70% of surveyed consumers said trusting a brand is more important today than it has been in the past. Many even said that trust is second only to a brand’s pricing.

Brand trust is the relationship between a brand and its customers. It’s built through the brand’s reputation and messaging, the quality of its products and services, and its satisfied customers.

When you successfully build brand trust, people will begin to see you as an authority in your field, and it just might convince someone to do business with you over a competitor.

Still on the fence? This post covers why brand trust is critical for every business, no matter what field you’re in. Plus, it shares a few ways you can begin establishing trust sooner rather than later.

Key Takeaways:

• Brands that have successfully built trust are more likely to have a loyal audience of repeat buyers, ultimately leading to more sales and increased profits.
• Pay attention to what others are saying about you online to measure brand sentiment and gauge the level of trust they have with you.
• Don’t try to be like every other brand in your niche, but rather, be authentic so people see something unique in you and what you have to offer.

Why Establishing Brand Trust is Crucial

As mentioned above, when you build brand trust, it can help establish your authority and even give you an upper hand over your competitors.

However, those aren’t the only benefits it provides. Trust is an essential element for any business if you’re looking to make sales. People simply aren’t going to buy from a business that they don’t feel is trustworthy or reliable.

Here are a few more benefits of establishing brand trust:

• It establishes a loyal audience. Every brand wants repeat customers who continue to come back time and time again. That’s because it’s cheaper and more efficient than marketing yourself to new people. Happy customers are willing to spend money with you and will want to support what you do.
• You’ll create brand ambassadors. Some of those loyal audience members may love your brand so much that they level up to ambassador status. These customers are fantastic when it comes to word-of-mouth marketing because they’ll want to recommend you to their friends and family. It’s those genuine testimonials that will strengthen your brand’s reputation. Plus, those ambassadors could become part of an influencer campaign.
• It brings in more sales. Again, people want to buy from brands they trust. If someone was tasked with choosing between you and a competitor, they’re going to opt for the one they trust the most. That’s because they’ll feel confident spending money with you, knowing you deliver a quality product and have a high customer satisfaction rate.

Brand trust is a precious asset that cannot be bought. It must be built through honesty, authenticity, and consistent delivery of quality products and services. Trust is the foundation of customer loyalty and advocacy, and it can significantly impact a brand’s bottom line. In fact, studies show that 46% of consumers are willing to pay more to buy from a brand they trust.

How Digital Marketers Can Build Brand Trust in 2024

Building brand trust is not a linear process. It requires a comprehensive strategy that considers various factors. Let’s explore some effective strategies for building brand trust in the digital age.

1. Determine how you’ll measure brand trust over time.

As you set out on your mission to build a more trusting relationship with your customers, you’ll need to find a way to track whether or not your efforts are working. This way, you can identify areas for improvement, whether it’s ways to enhance your messaging or your offerings.

Social media can help build brand trust because you’re able to see what others are saying about you. Pay attention to mentions of your brand by searching your business name and the names of your products or services.

You can even set up Google Alerts to get notifications when someone posts about your brand. And of course, you can also send occasional customer satisfaction surveys to obtain feedback directly from your customers.

2. Provide a reliable product or service.

The fastest way to make a customer lose all trust in your brand is to disappoint them after they’ve purchased something from you. No matter what your offering is, you must deliver on whatever you’ve promised to your customers.

Their satisfaction is essential to your success. And as you can see below, customers want brands to solve their problems and be dependable providers.

Consistency is key to building brand trust. Customers are more likely to trust a brand that delivers a consistent and stable experience. This includes using consistent visual elements, maintaining a consistent tone of voice, and providing a consistent user experience across all touchpoints.

Apple and Coca-Cola are two brands that excel in providing a consistent brand experience. Apple ensures a consistent user experience across all devices, while Coca-Cola maintains consistent branding and messaging worldwide. These brands consistently meet customer expectations, establishing trust and encouraging customer loyalty.

This is why it’s helpful to see customer insights, whether it’s through social media, reviews, or surveys. Their feedback can shed light on improvements that you can make to your offerings to ensure you’re always providing the best experience for your customers.

View it as constructive criticism and consider their opinions whenever applicable.

3. Always be authentic and transparent in your messaging.

Authentic messaging is the cornerstone of building brand trust. Customers want to see a brand that maintains consistent values and messaging that aligns with those values. Authentic messaging creates a connection with customers who share those values and builds trust over time.

For example, Patagonia has built brand trust through its commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility. By staying true to their message, customers know what to expect from Patagonia, and the brand builds connections and trust with consumers who share their values.

When you see competing brands doing well, it can be tempting to want to copy what they’re doing. If it’s working for them, it’ll work for you too, right? Not necessarily.

Your brand is its own entity. If you want to attract people your way, it’s better to embrace what makes you unique so you can stand out from the crowd. And this is even more important today considering how busy the online space is.

Instead of trying to be something you’re not, be authentic. Stay true to yourself as well as your brand’s mission and values. It’s also important that you’re transparent with them because customers expect honesty from their favorite brands these days. This will make your business storytelling even stronger.

Transparency is crucial for building brand trust. Being open and honest with customers creates a sense of trust and reliability. It’s essential to maintain open communication about product sourcing, company values, and respond promptly and appropriately to customer feedback and concerns.

Airbnb is an excellent example of a brand that prioritizes transparency. They maintain a transparent review system and refund policies that address customer concerns promptly. By demonstrating a willingness to accommodate customers, Airbnb builds trust and keeps customers coming back.

4. Prioritize relationships over revenue.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting your brand to make more money. After all, generating revenue is essential if you want to keep the doors open.

However, it’s smarter to prioritize connecting with potential customers and building relationships with them first and foremost.

They’ll begin to like and trust your brand, which will lead them to make a purchase and recommend you to others.

5. Share social proof.

The reviews and testimonials you’ve already received from past customers can be a fantastic way to build brand trust. That’s because it shows potential buyers that you’ve had tons of other satisfied customers already. It validates your products and services and communicates that they’re worth buying.

As you can see in the graph above, good ratings and reviews are just one of the ways brands can build trust with their audience. So, be sure to make social proof part of your marketing strategy.

6. Leverage Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool for building brand trust. It allows brands to engage with customers, showcase products in action, and highlight real customer experiences. By leveraging social media effectively, brands can demonstrate authenticity, build trust, and create a loyal customer base.

Glossier is a prime example of a brand that uses social media to build trust. They foster a sense of community by encouraging customers to share their favorite makeup looks and skincare routines using the hashtag #Glossier. This user-generated content epitomizes authenticity and builds trust among their audience.

For even more tips on building trust, the video below shares some great insights.

7. Utilize Influencer Partnerships

Influencer marketing can be a valuable tool for building brand trust. Collaborating with influential individuals who align with your brand values can help showcase your products or services in real-life applications. The authenticity of influencer content can boost trust in your brand and increase customer confidence.

Adobe and Airbnb are two brands that have successfully leveraged influencer partnerships. Adobe collaborates with influential creators and artists to demonstrate the capabilities of its creative tools. Airbnb partnered with home renovation duo Chip and Joanna Gaines to showcase real Airbnb properties being renovated on their popular TV show, “Fixer Upper.” These partnerships demonstrate authenticity and build trust among their respective audiences.

The post How Digital Marketers Can Build Brand Trust in 2024 appeared first on DMNews.

Yet, one eBook can encompass all stages of the buyer’s journey in one valuable investment. Additionally, it lasts longer than many other strategies, increasing your ROI.

Learn the many benefits of eBooks for B2B marketing and why you should start creating quality eBooks for lead generation, nurturing, and conversion.

Key Takeaways:

• eBooks are long-form content in a downloadable format.

• Gating eBooks helps you capture leads and track what content leads consume for more accurate lead qualification.

• eBooks offer a flexible format to share across your platforms and channels.

• eBooks build authority to increase your chances of conversion.

How Is an eBook Different from Other Content Types?

About 51% of brands use eBooks for marketing. They differ from other website copies because of their usual PDF format, which allows your readers to download and read offline. They also differ from whitepapers because eBooks are more in-depth.

While eBooks are typically longer than blog content and whitepapers, the most effective eBooks for lead generation should remain clear and concise. Ideally, aim for length readers can consume in one sitting. This ranges from 1,500-2,500 words, keeping the read time under 10 minutes.

7 Benefits of Creating eBooks for Your B2B Content Marketing Strategy

Why should you add eBooks to your B2B content marketing strategy? Here are seven benefits to consider before you create a marketing eBook.

1. Generates Quality Leads

Lead generation is a top marketing goal for 91% of marketers. However, 37% of marketers also say it’s their biggest challenge.

eBooks help address this challenge by offering another way to target and generate quality leads.

Gated eBooks provide another valuable asset on your website that might entice buyers to exchange their contact information for access. You can also gather data for your database from current leads.

Ebooks allow you to target your audience by offering several assets written for a specific audience. Then, you can use the data you gather from the download to personalize your digital marketing.

For example, a marketing agency might have an eBook about marketing in the financial industry, while another eBook is about marketing in the legal industry. When leads download these eBooks, marketers can better segment those leads based on the eBooks they download, which helps them personalize B2B marketing strategies like account-based marketing.

Image from Ruler Analytics

2. Increases Brand Awareness

Websites, blog posts, and even social media have become mainstream in business. If marketers want to stand out for greater brand awareness, they must go beyond the expected content.

Because eBooks take longer to create, fewer brand and content creators publish them. This provides an opportunity for your brand to publish eBooks, distinguishing itself in a less saturated field.

Ebooks are also easier to share across dozens of online and offline platforms without the need for a constant internet connection and browser. This advantage enhances your brand’s potential reach, boosting your brand’s visibility.

3. Diversifies Your Content

B2B buyers typically consume three to five pieces of content before talking to a salesperson, with a significant 30% consuming over five.

The type of content you create can impact readers as much as how much content you create. A variety of content reaches your buyers across different channels. Some places to share your eBook PDF include:

• Blog posts
• Website resources
• Third-party sites
• Social media
• Email
• During online events like webinars

4. Builds Brand Authority

Quality eBooks add another layer of authority to your brand name. What constitutes a quality eBook? It’s content that’s well-researched, data-backed, and solves your buyers’ pain points, demonstrating your expertise in your field. Regularly publishing such content shows you’re a reliable brand, which increases your chance of a sale.

Image from Marketing Charts

To address topics that will position you as an authority, perform keyword research using tools like SEMrush and Buzzsumo. These platforms provide you with insights into trending topics and commonly asked questions your buyers ask online. Addressing these questions and topics provide you with an endless supply of eBook themes. Data mining tools also help you understand your customers’ pain points, which you can address through eBooks.

5. Digs Deeper into Industry Topics

Ebooks pair well with website content by digging deeper into blog posts or summarizing content series.

Blog posts are quick glimpses at topics, ranging from 500 to 1,500 words. Some brands with complex topics will even publish blog posts of up to 3,000 words.

If your topic is too extensive for a quick blog post, consider creating a companion eBook. This eBook can expand on the blog post topic, and you can promote it at the end of the blog post to generate leads.

Ebooks don’t need to include new information. Often, companies will publish a blog post series because the topic is too broad to include in one post. At the end of the series, you can compile those blog posts as chapters in an eBook so your readers can easily access all the information in one place.

6. Nurtures More Customers

Beyond lead generation, eBooks play a vital role in lead nurturing.

Collecting lead information from each eBook download helps you determine how much content your leads consume. This is harder to track with blog posts as readers can use different devices to access the content.

By monitoring content consumption, you can accurately determine when your leads become sales-qualified. Attaching eBooks to your email campaigns can also help you track the effectiveness of your emails.

7. Stays Relevant Longer

Blog posts have a short lifespan. Many businesses publish one or more posts a week to remain relevant. Even if your content remains relevant longer, many writers won’t cite a source unless the source is less than two years old.

Social media has an even shorter lifespan, with some posts losing relevancy within a day or two.

However, eBooks retain their value over a longer period, and some evergreen topics may remain relevant for several years. While some topics, like statistic-heavy content, might need annual updates, the enduring relevance of eBooks ensures you get a higher return on your investment, generating and nurturing leads for years.

Create Quality eBooks to Boost Your B2B Content Marketing

With a quality eBook, you can enhance your reach, facilitate lead nurturing and conversion, and generate higher quality leads, which you can segment more accurately.

Do you not have time to create eBooks?

No problem! Hiring a content marketing agency helps you keep up with your content marketing demands. Then, you can focus on your in-house marketing strategies and nurture the leads you generate from your eBooks.

The post Why eBooks Should Be Part of Your B2B Content Marketing Strategy appeared first on DMNews.

Thought leadership involves deep analysis, research, and understanding of the subject matter, as well as the ability to effectively communicate those ideas to an audience. Unfortunately, this simply isn’t the case for most thought leadership content on the web.

According to this B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study by LinkedIn and Edelman, almost two-thirds (71%) of management-level professionals believe that less than half of the thought leadership content they consume provides any value to them.

That’s because many self-proclaimed thought leaders fall into the trap of merely sharing their thoughts on the subject matter without any real substance, research, or knowledge.

So, what is thought leadership, and what should it never be?

Let’s start with the basics.

Key Takeaways

• Thought leadership is far more than just sharing your thoughts. To make your content valuable, you must back up your ideas with research and real-world examples.
• Thought leaders invest time in researching and presenting information to assist their audience in understanding the topic. They share comprehensive information, not just information that serves their personal interests.
• Thought leadership requires authenticity and transparency to resonate with your audience.

What Is Thought Leadership?

When most people think of thought leadership, they picture a subject matter expert addressing a large audience, whether at a conference, a dinner, or on television.

While that’s a good thought leadership example, the concept of a thought leader has evolved significantly in recent years to include authors and experts who show up consistently to educate their audience.

Thought leadership today is about providing valuable insights and establishing yourself as a trustworthy resource with insights backed up by data and real-world examples. This is why nearly 65% of businesses try to incorporate it into their content marketing strategy.

A thought leader is something many business professionals strive to be. It sets you apart from the rest and can increase lead generation, brand loyalty, and sales. But to be perceived as a thought leader, you need to know what traits to exhibit to build trust and credibility.

Source:  LinkedIn-Edelman via Marketing Insider Group

Traits of a Thought Leader

A genuine thought leader not only possesses extensive knowledge in their field but can also back up their expertise with proof and facts.

This individual cares enough about their field to spend time researching and presenting information that will help their readers understand the topic. Thought leaders share all relevant information, not just selective information that serves their personal interests.

Some important traits of a thought leader include the following:

• Determined: As a thought leader, you must be determined to find solutions to your audience’s problems, even when you don’t have all the answers. It also means that you aren’t afraid to take calculated risks and fail to find solutions.
• Humble: A genuine thought leader doesn’t claim to be a thought leader. These individuals share their knowledge and experience with the world and aren’t afraid to point their audience to other sources that may better serve them.
• Influential: Thought leaders can inspire others to follow their example and become leaders themselves. They can also make real connections with their audience and other thought leaders, and these relationships can be leveraged to build credibility and trust.
• Transparent: Thought leaders don’t just walk the walk, but talk the talk. They’re honest and upfront with their readers. They don’t deceive their audience by claiming to be the best. Instead, they strive to create a helpful and engaging support system for their potential customers.
• Customer-Centric: Thought leaders don’t just promote themselves or what their company sells. They seek to educate their audience on the biggest questions. For example, how this unified communications company tried to explain the larger meaning of its software category.

What Thought Leadership Should Never Be

Thought leadership is a valuable asset for any organization, as it allows them to stay ahead of the curve and provide innovative solutions to their industry’s challenges. However, thought leadership should never be used as a tool for self-promotion or to gain attention. Thought leaders should always strive to provide ideas and insights that benefit the industry rather than simply seeking attention for themselves.

Unfortunately, those who claim they are thought leaders often lack a true understanding of the principles of thought leadership. Instead, they focus on attention-grabbing tactics and are often out of touch with their audience. That’s why it’s vital to understand what thought leadership should never look like.

Traits of a Self-Proclaimed Thought Leader

Self-proclaimed thought leaders have identified themselves as having the knowledge and expertise to provide innovative ideas and insights. However, they possess traits that make them seem more like attention-seekers rather than credible sources of information. Some traits include:

• Know it all: These thought leaders claim to have all the answers and will gladly tell you why.
• Self-serving: Instead of using their expertise to help you and your business, they use it to get attention for themselves. These self-proclaimed thought leaders often tout their successes as the reason you should listen to them.
• Hides behind credentials: When thought leaders use their credentials to justify why their ideas are better than yours (or their competition’s), they lack authenticity. Real thought leaders aren’t afraid to admit their flaws and acknowledge the potential for improvement.
• Shares theory without practice: While theory is critical, it’s only one puzzle piece. Instead of providing concrete examples and stories, these thought leaders give theoretical advice without supporting evidence.
• Being controversial for the sake of it: Standing out from the crowd doesn’t mean you have to be controversial. You can still be authentic and sincere without having to be confrontational. You can also respectfully disagree with someone without telling them they’re wrong, but by offering a different perspective backed by data and research.

Final Thoughts on Thought Leadership

Thought leadership content can be invaluable for business leaders, entrepreneurs, or industry professionals. It requires expertise, creativity, and the ability to think and communicate in an inspiring and informative way. The benefits of thought leadership are numerous and can help you stand out in your field, attract new customers, and even shape the conversation in your industry.

But it’s vital that you understand what thought leadership should never be. Otherwise, you will likely fall into the trap of losing sight of the bigger picture, which is to provide value to your audience.

The post What Thought Leadership Is and What It Should Never Be appeared first on DMNews.

Key Takeaways:

• Well-defined buyer personas can help your marketing and sales teams to better focus their time and resources on prospects most likely to convert into customers.

• Only about 48% of high-performing B2B organizations provide their sales team with buyer personas, which is a major factor in why their lead generation efforts are not as effective.

• A single buyer persona is not enough. Today’s B2B buyers are complex and comprise six to eight distinct personas, each needing a tailored approach.

Do You Need a Detailed Buyer Persona?

B2B companies need a detailed buyer persona. Without one, it’s difficult to know exactly who your target audience is, including their needs, wants, and expectations.

A detailed buyer persona provides invaluable insight into your ideal customer and allows you to tailor your marketing, product development, and customer service to meet their needs.

Research shows that B2B marketing leaders use buyer personas for four reasons:

• Formulate more focused demand generation and account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns with a strong value proposition and compelling messaging.
• Maximize the relatability of the brand and product/service communications.
• Assist in creating targeted customer loyalty incentives and programs.
• Help the sales team understand their prospects’ needs to make decisions and close deals.

With these points in mind, marketing and sales teams need to understand that today’s B2B buyer is increasingly complex and consists of multiple individuals, each with unique needs and expectations. Therefore, you need to create more than one buyer persona to get a complete picture of your target audience.

Consider the following individuals when creating a B2B buyer persona:

• The initiator: Responsible for discovering a solution to the problem and the first to come into contact with the product or service.
• The buyer: Ensures the product or service is the best option.
• The decision-maker: Approves the purchase after making sure it’s the best solution.
• The influencer: Capable of swaying the decision-maker’s opinion.
• The gatekeeper: Manages the purchase process and is typically the contact point between the company and the buyer.
• The user: This is the actual product or service user and has an indirect influence on the buying process. They are the ones who will use the product or service and report back on its performance.

Meeting each buyer’s diverse needs is essential for gaining long-term customers. Once you’ve identified your buyer personas, you can combine them into an ideal customer profile.

Source: HubSpot

What Makes a Buyer Persona Effective?

A detailed buyer persona enables you to understand your target audience’s needs, motivations, and challenges, as well as their preferred communication channels and buying behaviors. This information allows you to tailor your marketing and sales strategies to your target customers and ensures you are targeting the right people with the right messages.

Video Suggestion: How to Create B2B Buyer Personas That Actually Connect

How to Create a Buyer Persona in 5 Steps

From franchise companies to B2B SaaS providers, a well-defined buyer persona will help you craft the right message to attract and convert your ideal customer.

Not sure where to start? Here are five simple steps to creating an effective buyer persona to help you connect with your ideal customers.

1. Know Your Buyers

While this may seem like a no-brainer, you may be surprised to know that under half of the top-performing companies have a clear picture of their target audience. This can lead to a disconnect between you and your customers and an increased likelihood of overspending on marketing campaigns.

To understand who your buyers are, begin with audience research to learn about your existing customers. This can be as simple as sending out a survey to your current customers or using a focus group. From there, you can build a picture of your target audience and how they interact with your business.

2. Segment Buyers

Segmenting buyers is an important part of creating an effective buyer persona. Understanding the variations in different buyer personas’ needs, interests, and motivations allows you to craft more tailored content.

Segmenting buyers can also reveal potential customer segments that have gone unnoticed, giving you a chance to gain more growth opportunities.

3. Outline The Persona

When creating a B2B buyer persona, capturing all the relevant information about your target buyers is important. This includes demographic information such as age, gender, occupation, and geographic location.

It also includes psychographic factors such as interests, values, and motivations. Additionally, you need to include specifics about how the buyers use your product or service, their purchasing behavior, and how they interact with your brand.

Understanding these buyer persona elements can help you better target campaigns, develop more effective messaging, and understand how to serve your buyers better.

4. Fill in The Buyer’s Persona

It’s time to fill in the buyer’s persona. Depending on your business’s size and the customer base’s complexity, you may have multiple personas.

Be sure to include the following information when creating a buyer persona:

• Demographics – Gender, age, marital status, location, etc.
• Interests – The type of content they prefer, products they are interested in, etc.
• Motivations – What drives their decisions?
• Challenges – What problems do they face?
• Goals – What are their goals in their interaction with your business?

5. Use Your Buyer Persona to Inform Your Marketing & Sales Strategies

Once you have created your buyer personas, use them to develop marketing and sales strategies to help you reach your ideal customers.

For example, you can use the demographics, interests, motivations, and challenges of your buyer personas to create targeted campaigns and content that will appeal to your ideal customers.

You can also use the buyer persona’s goals to determine which products and services your customers are likely interested in.

Additionally, you can use buyer personas to understand purchasing behavior better and develop more effective messaging and marketing materials to build trust and credibility with customers. This ultimately increases the chances of generating more conversions.

Source: Lean Labs

Understanding Your Audience is a Critical Step that Can’t Be Missed Come 2023

We must recognize the critical step of understanding our audience and creating buyer personas as we move into 2023.

As customer expectations continue to evolve, you need to stay up to date on the latest technologies, services, and products out there and carefully identify where your brand fits into the market. From there, you can create buyer personas that reflect the needs and wants of your target audience and help your marketing and sales teams connect with potential customers better.

The post How to Create a Buyer Persona appeared first on DMNews.

We cover the latest content marketing trends for 2023 so that you know what’s ahead in the industry and can prepare for a successful and profitable new year.

Key Takeaways:

• Your content marketing strategy will make or break your business in 2023. Planning ahead is crucial to your success. 

• Getting started on your 2023 content marketing strategy will help you stay ahead of the curve and achieve your goals.

• Researching content marketing trends for 2023 can help you identify the most critical factors determining your success for the year. 

Content Marketing Trends 2023: How Much Are Things Changing?

Content marketing trends are always changing. While a trend may share the same name from year to year, it still evolves from one mention to the next.

For example, one trend may be “audio marketing” (any form of marketing that includes listening to audio files). The following year, it may be “video marketing” (taking that audio file and adding visuals to it.)

A trend is a general direction in which something is developing or changing. So, when we talk about content marketing trends, we mean how content marketing grows and evolves.

Some trends come and go quickly, while others stick around for a while. And, of course, some trends come back again (think: vintage and retro).

The same thing goes for content marketing. While audio may be popular for one year, video with audio may be popular in the months/years following. As for the upcoming year? Both video and audio content are on tap as content marketing trends for 2023.

So, yes, content marketing trends change from year to year. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s one of the things that makes content marketing so exciting. There’s always something new to learn and new ways to reach your audience.

5 Content Marketing Trends to Keep In Mind When Planning Your Content Strategy

As we move into the new year, it’s time to start thinking about your content marketing strategy. What worked in 2022 might not work in 2023. The landscape is constantly changing, so staying on top of the latest trends is crucial.

On average, your clientele is likely to consume three to five pieces of content before engaging with someone on your sales team. Recent studies also indicate that 30% of B2B buyers will consume more than five pieces of content before engaging with someone on your sales team.

Your content marketing needs to vary enough to keep your audience engaged and interested in what you say to move your ideal audience from reader to potential buyer. Doing so starts at the beginning of your lead nurturing process and continues throughout the consumer lifecycle.

Focus on creating various content types that appeal to your target audience through each customer lifecycle stage. The good news? There are plenty of options for compelling, some of the most popular being:

• Blogs
• Videos
• Case studies
• Virtual Events/Webinars
• Infographics/Charts

With that in mind, you’ll want to start thinking about the future of your content marketing strategy. Need a place to start? Consider these five content marketing trends for 2023:

1. Repurposing and Updating Old Content

As a marketer, you’re always looking for new opportunities to reach your target audience. But what about the content you’ve already created? Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s not still relevant. Repurposing and updating old content is a great way to breathe new life into it and reach a new audience.

With blogs and long-form content being among the most popular content assets used by B2B marketers, it’s important to remember that your old content can still be valuable, especially with evergreen content.

Evergreen content is still relevant and useful even after a specific time frame. Instead of letting that content get lost in the shuffle, consider updating and republishing the piece with pertinent information. Adding new content (and revising some of the old verbiage) will ensure that your updated piece doesn’t get dinged for being unoriginal.

2. Interactive Content

Interactive content is a type of content that requires the audience to take some form of action to consume it. This content type can include anything from taking a quiz to playing a game to watching a video.

Source: Dun & Bradstreet

Interactive content is becoming increasingly popular as a content marketing tool because it is more engaging than traditional, static content. It allows the audience to be a part of the content rather than just a passive observer.

With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), interactive content will only become more popular. Use AI to create more personalized content experiences while making content more interactive and engaging.

For example, create a quiz with personalized questions tailored to the individual user with the latest AI technology.

3. Video Content

Video content remains a popular content marketing trend in 2023 for several reasons. First, video is an incredibly engaging format that can capture viewers’ attention. Second, video is a great way to tell a story and connect with an audience on an emotional level. Third, video is a versatile format suitable for various purposes, from product demonstrations to corporate overviews.

4. Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing involves partnering with influencers to promote a product or service. Influencers are people with a large following on social media or other online platforms who can reach a large audience with their endorsements.

In the past, consumer brands used influencer marketing primarily, but it is becoming increasingly popular with B2B brands. This type of marketing is especially effective because it helps you reach an audience you may not be able to reach otherwise. It’s also a more cost-effective marketing method, as you don’t have to spend as much money to promote your brand.

5. Optimizing Content for Search Engines

One trend that shows no sign of slowing down is the importance of optimizing your content for search engines.

Properly optimizing your content for search engines helps to increase the chances that search engines will find your content and rank it high in search results where your audience is most likely to find it.

While using proper keywords and phrases is one of the most important things you can do to optimize your content for search engines, another effective SEO strategy is paying attention to the search engines and how they rank content.

For instance, Google has outlined its system for marketers and creators alike. As of their recent updates, optimizing your content with EAT (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) is crucial. Otherwise, you risk your content falling behind in the rankings.

Final Thoughts

As we can see, there are many content marketing trends for 2023 that you can start planning for now. The most important thing is to keep your audience in mind and create relevant and engaging content. With the right strategy, you can ensure that your content stands out in the crowded marketplace and helps you achieve your business goals.

For more tips on making the most of your content marketing strategy, check out our other content on dmnews.com.

The post Content Marketing Trends 2023: Top Trends to Start Planning for Now appeared first on DMNews.

More succinctly, content marketing is a cheaper option for increasing your visibility with qualified prospects that are less likely to ignore your messaging. With content marketing, you can build organic audiences without spending the money that comes with traditional advertising.

However, hiring a specific customer-focused committee on your team doesn’t mean perfection. Over 54% of the surveyed companies claim the biggest content marketing challenge is composing content that can consistently generate leads.

Oftentimes this is because companies do not write content with their customers’ attention as their first priority. They target the dollar signs that come at the end of this transaction. Do you see the problem?

Customer-centric practices create more leads and conversions for your website.

So how can you make your marketing strategy more customer-centric?

Here’s a crash course on content marketing and digital marketing strategy from Semrush.com

Quick Takeaways:

• All of your marketing budget shouldn’t go to ads

• Content marketing creates a sustainable way to create new traffic to your website and draw new eyes to your new product, but you can boost your views with paid content marketing

• Starting off strong can build your organic audience over time can be more efficient and better for your bottom dollar than exclusively using paid advertising to promote products and services

Here are some tips to keep in mind for publishing content customer-centric content for your online brand:

Make content they can’t look away from

Content marketing values quality over quantity. When you’re starting, you aren’t producing as much content because you’re trying to lock down your fundamentals and your voice.

Helpscout.com says:

Successful customer-centric marketing requires a deep understanding of why your customers need what your company provides. The goal isn’t business growth alone; it’s growth driven by showing customers how your product/service will improve some aspect of their work or life.

People won’t click on your article if it isn’t attention-grabbing and genuinely good – full stop. It won’t matter if you’re publishing twice a day and all of your pieces stink. Marketers must have relevance, credibility, and awareness of their prospects’ needs and desires to give them the reason to buy into their company.

Consider what information is relevant to your target audience in their normal day-to-day lives. If your company sells coffee pots and accessories, your prospects might be looking online for the best kinds of coffee beans or companies.

Writing content like 9 Dark Roasts You Should Try NOW or Accessories Every Coffee Addict Needs is an ideal way to grow an organic connection straight to your website that you wouldn’t receive banner advertisements.

These prospects are far more likely to convert as opposed to a prospect who isn’t looking for coffee accessories seeing an advertisement on a billboard or a YouTube ad. Creating organic awareness and interest in your service or product builds your credibility, proving to your prospect that you actually know what you’re talking about.

Talk to them!

Who doesn’t like to be asked what’s on their mind? Communicating with your audience is an important step in identifying their interests and concerns relevant to your product or service.

So how do you check up on where your clients are? Start with an audit of your social media presence. What communities are your company invested in online – more importantly, where is your online voice? If you don’t have one, you aren’t controlling the market narrative.

By improving your virtual presence, you are also maintaining an outlet to have your written content on your prospects’ screens.

Organic engagement is crucial to the engagement of your pieces and the overall value of your brand. This isn’t all about social media, though. Retention marketing can help re-engage potentially lost customers and ensure that your marketing efforts are optimized to target all parts of the sales funnel.

Email marketing has been around for awhile, and continues to play an important role in brand credibility. Nowadays, there are plenty of automated tools designed to show you where your message is being received and where it isn’t. Email blast services sites can provide insight AND organized lists for information and content shipping.

Influencer marketing 

How about a different way to advertise on social media? Influencer marketing is sending money to users with prominent follower counts to demonstrate or promote your product or service.

Source: Marketing Charts

Nogood.io highlights one of the most successful influencer campaigns of 2021:

<Dunkin’ Donuts has a large presence on TikTok with 3 million followers and 21.3 million likes, and one of its key success factors is its strategic influencer marketing. 

A viral campaign was created under the hashtag #CharliXDunkinContest and Dunkin’ released two drinks after Charli, with the first beverage release called “The Charli.” “The Charli” led to a 57% increase in app downloads on launch day and 45% increase in cold brew sales the next day.

The point? People like seeing their favorite social media stars showcasing products and their favorite companies. Lately, companies like Hello Fresh and BetterHelp have seen record sign-up numbers by targeting paid advertising on successful podcast channels of diverse genres.

Influencer marketing may be new to the fold but it’s definitely here to stay. While this example was for a more general population (Gen Z coffee lovers), you can get as niche as you want with it.

Another example is the video game Raid Shadow Legends has become a household name in the gaming community through influencer marketing. The Raid team has targeted popular streamers and esports athletes as promoters, paying them to play the game and produce content for it for their fans.

This has resulted in the game launching to the top of the app store and increased awareness. By targeting the loudest voices in their communities, they’re cutting the line and getting straight to their ideal prospects.

How can your company utilize influencer marketing?

Find your winning combination (and ask for help!)

These tips will help you get the little things right, but the real trick is looking at how they all fit into the big picture. Every business is unique, and because of that so are its ideal marketing goals and strategies.

Hiring a consultancy or bringing on SEO specialists can provide expertise and clarity that is much harder to get on your own without experience. This investment isn’t always cheap. But it could be the best way to get customer-centric content in front of your prospects quickly.

Wrap Up

Running a content marketing strategy is hard work, but you’re fumbling the bag by not putting your customers first. This is not a fast cheat to skyrocket your ROMI (return on marketing investment), but a gradual long-term investment to increase your leads and conversions over a long period of time.

The most important keys? Patience and consistency. Sacrificing quality for quantity won’t produce the growth you want to see in your business. By continuing the grind and producing quality content, you can keep your customers coming back for more. Go get after it!

Want more ideas to grow your bottom dollar and amplify your brand voice? Look at our other content on //dmnews.com/ to evolve your marketing strategies now.

The post How to Make Your Content Marketing Strategy More Customer-Centric appeared first on DMNews.

Today’s Google algorithm takes more into account than your keywords, which is why you need to upgrade your SEO strategies to include a topic model for finding relevant topics.

Wait, doesn’t your keyword research tool already find topics consumers are searching for?

Your keyword tool supplies you with a list of commonly searched phrases within your topic. However, your topic model digs deeper and shows what keywords usually appear together as well as connected topics, which help your content rank higher in search queries.

Learn what a topic model is and how to build one for your modern marketing strategy.

Key Takeaways

• Topic modeling analyzes large volumes of text to find common themes for sorting, managing, and creating content.
• Topic modeling helps you see relevant information from reviews, blog posts, emails, and social media posts.
• You can build a topic model manually, through AI tools, or run code through a specialized algorithm.

What is topic modeling?

Topic modeling identifies repeated phrases and contextual cues to find common themes or categories of content in a collection of long-form or short-form content.

You can use the model to find topics and related terms covered in a set of documents or group texts by their themes.

For example, you can use topic modeling to analyze your current blog content by listing your target keywords. You will see what keywords and topics you address and find areas that you haven’t covered. This process gives you ideas for future content marketing plans to ensure you cover the whole industry.

Some other types of content you can analyze and categorize using topic modeling include:

• emails;
• social media posts;
• blog content;
• customer reviews; and
• feedback received from surveys.

MarketMuse Academy — All Topic Models Are Not the Same

The Role Natural Language Processing Plays in Topic Modeling

Topic modeling identifies related keywords through natural language processing (NLP) models. Computers use NLP to analyze and replicate human language by using semantics and surrounding words.

For instance, NLP software can see the word “lead” and know whether the text is about a dog’s leash, a position in a race, an element, or a potential customer by the words around it. It can then connect that word to related terms. For example, the phrase “marketing leads” shows up alongside phrases like “nurturing” and “sales.”

A common use of NLP is search engines.

When you search a phrase, your results relate to your query, even though you used different word variations or articles than the results. As a marketer, your articles should contain variations of a keyword to rank higher for a topic and appear more relevant when performing SEO.

Why do you need a content topic model?

A topic model has several analytic and research uses depending on your department and industry. However, below are three applications of a topic model in content marketing and SEO.

1. Researching Content Topic Ideas

If you want the best results, you should publish a new blog post two to four times a week. However, that means coming up with over eight new topics a month.

Instead of guessing what topics resonate with your audience, you can use a topic model to categorize topics and find related themes. You can also use it for customer journey mapping, which will pinpoint relevant topics for every point of the customer journey.

2. Finding New Consumer Pain Points

Topic models can also find recurring terms in feedback, forums, and social media posts from your consumers.

Reading through hundreds or thousands of consumer comments will take hours and waste your time.

Instead, you sort and analyze content from consumers through topic models that pull out repeating and relevant phrases. These repeating phrases will alert you to consumer pain points specific to your business and products. Then, your content can address these pain points and resolve common issues.

3. Optimizing Content for SEO

Consumers conduct over 3.5 billion searches daily. However, over 92% of search terms appear in less than ten searches a month. This is because each person will use a slight variation of each phrase depending on their search purpose and demographics.

For example, one consumer might search for “marketing platforms” while another will look up “marketing tools.”

There are dozens of similar phrases that all relate to the same topic. If you only target one variation, you will only get results from that topic.

Google’s 2015 update, RankBrain, started using machine learning, which analyzes themes alongside keywords to offer more accurate search results.

When you include several variations as secondary keywords, you will show up in more searches. Using variations and related words tells search engines what your topic is about so that an article on “sales” shows up for sales and marketing teams and not for a consumer looking for a deal.

3 Ways to Build a Content Topic Model

Choose how to build a content topic model depending on how extensive your research is and your end goals. Here are three ways to make a model to find new topics for your content.

1. Manually build a topic model.

The simplest form of topic modeling is manually listing and analyzing content. You can create a manual topic model using a spreadsheet that lists your content side by side. You will then identify patterns and gaps in the content.

This form works best for examining content you created that has listed keywords.

2. Use simple programs to analyze text.

Some programs aren’t built for in-depth topic modeling, but you can use them for identifying recurring themes and connecting words.

For example, on a very basic level, word clouds are a visual representation of repeated phrases throughout text, with the most-used terms appearing larger than infrequently used words.

AI platforms that optimize content offer deeper insights and identify content topic gaps. As a result, they suggest related keywords for a topic using topic models. You can look at platforms like MarketeMuse and Clearscope.

3. Get your data techs involved.

If you want to analyze a large volume of documents, reviews, emails, or text, you need help from someone who understands computer code.

Most topic models involve a complex process of training an algorithm to identify topics within text and sort content according to themes.

Improve your SEO through topic modeling.

Have you upgraded your SEO strategy to focus on topics rather than a list of keywords?

To get started, you can create custom SEO strategies that find and target themes in your industry for maximum online exposure.

The post Building a Topic Model: What Is it, Why, and How? appeared first on DMNews.

Customer support agents, sales representatives, and anyone else who interacts with customers or manages customer service need an updated game plan that reflects the new set of post-pandemic customer expectations.

Essentially, companies need a new approach to customer relationships. It should be more customer-centric. More in-depth. And, more flexible. Companies need to empower their customer support teams with the right tools so they can deliver great customer service in a changing world.

Let’s look at what’s different and what customer-facing teams require to be successful.

Key Takeaways:

• Consumer habits and expectations are always shifting, but the disruption brought on by the pandemic accelerated change.
• Post-pandemic, brands need to offer more digital, more self-service, and more health and socially conscious options to better align with customer expectations.
• To make this happen, customer-facing teams are going to need the right tools, including content for building relationships and technology that lets them meet customers on their terms.

How Consumer Habits Have Changed During the Pandemic

The core shift in consumer habits has been the move to digital. During the pandemic, people shifted away from in-person shopping and embraced digital.

They’ve also turned to self-service options, from self-service checkouts and contactless payments in-store to researching products and resolving issues with chatbots online.

As a result, a good chunk of the population has tried digital options for the first time. And others have become so accustomed to digital, self-service, and no-contact transactions that they’re not likely to return to their old habits. Here are some examples:

• In telehealth, online visits made up 4% or 5% of all doctor’s visits in 2019. During the pandemic, they rose to 40% to 50% of visits.
• For online grocery shopping, 36.8% of U.S. adults had purchased online in 2019. By 2021, nearly 60% had.
• Digital banking was already going strong before the pandemic, but it skyrocketed in 2020. In April, there was a 200% jump in new mobile banking registrations.

Another shift is conscious shopping. People are being more health-conscious, socially conscious, and cost-conscious. What bears paying attention to is how many consumers expect to maintain these new habits for the foreseeable future. Nearly half plan on being more cost-conscious, and well over half plan on making more sustainable and healthier choices post-COVID.

Image Source

Business and marketing leaders need to pay attention to these changes. If they don’t, it will be harder to connect with their target buyers — and easier to lose customers to competitors who are offering the experiences they expect.

What Brands Need to Offer to Become More Customer-Centric

So what can brands do to account for multiple shifts in consumer expectations?

Be more customer-centric. Here’s how:

• Deliver superior customer service.
• Use data and analytics to better understand what the customer wants.
• Offer the channels and options customers prefer when interacting with your brand.

You also have to have the tools in place to enable customer-facing employees to respond to what customers need at the moment. And, have the foresight to prepare for what’s coming next as, chances are, the world’s not done changing yet.

What Customer-Facing Teams Need to Better Serve Customers

To adapt to the now and to prepare for what’s next, customer-facing teams need to have the right tools and resources in place. Let’s take a look at what these needs are.

Technology

The right technology should be a priority right now. If your employees aren’t able to communicate from any location and through the customer’s preferred channel, you’re behind the times.

Both customer service and sales reps need high-quality tools that allow them to create rich experiences with customers. They should be able to deliver an omnichannel experience with cloud-based communications software that unifies voice, chat, email, and video conferencing.

The experience should be seamless for the consumer, which means customer data should be integrated across all communications platforms. It should also sync with sales and CRM software so information is updated on all systems in real-time.

This technology should also be able to analyze customer interactions and generate reports that can drive better business decisions. It should be able to reveal when the customer experience changes, where problems are emerging, and whether or not customers are satisfied when they contact customer support.

Content

Another thing customer-facing teams need is the right content. Sales and customer support agents should have easy access to content they can use to address a customer’s pain point or to clearly express the value of the brand.

For example, sales representatives should be able to point leads to informational videos, white papers, and case studies that can help guide a potential buyer further along their journey.

Customer support agents should have blog posts, eBooks, and other types of content they can send to customers who want to resolve an issue on their own or learn more about a subject related to your product or service.

This customer-facing content is critical today as consumers are accustomed to searching for answers online more than ever before. People are self-servicing their problems, whether they are looking for information on a software product for their business or comparing loan products online.

Educational webinars, online events, articles, podcasts — any type of content that can help your sales and customer service employees give customers what they need when they need it — will help your company create a more customer-centric experience.

Leadership

And the last thing your customer-facing teams need is good leadership through this change. The bottom line is, this is a transitional period for anyone who interacts with customers. And, with higher expectations and shifting preferences, the work of anyone in customer support or sales can be more stressful.

To help your employees become more resilient and ready to adapt, lead with empathy — acknowledge when employees are taking on more than normal. Listen to their suggestions and ideas.

Internal Support: The Key to Being Truly Customer-Centric

To be prepared for the post-pandemic world, and what comes after, customer-facing teams need new technology and a well-organized, in-depth content library. They also need support from leadership.

With all of this, they’ll be empowered to truly be there for customers. This is what will help your company thrive in our even more customer-centric world.

The post Do Your Customer-Facing Teams Have What They Need for Success? appeared first on DMNews.

But as cookies disappear, brands may lose some targeting capabilities. We will be able to meet consumer expectations for privacy and reset marketing and advertising practices in a way that makes adhering to data privacy regulations possible. 

So what will happen to personalization in digital marketing?

Google expects to phase out the use of third-party cookies on Chrome browsers by 2022. Apple has already banned them, and Firefox has taken steps to block them.

When Google initially announced this change in 2020, the digital marketing world took it pretty hard with marketers throwing around terms like “cookie apocalypse” and “death of cookies.” The reality is, in a post-cookie world, some brands will struggle to pull off the same level of personalization.

But all is not lost. There are still plenty of ways to personalize content and digital ads, which is essential for delivering excellent customer experiences. So, instead of worrying about what we can’t use to improve CX, let’s look at all the ways personalization in digital marketing is happening without third-party cookies.

Key Takeaways:

• Marketers are concerned about the third-party cookie phase-out – 41% believe their biggest challenge will be an inability to track the right data, and 44% believe they’ll spend 5% to 25% more to reach the same goals next year.
• Those organizations that have relied on third-party cookies might struggle to offer the same level of personalization, putting them at a disadvantage.
• To cope with these changes, marketers are looking into new, innovative ways to personalize. They’re using first-party cookies, contextual targeting, and other strategies.

The Impact on Personalization in Digital Marketing

For digital marketers, third-party cookies have been essential for sending out personalized ads, emails, and more. This data helps brands sell their products, and it makes it possible to deliver the highly personalized experience consumers expect.

• With cookies, marketers can identify what a consumer is likely to be interested in and send ads they would prefer.
• Third-party cookies help with audience targeting – cookies reveal which groups of users are worth reaching out to on the web.
• They also enable marketers to track and measure the impact of an ad. Who clicks on an ad? Who makes a purchase? This is all highly valuable data that marketers can use to improve CX and ROI (return on investment).

The better the personalization, the better the experience for consumers. It also leads to a better ROI for marketers because people are more likely to click on ads that interest them.

Without the individualized data cookies provide, it’s still possible to personalize. However, what once was a seamless process will now require a new approach. Personalization also won’t be as effective as it will be harder to understand the customer journey.

This means marketers may have to devote more resources to reaching the right customers at the right time. Digital ads, retargeting, personalized email, and other content could all suffer as a consequence.

3 Ways Marketers Are Thriving in a Post-Cookie World

A cookie-less world is shifting the way digital marketers approach customer relationship building. They’re using different types of data to reach customers. Here are some of the solutions marketers are using:

1. Relying on first-party data

First-party cookies come from your website. By using consumer consent – asking a web visitor what cookies they are okay with – you can still store data and use it to tailor ads and content.

You can also use other types of first-party data, including subscription information, data you have stored on your CRM (customer relationship management), and transactional data.

The advantages: First-party cookies live up to today’s privacy standards, including GDPR and CCPA. They don’t require you to store personal identifiable information. Combined with other first-party data, you still have a lot of customer information to use to ensure a good CX.

The challenges: The problem with first-party data is that you’re limited to the customer and prospects you’ve already interacted with. You can’t use it to target consumers who’ve never consented to your website cookie data or shared their information with you.

To solve this issue, marketers will have to spend more energy building trust and attracting buyers through their website. They can do this with a smart content strategy.

2. Expanding options with second-party data

Another way to get around the loss of third-party cookies is to start using second-party data. Second-party data are data sets owned and stored by another organization.

The advantages: Basically, you’re expanding your consumer data pool, but you’re also accessing more relevant consumer data than you would with third-party cookies. This is because you choose which organizations to partner with rather than simply paying to use aggregated third-party data.

The challenges: For small businesses or newer companies that haven’t had the chance to build up their own first-party data, finding a willing partner might not be easy. To make this strategy work, you have to find a partner that will share data with you and then disclose the relationship on your website if you’re sharing your customers’ data with another company.

General Mills recently announced the launch of their “connected commerce” program, which is a second-party data initiative. The company is combining its data with that of retailers to improve its ability to offer personalized marketing, “spot patterns, experiment, scale up winning tests, and launch new capabilities.”

3. Using contextual targeting

Contextual targeting has been touted as an alternative to cookies for years. This is because it allows marketers and advertisers to get around the main challenge of the privacy age: the use of personal data.

With this approach, the focus is on the content consumed – the context of the blog post, video, or other content the person is engaging with – rather than personal information.

As a result, there’s no infringement upon data privacy. Yet, digital marketers are still able to offer highly personalized content and ads.

The advantages: Marketers can get very granular with contextual targeting. You can target metadata, titles, related keywords, comments, and more. By mining this information and looking for signals, marketers are gaining in-depth insights into their customers.

The challenges: This is a still-developing area of personalization and targeting. You may need to learn more about how it works and use a powerful tool for personalization to help you develop a process that works for your brand’s marketing goals.

In fact we use contextual targeting for a handful of our clients and the approach works. Our average cost per clicks hovers around $0.22 which is roughly 95% cheaper than a B2B brand paid search ad. And our click though rates are better than 3% – 60 times higher than average!

We Can Look Forward to Post-Cookie Marketing

Prioritizing data privacy is essential because people don’t want their data shared. Marketers simply have to figure out a new way to increase their personalization in digital marketing. With privacy-friendly data sources and contextual targeting, exceptional experiences are still possible.

Image provided by Oleg Magni; Pexels

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