{"id":72880,"date":"2018-02-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybusinessfuture.com\/how-to-position-your-company-as-an-expert-with-native-advertising-social-selling\/"},"modified":"2020-11-25T16:54:02","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T16:54:02","slug":"how-to-position-your-company-as-an-expert-with-native-advertising-social-selling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybusinessfuture.com\/en\/how-to-position-your-company-as-an-expert-with-native-advertising-social-selling\/","title":{"rendered":"How to position your company as an expert with Native Advertising & Social Selling"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1458119880711{padding-right: 30px !important;}”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]Social Selling, Native Advertising or Social Business: 2018 offers new opportunities for Sales & Marketing. But what about business IT? In short: This sector in particular offers great potential for the interaction of new marketing techniques. Here’s why.<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”30″][vc_column_text]How can digital media and new technologies be integrated to increase the efficiency of marketing via digital channels? Marketers ask themselves this question every year. Modern entrepreneurs are fortunate to have seen some amazing changes in digital marketing and technology in recent years. Surely they have benefited in numbers as well. In retrospect, for example, there has been a phenomenal growth in organic, then paid search in the digitalization solutions industry, more and more content in social media (which has also increased in B2B use) and more recently an incredible global growth in the use of mobile phones, especially smartphones, when it comes to consuming marketing content. But what do these changes mean for our future?[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

1. Native Advertising: Rely on native ads and intelligent content
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[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20″][vc_column_text]In 2018, the focus will clearly be on native advertising. Although we have been pointing out the increasing importance of content marketing, especially in the B2B environment, for some years now, this topic is slowly gaining attention in more and more marketing departments of the IT industry. In addition, content marketing is constantly evolving. An example: If you do it right, you will get two campaigns for the price of one today – compared to the situation a few years ago.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_single_image image=”65854″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_column_text]According to Forbes<\/a>, native advertising, i.e. the more natural placement and formatting of digital ads (such as the use of sponsored posts), will probably account for more than 74 percent of all advertising revenues by 2021. These ads are demonstrably “more actively clicked and offer more user engagement than traditional banner ads”. Their use is particularly suitable for business IT, as these are often products in need of explanation. But how does one transport this to the customer? Contributions work better here than direct ads, e.g. via google displays. The pain points of the target group can be specifically addressed. This also makes native ads less annoying for consumers, as not only the market researcher found out. The only challenge here is that native advertising requires a fundamentally different approach in order to take advantage of the unique preferences of the people who see the ads. This calls for know-how in the various industries, topicality and, above all, regular support. In 2018, spendings on native ads will definitely increase, says Forbes<\/a>. For you, this means: rely on intelligent content that is either personalized or positioned as “user-generated content” and address your target group directly.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” padding_bottom=”30″ css_animation=””][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]Personalized Content vs. User-Generated Content (UGC)<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20″][vc_column_text]Gartner\u00a0<\/a>reports that in 2018 brands will increasingly focus on personalization, beacause content personalization is characterized by a high degree of effectiveness. The creation of an onsite targeting campaign using dynamic content blocks is just the beginning. E-mail automation enables companies to provide their potential customers with the right information at the right time. Such techniques are particularly promising in the B2B environment. They give you the opportunity to approach different target groups via different channels, monitor the results on a daily basis and quickly calculate the ROI.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”10″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” padding_bottom=”30″ css_animation=””][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]Our tip for content marketing experts:<\/strong> Use retargeting banners to reach potential customers in different phases of the customer journey and show them only the content they have visited before.<\/p>\n

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Furthermore, brands will increasingly invest in user-generated content (UGC) in the future. Loyal customers will be encouraged to act as brand ambassadors. This is a big advantage for companies, because people often trust the opinions and decisions of others. Transfer this to your company and let your customers have their say. Position quotes from your satisfied customers or prove your success with exciting case studies. You will see that the more “trust elements” your company has, the more trust it radiates. Influencer marketing also goes hand in hand with user-generated content and is particularly common on Instagram. Of course, this is not relevant for every industry, but this trend should also be kept in mind.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our experts and get individual advice.
\nWe will show you how you can successfully integrate native advertising into your communication strategy.
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2. New tools are important, but also marketing and IT have to work together
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[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20″][vc_column_text]Native advertising is certainly an attractive tool for marketing. But what is the point of using this technology if the tool cannot be optimally integrated into the company CMS? Or if the content is not also used by the PR department or sales colleagues? Agreements in the various departments are the be-all and end-all here, because otherwise valuable content and synergies are lost.<\/p>\n

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A question you should ask yourself here: Does marketing today include sales and PR, or does sales today include PR and marketing?[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_empty_space height=”15″][vc_column_text]What counts in both variants is that the right effect of communication can only be achieved in a networked way in the time of digitalization. The IT department of every company is responsible for ideal networking. Above all, it must be picked up accordingly if new tools are to be successfully implemented. This means that all departments should coordinate their use of different marketing tools and techniques.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_single_image image=”65858″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”15″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” padding_bottom=”30″ css_animation=””][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”15″][vc_column_text]This way, every employee will be able to judge the topics creatively and critically in his or her area, and thus also whether their use makes sense or can be expanded – at least for the time being.<\/p>\n

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The Information Services Group (ISG) has also carried out studies on the extent to which marketing and IT will influence the digital customer experience<\/a>. It is a fact that more and more tools are coming onto the market that need to be assessed first. It is also clear that there are no “tools” that are equally suitable for all companies and departments. The decision for a solution should therefore be made individually on the basis of the requirements in the company, the level of automation in marketing and the goals. And this means that all departments have to coordinate better. Because perhaps IT advises against the new solution, or perhaps marketing knows a more favorable variant.<\/p>\n

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Basically, the cooperation between marketing and IT should be strengthened and the corresponding specialist knowledge about cloud computing and data management in marketing departments should be carried. This prevents a shadow IT in your company. It also drives the integration of marketing automation and social media management. Together with secure data storage, this forms the basis for a consistent digital customer experience, according to ISG experts.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

3. Social Selling – how to become an expert
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[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20″][vc_column_text]Many entrepreneurs and managing directors certainly know these processes: The marketing department has created new content and the first campaigns are running. But what happens then? Should colleagues from other departments also be informed?[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=W2yw5GEWwS0&feature=youtu.be” align=”center”][vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_column_text]Absolutely. Actually, the marketing department should take care of this matter and, for example, inform all colleagues about the new content in the form of a short e-mail and summarize it in such a way that they can also distribute the content directly via their social media channels. Think further: What happens to the leads generated during the campaign – how should sales deal with them, how should they address them if they don’t even know the campaign content?<\/p>\n

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The benefits? First of all, your employees and the different departments deal with the topics of your company, and by sharing the content, the reach of your content is also enormously increased. In addition, your employees have the opportunity to position themselves as social experts. Perhaps some prefer to share cloud topics, others publish articles on IT security. Especially the “digital self” will have to be maintained more in the future – at least for those who want to get digitally involved at the front – and positioning on social media channels is a first and easy step. But the most important point is: Marketing & Sales go hand in hand here and coordinate each other’s actions. Surely the sales managers still have their own approach to customer acquisition. But through social selling they can significantly simplify the process – moving away from long Excel sheets that need to be phoned off, and towards making personal contact, e.g. via LinkedIn by sharing the latest article of the campaign.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]But what does “social selling” actually mean? <\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15″][vc_column_text]Social selling is a lead generation technique based on social media. It allows you to interact directly with your prospects on various social media platforms. Many companies have precise specifications for their sales process – which are usually so extensive that they are not used by their colleagues. With Social Selling, not only sales staff but also customer advisors, the PR department and even marketing managers can approach customers via their preferred social platforms. The success of social selling is based on the foundation of the community network and the trust that builds on it.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”15″][vc_column_text]Modern social selling is not complex and (mostly) does not require any special skills. But it requires a different way of thinking about the sales process.<\/p>\n

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Sales for Life, a Toronto-based social selling consultancy, conducted a study and found that only one in four salespeople knew how to integrate social media into their sales process. However, 61 percent of social selling companies report a positive impact on revenue growth.<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_single_image image=”65864″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” qode_css_animation=”” link=”http:\/\/www.salesforlife.com\/blog\/infographics\/the-state-of-social-selling-in-2016-infographic\/”][vc_empty_space height=”25″][vc_column_text]Sounds interesting? It is, because social selling delivers tremendous benefits when it comes to successfully running sales. Salesforce has summarized some inspiring social selling statistics:<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n