U.S. adults now
have a smartphone device and 76% of millennials rely on mobile web and social media to find information and
solve problems. This means your mobile experience is no longer a companion to the website or a product itself.
As a common first point of engagement, mobile needs to convey your brand’s value prop in full.
Mobile Matters

9. 9
WHY YOUR COMPETITORS ARE WINNING
75% of competitors
are most likely
unknown to you.
2
The brands that are successfully winning niche markets
and extending their reach beyond Google’s search radius
are already tapped into digital as a strategy. The same
goes for digital-savvy consumers who are adept at
searching for easily accessible goods and services to
meet their needs—regardless of industry, store location,
or country of origin. The good news is, these tactics are
accessible to everyone and half the battle is knowing
where to start. Here are some tools that will help you gain
insight into current competitor and consumer behaviors,
so you can change your good plan into a great one with a
digital advantage.
•• Google Adwords Keywords Planner (Fig. 2.1)
Monitor keyword search volume and competition
to help gauge the market landscape.
YOUR COMPETITORS AND CUSTOMERS ARE
ALREADY USING DIGITAL TO THEIR ADVANTAGE
Competitive advantage isn’t just
about who you know, it’s what you
know. If you think other companies
might already have secret insight
into the market, we’re here to help
you debunk that myth. For example,
if you provide technology services,
an astounding 75% of competitors
are most likely unknown to you.
This isn’t because the information isn’t
accessible; it is. But it’s your buyers
who are accessing it to chase down
exactly what they want from whichever
company is ready to provide it.
That’s why frequent analysis of the ever-
changing competitive landscape— both
from known competitors and your
target market’s perspective—is crucial.
We understand that expanding your
b r a n d i s a b i g s te p, a n d yo u’ ve
probably already done some market
research and competitor analysis.
But if that means you’ve just Googled
companies that provide the same
products and services that you
provide in the U.S., we’re here to
tell you that there’s a much more
effective way. (Hallelujah).

10. 10
•• Google’s interactive online tool (Fig. 1.1) Social
tactics are one of the most effective marketing
touch points along a customer journey. Find out
what’s relevant to your industry and get socializing.
•• Nuvi (Fig. 2.2) Put the social ecosystem to work
for you by monitoring real-time, relevant buzz and
#hashtags around your product or service industry.
•• What Runs Where (Fig. 2.3) Get alerts when new
ads or content is published by your competitors
and track where they’re placing their ads.
•• Social Mention (Fig. 2.4) Track company mentions
and cross-analyze what is being said across
different social networks Figure 2.1 Google Adwords Keywords Planner
Figure 2.2 Nuvi
Figure 2.4 Social Mention
Figure 2.3 What Runs Where

11. 11
PUT YOUR BRAND TO WORK FOR YOU
Your brand is the best currency you
have. That’s because a strong brand
helps you negotiate your unique
value offering in an increasingly
diverse economy. In order to achieve
that, however, your messaging must
b e g e n u i n e , p u r p o s e - d r i ve n , ( I f i t
isn’t already, we can help with that!),
3
The U.S. is like 50 mini-countries, each with their own
unique cultures, trends, and perspectives. Developing
effective messaging means identifying the wants and
needs of your target market(s) so you can plan accordingly.
Luckily, there are some helpful (and free!) tools at your
disposal that will help you see what’s most effective across
various markets, and where your messaging might have the
greatest potential for success.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
58% of the most expensive keywords
in the U.S. are location-specific.
and aware of which re gions and
audiences will find it most resonant.
Did you know that 58% of the most
expensive keywords in the U.S. are
location-specific?
This doesn’t mean that you have
t o t a i l o r a l l o f yo u r a d s o r s o c i a l
media campaigns to meet the specific
demographics of every American
communit y. The idea isn’t to dilute
your brand message, but to understand
where some specificity might make
the most impact across different
U.S. regions. Here are two important
things to consider.
•• Google Adwords Keywords Planner (Fig. 2.1)
Monitor keyword search volume and competition
to help gauge the landscape in specific markets.
•• Spark Message Map (Fig. 3.1)
Drill down even further and create specific
messaging themes that will resonate with your
new audiences.

12. 12
Your brand was built by humans with individual values, personalities, and desires—that’s what U.S. customers want
to connect with. Communicating your unique value proposition in a simple, straightforward manner will help new
customers to quickly identify with your brand ideals and forge that first critical link toward building trust. The key is
defining what matters to those you want to reach so you can deliver it.
INSPIRE TRUST AND LOYALTY
Figure 3.1 Spark Message Map
U.S. consumers want to connect with the humans behinds the brands they support. In Deloitte’s 2013 Core
Beliefs & Culture survey, 87% of respondents indicated businesses should place equal weight on societal
interests as they do business interests. Yet, only 20% of worldwide brands were viewed as positively impacting
people’s lives. Is your brand and messaging a positive reflection of what you stand for?
The Purpose of Purpose
•• Customer Journey Map (Fig. 1.2) If you haven’t
yet, identify what First Value is to your customers.
You only get one chance to make a strong First
impression.
•• Spark Message Map (Fig. 3.1) Illustrate your brand
handshake by using the data gathered in steps 1
and 2 to make it extremely relevant to what your
customers are searching for.

13. 13
USE EVERY OPPORTUNITY FOR CONVERSION
Even the world’s finest, most trusted brands have
one cross to bear—only 2.3% of their web traffic
result s in a macro conversion . This leaves
97.7 % of this traf f ic who are Aware of your
brand but have not yet converted. Where many
brands might consider macro conversions—a
sale or a lead generation form completion—as
the pinnacle of strategic success, we say: don’t
discount the power of micro.
In fact, your micro conversions are just as
important as your macro conversions. Tracking
your micro conversions helps you understand
the overall success and effectiveness of your
digital campaigns. Because most site traffic
does not result in macro conversions, micro
conversions, or process milestones and
secondary actions, are the best indicator of
positive impact of your brand’s user experience.
4
The average conversion rate is 2.3%,
which leaves 97.7% of traffic to be
directed through micro conversions.
Understanding where these micro conversions exist on your sales funnel helps you refine your strategy to achieve
expansion success (hint: they help build trust in the Awareness and Interest phases and funnel customers towards
Preference and Selection). Now’s the time to see whether your touchpoints are hitting the mark by achieving these micro
conversion goals, or if they need to be realigned:
•• Spark Sales Funnel Guide (Fig. 4.1) Define and map the digital pathways that customers follow when
purchasing your goods or services.
•• Google Analytics (Fig. 4.2) Setup and refine your multiple goal conversions with the most comprehensive view
of your lead generation programs
MAGNIFY YOUR MICRO

14. 14
Have you accounted for your new digital prowess in
your sales funnel? Consider how your Message Map
(see step 3) influences how potential customers become
Aware and Interested in your brand offering. Once you
have a better understanding of what is effectively
engaging customers at each touchpoint, you can
convert these pillars of messaging into opportunities
for micro conversions.
GETTING THE MESSAGE
Figure 4.1 Spark Sales Funnel Guide
Figure 4.2 Google Analytics
•• Spark Sales Funnel Guide (Fig. 4.1) Define and map
the digital pathways that customers follow when
purchasing your goods or services.
•• Spark Message Map (Fig. 3.1) Identify how potential
customers become Aware and Interested in your
brand offering.

15. 15
TEST YOUR HYPOTHESES
Perhaps the most powerful element of digital is how it
enables you to test your hypotheses while you plan your
expansion—it means never having to settle for untested
strategies that leave you just hoping for the best.
Decision making without powerful data support is no
longer an option, especially when the distance between
companies and relevant data is decreasing. And it’s not
about leveraging stats that depict other brands’ success
and failures, it’s about quickly obtaining data to support
your individual hypotheses.
5
You’ve gathered insight about your customer, you know what First Value is, you understand the competitive
landscape, and you have a specific brand message waiting for your new audience. In the past, you would then
implement a launch campaign and hope that your hypotheses hold true. Not anymore. You now have an interim step:
validation. Put all of this information to work for you.
•• Google Adwords (Fig. 5.1) Create campaigns and test various audiences, messages, keywords, and locations
to determine the optimal combination for your launch.
VALIDATION
Considering that Google owns 82% of paid search ad spend
in the U.S., finding the right combination of messaging,
platforms, and markets has never been more important to
expansion success. After all, it’s not like your customers
aren’t searching for you—you just have to know how
to reach them before the competition does. That’s why
companies that are able to leverage digital tools to quickly
gain the most applicable details for their expansion plans
are able to push forward and drive their own success.
Here’s how you can, too.
Google owns 82% of paid
search ad spend in the U.S.

16. 16
It seems counterintuitive, but think of it as an A|B test for your plan. Setting up multiple campaigns in Google AdWords
with varying messaging will expose information that will help you refine your go to market strategy. Once you see which
campaigns are performing with statistical significance, you can forge ahead with your strongest strategies.
•• Google AdWords (Fig. 5.1) Use data to validate which geographical markets and demographics are responding
best to your goods or service.
•• WordStream (Fig. 5.2) Break down the data, optimize your tactics, and forge ahead with the most successful
campaigns.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO
COMPETE AGAINST YOURSELF
Figure 5.1 Google AdWords Figure 5.2 WordStream
According to Wordstream, it takes 100 different ads to find the “unicorn” ad that has 6x the clickthrough
rate of others! Pro tip: people respond to emotion, most notably “awe.” Make sure your ad copy positively
distinguishes you from your competition in a way that prioritizes your customer’s delight.
Awe, Yeah

17. 17
LAUNCHLAUNCH

18. 18
YOU NEED MORE THAN JUST A WEBSITE
6
A single brand website to offer your goods
and services just doesn’t cut it anymore. The
most savvy digital marketers know that multiple
optimized landing pages will always outperform
in terms of conversion rates. Multiple landing
pages are also the optimal places to test the
effectiveness of your core brand messaging.
In fact, 64% of marketers say that landing
pages are the most effective way to test value
proposition.
It’s important to remember that in the Digital
Age, significant lead generation is not the
byproduct of a singular digital campaign. Using
tools to optimize and legitimize your broader
digital presence will help you improve your
ability to reach the people who matter most.
64% of marketers say that landing
pages are the most effective way
to test value proposition.
That’s because companies with 40+ landing pages get 12x more leads than those with 5 or less. If you’re questioning
just how feasible it is to track and test multiple variations of your value proposition and micro conversions, the answer
is: pretty dang feasible. There are plenty of unbiased digital resources that will help you quickly and efficiently test
your landing pages without getting too caught in the weeds.
•• Which Test Won (Fig. 6.1) Get your customers to the information they’re searching for, quicker, by learning
how people instinctively react to pages that are visually and simply organized.
•• Google Analytics (Fig. 4.2) Couple your conversion flows from step 4 with...
•• dataTrack.js (Fig. 6.2) Get impressive insights and ease of implementation of custom event tracking.
YES, LANDING PAGES. PLURAL.

19. 19
Your landing pages are the most
advantageous places to test your
micro conversions (see step 4). It’s
a good thing you’ve already defined
your value proposition through the
Messaging Map and Sales Funnel—
providing this level of value and
information on your landing pages
will not only strengthen your brand
offering, but help you avoid being
penalized by Google’s Doorway
Pages algorithm.
DON’T FORGET
THE MICRO
CONVERSIONS
According to surveys done by Akamai and Gomez.com, nearly half of web users expect a site to load in
2 seconds or less, and they tend to abandon a site that isn’t loaded within 3 seconds. 79% of web shoppers who
have trouble with website performance say they won’t return to the site to buy again, and around 44% of them
would tell a friend if they had a poor experience shopping online.
Fast is a First Impression
Figure 6.1 WhichTestWon
Figure 6.2 dataTrack.js

20. 20
ESTABLISH YOUR
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CREDIBILITY
7
Content is king—really. Per dollar, content marketing
produces 3 times more leads and blogging (not a new
form of torture, we promise) on average gives websites
434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links.
Content marketing is extremely important to your
Sales Funnel. After all, this is your opportunity to
introduce potential customers to your knowledge base
and demonstrate your expertise in your industry. In fact,
Per dollar, content marketing
produces 3 times more leads.
On average, blogs give websites
434% more indexed pages
and 97% more indexed links.
3X
83% of companies indicate that lead generation is the
most important company goal that content marketing
contributes to.
Customers become advocates for brands that stand
for something larger. Content marketing is the thing that
helps brands achieve “something larger.” Brands that are
successful at creating impactful, engaging content are
the ones most likely to win and retain loyal customers.

21. 21
It might just be the most important
thing you do all year. While only 35%
of companies have a documented
content marketing strategy, this 35% are
more effective in all aspects of content
marketing than those who don’t. It’s
also important to note the nuances
that are present across the pond.
While 78% of companies in the UK
have indicated they are using and
creating more content in 2015, 86% of
companies in the US have indicated
the need to create and use content
marketing. Here’s how you can get
started by identifying your target
personas, mapping content that
will resonate with them, and kicking
content production into gear.
•• Spark Content Marketing
Strategy (Fig. 7.1) Map out the
personas of your prospects and
define the intersection of your
expertise and your audience’s
interests to create the most
engaging and impactful content.
•• Spark Content Marketing
Checklist (Fig. 7.2) Already
ready with some awesome
content? Use our checklist to
make sure you haven’t forgotten
anything important—like SEO!
•• Spark Message Map (Fig. 3.1)
Wondering what content will
resonate with your audience
at various touchpoints? This
exercise from step 3 should help!
•• Spark Editorial Calendar
(Fig. 7.3) Map out what types
of content need to be created,
and when. This is instrumental
in mobilizing your team to start
producing effective content to
generate more leads.
PLANNING YOUR CONTENT STRATEGY
Figure 7.1 Spark Content Marketing Strategy
Figure 7.2 Spark Content Marketing Checklist

22. 22
C o n s i d e r c u r a t i n g c o n te n t u n t i l
yo u r Editorial Calendar i s u p a n d
r u n n i n g . Yo u have the opportunity
of identifying influencers here—
these are the people who will
become advocates for your brand.
(Hint : they should be a par t of
your Sales Funnel, too!) D on’ t
underestimate the power of your
insight on these curated pieces,
however! Real brand loyalty develops
from your audience’s response to
your specific reaction and analysis of
others’ content.
•• Paper.li (Fig. 7.4)
Use a digital tool to help find
the best content for you to
share with your audience while
you develop your editorial
calendar and custom content.
BE A CURATOR
Figure 7.3 Spark Editorial Calendar
Figure 7.4 Paper.li

23. 23
GET THE RIGHT EYEBALLS ON YOUR CONTENT
8
Even the most beautiful, thoughtful content will fail to
impress anybody if it never gets seen or the wrong people
see it. Now, it’s time to be smart about the type of content
you continue to produce, as you refine your Editorial
Calendar to ramp up the most effective content types.
And don’t forget: frequency of interaction builds loyalty
and advocacy. 87% of consumers are loyal to brands that
interact with them daily—this number changes to 64%
when there are weekly interactions, and 49% when there
are only monthly interactions.
87% of consumers are loyal to
brands that interact with them daily.
This number changes to 64% when there
are weekly interactions, and 49% when
there are only monthly interactions.
Your job as a brand is to be a thought leader in your
space. Your goal should be to continually create content
that demonstrates this—and not worry about the minutiae
like scheduling and posting.
•• Sendible (Fig. 8.1) Track multiple accounts
and platforms, and schedule content in advance
all in one place—saving you time so you can
focus on filling your Editorial Calendar with
awesome content.
TAKE ME TO
YOUR THOUGHT LEADER
Figure 8.1 Sendible
MONTHLY
49%
64%
87%
WEEKLYDAILY

24. 24
Media outlets like Entrepreneur, Forbes, CNN,
and Yahoo are continually looking for great
content that can be repurposed. If this seems like
a daunting task, not to worry—help is available!
Since you’re constantly producing content, now
is the best time to engage content syndication
partners to widen your net for leads and,
ultimately, conversions.
•• Taboola (Fig. 8.2) Content syndication partner
that uses algorithms to discover consumer
likes and preferences and recommend
additional content they may like.
•• Outbrain (Fig. 8.3) Content recommendation
platform helping Internet publishers
increase web traffic by presenting them
with relevant website links.
•• Link Prospector (Fig. 8.4) Identify
opportunities to increase your ranking.
•• Google AdWords (Fig. 5.1) Use your
content to refine your strategy.
(Remember those micro conversions we
talked about in step 4?) Create “gated”
content (content that requires a customer
action to view, like filling out a form, or
signing up for a newsletter)
to improve your goal flows and conversions.
MAXIMIZE
YOUR EXPOSURE
MAKE
YOUR CONTENT
WORK FOR YOU
Figure 8.4 Link Prospector
Figure 8.3 Outbrain
Figure 8.2 Taboola

25. 25
Already seeing conversions on your content?
Refine your strategy even further by using
a combination of several additional options
available to you, such as programmatic
advertising, to identify similar consumers for
your product or services.
•• Rocketfuel (Fig. 8.5) Programmatic
advertising platform using a complex
algorithm of browsing patterns and
online habits to identify similar target
consumers.
•• Quantcast (Fig. 8.6) Programmatic
advertising platform that specializes in
audience measurement and real-time
advertising.
•• Adroll (Fig. 8.7) Use retargeting ads to
convince those who’ve left your site to
come back (with your stellar content, of
course!) and convert.
REFINE YOUR
STRATEGY
Figure 8.5 Rocketfuel
Figure 8.6 Quantcast
Figure 8.7 Adroll

26. 26
NURTURE YOUR LEADS
If you’ve made it this far, you’re definitely a force to be
reckoned with. You know how to provide First Value
to your customers, you have in-depth insight into your
competitors, your brand message is solid, you’re set up
with multiple landing pages, your content is bringing
in more and more leads every day, and everything is
mapped back to your Sales Funnel.
But what about leads that need a little more time to
make a decision? You’ve done everything you can to
move them along the Customer Journey, but they haven’t
quite gotten the value they’re looking for to be converted
to a sales lead.
79% of marketing leads never convert into sales—
lack of lead nurture is the common cause of this poor
performance.
9
Companies that use email software
in the U.S. generate 14x more leads
than companies that don’t.
If you think email marketing is outdated, we’re about to blow
your mind. The average return on investment that email
marketing yields for businesses in the U.S. is—are you
ready?—4,300%. In fact, there’s nothing better. Email has the
highest conversion rate (at 66%!) when compared to social,
direct mail, and other forms of marketing—and it can be simple
to develop an effective strategy. We’ll even get you started.
•• Spark Nurture Email Workflow (Fig. 9.1)
We created a sample workflow that you can use
while planning your touchpoints.
THIS IS WHERE EMAIL MARKETING SHINES
Figure 9.1 Spark Nurture Email Workflow

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Identifying, nurturing, and maintaining one lead might
be no big deal, but what happens when you get several
hundred or several thousand leads—all of which require
the same amount of attention and constant care to
flourish? Marketing automation helps you organize,
manage, and automate your marketing efforts across
all channels so you can focus on the right leads and
invest in the strategies that bring the biggest return.
And it can make a huge difference: companies that use
email software in the U.S. generate 14x more leads than
companies that don’t!
•• Eloqua (Fig. 9.2) Organize, manage, and automate
marketing efforts with this powerful marketing
automation tool.
EVERY LEAD COUNTS
Figure 9.2 Eloqua

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NEVER SETTLE.
10
Treat your results as a baseline, and never settle. Almost
everything you are doing can be tested and optimized
to enhance performance. Take the time to test and
make incremental changes to increase micro and macro
conversions.
Optimizing your conversions will also net you
better ROI at a lower cost. In fact, it’s essentially free.
Since you’re already experiencing a volume of web
traffic, now’s the time to divert this traffic through A|B
tests or multivariate tests to identify the optimal user
experience.
But you don’t have to take our word for it: according
to new research from Venture Beat, the average ROI of
marketers using conversion optimization tools was 223.7%!
According to new research from
Venture Beat, the average ROI
of marketers using conversion
optimization tools was 223.7%!
A
B

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TEST YOUR WAY TO A GREATER ROI
Figure 10.1 Optimizely
Our friends at Optimizely broke down the different types
of tests that brands should be performing to see increased ROI.
A|B testing (or, A|B | C|D testing, sometimes!) is a
simple way to test a number of variables in a quick and
iterative manner. It’s fast, and can quickly demonstrate
the quantifiable impact of simple design changes.
Multivariate testing is similar to A|B testing, but gives
companies the ability to test multiple things at the same
time. If your contact form, article title, and image choice are
all up for debate, this is the right test to get proven results.
Multi-page funnel test s are a power ful tool for
companies to create tests that span multiple pages.
Imagine testing dif ferent Customer Journey f lows ,
and having real-time dat a to val idate your f indings!
•• Optimizely (Fig. 10.1) Test, personalize, and
optimize your sites using one easy-to-use platform
for the web and mobile apps.
Qualaroo outlines the UX benefits of optimization in two steps—reducing friction (wasted clicks, excess pages,
false starts, going to the wrong page, slow page loads, etc.), and reducing cognitive overhead. This simplifies
the path to a goal for a user, giving them exactly what they’re looking for so they convert faster, and feel good
about making that decision.
Optimize your UX

30. It used to be that most businesses looking to expand globally were large, corporate
enterprises with deep pockets and nearly unlimited resources at their disposal.
Thankfully, disrupting the competitive preserve of Big Business was one of the
first great achievements of the Digital Age.
There’s a reason that the skeleton of this 10-point plan was built around the basic
tenants of planning and launching your brand into a new market—it’s because
these things are as critically important to success today as they’ve ever been:
defining your brand ideals and goals, identifying your competitors and consumers,
developing and deploying the right strategies to reach the right people—these
fundamental steps were once the hardest to test and qualify, which meant brands
would proceed without them and leave their success up to chance.
The good news is that digital is making it easier than ever to lay the foundation you
need to hit the ground running! You’re already considering your move to the U.S.
(and with the U.S. reclaiming the top spot as the UK’s most valued trading partner,
you’ve made a good choice); now you have the digital tools you need to take your
first critical steps forward.
We hope to see you soon across the pond!
Today, all businesses, especially small and mid-sized
businesses that are armed with the advantage
of agility (which is all of them), can harness the
power of digital to grow their brands and expand.
In fact, it has never been easier to do.
visit us at sparkmag.com