by Fronetics | Jan 7, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Supply Chain
Last year was big for content marketing within the logistics and supply chain industries. While companies in general had been hesitant to adopt an inbound marketing approach, many caught on and found this strategy to have a major impact on business in 2015.
Fronetics has helped many clients achieve their goals through targeted inbound marketing efforts. Our data-driven approach aligns business objectives with a marketing program that delivers results with a targeted ROI.
Here are the top content marketing articles in 2015:
1. Five reasons companies in the supply chain and logistics industries should use inbound marketing
Though many companies within the supply chain and logistics industries tend to disregard inbound marketing, it actually can be a wildly successful strategy. Here are five reasons why companies in these industries should be using inbound marketing. Read the full article.
2. Content and Social Media: A Perfect Match for Customer Engagement and Business Growth
This guest blog by Kecia Gray, former vice president of corporate marketing & communications at Transplace, discusses how social media has become an integral part of Transplace’s marketing and communications strategy. It has been key to expanding brand awareness and the company’s thought leadership in the logistics and transportation space. Read the full article.
3. Content as a marketing tool for the logistics and supply chain industries
Fronetics Strategic Advisors conducted a survey focused on the use of content within the logistics and supply chain industries found that companies are using content as a marketing tool and are realizing results. Read the full report.
4. Report: Content use within the logistics and supply chain industries
The survey on industry content use conducted by Fronetics found that companies within the logistics and supply chain industries are creating more content than ever before. Respondents reported using content marketing in order to strengthen overall brand awareness, generate leads, and establish the company as an industry leader. Read the full report.
5. All content is not created equal. Why you need good content.
Good content drives profitable customer action, while bad content is a waste of time and precious resources. What makes good content, and how can you get it? Read the full article.
6. Get Results from Content Marketing by Telling Great Stories
Guest author Thijs Messelaar, a 15-year content-writing veteran, explains how the best content marketing is like a really good story. You must engage your audience emotionally to get them interested in you and to earn their trust. Read the full article.
7. Content marketing ROI for reverse logistics companies
Inbound marketing is effective in garnering consumers’ attention, but it is important to assess return on investment. Reverse logistics companies can use a fairly simple formula to calculate content marketing ROI. Read the full article.
8. Content marketing for the logistics and supply chain industries
Fronetics developed a content marketing guide specifically for companies within the logistics and supply chain industries. In it is step-by-step instructions, templates, lists, and samples to walk you through building your own content strategy. Read the full article.
9. Using inbound marketing to market and sell luxury real estate
Many luxury real estate firms are already using digital and social media to carry the lifestyle brand they’ve built around their properties into the online world. With the use of inbound marketing, they are creating new virtual “touch points” to connect with affluent buyers. Read the full article.
10. Six digital and content marketing tasks to outsource
Outsourcing several digital and content marketing tasks can help companies enjoy a reduction (or cost savings) in operating costs, improve their focus on core competencies, and let employees concentrate on their highest and best use. This article identifies six areas where companies can leverage outsource partners to support their digital efforts. Read full article.
If you are looking to increase business in 2016, consider contacting Fronetics to develop a content marketing strategy. We work with you to create an individualized plan for your specific situation and needs. We identify challenges, trends, and opportunities and take action so that your content marketing program constantly evolves and delivers results.
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by Fronetics | Jan 6, 2016 | Blog, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Transportation & Trucking
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm focused on the logistics and supply chain industries. Our industry and functional expertise enables us to fully support and guide our clients as they address critical business issues, take advantages of opportunities, and grow their company. Our clients rely on us to create and execute marketing strategies, capture value from their customer and channel strategies, identify opportunities for increased revenue, create and execute new organizational models, and lead transformational organizational change.
Supply chain talent is a salient issue. At Fronetics we not only provide thought leadership on this subject, we also engage with future talent. Each year Fronetics collaborates with MBA students from the University of New Hampshire Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics. I am excited that several of the most-read logistics and supply chain articles were written by these students.
Here are the 10 most read logistics and supply chain articles of 2015:
It’s difficult to accurately predict what Amazon will be doing fifteen years from now, but whatever they are doing, it will mostly likely continue to shape consumer expectations and impact the surrounding business and consumer markets in ways we had not thought of beforehand. Read the full article.
There is a common misconception that the majority of goods we purchase arrive via plane, or are transported via road. The reality is that 90% of everything we buy comes by ship — and it’s not likely that this number is going to decrease any time soon. Read the full article.
While many of us may be familiar with recent advancements in home automation, like the Nest thermostat, the real impacts of the Internet of Things (IoT) will be in supply chain management. Recent reports by Cisco, IDC and Gartner all claim that a significant increase in the number of devices making up IoT will have a profound impact on how future supply chains will operate. Read the full article.
Cathy Morris, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for Arrow Electronics, Inc., talks women in the supply chain and offers up career advice. Read the full article.
Regularly tracking your relationship with your suppliers and their performance toward your expectations is critical to ensure the success of your business. One mechanism for tracking this is the supplier scorecard — in essence, a report card for your supplier. Supplier scorecards, when used effectively, can help maintain a healthy supply chain and will benefit both parties. If not used effectively, supplier scorecards can damage the supplier relationship and hurt both businesses. Read the full article.
The pet food industry is a market that boasts $21.57 billion dollars in sales in the United States (2013). According to Trade Group, with 95.6 million cats and 83.3 million dogs owned in the United States, it is no wonder that there is such a large market for the food that the self-proclaimed “pet parents” feed them. However, it isn’t all good news for aspiring entrants, as they must first understand the supply chain that dictates this growing industry. Read the full article.
Uber, the on-demand driver-for-hire mobile service, has come to stand for disruption. The company has not only transformed the taxi industry, it has changed everything. Uber, Aaron Levie notes, is a “lesson in building for how the world *should* work instead of optimizing for how the world *does* work.” NY-based start-up Transfix is doing just this. With the launch of the company’s new app, Transfix is poised to disrupt the trucking industry. Read the full article.
“Man or woman, the Supply Chain of the future depends upon the perfect mix of talent. And, as we know, Supply Chain talent is experiencing a shortage.” Read the full article.
Looking at the manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, transportation, distribution and freight industries, there are a few companies that have emerged as leaders — companies that exemplify the business value of creating and executing digital, social media, and content marketing strategies. Cerasis, a freight logistics company, is one of them. Read the full article.
by Fronetics | Jan 5, 2016 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy, Supply Chain
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. We work with organizations to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
Good leadership is invaluable. At Fronetics we offer: leadership solutions for organizations during times of transition; leadership development solutions; thought leadership on important news and trends; talent acquisition and succession management guidance and support; and M&A support to help our clients build and capture value.
Two of the most-read leadership articles of 2015 were interviews with top female supply chain executives. Interviewing these women, Arrow Electronics’ Cathy Morris and Bravo Solutions’ Mickey North Rizza, was a highlight for me. Thank you again to both women for taking the time to talk with me and to share your thoughts on leadership, the supply chain, career development, and women in the supply chain.
The following are top 10 leadership articles of 2015:
Cathy Morris, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for Arrow Electronics, Inc., talks women in the supply chain and offers up career advice. Read the full article.
The world has changed a lot in a century, but Andrew Carnegie’s ideas on leadership have endured. Read the full article.
Mergers and acquisitions are increasingly popular strategies toward growth; however, 40% to 80% of mergers fail to meet objectives. M&A is complicated, and goes beyond simply “the process of buying a company.” At its heart, it is a strategic selection of competencies that fill a void in a company’s offering, geography, technology, or industry area of focus. It’s wise to think about whether the time, money, and energy are ultimately going to pay off, literally and figuratively.
There are some critical things to consider before courting a merger or acquisition. Be a leader by asking the tougher questions internally rather than focusing your team on an outside “target.” Read the full article.
There’s a great deal of buzz about social media in the business world — and for good reason. Marketing and communications professionals have made it de rigueur to tap into the popularity of social media networks to extend their brands into the digital world. But when it comes to executive use of social media, the field seems much more divided. Domo and CEO.com estimated that of the 500 leaders of the biggest companies in the US, 68% have no social media presence whatsoever. By leaving the social media management to marketers, these leaders are missing opportunities to connect with followers and expand their influence. Read the full article.
Businesses don’t fail; leaders do — a lot. Studies have shown that the rate of failure of executives coming into new companies ranges from 30 to 40 percent after 18 months. The costs and implications of a poor leadership hire are enormous. Given the odds, how can you hire a leader — a true leader? Read the full article.
When leaders fall prey to the busyness trap, time devoted to thinking and reflection is often minimized or eliminated; the result can be catastrophic. Freek Vermeulen, associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the London Business School, cautions: “If you can’t find time to think, it probably means you haven’t organized your firm, unit, or team very well, and you are busy putting out little fires all the time. It also means that you are at risk of leading your company astray.” Read the full article.
Mickey North Rizza, VP, Strategic Services at BravoSolution, holds the distinction of Top Female Supply Chain Executive. She has 25 years of senior-level procurement, sourcing, and supply management experience. Mickey has also been an award-winning supply chain analyst with Gartner and AMR Research. In this interview, Mickey talks women in the supply chain. Read the full article.
The inability to delegate effectively is a principal reason why executives fail. According to London Business School Professor John Hunt, only 30% of managers think that they are able to delegate well. Among these individuals, only one-third are considered to be good delegators by their subordinates. Read the full article.
Women hold just 4.4% of CEO positions at S&P 500 companies, and this number is set to drop when Carol Meyrowitz steps down as CEO of TJX Companies, Inc. and moves into the role of executive chairperson. Looking globally, just 8% of companies with revenues of at least $500 million have a female CEO. Here’s the thing — the dearth of women in leadership positions is not just an issue of equality; it is also one of economics. When women are in positions of leadership, companies perform better — much better. Read the full article.
Whining. Just writing the word makes me cringe. Whining is a truly unattractive characteristic. It is unattractive in children, and it is even more unattractive when adults partake. One of the reasons why whining is just so unattractive is that it is ineffective and it can make a brilliant leader look like, well, like a blithering child. Read the full article.
by Fronetics | Jan 4, 2016 | Blog, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Companies within the logistics and supply chain industries are revolutionizing their marketing strategies by leveraging social media. They are using blogs, in particular, to establish their position as thought leaders and to drive business to their sites.
Fronetics is, once again, looking to uncover the top industry blog of 2015. We need your help by voting for your favorite blog in the logistics and supply chain industries. Vote here! Answers will be collected through January 15, 2016.
See last year’s top blog and honorable mentions!
Your nominations are confidential and will be reported in aggregate with no identifiable information (individual or company) attached. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
by Fronetics | Nov 25, 2015 | Blog, Data Security, Data/Analytics, Strategy
Apple has been making lives easier for years with its personal electronics devices, and its new step towards security will bring relief to many people and, in the age of BYOD (bring your own device) many businesses with be grateful. An increase in two digits, from four to six, might not sound like a big difference, but, in fact, it is. With a four digit passcode there are only 10,000 possible combinations, and the bump up to six digits allows for 1 million possible combinations. According to the website Cult of Mac, “With a brute-force computer, it takes on average 40 seconds to attempt every passcode; theoretically, it would take a maximum of 111 hours, or 4.5 days, for a computer to crack a four-digit passcode. Bump it up to a six-digit passcode and it’d take the same machine 11,000 hours, or 458 days.”
The Age of Flexible Work Arrangements & BYOD
Companies and employees are increasingly going the route of allowing personal devices to be used in the workplace, and allowing people to work from home. According to a recent study by the Quarterly Review of Economics, people who work from home are more productive (the study showed a 13% increase), less exhausted, and less likely to leave a job. As more people work from home and on the road, and want to immediate access to their personal and professional information, BYOD has become popular.
According to a thorough Ponemon Institute study on the security impact of mobile device use by employees, many employees want to use their cell phones, but don’t have a full grasp of how security is being impacted or could be breached. Here are some telling numbers:
- 70% of respondents said that BYOD makes them more productive because they have access to personal and professional information in one spot
- A total of 62% of the respondents reported that access to corporate information via mobile devices is “essential” to productivity
- 38% said that they are more efficient and work time was reduced by roughly 30 minutes
- Only 20% of participants reported receiving training on security of corporate content on mobile devices. Of those who were trained, 74% reported that it was not helpful in reducing security threats on mobile devices.
- 66% said that they “frequently” or “sometimes” download apps that aren’t approved by their companies
- Only 19% check for viruses or malware, and 22% believe this behavior invites any danger to their company
Can a Passcode Fix Security Problems
Apple’s new security option is going to help, no doubt. Breaching a password is one issue, but security concerns extend beyond passwords. One of the major benefits of Apple’s new passcode option is that many companies will have to review their mobile device policies. Emails, client information, legal documents, finances, and other important information are sent from and stored in mobile phones. To say this is delicate information is an understatement.
Here are some suggestions for tightening security:
- Review all vulnerabilities in security including devices, networks, and applications
- Require password protection
- Have detailed security protocols for each electronic device
- Determine which activities can be performed and which can’t on devices
- Consider periodic IT check-ups on devices
In the modern workplace, being able to balance flexibility with security is key to a productive and safe business. Properly training employees, setting clear expectations, and instilling trust in employees is important. If employees are trusted they will want to protect your company’s valuable information, but they can’t do the right thing without clear and accessible policies.
This post originally appeared on Electronics Purchasing Strategies.
