Content marketing has risen from being a bit part player in B2B and B2C company strategies to the single most important facet of their advertising and marketing plans for the year ahead. Simply put, content marketing is the method most B2B marketers are now utilizing to drive growth and sales.
93% of B2B marketers use content marketing (source).
One of the most important tips in the creation of your advertising and marketing strategies is focusing on your content. No matter what kind of marketing plan you have in mind, high quality, original content is the way to success as digital technology can enhance your content with interactivity. On the other hand, interactivity cannot do magic if your content does not engage your target audience effectively. As a result, it is vital to plan and work on the kind of content that captures the interest of your end readers and use your creativity to add the appropriate digital tools to wow your audience. So, focus on the content of your magazine or e-Catalog and you will certainly be going in the right direction.
Image courtesy of www.iab.net
73% of B2B content marketers are producing more content than they did one year ago (source).
It is for this reason that you must produce and maintain the highest quality content through all the avenues available to you, this could come in the guise of your actual website itself, blogs, newsletters, email marketing or social media to mention but a few. What all these sources have in common is the inclusion of your high quality content that will enable you stand out from your competitors. Think about it, how many times have you searched for a particular topic or service online, you come across a site with poorly constructed, low quality content, does this make you want explore the site some more and find out about the product and the possibility of investing? No, of course it doesn’t, you will move straight ahead and find another site which satisfies your quest for knowledge, a source that will put all your worries to bed and answer any queries you may have. B2B marketers use an average of 13 content marketing tactics (source).
Image courtesy of www.iab.net
B2B marketers have cited Web traffic and sales lead quality as their top content marketing metrics for the last three years. (source)
The methods you use to assemble and present your content are an important factor in your content marketing strategy. You must use methods that will ensure your content is visually pleasing while taking full advantage of the benefits offered through the use of online publications as a vehicle for your content.
B2B marketers have cited Web traffic and sales lead quality as their top content marketing metrics for the last three years. (source)
The benefits of online publications to B2B marketing
Online publications are the latest in a long line of examples of how the internet and the experiences it can help provide can enhance and influence. Online publications created using 3D Issue offers many benefits, they include;
Flexible – you can make changes whenever necessary to your online publication, you are endowed with the ability to add or remove products as they become available or go out of stock, the same methods can be applied to pricing and product information.
Quick jump links – Allow readers to jump to ‘related’ products elsewhere in your publication by creating hotspots.
Catalog Linking – The digital edition archive feature allows you to give your readers access to a graphical library of the other catalogs or publications, so you can promote your other products too!
Social buzz – your readers can promote the publication and content by using the built in sharing features for Google+, Facebook, and Twitter etc…
Cost effective – in comparison to print publications, online publications can be produced and delivered at a fraction of the cost of their printed counterparts. If you already have a printed version of your publication in circulation then it can easily be reproduced using the 3D Issue software using the existing PDF’s you would have used to create your printed catalog.
Searchable – Catalogs can be fairly lengthy, printed copies can therefore be difficult to search and find a particular product or search term. With an online catalog comes the ability for the reader to type in a word or phrase, then have a direct link/click to that page.
Measurable –Through the use of Google analytics linked within your publications, you can track consumer behavior, analyze what items are getting the most clicks, which pages are garnering the most visits and so on. These are invaluable statistics to have at hand as they can influence future marketing decisions and pivots.
Continuously working – The convenience factor for the consumer is a big plus; they can access your e-catalog from any device at any time from a connected device without the need for the printed version to be at hand.
Embed photo galleries – Showcase photos of your products easily by embedding photo galleries or slideshows with the click of a button – no coding skills required!
Product demos – By adding videos of product demonstrations, your audience can ‘see’ features in action rather than simply reading about them.
Shopping Cart – Give your readers the ability to click to the shopping cart on your website for a particular product.
A video outlining how to include the shopping cart feature within your e-catalog can be viewed below
The dawn of video
Video enriches any publication within which it resides; in terms of content sharing, video is truly one of the internet’s strengths and is forecast to have a major impact on consumer behavior in the coming year. In an earlier blog I covered the many advantages that video offers backed up with statistics and figures, but for the purpose of today’s blog we are going to concentrate on how to create an e-catalog enhanced by video and the capabilities and qualities it undoubtedly brings to the table.
The below video outlines how to add video to your publication and further enhance your e-catalog which in turn will create a richer end user experience for the consumer, not only will this encourage the consumer to use your publications in the future, but it will further enhance your brand and establish your business as a leader in its field.
Have you got a content that you would like to transform with the fantastic features that 3D Issue can supply? Would you like to add video and audio to your online publications?
Try 3D Issue’s fully functional trial today and transform your content into content that will truly reflect your brand and inform, entertain and engage the user.
By Charlie Gallagher