There are many new digital marketing trends that are emerging in the current high-tech and internet connected era and businesses are using them to succeed in their B2B efforts.
As businesses produce more content, the competition on social media platforms especially Linkedin and Facebook increases. Marketers begin focusing on drawing in potential customers rather than outwardly pushing their products or services.
According to research, the majority of B2B purchase decisions are made online. These decisions are usually made even before engaging with the client’s company or their sales representatives. 68% B2B buyers research online through media articles, blog posts, case studies or analyst reports.
In B2B marketing, digital advertising is a proven way to increase sales. According to research, by 2020, the digital ad expenses are expected to be 50% of total advertising.
Below are some of the digital marketing trends that B2B marketers should follow:
Influencer Marketing
B2B businesses choose influencers as a source of reliable, research-backed and authoritative information for their customers. Content created and shared by influencers provides 11x higher ROI than average display ads.
95% of customers are more likely to be loyal to a company that they trust and so B2B buyers choose to purchase from vendors whom they trust. Customer testimonials, case studies and referrals may help bridge the trust gap to some extent.
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in B2B
The AR and VR experience can assist decision makers in avoiding any sort of misgivings or hesitation and become more open to understanding products and how they can solve particular problems in real-world scenarios. In 2016, 67% of businesses considered adopting AR technology. By 2023, AR and VR are expected to rise to a valuation of $95 billion.
Lead Generation through Content Marketing
For any business that wants to keep up with competition, lead generation is not optional, but a critical part of their business. Businesses that want to differentiate from competitors in the present scenario, should incorporate more video content in their current digital marketing strategy.
45% of marketers planned to include Youtube videos and 41% of marketers included Facebook videos in their marketing strategies. And, for written digital content, the strategy is to create in-depth and long-form content with 1000 words or more that audiences can dig into.
Source: https://contentmarketinginstitute.com
Programmatic Marketing
With the rapid growth of data-driven targeting strategies deployed by marketers, the demand for programmatic marketing is high. According to research, with companies like Google targeting 60% of all digital advertising budgets, programmatic marketing will account for most digital advertising in future years.
Bidding of ads is automated by analyzing the data and not by traditional methods that require quotations, proposals and negotiations before spending on advertising. B2B marketers opt for this technique because it is more systematic and streamlined and less prone to errors which overall reduces the net cost of advertising.
Paid Social Media Promotions
In 2018, the average CPC on Facebook increased 92% year on year. But still paid promotions on social media keeps growing in 2019. Consumers of social media demand long-form, high-quality content instead of short blog posts. Therefore B2B marketers receive more interaction from such content for their ad spend.
Paid promotions on Google Adwords or Facebook ads, can be used to drive traffic to webinars which are used as lead magnets, embedded on website landing pages.
Source: https://dannyveiga.com
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a powerful source for targeting B2B marketers. 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn. 61 million LinkedIn users are senior level influencers and another 40 million are purchase decision makers within their company. According to a report, 46% of social traffic to corporate websites comes through this platform. Therefore, more people visit websites after reading posts or blogs on LinkedIn.
In B2B marketing, decision-makers constantly need to know where they stand and where they are headed. Trends change constantly, but it is important to stay on top of these trends in order to keep ahead of the competition.
To know more about B2B digital trends of 2019, leave us a message in the comment section and we will get back to you.
Search Engine Optimization is a technique that helps generate traffic to a website. This is done by obtaining a high-ranking placement on the first page of the Google search engine or other Search Engine Result Page (SERP) like Bing, Yahoo etc.
There are two methods of SEO that helps improve website position on the SERP. One is called on-page SEO and the other is known as off-page SEO.
On-page SEO refers to all that is done on the website like meta descriptions, meta tags, content, images, keyword optimization, internal linking etc. In short, on-page SEO means structuring and developing the website to be search engine friendly. Off-page SEO assists in increasing the popularity of the website to get more visibility on search engines. These techniques help improve a website’s position on SERP.
Brands use off-page SEO strategies for the purpose of effective link building that could help add numerous back-links for ranking websites. Here, brands optimize their websites by using external website links through link building.
Some off-page SEO strategies that are still implemented for website optimization are:
Guest Posting
This is a popular link building method where an article is written as a guest post by another website webmaster. There are a number of quality blogging sites where they allow authors to post articles as a guest. The author includes or inserts the links of another article in the guest post. In this way, a backlink is created to the author’s website. However, posting multiple times on the same guest blogging site should be avoided.
Source: https://www.dearblogger.org
Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking sites are one of the best platforms to promote websites. It is a way through which consumers or visitors bookmark or save their favourite webpages, articles, blogs or videos. When someone bookmarks or saves a webpage or articles of a brand from popular social bookmarking sites, the brand gains high traffic to the webpage or blog. It is an easy and fast process to link building. Some well-known bookmarking sites are delicious.com, stumbleupon.com, digg.com, evernote.com and technorati.com.
Image Submission
Brands often share photos on popular image submission websites. These images should be properly optimized with the correct URL and title tag. The images should also have a proper title, description and tags for visitors to understand the context. Some popular image submission sites are flickr.com, tumblr.com, imgur.com, instagram.com, picasa.google.com and mediafire.com.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is a wise choice to incorporate for link building and ranking websites. Here, a brand can create sub-domains on high domain authority websites like Medium.com, Tumblr, WordPress, Blogger and Weebly. By default, these websites have high page rankings and domain authority. If done correctly, it works great for building links. The biggest advantage of using this technique is that brands have complete control over handling the links. With this authority, a brand can change links, modify anchor texts and also add or delete backlinks.
Press Release
One effective link building strategy is Press Releases. It is definitely impactful in boosting search engine rankings. Through press releases, a brand’s website appears on Google’s new section which drives a large amount of traffic to that particular website. This technique is a little expensive as it might involve hiring SEO experts for the purpose of link building through press releases but it is a wise investment to gain dofollow backlinks to the website.
Directory Submission
In order to get valid and quality backlinks, a brand requires high PR directory websites that provide dofollow backlinks. Listing websites on directories is a part of SEO that helps to get powerful backlinks to a website. It is very important to list websites in the correct categories and add proper title and description. Some popular directory submission sites are boingboing.net, thewebdirectory.org, dmoz.org, einternetindex.com and elecdir.com.
Google My Business
This is a free platform which can be optimized to gain the best local SEO ranking. It helps manage online presence across Google including search and maps. Some of the basic things that should be followed while using this technique are:
The description should be within 250 characters
Make sure that there is one primary owner for every listing
Keep a watch on the reviews and reply promptly
Upload real images in the correct category
Regularly update galleries, posts, products or offers
Proper on-page and off-page SEO optimization provides a better position to websites in SERP. Off-page SEO means strengthening a brand or a website’s digital reputation and authority through backlinks and other reputation-validating placements across the web and must be included in brands’ digital strategies.
To know more about off-page SEO strategies, leave us a message and we will get back to you!
“A mother is always the beginning. She is how things begin.”
The second Sunday of May has always been special, as that is the day we celebrate the lifeline of every home – mothers. And in order to utilize this important day to drive customer engagement, brands put out some of their best campaigns during this time.
Closer to Mother’s Day, social media was a frenzied space to be in with brands putting up different campaigns in the form of photo submissions, contests and digital videos. Among the many, a few notable campaigns managed to touch the right chord.
Take a look at the top social media campaigns on Mother’s Day by top brands –
1. Lotus Herbals Baby – #NoRightWayToMotherhood
Living up to the true essence of the spirit of motherhood, Lotus Herbals Baby conceptualized a powerful campaign based on adoption. The concept of adoption is still looked down upon by many in the society, even though everyone is aware of the fact that all children deserve the pure and unconditional love of a mother.
The #NoRightWayToMotherhood campaign highlights this sensitive topic by showcasing a couple getting ready for adoption, while other family members urge them to rethink their decision. When the wife says that there’s no one right way to become a mother, the family supports their decision to go ahead with the noble cause.
By throwing light on this sensitive topic, the brand has managed to make a significant impact on social media and gather a lot of positive response. The video received 503K views on YouTube, 680K views on Facebook with 6.3K reactions, 100+ comments and 1K+ shares.
The heart winning #MaaSeSeekhaHai campaign by Reliance Smart highlights the many things that children learn from their mothers that often work as a guiding light in their lives.
Set in a classroom where students have to say what their mothers have taught them, the digital video shows a child constantly supporting and encouraging his classmates – be it while they are reciting a poem or breaking a brick with hand. On being asked what his mother has taught him, he says – to have confidence in others, to have faith when someone loses confidence in oneself – which ultimately becomes a lesson of a lifetime.
The video went viral on social media with 1.8M views on Facebook, 35K reactions, 700+ comments and 8.7K+ shares. YouTube witnessed 3.1M views.
The international pet food brand, Dogsee Chew came up with the #AFurryThankYou campaign where dogs thanked their human moms for loving them unconditionally and taking care of them like their own child. The brand encouraged its followers to share their dog – mom stories along with their photographs and the entries were published across their social media pages.
The campaign received a lot of positive response, getting 3.2K+ likes on Instagram.
4. Prega News – #GoodNewsIsGenderFree
Gender inequality is still a prevalent issue in our country and Prega News addressed the same in their Mother’s Day campaign. It targets the regressive mindset of some people who always prefer a boy over a girl and believes that it’s good news only when a boy is born.
The video shows how a group of transgenders come to bless a pregnant woman by saying she will have a boy, and they would come back to bless him when he is born. The mother-in-law asks them if wouldn’t they come to bless the baby if it were a girl. She says that the right blessing should be that both the mother and the child is healthy – be it a boy or a girl.
The video ends with the transgender group returning after the baby girl is born and blessing her.
The campaign hit 7.6M views on YouTube within a week. Facebook witnessed 5.4M views, 158K reactions, 3.4K comments and 47K+ shares.
Adding a touch of uniqueness to their Mother’s Day campaign, the leading apparel brand BIBA explores motherhood outside the mother-child relationship. In a conversational tone, the video starts with asking women, aged 10-35 years of what motherhood means to them. It is further revealed that every one of them in the video is a mother – of a pet cat, of a company, a science project, a flower and of a child. The idea behind this campaign is to bring out the fact that everyone is a mother, in one way or the other.
‘I am a Mom Too’ campaign had 243K views on Facebook. The campaign gathered 1.3M views on Facebook, 17K reactions, 400+ comments and 2.8K+ shares. The brand also ran a small contest on social media, urging people to share how they are a mother and win gift vouchers.
Brands have indeed left no stone unturned to leverage the power of social media marketing to share their story this Mother’s Day. Can you think of any other campaign that touched your heart? Tell us in the comments below.
Apollo Hospitals is one of India’s leading healthcare chains known for pioneering the private healthcare revolution in the country. In Bangalore, the company has 3 successful hospitals along with a multitude of clinics, pharmacies and smaller establishments.
Apollo Hospitals as a company, is not one to shy away from innovation- a fact that is evident from its acceptance and wide use of Ask Apollo – an online consultation portal.
The Scenario :
With cancer gaining ground in India and Bangalore being named as the capital of breast cancer – Apollo wanted to shift its focus on oncology services and establish their Bannerghatta Road branch as a preferred centre of care & treatment.
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The Aim :
Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore saw many walk-in patients and referrals. However, they were losing out on a coveted market – that of the educated, Google savvy customer who was researching online and going to the competition for treatment. Our aim was to bring home these patients and family members.
The Challenge :
Using a decade old website – with little or no relevant information, minimal experience-related elements and a penchant to follow the same old formula – asking visitors to fill in a lengthy form with personal details. Our challenge lay not only in re-strategising, re-designing and re-shaping the marketing, but also in getting the Apollo team on-board with our ideas.
A major challenge while the campaign was running was a change in Google’s algorithm which was skewed towards affecting the healthcare industry.
The Approach :
1.User friendly UI :
Oncology was a small part of the hospital website with basic information and no segregation. We decided to develop individual landing pages for each type of cancer and concentrate fully on the experience. The result was a soothing yet professional looking web page where visitors felt safe to browse and enter their private information.
2.Relevant information :
A lot of care was taken to research and write current and relevant information. We didn’t want to overwhelm visitors with information, yet wanted to give them a comprehensive idea about the disease they were researching.
A middle ground was reached where topical information was touched upon and visitors could request more information immediately.
3.Showcase credibility and build case for expertise :
Oncology, being a highly trained field requires doctors and staff of a certain clinical expertise to build confidence in a patient. We tried to showcase this on a digital platform by displaying surgical facts & figures prominently and showcasing individual biographies of the doctors in the department. Adding a photograph went a long way in establishing credibility and trust.
4.Lead through empathy :
Often, patients are the best people to convince other patients that cancer is conquerable. We were convinced that a patient’s story of struggle and ultimate victory would encourage and help other patients too. And to that effect we released a video on the page.
5.Minimise personal information :
Sharing personal information especially one about a patient, is always hard. Yet the contact form on the Apollo website was long, convoluted and asked the patient to almost self-diagnose.
The result was serious drop-offs. We decided to keep the contact form short – only asking for a name and a contact number. This did increase the post-lead generation work load, but also got us greater number of conversions.
6.Robust search ads campaign :
All of the above steps would have been useless had it not been for an aggressive search ads campaign on Google. We strategize to keep our ads extremely targeted – geographically only to Bangalore and interest based only to those who were actively researching specific types of cancer.
This was done to keep the lead pool small, yet of high quality with maximum potential to convert. Cost per lead was higher but this was set off by a higher conversion rate.
The Impact :
Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore was not only successful in generating quality leads (108 in under 2 months), but in also making a name for itself as a premier Oncology treatment destination in Bangalore. Greater awareness measured through increased clicks on specific pages, larger no.of queries submitted, increase in no.of phone calls were only some of the successful metrics measured.
A consistent rise in the CTR and subsequent fall in the price per lead were indicators that visitors were finding our pages useful and relevant. This campaign also had an impact on the number of walk-ins. All in all, as a campaign to test waters in Bangalore, the strategy performed well and can be replicated to other departments as well.
To stay ahead of competitors, new and upcoming brands have to fight hard and plan their marketing tactics to target customers. A logo is often a company’s first impression that impacts the brand perception, customer purchase decisions as well as an overall attitude towards a product.
A logo is a visual print on each product or service offered by the brand and therefore serves as the face and representative of the brand or business. A memorable logo design plays a major role in the branding of a business.
Below are some aspects of logo development which if followed, can turn a logo into a marketing tool:
“Since a logo is the brand’s visual keystone — the most concise expression of its personality — an honest approach to defining its DNA is imperative to a successful result.”- Harkins
1. Understanding the brand:
Thorough research should be done on the type of business, products, target customers and market niche before creating a logo. Once the relevant information is available, it is easier for the designer to pick the right elements for colours, shapes, fonts, lines and symbols for the logo. This is one way to create a logo and develop a brand identity.
For example: In Apple, the fruit is missing a “byte” and in Wikipedia, the logo is an unfinished globe of a puzzle with glyphs from various writing system. Both the logos have a twist that goes back to the brand ideology.
Source: http://mashable.com
2. Timelessness: Trends fade.
Trendy colours, patterns, typefaces and other design elements should be avoided since these tend to only last for few months/years. A classic and timeless logo is a wise choice to make as it will last for decades. If required, a few tweaks can be made to make the logo look fresh and new for future use.
For example, Starbucks has modified its logo multiple times by modifying the mermaid and people still recognize that it as the Starbucks logo.
Source: http://kineticgroupconsulting.com
3. Versatility:
The logo for a brand should be impressive both in colour and in black and white. The correct way to do this is to first design the logo without any colour. If the design looks good in black and white, then the designer can create the same logo with the brand colours. This way, the logo will appear outstanding in both colour and colourless versions.
For example, Adidas incorporates a similar motif of three parallel lines or bars in all of its designs. The visual presentation might change depending on where the logo is printed, but it consists of the same elements.
4. Scalability:
Logos appear on every small and big communication involved with a brand. Therefore a logo should be scalable i.e. it should not lose its sense of proportion, no matter where it is applied. When a logo is printed on a brochure, pamphlets, business cards, pens or billboards, the design elements of the logo should be clear, visible and understandable. The best way to maintain this is by using design grids.
5. Choice of colours:
While designing a logo, the choice of a startup logo’s colour is of utmost importance as every colour is associated with specific emotions and feelings which will in turn be associated with the brand. For some, bright and bold colours will grab attention and for some, it may look brash. Muted tones exude sophistication but may be overlooked or ignored.
Every colour has a different implication which may bring nuance to the message that has to be conveyed. A brand should choose its colours wisely. According to experts, it is best for brands to use as few colours as possible. This is because according to the reductionist method, it makes more sense as each individual colour gets the space to shine.
Implications of some colours are as follows:
Source: https://avalaunchmedia.com
6. Simple, quirky and minimalistic:
Brands should try to create something that is enjoyable and has a long-lasting positive impression on viewers. Avoid or remove all the extra design elements and keep only the necessary colours, shapes, lines, fonts and symbols that are needed to convey the message. A minimalistic approach will create a simple logo that consumers can easily relate to and instantly appreciate at a glance.
For example, FedEx’s logo is a simple Logotype with a twist. The image utilizes negative space to create an arrow which indicates precision, speed and direction. Along with it, the company changes the colour of the “Ex” in order to classify the type of shipping.
Also, Amazon uses its name in its logo but also refers to its wide inventory with a small arrow pointing from a → z.
Source: http://www.webyurt.com
The logo should be a memorable work of art that can effectively convey the message of a brand. It should be unique, scalable and flexible so that it looks meaningful and decent on all online and offline platforms and fits in all sizes. If you want to know more about logo designing, leave us a message and we will get back to you!
The booming economy of India is seeing a tremendous change in the job market scene. Due to saturation in certain industrial sectors like in the IT sector, airline industry and in the manufacturing industry, we are seeing young graduates, experienced professionals and others switching their job profile to entirely a new field – digital marketing.
“India has become the digital capabilities hub of the world with around 75% of global digital talent present in the country.” (Source)
Several digital marketing experts have shared their tips with young budding talents on how to make a fruitful career in digital marketing. Sneh Sharma, founder and CEO of Ittisa Digital Marketing Agency has shared her tips on how you can get a digital marketing job in this post published in Forbes by author Joe Escobodo. She speaks about the key traits that a digital marketing professional should have to become successful –
Experience in managing different platforms
Ability to handle customers well
Desire to learn more and improve skills
Confidence
Creativity as the biggest weapon
Good social media presence
What is the career scope in digital marketing?
#1. An in-demand profession
The digital sphere in India has the ability to provide 55-60 million jobs, making it one of the most in-demand jobs at the present time. Those who are taking digital marketing courses have an added advantage of stepping into a lucrative career where the demand is very high.
#2. Wide career choice
Be it startups or established corporates, today every business has a digital presence and are constantly looking for digital marketers to help them in their digital journey. Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are also becoming mainstream with more and more brands implementing them for their business growth. With so many opportunities available, digital marketers can make their choice regarding the type of company they would like to work for, in accordance with their career needs.
#3. Starting career easily, and early
In the case of traditional careers, an internship or a placement from a coveted organization is often a prerequisite for gaining experience, creating a portfolio and making a mark in the industry. In the world of digital marketing, the opportunities are galore to start a career without even actually starting off as a professional. Having a strong social media presence to display one’s talent is sometimes enough to kickstart a career. Online courses and examinations can also add to knowledge and boost resumes, giving room to career opportunities and growth.
#4. Opportunity to be agile and versatile
There will never be a dilemma of having a stagnant career in the world of digital marketing. Even if one has a specialization in this field and wants to switch later, a slight upskill and training is all that would be required to make the change. The ongoing opportunities to learn are many, with different skills fitting differently to make that perfect career.
