Tag Archives: channel
Diversify your content portfolio to target leads in every stage of the sales cycle
With analytics software helping B2B marketers identify leads, the biggest difficulty facing these professionals is creating branded content that aids the nurturing process. Back in October, Forbes contributor Steve Olenski reported on a BtoB Magazine study that found 51 percent of survey respondents identified content marketing as the most important tool for lead generation, and custom content can help guide prospective buyers throughout the sales cycle. In the “2012 B2B Content Marketing: Ready for Prime Time” study conducted by BtoB Magazine, professionals indicate they will make greater commitments to content creation in 2013. The data shows two-thirds of respondents will be either “very” or “fully” engaged in the practice by next year – a 100 percent year-over-year increase. A few months later, BtoB Magazine analyzed another aspect of the sales cycle – lead nurturing – and found marketers indicated similar plans for the practice next year Continue reading
YouTube ranks videos by time watched, rather than views
YouTube recently announced it will rank videos based on time watched, rather than the number of clicks a video receives. For those using video content marketing, highly engaging content is required now more than ever to drive visibility and awareness. Brafton has reported in the past that Google’s quality algorithms emphasize interaction metrics for SEO, and this YouTube adjustment makes clear that engagement impacts video ranking. According to IDG Enterprise, more than 40 percent of marketers invest in video as part of a content marketing strategy Continue reading
Survey: Social media marketers unprepared for brand criticism
A report from Ethical Corp suggests that companies and other organizations using social media marketing experience criticism on the channel. However, just 28 percent of organizations included in the poll are prepared to deal with it. The study illustrates that brands must be ready to engage negative feedback as it’s a social reality they can’t ignore. Ethical Corp found 20 percent of respondents are “completely unprepared” to deal with criticism on social media, and another 18 percent are also unprepared. Roughly one-third fall somewhere in the middle when it comes to fielding negative brand mentions. Rather than shy away from complaints, marketers should recognize the inherent value in them. Continue reading
Smaller companies adopting social marketing, varying goals
A report from the SMB Group found that small and medium-sized businesses have become more aggressive in adopting social media marketing. The broad majority of companies have adopted social and developed comprehensive strategies to succeed. According to the report, 44 percent of small businesses currently use social media, and 25 percent plan to integrate it within the next year. Among those with an existing presence, 24 percent said they have developed a strategy to best position themselves to achieve their goals. In terms of medium-sized companies, 19 percent said they use social without strategic planning, while 33 percent relying on defined campaigns. The goals many of these organizations named for their social marketing strategies suggest an evolving understanding of the channel and its contribution to business. The goals many of these organizations named for their social marketing strategies suggest an evolving understanding of the channel and its contribution to business. Earlier this year, Brafton cited data from PulsePoint that found companies had high expectations for their social presence, but 56 percent were either not measuring their success or used their own intuition to do so. The SMB Group asked their respondents which metrics they use to gauge their campaigns, and found almost all have at least one statistic they rely on. While the responses varied heavily, the presence of such metrics shows SMBs have made the campaigns more critical to their overall web marketing strategy. Nineteen percent of companies use the number of referrals they receive as a critical metric, while 16 percent monitor click activity on social content. Thirteen percent said their top metric is increased inbound links, which likely indicates that these companies also have SEO strategies in place. Additionally, 11 percent focus on follower and fan growth across different social networks. Other popular responses included the direct sales driven from social marketing and the contribution of feedback to improvements throughout the company. The idea of applying social marketing engagement and feedback to other parts of a business can help organizations improve their products and services, as well as the effectiveness of other marketing campaigns. Earlier this year, Brafton highlighted a report from PR Newswire that found companies in search of new ideas and topics for their content marketing strategies should use questions and other issues raised on social platforms to direct content initiatives. Continue reading
Is email marketing dead? Experts say no, though social integration key
In an interview with eMarketer, Ed Kats, president of MediaWhiz, said that email and social media marketing campaigns are likely to remain strong contributors to integrated marketing strategies on the web. Many have suggested that email will become less successful moving forward, because young people interact with the channel less than social. However, Kats suggested that many have been predicting the demise of email for years, but it’s performance has remained strong. In fact, Kats, and other marketers, said that using both email and social marketing can help make each channel more successful. For most, email and social represent two parts of the same conversion funnel. Continue reading
