Why brand awareness is important to growing your business
The singular goal of most companies that contact Fronetics is to generate more leads — today. This is not surprising in that leads are necessary to generate sales, and sales are necessary to revenue generation and to growth. What is surprising is the number of companies who do not recognize the critical role brand awareness plays in lead generation.
Brand awareness is the likelihood that your company’s brand, products, and services are recognized by consumers. Simply put, if consumers don’t know your company exists and/or don’t know what your company does or what your company offers, your company won’t be a part of their decision process.
Today, more than ever, being recognized and being a part of the decision process is crucial.
The new B2B buying process
The buying process for B2B buyers has become more complex and longer. The 2016 B2B Buyer’s Survey Report found that 80% of respondents reported their purchase cycle was longer than it was the previous year. The buying process has gotten longer because most buyers (73%) are using more sources to research and evaluate products and services, and they are spending more time in the research phase itself.
When conducting their research and evaluating purchases, B2B buyers report that they are looking for personalization, and for companies and vendors that demonstrate a deep understanding of the industry.
The place they are turning to conduct their research, and to evaluate purchases, is online: 89% of B2B buyers report using the internet to conduct research. Specifically, they are going online to: conduct web searches, look at vendor websites, read reviews, use social media, and participate in online forums.
The importance of investing in brand awareness
Your company can not generate leads if your company is not found when B2B buyers are conducting their research. And, being found is just the tip of the iceberg. Your company will not be included in the evaluation and decision process if it does not have a robust online presence that is inclusive of quality content that speaks to your target customer — that is, content that educates, informs, and identifies how your company can meet the needs of your target customers. It is about positioning your company as a knowledge leader, building trust, and establishing relationships. It is about brand awareness.
Building brand awareness takes time and dedication. Companies that are willing to invest their time and resources to brand awareness are rewarded – not just with leads, but with quality leads.
Too often, I see companies who are unwilling to invest either the time or money in brand awareness. One of the most frustrating things to see is a company that gives up too soon. These are companies who have realized significant gains — they have, for example, increased traffic to the website through organic, referral, direct, and social sources; decreased bounce rates; increased social reach; and increased social engagement. But, because their lead generation has not immediately sky rocketed, they decide to either reduce or eliminate their digital and content marketing activities. It is frustrating because these companies have built a strong foundation, and they are on the tipping point of success.
With the B2B buying process taking longer than ever, with buyers spending more time researching and evaluating their decisions, and with B2B buyers turning to the internet and critically evaluating companies on how they present themselves, investing the time and resources to brand awareness is critical.
As Geoffrey Chaucer said, “Patience is a conquering virtue.”
The shortage of drivers paired with the continued growth of the trucking industry paves the way for driverless trucks.
This guest post comes to us from Rachel Everly, a writer for Cerasis, a top freight logistics company and truckload freight broker.
The trucking industry has been serving America for many decades, and even today it is the main method by which freight is transferred all over the country. Anyone who says the trucking industry is facing a decline or a reduced demand is way off the numbers. More large trucks are coming on U.S. roads, traveling more miles, and transporting more good than ever before.
We have seen more than 3% increases in the number of trucks, which translates to almost 11 million trucks. Also, trucks are still transporting 73% of almost all cargo weight moved in one year. With all these impressive numbers, surprisingly there is a shortage of drivers. That spells both trouble and opportunity for this industry.
Where is there a shortage of drivers?
The U.S trucking industry is facing a severe driver shortage. One estimate shows that around 48,000 drivers are required to move about 70% of freight.
To improve safety, in December 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced that driver hours will be recorded via Electronic Logging Devices by 2017. This becomes mandatory by December 18, 2017. This was introduced because the existing systems of time-logging are purposely made very complicated, thus not allowing one to check how many hours is a driver on the road.
This is being introduced to ensure that driver safety is not compromised, keeping fatigued drivers off the road. According to calculations, this will save 26 lives a year and prevent 562 injuries every year. Not just this, the ELD will save companies the hassle of paperwork, eventually leading the trucking industry to save somewhere around $1 billion due to reduced paperwork and time-savings.
However, this means reduced hours per driver, thus increasing the need for more drivers. Small trucking companies will be hit the hardest, but overall the industry will be in a better position thanks to this rule. It is estimated that this new rule would cost the industry $1.8 billion, but cost savings from reduced accidents and paperwork amount in excess of $3 billion.
The way to driverless trucks
Humans are amazing creatures, but we are prone to human errors. Human errors account for the majority of the road accidents. Plus with the new rule in, companies will need more drivers, adding to costs. Uber has been actively working on getting driverless trucks on the roads, with a project already started in Singapore, and now has turned its eyes on the trucking industry.
Uber has recently acquired the start-up Otto. Otto has made great inroads into driverless trucks. Otto currently has 6 working self-driving trucks, with plans to expand to 15. This year Otto is continuously running tests; trucks are hauling random items from the company’s garage to test how the vehicles respond to hauling weight.
The company is confident that soon they will be moving all kinds of goods for shippers. They have already started forging relationships with big names in the trucking industry. The self-driving trucks have shown that they can easily operate on highways, maneuvering off the open interstate is still a work in progress.
The following infographic outlines some of the benefits of driverless trucks:
The NRF’s annual survey found that 171 million Americans will celebrate the holiday, spending a total of $8.4 billion, the most reported in the survey’s 11-year history. Consumers plan to spend an average of $82.93 each, up from last year’s $74.34 per person spending.
As far as costumes go, NRF says to expect zombies, Minions, and characters from Star Wars and Disney’s Frozen to show up at your door. If you’re still looking for ideas yourself, try Pinterest, where 17% of consumers plan to get their inspiration for costumes this year.
Are you one of the 16% who will dress your pet up for Halloween? Take a note from last year’s top 5 pet costumes:
Pumpkin
Hot dog
Batman character
Devil
Bumblebee
Check out our infographic of other interesting Halloween 2016 facts from the NRF’s survey of 6,791 consumers below.
Companies in the logistics and supply chain industries should take a look at this content marketing infographic.
Content marketing is a form of inbound marketing in which vendors publish digital content to attract customers who are searching for products and services like theirs. If done right, it is highly effective in growing brand awareness, generating and converting leads, and driving sales and repeat business.
If your organization is exclusively using traditional outbound marketing techniques, like advertisements in print publications, you’re missing out on growth opportunities. We rounded up some of the most telling facts about the role of content marketing in today’s B2B purchasing environment for you to consider.
Here are 12 facts about content marketing that your business should keep in mind.
The Supply Chain industry is changing, while it’s becoming harder for companies to hire at the same time. These supply chain demographics provide a picture of the industry today.
This guest post comes to us from Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm specializing in Supply Chain Management and Procurement.
Everyone knows the Supply Chain field is changing. Recently, one of the best Supply Chain publications out of the U.S., Supply Chain 24/7, released a report that examines the demographic trends underlying the industry. The report, titled “A Portrait of the Supply Chain Manager,” used research survey data from Peerless Research Group and APICS to present a picture of the typical individual working in Supply Chain. The survey asked a number of Supply Chain and talent-related questions, such as:
What percentage of Supply Chain professionals received a raise last year?
What percentage of Supply Chain managers hold a degree?
What percentage of companies are willing to pay above-market compensation for the right people?
And more. These issues are sure to be of interest, whether you’re looking to hire in Supply Chain or just to get a holistic picture of the field. So we put together this spiffy infographic that highlights the answers to these questions and some other interesting datapoints from the report. Check out the infographic below!
We hope you found the supply chain demographics infographic informative, and we encourage you to dig into the full report for even more insights about where Supply Chain professionals stand and where the field is going. And (as always) stay tuned for more info and perspective about Supply Chain and talent from Argentus in the coming days and weeks!
