The first time I watched a DVD, I was blown away by the image quality. The image was so detailed, sharp and clear. Compared to DVDs, my VHS tapes looked like I was watching through a dirty window. I couldn’t go back. And I couldn’t imagine the picture getting any better. Until I saw my first Blu-ray, that is. And my first 4K….
You get the idea. No matter how good something is, it can always be better. In marketing, strategic upgrades and enhancements can bring exponential improvements in processes, tactics, and ultimately results. Who would settle for VHS marketing when they could be rocking Ultra-HD-8K revenue?
This week’s roundup features posts on how you can improve key elements of your marketing, from content creation to measurement to influencer involvement.
What Marketers Are Reading and Sharing Most Right Now:
1. Conversion Rate Optimization for B2B (Moz)
B2B sales cycles are longer than B2C, with many more touchpoints, twists, and turns along the customer journey. Any ways that marketers can help encourage conversion will have a direct impact on the bottom line. “Users will be visiting your site multiple times during the sales process before making a final purchase,” says Austin Peachey, SEO Manager at Obility, “and it’s necessary that you are reaching them at different stages in the journey.”
According to Austin, conversion optimization starts with click-through optimization from search engines. It makes sense: If potential customers never get to your page, the rest of your tactics are moot. Austin recommends a thorough audit to identify your top performers, learn what makes them work, and apply those learnings throughout the site.
Perhaps the most important tip: Continually test and make adjustments. “Remember, the only failed test is one where you don’t learn anything,” Austin says.
2. Three Ways to Reduce Customer Churn with Content Marketing (DivvyHQ)
Marketing messages are frequently the first encounter that potential customers have with a brand. As such, marketers have the responsibility to set expectations, and can even resolve potential issues before they become a problem.
Chandler Hynek from DivvyHQ offers tips on using content marketing not just to attract customers, but also to make sure the ones you attract are right for the brand and product offering. Chandler’s first suggestion is especially crucial: Collaborate with other departments to make sure your marketing is setting the right customer expectations. “Manage perceptions and you’ll exceed customer expectations,” Chandler says. “Fail to do so, and even the best companies can fall.”
3. Truth or Dare: How to Use Statistics in Your Content (Marketing Insider Group)
We’ve seen a huge movement towards storytelling and more human, emotional content in B2B marketing. That’s a good thing, on the whole. B2B buyers are people, and they respond to the same emotional cues that a B2C consumer does. However, that doesn’t mean we should go light on the facts and figures.
“Statistics actually have the power to make your content more engaging and compelling,” says Michael Brenner from Marketing Insider Group. The trick is to use the data in service of telling a story, rather than burying the reader in a mountain of numbers.
Statistics are especially useful for video and visual content, Michael says. The right data visualization can bring your story to life for your audience.
4. How to Get Content Marketing Measuring Wrong: Do It Like a PR Person (CMI)
What’s the difference between PR and content marketing? For CMI’s Ann Gynn, it comes down to action. “Both PR and content marketing as strategic approaches aim to reach designated audiences in a win-win way,” she says. “But content marketing goes one step further — to drive customer action.”
Given PR’s more limited scope, their metrics focus on eyeballs — reach, impressions, mentions. It’s all about how many people saw the content. For content marketers, Ann suggests digging deeper to measure how your content compels people to take action. “Don’t settle for eyeball metrics,” she says. “Develop a thoughtful and well-detailed analytics strategy to better assess your audience’s content journey.”
5. Three Use Cases that Connect the Dots Between Influence and B2B Marketing Results (TopRank Blog)
Influencer marketing is one key way that B2B marketers are enhancing their content. In the B2C world, the term “influencer marketing” might mean a TikTok star doing a makeup tutorial. For B2B, says TopRank Marketing’s Lee Odden, it’s more about finding the influential thought leaders in your industry — the folks your target audience already follows and pays attention to — and co-creating meaningful content that offers more value to the audience.
One often-overlooked benefit of influencer content is enhancing the expertise, authority, and trust (Google’s E.A.T. criteria), in order to improve search engine rankings. “Optimizing content with keywords as well as industry expert quotes and contributions can give brand content the kind of signals that search engines use to identify content that should have the best ranking,” Lee says.
6. How to Encourage Employees to Share Your LinkedIn Content (Social Media Examiner)
We all know social media can be a powerful tool to amplify content. But many marketers are still overlooking a major source of amplification: the business’ own employees. “As a marketing tactic, encouraging employees to share brand values and messages is a strategic and sustainable way to expand reach and engagement with customers, prospects, and other key stakeholders on LinkedIn,” says Marketing Consultant Luan Wise.
The challenge, of course, is getting employees on board with sharing brand content. Luan has four essential strategies to encourage participation, including using LinkedIn’s tools to make your brand content easier for employees to see and share.
The most valuable tip, however, might be to solicit employee content for your LinkedIn Page. Give employees a place to showcase their thought leadership, a real stake in what content appears on the page, and they’re more likely to share it with their networks.
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Topics: Trends, tips, and best practices
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