by Fronetics | Apr 11, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Content marketing is no longer optional. It’s essential in creating brand awareness, educating audiences, and building credibility. Here’s a look at the biggest digital marketing trends for 2019.
Highlights:
- The content marketing industry is expected to be worth more than $400 billion by 2021.
- Video is currently the most popular form of content being consumed online today.
- Peers and colleagues are the third most influential source of information for B2B purchasing, right behind online searches and your website.
A recent article by Forbes on content marketing notes: “As recently as a few years ago, marketers handled content mostly as a side project. It was more of a bonus than an essential role — something you did when you had time because it took a backseat to more traditional marketing projects and responsibilities. That’s changed.”
Boy, has that changed. The content marketing industry is expected to be worth more than $400 billion by 2021.
[bctt tweet=”The content marketing industry is expected to be worth more than $400 billion by 2021.” username=”Fronetics”]
The 2018 report from the Content Marketing Institute shows just how prevalent digital and content marketing is, and how essential it has become to creating brand awareness, educating your audience, and building credibility and trust with your customers.
Supply chain & logistics marketers: Trends to watch
So, where is content marketing headed in 2019? Marketing budgets are still on the rise, and supply chain and logistics companies are increasingly seeing the value in moving to an inbound marketing strategy driven by original content.
These are the six notable trends to consider when planning your 2019 content marketing strategy.
1. Video
Video is currently the most popular form of content being consumed online today, and video marketing will continue to have substantial value in 2019.
Smart supply chain marketers should start the new year by developing a visual storytelling strategy that offers consistent delivery of valuable content.
What’s your best bet? Be helpful and teach your audience something worthwhile to them.
2. Chatbots
The rise of chatbots – automated computer programs that simulate human conversation in messaging apps – is expected to continue in 2019. Business Insider recently reported that the number of people on messaging apps surpassed the number of users on social networks!
Chatbots are just one of the ways artificial intelligence will shape the content marketing landscape in 2019, but their ability to drastically increase customer engagement puts them on the short list for a major trend to watch in the coming year.
3. Voice search
Voice search is becoming an increasingly prevalent means of attaining information. Statistics vary, but it’s expected that anywhere between 30-50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020. A recent report by NPR and Edison Research found that the rise of smart speakers is substantially changing consumer routines and purchasing behavior.
A good content marketing strategy for 2019 should consider how your customers might use voice search in your industry, and what you can do to maximize your content’s ability to respond.
4. Long-form content
I love this one, because it harkens back to humble beginnings of content marketing and the desire to put informative, quality content in front of a targeted interested audience.
Long form content – white papers, case studies, and lengthier blog posts e.g. – will have a resurgence of renewed appreciation in 2019. Why? Because many industries, including supply chain and logistics industries, are saturated with tons of mediocre short form content. People are increasingly looking to weed through it all for substantial quality posts from trusted sources. In addition, search engines will favor longer posts in results rankings.
Cheers to 2019 being the year of quality over quantity!
5. Brand ambassadors
We wrote about brand ambassadors as we headed into 2018, but they are worth mentioning again as we look forward to 2019. Brand ambassadors are employees that influence the B2B buying decisions of others, and they are an often-overlooked resource with more traditional marketing tactics.
Peers and colleagues are the third most influential source of information for business to business (B2B) purchasing, right behind online searches and your website! And there’s nothing more credible than a friend who speaks highly of their company’s product or service.
Definitely consider how you can help make brand ambassadors out of your employees in 2019.
6. Market Influencers
The final trend to watch in 2019 is influencer marketing, a form of marketing which focuses on influential people rather than the market as a whole.
Basically, marketers identify individuals who might have influence over potential buyers and create marketing campaigns and activities around these influencers. In many ways, this works similarly to a brand ambassador, where a single person influences their network of friends; in this case, however, the market influencer has a large network and a lot of “friends” who listen.
Influencer marketing will be a huge trend in marketing for 2019, and it would be worth considering who might be an influencer in your industry in the coming year and what your company might do reach them.
So, there you have it. As we head into 2019, these are the trends to watch and plan for in content marketing space.
The B2B buying climate is growing longer and more complex, and content marketing is so effective throughout the entire sales cycle if it’s done well. The end of the year is a great time to revisit your marketing strategy and make any necessary changes for the coming year.
This post originally appeared on EBN Online.
Related posts:
by Fronetics | Mar 28, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Also, this month in social media news: Twitter launches new camera tools to increase visual focus; and Pinterest introduces Catalogs and expands shopping ads.
This month on social media news, we’re seeing a few trends continuing. Platforms are increasingly offering robust analytics tools to content creators in an effort to boost engagement. This time, it’s Twitter rolling out a new tool that gives video publishers insights on optimal post timings. Twitter is also jumping on the “Stories” bandwagon, with its own answer to the trend: a camera feature that allows users to create images similar to Instagram and Facebook Stories.
Also this month, we’re seeing good news for brands when it comes to advertising on social media. Facebook is introducing a feature for premium video advertising, while Pinterest is rolling out multiple tools to help brands sell directly from the platform. Read on for a round-up of social media news.
Social media news for March 2019
Twitter Debuts a New Analytics Tool for Video Publishers
In an effort to provide video publishers with increased data to aid in performance improvement on Twitter, the platform has released the first in a new series of publisher insights tools: Timing is Everything. According to Twitter, the tool “displays historical data showing when audiences are on Twitter watching and engaging with video. This data highlights the best time(s) to Tweet video content with an aim to maximize engagement, conversation, and viewership.”
This is big news for video publishers, including content marketers. Twitter is offering key insights on one of the most important factors in determining social media marketing success: timing. Of course, increased engagement is in the platform’s best interest — and it’s in yours as well. Stay tuned for the release of more insight tools from Twitter in the coming weeks and months.
Facebook Announces Facebook Showcase for Premium Video Advertising
Facebook has debuted Facebook Showcase, a new premium video ad program that gives online video and TV ad buyers participating in the upfront selling cycle new opportunities to reach their target audiences on the platform. Showcase is currently available for campaigns targeting U.S. audiences and includes In-Stream Reserve, In-Stream Reserve Categories, and Sponsorships.
Facebook’s announcement is another big one for advertisers. Showcase will help advertisers connect with people through premium content and unique video experiences and can help reach younger-skewing audiences that are increasingly difficult to reach on TV.
Twitter Launches New Camera Tools to Increase Visual Focus
While platforms like Facebook and Instagram are increasingly ushering users towards their respective Stories features, Twitter is introducing a camera tool which will let users capture Stories-like images, including overlays and a searchable element. In addition to bringing the platform on board with the Stories trend, it ushers in more visual content options.
[bctt tweet=”Twitter is introducing a camera tool which will let users capture Stories-like images, including overlays and a searchable element.” username=”Fronetics”]
Swiping left on your Twitter timeline from your mobile device will take you to the new camera. There you can capture an image or video, or even go Live straight from Twitter, rather than having to be routed through Periscope. Next, users have the option to add details to the image, including hashtags suggested based on location. Stickers and filters aren’t here yet, but no doubt they’ll be coming soon.
Pinterest Introduces Catalogs and Expands Shopping Ads
Pinterest has rolled out a series of new tools and products to help brands sell their products directly on the platform. The company has debuted Catalogs, which allows brands to upload their full product portfolios to Pinterest and easily turn each item into dynamic, shoppable product pins. In addition, Pinterest has introduced personalized shopping recommendations for style, home, beauty, and DIY boards.
The platform’s rollouts are good news for brands and speaks to the company’s pro-business corporate mindset: “People come to Pinterest in a shopping mindset open to discovering products, which creates a great connection between Pinners and businesses. Pinners are looking for inspiration, and brands help make that inspiration a reality.”
What other social media news has your attention this month?
Related posts:
by Jennifer Hart Yim | Mar 27, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Leadership, Marketing, Supply Chain, Talent
In today’s job market, companies have to compete harder than ever before and candidates, realizing their position, have begun ghosting employers. Ghosting has never been in an issue in the professional setting until now.
Highlights:
- According to a new report, more companies and recruiters are getting ghosted, with thousands of users on LinkedIn chiming in about what seems to be a uniquely-millennial phenomenon moving into the workplace.
- Ghosting’s prevalence speaks to a talent attraction and retention problem that many companies are having in this marketplace.
- Recruiters who are specialized in your vertical have an established base of candidates, so you can remove ghosting from the equation entirely.
This guest post comes to us from Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm specializing in Supply Chain Management and Procurement.
Many of us have (thankfully) been out of the dating game long enough that we’ve never experienced what most millennials have: the dreaded ghost. You meet someone new, hit it off, go on a few dates, maybe even tell your friends and parents about an exciting romantic prospect. Then the hammer drops: all of a sudden, radio silence. No “dear John” letter, no break-up text, and no explanation whatsoever. It’s a digitally-enabled way of severing ties that’s so casual it hurts, because the affected (dare we say victim?) never gets to find out what exactly happened. The imagination runs wild with possible motivations for this disrespect: was it them? Was it me?
You never really know. That’s what makes it so tough.
Now, according to reports, this peculiar social phenomenon has metastasized into the workplace:
The job market is so hot, more candidates are ghosting their employers. Or prospective employers.
Welcome to 2019.
It’s no secret that the hiring market is strong, with near-historic low levels of unemployment. Now, according to a recent NPR report, more companies and recruiters are getting ghosted. It’s also become a hot topic on LinkedIn, with thousands of users chiming in about what seems to be a uniquely-millennial phenomenon moving into the workplace. Reports about ghosting even made their way into a recent report from the U.S. Federal Reserve – which shows that ghosting isn’t just a meme, but something that’s really affecting companies’ hiring practices and their bottom line.
NPR – as well as this great article by LinkedIn Contributor Molly Mosley – identify three key species of ghost:
- The employee who accepts a role and gets into the job – thankfully, it’s not often a long-term employee, otherwise a missing person report might be in order – and leaves without a trace.
- The job candidate who books a job interview, or accepts a role, and doesn’t show up, or send any kind of communication or response when contacted.
- The candidate who works with a recruiter, asks to be submitted for a role, and then stops responding. There are quite a few reports about this, but we’re lucky that we haven’t experienced it as much in our recruitment practice at Argentus.
Ghosting is a very modern-feeling phenomenon. It’s a symptom of a more relaxed – dare we say, lax – approach to interpersonal and professional relationships brought about by digital technology. But it’s also a symptom of something more fundamental about this job market:
It’s a candidate’s market – especially in high-demand STEM fields like Supply Chain.
We’re willing to bet that in a recession, all these ghosts would become corporeal again. But for now, candidates have all the leverage, and what’s more, they’re beginning to realize this, which means that companies have to compete harder than ever before.
Don’t get us wrong: ghosting is unacceptable, and we don’t mean to excuse it. No one would want to hire a candidate who’s ghosted an employer in the past, and we’d stop working with anyone if we found out they’ve done it before. It’s, in short, the height of unprofessionalism. Any company who gets ghosted on has really dodged a bullet: who would want to work with someone who would resort to such a childish and cowardly tactic?
But ghosting’s prevalence still speaks to a talent attraction and retention problem that many companies are having in this marketplace. Consider this: if your company interviews someone, and never gives any form of feedback or follow-up – which still happens, believe it or not – you’re ghosting candidates as well.
It cuts both ways. And that gestures towards a few changes that companies can make to help minimize the risk of ghosting – which can waste thousands of dollars of company resources:
Smooth out the onboarding process.
In short, treat prospective candidates like a valuable strategic asset instead of a disposable endless resource. The accounts of ghosting from the workers in the NPR story, as well as others, share something in common: the workers felt disrespected or disregarded by their employers.
[bctt tweet=”The accounts of ghosting from the workers in the NPR story, as well as others, share something in common: the workers felt disrespected or disregarded by their employers.” username=”Fronetics”]
Treating candidates with respect is table stakes in this hiring environment. But consider the ways that you’re unintentionally depersonalizing the hiring and onboarding process: letting it get drawn out with endless approvals and interviews, resorting to impersonal communication methods, failing to have succinct and effecting onboarding policies to get new candidates up to speed.
Lastly, because we can’t resist: a specialized recruitment partner will forward pre-vetted candidates, often ones that they’ve known for years, who you know won’t ghost. Recruiters who are specialized in your vertical have an established base of candidates, so you can remove ghosting from the equation entirely.
But what’s your experience? Have you been ghosted by an employee or job candidate before? Why do you think this issue is coming into the zeitgeist right now?
Related posts:
by Fronetics | Mar 6, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain, Talent
Increasingly, women are pursuing careers in the supply chain. But they continue to face a salary gap — and the higher they climb, the wider it gets.
Highlights:
- Men in the supply chain industry earned an average of 29% more than women in 2017.
- Women perform at the same levels as men with the same job titles and expectations but may not be given the same opportunities to advance their careers.
It’s no secret that the supply chain and logistics sector is largely male-dominated. Over the past decade, women have increasingly pursued supply chain careers and assumed leadership roles. But according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, women in the industry continue to face a pay gap, and that pay gap widens as they rise through the ranks.
[bctt tweet=”According to a recent study by the Institute for Supply Management, which surveyed 3,000 supply chain professionals, men in the industry earned an average of 29% more than women in 2017.” username=”Fronetics”]
According to a recent study by the Institute for Supply Management, which surveyed 3,000 supply chain professionals, men in the industry earned an average of 29% more than women in 2017. Interestingly, in higher level positions, where there are still relatively few women, the pay gap was even wider — and it was wider still between workers with the highest levels of experience. Among those who had been in the supply chain for 15 to 19 years, the study found that men earned 48% more than women with identical experience levels.
Progress?
In her article, Wall Street Journal supply chain and logistics reporter Jennifer Smith points out that there has been some progress. “The gap has narrowed slightly since 2016,” she writes, “when the disparity in salaries was 31 percentage points.” But she goes on to detail the ways in which the industry lags behind when it comes to pay equity.
Smith quotes Cory Ann Holst, senior director of data and performance management for the global business services division of snack-food giant Mondelez International Inc. “Women haven’t made near the progress that the industry wants us to think we have,” says Holst. “We all know there is a glass ceiling.”
Echoing this sobering reality-check, a compensation survey by supply chain organization APICS found an overall pay disparity, albeit smaller, with women earning an average of 16% less than their male counterparts. Abe Eshkenazi, chief executive of APICS, told Smith that “women perform at the same levels as men with the same job titles and expectations but may not be given the same opportunities to advance their careers.”
Why the gap?
While the pay disparity in the supply chain is generally in-line with that of the broader U.S. labor force, it’s still striking. So, what causes the pay gap to persist? And why does it go from a gap to a gulf at higher-level positions and greater experience levels? “Experts say a range of factors play into the gender pay gap,” writes Smith, “including discrimination and different career choices. White-collar jobs often reward people who work long hours or change positions frequently, for instance, steps some women with families may be less likely to take.”
Smith points to the career trajectory of Sana Raheem, now head of operations at the Farmer’s Dog, a subscription-based healthy pet food company in New York City. Raheem worked her way up in logistics at Kraft Heinz Co and was a senior manager of logistics and supply chain at Mondelez International. It wasn’t an easy road. “Getting there meant taking jobs in remote manufacturing facilities with a mostly-male labor force and few female role models,” writes Smith.
“I had many moments early in my career where I was told to slow down, be less aggressive, and pay my dues,” said Raheem. “I saw a lot of women around me accept similar feedback and spend years making less than their male counterparts.”
According to Robert Handfield, professor of supply chain management and executive director of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative at North Carolina State University’s Poole College of Management, “the industry is increasingly well suited for women. It involves identifying opportunities, thinking strategically, and working collaboratively.”
By every measure, the supply chain needs more women at all levels. It’s time to compensate them fairly.
Related posts:
by Fronetics | Mar 1, 2019 | Blog, Current Events, Marketing, Social Media
Also this month in social media news: YouTube has reached nearly 2 billion monthly users; Instagram is developing a feature to simplify multiple account management; and YouTube addresses “dislike mobs.”
Highlights:
- Social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are working to streamline their platforms.
- YouTube usage continues to grow, as the platform begins addressing dislike mobs.
- Good news for businesses: streamlined platforms mean less busy-work for marketers.
This month in social media news, we’re seeing multiple platforms working to integrate and streamline their services. Facebook is merging its messaging platforms, while Instagram (owned by Facebook) looks to simplify multiple account management. Additionally, a major part of LinkedIn’s upgrade to its recruitment tools involves integrating them into a single platform.
Social media usage continues to grow, and YouTube is no exception, announcing that it reached nearly two billion monthly users in the fourth quarter of 2018. The platform is also seeking to address one of the main concerns that users currently face: “dislike mobs.”
The developments this month are important for businesses to be watching. Facebook’s plans to integrate its messaging will no doubt mean changes to current chatbot optionsand possibly open up new opportunities for enhanced marketing automation. LinkedIn’s updated recruiter platforms are welcome news for businesses when it comes to identifying and hiring qualified candidates. And if Instagram’s developments pan out as anticipated, marketers will have an easier time managing multiple accounts.
Here’s your social media news for February 2019.
Facebook Is Integrating Its Messaging Platforms
Facebook has confirmed that it’s working toward integrating the three messaging platforms that it owns— Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp — with the aim of facilitating cross-platform communication. Integration would allow users to send messaging between apps, which would remain distinct. Not only will users be able to communicate seamlessly across multiple platforms, features and tools available on each platform will become available across all three apps.
[bctt tweet=”Facebook has confirmed that it’s working toward integrating the three messaging platforms that it owns — Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp — with the aim of facilitating cross-platform communication.” username=”Fronetics”]
While the project has a long way to go, with changes not showing up for users until at least 2020, this is big news, and businesses should be keeping an eye on ongoing developments.
LinkedIn Updates Recruiter Platforms
LinkedIn announced this month a major upgrade to its recruitment tools, with the goal of streamlining hiring processes and matching more relevant candidates. From the announcement:
“Recruiters have told us they’re often frustrated by the need to jump from tool to tool. We’ve heard you. So we’ve put all of our core tools — Jobs, Recruiter, and Pipeline Builder — on a single platform. Once you create a project, you will be able to see the results from all your active sourcing channels — search results, job applicants, media leads — under the Talent Pool tab, and you can manage candidates from there.”
Additionally, LinkedIn will be adding new AI sorting tools, aiming to find better suited candidates for recruiters, using previous usage trends as well as platform data and learning from personal interests.
YouTube Reaches 2 Billion Monthly Users
Earlier this month, YouTube’s parent company, Alphabet, announced in its Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2018 Reportthat the video giant has more than 2 billion monthly users. Not only that, the number of channels with more than a million subscribers has almost doubled in 2018. Content creators on YouTube are also making more — the number of creators earning between $10K and $1 million from YouTube AdSense has grown more than 40% compared to a year earlier.
Instagram Is Developing an Account-Linking Feature to Simplify Multiple Account Management
After last month’s launchof a feature allowing users to post to multiple accounts with a single click, Instagram is pushing ahead with its efforts to streamline multiple-account management. It’s now developing a new option that will connect multiple accounts under a single login. The development, first reported by TechCrunch, will give Instagram users a variety of account-management options and allow marketers to cut down busy-work, like setting preferences for multiple accounts over and over.
YouTube Is Asking for Feedback in Addressing “Dislike Mobs”
YouTube is addressing the pernicious issue of so-called “dislike mobs” in a recent issue of Creator Insider, the video platform’s corporate series for creators. The company’s developers are considering multiple options, and while it does so, it is soliciting feedback from creators. Options so far discussed include methods for disabling the downvote button, allowing content creators to set preferences for whether ratings are publicly viewable, or requiring users to provide a reason for downvoting a video.
With its announcement that it is addressing the issue of dislike mobs, YouTube is demonstrating its commitment to content creators on its platform.
Related posts:
by Fronetics | Jan 31, 2019 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Marketing, Social Media
Also, this month in social media news: Instagram allows posts to multiple accounts; Snapchat shares research on social media use; and YouTube adds new swipe-to-view option.
Highlights
- Facebook and YouTube are making changes that reflect a shift toward the Stories format.
- Snapchat releases research revealing that users seek different types of content on different social media platforms.
- Twitter is considering a big update to its conversational features designed to boost user engagement.
The new year is off and running in the social media world. As social media platforms vie to keep up with user behavior, we’re seeing a broad industry shift in favor of the “Stories” format. Facebook is attempting to ramp up the popularity of its Stories feature by giving users more options for direct response, while YouTube is introducing a swipe option, reflecting the growing preference for this kind of interface.
Businesses should take heed to the changes this month. The opportunity for CTA stickers in Facebook Stories — as well as Twitter’s plans for new conversational features and Instagram’s introduction of a feature allowing users to post across accounts at the same time — have important implications for how B2B businesses market themselves on social media. Additionally, Snapchat has released the results of a study examining how and why people use various social media platforms.
Here’s your social media news for January 2019.
Facebook Adds Call-to-Action Stickers for Page Stories
As Facebook continues to work toward making its version of Stories a success, the social media titan is testing a new set of Call-to-Action (CTA) stickers for Pages. The stickers let businesses on Facebook use Stories more effectively via direct-response tools.
The new buttons echo the CTA options already available to Pages in their header. Options include inviting users to “Shop Now,” “Book,” or “Get Directions” directly from within Stories.
Why does this matter for B2B businesses? This new feature brings direct action to where Facebook is pushing users to spend more and more time — Stories.
Twitter Releases Detailed Plans for Beta Testing of New Conversational Features
Twitter is looking to evolve its platform in line with usage trends, announcing the creation of a new beta program to test its conversational options. According to TechCrunch, Twitter will soon launch the beta program with a select group of users. Features to be tested include color-coded responses, algorithmically sorted replies, and status updates.
If the beta testing is successful and Twitter adopts the changes, expect to see a big impact on platform use. For example, color-coded replies would corollate with your connections, making them easier to locate within extensive threads. Algorithm searching would also assist with keeping users up to date with the most personally relevant parts of any discussion — all with the goal of boosting engagement.
Instagram Now Lets You Post to Multiple Accounts at Once
Earlier this month, Social Media Today and TechCrunch reported that Instagram is rolling out a feature allowing users to post a single update across multiple profiles at the same time. For social media managers responsible for maintaining several accounts, this is big news.
[bctt tweet=” Instagram is rolling out a feature allowing users to post a single update across multiple profiles at the same time. For social media managers responsible for maintaining several accounts, this is big news.” username=”Fronetics”]
It’s now easy to post content to all accounts at once. But the question remains: is this good news for your audience? Of course, every case is different, but it’s yet to be determined if this ease of posting identical content across multiple platforms will broaden audience engagement or backfire, causing users to get bored and tune out your content all together.
Snapchat Shares New Research on How and Why People Use Different Social Media Platforms
Partnering with Murphy Research, Snapchat Business conducted a study of more than 1,000 of its users between the ages of 13 and 44. The goal was to gain insight into the social media apps they use, why they spend time on each, and how each makes them feel.
The research revealed three key insights:
- The apps people use can impact their moods.
- There’s a reason users tap on each app.
- And there’s a time and place for each app in this space.
What does this mean for B2B users? Being aware of the various platforms people use to find a specific type of content, for example, can help shape content creation and sharing.
YouTube Adds a New Option to Swipe to View the Next Video
As if it weren’t easy enough to fall down a YouTube rabbit hole. This month, the video giant is rolling out a new option that gives users the option to swipe left to view the next video or right to go back to the previous. Users can also get a “sneak peek” of the next or previous video by partially swiping. Currently, the update is only available to iOS users and is in line with a broader industry trend toward the swipeable Stories format.
Related posts:
