by Fronetics | Aug 26, 2014 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Strategy
A 2013 survey of B2B marketers by LinkedIn found that when it comes to lead generation, customer testimonials and case studies are considered the two most effective content marketing tactics. Why are customer testimonials and case studies so effective? Because they are content that is valued and trusted by B2B buyers.
How can you write a B2B case study that generates leads?
Here are five elements of an effective case study.
- A case study is a story. Case studies that read like a story succeed. Case studies that are written, for example, as a sales pitch fall flat and fail to attract and engage prospective buyers.
- Case studies are not a sales pitch. Inform and educate through the sales pitch, but do not “sell.” An effective case study will generate new customers and sales.
- Prospective buyers turn to case studies for concrete examples. Make it easy for the reader to obtain the information desired. Bullet points, quotes, and lists are all examples of how you can deliver the highlights.
- Keep it short and sweet. A case study should provide the prospective buyer with enough information, but should not go into the minutia.
- Include these three components: the challenge, the solution, and the results.
by Fronetics | Aug 21, 2014 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy, Talent
Want to advance? Stop whining. Whining won’t get you to the top.
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.
Given this, why is there so much whining in the office? Ron Ashkenas, a senior partner at Schaffer Consulting and author of several books on organization change and effectiveness, wrote in a post for the Harvard Business Review:
The reality is that all of us whine, complain, blame others, and try to avoid responsibility. It’s part of the human condition. Nobody likes to clean up problems caused by others — or admit that they’ve created problems themselves. We also try to preserve a positive self-image and we go to great lengths to get others to perceive us positively as well. Given these basic human dynamics, most of which are unconscious, it’s often easier to talk to colleagues about what somebody else is doing wrong. At worst we’ll get sympathy. At best, we’ll convince someone else to take care of the problem.
Ashkens continued, noting that the current economic environment and organizational structures have made it so that “it’s tough to get things done — which leaves people feeling frustrated and in need of a sympathetic ear.” But let’s be honest. When your co-worker comes up to you whining (again) about this or her workload — do you really feel sympathy?
Let’s look a little closer at what Ashkenas said. Essentially, whining is used as a tool to “blame others” and “to avoid responsibility.” Neither blaming others nor avoiding responsibility are positive traits. Neither of these traits will get you hired nor will they get you promoted. The qualities that will get you that next job, which will get you recognized, and will get you promoted are stepping up, taking responsibility, and taking action — the antithesis of whining.
In his book The Last Lecture, Randy Paush astutely wrote:
If you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you’d be surprised by how well things can work out… Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier.
Want to be taken seriously? Want to be effective? Want to be successful? Stop whining.
by Elizabeth Hines | Aug 20, 2014 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
Losing an employee is costly — very costly. Yet, many organizations don’t know how to ensure that its human resource assets don’t just walk away.
The US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than 2 million people voluntarily leave their jobs each month. The Society of Human Resources Management has found that the cost of replacing an employee ranges from 50 percent of the employee’s annual salary to 400 percent of their annual salary. What do these numbers mean? They mean that the cost of replacing an employee with an annual salary of $45,000 could be between $16,000 and $160,000. And the cost of replacing your employee with an annual salary of $150,000 could range from $60,000 to $600,000. Not inexpensive.
In July 2013, Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium released its Supply Chain Talent Report. According to the report, the supply chain industry is expected to experience an increase in turnover within the next 18 months. Most impacted will be positions in planning, procurement, and manufacturing. Reasons include plant closures, outsourcing, and the need for specialized skillsets. There are other reasons as well. Accenture conducted a study (across industries) and found the top four reasons why employees quit their jobs are: a lack of recognition (43 percent), internal politics (35 percent), a lack of empowerment (31 percent), and because they don’t like their boss (31 percent).
For managers, several lessons are there to be learned. Let’s start with the simple lessons. These lessons involve flipping the negatives (the reasons for leaving) to the positive (creating reasons for staying). That is: recognize employees, empower employees, and take steps to remove from the work environment as much bureaucracy and internal politics as possible. By taking these steps the employee who is considering a move may change their tune. If not, it is reasonable to talk with an employee and determine what the issue is. If the issue is something that cannot be addressed and if it is impacting productivity and team morale, explore transferring the employee within the company.
Other keys to employee retention include buy-in and success. Specifically, it is important to gain buy-in from your employees. If an employee is going to be motivated to not just do their job, but to excel at their job — they need to buy-in. They also need to, regularly, succeed and realize progress. A great resource on achieving buy-in and enabling success is The Heart of Change by John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen.
While the time and expense of retaining an employee may seem daunting, the cost of losing an employee is much greater.
Want to learn more about improving employee retention and hiring top talent? At Fronetics we work with clients to understand and execute on talent acquisition, performance management, learning and development, and succession management. Additionally, we offer management and leadership solutions to organizations within the supply chain and logistics industries during times of transition.
A version of this post previously appeared on EBN.
by Fronetics | Aug 19, 2014 | Blog, Content Marketing, Leadership, Marketing, Strategy, Talent
By consistently creating, curating, and distributing valued and trusted content you can position your company as an industry leader.
What is valued and trusted content?
“Peer-power”
A survey by the CMO Council found that all content is not viewed equally by B2B buyers. “Peer-powered content” is more valued and trusted than non-peer content.
The survey found that professional association research and papers are the most valued and trusted content. Papers from industry organizations, case studies, and analyst reports and white papers were also reported to be valued. In contrast, vendor white papers were not found to be valued highly.
What type of content do you most value and trust?
Source: CMO Council
Depth not promotional
The characteristics that were found to be valued the most by B2B buyers were depth of the content (47 percent) and ease of access and readability (44 percent). Respondents reported that they do not like content that has too many requirements to download (50 percent) or is promotional or self-serving (43 percent).
Good content is shared
B2B buyers report that they share good content. Fifty-nine percent of survey respondents share content with 25 or more peers and associates, and 28 percent of survey respondents forward content on to 100 or more people.
Position yourself
To position your company as an industry leader you need to provide valued and trusted content. This means creating, curating, and distributing content that educates, informs, and addresses specific needs.
It also means avoiding the trap of self-promotion. Valued and trusted content is not content that is self-serving or promotional, rather valued and trusted content provides customers with answers, solutions, and education.
Blogging is essential, but additional content is necessary as well. Case studies and white papers are two go-to content solutions that can help you position your company as a trusted leader within your industry.
Remember that you don’t need to go it alone. More than 44 percent of B2B marketers report that they outsource content creation.
by Fronetics | Aug 19, 2014 | Blog, Content Marketing, Leadership, Marketing, Strategy, Talent
By consistently creating, curating, and distributing valued and trusted content you can position your company as an industry leader.
What is valued and trusted content?
“Peer-power”
A survey by the CMO Council found that all content is not viewed equally by B2B buyers. “Peer-powered content” is more valued and trusted than non-peer content.
The survey found that professional association research and papers are the most valued and trusted content. Papers from industry organizations, case studies, and analyst reports and white papers were also reported to be valued. In contrast, vendor white papers were not found to be valued highly.
What type of content do you most value and trust?
Source: CMO Council
Depth not promotional
The characteristics that were found to be valued the most by B2B buyers were depth of the content (47 percent) and ease of access and readability (44 percent). Respondents reported that they do not like content that has too many requirements to download (50 percent) or is promotional or self-serving (43 percent).
Good content is shared
B2B buyers report that they share good content. Fifty-nine percent of survey respondents share content with 25 or more peers and associates, and 28 percent of survey respondents forward content on to 100 or more people.
Position yourself
To position your company as an industry leader you need to provide valued and trusted content. This means creating, curating, and distributing content that educates, informs, and addresses specific needs.
It also means avoiding the trap of self-promotion. Valued and trusted content is not content that is self-serving or promotional, rather valued and trusted content provides customers with answers, solutions, and education.
Blogging is essential, but additional content is necessary as well. Case studies and white papers are two go-to content solutions that can help you position your company as a trusted leader within your industry.
Remember that you don’t need to go it alone. More than 44 percent of B2B marketers report that they outsource content creation.
by Fronetics | Aug 14, 2014 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
We want to hear from you! 
We want to know what questions you have about:
- Demand generation
- Establishing and growing an online presence
- Social media
- Content
These categories are intentionally broad because we want to you to think about any (and all) questions and pain points you might have related to these topics.
Remember the adage – there is no stupid question.
Why do we want to hear from you?
We have an upcoming series of blog posts that are focused on answering questions that companies within the supply chain industry have regarding demand generation, an online presence, social media, and content. We want to give you the opportunity to ask your questions and state your challenges so that your questions and challenges can be addressed.
How can you be heard?
Fill out the form below or content with us via Twitter or LinkedIn.
