by Fronetics | Apr 1, 2014 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain
In the 1970s people were exposed to an average of 2,000 ads per day. Today we are exposed to more than 5,000 ads per day. The barrage of ads has resulted in buyers tuning them out. With buyers no longer paying attention to ads, businesses need to adjust how they find and engage new prospects, and how they establish and maintain long-term relationships with customers.
The solution: content. Why content is king and your business should take an oath of alliance to the kingdom.
Content is inclusive of blogs, white papers, e-books, newsletters, infographics, podcasts, webinars, and video. Creating and distributing valuable and relevant content in a strategic and consistent manner is what will drive profitable customer action.
Valuable and relevant content is not a sales pitch. It is not content that pushes your products and services. Rather, it is content that communicates valuable information to customers and prospects so that they have the knowledge to make better informed decisions. Moreover, it is content that establishes your business as a reliable source of knowledge – as the thought-leader within the industry.
How does this translate into consumer acquisition and retention? When the customer is ready to make a purchase they will reward your company with their business and with loyalty.
Skeptical? B2B companies with an active blog generate 67 percent more leads per month than those who don’t. A study by the Custom Content Council found that 72 percent of marketers think branded content is more effective than advertising in a magazine, 62 percent say it is more effective than advertising, and 69 percent say it is ‘superior’ to direct mail and PR.
Content that will move the needle for your business is valuable content. It is content that is informative, educational, interesting, and speaks to your customer’s emotions and speaks to their pain points. Furthermore, it is content that is delivered consistently over time and at the right time.
Before you start to create content for your business consider this sage advice offered by Arjun Basu: “Without strategy, content is just stuff, and the world has enough stuff.”
Research supports Basu. Companies that have a documented content strategy are more likely to consider themselves effective than companies that don’t have a strategy in place (60 percent v. 11 percent). Similarly, companies who put a person in charge of content marketing were more likely to be successful than those who did not (86 percent v. 46 percent).
How do companies put together and execute a content strategy? Eight percent of B2B marketers outsource content planning and strategy. Sixty-four percent of B2B marketers report that they outsource writing and thirty percent outsource distribution and syndication. Diving down further, 72 percent of large B2B companies (1,000 employees or more) outsource content creation and 34 percent of small B2B companies (10 to 99 employees) outsource content creation.
Content is king. By taking an oath of alliance to the kingdom, your company will attract and retain customers. Your company will realize an increase in leads, short sales cycles, and more loyal customers.
If you’d like to learn more about creating a content strategy for your business and/or about content creation , get in touch.
A version of this article also appeared on DC Velocity
by Fronetics | Mar 18, 2014 | Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
Rather than focus sales efforts on seeking out prospects and making cold calls re-focus your efforts so that the emphasis is on demand generation. Why? Demand generation shortens the sales cycle and increases sales opportunities by nurturing and engaging potential customers. Moreover, demand generation is a commitment to long-term customer relationships.
Demand generation builds and nurtures prospect and customer relationships for the long-term. To do this effectively, companies need to do things like host webinars, create a blog, and promote blog posts through social media. Companies need to create and disseminate content-driven resources that establish themselves as a thought leader and as an industry influencer, and which engage prospects and customers alike.
Demand generation is not a sprint. It takes time to build and implement a successful strategy. However, once a strategy is in place and is consistently and continuously implemented, there will be positive results. Specifically, website traffic will increase and, by extension, so will the number of prospects. These prospects are warm leads. These prospects are ones which your sales team should focus on as they are more likely to convert to customers than the cold call prospect. In fact, prospects that come to you via a successful demand generation strategy are five times more likely to become your customers.
To grow sales through demand generation it is important to identify your target customers and their needs. In short, get to know your target customer and identify how your company can anticipate and respond to their needs. Furthermore, take the time to choose the right content and choose the right place to disseminate content.
Shorten your sales cycles and increase your sales opportunities by focusing time and effort on creating and implementing a demand generation strategy instead of on cold calls.
If you’d like to learn more about demand generation and what it can do for your business, get in touch. Fronetics Strategic Advisors works with companies in the logistics and supply chain industries to develop and implement a demand generation strategies.
A version of this post appeared on DC Velocity.
by Fronetics | Mar 18, 2014 | Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
Rather than focus sales efforts on seeking out prospects and making cold calls re-focus your efforts so that the emphasis is on demand generation. Why? Demand generation shortens the sales cycle and increases sales opportunities by nurturing and engaging potential customers. Moreover, demand generation is a commitment to long-term customer relationships.
Demand generation builds and nurtures prospect and customer relationships for the long-term. To do this effectively, companies need to do things like host webinars, create a blog, and promote blog posts through social media. Companies need to create and disseminate content-driven resources that establish themselves as a thought leader and as an industry influencer, and which engage prospects and customers alike.
Demand generation is not a sprint. It takes time to build and implement a successful strategy. However, once a strategy is in place and is consistently and continuously implemented, there will be positive results. Specifically, website traffic will increase and, by extension, so will the number of prospects. These prospects are warm leads. These prospects are ones which your sales team should focus on as they are more likely to convert to customers than the cold call prospect. In fact, prospects that come to you via a successful demand generation strategy are five times more likely to become your customers.
To grow sales through demand generation it is important to identify your target customers and their needs. In short, get to know your target customer and identify how your company can anticipate and respond to their needs. Furthermore, take the time to choose the right content and choose the right place to disseminate content.
Shorten your sales cycles and increase your sales opportunities by focusing time and effort on creating and implementing a demand generation strategy instead of on cold calls.
If you’d like to learn more about demand generation and what it can do for your business, get in touch. Fronetics Strategic Advisors works with companies in the logistics and supply chain industries to develop and implement a demand generation strategies.
A version of this post appeared on DC Velocity.
by Fronetics | Feb 25, 2014 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Twitter is one of the more powerful platforms to influence consumers and grow a business. Is your business on Twitter? If not, here are three reasons why your business should be on Twitter:
1. Be Found
When business consumers are searching for products and services, they typically start online. According to a recent study by Pardot, 72 percent of B2B buyers begin their research with Google. Other starting points for research: personal networks (15.58%), Yahoo (5.53%), Bing (2.76%), LinkedIn (2.51%) and social networks (2.01%).
Having a strong presence on Twitter- which has nearly a billion users – will significantly increase your business’ search engine rank and increase visibility. Why is this important? If you don’t rank well you won’t be found – 75 percent of users don’t scroll past the first page of search results.
2. Provide Customer Service – In Real Time
Twitter is an increasingly effective way to provide customer service – and a channel to which many consumers are turning. Your customers may run into issues with your product or service and not have the opportunity to simply make a phone call to a call center or customer service center to take care of this issue. Furthermore, in this day and age, people are using mobile devices more often for their business needs, and Twitter – being a primarily mobile social media network – provides an excellent outlet for customer service representatives to help customers in need. Customer service representatives can communicate more effectively and execute troubleshooting techniques with Twitter than with most other platforms due to the ease of accessibility.
The number of companies handling more than 25 percent customer service inquires via social media has increased from nine percent (2012) to 18 percent (18 percent). Even as more consumers are turning to social media for customer service, many companies are falling flat with respect to providing quality customer service. Only 36 percent of consumers report that their customer service inquiry was dealt with efficiently and effectively. This an opportunity for companies who can/do provide excellent and timely customer service via social media – a J.D. Power and Associates study found that 87 percent of consumers reported that their online social interaction with the company positively impacted the likelihood that they’d purchase from the brand, and that the responsiveness of the service representatives were a key of that satisfaction.
3. Keep an Eye Your Competitors
Since Twitter is a public platform, it enables you to see what your competitors are doing. When performing an industry or business related search, Twitter can provide valuable insights into what kind of information and services your competitors are providing for their customers as well as help you keep an eye on significant achievements – and sometimes, failures – that your competitors will experience, helping you to make important decisions.
This post previously appeared on DC Velocity.
by Fronetics | Feb 25, 2014 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Twitter is one of the more powerful platforms to influence consumers and grow a business. Is your business on Twitter? If not, here are three reasons why your business should be on Twitter:
1. Be Found
When business consumers are searching for products and services, they typically start online. According to a recent study by Pardot, 72 percent of B2B buyers begin their research with Google. Other starting points for research: personal networks (15.58%), Yahoo (5.53%), Bing (2.76%), LinkedIn (2.51%) and social networks (2.01%).
Having a strong presence on Twitter- which has nearly a billion users – will significantly increase your business’ search engine rank and increase visibility. Why is this important? If you don’t rank well you won’t be found – 75 percent of users don’t scroll past the first page of search results.
2. Provide Customer Service – In Real Time
Twitter is an increasingly effective way to provide customer service – and a channel to which many consumers are turning. Your customers may run into issues with your product or service and not have the opportunity to simply make a phone call to a call center or customer service center to take care of this issue. Furthermore, in this day and age, people are using mobile devices more often for their business needs, and Twitter – being a primarily mobile social media network – provides an excellent outlet for customer service representatives to help customers in need. Customer service representatives can communicate more effectively and execute troubleshooting techniques with Twitter than with most other platforms due to the ease of accessibility.
The number of companies handling more than 25 percent customer service inquires via social media has increased from nine percent (2012) to 18 percent (18 percent). Even as more consumers are turning to social media for customer service, many companies are falling flat with respect to providing quality customer service. Only 36 percent of consumers report that their customer service inquiry was dealt with efficiently and effectively. This an opportunity for companies who can/do provide excellent and timely customer service via social media – a J.D. Power and Associates study found that 87 percent of consumers reported that their online social interaction with the company positively impacted the likelihood that they’d purchase from the brand, and that the responsiveness of the service representatives were a key of that satisfaction.
3. Keep an Eye Your Competitors
Since Twitter is a public platform, it enables you to see what your competitors are doing. When performing an industry or business related search, Twitter can provide valuable insights into what kind of information and services your competitors are providing for their customers as well as help you keep an eye on significant achievements – and sometimes, failures – that your competitors will experience, helping you to make important decisions.
This post previously appeared on DC Velocity.
