by Fronetics | Jun 13, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain
Most agree the supply chain is integral to our economy. But what, exactly, comprises the U.S. supply chain economy?
Ask a random sampling of 10 people on the street whether or not the supply chain is an integral part of the U.S. economy, and, more than likely, you’ll get at least 8 affirmative responses. But ask that same random sampling to talk in detail about the supply chain economy, the jobs it contains, and how it pertains to innovation, and you’ll most likely hear crickets.
While most Americans recognize the value of the supply chain, the details remain fuzzy. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, economists Mercedes Delgado and Karen Mills attempt to clear things up. They identify the industries that comprise the supply chain economy, quantify the number and quality of jobs it contains, and assess how much it matters for innovation. Here’s a summary of their findings.
What is the supply chain today?
First off, Delgado and Mills define the nature and scope of the supply chain industry, making the key distinction that supply chain industries are B2B, meaning that they sell to businesses and the government, rather than B2C, or business-to-consumer.
Industries that comprise the supply chain include traditional suppliers, like “metal stampers or plastic injection molders — businesses that manufacture parts to be used in a final good.” The authors, however, point out that thinking of the supply chain purely as a manufacturing sector is a flawed model.
In fact, “only 10% of employment in the [U.S. supply chain] economy is in manufacturing, and 90% is in services.” Jobs in this 90% include “many different labor occupations, from operation managers, to computer programmers, to truck drivers.”
Delgado and Mills take their analysis a step further, identifying the subcategory of “supply chain traded services – i.e., those that are sold across regions like engineering, design, software publishing, cloud computing, and logistics services.”
It’s worth noting that supply chain traded services have the highest wages in the supply chain economy, averaging at $80,800 annually — 3 times higher than traditional “service” jobs.
[bctt tweet=”The U.S. supply chain accounts for 37% of domestic jobs, employing some 44 million people at “significantly higher than average wages.”” username=”Fronetics”]
The U.S. supply chain accounts for 37% of domestic jobs, employing some 44 million people at “significantly higher than average wages.” The supply chain also accounts for a high proportion of the innovative activity in the economy as a whole, with STEM jobs, “a proxy for innovation potential,” at “almost five times higher in the supply chain economy than in the B2C economy.”
The authors point out that the prevalence of higher-paying jobs and innovation is a result of the fact that “supply chain industries have downstream linkages to multiple industries, which allows the innovations they create to cascade and diffuse across the economy, potentially increasing the value of those innovations.”
Policy recommendations
After defining and discussing the modern U.S. supply chain economy, Delgado and Mills move toward policy implications.
“Our supply chain economy framework leads to a more optimistic view of the economy,” they write. “If we were to focus on supporting supply chain services, particularly those in traded industries, the result might be more innovation and more well-paying jobs in the United States.”
They make three key recommendations for national economic policy, focused on improving suppliers’ access to skilled labor, buyers, and capital:
- Invest in skilled labor.
- Support regional industry clusters.
- Ensure that suppliers have access to capital.
The bottom line: the supply chain industry is robust and dynamic, with “a crucial role in driving innovation and creating well-paying jobs.”
The idea of “bringing manufacturing back” is stale and reactionary. Delgado and Mills instead suggest that “we must shift our policy solutions to focus on cultivating the supply chain service jobs that will drive America’s economy forward.”
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by Fronetics | Mar 28, 2016 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media
A recent collection of social media facts and stats offers an interesting look at B2B company and buyer behavior.
Last month, Webbiquity published a list of 49 social media facts and stats about user behavior on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+. These figures, collected from various studies, offer insight into how people and businesses are using social networking in recent times.
B2B companies may find several of the stats particularly interesting, and it may influence the way they think about social media marketing. I have pulled out some of the most applicable and offered some thoughts below.
Social media facts and stats from Webbiquity
88% of B2B companies use Facebook for marketing (and 96% of all B2C companies )
If you are not using Facebook in your marketing efforts, you are in a quickly growing minority. With 968 million active daily users, the largest social networking site offers a huge opportunity — actually, the most expansive opportunity available — for your business to attract, court, and convert potential customers. Here are some of our top tips for using Facebook to market your business.
93% of small business owners and marketers use Facebook.
Small businesses don’t have the time or budget to compete with large brands when it comes to marketing — but social media can level the playing field. Social media, and Facebook especially, is an ideal marketing platform for small businesses because it can be relatively inexpensive but have a high impact on growth. Your company can cultivate your brand, engage with customers, and form business relationships. Learn how two small companies saw enormous growth thanks to social media.
21% of consumers say they unfollow brands that post repetitive or boring content. 19% say they would unfollow a brand on Facebook if the brand posted too often — more than six times a day.
We know that creating good, original content is key to a successful inbound marketing strategy. But knowing how often to post to the various social channels can be one of the more intimidating obstacles to overcome. How do you know what’s too much and what’s too little? Learn how often you should post on social media.
74% B2B decision makers use LinkedIn to help make purchasing decisions.
Don’t let anyone convince you that social media channels are for personal use only: customers are online, and if you aren’t, you’re at a disadvantage. And since nearly three-quarters use LinkedIn for purchasing decisions, it’s critical that your business is strategic about your presence on the network. Check out this guide for creating the perfect LinkedIn company page to get started.
88% of B2B marketers in North America use Twitter for content distribution.
Twitter is one of the more effective channels for gaining business, and the numbers prove it. A Market Probe International survey found that 72% of those who follow a business on Twitter are more likely to make a purchase from that business, and that 82% of followers are more likely to recommend a product or service to friends and family. Additionally, 85% of respondents reported feeling a closer connection to a small business if they follow them on Twitter. Learn more about Twitter for business.
Pinterest has 47 million active monthly users worldwide, 80% of whom are women.
While Pinterest use is rapidly growing among B2C marketers, the B2B world still hasn’t quite figured it out yet. I pulled out the two above stats to show the enormous potential this channel has, particularly for businesses whose customer base is primarily women. Fronetics’ social prospecting workbook has some ideas on how to get started using Pinterest.
32% of U.S. companies with 100+ employees used Instagram for marketing activities in 2015. eMarketer predicts that number will jump to 70.7% by 2017.
The importance of Instagram for B2B companies will continue to grow. Here’s why: 90% of Instagram users are under age 35. A recent Google study showed an increasing number of Millennials on the B2B purchasing path — up to 46% of potential buyers were of this generation in 2014. Their preferences and behaviors are having a noticeable impact on B2B buyer behavior as a whole. So if your business wants to capitalize on the nearly 300 million active monthly users, Instagram should be on your radar.
64% of North American B2B marketers use Google+ to distribute content, but just 17% use it for new product launches (vs. 81% who use LinkedIn).
Americans may use Google+ less frequently than some of the other networks, but don’t count it out entirely. More people check the site than people realize, including die-hard fans of Google products and the many businesses who use the Google suite professionally.
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by Fronetics | Mar 3, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Source: Rosaura Ochoa | Flickr
Here’s how marketers can launch a B2B social media program that grows business.
A recent Harvard Business Review article discloses that a number of B2B CEOs still believe social media isn’t right for them, that it’s a tool for the B2C segment. In reality, many B2B marketers successfully leverage social media to engage potential customers, gather market intelligence, build brand awareness and reputation, discover and intercept customer problems, and influence purchasing decisions before sales calls are ever made.
In short, if you are not in the B2B social media game, you are missing out on enormous business opportunities.
Getting started with social media can seem like an intimidating task, especially if your C-suite is skeptical of the benefits. Here are six steps to launching a B2B social media program that will grow your business to its full potential.
1) Speak in the right terms.
Convincing management that you want your team to spend more time on social media to gain “followers” or get “shares” might be a hard sell. To win support, focus your argument around the factors that are most important to them. Lead generation, lead nurturing, conversions, sales, ROI, profits: this should be the vocabulary with which you approach this conversation.
2) Create a strategy — and put someone in charge.
Only 11% of companies without a documented content marketing strategy find their efforts to be successful, compared to 60% of companies with a strategy in place. And that number rises to 86% when the company designates someone to lead the strategy. Working with an experienced marketing consulting firm, like Fronetics, you can develop an inbound marketing strategy that aligns with your business objectives. And whether someone on your team heads up execution or you outsource that responsibility, the leader should continually monitor analytics and tweak the strategy accordingly. Which brings us to…
3) Determine which analytics to track.
In the B2B world, it’s not about shares, likes, or impressions, though those numbers speak to your brand exposure. (Read more about so-called “vanity metrics” here.) Leads generated, conversion rates, sales, and ROI are going to be the things you’ll want to track. If you have a good, flexible strategy in place, these metrics will help you adjust your efforts to ensure you’re achieving your business objectives.
See: The Six Marketing Metrics Your Boss Actually Cares About.
4) Develop quality content.
Twenty-seven million pieces of content are shared every day — and a large portion of it is crap. A social media presence could be pretty pointless unless you’re using it to push content that is original, high quality, and representative of your brand. One of the biggest mistakes B2B companies make is using social channels to push a sales pitch. You’ll quickly lose your audience, who is turned off by a strong sales pitch. Social media is about engaging your audience, building brand awareness, and offering valuable information.
See: Three Elements of Good Content.
5) Decide which channels are right for your business.
Who are you trying to reach, and what are you trying to tell them? These are good questions to ask when trying to determine which platforms will comprise your social media program. There’s a wealth of information out there about which channels are used by whom and when. You’ll also want to choose channels that you’ll be able to maintain regularly and which play to your strengths. As an obvious example, if you don’t have the capability to make videos, YouTube probably isn’t for you. Remember, you’ll likely want to work through several different channels to reach a maximum number of potential customers.
See: Which Social Media Channels Should Your B2B Business Use?
6) Follow your competitors.
Following your competitors is a great way to stay up to date on what they’re doing, especially if you don’t have a ton of time or money for competitive research. And when I say “follow,” I don’t mean “copy or imitate.” I mean subscribe to their blogs, engage with them on social media, and like and share their content that you find meaningful for your audience. This way, you become part of the industry conversation happening online, and you know exactly what your potential customers are seeing from (and how they’re reacting to) your competitors.
See: The Role of Social Media in Supply Chain Intelligence.
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by Fronetics | Jan 13, 2016 | Blog, Strategy
Some believe that the collaborative economy is the biggest game-changer in the business sector since the Internet. You might ask, exactly what is a collaborative economy? Researchers Alexandra Samuel and Jeremiah Owyang define the term in their informative, 28-page report, The New Rules of the Collaborative Economy, as “an economic movement where common technologies enable people to get the goods and services they need from each other, peer to peer, instead of buying from established corporations.”
Peer-to-peer engagement is a powerful one, and it’s demanding that many traditional companies take note. Take Airbnb for example. This past summer, 17 million people stayed with an Airbnb host, compared to 47,000 people five years earlier in the summer of 2010. The company has revolutionized travel for millions of people, and it has shaken up the hotel industry.
Another game-changer is Uber. The ridesharing service was reported to hold 46% of total paid car rides in the first quarter of 2015, with taxis, limos, and shuttle services falling from 85% in the first quarter of 2014 down to 53% in 2015. There is no doubt that the car service industry is forever altered.
Samuel and Owyang report several interesting findings regarding the collaborative economy. For one, they found that 51% of Americans engaged in a sharing service via mobile apps or websites in 2015. And secondly, each of the defined categories — e.g., goods, services, money, transportation, and space — saw increases in consumer usage from 2014 to 2015, including crowd-funding (from 6% to 14%), spaces to stay (from 7% to 17%), and pre-owned goods (from 34% to 44%).
What does peer-to-peer offer that traditional companies can’t? Some people find these services helpful when they are engaged in a “spending fast,” or when they challenge themselves not to buy anything new for a year. At this point, however, most consumers say they’ll go with whichever route offers convenience, brand names and services, and a savings of 25%. So, the trend toward a collaborative economy could reverse if the conditions were right.
Some companies are adjusting quickly, realizing that the traditional equation of business to consumer (B2C) operations is shifting. For example: West Elm is curating and selling items from Etsy; BMW started Drive Now, an on-demand car-sharing service; and Home Depot rents tools and construction vehicles. Companies may only need to be aware, adjust, and enhance rather than start their own, new collaborative business.
The report provides for three paths to competing in the new collaborative economy:
Price
It’s no surprise that consumers are driven by price. Keeping an eye on the price points of items and the charge for services offered is critical for all businesses, whether sharing or traditional. After all, half of Americans are swayed by items that are 25% cheaper than competitors’ prices.
Convenience
People want things to be easier, clearer, simpler. One-third of conventional consumers will consider switching to sharing services if convenience is offered. Subscription offers that deliver on a regular basis and renting options are top on the wish list for convenience-seekers.
Brand
Like a lot of consumers, sharers like well-known names, and this gives traditional companies an advantage if they can add a sharing option to their current offerings. Crowd-funding and collaboration during early start-up phases, however, can help new sharing companies to build their brand and gain a loyal following.
Though not entirely revolutionary, a collaborative economy might mean better prices, convenience, and perhaps the added bonus of peer-to-peer engagement (e.g., recycling, helping, doing good). Traditional companies, be ready — a change is rolling in.
![Why you need to understand what B2B buyers think about content [Infographic]](https://www.fronetics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/content-B2B-buyers-643x675.png)
by Fronetics | Jan 27, 2015 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing
If you want to attract B2B buyers with content, you need to understand what B2B buyers think about content.
93% of B2B companies use content marketing. If you want your content marketing efforts to be effective you need to understand why B2B buyers consume and value content. When you understand what B2B buyers think about content you can create and distribute the right content – content that will help you grow your business by driving profitable customer action.
The CMO Council, Content ROI Center, and Netline conducted a survey of 352 senior-level B2B buyers, influencers, and decision makers with the objective of determining content’s role in influencing B2B buyers in the purchase process.
Why do B2B buyers consume content?
B2B buyers turn to content for a number of reasons including to:
- Learn about new market developments and industry practices;
- Discover new solutions to address a specific problem;
- Address a project or a program being undertaken by their company.
Why do B2B buyers value content?
B2B buyers value content because it:
- Keeps them current on new techniques;
- Provides strategic insights and shapes their purchase specifications;
- Educates them about industry issues, problems, and challenges.
Source: CMO Council
Understanding what B2B buyers think about content and why they use content will enable you to create, curate, and distribute content that speaks to B2B buyers and attracts new customers and engages current customers.
If you consistently create, curate, and distribute content that B2B buyers find valuable, you will realize results.
