Technology

Social commerce tops marketing trends for 2016

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With 2016 now just weeks away, marketers are turning their attention to new year planning with a new study revealing the biggest trends and anxieties marketers will face in the coming year – with social commerce topping the list.

The study of 100 UK marketers by digital marketing agency Greenlight, suggests that more than half of marketers (52%) believe that social commerce will be the most rapidly growing trend in 2016. This is closely followed by location-based marketing technology for 49% of respondents, and predictive targeting for 43% of those surveyed. The growth of wearable technology was backed by 39% of respondents.

Personalisation is likely to be a key driver in 2016, with 42% currently using location targeting to personalise their marketing and a third targeting by age group and another third by intent – such as purchase history. However, the survey also showed opportunity for improvement with more than a quarter (27%) currently not targeting by location, age group, intent, socio-economic group, religion, or sexual orientation.

Concern was revealed about the dominance of tech titans such as Yahoo! and Apple with 57% worried about their use of data, 32% concerned about becoming over reliant on their services, and 25% concerned about the cost.

However, the marketers surveyed also said such companies supported their online retail strategy. 86% of marketers said that Google helped them deliver on their aims whilst 71% considered Facebook a friend to online retail. 69% said the same of Twitter.

As marketers look to what skills they need for 2016 respondents identified a number of skills priorities. 59% said data analysis, 52% better content optimisation skills, 45% a better alignment with the sales team, 42% greater financial modelling and budgeting, 40% improved SEM and SEO competence, and the ability to code for 23%.

Andreas Pouros, COO and co-founder at Greenlight, said marketers had to consider what they were after. “Before investing consider your next move carefully. Question whether new tools and services will really impact your business and how much value investment in these areas will deliver. Marketers also need to make sure they have the skills to handle new technologies,” he said.

Resources: marketingtechnews.co

Understanding online behaviour key to making the most of digital marketing investment

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When trying to understand where to put digital marketing investment and budget, it is crucial to understand which route to market is the most effective for your customer base since you don’t want to be wasting investment on a path your customers don’t often tread.

A new study by TextMaster and Similar Web suggests that when broken down by country direct traffic dominates over other methods of accessing brands such as search, referral or social with direct traffic the highest for German customers.

And yet for online dominant industries such as fashion, mobile apps and news and entertainment it is search traffic that provides the biggest generator of visits over direct hits. The research shows that for apps search traffic generates nearly half of all visits (46%). In fashion a third of visits come through search traffic and for news and entertainment 29%. Paid search generates the most amount of traffic for fashion companies at 14% whilst for news and entertainment the amount of traffic is minimal at only 0.43%.

Broken down by country the number of internet users using search engines to find fashion websites was highest in both the UK and France at 42% and 39% respectively.

The success of display ads meanwhile differs according to both industry and country with the method the most effective for driving traffic in Italy. For the fashion industry display ads generate 7.36% of traffic compared to only 1.23% for entertainment.

The study also showed the role of referral traffic with the method twice as important in the US at 30% than in the UK which hit only 16%.

Despite social increasingly being adopted by the fashion industry the research found that whilst social networks generated 19% of traffic for the news and entertainment industry for fashion it was minimal at 5%. However across industries it was Facebook that topped the chart as the top social network as driving most traffic.

Resources: marketingtechnews.co

Marketers missing a trick with Instagram advertising, research reveals

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New research suggests that nearly 41% of Instagram users have used the social media tool to drop hints to friends and family about what they want for Christmas.

More than half (57%) of the 1,000 respondents surveyed in a report commissioned by digital marketing agency Greenlight have used it to gain inspiration when gift buying and one in three have bought items after seeing them on Instagram.

And yet marketers are missing a trick. A separate survey by Greenlight of 100 senior marketers showed that 60% aren’t using Instagram as a marketing channel and only 14% run a branded Instagram account.

But while they may be missing out this year, the research suggests that marketers are planning to be more on the ball next year with more than half (53%) planning to make use of the channel in 2016. The research showed that nearly a third (29%) planned to use Instagram’s recently launched advertising services whilst just under a quarter (23%) said that they were planning a branded account to target consumers.

The main reason for embracing the channel was for brand awareness for half of respondents and for brand storytelling for 30%. Driving sales and loyalty was the priority for 30% of respondents in the survey.

However these priorities differ somewhat to those of consumers where the top reasons that consumers followed Instagram brand accounts was for offers and discounts for more than half (51%). Using the channel for inspiration for new purchases was the main reason for 39% of respondents and to monitor brand news and announcements for 37% of consumers studied.

When it came to what they wanted to see, 49% of customers said that they valued useful or informative content, whilst 37% said that they wanted to see brands sharing authentic or user-generated images. Respondents also valued two-way interaction through the channel with 35% valuing brands interacting with their followers and a further 15% liking to see brands reposing or sharing other users’ photos and videos.

For 2016 the study showed that 18% of marketers planned to run influencer engagement programmes aimed at Instagram ‘celebrities’ next year and nearly one in ten (8%) were looking at how to make greater use of user generated photos or videos.  However although 29% of marketers plan to use Instagram advertising to target users and promote posts next year only 23% intended to share photos and videos using a branded account.

Resources: marketingtechnews.co

How social media has become increasingly integral to content marketing strategy

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The use of social media within content marketing strategies is set for a rapid increase according to new research from the Content Marketing Association (CMA) which says that 80% of companies plan to increase its use with nearly half  (47%) looking to increase use by up to 50%.

This is set to lead to increased investment as a result, with three quarters planning to invest more in owned social media as part of its growth within their businesses.

The conclusions are from a study of 100 senior level marketers, across companies such as Barclays and Experian and media and creative agencies such as Carat and Ogilvy & Mather, by the CMA as part of a wider report The Role of Social in Content Marketing.

The growth comes as content marketers increasingly believe social media to be integral to their growth strategies. More than two thirds (69%) said that social media was very important part of their content marketing strategies. Almost 90% said that social media had had a positive influence on content marketing strategies.

More than half (57%) are using it for amplification of their brand messages whilst one in five (21%) are using it to build a fan base amongst existing and potential customers.

However the study also shows that brands can do more with their existing use of social media. More than half (55%) said that brands were not experimental enough with what they were doing whilst a similar amount (56%) said that brands were not authentic enough on social platforms.

Facebook was shown to be the most effective social platform for B2C content marketing at 55% whilst for B2B content marketing LinkedIn performed best with two thirds (67%) saying it was the most effective channel.

However respondents were less confident about assessing the value of social media measurement, with less than a third (28%) confident of their ability to accurate measure the return on investment and 42% saying they were unsure that an accurate ROI measurement of social media was possible.

Clare Hill, managing director of the Content Marketing Association, said the new report showed the value of social in content marketing today and said brands should keep up. “The pace at which social media is growing in power and influence is remarkable. There are many opportunities for brands to use this to their advantage to make their voices heard,” she said.

Resources: marketingtechnews.com

How to reach today’s B2B buyer: A hybrid sales and marketing model

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Today’s buyer wields more power than ever before. They enjoy access to more information and are better informed about your company and products. Not only this, but they are more knowledgeable than ever before because they spend more time doing self-guided research.

The art of the cold call is dead to today’s buyer – they have fortressed themselves from intrusive sales tactics. They expect salespeople to have some knowledge of what they are interested in, and looking for.

It’s amazing to think that more than half of buying decisions are made before a sales team even gets involved. However, that doesn’t mean sales can step back and let marketing handle it all on their own. In order to win the hearts of buyers, sales and marketing must work hand in hand.

 

Sales and marketing learn to play nice

In the business world, marketing professionals and salespeople often struggle to collaborate or agree on anything. They question each other’s methods and love to play the blame game around the quantity and quality of leads versus the timely and professional follow-up on those leads. That doesn’t need to be the case. In fact, there’s a relatively simple solution to get everyone on the same page. The key is a new hybrid model that blends marketing and sales.

 

What is ‘hybrid’?

In science, hybrid refers to anything derived from heterogeneous sources, or composed of elements of different or incongruous kinds.

That simply means creating something by combining two different elements. This is what marketers and sales professionals must do. It’s time to blur the lines separating these two functions and have them learn from the other’s strengths.

 

The convergence of sales and marketing

So how does this merger of sales and marketing manifest itself? Well for one, sales professionals these days have to develop super-human senses. They must be tuned in to social channels, email opens, website visits and any other potential buying signals.

Sounds an awful lot like marketing, doesn’t it? Your potential buyers are a powerful force and they won’t wait around for you. That means marketing and sales teams have a very short window when it comes to responding to engagement. Potential buyers will visit a website, download content, and move on. Their interaction is recorded by marketing and passed on to sales.

The problem is that currently this process takes a couple of days…or longer! Would you still be interested in purchasing something from a department store if a sales attendant said they’d get to you in a few days? Not likely.

Sales and marketing must work closer together to make sure the way leads are handed over is as fast as possible.

 

Recipe for sales and marketing alignment

The need for a hybrid sales and marketing team is evident, but the real question is how can these teams work together to meet and exceed customer expectations and deliver on business objectives?

Here are a few simple steps to follow:

  • Listen intently to buying signals and personalise messaging to suit the buyer profile and the stage of their buying journey
  • Plan and build common objectives and compensation models as a team and make performance against those objectives highly visible
  • Specialise your lead qualification, prospecting and sales teams
  • Add structure and accountability into the lead management process – be sure to “mind the gap” for handoffs between marketing and sales teams

The era of functions operating independently in separate silos has ended. Engaging immediately and intelligently with qualified leads is more important than ever, which is why organisations need an intersection of sales and marketing.

Resources: marketingtechnews.com

Content marketing: How do you get value from it in email marketing?

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“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

It is all well and good developing programmes to drive sales and revenue, after all that’s what most brands are looking at as ROI from email. However, in this day and age where email is the most widely used form of communication with customers and prospects, is that enough? In my opinion it’s not.

What are you doing to differentiate yourself from everyone else in the inbox? What’s going to make you stand out?

There was a reason a subscriber took the time to sign up to your brand, why was that? They wanted something from you – were they interested in your proposition or product? Or was it all about your brand? Probably the first right?

So how do you get them interested and engaged in your brand? With content, that’s how.

There are different types of content you can use, so where do you start? Answering the question as to why the subscriber signed up and what they want is a great place.

What expectation does the sign up box/page on your website give?

  • Regular updates/tips
  • Member only information
  • Exclusive deals
  • Offers and discounts

If you’ve incentivised someone to signing up, or promised certain content, then you’d better follow through on that or you’ll find they’ll quickly be hitting that unsubscribe button.

In my mind subscribers sign up based on what you’ve offered, and that would be what they want from you. However, how can you be sure what you’re sending them is what they want? Lets not forget how fickle we humans can be and how often we change our minds. The best way I’d say you can qualify this is by simply asking them.

Very soon after someone new has subscribed to your email list, you’ll want to reach out to them to begin building your relationship. This is the perfect time to start with some valuable content, setting the expectation for what they’ll be receiving from your brand and collecting preference information through a well-designed Welcome Programme andPreference Centre.

Be mindful when collecting preferences – make sure you can actually deliver the different types of emails and content. The last thing you want are subscribers that have told you what they want and then don’t get it; a sure way to increase your unsubscribes.

Now that you know what your subscribers want from you, how are you going to deliver this? I have seen many brands use a hybrid approach and combine a newsletter with a sales email. Personally I believe these should be kept separate; once you combine these two types of email you are taking away from one CTA or the other. To me, it’s best to send a newsletter that contains news, with the main CTA being to drive traffic to the website and build a brand affinity – this is where your best valuable and relevant content should go.

Depending on your brand and industry, like travel or fashion for example, you may find that you have an abundance of content to share, and that’s great. There’s inspirational and informative content about where next to take your holiday or what’s trending right now with the latest A-lister wearing this winter’s coat.

For some though, this can be seen as challenging. What if you don’t have lot of engaging content? What if your product is more functional? For brands like this, user generated content (UGC) can be very useful. UGC can come in different forms – social posts, product reviews or customer forums for example. This content can be extremely valuable; who better than your customers and their peers to provide recommendations?

In summary, having a content strategy to go along with your sales and offer-led programmes can deliver great value to you. Receiving engaging and relevant content will keep your subscribers engaged with your emails, your brand in their minds and emails in their inboxes. Therefore, you have greater opportunity to get the right offer in front of them at the right time so they make the purchase.

Resources: marketingtechnews.com