by Fronetics | Nov 7, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Data/Analytics, Marketing, Social Media
Use these four steps to determine which social media KPIs your business should be tracking to ensure you’re meeting your content marketing goals.
Whenever we create content marketing strategies for clients, we always tailor them to align with their specific business goals. So, for example, if a client is interested in getting more leads, we implement a plan designed to convert website visitors into contacts. And, equally importantly, we make sure lead generation is a metric we are constantly measuring.
Social media management is usually an important part of a comprehensive content marketing program. So, too, do we create a social media strategy specifically tailored to a client’s content goals. And this begins with establishing the right social media KPIs (key performance indicators) for those goals.
I wish I could give you a list of metrics that would work for every business. But, of course, it doesn’t work that way. Depending on what you’re looking to accomplish with your marketing plan, you’ll want to strategize, execute, and measure progress accordingly.
To get you started, here are four steps to help you decide which social media KPIs to measure based on your specific content marketing goals.
4 steps to determining your social media KPIs
1) Understand the difference between metrics and KPIs.
According to social media strategist and author of Going Social and Getting to Like Jeremy Goldman, “It’s completely normal to get metrics and KPIs mixed up to some extent.” Metrics, he says, “are simply measurements quantified,” while KPIs are “metrics that you’ve determined are mission critical to your business.”
Why is this distinction important? While we can measure more than ever before, sometimes too many measurements lead to a loss of organizational focus. In fact, Goldman suggests defining relatively few KPIs in order to maintain focus. “The more KPIs your organization has defined, the less focused it likely is.”
2) Define your business’ specific social media marketing goals.
In order to figure out the most relevant performance indicators, you need to establish and document a set of goals for your social media presence. Once you’ve done that, you can select metrics that help you analyze your progress.
For example, if you’re trying to get as many views as possible on your company’s white paper, your best KPIs are probably going to be visits to the lead-gen form connected to the white paper, as well as the total number of white paper downloads.
3) Start with the basics.
What is your organization’s mission statement; what is its reason for being? “It may sound like a lofty place to start,” says Goldman, “but you can’t succeed without an understanding of the firm and where it’s looking to go.”
Once you’ve got a clear idea of your brand and your company’s mission, make sure you have an understanding of your role within the context of the larger organization. Having an understanding of these basics gives you tools to focus on what serves the whole.
4) Survey your metrics.
Take a close look at all the metrics available to you, making sure not to assume everything is important. By the same token, don’t discount a metric that might not seem at face value to be important — be as objective as possible.
Next, you can determine your KPIs. “Break down your list of metrics and pick a few you’re determined to work night and day to measure your success by,” suggests Goldman.
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by Fronetics | Nov 6, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing
Use these four tips to earn high-quality backlinks that will boost your company’s search engine ranking.
It’s no secret that backlinks can help your search engine rankings. Backlinks are any link on another website that points (or links) back to your website. Since the 1990s, search engines have used backlinks as a bit of a popularity contest: the more you had, the more popular your website became.
It didn’t take long for companies to hunt for backlinks, creating relationships with other companies in the same industry for the sole benefit of getting links to their websites. But like all relationships, link building can be abused and, often times, only beneficial to one party. Pursuing links for search engine ranking alone creates a negative mindset, leading to uneasy relationships, damaged brand reputation, and low-quality, spammy links.
How can you achieve high-quality backlinks?
Let’s start by understanding what constitutes a high-quality backlink. SEO consultant Mark Walters defines them as links that:
- Are from a relevant and trusted source
- Have anchor text that matches your keywords
- Are on a page with Google’s PageRank
- Are next to backlinks to authority websites
- Are from different sources
- Are not reciprocal
- Are on pages with few other backlinks
Now that you know what defines a high-quality backlink, how can your company achieve these organic relationships? The answer is hard work.
Here are 4 tips to help your efforts get high-quality backlinks.
1. Create the best content available on your topic
The best content is content that is unique. Not only is original content SEO friendly, original content is audience friendly. In one minute, users share 300 hours of video on YouTube and tweet nearly 400,000 tweets times. If you want content that stands out, you need content that differs from that of the rest of the pack.
You can make content stand out by using winning headlines, graphics, images, and with great writing. Create every single piece of content with your current and prospective customers in mind. Content that attracts and engages audiences effectively communicates valuable information, providing knowledge to help guide informed decisions. Creating reliable information will establish your website and business as a thought leader within your industry, and other companies will start to take notice.
2. Perform exclusive interviews with industry experts and/or influencers
The strategy of interviewing industry experts is becoming more and more common. Here at Fronetics we often interview influencers. The draw from big names helps bring in new traffic to our site, as well as provide readers with the latest happenings in our industry.
“The benefits of creating content around authority figures in your space is vast, such as bringing recognizable authority names to your site, while also having the opportunity for such content to be shared by featured experts as well. The end result could create lots of great content for your site, while also bringing in a nice consistent supply of new traffic as well.” Writes Zac Johnson for Business 2 Community.
3. Create custom infographics
Images are a fail-safe way to create engaging content, but infographics do more than just give readers visual knowledge. Infographics also help achieve backlinks. They provide interesting and valuable information using images, giving readers the knowledge without having to read through heavy text. The most popular infographics incorporate amazing design and well-researched statistics.
According to HubSpot, social media users share and like infographics 3x more than other any other type of content. Good infographics have the ability to make your content go viral, generate tons of high-quality back-links, and improve your site’s overall SEO.
4. Participate in collaborative content marketing
Collaborative content has many benefits, but one of the biggest is reach. Your collaborators have their own followers and platforms. Combine that with your audiences, and your content is already reaching more people. These collaborations save time and money and will earn you backlinks through the other participants. Collaborative content will help drive organic traffic, provide valuable and relevant information, and introduce a new voice to your content.
Using these four strategies will help your company earn high-quality backlinks and start improving your search enginge ranking. Your higher rankings will come from organic backlinks that your hard work helped to create.
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by Fronetics | Nov 2, 2017 | Blog, Data/Analytics, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain
In a recent study, MIT found that companies that focus on 5 key initiatives to improve their supply chain analytics can have a big impact on their bottom line.
Some supply chain companies are leaning on the power of analytics to help streamline their processes and get ahead of their competitors. But many companies have struggled to embrace the relationship between using analytics and implementing changes that can improve business performance.
The study, published by the MIT Sloan Management Review, asked 353 participants to discuss their understanding of their companies’ analytics systems. The results showed that though most companies have an analytics system in place, very few are using the results to implement necessary changes.
Obstacles to fully utilizing analytics included inaccurate data, cost, and lack of timely data. But the benefits far outweigh the challenges. Hanesbrand Inc., for example, used predictive analytics to make changes in their inventory processes and have since seen an increase in their production and purchase orders.
So how can your company start to incorporate supply chain analytics into your company culture?
Here are 5 tips to help kick-start your analytics implementation:
1. Supply chain analytics initiatives need a top-down mandate
In order to achieve analytical success that has an influence over organizational process, it’s imperative that upper-level management use the analytical systems. Executives need to promote and utilize the systems. Buy-in from managers and team members will be seamless when it’s coming from the top. David Dittmann, director of business intelligence and analytics services at Procter & Gamble Co., stresses that “it is impossible to win over thousands of people one small analytics victory at a time. Analytics must be a top-down mandate to succeed from an organizational perspective.”
2. The simpler the model, the more likely the use
If you want your company to embrace an analytics system, it’s important that the model is simple and easy to grasp. If employees don’t understand how to use the analytics or apply the results, they won’t take the time to implement the system. The more complex a system is, the greater the potential for team members to dismiss it. The Cleo Integration Suite (CIS), for example, promotes itself as an easy-to-use platform that can integrate seamlessly into your pre-existing software. CIS understands that supply chain companies need systems that are elementary to incorporate to achieve results.
3. Business knowledge is essential
Executives in the survey noted that an in-depth understanding of business processes and their effect on the bottom line is critical to supply chain analytics success. To develop the most effective model, companies need to have insight into all of the processes that make their company successful and be able to incorporate the results into these processes. Without this foundational information, the analytics are just “fun facts.”
4. Trust in the numbers
Time is a key factor in successful analytics implementation. In order to achieve timely results, organizations have to trust in the numbers the analytics provides them. “Trust can be built through a closed-loop change management effort that is centered on performance metrics that accurately reflect the current state of the supply chain system.” writes Melissa R. Bowers, Adam G. Petrie, and Mary C. Holcomb. Once these metrics are in place, it is easy to gauge the results against past processes.
Coca-Cola Global implemented a check-and-balances system to cultivate trust in their analytics. Anytime an employee chose to override the analytics system, it gave them feedback to see if their manual adjustments resulted in an improvement or a setback, creating trust in the employees and their dependence on the data.
5. Implement mechanisms to help develop analytics professionals gain business knowledge
Many supply chain companies are hiring analytics professionals to help implement these systems into their organizations. Though experts in their field, it’s important for these trained analytics professionals to learn about all aspects of your business. This business knowledge creates an open relationship between the business and the analytics, creating more opportunities for the numbers to aid in the processes.
Out are the days of order tracking and point of sales data, and in are the days of big data and analytics. Supply chain companies are quickly realizing the need to understand and implement these analytics systems into their day-to-day processes. Creating efficiency and savings using these systems is easier than you think.
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by Fronetics | Nov 1, 2017 | Blog, Manufacturing & Distribution, Strategy, Supply Chain
Manufacturing companies are hoping to continue their revenue growth in 2018 by focusing on 3 key areas.
KLR has released the results of its annual manufacturing industry outlook report, and the optimism following last year’s elections will continue straight through 2017.
With promises of tax reform, decreased federal regulations and looser trade agreements, manufacturers have slowly seen revenue growth throughout the U.S. markets. That growth is projected to continue into 2018.
56% of respondents expect business will continue to increase throughout the year.
And though manufacturing companies are striving to control their costs and cut back on unnecessary expenses, many companies reported increasing their marketing budgets, including technology, to invest in the future of their revenue growth.
So where is the additional money going? Manufacturing companies are investing their profits back into new products, expanding markets and breaking into new territories.
Here are the top 3 priorities for manufacturing companies in 2018.
1. Increasing share in existing markets
Over the next 12 to 18 months, 64% of the manufacturers surveyed expect their growth to come mainly from increased market share and organic growth in existing domestic markets. Manufacturing companies are looking to increase their market share through innovation, strengthening customer relationships, reliable hiring practices, and staying ahead of their competitors.
2. Seeking new markets for products and services
Manufacturing companies are trying to think outside of the box when it comes to expanding their markets. Avon got its big break when it took the now-dated approach of selling products door to door. By trying a different avenue, it was able to increase revenue without fighting for retail space with other corporate giants. Like Avon, companies are working hard to come up with innovative ways to break into untapped markets.
3. Developing new products and services in response to changing consumption patterns
Using social media platforms and other marketing tools, it’s easy for manufacturing companies to stay in touch with their customers. This engagement provides the best insight into the types of products, features and solutions your customers are looking for. Based on this crowdsourcing, or social listening, companies are able to develop products that they know will resonate with consumers and their changing needs. Though product development can be expensive and risky, incorporating customers into the conversation helps manufacturing companies minimize risk.
Despite growth throughout 2017, there are still challenges that manufacturing companies face. How are manufacturers coping with these challenges? They are adjusting their priorities and focusing on these three areas to continue growing their business and, ultimately, their sales.
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by Fronetics | Oct 31, 2017 | Blog, Strategy, Talent
“I hate my job!” and “I don’t have any questions,” top our list of things you definitely shouldn’t say in a job interview.
Today’s supply chain and logistics professionals have all kinds of varied and exciting career opportunities. And increasingly, job hopping is becoming the norm: a 2016 study by LinkedIn found that “over the last 20 years, the number of companies people worked for in the five years after they graduated has nearly doubled.”
All these opportunities mean it’s probably time for you to brush up your interview skills. There’s an art to giving a good job interview. Making a meaningful connection with the person behind the desk, and confidently communicating your unique skill set is not as easy as it looks.
Check out these 4 things you should never say in a job interview — and what to say instead:
4 things not to say in a job interview
1) “I’m nervous.”
It might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many interviewees are too candid about their butterflies. You don’t want your potential employer to question your ability to act with confidence and decisiveness, no matter what pressures you’re under.
Instead, say: “I’m excited to be here!” Nerves and excitement are two sides of the same coin, and you’ll do yourself a favor by steering into the more positive emotional state.
2) Any lie
We’ve all heard it: “Everybody stretches the truth in a job interview.” Well, as tempting as it is to inflate your abilities or experiences, lying in an interview can come back to bite you in big ways.
Instead, tell the truth! It may not be as impressive, but it will save you from potential embarrassment and a severely damaged reputation.
3) “I hate my job!”
Nobody wants to hire a disgruntled worker. It should be obvious that anyone interviewing for a new job is ready for something different from their current role, so there’s no need to emphasize it.
Instead say, “I’ve enjoyed my work, but I’m looking to take on some new challenges.” Your interviewer is likely to be evaluating your emotional intelligence and maturity — explaining why you’re seeking a new position emphasizes just those traits.
4) “I don’t have any questions.”
Again, it may seem obvious, but not having prepared intelligent questions about the role or company you’re interviewing for is a clear red flag to any interviewer.
Instead, go the extra mile! Put in the time and intellectual curiosity to come up with at least two intelligent questions. It’s not just about impressing the person behind the desk. You’re informing yourself and gaining insight into whether this is the right position for you.
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by Fronetics | Oct 30, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Strategy
Relationships take time and trust to fully develop, and lead nurturing is no different.
Before I got married in 2009, I spent most of my twenties in the dating pool. I would meet someone. We would exchange phone numbers. And through a series of texts and calls, we would eventually meet for dinner. One dinner would lead to another and possibly another.
Lead nurturing isn’t all that different. When you first meet your lead, chances are they won’t be ready to purchase right away. In fact, 63% of consumers requesting info on your company today will not purchase for at least 3 months. But if you spend time establishing a relationship and building trust, the moment your lead is ready to purchase, you’ll be miles ahead of your competition.
As more and more buyers are engaging with brands before they are ready to purchase, an essential function of any marketing department is lead nurturing. That is, moving leads through the sales funnel by leveraging what you know about their needs and online behavior. Marketing software company Marketo describes lead nurturing as being “personalized, adaptive, and able to listen and react to buyer behavior in real time.”
Lead nurturing, like dating, takes time to establish a relationship and move toward the ultimate goal of converting from lead to customer. Here are five tips to help nurture these relationships.
5 lead nurturing tips
1. Make a good first impression
You would never go on a date without looking and feeling your best. The same should be true for your website, your company’s online home. As part of your preparation for a lead nurturing campaign, review your website and make any necessary modifications so that it presents the best digital representation of your business. Beyond increasing conversions, having an attractive, modern website that’s free of broken links and out-of-date contact information establishes your company as a trusted resource for information.
2. Make a plan ahead of time
Where are you going to dinner? Are you making a reservation? What are you doing after dinner? Preparing for a date requires some thought and planning, especially when considering your date’s preferences. Content selection requires the same forethought. The decision about what content you’ll offer your leads will be guided by the preferences and needs of your prospects. Create content that is relevant to your leads, and make sure to identify appropriate channels of distribution in order to extract maximum value from your content.
3. It takes time
Dating tends to happen in stages that occur over weeks and months. Similarly, the lead nurturing process is intended to push content to leads in a linear fashion, with the ultimate goal being that they’ll emerge as customers. Once you’ve moved past the first date, so to speak, you’ll want to decide how to continue romancing your leads. To do that, align content with where your leads happen to be in the buyer’s journey. Leads will enter and exit your lead nurturing campaign at different points, and that’s okay. Just be certain that your content is relevant to leads in their specific stage. Regardless, each nurturing touch should be focused and specific and include a call-to-action to promote advancement in the buyer’s journey.
4. Communication is key
As with any relationship, the foundation of lead nurturing is communication. Being able to hold meaningful conversations builds a genuine interest and helps improve any relationship. In other words, don’t view the lead nurturing process as a way to blast your prospects with promotional information or marketing materials; treat it as a dialogue. The best lead nurturing campaigns are designed to help you learn as much about your leads as you would have them learn about your company.
5. Show your interest and appreciation
We all want to feel appreciated, and the same is true for your customers and leads. Whether it’s by showing gratitude to current customers for their continued support or showing appreciation to leads for their download, saying thank you goes a long way in building connections and professional relationships.
In our personal and professional lives, we want relationships built on trust over time. A successful lead nurturing campaign is constructed on these same principals. When you plan ahead, don’t rush the process and create opportunities for meaningful communication, the possibilities are endless.
Want to learn more about lead nurturing? Check out these 30 tricks and tips that will change the way you nurture leads.
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