Tag Archives: digital marketing

Digital Strategy Most Popular Among B2B Marketers

The most popular marketing tactics used by B2B companies are digital, according to the Sagefrog Marketing Group. When asked which of 16 common marketing tactics they use, 94% of B2B marketers pointed to websites, followed by email (76%), social media (68%), and SEO (58%). More traditional tactics such as direct marketing (48%), tradeshows (46%), seminars (44%), and print ads (35%) appeared further down the list, though they are more popular than search engine marketing (30%), webinars (26%), and online ads (25%).

Digital channels are among the highest sales leads providers. Online marketing and email marketing were named as the top sales leads providers after referrals. The top-3 was followed by tradeshows and events, public relations and direct mail. The popularity of digital channels may also be explained because they provide the best Return on Investment (ROI): online marketing and email marketing are top of the list, according to the report, outranking more traditional, offline marketing strategies such as tradeshows and direct mail. Read More

The New IKEA Catalog: Its ALIVE!

For over sixty years, the IKEA catalog has been a permanent feature. 198 million copies are distributed in 27 languages all around the world. While most companies are ditching their paper catalog in favor of showcasing their products online, the Swedish furniture manufacturer has decided to update their trusted publication and bring it to life.

Meet the IKEA catalog 2.0. Using a smartphone or tablet, you can view enhanced content interactively. It looks pretty slick. And it suits the IKEA philosophy of being cost-effective and innovative. The only thing un-IKEA about it is that it doesnt come in flat packages. .

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Social Media Chaos

Luma took a crack at bringing all the different programs, websites and apps involved in social media together. If marketers feel a little lost at times when confronted with social media strategy and campaigns, here is why. Digital marketing is confusing, even if you have a software system to manage it.

Bonus points if you can spot which social network is missing from the chart!*

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*Solution: Pinterest.

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Digital Shift Posing Problems to Marketers

Many major companies believe their digital marketing schemes are still exploratory or random, and few have engaged in-house experts to enhance their strategy, a study has revealed. The CMO Council, the trade body, and Acceleration, the consultancy, interviewed 200 senior executives. It discovered that a third of marketers described their digital portfolio as a random collection of solutions.

A further 44% saw this activity as exploratory. However, only 32% are working with their IT colleagues to assess their future needs and requirements, and a modest 26% had built multi-disciplinary teams to do so.

Roger Menz, VP, global marketing, at Sony Music Entertainment, said:

While enthusiasm and excitement over new and shiny platforms is exceedingly high, the level of real understanding and expertise is just not fully developed. Read More

Tech Firms Target Marketing

Vitrue, a provider of cloud-based marketing tools for centrally planning and running campaigns of any size and scale on sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Vitrue manages more than 1.3bn social interactions for over 500 brands, with customers including AT&T, the telco, McDonalds, the fast food chain, Procter & Gamble, the FMCG group, and BBDO, the agency. Thomas Kurian, EVP, Oracle Development, said:

The proliferation of social media and an increased demand by consumers to engage with brands across multiple social channels is driving chief marketing officers to look for an integrated social marketing platform. Read More

The Science Behind Viral Videos

Its the Holy Grail of marketing: a low-budget video promoting a brand gets picked up and goes viral. Buying ad space is unneccesary users upload and share the content themselves, spreading the video across the globe. Maximum exposure, minimum investment.

Or is it? According to research by Harvard Business School, digital content marketers face four main challenges when it comes to viral ads:

1. Prominent branding is a turn-OFF: Happiness Factory: a colorful, detailed digital animation that follows the journey of a coke bottle through the magical world inside a vending machine.

2. People get bored right away: such are the laws of the internet. If it isnt interesting, viewers leave.

Read More

Email Marketing vs. Marketing Automation: Which is Right For You?

marketing software, there is some confusion between email marketing and marketing automation. Many buyers see the two as synonymous, but in reality, the systems are very different, with a varied feature set designed for different types of buyers.

First, lets just break down the features:

From the feature list comparison, you can see that while there is functional parity in some areas, marketing automation is far more sophisticated. While email marketing systems are designed to track interactions related to email campaigns, marketing automation systems track the chain of interactions across multiple channels and can then make intelligent decisions based on the buyers behaviors.

Once you understand the features of each system, you have to reflect on your company and its needs to see what will work best for you. I suggest examining the three Cs: cost, complexity and content.

  • Cost Most email marketing systems run around $20/month. Marketing automation is a much larger investment that can range from a several hundred dollars a month to several thousands. However, the investment is worth it if the system is going to help you win more business.
  • Complexity Companies with limited resources and a fairly homogeneous customer base simply dont need marketing automation. An email marketing system will provide them with all the tools they need to reach out to clients on a regular basis, promote offers and deals, and attract new business. A company with a less uniform customer base might want to look into marketing automation.
  • Content Email marketing systems require little in the way of content: create standard templates and refresh them with new content every once in a while. With marketing automation, content is the gas that fuels the engine. A key feature of MA is lead nurturing, which is all about providing targeted messages and communication to a customer to guide them through the buyer cycle. Without strong and consistently delivered content, MA will fail.

For the full article, please check out the Marketing Automation Software Guide blog.

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Marketing Industry on the Move Again

The number of mergers and acquisitions climbed dramatically in the media and marketing sectors last year, suggesting a consolidation trend in the wake of the financial crisis. Berkery Noyes, the investment bank, reported that the value of M&A activity in these categories reached $54 billion in 2011, compared with totals of $38 billion in 2010 and $54 billion in 2009.

Evan Klein, Managing Director at Berkery Noyes, said:

The media and marketing industry is continuing its strong recovery from a slow fourth quarter in 2010. Marketing services and digital media companies have all benefited from a large increase in internet advertising revenues in 2011, and look to be promising segments for driving M&A activity. Read More

Asos, Net-A-Porter and HM Best Digital Marketers

Fashion retailers Asos, H&M and Net-A-Porter outperformed their European competitors in digital marketing this year, according to a study by think tank L2. The companies made the best use of digital marketing techniques, including mobile, social and email marketing communications strategies. In an increasingly tough climate for brick-and-mortar retailers, e-commerce is a growth market.

L2 assessed 55 leading players digital marketing strategies. Brands were measured on 350 data points across four dimensions: Site, Digital Marketing, Social Media, and Mobile and assigned a Digital IQ and a corresponding class of Genius, Gifted, Average, Challenged, or Feeble. The IQ distribution reveals a significant split in digital competence:  nearly half of the brands were categorized as Challenged or Feeble. A small elite of 7% scored Genius, and a decent 22% can call itself Gifted. Retailers with lower average price points performed better, suggesting high-end retailers are still hesitant to embrace digital channels. Read More

Expectations for 2012 Uncertain, but Marketing Budgets Up

survey by Doremus and The Financial Times. Over 600 executives from a variety of companies and industries gave their views on the business environment for the coming year. Six out of ten respondents said that they expect a further decline in the global economy over the next six months, with almost half saying that they don’t believe the economy will recover until or after 2013.

Contrary to what the previous statistics would suggest, companies announced they expect to increase rather than decrease their spend, with advertising and marketing spend increased by 10% in 2011 already. A quarter of organisations surveyed plan to hire this year, with the same proportion expecting their company’s employment levels to decline. Read More