The BL[OZ]
Unlock SEO Automated Success: Top 7 SEO Strategies You Can Automate with Make (Integromat)
By
Orly Gilad
, 07/03/2024
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:
- Set Up Triggers: Use RSS feeds or webhooks to monitor competitor blogs or websites.
- Extract Key Data: Use Make scenarios to automatically extract new content details such as titles, keywords, and descriptions.
- Analyze Changes: Use SEO tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to analyze any new keywords or strategies they're employing.
- 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:
- Connect to Local SEO Tools: Integrate with tools like Moz Local or Yext.
- Automate Updates: Set up processes to automatically update listings with new hours, photos, or responses to reviews.
- Monitor Reviews: Get alerts for new reviews to respond quickly.
- 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?- Monitor New Uploads: Set up a trigger for when new images are uploaded to your CMS.
- Connect to an Image Optimization Tool: Use services like TinyPNG or Kraken.io within Make.
- 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?- Set Up Social Media Triggers: Monitor keywords and hashtags on platforms like Twitter or Reddit.
- Integrate with News Aggregators: Use tools like Feedly to pull in trending topics.
- Collect and Analyze Data: Aggregate this data for analysis to identify popular subjects.
- 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?
- Use SEO Tools: Integrate with tools like Moz or Ahrefs.
- Set Keyword Triggers: Monitor specific keywords and get updates on their SERP rankings.
- Analyze Data: Collect data on rankings, featured snippets, and other SERP features.
- 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?
- Schedule Regular Scans: Use tools like Screaming Frog or Broken Link Checker.
- Integrate with Your Website: Connect these tools to your CMS.
- Automate Notifications: Set up alerts for when broken links are found.
- 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:
- Connect to Social Platforms: Integrate with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.
- Gather Engagement Data: Collect likes, shares, comments, and other engagement metrics.
- Analyze Trends: Use this data to understand what content resonates with your audience.
- Report and Refine: Generate reports for your team to review and refine your social media strategy.
Account Based Marketing (ABM) Vs. Lead Generation
By
Guy Toledano
, 17/08/2023
Are you struggling to decide between account-based marketing (ABM) and Lead Generation for your business? In this blog, we explore the key differences between the two strategies and how they can be used together to achieve optimal results. From understanding the benefits of demand generation to utilizing ABM for "land and expand" tactics. This guide provides valuable insights for marketers looking to boost their ROI. Additionally, the blog discusses how to effectively target the two main types of LinkedIn users to generate leads and increase engagement.
Is your website “Bing-ready”?
By
Orly Gilad
, 16/07/2023
This blog highlights essential points for SEO practitioners targeting Bing and Google. Topics include keyword research, social media integration, backlinks, local SEO, rich media content, and technical SEO. Stay updated with evolving algorithms for the best results. For more information, consult reputable SEO blogs and industry websites.
Here are some general points to consider when comparing SEO for Bing and Google:
- Keyword Research: While Bing and Google both consider keywords relevancy as an important factor for SEO, they may have different algorithms for how they interpret and rank keywords. It's important to research and optimize for search terms that are relevant to both Bing and Google search results. ➭ For example, After conducting keyword research, you may find that [your company solution] + USA are popular search terms on both Bing and Google. By optimizing your content for these keywords, you'll increase the chances of appearing in search results on both search engines.
- Social Media Integration: Bing tends to give more importance to social media integration and social signals, such as social media shares, likes, and comments, compared to Google. Incorporating social media strategies into your SEO efforts may be more beneficial for Bing rankings, so be sure to promote your content on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, encouraging shares, likes, and comments to improve Bing rankings.
- Backlinks: Both Bing and Google consider backlinks as an important ranking factor, but they may have different algorithms for evaluating the quality and relevance of backlinks. It's important to understand the differences and optimize your backlink strategy accordingly. ➭Request backlinks from authoritative industry websites or thought leaders to enhance your website's credibility and rankings on both Bing and Google.
- Local SEO: Bing tends to place more emphasis on local search results compared to Google. Optimizing your website for local SEO, by including location-specific keywords like "top Global B2B agencies in [Israel]" ;) will help optimize your local listing, and getting local citations, will be beneficial for both Bing and GMB rankings.
- Rich Media Content: Bing tends to place more importance on rich media content, such as images and videos, compared to Google. Including relevant images and videos with proper optimization may help improve your rankings on Bing.
- Technical SEO: Both Bing and Google consider technical SEO factors, such as website speed, mobile-friendliness, and crawlability. Optimizing your website's technical aspects according to the guidelines of both search engines can help improve your SEO performance on both Bing and Google.
➭ To find the technical guidelines for both Bing and Google, you can refer to the official documentation and resources provided by each search engine:
Additionally, both Bing and Google offer webmaster tools that provide insights into your website's performance, indexing status, and potential issues. These tools can help you optimize your website according to the search engine guidelines, improving your overall SEO performance.
- Bing Webmaster Tools: https://www.bing.com/webmasters/
- Google Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-console
Consumerize the Customer Journey
By
Nirit Elyovich
, 25/01/2022
Early in my career, a wise woman said customers pay my salary, not owners. It's vital for marketers to consider future customers' needs.
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.
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?
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- 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.
To sum up…
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
10, 9, 8…. And counting down marketing trends for 2018
By
Orit Oz
, 18/01/2018
The New Year is here and we put together a countdown of marketing trends that will affect B2B brands in 2018!
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.Moo-ving it up a notch with user experience
By
Miri Peled
, 10/10/2017
To encourage Afimilk’s dealers to make more purchases online and to give them access to marketing materials, OZ designed an intuitive online partner portal.
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:- Knowledge center – with marketing resources including brochures, presentations, and supporting materials to help dealers promote Afimilk solutions.
- Configurator wizard – builds price quotations tailored to customer requirements while promoting Afimilk’s preferred solutions.
- Market gate – intuitive online ordering system tailored for Afimilk partners to encourage online ordering.
Moving to a business-to-business-to-user mindset (B2B2U©)
By
Dina Gidron
, 10/09/2017
Communicate with both intermediary customers and patient-consumers in this new age of healthcare by transitioning to a Business-to-Business-to User model.
It’s all about the people and building relationships
By
Miri Peled
, 09/08/2017
We worked together to develop a new visual identity that stands out in the 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’ 7th Annual Trendlines Company Showcase attended by hundreds of biomedicine industry professionals from around the world, and sponsored by companies worldwide.Inbound for Medical & Healthcare Companies Event
By
Miri Peled
, 23/07/2017
We held an Inbound for Medical & Healthcare Companies event where industry experts shared multiple insights on marketing for medical and healthcare industries.
- 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
- 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.
- 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©).
- 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.
- 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.
- Brands must recognize social health and deliver value across the full spectrum to drive leads, convert prospects to customers and keep them loyal.
- 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.
Getting to know your patient-consumers
By
Orit Oz
, 13/07/2017
When I just started my career, an intelligent woman told me that only when I understand.
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.What’s the difference between traditional and inbound marketing?
By
Miri Peled
, 29/06/2017
Inbound marketing focuses on attracting customers through valuable content, while traditional marketing is marketer-centric and uses more interruptive methods.
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 |
Get your creative juices flowing with these great blog topic tips
By
Orit Oz
, 06/06/2017
Here are some tips to get your creative juices flowing to come up with some great blog topics.
- Consider the content’s purpose, format and topics.
- Create content that builds trust amongst your prospects.
- Get your content in front of the right people at the right time.
- Analyze & repeat. Determine what worked and what didn’t, and repeat your successes.
What is lead nurturing?
By
Orit Oz
, 24/05/2017
Lead nurturing is the process of engaging with contacts via automated workflows to build a relationship with them.
- Grow and nurture relationships
- Offer educational content
- Use hyper personalization
Inbound marketing in a nutshell
By
Orit Oz
, 16/05/2017
When I just started my career, an intelligent woman told me that only when I understand.
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, delightATTRACT
First, attract visitors to your website using tools such as blogging, website optimization, and, social media. Tools: blog, social media, keywords, pagesCONVERT
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, contactsCLOSE
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 integrationsDELIGHT
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.Does inbound marketing work for B2B?
By
Orit Oz
, 16/05/2017
Does inbound marketing work for B2B businesses? Of course it does, because it doesn’t matter what you’re selling or to whom – your customer always comes first.
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!Attracting the RIGHT customers to your B2B business
By
Orit Oz
, 16/05/2017
Inbound marketing for B2B is about attracting the right people to your business – those who become leads, then customers and ultimately promoters of your brand.
The power of content in inbound marketing
By
Orit Oz
, 16/05/2017
Content is 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.
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.Content in B2B
Content marketing works for every type of business. In fact, according to a report put out by the Content Marketing Institute, 85% of B2B marketers identified the creation of quality and efficient content as being a leading factor for increased marketing success in 2016. Additionally, based on company metrics, 78% of these B2B marketers report an increase in audience engagement and 57% saw an increase in sales with use of content for their B2B marketing.The content process
Now that we've established the importance of content, where do you start and what should you focus on? The best way to optimize your content for your inbound marketing strategy is to follow a content process that involves 4 main steps:- Consider the content’s purpose, format and topics.
- Create content that builds trust amongst your prospects.
- Get your content in front of the right people at the right time.
- Analyze & repeat. Determine what worked and what didn’t, and repeat your successes.
Getting creative in B2B marketing
By
Miri Peled
, 15/05/2017
Yes, branding is vital to success. But what about lead generation, which is also crucial to business and requires creative methods to bring in qualified leads?
What’s all the fuss about Inbound marketing?
By
Orit Oz
, 15/05/2017
We’ve all heard the term Inbound marketing thrown around a lot lately. It’s become the latest catchphrase in a field that’s already packed with catchphrases.
What is Inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is the process of attracting potential customers and getting them to reach out to you. This is different to more traditional marketing (also known as push marketing or outbound marketing) where you actively reach out to potential customers through methods such as cold-calling, printed magazines, and traditional advertising. But how do you attract potential customers and get them to trust you before you’ve even pitched them your product? The answer lies in content —the foundation of the Inbound methodology. By creating carefully curated content, you’ll establish yourself as a trusted source of knowledge and attract the ideal visitors to your site, convert them into leads and then customers, and keep them engaged so they go on to promote your brand. “By publishing the right content in the right place at the right time, your marketing becomes relevant and helpful to your customers, not interruptive.” - HubspotInbound marketing in a nutshell
Inbound marketing is filled with complexities, but the following four steps (based on the Hubspot Inbound methodology) summarize the main Inbound stages:- Attract. Before you do anything, you need to fully research and understand who your ideal customers or buyer personas are. Once you have identified them, you can get them to come to you.
- Find creative ways to “convert” these potential customers into leads by offering them something valuable in return.
- Turn your leads into customers.
- Continue to engage with your customers so they become promoters of your brand.
Inbound marketing in B2B
At this stage, you may be wondering whether Inbound marketing works in the world of B2B. The answer is a big loud “Yes!” In fact, Inbound marketing creates a win-win situation for you where you can get closer to your direct customers and distributors, and also increase brand awareness amongst end users to enhance end-user demand for your brand (even if you they are not buying directly from you). Read how Elcam used digital marketing to increase brand awareness>>Combining Inbound and offline marketing
We’d like to emphasize that Inbound marketing does not replace the need for interpersonal interaction with your customers – especially in B2B industries where the customer model tends to be more complex and is often based on long-term relationships. The goal is to find the right communication mix for your specific B2B business needs, market and customers. By promoting your brand through a digital dialog and an inter-personal dialog, you can achieve a more effective and efficient sales and marketing process for better business results. For example, you can combine a compelling digital campaign to encourage potential customers to visit you at a trade show, and then meet them at the event to continue a direct dialogue with them. Look out for our next blog post on the need for face-to-face communication with your customers and creative ways to combine digital and interpersonal communication (coming soon).Inbound marketing – here to stay?
Another big loud “Yes!” It’s quite simple - as more and more potential buyers turn to the Internet for answers to their challenges, they look to buy from suppliers who instill trust by answering their questions and offering solutions to their problems. This means that in order to stay relevant in the marketplace, you have to be present where your potential buyers are looking for answers - online. And that’s why everyone is fussing over Inbound marketing.The changing role of CMOs in B2B marketing
By
Miri Peled
, 15/05/2017
Customer empowerment has led to a changing CMO role as CMOs become the customer voice within their organizations. But what does this role actually involve?
The customer leads the way
With digital disruption and an ongoing increase in Internet and social media usage, consumers now have almost all the information they need at their fingertips. In fact, research shows that the majority of customers engage in online research and brand comparison before they commit to a specific product or service — even (and often especially) in the world of business to business (B2B) — and continue to use online platforms at multiple points across their buyer journey. This has far reaching effects on the marketplace, and businesses are being forced to adapt their marketing strategy accordingly. Instead of interruptive marketing fighting for a customer's attention and money, twenty-first century businesses need to focus on both offline and online marketing to attract potential customers, increase sales and maintain an ongoing relationship with their customers.Expanding the CMO’s Role
These changes to customer behavior, as well as the ability of companies to reach a more diverse and global customer base, have led to an expansion or even a complete redefinition of the CMO’s role, in both B2C and B2B marketing. As advocators for customers — or the “voice of the customer” —CMOs will need to lead changes across companies. This involves playing a more active role in areas such as global branding strategy and public profile, product development, leading the move from a product-centric to a customer-centric model, content planning and generation, digital media, and more.Using online marketing to generate a buzz (or a moo)
By
Miri Peled
, 15/05/2017
When Afimilk was preparing to launch its new AfiLab, the company turned to Oz Branding for assistance in creating a combined online and offline campaign.
Afimilk case study: all you need is lab
When Afimilk — a pioneer and global leader of management technology for dairy farming — was preparing to launch its In-line Milk Lab internationally, the company turned to Oz for assistance in creating a combined online and offline campaign for the launch.- Online – including digital ads in a variety of professional magazines, a social network campaign that was launched 6 weeks before the expo, the creation of a specific AfiLab mini-site, blog posts on the subject, a newsletter, a PR, and more.
- Offline – including brochures, a booth at the trade show, giveaways, printed ads, and more.
The Online Approach to Event Marketing
By
Miri Peled
, 14/05/2017
This post will explain how to effectively integrate the two to achieve your company's greater marketing goals when it comes to marketing a conference
1. The More Targeted the Event, the Better
At an industry conference, you want your booth and company to really stand out among the others. The larger the conference and broader the topic, the more challenging it will be for your product to grab the attention of potential customers. One of our customers, Elcam Medical, for instance, started to see fantastic results after attending more targeted events. After undergoing a branding process which sought to position the company as experts in ensuring safety in the hospital environment, they understood that they were marketing not only to their supplier, but also to their end user -- ICU nurses. You can read more about Elcam's success in integrating online and offline marketing strategies here>> As a result, instead of attending the usual larger medical conferences and trade shows, they began to attend more targeted professional conferences of nurses, albeit with a smaller booth. Since the subject was so targeted, Elcam Medical was often able to generate awareness of their product by speaking on the lecture panel at the conference.2. Be Really Clear About Your Inbound Goals
Make sure everyone in your marketing department is working together towards the same goals. Your inbound marketing activity before, during, and after events can support your greater marketing strategy of lead generation by:- Increasing both direct and indirect traffic to your company website
- Increasing the number of email or blog subscribers
- Educating potential customers about your specific product or service
- Increase the number of requests for a product demo
3. Identify your Call-to-Action (CTA)
A call-to-action, or CTA, is an action which you want potential customers to take. This is the method by which you achieve your goal, which you've properly defined in #2. Your CTA could be to convince potential customers to register for the event, download your ebook or white paper, sign up for your webinar, take a survey, or just visit your latest product or service page. By convincing potential customers to take this action, you are driving them further along the sales cycle. Other parts of your company can benefit from trade shows as well, so it is important to sit down and brainstorm with management in different departments to get their input. One of our clients, Afimilk, decided that in order to promote their new product, the AfiAct II at the World Dairy Expo, they would run a lottery during the event to give away the product to one lucky registrant for free. We integrated a CTA into all of their marketing materials for this event, adding it to the Afimilk website homepage, and creating landing page dedicated to registrations specifically for the event.4. Create a Dedicated Landing Page to Promote your Event
The best landing pages promote events before and after the event. How? Before the event, they help to schedule appointments with your sales and marketing team, explain exactly what your company will be doing at the event, and promote a particular product or service. After the event, they publish reactions and insights from the event as well as the speaker's presentations on the landing page. Another purpose of your dedicated landing page before the event can be to get specific info from potential customers in order for your sales team to qualify them. But in an environment where you are competing with many other companies for the attention of the same people, you'll need to stand out from the crowd. Why would they want to give you information about themselves? You'll have to offer them something in return. Think really hard about what your potential customer's pain point is and how you can help them – for free, in exchange for their contact information. Here's an example from one of our customers, Plastopil, where we inspired customers to register to an event by offering them a free iPad mini:5. Promote Your Event via Email Marketing
Invite your contacts to the event with an email beforehand, sending them to your dedicated landing page in order to register for the event or schedule appointments, educating them about your services and products, or offering them a free ebook or white paper to show them you understand (and have a solution to) their main pain point. You may want to send an email promoting the event several times beforehand – perhaps a month, two weeks, and then the week of the event. Follow up afterwards with either a thank you or a newsletter that recalls the event. If you blogged about the event, include those posts in the newsletter as well.6. Combining Online and Offline for Maximum Results
A major goal in B2B conferences is to build new business relationships and strengthen old ones, both of which are key in lead generation. This offline approach should not be underestimated. However, you can use inbound marketing to gain the attention of new potential business partners, educate them about your products and services, and have that first meeting be as effective as possible.Should I Still Speak to My Customers Face-to-Face?
By
Miri Peled
, 14/05/2017
Are you struggling to find the right marketing mix? Get some tips on creating an offline marketing strategy that is complemented by your online strategy
Integrating online and offline marketing
With all of this focus on online marketing, we tend to think that we should invest all of our energy in our online presence. But it’s not that simple as customers don’t only spend their time online. While online marketing is crucial to growth and success, you need to also engage your customers using offline methods – especially in B2B industries where long-term relationships with customers are crucial to success. A good way to understand this is to compare it to the use of social media in our personal lives. Most of us frequently share personal information about ourselves, our families, our hobbies, and more, on social media platforms. Despite the fact that these platforms seem to “replace” direct relationships, that’s not usually the case, and most of us still make a lot of effort to meet with our families and friends on a regular basis to nurture our inter-personal relationships. If we apply this example to business, we can build well-balanced marketing strategies by combining the use of social platforms to share knowledge with potential customers and build their trust, with inter-personal, offline interactions.Not mutually exclusive
Using both online and offline marketing doesn’t mean that you need to create separate strategies for each. Instead, you need to create the right marketing mix for your company and field where your offline marketing strategy is actually complemented by your online strategy, and vice versa. Here are some examples:1. Trade shows
Trade shows may be traditionally associated with “offline” marketing, but you can leverage your investment in them by using a digital strategy to promote your company’s presence at the event. This can be done through digital ads, social media campaigns, landing pages, calls-to-action, and even webinars or videos talking about the upcoming event and where to find you. These promotions can be used to both promote your business in general, and to set up meetings or collect quality leads.At the event, you’ll be able to meet these potential customers (and other) face-to-face and most importantly, to follow up after the event based on what they told you about their specific needs. Again, the follow-up communication can be done through both direct communication and digital communication such as newsletters.
Read here about the online approach to event marketing>>
2. Samples to customer
Offer potential buyers and distributors that leave their contact details via digital platforms free samples of your products (where relevant) or promotions. In this manner, you can collect quality leads from customers, communicate with them directly to get them to try your products, and continue to engage with them through online campaigns. You can also use geo-driven campaigns to attract potential buyers and then refer them to local points-of-sale.
3. Digital campaigns and demos
Use digital campaigns and landing pages to encourage potential buyers to leave their information and then call them to set up a live demo of your product. You can continue to nurture the relationship with these potential buyers after the demo through a combination of offline and online marketing techniques.
4. Join social media groups
Join and contribute to social media groups in your field, use them to increase your brand awareness, and look out for offline networking initiated by these groups, including impromptu meet-ups and offline conversations. You can also initiate such offline events in order to meet potential leads face-to-face.