5 Impacts a Social Media Campaign Can Have on Your Brand

Despite the plethora of studies, statistics and reports showing that an effective social media campaign has a positive impact on building a brand, many businesspeople (including marketing professionals) remain in a foggy “I know I should be using social media, but I’m not sure how or why” state. According to one report by Social Media Examiner, 85 percent of marketers who use social media aren’t clear on which social media tools would work best for their business.

To see the big picture of how social media can specifically help you, consider these five impacts a social media campaign can have on your personal or business brand.

1. Enhanced brand recognition and thought leadership. 

It’s simple math: The more frequently you show up on social media, the greater your brand exposure and the more recognizable (and credible) your company, personal brand, product and business become.

For example, let’s say you want to get more gigs as a speaker for your industry’s top events and conferences. Today, most meeting planners start their search on Google. If you come up -- not once, but dozens of times -- as an expert, you’re more likely to be seen as a thought leader and invited to speak. You can’t buy that type of publicity. Well, actually you can, but it’s expensive. It’s much better to get it for free through the smart use of social media.

2. Increased trust through leveraged credibility.

 Let’s say a major influencer in your industry retweets you, links to a blog post you’ve written or interviews you for an article on their website. What does this say about your brand to their audience -- and yours? Fundamentally it’s a thumbs-up that proclaims “We have enough trust in your expertise to put our brand behind yours.” That’s leveraged credibility, and it helps create the kind of trust necessary for brand success. A 2009 study from Mext Consulting showed that if consumers trust a brand:

• 83 percent will recommend it.
• 82 percent will use its products and services frequently.
• 78 percent will look to it first for the thing they want.
• 50 percent will pay more for its products and services.

3. Competitive advantage in cold conversions. 

The third social media marketing bottom line for your business or brand is a competitive advantage in converting visitors who come to you cold via internet search (as opposed to through referral or personal contact) into members of your tribe. Let’s say a potential customer has narrowed the field down to you and one other competitor. If you have an active (and quality) social media presence (be it with a blog, Pinterest, LinkedIn or another channel), and your competitor has a weak social media presence, which brand do you think is going to catch their attention? And the answer is ... the one with the more engaging social media.

While this might not be the only criterion that will factor into their choice, we know social media does influence customers’ decision making. A 2015 report -- “Navigating the New Digital Divide” -- from Deloitte noted that customers who use social media to shop before or during a visit to a store are 29 percent more likely to make a purchase that same day. A 2011 study from the ODM Group showed that 74 percent of consumers rely on social networks to guide purchasing decisions.

4. Greater percentage of referrals closed. 

A decade ago, if you were looking for a consultant in change management to facilitate your annual off-site retreat, you’d call up a few of your colleagues and ask for some recommendations.

Next, with your list in hand, you’d call (most likely from your land line) each of the candidates, interviews them and ask to be sent (through the mail) some marketing materials. After perusing their various promotional pamphlets, you’d narrow it down to a few finalists and ask them to come in for a second interview. Then you’d make your decision and contract someone to do the job.

Today, if you’re looking for a consultant in change management to facilitate your annual off-site retreat, you search the keywords “change management consultant,” and more than 26 million results pop up. You can eliminate about half the results on the first few pages because you can tell at a glance they don’t match what you’re looking for (job postings, Wikipedia entries, white papers etc.) and are left with six to 10 others that seem to fit the bill.

Next, you click through to each potential provider and, if you’re a typical user according to the Nielsen Norman Group, you spend less than a minute on each site -- 59 seconds, to be precise. A few consultants make the case within that time frame for why you should stay longer, by impressing you with their:

• Obvious expertise
• Social proof
• Overall credibility
• Clear brand visuals and messages
• Content that shows competency
• Easy user navigation

Having identified one to three consultants who look promising, for each of these, you might look at their LinkedIn profile, check out their Twitter feed, view one of their videos on YouTube or listen to their podcast, read a couple of their blog posts or skim through an Ebook, and, just for good measure, search their names. Satisfied that they’re serious players in the field, you fill out the contact form on their website.

You get a response back and, via TimeTrade, vCita or other online scheduling software, you arrange a time to talk by phone. At the top of the call, they begin telling you about who they are and what they do. Politely, you stop them, saying, “There’s no need to cover all that. I’ve already searched you and been to your website. What I need to know is this: Do you have experience facilitating these types of off-sites with some of the participants joining remotely from China?”

You repeat this process with all the finalists, make your decision and contact your choice. They send you an electronic contract to sign and you send them a deposit on PayPal.

The moral of this story is that the nature of referral marketing has changed dramatically, and like it or not, social media has become a factor. Even when someone you know refers a potential client to you, they’re likely to begin the evaluation process online. Once you’ve passed that hurdle, then and only then will they feel comfortable enough to reach out and begin a dialogue.

5. More cash and customers. 

Finally, while social media is by no means a total solution to increasing your sales, it can’t hurt. In fact, research from social sales expert Jim Keenan showed that in 2012, nearly 79 percent of salespeople who used social media in their selling process had better results than their counterparts who weren’t using it.

The takeaway here is that social media can act both as a flag to alert potential clients to your brand and as a funnel to flow those same people into your website, where it then becomes your job to convert them.

 Source: http://bit.ly/2aVIMTV

28 great tactics for promoting online content

Content distribution has been a big topic all around social media.

As Mark Schaefer’s book “The Content Code” explains, “Great content isn’t the finish line; it’s the starting line.”

We spend so much time and inspiration on creating our content, and then once we hit publish we forget that we must work to share that content.

Here are 28 tips on how to extend the reach of what you publish online:

Promote your content on social media

This is probably the first place we all go. You hit publish, and your automation tools push your post out on social media.

Then you forget about it and run off to the next piece.

Nope. There has to be more planning. The folks at CoShedule say having a social media sharing schedule will double your traffic.

Here’s what they suggest:

1. Upon publishing —Social media message is sent when blog post goes live.
2. Same day —Initial social media messages trickle out to your accounts over the next two or three hours.
3. Next day —Messages are shared again on the appropriate social media channels.
4. Next week —Another series of messages are pre-scheduled and sent.
5. Next month —Even more social media messages are pre-scheduled for the following month.
6. Next _____ —Additional messages can be scheduled for the three-month mark or beyond.

Here’s what I do:

1. Upon publishing —Twitter: I schedule this through IFTTT to go out with #new, the title and the featured image once the blog is live. It’s also pushed to Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Google Plus the day it publishes.
2. Same day —Twitter: I’ll use the Click To Tweet quotes to send out a few times later the same day, but by using the quotes versus the title these have different ledes (opening or enticing paragraphs) and don’t seem like I’m pushing the same content over and over. (I try to have at least one quote in each post.)
3. Next week —I’ll pre-schedule reoccurring tweets over the next few days, and over the next two months from my personal handle (if it’s evergreen).
4. Next two months —Again, using prescheduled tweets with different ledes and different images (if there are any), my posts are hitting my personal feed for a good two months.
5. Ongoing —From here I let Revive Old Post take over, which helps our evergreen content to “live forever.”

RELATED: Free download: 11 Essentials for a Stellar Online Newsroom

Other tips:

• Changing your lede helps the content stay fresh; try to come up with three different ways to pose one title.
• Ask questions. For instance, for this post, I could change my lede or pose a question (depending on the platform and the space it affords) to say, “Are you doubling your content distribution efforts with a promo schedule?”
• Add hashtags to help searchers find your content.
• Tag people, and ask them to weigh in, but only if you have a good relationship; don’t spam people.
• Use pithy quotes or stats from the article as a new lede.
• As mentioned, use Click To Tweet to create snackable, shareable bites.
• Reference your article—when relevant— in online conversations. Again, don’t be spammy.

Promote your content to your list(s)

If you have a marketing list (and you should), use it.

Many people share weekly newsletters or several times a month. Use this as a vehicle to share your latest post(s).

Here’s what I do:

1. We have a monthly newsletter with themes, so I share a post from the prior month only if it fits with the theme we’re working with.
2. We have a subscriber-only blog email that delivers our blog to straight to inboxes. This is a highly segmented and highly engaged list. How? We give subscriber-only gifts— templates, workflows, tricks and tips—to those on our list as a bonus for the blog post’s theme. In this email we have two places with ready-to-tweet links.

Other tips:

• Have an RSS feed set up on your blog so subscribers can add it to their aggregators.
• If you decide to take it a step further, as we did with our subscriber-only list, make sure those links tag your brand, use any branded/relevant hashtags and are trackable. We use Bitly and Click To Tweet’s link generator to make this happen.

Promote your content through syndication

Our posts are syndicated through a few platforms, including B2Community and SteamFeed.

This means nearly all our posts are republished on these sites with permission.

Many sites do this for free; some do it as a paid service, such as Outbrain.

Here’s what I do:

• I research well-trafficked sites offering syndication (B2Community) and ask to be a part of the program.
• I vet offers from sites asking to syndicate my content (SteamFeed and a few others that are on a post-by-post basis). In some cases, I get paid to let other sites use my content.

Promote your content through advertising

As we ramp up with advertising efforts for our clients, this is an area I have to beef up in 2016.

There are so many ways to promote your content. Here are some of the easiest/most common:

• Facebook ads
• Facebook custom audiences (show ads to your lists)
• Facebook lookalike audiences (show ads to people similar to those people on your lists)
• Remarketing ads (Facebook or Google—ads that “follow” users with cookies)
• Twitter ads
• Google AdWords

There you have it! These 28 tips are only a starting place, but a solid one.

Did I leave anything out? Let me know in the comments section.

Source : http://bit.ly/1KTJL1V

3 Reasons B2B Marketers Must Embrace Mobile… Now

Have you optimized your B2B website for mobile search? 

We’re all familiar with recent statistics that illustrate the growth of mobile device usage. 

Over the last few years, we’ve seen internet usage on mobile devices grow to exceed PC. In 2015, Google announced that mobile searches now exceed desktop searches on their search engine. And it’s estimated that nearly 75 percent of the US population now owns a smartphone.

Mobile is clearly a critical element of any successful marketing strategy. But what does increasing mobile usage mean specifically for B2B marketers? 

Why are so many B2B companies slow to adopt mobile marketing strategies, and how will this ultimately impact their business success?

Here are three critical reasons B2B marketers need to embrace mobile… now!

1. Mobile Impacts Fundamental Marketing Metrics

According to CWS, businesses that do not provide a solid mobile experience encounter the following:

• A drop in organic ranking.
• A loss in mobile site traffic.
• An increase in bounce rate.

I believe that many B2B marketers remain unaware that providing a less-than-optimal mobile experience is jeopardizing fundamental online marketing success metrics such as visibility and website traffic.

2. Mobile Is Required For Customer Engagement

In addition to ensuring brand visibility and driving traffic, mobile-friendly websites increase customer loyalty, sentiment and engagement. Here’s a sampling of facts from a Google study entitled What Users Want Most From Mobile Sites Today.

• 74 percent say they are likely to return to a company’s site in the future, if it is a mobile-friendly site.
• 48 percent feel frustrated and annoyed if a company doesn’t have a mobile-friendly site.
• 52 percent are less likely to engage with a company that has no mobile website.

These are fairly dramatic statistics. B2B marketers can’t afford to annoy prospects and certainly shouldn’t erect barriers to engagement.

A positive mobile experience is now absolutely required to successfully interact with prospects in order to drive engagement, leads and sales.

3. B2B Decision Makers Are Increasingly Using Mobile Devices

We know that business buyers rely on the internet during their research and selection process. But did you know that more and more of these decision-makers are using mobile devices? 

In fact, B2B mobile usage is intensifying throughout the entire buy cycle.

Google partnered with Millward Brown Digital to survey 3,000 B2B decision makers about their research and purchase habits. According to the study:

• 42 percent of researchers use a mobile device during their B2B purchasing process.
• Search activity for those using a smartphone has intensified. Google is reporting a 3X growth in mobile queries.
• B2B researchers are not just using mobile devices when they are out of the office; 49 percent of B2B researchers who use their mobile devices for research do so while at work.

It isn’t just consumer mobile usage that is growing. These days, B2B marketers, you must understand that your customers, your prospects and your buyers are using mobile devices more frequently than ever, at the office and outside of work hours, to make critical business decisions.

Get Started: Mobile-Friendly Website Tips

So how should you determine the effectiveness of your company’s current mobile experience?

 I recommend taking these two very simple “get started” steps:

1. Assess and improve your Mobile PageSpeed.
2. Understand and implement Mobile Design Best Practices.

Along with your PageSpeed Score, Google provides specific recommendations on what you should fix to improve the mobile experience. 

For example, in order to improve page load speed, you may need to enable compression, leverage browser caching, minify CSS, optimize images and avoid landing page redirects.

In terms of implementing mobile design best practices, you may need to improve things by using more legible font sizes, simplifying navigation, configuring the viewport and avoiding plugins.

These two resources provide a simple and effective starting point for improving the mobile experience.

Mobile, Your Competitive Advantage

Here is the bottom line for B2B marketers:

• The mobile experience is now directly impacting your fundamental online marketing success and affecting metrics such as visibility and traffic.
• Providing a favorable mobile experience is absolutely required to continually engage prospects and drive leads and sales.
• B2B decision-makers are using mobile devices across all phases of the buy cycle and throughout the day (including at work).

Take a look at your website analytics data. Even if mobile traffic isn’t a huge device segment today, it is growing and will continue to do so.

Get ahead of this curve. Start embracing our multi-screen world. Turn mobile marketing into your competitive advantage… today.

Source : http://selnd.com/1WS8mWs

7 Online Marketing Ingredients You Can't Ignore in 2016

Online marketing constantly evolves: What worked in years past won't necessarily be the most effective strategy today.

So, what should you focus on as you plan your online marketing strategy for the upcoming year? 

Here are seven ingredients that you can’t ignore as we enter 2016.

1. Content on platforms beyond your blog

Blogs are a great way to deliver your brand message to your target audience. They will continue to be an excellent platform for content marketing, but everyone has a blog these days. So, think about creating content on multiple channels in order to stand out in your industry. 

Consider creating a YouTube channel or engaging with your audience through live streaming. Video content is highly engaging, and best of all, it’s free to produce -- you don’t need fancy camera equipment. In fact, I know several brands that even film with smartphones.

2. A mobile-first focus

Mobile can’t be an after-thought any longer. Back in March, the number of mobile-only adult internet users exceeded desktop-only Internet users. Websites must be built (or redesigned) with a mobile audience in mind -- your forms, calls-to-action and content must all be easily readable and accessible on small screens. 

If you are running pay-per-click ads, consider a Google AdWords call-only campaign -- it’s a great way to drive phone calls with buyer-intent.

3. A strong brand voice

Consumers aren’t interested in engaging with a faceless generic brand these days. The social media age almost demands that brands have a face -- T-Mobile's CEO John Legere is a great example. You will often see the brand promoting Legere's tweets on Twitter. It gives T-Mobile that human element consumers love and connect with. 

Branding also comes close to home: In 2016 I'll be writing a book as a branding play to continue to get my company and personal brand out there. 

4. Website UX and speed

It’s important that your website provide a pleasant user experience -- both in functionality and speed. You want to make sure your visitors can access information and features on your website regardless of what type of device they are using, and you want to make sure your website loads quickly. 

Nobody has time to wait around for pages to load and if the UX is poor, you can expect your bounce rate to be through the roof. For feedback on your UX, consider using a tool like SurveyMonkey to get feedback from your users. Ask them what they like, what they don't like and what they would change. 

To check the speed of your website, use Google’s PageSpeed Insightsand GTmetrix. Both are free tools that will analyze your website and provide suggestions to improve its performance.

5. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing via social media has the potential to be your most ROI-friendly online marketing of 2016. Leveraging the popularity and social reach of various influencers can help you position your products or service directly in front of your target market. 

The trust that’s already established between the consumer and the influencer he or she is following removes the barricade traditional marketing and advertising will typically face. If you want an example of a successful influencer marketing campaign, check out how this hover-board company used social media influencers exclusively to build a multi-million dollar brand.

6. Highly specific paid search remarketing.

Running remarketing campaigns became more popular this past year: Almost every brand running pay-per-click traffic was experimenting with remarketing on some level. I audited my own fair share of PPC campaigns this past year and noticed that many of these remarketing campaigns were not as specific as they could have been. Why? It takes time to really break them down.

If people are viewing a “blue widget” on your website, then, set up your remarketing so an ad featuring that same item follows them and sends them directly to that product when it's clicked on. Sending visitors to your home page or a page with several different widgets will greatly lower your conversion rates. Instead, put your remarketing traffic directly in front of what the visitor was previously looking at. 

7. More diverse social media marketing.

Are you currently advertising on Snapchat and Instagram? How about Periscope -- are you taking advantage of live streaming? Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are all great advertising platforms and will continue to thrive, but you simply can’t ignore Snapchat and Instagram right now.

Nothing works for everyone, but I would highly recommend experimenting with these social networks. Instagram’s self-serve ad platform allows you to use Facebook’s highly favorable targeting options to reach your audience. I would also suggest experimenting with Meerkat or Periscope in your marketing.

Source : http://entm.ag/1mIq6XJ

Keeping in touch. All Social Media links

12 Surprising Startup Tips From YouTube Stars

Sometimes you can meet your future business partners in the strangest places.

Joshua Keller and Nick Matzorkis met anonymously on the Tyra Banks Show in 2006, performing live in a band together as "the world's first Internet band." Their band, The ClipBandits, had become one of the early YouTube sensations. What made their band unique was the members had never met in person, didn't know each others' names, nor even knew where each other lived. Their story was featured on ABC World News, Good Morning America, and countless other media outlets, prompting Tyra Banks to invite them and other bandmates onto her show to meet and perform together in person for the first time.

After their first in-person meeting, Matzorkis, a seasoned serial entrepreneur, and Keller, who at the time was in the process of forming his first company, immediately hit it off. They began exploring opportunities for working together, and eventually started up Global Agora, a seed capital venture fund and holding company. This then led to their launching a group of companies that included Union Square Media digital advertising agency, and SUP ATX Paddle Boards. USM has since grown into an industry leader with offices in New York, Boston, Miami, Austin, and Los Angeles. SUP ATX triggered the stand up paddling global phenomenon and remains the leader in that space. Global Agora is currently forecasting revenues of nearly $100 million in 2016. Not bad for a couple of former YouTube stars.

Here are 12 startup tips from Joshua and Nick--the first 5 are from Joshua, and the others are from Nick. You can also check out a video of their old group The ClipBandits (with a cameo appearance by Justin Timberlake) at the bottom of this page.

1. Keep it moving

Never expect things to stay the same or always be perfect. The worst thing you can do is sit around and sulk. You can't lose if you never give up.

2. Be a problem solver--never a complainer

The difference between success and failure is working through challenges and obstacles. There will always be ups and down but continuing to do the same thing and not solving the root of the issue is like running with a weight vest and shackles.

3. Automate and replicate

Whatever basic functions it takes to make your revenue stream try to automate as much as you can. Try to take it out of individual hands to determine success or failure. While some functions and decisions require a human mind, others don't, so identify which is which.

4. Trust people who have earned it

Not everyone will do things exactly how you do it, but when people have earned your trust you need to believe in them. Without an able support system of a trusted team, you will always be just another entrepreneur that is spinning too many plates and never take a step forward.

5. Build a business not a revenue stream

While it's very impressive to build a steady revenue stream you will never be worth much more than 1-2x time the net profit. When you build a business, you begin to expand and multiply to create value.

6. Find the right partners

You want loyalty, integrity, and honor. Complimentary skill sets a must too, but without the previous three qualities, don't even bother getting started.

7. Make a commitment

Starting a company with a co-founder is a commitment like marriage--through sickness and in health. Expect to go through hell and back together. Know that you and your business partner(s) can take the heat.

8. Be ambitious

All business partners must share an exceedingly high level of ambition. Success mandates an equilibrium on this front, with everyone pushing the business--and one another--to excel.

9. Don't let accountants and attorneys dictate how to run your company

Consider their perspectives and proceed accordingly. If they were so good at building companies, they'd be doing it themselves.

10. Have a strong vision

Trust your instincts and don't second guess yourself until proven wrong. No one else knows more about or will care more about your vision and your success than you and your partners. Don't let anyone else steer you off track.

11. Love what you do and have fun even during the tough times

There's no law that fun and work can't coexist. In fact, it's just the opposite. The more fun it is, the more successful you'll be. Choose the business you pursue wisely and accordingly.

12. Don't give up control of your business

If your company requires capital from a third party, only give up control if absolutely necessary to get the funding needed. If you do have to give up control, do it in a way that leaves you the opportunity to gain it back or you'll live to regret it

Source : http://bit.ly/1HTdmYa

6 key strategies to ramp up your B2B marketing success

In the super competitive world of B2B marketing, it’s a battle between your success –or that of your competitors. The right marketing strategies can keep you way ahead of the curve, but if you aren’t keeping up with the times, your competition will be hard on your heels.

The modern B2B cycle has evolved. It is no longer a funnel, but rather a fluid cycle with overlapping touchpoints, multiple stakeholders, and prospects engaging in more independent research. B2B products and services are also typically more complex, and require solutions geared towards rational decision making versus spur-of-the moment purchases.

Take a look at 6 key strategies to keep your marketing going strong and your revenues running higher:

1. Content Marketing

You may have heard this repeatedly, but content marketing continues to rule strong for B2B marketers. In the past, a sales representative, dealer, or channel partner was the key point of contact for gathering information. From warranty information, pricing, product features, and more, a sales rep was the gateway to any information related to the product or service.

Of course, we know this is no longer the case. B2B buyers have numerous channels on which to research. In fact, an estimated 57% of the purchase decision is made before a prospect even engages a sales rep.

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According to a recent study by Regalix, 80% of senior marketers said creating marketing collateral is a top priority. In another study by TopRank, the most effective content marketing tactics according to B2B marketers are:

• In-person events (70%)
• Case studies (65%)
• Videos (63%)
• Webinars (63%)
• Blogs (62%)
• Newsletters (60%)
• White papers and research reports (59%)

As prospects are doing research, be sure to create different types of content based on where they are in the buying cycle. Develop a mixture of content to help a buyer move seamlessly from awareness to price and product comparison, without any involvement from a sales rep until the prospect is ready to engage.

2. Digital Marketing Channels

B2B market leaders are investing big in digital marketing channels. According to a survey by StrongView, spend is on the rise for email, social media, mobile marketing, and search (SEO, PPC).

As prospects head to digital sources to do their research, B2B marketers must make sure they are being relevant in the channels a prospect is most likely to be searching. Now that you have an arsenal full of great content, the next important step is to make sure your content can be found!

3. Social Media Channels = #B2B Revenue

Social media is a great way to share content, build brand loyalty, and engage with potential prospects. Real Business Rescue shares some great insights on the value of social media for B2B marketers:

• 9 in 10 B2B businesses say that increased exposure is the number one benefit of social media
• Increased traffic (80%) the development of loyal fans (72%) and marketplace insights (71%) were also cited as major benefits

While social media has been thought of as primarily a B2C strategy in the past, nothing can be further from the truth. As customer purchase decisions are increasingly affected by word of mouth and content marketing, social media is an ideal avenue to engage with prospects seeking education and peer recommendations.

4. The Power of Third-Party Data

Did you know that on average, every 30 minutes 120 business addresses change, 75 phone numbers change, 20 CEOs leave their jobs, and 30 new businesses are formed?(Source: D&B The Sales and Marketing Institute)

Keeping your customer and prospect information accurate and up-to-date can mean the difference between a sale for you, or a sale for your competitor. A wrong email address or phone number can quickly derail the best laid out communication strategy. Not knowing about key management changes or about the formation of a new company can leave opportunities on the table.

A third-party vendor can quickly get your data into shape by correcting wrong information and adding missing information such as phone numbers and email addresses. Additional information such as online IDs can also be appended to boost digital targeting across channels.

According to a survey by Spear Marketing Group, 40.7% of B2B marketers currently use a third-party data solution while almost half (46%) don’t use any type of third-party lead enrichment.

5. Personalize the Experience

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Personalization is an active topic of discussion among both B2B and B2C marketers. Your prospects and customer have come to expect companies to know who they are and to deliver personalized experiences based on this knowledge. 

According to Accenture, 50% of B2B buyers want personalization and identified it as being a key feature among suppliers they would want to work with.

Consider offering the following types of personalization:

• Social Media: Engage in personal conversations with your customers. Just as importantly, be sure to continually monitor social sites. Social users expect a quick response to their questions and inquiries.
• Email: Send targeted emails to segments based on purchase history, firmographic information, stage in the process cycle, and so forth.
• Websites: Offer different navigation options, a good site search engine, and landing pages for promotions.
• Phone: Be sure you have an interface to quickly pull up customer details so you can offer personalized recommendations and offers at the moment.

6. Don’t Forget about the Millennials

As millennials become of age, there has been an increasing shift over the past 2 years in the profile of today’s B2B buyer. According to Google research, nearly half of B2B buyers are between the ages of 18-34, an increase of 70%!As millennial buyers have more influence over purchase decisions, implementing ways to connect with this generation are increasing in importance. Millennials are more likely to trust information found in social communities because they believe they provide more accurate, authentic information. Research by Elite Daily revealed that 62% of millennials say that if a brand engages with them on social networks, they are more likely to become a loyal customer.

Millennials also expect to engage with sales reps through the channel of their choosing and at any time. 87% of millennials use between 2 and 3 devices on a daily basis, so having information easily accessible and mobile friendly is crucial to capture the attention of this audience.

As B2B buyers are becoming more sophisticated, so must your marketing strategies. The way buyers research and buy products has changed and your marketing must be able to do more of the heavy lifting before a buyer is finally ready to engage with your sales reps.

Source : bit.ly/1lG3xCz

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