Using Infographics in Social Media Campaigns

15
May
2012

Stephanie Conyac SEO Coordinator In our current day and age of digital media, there are two things that are certain to garner some attention: pretty pictures and sweet Facebook posts/tweets/blog posts. Now, that may be reaching a little bit, but go with me on this. It goes without saying that social media is “Andre the [...]

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Stephanie Conyac

SEO Coordinator

In our current day and age of digital media, there are two things that are certain to garner some attention: pretty pictures and sweet Facebook posts/tweets/blog posts. Now, that may be reaching a little bit, but go with me on this. It goes without saying that social media is “Andre the Giant mixed with the Incredible Hulk and a dash of the Empire State Building” huge, though to call it simply that would be an understatement extraordinaire.  To give you a small idea of the reach that Facebook alone has:

 

è There are more than 400 million active users. For a little perspective, the population of the United States is 308 million.

è 50% of those users are on the site EVERY DAY and 70% actually reside outside of the United States.

è It is the #2 website by traffic, topped only by Google. Think about that one for a minute.

è A record 750 million pictures were uploaded to the site, just last year

 

Now for those of you who don’t know the basics on infographics (though I’ll assume, based on the scope of our business, that you do), they are a mix of design, writing and analysis. They are visually compelling communication mediums that, when done right, can communicate complex data in a visual format that has a massive potential to go viral. With infographics, you can use text and graphics and get the best of both worlds, taking advantage of each medium’s strengths while downplaying their weaknesses. On top of all of those perks, interest in infographics over time has skyrocketed, with infographic search volumes increasing by over 800% in just two years.  A few more notes to mention to drive this idea home:

 

è There are approximately 13 million results for the term “infographic” on Google

è Infographic production increases 1% every day

è 40% of people respond better to visual information than just plain text alone

 

So what does this have to do with B2B sector? As it turns out, your average Joe Smith isn’t the only one taking advantage of the social media explosion. As of now, 86% of B2B firms are making use of the scope of social media, and growing. 90% of those firms are on Facebook and 53% are on Twitter, doubling the amount of leads/month that they would normally generate, as compared to those companies that are currently out of the loop (not utilizing social media capabilities). By incorporating infographics into a social media campaign, B2B firms can create whole new approaches that have the ability to reach millions of individuals in ways traditional marketing approaches may have never been able to do.

 

So to circle back around to my original statement, albeit this time with a little bit more verbosity: By taking the time to include infographics of important data into their social media campaigns, B2B firms can greatly increase their lead generation, their marketability, and, with any luck, their eventual profits.

Changes to Google AdWords Ad Rotation

10
May
2012

Ad Rotation Automatically Changes to Optimize for Clicks After 30 Days

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Marquita Arnold
SEM Coordinator

Google announced on Tuesday May 1st, of changes being made to the ad rotation settings. Specifically the setting, Rotate evenly, which allows the ad to rotate evenly among the other ads in each ad group. Some advertisers may use this if all ads need to show equally throughout the course of a day due to certain promotions. The rotate evenly option allows advertisers some type of control if there are different messages that need to be seen. Another reason for rotating ads evenly would be to perform a copy test.

BlogPostMay 2012 Changes to Google AdWords Ad Rotation

Keep in Mind

With this new update to the setting, Google will only allow for the even rotation to take place only 30 days. After the 30 days, Google will begin to show the ad that would generate the most clicks. In a nutshell, they will convert the setting to optimize for more clicks automatically. The clock will reset to rotate in a new 30 day window if a creative is added or edited in certain ad groups.

This new change will be convenient for those who tend to forget that they changed the setting but others who desire the even rotation will have to “deal with it”.

Tips

  • So if there’s a copy test taking place, make sure you set the test for 30 days because after that time frame your results will be inaccurate.
  • If you want different promotions to rotate evenly with a general ad, you may want to create a separate ad group or campaign for that promotion.
  • If you know which ad converts better versus receive a better CTR, either change the setting to Optimize for conversions or have the better converting ad run only.

Considering how 97% of Google’s Revenue comes from advertising, you would think they would make things a little easier for advertisers. Then again, they probably think that they are doing everyone a favor.

George Assimakopoulos, Listed as one of 2012′s Top Corporate Social Strategist

7
May
2012

Penton Marketing Services is excited to announce that our own George Assimakopoulos, Penton Media’s VP of Digital Marketing, was listed by Jeremiah Owyang as a top Social Media Strategist for 2012.  Each year Jeremiah creates a number of lists focused on thought leaders based on a number of factors. The 2012 ranking is impressive with [...]

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Penton Marketing Services is excited to announce that our own George Assimakopoulos, Penton Media’s VP of Digital Marketing, was listed by Jeremiah Owyang as a top Social Media Strategist for 2012.  Each year Jeremiah creates a number of lists focused on thought leaders based on a number of factors.

George headshot George Assimakopoulos, Listed as one of 2012s Top Corporate Social Strategist

The 2012 ranking is impressive with many social media influencers, and it is worth a look.  Penton Marketing Services is now following these trailblazers.  In this year’s article, “List of Corporate Social Strategist 2012 (Buyer/Brand Side, 1000+ Employees),” Jeremiah focuses on Corporate Social Strategists in enterprise class organizations.

Although modest, George’s accomplishments and career show why he is listed in the Public Relations and Communications category.  Congratulations George!  We are lucky to have your leadership, industry experience and creative approach.

-  The Penton Marketing Services Team

Lead Nurturing: Turning Prospects into Customers

3
May
2012

Sandy Lang Director, Lead Services Today’s connected world means that clients are in the driver’s seat. When evaluating product options, purchasers perform most of the analysis before they ever think about engaging a company’s sales team.   We already know that the sales process can play out almost exclusively online: Prospective clients do an online [...]

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Sandy Lang

Director, Lead Services

Today’s connected world means that clients are in the driver’s seat. When evaluating product options, purchasers perform most of the analysis before they ever think about engaging a company’s sales team.

 

We already know that the sales process can play out almost exclusively online: Prospective clients do an online search, go to your company website where they evaluate your product or solution – some in great detail – before reaching out to you for more information or just abandoning for another option.

 

Recent stats validate this trend. “B2B buyers are 70% through the buying process before contacting the vendor.” – Sirius Decisions

So how do B-to-B marketer companies ensure they remain top of mind for potential customers? How do you establish and build a relationship in the formative stage of the potential client’s buying journey to help shape the decision and influence the sale?

It starts with adoption of a lead nurturing methodology that talks to your audience based on where they are in the buyer’s journey, nurtures them through to a deeper level engagement and prioritizes your leads for your sales team.

This strategic approach to developing client relationship has shown proven results. According to a recent study by Forrester Research, all of the top performing technology companies have a nurturing program, and nearly 10% of the worst performers did not nurture leads at all.

Impact: Leads are Leaking Out of the Funnel

Too often, marketers’ efforts to generate leads are lost in the handoff to sales. The marketing team spends lots of time and dollars to generate large volumes of leads, when quality is what is really needed.   The result – leads are leaking out of the funnel.

 

marketing to sales handoff1 Lead Nurturing: Turning Prospects into Customers

So, how does this affect your bottom line?

  • Wasted investment to recapture leads
  • No method for prioritizing leads
  • Sales productivity is lower than it could be

What this all add up to is that marketing gets a bad rap from sales; the sales team wastes time on unqualified leads; and the company’s business suffers.

It’s All About Relevance

As a marketer, you understand the importance of continually generating a steady pool of prospects so your funnel never dries up. Finding top-notch sources to identify new customers is a never-ending challenge, so it’s an important investment to keep those recently-acquired prospects interested and engaged in your product or solution.

However, once companies acquire new contacts they rely too heavily on batch-and-blast communications that are not targeted to talk to the prospects based on where they are in the buyer’s journey. All the hard work – and expense – to acquire new names results too quickly in a non-responsive list, lost deals and potential negative impact for your brand.

In Truth from the Trenches, a 2011 Penton Marketing Services survey of more than 5,000 respondents, we discovered that although using targeted content to continuously engage prospects might be the goal, our survey revealed that less than one-fourth of respondents used content to start, maintain, and grow relationships.

 

In fact, when asked the question “How do you manage your lead process currently?” only 15% developed case studies and client testimonials to engage with leads.

 

Relevant messaging, targeted to your prospects based on how they respond with your content, is a proven strategy for closing more deals more quickly. Understanding when your prospects are ready to buy means adopting a strategy that looks at both demographic attributes as well as behavioral cues.

Programs such as Penton Marketing Services’ Lead Lifecycling program, which uses a combination of content written by market experts, targeted email communications and digital body language to nurture, score and qualify leads can help marketers maximize their acquisition investments and accelerate leads through the sales funnel.

In summary, even quality leads can go stale if they are not properly managed and nurtured. Marketing campaigns that nurture leads through the funnel with relevant, targeted content based on where they are in the buyer’s journey will maximize their investment by turning prospects into customers.  Find out how to boost lead conversion by attending our free web seminar, “How B2B Marketing Teams are Turning Prospects into Customers,” on May 10.

Sandy Lang is Director, Lead Services at Penton Marketing Services. @SandyLang

Discover Facebook’s New Admin Panel for Brand Pages

2
May
2012

Kendra Porter Social Media Coordinator Facebook recently rolled out the new Timeline format for Brand Pages and with it came a few notable changes and additions (i.e. “New Likes”) to the Admin Panel.   ADMIN PANEL TOOLBAR The new Facebook admin panel is truly a one-stop shop for all of the tools you need to [...]

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Kendra Porter

Social Media Coordinator

Facebook recently rolled out the new Timeline format for Brand Pages and with it came a few notable changes and additions (i.e. “New Likes”) to the Admin Panel.

Facebook Admin Panel1 300x188 Discover Facebooks New Admin Panel for Brand Pages

 

ADMIN PANEL TOOLBAR

The new Facebook admin panel is truly a one-stop shop for all of the tools you need to manage the connections you make with your audience.  You can easily hide the panel if you don’t need it and open it back up when you do.

The Manage tab serves as a go-to for all things maintenance.  You can quickly access the edit page from here and change your page visibility, manage who can post, who can tag and who can affect your posts’ visibility.  You can also vary the settings by page.  This is a great way to tailor your page to your audience.

The Build You Audience tab allows you to take actions that may attract new Fans and engagement on your Page.  This includes inviting email contacts, sharing the page or creating Facebook ads, premium ads and sponsored stories.

 

NOTIFICATIONS

The Notifications panel puts all of your brand’s notifications into one location.  This includes everything from when someone posts on your wall to when someone comments, likes or shares one of your posts.  It’s a more organized way of managing your communications.  The purpose is to know more quickly and easily when your fans are engaging with you brand.

 

NEW LIKES

At the bottom left of the admin panel, a new feature can be found – “New Likes” – and its purpose is just that, to show any and all new likes to a brand’s page.  It can be of great use for B2B companies, especially in promoting offers for new fans.

 

INSIGHTS

The Insights panel is perhaps one of the most valuable tools within Facebook as it is a way to instantly see how your content is affecting activity on your page. Facebook Insights3 300x194 Discover Facebooks New Admin Panel for Brand Pages

The purple bar indicates how many times you post content per day while the green and blue bars indicate how those posts affect your audience in terms of impressions and conversations.  This information shows brands how to create content that their audiences will identify with – again, an incredibly valuable tool.  Be sure to click “see all” for a more detailed view of everything, including check-ins and information about your Fans.

 

MESSAGES

To the right of the Notifications section is the Messages section.  This is where you’ll see any new messages sent to you through your Page.  You can easily read and respond to new messages or archive messages from this section. It’s important to note, however, that you cannot send messages to users who have not contacted you – they have to message you first.

Private messages are probably the most valuable for brands, especially for B2B companies as it allows you to engage with prospects on a more intimate level.

 

PAGE TIPS & HELP

If you have problems with your Page, be sure to check out the Help tab and the Page Tips section.  Both are great resources for general troubleshooting or for useful tidbits.  Use these resources and the rest of the Admin Panel to help your Facebook Page reach its fullest potential.

 

What are your impressions of Facebook’s new Admin Panel?

@Porter_Kendra