This is the first part in a 3-part guide to getting started with and maximizing your premium membership.
When you first get started, there are a few things you'll want to do right away like adding enhanced content to your premium profiles and responding to any critical reviews to make sure that your profiles are effectively communicating information about your products and services to educate and convert potential buyers.
Initial setup to optimize your presence time takes about 30-45 minutes but after that you are all set and all you'll do is tweak and maintain over time on an as needed basis:
a. List Your Products
Make sure you have visibility and can generate leads in each of your core categories
Your goal is to make sure that your products and services are discoverable in as many relevant places as possible on HTR to increase your surface area on the site and thus your discoverability, visibility and lead volumes (Benefits of Listing in Multiple Categories).
In categories where you offer a standalone product 👉 Create profiles to become discoverable in your core categories to start generating leads and visibility
In related categories where you don't offer a standalone product 👉 Create product modules to gain visibility and be able to generate leads in related categories
b. Customize Your Profiles
Customize your new Premium Profiles
Time required: 5-10 minutes
Think of your new premium profiles as a virtual conference booth that's open 24-hours a day, 365-days a year for prospects to discover and engage with your brand. which is why you want to make sure you look your best. All premium fields have now been unlocked in the profile editor in your vendor dashboard so you can fully customize everything to turn them into your best piece of sales collateral.
Head to the profile editor in your vendor dashboard to customize premium fields like featured brands, awards, case studies, references, custom profile banners and more!
c. Respond to Critical Reviews
Respond to any critical reviews to paint the full picture, rebut sales challenges and show prospects you care
Time required: 5-20 minutes
One of the new features unlocked in the Review Manager in your dashboard is the ability to respond to client reviews. You can do this directly from your profiles or from the Reviews tab in your vendor dashboard. Start out by determining who on your team is best suited to manage review responses and make sure to invite them to your profile and let them know to respond to reviews. Then, head to your profiles and respond to any critical reviews first. Response management shouldn't take much time but should be something that stays top of mind to maximize your reputation and attract more leads.
d. Upload Gated Content
Upload gated content to capture downloads
Time required: 5-10 minutes
Separate of direct and matched leads, as a Premium Member you also have access to two additional ways to capture buyer intent through your profiles so make sure to (a) upload a gated demo video and (b) host your reports to boost the reach of your content and capture buyer intent.
Premium Member Onboarding
👉 Part I: Setting up the foundation
Part II: Improving your reputation, rankings and visibility
Part III: Staying top of mind with content