Having an Internet marketing strategy can help produce a successful company in conjunction with heavy traffic, high conversion rates, and lots of sales. This should motivate any organization or establishment to have a promotional blueprint or plan, to make the most sales possible and do it effortlessly.
As more and more B2B marketing agents and representatives work to set their companies apart in a digital environment filled with common or average content, they may find themselves striving to implement techniques that are effective. Still, marketers can at the same time appeal to new users and create unforgettable experiences by applying the following eight inbound marketing strategies that top marketers are using in 2016:
1. Content is King
Content is king is still something that is used on a wide scale basis and is endorsed by many business and blog owners today. This is something that will continue to evolve because businesses and bloggers alike are trying to meet consumers where they are. Statistics show that 88% of business-to-business or B2B promotional agencies in the U.S. alone have some kind of marketing strategy in place. While those that don’t, they really should consider getting one because it could be the difference between succeeding in business and failing.
2. Generate a Greater Targeted Lead- cultivating Process
Marketers have been redefining their B2B lead development practices through the use of micro-targeting and hyper-segmentation. These two concepts make use of metrics to track consumer actions; as such, getting the attention of customers by way of publishing great content, can produce campaigns targeted to better meet an individual's list of needs or wants. Such marketing promotions are more often than not, distributed through email marketing, but can even be expanded to social media and mobile marketing as well.
3. Form Relationships
Businesses and organizations will continue to get personal and form relationships in 2016, making use of both content improvement and all through the sales process. More than ever, current businesses/buyers seek out companies that can accommodate their pain points. As a result, sales team members will make every effort to foster relationships with patrons by way of increased research and social selling (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Google+ advertisements). These will make it so that their buyers can engage more with a businesses products or services by giving them personal experiences.
4. User-generated Content
User-generated content witnessed an upsurge in 2014 and has since developed into an indispensable part in the marketing environment. A recent example of a popular user-based campaign can be viewed in Nintendo’s “Super Mario Maker” platform. On behalf of Nintendo, this specific promotion, the game making company allowed users to create their own levels within the game. This in turn generated a lot of Internet users. As a matter of fact, a clip from elrubiusOMG produced over 10 million views in 2015 alone.
5. Uncover Content
Even though businesses on occasion conceal valued content at the back of paywalls and subscriber buttons, in 2016 there has been a push to improve accessibility. As a result, a lot of digital marketers will abstain from concealing their content. However, even if a business thinks strongly about placing limitations on its content accessibility, it can make sure those sections remain at least somewhat easy to access. Those individuals may decide to do so by not including pop-ups, landing page forms or bulky click-through slideshows that can be challenging to find the way around, especially from a mobile device or smartphone.
6. Interactive Content
Currently, varied and content that engages the consumer will continue to lead the way. A present-day survey revealed that 91% of shoppers have a preference for visual and two-way aspects over more conventional published subject matter.
Accordingly, even more business to business retailers will rely on video, mockups as well as interconnecting infographics. Producers of content will also work to design more random content (e.g., text, audio, video, etc.) that keep people speculating or guessing what a business will do next. In addition, businesses may make use of quizzes as well.
All of these forms of interactive content will engage your audience in such a way as if they are saying yes to your products and/or services in a small way.
7. Embrace Under-utilized Content Forms
Creators of content will make them longer through the use of storytelling in 2016. You may be thinking to yourself what does storytelling have to do with promoting published content from your business and why is it even necessary? Well, storytelling gets the attention of people especially when they are able to relate to your content. This will allow you to connect with your customers and give them insight into your products and services. Until recently, longer content was not something that marketers took too kindly to. Why? They simply thought that people would get disinterested quickly and leave their site, but nowadays, people are looking for something that goes a little more in-depth than just the regular surface material that can be found just about anywhere online.
8. Greater Emphasis on Website Experience
In the past, businesses may have been content with marketing a website and taking very little care of it and thinking that would be enough. However, this will not be an acceptable practice moving forward. Customers constantly look for fresh information, and companies that fail to meet that problem or issue risk appearing out-of-date and losing sales.
At the same time, it's no secret a company can provide an exceptional first impression through its web design. In fact, 94% of people point out design as a reason they fail to trust a website. For this reason, marketers should seek to prepare a more appealing and unified site experience through more attractive visuals and responsive web design. Together, web designers will couple these components with current search engine optimization practices to consistently attract new followers.
Marketers can increase lead generation and increase sales numbers in many ways. Eventually, they should make it a main concern to not get too comfortable with their current plan and to constantly gauge their efforts.
Conclusion
If you can think of other inbound marketing strategies that top marketers are using in 2016, please share it with us in the comments section below.
Credit: Hubspot