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Marketing Auto- mation in B2B More traffic, more leads, more sales: Automate your marketing. Marketing Auto- mation in Sales Are sales specialists becoming super- fluous? Marketing Auto- mation Basics Leads: develop and assess sales oppor- tunities. Content Promotion Seek and you shall find. Better: Be found and win! Content Marketing Search engine optimization: context over keywords! Content Listening The web never sleeps. Listen and profit! W4-Employee Interview Janine Rost, Head of Content Studio marketingblatt.com Issue 7 Summer 2015 w-4.com Inhalt Page 1 and 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 8 Page 7 MORE TRAFFIC, MORE LEADS, MORE SALES AUTOMATE YOUR MARKETING A few years ago, sales and marketing departments were still separate entities in many companies. This has long since changed with options such as big data, different data analysis tools or various marke- ting technologies that the Internet provides us with these days. The two departments are becoming ever more entwined thanks to modern technology and software. The result is that marketing is taking over more and more parts of the actual sales process. This is both, a challenge and a tremendous chance. Continue reading on page 2 responsibility for too few leads, which used to be their own remit. Back to the future! Many companies have researched your products or services and made a decision to buy well in advance of the use of new technology. This is precisely why it is important to get them excited about what you offer with interesting content. We use software for this that observes and analyses in detail your buyers’ behavior on your website. Indi- vidually tailored content can then help you to gain more qualified leads for your sales department later on. So, instead of delivering any old content, marke- ting automation also tries to offer the right content at the right time. «Your buyers receive targeted advertising that interests them but doesn’t annoy them. The result: more traffic, more leads and so more sales.» We can offer you two marketing automation systems to help you achieve your goals: Oracle Eloqua for large enterprise solutions and HubSpot for small and medium-sized companies. W4 is a certified solutions partner for both systems. Establishing a qualified lead can be pretty time consuming. Marketing automation can be used to completely automate many activities. Potential buyers and business partners are accompanied all the way from information gathering to the purchase. During this process, not only is a user profile crea- ted, it is also constantly updated with new informa- tion to make communication even more personal. Further useful content means that new prospects for qualified leads can also be gained. Regular commu- nication also means that contact with these users is not broken off so quickly. However, one disadvantage of this development is also the increased potential for conflict between the two departments: marketing is now taking on some lead generation, which used to be part of the sales department’s job. Likewise, the sales department can now also give their colleagues in marketing the

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Page 1: Marketingblatt Summer 2015

Marketing Auto-mation in B2BMore traffic, more leads, more sales: Automate your marketing.

Marketing Auto-mation in SalesAre sales specialists becoming super-fluous?

Marketing Auto-mation BasicsLeads: develop and assess sales oppor-tunities.

Content Promotion Seek and you shall find. Better: Be found and win!

Content Marketing Search engine optimization: context over keywords!

Content ListeningThe web never sleeps. Listen and profit!

W4-Employee InterviewJanine Rost, Head of Content Studio

marketingblatt.com

Issue 7Summer 2015

w-4.com

Inhalt

Page 1 and 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 8Page 7

MORE TRAFFIC, MORE LEADS, MORE SALES

AUTOMATE YOUR MARKETING A few years ago, sales and marketing departments were still separate entities in many companies. This has long since changed with options such as big data, different data analysis tools or various marke-ting technologies that the Internet provides us with

these days. The two departments are becoming ever more entwined thanks to modern technology and software. The result is that marketing is taking over more and more parts of the actual sales process. This is both, a challenge and a tremendous chance.

Continue reading on page 2

responsibility for too few leads, which used to be their own remit.

Back to the future!Many companies have researched your products or services and made a decision to buy well in advance of the use of new technology. This is precisely why it is important to get them excited about what you offer with interesting content.

We use software for this that observes and analyses in detail your buyers’ behavior on your website. Indi-vidually tailored content can then help you to gain more qualified leads for your sales department later on. So, instead of delivering any old content, marke-ting automation also tries to offer the right content at the right time.

«Your buyers receive targeted advertising that interests them but doesn’t annoy them. The result: more traffic, more leads and so more sales.»

We can offer you two marketing automation systems to help you achieve your goals: Oracle Eloqua for large enterprise solutions and HubSpot for small and medium-sized companies. W4 is a certified solutions partner for both systems.

Establishing a qualified lead can be pretty time consuming. Marketing automation can be used to completely automate many activities. Potential buyers and business partners are accompanied all the way from information gathering to the purchase. During this process, not only is a user profile crea-ted, it is also constantly updated with new informa-tion to make communication even more personal. Further useful content means that new prospects for qualified leads can also be gained. Regular commu-nication also means that contact with these users is not broken off so quickly.

However, one disadvantage of this development is also the increased potential for conflict between the two departments: marketing is now taking on some

lead generation, which used to be part of the sales department’s job. Likewise, the sales department can now also give their colleagues in marketing the

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marketingblatt.com 2 | Issue 7 | 2015

Example: How exactly does marketing automation work?A company wants to access a new service. It the-refore researches the issue on the net and comes across your website. In return for some information (e.g. name and email address), an eBook can then be downloaded from a purpose-built landing page. These interactions (downloads, website clicks, visits from social media pages etc.) are then collec-ted by the system to generate targeted contact.

Then comes the most important step: the qualifica-tion of the lead – also known as lead nurturing. Here, it is important to give the interested party the right information at the right time –  depending on the lifecycle phase the lead is in at this moment. Using the marketing automation software we offer, you can even send them more information afterwards. You can also customize this (for example with a persona-lized greeting) so as to prepare the lead for the sale in an ideal way.

An important part of lead nurturing is lead scoring. A lead scoring model helps you to keep track of a lead‘s development: every interaction counts. The lead‘s score will help you to determine when a lead is ready to make a buying decision. It is vital that both marketing and sales agree on a lead scoring model.

«The right content at the right time - marketing automation brings personalization to the next level.»

On to the next level!In addition to reducing your business’s marketing

expenses, the benefits of marketing automation are clear: more traffic, more leads, more sales and bet-ter measurability of your overall marketing activities.

But one thing is for sure: by introducing marketing automation, you will be well prepared for future tasks and challenges and ready to take it all to the next (marketing) level.

Using marketing automation will help you to:

Increase business success:increase your traffic, generate more leadsand increase your sales.

Keep full control: thanks to the available software, yourmarketing activities are even easier tomeasure.

Stay flexible: marketing automation offersyou quick, easy, complete and fullyautomated application options.

Take a leading role: use modern technolo-gy and software to take things to the next marketing level.

What are the most valuable marketing automation features?

57%

52%

39%

34%

34%

30%

25%

12%

Lead nurturing

Analyses and reporting

Segmentation

Integration features

E-mail marketing

Campaign management

Lead scoring

Creating landing pages

Source: Ascend2 & Marketo: Marketing Automation Survey

Learn more about marketing automation with our white paper on the topic. Use this QR code to download it for free.

Our Service We will be delighted to advise you on the available software providers and help you in developing your own campaign. Drop us a line!

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Raiseawarness

Prospect

Interest

Before Now

Gettingacquainted

Evaluation

Business Case

PersonalSale

MarketingCommunication

Purchase

Qualified Lead

AcceptedLead

Qualified sales-opportunity

CHF / $ / €

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Issue 7 | 2015 | 3marketingblatt.com

department has to adapt to changing circumstan-ces. Never have clients been this close to compa-nies: they are always only one click away. Social media channels, blogs and other websites always keep them up to date. They do not need anyone to explain products and services to them. All of this is happening automatically nowadays. Salespersons do not need to get the ball rolling anymore. What is needed is a collaborative approach.

This means that sales specialists are well advised to see themselves as problem solvers. Marketing automation provides them with all the data they could ask for. All they have to do is put that data to work. The essential question they should ask them-selves, however, is not “How can I sell a product to a client?” but “how can I help clients to achieve their goals?” The cornerstone in sales is not the sale of a specific product anymore. It is not about the price of a product, but about its value: A sales-person’s job is to show clients the added value of what they are selling and not that they possibly offer it at a better price than the competition.

There is no denying the benefits of marketing auto-mation in sales: The automated, targeted triggering of content improves the user experience as users now get the information they are really looking for. From a sale’s perspective, work is becoming more effective. On top of that, every step of the customer journey can be observed in real time, which means that marketing and sales strategies can be optimi-zed constantly for maximum effect. As solution providers, who do more than just sell stuff, sales-persons establish trust and can count on clients’ loyalty in the future.

interacting with the content the marketing team has created. And with every interaction, the software learns more about the user to guide him or her towards a purchasing decision. This obviously means that the typical tasks of a sales person such as identifying prospects, nurturing leads and pit-ching offers now happen automatically. Potential clients already know about the products and ser-vices of a company very well. The salesperson as pitch master has become a thing of the past.

The Sales Specialist as Problem Solver Does this mean that sales personnel has become expendable? No! It only means that the sales

MARKETING AUTOMATION

ARE SALES SPECIALISTS BECOMING SUPERFLUOUS WITH THE RISE OF MARKETING AUTOMATION?Generating qualified leads is the Sisyphean task of every sales specialist. No matter the effort, there is always the risk of the rock rolling back into the val-

ley. Marketing automation has made this strenuous process a lot easier. Is this the end of the traditional salesperson?

Nothing will stop the triumph of marketing automa-tion: statistics reveal that more and more compa-nies rely on tools like HubSpot and Eloqua to make their marketing efforts more effective (see infogra-phic). However, this does not mean that the marke-ting department has nothing to do anymore. Ins-tead both marketing and sales are becoming more aligned with one another, which is a good thing as they are essentially pursuing the same goals.

Marketing automation is nothing else than software that monitors and analyzes the online behavior of potential clients in order to trigger content that suits exactly their needs. Prospects become leads by

Download a free infographic on marketing automation with this QR code for free.

Reducing repetitive tasks

Source: serchenginewatch.com

Better targeting of cutomers

Improving cust-omer experience

Better emailmarketing

Reductionof human error

30%

10%

9%

8%

According to marketers, the advanta-ges of Marketing Automation are:

36%

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marketingblatt.com 4 | Issue 7 | 2015

Things to consider:

Lead nurturing processes are as individualas your leads – personalize!

Patience: some purchase decisions take time. Keep leads interested with interesting content.

Be accessible: 35-40% of orders go to the vendor who is the first to reply to aninquiry (source: insidesales.com).

Emphasize your competences to reassure clients.

Document, analyze the data you acquire during the lead nurturing process.

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Every interaction countsLead scoring models evaluate leads according to two factors: one is the lead›s profile, the other is concerned with his or her engagements. Whereas the profile contains all known characteristics of a lead (such as industry, job title, revenue etc.), en-gagement relates to the lead›s digital behavior. How often has a lead visited a website? What links were clicked and how much time was spent?

In order to really assess the lead, marketing and sales have to decide how important certain as-pects are compared to others. This depends on many factors, such as target groups. If your are pri-marily targeting marketing managers, sales as-sistants will receive a lower score.

The objective is to find the lead with a perfect pro-file and a high amount of engagement. Only we bo-th factors are taken into consideration the lead can thoroughly be evaluated.

In any case, it is important that marketing and sales team work together and agree on their lead scoring

model. This means both departments have to co-operate and communicate in order to create an ef-fective lead scoring model.

Your search engine ranking is great and your web-site draws traffic from various sources. Still, all that traffic does not generate leads. The reason for this could be that you communicate to a widely distri-buted mass of people. A targeted approach requi-res that you know something about your visitors in order to make specific offers. A common way to do this is the contact form.

Contact forms generate leadsMarketing automation reaches its full potential only when it can provide users with personalized content. This is impossible without data. This is why contact forms are an important ingredient of every sound marketing campaign. They usually consist of several questions and are commonly placed on landing pages. The objective is to get contact information from website visitors. In exch-ange for their data, users get access to exclusive content, such as white papers, case studies or special offers.

Contact forms are not only used to generate leads, but also to learn more about already existing cli-ents. This additional information can be used by the sales team to have more targeted interactions with leads.

Attention: Two to three questions per form suffice. If you ask to many questions, people will become suspicious. If your download content is hardly downloaded, you should consider to take some items off the form.

When establishing contact it should be enough to ask for name, e-mail address and something that gives some clue about the lead›s characteristics, such as job position. You can ask for more informa-tion the next time s/he is interested in downloading something from your site.

Now you can create a user profile. Marketing auto-mation now tracks the user›s behavior online and gathers valuable data without you having to expli-citly ask for it. But how do you know that a lead is ready for your sales pitch? Lead scoring does the trick!

MARKETING AUTOMATION

LEADS: DEVELOP AND ASSESS SALES OPPORTUNITIES

Marketing automation can be a tremendous help for lead generation, providing leads with the right infor-mation at the right time and guiding them towards a

purchase decision. But how are leads generated and how does one know that they are ready to complete a business transaction?

Opened email 1 pointvisited landing page 3 pointsjob title 3 – 5 pointscompleted contact form 5 pointsvisited product page 5 pointswhite paper download 10 points

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Lead nurturing activities bythe marketing department

Lead

Further lead nurturing acrivitiesto bring the lead along the buyer‘s journey

Sales Ready Lead

Contact is ready fordirect communicationwith the sales team

POINTS

POINTS

POINTS

30-29

0-29

60+

Learn all about marketing automati-on in our exclusive white paper.

Page 5: Marketingblatt Summer 2015

Issue 7 | 2015 | 5marketingblatt.com

CONTENT PROMOTION

SEEK AND YOU SHALL FIND. BETTER: BE FOUND AND WIN!

You can either talk as loudly as possible in order to be heard or you realize that good content by itself will not get you the recognition your are hoping for. A pop star turns into one only because there is a team that ensu-res the music is heard. Even great content has to be promoted before it can sell something. There are three ways to do this and it is best to rely on a well-ba-lanced mix of all of them: owned media, earned media and paid media.

«Even great content has to be promoted before it can sell so-mething.»

Owned mediaOwned media are company-owned websites, blogs, newsletters and profiles on social networks such as Facebook, Tumblr or LinkedIn. It goes without saying that these media are used to publish and promote the content created for/by the company. However, it is easier said than done as the content or the way it is promoted should fit the channel that is being used (e.g. blog versus Twitter).

Paid Media: Buy Attention at a Bargain Great content markets itself! – People who rely on this will be disappointed quickly. Sure, there is no attention without content that appeals to the targe-

ted audience. But many people are interested in your target group. How are you going to stick out from a group of suitors vying for attention? Think less advertising and more in terms of public relations and you will get there! What you need is to get the content in front of people’s eyes. The rest will take care of itself as long as you have great content! Vari-ous tools help you to promote your content:

Facebook: You can reach people who do not follow you on Facebook as well. Using Facebook Ads, your content can show up in the news feed of people who have not liked your profile. The good thing about Facebook is that targeting is very specific.

«Great content markets itself! – People who rely on this will be disappointed quickly.»

StumbleUpon: On this website, users “stumble” through the internet. StumbleUpon delivers websi-tes to its users that suit their interest. Among these stumbles are also paid discoveries: Companies can pay the site to get their websites in front of users at a fair price. In general, this is a great tool to drive traf-fic. However, StumbleUpon especially appeals to a younger, college-age demographic, which is why not every content will work here.

Outbrain: Outbrain has a network of websites that publish content. For a small fee, Outbrain will make your content appear on sites that suit your target groups.

Plista: This Berlin-based company is very similar to Outbrain. Again, cooperations form the cornerstone of its business. However, Plista also allows you to create ads.

Earned Media: Enjoy the EchoThe attention you have earned is the most valuable. However, it is also the hardest to get. What this refers to is content that is shared by people simply because they found your content and liked it enough to let their friends and contacts know about it. This also means that you cannot get earned media without the other two. People have to be able to find your content somewhere. That is why it is best to rely on a combination of owned, earned and paid media. Moreover, the content promotion strategy should be clear before you actually start creating content.

Our service Find and enchant your audience. From creating content to promoting it – we will help you! Get in touch, we’d love to talk to you about content promotion.

We have witnessed an exponential growth of content in recent years. There are innumerable blogs, websi-tes and social networks. To turn an idiom inside- out: we miss the individual tree for the forest. How

does one make sure content gets the attention it deserves? Quality by itself is not enough. The cont-ent has to be promoted. Various tools will help you with that.

Organizational goals for B2B content marketing

82% 74% 71% 68% 64% 57% 57% 47% 45%

Brandawarness

Leadgeneration

Customeracquisition

Toughtleadership

Engagment Customerretention

Website traffic

Lead management

Sales

Source: Content Marketing Institute

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created solely with an eye on SEO criteria often appears generic and interchangeable. Content should be original and authentic to be of value.

Compelling Content – But How and for Whom?There are many types of content and they all require different channels for distribution. While social media like Twitter and Facebook are great to interact with audiences and are perfectly suited to distribute cont-ent you have published elsewhere, a corporate blog is the perfect tool to provide insightful content. A corpo-

rate blog is not a platform you should use to publish press releases and product information. A blog should be focused on knowledge. Use it to present solutions your target group might encounter and/or to write about industry news or to allow customers a peek behind the curtains.

A mix of topical content and evergreen content should make up your blog, which should publish regularly new posts (at the very least once a week). The latter describes content such as tutorials and best practices reports that stay relevant for a long period of time and therefore will continuously draw traffic to your site. Topical content refers to news such as new develop-ments in the industry or reports on events. This type of content brings short-term traffic.

Not only blogs benefit companies that want to increase the ROI of their marketing activities. Case studies and white papers offer added value to pros-pects and clients for which they will regularly visit your site. Such content should be made available after users have completed a contact form. The data they reveal will be very valuable to your sales team and will furthermore help you to continue to optimize your marketing activities.

Still, before you start producing tons of new content, you should also ask yourself for whom you create it. High quality content does not only refer to originality, but most of all to usability to your target group. Who are your clients? What interests them and which online channels do they prefer to use?

CONTENT MARKETING

CONTEXT OVER KEYWORDS

Like any other search engine, Google is constantly working to optimize its services, which is to provide users with helpful search results. For a long time, keywords were considered paramount to relevancy and many companies took advantage of this. Mean-while, Google does not provide the keywords that lead to a page visit anymore. This is so because Google does not want this to be the determining factor for creating content. Why, you ask? The ans-wer is simple: Everyone can find out which keywords are relevant and create generic content around them. However, keywords alone do not say anything about the quality of the content and whether it is actually providing the information a user is looking for. But this is exactly the service Google wants to provide: helpful search results.

«Content created solely with an eye on SEO criteria often appears generic and interchan-geable. Content should be origi-nal and authentic to be of value.»

However, this does not mean that the basics of search engine optimization (SEO) have become irre-levant. Keywords, meta descriptions and URLs still matter – albeit to a lesser degree. By themselves, these classic SEO measures will not bring the desi-red success, i.e. more traffic, more leads and more revenue. Technical aspects like web programming aside (e.g. responsive design), content has become paramount to assessing the search-related rele-vancy of a website. This is a good thing as this is actually the reason why websites exist in the first place: to make valuable information accessible. And this should be done in an appealing manner. Content

Many people believe that all you have to do to show up in the top search results is to frequently use the proper keywords in your texts. Yet this does not suffice anymore. This does not mean that the aspect

of keywords should be neglected, but that great con-tent is much more important to successful marketing. So do yourself a favor and stop boring you audience with texts that could have been written by robots.

The benefits of original content:

visitors are more invested in your contentand will have positive associations withyour company

visitors return to see if there is new content(customer retention)

visitors will think of your company as authentic and competent (brand awareness)

visitors will share your content onlineand increase your reach

visitors interact with your content andreveal valuable (contact) data (e.g. byfilling out forms to access exclusivecontent like case studies etc.)

you climb up the search engine rankings

Our Service From website to blog, from storyboard to infogra-phic – as a full service provider W4 creates content that appeals to your audience. Get in touch!

If you do it the right way, content marketing will benefit yourcompany in the following ways:

Marketing will be able to assist thesales department with client data

Raise brand awareness

Generate more traffic, more leads and more returning customers

Be recognized as a thought leader

Download a free infographic with lots of facts and writing tips using this QR code. Like all good things, it is free!

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Social Listening: Straw Fires Easily Become Wildfires Web 2.0 was transformative for marketing. Whether it is social networks or blogs: people share experien-ces, opinions and images of cats freely, immediately and with ease. This also means that people talk about brands and products. Companies should be a regu-lar visitor in these virtual places in order to interact with audiences and to market their services. However, one should pay attention to what is happening outs-ide of the company-owned Facebook fan page as well: How often do people talk about your products elsewhere? Is the conversation neutral, positive or negative? These are question that are probably very interesting to you. But there is even more to it. This is why you should invest into social listening:

Strategy: You are probably on one or the other social network. But which network is the one on which you are most frequently a conversation topic? Where do people talk positively about you? Use this information to optimize your social media marketing strategy. Focus on platforms that really matter to your brand.

Product development: Clients do not always get in touch with if their think of ways to improve your services. However, if you keep an eye on the conver-sation about you, you will learn a lot about what cli-ents like about your products and what leaves them dissatisfied. It is also worthwhile to keep the whole industry on your radar: are there needs that none of your competitors fulfill? Be the innovator and close that gap!

Image: Do people like, love or hate you? Some brands have had to endure vicious shitstorms because they did not take client feedback online seriously enough. Make sure you do not miss a thing and react to complaints in a timely manner! A single complaint can reach thousands or even millions of people in a matter of a few hours. This could seri-ously damage your brand’s reputation. Social lis-tening helps you to manage your reputation online and allows you to improve on your service!.

Identify influencers: Whether it is blogs or You-Tube. Some people have a huge online following. Are some of these people talking about your brand? If so, try to get in touch with them. Maybe they are interested in a partnership. You cannot have enough influential friends by your side. But first, you have to identify them!

Keep an eye on competition: Do not only focus on your own brand. What is the competition up to? How do people talk about them online? What are the most talked about trends in the industry? How can you optimize your strategy to differentiate your-self better from the competition?

Content listening: you are what you clickJust like social listening, content listening is software that analyzes user behavior. Which content do they click? What are they looking for? Are there topics that are especially valuable to them? Decisions for or against specific content gives away a lot about what they need.

CONTENT LISTENING

SOCIAL LISTENING: LISTEN AND PROFIT!Do you know what people write about you online? Do you know your clients well enough to know what enthralls and what bores them? If not, it is about time

you start listening. It is about time for social listening and content listening strategies! There are many tools that will make it easy for you.

Our Service We gladly advise you on the benefits of social lis-tening for your company. We can also assist you in developing a social media strategy that really meets your needs. Get in touch!

Interested in recei-ving the print version of the Marketingblatt for free twice a year?

Subscribe here!

www.w-4.ch/marketing-blatt-bestellen

The two main benefits of knowing your social media audience:

Content listening enables you to producecontent that is interesting to clients and keeps them invested in your brand and turns them into returning customers. This will also provide valuable data in the lead nurturing process.

Create buyer personas. The more youknow about clients, the better you canserve their interests. You can addressclients in a personalized manner and makeindividual offers to them. This will greatlysimplify the sales process for you!

Count on marketing automation solutions such as Oracle Eloqua to do content listening. Marketing automation software remembers the interests of individual users and creates corresponding profiles. Returning visitors receive the information you want thmen to see at their respective stage of the customer journey. Moreover, the software has features that allow you to do social media marketing as well (including social listening).

What are the best social listening tools on the market?

Learn more in our social listening white paper!

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The advantages of social media marketing for your company:

learn more about your customers’ interests and needs

gain in-depth insight about how people talk about you online in real-time

keep an eye on industry trends and your competition

optimize your social media marketing strategy to increase your ROI

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Page 8: Marketingblatt Summer 2015

marketingblatt.com 8 | Issue 7 | 2015

Janine Rost manages the content studio at W4

INTERVIEW

EMPLOYEE

From Good-to-Have to Must-Have: Content Has Become a Key Success Factor in Marketing

Issue 7 SUMMER 2015 Publisher and Editorial Office: W4 ZurichEdition: 2000 Ex

About the Journal

W4 Short Profile

W4 connects marketing expertise with cutting-edge technolo-gy. For more than 20 years, we have built the perfect stage for industrial goods and sophisticated services – amongst others, with marketing automation solutions, promotion campaigns, enterprise websites or mobile apps and with data pools linked through intelligent interfaces.

SERVICES Conception and Developing a strategySales FactoryContent StudioMediadesign, Illustrations and AnimationsSoftware DevelopmentManagement Systems

SOLUTIONSMarketing Automation Content Personalization Content MarketingEnterprise Apps Optimized Landing PagesDigital Marketing/SMOVideo ContentE-Mail MarketingSharePoint Branding3D-VisualizationExhibition MarketingText Creation and Online JournalismOnline CommunicationCorporate CommunicationsAdvertising CampaignsPrint CommunicationPersonal-MarketingMarketing CooperationsMobile MarketingSocial Media Marketing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Illustration Google Adwords

LOCATIONS

SWITZERLANDIdastrasse 14, CH-8003 ZürichTel.: +41 44 533 50 35Aeschenvorstadt 71, CH-4051 BaselTel.: +41 61 500 04 20Voie du Chariot 3, CH-1003 LausanneTel.: +41 21 533 50 40

GERMANY

Königsbrücker Strasse 70, 1. HH DE-01099 DresdenTel.: +49 351 418 889 50Scherlstrasse 18, DE-04103 LeipzigTel.: +49 351 418 889 52

[email protected], www.w-4.com

Director: Jörg Wenzel

PRODUCTS

Act-On Akeneo CommunityNetDynamische PDF‘s HubSpotMagento Moving Image 24

Open EMM Oracle Eloqua ProductEnablerTypo 3 WebPrePrint WordPress

Ms Rost, which role does content play in marketing?Janine Rost: The biggest it has ever played. Never has high-end content been so important as it is today. Google›s Panda update has a lot to do with this as it shifted the attention away from keywords towards the relevancy of content. That does not mean that SEO measures such as meta descrip-tion etc. have become irrelevant. It means that without compelling content such measures will be pointless.

«Original and authentic content appeals to search engines and their users which is exactly the way it is supposed to be.»

On top of that, the visuals should be interesting as well. The possibilities are seemingly endless. Images and videos are great ways to set the stage for products and services. Companies are advised to take this into consideration when planning their budgets. That websites should have an identifiable structure should be self-evident. Moreover, corpo-rate design, corporate font and a logo give a brand its identity and make it recognizable.

All in all, there is no successful marketing without a professional content strategy.

What does this mean in practical terms?Janine Rost: The target group is key in determi-ning the right content strategy. The type of cont-ent, the visual language and the right channels all depend on who you are marketing to. Every client is different. They target different offers and are at different points of the customer journey. The bet-ter I know a client, the more personalized can I marked to him or her. It is about getting the right content in front of the right client at the best pos-sible moment.

Content or social listening are great ways to find out which topics are relevant to potential clients. In what context does a client talk about my brand? How well does a new product fare? What is being criticized? Special social listening software scans the world wide web for you and provides answers to these pressing questions. This information is not only valuable in terms of product and service

optimization, but to the overall content strategy as well. A nice side-effect is that you also keep an eye on the competition with these tools.

How important is the differentiation of indivi-dual media when developing the company›s communication strategy?Janine Rost: Very important. Different content needs different media. Corporate blogs are for example great to showcase competences and write about practical experiences. Press releases and data sheets have a place on the company website. Facebook, Twitter and other social media are used to share content online.

Social media are still relevant?Janine Rost: Absolutely! The use of social media expands a company›s reach. Facebook, Twitter, Xing and LinkedIn are great to interact with thought leaders who may share content on their sites. In term of budget, only very little is required to target users via paid reach for example.

Social media are also helpful in terms of search engine optimization.

«Last but not least: social media are interactive and therefore perfectly suited to improve customer service.»

Client interactions: how can content be used to generate leads?Janine Rost: Professional contact forms get the best results. However, nobody enters their data into a form without having a good reason to do so. You have to offer leads added value in exchange for their data, such as download content like white papers or case studies.

What does every website need to have in your opinion? Janine Rost: Without a doubt: responsive design. It should be the standard nowadays. Not only do users increasingly go online on mobile devices, also because Google is punishing websites that are not optimized for mobile access.

Thank you for this interview.