Mascola B2B Marketing Blog, B2B Advertising Agency
Category Archives: Lead Generation and Nurturing

B2B Myth of the Week: LinkedIn Is Just for New Hires

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linkedin is just for new hires

The Myth: LinkedIn Is Just for New Hires

The Truth: LinkedIn Can Generate Leads and Position Your Brand as a Thought Leader

LinkedIn’s abilities go far past finding new hires, and B2B brands should begin to use it more effectively. What you may not know is that LinkedIn can help generate leads and position your brand as a thought leader within your industry. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 97% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for content marketing. LinkedIn has proven itself to be more than a networking platform, especially for B2B marketers. Visitors aren’t only looking for job listings. In fact, most of them are looking at content to help them improve at their jobs. So if you want to be a step ahead of competitors, LinkedIn is a good place to start.

Here Are 3 Ways B2B Brands Can Use LinkedIn More Effectively:

  1. Be Active in Industry Groups. LinkedIn is a great platform to target people and companies based on industry. It allows your company to connect with people who have similar interests. This makes finding people who might be interested in your product easier. LinkedIn offers a variety of groups and ranks them based on activity. Find a relevant and active group to join and get involved with others. Joining an active group is ideal because more people will interact with your posts. It’s important to be active in the groups that you join. Being a part of groups that are relevant to your industry will help your company form relationships that can transform into leads and customers.
  2. Become a Thought Leader. Thought leadership is a valuable asset because it gives your brand authority within your industry. If you’re a thought leader, people will be more likely to trust your company and the information you share. Most people will base their first impression on of your company profile, so make sure that it’s engaging and reflects your brand’s unique qualities. Develop a memorable headline that shows people why they should want to do business with you. Get involved in existing conversations and start some of your own. Share relevant and valuable information. And most important – create some of your own. Creating content and sharing it on LinkedIn not only allows you to establish your brand as a thought leader, but also drives users to your website.
  3. Generate Leads with Sponsored Content. In 2017 LinkedIn introduced a feature called Lead Gen Forms. When used with the platform’s Sponsored Content program, the quality of leads and ease of capturing them increases tremendously. Personal information is pre-filled because it comes from the member’s LinkedIn Profile, so the data is reliable. Plus, Lead Gen Forms make it easy to track and calculate your ROI. LinkedIn makes advertising to the right prospects simple, accurate, and highly targeted.

B2B Marketers often overlook how useful LinkedIn can be to their brand. Just being on LinkedIn is important, but when used correctly, it can open up a wealth of opportunities. With over 500 million members to interact and engage with, generating highly qualified leads might be easier than you think.

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INFOGRAPHIC: How Engineers Consume Content

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how engineers consume content snippet
Ever want to see inside the mind of an engineer? If you run the marketing department of a manufacturing company, the answer is probably a resounding “yes.”

This infographic – Part 1 of a 2-part series – takes a look at how engineers approach content. In particular, it explores which content they consume during the Buyer Journey and where they consume it. You’ll see how the Journey is broken down into four phases: Research, Consideration, Evaluation, and Buy. And content is consumed differently in each phase.

It’s likely no surprise that Case Studies are consumed more heavily in an engineer’s decision-making process earlier in the Buyer Journey. Or that Product Info Sheets are more influential later in the process.

But it’s worth noting how different types of video work better in different phases. And just how much engineers prefer LinkedIn over other social platforms. Take a look at the full infographic to get a better look at the engineer’s decision-making process. It will give you great insights as you fine-tune your Content Marketing Plan in the second and third quarters of 2018.

Read the Full Infographic on How Engineers Consume Content Below:

(And stay tuned for Part 2… coming soon.)

how engineers consume content infographic

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4 Types of Engaging B2B Content

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engaging B2B content

Rising above the noise can be a difficult task. According to Google Search Statistics, Google processes over 3.5 billion searches a day. So what’s the best way for your company stand out from the crowd? As with most things, content is about quality, not quantity. It’s worth your while to develop engaging content that allows the customer to interact with your brand. One way to enhance the quality of your content is by sharing interactive posts that will engage your audience and drive leads.

Here Are 4 Examples of Engaging B2B Content to Consider Using:

  1. Infographics: Infographics have been popular for a while now and can be particularly useful for B2B brands. Data can often be dry and boring, but infographics allow you to display it in an interesting and engaging way. Keep the design simple and eye-catching. If a buyer feels overwhelmed with information, they may lose interest, so present data in a way that is easy to read and comprehend. Make it stand out by adding an interactive element that requires readers to scroll or click to retrieve information (like this example from iLevel). Think of your infographic as a story. Stories are more memorable and keep your audience interested and wanting more.
  2. Calculators: Interactive calculators are a great way to increase engagement because they show potential buyers the benefits your company can provide. Buyers can get personalized cost estimates in an easy, non-stressful way. Calculators can also ignite a conversation between the company and buyer, pushing leads further into the sales funnel. By using a calculator, customers are assured of the value that your service can provide to them.
  3. Quizzes: Personality quizzes. Product evaluations. Knowledge tests. The options for interactive quizzes are endless. People love quizzes because they give unique results based on personal answers. The best thing about quizzes is that they can generate leads by requiring a name and email before releasing the result. Quizzes are a two-way road. They allow you to subtly share information about your products and services. Most importantly, if you ask the right questions, the answers can give your brand insight into your audience. Which is helpful when developing personas. And last but not least, quizzes can encourage people to share their results, which will result in more people taking the quiz and more leads captured.
  4. Surveys/Polls: Surveys and polls are great tools because they make clients feel like their opinions matter, and they enable you to gain important insights. Survey questions can be made up of closed or open-ended questions that allow you to find out even more about your audience than quizzes. Keep your surveys and polls short and sweet. That way people will take the time to fill it out and give the most accurate answers possible. It can also help to offer an incentive, like a gift card, which usually increases participation.

Sharing engaging content is one of the best ways to build your brand image and get more leads into your sales funnel. If you take the time to produce quality interactive content, you will engage your audience. And generate leads instead of yawns.

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