b2b marketing trends 2020

Guide to B2B Marketing During Covid-19

/in , , , , , , , /by

Companies around the country are affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, even if business is slower than normal, it does not mean that you should stop your marketing efforts. While you may not see short-term results during this pandemic, your marketing strategy can put you in the position to see results over the long-term. This is especially true once things get back to normal. With that in mind, the following are the steps you should take to improve your B2B digital marketing efforts during COVID-19.

1. Use The Time You Have To Your Advantage

One of the everyday challenges in business is to reach potential clients at the right time. During the pandemic, prospects and clients alike are going to have more free time on their hands. They may have had to shut up shop temporarily and are just waiting to open back up. Others may be working from home, which means that they may be working sporadically throughout the day. You can take advantage of the time your audience has by hosting webinars or producing more long-form content.

2. Re-Evaluate Your Audience’s Perception Of Value

As you know, the pandemic has changed the way we look at a lot of things. Many companies are re-evaluating what is important to them. They are also re-evaluating their budgets and their perception of value. You need to make sure that you stay on the same page as your prospects and clients. This means that you should re-evaluate what your audience’s perception of value is.

Identifying your customers’ current needs

Understanding that customers may not be purchasing products or services from you in the short-term doesn’t mean that you can’t offer value. Put yourself in their shoes. What kind of content will they find helpful during this time? How can you help them? Of course, not all of your clients’ companies may be suffering. Some may be thriving at the moment. Identifying these businesses is essential as you may be able to target them more effectively.

3. Engage Your Audience In A More Personal Way

Most businesses aren’t doing exceptionally well at the moment. Not to mention that people are, in general, somewhat on edge. There are countless reasons for this. People are worried about their companies. They are worried about their health. They are stuck at home under stay-at-home orders. With that in mind, generic sales pitches aren’t exactly going to win them over. Instead, you should focus on hyper-personalization across all channels.

Using hyper-personalization

Hyper-personalization is the use of behavioral and real-time data across multiple channels to personalize the prospect’s or customer’s experience. It’s different than traditional personalization in that you also use purchasing, browsing, and other real-time data. The result? First of all, you’ll get to know what your audience’s current needs are better. Secondly, you’ll create a unique experience tailored to those needs. Such an experience helps you build longer-lasting relationships.

4. Have A Plan For The Future

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t predict the future. Anything can happen, which is why you should make sure that you’re prepared. This means that you should have a plan in place in the event that it lasts longer than you expect. On the other hand, you should also plan for the end of the pandemic. When it does end, you will likely need to make more adjustments to your marketing strategy. Just keep in mind that an effective marketing strategy is one that can adapt to various situations. Using this guide should help you do just that.

Follow these steps to make sure that your digital marketing strategy is effective during the pandemic. It might not be apparent right away, but there are still marketing opportunities that you can take advantage of despite COVID-19.

 

user generated content

Sourcing User Generated Content

/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

One source of content generation you may not have tapped into yet is user-generated content. Content marketing is a critical component of any successful marketing strategy. However, it can take a lot of resources to produce your own content on a regular basis. Even if you’ve managed to regularly generate high-quality content, you should look for other ways to create new content for variety’s sake, such as high quality user generated content.

What Is User-Generated Content?

User-generated content refers to content created by consumers and not brands. Such content includes videos, pictures, reviews, articles, and more. For instance, if a consumer takes a picture of themselves using your product and posts it on Instagram, that’s user-generated content. The following are just a few of the benefits of user-generated content:

  • Free publicity

Your audience is essentially promoting your brand on your behalf. As a result, user-generated content can help increase brand awareness.

  • Free content

Creating your own content requires a lot of resources. User-generated content requires none — your audience is creating the content for you. While you don’t own it, you can share it and reap the benefits of it.

  • Positive word of mouth

Customers trust other customers more than they trust brands. Positive user-generated content can, therefore, help to boost your brand reputation by creating trust.

How To Source Usable Generated-Content

Considering how beneficial this free content can be, you’ll want to do everything you can to encourage it. However, the biggest challenge lies in the lack of control you have over the content. You can’t control the message, format, or quality, after all. But there are a few ways that you can guide your audience to create the content that will benefit you most. The following are a few tips on how to source high-quality user-generated content:

  • Encourage 

Don’t just wait for your audience to create content relevant to your brand. You need to encourage it. For instance, hold a contest on social media in which users vote on the best submission. You can then give the winner a prize. There are many ways that you can encourage content generation.

Utilize Marketing Audiences on Pinterest Today

  • Provide clear guidelines

If you’re looking for a specific type of content, then you need to provide guidelines. For example, if you want user reviews, consider providing a basic review format. Such a format could list three broad questions that users can answer in order to generate a review.

  • Provide content creation tips

Your audience does not consist of professional content creators. As such, provide tips that they can use to create higher quality content. For instance, if you’re holding a video creation contest on YouTube or on Instagram, provide your users with a list of basic filming tips. Such tips can help cut down on the amount of poor quality content that you might receive.

  • Offer an example

If you’re looking for a specific type of content, then provide an example. When users see what you’re looking for, it will help them create the kind of content you want. For instance, if you’re hosting a picture taking contest, upload a few pictures of your own that would be considered exceptional examples. By providing an example, you also make sure that users understand your instructions more clearly.

  • Identify the channel

Make sure that your audience knows where to send it. The last thing you want is users posting their content on different platforms or sending it to you via different channels. If you’re promoting a contest, specify what platform they should post to or what hashtag they should use. Provide detailed instructions on how to submit content. By making it clear what channel you’re using, it will be easier for you to track and organize user-generated content.

  • Open a line of communication

Provide a channel through which your audience can contact you. This channel should be specifically for users who are creating content. You can do this by providing a specific support email address, a phone number, or a page they can DM on social media.

  • Monitor performance

Track how the content users create for your brand is performing. By doing so, you can identify what types are the most effective. You can then adjust your guidelines and instructions to encourage the creation of that type of content.

Enhance your Strategy Today

User-generated content can go a long way towards boosting brand trust. Not to mention that it’s a great way to expand your content marketing strategy. As such, make sure that you encourage the creation of high-quality user content. You can do this by providing your audience with general guidance and encouragement to drive effective user-generated content creation.

25 Website Must Haves

The Value of Marketing Automation in 2020

/in , , , , , , , /by

As your organization expands, so will your marketing needs. Trying to keep up with all of your marketing tasks can be challenging. Common tasks include emailing leads, posting content on a regular schedule, responding to questions, and more. Many of these tasks are time-consuming, which can make getting everything done in an efficient manner can be tricky. Because of this very reason, you should consider the value of marketing automation.

The Benefits of Using Marketing Automation

Marketing automation refers to a software solution that automatically completes certain tasks based on your instructions. One thing that’s important to understand is that the value of marketing automation goes beyond saving time. As such, the following are a few examples of why you should consider implementing marketing automation tools:

  • Improve productivity

The amount of time that automation can save will help increase productivity. For example, you can use automation tools to trigger emails based on a lead’s actions. Such actions can include downloading something from your site or filling out a form. Since your marketing team doesn’t have to do these tasks, they can use their time to address more important tasks.

  • Reduce human errors

Requiring individuals to perform repetitive tasks over and over again will increase the likelihood that they will make an error. Such errors are natural when the task is mundane and time-consuming.  Automating such tasks can help remove human error from the equation.

  • Improve scalability

If you’re using automation, then your ability to handle a larger workload won’t be affected. Without automation, your team would have trouble handling a bigger workload (which could require you to hire more personnel).

  • Nurture leads more successfully

Using automation, you can make sure that your customer profiles are kept up-to-date. Automation tools can also help you score leads, thereby improving your sales enablement. Finally, automation can help you personalize engagement more, resulting in more effective lead nurturing.

  • Measure success more effectively

Measuring success is important to ensuring that your marketing efforts result in a high ROI. Automation allows you to monitor important KPIs in real-time. As a result, you can make adjustments to your strategy whenever you need to.

Marketing Automation and Trigger Words

Marketing Automation Tools You Should Use

There are many types of marketing automation solutions that are available.  The best way to choose an automation tool is to identify what your automation needs are. With that in mind, the following are some of the most popular automation tools currently on the market:

  • HubSpot

HubSpot is a CRM platform that you can leverage for its content marketing automation tools. For example, HubSpot has a workflow tool that lets you create highly customizable conditional workflows. Using HubSpot, you can set up automated email drip campaigns, segment your contact lists, score leads, and more.

  • Marketo

Marketo uses a Lifecycle Modeler tool that lets you automatically source and organize your leads. If you integrate Marketo with your existing CRM, it will use all of your contact data to automatically move your leads through the sales funnel. Additional features include precision targeting with smart campaigns, streamlined lead nurturing, and email marketing automation capabilities.

  • Customer.io

Customer.io is an email automation solution that you can use to create targeted messages based on how your customers interact with your business. The tool also lets you set up trigger actions using a set of predefined rules. Additional features include conversion tracking, customer profiles, in-context conversations, and A/B testing.

  • Userfox

Owned by AdRoll, Userfox is a SaaS automation solution focusing on email automation. The tool lets users set up triggers based on certain events to automatically send emails to their leads. It’s worth noting that the tool is primarily for tech companies.

  • Pardot

Pardot is a B2B marketing automation solution that belongs to the Salesforce ecosystem. Some of its many automation features include progressive profiling, email marketing, lead assignment, lead scoring, and more.

  • Ontraport

Ontraport is an all-in-one marketing and sales automation platform. The solution provides in-depth insight through its Campaign Performance Mode. Additional automation features include email automation, list segmentation, SMS messaging automation, appointment scheduling, trigger campaigns, and more.

  • InfusionSoft

InfusionSoft is a small business automation tool offered by Keap. It allows you to automatically capture and tag new leads, score leads, assign tasks, invoice clients, set up recurring payments, and schedule appointments.

Implement Marketing Automation Tools to Improve Your Marketing Success

Marketing automation tools not only help to improve the productivity of your marketing efforts, but they can also significantly improve their effectiveness. The value of marketing automation simply cannot be overstated. Because of this, you should strongly consider adopting one or more automation tools if you haven’t done so already.

Search Engine Optimization Techniques

tiktok engagement group

How to Use Pinterest for Your Content Marketing Strategy

/in , , , , /by

Pinterest is a very useful marketing tool to promote your brand using creative content. 88% of weekly “Pinners” have made a purchase based on content they saw from brands on Pinterest, yet only 28% of marketers are already using Pinterest.  This platform remains relevant in popularity and is used as a resource for craft and decorations, home building (hyperlink to first Pinterest blog) shopping, and more. Developing content that is useful and creative on this platform can help generate brand awareness and creatively attract customers to your product.

Starting up your Pinterest Account

When starting up your Pinterest marketing account, ensure that you sign up as a business account. Organize your content into multiple boards for various target segments or topics of interest relating to your brand. Pinterest is a visual platform, so it is vital to keep in mind the following factors in content creation:

  1. Use high quality, soft, and original images when possible
  2. Images without faces perform 23% higher on this platform
  3. Present information in creative and well-presented infographics
  4. Be sure to size your images correctly
  5. Simple is key

30 Ways to Boost Instagram Engagement and Following 

Increasing Pins and Reshares

Gaining a following on social media is a timely process, but there are some key tips to be successful on building your Pinterest account:

  1. Pin regularly.
  2. Use keywords for SEO
  3. Use promoted pins.
  4. Use Rich Pins to offer more detail than standard pins.
  5. Link your content to other boards and websites
  6. Include hovering pin buttonson your website.
  7. Post during Pinterest’s peak hours, which is between 2:00-4:00pm and 8:00-11:00pm.
  8. Invite other companies to collaborate on a board.

8 Ways That You Can Improve Your SEO

Pinterest Marketing Campaign Launch and Beyond

  1. Build a strategy that takes consumers from awareness to purchase in the buyer’s journey by taking advantage of Pinterest ad formats such as Promoted Video for awareness and Promoted Carousel for consideration.
  2. Because pinners are more likely to purchase new products at the beginning of their lifecycle, “heavy up” on media at the start of the campaign.
  3. Use Pinterest’s Audience Targeting feature to gain repeat purchases.

Whether your goal is to generate leads or increase brand awareness, Pinterest is a fun, creative, and effective tool for business marketing.

Click here to learn more about social media from our FREE Social Prospecting Workbook

INSERT CTA FOR COVID RESOURCE

 

Marketing Trends 2

What’s Trending in Marketing for August 2020

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Staying current on marketing trends is especially important to assess whether your marketing efforts are harmonious with today’s evolving world. We know the difficulty of keeping up with these trends given the abundance of information thrown at us every day. The following articles highlight current August 2020 marketing trends that we think are worth paying attention to:

Noteworthy Marketing News

Hulu Launches Beta for Self-Serve Advertising Platform

In effort to combat the negative economic backlash of Covid-19, Hulu has created an opportunity for small businesses to use its platform. Hulu has recently launched a self-service advertisement program eligible for any company with a minimum ad budget as low as $500. The process is simple: a company creates and submits a 15-30 second creative video along with details on budget, date range, and an area to upload the ad to Hulu Ad Manager. Hulu approves or denies within 3 days. Brands also have the option to specify their target market by age, gender, genre and location. Hulu provides approved brands with a simple walk-through of set-up and launch. For this program, Hulu permits a maximum of one version of a creative video per campaign.

As part of its recent Enabling Dishonest Behavior Policy, Google Ads is banning any advertising for “spyware and surveillance technology” in both search and shopping starting August 11. Examples of services include fake passports, fake degrees or diplomas, drug test aids, exam or paper writing services, invalid reviews and clicks, and fake social media endorsements. Examples of unauthorized access includes hacking, cable-stealing, radar jamming technology, traffic signal changers, and phone/wiretapping. Google explains that its list is not exhaustive and only mentioned for example. Google exemplifies spyware as GPS trackers, cameras/recorders marketed for spying purposes, and software that monitors someone else’s texts and phone calls, with the exception of parents tracking underage children. Violators on Google Ads will receive a 7-day warning.

Social Short: Twitter Ad Engagement Drops, Snap Minis Launch, more brands pause Facebook Ads

Twitter’s ad revenues have fallen in the past years though daily active user rates have increased. However, Twitter’s CFO Ned Segal is confident in the rebuilding process of Twitter’s ad server. He expresses optimism for the future of advertisements on Twitter through the advantage the platform has for live events.  Snapchat reports a 17% increase in revenues. Though its audience is largely younger, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel found that the average number of users on the Discover page are in their thirties. Additionally, the platform has benefited from the increasing Facebook ad withdrawals. Twitter has also taken action against QAnon content, suspending thousands of accounts for sharing or associating with any “conspiracy theory-ridden content”.

Improving your Marketing Program

Lessons Learned: Buyer Persona Gone Wrong

Before a company can establish a solid marketing plan, it must be aware of the specific target markets or customer profiles it has the best chance to attract to its product or service. Creating a buyer persona is essential to effective attraction marketing. In order to perfect your approach in buyer persona launch, here are some common mistakes to avoid.

30 Ways to Boost Instagram Engagement & Following

Looking for ways to boost your social media brand presence? Knowing how to increase brand engagement on Instagram, the latest and hippest social media platform app, is a great start. People are online all day due to working from home. Virtual shopping has risen due to restrictions and pandemic fears. As we have geared toward a more online world, your brand’s presence on the web is more important now than ever. According to Forbes, 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business or brand, and 200 million users on Instagram visit business profiles daily. 70% of users turn to Instagram to look up a brand, and 60% learn about new products using Instagram. Now is the time to catch up with the competition that is already using these trends to their advantage.

Istanbul, Turkey – December 15, 2018: Person holding a brand new Apple iPhone X with Instagram profile on the screen. Instagram is an online mobile social networking service, launched in October 2010.

5 Ways to Improve Your B2B Marketing Strategy

B2B marketing can be a challenging endeavor, especially if you don’t have a clear cut marketing strategy in place. To have any hope of running a successful B2B marketing campaign, you’ll need to establish what your goals are. Once you’ve done so, you should implement marketing strategies that will support those goals and help you achieve them. The following are five B2B marketing tips that you should use to help improve your marketing efforts.

Free Digital Marketing Tools To Cope With COVID-19

Recent Marketing Reports, Updates, and Trends

No in-person events until 2nd half of 2021, marketers say

According to a recent Marketing Land survey of 300 people, 3 out of 10 people responded that they anticipate attending in-person events in the first half of 2021. In another survey, 70% of respondents plan to attend solely online events until a Covid-19 vaccine emerges.

U.S. Mobile Ad Spending Update

In March, E Marketer’s Mobile Ad Spending Report forecasted that the pandemic would cause a 20% increase in mobile ad spending, but they have now updated this expectancy and reduced it to 4.8% growth. Among mobile advertising results, location-based advertising has suffered, and gaming and streaming video apps have done well. This year’s lost growth in mobile ad spending will affect overall spending through at least 2024.

COVID-19 Is the Asteroid That Struck American Small Business

Positive news regarding the virus is 78% of small businesses report being able to survive 7 to 12 months or more with existing cash on hand, and 57% could last over a year. Restaurants suffered primarily, as there were over 133,000 business closures total and of the 26,000 Yelp restaurants that have been closed since March, 60% were now permanently closed. A majority of 92% of businesses report pivoting strategy in at least one way form the pandemic. The most common change was a creation of delivery channel, and 96% of businesses reported planning to keep some new services and channels post-pandemic, while 43% will maintain all changes. Find out more on Search Engine Land.

 

Free Marketing Consultation

 

pinterest marketing

Utilize Marketing Audiences on Pinterest Today

/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

pinterest marketingPinterest is a valuable marketing tool, as 88% of pinners purchase something they have pinned, and 49% purchase 5 or more products they have pinned. Despite its effectiveness as a marketing tool, only 28% of marketers are already using Pinterest, so get ahead of the competition and start using this visual platform today.

Who’s Using Pinterest?

Pinterest has over 335 million  worldwide users and 88 million users from the United States. With over 200 billion Pinterest pins and 4 billion boards, users save 2 million shopping pins on boards daily. 71% of Pinterest users are female. In the United states, 40% of dads use Pinterest, and 80% of moms. The median age of Pinterest users is 40, however most active “Pinners” are below 40 years old. Gen Z adults and millennials are the most dedicated users, however Gen X users increased daily use by 10% from 2018 to 2019.

30 Ways to Boost Instagram Engagement and Following

Marketing on Pinterest: Homebuilding, Crafts, Senior Living, Real Estate, CPG, and more

Two thirds of pins represent brands and products, and 50% of users have made a purchase after seeing a promoted pin.  According to Mintel’s February 2020 Arts and Crafts Consumer Report, Pinterest is largely used to spread creativity through DIY crafts, creating a valuable marketing opportunity for craft and home decorating companies. Pinterest is also a valuable tool for homebuilders to reach consumers through typing in keywords linked to related visual boards of ideas and products. Additionally, Pinterest is a marketing tool to promote services as well, such as Senior living facilities. A platform that provides a unique way to visually display information, Pinterest provides a way for your brand to share health and caregiver related articles, exercise routines for seniors, home health care products, images from your service’s website, and even healthy recipes. As nearly 30% of Pinterest users have a 6-figure income, Pinterest is a  sufficient platform for real estate companies to reach their target audiences. In a study of 9 million consumers, consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketing research shows that Pinterest households were 29% more likely to try a new product within the first 10 months of launch than non-Pinner households, and the Pinner “trial date” was 40% higher in the first 30 days of launch than non-Pinners. Experts say the study shows that people on Pinterest are more likely to try new CPG products. Overall, 75% of Pinners say they are “very interested” in new products compared to 55% with the same level of interest on other digital platforms.

Click here to learn more about social media from our FREE Social Prospecting Workbook

30 Greatest Lead Generation Tips

 

Professional Services Marketing Automation 2

Marketing Automation Benefits During Covid-19

/in , , , , /by

COVID-19 has been a difficult time for everyone, including small to mid-sized businesses. However, just because your business may have slowed down doesn’t mean that you should stop marketing. In fact, you could argue that now is the best time to reach out to clients and prospects alike. Although you may not be closing deals, you can still nurture leads and build your brand authority. Of course, you will have to adapt your existing strategy to the current situation. One of the most effective ways to do this is to take advantage of marketing automation tools, such as HubSpot.

Ways Marketing Automation Can Benefit Your Business

Marketing automation is a process of using various tools to automate certain tasks. These tasks are repetitive and not difficult to perform. There are many different types of automation tools available that allow you to automate various tasks. You can use automation for email marketing, analytics, chatbots, blog posting, and social media posting. The following are a few of the main reasons you should lean more heavily on marketing automation during COVID-19:

  • Maximize your budget

Because business might be a little slower than usual, maximizing your marketing budget is critical. Marketing automation can help you do just that. By automating your budget, you can allocate money towards marketing efforts that are performing well. As a result, you won’t be wasting money on marketing efforts that are performing poorly. Additionally, you’ll avoid missing out on areas of your campaign that are thriving.

  • Maintain engagement

Many leads are going to have more time on their hands than normal. This means that they may try to engage with your brand at a rate you’re not used to. To ensure a quick response to your leads, you can implement chatbots. Chatbots are a form of marketing automation that allows you to respond to basic questions your leads may have. Without chatbots, you may not have the ability to engage with all of your leads in a timely manner.

  • Save time

Automation allows you to automate repetitive tasks that take a lot of time to complete manually. For example, publishing content at specific times of the day during the week. You can use automation to schedule your content to be published automatically weeks ahead of time. Another example is email automation, which lets you send emails automatically based on trigger actions. The time your team saves on these tasks can be focused on more important marketing efforts.

Tips For Leveraging Marketing Automation Successfully

As you now realize, there are major benefits to using marketing automation, especially during COVID-19. However, the success of your marketing automation efforts depends on how you use the tools at your disposal. The following are a few tips to keep in mind that will help you use marketing automation effectively:

  • Don’t overuse email automation

There’s a temptation to use automation to ramp up your email messaging. While you do want to engage leads during the pandemic, you have to remember that everyone is doing the same thing. Don’t try to take advantage of the pandemic as a marketing trend. If you’re constantly sending emails to your audience, they may grow tired of you. Perform an audit to determine how often your audience actually wants to hear from you. And segment your email list so that when you do send automated emails, they’ll be relevant.

Email Metrics You Should Keep in Mind & What They Mean

  • Use automation to encourage online shopping

In-store visits are down for obvious reasons. Many stores aren’t allowed to be open. Not to mention that customers aren’t visiting stores nearly as often even if they are open. Because of this, consider creating automated campaigns that encourage offline shoppers to shop online. For example, you can target offline customers with a special online shopping reward program.

  • Take advantage of real-time data

Because of how new the pandemic environment is, new search trends are bound to emerge every day. Use data analysis and reporting to keep track of what customers are searching for and what pages they’re visiting. Use your data to adjust your marketing efforts whenever appropriate to make the most of your budget.

Implement Marketing Automation Solutions Today

COVID-19 has everyone on edge. The pandemic is causing significant business disruptions as well. While it may not be business as normal, you can still have an impact if you can adjust your marketing efforts accordingly. As a result of social distancing and state-wide lockdown, now is the time to engage with leads and to nurture them. You’ll find that your ability to do so will dramatically improve through the use of marketing automation. By successfully leveraging marketing automation tools like HubSpot, you can save time, maximize your marketing budget, and continue to build your brand reputation.

Free Marketing Consultation