by Fronetics | Apr 14, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
Social media gives you access to aspirational customers and their networks, a benefit that can’t be quantified in dollars.
One of the trickiest things about implementing a social media strategy is that success can be difficult to measure. While most professionals acknowledge that a social media marketing presence is important, it’s hard to make a case for resources when you can’t precisely quantify the value in terms of dollar amount.
This, however, shouldn’t stop your business from recognizing the importance of social media as part of a robust marketing strategy. You need to start thinking about value in terms of potential, rather than the immediate sale.
“It’s important that we continue to shift our focus from the short-term sale to the long-term value of social media,” says Emily Teele, loyalty and retention marketing manager at West Elm. “Part of our willingness to make this shift comes from trust that our efforts will pay off, even if not immediately, and part comes from finding new ways to measure results over time.”
Tomorrow’s customers
One of the most valuable and exciting aspects of social media is that it allows business to discover and engage with a new segment of the B2B community: aspirational customers. In the past, businesses haven’t had access to these customers. Now that we can find out who they are, their long-term value cannot be overstated — both as buyers, and in building brand loyalty and an engaged customer base.
According to a recent study published in MIT Sloan Management Review, aspirational customers are likely to follow multiple brands on social media sites. Over half follow at least one brand that they haven’t made a purchase from. But, “our data suggests that they do plan to purchase in the future,” say the study’s authors. “Today’s followers are very likely to be tomorrow’s customers.”
The social network = social media success
There’s another factor to consider regarding the value of social media marketing. At its core, these are networking platforms. That means you not only have access to a new customer base, but to their connections as well.
Your followers’ engagement on social media can expand your reach, as they engage with their own networks. Putting a dollar value on such social reach is fairly meaningless — but it has the potential to add to your bottom line both now and in the future.
What’s more, a recent McKinsey study attributes word of mouth to be the primary influence for up to 50% of all purchase decisions. The study authors go on to say, “Followers who are not yet purchasers can share their experience with the brand, and deepen their commitment to the brand, even prior to that first purchase.”
It’s time we start thinking about social media success in this new way: in terms of potential and expanding value, rather than just immediate dollar amounts.
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by Fronetics | Jan 19, 2017 | Blog, Content Marketing, Data/Analytics, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
The chances are that your company is not tweeting as often as it should.
Each second around 6,000 tweets are tweeted. Each minute over 350,000 tweets are tweeted. The median lifespan of each of these tweets is just 18 minutes. After 18 minutes of being live, the chance of someone seeing your tweet is very low. The chance of someone interacting with that tweet — even lower.
Given the large volume of tweets and the short lifespan of each tweet, how often should you tweet?
To get the most value out of each tweet, tweet around five times each day. To get the most value out of your company’s Twitter presence as a whole, tweet up to 30 times per day.
At Fronetics, we recommend focusing on getting the most value out of your company’s twitter presence as opposed to getting the most value out of each tweet.
When developing your Twitter strategy, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Timing is everything.
Identify the time of day most of your followers are active and what time of day your tweets receive the highest level of engagement. Followerwonk and Tweriod are two tools you can use to conduct this analysis. Rival IQ takes the analysis one step further and shows you when your competitors are tweeting and when they are realizing their highest level of engagement.
It is important to conduct this analysis on a regular basis and to adjust your strategy accordingly.
Be relevant. Be strategic.
Every single tweet you send should be relevant and should fit within your strategic goals and objectives.
Don’t be annoying.
Tweeting when your followers are active and when you have the highest levels of engagement is important, but don’t go overboard. For example, if you learn that 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. are the best times of day for your company to tweet, do not schedule all 30 of your tweets to go live at those times.
Be creative.
Don’t tweet the same tweet over and over and over again. It’s ok to share the same article a few times, but change up the image and/or the tweet to make it fresh.
Be visual.
Tweets with images get more engagement than tweets without images. Analysis by Buffer found that tweets with images receive:
- 150% more retweets
- 89% more favorites
- 18% more clicks
Be realistic.
Determine what you can realistically do on a consistent basis. If you can only commit to tweeting 5 times per day, stick with that. It is better to have strategy that you can execute than to have a strategy that cannot realistically be executed.
Finally, remember you don’t need to go it alone. Tools such as Buffer, HootSuite, Sprout Social, and HubSpot allow you to schedule tweets. Scheduling tweets makes it easier to tweet more often so that you can realize the value of a Twitter strategy.
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by Fronetics | Oct 17, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
Learn the basics of pay-per-click advertising — what it means and which platforms you can use — in this quick training.
Pay-per-click advertising can be an effective complement to a content marketing campaign for companies in the supply chain and logistics industries. Essentially, you can get your business’ name and content in front of people who are searching online for products and services like yours — but you’ll only pay for those who click on your advertisement. Sounds great, right?
But here’s where things get a little complicated: Should you use Google AdWords or Google Display Network? What’s the difference? What about Facebook and Twitter advertising? Is a Sponsored Post on LinkedIn considered pay-per-click?
We at Fronetics have developed a basic training on pay-per-click advertising for supply chain and logistics organizations. Learn more about what it can do for your business, as well as which platforms are available and the differences between them.
This training offers information about:
- Google AdWords
- Google Display Network
- Facebook Ads
- Instagram Ads (photo, video, carousel)
- Twitter Advertising (Promoted Tweets, Promoted Twitter Accounts, Promoted Trends)
- LinkedIn Advertising (Sponsored Posts, text and image ads)
Click the button below to download our free pay-per-click advertising training.
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by Fronetics | Oct 5, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
It’s time to stop ignoring Snapchat — now Snap Inc. — and start thinking about how to use it in B2B marketing.
You may know Snapchat because your kids use it obsessively. You may still think of it as the “sexting app.” Whatever your thoughts, it’s time to stop thinking it will never be relevant to you and your business.
Founder of the Content Marketing Institute Joe Pulizzi named Snapchat one of the next big trends in content marketing for 2017. He sites the platform’s impressive growth as one reason to pay attention.
Snapchat becomes Snap Inc.
In fact, it’s becoming one of the most popular social media networks available: Snapchat reached 10 billion daily video views, passing Facebook in April 2016, and overtook Twitter in daily usage in June 2016, with an estimated 150 million daily active users.
Celebrities, B2C organizations, and even the White House have jumped on board. Everyone is eager to reach the 41% of American 18 to 34 year olds that Snapchat’s ad division claims are using the platform on a given day.
Snapchat’s success has prompted the company to expand and diversify. In September, it launched a new line of business, video-enabled sunglasses (called Spectacles), and rebranded with a new corporate name, Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel hinted at even more to come in a blog post: “Now that we are developing other products, like Spectacles, we need a name that goes beyond just one product.”
What’s next for the self-proclaimed “camera company” is a mystery, but one thing is for sure: B2B companies should be paying attention.
Behind every B is a C
Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of Vayner Media, makes a convincing argument in his article Why Snapchat Will Be Great for B2B Companies. He recognizes a pattern among social networks that signals the rise of Snapchat in the B2B space:
“These platforms start off young, start off consumer based, start in a niche, and then go mainstream. It baffles me that people don’t understand that when an app hits 100 million active users, it’s gone mainstream. And what does that mean? It means that the platform can start to mature and start getting deeper into the business world. That’s because once you have the attention of the 35- to 65-year-old world, you now have the potential to cross over into the B2B world.”
Vaynerchuk is also quick to note that “behind every B is a C,” meaning there is a human behind every business making a decision. If a company is able to reach that human with relevant content on the user’s preferred platform, that’s a win.
Perhaps it’s early to start pouring major resources into Snapchat. But Vaynerchuk predicts that it has enormous potential for B2B organizations as early as 2018:
“Snapchat will be an excellent place for B2B players who act like media companies — media companies that create stories to bring value to their end users. Those players will find their niche and their audience, allowing them to disproportionately pick up business. Meanwhile, their competitors will still be debating the ROI of Snapchat. And they’ll be left behind if they can’t adapt and evolve with the evolution of these platforms.”
How could your company use brief video storytelling to bring value to your customers? It’s time to start the wheels turning.
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by Fronetics | Oct 4, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
This list of social media articles includes useful information for both people who rarely use social networking sites and for more advanced users.
We’ve been using this space to write about social media a lot lately. That’s partly because so many exciting new developments and enhancements keep popping up. It’s also because we can’t underscore enough how important it is for companies in the supply chain industry to participate in social media.
I thought it would be helpful to revisit some of our recent information, guides, and tips and tricks regarding social media use for B2B marketers. The following list encompasses both general, how-to-type instruction and more detailed advice for more advanced users.
I’ve segmented articles by platform and included a catch-all category at the bottom as well. Don’t see what you’re looking for? Shoot me an email to let me know what social media-related content you’d like to hear about on our blog.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the most popular social network for B2B companies. Here’s what you need to know to get started.
Learn about the free and paid methods LinkedIn offers to help you find and recruit new employees.
LinkedIn’s 433+ million member base presents an enormous opportunity for your company to earn new business. Start attracting those members to follow you.
Twitter
One of the top social media sites for B2B marketers, Twitter can help businesses spread brand awareness and communicate with customers.
You may find yourself frequently strapped for quality tweeting material. Here are some ideas to not only fill your feed but to keep your followers interested and engaged.
Leverage insights from Twitter’s analytics dashboard to improve audience engagement, reach, and content development.
We did an experiment to determine the ideal frequency for posting on Twitter. The resulting numbers were abysmal. But that means the experiment worked.
Add stickers to your photos on Twitter to join in on real-time conversations about trending topics and to grow your audience.
Twitter is changing its rules on the 140-character limit for your tweets. Learn what’s going to be different.
Facebook
Facebook Live offers businesses a new, creative platform for engaging customers. This article describes what marketers need to know about it and how to use it.
YouTube
YouTube is a useful engagement tool for B2B marketers who want to reach the social network’s more-than-3-billion users. Learn how to get started in this article.
Get started creating YouTube videos for your business with these easy-to-use tools and ideas for content.
Learn how to improve the reach of your YouTube videos with these strategies for distribution.
Reddit
Reddit is a gold mine for relevant, engaging content to share with your social media followers. Here’s how it works and how you can get started.
Other resources
Fronetics has developed this training specifically for business owners, marketers, and employees looking to learn more about social media and how they can contribute to their company’s success through these networks.
Fronetics has developed a comprehensive report exploring social media use in general and, specifically, within the logistics and supply chain industries.
Businesses are using social media as a strategic tool. This article explains the top three benefits companies in the logistics and supply chain industries can enjoy from participating on social platforms.
Your business should be on social media showing buyers that you know what they want and that your business can provide it.
A cross-departmental social media team can help your company get more out of social networking sites.
Participating in social media is not about earning followers; it’s about building relationships with your current and future customers.
If your social media strategy doesn’t align with your business objectives and target audience, your marketing budget is probably better spent elsewhere.
