Blogue.

FGF: Grasspaper, cool neighborhoods, fractionalization, immersive art, and more!

#Report: The State of B2B Content Marketing

Some 43% of business-to-business marketers saw an increase in their 2021 content marketing budget and 66% expect to see more of the same in 2022, according to a report by ON24, Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs.

Here are some of the key findings:

• The top three categories for increased content spending next year are video, events and owned media.
• Content assets that delivered the best results this year are digital events, research reports and short articles.
• The top three goals advanced by content are brand awareness, creating trust and educating audiences.

Adjusting B2B Marketing Strategies

With events being executed in hybrid formats to include virtual and in-person, the adoption of innovative ways to engage across the customer journey has followed. To effectively connect with in a B2B environment, marketers must:

• Be attuned to evolving preferences.
• Know what resources to offer and when.
• Understand how best to engage.

#ProTip: Keep your marketing and sales teams are aligned! An easy, quick solution to do so is by conducting five-minute daily or weekly meetings so that each group can share updates on all relevant metrics.

#Report: Social Media Trends: Powered by Consumers

Learning how to drive success on social media in the accelerated age of the ‘now consumer’ will be imperative in 2022. Have a look at these top trends from a recent Hubspot Report:

• TikTok will take over social media, leaving other platforms to adapt
• Social ads will develop, as cookies die out
• Social selling will simplify the customer journey
• Post-pandemic content will shape up to consumer needs
• Omnichannel engagement will change the way consumers engage with social media
• Maturing influencer marketing will finally come of age
• Brands will lead in social media decentralization
• Metaverses, shared virtual world environments which people can access via the internet, will be the next consumer connection
• Brand inclusivity will be brand critical
• Communities will develop, and take control

Need help with your 2022 social media strategy? Contact us!

#FunFact: Gen Z has the Travel Bug this Holiday Season

Gen Z (ages 18 to 24) is the most likely age group among US adults to travel this holiday season, with 59% saying they will, as compared to 41% of baby boomers (ages 57 to 75) and just 35% of seniors (age 76+).

Five Steps to Creating a Whitepaper Plan

A whitepaper is often the most challenging marketing piece to create. Even when you do manage to, it sometimes fails to yield even a marginal return on investment and effort. Here are some the most important considerations when planning:

• Get all project reviewers on board
• Agree on the ‘Big 5’ – What is the goal of the whitepaper? Who will be reading the whitepaper (the target audience)? What is the whitepaper’s topic? Where in the sales cycle will it be used? How long will the whitepaper be?
• Compile the ‘Big 5’ into a plan
• Add important details to the plan – Keywords for SEO, milestone dates, budget, sources, call to action, etc.
• Get all reviewers to look over the plan and sign off

Use your plan to guide you while writing the full whitepaper. Once you get the hang of planning, it will eventually become second nature and you’ll be creating content faster and more efficiently, with minimal revisions or rewrites.

#Report: The State of B2B Content Marketing

Some 43% of business-to-business marketers saw an increase in their 2021 content marketing budget and 66% expect to see more of the same in 2022, according to a report by ON24, Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs.

Here are some of the key findings:

• The top three categories for increased content spending next year are video, events and owned media.
• Content assets that delivered the best results this year are digital events, research reports and short articles.
• The top three goals advanced by content are brand awareness, creating trust and educating audiences.

Instagram Adds Scheduling + ‘Practice Mode’ for Live Creators

Instagram is helping Live creators around the globe drum up interest by being able to schedule events and share the news with followers who then can set event reminders. A Practice Mode also is set to launch shortly to perfect presentations before going live.

Reviews Used to be a Nice-to-Have. Now, They’re a Must-Have

Review importance, influence, and consumption are rapidly increasing in consumer mindshare. In our digital marketplace reviews can be the first link to connecting your business with consumers.

#FunFacts from a recent survey by Podium:

• 88% of customers say reviews influence them in discovering a local business
• 23% of customers have read an online review in the last day, and 65% have read one in the last week
• 83% of customers say that reviews must be recent and relevant in order to care about them

#FunFact: Gen Z a Major Force on Twitter

Twitter research has revealed that 16 to 24 years olds, Gen Z, accounted for nearly 50% of US-based tweets over the past 12 months. With 70% of Gen Z respondents saying that they use the social network to learn about new products.

What We’re Reading, Listening to + Watching

• Canadian SMBs highly confident in economy and future growth: KPMG
• The 49 coolest neighborhoods in the world
• How TikTok helped this denim kickstarter reach its goal in 9 hours
• How mental health became a social media minefield
• Home Depot hires Walmart delivery drivers to drop off paint and more to customers’ doors
• Growing signs of a demand-fuelled retail recovery on the horizon, even as Canadians prepare for a second pandemic-clouded holiday season
• The fractionalization of everything

#FGFStory: Paper Made from Grass

Processing wood into paper requires a lot of water, energy, and chemicals. Creapaper mixes in grass, reducing the need for trees—and all the resources necessary to process them. According to Creapaper, their material can cut water use during paper production by 99%, save 97% of the energy use, and reduce CO2 emissions by at least 70% because of the energy savings.

Social Concerns Driving Content of Global Brands

Shutterstock reports thar social movements such as Stop Asian Hate and Black Lives Matter significantly drove content for 63% of global marketers over the past year, and 65% concur that diversity plays an important role in audience targeting. Visual diversity is a difficult goal for 44% of respondents and 76% think there’s still room for growth in terms of representation.

TikTok Shares New Insights into Halloween Engagement Trends

TikTok released data and an infographic that shares insights about Halloween engagement on their platform. The top content categories for last year’s Halloween included lip-sync singing, acting/dialogue, and comedy/dance. Top hashtags included #trickortreat with 336 billion views, #halloween with 20 billion views, #halloweenlook with 4.5 billion views and #halloweenmakeup with 1.2 billion views.

Check out the inforgraphic and more Halloween insights.

#ClientNews: Image Totale©

Zenergy’s New York PR team has been working hand-in-hand with the French artistic directors of Image Totale, Annabelle Mauger and Julien Baron, to draw awareness to the art and technology behind their ground-breaking immersive experiences. Annabelle and Julien were the first to create immersive art exhibits allowing spectators “to experience the emotional depth of the artwork in a much more personal and ethereal way, to feel more deeply connected to the artist.”

Read the latest article about the duo in California Business Journal.

“It’s Friday! Time to go make stories for Monday.” – Anonymous