V2 Marketing Communications Blog

A lot of companies have jumped onto the inevitable content marketing bandwagon – where instead of throwing offers and deals and flashy brands in the faces of customers, companies can instead create and distribute relevant content that engages the audience by educating them on the brand. The field has exploded recently, with almost every company now marketing their content not their new deals.

But even though content marketing and inbound marketing has brought a lot of companies success by helping them create a channel of information to pass along to potential customers, buyers and other companies, many aren’t seeing the numbers they’d like to online. Or for some, web traffic may be good, but it’s no longer growing. Your company is still getting Facebook likes and re-Tweets on Twitter, but the audience is at a stagnant standstill. Although most companies know how to promote their content, they aren’t able to catch the audiences they want. So, many have turned to paid social promotions to get the word across. And results have been pretty positive for those who are joining the world of paid advertising.

Let’s face it, social media marketing is primarily suited for Business to Consumer (B2B), but this does not mean that Business to Business (B2B) companies cannot also harness the power of social media. This is one marketing error that most B2B marketers usually make. B2B businesses, especially manufacturers, are often the slowest to accept and integrate social media marketing.

Social media is a huge part of many company’s marketing efforts. It’s hard to believe Facebook is now 10 years old (they grow up so fast). At just 3 years old, Snapchat is a newcomer to the social media playground, but is becoming a major player for social media marketing, though it has yet to make any revenue.

Snapchat is a social messaging application that lets users take photos, record video and add text and drawings, and send them to a controlled list of recipients. The messages, photos and videos, referred to as “Snaps,” disappear after a few seconds.

Of the many sales tips that are often repeated within the sales industry, “you never know who is a potential customer” is perhaps one of the most basic. The implication inherent in this statement is to treat every interaction in either your brick and mortar business, or your online one, as a potential customer. A simple example of this concept is in the industry of luxury goods. While there are many ways to show off wealth, there are many wealthy people who choose not to. So if you ever find yourself working behind the counter at an official Rolex dealer or Ferrari dealership, always remember that the man or woman covered in drywall and paint spots is just as much a potential customer as the man or woman in the suit already wearing one.

This fundamental has its roots in a time far before the modern brand saturated age in which we currently live. Customer retention was feasible with a warm greeting and decent customer service, after all, you didn’t have to bend over backwards when the nearest competing business was in the next town or perhaps farther. Today however when you combine the online shopping marketplace with the current density of competing brick and mortar businesses, you have to adjust to a new tip; “you never know who will be a repeat customer.” You can never count on seeing someone walk through your doors again the way you once could.