An example of using an infographic to explain a proposition

We feature a lot of infographics which share insight or best practice related to digital marketing. We thought we'd share this one as a nice piece of content marketing, perhaps of interest and inspiration to B2B marketers. If we think about the purpose of infographics in content marketing in the context of our Content Marketing Matrix, they can and most often are aimed at raising awareness at the top of the funnel where they encourage sharing through a viral effect (either emotional - top-left in the matrix) or rational (bottom-left).  But they can also be used further down the funnel (right-side) funnel to educate contacts about the benefits of a product category or service and explain a company's service. That's the purpose of this example which we received by email rather than social media (these type of infographics are…

The power of integrated social media for event promotion

This infographic summarising a survey of over 1,500 event organisers worldwide, reinforces how effective social media is for event management - 75% of respondents considering it to be an important element of their integrated marketing strategy. For international promotion in particular, Facebook has been the prominent social media platform for 78% of event organisers, followed by Twitter and LinkedIn, to primarily increase awareness of the event and their brand for new followers.  We know this can vary, depending on whether you are attracting delegates/attendees from the B2b or B2c market and their social/demographic profile. If you are looking to increase your 'bums on seats', then consider like most social media channels that they will not generate instant leads. Of those surveyed by Maximillion, 10% of event organisers have gained direct sales from social media.  For some companies promoting events on a small-scale, then these…

The growth of omni-channel marketing will only make personalisation more important

It probably won’t come as huge surprise that many organisations whether B2C or B2B still don’t engage in even the most basic levels of personalisation in their engagement marketing activities. But as we move (some faster than others) from a multi-channel to an omni-channel ecommerce experience, personalisation triggered by the behaviour of the customer and not just their name has in many respects become the most important element in the optimisation of the customer journey.

How many emails do your receive claiming to be private and confidential but are addressed ‘Dear Occupier’ or ‘Dear Customer’. It does nothing to trigger the desire to act, other than to hit delete, as I know that the content is likely to be neither private confidential nor indeed…

The UK has the highest percentage of e-commerce purchases via Smartphone in the EU

Smartphones have become a key component of how we browse the web, entertain ourselves and consume media content. 85% of 18-24-year-olds have Smartphone's, and the rate of uptake barely decreases with age; 84% of 25-34-year-olds have Smartphones and 81% of 35-44-year-olds do. E-commerce from mobile devices is growing fast, and the  UK is ahead of the curve. 32% of people surveyed in the UK had made a purchase on their Smartphone in the past month, the highest rate in the EU. Digital marketers need to keep up with the rapid trend towards mobile, and it certainly moves fast. In just the past four years Smartphone use has rocketed by 43%. Use this infographic to see some of the latest stats regarding mobile use and uptake. This infographic is courtesy of the…

AdTech is a trendy industry but not all trends are worth following

“Hey look over here...we have what you need” illustrates the two main challenges advertisers face and have always faced. First, how to capture the audience’s attention. Second, once we have their attention, how do we sell them something. The reason these two edicts are so challenging is because the advertising highway, leading from initial attention to closing a sale, has several exits. The advertiser is willing to concede that not everyone will digest the message, and even fewer will then continue to make a purchase based on that message. As long as a certain percentage of people follow this (leaky) funnel and complete a sale, everyone is happy. Well, maybe not everyone. Despite heavy efforts by all of the leading AdTech companies like Google, Facebook, Yahoo and more, it is still not possible to deliver ads only to interested individuals who…

Are the myths about deploying web personalisation tools holding you back?

Personalization has been causing major ripples in the digital ocean for many years. Most notably, Amazon pioneered and leveraged the technique in their successful quest for retail domination. Now, they enjoy 30% of their revenue alone through their skilful use of personalized product recommendations. Similarly, whether choosing a movie on Netflix, or flicking through your social media news feed, you'll find personalized content served at every turn. The benefits are indisputable. Research by Forrester found personalization to be the top priority for 55% of retailers. Similarly, it was found to be this year's top digital priority for B2C marketers. An effective personalization strategy is now widely recognised as essential to reaching the top global levels of conversion. And it's not just the marketers who agree. Another interesting survey revealed that 83% of consumers themselves want to receive a personalized cross-channel experience. Yet,…

Website visitors do not want obvious personalisation as much as they would like to believe something is personal

The chances are you have received an email addressed to “Dear [First Name]” or similar? Email marketers appear to forget to include our actual names from time to time. It is annoying and we all laugh at it, realising that the company involved has failed to populate its database properly or set up its email software correctly. However, do we care? Are we bothered if the personalisation of emails is poorly carried out? Ask professional marketers and there’s a good chance that they’ll tell you that personalisation is essential. Indeed, according to a report from Monetate, 94% of businesses believe that proper personalisation is “critical” to success. Meanwhile, less than one in every six firms felt that they were getting a return…

Mobile payments are a huge opportunity for marketers. Here is why:

Mobile payments aren’t just a way to process credit and debit card payments; they can offer an inexpensive means to help you reach a wider customer base, and cultivate lasting relationships. Here are a few of the marketing advantages mobile transfers and communications can offer.

Mobile payments and promotions reach customers via the tools they use most often — cellphones and tablets.

When businesses send a letter via direct mail, or advertise in local media, there are a host of unknowns: Will the marketing piece reach the intended recipient? Will it be read? If it does get noticed, will it arrive when the customer wants to purchase what you’re promoting? Most importantly, will the prospect remember your business once he/she is ready to buy? These variables can be a costly gamble, since they are virtually impossible to control. Mobile marketing campaigns, on the…

How does personalisation increase conversion rates?

In our experience, effective content personalization increases conversion rates, boosts lead generation and cuts cost per lead. It might be intuitive to believe a personalized message is more effective than a one-size-fits-all message, but intuition isn’t the driving force here – what does the data show? We have now served millions of personal content recommendations, and the evidence now shows an increase of 20%-30% in conversion rates, across all on existing traffic and content. Behind these numbers, there are several cool scientific reasons why this works so effectively.     [si_guide_block id="57383" title="Access resource – Web Personalisation guide" description="Our E-learning topic will show you the options for delivering more persuasive, relevant dynamic web content at relevant points in the onsite customer journey for B2B and B2C sites. As well as the techniques and tools available for personalisation based on audience characteristics and…

Avoid these 7 mistakes at all costs when building and managing your sales funnel

Your sales funnel is the core of your marketing plan. It's the map of a customer's journey, right from the first interaction with your brand all the way to the final sale. Every piece of content you create and every marketing strategy you implement is built around your sales funnel. In short, your funnel is a critical component that decides your online success. And unfortunately, you could be screwing it up. In this post, we'll explore 7 of the most common mistakes that plague sales funnels, plus strategies you can apply to overcome each error.

1. You're not tracking enough data

A lot of marketers focus only on the big-picture metrics like page views, visitor-to-customer conversion rate, and bounce rate. Whereas, metrics with smaller scopes—like return visitors, exit pages, and scroll patterns—remain totally ignored. This is a fatal mistake. Even though big-picture…