by Elizabeth Hines | Jan 4, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain
Supply chain professionals should be following these eight blogs to keep up with the latest industry news and happenings in the coming year.
Fronetics is currently conducting a survey to determine which supply chain blogs you think are the best of 2017. (You can vote for that here.) But we also wanted to weigh in with some of the blogs we’re following.
These eight supply chain blogs are great resources for industry news and trends. They cover a range of topics, from technology to strategy, and feature thought leadership by some of the brightest minds in the field.
8 must-follow supply chain blogs
Here is our selection of blogs with timely content that supply chain executives need to read, in no particular order:
1) Supply Chain Management Review
This vast website includes trending articles on supply chain and logistics strategies developments, many written by university-level professors. Read this blog.
2) Logistics Viewpoints
This blog features think pieces from three leading supply chain and logistics analysts with the mission to provide clear and concise analyses of logistics trends, technologies and services. Read this blog.
3) Supply Chain Nation Blog
Interesting news bits from “around the supply chain horn,” this is JDA Software’s blog, a powerhouse in supply chain solutions. Read this blog.
4) Supply Chain Matters
The blog of Bob Ferrari offers his expertise on all aspects of supply chain business processes and supporting information technology. Read this blog.
5) Supply Chain Brain
A portal aimed at supply chain executives featuring original and aggregated content touching on multiple industries. Read this blog.
6) Supply Chain Shaman
Lora Cecere’s blog focuses on “the use of enterprise applications to drive supply chain excellence.” Read this blog.
7) Argentus Blog
Argentus is a boutique recruitment firm specializing in supply chain management and procurement. The blog offers insight into pressing issues in supply chain talent acquisition, career management, and more. Read this blog.
8) Cerasis Blog
The Cerasis blog covers industry trends, educates, explains rules and regulations, busts myths, and has awesome infographics. Read this blog.
Bonus/shameless plug: Fronetics Blog
Our blog covers topics of interest to the supply chain industry from marketing and social media to lead generation and strategy. Read our blog.
Related posts:
by Elizabeth Hines | Jan 3, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
The most popular content from LinkedIn in 2016 offers some headline inspiration for businesses hoping to improve reach and impact in 2017.
Buzzsumo’s Steve Rayson wrote an article the other day that really struck a chord with what we do here at Fronetics: He used data to analyze patterns in successful content. More specifically, Rayson examined the most popular content posted on LinkedIn in 2016 and identified headlines and topics that were most successful last year.
The results are really interesting and say a lot about what content resonates with the general LinkedIn community. I’ve summarized his findings below.
Most popular headline phrases
Rayson examined the 10,000 most-shared posts on LinkedIn in 2016 and identified the most common two- and three-word phrases from their headlines. Some of the most frequent included:
- How to
- You need to
- Why you should
- Can learn from
- The future of
Rayson then pulled all the headlines from 300,000 posts using these phrases. He found that not only did more headlines include these phrases, but also that posts with headlines using these phrases received more shares than average.
For context, the average number of shares for all LinkedIn posts in November 2016 was 230. Here are Rayon’s findings.
Most impactful headline words and topics
Rayson conducted the same exercise for single words or topics in headlines. His table below shows some of the best-performing words and their social reach.
How can I write better headlines?
Rayson concludes from his analysis that LinkedIn’s top-performing content — in terms of shares — usually involves instruction on how to be successful in one way or another. This is probably no surprise, given the network’s career-oriented nature. But it can be useful to marketers who are looking to create and distribute content through this platform in the coming year.
Rayson’s takeaways offer some useful suggestions for framing LinkedIn content to improve reach and impact.
- Write about success: We all aspire to do better as professionals. LinkedIn is a place we come to find advice. The core topics that do well are personal success (tips, career advice, personal skills, leadership) and business success (team management, sales, including staying ahead on top of industry trends and case studies).
- Share advice and make it personal: Does your content provide practical advice to someone personally? It can range from boosting sales to managing a difficult employee or boss. Can you appeal to users on a very personal basis, e.g. you need to or you should.
- Focus on work: Will your insights make someone more successful at work? Can you distil this down into habits or tips or mistakes to avoid.
- Talk trends and the future: Can you provide insights into industry trends and help people gain a better perspective on the future?
- Stick with what works: If you find a format that works, do not be afraid to reuse it.
Related posts:
by Elizabeth Hines | Jan 2, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
It’s time to cast your vote for the top blog in the supply chain and logistics industries!
Fronetics is conducting its 3rd annual survey to uncover the top industry blog of 2017. Help us by voting for your favorite blog. Responses will be collected through January 25, 2017. Vote now so your voice will be heard!
All responses are confidential and will be reported in aggregate. No identifiable information (individual or company) will be attached or included. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
Interested in who won in 2015 and 2016?
by Elizabeth Hines | Dec 22, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing
At Fronetics, we work with companies in the logistics and supply chain industries to create and execute digital and content marketing strategies. Understanding the sales processes of our clients, working closely with sales, and developing effective lead generation strategies is at the heart of what we do.
Here are our 5 most read sales and lead generation posts of 2016.
Sarah Collins, an intern Fronetics and a student at James Madison University, College of Business studying Marketing, writes how aligning sales and marketing helps companies achieve 20% higher annual growth rates and improves deal closings by 67%. Read more.
Leads are only valuable if they convert into customers. So, generating quality leads is only half the battle. You need a sales team that knows how to resuscitate a lead, nurture it, and, ultimately, turn it into a customer. Read more.
B2B sales must recognize and accommodate buyers at various levels of self-sufficiency in the purchasing process. Read more.
The most efficient lead-generation strategy includes a way to capture potential customers’ information. Read more.
If you feel your marketing campaign falls short in generating quality leads, you are not alone. Typically, one in 10 marketing professionals questions the effectiveness of their lead generation methods. While you may have some of the components of a strong campaign in place, it is possible that you are leaving out a very important ingredient for success: a call to action (CTA). Read more.
by Elizabeth Hines | Dec 15, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Here are our 10 most-read social media posts of 2016.
Social media is no longer optional. Today, B2B and B2C companies need to be active on social media. Companies that aren’t are making a strategic mistake that will impact their bottom line.
At Fronetics we work with companies to create and execute social media strategies. Moreover, we serve as an educational resource for companies within the logistics and supply chain industry.
Here are the 10 most-read posts about social media from our blog in 2016.
A question we often get here at Fronetics is: How often should my business tweet? We explore this question and give you an answer. Read more.
Facebook Live offers businesses a new, creative platform for engaging customers — here’s how to use it. Read more.
When it excels at social media, a company’s opportunity for growth is as vast as the web itself. Today, even small businesses can compete shoulder to shoulder with their biggest competitors if leveraging social media properly. These four supply chain companies constantly post fresh, quality content to their social media accounts. Read more.
Social media facts collected from various studies, offer insight into how people and businesses are using social networking today. Read more.
Censorship is always a hot-button issue, and, when combined with social media, things can heat up even more. The topic is debated in law school classrooms, at dinner parties, and in courtrooms. What should be shared and written on social media? Should companies censor what their employees post? Read more.
One of the top social media sites for B2B marketers, Twitter can help businesses spread brand awareness and communicate with customers. Read more.
A cross-departmental social media team will improve your company’s social presence. Read more.
This is a guest post written by Tania Seary, founder of Procurious, the world’s first online social network for supply chain and procurement professionals. In the post Seary shares how Procurious has used social media to build Procurious. Read more.
When you are posting on social media could be as important as what you’re posting. Read more.
If your company is not participating in social media, you are at a disadvantage. Your customers, your employees, and your competitors are taking advantage of these technologies to conduct business in new, more efficient ways. Read more.
by Elizabeth Hines | Dec 14, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain
In 2016 88% of B2B marketers reported using content marketing to market their business, up by almost to 3% over 2015. B2B markets are increasingly using content marketing because they recognize that it an effective tool to increase brand awareness, and to attract, engage, and convert new customers. With 51% of B2B buyers relying on content research and to make B2B purchasing decisions than they did a year ago, businesses who aren’t using content marketing are missing out on opportunities that ultimately impact their bottom line.
Fronetics is a boutique marketing firm focused on the supply chain and logistics industries. We work with companies to create and execute data driven marketing strategies with the objectives of increasing brand awareness, positioning companies as thought leaders, driving meaningful engagement with prospects and customers, and helping companies to grow their business.
Every day we see the impact content marketing has on companies within the supply chain and logistics industries. One client, for example, has realized a 30% net increase in new customers since the implementation of their content marketing strategy.
We have pulled together our top 10 content marketing posts of 2016. We hope these will help you to develop and/or strengthen your content marketing strategy in the coming year.
Top 10 Content Marketing Posts of 2016
This is a guest post by Jennifer Cortez, Director, Marketing Communications, Transplace. Cortez discusses how Transplace, a North American non-asset-based provider offering manufacturers, retailers, chemical and consumer packaged goods companies the optimal blend of logistics technology and transportation management services, has used content marketing and she offers up 3 tips for creating valuable and compelling content. Read more.
We’ve pulled together 19 content marketing trends that companies within the logistics and supply chain industries should take note of. Read more.
3. How to Overcome Your Biggest Content Marketing Challenge
2016 reports produced by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, and sponsored by Brightcove outline the biggest challenges B2B and B2C companies face when implementing content marketing strategies. We discuss how you can overcome these strategies and be successful. Read more.
TotalTrax Inc., a provider of real-time vehicle, driver, and inventory tracking technologies for manufacturing and warehouse operations, worked with Fronetics to leverage content marketing to increase web traffic, generate high-quality leads, and, ultimately, grow business. Read more.
10 content marketing strategy statistics that underscore the importance of developing a clear content marketing strategy to advance your business goals. Read more.
Outsourcing content marketing can cost a fraction of what dedicating in-house resources would — and you’ll get better results. Read more.
Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to increase brand awareness, broaden your customer base, and grow your business. Yet of the 88% of B2B marketers using content marketing, only 30% feel their efforts are successful. Why do so many organizations feel they are failing? Simply put, they do not have a documented content marketing strategy in place. Read more.
Speak your boss’ language with metrics, statistics, and facts that articulate content marketing’s impact on customer acquisition and sales. Read more.
What is influencer marketing and how can supply chain companies use it to win over customers? Read more.
A blog post not only stays around longer than a print ad, it can better engage potential customers. Read more.
