The BL[OZ]

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.    

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.  

If you’re a fan of hummus, you’ll know that it goes great with pita. While you can eat them separately, they are quite simply, better together. The one really complements the other. The same can be said of HubSpot’s Inbound Marketing methodology and Account-Based Marketing (ABM). To make sure we’re all on the same page, let’s start by defining these methodologies:

Inbound Marketing

Attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them. It’s about building meaningful relationships with consumers, prospects, and customers.

Account-Based Marketing

A B2B strategy in which marketing and sales work together to create personalized buying experiences for a select set of high value companies.

Inbound lays the foundation for a strong ABM strategy

According to HubSpot, inbound marketing helps you attract contacts associated with your target accounts. ABM accelerates the flywheel (the cyclical marketing funnel comprising attract, engage, and delight) so you can win and delight your target accounts by providing a standout customer experience. By using inbound, you’re able to carry out highly-targeted allocation of the most relevant resources to your high-value accounts. As a B2B marketer, by using this combined approach you can attract a broader group of prospects than you would if you were only using one method.

Double up and deliver value

Your carefully crafted content has a two-for-one value. You can create and use content that serves both your ABM and inbound strategy. As an example, once you’ve created a personalized case study for a target account, you can also share on your website.

Leverage account-based marketing tools

HubSpot’s ABM tool makes it easy to implement ABM and inbound strategies in a complementary way. Its CRM platform connects all of your sales and marketing data and allows enables customer-centric automation and personalization. It makes it easy to use data to segment and target your accounts and marketing automation to nurture your buyers or buying committee and hand over your leads to sales. 1. Set up ABM strategy quickly and smoothly

• Use workflow templates to define your ideal customer profiles and identify good-fit target accounts
• Set up default properties to tag accounts and buying roles
• Leverage AI-powered recommendations of target accounts

2. Allow sales & marketing to easily collaborate

• Use shared tools that unite your teams around the same data in the same place
• Use the Target Accounts feature to obtain a bird’s eye view of progress across all target accounts
• Use Slack to support high-value target accounts, post KPIs, and share notes

3. Attract high-value accounts & build deeper relationships through personalized engagement

• Personalize content and tailor how you engage with stakeholders within an account
• Use account-level targeting in LinkedIn Ads integration to target companies by account status or tier
• Deepen your relationships over time & build connections with stakeholders within each account

4. Track and measure key milestones on an account’s journey

• Use the account overview feature to understand what’s happening at an account level
• Employ out-of-the-box ABM reporting dashboards to get a higher-level view
• Obtain a higher level view using company scoring to identify the highest value accounts and prioritize reachout

As an added bonus, HubSpot’s apps and strategic partners including Slack, LinkedIn, Sigstr, Madison Logic, RollWorks, and Irioblio help you easily customize your ABM strategy. ABM helps you communicate with high-value accounts as if they’re individual markets. HubSpot’s experience shows that if you do this, along with personalizing the buyer’s journey and tailoring all communications, content, and campaigns to those specific accounts, you'll see greater ROI as well as a boost in customer loyalty. This is borne out by an ABMLA study, which shows that compared to other forms of marketing, 76% of B2B marketers who used ABM in 2020 reported increased ROI. Using HubSpot inbound marketing and ABM tools to power your ABM strategy helps you identify your high-value targets, communicate effectively through the right channels, and deliver the results you need.

You’ve peppered your website content with all the keywords you want to rank for. Yet your site still isn’t appearing in Google search rankings, not to mention Bing. It may be time to rethink your SEO strategy. A quick reminder: SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It primarily drives two things: rankings and visibility — and it helps you position your brand throughout the entire buyer’s journey. When you plug your keyword into a search engine, it brings up a Search Engine Results Page (SERP). What happens next has a lot to do with how well your site is optimized for SEO. To ask an existential question: If your company doesn’t rank on the first ten search results, does it even exist in the mind of your potential buyer?

How is your website ranked?

Google’s algorithm changes daily, but as a general rule of thumb, it ranks your website on three main factors: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO.

• On-page SEO — covers three key areas:
  • High-quality content (the heart of on-page SEO)
  • HTML (source code including page titles, headers, meta descriptions, image alt-text, and more),
  • and site architecture elements (such as page URLs, internal linking, and more).
• Off-page SEO — social sharing, external linking, and more.
• Technical SEO — structured data, site, speed and mobile readiness.

There are many quick actions you can carry out to improve your search engine rankings such tweaking title tags, image tags, internal link structure, and inbound links, to name but a few. However, to significantly improve your results, you need to carry out an SEO audit. Based on your findings, you’ll need to build a comprehensive SEO strategy that includes on-page strategies (which use intent-based keywords) and off-page strategies (which earn inbound links from other websites). If all that sounds a little daunting, here’s the good news. You don’t have to do the heavy lifting. HubSpot’s put together a free kit on how to run an SEO audit including an SEO template, audit checklist, and 9-step guide.

Don’t procrastinate, automate!

Why waste time, money and manual work when HubSpot SEO Marketing Software does it all for you? It can help you plan your SEO strategy, optimize your content, and measure ROI in three key steps:

1. Get SEO recommendations to optimize your site- Obtain recommendations ranked in order of priority which show which optimizations will have the biggest impact
2. Create an optimized content strategy to build search authority- Obtain topic suggestions based on relevance, competition, and popularity and create high quality content around your core topics
3. Integrate your SEO software with HubSpot’s content management tools- Obtain search keyword data, choose canonical URLs, get estimates on which topics will yield organic traffic gains, and track key topics on your dashboard

Get topical!

As the SEO project leader, you need to decide on each page’s target audience, goal, topic, and target keywords and phrases. HubSpot’s SEO tools make it easy to research and organize topics and subtopic keywords based on your company’s areas of expertise, which serve as the foundation for all the content you create for your website. Creating relevant and up-to-date content helps your website get indexed more accurately by search engines such as Google, which analyze keyword phrases in your content, title, meta description, hyperlinks, and more.  

Key tips to getting started with SEO

• Crawl your website, conduct an SEO audit, and define your site architecture.
• Establish a value proposition for every page and review and edit your content accordingly
• Target your audience for that specific page (if it differs according to market segment, application, or product category)
• Update your URLs, page titles, and meta descriptions.
• Making sure that your keyword/s are included in your URL and are used throughout the page
• Incorporate and optimize relevant visual content
• Add internal and external links

Why use HubSpot for SEO?

If haven’t yet made our case for why HubSpot takes the pain out of SEO and adds the gain, here are a few more good reasons to check it out: You don’t need to be an SEO expert, because its built-in SEO tools are built with marketers in mind. There’s no need to know coding either. HubSpot handles the technicalities, so you can focus on content. Here too, HubSpot has a variety of content planning tools built into the platform. It makes it really easy to connect your marketing assets so you can track the buyer’s journey — from awareness to qualified lead to happy customer.  

When the new client, an impressive player in the B2B Medical industry, first approached us, we were fully aware that this was a challenge requiring our utmost dedication. In the following case study, we'll walk you through the five pivotal steps we took to completely revamp their online presence, enhancing both page health and authority in the process - bringing an increase of 25% in traffic in just a few months.

Dive into our latest in-depth SEO case study and learn how Page Health and Authority Optimization can drive real-world results. See the transformative power of a meticulously planned technical SEO strategy.  

Client Background

Our client, a prominent B2B business, from the medical industry, approached us with a pressing concern: their website's underperformance. The objectives were clear - bolster online visibility, boost organic traffic, and, ultimately, amplify revenue streams. The website presented several challenges, including a distressingly low Page Health score of 48 and a less-than-optimal Page Authority of 17. The Analytics showed a high bounce rate and a low average time on the page.

The mission was unequivocal: transform these pivotal metrics to drive higher organic traffic and conversions by improving its metrics.

 

Challenges Faced

• Low Page Health (Score 48): The website grappled with technical and on-page SEO issues that urgently required rectification.

• Limited Page Authority (Score 17): The website's trustworthiness and credibility fell short, impeding its ascent in search engine rankings.

• Stagnant Organic Traffic: Organic traffic had plateaued, failing to meet conversion rate expectations.

Strategy and Approach

1. Comprehensive Technical Audit

The first crucial step was an exhaustive technical audit.

This audit unearthed a multitude of issues, including a sluggish page load speed, poor mobile-friendliness, and crawlability impediments.

We also identified and rectified:

• Broken links, which were harming user experience.

• Duplicate content issues that led to search engine confusion.

• Inadequate URL structures that hindered proper indexing.

Furthermore, addressing page speed was of paramount importance. Google's Core Web Vitals update places significant emphasis on page speed, and our efforts in this regard had a profound impact on website health.

2. In-Depth Keyword Research

Simultaneously, we embarked on an extensive keyword research expedition. Our goal was to identify high-impact keywords that resonated with both the client's objectives and current industry trends. This laid the foundation for a robust keyword strategy, ensuring that the content aligned perfectly with the target audience's intent.

3. On-Page Optimization

Optimizing existing content and crafting new, keyword-rich content was the next step. This involved:

• Enhancing meta tags, crafting compelling headings, and optimizing image alt attributes to enhance visibility.

• Leveraging schema markup to provide search engines with structured data, enhancing search results' richness.

4. Technical SEO Enhancements

Technical SEO enhancements played a pivotal role in improving website health:

• We submitted updated sitemaps to search engines for expedited indexing.

• Canonicalization issues were addressed to prevent duplicate content penalties.

• An improved website navigation system and internal linking structure provided users with an enhanced experience.

5. Content Marketing and Link Building

The final piece of the puzzle was content marketing and link building:

• Improving internal linkage between relevant content pieces within the website, which also improved time on site.

• We created high-quality, shareable content to attract backlinks, thereby elevating Page Authority.

• Employing ethical link-building strategies solidified the website's authority and trustworthiness.

Results Achieved

1. Page Health Transformation

Within a matter of months, our strategies propelled the Page Health score from 48 to an astounding 95. The resolution of technical issues, especially the optimization of page load speed, resulted in vastly improved overall website performance.

2. Page Authority Ascension

Page Authority, a key indicator of trustworthiness, surged from 17 to a highly commendable 29. The remarkable improvement was primarily attributed to the augmented backlink profile garnered through our content marketing and link-building endeavors.

3. Explosive Organic Traffic Growth

One of the most remarkable outcomes of our SEO campaign was the monumental 20% increase in organic traffic within just three months. Our meticulous efforts in addressing page speed and optimizing for Core Web Vitals played a substantial role in this growth.

4. Enhanced User Experience

By addressing technical issues and optimizing on-page elements, the website now delivers a seamless and engaging user experience. This has led to lower bounce rates and extended user sessions, cementing the site's position in search engine rankings.

Conclusion

This case study serves as a compelling testament to the power of a meticulously crafted SEO plan and precise technical optimization. The transformation of Page Health from 48 to an impressive 95 and Page Authority from 17 to 29 vividly illustrates the tangible benefits of strategic SEO efforts.

By systematically addressing technical issues, optimizing on-page elements, and implementing effective content marketing and link-building strategies, we achieved remarkable results. The client's online visibility, organic traffic, and conversion rates experienced substantial growth. This case study underscores the pivotal role of SEO in enhancing website performance and achieving substantial business growth.

In conclusion, for businesses aspiring to thrive in the digital sphere, investing in SEO is not just a choice; it's an imperative step toward realizing online success.

If you're seeking more detailed information on how optimizing page speed and eliminating duplicate content can enhance your website's health and drive remarkable traffic growth, visit us to read more: https://ozglobalb2b.com/SEO/

Ready to take your website's SEO to the next level? Book a meeting to schedule your consultation and unlock the full potential of your online presence.

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!”  

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.

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.

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.

It's time to attract your prospects instead of bombarding them.

Inbound marketing is a customer-centric approach that focuses on attracting customers to your business through content and interactions that are valuable, helpful, and trust-building.

It’s all about using remarkable content to develop and nurture long-term relationships with your prospects so they ultimately build trust in your brand.

In comparison, traditional marketing, which is marketer-centric, uses more interruptive methods to vie for the attention of prospects.  

	Inbound	VS.	Outbound
Definition	Inbound marketing uses customer-centric tactics to attract prospects, address their challenges and goals, and build trust in your business		Traditional marketing uses more interruptive methods to push products and services and get the attention of prospects
Communication	Based on interactive communication that engages prospects and attracts them to you		Based on one-way, outward communication
Tools/techniques	Educational content such as blogs, videos, eBooks, white papers, SEO, and case studies		Print and TV ads, banner ads, direct mail, cold calling, and mass email campaigns
Goals	Offer prospects value through educational content and earn their trust		Drive sales through product-centric marketing

 

In one of our last blogs, we spoke about how content is the fuel behind inbound marketing. The question now is where do you start and what do you focus on? Let’s start with a quick recap of the recommended process for creating content for inbound:

1. Consider the content’s purpose, format and topics.
2. Create content that builds trust amongst your prospects.
3. Get your content in front of the right people at the right time.
4. Analyze & repeat. Determine what worked and what didn’t, and repeat your successes.

In this blog we’ll focus on the first stage: Plan. But stay tuned for future posts on the whole process. In the planning stage, you’ll need to decide on the content's purpose, format, and TOPICS. And that’s where you’ll need to get your creative juices going. Because you’ll need to come up with ideas that attract potential customers and keep them coming back for more. But how do you get out of your own head and into your potential customers’ heads to find inspiration? The most obvious place to start would be by ASKING THEM. Yes, we know it sounds trivial but when was the last time you actually spoke to your end users and customers about their actual challenges? Another great source of information is your field sales team who frequently interact with your end users and customers.

Lead nurturing is the process of engaging with contacts via automated workflows to build a relationship with them. The end goal is to close more educated and qualified customers faster and to delight customers to become promoters of your brand. Because the reality is that not all leads are ready to talk to the sales team at the beginning of their interaction with your company. In fact, most aren't, and according to HubSpot, research shows that only 5-25% of visitors that come to your site are ready to close the deal. This means that in order for inbound marketing to be effective, you need to engage with your leads along every stage of the buyer's journey until they are ready to do business with you. Which is where lead nurturing comes in. As a key component of your B2B marketing strategy, lead nurturing utilizes automated email campaigns that are timely, offer valuable content, and address your prospects' specific interests to nurture them until they're sales ready. And, because the emails are automated, it saves you a lot of work by qualifying leads and pushing them through the sales funnel quicker, meaning a higher return on investment. In fact, DemandGen Report found that nurtured leads increase sales opportunities by an average of 20% versus non-nurtured leads. As you begin to develop your lead nurturing workflows, always remember these foundational principles:

• Grow and nurture relationships
• Offer educational content
• Use hyper personalization

This means you should constantly consider whether you're offering your customer value, and ensure your content isn't promotional but rather informational and educational. Also, don't forget to target and personalize your communication based on your buyer persona's questions and interests and where they are in the buyer's journey. This keeps your communication efforts relevant and consistent – which is ultimately what produces results.

Inbound marketing is a customer-centric approach that focuses on attracting customers to your business by offering valuable and informative content that speaks to theirs needs and builds trust in your business. As opposed to more traditional, marketer-centric marketing, which uses interruptive methods such as emails, cold calling, and printed ads to get the attention of prospects, inbound marketing creates positive interactions that empower prospects with the information they need to make decisions for themselves.

Why inbound marketing?

We live in an age where people are bombarded with advertising wherever they turn, and for this reason, have become increasingly skeptical of standard interruptive marketing methods. In fact, Harvard Business Review reports that 90% of B2B buyers never respond to cold-marketing. For this reason, instead of competing for consumer attention, inbound uses the fact that prospects seek out the information they need on their own terms. By developing valuable and relevant content with the expectation to be found, potential customers will come to you, become new clients, and ultimately be delighted by their experience.

How does inbound marketing work?

Inbound marketing is based on four phases: attract, convert, close, delight

ATTRACT

First, attract visitors to your website using tools such as blogging, website optimization, and, social media. Tools: blog, social media, keywords, pages

CONVERT

Once you have new visitors, you can convert some into leads by gathering their contact information, the currency of inbound marketing. To do this, it's important to offer them something valuable, usually in the form of additional information or useful content. Tools: calls-to-action, landing pages, forms, contacts

CLOSE

Once you’ve converted some visitors into leads, you need to nurture their interest by providing them with relevant information. In this stage, tools like email and CRM are helpful in selling to the right leads at the right time. Tools: email, workflows, lead scoring, CRM integrations

DELIGHT

Once you close a sale with a customer, your relationship is just beginning. At this stage, you need to continue to delight and engage them so they become happy promoters of your brand. Tools: social media, smart calls-to-action, email, workflows Analysis is critical to making inbound marketing work. Every strategy and technique you use, and content you create, should be analyzed regularly to see if it's working, and adjusted as needed to make it better.

Attracting customers with inbound marketing

Inbound marketing is a customer-centric approach that focuses on attracting customers to your business. Unlike traditional interruptive marketing that vies for attention through cold calls, purchased ads, and email blasts, inbound marketing responds to prospects’ needs and interests by offering them valuable content in the right place and at the right time. “By publishing the right content in the right place at the right time, your marketing becomes relevant and helpful to your customers, not interruptive.” - Hubspot Read more about inbound marketing here.

So how does inbound marketing work for B2B?

It’s often assumed that inbound marketing is better suited for businesses that sell directly to consumers (B2C); and, in the recent “push” to “pull” marketing shift, it appears that B2C organizations have more easily adopted this new marketing model. In contrast, B2B or B2C organizations appear to be more skeptical and adopt the new approach with more caution. The main reason for this is that a lot of B2B and B2B2C organizations are still trying to figure out how inbound marketing can work for them; and they often question whether this new approach is even applicable to business customers.

The answer is — of course — YES!

Because the truth is that it doesn’t matter what you’re selling or to whom, the majority of your prospects are usually partially through the buying cycle before they even consider talking to a salesperson. And that’s where the emphasis needs to be — ON YOUR PROSPECTS. In order for inbound marketing to work, you need to have an in-depth understanding of your value chain and your sales model. Once you have that, you can then create valuable content that attracts visitors to your business, converts them into prospects, engages them until they decide to purchase your product or service, and then delights them so they become promoters of your brand. In this manner, you can use inbound marketing to create a win-win situation where you get closer to both your distributors and your end users, and in the process, increase brand awareness to enhance end-user demand for your brand (even if you they are not buying directly from you). But here’s the thing – you need to be in it for the long haul. Inbound marketing takes time, effort, and patience. But it’s definitely worth the wait!

Inbound marketing is not just about attracting people to your business; it's about attracting the right people to your business – those who will become leads, and then customers, and ultimately happy promoters of your brand. There are tools for every stage of the inbound marketing process, and the first phase — attract — is all about getting suitable prospects in the door. This is usually done by offering valuable content and using a variety of marketing techniques to ensure that B2B buyers find your business, including blogging, SEO, and social media — but for the moment, let’s leave that for another post. Because before you start anything, in order to attract the right customers, you obviously need to know who your ideal customers actually are — right? Understanding who your customers are and what they want For the inbound customer-centric approach to work, you need to know who you're actually trying to reach. The best way to learn about your ideal customers, their interests, and their buying habits is to develop buyer personas, which are simply representations of your ideal customers. Buyer personas are based on three essential practices – research, identifying trends, and creating persona profile stories. This research and analysis allows you to uncover the mindset, goals, challenges, and motivations of your potential buyers. Once you've determined who your ideal customers are, the next step is understanding the buyer’s journey — which is the active research process your potential prospects go through before making a purchase. This journey, which is usually divided into three stages – awareness, consideration, and decision--, helps you tailor your inbound marketing and content to create meaningful interactions with your ideal customers (buyer personas) at every stage of their process (buyer's journey).

Content is what sets you apart

It’s the fuel behind inbound marketing – it carries the message your company wants to deliver to your customers at the right time and in the right place. It’s what powers a successful inbound strategy by pulling people from one stage of the inbound methodology to another and addressing their challenges and questions. It’s what attracts the right visitors to your site, converts them into leads, nurtures them, helps close them into customers, and then delights them into promoters.

If we were to tell you that the world is in the midst of another major digital revolution, would you be surprised? We wouldn’t — because technology is seriously rocking our world, and it’s creating unprecedented disruption in its wake. It’s completely changing our methods of doing business and transforming the business models of each and every industry. Soon, almost anyone will be able to invent new products cheaply and quickly. And to make things even more challenging, the new competition is selling directly to the end user. So where does that leave us? We can bury our heads in the sand and rely on existing methods that have worked until now, and hope for the best. Or, we can accept the fact that we need to adjust, challenge the status quo, and take advantage of these changes to not only survive but actually boost our businesses. But where do we start? First, it’s important to understand that the single and most important factor in this new era is the customer who actually uses your product or service. Not your product/service, or your technology, or your market — your customer! At the end of the day, your success is determined by how well you know your customers and how well you meet their needs or solve their challenges.

This means that before you do anything else, you need to identify, understand and talk to your customers.

This involves meeting customers at different points on their journey, mapping their journey and fully understanding their needs. Once you’ve done this, you can go on to define your potential buyer personas; identify how you meet their needs, motivations, pain points and challenges; create relevant offline and online content and tools to communicate with them; reallocate marketing and sales (and other) resources to match the real needs of your customers; and create collaboration between your marketing and sales (and other) teams. But first, get to know your customers! From there, the rest will follow.

We speak a lot about branding — adding value to B2B brands, building global brands, marketing in a digital world, employee branding, etc. Yes, they are all absolutely vital to business growth and success. But we often tend to speak less about or even ignore a less “sexy” component— lead generation. Most people just hear the term and get overwhelmed, which is a major problem as despite the challenges involved, lead acquisition and tracking is a crucial part of any business. And in a world where the heat is always on to win (or maintain) market share and stay ahead of the competition, traditional methods are no longer enough. More of the same just doesn’t cut it anymore and creativity is key! In the case of Amiad Water Systems, a world leader in water treatment and filtration solutions, the marketing team decided to try something different to support and improve the sales process. This came after the company successfully underwent rebranding; and with a solid foundation in place, it was time to get the word out and translate all the efforts into revenue. After getting the go ahead from the sales team and researching potential buyer personas, the team created Amiad FilterIT — a digital tool (app) to help end users understand which of the company’s solutions best suited their needs. The idea was simple. The user would sign up and download the app, add the criteria, and receive information on the products that met these criteria. In addition to helping the end user and collecting highly-qualified leads, the Amiad FilterIT app could also be used to promote new and innovative products, push notifications to customers, track data and optimize products and services based on user behavior and needs. Once the app was implemented in one specific market, Amiad used a digital campaign to promote it and as a result, the sales team received hundreds of qualified leads that could then be nurtured through direct communication. Based on this success, Amiad is currently in the process of implementing the app in additional markets globally.