The BL[OZ]

The big secret to a winning marketing plan is to start from the top and gradually work your way down to the details. Ultimately, every strategy serves the strategy above it. Whether it's your company's content or digital strategy serving the annual marketing plan you'll build, which in turn serves the company's business strategy - everything should converge into a workable plan that makes life easier for you and your team. So, as we said, from top to bottom:

1. Start with Clear, Measurable Business Goals:

Begin by defining your business objectives before diving into the details of the marketing plan. Are you aiming to increase sales by 20%? Strengthen your brand? Perhaps enter a new market? Make sure your goals are SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound - so you can track your success throughout the year.

2. Deep Dive into Your Target Audience:

Invest time in thoroughly analyzing your target audience. Leverage data from your CRM, customer surveys, and digital analytics tools like Google Analytics to understand customer needs, pain points, and preferences. Are there new audiences worth targeting? Adjust your messaging and marketing channels based on these insights.

3. Set a Well-Structured Marketing Budget:

Your marketing budget is the backbone of your plan. Break it down by channels, activities, events, and campaigns. Remember to maintain some flexibility for unexpected opportunities or initiatives that might arise during the year.

4. Define Your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

KPIs are your compass throughout the year whether it's lead generation, conversion rates, or social media engagement - set clear metrics for each marketing activity and monitor them regularly to make adjustments as needed.

5. Conduct Market and Competitor Analysis

Invest in competitor analysis to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their marketing activities. What are their most successful campaigns? Which channels do they excel in? What sets you apart? These insights will help you build a differentiated, powerful strategy that highlights your company's unique value proposition.

6. Map Out Essential Industry Events:

The B2B industry is heavily influenced by events, conferences, and trade shows. Create an annual calendar including all major events where you need to participate - whether as exhibitors, sponsors, or attendees. These events not only increase your visibility but provide valuable networking opportunities with potential clients, partners, and investors.

7. Integrate Digital Strategy with Physical Events:

When planning physical events, it's crucial to incorporate a digital strategy. Use digital campaigns for audience invitations, live streaming during the event, and social media content sharing. This amplifies your exposure and helps your event remain memorable long after it's over.

8. Develop a Smart, Focused Content Strategy:

Your content strategy should reflect your business objectives and align with each stage of the customer journey. Create a content calendar including blog posts, social media campaigns, webinars, video content, and more, based on keyword research and audience needs. Stay flexible and adjust content in real time based on field insights.

9. Optimize Your CRM System:

Ensure your CRM system is up-to-date and configured to support your marketing plan. Set up sales and marketing automation processes, generate focused insights from existing data, and ensure teams are utilizing it to enhance customer experience. A robust CRM system enables lead tracking, customer retention, and data-driven planning.

10. Finally, Use Project Management Tools to Execute Your Plan!

To maintain organization and efficiency, consider using project management tools like ClickUp, Asana, Wrike, or Monday. These tools allow you to plan detailed workflows, track task performance in real time, and improve team collaboration.   Want to share your marketing plan with us? Have suggestions for improvement? If you're already an Oz client - contact your account manager today, If you're not our client yet - what are you waiting for? :)  

Even the most well-crafted content can sometimes fail to deliver the results you want. As our world gets more digital, it’s not uncommon for businesses to pour money and time into creating high-quality content, blogs, videos, social media posts, and eye-catching designs, only to find that their efforts don’t connect with their target audience or drive results. In most cases, this isn't a reflection of the campaign's quality, but a sign that it simply doesn't align with the company's "big picture" and goals. Consider this: A company puts together an insightful blog post packed with valuable information and engaging visuals or an expert educational webinar. The problem is, if that campaign isn’t aligned with the brand’s broader marketing goals and strategy or tailored to the specific needs and behaviors of its audience, it’s likely to miss the mark. Without a strategic framework guiding planning, production, and distribution, even the best campaign can get lost in the noise of the internet, failing to generate traffic, engagement, or conversions. Your campaign could have all the right elements in place - compelling storytelling, high production values, and a strong call to action, but without the strategic groundwork, it is likely to struggle to achieve meaningful results.

Why Often Misses the Mark?

Creating digital content that truly connects with your audience is no small feat. The landscape is crowded, the competition is intense, and audiences are more critical than ever. While many businesses pour resources into content creation, they find that their efforts do not translate into engagement or conversions. Most of the time, it's just a lack of alignment between content and the organization's overall business goals. Without a clear, strategic framework, content can become scattered, inconsistent, and ultimately ineffective. This is exactly why companies should consider stepping back to take a broader view. Rather than rushing ahead with the next campaign or content piece, a strategic pause to reassess and realign can be incredibly valuable. This is the essence of the discovery and study processes, a strategic approach that will build a solid foundation for your digital marketing campaign.  

Understanding the Study Process

The primary aim of the Study process is to provide a focused analysis of your current digital marketing efforts. It’s about taking a step back and evaluating what’s working and what isn’t, allowing for strategic adjustments that enhance performance. This process is ideal for annual strategy reviews, specific campaign assessments, or when there’s a need to refresh the approach to your digital marketing.

What It Achieves?

The Study process delivers actionable insights that help fine-tune your digital strategy. By concentrating on specific areas, such as target audience engagement, campaign effectiveness, or digital content performance, the Study process allows businesses to make data-driven decisions that improve ROI. It helps you understand where your content may be falling short and offers concrete steps to address these issues.

How It’s Done?

• Initial Consultation: In-depth session to clarify your business’s current digital marketing objectives and identify the key areas that require attention.
• Targeted Research: Assessing the performance of specific campaigns, audience engagement metrics, and the effectiveness of your content in driving desired outcomes.
• Strategy Refinement: Adjust and optimize existing strategies based on findings.
• Implementation and Monitoring: Monitoring and tweaking the revised strategy as needed.

Example: A company uses the Study process for an annual strategy review, identifying gaps in campaign performance and refining their approach to improve results.

Exploring the Discovery Process

The Discovery process offers a broader, more comprehensive approach to digital strategy development. It’s designed for businesses that are launching new brands, undergoing a rebrand, or expanding into new markets. The Discovery process is about building a solid strategy that aligns with long-term business goals and keeps consistency across all digital channels. The Discovery process offers a deep dive into your brand’s identity, your market, and your audience. It provides a holistic understanding of your brand’s digital landscape. It uncovers opportunities for differentiation, identifies potential challenges, and sets a strategic direction that makes sure all digital efforts are aligned with your overarching business goals. One of the unique offerings of the Discovery process is the development of a visual language for your digital activities. This component ensures that your brand communicates consistently and effectively across all platforms, enhancing brand recognition and coherence, which is not typically included in the Study process. The goal is to develop a strategy that meets immediate needs as well as positions your brand for long-term success. This process is particularly beneficial for companies preparing for major changes, such as a new brand launch or market expansion.

How It’s Done?

• Kick-off Meeting: Clarify goals and challenges.
• Comprehensive Research and Analysis: A thorough examination of the market, competitors, and internal capabilities. Key activities include identifying Buyer Personas, conducting a Competitive Digital Analysis, and performing a detailed SEO review.
• Digital Strategy Development: Based on the research insights, a full-scale digital strategy is formulated. This includes defining content pillars, creating a media plan, and developing creative visual guidelines that ensure brand consistency across all platforms.
• Presentation and Implementation: Once approved, the strategy is implemented, with ongoing support to ensure its success.

Example: A company undergoing rebranding uses Discovery to align its digital presence with its new identity, resulting in a cohesive and impactful digital strategy.

Why Discovery Is the Better Choice?

While both the Study and Discovery processes offer valuable insights and strategic direction, the Discovery process stands out as the more comprehensive and long-term solution. Here’s why Discovery might be the better choice for most businesses: Long-Term Strategic Value Discover aims to build a digital strategy that will serve your business for years to come, not just address immediate needs. By conducting thorough research and analysis, the Discovery process helps you create a strong, adaptable strategy that can evolve with your business. This long-term focus is particularly valuable in today’s fast-paced digital environment, where trends and technologies are constantly changing. Comprehensive Insights Unlike the Study process, which offers a more focused review, the Discovery process provides a holistic view of your digital strategy. This includes everything from a detailed SEO review to the development of creative visual language guidelines. These insights are crucial for making sure that all aspects of your digital presence. From content to design, everything is aligned with your brand's goals. Flexibility and Customization One of the key benefits of the Discovery process is its flexibility. The process can be adjusted to your specific needs - whether you’re launching a new product line, rebranding, entering a new market, or looking to create a unified visual identity for your campaigns. This customization helps make sure that your digital program is relevant, consistent, and effective.     With the digital marketing arena being so fast-paced, it’s easy to get caught up in the rush to produce content and launch campaigns. Taking the time to reassess your digital strategy allows you to see what’s really working and where you might need to adjust course. It’s not simply about tweaking a campaign here or there, but rather making sure that every piece of content you create is connected to your broader goals and truly resonates with your audience. Whether you’re considering the focused approach of the Study process or the more comprehensive Discovery process, this strategic pause is crucial so your content doesn’t just reach your audience—it makes an impact.    

Imagine a ballerina trying to dance with one hand tied behind her back. That’s how it often feels during a branding process at a medical company. The marketing team wants to fly high, while the regulatory team wants to keep your feet firmly on the ground, ensuring you comply with every sentence, word, and letter. There are no good guys or bad guys in this story. It’s simply about complexities of a different magnitude that your brand needs to successfully navigate. It's a story about a road not yet taken.  

When the journey takes an unexpected turn

During branding strategy kick-off meetings, we take a deep dive into your product, technology, and service.  We’re looking for a fresh perspective, a promise not yet made, a story yet to be told. At this point, we get excited as we hear about groundbreaking technologies, solutions, and life-enhancing, life-prolonging products. Our jaws drop. With this WOW feeling, we continue the learning process in which we talk to customers, analyze the competition, and create a multi-participant meeting within the company to fine-tune its significant and differentiated strengths and generate outstanding benefits for its customers. As the process continues, we begin to understand the regulatory limitations. Suddenly, “Cinderella”, your extraordinary technology is being held back by regulatory limitations and is covered with “soot”.  

Understanding limitations and optimizing capabilities

During the process, we’ve heard “It’s a given” or “It's powerful, but I can't confirm it" more times than we can count. Responses like these made us understand there must be a better way.  That’s how our new module was born. It’s placed right at the beginning of the branding strategy process, which sets the stage for an open and guided dialogue between marketing and regulatory early on.

Challenging the norms

This dialogue is about helping the marketing team to understand the limitations in depth, and for the regulatory team to delve into the marketing team’s needs. It’s an authentic dialogue that creates a space to carry out activities that weren’t possible before. Understanding the precise needs opens up new perspectives and enables solutions within the boundaries of regulations. We understand the importance of compliance, but our experience shows that there are many degrees of freedom that are not being tested.

It’s not about overstepping the bounds of the approved claims, but we also don’t want to take a step backward in the name of conservatism.

Sometimes it's a matter of overall wording, sometimes it's just changing one word. It's the little things that make a big difference. Stopping to ask questions often gives you a competitive advantage. Sometimes, there won’t be any flexibility in the claims you make, but at least you’ll know that you’ve turned over every stone.  

Structured and managed conflicts are an opportunity

Remember, whoever sits at the decision-making table wants the company to succeed and do the best they can. Inherently, conflict is not a negative; it can also be an opportunity. Don't let emotions run the process. As we often say, “Don’t be right, be smart!” As with every relationship where there’s an inherent conflict, there’s great value in professional guidance to create the conditions for a productive dialogue. To meet this need, we’ve created a special collaboration between OZ Global B2B and Leap, led by Moran Faibish, who has extensive experience in leading marketing in global medical companies. Moran has hands-on experience in bridging the gap between marketing and regulations to create deep and unique brand promises — promises that aren’t possible without providing an informed and professional framework that enables constructive communication.

Play smart

The more we play smart within the regulatory limits to make the most of your claims, the more we can create a differentiated value proposition that more accurately reflects your breakthrough technology. This is how your brand will shine. We’ll be there every step of the way to guide the process, refine the messaging, and make sure your “WOW” comes through loud and clear. If you’ve nodded your head while reading this, it’s time for us to talk.    

But first, a disclaimer: My name is Rivi, and I'm a proud Zionist (I believe in the Jews' right to self-determine in their ancestral homeland).

In recent years, while immersed in the online world of Hasbara, I’ve witnessed firsthand the challenges of representing Israel's narrative in a vast digital landscape. With Jews comprising just 0.2% of the global population, our voice can easily be drowned out in the maelstrom of social media.

This blog post examines a fascinating case study in digital activism: how a simple fruit emoji became a battleground for narrative control. We'll explore the marketing strategies at play and their implications for Israel's online presence. While we analyze these tactics objectively, our goal is to empower pro-Israeli voices in this ever-evolving digital dialogue.

At the end of this blog, you'll find actionable recommendations on supporting content creators who are amplifying Israel's perspective in the online world.

The Roots of a Symbol

As we approach National Watermelon Day on August 3rd, let's slice into a juicy marketing tale that's more complex than meets the eye. It's the story of how a simple fruit emoji became a powerful symbol in one of the world's most enduring conflicts. The roots of this story begin back in the 1960s, when the watermelon, with its colors reminiscent of the Palestinian flag, became a covert symbol of Palestinian identity. Palestinian activists used the watermelon imagery in graffiti and posters, primarily because in 1967, Israel passed a law prohibiting the raising or display of Palestinian flags (which had been canceled, during the Oslo Accords in the 1990s). The watermelon became a symbol of political resistance, and if we fast-forward to today's digital age, this symbol has found new life as an emoji, skillfully wielded by pro-Palestinian activists in their online narratives.

A Clever Marketing Strategy

But here's where it gets interesting from a marketing perspective: the use of the watermelon emoji isn't just a random choice. It's a clever strategy that serves multiple purposes:

1. Bypassing Algorithms: By using an innocuous fruit emoji, activists can often fly under the radar of content moderation systems. It's a digital sleight of hand that marketers call "Algospeak."
2. Viral Potential: Emojis are the universal language of the internet. They're easy to use, easy to share, and can convey complex emotions and ideas in a single character. It's virality in its purest form.
3. Continuity of Message: By adapting a historical symbol to modern digital platforms, the pro-Palestinian movement maintains a consistent narrative across generations. It's brand continuity at its finest.

The Israeli Perspective

Yet every story has another side. In Israel, where watermelons are a staple of hot summers and where the country produces a whopping 140,000 tons annually, this digital co-opting hasn't gone unnoticed. Enter the counter-narrative: Pro-Israeli social media users have begun their own campaign to reclaim the watermelon emoji. It's not about fruit anymore; it's about identity, representation, and the power of symbols in the digital age. Some Israeli users have started adding emojis of the Israeli flag, watermelon, and yellow ribbon (for the hostages) to their usernames, while others are creating actual content around watermelons: recipe videos, which are inherently popular on social media, featuring watermelons with the Israeli flag proudly displayed in the background. Other users (typically younger ones) are simply riding existing trends, adding watermelon eating to dances, trendy sounds, and more. Some have gone as far as creating simple online games centered around watermelons, while pro-Israeli creators are directly addressing the appropriation of the watermelon as a Palestinian symbol, calling it an unfounded act.

Marketing Insights from the Emoji Wars This digital tug-of-war offers fascinating insights for marketers:

1. The Power of Symbols: Who knew a fruit could carry so much meaning? It reminds us that in the right context, even the simplest symbols can convey complex messages.
2. The Importance of Proactive Strategies: The pro-Israeli response underscores the need for brands to be vigilant about their symbols and ready to reclaim them if necessary.
3. Authenticity Matters: The most effective responses are those rooted in genuine cultural connections. Israel's agricultural tie to watermelons provides an authentic base for their counter-narrative.
4. David vs. Goliath in the Digital Age: The pro-Palestinian digital presence significantly outnumbers the pro-Israeli one. It's a reminder that in the world of digital marketing, it's not always about who's loudest, yet sometimes it is.

Beyond Emojis: The Real-World Impact

While we engage in digital discourse, let's not forget the real-world stakes. Our brave soldiers are fighting daily to protect our nation and bring our hostages home. This online 'battle' is more than just emojis and trends; it's our way of supporting Israel's narrative on the global stage. As we participate in these digital efforts, we stand united with those on the front lines, showcasing the resilience and spirit of the Israeli people. Every post, every share, is a small act of solidarity that contributes to our national strength and resolve. In this digital age, we all have a role to play in supporting our country and its values.

Conclusion: The Power of Digital Symbols

This National Watermelon Day, as we enjoy this summer fruit, let's also appreciate the complex world of digital symbolism it represents. It's a world where marketers, activists, and everyday users are constantly innovating, adapting, and yes, sometimes battling, in the ever-evolving landscape of online communication. After all, in the grand fruit bowl of digital marketing, the watermelon has proven it's not just a seasonal favorite – it's a year-round player in the game of global narratives.   Join the Digital Movement Want to show some love to Israeli content creators this Watermelon Day? Here are a few ways you can contribute: 1. Follow prominent Pro-Israeli content creators: Adiel - TikTok Instagram Montana Tucker – Instagram TikTok Baby Ariel - TikTok Instagram Michael Rapaport – Instagram Tiktok Daniel Ryan Spaulding - Instagram TikTok Mia - TikTok Instagram Stop antisemitism – TikTok 2. Like and share posts featuring the "Hebrew Watermelon": instagram instagram tiktok tiktoK tiktok tiktok tiktok tiktok tiktok 3. Feeling creative? Use this trending TikTok sound to make your own Watermelon Day video: Tiktok   Remember, this upcoming Watermelon Day might see increased pro-Palestinian activity on social media. For those of us who are pro-Israel and want to contribute, the methods mentioned above are a great way to start. Every like, share, and post counts in this digital age of narrative shaping. Let's make our voices heard while remembering the real battles being fought and the importance of standing united for Israel.

Building a new brand or giving an existing brand a facelift, is a golden opportunity to create a one-of-a-kind standout brand promise that will make a difference in the world. Building a significant brand is complex, but B2B brands bring a whole level of complexity that simply doesn’t exist in the B2C world. Decision-making processes are lengthy, decision-makers come and go, and increasingly, the decision-makers are Gen Y and Gen Z. The road to the end user is paved with importers, distributors, and dealers. The orientation of most of the people you are working with is engineering or sales. Your brand needs to make its way into everyone's hearts on the long and winding road ahead. From time to time, I still hear that "in the business world, people make rational decisions." In my experience, people are people even when they sit in the decision-making chair. Their considerations are professional, business, and personal and the brand needs to touch all these points

A meaningful brand must be relevant, differentiated, and inspired

1. Be relevant

Before you begin, define your audience. Unlike launching a product line that appeals to distinct customers, a B2B brand speaks to a wide range of audiences – existing and potential customers, employees and candidates, investors, suppliers, opinion leaders, and influencers.

However, you operate in a very specific world, so finetune the audience that interests you and create circles of influence. Who is in the first circle and who is in the more distant circles? The brand needs to speak directly and accurately to members of the first circle and still be relevant to other circles.

To be relevant, you need to know your audience, what their challenges are, and where you can help them deal with their challenges well. To motivate people, we must touch their “operating” buttons, speak their language, and solve the problems that bother them. We want to sell them what they want to buy and not what we want to sell — even if it's the same thing.

2. Build a differentiated value proposition

To build a differentiated value proposition, start with A, B, and C: Assets, Benefits, and Core Values. Assets – What are your biggest assets? What strengths are you most proud of? Make a list of the things you're best at – unique patented technology, people with unique knowledge, exceptional support and service, and more. Make sure that every strength that makes up your list is grounded in reality, and not an aspiration for something you'd like to have. From the list, extract the three most significant strengths. As much as possible, select those that differentiate you from the competition. Benefits –Step into your customers' shoes and think about what they get out of your strengths. This is where you ensure that you provide professional benefits that help them upgrade their professional field; business benefits that contribute to their business performance; and no less important, personal benefits. Ultimately, everything is personal simply — because people want to make sure that choosing you promotes their reputation within the organization. Core Values – Brand values are always important, but even more so in the B2B world. People are an integral part of your value proposition – whoever defines the specifications with the customer, develops, sells, installs or integrates, provides service and support – all these and more bring the brand to life. They must follow a uniform set of values to ensure that they deliver the benefits to the customer and subsequently deliver on the brand promise. If the company was founded recently, the values may be naturally infused into the brand. If the company is alive and kicking, the values are usually passed down over the years. Make sure the values reflect the company's DNA.

There's nothing new under the sun You may find that your competitors have an asset, benefit, or value that appears to be similar to yours. However, the combination of assets, benefits, and values must be unique to your company. That's why starting with unique assets and formulating benefits that address your clients' deep and diverse needs is important.

The more you get to know your clients, the more likely you will produce differentiated benefits. This is another opportunity for differentiation: your founders, owners, and significant employees are the unique spirit that makes your company what it is.

3. Bring inspiration to life with a promise

To make sure your brand inspires you and everyone you meet, go back to your vision. The thing that fascinated you when you started your business or that attracted you to join the company. The reason you get up in the morning and go to work. The North Star lights the way for you, even on days when visibility is poor. Your vision is an ambitious statement that describes what your organization ultimately wants to be. Spoiler alert: you're not supposed to get it, you’re supposed to aspire to reach it. As Aviv Geffen put it, " The moon is so high up there that we can't touch it, and there are some who are still trying.” Your vision is there to lift you high above your daily activities and inspire you.

Building or refreshing a brand is a strategic task

Don’t cut corners. Enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Get as many people involved in the process as possible to make everyone feel a part of it. This is how to make them the best ambassadors for your brand.

Formulating a brand strategy is an extremely important and complex process, but it’s only the beginning. From now on, the entire organization has to fulfill it, to bring the brand into the lives of those who experience it exactly as you intended. In the B2B world, your brand will touch a lot of people for many years to come. Make sure that everyone has the same experience, irrespective of the language they speak.

A brand is a promise. A strong brand is a promise that is fulfilled every day in every encounter between the brand and the world.

Digital marketing is crucial for B2B companies to effectively reach their target audience, generate leads, make data-driven decisions, and stay competitive in the market. However, while most B2B businesses see the need for digital marketing, they don’t necessarily have the team, tools, or budget to handle it in-house.

Digital Marketing as a Service (DMaaS) is a model that works

As an on-demand model, DMaaS allows your company to access a wide range of digital marketing expertise, tools, and resources without hiring and maintaining an in-house marketing team. While digital marketing toolboxes, tactics, and strategies differ according to client needs, they frequently comprise smart content, webinars, outreach and Account-Based Marketing (ABM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), sponsored campaigns, and marketing automation to reach target audiences and drive traffic or conversions.

4 great reasons why DMaaS makes sense for your B2B business

1. Access top-tier talent without the overhead costs associated with traditional hires Budget constraints and HR challenges may be standing in the way of hiring an in-house digital marketing manager. DMaaS offers a cost-effective solution, allowing your company to alleviate the burden of recruitment, training, and retention, freeing up your resources to focus on your core business operations.
2. Effectively navigate the complex digital landscape Tap into the expertise of seasoned professionals who possess a comprehensive understanding of digital marketing strategies, tactics, and execution skills that can help you achieve your marketing objectives.
3. Adapt to changing market conditions Your business has to constantly adapt to market needs and business growth. DMaaS has built-in flexibility, allowing your business to scale up or down, based on your changing needs and budget.
4. Set goals, measure results & change the game plan as needed In the dynamic world of digital, the goalposts are constantly changing. By setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and using accessible analytics tools such as those available in HubSpot, you can easily track the success of your marketing campaigns, optimize strategies as needed, and demonstrate the value of using DMaaS services.

Follow the yellow brick road

As a global B2B marketing expert, OZ has spent years building a strong reputation. Digital trends may come and go, but dedication, commitment to success, experience, and professionalism never go out of fashion. At OZ, we believe that long-lasting partnerships are based on deep listening, understanding, and transforming your goals into measurable results. That’s why many of our clients stay with us when they move companies, and why many clients come to us by word of mouth.

Your dedicated digital account manager will be your work BFF

With OZ, your account will be managed by a dedicated digital account manager backed by a multidisciplinary team with expertise in every aspect of digital marketing, and more. Your OZ manager is always backed up by a team comprising a graphic designer, strategist, and content writer. Your OZ manager becomes an integral part of your marketing team, offering full commitment and dedication to your company's goals. It's not just one person, but an entire team of digital experts working behind the scenes to drive your digital marketing success. Every member of the OZ team brings with them a high standard of professionalism and expertise gained from working with numerous B2B companies across various industries.

Boost your bottom line

DMaaS enables you to reach and engage with your target audiences effectively, measure the success of your campaigns with precision, and adapt your strategies in real time based on insights and feedback. It’s there to act as a driving force in your marketing strategy, enabling you to access the resources and expertise required to enhance your brand visibility, attract and retain customers, and drive sustainable growth.  

How to amplify your tradeshow potential – a step-by-step guide

So, you've invested quite a bit in a stunning trade show booth. The team is buzzing with excitement expecting it to be the center of attention. Yet, when the day arrives, the anticipated crowds turn out to be rather scarce. When this happens, you've probably missed a key aspect of trade show preparation - not fully integrating digital marketing into your trade show strategy.

The Challenge: Bridging the Gap to Maximize Potential

Too often, companies focus heavily on their booth's physical setup and ignore the digital engagement that goes with it. This oversight can lead to disappointing foot traffic, missed opportunities, poor engagement with potential customers, and a less effective exhibition as a whole.

The Strategy: A Holistic Approach - Integrating Digital with Physical

Achieving trade show success means thinking beyond the booth. It involves a proactive approach before, during, and after the event to ensure all marketing efforts are harmoniously aligned to maximize your return on investment. Let's explore the steps you can take to make this happen:

Laying the Groundwork: Pre-Show Essentials

Just as the booth and marketing materials are planned months in advance, your digital marketing strategy must follow suit. This helps make sure that every aspect of the exhibition strategy is aligned and optimized for maximum impact. Setting Goals Start by establishing clear objectives:

1.  Increasing brand awareness by strategically utilizing your presence at the expo.
2.  Maximizing traffic to your exhibition booth
3. Creating a database for ongoing engagement and nurturing
4. Defining KPIs - Measuring performance and continuous improvement (eg. Number of campaign impressions, website or landing page visits, email open rate, event participation, and more)

Targeted Messaging Strategy Development: Two months before the trade show, start with a deep dive into your industry's landscape to come up with a marketing concept and message that is both relevant and memorable to your audience. Digital Infrastructure: Make sure you set up a dedicated landing page and integrate a CRM system to effectively collect leads that will allow you to follow up with interested prospects after the event. Ramp-Up Engagement: A month out, it's time to ramp up engagement with targeted ads to raise awareness. It's here that your social media strategy kicks in, building anticipation through ad and email campaigns, regular and engaging social media content, and events so that your physical and digital efforts complement each other seamlessly.

During the Show: Capturing and Engaging

When the trade show is underway, keeping the energy high is crucial. Continuous updates, engaging social media posts and stories, interviews with keynote speakers, and live interactions help keep up the excitement and draw attention and visitors to your booth. You might also want to consider adding interactive presentations and videos that boost visitors' experience, leaving a lasting impression

Building Connections: Post-Show Follow-Up

The interaction doesn’t stop when the show ends the work is only just beginning. The focus now shifts from the show to leveraging the connections you've made. Now's the time to implement a structured follow-up process to keep your brand top of mind for future marketing opportunities. Design and implement targeted follow-up campaigns, using structured email marketing complemented by a strong social media presence to continuously nurture new contacts until they are ready to reach out to you. Last but not least, tracking the results of your campaigns and marketing activities is a must to measure their effectiveness and adjust them accordingly. Be sure that the initial contact was handled and nurtured, and answer customer questions as soon as possible. (more on that another time).

A content marketer’s job is never done

Constantly creating high-value content is a neverending story — there’s always a new chapter to write. Having created a piece of content, it needs to be repurposed into different media for different marketing channels. It also needs to be managed – the performance of every piece of content needs to be tracked, to see how it’s performing, draw informed conclusions, and new content created that delivers even better results.

The quest for great content

The new hero in the marketer’s quest to create and manage memorable content is Content Hub. It’s the all-in-one AI-powered content marketing software in HubSpot that will help you devise and deliver content to fuel the entire customer journey. As a content specialist, you may already be cringing. Are you about to be made obsolete? Absolutely not! While Content Hub is an exceptionally powerful platform, it’s there to empower you. It requires savvy marketers to make it work to its full capabilities – which ultimately will make your life a lot simpler and help you focus on being creative. Before you roll your eyes, we highly recommend you give it a test run. Trust us, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

What can Content Hub do for you?

In a nutshell, it can help you gear up your marketing strategy and put it into action. You can run and monitor every aspect of your marketing campaigns — creating everything from blog posts, emails, social posts, and more. Let’s dive in and take a look at the key feat

• AI blog post generator-  based on your description of what your blog is about and keywords, it creates a list of editable titles, together with monthly search volume (MSV), difficulty to rank, and keyword intents. Once you’ve selected the title you want, it provides a blog post outline. You have complete flexibility to add paragraph headings, remove those you don’t want, and add talking points. From there, it generates an entire blog ready for you to edit. Here’s when you put your mark on the copy, ensuring it’s on message and speaks your brand’s language. HubSpot is way ahead of you, providing a tool that allows you to define your brand voice using past writing samples. Once you’ve edited the blog to your satisfaction, you can preview it before publishing it. But wait, you need an image!
• AI image generator- simply describe the image you want (e.g. a steaming cup of hot coffee sitting on an office desk with a pair of spectacles beside it), decide on a style, and hit generate. Now, you can crop and edit your royalty-free image in the correct ratio for your blog posts, landing pages, marketing emails, and social posts.
• Blog post narration- with this handy feature, you can easily create audio from your blog content, customizing the tone and human voice before adding it to your blog or using it for different channels.
• AI language translation- translate your blog into multiple languages with a click. Voilà! Votre traduction est prête.

Drum roll, please! Killer feature coming up

Probably the most exciting tool in the Content Hub toolbox is Content Remix, which allows you to repurpose your content for multiple channels and formats in just a few clicks. Blink and it’s done. Here too, your sharp eye, copywriting chops, and editing muscles will come into play as you tweak the content until it’s just right.

But that’s not all…

Much like the shopping channel, there really is more! You can also create podcasts, smart content, landing pages and forms, CTAs, chatbots, and live chat. With HubSpot’s App Marketplace, you can create video content, engaging web experiences, and compelling design assets.

What happens the day after you unleash your content to the world?

You can easily track the performance of every piece of content you create, so you can leverage what’s working and drop what’s not.

MVP or VIP?

That brings us back to our original question: Is HubSpot's Content Hub the most valuable player of your content marketing team? Our experience shows that it can be a very important player greasing your content wheels —with you in the driver’s seat to define the strategy and goals, refine the messaging, customize it to your brand, and add those crucial finishing touches. It’s a valuable addition to the HubSpot platform that can simplify and streamline both the creation and management of your company’s content. Ready to give it a try? Ask our HubSpot expert for a demo.

Are you overwhelmed by the relentless pace of digital marketing and the constant need for SEO optimization? Imagine if you could put some of those tasks on autopilot. That's where Make (formerly Integromat) comes into play, offering a way to supercharge your SEO strategies with automation. Let's delve into seven automation strategies that can not only save you precious time but also improve your website's standing in search engine results.

1. Competitor Analysis Automation

Imagine having a secret window into your competitors' strategies, giving you the upper hand. By automating the tracking of their blog updates, keyword usage, and SEO maneuvers, you're essentially doing just that. It's like playing a strategic game where you're always one move ahead, nimbly navigating through the ever-changing landscape of digital competition. For Example: Automatically tracking a competitor’s blog updates and keyword changes.

How-to:

1. Set Up Triggers: Use RSS feeds or webhooks to monitor competitor blogs or websites.
2. Extract Key Data: Use Make scenarios to automatically extract new content details such as titles, keywords, and descriptions.
3. Analyze Changes: Use SEO tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to analyze any new keywords or strategies they're employing.
4. Send Reports: Configure Make to send periodic reports with this data to your email or Slack.

2. Streamlined Local SEO Management

Streamlining your local SEO tasks, like keeping Google My Business listings up to date and monitoring reviews, can make a big difference in how you rank locally. Automation takes the heavy lifting out of the equation, making sure your local presence is both accurate and compelling without constant manual oversight. For Example: Updating and monitoring Google My Business listings for multiple locations.

How-to:

1. Connect to Local SEO Tools: Integrate with tools like Moz Local or Yext.
2. Automate Updates: Set up processes to automatically update listings with new hours, photos, or responses to reviews.
3. Monitor Reviews: Get alerts for new reviews to respond quickly.
4. Reporting: Generate regular reports on listing performance and local search rankings.

3. Image Optimization on Auto-Pilot

Automating the optimization of images on your website can significantly boost page performance. Faster loading times not only enhance the user experience—a key SEO factor—but also free up your time to focus on other aspects of your website. For example: Automatically optimizing images uploaded to your CMS. What can I do?

1. Monitor New Uploads: Set up a trigger for when new images are uploaded to your CMS.
2. Connect to an Image Optimization Tool: Use services like TinyPNG or Kraken.io within Make.
3. Optimize and Replace: Automatically optimize the images and replace the originals with the optimized versions on your site.

4. Efficient Content Research - Capitalize on Trending Topics

Automating your content research can keep you ahead of the curve. By pulling in trending topics from social media and news outlets, you can craft content that truly speaks to your audience and attracts more visitors, all while saving time on manual research. For Example: Gathering trending topics from social media and news feeds. What can I do?

1. Set Up Social Media Triggers: Monitor keywords and hashtags on platforms like Twitter or Reddit.
2. Integrate with News Aggregators: Use tools like Feedly to pull in trending topics.
3. Collect and Analyze Data: Aggregate this data for analysis to identify popular subjects.
4. Generate Content Ideas: Use this data to inform your content creation strategy.

5. Automated SERP Analysis - Monitor Your Keyword Success

Automated SERP analysis allows you to monitor your keyword rankings effortlessly. This ongoing oversight offers crucial insights, enabling you to tweak and enhance your SEO strategies for better results, without the need for constant manual checks. For Example - Monitoring search engine result pages for selected keywords.

What can I do?

1. Use SEO Tools: Integrate with tools like Moz or Ahrefs.
2. Set Keyword Triggers: Monitor specific keywords and get updates on their SERP rankings.
3. Analyze Data: Collect data on rankings, featured snippets, and other SERP features.
4. Adjust Your Strategy: Use these insights to refine your SEO strategy.

6. Proactive Broken Link Management - Maintain a Healthy Website

By automatically detecting and fixing broken links, you're ensuring your website remains navigable and SEO-friendly. This kind of proactive management keeps your site in top shape, enhancing both the user experience, and your SEO profile with minimal effort on your part. For Example: Regularly scanning your website for broken links.

What can I do?

1. Schedule Regular Scans: Use tools like Screaming Frog or Broken Link Checker.
2. Integrate with Your Website: Connect these tools to your CMS.
3. Automate Notifications: Set up alerts for when broken links are found.
4. Quick Repair: Use these alerts to promptly fix or replace broken links.

7. Social Media Engagement Tracking - Understand Your Audience Better

Automatically tracking your social media engagement gives you a clearer picture of what resonates with your audience. This insight allows you to adjust your content and SEO strategies to better align with audience preferences, streamlining your efforts for more effective engagement. Example: Analyzing engagement on your social media posts.

How-to:

1. Connect to Social Platforms: Integrate with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.
2. Gather Engagement Data: Collect likes, shares, comments, and other engagement metrics.
3. Analyze Trends: Use this data to understand what content resonates with your audience.
4. Report and Refine: Generate reports for your team to review and refine your social media strategy.

--- Incorporating these automation techniques with Make (Integromat) while combining them with other platforms as shown above can significantly elevate your SEO and digital marketing game. Not only do they save time, but they also offer strategic insights, helping you stay ahead in the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing. Start automating today and witness the transformative impact on your SEO efforts.  

If you’re already using HubSpot to fuel your inbound marketing strategy and drive sales, it’s time you took AI out for a spin

Constantly writing content to fuel your inbound marketing funnel can be time-consuming and costly. While ChatGPT isn’t going to replace your talented content team anytime soon (if at all), it can prove very useful in helping your team conduct research, generate content ideas, and write basic drafts for your team to finetune — so that you can generate more content, faster. It also helps your sales teams focus on closing deals instead of being bogged down by manual tasks. As a HubSpot user, it’s all your fingertips.

Say goodbye to writer’s block

Having trouble generating the volume of content you need? Call on HubSpot’s friendly Content Assistant to create or refine web copy, blogs, articles, emails, and more. Using AI, you can generate ideas, outlines, or paragraphs for your required topics. You can also generate sales emails, titles and meta descriptions for pages and posts, and social posts. Simply answer the prompt, “What’s this social post about?” review the result, and tweak until you’re satisfied the post meets your standards. Not writing in English? Set the target language for the required content. Once a language is set, any generated text will automatically be output in that language.

Four ways to tweak existing content

Using the “highlight” command, you can rewrite, expand, summarize, or change the tone of the text you’ve highlighted. It’s quick and efficient. Rewrite - Generates different wording for the highlighted text Expand - Elaborates on the content of the highlighted text Summarize - Condenses the highlighted text Change tone - Rewrites the highlighted text in the selected tone: friendly, professional, witty, heartfelt, or educational Beyond using the highlight command, you can also generate headings, paragraphs, and subsections based on your existing content. Clearly describe the content you require and select the required output. Remember to be very specific, use simple language, and provide examples to clarify the context and tone of your request. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Experiment with different prompts until you get the output you need.

Best practices for AI-generated content

• Always proofread and edit all your content before you publish it.
• Maintain your brand's voice and style – your tone of voice must be consistent through all marketing materials.
• It’s not all or nothing — remember to balance your AI-generated content with human-generated content.
• Check, check, and check again. While HubSpot has put security measures in place, content assistant may occasionally generate inaccurate, skewed, inappropriate, or misleading information. Make sure you verify the accuracy of the output's content, particularly any statistics or facts.

Now watch your high-quality content start spinning the flywheel and generating leads for your sales team.

Streamline your daily sales workflow with ChatSpot.ai

Another great AI tool in the HubSpot toolbox is ChatSpot.ai, which helps your sales team save time and maximizes productivity by carrying numerous daily tasks. It can assist with lead management, adding contacts and companies to HubSpot’s CRM, including specific notes, assigning tasks, and sending reminders as well as personalized follow-up emails – all through simple chat-based commands. It quickly identifies prospects based on specific criteria (such as industry, location, and size) and provides a list of high-potential leads. It’s easy to create real-time custom reports on key metrics, including website visits, lead conversions, and revenue in an easily digestible format. It also aids with forecasting, listing the deals closing within a specific timeframe, the deal stage, as well as anticipated revenues.   In short: It simplifies and streamlines your team’s daily workflow, cuts down on time-consuming manual tasks, and helps your sales team do more in less time. All those ready to start using AI, say “Aye!”  

Business-to-Employee, or B2E, refers to the strategies and technologies that companies use to support and engage their employees. B2E covers everything from attracting, recruiting, training, and onboarding employees, to providing self-service solutions and individualized access to essential tools or software. While traditional e-commerce models such as business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) focus on sales and customer interactions, B2E focuses on providing internal support systems, resources, and tools to employees. One of the main goals of B2E is to improve employee satisfaction and retention. When employees are disengaged or unhappy with their work environment, it can lead to lower morale and higher turnover rates, which can be costly and disruptive to a company's operations. By providing employees with the resources and tools they need to succeed, and creating a positive work culture, companies can improve retention and attract top talent. A B2E portal is a central hub that provides employees with easy access to company-specific information and resources. This can include company news, calendars, software solutions, and employee-defined documents. The portal is often customizable, allowing employees to personalize their experience and access the information and resources that are most relevant to them. One example of a B2E portal is an online service company management platform that allows employees to easily access information about their services or customers, as well as submit supply requests and manage their work schedule. B2E portal should also provide employees with access to company announcements, training resources, and tools for collaboration and communication. B2E strategies can also be used to support specific departments or teams within a company, such as sales teams that need flexible access to customer information and sales tools. For example, a B2E portal might include a CRM system that allows sales reps to easily access customer data, create and track leads, and manage their sales pipeline. There are many benefits to implementing a B2E strategy, including improved communication and collaboration, increased efficiency and productivity, and cost savings. By providing employees with the tools and resources they need to succeed, companies can create a more engaged and motivated workforce that is better equipped to meet the challenges of today's business environment. Have a question? Want to learn more? Don’t hesitate to reach out!  

Maytronics - OZ Global B2B

         

Account-based marketing (ABM) and lead generation are two powerful strategies for generating revenue and boosting return on investment (ROI). While both approaches have their own unique benefits, it's important to understand the key differences between them and how they can be used together to achieve optimal results. Lead generation, the core of demand generation, is a strategy that involves generating a large number of new leads for the sales team by targeting specific markets and industries. This approach is ideal for creating awareness and interest in a product or service, and can be done through various channels such as LinkedIn Campaign Manager. In contrast, account-based marketing (ABM) is a targeted approach that focuses on reaching out to specific named accounts, rather than a broad audience. ABM is designed to engage with the right accounts and create personalized content that captures their attention and drives further engagement. One key benefit of demand generation is that it brings leads in, at the top of the funnel and nurtures them until they become an opportunity for the sales team. However, as the market becomes saturated, the time, money, and resources needed to generate leads can eventually outweigh the results, leading to diminishing returns. This is where ABM comes in. By focusing on specific named accounts, ABM allows marketers to "land and expand" by targeting bigger fish that match the ideal account profile (IAP). This allows for a more efficient use of resources and a higher return on investment. While ABM and demand generation may seem like competing strategies, they can actually be used together to achieve optimal results. For example, demand generation can be used to create awareness and interest in a product or service, while ABM can be used to generate qualified leads and sign-up new customers. This marketing tactic, can start with a broad-based demand generation campaign to create awareness, which will help to identify targeted leads or target market segments, which can then be used to inform a more targeted ABM campaign. An ABM activity can be used to reach out to specific named accounts with personalized content. These combined activities allow marketers to use both strategies to accelerate the buyer's journey and assist with selling. It's also important to note that while ABM and demand generation are both outbound marketing strategies, inbound demand generation is also possible. By using inbound marketing tactics such as content marketing, SEO and other digital marketing strategies, you can drive leads and customers to your website and then use ABM to engage with them. On LinkedIn, there are two primary types of users. The first group is known as "active users" and they exhibit a high level of engagement on the platform, such as performing searches, interacting with content, and sharing posts. These users also typically stay on top of their inbox and respond to relevant messages. These active users can be effectively targeted through an awareness campaign, followed by account-based marketing efforts. The second main group of LinkedIn users are referred to as "basic users." These users tend to have a more limited level of activity on the platform, mostly just scrolling through their feed. They are less likely to respond to private messages. These basic users can be targeted through professional lead generation campaigns that will catch their attention while they are scrolling through their feed, with the use of an appealing message and creative content. It is important to note that there are other types of users who fall somewhere between active and basic user, and by combining efforts of ABM with lead generation it will help in effectively reaching out to all types of users, with the right format and message. In conclusion, account-based marketing and lead generation are both powerful strategies for generating revenue and boosting ROI. While they have their own unique benefits, it's important to understand how they can be used together to achieve optimal results. By using a targeted ABM approach in conjunction with a broad-based demand generation campaign, marketers can achieve their pipeline and revenue goals by capturing the attention of the right accounts and signing up new customers. For more info and questions contact us.

As ChatGPT gains momentum, concerns are growing regarding its impact on everything from coding to SEO.

It depends on who you ask, but the current consensus is that AI will not likely kill Search Engine Optimization. It may actually prove quite useful in enhancing and optimizing SEO efforts. AI-powered technologies can provide insights, automate tasks, and improve the efficiency of SEO strategies. If it’s repetitive and time-consuming, AI has got you covered Why spend time on keyword research, competitor analysis, and content optimization, when you can be focusing on strategic planning and higher-level tasks? Here are three key ways AI can help:

1. Data Analysis AI can process and analyze large amounts of data quickly and accurately, which can help identify patterns, trends, and opportunities for SEO optimization. This can include analyzing search data, website analytics, and user behavior data to inform SEO strategies and tactics.
2. Content OptimizationAI-powered content generation tools can assist in creating high-volume and optimized content. These tools can provide insights on keyword usage, content structure, readability, and relevance to improve the overall quality of content for SEO purposes.
3. PersonalizationAI can analyze user data and behavior to deliver personalized search results and content recommendations. This can help improve user engagement and satisfaction, which can indirectly impact SEO rankings. 

AI is your assistant, not your replacement

AI can’t replace human expertise in SEO. SEO professionals will still play a crucial role in interpreting and implementing the insights provided by AI, as well as adapting SEO strategies to changing algorithms, user behaviors, and business goals. AI tools can be powerful to support and enhance SEO efforts, but human creativity and strategic thinking will remain crucial in the SEO landscape.

How can you utilize ChatGPT for SEO purposes?

Here are its suggestions:

1. Content Generation: Use ChatGPT to generate ideas for quick content for your website, blog, or social media posts. You can input keywords, topic ideas, or specific questions related to your SEO strategy, and ChatGPT can generate content that aligns with your SEO goals.
2. Keyword Research: Utilize ChatGPT to brainstorm and generate keyword ideas for your SEO campaigns. You can input seed keywords or topic ideas, and ChatGPT can generate a list of related keywords that can help you identify opportunities for content creation and optimization.
3. Meta Tags Optimization: Use ChatGPT to generate optimized meta tags, including title tags and meta descriptions, that are relevant to your target keywords and audience. ChatGPT can provide suggestions and variations for meta tags that can improve your website's click-through rates (CTRs) and search engine visibility.
4. SEO Content Optimization: Input your existing content into ChatGPT to get suggestions on how to optimize it for SEO. ChatGPT can provide recommendations on improving content structure, keyword placement, and readability to make your content more search-engine-friendly.
5. On-Page SEO: Use ChatGPT to get suggestions on optimizing various on-page SEO elements, such as headings, image alt tags, and URL structure. ChatGPT can provide insights on how to improve these elements for better search engine visibility and user experience.
6. SEO Strategy assistance: Utilize ChatGPT to brainstorm and generate ideas for your overall SEO strategy, including content topics, and social media integration. ChatGPT can provide wide suggestions and insights that can inform your SEO planning and execution.
7. SEO Troubleshooting: Input specific SEO challenges or issues into ChatGPT to get insights and suggestions on how to resolve them. ChatGPT can provide troubleshooting tips and recommendations to overcome common SEO obstacles.

While ChatGPT can provide valuable insights and suggestions for SEO purposes, it's still essential to use human judgment and expertise in evaluating and implementing the recommendations. SEO best practices may vary depending on your specific industry, audience, and search engine algorithms, so it's crucial to conduct thorough research and consult with SEO professionals to build a comprehensive SEO strategy.

Watch Google's update on Search Generative Experience:

When I just started my career, an intelligent woman told me that only when I understand that the customers of the company pay my salary and not the company owners, will I be able to call myself a marketer. So when you think about the future of marketing, you need to first consider what kind of customers we will meet. Let’s talk about how you “consumerize” the customer journey; how you look at the B2B (Business to Business) customer a bit like a consumer.

The new B2B customer is a digital native

Our childhood determines our future behaviors as adults, the people we become, and the decision-makers we grow up to be. It is also true of the technological environment in which we were raised. The millennials, also known as Generation Y, were born after 1980. They are now in their 30’s. Generation Z, as you can see in the table, is still young, but we will soon see them influencing our businesses. Since technology is changing very quickly, a sub-generation was born between the Millennials and Generation Z. Zillennials were born between ‘93-‘98 and were influenced by more advanced technology than the Millennials. For their entire lives, digital natives have been surrounded by technology, social media, mobile devices, computers, and the internet. They speak this digital language as their mother tongue. They did not learn this language in their 20’s, 30’s, or later. They do not have an accent, so to speak. This impressive figure tells the whole story: More and more millennials and gen zers are entering the B2B decision journey, some as technological or professional influencers and others as decision-makers. It is important to note that among the people involved in decision-making, you usually meet several generations. A few months ago, we at Oz Global B2B did a project for the American agricultural market. The intergenerational integration in the decision-making process that arose there was very prominent.

• • A family business where the younger generation initiates a decision, and the founding generation approves it. Sometimes the founder initiates the decision but immediately passes it on to the younger generation to check online what the options are.
  • A senior manager at a big business closes a deal, but the people in the field - professionals or salespeople - do not “speak” the same language. This will greatly affect the next purchase.

Even if you think your business is less exposed, check again! It does not matter if the decision-makers are digital natives or digital immigrants. Within the process, there will always be a mix of generations.

The Millennials and Gen Zers highly influence who will enter the decision funnel

About 50% of all product searches on the web are conducted by digital natives. The customer journey is long, complex, and involves many stakeholders. By the time the customer recognizes that he has a problem, we are, in most cases, not there. Identification is an internal stage from which someone is appointed to start researching information to find options for a solution. 50% of those who conduct the research and seek alternatives regarding a product or service, may not take an "official" part in decision-making but are the ones who put the relevant suppliers in the decision-making funnel. They are the ones who build the long list. They are the ones who decide whether or not you will be included in the “consideration group,” which is of critical importance.

Two tips to gain the trust of digital natives:

1. Be authentic!

The generation that grew up on social networks, fake news, and unfounded marketing does not believe in marketing messages and does not believe in unproven statements. They have developed a hypersensitivity to online messages - they suffer from a blatant lack of trust in what is being said online. They continue to consume information online, but with a very large firewall. The bright side of it is that digital natives recognize authenticity when they see it..

So what does authentic marketing look like?

• 1. Get your executives to use social media Customers want to know the people behind the executives or the company representatives that they are in contact with.Make sure your site reveals who you are beyond your formal title. What topics do you choose to share? Who are your friends, what groups do you belong to, and to whom do you respond to?LinkedIn is not everything. Feel free to diversify to other social networks - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Tik Tok.

• Share user-generated content from real people Show real things, with real customers behind them. If you trust your product, let it tell your story.
• Go live on social media platforms Talk without filters. To digital natives this sounds obvious, to digital immigrants, it is less trivial. At first, the digital immigrants posted posts after editing them numerous times. Then they agreed to post an edited video. The transition to live video is scarier, but this is exactly the meaning of authenticity.
• Promote employee advocacy Empower your employees to share smart, quality content with their own social networks. On average, employee networks have 10x more connections than a company has followers. Plus, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, people are 3x more likely to trust company information shared by an employee than that shared by a CEO.

2. Consumerize!

This word does not exist in the dictionary yet but already stars in the literature that follows trends in the B2B world. As Mona Akmal, Falkon CEO and Cofounder, once said, “As work and life flexibly intertwine, so must our approach to reaching our target users.” Gone are the days when the customer was a business person between 9-17 and a consumer on evenings and weekends. Studies show that the business customer is very much influenced by his consumer experience and expects to have a similar experience in business purchases. The customer experience touches on all stages of the journey - collecting information, placing an order, contacting the company up to paying.

• More than 80% of B2B customers stated that they will look for a new supplier if their expectations in terms of customer service and user experience are not fulfilled.
• According to McKinsey & Co, B2B brands score below 50% on customer experience index ratings on average, compared to 65 to 85% for typical B2C brands.
• Gartner illustrates that 77% of B2B buyers report that their last purchase was very difficult or complex.

The conclusion is that as customer experience improves in the consumer world, B2B buyer expectations will rise as well. In short, do not compare yourself only to competitors in your immediate area. The customer or client expects from you the same experience as on Amazon, Netflix, or Uber.

To sum up…

1. The digital natives are digital animals. They were born into it, and it is their playground. It requires us to be present and comfortable in the digital space. Allow them to find us easily and learn about us in a convenient way that interests them. Allow them to easily consult, purchase and pay online.
2. Life in the digital arena has taught them to be suspicious, not to believe everything they are told. They have developed the skills and expertise to recognize fake news when they see it. This requires us to be authentic in interactions with them, without filters and edits.
3. Remember, before they are decision-makers, customers, or partners, they are first and foremost human beings. Their personal lives have seeped into their business life and it is very difficult for them to separate the two. So, we have no choice but to "consumerize" the way we treat them.

The different characteristics between the B2C and B2B worlds are getting blurry. Whether we are marketing to a B2B customer or a B2C consumer, we are actually humans who sell to other human beings. So let’s all agree that it is really H2H marketing. Want to talk to Nirit? You can reach her at nirit@ozglobalb2b.com

Key takeaways from HUG Haifa #2, “All About Video”

When’s the last time you watched a video? Today? Yesterday? That puts you in good company. Humans love video. 1/3 of all time online is spent watching videos. In fact, 500 million people watch a video on Facebook every day. And here’s another mindboggling stat for you: Adding a video to your website can improve the chance of a front-page Google result by 53%. That’s right. It doubles your chances of getting onto the first page of Google. Yes, video is big. Yes, it needs to be an important part of your B2B marketing strategy. And no, it’s not nearly as hard as you think to get started with video. From tactic to strategy Video has changed a lot in the past six years, points out Maria Trubicina, Senior Customer Success Manager at HubSpot. In 2013, videos were mostly passively watched on desktop or YouTube, hard to create and made by a few; in 2019, videos are actively watched on mobile or social, easy to create, and made by many. This calls for a change – moving from video as a tactic (made by a creative team, highly produced, expensive, one to many, an awareness play, unmeasurable), to a strategy (made by all teams, low production, cheap, actionable, BOFU and measurable.)   Listen up! To create relevant, actionable and engaging videos you need to get all your teams involved. That means talking to sales, quality control, production, legal, and even accounts. Every department will have a unique perspective about your product or service that you may not have even thought of. One video does not fit all. Each video needs to be tailored to the specific target market and goal. Make it simple. And keep it real.   What kind of videos should you be creating? You’ll need to develop targeted videos for every stage of the flywheel and for every purpose – attract, engage and delight – and modify them to meet the needs of the specific channel (YouTube, social media, website).

• Attract videos expand reach and build trust and credibility with your audience.
• Engage videos convert your visitors into leads and ultimately close them as customers.
• Delight videos encourage customers to embrace your brand and become brand evangelists.

You’ll want to create at least TWO videos for each of these stages. Watch videos across the buyer’s journey and take a look at these content ideas for each stage in the funnel. One critical question before you dive into video creation Before you whip out your camera and start filming, make sure you’ve asked this critical question: What’s the intent of this video? Get really clear about what you want to get out of this video:

• Increase brand awareness and attract customers to your site
• Help your prospects consider your solution to solve their problem
• Help your leads decide to do business with you

To keep yourself on track, it’s a good idea to set SMART goals. Once you’ve done that, you can move ahead to brainstorming ideas for your video content, writing a script, and producing that first video. Where do you get the content from? Chances are, you already have it. Take a look at your existing content. Which web pages were visited the most? What calls to action did users click on? What blogs were the most successful? Repurpose them into compelling stories. But make sure your video answers the key question your potential customers at the Attract and Engage stage are going to ask before deciding to watch or ignore your video: What’s in it for me? How are you solving MY problems?   Hold it! Don’t make these three mistakes. Video content specialist Sivan Felder, from Two Heads Consulting, points out that many B2B companies make these mistakes:

1. You’re not the hero of the story. This isn’t about you. It’s about your customer (the hero) who has a crisis. He meets a guide (your company). And thanks to your product or service, he survives or thrives.
2. The laws of human psychology apply to your target customer as well. Behind every rational purchasing decision is an emotion. Identify it and speak to it. Help your prospective customers out of confusion and into clarity. And remember to tell them what they need to hear (as opposed to what you want to say.)
3. A one-size-fits-all video. We’ve already said it, but we’ll say it again. Your customers want to hear different things from you at different stages. What are the touchpoints? Where are customers going to come into contact with your video and how are you planning to get your video out there?

  Set your KPIs Key KPIs that you’ll want to look at are:

• Play rate — the percentage of people who played your video divided by the number of impressions)
• Clickthrough rate — the number of times your call to action is clicked divided by the number of times its viewed
• Conversion rate — the number of times your visitors completed your desired action divided by the number of clicks on your call to action

  Elevate your video marketing To take your video marketing efforts further, consider using Vidyard or TwentyThree, which give you a host of valuable features. Also, consider these tips from Maria Trubicina:

• Make your videos an interactive experience. Use smart CTAs and embedded forms.
• Increase SEO effectiveness. Finetune your meta info to make it easy for search engines to find you.
• Monitor performance. Keep track of your video views, clickthroughs and conversions, so you can optimize them accordingly.
• Build relationships. Record one-to-one videos directly from the CRM and send directly from email.
• Provide better customer service. Use videos to improve the service experience and provide helpful tips or troubleshooting advice.

Video goes way beyond creating awareness and nurturing leads. It can also help you build relationships and excel in customer service.   Ready? Hit record! If you have HubSpot and want to get started with video marketing, contact us! Don’t miss out! Join a HUG These great tips are just a taste of what we talked about during our HubSpot User Group meeting, All About Videos. HubSpot makes it easy to make video an integral part of your marketing mix. Take advantage of all these great resources. Get some practical advice on how to get started with video marketing. Or take one of HubSpot’s great free video courses.

There are lots of reasons why you may want to rebrand.  For example: Have you recently undergone a merger or acquisition? Was there a major shuffle in management or business strategy? Are you planning to launch a new product or version? Does your brand identity no longer reflect your current corporate culture, values and focus?  If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, it may be time to consider rebranding.

Refresh or rebrand?

When rebranding, you can either refresh and improve your current branding or start over and create an entirely new one. No matter what you decide, the rebranding process involves a lot more than designing a new logo or changing your corporate color palette. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. Defining a clear rebranding strategy.
2. Reanalyzing your company’s vision, mission and values.
3. Conduct market research and competitor research including new players who may have popped up more recently.
4. Research existing customers, potential customers and target audiences.
5. Redefine your message.
6. Create a new visual identity.
7. Create new marketing materials.
8. Relaunch your brand (internally and externally).

Spreading the news

The rebranding journey can sometimes be confusing for your employees and customers who have become accustomed to your existing brand identity. Use this as an opportunity to reconnect with them and clearly communicate during the process and after its completion. If you want the transition process to be a success, you should be as transparent as possible and clearly communicate these changes both internally and externally.

Rebranding with OZ

At OZ, we understand the complexity of rebranding and our team has extensive experience helping our customers successfully navigate the rebranding process. We can use this experience to successfully guide you through it from planning through to implementation and beyond.

The New Year is officially here and we decided to put together a countdown of marketing trends that will affect B2B brands in 2018! Here goes…..

10 – Visual content

The trend for visualization through video, images and infographics will get stronger. In fact, predictions indicate that by 2019, video will account for 80% of consumer internet traffic. And, according to Facebook, live is even better and live video gets 3x more views and is expected to dramatically increase in 2017. B2B brands can use live videos in lots of different ways, including at events to give followers a behind-the-scenes look, host interviews with key influencers, and launch promotions.

9 – Big (big) data

Big data’s been a big trend for many years now, but it’s become more accessible because of machine learning and AI. As more and more platforms and marketing methods start incorporating big data, the use of big data is becoming an essential part of marketing and understanding what the consumer wants and when is worth its weight in gold.

8 – Authenticity

Transparency and trust have become a major component of the customer’s decision-making process as customers’ become less and less tolerant towards fake news and reviews, or in other words, exaggerated marketing. Brands should invest in community management to keep the online community engaged, informed and happy; and can use technology advances such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to connect with users on a deeper, more emotional level.

7 – Content and influencer networks

There is no arguing with the fact that content is still king. However, there is a need to deal with the challenge of oversaturation. Now that most brands have some sort of content strategy and social media networks are full of content, the focus needs to shift slightly. Rather than fighting for more visibility, marketers will need to think out of the box and stand out in space that is already taken. This is where influencers come into the picture. By leveraging the networks of influencers who already have a “captive” audience, marketers can increase their online influence and start to reduce the volume of content produced, or in other words, go for quality and not quantity.

6 – Shift of focus from millennials to Generation Z

Born between 1995 and 2010, this consumer group marks a substantial shift that will affect all brands. These digital natives are different from millennials and they will have increased buying power in the near future. Keep an eye out on key platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram when targeting this young and highly dynamic demographic.

5 – Mobile, mobile, mobile

We cannot emphasize this one enough. Consumers are spending most of their time on their mobile phones. In fact, in 2018, mobile video consumption is expected to grow by 25% and ad spending on mobile video will reach 18 billion dollars next year, surpassing desktop. Even Google has even given priority to pages that are AMP optimized (Accelerated Mobile Pages). So the bottom line is that if you haven’t yet done so, you need to start optimizing your marketing strategies, websites and ads for mobile.

4 – Shift in KPIs

While it’s still important to know how many people visited your site and from where, at the end of the day it’s all about sales. For this reason, it’s important to track conversions and revenue, in other words, who buys and at what stage of the buyer’s journey. In this way, it becomes easier to track your return of investment on digital marketing.

3 – Data protection

The digital age brings with it the need to take multiple aspects including data privacy into account. In May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will take affect with the aim of improving protection for EU citizens and adapting privacy and data laws to the digital age. This will require marketers to think and act very differently as it will affecter multiple factors in a marketer’s focus, some of which require organizations to start preparing immediately.

2 – Native ads and smart content

Native advertising is expected to drive more than 74 percent of all add revenue by 2021. Because of their more natural placement and format, these ads usually get more exposure and engagement than traditional banner ads. However, these ads need to be written according to the preferences of those seeing the ads, and they should also be linked to “smart content” that is adapted to audiences based on NI, cookies and an in-depth understanding of target audiences.

1 – Take advantage of the FOMO effect

Even though we already mentioned this one in a previous point, we think it deserves to be repeated for emphasis. As more and more people experience the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) effect, marketers need to create unique and original content that makes potential customers feel like they’re the first to know. For example, content that involves a “behind-the-scenes look”, an exclusive with an influencer, or a sneak preview of upcoming projects and product launches can be used to really create a buzz and get potential consumers to engage “before” anyone else does.

Israel and China are a perfect match – China is an incredible opportunity for Israeli cybersecurity, medical devices and artificial intelligence industries. While at the same time Israel is a source of talent and know-how with its startup culture – something that China is lacking. Bilateral ties between Israel and China have increased significantly in recent years, sparking the launch of the Israel-China Innovation Committee and the Israel-China Economic Task Force. The US is the typical route for Israeli companies expanding abroad. Language and culture make China seem daunting at first, and certainly for consumer-oriented companies trying to figure out the Chinese customer has led to many failed enterprises. B2B opportunities, on the other hand, are a perfect setup for Israel companies. Possible access to capital for expansion and growth another major reason to look at China.

How to break into the Chinese market:

Understand the target customer and other stakeholders Find the right strategic partners to help you. Consumers in China are entirely different than what you are used to. They are on different channels, they have different expectations, and there are important cultural norms you’ll want to be aware of. A local team on the ground with the experience and tools to understand and effectively target customers is crucial to preventing big blunders. Regulatory concerns It is critical to spend time researching and understanding the regulatory environment prior to making any decision to enter the market. China has extremely strict laws protecting consumers, including quality, standards and other regulations covering most industries. Sensitive industries such as medical devices and pharmaceutical are especially strict. Trademark everything, immediately As soon as your product comes on the scene in China you can bet there will be copycats. We’ve seen it with big brands and small, if you don’t take trademarking seriously, you run the risk of expensive, messy and prolonged legal battles. Before talking to anyone, start the trademark process and make sure you own the corresponding Chinese domain names (.cn and .com.cn). Don’t assume what works in the West will work in China Look no further than eBay and Uber, two remarkably successful international companies that failed in China. Chinese consumers have different tastes, different expectations, different cultural norms and customs that are deep-rooted in society. On top of all of this is an unrelenting drive for innovation, which makes brands with a weak positioning strategy extremely vulnerable. If you take your brand to the China market and your messaging is unclear, or your branding is weak, there is a good chance your product or service will be copied and eaten up by a domestic brand. Find a decent Chinese name It doesn’t have to be a direct translation, or even exactly the same as the Western version. The Mandarin language is comprised of thousands of characters that all have a great deal of significance. Meaning there are lots of options for translations that can turn out great, or translations that can turn out… not so great. AirBnB fell prey to a naming mishap when they entered the Chinese market as 爱彼迎  (Àibǐyíng), which they explained means “let love meet each other” but to native Chinese this name conjures up images of a “love hotel”, and many complained that it is awkward to pronounce. Even if you think you’ve settled on a great name, test it, test it and test it again. Start with distribution and expand from there You don’t need to set up shop right away. After you’ve trademarked everything, going through a distributer to test the waters is a good way to enter the China market. Many SME’s in the medical industry routinely work with distributors to get their products into hospitals in China. Set up your website Number one piece of advice; put your Chinese website on a server in China or Hong Kong. Shrinking attention spans haunt every content marketer, so don’t lose your audience even before your beautifully, well-crafted home page loads. If you are hosting on a local Chinese server you are required to apply for the ICP license and this also means you need to have a local entity already organized. You’ll typically need to apply for an ICP license from the Chinese Government; this will lead to better search results on Baidu and allows you to run PPC campaigns. Don’t forget to make your website mobile optimized! In China more than 95% of Internet users are using their mobile phones to access it. Choose the right trade shows This goes hand-in-hand with understanding your target customer and stakeholders. There are hundreds of trade shows in China every year, with thousands of exhibitors. It can be tempting to try and get your foot in the door to as many as possible, but this will leave you out of budget and exhausted quickly. Can you team up with similar brands? Make connections with attendees beforehand? Enter social media with your big toe in the water With all the hype around WeChat in China, many brands are ready to dive headfirst and go all out for this mega-app, but take a step back. WeChat is completely different than Facebook, Instagram or any other typical social media platform you are familiar with using. It is important to set the right expectations, and the right strategy. Become well versed with the app, it’s functionality and it’s limitations before setting your KPIs. While it is important for brands to have a WeChat account, there may be other channels to investigate.

Afimilk case study: partner portal

In the world of B2B, it’s really important to nurture partner relationships and find ways to make it easier for our partners and distributors to satisfy the needs of their (and our) end customers. In this manner, you can create a win-win situation where both your customers (distributors) are happy and their customers (end users) are happy with your brand. Recently, as part of our ongoing services for Afimilk – a global leader in advanced dairy management technology solutions – we created a unique and creative solution for its partners. With the goal of encouraging Afimilk’s dealers to make more purchases online and give them easy access to marketing materials, we designed an integrated and intuitive online partner portal. This portal provides end-to-end marketing and sales support, and an easy-to-use online ordering system. It includes three valuable tools that are also integrated with Afimilk’s ERP system:

1. Knowledge center – with marketing resources including brochures, presentations, and supporting materials to help dealers promote Afimilk solutions.
2. Configurator wizard – builds price quotations tailored to customer requirements while promoting Afimilk’s preferred solutions.
3. Market gate – intuitive online ordering system tailored for Afimilk partners to encourage online ordering.

By designing a responsive and interactive user experience that adds value for its partners, offers instant marketing support, and integrates with Afimilk’s ERP system, we helped Afimilk take their partner engagement to the next level!

We're entering a new age of healthcare, the "Social Health" era, where the focus has shifted to informed patient-consumers. With ever-increasing access to information, our patient-consumers are now empowered more than ever to make choices for themselves by researching and even shopping online for everything from health plans and doctors to medical equipment and insurance policies. As the digital revolution disrupts the way we've traditionally done business in the medical and healthcare space, there is a need to communicate with both intermediary customers (payers) and patient-consumers. This means transitioning from a more traditional Business-to-Business (B2B) model into a newer Business-to-Business-to User (B2B2U©) model. Because at the end of the day, even if you aren't selling directly to your patient-consumers, you still need to engage with them to understand their challenges, meet their needs and ultimately create bottom-up demand for your brand. This move to a B2B2U model starts with identifying your patient-consumers and gathering information about their challenges. Once you’ve identified them, you can then open up direct channels of communication with them, offer them valuable information and also show them how your services or products offer real value and help solve their challenges. One of the challenges in this approach is making sure that you don’t compromise your relationship with your paying customers when you start communicating directly with your patient-consumers. This can be solved by involving them in the process and maintaining full transparency about your goal, that is, to raise brand awareness and drive demand (and not to sell directly to patient-consumers). Interested in learning more about how you can create a win-win situation for both you and your intermediary customers? 

Trendlines Group case study: rebranding and visual identity As our clients grow and expand their global reach, we are committed to helping them tell the story that sets them apart while staying true to their authentic corporate values. In the case of Trendlines Group – an innovation commercialization company that invents, invest in, and incubates innovation-based technology – global expansion and going public on the Singapore stock exchange were the main catalysts for looking to OZ for rebranding. As we've been partnering with Trendlines for the last 20 years, it was natural that the company turned to us for support at this significant point of growth. Against the backdrop of our long-term relationship, we worked together to develop a new visual identity that stands out in today's global market and is also centered around Trendlines’ two foundational principles:

It’s about the people AND building relationships

Because Trendlines Group’s hands-on investment approach and commitment to improve the human condition through innovation are inseparable parts of the company's character, the refreshed visual identity rests strongly on these principles. The result – a new compelling brand and visual identity – was launched at Trendlines’ 7^th Annual Trendlines Company Showcase attended by hundreds of biomedicine industry professionals from around the world, and sponsored by companies worldwide.

On 21 June 2017, we held a successful Inbound for Medical & Healthcare Companies event for over 50 attendees. At the event, industry experts shared the following insights on marketing for medical & healthcare companies:

• Matt Brown, HubSpot Specialist from Boston – US Trends in Healthcare Marketing
• Dina Gidron, VP Strategy at OZ – Opening New Channels of Communication
• Mickey Nave, Corporate Marketing Director at Lumenis – Medical marketing: generating leads that your sales team will love
• Bat-chen Grinberg, Founder of MC Forum – Digital tools that reduce your work overload

Here are some important takeaways from the event:

1. The age of “Social Health”. The combination of healthcare reforms, the age of consumerism and mobile technology is creating the perfect climate for change in healthcare.
2. We see YOU, we know YOU, we understand YOU, we want to help YOU. The digital revolution is transforming the way we do business as we shift from a Business-to-Business (B2B) to a Business-to-Business-to-User (B2B2U^©).
3. Patient-consumers are the center of the universe. As patient-consumers become the single most important factor in this new era, we need to open up direct channels of communication with them to understand their challenges, increase brand awareness and create bottom-up demand.
4. Trends in medical and healthcare. Patient-consumers are avid researchers; marketers are targeting patient-consumers AND payers; digital channels are overtaking traditional marketing channels; and digital content is key to the decision process.
5. Brands must recognize social health and deliver value across the full spectrum to drive leads, convert prospects to customers and keep them loyal.
6. Inbound marketing and content marketing are well-suited to the medical and healthcare industry as it promotes targeted communication, trust-based decision-making, long-term relationships, and thought leadership and industry expertise.

 

Preparing for the age of “Social Health”

As healthcare reforms, the era of consumerism and mobile technology create the ideal climate for positive change in the medical and healthcare arena, we’re ushering in a new age – the “Social Health” era. As we transition into this new era, patient-consumers are becoming the single most important factor in the medical and healthcare eco-system; and as they research and shop online for medical services, products and insurance plans, the medical & healthcare industry increasingly resembles a retail industry. The impact of this shift on medical and healthcare providers is huge as it means they need to open up direct channels of communication with patient-consumers to understand their challenges and offer services and products with real value. Or in other words, there is a need to move from a Business-to-Business (B2B) to a Business-to-Business-to-User (B2B2U©) approach. As we enter this age of “Social Health”, brands need to recognize the need to deliver value across the full spectrum to drive leads, convert prospects to customers and keep them loyal.