With the rise of social networks, earned media (e.g. social shares and positive online reviews) is becoming more valuable in the eyes of customers. Because many customers now base their buying decisions on social proof, the chat questioned whether paid media (e.g. ads) and owned media (e.g. your website) are still valuable marketing tactics.
One of the questions that the moderator posted was
“In two years, will the corporate website be less important than it is today?” Most of the B2B marketers in the chat answered with a resounding “No.” Here are three reasons why:Although the bolivia cell phone database number of channels is increasing, they all point back to the website.
Blogs, which are usually housed on a corporate website, are becoming the center of many companies’ social presence.
Businesses are using their websites to anchor their marketing.
However, Eric Wittlake made the prediction that
“the relative contribution of other outposts will increase” as B2B companies rely less on their websites and split their presence across more channels. One reason why other channels, such as social media, are becoming more important is because they provide companies with valuable user-generated content. You usually can’t get this type of content from paid or owned media.
An IDC survey in the US found that 78% of respondents
check email on their smartphones, compared to 70% who browse websites and 70% who do something on Facebook.The finance, publishing, and social networking industries see above average mobile email views compared to other industries (Return Path).
Consider timing. Mobile email readership is at its peak on Saturday, and at its lowest on Monday (Marketing Technology Blog).
Also think hard about your email copy (especially
when it comes to the subject of your email), because if your buyer is on the go they won’t have much time to digest it. If you intrigue them enough to get them to click through – or even leave your email in their inbox for later – then congratulations, that’s a huge achievement. Your email has survived the first sift-through and will be read at a more convenient time.
Encourage sharing
The connection between mobile and social sharing is clear when you consider that 91% of mobile internet access is for social activities, versus just 79% on desktops. In fact, over a third of Facebook’s users access Facebook Mobile; and 50% of Twitter’s users use Twitter Mobile. (Microsoft Tag).
Having social media sharing buttons on your mobile site is about leveraging ‘word of mouth’, because people are more likely to trust an endorsement coming from the mouths of others. It’s part of the social proof that’s so essential to gaining trust online.
Should B2B marketers create mobile apps?
In my opinion, yes – if you sell software as a service. For companies like Dropbox, Evernote, and Hubspot, it works. But otherwise, creating your own B2B mobile app doesn’t make