Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8430 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2016 30 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2016 You’ve hit the wall. The first few content marketing posts flowed easily, but now that you’ve cherry-picked the low-hanging fruit what’s left to write about? According to a 2015 study from B2B Content Marketing: “Despite all the content types, platforms and options available, over 50 percent of marketers are still finding it challenging to produce engaging content, and 42 percent find it difficult to produce a suitable variety of content.” It is key to create a map of all the chan- nels and content types your organization will use. This can help fill your content mar- keting idea bank with concepts to execute. Content can and should have many dif- ferent goals — sometimes as basic as put- ting a face on your brand. Share photos of a recent team event with a brief introduction or a video of a customer using your product. Run a poll on social media that can gather customer insights or share an article that you found insightful and give your review. CLIENT SERVICES MANAGER FOR CREATE BY ISSUES INK @IssuesInk sschimnowski@IssuesInk.com IssuesInk.com SHAWNA SCHIMNOWSKI There are many ways to engage your audience. By monitoring what they respond to, you can find a winning combo. That said, there is a place for longer content items like blogs, whitepapers and ebooks, because that generates a true sharing of ideas and helps make your target audience smarter, position- ing you as the expert. So how do you generate ideas to fill the hopper for future content? Focus on the customer and what they want. Start building your idea bank with some of these sources: • What are the common questions asked of your sales team? • Know your content keywords – what information are people searching for online as it relate to your business. • Share what’s new and on the cutting edge for your industry and give your opinion on how it will impact their business. • Revisit the presentations you’ve done over the past year. Did topics or portions generate good audience engagement? • Start conversations on social media to find out what custom- ers want to hear more about. Keep in mind that content marketing is a holistic effort. No “one” piece of content will be responsible for a sale. The key is in the mix, and the secret is creating great content consistently, finding the right key performance indicators for your business goals and measuring them over a long period of time. And remember, there is lots of help available! CONTENT MARKETING Ideas You Can Take to the Bank BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Do You Know Your Business Numbers? One company estimates that in the past year, 14 to 17 percent of their prod- uct has been returned, which costs the company an average of $19 for each returned bag of seed. Compound that with the knowledge that company rep- resentatives and dealers are ordering extra to compensate for not knowing the current inventory, and there’s a big loss. By using software that provides tracking and transparency, returns can be reduced. Even a 1 percent to 2 percent reduction would be a significant savings throughout the supply chain. Think about it: Would you ever play a hand in poker with a blindfold on? No. So why would you operate your business blindfolded? If you don’t know, or have access to your business’ key numbers, that is essentially what you are doing. In today’s world, if you need to make a decision, you must be able to make it instantly and have the ability to pivot, responding to both customers and com- petitors. CULTURA SEED SOLUTIONS SALES AND OPERATIONS MANAGER @mikedorris1 Mike.Dorris@Culturatech.com Culturatech.com MIKE DORRIS Without knowing these figures, you’re inhibited. If you don’t know how much is being spent and what can be trimmed, you can’t lower overhead costs or expenses. The numbers I’m referencing are cash flow, net income, profit and loss, sales, price point, gross margin and total inventory. What if you have the opportunity to hire that scientist who’s doing top notch work? You need to know if you have the mate- rials and capital to support that move. And who knows … you might have the opportunity to buy a company or be bought. If you have to calculate these numbers manually or even synchronize multiple files, by the time you get that information, the opportunity might have passed. This is where business management software can help. There’s software that allows you to track inventory, see multi- year sales history, view customer orders from previous years, as well as integrate into accounting programs. This type of and level of information is like knowing what you are going to be dealt before the dealer even gives you the first card. It’s important to note that you don’t have to accept the status quo. Just by knowing your numbers, you might be able to get a hand-up on your competition.