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 | Oct 25, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Marketing, Social Media
Also in October’s 2017 social media news: Vimeo is getting in the live streaming game, Instagram doubles its ad dollars, and YouTube will be taking over America’s favorite past time.
While the fall season has many of us wrapped up in blankets with flavored lattes, social media sites are spicing things up in lots of other ways.
Shopping for the holidays just got easier thanks to Instagram. YouTube is taking over Major League Baseball. Twitter is making those Throwback Thursdays way more convenient. And Facebook wants us all to know you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Instagram Expands Shopping Capabilities on the App
Instagram is teaming with Shopify to create the capability for brands and retailers to sell products directly from their Instagram accounts. Shoppers will be able to click on the experimental tagging links and purchase products directly through the app. Instagram is working overtime to have 500,000 retailers available for the upcoming holiday season, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. “Discovery is at the heart of the Instagram experience. Together with Shopify, we are enabling new ways to turn discovery into exploration, allowing Instagrammers to find new things from brands they love and businesses to find opportunities to build relationships with these valuable customers,” Instagram said.
YouTube Named Presenting Sponsor of the World Series
YouTube is working overtime to promote its live TV service by becoming the presenting sponsor of the MLB World Series. Kelly Merryman, YouTube’s managing director of content partnerships in America, said in a statement that the deal serves to underscore the kinds of popular sporting events that are available on YouTube TV. The multi-tiered deal serves as the first national ad campaign for the video platform and will include national TV ads, on-air mentions during each game, in-stadium branding, and more.
LinkedIn Tests Geofilters for Events and Conferences
LinkedIn is testing the ability for users to tag events and conferences with location-based filters, taking a page from Snapchat. As part of the platform’s new native video tools, LinkedIn is giving conference attendees the opportunity to add dedicated event frames to the videos they create while attending such functions. The illustrations are styled like conference badges, with the user’s profile photo in the right-hand corner. The badges also indicate the user’s role (such as a speaker, panel member, or attendee).
Facebook Tests Publisher-Information Button on Articles
Facebook is experimenting with adding a publisher-information button to articles shared in your News Feed that will provide additional information about the author and context around the article without having to navigate away from the site. The test was born out of feedback from the Facebook Journalism Project, which the ‘Book launched to ensure the credibility of content shared by its users . By creating transparency around publishers and their content, Facebook says its helping users to make more informed decisions. “Helping people access this important contextual information can help them evaluate if articles are from a publisher they trust, and if the story itself is credible,” wrote Facebook.
Twitter Adding a Bookmarking Tool
Twitter has announced its plan to add a new bookmarking tool to its app. The “Save for Later” tool will allow users to save a tweet to read later on. The feature’s impending launch was first unveiled on Twitter itself, naturally, when Head of Product Keith Coleman announced that a new way to save tweets was in the works as a result of a company HackWeek project dubbed #SaveForLater.
Vimeo Launches Live Streaming Platform
After acquiring Lifestream, Vimeo is launching its own live-streaming platform called Vimeo Live. The new platform will allow users the ability to create, edit and distribute live events. The paid membership is promoting better viewer engagement, speedy support, and in-depth analytics to track your progress.
Instagram Grows by 100 Million Users in Four Months and Doubles Advertisers
Instagram is having a pretty good year. It has reached over 800 million monthly users, with 500 million daily active users. This is a 100-million-user increase since April. And the platform’s growth doesn’t stop there. Instagram also reported it has 2 million advertisers. “Time spent watching video on Instagram is up more than 80% year over year, while the number of videos produced per day has increased by 4x from last year. With the emergence of innovative mobile video formats, like Instagram Stories, business are finding more opportunities to connect with their audiences, whether on the go or in the moment,” wrote the Instagram Business Team on its Business Blog.
YouTube Debuts New Ad Tech Tools for Brands
YouTube is making it easier for advertisers to get in front of their target audiences. Marketers can now reach potential customers based on their searches and the videos they’re already watching with four new ad tech tools:
- Video Ad Sequencing, which allows advertisers to create a video funnel that moves users through a planned sequence of video ads;
- Director Mix, which automatically customizes video content for different audiences;
- Custom Affinity Audiences which allows advertisers to define audience targeting based on users’ YouTube searches;
- Neilsen’s Matched Panel Analysis, which allows advertisers to measure the impact of video alongside other Google campaigns on offline sales.
The video site is hoping to make it easier to create a relationship between what advertisers have to offer and the people that are interested in those offers.
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by Fronetics | Oct 18, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Leadership, Marketing, Social Media
Supply chain and logistics executives should be using their celebrity on social media to be the public face of their businesses and an extension of their brands.
Here at Fronetics, we talk a lot about the importance of a social media presence for supply chain and logistics businesses. Most companies use social media to build brand awareness, communicate with a target audience, and, of course, attract new leads and customers. It’s highly effective.
But I am a strong believer that executives should also be on social media, as themselves, representing their brands and establishing themselves as thought leaders in the industry.
With their relative celebrity, supply chain and logistics executives are uniquely positioned to attract a following of customers, prospects, potential talent, industry peers, and admirers. They can use social media to connect with these people, share their ideas and industry news, and become the human face of their brands. It amplifies the company’s social media efforts in a way brands can’t do themselves. After all, social media is about connecting with people.
It makes sense, right? But in reality, 61 percent of fortune 500 CEOs have no social presence whatsoever. It’s an enormous missed opportunity.
Think of what these 3 CEOs’ social media presence has done for their brands.
With almost 12 million Twitter followers, the founder and owner of Virgin Group was named the top CEO on social media. Branson insists on creating his authentic content — from funny, personal stories to pictures — himself, and his commitment to posting daily keeps followers engaged. The resulting dialogue and relationship with followers has helped elevate his personal brand and Virgin as well.
Co-founder, president and former chief editor of the Huffington Post, Huffington was an early adopter of social media as a marketing tool. She has used her success at Huff Post and her personal social media presence to increase visibility to her newer projects, including Thrive Global.
Musk has committed to being authentic and open about the ups and downs of his business ventures, and his followers have responded favorably with an almost cult-like following. His personal account’s audience is more than double the number of followers combined for his three companies. Taking a page from Apple’s play book, Musk has used the reveal of new Tesla models and Space X rockets to stir up a buzz about projects. These live stream reveals are flashy, yet cool and casual, and have garnered over a million views.
Supply chain and logistics executives killing social media
This is not to say that there are not some supply chain and logistics executives who are capitalizing on using their personal brands on social media. Here are some as an example:
- Kelli Saunders, Morai Logistics
- Peter Tirschwell, IHS Markit
- Hailey McKeefrey, EBN
Which executives do you follow on social media?
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by Fronetics | Oct 9, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Talent
As peer influence becomes increasingly important in B2B buying decisions, empowering employee brand ambassadors will benefit your bottom line.
I recently attended a dinner party where I met a new acquaintance. We talked about our families, our hobbies and, of course, our jobs. She recently started working for a small business about which she was tangibly passionate. After listening to her talk, I went home, immediately started following the company on social media, and purchased some products.
Some companies are overlooking their greatest marketing tool: their employees. That woman made a big impression on me and actually influenced a sale. The experience reflects a trend that’s also growing in the B2B space: the impact of peer influence on buying decisions. In fact, 68% of B2B buyers say they give credence to peer reviews in the purchase process.
Imagine the number of people you could reach through each employee’s peer network. It’s a massive opportunity.
I’ve written lately about the rise of influencer marketing. It’s a strategy B2B businesses are starting to understand and use to their advantage. But you don’t need a Kardashian or even an important industry professional to get started. Employees are your most natural, ready-made influencers.
Here are 3 reasons to invest in making your employees brand ambassadors.
3 benefits of employee brand ambassadors
1. Increased social media reach
According to a study conducted by the MSL Group, employee advocates are connected to 10X as many people as their brand on social media, and can increase the reach of brand content by 561%. If your employees are posting about your company on social media, they’re reaching a much wider audience than your company page is.
While 57% of companies have a LinkedIn company page, 94% of B2B buyers use LinkedIn to distribute content. If your employees are posting company content to their personal LinkedIn accounts, imagine the potential range your brand has to reach new audiences. And these people aren’t hearing it from your corporate page. They’re hearing it from a peer connection. That’s definitely more powerful.
2. Increased brand engagement
When it comes to increasing brand engagement, there is no better place to start than with your own employees. Peer influence is a natural extension of employees who believe in your company and its mission.
While only 3% of employees share company-relevant content on social media, they actually drive a 32% increase in engagement. And their advocacy has a greater impact their peers’ buying decisions than you might imagine. Studies show that leads gathered as a result of employee advocacy convert 7X more often than other leads.
3. Elevated employee (and company) performance
While your employees are advocating for your company, they will also benefit from their new role as brand ambassadors. They will be more engaged and invested in their jobs. And the additional responsibility will foster a sense of pride and professional growth.
That pride translates to greater productivity. Companies with engaged employees outperform those without by up to 202%. But that’s not all! Companies with highly engaged employees saw a 20% increase in sales and a 10% in customer ratings.
Empowering your employees
Successfully reframing your employees as brand ambassadors requires creating a culture that empowers and incentivizes employee participation. Offer them the appropriate training or knowledge. Ask them to complete specific tasks (e.g., sharing company content), and give them room to be creative in their ambassadorship as well. Make sure you regularly engage them and thank them for their help.
Keep in mind: Employees are much more likely to participate if what you’re asking them to do is seen as complementary, not supplementary, to their workload. Make sure you are appropriately compensating them for any activity outside of normal working hours to avoid resentment. And, most importantly, keep the dialogue open. You never know how impactful your employee brand ambassadors can be.
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by Fronetics | Oct 4, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
Here’s a rundown of paid digital advertising options, including display ads, AdWords, and sponsored social media posts.
We are strong believers in content marketing. Build it, and they will come — or, in content marketing speak, publish quality content, and customers will come to you. But, as I often write about, content marketing takes time to bear fruit. There’s not much you can do about that.lick
Except paid digital advertising.
By investing in paid digital advertising, you can boost the reach of your posts, display ads and videos. Pair quality content with a comprehensive digital advertising strategy, and you will be in a position to drive more traffic, create more brand visibility, and close more deals.
Your peers understand this. Within the first quarter of 2017, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Pinterest saw a 61.5% increase in paid media spend. And that’s only going to increase through 2018.
So where do you start? Here are four ways to get started in using paid digital advertising to help take your content marketing strategy to the next level.
3 paid digital advertising platforms for beginners
Display ads
Display ads are the paid advertisements that appear in front of users on website pages in the form of graphics. Unlike text-based ads, display advertising relies on elements such as images, audio and video to communicate an advertising message. Display ads are commonly referred to as banner ads, but they don’t always take exact banner form. They can come in all shapes and sizes and can appear anywhere on a webpage.
Benefits: Because digital ads are visual, they can be customized with your logo, message, or even an offer to help increase brand awareness. You have the ability to use graphics, video, audio, and your company’s branding to really stand out and attract their attention. Display ads also allow users the ability to target a specific audience. You control which sites they appear on, which geographic area they appear in, and which demographic or niche market they appear to.
Sponsored social media posts
Social media is a natural place to begin if you’re looking to get into paid digital advertising. A good starting point is Facebook. The social media giant’s social ad revenue was more than $9.16 billion in Q2 2017 alone. And it doesn’t stop there. Twitter brought in $548 million in social media advertising revenue in the same period, and Snapchat is expected to reach over $895.5 million in ad revenue in 2017.
Benefits: Running paid social ads allows you to reach a large audience at a low cost. You pay based on the type of ad you’re running. For example if you’re looking to drive brand awareness, you’ll incur a CPM (Cost Per 1,000 Impressions). And not only are the ads relatively inexpensive to run, they’re not expensive to create. You get all of this plus the ability to target your specific audience, reaching people that are interested in learning about what you do.
Google AdWords
Google AdWords places your website as one of the top results on a search engine results page (SERP) when a user searches for certain keywords of your choice. When a user clicks the AdWords link or calls your business using that link, you incur a charge. Otherwise, impressions are free.
Google’s most recent update involves changes to the so-called “3-pack,” or the listing of three related local businesses on a search results page. Many consumers rely on the 3-pack to discover businesses in their area that offer the products and services they are seeking. And businesses get the benefit of many additional leads and customers when they appear in the 3-pack. This can be particularly significant for small businesses.
Benefits: The biggest benefit of Google AdWords is its speed. You appear in a top spot in a user’s search results, meaning you are one of the first things a user sees when searching for a specific product or service. That’s another good point: Google AdWords allows you to focus on people who are searching for what you have to offer, so you don’t pay for a bunch of wasted impressions. AdWords also gives you real-time reports to track your ad’s success. A dashboard shows information related to each campaign, such as the ads clicked, keywords entered by website visitors, cost of clicks and much more.
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by Fronetics | Oct 3, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Learn how a mobile advertising network and an inbound marketing agency tried Quora as a marketing tool.
Last month, I gave you some tips on how supply chain and logistics marketers can use Quora to build their brands. If you’ve forgotten why you should be incorporating Quora into your marketing strategy, here’s a quick recap:
- Research: Quora offers amazing insight into what thought leaders in the supply chain and logistics industries are focused on. Just by tuning into the conversation, you can gain extremely valuable knowledge.
- Connections: This social media platform gives you a perfect space to connect with peers in your industry and with potential buyers, as well.
- Reputation building: Quora is one of the best tools out there for reputation building. It allows you to participate in and contribute to conversations that can shape the future of your industry. Using this platform effectively gives you the opportunity to become a resource for others in your industry and for your target buyers — and there’s no better reputation builder than that.
Plenty of business are already using Quora extremely effectively, seeing ROI and more. But supply chain and logistics companies have yet to jump on this untapped opportunity. Let’s take a look at a few success stories.
2 B2B companies successfully using Quora
Kiip
This mobile advertising network has a unique business model that “redefines how brands connect with consumers.” Back in 2014, the marketing team did a series of experiments — one of which was answering questions on Quora — to figure out which growth strategies would be most beneficial for the business model. Read about Kiip’s Quora experiment here.
Kevin Fishner, Kiip’s director of growth, said that his goal in answering Quora questions was to “build our brand presence in the mobile advertising space while driving quality leads to our site.” He offers the important insight that there is a fine line between offering valuable answers and blatantly pitching your product.
“If the question directly pertained to Kiip,” Fishner says, “I’d drop a link at the bottom of my answer. If it was a more generic mobile advertising question, I’d use insights from our campaigns at Kiip and leave it at that.”
Fishner points out that answering questions thoughtfully takes a significant time investment. But in the end, this investment is worth it for your business in all kinds of ways.
As you join the Quora conversation, keep Fishner’s insights in mind. Promoting your brand isn’t always about pitching your product. Becoming a thought leader can be just beneficial, if not more so, for your brand and, ultimately, for your bottom line.
IMPACT
Impact is an inbound marketing agency based out of Connecticut. Earlier this year, IMPACT blogger Carolyn Edgecomb wrote about how the company used Quora marketing to build brand awareness. Like Fishner, she points to following core advice for using this platform: “Hustling or selling is exactly what you shouldn’t be doing on Quora. Instead, aim to spread knowledge.”
Based on IMPACT’s experience on the site, she suggest that “by regularly engaging with other members, you’re able to gain key insights from leading experts, target your audience, and even repurpose your content while answering and asking questions.”
For IMPACT, Quora was less about generating ROI and more about “increasing brand awareness and establishing thought leadership.”
Supply chain and logistics companies can take inspiration and insight from these two Quora marketing success stories. The field is largely open. Start looking for questions you can answer, become a part of the conversation, and aim to become a thought leader.
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