Category: B2B Marketing

9 Proven B2B Marketing Strategies + Examples

Marketing to businesses is a different challenge. While we’re all familiar with marketing as consumers, reaching other businesses (B2B) requires a unique approach compared to consumer-focused (B2C) tactics.

Here’s what we’ve learned in our 40 years of providing outsourced marketing services to Texas businesses.

What is B2B Marketing?

B2B marketing is when one business markets its products or services to another business. It’s essential for companies that supply goods or services that help other businesses operate or improve their own offerings.

Some B2B marketing examples include:

  • An industrial pump manufacturer is attempting to market and sell its products to an oil and gas producer.
  • A commercial construction company is attempting to market and establish a contract to build out the office space for a law firm.
  • A heavy equipment dealership is attempting to market and sell industrial equipment to a construction company.

 

 

What is a B2B Marketing Agency?

A B2B marketing agency specializes in crafting marketing strategies that effectively connect your business with other companies. These agencies know how to reach key decision-makers and position premium products or services to stand out in the market.

Why B2B Marketing?

B2B marketing is essential because most companies depend on the products or services of other businesses. Rarely does a company handle every part of its production and distribution in-house. For instance, your favorite clothing brand might source materials from various suppliers, and your phone’s components likely come from multiple vendors.

These partnerships start with effective B2B marketing, connecting companies with what they need to function or grow. Plus, B2B relationships often have high revenue potential. Unlike one-time consumer purchases, business partnerships are often longer-term and higher-value. For example, a landscaping contract for a corporate campus may involve months of service and a substantial budget—much more than a single residential project.

Types of Business-to-Business Marketing

importance of B2B marketing strategies

Here are three core B2B marketing techniques to consider. Think about how each might fit into your strategy, and then check out what your competitors are doing to see if these approaches could work in your industry.

Digital Marketing for B2B

Digital marketing is a scalable way to get your products or services in front of the right people. A digital marketing campaign makes it easy to track ROI, and you can use granular targeting to reach decision-makers.

For example, LinkedIn ads can target individuals with certain job roles so that you can directly target a purchasing manager or executive. If your ideal customers are searching for your products or services online, you can use an SEO company to make sure your web pages are at the top of the search results.

Traditional Marketing for B2B

Traditional marketing strategies for the business-to-business market casts a wide net and tends to be expensive, but it helps build brand equity. You can use radio, television, or print ads to grab the attention of your potential customers and remain top of mind. You’ll be in the running when those companies are looking for a new vendor.

Personal Selling for B2B

Personal selling is one of the oldest and most effective B2B marketing methods. Personal selling leverages face-to-face networking and relationships to get deals inked. This is the least scalable way to market your business to other companies, but it has the highest conversion rate.

Personal selling is frequently paired with digital marketing. Digital campaigns generate leads that are followed up in person by a salesperson.

9 Examples of How to Do B2B Marketing (That Actually Work)

When it comes to B2B lead generation, business marketing companies often use nine core strategies. These tried-and-true B2B marketing tactics can help drive growth and increase sales.

  1. Customer Pain Point Research
  2. Reviews, Testimonials, & Case Studies
  3. B2B SEO
  4. Social Media for Business
  5. B2B Advertising
  6. Referral Systems
  7. Marketing Automation
  8. Influencer Marketing
  9. Campaign Tracking and Reporting

1. Research Customer Pain Points

Successful B2B marketing starts by researching what your customers need. Just because you’re offering a product or service doesn’t mean customers will come running. Find out what drives the demand for your product/service and how you can stand apart from the competition.

One way to better identify your customer needs is to form customer user groups. Similar to focus groups for a new product, customer user groups leverage the people who are already benefiting from your offerings. For example, after interviewing your customer user group, you may find that marketing for IT companies is more effective when you focus on the pain point of cloud security. Identifying these pain points can go a long way when tailoring your marketing message.

User groups can be conducted in person, or you can build surveys that uncover the unique pain points that customers experience before searching for your solution.

Other research methods include doing keyword research to discover organic search demand or leveraging existing data about your industry.

2. Prioritize Reviews, Testimonials, and Case Studies

One of the most effective B2B marketing strategies is leveraging reviews, testimonials, and case studies from existing customers. This builds credibility in the eyes of potential customers who need to know your products or services can deliver.

Reviews and testimonials are important to your B2B digital marketing strategy as well. Reviews can be leveraged online to help your brand outrank competitors and improve your organic and Google Ads click-through rates. Learn more about how to get Google reviews for your business today!

Case studies are helpful the closer you get to a purchase decision. For example, when customers have a list of potential product/service providers together, they’ll want to see how you’ve performed in the past. Having a case study of a similar customer might be the proof your prospects need to see before making a big purchase decision.

3. Use B2B SEO

Search engine optimization is a valuable asset to your B2B online marketing. Prospects need to make informed decisions, so they conduct preliminary online research. If you’re not a top result for the product or service you’re selling, you might not even be considered a potential vendor.

One way to improve your SEO is by leveraging content marketing for your business website. Content marketing helps position your brand as an authority to both search engines and users. In fact, content strategy has proven to have a major role in B2B manufacturing marketing and manufacturing web design. Both of these work together to improve SEO for manufacturers and drive organic search traffic. By regularly publishing highly educational content, you show your subject matter expertise and help users make more informed decisions.

By combining B2B online marketing strategies like reviews and content marketing, you can dominate the search results for your products/services. Not only will business prospects find you in search results more often, but your reviews will help prove that you’re a trusted provider.

4. Use Social Media for Business

Simply put, being active on social media isn’t optional anymore. Business buyers often check social channels to get a sense of your company’s reputation and culture. In fields like marketing or professional services, your social presence can be especially influential. But with organic reach on the decline, standing out may mean setting aside a budget for paid social media ads.

5. B2B Advertising

Your B2B internet marketing should include paid spend on search and social media. These paid B2B marketing services can generate great ROI if done correctly.

Learning how to successfully advertise on social media can help you meet your prospects where they already spend their time. The decision-makers and purchasing managers that you’re targeting represent businesses, but they are just people at the end of the day. They spend time on social media channels, and you can use the advanced targeting features of today’s popular social channels to reach them.

Paid search is also a great way to target relevant prospects. The difference between organic vs. paid search is that you can jump the line and appear at the top of the search results without having to pour time into SEO.

Paid search targets your prospects for their exact interest at the exact moment they’re interested. Traditional marketing often relies on user demographics for targeting. This is why many business to business marketing strategies prioritize digital over traditional.

what is B2B marketing?

6. Set Up a Customer Referral System

Referrals are a great way to drive new business but are often overlooked in favor of digital methods. Set up a process for gathering referrals by checking in with satisfied clients regularly.

For example, a commercial lawn care company might send out a six-month email for feedback and kindly request referrals from happy clients. For even more traction, consider offering incentives, like a small discount or credit for each new referral, which can create a steady revenue stream with minimal cost.

7. Use Marketing Automation

Marketing automation helps you connect with leads, nurture prospects, and streamline all your marketing channels. For instance, if someone downloads a case study, an automated follow-up email could share more tailored insights, maximizing engagement from each contact. Just ensure you don’t overwhelm your contacts—too many emails or overly personalized messages can lead to unsubscribes.

8. Use Influencer Marketing

Partnering with influencers can be a very effective creative marketing strategy for B2B businesses. It makes the most sense to leverage this if there are well-known public figures for the industry you’re targeting.

Going back to our commercial construction example, if your construction firm is trying to get contracts for restaurant build-outs you could partner with a public figure that most restaurant owners follow. Sponsoring a promotional article about your restaurant designs on Gordon Ramsay or Guy Fieri’s blog could be a great way to generate leads.

There’s a good chance you know about local influencers in your target industries. If you’re operating a local business, these local influencers are probably a relevant and cost-effective way to improve your business to business marketing effectiveness. Learn how to advertise a small business locally. 

9. Track Your Campaigns and Use Reports

marketing strategies for the business to business market

How will you know if your B2B marketing strategies are effective? Before you implement any digital content strategy, develop a system for tracking its effectiveness.

If you’re engaging in B2B SEO, what will you use to measure rankings, organic traffic, and conversions? If you’re advertising on social media, do you have to correct pixels installed so that you can trace marketing ROI back to its source?

If you’re using forms of traditional marketing for B2B, they might be more difficult to track. However, just because something’s difficult to track doesn’t mean you should avoid measuring it. If you want to improve your marketing effectiveness over time, you’ll need to track and regularly review reports about the marketing KPIs that matter most to your business.

Let MARION’s Experts Handle Your B2B Digital Marketing Strategy

At MARION, we have over 40 years of experience with B2B marketing in Houston and Austin, Texas. Our marketing team consists of digital marketing, graphic design, and traditional marketing experts with proven track records.

Contact us today to schedule a consultation and discover how we can help your business grow!

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The Best B2B Manufacturing & Industrial Web Design Examples

An effective industrial website needs to quickly convey what products and services your company provides without overwhelming the visitor. In today’s marketplace, you can’t slide by with a 90 ‘s-themed industrial website that isn’t mobile-friendly.

Your industrial website design needs to engage buyers, whether they’ve just discovered your company or they’re existing customers browsing your complete line of capabilities. Truth is, the best manufacturing websites incorporate great website design and SEO (search engine optimization) so that they cater to repeat buyers and new sales prospects alike.

Key Features and Design Elements for B2B Industry Leaders

Industrial companies have unique needs when it comes to B2B website design. Your site should instantly communicate your offerings without overwhelming your visitors. Modern industrial website design focuses on engaging potential customers while providing existing clients with an easy way to explore your products and services. Here, we’ll look at some effective elements of industrial websites to help your brand stand out.

1. Engaging Visuals That Set Your Brand Apart

A standout industrial website starts with captivating visuals. Rather than using generic stock photos, invest in high-quality imagery that showcases your products, facilities, or the environments in which your products thrive. Strong visuals keep visitors’ attention and convey that your business is committed to quality and innovation.

Example: Kuraray

Kuraray, a global leader in specialty chemicals, uses clean, professional images of their facilities, products, and industry applications on their website. The imagery isn’t just visually appealing. It reinforces Kuraray’s brand as a cutting-edge, leader in the chemical industry. (Full disclosure: MARION works with Kuraray)

Industrial Website Example Kuraray

Kuraray

2. Compelling Hero Messages

For industrial websites, a compelling hero message at the top of the homepage is essential. This message should be concise and impactful, capturing your brand’s unique strengths or mission in a few words. Your hero message will likely be used across all mediums of your manufacturing content strategy. By directly addressing visitors’ needs and emphasizing your company’s solutions, you can drive deeper engagement.

The right hero message will pop out from the other contenders. For more guidance, get help from an industrial internet marketing agency in Austin or Houston today!

Example: Titan Systems

The message “Engineered Solutions. Delivered.” draws the reader in and is intriguing enough to make you click to learn more. The hero message works because it’s so effective in its conciseness. It tells you what the company does, and the “delivered” in red is a nice touch for emphasis.

manufacturing website design

Titan Systems

3. Clean Design and Intuitive Navigation

Industrial companies often have extensive product lines and complex offerings, so a streamlined layout with intuitive navigation is vital. Simplify your design by incorporating white space, a navigation bar, and clear calls-to-action that guide website visitors through your offerings without overwhelming them.

An easy-to-use industrial website is a critical piece of digital marketing for manufacturers. You want visitors to get the information they need as quickly and clearly as possible before they give up and leave. A clean user experience also benefits your SEO for manufacturing.

Make sure you counter this common mistake by not cramming a list of all your products on the home page. Focus on bold yet simple elements such as negative space, a definitive marketing color scheme, read more buttons (that lead to other pages), and much more.

Manufacturing web design does not need to look like a disorganized mess. For help from an effective industrial web design company in Austin, check out MARION today.

4. Integrated E-commerce Features

E-commerce features are increasingly essential for companies that want to simplify ordering for OEM customers and distributors. An industrial website that allows users to request quotes, place orders, or reorder products can boost sales while giving visitors a hassle-free experience.

Example: Protolabs

Protolabs offers an e-commerce experience with a customer portal where clients can manage quotes, orders, and materials. This not only saves time but also promotes customer loyalty, as it allows customers to easily handle transactions at their own convenience.

best manufacturing website design

Protolabs

5. Responsiveness and Mobile Development

With users accessing websites on multiple devices, responsive design is essential for any successful industrial website. This design approach ensures your site’s layout, images, and functionalities automatically adjust to any screen size, from desktops to tablets to smartphones. For industrial companies with complex content and product details, responsive design improves readability and user interaction, providing a smooth experience regardless of device.

Mobile compatibility also plays a major role in Google’s search rankings, as search engines favor websites that are mobile-friendly. With responsive design, your industrial website can attract a wider audience, engage visitors effectively, and ultimately enhance your online presence. This adaptability not only helps you reach a diverse audience but also maintains brand consistency and ease of navigation, crucial elements that instill credibility in prospective clients exploring your company’s offerings.

6. Emphasis on SEO and Visitor Conversion

A well-optimized industrial website helps increase brand awareness, attract organic traffic from search engines like Google, and ultimately drive business growth. Effective SEO combines technical elements like structured data, load speed, and mobile compatibility with on-page strategies like keyword optimization and high-quality content. This balance ensures that your site ranks well in search results, reaching the audiences searching for your products and services.

SEO is just the beginning. Conversion optimization is equally important. Your website should be designed with clear calls-to-action, easy navigation, and compelling content that leads visitors from discovery to inquiry or purchase. Whether it’s an intuitive navigation bar or a strategically placed contact form, each element should work to capture and convert visitors into clients.

Together, SEO and conversion optimization create a powerful foundation for turning website visitors into valuable leads and loyal customers, providing ROI that justifies your investment in a great industrial website.

Your Website: A Tool for Industrial Leadership

An optimized industrial website is more than a digital placeholder for your brand. It’s a comprehensive tool to attract leads, drive sales, and position your brand as a leader in the industry. From emphasizing your product lines to engaging visitors with cutting-edge design, each element is crafted to guide potential clients through the customer journey and foster business growth.

 

Industrial Website Design, Done Right with MARION

Industrial website design for manufacturing companies is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. MARION’s industrial marketing services in Houston can help your company put its best foot forward and improve your chance of attracting and closing new business.

Contact MARION today to create a custom, responsive industrial website that grows with your business. Our marketing agency in Houston has been serving the industrial and manufacturing industry for over 40 years. We’re ready to help you build an online presence that enhances brand recognition, increases conversions, and positions you as an industry leader.

Schedule a consultation or check out our industrial web design portfolio for examples of sites that we’ve created for customers like you!

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What is the Difference Between Marketing Communication and Integrated Marketing Communication?

MarCom and Integrated Marketing Form Distinct Parts of the Marketing Whole.

More than the products you sell, your company has a heartbeat — a “why” behind everything you do. While you might send dozens of marketing messages a day, how many of them are connected to that heartbeat?

Let’s say you’re a sports outfitter looking to advertise a new pair of athletic shoes. You could send a marketing email about the shoes, gaining a significant number of sales. However, if you want those sales to turn into loyal customers who are engaged with your brand, you may need to think bigger than email.

By merging all of your marketing communication efforts — email, social media, print advertising, PR and digital advertising — into one unified marketing plan and brand message, your audience will experience the whole picture of your sports brand while purchasing those new shoes. This strategy is known as integrated marketing communication.

Marketing Communication VS. Integrated Marketing Communication.

Marketing Communication (MarCom) refers to the methods and tools used to convey messages to segmented audiences. These messages are often tailored to specific products and services and use individual marketing tools and channels to communicate. MarCom can look like anything from TV advertising and print media to email marketing and social media campaigns.

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a strategy that takes things a step further to unify all parts of a company’s marketing efforts and create a cohesive brand message. IMC shares brand messages with a larger audience through several marketing channels and tools on a consistent basis. More than making sales, the goal of IMC is to generate brand awareness and build long-term relationships with audiences.

Here are some of the main differences between these two strategies:

Goals.

While MarCom aims to promote a specific product or service, the goal of IMC is to increase brand awareness through consistent messaging across all marketing platforms.

Strategies.

MarCom focuses on individual, segmented marketing strategies to promote a specific product or service to an isolated group. IMC unifies all marketing channels and tools to communicate a cohesive message that reaches a broader audience and points to the brand as a whole.

Channels.

While MarCom uses specific channels based on the product, service or audience type — an integrated marketing approach combines multiple channels like social media, email, digital ads, print media and more to communicate a synergized message.

Messaging.

MarCom sends varied marketing messages that are different based on the campaign’s goals. IMC places a high priority on sending consistent, evergreen messaging that is relevant across all channels.

Engagement.

MarCom aims to increase customer engagement for the duration of an individual campaign or promotion, while IMC builds long-term customer relationships through continuous engagement across all channels.

Success.

Success for MarCom is measured according to the sales or engagement for an individual campaign. IMC measures the success of marketing efforts by overall brand awareness gained through multiple channels and engagement across many platforms.

Flexibility.

MarCom campaign messaging can be significantly changed and adjusted, while IMC integrates holistic messaging that is the same throughout each channel so that changes made to one channel affect all channels involved.

Budgeting.

MarCom calculates budgets according to a singular campaign, while IMC allocates a budget that covers multiple channels and tools.

Our nonprofit client needed to encourage local business growth by showcasing the city’s warm and welcoming culture. Here’s how we used integrated marketing communication to foster a sense of unity in the Hempstead community.

The Benefits of Integrated Marketing Communication.

If you want your marketing efforts to be successful, it’s time to think bigger. Rather than one or two channels, reach your audience through multiple channels such as social media, websites, digital ads, blogging, email, print media and signage. IMC allows for more efficient use of these channels, and combined, they can amplify one another and communicate a consistent message. It’s all about using more channels more often, with a recognizable message that resonates with your target audience. Below are some of the outcomes your business can achieve by implementing IMC strategies.

Establish Your Brand.

Every interaction you have with your audience counts, and the more interactions you have, the more familiar people will become with your brand. A consistent message that is reinforced through several mediums allows you to build and solidify your brand identity. The use of branding or brand codes1 throughout your marketing content helps to establish this identity through familiar images, slogans, logos and communication styles. Branding communicates your core values and personality while further defining the solutions you bring to audiences. Repetition is key, and just when you think it’s getting old, do it even more. It’s easy to get burnt out by your own message, but your audience is still getting to know you, and they need consistency.

Reach a Wider Audience.

Many channels are available in today’s vast marketing landscape, each catering to different audiences and preferences. With each channel comes a unique opportunity to connect with a variety of people. Rather than focusing on one or two channels, IMC casts a wider net using multiple channels to reach more people and keep your brand top-of-mind. When you have the same brand message and imagery embedded into each of these channels, your audience will experience your brand more holistically.

Our client Kountry Boys needed updated branding to improve the visual appeal of its packaging, digital presence and sales collateral. Here are the results of our integrated marketing strategy.

Influence the buyer’s journey.

From brand awareness to consideration and buying decisions, audiences evaluate your company to decide if they want to purchase products or services.  IMC helps to build upon the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey2 and guides them through the decision-making process. Here are some ways IMC strategies can help you nurture leads.

Awareness Stage.

As you broadcast branded messages with IMC through multiple channels, people will become more aware of your company as they are consistently exposed to you. Publish branded content across a collection of platforms that establishes your company as a thought leader and provides real solutions to your audience’s problems. Audiences will begin to develop trust in your brand and see you as a valuable source of information.

Consideration Stage.

In this stage, the consistency of your IMC strategies will continue to reach your audiences with the message that your products and services are a valuable investment. With shared audience data gleaned from multiple channels and marketing tools, you can target audiences who are further down the funnel with more specific messages.

Decision Stage.

By employing IMC through multiple channels consistently, your marketing efforts will contribute to faster decision-making as audiences become more familiar with your brand. Your IMC content will reinforce the message that your company is worth investing in, and create customers who are loyal to your brand, not just your products.

Strengthen Your Marketing Channels.

The IMC strategy helps to connect each of your marketing channels so that they are working together, not separately, to establish your brand and nurture leads. When your marketing channels are integrated, they become connected and influenced by each other. For example, if someone visits your social media page, they might also click on the link in your bio that takes them to your website. Once they browse your website, they might fill out a form for a free download that comes through email. Now you have access to this person’s inbox, where you can send more branded content that leads them to other channels like your blog page, YouTube channel or more products on your website. As audiences engage with each channel, data is gathered through Google Analytics, CRM tools, social media insights and online surveys to target your audience more effectively.

circular arrows connecting each marketing channel, representing integrated marketing communication
Integrated marketing communication unifies your channels and strengthens them as they work together.

Foster Brand Loyalty.

IMC creates emotional connections with your audience through brand storytelling techniques that interweave your company’s values and mission in a relatable way. Going beyond the product itself, your content should create a sense of connection with personalized messages that make your audience feel understood and valued. IMC encourages active engagement from customers, inviting them to participate in brand-related activities within the company’s online or in-person community. As customers experience a sense of belonging and connection, you’ll develop long-term relationships with loyal lovers of your brand.

It Takes a Unified Team to Synergize Your Brand.

To implement an integrated marketing approach, you need a team that works together to align with your brand goals and ensure every channel is working in harmony. Design At Work is a full-service marketing agency that offers combined skills and resources all under one roof. Contact us to talk about how we can help streamline your marketing efforts.

Sources:

  1. The Four Most Powerful Brand Codes | Branding Strategy Insider
  2. What Is the Buyer’s Journey? | Hubspot.com

How Email Newsletters Nurture Leads and Amplify Your Influence

Effective email newsletters can help you stay top-of-mind with your audience.

Not all emails are created equal. While promotional emails shout, “buy now!” and focus on driving sales, email newsletters offer valuable content to keep your audience engaged with your brand. While you might not see a direct impact on sales, email newsletters provide educational and entertaining content that will put your brand top-of-mind and establish trust with your customers as they become more comfortable with you. With effective email newsletters, you can nurture leads, become a thought leader in your industry and ultimately increase website traffic. In this article, we’ll dig into the power of email newsletters.

What’s the difference between an email and a newsletter?

We’re glad you asked. When you set out to design an email marketing campaign, there are various types of emails you can employ to target your audience. Most emails fall into two categories: promotional emails and engagement emails. Both categories have unique strengths, and when paired together, they create a powerful duo for your marketing strategy.

Promotional Emails.

Promotional email marketing functions as an advertisement that informs people about a product or service, usually followed by a strong call-to-action (CTA) to let a consumer know how to take the next step in purchasing the product or signing up for the service.   The CTA could also call for a transaction, download or a free trial sign-up. These emails are more direct and less personal and work best when targeted at those most likely to act.

Email Newsletters.

Email Newsletters are a softer approach used to connect with your subscribers and build a relationship over time, while keeping your brand top of mind. Speaking to your audience’s pain points, these emails are filled with helpful tips, guidance and expertise that establish you as the authority in your industry. The education you provide can come from your own experience, as well as the latest trends and industry news that are relevant to your customers. As these emails land in your readers’ inboxes consistently, you become their go-to source for solutions. Not only that, but with softer CTAs like “read more” or “see our latest project,” you’ll boost website traffic as curious readers explore who you are.

We know what you’re thinking. “Why should I waste my time writing a newsletter if it may not help with direct sales?” The benefit of consistent email newsletters goes beyond a single sale. Every newsletter you send out is like putting a piece of your paycheck into your retirement fund — in the end, it pays off. Your efforts to educate and inform your audiences keeps your brand top-of-mind, encouraging subscribers to think about you once they are ready to buy.

The Benefits of Email Newsletters: Nurture leads, become a thought leader and drive website traffic
With effective email newsletters, you can nurture leads, become a thought leader in your industry and ultimately increase website traffic.

Nurture leads with the power of email newsletters.

As you gather leads through different sources like trade shows, free trials and online surveys, you’ll find that each person is in a different stage of the buyer’s journey. When you nurture a lead, you are inviting them to learn more about how your industry works while inspiring them to take the next steps.1 It’s a courtship of sorts, as strangers become friends. Friends don’t tell each other what to do, but they do give advice and guidance. This is where a newsletter comes in as a helpful tool for nurturing leads.

The best way to use email newsletters is to personalize them according to who you’re speaking to. That can sound daunting when looking at your giant stack of emails, but we’ve got a method. Looking at the data you have on each of your leads, you can segment them into categories. There are two types of data to gather: behavioral and non-behavioral.2 Non-behavioral data — such as location, age range, gender and job type — is a great place to start. Behavioral data, on the other hand, provides information about how leads interact with your brand. It can include how they found you, how often they visit your website and what pages they visit. If you have more personal information like names, you can use automated email software to populate names in subject lines.

If all you’ve got on a lead is an email — that’s okay! Segment your leads based on what stage of the brand relationship they’re in. Once you’ve organized your emails into different categories, you can create content that will help nurture leads and move them along to the next stages of the buyer journey.

Here’s an example of our newsletter The Flipside, where we offer subscribers useful marketing tips and talk about the latest marketing trends.

Use thought leadership to establish authority and boost website traffic.

Thought leaders act as guides, providing a wealth of knowledge on the latest developments in the industry and predicting what is to come. Audiences look to thought leaders as trusted authorities on certain topics who bring ideas to the table that cannot be found elsewhere.3 With email newsletters, you have the power to educate your audiences and position yourself as the expert in your industry.

Here are some strategies for developing thought leadership content for a newsletter.

Focus on what makes you different.

It’s easy to get too broad and wander into subjects outside of your wheelhouse. Stick to your area of expertise, and become the leading expert in a niche subject.

Pick a theme for each newsletter.

Rather than sharing general company news, pick a theme or topic to focus on. For example, a newsletter topic for a bank might look like saving money and budgeting for the future, while the next topic after that could focus on how to use retirement plans.

Educate your audience.

A good rule of thumb is to make sure 90% of your newsletter is informative; the remaining 10% can be promotional.4 Combine your expertise with further research, featuring company blog posts and case studies to increase website traffic, while linking to a few related articles from other sources.

Keep it short and sweet.

Your audience gets tons of emails every day. Give them a quick overview of topics and link out to blog posts and other articles. Your goal is to get them off the email and onto your website, boosting website traffic and getting eyes on your company.

Write compelling subject lines.

Write something that compels the reader to open the email and see what’s inside. Use action-oriented verbs that pique curiosity and tell a story. A catchy subject line will entice more people to open your emails, generating more leads.

Here are some catchy subject lines we’ve used for Design At Work’s email newsletters.

Be a good listener.

Stay on top of the latest industry developments and conversations, while keeping tabs on how your customers’ needs are changing.

Create captivating email newsletters with a team that gets you.

Ready to become an email newsletter ninja? Design At Work can help you develop email newsletters that nurture leads and increase traffic to your website. Contact us today to get started on an email marketing newsletter campaign.

Sources:

  1. 46 PPC Stats to Empower Your Marketing Strategy in 2024, Techjury
  2. 7 tips to create an effective digital marketing budget, Spendesk
  3. Economic Impact: Methodology, Google
  4. 80+ Industry Specific Social Media Marketing Statistics For 2024, Synup

Digital Advertising: Is It Right for Your Business?

Demystifying the expansive world of digital advertising. 

With a powerful return on investment (ROI) opportunity — up to 200%, in fact1 — digital advertising can play an essential role in your integrated marketing strategy. But, just where to begin? Between social media, streaming content, responsive search ads and retargeting content, it can feel overwhelming trying to navigate the digital marketing landscape.

If you’re wondering whether digital advertising is right for your business, you’re in luck. With insights from our resident digital marketing strategist, we have outlined the elements of a digital ad campaign — from clarifying goals to the pros and cons of the most popular platforms — to make it easier to understand.

Define campaign objectives.

The first step in creating a successful digital advertising strategy is defining your campaign objectives. Begin by asking yourself these two questions: What do you want to achieve with the ad campaign? And, how will this campaign fit into your overall marketing strategy? Digital ads are one piece of the marketing puzzle, and a successful strategy uses each piece to complement the others. The answer to these questions will help you determine your primary campaign objective, allowing you to build your strategy around the right objectives and conversions. The most common campaign objectives are brand awareness, website traffic, online engagement, leads and sales.

Understand your audience.

Who are you going to target with this campaign? Understanding your audience — from their online habits to the language they use — allows you to tailor your campaign to make the biggest impact. For example, are you targeting new audiences who are unfamiliar with your brand or established customers who are already familiar with your offerings? For new audiences, your content would likely need to provide an overview of your services and what sets your business apart, while you could hone in on more detailed content for users that are already in the know. You could also consider targeting audiences in a specific location — this is especially valuable for brick-and-mortar shops — or reach users who work in a specific industry, such as construction, commercial real estate or chemical engineering. Not only does defining your audience help with your content messaging, but it also helps you select the platform more likely to reach them. Understanding how the audience would interact with the brand organically helps you determine how best to reach them through a sponsored ad — ultimately, you want to meet them where they are.

This sponsored ad for Food Town offers solutions to the grocery store audience’s primary pain point: price.
This LinkedIn ad campaign for security services provider SentriForce targeted decision-makers in key industries by job title.

Case in point: Google vs. LinkedIn ads.

To see how distinct audiences can shape an ad campaign, let’s take a closer look at two of our clients. First up: Food Town, a locally-owned grocery store wanted to reach repeat shoppers in the Houston area. Targeting an audience already familiar with the grocery store, and locations, we developed an integrated marketing strategy using digital display ads to drive in-store traffic, and sparking sales using local search Google ads.

Surveillance system provider SentriForce wanted to reach new prospective customers in the construction industry across multiple locations. To do so, we launched a comprehensive campaign on LinkedIn showcasing how their systems address theft on construction sites that targeted decision makers in the industry by job title.

Establish a timeline.

Next up, you’ll want to consider how long the campaign will run. Evergreen campaigns are ideal for brand awareness, maintaining visibility with users long-term. On the other hand, targeted drip campaigns or seasonal campaigns can be used to drive high-impact concentrated messaging around a more time-sensitive or relevant topic.

Over the course of six months, this digital ad campaign raised awareness of high commercial property taxes, thereby familiarizing audiences with the company’s services prior to tax season.

Case in point: Peak Season.

A dedicated ad campaign can help drive awareness leading up to and during your business’ peak season. For example, we launched a digital ad campaign for a commercial property tax company to boost brand awareness six months before tax season. This helped plant the seeds in potential clients’ minds over the months in advance, encouraging more conversions during tax season by strengthening name recall, brand awareness and authority. 

Set the budget.

Once you have clear goals, a target audience and a timeline, you’ll want to determine just how much to spend on your ads. While the specific number will depend on your goals and overall marketing strategy, your marketing spend should ideally be between 7 – 10% of your net profit.2 You can use this number as a starting point and adjust your spend, as needed, as you continue to optimize your campaign overtime.

Select ad platforms.

Last, but absolutely not least, you’ll determine where to launch your campaign. Reflect on all of the previous steps, from the overarching goals to where your audience is online to the timeline and budget. These elements can help to inform the best platform to initiate an integrated digital ad strategy that best supports your business’ marketing initiatives.

Pros and cons of digital advertising platforms.

While digital ads can support all businesses, selecting the right ad platform is essential for crafting a successful campaign. Learn more about the most common examples of digital advertising platforms below — and what type of campaigns each one is best suited for.

Search engine ads.

With an average ROI of $2 for every $1 spent3, Google Ads are a powerful tool in your digital marketing kit. From dynamic graphics to location-specific ads, search engine ads on Google and Bing offer a wide range of options to choose from — each with specific benefits depending on your business’ services and campaign goals.

Digital ad campaigns can be highly effective — when the right message is delivered on the best-suited platform.

Search ads.

Search ads are a great place to begin a digital campaign because of the wealth of in-depth data they provide. These sponsored text ads appear on search results pages and typically lead users to a dedicated landing page. Search ads can provide you with invaluable information such as the specific user search terms, how the user is navigating online and engaging with your content, and where they are in the sales funnel when they engage. This insight allows you to refine and optimize your campaign in real time, adapting to the language and phrases your real target audience is using.

Responsive display ads.

Display ads are dynamic, relying on native and responsive tools to create ads tailored to the platform where they are served up to your audience. These ads pull from a bank of images and headlines, pairing them together to best fit the platform or page. While these are designed to best suit the format used by your audience, there is limited control over how the various elements are combined, so you need to provide a flexible bank of images and content that can easily be mixed and matched together.

Video ads.

Video ads provide you with a lot of valuable information about users’ search behavior, making them a good choice for using at the start of a brand awareness or educational campaign. As you learn more about various behaviors and how users are engaging with your content, you can further refine your strategy across various platforms. While eye-catching, video ads can also be more time-consuming to create and maintain.

Local ads.

Local ads target users in a specific geographic area, which typically translates to a smaller, more concentrated audience. With these ads, businesses can target specific actions such as placing online orders, calling a business or getting driving directions, as well as monitoring foot traffic. Local ads are often a strong fit for established brands or familiar industries such as restaurants and retail, and can be used to generate high ROI conversions.

Remarketing.

Ever felt like an ad is following you around the internet? That’s likely a remarketing ad. These ad types use data collected during a previous campaign to remarket messaging to users who have previously engaged with your content. Remarketing ads are a visual reminder, keeping your brand top of mind for users and encouraging them to take a desired action.

Social media ads.

With 74% of shoppers researching products on social media before making a purchase4, social media ads are a powerful tool for direct-to-consumer and business-to-consumer brands. While these ads offer flexibility and can be relatively cost effective, they have relatively limited insights and can be difficult to target businesses through Meta. Platforms like LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube offer a variety of native tools that can be used to drive engagement with specific audiences, depending on where your target audience spends time online.

Before allocating resources to a social media ad campaign, it’s essential to understand where your audience spends its time — and how they engage with content on those platforms.

Instagram.

Instagram, which is part of Meta’s ad suite, is a popular choice for business-to-consumer and direct-to-consumer businesses. As a visual-first platform, video, photography and graphic elements help with brand education and driving sales — especially through the use of direct product shop links. However, the demographic reach for Instagram is relatively limited, with most users being under 50 years of age.

Facebook.

On the other hand, Facebook — also part of Meta’s ad suite — has a broader demographic range that engages with ads in a variety of ways, including Messenger, Stories and the in-platform newsfeed. The ads are integrated into users’ experiences more organically, which can help build trust. However, Facebook controls the view and advertisers do not have access to specific data sets or audiences, which can make it difficult to refine audience segments.

LinkedIn.

LinkedIn’s native tools are designed for targeting audiences by industry or profession, which makes this a good platform for brand awareness and engagement campaigns. However, it’s important to be flexible with audience segments, taking advantage of the platform’s built-in automation tools to guide the ads to potential customers and brand advocates.

Pinterest.

As a primarily visual platform, Pinterest is ideal for aesthetically pleasing photos and videos — especially content that can be repurposed or “pinned” for inspiration such as recipes, home décor or DIY projects. Advertising on this platform is akin to casting a wide net. While it can be difficult to zero in on the exact target audience you have in mind, there is opportunity to reach a large number of potential customers who are interested in your brand’s industry or niche.

YouTube.

Advertising on YouTube can help you better understand your target audience’s online behaviors. The platform shares a good amount of data about users’ search behavior, which provides insight into how users find your business online. The platform can also help you reach a large audience — however, on the flip side, it can also lead to ad fatigue when repeatedly served up to the same users. It can also be challenging to ensure your ads appear on content that aligns specifically with your brand’s mission or values.

Digital marketing campaigns continue to evolve over time, and you have the opportunity to continue finetuning them as you learn more about your audience members. As part of an integrated multi-channel marketing strategy, digital ads play an important role in keeping your brand top of mind, improving authority and brand recognition, and driving digital conversions. Talk to our digital marketing experts about crafting a marketing campaign designed around your business’ goals.

Sources:

  1. 46 PPC Stats to Empower Your Marketing Strategy in 2024, Techjury
  2. 7 tips to create an effective digital marketing budget, Spendesk
  3. Economic Impact: Methodology, Google
  4. 80+ Industry Specific Social Media Marketing Statistics For 2024, Synup

Go for the Gold with this Five-Ring Marketing Strategy

Outshine the competition, gain market share and make a name for yourself. A strong brand and marketing strategy helps your B2B business do all three — and then some. Especially when roughly 90% of business decision makers ignore cold outreach, having a solid multi-faceted marketing strategy can open the door to new connections. B2B marketing, or business-to-business marketing, is unique…

Better Together: How to Align Your Sales and Marketing Teams

Sales and marketing go together like peanut butter and jelly — or at least they should.

Insights into how to bridge the gap between sales and marketing teams for greater impact.

Aligning your sales and marketing efforts — making sure teams are on the same page, speaking the same language and working toward shared goals — is essential for success. Not only is it important for building trust and improving efficiency, but it impacts the bottom line. It’s estimated that sales-marketing misalignment costs businesses over $1 trillion each year. Yet, as your business grows and your teams get larger, it becomes harder to keep these teams in sync.

Integrated marketing campaigns use a multi-pronged approach to raise brand awareness and connect with your target audience. But marketing campaigns don’t exist in a vacuum. Marketing can drive leads all day, but those leads need to convert to truly move the needle — and that’s where the sales team comes in. In the B2B industry, the average conversion rate is just 3.6 across all industries.2 When sales and marketing are misaligned, that percentage may be even lower, and your company is likely missing out on high-value opportunities. But the good news is that the flipside is true, too. When there’s synergy between these two teams, you’re likely to see a powerful impact on your conversions and growth.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how you can bridge the gap between sales and marketing. From brainstorming to sharing milestones, here are a few actionable steps that can help your teams work together.

Speak the same language.

One of the biggest hurdles in getting on the same page? Not speaking the same language. While teams may be talking about similar topics, they may use different terminology or language to mean the same thing. For example, “flysheets” and “one-pagers” may both refer to a single- or double-sided flyer. Or, vice versa, they may use the same vocabulary words to mean different things. For example, “conversions” likely refer to different goals for each team — marketing may use this term to refer to web traffic that completes a specific action like submitting a new business form, while sales may use this term to refer to the number of prospects who sign up for your service.

To get teams to speak the same language — and to truly understand each other — it can be helpful for them to spend time meeting regularly. For example, weekly or bi-weekly huddles can be used as a time to check in and connect, and shadowing sales calls or marketing strategy sessions can provide a firsthand view into the language each team uses day to day.

Crack the corporate lingo code.

It can be easy to get swept up in corporate lingo or industry jargon. But buzzwords and acronyms can make it much more difficult to connect with cross-functional teams. Instead of speaking in what is essentially code, when team members speak plainly using accessible language and take the time to explain acronyms to colleagues who may be unfamiliar with them, it goes a long way in improving communication. Explaining any department-specific acronyms or short-hand phrases will help both teams get on the same page.

Define milestones and metrics.

Another important way to build connection between the team is to define milestones, metrics and even shared goals. Clarifying the key performance indicators (KPIs) used to measure success provides insight into how both teams contribute to the overall goals — and how they can support one another. The teams can work together to strategize ways to achieve the defined KPIs and meet project milestones on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Not only does this support internal processes, but it has a major impact on your business’ bottom line. Companies typically see a 27% faster profit growth when sales and marketing teams work toward shared goals.3

Share customer insights.

Sales teams speak to prospective customers — so they understand the concerns and most common questions that arise. Their firsthand knowledge means that they know what terminology is being used by current and prospective customers. The marketing team can, in turn, use these valuable insights to align your company’s marketing initiatives with your ideal customers.

Marketing teams can take this information to address your customer’s specific needs — the challenges they’re encountering day to day, the benefits they’re looking for, what’s holding them back from making a purchase or signing up for your service. These factors can be addressed directly in the marketing materials, providing powerful and persuasive sales tools.

Collaborate on Campaigns.

A lot of strategy, effort and money goes into developing integrated, multi-platform marketing campaigns. But marketing is only one half of the battle. If the sales team is disconnected from the campaign goals, the potential for success diminishes. So rather than operating in silos, marketers can collaborate with the sales team to ensure they are not only informed but also connected with the company’s campaigns.

Brainstorm and idea share.

Marketers can bounce ideas off the sales team to get a better understanding of what might connect with customers. This can take many different forms — from structured meetings to freeform ideas sharing sessions — but, ultimately, the goal remains the same: to brainstorm ways to effectively communicate your value, services and products with your ideal audience.  

Marketing and sales teams should work collaboratively to determine which types of content and collateral will help drive sales.

Put the partnership into action.

Once your teams are on the same page, speaking the same language and working towards the same goals, it’s time to put things into motion. Here are some tools that marketers and creative teams can craft to help the sales team close more deals.

a blue and white website banner
Email marketing templates serve as a foundation for nurturing leads and staying top of mind.

Email marketing templates and automations.

Ideal for both cold calls and warm lead nurturing, email marketing templates and automations can be used to connect with prospective customers and keep your company fresh in people’s minds. These are great to send after events, successful sales calls or even to begin a new conversation, freeing up the sales team’s time while still keeping their leads warm.

Sales decks and presentation templates.

Branded presentations are essential for building brand recognition and conveying credibility. Creative teams can design editable templates to serve as the foundation for the sales team, providing flexibility and removing stress.

Sales sheets created by our marketing team for Far West Capital.
Sales sheets, one-pagers and flyers are tools designed to help the sales team connect with prospective customers. 

One-pagers and fact sheets. 

By providing a snapshot of your business’ offerings and benefits, one-pagers, flyers and sales sheets are helpful tools to keep customers engaged and raise top-of-mind awareness. These materials can be created in digital or print formats depending on the team’s needs.

Embracing alignment ultimately lifts both teams up by cultivating strong communication and cross-functional development. Rather than feeling disconnected or siloed as each team works toward its own goals, bringing both teams together allows them to pool resources, gain new insights and share knowledge with each other. What’s more, the numbers show that companies whose sales and marketing teams work in sync with each other are able to increase their revenue by up to three times.3 This clearly shows the power in partnership. When teams work together to amplify each other’s strengths, great things are possible.

Sources:

  1. How Sales and Marketing Alignment Increased Revenue by 34% (Case Study), Super Office
  2. B2B Conversion Rates Explained with Numbers, UpLead
  3. Sales and Marketing Alignment: Stats and Trends for 2023, LXA

How (And Why) to Create a Killer Email Marketing Strategy

Email Marketing Strategy Is Not Dead — Contrary to What You Might Have Heard.

Rumor has it that email marketing is not as effective as it once was. There are too many emails, too many businesses vying for space in your inbox, and too few ways to really make emails break through the static. So, is email marketing dead? The short answer? Heck no.

Email marketing strategy is still alive and well. Strike that. It’s alive and thriving! How can you argue with statistics like, 77% of marketers saw an increase in email engagement in 20231; or email marketing revenue is estimated to reach just shy of 12.5 billion in 20242; or 87% of brands say email marketing is critical to their success3?

The answer is: you can’t. So, here’s how your business can benefit from email marketing plus a few more ways your email marketing can be more effective and cut through the clutter.

Top five email marketing benefits for your business.

If you’re in the camp that says email marketing is pointless, you may want to think again. There are many ways email marketing adds value to your business, from increasing customer engagement to generating website traffic.

1. Connect with your audience.

Typically, segmented lists drive more opens and click-throughs because the content—from the subject line to the call-to-action — can be tailored to a specific audience subset. Personalized content is also highly important in 2024, as you may recall from our 2024 market trends article. Content is so important because people are absolutely inundated with information. Hyper-personalizing what you distribute and targeting to a segmented list means you can connect with your audience in a meaningful way.

2. Generate website traffic.

Sure, you can post on social media or use other means to drive traffic. But when it comes to email marketing in 2024, most are reading your communication on their phone. And what’s easier than using your fingertip to click a button or link via your inbox? For an on-the-go audience, email marketing reaches them anywhere — which means they are just one click from your website at any time.

3. Optimize marketing costs.

Traditional print or direct marketing campaigns can often be budget breakers, and digital advertising costs add up quickly when bidding against competitors. With email marketing, you have an engaged audience of potential customers who want to get information from your company. There’s no battling against the masses to get noticed. Plus, email marketing services typically base pricing on email list size, making it much more cost-effective to send multiple campaigns at a fraction of the cost of other mediums (yay frequency!).

4. Seize the moment.

Reaching people at the right time is half the battle. Email marketing platforms offer lots of features so you’re able to explore data, as well as time your emails to reach each segment (by location, open rate and so on) at exactly the right moment, making your business always top-of-mind.

5. Provide value to your customers.

When your business shares worthwhile content like industry news, promotions and deals and educational content, you begin to cultivate a loyal customer base. When they start to expect helpful, thoughtful content that resonates, your audience will be more willing to pay attention to your emails — even the salesy ones that will increase your ROI.

Email marketing is still a solid strategy that benefits businesses trying to communicate and engage with their audience on a regular basis.

2024 email marketing trends that will shape your marketing strategy.

The future of email marketing is still bright — although there are trends that are reshaping how individuals engage with email content. There is an email marketing transformation happening that prioritizes dynamic content to create a true experience for the recipient. So, how can you create a mini moment? Here are a few takeaway tips:

  • Embedding features like polls and surveys to increase interaction
  • Utilizing rich media to make content more visually appealing
  • Gamifying content like spin-to-win adds fun elements
  • Interactive call-to-actions that change or animate to be more eye-catching

Making email marketing mobile-friendly should be a priority.

As the data shows, most emails are opened from mobile devices. That means designing and programming for mobile users is key. We’ve all received an email where the margins are wonky and the text overflows or the images takeover the content we’re trying to consume. Getting on board with mobile-friendly email marketing is key to engagement. Consider these tips on your next email campaign:

  • Responsive design to fit the screen of various devices
  • Touch-friendly features so your audience has the ease of finger-clicking
  • Content that is brief but resonates — and clicks through to a longer version

Get in with a team that can deploy solid email marketing strategy FOR your business today

We’ve got the trends down—and the experience to know what to leverage and when. Let the Design At Work team plan the right combination so your business sees the benefits of email marketing. Contact us to get started on your refreshed email marketing strategy.

Sources:

  1. The Ultimate list of Email Marketing Stats for 2023, HubSpot
  2. Number of sent and received e-mails per day worldwide from 2017 to 2026, Statista
  3. The 2023 State of Email Workflows Report, Litmos

From the Inside Out: How Internal Marketing Can Create a Happier Workplace

By developing an internal marketing and branding strategy, you can turn your team members into brand ambassadors.

Here’s why Internal Marketing matters. 

Marketing. We know it can build brand awareness, engage customers, boost sales, and grow your business overall. But what about internal marketing? How you interact with employees directly correlates to how they feel about being on your company’s team, if they support your company’s goals and objectives, and if they trust you as their employer. From simply raising morale to improving customer service, internal marketing is essential — and here’s why you should make it a priority.

So, how important is it to keep employees engaged?

According to Gallup, only 20% of employees feel engaged at work1 — and when engagement ties to job satisfaction and satisfied employees tend to work harder, you must wonder, what is happening with the other 80%. Where are businesses dropping the ball when it comes to employee engagement?

A main culprit: thinking employee buy-in falls on the sole shoulders of HR. And yes, while HR processes are in place to keep consistent communication and ensure satisfaction with benefits, when it comes to a company’s brand (whether external or internal perception), that’s a marketer’s responsibility. Consider monthly newsletters or other forms of communication to stay in touch with your team. Mass texting is also a good way to disseminate information while fostering a team feeling.

Keeping bank employees focused and satisfied with internal marketing

Design At Work created internal marketing materials such as videos, a monthly newsletter template and social media posts to help employees engage with the bank’s brand and see the benefits of working for Central Bank. These efforts were in tangent with the bank’s HR team’s initiatives to highlight what makes Central Bank different and a great place to nurture a career.

Internal marketing for Design At Work client Central Bank
Internal branding can help employees feel more connected and engaged.

Internal marketing can help you build a stronger company culture.

Building an invested team starts with laying a strong foundation — and we believe that begins with company culture. What business wouldn’t want to increase productivity and provide a healthy work environment to create an invested team? Most see the correlation between a solid company culture and satisfied employees, and in turn, that satisfaction returns higher retention rates and performance. So how do you create a strong company culture?

Promoting your company’s vision, mission, services and values through internal marketing helps build and sustain a well-oiled workforce. While it used to be comprised of updates or alerts about new products or changes within a company, today, marketing to your team means making champions for your business (and fostering goodwill, comradery and happiness is key). Making employees feel a more seen and heard can have a huge impact on overall company culture. Instead of a person in a cubicle or working the floor, internal marketing can help create a strong emotional connection between the employee and their work.

When COVID-19 hit, Nexus Health Systems used internal marketing efforts to simultaneously thank their healthcare heroes while boosting morale to keep company culture strong.

Internal marketing for hospitals and other healthcare facilities

While the Nexus Cares campaign commenced at the height of COVID-19 in 2020, the initiative continues today ensuring employees are taken care of mentally, physically, and emotionally. Now quarterly, employees anticipate some sort of small gift or special event to recognize their effort and to show appreciation.

From specialty BBQ sauces to make summertime more enjoyable to health system-wide Astros games to company swag, Nexus knows how to connect with their team — and the results have been remarkable. From employees sharing photos and tagging #NexusCares on social media to an increase in scholarship nomination form submissions, Nexus has connected with their team on another level which in turn fosters more buy-in, boosts morale, and gives individuals a greater reason to help see their health system mission through.

Through this internal marketing campaign, a Texas hospital system made empoyees feel seen and valued.

Marketing Your Company’s Legacy to your team can nurture greater trust.

Authenticity resonates, both with customers and your employees. From Gallup’s list of behaviors that inspire trust in their leadership research, authenticity emerged as highly important. The survey found, “Employees who trust their leaders are 61% more likely to stay with their company and not look for another job.2”

Virgin CEO Richard Branson said on X (formerly Twitter), “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” This also boils down to trust, and a big part of trusting an employer has to do with company longevity.

Richard Branson on the importance of building trust with employees by treating them well.
A strong internal marketing campaign can go a long way toward fostering trust among employees.

Regardless of milestone, if your company is recognizing an anniversary or celebrating a special moment in company history, employees should be involved. From small gatherings to more elaborate celebrations, when you get your team involved you foster trust — and with that, your company can go anywhere.

Using internal marketing to celebrate a major company milestone

McCoy Rockford celebrated the power of 10 years recently, recognizing the merger of their Austin and Houston offices. To mark the milestone, they used internal marketing efforts to spread the word not only about the significance of the moment but the week-long events calendar. From a celebration breakfast to company-wide t-shirt day, McCoy Rockford created a memorable and positive experience for their team. Circling back to our first point, they engaged the team with ways for them to get involved in the celebrating and even asked employees to share on social media for clients and vendors to experience as well.

Design At Work developed a range of materials to help this Texas-based commercial interior dealer celebrate company and employee milestones.

Internal marketing can fail — here’s why and what you can do about it.

Whether it’s poorly executed, or not very appealing, internal marketing efforts need to be well thought out. You can’t just throw something together and hope it resonates.

At Design At Work, our team knows internal marketing needs to be inspiring and linked with what your employees care about. Once you get them on board, the possibilities are endless. Contact us if you need any help to get started on your next internal marketing campaign.

Sources:

  1. Gallup: State of the Global Workplace
  2. Gallup: How to Build Trust in the Workplace

Get on board with these 2024 marketing trends to take your business to the next level

There are many marketing trends to be aware of and follow in 2024 — many of which will help your business grow and reach its goals.

Marketing tips to help your business
be more successful in the new year. 

Five years ago, 88% of consumers1 said they wanted to connect with, follow and make purchases from brands that push the boundaries and go beyond what is expected in traditional marketing. 

Fast forward to 2024, and those findings are truer now than ever. A recent study on customer centricity found 64% of consumers wish brands would respond faster to their changing needs2. It’s important for businesses to embrace the idea that their customers are multi-dimensional with changing viewpoints (including how they see themselves) and evolving needs.

Marketing trends in 2024 will not only be about pushing traditional marketing boundaries, but also helping brands communicate with customers in a meaningful way that resonates with their needs — now and five minutes from now. Below we outline some of the latest marketing tactics your business should employ in the new year and beyond. 

There’s nothing artificial about the benefits of generative AI-based marketing. 

While artificial intelligence or AI for marketing is a relatively new approach to content creation, the writing is on the wall. Generative AI tools — like ChatGPT, Bard and DALL·E — are used to create new content, images, code, videos, you name it. And they’re changing the marketing landscape.  

Although you can easily use AI for fun (Who doesn’t want an image of Taylor Swift on the moon or an entirely unique song created about them?), it can also generate all sorts of practical content. From helping brainstorm new products, optimizing business practices and analyzing data — to compiling customer research, breaking down nuanced data, creating personalized content and outputting graphics, when used right, generative AI delivers. 

AI: disruptive in a good or bad way? 

It can be hard to get on board with a new marketing trend, let alone disruptive technology like AI. But like most marketing trends that become standard practice, it’s important to understand how something that is pushing boundaries can turn into a benefit for your business. Disruptive marketing works when executed right.

AI or not, it’s important for your business to consider questions like: Does your marketing tell a story that resonates? How can you pique your customers’ interests? How can you be innovative and make people think differently? In addition, you must ensure your marketing is original. No one wants to digest marketing that feels duplicated. Stay true and authentic to your brand.

“Disruptors don’t have to discover something new; they just have to discover a practical use for new discoveries.”

—

Jay Samit, American digital media innovator

Use your best voice (search optimization) to reach customers. 

How did we ever search without the hands-free option of voice assistants? Today, over 60% of Americans use voice assistant across different types of devices3. It may be time to assess your website again to determine how it stacks up when it comes to voice search rankings. Making small tweaks can really enhance your online presence when customers are using voice search queries.

When it comes to talking versus typing, there are differences. When talking, we include detail and usually complete thoughts. But when it comes to typing a query, we may only enter a few words or just start our query and select from the autogenerated options.

So how can you optimize your website for voice search? Number one, make sure your site loads quickly — Siri isn’t going to wait to serve up a result. Two, target long-tail keywords conversational phrases and question words (think: how, what, why, when and where). And three, make sure your site is mobile friendly.

Image of example search phrases in a browser search bar.
A variety of keyword search phrases can optimize your website for voice search.

Personalized, interactive content for the win… again. 

We hate to break it to you, but content is still king. And while it can be daunting to plan and develop content that is fresh, consistent and engaging — it’s important. Hyper-personalized content experiences are what consumers demand. Don’t let the name stress you out though, this type of super-targeted content helps you align with your potential customers’ interests, directly impacting how willing they are to engage with your business. 

Influencer marketing and user-generated content. 

To be or not to be… influenced. Authenticity is key with it comes to businesses building their online communities. People want to buy from companies they trust and feel are truly bringing something useful to the table. Leveraging content from the real world does just this. But remember, it is 2024, so you need to step up your content game. Gone are the days of simply posting pictures of happy diners’ plates of food or patients at work in a physical therapy session. You must think outside the box when it comes to sharing content.

Open your ears to social listening. 

Taking a pulse of what is being said about your company, product or brand online is vital. However, just knowing what is out there isn’t enough. Social listening, sometimes referred to as social media listening, should be goal oriented. You can also look for insights when it comes to your customers, gathering information about their habits and preferences. Social listening tools can even scour the internet for certain keywords so you can have a slew of data to review and make sound decisions from.

Social listening versus social monitoring: what should your business be doing? 

It sounds like listening is more like monitoring, but it’s not. Monitoring is simply that. It’s observing what is happening online to gather information; yet, there isn’t necessarily a strategy on what to do with all that data. Social listening on the other hand implies more thought. A company will aggregate data to develop a marketing strategy.

Table showing how social listening and social monitoring differ
Social listening and social monitoring are both helpful for companies but are used to reach different goals.

Set your business up for a successful new year — get on board with the 2024 marketing trends now. 

While marketing changes are often fluid, the trends mentioned above are likely sticking around. The good news is that you don’t have to be a marketing expert — or even a trendy business owner — to leverage the benefits.

At Design At Work, we have a whole team of marketing gurus who stay current on the latest methods, and more importantly, how they can impact your business and help your brand stand out. Contact us if you’re looking for outsourced marketing and need someone to guide you through the right 2024 marketing for your business.

Sources:

  1. Wunderman Study, “Wantedness”
  2. Accenture: The human paradox: From customer centricity to life centricity
  3. NPR & Edison Research: Smart Speaker Ownership Reaches 35% of Americans