by Fronetics | Dec 30, 2014 | Blog, Logistics, Manufacturing & Distribution, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
I wrote a guest blog for freight logistics company Cerasis in October which discussed how companies within the manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, and industrial industries can increase their B2B visibility on LinkedIn.
The catalyst for writing the blog were results from a recent survey focused on the supply chain and logistics industry. 58% of respondents rated LinkedIn as “very impactful,” and 37% rated LinkedIn as “somewhat impactful.” At the same time, respondents reported challenges associated with strategy (33%) and a lack of understanding about the application of social media (24%).
Leveraging LinkedIn
There are over 3 million LinkedIn company pages. Being present on LinkedIn is critical, but is not enough. To maximize your LinkedIn presence you need to take steps to increase your B2B visibility. Here’s how:
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Create a compelling company page
Your company page is an extension of your company. Make sure that the page is compelling, informative, and presents your company as a leader within the industry.
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Be active
In addition to keeping your company page up-to-date, you need to be active on LinkedIn on a daily basis. LinkedIn groups are great. Actively participating in LinkedIn groups will allow your company to: 1) gain business and market intelligence; 2) introduce you to new, interesting, and relevant topics; 3) help you increase brand awareness; and 4) position your company as an industry leader.
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Distribute content
If you want your content to be seen you need to get it out there; you need to distribute your content. Distribute your content and curated content via your company page and (when relevant) within the LinkedIn groups to which you belong.
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Employee engagement
Your employees are your brand ambassadors. Empower your employees to be active within LinkedIn groups as representatives of your company. Encourage employees to share your content and industry content with their connections. Additionally, encourage employees to share open positions with their LinkedIn connections, and to identify great talent within their network.
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Prospect for leads
LinkedIn is an effective prospecting tool. Use LinkedIn to prospect for leads and to build your sales pipeline.
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Optimize your profile
Every employee is a reflection of the company. Encourage employees to optimize their personal LinkedIn profiles.
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Don’t be annoying
You will fail if you take a “me, me, me attitude.” Constantly self-promoting is bad for business.
If your company is not using LinkedIn you are missing out on opportunities and revenue.
by Fronetics | Dec 18, 2014 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Oktopost, a social media marketing platform, analyzed over 100,000 posts on four different social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+) and found that LinkedIn is the most effective social network for B2B.
Oktopost found that more than 80% of B2B leads were generated through LinkedIn. Lead generation through other social networks paled in comparison:
- Twitter: 12.73%
- Facebook: 6.73%
- Google+: 0.21%
We’ve put together an infographic that outlines four things you need to know about LinkedIn and lead generation.
by Fronetics | Dec 18, 2014 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Oktopost, a social media marketing platform, analyzed over 100,000 posts on four different social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+) and found that LinkedIn is the most effective social network for B2B.
Oktopost found that more than 80% of B2B leads were generated through LinkedIn. Lead generation through other social networks paled in comparison:
- Twitter: 12.73%
- Facebook: 6.73%
- Google+: 0.21%
We’ve put together an infographic that outlines four things you need to know about LinkedIn and lead generation.
by Fronetics | Nov 25, 2014 | Blog, Internet of Things, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
The 2014 UPS B2B Buyers Insight Study found that companies need to have a strong online presence to grow their business.
Buyers are looking for information online
Buyers are conducting research on industrial suppliers online. Sixty-eight percent of buyers research supply purchases via supplier website, and 52 percent use search engines.
In their report, UPS and TNS discuss the importance of a strong online presence:
“Given buyers’ high satisfaction levels with supplier performance on key selection criteria, and considering that web-based research is most preferred, it’s reasonable to infer that many buyers consider online research essential to their supplier selection process. The use of search engines means that suppliers may be at greater risk of losing share to companies whose products are perhaps easier to find, in stock or competitively priced. On the other hand, suppliers whose products are easy to find online and meet buyers’ criteria may also stand to gain customers.”
Being able to buy online is more important to buyers than a sales rep
Being able to access information about products online and being able to make purchases online is more important to buyers than sales representatives and printed catalogs.
Respondents were asked to rate attributes with respect to deciding from which industrial supplies vendor to purchase. Seventy-eight percent of respondents rated product information on the supplier website as “extremely important” or “very important.” Seventy-four percent of respondents rated the ability to make purchases on the supplier’s website as “extremely important” or “very important.” In contrast, fifty-eight percent of respondents rated having a sales representative as “extremely important” or “very important.” Fifty-four percent of respondents rated having a hardcopy product catalog as “extremely important” or “very important.”
Buyers like to purchase through websites
Sixty-three percent of industrial supplies buyers reported that they purchase through websites (directly from suppliers or via a third-party provider).
Sixty-seven percent of buyers responded that the ability to order through a supplier’s website is considered “extremely important” or “very important”
If you think your current customers don’t care if you don’t offer the ability to purchase products online – think again. The survey found that 34 percent of buyers say that they have gone outside of their existing supply base to make an online purchase.
Meet your customers online
Having a strong online presence is an essential component to your business strategy. If you want to grow your business you need to be online. UPS and TNS sum this up nicely:
“Be in the right place when buyers are looking: Having a superior supplier website with stellar functionality means little if buyers can’t find the site or don’t know it’s available. Making sure products and supplier information can be found easily by search engines (SEO), and being visible when buyers search for products (SEM), are essential strategies for retaining and increasing customer base.”
by Fronetics | Nov 25, 2014 | Blog, Internet of Things, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
The 2014 UPS B2B Buyers Insight Study found that companies need to have a strong online presence to grow their business.
Buyers are looking for information online
Buyers are conducting research on industrial suppliers online. Sixty-eight percent of buyers research supply purchases via supplier website, and 52 percent use search engines.
In their report, UPS and TNS discuss the importance of a strong online presence:
“Given buyers’ high satisfaction levels with supplier performance on key selection criteria, and considering that web-based research is most preferred, it’s reasonable to infer that many buyers consider online research essential to their supplier selection process. The use of search engines means that suppliers may be at greater risk of losing share to companies whose products are perhaps easier to find, in stock or competitively priced. On the other hand, suppliers whose products are easy to find online and meet buyers’ criteria may also stand to gain customers.”
Being able to buy online is more important to buyers than a sales rep
Being able to access information about products online and being able to make purchases online is more important to buyers than sales representatives and printed catalogs.
Respondents were asked to rate attributes with respect to deciding from which industrial supplies vendor to purchase. Seventy-eight percent of respondents rated product information on the supplier website as “extremely important” or “very important.” Seventy-four percent of respondents rated the ability to make purchases on the supplier’s website as “extremely important” or “very important.” In contrast, fifty-eight percent of respondents rated having a sales representative as “extremely important” or “very important.” Fifty-four percent of respondents rated having a hardcopy product catalog as “extremely important” or “very important.”
Buyers like to purchase through websites
Sixty-three percent of industrial supplies buyers reported that they purchase through websites (directly from suppliers or via a third-party provider).
Sixty-seven percent of buyers responded that the ability to order through a supplier’s website is considered “extremely important” or “very important”
If you think your current customers don’t care if you don’t offer the ability to purchase products online – think again. The survey found that 34 percent of buyers say that they have gone outside of their existing supply base to make an online purchase.
Meet your customers online
Having a strong online presence is an essential component to your business strategy. If you want to grow your business you need to be online. UPS and TNS sum this up nicely:
“Be in the right place when buyers are looking: Having a superior supplier website with stellar functionality means little if buyers can’t find the site or don’t know it’s available. Making sure products and supplier information can be found easily by search engines (SEO), and being visible when buyers search for products (SEM), are essential strategies for retaining and increasing customer base.”
