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 | May 1, 2017 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy
Companies usually try to understand failure, but what could they learn from analyzing their successes, too?
“Success is going from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
Failure is said to be inevitable, and we all know it to be true. Any new venture is built on the hope of success. But accepting and managing failure is key to actually obtaining success.
Companies have a responsibility to ask the tough questions when things go awry. We have all been in these meetings: we diagnose failures, and we dissect the process, tools and staff involved to get to the root of the problem. Unfortunately, most companies only step back and really dive into what happened when something bad happens.
But what if companies took the same approach when something went right?
Focusing on the lessons in success
Companies are all a work in process. We learn as we go, and that learning should include understanding our successes. Shifting the focus from ‘what went wrong’ to ‘what went right’ creates a foundation for being able to recreate success in your organization.
Identifying and analyzing the components of a successful process can be the first step in moving into this new mindset. Paul Michelman, editor in chief of the MIT Sloan Management Review, experimented with dissecting his the publication’s successes and quickly discovered that their best processes start with transparency. Michelman wrote:
We plan a pipeline of content that is stored in a document accessible by the key participants. We track each content item’s progress on a shared project management platform. The few times we encounter bumps, a lack of information sharing is almost always at fault.
Though Michelman admits his research is unscientific, the key factors he has identified in their success stories has helped his business focus on what’s working, instead of waiting to dissect failure.
Technology can help
In today’s world, there is no end to the amount of data you can collect on your business. Your company’s digital presence is an easy place to start.
Tools like Google Analytics can give you advanced insight into how prospects are interacting with your company online. You can analyze how people are finding your business, and how they’re moving through your website all the way to making purchases. In other words, you can begin to analyze all of the little successes that make your business turn. How can you replicate that success on new projects and processes?
When things are going well, most companies don’t see the need to reflect on what happened, what went right. But don’t let this opportunity slip by. You should examine failures, but you should also look closely at successes. Take the time to brainstorm with your team on what you’re doing well and how you can keep up that success while you plan for future growth. —
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by Elizabeth Hines | Apr 14, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
Social media gives you access to aspirational customers and their networks, a benefit that can’t be quantified in dollars.
One of the trickiest things about implementing a social media strategy is that success can be difficult to measure. While most professionals acknowledge that a social media marketing presence is important, it’s hard to make a case for resources when you can’t precisely quantify the value in terms of dollar amount.
This, however, shouldn’t stop your business from recognizing the importance of social media as part of a robust marketing strategy. You need to start thinking about value in terms of potential, rather than the immediate sale.
“It’s important that we continue to shift our focus from the short-term sale to the long-term value of social media,” says Emily Teele, loyalty and retention marketing manager at West Elm. “Part of our willingness to make this shift comes from trust that our efforts will pay off, even if not immediately, and part comes from finding new ways to measure results over time.”
Tomorrow’s customers
One of the most valuable and exciting aspects of social media is that it allows business to discover and engage with a new segment of the B2B community: aspirational customers. In the past, businesses haven’t had access to these customers. Now that we can find out who they are, their long-term value cannot be overstated — both as buyers, and in building brand loyalty and an engaged customer base.
According to a recent study published in MIT Sloan Management Review, aspirational customers are likely to follow multiple brands on social media sites. Over half follow at least one brand that they haven’t made a purchase from. But, “our data suggests that they do plan to purchase in the future,” say the study’s authors. “Today’s followers are very likely to be tomorrow’s customers.”
The social network = social media success
There’s another factor to consider regarding the value of social media marketing. At its core, these are networking platforms. That means you not only have access to a new customer base, but to their connections as well.
Your followers’ engagement on social media can expand your reach, as they engage with their own networks. Putting a dollar value on such social reach is fairly meaningless — but it has the potential to add to your bottom line both now and in the future.
What’s more, a recent McKinsey study attributes word of mouth to be the primary influence for up to 50% of all purchase decisions. The study authors go on to say, “Followers who are not yet purchasers can share their experience with the brand, and deepen their commitment to the brand, even prior to that first purchase.”
It’s time we start thinking about social media success in this new way: in terms of potential and expanding value, rather than just immediate dollar amounts.
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by Elizabeth Hines | Mar 14, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Keep these best practices in mind when determining how often to post to social media.
Creating valuable, relevant content in a strategic and consistent manner creates demand for your products and services and drives profitable customer action. But as BuzzFeed’s Jonathan Perelman said, “Content is king, but distribution is queen and she wears the pants.”
It’s not enough to just create interesting and pertinent content; you have to put it out there to reach your target audience. Moreover, the content needs to be delivered consistently over time, at the right time, and in the right place.
With social media networks changing daily, it’s hard to keep up with where to distribute content, much less how often. Countless studies have attempted to solve the social-media-frequency equation. And while audiences vary across industries, best practices give us some general guidelines.
Here’s our assessment of social media posting frequency.
Twitter: 40 per day*
*Big caveat here: 40 tweets per day is what we’ve found works for us and most of our clients. Let me explain.
Socialbakers suggests that posting to Twitter three times per day is the ideal frequency for brands. Buffer posts to Twitter 14 times per day. Fronetics happens to tweet 40 times per day. So last spring, after seeing the Socialbakers and Buffer stats, we conducted a month-long experiment to see how dropping our posting frequency closer to their benchmarks would affect our engagement.
As we’ve written about before, it wasn’t pretty. We confirmed that our engagement, web traffic, lead generation, and other key performance indicators are at optimal levels when we tweet 40 times per day.
Your company, or your marketing partner, should conduct due diligence and determine what the right frequency is for your business. Yes, you may realize a significant decline in engagement in ROI during your experiment. On the other hand, you may realize an increase in engagement and ROI — captured with lower output in terms of time and resources.
Facebook: 1 per day
Most companies find that posting 1 time per day is their sweet spot for most social media networks. Facebook is no exception: The network’s algorithm values quality over quantity, so the more engaged your followers are with your content, the more likely they are to see your posts. This also means that posting content that does not facilitate engagement can actually decrease the likelihood that followers will see your posts.
One sure way to encourage disengagement is by overwhelming your audience. We all have that friend or company we follow that posts too much — don’t be like that person.
Remember that the lifespan of a Facebook post (about 5 hours) is significantly longer than that of a tweet. So you don’t need to provide a constant stream of content to get your audience’s attention. Your focus should be distributing the most relevant, interesting content you can, at a time when most of your audience will be on Facebook.
Instagram: 1-2 per day
There’s an unwritten rule among Instagramers that a user shouldn’t post more than once per day. We generally agree for the same reason we don’t think brands should post more than once a day to Facebook: Don’t overwhelm your audience because the lifespan of your posts is pretty long. In fact, a Union Metrics study found that many Instagram posts continue to receive engagement for days — even weeks — after posting.
Most brands end up posting 11-20 posts per month. If you focus on compelling images with strategic messages, that’s probably a good benchmark to stick with. It’s important to note, however, that another Union Metrics study suggests posting consistency is more important than frequency. Again, taking the time to test the Instagram posting frequency that works best for your business is a worthwhile endeavor.
LinkedIn: 1 per day
A more formal and technical social media network, consider LinkedIn a platform for business-related content. Don’t post here more than once per day — and consider posting only during the workweek. Many professionals don’t check LinkedIn on the weekends, and your content could easily be missed.
Buffer reports that posting 20 times per month (once a workday) allows companies to reach 60% of their audience. To provide the most value for your LinkedIn followers, content should be less promotional and more heavily focused on industry-wide trends and insights.
At the end of the day, optimal posting frequency for your company rests heavily on the audience you want to reach. Experimenting with different social media networks and posting frequencies will give you greater insight into your ideal distribution approach. With these best practices as a guide, let your own analysis be your guide. Maintaining a dynamic and fluid posting strategy will ensure that your social efforts drive followers to action, rather than drive them away.
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by Elizabeth Hines | Mar 1, 2017 | Blog, Diversity, Leadership, Logistics, Supply Chain
Fronetics spoke with 6 women leaders in the supply chain and logistics industries about their professional experiences and thoughts on the gender gap.
March is Women’s History Month, a time when we at Fronetics like to focus our attention on inspiring female leaders who are bridging the gender gap in the supply chain and logistics industries.
As we have written about previously, the lack of gender diversity in the supply chain is not because women do not have the skillset and ability to succeed within the industry. In fact, quite the opposite is true.
We believe that it is important to discuss the lack of gender diversity and point to research highlighting why the industry needs to increase the number of women in all positions, including the C-suite. Additionally, it is just as important to highlight the incredible women who already are working within the industry.
We have had the opportunity to interview 6 supply chain leaders about their professional experiences, as well as their thoughts on some of these issues.
6 women leaders in the supply chain
Kendrea Durr-Smith
Director of Global Trade Compliance, Arrow Electronics
Kendrea Durr-Smith has successfully lead a diverse global team to better support the needs of Arrow customers and suppliers. In our interview, she discusses the exciting changes her team has accomplished and offers some advice for women interested in electronics and trade compliance. Read the Durr-Smith interview.
Barbara Jorgensen
Co-Founder and Managing Editor, Electronics Purchasing Strategies
Barbara Jorgensen has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist, working for leading electronics industry publications. In our interview, she discusses working in the supply chain industry and the changes she’s witnessed — both broadly and in specific regards to gender diversity — over the course of her career. Read the Jorgensen interview.
Hailey McKeefrey
Editor-in-Chief, EBN
In her extensive and distinguished journalistic career, Hailey McKeefrey has remained enthusiastic about the supply chain industry and her role within it. She spoke with us about how the industry has changed and how women interested in holding leadership positions can seize opportunities and advance their careers. Read the McKeefrey interview.
Cathy Morris
Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Arrow Electronics
Cathy Morris “stumbled” into the supply chain by coincidence but now holds a top-level leadership role at a Fortune 500 electronics corporation. In our interview, she discusses how she got to where she is today and how to turn each step in a career into a valuable learning experience. Read the Morris interview.
Mickey North Rizza
VP of Strategic Services, BravoSolution
Now a Top Female Supply Chain Executive, North Rizza was a bored pre-law major who switched to materials logistics management when she discovered a love for negotiating when seeking charity items for a sorority fundraiser. She spoke to us about her rise to success, people who have helped her along the way, and advice she can offer to women interested in the supply chain. Read the North Rizza interview.
Kelli Saunders
President, Morai Logistics
Kelli Saunders is a big believer in mentorship. And millennials. And opportunities for women in the supply chain. In her interview, she discusses her career, her advice, and her perspective on challenges within the industry. Read the Saunders interview.
Throughout the month of March, we plan to continue this interview series to shine the spotlight on more of the admirable women who make the supply chain and logistics industries run. Make sure you’re subscribed to our blog or following us on social media to catch them all.
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