by Fronetics | Sep 5, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain
When your content marketing and sales forces align their efforts, they form a powerful symbiotic relationship that grows your brand and your bottom line.
There’s a big misperception out there that content marketing represents some kind of threat to the job security of sales personnel. It’s absolutely true that content marketing is an inbound approach, contrary to the traditional outbound approach of a B2B sales force. But make no mistake: Content marketing is not a substitute or replacement for an expert sales staff.
[bctt tweet=” It’s absolutely true that content marketing is an inbound approach, contrary to the traditional outbound approach of a B2B sales force. But make no mistake: Content marketing is not a substitute or replacement for an expert sales staff.” username=”Fronetics”]
In fact, it’s when marketing and sales work in tandem that they’re most effective. They can help each other out to generate more leads, nurture current leads more effectively, and even help close more deals.
Content marketing helps generate a steady flow of quality leads, and it provides targeted information to usher prospects down the sales funnel. But even quality leads don’t turn into sales on their own. This is where a sales staff comes in, to take those leads and cultivate them into new business.
Content marketing and sales: Division of labor
For content marketing and sales to work seamlessly together, it’s important to have a clear idea of the role of each. They provide different touch points for leads at each stage of the buying cycle. Here’s a quick primer:
1. Forming a relationship
In this early stage of the buying cycle, your content marketing efforts go toward opening up a dialogue with potential customers. Often, potential leads’ first engagement with your brand comes when they read one of your blog posts, come across your website while searching for product solutions, or see one of your social media posts through their network.
This is when your sales staff picks up the ball, keeping that positive contact going by developing it into a conversation. It’s your sales team’s job to cultivate an ongoing personal relationship with that prospect.
2. Providing information
Now that you’ve established a relationship and your sales team is continuing a dialogue with your prospect, content marketing can step in. B2B buyers report spending more time than ever conducting research, using expert content such as vendor websites, user reviews, and social media before making purchasing decisions. The content that you share with prospects at this stage of the buyer’s journey should be designed to answer informed questions and tip the scales in your favor.
At this stage, your sales staff should be directly answering questions from prospects. When a potential customer reaches out with a query, it’s likely that he or she has done a fair amount of research. So your sales reps need to speak specifically to the customer’s needs in a way that content alone can’t do, to keep them interested and moving down the funnel.
3. Advocating for your brand
Content marketing increases brand awareness for your business. It helps elevate your brand position within the industry and keeps your business top-of-mind, even at a time when potential customers aren’t ready to make a purchase.
When a customer is preparing to make a purchase, your sales staff is the primary advocate for your brand. They should be proactive in pursuing business when customers show interest in your content or when they reach out with questions. They drive dialogue and get to know customers and how your business can help them.
A match made in heaven
When content marketing and sales work together, you’ll see the results hit your bottom line. Curating and creating great content will generate quality leads for your company. And it also empowers your sales force to build relationships with potential customers — and close the sale.
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by Fronetics | Sep 4, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Live video is a powerful tool that can help your supply chain business grow its social media footprint, build brand awareness, and generate leads.
Live video is the super-hot new thing when it comes to generating leads and selling. But the supply chain has, so far, been hesitant to embrace it whole-heartedly as a marketing tool.
I can understand how you might find this new content format too “young” or consumer-facing for B2B sales. But at Fronetics, we think if done right, live video can be really effective.
What is live video?
Maybe you’ve gotten a notification on Facebook to let you know that your nephew is live streaming his piano recital, or a college friend is “live” at a wedding. But, let’s face it: Not many supply chain companies are using live video in their social media marketing. So you may not have thought about it in a professional context.
This “it’ trend in social media has really taken off in the past two years, and marketers are starting to jump on the bandwagon. With today’s emphasis on corporate transparency and putting a real, human face behind business social media accounts, live video is a perfect fit. In fact according to the 2017 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 61% of marketers plan on using live video services, and 69% are interested in learning more about it.
[bctt tweet=”61% of marketers plan on using live video services, and 69% are interested in learning more about it, according to the 2017 Social Media Marketing Industry Report.” username=”Fronetics”]
These are the 4 live video platforms you should be aware of.
1. Facebook Live
Facebook’s live streaming platform lets you broadcast for up to 90 minutes per session, and notifies your audience that you’re streaming live. It also allows viewers to comment and react during your broadcast, and you can read and respond to their remarks immediately.
2. Periscope
Twitter’s answer to live video, Periscope has more than 10 million users, and lets user live stream from their mobile devices and push those streams directly onto Twitter.
3. Instagram Live
Instagram lets users connect to their followers in real time, through its Stories feature. Like Facebook, Instagram lets viewers add real-time comments that are visible to you and the rest of your audience.
4. YouTube Live
Online streaming video juggernaut YouTube makes it incredibly easy to aim, shoot, and post live video.
How to use live video
Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner recently interviewed income strategist and Facebook Live-guru Nicole Walters on the Social Media Marketing Podcast. Walters gave listeners clever tips for using live video to build a following and generate leads. We recommend giving the podcast a listen, but read on for our key takeaways.
Walters advocates for spontaneity in live video but suggests having a format or framework to give you structure and ensure that you’re sticking to your goal of generating leads. Her format is in three parts:
Part One: The Opener
In your introduction, which should be about 30-45 seconds, Walters suggests starting with your name, website, and a brief sentence to give your audience an overview of who your business is and what your video is about. Next, be sure to welcome your audience, perhaps with a special shout-out to new viewers, as well as regulars. Walters also encourages viewers to share her video and to interact with her as she broadcasts.
Part Two: Instructional Content
This is the meat of your video and typically lasts up to 30 minutes. Start by introducing the topic you’re presenting on and why it’s important. Walters also suggests encouraging viewers to take notes, with the rationale that notetaking leads to engaged viewers. If you’re launching a product or service (a great use of live video), you’ll want to cover the need you’re answering with your launch and how your product or service will solve it.
Walters points out that while she prepares extensively for her broadcasts, she avoids reading directly from a piece of paper, as it could easily get impersonal and boring. Instead, she gives herself a cheat-sheet of bullet points to keep her on track.
Part Three: Call-to-Action
This is the final stage of your live video, in which you send your viewers to a page where they can either pay or submit information to receive additional, high-value content (like e-books, webinars, etc.). Walters might say, “If you love this and want to dive in and get the details you need, then head over to NicoleWalters.tv. If you click the center of the page, you’ll find the product… I’ll be right here if you have questions. But come back and tell me you grabbed it.”
Live video offers all kinds of potential value for supply chain marketing. From customer engagement and feedback to transparency and brand awareness, this is a tool for the future of supply chain marketing.
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by Fronetics | Aug 29, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Marketing, Social Media
Also in social media news August 2018: Twitter releases an ads playbook, Snapchat introduces a private ads marketplace, WhatsApp launches a Business API, and Facebook makes updates to its video metrics.
As kids gear up for back to school, social media platforms are busy making updates with a focus on business pages. Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp are all releasing updates and features, including playbooks, to help advertisers increase their brand awareness and user reach. Facebook even created updates to its metrics to help advertisers produce better reporting around usage.
Here’s what’s been happening in August with the hottest social media platforms and how the latest updates are aimed at helping businesses gain exposure and new audiences.
Your social media news for August 2018.
Facebook Q2 earnings show increased user growth but slow revenue growth
Facebook just released their Q2 earnings report showing that the social media giant now has more than 2.5 billion people using at least one of its apps (including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger) monthly. The report also showed declining revenue growth, despite efforts to rebuild trust among users. Mark Zuckerberg reiterated his commitment to user privacy and security. “We continue to invest heavily in safety and security. This quarter, our systems identified and removed thousands of fake accounts, pages, and groups.”
Snapchat drops user count in Q2
Snap Inc. released its Q2 2018 Financial Results revealing a three million daily active user drop in its user base. With a recent redesign to the app, Snap Inc. was aware usage would be down. Co-founder Evan Spiegel states that “the company has been working to improve Snapchat based on user feedback” and is “eager to make more progress on the tremendous opportunity we now have to show more of the right content to the right people.”
Facebook’s Workplace acquires Redkix
Workplace for Facebook, an interactive tool for coworkers, acquired Redkix, an email software that combines email, messaging, and calendar features into one app. Recode reports the acquisition took place so Facebook could create its own communication system within Workplace. Facebook has been working overtime to beef up its Workplace platform to compete against Slack, a messaging app with almost 100 million paid users.
Twitter Business created an ads playbook for businesses and brands
Twitter Business released a Playbook for Agencies, a new document created to answer the most frequently asked questions by businesses about Twitter ads, client strategy, and more. “We compiled the most asked questions from agencies, partnered with our customer service team, and synthesized six months of Twitter research to create this guide which will help agencies guide their clients toward Twitter success,” writes Twitter.
Snapchat creates private ads marketplace
Snapchat is offering more ad tools to “premium publishers and advertisers – offering brands ‘unskippable’ slots and experimenting with a private marketplace (PMP) that lets Discover media partners take greater control over their inventory.” Starting in August, the app will give 100 randomly picked brands the ability to buy ad programming against TV-style content, including a wide variety of programming from scripted drama to comedy.
Facebook updates video metrics
Updates in the past year gave users the ability to rewind and re-watch parts of video ads, leaving advertisers with skewed reporting numbers. Facebook recently updated its video ad metrics to account for re-watched ads, removing any redundancies in reporting. The new metrics will automatically remove any three or ten-second views that are watched after rewinding.
WhatsApp launches Business API
Looking to expand its business tools, WhatsApp launched Business API, allowing medium to large business to manage and send non-promotional messages to customers. These messages include appointment reminders, shipping information, event tickets, and more for a fixed rate. VentureBeat reports all messages sent through the API will be free for the first 24 hours, messages sent after that will be charged. Though currently only available to select businesses, including Uber, Booking.com, and KLM Airlines, Business API will eventually be available to all more customers.
Facebook no longer permits cross-posted tweets
In light of recent Facebook platform and policy updates, users can no longer automatically cross-post their tweets or retweets to Facebook. As of August 1, users will have to copy a tweet’s URL to post a tweet to Facebook.
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by Fronetics | Aug 28, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain
Here are our thoughts on how often your company should blog, including challenges and ways to overcome them.
Creating valuable, relevant content in a strategic and consistent manner creates demand for your products and services and drives profitable customer action. Blogging is a large part of the foundation of your content marketing strategy. If it’s not, it should be.
Blogging is a great way to attract traffic to your website, build brand awareness, and interact with new visitors. But, a question we get all the time is, “How often should my company blog?”
Blogging: frequency matters.
Blogging every once in awhile isn’t going to get you results. You need to publish quality content on a consistent basis to attract prospects to your site.
[bctt tweet=”Blogging every once and awhile isn’t going to get you results. You need to publish quality content on a consistent basis to attract prospects to your site.” username=”Fronetics”]
The reality is that the more often you blog, the more traffic and leads you’ll get. Search engines consider posting frequency in their rankings. What’s more, every time you post, you create a new opportunity to be found, to be shared, and to be linked to by other sites.
Blogging: the challenge.
The trouble in publishing more posts is balancing resources so that you’re publishing frequently but maintaining value and quality within your content. We’re big advocates of testing to find your personal sweet spot for the amount of posts your organization is able to publish to maximize traffic and leads.
When you start publishing more frequently, make sure to track your KPIs, calculate ROI, and assess whether increasing blogging frequency is right for your business. You may be surprised at the results.
Here’s Elizabeth Hines, creative/editorial director at Fronetics, to discuss how often your company should be posting blogs.
Video: How often should my company blog?
Final thoughts.
Blogging needs to be a central part of your content marketing strategy. And unfortunately, it can take a while to start drawing traffic (and eventually, leads) from your posts. But the benefits of consistent blogging make it worth it.
And don’t forget, blog posts become more credible with age. That is to say, search engines value older content that has had more time to accumulate, like social shares and referrals from other web pages. The more relevant a blog post proves itself to be to readers over time, the higher it will rank in search engine results.
Have you tried blogging more frequently? Coming up with topics can be one of the biggest challenges. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
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by Fronetics | Aug 27, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
Repurposed and repackaged, your existing content is a valuable asset for your sales force throughout the buyer’s journey.
If you’re a supply chain marketing professional, it’s likely that you spend a tremendous portion of your day researching, creating, packaging, and disseminating content. Your hard work is all about growing brand awareness and building your reputation as a trusted industry thought-leader — all with the goal of having that work eventually convert leads.
But, consider this: When it comes to engaging prospects and clients, only 20% of salespeople actually use content. When we know that potential buyers are far more willing to engage with someone offering them information and insight, why are B2B businesses abandoning content as soon as prospects are handed over to sales?
B2B buyers prefer content throughout the buying journey
According to DemandGen’s 2018 Content Preferences Survey Report, “Buyers are becoming increasingly more selective in the content they are consuming,” relying more on “trustworthy sources, industry influencers, and their peers to educate themselves.” And furthermore, 88% of those survey respondents want less focus on product specifics and more on the value that product can bring to their business.
[bctt tweet=”Buyers are becoming increasingly more selective in the content they are consuming, relying more on trustworthy sources, industry influencers, and their peers to educate themselves.” username=”Fronetics”]
And on the other side of that coin, according to HubSpot writer and marketing expert Bethany Cartwright, sales reps spend about 15% of their day leaving voicemails, and only about 20% of all sales emails are ever opened. “This means 80-85% of sales outreach efforts are going unnoticed by those prospects you’ve worked so hard to capture with content,” writes Cartwright.
It’s time to start leveraging your content throughout the buyer’s journey by arming your sales force with content. Before you panic at the idea of creating reams of new content, take a breath. It’s more than likely that you can repurpose your existing content, optimized to give your sales force the tools they need to close deals.
So how do you go about repurposing your content and giving your sales force the best possible tools with which to convert prospects to buyers? Web Profits co-founder and author Sujan Patel suggests “mapping content generated by your marketing team to each stage of your customer’s buying journey.” We’ve created the infographic below to help you optimize content for each of the three stages of the buyer’s journey.
Infographic: Delivering content throughout the buyer’s journey
(Made with Canva)
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by Fronetics | Aug 23, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain, Talent
Too many supply chain businesses are devoting inadequate resources and personnel to social media management.
Let’s be honest. It’s time for the supply chain to start taking social media management seriously. Even when we think we’re embracing the future, too may supply chain companies are stuck in the past when it comes to the way they think about marketing — and particularly the role of social media.
[bctt tweet=”A robust and effective social media strategy needs to be just that — a carefully designed and well-thought-out strategy, rather than simply something that an already overworked marketer adds to his or her plate.” username=”Fronetics”]
Case in point: the latest Social Media Marketing Industry Report indicates that for nearly two-thirds of marketers, managing social media marketing for their business is just one of their jobs.
Let’s think about that for a moment. That means that only one-third of the 5,700 businesses surveyed are prioritizing social media management to an adequate degree. For the other two-thirds, the vast and time-consuming task of social media management is squeezed into someone’s job description essentially as an afterthought.
If your business falls into that 64%, this is your wakeup call. Used to its fullest, social media is an immensely valuable set of tools for supply chain marketing. These platforms help brands increase visibility, establish themselves as thought leaders, attract new leads and customers, and much more.
If you’re not convinced (and you should be), take a look through Fronetics’ recent survey report on the benefits of social media for supply chain and logistics industries.
Social media management is no easy task
The thing about social media that so many businesses get wrong is that it’s not an easy task. Maybe you’re a marketer who’s been tasked with managing your brand’s social media efforts — on top of the rest of your responsibilities. It might have sounded like fun at first, essentially getting to scroll and post on Facebook for a few minutes out of the day. But chances are, you’re realizing that it’s a much bigger task than you thought.
A robust and effective social media strategy needs to be just that — a carefully designed and well-thought-out strategy, rather than simply something that an already overworked marketer adds to his or her plate.
For your business to truly take advantage of the benefits that social media can offer, you either need to devote adequate resources to it, or consider outsourcing it.
Is outsourcing right for you?
Supply chain companies are increasingly reaping the benefits of outsourcing their marketing efforts, particularly social media, as it allows them to focus on core competencies and improve productivity. As you consider trusting a professional with your social media, consider these 6 signs that outsourcing might be right for you.
The bottom line: if you’re frustrated that your social media management efforts are not as fruitful as you would like, chances are, you’re not giving them a chance. For social media to work for you, you need to devote the resources it demands — whether in house or out.
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