John Ellett , CONTRIBUTOR TWEET THIS “Engage the customer the way they want to buy not the way you want to sell” Last week, B2B marketers from around the world gathered to share insights on the evolving practice of business-to-business marketing. Under the banner of “Putting Customer Obsession To Work For B2B Marketing And Sales”, analysts from Forrester, executives from martech companies and leaders from B2B marketers discussed innovative approaches for putting the customer at the center of B2B marketing efforts. Here are six tidbits of advice garnered from the event.
“Don’t try to change everything” - Laura Ramos, Forrester VP and principal analyst, acknowledged that the mindset shift from ‘inside out thinking’ to putting customers at the center of marketing is not easy. She recommended starting by focusing first on existing customers who have a high lifetime value and then turning them into brand advocates. By cultivate strong customer communities, reinforcing customer knowledge and being empathetic to their feelings, you can build trust which will lead to loyalty and lifetime value. “Behavior trumps profiles” - Amanda Kahlow, founder and chief strategist at 6sense, shared how predictive analytics can help B2B marketers identify in-market buyers and help you target the right person and account at the right time with the right message. By using data from a myriad of first and third party sources that reflects the behavior of people and marrying that with profile information, marketers can progress beyond targeting accounts and individuals based on basic look-alike modeling to more effective targeting based on predictive intelligence. Marketers who are then empathetic to the needs of buyers can expect to see significant improvements in their demand generation efforts. “Gating content kills relationship building” - Forrester principal analyst Steve Casey cited the firm’s research that 68% of B2B buyers prefer to gather information on their own. He added that 81% of Millennials and Gen Xers, increasingly important audiences to B2B marketers, decide not to download content because they didn’t want to fill out a form. He encouraged marketers to create conversation-qualified leads by retargeting anonymous visitors to promote the next episode of the content portfolio and eventually offer even more relevant content in exchange for name and email only. You can get most of the additional information you want from data appending services or by progressively profiling the buyer. “Engage the customer the way they want to buy not the way you want to sell” - Phil Horn, SVP of Sales and Service for the Sacramento Kings has helped keep the NBA team’s arena full with business and family ticket holders by adopting digital platforms that help his sellers engage with buyers in more personalized ways. By prioritizing social media engagement, filming personalized videos and drafting emails using AI-technology, the Kings have topped the league in new ticket sales twice, even without having a championship record. “Make deposits before asking for withdraws.” - Social selling expert Jill Rowley highlighted how ludicrous the behavior of most sales people is who reach out asking for “ten minutes of your time to learn about your needs.” Time is a precious commodity and the right to ask for it should be earned by adding value in advance of an ask. With a little research, a salesperson can anticipate issues that may be relevant to a buyer and then share content that is valued and appreciated. Marketers should equip sellers with a repository of content, both curated and created, that meets that threshold. “Marketing performance measures shouldn’t be about who gets credit” - During a panel led by Allison Snow from Forrester, the topic of KPIs and measuring marketing contribution to pipeline was discussed. Panelist Guarav Chand from Dell, Jim Blackie from ON24 and John Bell from Travelers agreed that measurements should be used to optimize the demand generation system and to tie marketing and sales teams to common objectives. Fighting over who gets credit between the two functions diminishes collaboration and ultimately hurts business performance. CMOs and CROs should co-present to their leadership from a common set of data and not bring their own facts to justify their positions. John Ellett is CEO of the CMO Accelerator at nFusion, and author of The CMO Manifesto: A 100-Day Action Plan for Marketing Change Agents. Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnellett/2017/10/10/6-actionable-nuggets-of-advice-from-forrester-b2b-conference/#4e876de85013 Christine Halvorson Facebook is free, and it’s a great business marketing tool. Why on earth would you pay to use it? Because paying Facebook to “boost” a post or to conduct another type of advertising campaign works. I’ve seen the results firsthand. Every business should have a Facebook advertising plan in place because Facebook ads are easy to create, inexpensive to run and can meet your business goals — whatever they are. I especially recommend Facebook advertising to my nonprofit clients, and to the micro-businesses with which I work. Rest assured, I believe traditional paid advertising (newspapers, magazines, radio or television) has its place. I just wouldn’t spend a lot of money on it these days without being absolutely sure of getting results and having my goals met. IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK You’ll know almost immediately if your Facebook ad is working. You’ll see how many clicked on it and how many just saw the ad. You’ll also be able to tell if the copy you wrote and/or the graphics you included were lousy, and you can then quickly change something and try again, without losing your shirt. In fact, Facebook has this marvelous option for your ads: You can design a Facebook ad with one set of text, but six different images. Facebook will run the ad, alternating the six images to your targeted audience for 24 hours. Then it will deliver only the one with the image that performs best. That’s A/B testing (which marketers always recommend) on-the-fly and on-the-cheap! GREAT FOR EVENTS I’m a fan of Facebook advertising and Mark Zuckerberg didn’t pay me to say that. I have used it mainly for event marketing and can state unequivocally that, with a Facebook ad as the only form of marketing, I brought people to my events, for pennies-per-attendee. Seriously. Your costs will vary, but trust me when I say they’re cheap. If you have $10, try running an “offer” ad (such as a coupon) and see the response. You’ll get substantial impact if you know exactly who you are trying to reach. KNOW THY AUDIENCE Ah, but there’s the key. If you do NOT know who you are trying to reach with your ad, walk away. For effective Facebook advertising, you must know 1) who you are trying to reach in terms of their age, gender, and location, at least, and 2) exactly what you want that reader to do — click here, buy this, sign-up, for example. With a specific target audience in mind and a specific goal for your ad, you’ve completed 90 percent of the work in a successful advertising campaign on Facebook. So, what’s stopping you? Source: http://www.sentinelsource.com/business_journal/facebook-advertising-add-it-to-your-marketing-mix/article_592b408e-adc5-11e7-a6f9-1f6363a4f47a.html Social media marketing for your restaurant is an investment that takes time, effort and money. If done properly, the return on the investment is huge.
Social media and online reviews are the social proof restaurants need in order to develop and thrive. A spot-on restaurant social media marketing is a must. Your goals here are simple: Let the world know you exist. Prove your place is better than your competitor’s.Let let even more people know that your place is awesome. Make them stop by. Get the full story at Brand24 Source: http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/15_tips_for_restaurant_social_media_marketing_with_examples Snapchat Rolls Out Context Cards, a New Marketing Feature, Escalating Its Battle With Instagram10/12/2017 10/10/2017 By Jerry Ascierto The battle between Instagram and Snapchat for more users and marketing dollars continues its heated pace. This morning, Snapchat introduced a new marketing tool called Context Cards, giving Snapchat users a way to get instant information about a business featured in a Snap. For instance, if somebody Snaps a picture of their food at a restaurant, a user can get instant access to reviews of that restaurant and the ability to make reservations. Or if somebody snaps a picture from a festival, a user can hail an Uber or Lyft to take them there. A snap from a hotel will give you the option to make a reservation. The feature is powered by Snapchat partners like TripAdvisor, Goop, Foursquare and Michelin. The marketing possibilities for brands trying to engage Snapchat users are obvious, allowing for greater brand discovery and engagement. The new feature may be a game-changer in Snapchat's battle to win more marketing dollars. Meanwhile, in the battle to win more users, Instagram is reigning supreme. Instagram Stories now has more than 250 million daily active users, a third of which are businesses. Last month, Facebook announced that, including Stories, Instagram has around 500 million daily active users, and is averaging 800 million users each month, a growth of 100 million users since April. Snapchat, meanwhile, said last month that it had about 173 million daily active users, and about 300 million active users as a whole.
But for businesses assessing the effectiveness of each platform, bigger certainly doesn’t mean better—the real question is "who are you trying to reach and where do they live?" says Carmen Collins, the social media lead for Cisco’s talent brand team. “The rumors of Snapchat’s death are greatly exaggerated. Snapchat may not be growing its user base as fast now that Instagram is wearing the same clothes, but each platform definitely has a different audience and requires a different content strategy,” Collins says. “Snapchat still reigns supreme in certain demographics, like that key 17-to-24 age group. So it’s not a question of which platform is better, it’s a question of which platform is better for you and your message, and the answer may be both.” For its part, Instagram announced a couple of new features in the last week, including an interactive polling sticker for Stories (that closely resembles Snapchat’s third-party Polly feature), allowing users to ask their followers questions and see results in real time. And Facebook announced the ability to cross-post Instagram Stories to Facebook Stories, a feature that was available to a select group of users and is now being rolled out to everybody. While Facebook Stories isn’t available for businesses, it’s probably just a matter of time before that option becomes available for commercial interests. The new features from Snapchat and Instagram come fresh on the heels of a report from influencer marketing firm Mediakix that shows some top influencers shifting emphasis away from Snapchat and onto Instagram. The report tracked a dozen top influencers active on both platforms for two non-consecutive months this year, most recently in August, and found that they were posting 33% less to Snapchat and 14% more to Instagram Stories. While 12 influencers isn’t exactly a scientific sample size, the report does provide something of a bellwether. Stay tuned. Source: http://www.prnewsonline.com/snapchat-rolls-out-context-cards-a-new-marketing-feature-escalating-its-battle-with-instagram/ By Steve Morgan Cyber crime damages are predicted to cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021, up from $3 trillion in 2015, according to a report from my company, Cybersecurity Ventures. Nearly half of all cyber attacks are committed against small businesses.
Related: 4 Vital Cybersecurity Measures Every Safety-Conscious Entrepreneur Needs to Take Considering the statistics, it's not a question of if a small business will be hacked, but when. Small businesses don't have big budgets for cybersecurity, but there's a myriad of free tools they can use to protect themselves against digital intruders. Free email security protectionEmail theft is one of the most popular cyber crimes, and it exposes small business login IDs and passwords to hackers. The recent Equifax breach caused roughly 143 million U.S. consumers to have their email credentials and other information accessible to hackers. That equates to around 55 percent of Americans age 18 or older who have been affected. Last year's Yahoo and LinkedIn hacks exposed hundreds of millions of user accounts to hackers. A large chunk of the email addresses that are stolen and sold as a result of these hacks belong to small businesses, and their employees. Stolen email addresses are for sale on the dark web, a part of the world wide web that requires special software to access. Cyber criminals buy and sell login IDs and passwords, Social Security numbers, credit card digits and other on darknet sites. If a small business has its email addresses accessible to hackers, the results can be devastating. It's frightening to think of the confidential information that a cyber thief will find when browsing through inboxes, sent messages and folders. But, there's free email protection that takes less than five minutes to set up. Practically every email app in use by small businesses -- ranging from Microsoft's Outlook to Gmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail -- has a feature called "Two-Step Verification" (a.k.a. "Multi-Step Verification"). In a nutshell, two-step verification means that in order to gain access to an email account, an extra step is required. After a user types in his login ID and password, he's prompted to enter a secret code. The email app instantaneously sends the user a text message with a unique code. Then the user checks his phone for the code, and types it to proceed into his email account. Hackers hate two-step verification because it prevents them from accessing some of the stolen email accounts they buy. When prompted for a secret code, a hacker has no way of knowing what it is. And the real user is notified of the fraudulent login attempt. All small businesses should turn on two-step verification for their corporate email, and recommend to their employees for personal accounts. To encourage employee participation, an employer should point out the personal benefits to their employees (namely protecting their own confidential information). Surprisingly, most small-business owners and employees are either unfamiliar with two-step verification or they simply don't bother to turn it on. There are easy-to-follow instructions for turning on two-step verification in Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail. Related: Is Your Business Prepared for a Cyber Attack? (Infographic) Free cybersecurity toolsGlobal spending on cybersecurity products and services is predicted to exceed $1 trillioncumulatively over the next five years, from 2017 to 2021, according to another report from Cybersecurity Ventures. The thought of spending money they don't have scares off small-business owners when it comes to cybersecurity. They just deal with the fallout after they get hacked. But, cyber protection doesn't have to break the bank. In fact, these 10 free tools cover some of the biggest cybersecurity risks and they don't cost a dime:
Free cybersecurity glossaryFor small-business owners and IT managers who want to bone up on cybersecurity, check out The A-Z List of Computer Threats from Sophos. If that's not enough, Cybersecurity Ventures maintains a list of glossaries for looking up more advanced cybersecurity and cyber warfare terms. Source:https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/301193 By Due.co When Apple Pay was initially released in 2014 there was hype surrounding digital wallets and mobile payments. People were predicting that Apple Pay was going to replace your credit cards especially within your small business. Of course, that hasn’t exactly been the case.
Apple Pay and other leading digital wallets have become increasingly popular. One survey from Urban Airship found that a majority of consumers (54 percent) have now used mobile wallets. But these wallets haven’t completely replaced plastic. The huge hype has seemingly dwindled but digital wallets shouldn’t be completely overlooked. Business Insider anticipates that in the U.S. alone mobile payments volume will increase to $503 billion by 2020. Countries like Sweden, Singapore, the Netherlands, France, Canada, Belgium and the U.K. are becoming a cashless societies. Australia, Brazil, India and much of Africa following close behind. The digital wallet revolution is here. It just took a little bit longer for customers and businesses to embrace this technology. That’s because of security concerns and limited number of compatible vendors. But, as a small business owner, what do digital wallets and mobile payments mean for you? What are digital wallets and mobile payments?A digital wallet is pretty much just a digital version of the wallet you’re currently carry around with you. It stores payment information so that you can pay for goods and services. For businesses, it’s another way to accept payments from your customers. The idea of digital wallets didn’t start with Apple Pay. It goes all the way back to 1983 when David Chaum, an American cryptographer, created digital cash. It wasn’t until the 90’s that digital wallets began to pick-up some steam thanks to advancements in technology. This included most notably the introduction of PayPal in 1998. Once we entered the 21st Century, however, things began to accelerate quickly. Mobile phones became increasingly popular. Bitcoin debuted in 2008, followed by Google Wallet in 2011, and Apple Pay in 2014. Today there are hundreds of digital wallets available. Yet there’s also some confusion surrounding digital wallets and mobile payments. This is because those names are interchanged so frequently. A digital wallet is simply tokenization of data. They can be used outside of payments, such as digital rewards, boarding passes, tickets, room keys, and identification. A mobile wallet is the mobile version of a digital wallet that can fit into one of the five type of mobile payments: 1. The mobile wallet. This is the most discussed type of mobile payment. Known as the “tap and go” method. Your smartphone’s built-in NFC (Near Field Communication) wireless technology or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is used to make a payment. 2. Mobile as the point of sale. This is when a merchant uses their mobile device to process payments. Square and Flint are popular examples of this type. 3. The mobile payment platform. Companies like PayPal, allow you to make peer-to-peer payments to friends or pay a merchant online. 4. Direct carrier billing. This is when you purchase an app or game on your smartphone. The charge are put onto your cell phone bill. 5. Closed loop payments. These are mobile payment systems built by a company, such as the Starbucks mobile app. The benefits of digital wallets and mobile benefits for your business.Now that you better understand what digital wallets are — how can they benefit your small business? Due Co-Founder and CTO Chalmers Brown discussed this in another Due post and found that digital wallets are beneficial because: They improve the customer experience.In a world where customer experience means everything, digital wallets can help you achieve that goal. They “can take-out some of the steps involved during the checkout process. No filling out lengthy forms. No trying to remember your credit card number — you can simply tap, scan, or auto-fill fields. You complete the checkout process directly from there phone.” Additionally, retailers can reward their customers with discount codes on the spot. They give you complete control over your payment system.With platforms like Square, Stripe, and Bitcoin, “you can now customize your payment platform or completely remove third party financial institutions. For example, if your business accepts a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, the transaction is directly between you and the customer.” This means you can establish the payments terms. They can replace credit cards.Millennials, the largest age demographic in the U.S., aren’t fans of banks. They don’t want credit cards. “Instead, they prefer debit cards so that they always connected to their funds. With digital wallets, Millennials no longer have to rely on banks or credit cards to make a purchase.” They’re more secure.Security is arguably the biggest barrier to overcome when it comes to digital wallets. In reality, they’re more secure. You “don’t have to worry about leaving your credit card in a physical location. You can lock your phone if you lose it. Biometrics like fingerprint identification are being used to verify a purchase.” Cryptocurrencies are built using intricately coded algorithms they’re extremely difficult to steal. Access to real-time data.With digital wallets you can “access information like customer shopping preferences and shopping history. This allows you to segment customers so you can send them product suggestions and incorporate loyalty or reward programs.” You can also manage your costs and budget in real-time. Keeps your business ahead of the curve.Want to gain a competitive advantage? Become an early adopter of digital wallets in your industry. Digital wallets are easy to implement, can speed-up the checkout process, and can save you money on processing fees. Due charges a flat-rate of just 2.8% for all card types. Getting started with digital wallets and mobile payments.In order to accept payments through digital wallets, you’re going to have to locate a digital wallet provider. The digital wallet at Due is pretty awesome. But if it doesn’t work for you, then check out this list of 101 Digital Wallet Companies. You are sure to find a provider that better suits your business’s specific needs. You’ll need a need a point-of-sale terminal that can handle digital wallet technology. That shouldn’t be a problem if your business is online. Your customers will create an account and securely store their payment information in order to make a purchase. If you’ve used PayPal or Google Wallet — then you already know how this works. But, what about brick and mortar retailers? Those small businesses with a store front will need a POS system that supports the NFC chip. Your POS system can handle EMV chip cards, which was required by October 1, 2015, then you’re good to go. If not, you can purchase a scanner or reader between $100-$500. Digital wallets do’s and don’ts for your small business.If you’re ready to start accepting digital wallets at your small business, here are a couple do’s and don’ts to keep in mind: 1. Do integrate digital wallets into your checkout processes – both online and at point of sale. For online merchants this simply means signing up as a merchant with a digital wallet provider. You’ll also have to add a module to your shopping cart software. For physical retailers, you’ll require additional hardware that is either free or inexpensive. 2. Don’t accept only digital wallet payments. Digital wallets are still relatively new and they probably won’t be replacing cash or plastic anytime soon. Keep accepting traditional payments, such as credit cards, cash, checks. You’ll want any other forms of payments that you’ve always accepted at your business. 3. Don’t skimp on Internet. Remember, devices that read digital wallets will need an Internet connection. Make sure your that you have a reliable connection prior to setting-up a merchant account. 4. Do talk to your existing payment providers. Your current providers may already be working with digital wallet. Providers such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal, V.me, or MasterPass. As such, they can guide in you the right direction and make the entire transition more seamless. Should your small business accept digital wallet payments?Digital wallets are the future of payments, which means that your small business should embrace them sooner than later. However, it ultimately depends on the preferences of your customers. Millennials, for example, are leading the charge when it comes to digital wallets. If that’s your target audience, then you should have implemented digital wallets yesterday. If you have an older demographic, then there isn’t as big of a rush. Implementing digital wallets is easy and inexpensive. It wouldn’t hurt to explore the benefits that digital wallets can provide your small business. Source:http://www.nasdaq.com/article/what-do-digital-wallets-mean-for-your-small-business-cm856966www.nasdaq.com/article/what-do-digital-wallets-mean-for-your-small-business-cm856966 In a world where compensation and benefits are the No. 1 way to attract and keep top talent, 401(k) matching tops the list when it comes to meaningful perks with value that grow over time. While an employer contribution isn't required by law, it's a great way to show you're invested in employees' long-term happiness and financial security.
Related: Get Your 401(k) Fees Down Because Your Employees Deserve Better Whether you're rolling out a retirement plan for the first time or brainstorming ways to upgrade your benefits package, here are the big factors to consider before introducing a 401(k) match, and what you need to know if you decide to offer one. To match or not to match?Many small businesses think they can't compete with larger companies, whose deep pockets seemingly afford everything -- including a generous profit sharing or 401(k) match program. But, in the retirement savings world, this isn't always the case (In fact, 52 percent of Guideline's small business clients provide a match!). Here are some reasons why a match program might be a good idea for your small business:Tax benefits: Every dollar you contribute to an employee's 401(k) is exempt from federal, state and payroll taxes. You can deduct up to 25 percent of compensation paid during the year to eligible participating employees as an employer match or profit sharing program from your business income taxes. Recruitment and retention: It's no secret that the best talent expects the best compensation packages. People are twice as likely to be satisfied with their jobs when they're happy with its benefits. What's more, seasoned professionals expect not only a great 401(k), but a plan that includes an employer match. Related: 4 Questions Entrepreneurs Should Ask Their 401(K) Providers Business profit: Happy employees perform better and generate higher profits. Think about it -- any person is more productive when he or she isn't faced with an uncertain financial future. Nine out of 10 households believe having a 401(k) makes it easier to save and think long-term, and employer contributions offload some of the pressure to set aside disposable income. 401(k) participation: If you're making the effort and investment to offer a 401(k), obviously the hope is that your employees will use it. But, according to the Department of Labor, about 30 percent of eligible American workers do not participate in their workplace retirement plans. If you're seeing low participation rates among your employees, offering a match is a great way to encourage enrollment. Know your options: Types of employer contributionsBusinesses have a few options when it comes to offering a match. Here are the major types: For peace of mind: Safe Harbor contributions Safe Harbor 401(k) plans are designed to ensure all workers receive fair opportunity to benefit from the plan. A Safe Harbor match requires making contributions to employee 401(k) accounts as a percentage of their salary. It's can be a costly upfront option, but the easiest way to make sure you pass compliance testing each year. Qualifying employer contribution types include:
For flexibility: Discretionary matching contributions With discretionary matching contributions, you decide what percentage of employee 401(k) deferrals or salary to match, with the flexibility of adjusting the matching amount as your business needs change. Keep in mind, a matching level will be easy to increase over time, but difficult to reduce without negatively affecting employee morale. For sharing success: Nonelective contributions Each pay period, you have the option of providing a contribution to your employees' 401(k) accounts based on salary, regardless of their contribution amount. A common type of nonelective contribution is profit sharing, which can either be a percentage of an employee's salary or a discretionary lump sum, typically after year-end. This option is ideal when profits aren't consistent, but you want to share success with employees when the company does well. The IRS allows several types of discretionary profit sharing formulas; here are the most common:
Source:www.entrepreneur.com/article/301074 |
Marcus Guiliano
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