by Fronetics | Jul 11, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Take an honest assessment of these 6 areas to see if outsourcing your marketing might be a smart move.
Supply chain companies are increasingly open to outsourcing their logistics because it allows them to focus on their core competencies while improving productivity. So why not apply the same rationale to bolster your marketing efforts? Don’t be afraid to look outside the box for the marketing tools you need to succeed.
As your competitors’ marketing budgets continue to climb, your company needs expertise on your side to get the most out of your marketing dollars — and that’s especially true in the digital space. Content marketing can be very challenging for novices and seasoned marketers alike. Blogging, paid search and social advertising, email marketing, social media management: there’s a lot to juggle. That’s why many companies are outsourcing some — or all — of their marketing programs.
Have you considered outsourcing as an option? Maybe it’s time you did. Parsing out certain projects on an as-needed basis to an outside firm can help you comfortably navigate and succeed in the marketing world.
6 signs you should outsource your marketing
Assess your staff in these six areas to determine if it’s time to explore outsourcing your marketing efforts.
1) “Wait, what’s going on with social media now?”
Do you feel like your company is always reacting to marketing trends instead of planning for them? You need to be one step ahead of what’s coming, especially in fast-changing spaces like social media, in order to meet your customers where they are.
Learning best practices and new tools can be challenging, especially if you’re time strapped. Using an outside firm with expertise across the spectrum — and whose job depends on knowing the newest platforms and media — will give you an edge over competitors.
2) Everyone is at capacity.
Is your current marketing team able to take on new projects easily, without compromising existing responsibilities? If your staff has great ideas but not the resources to initiate them or follow through, you need to find a way to fix that.
Consider breaking off projects to an outside firm, even on a trial basis to test the waters. Plus if you outsource to experts, you won’t have to reinvent the wheel in-house or risk being off trend.
3) You lack time for proper strategizing and assessment.
Do you have a unified marketing strategy in place with a way to measure objectives and results? If you’re too busy keeping up with day-to-day work to step back and plan, then regularly assess how things are going, consider outsourcing.
Creating a strategy with short- and long-term goals is essential to marketing success. Using an agency to create a roadmap for you — and then to track progress — will free you up to focus on running your business. Also, an objective audit of your practices can be truly beneficial and will only improve your strategies.
3) You only have time to focus on one or two platforms/areas/ideas.
Are your marketing channels diversified? Your marketing reach needs to extend to all avenues, particularly in the digital world. Outsourcing SEO, paid search and social advertising, blogging and social media projects is a relatively easy task to manage and is absolutely essential for success in the current world.
4) You can’t afford another hire.
Are you on a tight budget? If your budget doesn’t allow for hiring and training key staff, outsourcing your marketing needs is a way to grow your reach and accomplish your goals without generating overhead such as training costs, benefits or payroll expenses. It’s also a way to try out new projects and programs to see if they stick.
5) You don’t have time for professional development.
Is there a skillset you and your employees want to advance? Gauge the temperature of your existing staff to ensure everyone’s needs are being met. Retaining top talent isn’t easy, so keep in mind that you don’t want existing employees to be concerned about their job security.
Identity each in-house staff member’s strengths and interests, and cultivate them. For example, encourage a designer to add a new skill to his or her portfolio, or an analyst to take a webinar or class to become even savvier. Strength what you have but look to complete your marketing toolkit with the available expertise.
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![12 Steps to an Effective Content Strategy for the Supply Chain [Slideshow]](https://www.fronetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/12-steps-to-an-effective-content-strategy-1.jpg)
by Fronetics | Jun 26, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain
Learn how to stand out from the crowd with a content strategy that drives profitable customer action.
According to a survey of supply chain and logistics marketers by Fronetics, 86% are using content as a marketing tool. Respondents report using content marketing primarily in order to:
- Increase brand awareness (96%)
- Generate leads (83%)
- Establish the company as an industry leader (74%)
- Engage customers (74%)
By consistently creating and distributing valuable, relevant content, you can attract a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, drive profitable customer action. But how do you know what your audience will find valuable and relevant?
Throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks certainly won’t get your desired results. Since 3 billion pieces of content are shared online everyday, you have to be strategic and thoughtful about your content in order to stand out from the noise (and your competitors). It takes time, careful research, and strategy to build a content marketing program that helps achieve your business goals.
At Fronetics, we specialize in helping supply chain and logistics companies create and execute digital and content marketing strategies. So we’ve learned a few tricks of the trade over the years. For example, did you know that explicitly designating a specific person to lead your content strategy can improve its effectiveness by 40%? Or that documenting your strategy can make it three times as effective?
We’ve put together a quick slideshow specifically for supply chain and logistics businesses who are looking to learn about content marketing and build a content strategy that will be effective in growing brand awareness, generating leads, engaging customers, and establishing their brands as industry leaders.
12 Steps to an Effective Content Strategy will help your business identify the key steps to getting the most out of your content marketing efforts. Download the slideshow to get started growing your business with content!
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by Fronetics | Jun 22, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing
Email list segmentation is the one of the simplest and most critical practices to improving marketing email performance.
Marketing emails are an important part of lead nurturing: They can make or break whether a lead becomes a sale. So marketers spend a lot of time and money thinking about how to perfect their messages.
While many marketers focus on better design, higher frequency, or perfect timing as a means of increasing open rates and click-throughs. But, really, one of the best ways to improve the success of your email campaigns is through list segmentation.
And when I say success, metrics like click-through and open rates are part of that. But, there’s more. In fact, marketers have found a 760% increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns.
What is email list segmentation?
Email list segmentation simply means separating the contacts in your database based on certain criteria. For example, you can create separate lists for different buyer personas or for contacts in different industries or sectors.
The more specific you can get with your list segmentation, the more you can personalize the content of your emails — and the more relevant they will be to your recipients (which means they’ll be more likely to engage with them).
Other list segmentation ideas include:
- Demographics
- Company size
- Content downloaded from your website
- Geography
- Purchase history
- Content consumption (which blog posts they typically read)
- Interest level
- Purchase channel preference (online, via sales rep, etc.)
How does it work?
Most CRM or email platforms make list segmentation easy. But how you collect and determine criteria for segmentation is a little more complicated.
Collecting prospect information via forms on your website is one way. You can ask for name, email address, business name, interests, budget, demographic information, etc. Of course, the more fields on the form you require — or even allow for — the more prospects will turn away. It’s a delicate balance of encouraging form submissions while getting all the information you need.
Sales representatives can also enter information about leads as they communicate with them. Also, platforms like HubSpot collect information about contacts’ browsing history and content consumption that can be very helpful in determining what kinds of content they prefer or products they might be interested in.
Once you determine how you want to segment your email lists, it’s important to devise a different strategy for each list. What are your goals for each type of customer or prospect? Based on your existing data, how does that particular persona typically move down the sales funnel? How frequently should they be contacted? Answering these questions will help you build an email marketing strategy for each list that improves your chances of success with each.
What are the benefits?
Segmentation allows you to send the most pertinent content to the right people at the right time. And B2B buyers want and expect relevant content when making purchase decisions.
That sounds obvious, but I bet examples of companies violating this practice abound in your life. For instance, say you subscribe to the vegetarian plan of weekly meal-delivery service. Despite the fact that the company has a very valuable piece of information about your preferences (you’re a vegetarian), they send you a marketing email about upgrading to premium meats. Not only are you probably not interested in this offer — and are maybe even annoyed (or disgusted) by it — it leaves you with the feeling that the company doesn’t understand or value you as a customer.
It’s the same in B2B: 94% of B2B buyers say they chose a particular vendor because they demonstrated the strongest knowledge of the company and its needs. If your shipping business sends an e-commerce cookie company information about a special on shipping reefs and corals, you lose credibility in terms of how well you know and understand that customer.
But recall a time when you’ve browsed a company’s website and received an email shortly thereafter with FAQs about the exact products you were researching. Or, you have been in talks with several businesses about a major purchase, and just before making a decision, one sends you information helping you calculate ROI. That’s the kind of timely content delivery that can sway you in a particular direction.
Hyper-targeted marketing emails will give you the most success with your lead nurturing email campaigns. You’ll deliver the most relevant and pertinent information to the right people at the right time, encouraging them to move down the sales funnel and to make purchases.
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by Fronetics | Jun 20, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
Live video streaming helps businesses promote transparency, good communication, and relatability.
Live video is the “it” trend in social media marketing. According to the 2017 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 61% of marketers plan on using live video services such as Facebook Live and Periscope, and 69% want to learn more about live video.
It’s really no surprise video has gained such traction. Platforms like YouTube have made the transition from watching TV in your home to watching videos on your phone seamless. And live streaming, in particular, fits in with today’s emphasis on corporate transparency and putting a real, human face behind business social media accounts. It allows brands to drop their corporate façade and connect to users in a more human way.
And, before you say it, I’ll say it again: Yes, video can work for the supply chain.
So where do you start? Here’s a rundown of some of the platforms you can use, as well as the benefits of live video.
Live streaming platforms
Facebook Live
Facebook Live lets you broadcast in real time for up to 90 minutes per session. Users who have recently engaged (or who frequently engage) with your page will receive a notification that you are streaming live, and they can go to your page to view the video. Viewers can comment and react during the course of your broadcast, allowing you to read their remarks and respond immediately.
Periscope
Twitter-owned and run, Periscope is a standalone platform but integrates very seamlessly with Twitter. It has more than 10 million users, more than two million of which log in daily. There have been 200 million hours of broadcasted video to date with roughly 350,000 hours per day. The service lets users live stream from their mobile devices and push out those streams on Twitter.
YouTube Live
YouTube Live enables YouTube to utilize its expansive creator and advertising network to generate even more video to be hosted and monetized. YouTube makes it incredibly easy to aim, shoot and post live video.
Benefits of live video marketing
There are many reasons why live video is trending. Here are some of the benefits supply chain and logistics businesses stand to gain.
1) Customer engagement and feedback
With live video, users can ask questions and instantly get responses. Having that “in-person” experience strengthens their relationship with your company and brand.
2) Transparency
Being open about your business is a great way to gain people’s trust, and there’s no better medium for that than with live videos. By sharing behind-the-scene processes, product sneak peeks, and other day-to-day aspects of your business, you give users a much-desired sense of transparency. That ultimately will help convert visitors into customers.
3) In-the-know value
Social media users love to feel on top of their information streams, and live video gives them inside, up-to-the-minute scoop. Experiencing the video live, instead of previously recorded, gives your business the advantage of being in the moment with users.
4) Cost effective
Streaming live video is no more expensive than traditional video creation. The tools, basically a good camera, are your only overhead.
GE is doing it right
But don’t take my word for it. Look at the success of GE’s live streaming efforts. The company launched its Periscope channel in 2015, with a behind-the-scenes interview series that gained over 200,000 views.
Another particularly successful campaign was #DRONEWEEK, which gave users an inside look at the facilities creating and testing jet engines, locomotives, and wind turbines. Sam Olstein, GE’s director of innovation, says of #DRONEWEEK: “We’re always trying to tell the full picture of the GE story, which is a complicated one, so any time we can talk about the various industries and variety of expertise and disciplines, we try to find unique and innovative way to do that.”
GE used Periscope to create an approachable, open narrative around their brand. What applications have you seen working for businesses in your space?
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by Fronetics | Jun 15, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
A global marketing survey finds that many businesses are focusing on these initiatives and challenges.
As more supply chain and logistics companies understand the benefits of content marketing, more are turning to this type of marketing strategy to build brand awareness and grow business. One of the functions of this blog is to update you on various marketing trends to help you keep pace with the rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape.
The State of Inbound has been tracking global marketing and sales trends for the last eight years, with a particular focus on inbound marketing. (Content marketing is a form of inbound marketing.) The 2017 survey included more than 6,300 professionals at from 141 countries — so it’s very comprehensive.
There’s a lot to look through in the full report, but I’ve pulled out a few of the most important takeaways that speak to trends we’re finding most relevant to our supply chain clients.
5 takeaways from the State of Inbound 2017
1) Inbound marketing results in higher ROI.
The vast majority of respondents (46%) agree that inbound marketing helps them achieve higher ROI, as opposed to 12% who say outbound marketing achieves a higher return. (For the record, 23% can’t or don’t calculate ROI, and 18% don’t know.)
If you’re not convinced about the benefits of an inbound strategy like content marketing, here are 5 reasons supply chain and logistics businesses need to use content marketing.
2) There is a growing chasm between leadership and employees’ perception of success.
Executives who set the strategy and vision for their companies perceive things differently than the employees executing that vision. For example, while 69% of C-suite executives believe their organization’s marketing strategy is effective, only 55% of individual contributors do.
Are executives seeing benefits of marketing they’re not sharing with the team? Or, do they have misconceptions about how things are working? Either way, there seems to be room for improvement regarding transparency and communication from the top down and bottom up.
3) Gaining customers is a top challenge.
When asked about their top marketing challenges, 63% of respondents agree generating traffic and leads was their biggest concern. (Proving ROI of marketing activities was second with 40%.)
We hear this all the time. Our first response is usually, if you want more leads, focus on brand awareness. Secondly, it’s important to make sure your content strategy closely aligns with your business goals and that you’re creating content that suits your target audience at various stages of the buyer’s journey.
4) Video marketing is the next big investment.
When asked about expansion to new content distribution channels in the next 12 months, respondents most often said they plan to add YouTube (48%) and Facebook video (46%). This reflects the growing popularity of video as a content medium — and YES, it can work for the supply chain and logistics industries.
We’ve written extensively about this topic. Here are a few posts that may interest you if you’re curious how video might fit in your content strategy.
5) Companies need to focus on sales and marketing alignment.
Only 22% of respondents say their sales and marketing relationship is tightly aligned. That’s a big problem.
Sales and marketing teams that are aligned perform better. In this survey, for example, sales teams closely aligned with their marketing counterparts ranked the quality of marketing-sourced leads much higher than those that were rarely aligned or misaligned. That shows that when marketing and sales work together, everyone gets more of what they’re looking for — namely, leads!
Looking at these 5 trends, how does your company line up? Do these challenges resonate, or are you focused on other initiatives and problems?
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