Moving the needle in the year to come…
Here at TMM one of our missions is to stay across anything and everything happening in the marketing sphere that might yield ever greater value for our B2C and B2B clients.
With the year coming to a close we thought it was a good time to raise a candle and peer a little way down the path ahead. And boy oh boy are there some big themes emerging in the year to come!
Whether you’re looking to reach new customers in your industry sector or encourage return spending from existing ones, these five points provide an excellent roadmap for those looking at ways to maximise their return on investment in the pursuit of new business.
Let’s dive in and take a look.
1. Ever more content
Every year, content marketing – done right – continues to yield considerable, long term results for businesses and brands.
Besides the dramatic impact it has on improving your long-tail SEO and conversion rates, it has become apparent that people are relying more and more on content to educate, inform and convince them than traditional advertising.
And in a digital world, that clearly matters – particularly when more and more people are blocking out the ads to focus on that content. Make sure you’ve outlined some clear goals and outcomes, and start building your content pillars around them.
2. LinkedIn for Business – is it your weakest link?
We know from talking with our clients that LinkedIn remains something of an unknown quantity.
From the relevance of the material populating your feed to being spammed by those unsolicited InMail messages, for some it can feel like it’s inherited all the worst aspects of any other social network.
Cast your eye over the following statistics, compiled by Foundation Inc., however:
• LinkedIn constitutes more than 50% of all social traffic to B2B websites and blogs – a powerful referral channel.
• About 45% of LinkedIn article readers are in upper-level positions (think C-Suite and VIPs) – meaning the executive decision makers in your target audiences are that much more reachable.
• LinkedIn is responsible for 80% of B2B marketing leads coming from social channels – and, because of the nature of the audience, these are almost certainly higher quality leads than from other social channels.
• 65% of B2B companies have acquired a customer through LinkedIn… and where there’s one, there’s usually more to come.
Need we go on? If ever you need more convincing of the necessity of optimising your LinkedIn profiles, this should be it.
3. A more measured approach to reporting
One thing that 2018 showed was that while goals are being kicked with content, only 49% of B2B marketers are measuring their content marketing ROI. In 2019, it looks clear that this is likely to change.
Does your content convert? Because if it’s not converting, it’s not selling. And if you’re not analysing those results against spend, you simply won’t know what to optimise to lift your game and move the needle (to use a so-2017 phrase).
4. A shift to a customer-centric Omnichannel marketing model
In the beginning was the word, and the word was enough. Now though it’s about words, image, video, audio, dancing together across an Indra’s net of possible touch points.
That’s omnichannel thinking, and it’s kind of a big deal.
From the Latin omnis, meaning “all, everything”, omnichannel requires a more rigorous approach to identifying and pursuing your target audiences.
But it’s more than that – it’s also about thinking of things more from the customer’s point-of-view than your own objectives, and figuring out how to optimise their experience in a way that reduces any friction in that journey towards purchase.
They may start on Facebook, they may read your blog, they may bookmark your products page – they might even buy… but not if it’s not made easy for them to move across those channels in a sensible, coherent fashion.
5. Big changes to Google’s platform
And speaking of ‘all and everything’, Google made some pretty big behind the scene changes in 2018, many of which will begin to really take effect from 2019 onwards. In particular, they’ve brought a number of their offerings under the one banner, dubbed Google Marketing Platform.
As part of the shift, not only have they renamed AdWords – now to be known as Ads – they’ve integrated DoubleClick and Google Analytics 360 to facilitate easier planning, buying, measurement and optimisation of digital media.
But there are other changes underway as well. As identified by Search Engine Land, their Google Speed Update looks set to have a big impact in 2019, penalising sites that have yet to optimise their page speeds. (Oh, and if your site still hasn’t made the switch to secure https, perhaps it’s time to address that, too).
TMM is ready for the new
So there you have it. Even if you’re buying cycle is a little longer than other categories, things move fast out there. Even if you’ve got a strategy in place for the year ahead, The Measured Marketer can talk you through some new tactics to help you realise it.
Or, if you’re not 100% on your strategy in the post-digital world… well, we can assist there also. There’s enough sparkle in us to go around! Get in touch, and let’s chat about how we can help set you up for your next decade of business success.
In the meantime, have a fantastic (and safe) holiday season, and a wonderful new year. Here’s to all our Christmas wishes coming true 😉
