by Elizabeth Hines | Apr 25, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing
Use this checklist to make sure your marketing emails don’t end up in your customers and prospects’ spam folders.
When celebrities make the headlines, it’s normally for far more salacious reasons than a patent award. But for Kevin Spacey and his longtime producing partner Dana Brunetti, that’s exactly what’s got people talking.
The pair was awarded a patent on April 5 for “systems and methods for implementing email delivery,” which Brunetti unveiled on his Instagram account. Essentially, the invention is aimed at providing a way to screen and manage non-authorized emails.
“It allows in only the ones it knows or whoever is on the list,” Brunetti explains. The idea stemmed from Spacey’s frustrations at receiving countless unwanted emails, and being unable to do anything but change his email address.
Spacey’s impulse points to a pervasive issue: We’re all bombarded with marketing emails. But, as a business, it’s one of the most effective ways to reach customers and prospects. How do we make sure our emails are relevant and aren’t just ending up in spam filters?
Are my marketing emails spam?
Firstly, check out our post on making sure your emails aren’t annoying prospects. Then go through this checklist for avoiding spam complaints and unsubscribes:
- Are my emails relevant to my recipient list?
- Am I sending emails at a good cadence?
- Is my email format mobile-friendly?
- Do I have a mobile-friendly landing page experience?
- Do I have an easy opt-out/unsubscribe process to avoid frustrated subscribers?
- Does the unsubscribe link work properly?
- Am I emailing a subscriber who has just had a poor customer experience? (Don’t!)
- Is easy to quickly identify me as the sender?
- Did I include a valid postal address and reply-to email address?
- Are my emails honest? (Am I hiding the commercial character of my email or using false or misleading subject lines or content?)
- Am I emailing people who have opted in to receive my emails only?
- Have I removed all email addresses that have unsubscribed from previous emails?
Follow these best practices — which are, in some cases, international law — and be confident your marketing emails won’t end up in your recipients’ spam folders.
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by Elizabeth Hines | Apr 24, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Your company should consider your ideal customer, your competitors, and your content before choosing which social media channels to use.
Facebook! Twitter! LinkedIn! YouTube! The number of social media channels is astounding – and growing daily. Knowing which your business should be on can be daunting. Here is what to consider when determining which social media platforms you should be using for your supply chain company.
Your ideal customer
Understanding your target audience and which social media platforms they’re using is invaluable information. If you want to reach potential and current customers, you need to be where they are. You need to make it easy for them to find you and engage with your business.
An easy way to obtain this information is simply to ask. A quick email asking current customers where they spend their time online can give you insight into which platforms to use. You can use free tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to create polls that dig a little deeper, too.
Your competition
If your competitors are already active on social media, start by finding out where. If these platforms align with your ideal customer, don’t be afraid to kick start your social media presence alongside them.
Social benchmarking tools like RivalIQ allow you to see where your competitors are active and where they are getting the most engagement. Once you launch a social channel, you can compare your performance to theirs and see where you’re gaining traction and where you can improve.
On the other hand, if your research has shown that your potential customers are using a social media channel that your competitors are not using, don’t assume your competitors know something you don’t. Jumping into any social media channel can be intimidating, but don’t be afraid to branch into new platforms, especially if your research is pointing in that direction.
Your content
It seems almost too simple to articulate, but what do you have to say to potential customers? And how do you plan on saying it? If you are going to invest the time and resources into a social media presence, make sure you’re providing consistent, relevant content in engaging ways.
For example, do you love creating videos and find it’s an easy way for you to demonstrate your company and its value? You should dive into YouTube. Do you have a great workplace culture and hold lots of company events? Try Instagram. Love writing longer thought-leadership pieces about the industry? LinkedIn is probably for you.
The supply chain is all about finding the most effective way to deliver information. Social media is an undeniable channel for distributing this information in a timely manner. Understanding why you’re venturing into social media — and how it can work for your business — can create endless opportunities for your company.
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by Elizabeth Hines | Apr 20, 2017 | Blog, Manufacturing & Distribution, Strategy, Supply Chain
Industrial product buyers are changing how, why, and where they buy. Are you prepared to accommodate their preferences?
Distribution has always been an industry built on relationships. The loyal customer favored companies where they developed strong working relationships with a sales representative.
But recently distributors have felt a shift in the tide. Buyers have grown impatient with one-on-one sales relationships and quickly embraced the convenience of buying directly from manufacturers, for one. Distributors are left scrambling to keep up with such trends.
So how do distributors stay ahead of the game?
UPS recently conducted a study of the behaviors, preferences and perceptions of industrial product buyers. It found four major market forces driving change: customer demands, direct-from-manufacturer purchasing, e-commerce, and millennials. Additionally, the study offered up a few interesting takeaways we thought were worth highlighting.
5 trends in industrial product buying
1) Purchasing drivers
The study asked for the top five factors that are most important when purchasing industrial supplies from buyers’ preferred distributor size. Though “best prices” was a top contributing factor across the board, as you can imagine, other answers varied from small distributors to large.
For those purchasing from smaller distributors, 58% of customers ranked personalized service as most important. Among those preferring large distributors, 61% of buyers wanted a wide selection of products.
Takeaway: There is a strategic opportunity for mid-size distributors to cater to both types of buyers. Mid-size distributors focusing on larger selection with personalized service can offer customers the best of both worlds.
2) Friends stick with friends
Word of mouth is still the top tool buyers use to research a new distributor. Studies have shown that consumers trust recommendations from people they know more than any other form of advertising, and the same is true for distribution. Personal references and word of mouth are heavily influencing buyer trends.
Takeaway: Distributors need to have their ears to the ground and really focus on what buyers are saying. If the word on the street is that your company needs to make changes, make them. You want to consumers raving about your company, so others will follow suit. Also, consider the value of review sites.
3) Internet is king
The importance of the internet is old news. But UPS’s study found a substantial jump in buyers’ going online to purchase industrial supplies. In 2013, 57% of buyers were hitting the web, and that number grew a significant 9% in just four years.
Takeaway: Suppliers need to make sure that their websites are a one-stop shop for customers. Buyers need to be able to find answers about products, confirm product details, and access their negotiated prices all online. Spending the time and money to update your website is key to giving buyers a preferred way to make purchases.
4) User-friendly everything
Along with wanting to make purchases online, industrial product buyers want the ease and convenience of user-friendly websites. 72% of buyers said they would shift their spending to a different distributor with a more user-friendly website, and that number increases to 85% with buyers age 21-30. These findings confirm the shift from relationship-based buying to the experience-driven trend.
Takeaway: Brand loyalty is no longer based solely based on product quality and personable sales staff. Distributors need to take into account convenience, speed, and a good customer experience. What appeals to customers is the ease of their online service. Staying ahead of trends will involve constant maintenance of your website and its usability.
5) Cross-channel consistency
Industrial product buyers may be making most of their purchases online, but they are definitely checking in with friends and social media before making any decisions. Oftentimes websites don’t provide enough information, and, by default, they rely on other channels to confirm details before making purchases.
Don’t let users find conflicting messages from different resources. Cross-channel consistency will give your company an edge on the competition.
Takeaway: Make sure that your off-site and onsite messages are clear across all channels. Examining the buyer experience on and offline — and making sure that all channels are communicating the same message — can elevate your company’s position among your competitors.
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by Elizabeth Hines | Apr 19, 2017 | Blog, Logistics, Supply Chain, Talent
Looking for talent? Try recruiting from these top-rated supply chain management MBA programs and schools.
We have written before about the importance of recruiting and strengthening the relationship between academia and the supply chain industry as means to solve the growing supply chain talent gap. If your company is looking to hire, consider strengthening your rapport with schools that offer supply chain programs or specialties.
Recently U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings, including the top supply chain and logistics MBA programs. Of course, U.S. News is not the be-all end-all. But this list gives companies in the supply chain and logistics industries an idea of where some of the brightest graduates, who will be seeking employment in the upcoming months, will be coming from.
U.S. News’ top 10 supply chain management MBA programs 2018
- Michigan State University (Broad) – East Lansing, MI
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) – Cambridge, MA
- Arizona State University (Carey) – Tempe, AZ
- University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (Ross) – Ann Arbor, MI
- Ohio State University (Fisher) – Columbus, OH
- Pennsylvania State University—University Park (Smeal) – University Park, PA
- Stanford University – Stanford, CA
- University of Tennessee—Knoxville (Haslam) – Knoxville, TN
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey—Newark and New Brunswick – Newark, NJ
- Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) – Pittsburgh, PA
See all 23 ranked schools.
Recruiting and retaining new talent
We’ve been writing a lot lately about the supply chain talent gap and ways to recruit and retain millennials. Here are 3 must-read articles for companies looking to hire young talent this year.
3 Ways to Attract Millennial Talent for the Supply Chain
By the year 2020, millennials are estimated to make up a majority of the workforce. In addition, a 2014 study found that 46% of B2B buyers were millennials, and that number is on the rise. This seismic shift in workplace demographics calls for a new approach to attracting and retaining talent. Read
Supply chain companies want to find talented employees that can succeed in junior-level positions now but that also could move into management down the road. “Soft skills” like creativity and problem-solving are crucial to both roles — not to mention, every role in between. Liberal arts graduates bring these abilities to the workplace. Supply chain companies could be actively recruiting these qualified and eager graduates to fill open junior-level positions now, and then groom them to become future leadership. Read
Rodney Apple, founder and president of SCM Talent Group, has almost 20 years of experience as a supply chain recruiter. He has filled more than 1,000 supply chain positions ranging from executive-level at Fortune 500 companies to leadership and staff-level roles across large networks of manufacturing and distribution facilities within the United States. In this interview, Apple discusses the supply chain talent gap and advice for overcoming it. Read
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by Elizabeth Hines | Apr 14, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
Social media gives you access to aspirational customers and their networks, a benefit that can’t be quantified in dollars.
One of the trickiest things about implementing a social media strategy is that success can be difficult to measure. While most professionals acknowledge that a social media marketing presence is important, it’s hard to make a case for resources when you can’t precisely quantify the value in terms of dollar amount.
This, however, shouldn’t stop your business from recognizing the importance of social media as part of a robust marketing strategy. You need to start thinking about value in terms of potential, rather than the immediate sale.
“It’s important that we continue to shift our focus from the short-term sale to the long-term value of social media,” says Emily Teele, loyalty and retention marketing manager at West Elm. “Part of our willingness to make this shift comes from trust that our efforts will pay off, even if not immediately, and part comes from finding new ways to measure results over time.”
Tomorrow’s customers
One of the most valuable and exciting aspects of social media is that it allows business to discover and engage with a new segment of the B2B community: aspirational customers. In the past, businesses haven’t had access to these customers. Now that we can find out who they are, their long-term value cannot be overstated — both as buyers, and in building brand loyalty and an engaged customer base.
According to a recent study published in MIT Sloan Management Review, aspirational customers are likely to follow multiple brands on social media sites. Over half follow at least one brand that they haven’t made a purchase from. But, “our data suggests that they do plan to purchase in the future,” say the study’s authors. “Today’s followers are very likely to be tomorrow’s customers.”
The social network = social media success
There’s another factor to consider regarding the value of social media marketing. At its core, these are networking platforms. That means you not only have access to a new customer base, but to their connections as well.
Your followers’ engagement on social media can expand your reach, as they engage with their own networks. Putting a dollar value on such social reach is fairly meaningless — but it has the potential to add to your bottom line both now and in the future.
What’s more, a recent McKinsey study attributes word of mouth to be the primary influence for up to 50% of all purchase decisions. The study authors go on to say, “Followers who are not yet purchasers can share their experience with the brand, and deepen their commitment to the brand, even prior to that first purchase.”
It’s time we start thinking about social media success in this new way: in terms of potential and expanding value, rather than just immediate dollar amounts.
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