In 2011, and soon to be 2012, it is all of our jobs to take a step back and ask – how do I reach my customers? Where do we find our audience? The days of trade magazines being the key to unlocking B2B opportunities has clearly passed. So… today, where can we find buyers?
eMarketer provides us some insights with some numbers that I thought low (only 3 out of 4 watching HD TV and less than 1 out of 3 going to a social networking site) and some numbers, as a marketer, I’m thrilled to see are higher than I expected. The implications of many of these could be key to how your business raptures sales in 2012, let’s take a look at just a few…
Smartphones and Tablets
Is your website smartphone and tablet ready? With 70 percent and 40 percent accessing content from a smartphone and tablet respectively, the time is now to make sure your website works for these devices. Your only chance to capture market share may depend on a visit to your site on an iPhone… how do you like your chances?
Online Video
Nearly half of executives are watching video on a website. While Google is making videos a key to driving traffic to a site, ranking sites with videos much higher than those without, an online video may not only be the best way to get someone to your site – but the best way to make sales. Videos can help make your message much more compelling. Capturing an audience for 1-5 minutes is like getting a five minute uninterrupted pitch. But don’t go it halfway with a video – just pointing and shooting will not create an effective sales tool – and can actually do more harm than good by making your operation look amateur. Invest in professional video shooting and editing – you’ll be quick to find a payback.
Blogs
We’ve espoused the benefits of blogs just from the pragmatic, content creation and search engine optimization benefits – but the number of blog readers is growing rapidly. In single digits in 2010, the number of executives reading blogs on a regular basis is now at 22%. Whether your target audience reads your blogs or not, they separate you from your competitors by demonstrating thought leadership and creating a trust relationship. By providing advice, insights, and (sometimes) opinions, your organization can develop deeper relationships faster.
So as you plan to reach your target audience in 2012, take a minute to ask – where is my audience… and when they are there, am I capitalizing on the opportunity to impress?
