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Manufacturing Website Design

Websites /

B2B Web Design vs. B2C Websites B2B websites are different than “retail” websites. There is more content, more specifics and a stronger need for branding. Manufacturing website design means promoting a company’s capabilities and products, defining that business’ image, and effectively illustrating what makes you a leader in your field. Industrial, technological, medical and life sciences, and manufacturing website design must present a lot of information very quickly including product specs, order capabilities, customization and more. Combine that amount of information with the fact that people only read about 30 percent of the words on a web page, and you can see the challenge. Website design for a B2B organization needs to highlight the key facts quickly. The Importance of Keyword Research and Refinement Keyword research helps marketers determine which “key words” or best phrases can be used to help reach your right target audience. Once you have key data points, you will want to expand and evaluate. If some terms are too broad (or too expensive), look deeper at the opportunities. Are more specific phrases available with good search traffic volumes? Are some keywords showing lots of search traffic and relevancy, and we should explore similar phases, synonyms, etc.? One effective strategy to help determine keyword viability is to simply conduct a Google search – see the results that appear and be sure what you expected to appear is what is displayed – and appropriate for your marketing goals. If more than 50 percent of search results are not relevant – especially when using a long tail B2B keyword phrase – this should be a signal. Either you have identified a great opportunity, or you are not using the right phrase. The more irrelevant the expected search results are, the more likely the target that you want is going to change their search query and re-check a new phrase. Getting a final keyword target list is a time-consuming process. It takes evaluation, review, additional research and discussion. Check out our blog post for more about keyword research and how we can help maximize your targeting.  Doing It Better Stifel Marcin has developed an extensive portfolio of industrial, technological, medical and manufacturing websites including: We understand how to drive leads, and more importantly sales, to your websites. We Speak Manufacturing Our technological and manufacturing website designs target the right audience. Our designers and search engine optimization experts understand the language of the B2B world. Often the audience is made of engineers and purchasing agents who are in search of a specific part or service to fit a specific need. Your website must quickly show them how and why you’re the right choice. Looking for an Industrial or Manufacturing Website Design or Refresh? B2B website design must perform in one of the most competitive fields in the market today. Manufacturers are running leaner, smarter and more efficient than ever before. Defining what makes your company better is what Stifel Marcin does best. Give us a call and someone from our expert team will get in touch with you. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing agency is dedicated to your success. See how our B2B website marketing services can elevate your manufacturing website for maximum return and reach out today.

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Your Company Branding Kit: Protecting Your Business in a Digital World

Corporate Branding /

A company branding kit may just be the most important marketing asset your company produces. Thorough brand standard documentation not only helps to guide the direction of every piece of marketing, from ads to presentations to packaging, but it also informs your employees, vendors and partners about how to best present your look and voice at all times. In a digital world when even your logo can be edited with the quick click of a mouse, providing a clear blueprint about your brand identity and how to preserve it pays dividends. This is especially true if multiple stakeholders within your organization localize marketing assets or have access to your website, social media and other digital components. Brand Consistency Matters Seventy-seven percent of B2B marketers say “building a strong brand is key to their company’s growth.” Yet only 25 percent of companies have formal brand guidelines that are enforced. Consider the following statistics: · Presenting a brand consistently across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23 percent –  indicating the impact of marketing and improved brand recognition.· 60 percent of millennial consumers expect brands to be aligned across different platforms.· Consistently presented brands are 3.5 times more likely to enjoy excellent brand visibility than those with an inconsistent brand presentation. A different color used here, or an incorrectly cropped logo there, may seem insignificant, but over time these subtle inconsistencies can negatively influence your target audience, who is looking for dependability and stability in the brands they choose to trust. Even minor discrepancies in visual or verbal communication can lead to a loss of that trust. If you are unable to create an effective brand presentation, customers may wonder how they can trust you to be effective when fulfilling their needs. What to Include in Your Company Branding Kit While a brand guide is unique to every company, there are common components that should likely be included, such as: · A corporate messaging overview (which may include mission statement, core values, elevator statement, etc.)· Tone of voice· Logos – including sizing, usage and reproduction guidelines· Fonts – primary and secondary· Approved color palette with both print and digital standards, such as breakdowns for CMYK, RGB, Pantone®, Hexi, etc.· Stationary (including business cards, letterhead, invoices, etc.)· Email signatures· Social media graphics and guidelines· Digital assets and approved imagery· Marketing and branding project workflow management and contact information to support questions regarding compliance and usage It’s All in the Details Your company branding kit should also clearly detail the do’s and do not’s, especially related to your logo, fonts and colors. Thoroughly detail rules like “the logo should never overlay a photographic image” and communicate the specific formats for different applications – such as Pantone, Hexi, RGB and CMYK primary and secondary brand colors. While some traditional brand manuals speak solely to its visual representation, don’t overlook the importance of addressing your company’s tone of voice and critical content such as tagline usage, mission statement language, social media and more. Your brand voice is how you communicate and connect with customers – consistency in that messaging is just as vital as the visuals. A company branding kit can quickly become a dense document. At Stifel Marcin, we often consider developing one-sheeters for internal usage for staff that are simple to reference and encourage easier adoption of the guidelines. More on that below. Craft Brand Guidelines That Encourage Your Employees to Share Your Story Social media is an area where additional support for staff can be crucial. Internally, those working to support social media on company accounts should be well-armed with a blueprint that is specific to your social channels   – think approved messaging and subject-matter, appropriately sized imagery, channel-specific recommendations, and instructions on how to make any modifications if necessary. Just as important to your company profiles, providing all of your employees with guidance on how to share your company messaging, news and industry updates with their personal networks can reap rewards as well. Often an employee will want to share more about your organization on their social media channels but may hesitate to do so for uncertainty about what to say or how to share it. Or their well-intentioned posts may inadvertently include inappropriate subject matter – like a poorly cropped logo or perhaps a photo that shows people on the shop floor which is not compliant with safety standards. Here are some helpful hints about what to include on an internal social media one-pager: · Approved/suggested hashtags· Links to approved images/article links· Correct company social handles· Guidelines on what is not permissible to show· Recommended subject matter, or tips for common post types· Internal social media contacts to support your team in case of questions If your B2B organization has a large announcement or campaign planned, providing your staff easy ways to become actively engaged online can benefit your brand as well. You may not even realize it, but some of your biggest brand influencers may just be within your own walls. Creating a unique social content distribution guide that supports your overall branding guidelines, and provides campaign/announcement-specific recommendations, can be a worthwhile investment to help staff spread the word while staying true to your branded messaging and visuals. At Stifel Marcin, we’ve supported clients in specific initiatives on social channels. For example, if an organization is promoting the launch of a new product, a campaign-specific company branding kit might include: · Specific messaging – what is the correct way to promote and present the announcement (remember small words can matter, for example “acquisition vs merger”)· A clear CTA to define the action your followers can take when they see the news· Links to approved imagery/video assets (sized appropriately for each social channel)· Sample templated messaging that includes correct company handles and external links· Branded hashtags· Specified embargo dates if applicable – be clear when employees can start sharing online Social impact and reach can be a powerful tool, but it also must be thoughtfully and purposefully managed

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B2B Account Based Marketing 101

ABM /

For businesses looking to leverage B2B account based marketing (ABM), there are often challenges, from assembling the right people to limited resources and knowledge about ABM. Read on for a crash course in B2B account based marketing 101. What is B2B account based marketing and how can it work for you? Account based marketing is a tactical strategy that can help B2B companies improve sales, generate better leads and achieve long-term business growth. There are a variety of factors that B2B organizations must consider before deploying an ABM campaign and understanding the nuances and requirements of this approach helps to ensure its success. ABM is used by marketers to target an account or customer persona to gain the best leads and sales. Often targeting criteria includes a variety of information such as prospect job title, industry, employer, organization size, professional interests, trends and more to build out a customer profile. Marketing works to reach these prospects via a variety of digital, inbound, content and in-person methods, all of which are crafted specifically to engage with that ideal prospect. ABM is focused on sales and lead quality rather than quantity, ultimately using that “quality lead” to grow sales within a target organization. Why is ABM important to B2B companies? As the marketing landscape continually evolves, and the necessity to reach customers with digital tactics increases, account-based approaches can be critically important to a company’s success. In the initial planning stage, an ABM approach helps to align all stakeholders in an organization – providing understanding of just what types of targets a company should be pursuing and helping everyone focus resources on those targets. As a campaign is in development, it helps a company identify how well it is truly serving that target customer – what level of expertise does it have, what tools does it need to develop or improve, and what processes should be created to help improve the sales and order experience. Beyond planning, account based marketing can help focus critical dollars on the leads and sales that help a company grow. As human and financial resources become more focused on the best leads, the quality of each sale improves, and ultimately the business is able to achieve greater results with the same amount of effort. How is ABM different from other marketing approaches? Unlike some marketing tactics which focus solely on promoting the benefits of a company’s products and/or services, an account based approach creates marketing materials that work to connect with target profiles, positioning a brand as a valuable, leading resource, and building a brand image within a key market segment. Beyond standard materials like brochures and sell sheets, AMB materials can include thought-leadership pieces, technical content and tools that helps those target prospects in their everyday lives by addressing concerns that are top-of-mind. Additionally, ABM helps to make sales connections “laterally” within a company, allowing a brand to grow within a customer group as it becomes known for having the information, tools and capabilities that the specific account is most concerned about. How does ABM strategy work with B2B digital marketing? Digital tactics offer great benefits in an account based marketing approach. With Big Data profiling becoming more detailed and valuable in B2B verticals, our ability to reach very specific targets has increased. Once a company has identified the ABM target profiles, and campaign assets have been designed to specifically engage with that target, a B2B marketing agency can leverage a variety of digital platforms, with information such as: Beyond just one platform or one event, digital marketing allows us to leverage a variety of Big Data to reach specific ABM profiles on a granular level. How can B2B companies leverage industry-specific data in ABM marketing? Data collection has grown significantly in recent years, and B2B profiling has become more granular and reliable. While trade events, conferences and publications can offer opportunities, with AI and Big Data, marketers have access to a variety of detailed profiling information that is valuable in account-based campaigns. This not only includes information like geographies (to help reach target company locations), job titles and education – but also interests, the type of content that a user engages with, and even the websites a person has visited. Understanding how to properly leverage data and target customer personas is critical in ABM campaigns – and can be optimized through the services of a B2B marketing agency. How can a B2B company use ABM in their business model? ABM campaign development occurs not only within a marketing or sales team, but needs to have input across an organization to collectively identify which prospects are the ones that should be prioritized and offer the best value to the company. Companies must review lead-to-sale conversion timelines, how much nurturing is required during customer acquisition, the difficulty of engineering or customization support, as well as the efforts required by internal company resources. What may appear to be the “best” target for one department in an organization, may be significantly different to another department. Gaining understanding across a company can help refine business targets, goals and expectations – allowing marketing to achieve greater results that help drive a business forward. What resources are needed from a B2B company before considering ABM? First, there needs to be a cross-departmental commitment to invest at least some time in developing customer profiles, which needs to include representatives not only from marketing and sales, but also management, production, engineering/support, and accounting. If a company partners with an outside B2B marketing agency, that agency can help streamline the process and reduce internal resource requirements. A company needs to balance the availability of its staff, the value of their time, and the expertise of their marketing department in account-based campaign development. Additionally, it must be certain that the integrated marketing tactics needed in ABM approaches are properly created and deployed. To achieve the best results, all aspects of prospect profiling, asset development and inbound/digital/traditional/content mix must be carefully planned, executed, monitored and responded to throughout the life of the campaign. With a focused approach in ABM, reporting and data review is critically important in success. A B2B marketing agency

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Experience the Benefits of an Expert B2B SEO Marketing Agency

SEO /

The next time you look up something on Google, or any other search engine, you should realize there is a lot of work, and in many cases an SEO marketing agency, behind the results you see. Achieving a coveted spot at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) takes time and resources, some of which your organization may not currently have. That’s when hiring an experienced B2B SEO marketing agency can be a smart investment.   Search Engine Optimization Process When Stifel Marcin is tapped to provide SEO for a website our general process follows these steps: SEO Maintenance Once we have your site set-up properly and fully optimized, we move into ongoing maintenance. We run monthly reports that track movement, activity, landing pages, bounce rates, and more. We look at which pages are successfully ranking for keyword phrases, and which pages we can improve. We continually tweak, modify and update your site until you are ranking number one for those target keywords and phrases. Some clients think once they have achieved a first page, or first place ranking, they no longer need a search optimization plan. This thinking is deadly because there is always a competitor ready to take your place or a shift in customer search habits. When your website goes stale, site code becomes outdated, content becomes old, and your target keywords can change. You open the door to a competing site that is ready to take your spot. Our most successful search engine optimization clients have worked with Stifel Marcin for years. Our B2B SEO marketing work is proven successful, and web leads are the highest source of new sales for our clients. Search Engine Optimization Quotes If you’d like us to review your site to discuss the ways we can improve your B2B SEO marketing, or if you’d like information on a web design and SEO package, we’re happy to help. Call us at 860-659-0777 or send an RFQ online through our contact form. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing agency is dedicated to your success. Our B2B SEO marketing agency experts are available to answer your questions. Reach out and let’s talk.

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5 Benefits of B2B Social Media Marketing

Social & Video /

While some business-to-business organizations may think it’s not for them, today’s digital age makes social media marketing an increasingly critical component of an integrated plan. If you are a manufacturer, part of an industrial organization, or you’re leading a B2B marketing initiative, you may be asking questions like “Is social marketing for us?” or “How do I get my company to understand the value of B2B social media marketing?”. We are here to help. Considering that the average person in the US spends over 10 hours a day in front of a screen, and 77 percent of people engage with social media platforms, it is almost illogical to not be doing social media marketing. Here are five benefits of B2B social media marketing, compiled by our team of marketing experts: 1. Support Your Brand A smart, well-planned social media presence supports an organization’s brand image. Much more than just news items and tradeshow events, good B2B social media marketing includes knowledge, expertise, benefit positions and more. Your social feed is a place for you to highlight the news and details you want your brand to stand for. And best of all, you get to define it and present it exactly how you want. Of course, supporting that brand means you are also prepared to address customer comments. It will take time to grow your followers, and fast support of your social profile is necessary to ensure a quality experience. You can’t “set it and forget it” with social media. Actively monitoring and maintaining them is just as important as being there. 2. Provide Value When considering the role of B2B social media marketing, it’s important to remember that a strategic newsfeed should create opportunities for education and engagement. By presenting current topics, informative articles and engaging discussions, you help establish trust and position your organization as a thought leader. Think about the pain points that a potential customer is trying to solve and provide information on your social feeds in a variety of ways to pique their interest and make them want to learn more (think videos, infographics, article links, etc.)  3. Stay Connected with Your Customers Daily engagement in many social media platforms is high, and that engagement stretches across age, role and gender demographics. The traditional concept that B2B social media marketing is only to target young engineers and consumers is no longer (if it ever was) relevant or accurate. It’s important to remember that today’s consumer requires 8+ touch points to convert to a lead. Make sure you are actively monitoring your comments, direct messages, relevant hashtags and mentions, and respond. It’s especially important to be responsive to questions, as 49 percent of consumers will unfollow a brand for poor customer service. Digital users expect a quick response, usually within 2-4 hours. 4. Give Your Organization a Personality Modern consumers are bombarded by messages, and quite often B2B companies have stiff competition from similar products and services in the marketplace. It’s important that your brand has a personality – something it stands for – giving a face to that organization. Personality allows consumers to make emotional connections with your company. These emotional connections are strong drivers in the sales process, and sometimes overlooked by B2B companies that have very detailed and technical differentiators. While we love to see a B2B organization having a little fun in their social media personality, emotional connections can be created many ways – demonstrated through positive experiences like community involvement, through presentation of corporate stewardship and work beyond the organization, or even by showing that the company is a nice place to work. Creating emotional connections is an important role of B2B social media marketing and could very well be the differentiator that tips the scales in your favor for that order. 5. Recruitment Many of the above points regarding the role of social media in B2B marketing are customer-focused. However, in this extremely competitive labor market, a social media feed that demonstrates your organization as a positive place to work can reap untold benefits. During the evaluation process, potential employees will undoubtedly refer to your social media feed to learn more about the company. B2B organizations have a great opportunity to demonstrate that their company is a good place to work in the social media feed. For manufacturers, it’s a place to highlight that you are not of the dreaded three D’s of manufacturing: dark, dirty, dangerous; and for technical organizations it’s a chance to show that your people are not chained to their cubicle chair all day. Check out our article about the benefits of utilizing video in recruitment marketing, which can also help support your social media efforts. The overarching benefit, of course, is to show that your organization is a great place to work. Social media news feeds include employee-focused events, like company picnics, training, holiday activities in the workplace environment – and maybe even a few happy employees themselves. Giving a face and a personality to the company can help with recruitment significantly. And, as your employees start to engage with your organization in their news feed, the more your brand exposure will increase. Those employees are likely connected with a large number of potential new employees. A thoughtfully crafted and executed B2B social media marketing plan has increasingly become critical to strategic campaigns for industrial, manufacturing and B2B organizations. In business for two decades, Stifel Marcin has the expertise to help you and your B2B organization take the leap into the social world. Give us a call, or connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and find out how we can help you create impact and return with a smart social marketing campaign. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products

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B2B Marketing in the Attention Economy: Expert Tips

ABM, Lead Gen Tactics /

If it is possible to offer a diagnosis on the B2B customer right now, it would be this one: We have forgotten how to pay attention, not because we wish to, but because we have too much to pay attention to. Inundated by messages, whether they’re on phones or laptops, means there is a lot of clutter, and much of this messaging will by necessity command little of our attention. In the B2B sphere, it has never mattered more that marketing content be easily understood and offer great value to a potential customer. Welcome to the Attention Economy, where human attention is treated as a scarcity. People only have so much time and smart B2B marketing is key to capturing attention, or you risk losing your audience altogether. Consider the Attention Cycle of a typical marketing initiative, an email campaign, that unless the messaging offers clear, valuable and long-standing customer connections, is just an exercise in generating volume, not results.  As you can see, message generation, without strategic intent and purposefulness, leads to less attention, not more. The idea that simply sending more emails will get more eyeballs is inherently incorrect. Attention is incredibly valuable. That’s why we don’t just “give our attention” – we “pay attention.” With an ever-escalating volume of marketing messages bombarding audiences online, creating brand-focused assets that resonate and cut through the clutter has become of great importance. Get noticed or get lost in the crowd – this has never been truer than today. If you want someone to “pay attention,” you must make sure what you offer is of value. Along with your marketing team, sales team, management and marketing agency, you must first decide who you want to reach. Get specific – exactly who are you targeting? Is it a potential customer who responds well to the latest technology and who will want to know more about the innovation at your plant? Is it a cost-conscious customer who will be motivated to act when they find out that your company can now do larger production runs for less? Your content marketing strategy doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be effective. Using your outside B2B marketing agency can provide crucial insight into ways to make any marketing efforts more impactful. If you’re already uncertain that you’ve identified key targets, or are reaching them effectively, you might want to read more about Account Based Marketing. B2B marketing in the Attention Economy means creating content that matters to the reader. What do these key targets value and how can you develop invaluable content that will become a “must read” for them. In the new Attention Economy, capturing the attention of a prospect is only the first step. By serving value, you will “command attention” in the future. Your marketing efforts should be anticipated content your key target looks forward to receiving. It should be smart, aligned with your brand, and aligned with your goals – and make that recipient feel it is worthy of their valuable attention. What do you want your potential customer to do? Download a whitepaper? Sign up for a webinar? Come to a tradeshow or event? Good B2B marketing materials are always driven by clear calls-to-action, and in the Attention Economy, clarity and thoughtfulness in driving engagement is more important than ever. Consider how a marketing asset’s call-to-action will foster further engagement – and will give you the opportunity to turn a contact into an on-going relationship. Monitoring how readers respond to those calls-to-action, how they engage, and the feedback they provide also has benefits. By tracking those interactions, you may get insights that help you zero in on your potential customers’ concerns and needs. In the Attention Economy, tracking what does and doesn’t work is critical to long term returns. Work with your team and your marketing agency to make sure efforts are effective. Monitor each campaign asset, and use analytics, tracking and other measurable results to ensure you are having success getting attention – the attention of your target. Digitally, you can see if your efforts are returning results via more website traffic, directing new traffic to the site, offering content that makes people engage with your brand, or submitting website forms. It can mean more attendees at your next event, more people recognizing your name, or more requests for quotes coming in. Ensuring that you are getting a return keeps everyone motivated to continue the outreach to new clients. It may be a new way of thinking for your organization, but even though there are marketing costs associated with developing content-driven, strategic creative, the idea that you are offering something of value to your prospective customer base is critical in the Attention Economy. More than creating another B2B marketing asset, you are actually creating value in the mind of your potential customer. You Modernize Your Plant. Modernize Your B2B Marketing for the Attention Economy. The demand for content is huge. Marketing surveys reveal that 75% of B2B purchasers rely on content as a research medium when they look to make a buying decision. Provide value and attention will be paid. Thinking about how you can capture attention with your B2B marketing in the frenetic world of the Attention Economy? Contact us and we’ll help you identify key targets and develop smart, strategic, attention-capturing marketing initiatives. Let us help you Power Up Your Marketing today. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing

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How to Target Prospects Strategically with “Big Data Marketing”

Lead Gen Tactics, SEM /

Digital marketing is complex and leading with a “big data marketing” mindset can seem daunting. Big data, AI and user tracking are top of mind for many marketers – but when it gets into the details of how, what and who – there can be confusion. As we add in multiple layers of interest targeting, geotargeting and the capabilities of different platforms, the intricacies expand. To help, we’ve compiled an overview of how our team uses big data marketing strategies to target new customers and expand touchpoints. What is Big Data and Who is Collecting It? Simply, “Big Data” is all the information digitally tracked about a person. The website pages you read, the words you use to search, the type of content you engage with – all this data is collected. That information is combined into a data set, which then combines with other people’s data sets, and is analyzed. Computer algorithms then create profiles about you – predictive patterns, interests and associations – that we marketers can leverage. Data is collected as you go through your day, so your profile is a full representation of you – what you do at work, what you do at home, what you like, etc. Keep in mind, data collected is not just from what you type and read after a Google® search, but also what you say and do. The Facebook App, Google Home Smart Speaker, Amazon Alexa, iBeacon tracking, etc. automatically collect data, image content, position tracking and more. This monitors what you do, where you go, what you say, and what you type. Advanced Big Data knows more about you than you probably care to imagine. How Do We Use Big Data Marketing in Digital Campaigns? The data available for B2B marketers has become more robust and refined. More than just a job type or industry, we can identify specific B2B interests – such as involvement in operations, supply chain, metals and more. Different platforms allow these data collections to be leveraged by marketers. While each platform offers different data options, similarities exist. Sites like Facebook, Google and Native platforms include a variety of interest settings, job information, demographic data as well as geographic statistics (including if you are home, at work, traveling, etc.). Sites like LinkedIn also provide job titles and past/current employers. These platforms have different dashboards, which require the understanding of interface settings and the nuances of each of them. By carefully targeting segments, overlaying settings and aligning our B2B digital marketing campaigns with client goals, we can serve ads to your potential customers. We can even tailor ad content, timing and messaging to the individual – serving them ads they are most likely to engage with – which we also know from Big Data tracking. Our digital marketing team is available to leverage a wide variety of Big Data – so that two people sitting right next to each other, both looking at the same website will see different ads. Accessing Information for Big Data Marketing  While the novice marketer can likely gain access to some of the profiling tools and platforms that leverage Big Data, an expert hand is needed to truly be effective. Understanding the complexities of these advanced tools allows marketers to correctly leverage all the capabilities. It takes time. It takes thought. And it takes skill. Don’t be lured by automated platforms and auto-generated targeting and ad content. B2B marketing is complex and must be carefully implemented. Remember that a smart marketer will not only maximize your visibility and return, but also protect your brand as part of a well-crafted digital strategy. Placements, pacing, spend, conversions and more should be regularly monitored data points. Big Data Marketing That Drives Results At Stifel Marcin, we have more than two decades of B2B digital marketing expertise. We’ve watched the growth of platforms, digital opportunities and data tracking, and know how to maximize its value. Let’s talk about your marketing goals, and how we can bring data-driven digital marketing into your mix to increase your visibility, brand positioning and sales. Contact us today to learn more. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing agency is dedicated to your success. If you want to learn more about Big Data affects your company, we can help. Reach out today.

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How to Reach New Customers with Innovative Digital Marketing Campaigns

ABM, Lead Gen Tactics, Marketing Campaigns, SEM /

With the variety of Big Data, profiling and targeting available, the ways in which digital marketers are able to expand a brand’s reach via innovative digital marketing campaigns has grown. Beyond simple demographics, campaigns can be deployed to reach people based on interests, topics they engage with, their job title, the industry they work in and more. Using data we are able to predict what content people are likely to engage with, what we should serve, and when. We then overlay targeting options and can be highly-specific about how digital campaigns are deployed, and to whom. Advanced B2B Digital Media Tactics & Campaign Building The range of data available to B2B marketers has become more robust (you can read more in our article on How to Target Prospects with “Big Data” & Strategic Digital Marketing). Interest categories related to manufacturing, operations, management and corporate structures have become more granular, and our expert B2B marketing team is leveraging this data to improve return and performance. Types of Common Digital Advertising Platforms The variety of digital platforms we have available is extensive, all designed to capture the attention of customers during that 10+ hours a day the average person in the US is in front of a screen. Instead of relying on trade magazines and purchased lists – which have their place in a full marketing strategy – our digital marketing platforms allow us to access up-to-date data and go directly to the consumer’s screen. While different platforms have different targeting capabilities and restrictions, all utilize predictive algorithms, 3D data and AI to help serve ads to only customers deemed most relevant to a campaign goal. Successful innovative digital marketing campaigns combine strategies for apps, social media, online properties and search engines to achieve results. Some of the common B2B paid digital marketing platforms we utilize are: Graphically-based ads, including animated ads, that serve on the Google Partner network. While we control the deployment locations, this can include news sites, travel sites, weather and more. Display and news-style ads that appear on 3rd party sites. Often this looks like actual content from that platform. Similar to Google Display with similar deployment controls, these ads also appear on news sites, interest sites, etc. Both display ads and newsfeed posts placed on sites like Facebook®, Twitter®, Instagram® and LinkedIn®. From magazine websites to e-newsletters, trade publications offer various digital opportunities to target customers. Cost is always a consideration with trades and should be evaluated as part of a full B2B digital marketing plan. Combining both content marketing and direct marketing strategies, eNewsletters work to reach customers in their inbox. This can be achieved by utilizing a purchased list (which should be well-vetted to ensure quality), or even better, by using a customer contact list. Integrated Marketing Solutions for Maximum Impact As a full service B2B marketing agency with integrated services, we build complete strategies for our clients. All our work is tailored to meet client goals, needs and resources, and we partner with clients and act like an extension of their company to maximize results. Additionally, as part of our integrated capabilities, we also help clients define campaign positions as well as ensure their brand is protected in digital marketing. Contact us today, and let’s discuss how together we can create innovative digital marketing campaigns to grow your brand and increase your sales. Stifel Marcin – The B2B Marketing Agency Unlike many advertising and marketing agencies, B2B isn’t just something that we do, it’s all we do. We’ll work to help your brand achieve its goals through the strategic combination of creativity, communication and technology. Our focused client intake processes give us the ability to thoroughly understand your business, products and objectives, working to identify the competitive advantages and opportunities that will grow awareness, leads and sales. We develop innovative marketing plans with strategic, data-driven processes, presenting complex ideas and compelling messages that position your business ahead of the competition. As your cooperative partner, our integrated B2B marketing agency is dedicated to your success. If you have questions about our marketing solutions, reach out today.

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How to Improve Your SEO Ranking on Google: 6 Tips from Our Experts

SEO /

In our vastly evolving digital world, exceptional organic SEO (search engine optimization) and its maintenance is more critical than ever, especially as digital advertising tools and strategies prepare for the demise of third-party tracking cookies. The implications of this change in data accessibility on digital advertising remains to be seen, but as marketers prepare for a cookieless future, the conversation about how to improve SEO ranking on Google is growing. At its core, SEO helps to create positive brand visibility and traffic to your website. From a standpoint, organic SEO provides valuable data to help you understand what your target audience is searching for, what problems they are trying to solve, and what types of content will best serve their needs, while giving users quicker access to relevant information and the key data they are seeking. With 89 percent of B2B buyers researching information about possible purchases through search, good organic SEO can mean the difference between ranking on the first page of search results, or on pages two and beyond. Consider that 75 percent of searchers never go past the first page of search results, and suddenly the urgency of organic SEO becomes clearer. A particularly noteworthy statistic – 94 percent of clicks on SERPs go to organic results. While paid advertising certainly is an important part of an overall marketing strategy, organic SEO typically drives more traffic to websites and, being unpaid vs pay-per-click (PPC), has a higher ROI. If you’re asking how to improve SEO ranking on Google, explore these six actionable steps you can implement to make a positive impact: 1. Start with an Audit If you’re looking to improve your organic SEO results, the best place to start is with an SEO audit of your current website. Regularly analyzing its performance (we recommend at least every six months) can help ensure that: · Your site’s user experience remains optimized· Selected keywords are performing· You identify timely insights into what users are searching for and the terms they most frequently use· You understand how current and new competitors are ranking. Remember that regular auditing is truly necessary to ensure your organic SEO strategy is aligned with data trends and audience behaviors. Check out our article “The Benefits of an SEO Audit” for more details and tips. When you’re ready to examine your SEO, our team is here to support you. 2. Leverage Long Tail Keywords According to WordStream, 50 percent of search queries contain four or more words. And that number is only increasing as more people employ voice search using more conversational terminology (more on that below). That’s particularly important data for the B2B marketer as the type of user query can lend clues about where a potential buyer is in the purchasing cycle. Someone searching for “top SaaS software for banking” vs “SaaS software” typically knows more about what they are looking for and may be closer to the bottom of the conversion funnel. Strategic keyword research, refinement and expansion should take into consideration many variables, including your overall business objectives, sales goals, budgets, target audiences and more. We explore more about keywords in our articles “The Importance of Long Tail SEO” and “Keyword Research Tips for Your B2B Organization.” 3. Include Voice Search Not to be overlooked within your keyword strategy is the rise in voice search. With voice search gaining in popularity due to devices such as Google Home®, Amazon’s Alexa®, and Apple’s Siri®, along with a global population who has experienced remote interactions for more than two years, it’s not a surprise to see statistics that note that “71 percent of consumers prefer to conduct queries by voice instead of typing.” This is yet another reminder to craft an SEO strategy with the user at the center. In the context of voice search, your target audience is likely asking very specific questions that relate to their position within the purchasing journey, like “what are the top companies for XYZ” vs “how does product A differ from product B.” You can see in the first instance, the potential buyer may just be at the beginning of their search, whereas in the second, they have clearly done some research and have moved onto comparisons. Look carefully, and frequently, at your keyword data and devise content that best helps answer even the most specific queries. 4. Ensure Your Website is Mobile-Friendly With shortening attention spans and less patience for anything other than an ideal user experience, websites need to be well-optimized for mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. Forty-two percent of researchers use a mobile device during the B2B purchasing process. And as noted by BCG, over 90 percent of B2B users say, “they’re likely to buy again from the same vendor if they have a superior mobile experience.” Return visitors mean more qualified leads and higher probability of conversions. A thoughtful SEO audit (see above) can help identify your site’s mobile-friendliness, examining way to improve: · Site speed· Technical issues· Ease of readability· Responsive design. Mobile-friendly should mean more than “does it work” on a phone or tablet. Simply having a responsive website – meaning that the layout responds to a user’s screen size – is not enough. Smart organic SEO evaluations consider what that mobile experience is like (where are the lead generation forms, how is the data effected, etc.). Ensuring an optimal experience in both mobile and desktop views is critical. And with Google itself prioritizing mobile-first indexing when evaluating a website’s content relevancy in relation to a users’ search, it’s a smart move to make, especially as part of your SEO maintenance plan. And speaking of maintenance… 5. Prioritize On-Going SEO Maintenance Once achieving a first page, or even the coveted first place, ranking on SERP, your organic SEO work doesn’t end. Ongoing maintenance must be integrated into an overall SEO plan for continued success.Google changes its algorithm around 500-600 times each year. While many of the changes may have only minor impacts on SEO at best, having a maintenance plan in place to ensure

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B2B Digital Advertising – What Format is Best?

Lead Gen Tactics, SEM /

A savvy B2B marketer’s media mix includes strategic B2B digital advertising. Simply put, digital advertising is anything a potential customer sees on a screen, whether you have a presence on Google Ads, trade website banner ads, page takeovers, social media or email marketing. On average, people in the United States spend at least seven hours a day in front of a screen. As online content continues to proliferate, along with visuals that seek to grab and hold your attention, it can be more and more difficult to have your creative stand out. Marketers must consider how to capture attention and increase click-throughs in an increasingly crowded and competitive field. Unfortunately, there is no “one rule” for B2B digital advertising performance – ad engagement is highly-specific to the media on which it appears. On social media, animated content outperforms static content almost 2-to-1. Conversely, in some very recent studies, static ads actually outperform animated ads in website layouts (like trade publications), likely due to users gravitating to clean and simple content in a busy and cluttered layout. This can be an especially difficult challenge in B2B digital advertising, where often there are complex differentiators in products/service (ie. a lot to say). While video is often a go-to option for engagement and visibility, allowing marketers to deliver a lot of information in B2B digital advertising material, recent trends also show increased engagement in interactive content – such as HTML 5. This format allows marketers to create digital ad materials that actually let a user interact with the media – affecting the content that is displayed. One key consideration before you set out to develop new creative B2B digital advertising campaigns, is knowing exactly what formats your media placements support. For example, many industrial companies and manufacturers place ads in digital trade publications – such as eNewsletters and websites. Often these media only support specific file formats and have size limitations – many of which prevent video or interactive content from being an option. When preparing your next B2B digital advertising campaign, and planning for cost-effective ad material development, consider these common ad types: HTML 5 Banner Ads: Several years ago Apple made the decision to not support .swf files on all iOS browsers and, initially, this seemed to have killed the animated banner ad. Now, the HTML 5 format has taken root. An HTML 5 package allows advertisers to make ad units that operate as mini, fully-coded websites, including HTML, CSS and JavaScript, that will create your layout and motion graphics. While this takes advanced knowledge to properly code and create the digital materials, as well as to ensure the ad content will comply with media requirements – so it will work when supplied to the third-party media – the increase in ad engagement and CTR, in many instances, is notable. This ad content is often highly brand-relevant for B2B companies, looking to display their technology-forward company image in a visual way. HTML 5 also supports a wide array of customizations, interactive functions, video, and more. The production costs – and planning costs – are higher for these ad types. But, given the high cost of media buys, and the fact that increasing customer touchpoints is key in modern B2B digital advertising initiatives, the value of these ad formats goes well beyond a simple CTR metric. Social Media Templates: Social media sites have improved their support of interactive graphics formats – take Facebook’s extensive variety of templates, as well as LinkedIn’s expanded support of video content. In a platform where you need to capture users attention quickly, and where large areas of the viewable layout remain as static/flat text, interactive graphics can help improve B2B digital advertising results. As part of its robust marketing platform, Facebook has developed a number of tools for advertisers to enable. These not only support the upload of a variety of finished creative types, but also allow digital advertising to be developed right within the Facebook system. One can upload a company logo, a series of still photos and write custom text, and the Facebook Ad platform will create an animated slideshow ad unit for Facebook and Instagram. And with a number of different, pre-made templates available, B2B digital advertisers can develop interactive content using static sources, which can be very effective, especially if your budget can’t support a costly custom video or an elaborate B2B digital advertising development effort. Video in B2B Digital Advertising: Video has long been a go-to source for highly-engaging, highly-informative visual content. While some statistics recently released over-hyped the value of video in B2B digital advertising content, video still can definitely be an effective tool to increase engagement. There are a wide variety of production considerations to evaluate when creating video – for example, how many applications it will have – as well as the lower resolution requirements of many digital advertising platforms that can allow for less costly video shooting. As opposed to a high-end company overview video, a 15-second Facebook spot can often be filmed inexpensively, with in-house editing, suitable for use across desktop and mobile platforms. Obviously, a good strategy should be in place to effectively and strategically create video marketing content (Stifel Marcin can help there too). New technologies and software have made creating and embedding video easier as well. With Premier and After Effects included in the Adobe Creative Cloud, anyone with an Adobe subscription has access to the same software used by video professionals. Google Web Designer can embed a video hosted on YouTube. You can also upload video directly to Facebook to use as your creative. Video has seen an increased presence, not only in traditional banner ads of all sizes, but in large screen takeovers, environments where you have a user’s undivided attention. It’s important to consider size limitations of video. Even a small video ad will likely be more than 15mgs, which is well-beyond the limitation of most B2B digital advertising trade media placements. A complete review of the placement options can help determine the

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