by Fronetics | Sep 29, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Manufacturing & Distribution, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain, Warehousing & Materials Handling
Content marketing can help your organization amplify its efforts to drive traffic, improve conversion rates, and increase sales.
A recent survey of over 4,500 marketers at organizations around the globe found that converting leads to customers (74%) and growing traffic to their websites (57%) were their companies’ top marketing priorities. Perhaps not surprisingly, these marketers also overwhelmingly reported that generating traffic and leads was their top challenge. Often our business priorities are the most difficult to achieve.
Enter, content marketing.
Content marketing is a form of inbound marketing in which businesses publish content to attract prospects who are interested in products in services like theirs. This marketing approach can be highly effective in growing brand awareness, generating leads, and increasing sales. In fact, according to the same survey, organizations using inbound marketing were four times more likely to rate their marketing strategy highly than outbound organizations.
Let’s look at one example from the warehousing sector.
Business was decent for Company X. It had experienced positive growth for over a decade, despite lacking a clear marketing strategy. But leadership started to wonder: Are we missing opportunities for growth?
Company X sought a multi-level digital marketing strategy that would help them increase web traffic, generate more leads, and convert prospects to customers. The team hired Fronetics to create and implement such a strategy.
After 24 months, the results were telling: Web traffic increased by nearly one-fifth (19%). Company X tracked 244 high-quality leads directly sourced from its new content marketing efforts. And new business grew by a remarkable 30%.
Content marketing was highly successful for Company X in achieving its business goals of driving traffic and new business. In fact, the organization realized many other positive benefits as well. You can read about more of them, as well as the strategy Fronetics used to get there, by downloading the case study below.
Want to increase traffic to your business’ website and generate more leads and customers? Have you tried content marketing? Here are a few resources to get you started.
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Need more help? Contact Fronetics to request a free strategy session.
by Elizabeth Hines | Aug 25, 2016 | Blog, Data/Analytics, Leadership, Strategy
Forget tracking traditional metrics and focus on decision-quality data that helps front-line managers do their jobs.
It’s safe to say that the clients I engage with fall into two categories when it comes to business data: those that are drowning in it, and those that ignore it altogether.
The ones that are drowning in data know all the relevant facts that keep them out of trouble with their boards or their senior executives, but struggle to tell you what really drives their business costs or profits. The ones that ignore the data are the savvy veterans that rely on their historical win/loss records in their business, but ask them to change course or innovate, and they are like fish out of water.
Chances are you’ll fall somewhere close to those two camps, and for some time, I did as well. Then that I realized that tracking data for the sake of “tracking” was a waste of time for me and for my teams.
There is data, however, that should be tracked relentlessly and used in all of your decision processes. I call this “decision-quality” data. These are the numbers that drive your business strategy and execution.
What is decision-quality data?
Decision-quality data goes beyond the traditional profit/loss packages that are churned out every quarter and disseminated to your business chieftains. Decision-quality data sets are the building blocks and the levers of your business. Examples include areas of your business that can be affected by the execution of your employees.
Put simply, your sales employees may not be able to directly affect your finance treasury function, but working together with your finance team, they can affect cash flow by selling credit-worthy customers, cutting better financial deals, and, when necessary, helping in the collection process.
The same can be said of your purchasing professionals teaming with distribution leaders and finance team. This team can coordinate at the front line to cut costs and reduce inventory spend by developing inventory and financial metrics that matter to them and the company overall. By working in concert, they have the ability to solve the problems that arise and avoid pitfalls in real time instead of reacting when the quarterly metrics come out.
Quite frankly, if you are collecting and looking at data, but not taking action as the result of it, STOP. You won’t miss a thing, and your team will thank you for saving them time to spend on more productive activities.
Don’t fall into the data-cycle-trap dictated by data tracked on a calendar basis for the sake of tracking. Ask your teams what data they need to be effective, and simplify the way for them to get it in near real time.
Once this type of data is in the hands of a cross-functional team of front-line managers, task them with the needed improvement, and watch them make dramatic impacts in your overall business performance and customer experience and, in turn, your profits. The results will be better and more sustained than if you drove them with a mandate from the top because these managers live and breathe in the environment that created the data in the first place. Their cross-functional nature and familiarity with the issues are a winning combination.
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by Fronetics | Jul 29, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain
Here I share some of our best performing content from the first half of this year.
Auditing your content and adjusting your strategy is an important part of an effective content marketing program. I like to do an in-depth look at how our content is performing every six months.
As I was evaluating our most popular articles in the first half of 2016, one of the things that struck me was how well they spoke to our content strategy. The top 10 blog posts reflect the topics that we know are most interesting and valuable to our readers. This reinforces the importance of 1) creating a strategy based on your target audience, 2) developing content around that strategy.
While the list itself is interesting, I think the articles are worth sharing again because of their quality and value. So, in case you missed them, here are our top blog posts from the first half of 2016.
Fronetics’ 10 most popular supply chain articles in 2016 (so far)
1) Four Supply Chain Companies that Excel at Social Media
These four organizations have it down when it comes to social media. Consistent posts inform and engage their followers. Who are they and what are they doing that is working? Read the full article.
2) Diversity and Leadership: An Interview with Arrow Electronics’ Kendrea Durr-Smith
Kendrea Durr-Smith runs a unique team as director of global trade compliance at Arrow Electronics. Her department works with people of all different cultures and backgrounds, while recent changes at Arrow with respect to trade management and compliance have given her team exciting, new responsibilities. Read the full article.
3) Top Logistics and Supply Chain Blogs of 2016
Companies in the supply chain and logistics industries are realizing the enormous benefits that a quality content marketing strategy, including regular posts to a company blog, can offer. These three companies, in particular, are publishing content that not only drives business to their websites, but also fuels conversation about industry best practices, trends, and issues. Read the full article.
4) Shipping company Eimskip Places a High Value on Culture and Art; It’s Paid Off
Iceland’s oldest shipping company regularly hosts local artists on voyages between its headquarters in Portland, ME, and Reykjavik. The practice reflects Eimskip’s great efforts to integrate itself into all aspects of the communities in which it operates. Read the full article.
5) 3 Key Tips for Creating Valuable and Compelling Content
This guest post by Jennifer Cortez, director or marketing communications at Transplace, discusses her company’s approach to content development. Read the full article.
6) Getting to First Base with a Social Network
Guest author Tania Seary is founder of Procurious, a global online network for supply chain and procurement professionals. In this article, she discusses some of the key decisions leadership made along the way to build the company from the ground up. Read the full article.
7) Social Media Facts for B2B Companies
Understanding how users are engaging with social media is important for businesses hoping to reach consumers with these tools; however, the information is hard to track down. Here are eight of the most recent, relevant statistics and facts about social media for B2B organizations. Read the full article.
8) Amazon Loves Logistics? The E-Commerce Giant’s Next $400B Opportunity
Amazon’s recent activity suggests it plans to move into the logistics space as a 3PL provider. This article examines why such speculation is valid and how it might disrupt the estimated $400 billion fulfillment market. Read the full article.
9) EBN’s Hailey McKeefry on Women in the Supply Chain Industry
This interview with EBN Editor in Chief Hailey McKeefry examines the gender gap in the supply chain industry in light of her own career path. McKeefry also offers advice to women considering entering the industry. Read the full article.
10) Women in Manufacturing and the Supply Chain: Disparity and Opportunity
A McKinsey & Company report found that diverse companies financially outperform companies that are not diverse by 15%. And in terms of gender diversity, specifically, research shows that when women are in positions of leadership, companies perform better — much better. How can the supply chain capitalize on that information and impact the bottom line? Read the full article.
Runner-up posts:
by Fronetics | Jul 25, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain
Get your news in front of the one billion iOS users with this step-by-step guide to publishing on Apple News.
Do you use Apple News? If you have an iOS device (iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch) and have upgraded to iOS 9 or beyond, the app is preinstalled.
Users love the easy-to-read interface and the fact that they don’t have to download a number of different third-party news apps. That’s because Apple News aggregates content from various media outlets, from the New York Times to local blogs, based on user preferences. You can refine what news you see by choosing your preferred publications and topics, which are as general as politics or as specific as the Chinese economy.
There are a number of topics and channels relevant to the supply chain. From supply chain management and automotive logistics to packaging news and sustainable brands, Apple News is an excellent source of content for companies in the industry.
Here’s more good news: Anyone can publish on Apple News. That means your business can distribute your content through this platform with the chance to reach the more-than-one-billion iOS users around the globe.
Signing up as a publisher is simple. Here are four easy steps to get started.
1) Sign into iCloud.
Go to https://www.icloud.com/#newspublisher and enter your iCloud login details. You can quickly create a free account if you don’t have one already. Click “Continue.” Note that you’ll need to agree to the End User License Agreement.
2) Set up your channel.
Complete details about your publisher name, contact info, and channel name. As a publisher, you can have multiple channels, each representing a different publication (such as a blog and a newsletter). After set up is complete, you can add a new channel by clicking “Create New Channel” and entering publisher and channel info.
Channel content is divided into sections. Your default section will contain the main content of your channel, but you can have up to 25 other sections to organize your content by topic or type. Apple suggests that 6 to 8 sections is optimal.
3) Upload your logo.
Upload a PNG file (smaller than 2 MB) of your logo that will be used throughout News to identify your content.
4) Select a publishing format.
You must choose between RSS feed or Apple News Format, which optimizes your content for iOS devices. Other benefits of Apple News Format include the ability to create articles in Publisher, add team members, get analytics, and earn revenue through iAd.
Once you submit all of this information, Apple will review your information and get back to you before your channel launches officially.
Learn more about publishing on Apple News.
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by Fronetics | Jun 27, 2016 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media
This is part one of a three-part series on Twitter for B2B. See part two, Tweet This: 20 Ideas for Content for the Supply Chain, and part three, How to Use Twitter Analytics.
One of the top social media sites for B2B marketers, Twitter can help businesses spread brand awareness and communicate with customers.
When it comes to marketing your B2B company, Twitter could be a fantastic tool to give you a competitive edge. Gone are the days that Twitter is only for teens or simply to pass time on the commute to work.
It’s in the numbers.
According to Social Media Examiner, 66% of marketers are planning to increase their Twitter use, and 58% of marketers want to learn more about it. After all, Twitter is consistently ranked as one of the top three social media sites for B2B marketers, along with Facebook and LinkedIn.
Twitter reports that 50% of users have visited or shopped at the websites of the businesses they follow. Additionally, 43% plan to purchase regularly from the businesses they follow, and 60% of followers make a purchase because of something they saw on Twitter.
The statistics don’t lie. Twitter is incredibly effective in increasing and maintaining your customers’ loyalty and creating new connections.
What exactly is Twitter?
Twitter’s new user FAQs describes it as “a service for friends, family, coworkers etc. to communicate and, most crucially, stay connected with the exchange of frequent, brief messages that are searchable and viewable by all of your followers.” This allows for constant interaction with other Twitter users across the globe, whether they are individual users or companies.
Why your business should be using Twitter
Twitter can be an effective tool for businesses to spread brand awareness and communicate with customers and business partners. Here are 6 reasons why you should be utilizing it.
1) It has a mobile application.
Even if your website is mobile-friendly, having a social media platform that is also easily accessible on a mobile device is extremely important. Reportedly, 70% of executives use their smartphones to learn about a product or service after they first hear about an offer. On Twitter, 83% of users are mobile. It’s becoming the 21st century newspaper. Users check it on their way to or from work, during their lunch break, and in their free time. Tweeting frequently keeps your business top-of-mind while current and potential customers browse their feeds.
2) Its reach is global.
Twitter supports 40+ different languages. If your supply chain includes international suppliers or partners, this feature is the perfect opportunity to reach those users, as well as domestic customers at the same time.
3) It’s excellent for customer service.
Your account will receive notifications any time your company name is mentioned in a tweet, so you can respond instantaneously if a customer has a complaint or concern. This is crucial, since the number of customers expecting a response on social media has doubled since 2013.
4) It makes analyzing your engagement simple.
Twitter Analytics makes it easy to measure your impact and see where you should adjust your strategy. Calculate your engagement, learn about your followers’ usage patterns, and more.
5) It allows for broad networking.
By searching a simple keyword such as “content marketing,” you are presented with hundreds of results, including tweets, hashtags, and different accounts. Follow the ones that seem relatable to begin a network of interest for your business. You can then retweet content that would be of interest to your followers, thus increasing your status as a source for knowledge and information.
6) It reaches your target audience.
Twitter has 310 million monthly active users. That includes the large majority of organizations, from small businesses (79% are on Twitter) to Fortune 500 companies (78% are on Twitter). What’s more, an IDC report found that 75% of B2B buyers and 84% of C-level/VP executives use social media to make purchasing decisions. Your business should be where your customers are, and your business should really be where your customers are researching potential business.
Terms you should know
If you’re going to use Twitter, knowing the lingo is essential.
- Tweet: A Twitter update. The personal message you compose to your followers. May include pictures, video, text, or links to other web pages. 140 characters or less.
- Hashtag (#): Use to create a community of posts talking about the same thing. For example if you want to see posts about inbound marketing, search #inboundmarketing. Join the conversation by using the same hashtag in your post.
- Retweet: Taking someone else’s post and re-posting it to your page so all of your followers see it, too.
- Quote tweet: Similar to re-tweeting, except you can add your own message to it as well.
- Followers: Someone who subscribes to see your posts on their personal timeline.
- Direct message: Send someone you’re following a private message to have a conversation away from your feed.
- Twitter handle: @yourusername, what someone uses to tag you in a tweet or can search you by, how you’re identified.
But how do I “tweet”?
Tweets are posts under 140 characters that are posted to your personal page and show up in all of your followers’ Twitter feeds. You can post photos, videos, links, or your own content, so get creative!
To begin writing, click the button in the top right hand corner of your screen that looks like a feather quill on paper.
Retweeting
The button for this looks a bit like the recycling symbol. It’s located below each tweet in your feed. If you like what someone says and want your followers to see it too, click the retweet button, then the retweet option that pops up. The original post will appear on your feed.
When someone retweets you, it is now seen by not only your followers but theirs as well. This is one of the great things about Twitter. It’s very easy for one post to be seen by a very large amount of users.
This is how a retweet will appear to your followers, except where it says “you” it will say your twitter account’s name.
Quote tweeting
When you click the retweet button under a post, it gives you the option to either retweet or quote tweet. If you want to add something to the original post you want to retweet, choose the quote tweet option. A window then pops up allowing you to type your own message with the original tweet attached. The difference between this and simply retweeting is that when you retweet, only the original tweet is reposted and not an additional message from you.
Here’s what a quote tweet will look like to your followers:
How to gain followers
Knowing how to create the content you want on your Twitter is only half the battle. Now you have to gain followers to read and help you promote this content. Here are 5 ways to increase your followers and get the results from Twitter you so desire.
1) Promote your username as much as you can.
Add a follow button and/or your Twitter feed to your website and blog, and put the link to your Twitter in your email signature. You can even promote it offline on business cards or around the office.
2) Use your existing customer base.
Upload your email contacts into Twitter and follow your customers. It will let them know you’re thinking about them and prompt them to follow you back.
3) Search keywords and hashtags that relate to your industry and audience.
Use them to join in on conversations and get noticed in Twitter communities surrounding your industry. Users who like what you have to say will be inspired to follow you to get your updates.
4) Have the people who support you offline join in online.
Send out a company-wide email encouraging your employees to follow you on Twitter and retweet your posts.
5) Ask for retweets.
When someone retweets your post, it goes to all of their followers, increasing your reach exponentially. Don’t be afraid to ask your followers and employees for support. Sometimes a contest or incentive works extremely well to get the retweeting going.
The finishing touches
- Don’t forget to give your brand a little personality. As Kelly Jo Horton said in her article, 10 Things B2B Marketers Should Be Doing on Twitter, “All work and no play makes your Twitter feed a dull read. Don’t be afraid to have a little fun.” Post a joke or a funny picture, or show what it’s like behind the scenes at your company.
- Be conscious of where your followers are located. If they’re in different time zones, make sure your tweets match their schedules as well as your own.
- Keep up your audience engagement by making sure your tweets aren’t just a one-way communication. Start conversations with followers. Respond in good time if someone starts one with you.
A positive online connection can be the beginning of a profitable professional relationship. Twitter and its 310 million users are a great place to start making those connections.
Editor’s note: Sarah Collins is a summer intern at Fronetics Strategic Advisors. She is a rising sophomore at James Madison University, College of Business studying Marketing. You can find her on LinkedIn.
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