by Elizabeth Hines | Aug 27, 2015 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Content marketing has become a key marketing strategy for many businesses. Statistics show that content marketing generates three times more leads than traditional marketing methods – and those leads cost an average of 62% less. At Fronetics, we’ve built our content marketing services around one goal – helping our clients grow. We’re harnessing the power of content to help our clients connect and engage with leads and prospects in meaningful ways. And our clients are enjoying faster growth and higher profits because of it.
How do we use content to support our clients in their business growth?
We create quality content that helps our clients connect with leads and customers in a number of ways. First, we appeal to and engage potential customers by creating relevant content that’s aligned with the needs of our client’s target audience. Then, we nurture those leads into customers by proving the value of our clients’ products and services. Even after they become customers, we work to create positive customer experiences that make it easy for them to recommend our clients to others.
Services offerings
Here’s a quick breakdown of some the service offerings included in our comprehensive approach to content marketing:
Content strategy
Research has shown that B2B and B2C companies with a documented content strategy in place are more effective than those without one.
At Fronetics, we work with our clients to create a content strategy individualized for their specific situation and needs. We learn about our client’s business, target customers, industry, and competition. We also conduct an audit of current content and digital assets. All of this information is used to create an effective content strategy.
Content creation
There is a lot of content out there. If you want your content to stand out and drive profitable customer action you need quality content. At Fronetics, we create quality content that is keyword-optimized. Also, unlike other firms, we don’t outsource content creation. By keeping all content creation in-house we are able to ensure a quality product.
Lead generation
Once we’ve helped our clients draw visitors to their website, we work to identify potential customers and manage their leads. We create and couple high-value content like white papers and eBooks, with strategic calls-to-action that direct visitors to landing pages expertly designed to convert website visitors into leads.
Lead nurturing and customer acquisition
We work closely with our clients to develop a lead nurturing strategy to convert leads into paying customers using email and marketing automation. By segmenting leads and sending them targeted content designed to catalyze engagement, we help our clients build relationships – and importantly, trust.
Social media
Social media is an incredible tool; however, for it to be effective it must be driven by strategy, be consistent, and must have someone managing the execution. At Fronetics, our social media strategists distribute content, curate content, engage your target audience, and monitor your social networks. We develop a social media strategy that aligns with your company’s goals. We analyze your competition, classify your target audience & cultural attributes, identify the influencers in your industry, recommend platforms, detail best engagement practices, create social media schedules, and identify specific tactics that deliver results. Through the proper execution of social media, your brand is given a voice and personality, and becomes more accessible to your target audience.
Analytics and reporting
At Fronetics we take a comprehensive data driven approach to marketing. Metrics measure success, drive strategy, and demonstrate ROI. We provide our clients with monthly marketing reports.
In short, our content marketing strategies drive success for our clients. The Fronetics team is comprised of strategists, marketing professionals, writers, designers, and experts in social media. Together we leverage our experience to increase brand awareness, position our clients as thought leaders, and drive meaningful engagement with prospects and customers – all with the goal of helping our clients grow.
Get in touch with us today for a free consultation to find out if our retainer services, full or half day workshops, or a personalized service offering is right for your business. See how Fronetics can help your business grow.
by Elizabeth Hines | Aug 26, 2015 | Blog, Consumer Electronics, Strategy, Supply Chain
Image Source: University of Wisconsin – Madison
In 2014 the global consumer electronic market was valued at $1,224.8 billion. Future Market Insights projects that the market will reach $2,976.1 billion by 2020, reflecting a CAGR of 15.4% during the forecast period, 2015 – 2020. As the industry grows, driven by our desire for new technology, so does the amount of electronic waste (e-waste).
Right now 70% to 80% of our old gadgetry goes straight into landfills. According to research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global volume of e-waste generated is expected to reach 93.5 million tons in 2016, up from 41.5 million tons in 2011 at a compound annual growth rate of 17.6%. This waste contains hazardous materials which are harmful to human health and to the environment and are both non-renewable and non-biodegradable.
Semiconductor chips are one of the contributors to the hazardous materials found in e-waste. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin recently announced that they have created a new computer chip – one that is biodegradable and one which reduces the amount of semiconducting material used in manufacturing by a factor of up to 5,000. In spite of these changes, the new chip performs at the same level as traditional chips.
The new computer chip retains the active components of traditional chips, but in the base layer the new chip replaces silicon with cellulose nanofibril (CNF), a flexible, biodegradable material made from wood. This change means that the computer chip can decompose in nature.
In a press release Zhenqiang “Jack” Ma, research lead and UW-Madison electrical and computer engineering professor, says this about the new chips: “Now the chips are so safe you can put them in the forest and fungus will degrade it. They become as safe as fertilizer.”
While these new chips are game-changing with respect to human health and the environment, they are also poised to transform the consumer electronics industry. The transformative nature of the chips, and the one that will likely be the tipping point to adoption, is their transparency and flexibility.
Ma’s new chips are ready for commercialization.
![Drowning in big data, parched for information [Infographic]](https://fronetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/big-data-2-1000x675.jpg)
by Elizabeth Hines | Aug 24, 2015 | Big Data, Blog, Data/Analytics, Strategy
Big data is big. Over the past two years alone more than 90% of the world’s data has been created. Each day more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created. For those who are more numerically inclined that is more than 2,500,000,000,000,000,000 bytes per day.
Companies are spending big money to determine how they can harness the power of big data and drive actionable, practical, and profitable results. The International Data Corporation (IDC) recently forecasted that the Big Data technology and services market will grow at a 26.4% compound annual growth rate to $41.5 billion through 2018, or about six times the growth rate of the overall information technology market.
Weatherhead University Professor Gary King notes that: “There is a big data revolution, but it is not the quantity of data that is revolutionary. The big data revolution is that now we can do something with the data.” Herein lies the problem. Even as the quantity of big data being generated increases, and even as the money spent on big data increases, the majority of companies find themselves struggling to do something with the data. Companies are drowning in data while at the time being parched for information.
KPMG recently conducted a survey of 144 CFOs and CIOs with the objective of gaining a more concrete understanding of the opportunities and challenges that big data and analytics present. The survey found that 99% of respondents believe that data and analytics are at least somewhat important to their business strategies; 69% consider them to be crucially or very important. Despite the perceived value of big data, 85% of respondents reported that they don’t know to analyze and interpret the data they already have in hand (much less what to do with forthcoming data).
Moreover, 96% of survey respondents reported that the data being left on the table has untapped benefits. 56% of respondents believe the untapped benefits could be significant.
Research conducted by Andrew McAfee, co-director of the Initiative on the Digital Economy in the MIT Sloan School of Management, supports this belief. McAfee’s research found that “the more companies characterized themselves as data-driven, the better they performed on objective measures of financial and operational results.” Specifically, “companies in the top third of their industry in the use of data-driven decision making were, on average, 5% more productive and 6% more profitable than their competitors.”
Looking forward, companies that are able to effectively collect, analyze, and interpret data will gain a competitive advantage over those companies who are not able to do so.
by Elizabeth Hines | Aug 20, 2015 | Blog, Content Marketing, Leadership, Marketing, Strategy
All executives understand the significance, for their company and for their career, of creating and implementing strategy. Because of the significance of strategy, and because strategy forces executives to confront the future, many find it scary.
Savvy executives understand that not all business challenges can be resolved from inside their organization. Savvy executives rely on external experts or strategic advisors to know their internal business, know the external marketplace, and have the domain expertise to combine this knowledge into strategies that will work for today and the long term.
If you have ever thought about getting some help from the “outside” but weren’t sure of the value it would create for you and your organization?
Here are 5 reasons why you should use a strategic advisor:
1. Strategic Advisors fill the “holes” in an organization that exist in a particular discipline, experience level, or accumulated knowledge base. As a result, they can speed decision making, time to market, or cost reductions with proven solutions and without the pain of trial and error.
2. Strategic Advisors offer a viewpoint based on facts and real experiences; not on politics or prejudice. The advice they can offer is “agenda free”. Yes, the truth sometimes hurts, but savvy leaders know that the intellectual honesty that a strategic advisor brings drives innovation and growth.
3. Strategic Advisors know when to stretch the targets. Whether cost reduction, sales growth or both. They have the experience to know when to step on the gas and when to apply the brakes…without driving you off the road. Their external expertise can put you and your team in a position to be successful for the short and long term.
4. Strategic Advisors are always “up to speed”. They have a niche, know it well, and spend time and resources keeping abreast of the trends and the companies driving those trends. This “multiplier-effect” cannot be duplicated internally without a significant addition to headcount and expense.
5. Strategic Advisors are extremely cost effective. They allow you to buy the highest level of experience, personal network and know-how, applied to your toughest challenges, for just the right amount of time.
Combining the best from inside your organization with the brightest from the outside is a winning formula. Smart business leaders solve this equation time and time again and reap the benefits listed above.
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
by Elizabeth Hines | Aug 19, 2015 | Blog, Data/Analytics, Strategy
Understanding your financial metrics at a granular level is important in that it allows for a true understanding of what is happening, and what is not. It enables you to drill down and appreciate, for example, similarities, differences, and outliers. Being informed at a granular level enables better decision-making when it comes to determining how to increase profits. How often does one need to look at these metrics and how does one evaluate and react to numbers?
The frequency with which to look metrics depends upon the area of business. For example, inventory flows and manufacturing output should be looked at on a daily basis. Your sales pipeline, on the other hand, should be looked at on a weekly basis, and your financials should be looked at monthly.
Once a schedule has been established, the question is what to do with the data – how should the data be evaluated and when is it time to act? The reality is that there is no hard and fast answer to this question. When to act is dependent upon the type of business, its typical cycle, and the company itself. It is therefore important to develop a database that captures your metrics. This database should be updated with the same frequency that the data is collected (see above for suggested frequency). A historical database will enable you to quickly identify a data point that is deviating, positive or negative, from the historical. When this happens, it is time to act.
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
Whether it is a wholesale food distributor seeking guidance on how to define and execute corporate strategy; a telematics firm needing high quality content on a consistent basis; a real estate firm looking for a marketing partner; or a supply chain firm in need of interim management, our clients rely on Fronetics to help them navigate through critical junctures, meet their toughest challenges, and take advantage of opportunities. We deliver high-impact results.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
We have deep expertise and a proven track record in a broad range of industries including: supply chain, real estate, software, and logistics.
by Elizabeth Hines | Aug 17, 2015 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy
Although our economy has rebounded since the 2008 downturn we have come to realize that the days of abundant resources are gone. Our current and future economic reality consists of scarce resources and a shrinking opportunity base. Managers face the challenge of expanding their business and reducing their spending, while still making meaningful progress now and into the future.
Whether you are a small, mid-market, or Fortune 500 company, you will recognize the challenge of reconciling your management needs in the face of budget reductions. Doing things the same old way is not effective. You need a way to quickly turbo charge your business without breaking the bank. The question remains — how? Leading companies have used a secret weapon against these challenges for years: interim management services strategy.
Here are 4 questions to ask yourself to determine if interim management services are right for you:
- In your current or last budget cycle have you been asked to raise your profit targets with flat or reduced expenses?
- Do you have a customer or market segment that is a good fit for your company, but you don’t have the resources or time to explore, define and win that business?
- Do you need management expertise in a specific area, but don’t want to make a full time hire or can’t afford to make one?
- Do you have a window of opportunity to make a meaningful business move but can’t afford the ramp up time or learning curve to make the most of it?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, an interim management services strategy is a weapon you should think about using too. Think of it as “management as a service”. A model designed to provide specific executive, management, sales or operational expertise when and where you need it, for exactly as long as you need it, at a fraction of the time and cost expense of hiring, assimilating and assigning a full-time professional.
Interim management services allow you to make meaningful progress in your strategic initiatives without incurring a large upfront investment in time, people, or budget. It allows you to easily navigate unique challenges, fill leadership voids during transitions, or obtain expertise on special projects and initiatives. It’s effective and efficient talent, when you need it, for how long your needs exist.
Add an interim management strategy to your strategic arsenal and watch your business grow.
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
Whether it is a wholesale food distributor seeking guidance on how to define and execute corporate strategy; a telematics firm needing high quality content on a consistent basis; a real estate firm looking for a marketing partner; or a supply chain firm in need of interim management, our clients rely on Fronetics to help them navigate through critical junctures, meet their toughest challenges, and take advantage of opportunities. We deliver high-impact results.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
We have deep expertise and a proven track record in a broad range of industries including: supply chain, real estate, software, and logistics.
