More play and less work this summer with these online apps

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In the past few years marketers have faced large-scale and accelerating change in their profession, and it’s showing little sign of slowing down. Today’s modern marketer faces a new paradigm of inbound marketing programs driven by digital channels, served by multiple methods and measured by sophisticated technologies.

It’s a brave, new world that marketers are negotiating, and often with limited budgets and staff. Today’s marketers wear many hats, manage a slew of different projects, and can be responsible for most, if not all of clients’ online marketing campaigns including social media, email marketing, content, SEO, etc.

And on top of all that we still have to marketing ourselves!

But there’s good news for the contemporary marketer; there’s an abundance of online tools that can help us control the workload. The following apps can help us manage our daily tasks and responsibilities allowing us to be more productive and ultimately, open up our schedules to do more of what we love.

 

Project Management/ Collaboration

Mavenlink

Mavenlink has a robust feature list. It assists in managing tasks, tracking projects (both internally and those with clients), sharing and receiving files and tracking time and expenses.

One of the standout features of Mavenlink is the ability to delegate tasks to both clients and employees, assign deadlines and view when the task has been started and completed.

Basically, Mavenlink is an all-inclusive project management tool and it is integrated with Google Apps.

Alternative apps: Basecamp; Trello

Search Engine Optimisation

Moz

This tool is extremely easy to use and navigate. You can see how your keywords rank, compare keywords side-by-side, and see which search engines are sending traffic to your site. And all can be done from your dashboard.

Alternative app: Google Insights; Optify

Landing Page Creation

Unbounce

Unbounce allows you to build, publish and A/B test landing pages without the help of IT. It empowers marketers to act independently from technical teams to improve efficiency and their ability to generate sales. Even if you don’t know how to code in HTML, Unbounce’s landing page builder is much faster.

File Management

Dropbox

Dropbox allows you access to all your files in the cloud, which means you can be anywhere and still access the file you need. Your files are stored online and are accessible to all members of your team for editing or reviewing purposes.

This application is especially beneficial if your company is spread out over several different locations. It saves you and your employees from having to email files back and forth — after you’ve dropped it in, it’s accessible to everyone.

Alternative app: Google Drive

Social Media Management

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a great tool if you manage multiple social media networks for an assortment of clients. You can pre-schedule posts for a specific date and time and you can preview how it looks before it goes live.

One of the best features of this app is the Hootstuit “Streams,” which allows you to view all your posts on all your networks in a visual format, making it super easy to keep track what you are posting and where. Additionally, you can track your campaign analytics, which is handy if you need to regularly report the success of clients’ social media campaigns.

Alternative app: TweetDeck; Buffer

Visual Content Tools

Piktochart

If infographics are part of your digital marketing campaigns, this is a wonderful tool for you. Not a designer? That’s okay; you don’t have to be to use this app. Piktochart allows you to create graphic-design worthy infographics on a user-friendly platform. It also allows you to store them all in your account so you can edit them whenever the need arises, great for clients that require a boat-load of changes!

Alternative apps: Prezi; Flexadex; Passpack; Evernote

Social media has the insight to modernise our marketing strategies

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The emergence of social media and the decline of mass media are the two biggest marketing stories of the decade. Both print circulation and television viewership have been falling consistently since the turn of the century. TV viewership is down almost 50% since 2002, however, social media has experienced astronomical gains since its humble MySpace beginnings. In fact, social media usage among U.S. adults is up a whopping 800% in the past eight years alone.

These dying forms of traditional media are taking our conventional marketing techniques with them. Today’s connected consumer is inundated with choice the minute they enter the ever-expanding world wide web. In order for companies to win business, their message has to stand out among the rest and the hard truth is, singular-message emails or banner ads meant for a massive audience just aren’t cuttin’ the mustard anymore.

While it may be hard to ditch some of the time-honoured marketing techniques of yore, the rapid transition from mass to social media is actually presenting marketers with the opportunity of a lifetime. Information collected from social media allows us to create impactful, relevant messages and personalise our marketing approach — which is not only more effective, but more cost efficient and scalable.

3 Step Personalised Marketing Process

Data Collection: The first step to gathering user data is to implement social login. Social login is a form of single sign-on which uses existing information from a social networking site (we’ve all been prompted to “login using Facebook,” “login using Twitter,” etc) to sign into a third party website.  By using social login, your business can collect and interpret data information to better understand their customers.

Data Segmentation: Determining meaning from raw data is a crucial next step when personalising the marketing process. Once the data is retrieved it needs to be broken down and analysed to determine customer identity and behaviour.

Data Conversion: After data is segmented, it needs to be converted into actionable insight. Companies can tie collected and analysed data into the marketing platforms they are using, i.e. CRM software, email marketing platforms and advertising networks.

The implementation of personalised marketing allows marketers to collect information from their audience using social data. Targeting smaller audiences is made possible for marketers simply by examining a group of user’s behaviour data and social profile. Messages that are tailored to appeal to niche audiences have higher relevancy and consequently, effect on a group.

If you are looking to improve your conversion rate, our Digital Manager, Veronica Nobbs, can help you turn social data into a targeted, personalised marketing strategy. Contact her at: veronica@b2bpartners.nz

4 B2B marketing strategies with a B2C twist

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As the digital world expands, business buyers are being presented with an unprecedented amount of information and opportunity for choice. This power of seemingly infinite knowledge and selection creates an unparalleled competitiveness that is forcing B2B marketers to evolve their campaigns to meet the growing expectations of their consumers.

But let’s face it, a B2B marketing career isn’t particularly glamorous — we’ve got to sell some downright unsexy products. So how can we present an engaging campaign about software, chemicals or manufacturing widgets to our extremely adept potential buyers?

The most successful business-to-business marketers start with building a brand, or in other words, they think like B2C marketers. The following are four ways to help “consumerise” our marketing practices.

1. More Marketing, Less Outside Sales

First and foremost, make sure all the information a buyer wants to know is front and center. One of the great strengths of B2C marketing is the wealth of product information that is available online, transparent pricing and easy purchase options. Yes, B2B purchases are significantly more complex, but marketers can provide detailed product specifications in easy to understand terms, demos and testimonials to help educate their potential buyers.

Marketers can speed up the purchase process by offering fixed pricing, which circumvents the need to negotiate. If a product is more complex with multiple features, tiered pricing will allow buyers to stay well informed during the research process.

Allow buyers to pay by credit card. This may not be an option for every B2B company, but it can greatly simplify the procurement process. Additionally, you could offer a line of credit to your buyers or provide direct billing online.

2. Give (Some of) it Away

Lowering barriers between a product and a buyer is crucial for B2B companies. When possible, try offering a free trial to customers — this allows them to develop an idea of what they can expect when the time comes for a purchasing decision. The focus here is getting people to actually use the product rather than marketers telling them how great it is.

A free product can go a long way; however it’s important to force a purchasing decision at some point. This could come in the form of a trial expiration date or blocking non-paying users from applying some of the features.

3. Customer Challenges to Encourage Feedback

Enterprise buyers want to know what their peers think of a product. Customer testimonials are certainly nothing new in the B2B world, however new technologies are providing ways to get customer advocates more actively involved in the marketing strategy. Platforms like Influitive allow B2B marketers to create challenges (i.e. provide a product review) that customers can complete in exchange for points. Acquired points can then be redeemed for an offer, for example a $25 voucher at a coffee house chain or even a free service provided by your company.

4. Marketing Gamification

It seems “gamification” is the new digital trend craze. It’s an interactive, entertaining way to promote awareness and encourages participation, not to mention makes tedious tasks (completing surveys) a little less laborious. Turning B2B marketing into a game is a bit tricky, but has proven successful for several businesses. Consider SonicWALL, a networking company who created a game for IT professionals called The Network Security Challenge. The premise of the game is to dictate what is allowed past the “security” as potential threats arise. As the game goes on, the threats are presented at an increasingly faster rate until it becomes impossible to stop every one. What the game is teaching its users is that no one person can manually decide what to let past a firewall and that a network security solution (SonicWALL) is needed to automate the process.

As the B2B and B2C worlds continue to intersect, we are likely to see more and more B2C strategies adopted by their business counterparts. While the list here is not an exhaustive one, they are a few tips to consider when making your marketing strategy more consumer-friendly.

If you want help developing a smart B2B marketing strategy with a B2C twist, contact our Digital Manager, Veronica Nobbs: veronica@b2bpartners.nz

5 ways to keep your customers from unsubscribing

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All too often email marketers focus their efforts on acquisition, forgetting that retention is also a major player in growing a valuable email subscriber base. From a single freelancer to global corporations, client equity matters. We know that customers who are subscribed to your email list are more likely to make a purchase from your company, but it’s not as straightforward as simply getting the opt-in box ticked.

Client turnover is the thorn in the side of every e-marketer and runs rampant within the web service industry. While we are always going to acquire temporary subscribers who later chose to withdraw from our databases, we can do a few things to keep them from dropping off like flies.

1. You’re emailing too often

Increased email frequency or too-frequent emails is the number one reason people unsubscribe to email lists. Even those who have willingly agreed to receive your updates can become fatigued with the constant assault on their inbox.

It’s hard to determine a frequency sweet spot as it varies industry to industry, but once you have, try to stick to it. Or better yet, allow your clients to select the frequency of their updates (i.e. once a day, week, month); those on your database will appreciate being given the option and as they are in control of how often they receive your emails, will be less likely to opt out.

2. You’re not emailing enough

Curse you, fickle consumer! Will you never be happy with your update recurrence? Yes, a good frequency is hard to find and, typically, less seems to be more effective; however if emails are too sparse you run the risk of a customer forgetting about you all together.

When you obtain a new subscriber, send them a helpful “welcome” email and follow up again within two to three weeks to keep your business fresh on their mind.

3. Your emails aren’t relevant

Your customers want emails that are personally relevant. Unless your company boasts a niche following, collecting a little data on each subscriber can help you segment your audience more easily. For instance, your male consumer base doesn’t want a bombardment of emails about attending your “Ladies Who Lunch” seminars.

Gathering a little extra information when a subscriber joins your mailing list (gender or age could be a good start) will help you implement a basic filter so each invite or promotion is pertinent to the individual client’s wants or needs.

4. Emails aren’t optimised for mobile

If you haven’t come to grips with the fact that mobile devices are steadily surpassing desktop you are frighteningly behind the times. If your newsletters and email images don’t look good on mobile, there’s a good chance they are going straight to Trash. Content that is difficult to absorb will frustrate your readers and, if the content you send out is consistently a point of dissatisfaction, a customer won’t give opting out a second thought.

If you’re not sure how to format your emails to look good via mobile, work with an email marketing software that provide ready-made, mobile optimised templates.

5. Content is too long, repetitive or boring

Mobile trends suggest people are beginning to expect shorter, more consumable pieces of information. Emails that waffle on don’t feel relevant or useful. Similarly, if you are flogging the same content over and over, you aren’t offering anything useful to your clients, which give them more than enough reason to unsubscribe.

Strip the extra content from your emails and identify a single call to action for each message. If you are sending multiple messages for a single event or promotion, highlight a different feature each time to avoid hounding your clients with the same, mundane content.

If you would like to talk to a pro about how to up your email marketing game, give us a shout! p: 09 950 2140

SEO best practices for the C-suite

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In the past 12 months, the SEO industry has undergone some very significant changes. And while some aspects of search engine optimisation haven’t changed (relevant and engaging content, keyword research, page titles and descriptions are all still invaluable), the presence of social media and inbound marketing are making considerable transformations in search optimisation, specifically at the enterprise level.

Organic search is the indisputable leader in driving traffic that will convert to a website. Yet, it remains among of the lowest funding priorities when it comes to the website or marketing budget. With organic search results garnering over 75 percent of clicks, it’s a wonder why so many businesses continue to invest such a large portion of their marketing budget into paid media. Yes, paid searches offer a quick fix solution, but it’s a short-term outcome with very few lingering benefits. Think of it this way: paying for search results is a lot like renting space in shopping centre–as long as you pay, you stay but as soon as you stop it’s like you never even existed.

So what do C-suite executives need to know? You’ll be surprised that these tips actually have more to do with company-wide collaboration than actual SEO programming.

1. Forget What You Know

Nearly every CEO, CMO and CIO understands the value of SEO and the crucial role it plays in generating leads and traffic. But with the constant metamorphosis of SEO, few executives realise just how challenging it is to not only gain, but sustain visibility in today’s digital environment.

Many in the C-suite will believe that bringing in a search agency or hiring more developers will be the golden ticket out of an underperforming SEO slump. Unfortunately, it’s going to require a little more blood, sweat and tears than that, and more importantly, teams across the entire company have to get involved. All departments must understand what it takes to earns organic search visibility and work together to complete the SEO objectives.

2. You’re In For the Long Haul

Good SEO isn’t simply a project; it’s a long-term investment strategy. Ensure that your SEO consultancy or agency will offer education across all internal divisions in your company. If a comprehensive understanding is not reached throughout all departments, there will be weak links, disconnects and obstacles from several directions, including management.

While the first step to better SEO practices is an enterprise-wide shift in processes and thinking, leadership must also be prepared to commit resources. Improving organic SEO practices is notoriously underfunded — when a strategy doesn’t meet immediate sale and bonus goals (campaigns can take up to 12-18 months before palpable results are felt), marketing managers and executives are hesitant to invest. The reality is, while pay-per-click offers a quick fix solution, SEO’s return on investment will continue to rise long after PPC has peaked. It may take a bit more company elbow grease, but your ROI will thank you for it.

3. Bring the Focus Back People

When putting together an SEO campaign, it’s easy to focus our attention on giving search engines what they want. It’s true that there is great value in ensuring your site conforms to technical SEO best-practices, but visibility isn’t accomplished simply by changing some keywords and titles. Social influence, social shares and content all have a hand in SEO success. And with the ever- increasing impact social media is having on digital media, people matter more than ever. Great content will resonate with your target audience and allow them to see you as an online authority. If you site is trusted, what you have to say will be shared, liked, tweeted, etc which will naturally boost your ranking.

So there you have it, the top three SEO best-practices for C-suite executives. As a leader of your business, you have considerable say in how far you can take your brand SEO. If you take anything away from this article, understand that good SEO requires development from all facets of a company, discipline, nurturing and patience. As the age-old adage goes, “good things take time”; garnering and sustaining organic search visibility is no easy feat but the success and exposure is well worth the struggle.

If you are looking increase the ROI on your SEO campaign and want some expert advice alongside a wealth of tools to cultivate your brand, give us a call! p: 09 950 2140

Digital scientist the new cool cats of marketing

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The traditional marketing and advertising techniques we once knew have drastically transformed in the digital age. Smooth-talking, martini-swilling Mad Men have been unceremoniously uprooted from their bar stools to make way for new cool cats in advertising — digital scientists and engineers who are developing new technologies to perfect our digitally driven ads.

While we haven’t completely forgone measures to emotionally connect consumers to a brand, it is no longer our driving force. Today’s strategies are about Big Data and innovation. Through accurate collection and proper analysis, this information enables us to pinpoint our audience demographics and deliver highly targeted ads which directly speak to individual wants and needs. While it may sound a bit hard-nosed, the truth of the matter is this: campaigns today must now be completely immersed in digital strategy or run the high risk of being overlooked.

It is probably unnecessary to say, then, that evolving your brand with the latest online marketing trends is vital to your business. Let’s explore some predictions for what the top digital stratagems will be in 2014.

1. Content Marketing — It’s More Important Than Ever

You may be thinking that content has always been an important part of marketing strategies, and you’d be right if you are. But the ‘what and how’ we are presenting our content is changing and will be more crucial than ever in the next year(s). As inbound marketing strategies are steadily overtaking more antiquated outbound forms, it is important to focus on producing valuable, engaging content designed for specific, target audiences. After all, one of the main ways a brand is able to establish authority and trustworthiness with consumers is by regularly producing valuable content through a variety of different outlets. Some of the most effective channels for B2B companies are: social media, company blog posts/articles, case studies and eNewsletters.

And lest we forget, always make your website accessible from mobile devices. Whether you create an alternate mobile-friendly version or utilise responsive web design, it has to be done. There are seven billion people in this world and six billion of them have smart phones — that’s a pretty big audience that you won’t be reaching.

2. Social Media Marketing Will Require More Diversity

Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are still the head honchos of social media, but sites like Pintrest, Google+ and Instagram (to name a few) are surging in popularity, thus providing businesses with a wider array of options to produce unique and engaging content. By branching out and experimenting with multiple networks, businesses will be able to build their audiences across more channels and acquire higher recognition rates, building brand equity.

3. Ad Remarketing Will Grow in Efficiency

To sum up remarketing, it is a strategy that works by utilising browser cookies to track the websites consumers visit. If a viewer leaves your site without converting (only 2% of web traffic convert within the first visit), the product or service will be shown to them again in advertisements across other websites they subsequently visit. It is basically a friendly reminder to the non-converted, keeping the brand front of mind and increasing overall conversion rate.

4. SEO & Social Signals Will Become More Intertwined

Since the aim of Google and search engines like it is to provide users with the highest quality and most relevant content possible, it is no surprise that social shares (likes, shares, tweets, etc) will start playing a bigger factor in SEO. They theory is that the more social shares a blog post or article has, the higher quality it is likely to be. Social shares also serve as a kind of trust signal for visitors to a landing page. If viewers see that a page has a high number or shares, they can only assume that there is something of value there. Many businesses are harnessing this power of social influence by installing social share plugins and encouraging viewers to share content with their social media circles.

5. Websites to Take a Turn Towards Minimalism

In 2014 we will see marketers answer a shift in customer preference by offering content that is quick and easy to digest as opposed to text-laden, in-depth messages. Brands will not only begin to tone down their messages so as not to overwhelm customers, but begin featuring content with well-placed images, infographics, etc to break up content and help emphasise key points.

 

While it may seem like consumers could not possibly be more connected than they already are, the truth is, we are becoming increasingly more conscious, hip, knowledgeable, by the second and it’s not waning any time in the foreseeable future.

If you are looking to fine-tune your website and want some expert advice, contact our Digital Manager, Veronica Nobbs:veronica@b2bpartners.nz

The psychology of marketing: influence and the power of persuasion

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In recent blog posts we’ve explored several tactical methods for improving conversions rates,and while these practices certainly have proven benefits, we can’t focus all our energies on traffic-generating strategies. A key component of a great inbound marketer is the ability to understand the science behind what drives a consumer during the buying process.

Integrating behaviourism into your marketing strategy is a fail-safe way to increase your conversion rate and boost your web sales. Understanding the key psychological principles behind consumer behaviour can mean the difference between good content and persuasive content, which will better influence target audiences and allow them identify with a product or service.

Dr Robert B. Cialdini is Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University and best known for his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion in which he famously lists his “Six Principles of Influence.” Despite being published in 1984, the book’s foundations remain steadfast and relevant even as the digital marketing world evolves.

Cialdini’s Six Principles of Influence:

1. Reciprocity

The theory of reciprocity is that people generally strive to return favours, pay back debts and treat others in reflection of how they have been treated. Customers respond well when they are given something for free without being asked for anything upfront, hence the prevalence of free samples in marketing.

Action: From a digital perspective, evaluate what you have to offer (whitepapers, samples, free features, etc) and present it at no cost to your viewer. This small “gift” will generate a feeling of obligation with your audience who, as a result, will be more willing to concede their business.

2. Commitment

We, as humans, have an inherent need to be seen as consistent. Delivering on a promise is congruent with our self image, meaning that we want to see ourselves as an individual who stays true to his word. Once we have publicly committed to something or someone, we are much more likely to follow through with it.

Action: Havepotential customersmake a preliminary public commitment. Perhaps, before they receive an offer or sample, the consumer must share their pledge or support to your brand on one of his or her social networking sites.

Another option could be the length of a commitment. If you are a company who collects customers through memberships, consider lowering prices or offering rewards to customers who sign up for six months instead of three. The longer the commitment, the harder it will be for a customer to churn.

3. Social Proof

Social proof is apsychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect the appropriate behaviour in a given situation. For example, if everyone in the office is working late, we will be more inclined to stay late too. Social proof is a type of conformity; we are particularly susceptible to this principle when feeling uncertain and are even more likely to be influenced if the person we are modelling our actions after appear to be similar to us.

Action: The power of social proof can drastically improve conversion rates of a website, and the best part: there are several ways to incorporate it. Testimonials, reviews, feedback and social widgets (i.e. shares, likes, tweets) allow potential customers to be influenced by the opinions of the masses.

4. Authority

People have a tendency to obey those in positions of authority — a police officer, professor, government official.  This is why the most influential type of spokesperson is the Credible Communicator. This person is an expert in his or her field and demonstrates two key traits: knowledge and trustworthiness.

Action: If you have the ability to employ an expert as your spokesperson or communicator, do so. (For example, we often see pharmaceutical companies invite doctors or medical professionals to front their campaigns.) Or position yourself to be an expert by soliciting reviews from satisfied customers, bloggers or even friends and family.

Additionally, you can develop brand trustworthiness by saving your most compelling argument after you have mentioned a weakness. By admitting to a shortcoming, your viewers will see your brand as fair, honest and relateable.

5. Liking

According to Cialdini, “liking” someone is extremely meaningful as it affects the chance of being influenced by that individual. Liking someone is usually based on sharing something akin, whether that is a personality trait, goal, or value. Highlighting the parallels in you and your audience’s relationship is an effective way to further improve conversions.

Action: “About Us” or “Our Mission” pages serve as an opportunity to tell potential buyers about yourself/company and promote the similarities you share.

6. Scarcity

Perceived scarcity will generate demand as people tend tocrave more of something unavailable to them. The simple idea that something may be limited will alone spur action. For instance, we may purchase something immediately if we are told it is that last one, ensuring we do not miss the opportunity later on.

Action: Scarcity language is an important catalyst when persuading a viewer to take action.  “Only 2 Left at This Price” or “Offer ends in (x) hours” are examples of phrases that focus on the rarity of the offer and encourage buyers to act with a greater sense of urgency. TryA/B Testingyour landing pages to see which phrases promote more conversions.

 

Cialdini’s principles are paramount when you are looking to influence and persuade others. These truthsgive insight on howreach your audience on a deeper, emotional level and encourage them tofollow throughwith a desired action. It is important to be responsible with this strategy; if a customer feels they have been misled you’ll lose not only their business but run the risk of losing new business through bad reviews and feedback. Always use these principles honestly and ethically without misrepresentation.

Have you applied any ofthese sixprinciples of influence in your marketing strategies? Have you used any other physiological methods to improve your conversion rate? If so, leave a comment below and tell us how it worked for you!

Why video content is the future of marketing

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While it may be overused, the old adage, “content is king,” still rings true — perhaps more so than ever. According to eMarketer, a total of $118.4 billion has been spent on content marketing in 2013 alone and, as we allocate more and more of our budget towards content, we must contemplate new ways to keep the information we produce fresh and engaging.

Many marketers are seeing video as a prominent player in the future of content marketing — it’s a quick, consumable and provides a creative way to tell a story or communicate ideas without exhausting an audience. It can offer a refreshing, laid-back alternative to the large quantities of text we consume on a daily basis, not to mention it’s likely your competitors have not implemented video into their marketing strategy yet, giving you an advantageous leg up.

Traditionally, video content has been very difficult to measure and analyse, making it impossible to justify via ROI. But with new advancements in video content analytics, you can see who is watching your video, for how long, what parts are being skipped and what parts are being re-watched.

Once you decide that video content marketing is the right move for your company, how do you implement it successfully? Here are a few tips to make video as engaging, compelling and cost-effective as possible.

1. Don’t Break the Bank

You don’t need to throw your entire budget into one, high-production video to bait followers. Make your video part of a wider content marketing campaign that aims to generate ongoing, sustainable outcomes. Over time, when/if your goal changes, you will have the funds to be able to produce additional videos to meet your evolving needs. It is also important to note that it is unlikely at best that your video will be completely optimal your first attempt. If you make a pig’s ear of the first one, your economical approach will allow for changes and improvements to be made withinyour remaining budget.

2. Make Use of What You Have

Have any of your company members spoken at an industry event? Been on TV? Maybe you’ve filmed some product testing or development in the past? If so, there is a good possibility you’ve got some compelling footage already on hand. And if there is still not enough to put together an engaging video package, there are plenty of inexpensive ways to generate content that will give your customers an inside look into your business (think staff interviews and office tours). A tight budget doesn’t have to stop you from putting together a great video that connects with your audience.

3. Leverage Events

Holding events provides you with an abundance of subject matter for video footage. The key is to be resourceful and creative; use these opportunities to collect a wealth of content in one go. Interviews with international staff who would otherwise be unavailable, visiting speakers at the event as well as your own company speakers can all be accessed in one location! Now would also be a prime opportunity to gather some time-lapse footage depicting the buzz generated from your product or service at the event in question.

4. Assure Your Video Works Across Mobile Platforms

As more and more people access content on the move via iPads, tablets, and smartphones, it’s important to be sure your videos are optimally displayed when viewed from mobile devices. When choosing your distribution channels, make sure that at least one is properly formatted for responsive design and will support video playback on a variety of devices (remember: Flash is not accessible from iPhones/iPad).

5. Make it Interactive

There are tools that are now allowing for more consumer interaction within video. Dynamic content and maps as well as an ability to ask for responses within a video’s frame are just a few of the new capabilities available. Mozilla’s Popcorn is a good tool to look into to and find out more about video interaction.

The opportunity for your brand to creatively engage with its audience is constantly progressing and expanding. Video has undoubtedly shown a vast upward trend in the past two years alone and the best part is there is no one way to incorporate it into your marketing strategy. Whether you are a multi-million dollar brand or a mom and pop shop, video can be business and budget friendly.

If you think your business is ready to introduce video into your marketing strategy, contact our Managing Director, Steve Ballantyne. p: 09 950 2140

Optimise your website through the science of A/B Testing

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A/B tests can be a valuable component to any brand’s marketing strategy — when used properly. Not only does it provide insight into your target audience, but will yield better conversion rates and ultimately, improve sales. A/B testing takes the guesswork out of website optimisation and provides measureable data to validate whether or not any new change or addition will improve a website. And while this practice is becoming more commonplace, many still don’t incorporate it into their strategy. Whether you don’t understand what A/B testing is, are unsure of the benefits it can have for your company or believe you are an omniscient, marketing god among us (blasphemer!), it might be time that someone took you back to school.

A/B testing belongs to a category of Scientific Optimisation techniques in which statistics are used to increase the odds that your site-visitors see the best performing version of a page possible. Now before I scare you off, this is a pretty basic method of testing. Take a trip down memory lane to your “Introduction to Science” class. Remember the experiment where you tested various substances on plants to see which best supported their growth? Each was subjected to a different condition apart from one (the control), which had no additives, and, in the end, the difference in height proved which substance, if any, performed the best.

A/B testing (often called split-testing) is very similar. You have two designs of a website, A and B. Let’s say website A is the original version, or the control. Website B is then created and the two are split amongst your website traffic and their performance is then measured using whatever metrics you care about (conversion rate, sales, bounce rate, etc.). Whichever version rates the highest in the end, becomes the new control.

 

Seems easy, but it is still possible to oversimplify a simple concept. If you are creating two pages to test and, for example, only change the colour of the heading, button or the title text of one, you are not capitalising on all the benefits split testing has to offer. Chris Lema of Emphasys Software helps to put the theory of A/B testing into perspective, “The best way to create alternative designs is to create alternative theories of the prospect, which is why I think of split testing as hypotheses testing.”

 

Imagine you are designing a landing page for a cruise line. You might have a few different hypotheses about how to attract a potential client:

 

1. The client cares most about price. They want a deal.

2. The client cares most about destination. They’re looking for something exotic.

3. The client can only travel at a specific time and wants to know what is available.

 

Three different landing pages are designed based on each hypothesis. One highlighting deals or promotions on offer, one showcasing distant and exotic ports of call and one focused around an active calendar displaying what packages are available and when. Now we split these page variations amongst your website traffic which will show the percentage of conversions garnered from each one. Based on the results derived from your experiment, you can easily pick the optimal page to launch with.

So you see, A/B testing can be incredibly profitable for any company or business. You can use split testing on websites, or email campaigns to increase product sales, generate more leads or ensure your audience solves their technical support issues faster. Class dismissed!

If you are looking to fine-tune your website and want some expert advice, contact us! p: 09 950 2140

5 ways to score more LinkedIn followers

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With over 2 million companies registered within their database (including all Fortune 500 corporations), it’s no real revelation that LinkedIn can be a powerful tool in the B2B world. A company profile allows you to build your professional network via the influence of social media and being top of your class is certainly beneficial to your brand. Procuring company followers increases your business’s visibility as your updates will be seen throughout the LinkedIn community, attracting your target audience.So how do you acquire a bunch of LinkedIn groupies? While there is no exact formula to catapult you into the upper echelons of LinkedIn stardom overnight, there are certainly some helpful practices to enhance your company page.

1. All in the Family

Your friends and family are your biggest fans, so use your real life community to help develop your social media channels. When you start using a new platform, invite these people to connect with the page first. This will help you to build a decent foundation to start attracting new followers.

2. Share and Share Alike

You can use your already existing social media communities to draw attention to your LinkedIn page. Share your business via Facebook or Twitter, all of these forums should be used in conjunction with each other to yield the best results. You can do this in corporate forms of communication (email, newsletters, advertisement) as well, just remember to make it compelling. Include information you will make available to followers: promotions, articles, event, etc.

Following other companies’ pages is a good tactic as well. Showing a bit of sportsmanship and camaraderie will no doubt earn respect from your peers as well as gather some reciprocated follows along the way.

3. A Matter of Substance

Since most everyone is on LinkedIn for career purposes, use this opportunity to increase exposure for your products or services. Share engaging, original content that is applicable in your followers’ everyday life. Workplace tips or career advice is always relevant and, if you are having trouble coming up with content, consider using personal experiences. Chances are you are not the only one to encounter a business problem — share how you resolved a difficult matter with others who may be having issues in a similar situation.

Once you add new content, make sure to share it across your other social media platforms; it will increase the likelihood of people finding your LinkedIn content.

4. Consistence Beats Resistance

Post new content often to keep viewers interested and coming back to your page. Perhaps set aside one day a week (or more) to publish new information or advice. This will force you to keep your content timely and relevant.

5. Top Jocks Need Their Lackeys

Just kidding. You’re employees are not your lackeys. But getting staff members involved and backing your company is advantageous for everyone involved. First, encourage anyone who does not have a LinkedIn page to create one and list your company as their current employer. You company logo will then show up on their profile and will click through to your company page. You employees can then “like” and share status updates from your company page. Remember: more views = more brand recognition = more followers.

As I previously mentioned, overnight popularity isn’t something to realistically strive for. But begin putting the groundwork in early. You may be pretty green at the start, but a little networking and a bit of swagger will ensure you’re the one being crowned king of the LinkedIn prom.

If you feel that your LinkedIn profile could use a bit of a boost, we’re here to lend a helping hand. Contact our Digital Manager, Veronica Nobbs: veronica@b2bpartners.nz