by Elizabeth Hines | May 8, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing
Research shows that marketers are wasting valuable time and resources reinventing the wheel when it comes to email marketing.
Email marketing can be a challenge — to say the least. The constantly changing email landscape, marketing trends, and privacy regulations can make staying on top of your email game very tough.
The Litmus 2017 State of Email Report looks at trends in email marketing over the last year. One interesting takeaway: The definition of ‘spam’ email is changing at lightning speed. Consumers are quick to label unwanted or uninteresting emails as spam. That means it’s more likely the content you’re creating won’t make it to your audience’s inbox.
So marketers should spend more time and resources creating better emails, right? Not necessarily. The study shows that many aren’t using their resources wisely when it comes to marketing emails.
One thing is clear: Companies have to drive relevant and timely email communications that align with subscribers’ interests to stand out. But spending more time on different designs and reinventing the wheel when it comes to copy aren’t necessarily the way to go about that.
Take a look at these 4 statistics from the report and why streamlining and automating certain aspects of your email marketing program might free you up to focus on factors that can make a difference.
4 takeaways from the Litmus 2017 State of Email Report
1) 41.5% of companies have 1-5 emails in production at any given time (from conception to send).
That is a lot of emails. If you’re working on 5 emails at a time, it’s important that you have a process for turning them over quickly. But Litmus found that companies are spending way too much unnecessary time thinking about, creating and producing emails.
Why start from scratch with every one? Email templates are an excellent way to streamline your production process. It’s also easier to concept an email when you have certain standard elements that you have to come up with each time. You can still swap out messaging and images while keeping brand-specific pieces in place. It’s a time-saver for all involved.
2) Only 31.6% of companies spend less than a week to produce a single email.
So over 68% of companies are spending a week or more on ONE email. If most marketers send out 1-3 emails a month, imagine how those weeks add up! How does anyone have any time to do anything else?
This means too many marketers are spending too much time on each email. Automating certain parts of your process can be a beautiful thing — saving you time, money, and, ultimately, your sanity.
3) Only 6.7% of marketers use task runners as a part of their email production flow.
Task runners automate repetitive tasks, such as inlining CSS and sending out test emails. The biggest benefit to using a task runner is the ability to save time. Using Grunt, a popular task runner, not only adds to efficiency, but also builds consistency, increases effectiveness, and offers task flexibility.
4) Only 5% of marketers are using static site generators as a part of their email production workflow.
Static site generators are build systems for flat files that allow you to create templates and break down email elements. For all of us non-coders, this means that when someone visits your webpage, the user sees exactly what is stored, in contrast to a dynamic webpage that is generated through an application. Using static site generators can save marketers time, improve reliability, and increase security.
So what does all this mean for you and your company? Time is money, and that’s especially true when it comes to your email marketing program. The concept of streamlining workflows and utilizing technology to cut down on time is imperative to your company’s success.
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by Elizabeth Hines | May 3, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
There’s never been a better time for supply chain and logistics businesses to implement a content marketing strategy — except for maybe yesterday.
Content marketing is a form of inbound marketing in which vendors publish digital content to attract customers who are searching for products and services like theirs. If done right, it is highly effective in growing brand awareness, generating and converting leads, and driving sales and repeat business.
Think content marketing isn’t for supply chain and logistics businesses? Guess again. Here are five reasons why companies in these industries should use content marketing.
5 reasons to use content marketing
1. Buyers use content to make purchasing decisions.
The B2B buying landscape has shifted dramatically in the last 10 years. Buyers no longer rely on sales reps to make purchasing decisions; they turn to the internet. Companies must shift to accommodate buyers at various levels of self-sufficiency in the purchasing process.
The reality is that 94% of B2B buyers use online research. That means they’re judging whether or not to buy from your business based on the kind of digital content you publish (or do not publish, as the case may be). Consider these stats:
- 95% of B2B buyers are willing to consider vendor-related content as trustworthy.
- 51% more B2B buyers rely on content to make purchasing decisions than they did last year.
- 47% of B2B buyers consume 3 to 5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales person.
2. Control the conversation in your favor.
Customers go online to discuss their buying experiences — both positive and negative. If a potential buyer googles your business’ name, what will they find?
Content marketing puts you in the driver’s seat of reputation control. If you publish thought-provoking blog posts about industry trends, you can earn a reputation as a thought leader in the space. If you curate the latest articles about relevant happenings, people will begin to view your social media accounts as a resource for industry news. Be professional, quirky, clever, ahead of your time, youthful, wise, funny, off-color — whatever your brand is, you can set that reputation by what you publish online.
3. Present yourself as a solution.
When prospects go online they are looking for information and for answers. Position yourself as an expert who fully understands their problems and how to solve them by publishing content that anticipates their pain points. Quickly and fully respond to customer queries on social media. Use content marketing as an opportunity to be the solution prospects are looking for, right when they need it most.
4. Content marketing is more effective than traditional marketing.
Companies in the supply chain and logistics space have a lot to gain by modernizing their marketing tactics. We see this every day with our clients. With the evolving B2B buying landscape, ads in industry publications no longer cut it as a “marketing strategy.”
Take two examples under consideration. How about TotalTrax, a warehousing technology company that grew new business by 30% with content marketing? Or 3PL Cerasis, who gained 98 customers from its content marketing efforts? Content marketing works, and that’s been proven time and again with logistics and supply chain businesses.
5. Your competitors are doing it.
Content marketing is already a widespread practice within the supply chain and logistics industries. If you’re not producing content to attract prospects and retain customers, you’re missing out.
This year, 75% of marketers are increasing their investments in content marketing. Why? Because it works. Successful content marketers experience drastically more site growth than their competitors. In fact, content marketing leaders experience 7.8 times more site traffic than their competitors.
In sum, content = customers. If you’re not using content marketing as part of your marketing program, you’re going to get left behind, if you’re not already.
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by Elizabeth Hines | May 2, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
YouTube creators focus on audience engagement, as opposed to branding, which helps them organically grow an authentic loyal following.
I recently watched a video from Truly Social President and Founder Tara Hunt about the genius of YouTube creators. She offers truly valuable insight into why people with little technology and resources have been more successful in growing a loyal audience with video than corporate campaigns with all the money and creativity in the world.
Perhaps it’s worth saying first: Yes, video can work for the supply chain. And YouTube, in particular, can be very worthwhile as part of your larger social marketing strategy. The decade-old video platform has over 1.3 billion users. 1.3 BILLION! And that’s not all: Users watch over 5 billion videos on YouTube every single day, and upload 300 hours of video every minute.
This presents a huge opportunity for your company to reach prospects in a new way. It also means that your videos really need to stand out to make an impact and avoid getting lost in the shuffle. After all, approximately 20% of people who start a video will leave after the first 10 seconds.
So how are creators attracting viewers while corporate brands aren’t?
5 ways creators are out-YouTubing brands
1. Consistency
Creators know the success behind their YouTube channels is a constant stream of content. This be can new content or simply responding to their followers, but they are active every day, around the clock. Brands tend to spend a lot of time and energy on content but are inconsistent in their posting, often abandoning their YouTube channels for days or weeks at a time. Their followers become bored with their lack of attention and move on.
2. Community
The foundation of YouTube — and most social media platforms, actually — is community and the resulting two-way dialogue between creators and their followers. The intent of a creator’s video is to engage their audience and build a relationship that is beneficial to both parties. On the other hand, brands tend to be overly focused on the attention their content stirs up, the “buzz” they are able to draw, neglecting the important process of creating and nurturing a relationship with their followers.
3. Interaction
Companies often focus on pushing their “messaging” on one (or just a few) social media platform(s). They spend an enormous amount of time and money perfecting content that reflects this messaging, hoping their followers will engage with it.
Contrarily, YouTube creators focus on interaction. They interact on multiple platforms, reaching out to their audience and taking full advantage of every opportunity to connect with their followers. What’s more, successful YouTubers don’t merely expect engagement — they ask for it. They promote hashtags, solicit video responses from viewers, and encourage feedback via social media interactions. Calls-to-action can stimulate subscriptions, shares and cross-pollination with other platforms.
4. Connection
Gone are the days of expensive and lengthy productions. Creators have captivated their audiences by creating organic, raw material that focuses on the emotional connect. The polished and professional content that brands create are void of vulnerability and lack the connection today’s followers are seeking.
5. Collaboration
Creators root for one another; they follow one another; they promote one another. YouTube creators seek the opportunity to expand their audience by collaborating with other creators who focus on the same topics and interests. Through the power of collaboration, creators expand the exposure of their content to different audiences, gaining subscribers and views.
Brands see other brands as competition. In a time when audiences prefer engagement and social awareness, this competitive attitude hurts brands’ likability and ultimately diminishes their viewership.
If companies were to focus more on audience engagement in these ways, they would have a better chance at mimicking the wild success of YouTube creators who have amassed a loyal following.
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by Elizabeth Hines | Apr 27, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
In April’s social media news, changes are coming down the pike for Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
April has been an interesting month for social media news. Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram all announced changes to their core products that will affect businesses using these platforms for social engagement and/or advertising.
Make sure you’re following our blog and/or social media pages to get our monthly updates on changes that may affect your social marketing program.
Google may be rolling out ad blocker for Chrome
Although its business model largely depends on advertising, Google is considering putting a stop to ads that are ruining users’ experiences. A potential ad-blocking feature on its Chrome browser would identify unacceptable ads based on standards set by the Coalition for Better Ads in March. Google could roll out this new feature in the next few weeks or choose not to move ahead with it at all — either way, the company is declining to comment.
LinkedIn introduces trending storylines
Storylines are now bringing user interests and the most important stories in their industries to the daily newsfeed. The algorithm includes several perspectives, such as “relevant influencers and news publishers to people in your network.” Each storyline also has a unique hashtag associated with it, so users can join in on the conversation and expand their networks based on common interests.
Facebook is moving closer to virtual reality
At the F8 developer conference, Facebook announced the release of Facebook 360 Capture SDK, a toolkit that makes it easier to capture and share virtual reality video. The ‘Book’s engineers are calling this new process “cube mapping,” which is more efficient and has better image quality than standard 360 video. “We look forward to seeing VR 360 selfies, experiences, e-sports, and more—all in 360,” said Facebook product developers in a mid-April blog post.
Instagram launches offline browsing
Instagram currently downloads images on the fly, querying parent company Facebook’s servers for new content when the app is launched. The updated app, however, will tap a cache instead. It will store any browsed images and will automatically update when internet becomes available. Users will also be able to write comments, like and save photos, and unfollow and follow anytime, as Instagram will queue offline actions to execute when next online.
Facebook Stories expands globally
Facebook Stories are short, user-generated picture and video collections that disappear within 24 hours. Users can add different filters and overlays to content using the in-app camera. A simultaneous messenger update, called Direct, allows users to send photos and videos that disappear after a short time to friends. This popular Snapchat-like format has proven very successful on Instagram, which now boasts more than 150 million Stories users across the globe.
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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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