The What, When and Where of Content that Converts from Dan Zarrella, Science of Inbound Marketing

During the Science of Inbound Marketing webinar Hubspot social media scientist Dan Zarrella talks like a radio traffic announcer, barely stopping to catch his breath. His tone relays excitement, value, now. He’s fast and fruitful sharing his results on content that engages and converts.

Right away Zarrella asks his audience to start tweeting. He offers a reward for those who tweet the most during the webinar. According to the data he collects and analyzes, those who ask for retweets get more of them. Zarrella definitely wants more – for everyone.

Here is my summary of the data results he shared on inbound marketing.

E-books

More people prefer reading e-books on Kindles that are less than 5 pages or more than 100 pages. Business books are still favored in print.

Facebook

Self-referential, positive sounding posts with photos, posted on Saturday or Sunday receive the most “Likes”. During the week posts are more popular between the hours of 6pm and 11pm.

Twitter

Contrary to popular belief, the highly followed on twitter are less conversational than average. Sixty to 80% of retweets contain a link. The “Please retweet” phrase quadruples chances of being retweeted. Popular time of day for tweets is 4:30pm.

SEO

Keep page titles short. No need to hire an SEO specialist. Rely on a content writer to create and optimize relevant content to get links.

Blogging

Seventy percent of decision makers report being influenced by a business blog when making purchasing decisions. They read blogs more than once a day. The best time to publish is between 9-10:00am. To receive more links publish earlier 6-7:30am. More posts, more views. The number of comments doesn’t correlate with links/shares. People are looking for a personal perspective on blogs – insights, questions, answers and reviews.

Email

Zarrella says he would trade twitter followers for email subscribers. His research shows the following factors can influence email effectiveness.

Show some passion in your email subject line to get more opens.
Use ampersands[&] in titles to get more click throughs.
Include multiple links in the text.
More is more. There are no detrimental effects from sending out lots of emails. Unsubscribe rates are higher when fewer emails are sent.
Avoid questions in the subject line.
Don’t use (parenthesis), use [brackets instead] in text.

Forms

Don’t ask people for their age. The word “Submit” has a lower conversion rate than others such as “Sign Up” or “Register”.

Zarrella reported that the Science of Inbound Marketing webinar generated 20,000 tweets. That’s impressive. It would be interesting to know how many of those people become email subscribers and buyers. But that is beyond Zarrella’s focus. His data driven perspective is unique giving inbound marketers clues to the what, when and where of content that converts.

What most influences you to register for and attend webinars? Is it the name of the host? The topic? Time of day?

Can B2B Marketers Capitalize on March Madness?

An estimated 62 million people will fill out a March Madness bracket this year. Last year 20 million watched the NCAA Basketball Championship game. Clearly, the audience for March Madness has grown way beyond the college basketball fan. When new words are created around an event [bracketology], you know you have reached the big dance.

March Madness draws people together around a common interest, and for a few short weeks in March, there is always something to talk about at the water cooler. With the popularity of mobile devices, March Madness has continued to grow, with people accessing games and scores from anywhere. And March Madness fans have also taken to social media channels. The NCAA Facebook page has more than 259,000 “Likes” and the official @marchmadness Twitter feed boasts more than 47,000 followers.

The opportunity to reach an audience through the NCAA Basketball Championship event hasn’t been lost on marketers. According to Kantar Media Intelligence, ad revenue in 2011 reached an all-time high of $738.0 million, up 20.2 percent from the prior year. But what about March Madness as an opportunity to build community among your B2B customers and prospects? Consider these examples:

Northwestern Mutual used an email and publicity campaign to invite their customers and prospects an opportunity to participate in an NCAA^® March Madness^® Bracket Challenge.
Law firm HRMA of Southwest Florida used the March Madness theme to launch an event about social media issues.
Garden and Gun magazine used the opportunity to create “The Ultimate Southern Food Bracket.” In a first round match up, country fried steak beat out pecan pie.

I believe March Madness offers an opportunity for conversations and engagement with B2B customers and prospects online. Center a campaign around a local team, and ask customers to engage.

Nothing gets folks more engaged than competition. Host a bracket contest or find out which local team has more support. The water cooler is now virtual, on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Are you ready to get in the game? Maybe you’re already there. Share how you take advantage of interest in March Madness.

Build a Talent Pipeline for Skilled and Technical Positions Using the Internet

Despite 17.7% unemployment in the construction industry, companies who rely on skilled workers should be worried about attracting talent. The Associated General Contractors recently reported that more than 600,000 workers had left the industry over the past two years. They may have landed jobs in other industries, gone back to school, retired or dropped out of the workforce. The bottom line is that even a modest upturn in activity could make it make it more difficult for your business to recruit the talent you need. Construction equipment dealers as well as contractors, already face a shortage of heavy equipment technicians.

So what does this have to do with your online presence? Think of your website and social media sites as 24/7 recruitment tools. These are the places where interested candidates will come first to find out more about your company.

Does your website copy or visuals say anything about what it is like to work at your company? Are there employee events? Is there a sense of camaraderie?

Are you offering a job or a career? Does your website copy say how important technical positions are to the success of your operation? What benefits do you offer? What makes working at your company different?

Construction is among the most dangerous professions. Workers want to be safe. Does your website demonstrate your commitment to employee safety?

Employers need to attract a new generation of workers – Gen Y – born between 1981 and 2000. In a 2010 OXYGENZ research project from Johnson Controls, 96% of Gen Y respondents wanted an “environmentally aware or friendly workplace” and 57% said they want their employers to perform well above regulatory compliance. Does your workplace address these needs?

Waste Management makes itself appealing to future employees. Its Careers page sends a strong message that the company is all about being green. Messages are targeted to specific audiences to ensure all feel welcome and appreciated. Website copy calls operational workers “the backbone of our daily operations.” Technology, professionalism and safety are emphasized.

On Facebook, a special tab for WM Careers features videos about working at Waste Management, links to jobs, recruitment fairs and an online application.

Is your workplace social? Use social media sites to let prospective employees know what it will be like to work for you. Showcase your involvement with employees and the community.

You can ensure a talent pipeline by talking to grade school, high school students and college students about careers in construction. In person and online, you need to send the right message to future industry professionals. Work with a content writer to find the perfect message for your business.

2012 Content Strategy Trends for B2B

B2B companies will continue to rely on quality content in varied forms to differentiate themselves and their products during 2012. The website is still home base for most companies, but social media and branded content are augmenting their online presence. Marketing budgets are increasing in these areas. Companies are looking for business professionals who can develop content using a strategy that makes sense for their business.

To build relationships online B2B companies are adapting.

Websites

On websites prospects are looking for your location, contact information, what you do, a clear message, and easy interaction (click to chat?). Those not familiar with the company head for the About Us page first after reviewing the Home page. They also want to know who your customers are.

For 2012 you may want to consider using a lighter tone in your content to engage prospects. Be genuine and use simple language. Keep evolving with the design of your site to see what works best as your offers or strategies change. Ways to add interest might include a blog, twitter feed, customer reviews/ratings or videos featuring your customers.

Social Media

For some B2B companies, social media is becoming a customer service outlet. It is on the social channels that they receive feedback and respond to customer inquiries and comments. Using social media this way can strengthen SEO ranking.

According to a recent survey of B2B marketers conducted by the Content Marketing Institute Twitter outdoes all other channels for content distribution with 74% of B2B content marketers using Twitter followed by LinkedIn (71%), Facebook (70%) and YouTube (56%).

Other content statistics from the survey show the following increases in usage:

Blogs: 45% increase
Case studies: 32% increase
Videos: 36% increase
Webinars/webcasts: 25% increase

Branded Content

A study conducted in 2011 by the Custom Content Council and ContentWise shows that branded content (content produced by a brand that is driven by narrative, not commerce) represents more than 50% percent of the total marketing budget. Why use branded content? The most often cited reason was to educate customers. Branded content has lots of forms including guides with exclusive tips, books, videos, newsletters and blogs that address a particular topic of interest to an audience.

For 2012, more branded content will be used by marketers of all sizes. Nearly three quarters of respondents to the survey believe it is more effective than magazine advertising. Sixty-nine percent think it tops direct mail and public relations.

Content Strategy

Content strategists help companies create and position their content. Strategist Ahava Leibtag predicted that in 2012 more companies will rely on content curation (the vetting of information for customers), delivering and displaying content (think mobile devices) and integrating marketing and communications (social media people trained in customer service).

What becomes apparent is that in 2012 investing in quality content delivered by professional content providers is a good business strategy.

How to Extend the Life of Your B2B Event with Social Media

Events represent a significant investment for many B2B companies. Marketers go to great lengths to ensure their event features the right content or entertainment; is held at the perfect venue; and includes memorable food and beverages. However, it used to be that once an event was over, there was very little opportunity for marketers to engage customers or prospects who were unable to attend. There were also very limited ways to engage with attendees after the event.

Social media has changed all that. It provides companies with an opportunity to extend the life of their B2B events by creating a way to experience the events online. It also allows marketers to use social media channels to reach out to attendees and non-attendees in new ways — often with a multimedia experience. Here are five ways to make social media part of your B2B event strategy.

1. Prior to the event, create a hashtag for the event on Twitter. Hashtags help people find your event on Twitter and see what people are saying about it. Encourage people to talk about their plans to attend the event. Talk about speakers, content, who’s attending, etc. Remind attendees of the event hashtag before, during and after the event.

2. Before the event, engage prospects with a survey designed to identify their needs.

3. Share photos and videos on Facebook and through social sites such as YouTube and Flickr.

4. Share speaker slides on SlideShare, as well as through your event home page .

5. Interview customers at the event to share what they liked about the event. Post videos on You Tube and your event homepage.

Who’s Doing it Right on Social Media Channels

On John Deere’s Facebook page, you will find an amazing time-lapse video for the Can Do Project – They built a combine out of more than 350,000 cans of food. It took five days to build, but you can watch it under three minutes. Even if you missed the event itself, you could still learn about the experience.

Western States Cat does a great job of promoting its Dump Hunger campaign on Facebook. This year their goal is to collect 300,000 pounds of food.

You have to love Bacon Fest Chicago. They keep the excitement for this event building through their blog, a You Tube channel and an engaging Facebook fan page.

With a little planning and good use of social media tools, you can keep generating social buzz for your B2B event, long after the event is over.

Are you overwhelmed by social media? Content for Biz can help you formulate a strategy that makes sense for your business.