Here are our most-viewed supply chain and logistics blog posts from this year as of July 1, 2018.
Throughout the year, we regularly write blog posts to help our readers stay on top of the latest news and happenings in the supply chain and logistics industries, particularly in regards to content marketing. We hope these posts provide insight, tips, and insider information on how to stay head of your competitors with the consistent publication of quality content.
We’ve covered some great stuff this year, from new trends (like chatbots) to questions that clients ask year after year (like how is the industry using social media?). Here’s a look at our most popular posts so far this year.
Top supply chain and logistics blog posts from 2018 (so far)
1. 10 Must-Follow Supply Chain and Logistics Blogs in 2018
These 10 blogs are all rich with industry news and the latest trends to keep you in the know. They cover a wide range of topics, from research to strategy, and feature some of the top thought leaders in the field. Read more.
2. 5 Must-Read Books for Supply Chain Leaders
One of the best ways to sharpen your leadership skills is by learning from other leaders’ experiences. Leadership books, especially those focused on the supply chain and logistics industries, give valuable insight into the trials and triumphs of your industry peers’ encounters. Read more.
3. Top 3 Logistics and Supply Chain Blogs of 2018
You voted, and the results are in! LTX Solution is your number one favorite blog of the year, with “Ellen’s Blog” of Women In Trucking and Apex Capital Blog coming in second and third. What remained consistent from previous years is the quality of the content and the consistency of posting by the three winners. Read more.
4. 7 Supply Chain & Logistics Professionals to Follow on LinkedIn
LinkedIn, with almost 500 million users, is the #1 networking site for professionals. Following LinkedIn members gives you access to their profiles, as well as any original or third-party posts they publish on their newsfeeds. Here are 7 supply chain and logistics professionals to follow for top posts and articles in your industry. Read more.
5. B2B Marketing Trend 2018: Influencer Marketing
One of 2018’s fastest growing marketing trends is influencer marketing. Companies will increase their influencer marketing budget to keep up with the competition. 86% of B2C marketers used influencer marketing in 2017, and 92% of marketers that tried it found it to be effective. B2B marketers, on the other hand, have been slower to adopt this new marketing trend. Read more.
6. 6 Reasons Your Supply Chain Employees Are Looking for New Jobs
With the rising demand for professionals in Supply Chain Management and Procurement, there’s a lot of employment activity, especially in short-term contracts. This guest post from Argentus covers the subtler reasons that star performers in these functions get the desire to make a move. It’s not out of a desire for more money as often as you might think. Read more.
7. Drawing Lessons from Tesla’s Supply Chain Issues
A great article last month from CIPS’ industry magazine Supply Management dove into some of Tesla’s Supply Chain woes, discussing how the company, still considered a visionary in the industry, has gotten into some challenges, as well as some optimistic scenarios for how it can get out of it. Read more.
8. Top 10 Social Media Analytics Tools
Analyzing your social media performance is critical to a successful marketing effort, especially in light of recent changes to Facebook’s News Feed. You need the tools to determine what’s working and what isn’t, as well as the best time to post your content for your target audience. Read more.
9. KFC Ran Out of Chicken in the UK: What Supply Chain Lessons Can We Learn?
More than half of the UK’s Kentucky Fried Chicken stores recently closed because they ran out of chicken. A few weeks later, reports are that a number of stores are still closed, with front-line workers being encouraged to take holidays as the company sorts out its deliveries and tries to account for the failures. This guest post from Argentus provides a look at what caused the issues and what supply chain lessons can be learned. Read more.
10. Writing for SEO: Topic Clusters and Pillar Content (NOT Keywords)
I’ve been hinting — more like, emphasizing — in our recent Writing for SEO series that trying to rank for certain keywords in each blog post you publish is a practice on the way out. You may have been wondering what you’re supposed to do instead. This post on topic clusters and pillar content is your answer. Read more.
What supply chain and logistics blog posts have you most enjoyed this year? Are there any topics you’d like us to cover? Please reach out to us and let us know!
The latest social media statistics show growth of Instagram, social messaging bots, and video content.
We joke around here that one thing that will always stay the same is that social media will always be changing. 2018 has been a remarkable example of that thus far, particularly in regards to platforms like Facebook.
Every so often, we like to take a step back and look at what the data is telling us about where social media is heading and what that might mean for B2B marketers.
Social Media Examiner’s 10th annual study, 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, surveyed more than 5,700 marketers from across the world in a variety of industries — including manufacturing, industrial goods, and a variety of other B2B verticals. It offers a really comprehensive view of what’s going on in social media in our industry and beyond.
I’ve pulled out 10 social media statistics from this report that I want to talk about in more depth. I think they say a lot about where social media is headed and what supply chain and logistics marketers should be paying attention to.
10 social media statistics for B2B marketers
1) For 64% of marketers, social media management is just one of their job responsibilities.
This one blows me away, knowing how much time and effort it takes to run a company’s social media program. Only about one-third (36%) of marketers manage social media full time. The other two-thirds have to do that on top of their other responsibilities. That’s crazy!
Supply chain, it’s time to recognize how important social media is for your business and dedicate the appropriate resources to social media management. If you can’t afford to hire someone to do it full time, consider outsourcing this task.
2) Only 44% of marketers agree they can measure their social media ROI.
Only 10% of survey respondents “strongly agree” and 34% “agree” with the statement, “I am able to measure the return on investment (ROI) for my social media activities.”
Again, I’m kind of blown away. As a firm that relies on data and analytics to inform our processes and strategies, including social, it seems irresponsible to not know if your efforts are effective.
Ok, on one hand, it’s actually really difficult to measure social media ROI. That’s in large part because so many of the benefits are intangible. You should really be thinking of social media investment in terms of potential, not dollars.
BUT there are some ways to calculate social media ROI and all your content marketing efforts. Here are a few resources:
3) 75% of marketers have seen a decline in organic Facebook reach over the last year or don’t know if they have.
A significant 52% of marketers surveyed said they saw their Facebook reach decline in the last year. Plus, 23% of marketers surveyed were unsure if it had or not — probably not a good sign. Yet 91% of B2B marketers are still using Facebook. Something’s not adding up for me here.
As we’ve written about a lot recently, businesses need to be keeping a close eye on Facebook in light of all the recent changes. While we at Fronetics are not ready to write off Facebook for business completely yet, it’s time to start doing things a little differently.
4) 87% of marketers rank more exposure for their businesses as the primary benefit of their social media efforts.
Building brand awareness is a key benefit of social media use for business. The Social Media Examiner survey respondents said that increased traffic was the second major benefit, with 78% reporting positive results. These top two benefits have remained virtually unchanged for 4 years.
5) 78% of marketers who have used social media for 2 years or more report increased traffic to their websites.
Also to note, 83% of those who have used social media for 5 or more years “strongly agree” or “agree” that traffic has increased to their websites because of social media activity.
You have to allow time for prospects and customers to find you and for your audience to grow organically. Use your social media platforms as a means to distribute meaningful information to your target audience, to communicate with customers and prospects, and to share thought leadership, and it will pay off.
6) 66% of marketers are now using Instagram.
In 2016 and 2017, we answered a lot of questions about Snapchat. Founder of the Content Marketing Institute Joe Pulizzi named Snapchat one of the next big trends in content marketing for 2017. Everyone thought this platform was going to be our new social media darling.
Instead, Instagram has surpassed Twitter and LinkedIn to be the second-most-used social media platform. (It was fourth in 2017.) Use is up dramatically from 54% in 2017. Those are numbers worth paying attention to.
We don’t have a lot of supply chain and logistics clients that currently use Instagram, but we know it to be a great platform for brand building, especially in terms of recruiting and developing corporate culture. Stay tuned for more on Instagram for the supply chain in the near future!
7) 63% of marketers use video content in their social media marketing.
Not only do nearly two-thirds of marketers use video content in their social media marketing, 23% use live video. What’s more, 77% plan to increase video content and 63% plan to increase live video in the next year.
Here are some helpful resources to get you started:
8) 70% of marketers want to learn more about messenger bots.
Here’s a big takeaway from the survey: Everyone’s talking about messenger bots/social messenger apps. While adoption is still pretty low (only 15% are using Facebook messenger bots now), 51% of survey respondents plan to include them in future marketing.
It’s time to start reading up on social marketing automation tools like chatbots and social messenger apps. We’ve got a lot of information about these things scheduled on our blog in the next few months, so keep coming back for more information on how these tools apply to supply chain and logistics marketing.
9) 39% of marketers are working with influencers.
Influencer marketing is another trend we’ve been talking about lately. It makes sense: Buyers value the opinions of peers and colleagues. In fact, B2B buyers rank it among their top three resources for information. And, in general, 82% of Americans seek recommendations when making a purchase of any kind.
10) Only 21% of B2B marketers are using LinkedIn ads.
Social media advertising is another huge trend right now. Yet, this social media statistic tells an interesting story.
Though LinkedIn is considered the business social media network, less than one-fourth of B2B marketers are using it to advertise. Compare that to 66% of B2B marketers that use Facebook ads.
There are many reasons for this, of course. LinkedIn advertising is quite expensive, whereas Facebook advertising is relatively inexpensive, for one. But, as Facebook continues to elude businesses, might this be an opportunity to rethink this strategy?
If you’re interested, I recommend reading the whole 44-page report from Social Media Examiner. There are a ton of really interesting social media statistics that offer great insight into how marketers are using social media and how it’s changing — both over the the last few years and in the short-term.
What social media statistics are most interesting to you?
If you’re looking to generate more leads on your website, you need to create opportunities to capture visitors and implement a strong content strategy to encourage engagement.
Lots of supply chain and logistics companies are catching on to the benefits of content marketing. And of those, many are implementing a content marketing strategy to plan and execute their marketing.
But there’s an issue a lot of supply chain and logistics companies are running into: a weak website that doesn’t encourage the generation of leads. Essentially, there’s no point in pouring a bunch of time, money, and resources into a robust content marketing program if the website that you’re driving traffic to stinks.
In a recent post, we talk about what a weak website looks like. If you think you may fall into this category, don’t fret. There is still time to generate more leads on your website.
Consistently producing quality content and making sure you’re utilizing various distribution channels — social media, a blog, etc. — will help draw your target audience to your website. Once they’re on your site, you need to make sure they have a positive user experience. And more importantly, they need ample opportunities to learn more about your products and services.
These opportunities to engage with your content help move users down the sales funnel. You’ll capture leads that have the potential to become sales.
So how do you ensure your website is a lead-generating machine? Here are five tips to generate more leads on your website.
Infographic: 5 tips to generate more leads on your website
Most importantly, remember to be prudent about the role your website plays in the lead-generation process. A strong website with quality content, great visuals, and easily identifiable calls-to-action only works to generate leads and push users down the sales funnel. You’ll still need someone to help close the deal.
If your supply chain company isn’t active on social media, know that your competitors are. Here are three ways social media can help the supply chain, improving processes and expanding your audiences.
I remember my first supply chain job after college. My boss was stuck on the word “social” and didn’t see any value in social media at the time. He believed that you came to work to be productive and that social media was counterproductive. There was no need for a crossroads between social media and the supply chain.
Fast forward a few years — ok, maybe more than a few — and there are still plenty of supply chain companies that aren’t utilizing social media to help grow their brands. Social networking isn’t about being social; it is about facilitating communication and collaboration, distributing content, and engaging with target audiences. It’s about making processes more efficient using innovative technologies, like automation tools.
As part of a comprehensive content marketing strategy, social media can actually help your supply chain company meet ROI benchmarks. Utilizing social media increases your brand’s visibility and promotes transparency. The distribution of high-quality, thought provoking content will help your target audience see you as an industry leader, which will help you boost sales and increase customer engagement.
Here are three ways social media can help the supply chain improve communication, increase information sharing, and engage with new (and current) customers.
Video: 3 ways social media can help the supply chain
Recommendations
Still apprehensive about diving into social media? Try not to focus on the ‘social’ aspect. Instead, focus on using the tools available through social media platforms as a means to get things done.
Looking to increase leads? Increase engagement with potential customers through content? Find innovative ways to grow your target audiences? Find ways to support these goals through social media.
And if you’re not comfortable in the social media world (we think you need to be), find younger professionals on your team that are. Encourage these employees to find new and exciting opportunities to increase visibility and engagement through social media.
What ways do you think social media can help the supply chain?
Supply chain and logistics marketers need to incorporate social advertising into their content market strategy (and budget) to stay on top of marketing’s biggest driver.
The way audiences use social media channels is constantly changing. As marketers, we need to make sure we’re adapting to these changes. One of the biggest changes we’ve seen so far in 2018 is the increased use of social advertising.
Social advertising is a paid form of paid digital advertising on social media platforms. For example, the advertising platforms provided by Google, Twitter, and Facebook involve “targeting and presenting ads based on relationships articulated on those same services.” Oftentimes, social advertising is one part of a larger marketing strategy.
Sounds easy enough to implement, right? Well, there are so many options and so many more users. If you’re taking the time and money to invest in social advertising, you need to ensure that you’re using the right platforms and getting in front of your target audiences.
In Social Media Examiner’s new report, it’s hard to dispute that social advertising is anything but powerful. With over 3.5 billion internet users worldwide, it’s easy to see the reach ads on social media platforms can have. Facebook alone has over 2 billion daily active users. 2 billion! That’s a lot of opportunities for distributing your content and gaining new followers.
Here are some powerful statistics to prove the weight of social advertising and why it’s worth your time and pennies.
Infographic: A look at social advertising for B2B marketers
For the first time in years, Social Media Examiner’s report revealed that marketers are more focused on lead generation than cultivating a loyal fan base. What does this mean for you? The focus has shifted from engagement to metrics and automation.
As marketers, we need to watch for increased use of chatbots and other marketing automation tools that can help supply chain marketers become more efficient and more successful in earning and converting leads.
