Here’s a handy list of seven growing online marketing trends
that will deliver ROI. It’s from a new white paper by GlobalSpec: Online
Marketing in the Industrial Sector.
Granted, this list was written for industrial marketers, but it’s valid for anyone in B2B trying to create an online strategy.
Online events—51% of all industrial companies are spending more on virtual events or online tradeshows. These allow you to “showcase your product line, build your brand reputation, provide content to your audience, and connect with prospects and customers,” GlobalSpec writes.
Video—Web sites should have more than written content—that’s why 57% are increasing their spend on video. GlobalSpec advises you to offer “brief interviews with executives, conversations among product managers, product demonstrations, or on-site visits to customers where your products are being used.”
Social media—most firms are active in social media. But it’s easy to make mistakes. Start by deciding what you hope to get out of it. “At this point in the maturation of the social media market, increasing brand awareness and building relationships are the outcomes most effectively achieved,” GlobalSpec writes. LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform in the industrial sector, followed by Facebook and then Twitter.
Digital content—Content is still king, and there are many more ways for readers to consume it—like e-readers. But don’t limit your content to Web pages. As GlobalSpec writes, “There are videos, webinars, downloadable PDFs, e-books, interactive tools, and more.”
Internet banner advertising—Banner ads help brand you and can drive qualified leads to your site. And “online advertising networks also offer the convenience of reaching many sites with a single buy, helping you save time and make the most effective use of your budget,” GlobalSpec continues.
Testing and analytics—start with A/B testing for your email campaigns and other online marketing. But GlobalSpec also recommends that you perform
“some type of Web site analytics such as measuring traffic, page popularity, and visitor behavior to help make informed decisions about optimizing your site.”
Marketing budgets— GlobalSpec reports that 47% of all B2B industrial marketers now allocate more than one-third of their marketing budgets to online, and that 42% are spending more on it this year than they did in 2011. And it adds that “many of the top channels for increased marketing spend in 2012 are online—from Webinars and SEM to email marketing, video, SEO, and more.”
Granted, this list was written for industrial marketers, but it’s valid for anyone in B2B trying to create an online strategy.
Online events—51% of all industrial companies are spending more on virtual events or online tradeshows. These allow you to “showcase your product line, build your brand reputation, provide content to your audience, and connect with prospects and customers,” GlobalSpec writes.
Video—Web sites should have more than written content—that’s why 57% are increasing their spend on video. GlobalSpec advises you to offer “brief interviews with executives, conversations among product managers, product demonstrations, or on-site visits to customers where your products are being used.”
Social media—most firms are active in social media. But it’s easy to make mistakes. Start by deciding what you hope to get out of it. “At this point in the maturation of the social media market, increasing brand awareness and building relationships are the outcomes most effectively achieved,” GlobalSpec writes. LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform in the industrial sector, followed by Facebook and then Twitter.
Digital content—Content is still king, and there are many more ways for readers to consume it—like e-readers. But don’t limit your content to Web pages. As GlobalSpec writes, “There are videos, webinars, downloadable PDFs, e-books, interactive tools, and more.”
Internet banner advertising—Banner ads help brand you and can drive qualified leads to your site. And “online advertising networks also offer the convenience of reaching many sites with a single buy, helping you save time and make the most effective use of your budget,” GlobalSpec continues.
Testing and analytics—start with A/B testing for your email campaigns and other online marketing. But GlobalSpec also recommends that you perform
“some type of Web site analytics such as measuring traffic, page popularity, and visitor behavior to help make informed decisions about optimizing your site.”
Marketing budgets— GlobalSpec reports that 47% of all B2B industrial marketers now allocate more than one-third of their marketing budgets to online, and that 42% are spending more on it this year than they did in 2011. And it adds that “many of the top channels for increased marketing spend in 2012 are online—from Webinars and SEM to email marketing, video, SEO, and more.”
