Golden Spiral’s Top 8 Blog Articles of 2018
At the end of every year, hundreds of lists are published looking back at the incredible, odd, shocking, and newsworthy happenings of the last 12 months. In that spirit, here are the top eight most read Golden Spiral blog posts of 2018. Our daily blog readership has jumped 58% this year. You might have missed some of these greatest hits or you might want to bookmark this post as a quick-reference guide to our top marketing advice for B2B tech firms.
So, as Casey Kasem once said every Saturday morning, “Let’s count down the hits from all across America.”
Number 8: The “Bump, Set, Spike” Approach to Great B2B Calls-to-Action that Convert
Calls to action are important. In our noisy world, how do we get our potential customers to notice our products and solutions? How do we prompt them to respond?
Calls to action require both vision-casting copywriting and a compelling command to action. This blog post outlines proven ways to create your CTA so your click-through rate can rise. Plus, there’s an opportunity for a free download of helpful verbs and power words to create your CTA.
Number 7: Is It Time to Rebrand Your B2B Tech Company?
Our Vice President of Creative, Bennett Farkas, walked readers step-by-step through our thought process when it comes to new branding for companies. At Golden Spiral, we don’t just focus on logos. We believe B2B tech companies should deploy a visual identity system that integrates with their mission and includes an icon (or “brandmark”), the name of the company (or “wordmark”), intentionally chosen colors, typography, and imagery styles that support the big idea of the brand and work flawlessly in the primary brand applications. Furthermore, Golden Spiral believes that a visual identity system only works inside the scope of a larger marketing strategy.
This is must reading for anyone considering a brand refresh or marketing overhaul.
Number 6: The True Value of a Strong B2B Tech Brand Identity System
Bennett’s posts were popular this year. His exploration of what makes a visual identity work also made the list. When it comes to marketing your company, the way your brand looks is as important as how your product works. A Visual Identity System (VIS) is more than a fancy name for a logo. It includes all of the visual assets that your brand utilizes. The logo is the highest element and primary focus of your visual brand, but it is sustained by all of the other elements. A VIS takes into account all of the circumstances where your brand must show up and show off. It delivers the superstructure to present your messaging in the best light. It’s what governs everything else you create. Without all the elements of the system, your brand won’t stand up when you need it to.
What condition is your VIS in? Read through this article to help you evaluate your brand.
Number 5: A Smart Start to B2B Tech PR: Q&A with Chantal LeBoulch
We introduced Chantal LeBoulch, our Vice President of Accounts, who has a career of public relations wins for B2B tech, SaaS, FinTech, and other companies. In this interview, Chantal hits the high points on what makes PR work and how to begin the process. If you’re looking for a PR solution for your company, our offer still stands: we’d love to schedule a strategic consultation to review your PR ideas and plans.
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Number 4: Drive SaaS Company Growth by Identifying Your North Star Metric
In recent years, a concept called The North Star Metric (NSM) has emerged from Silicon Valley. The NSM is defined as the single metric that best captures the core measure of your organization’s growth. It is a critical part of aligning your entire team, determining strategic initiatives, and scaling your company. Here are three keys to identifying, measuring, and improving your NSM.
Do you know what your north star is for 2019? This article can help you determine if your sextant is pointing in the right direction.
(Casey Kasem would’ve liked the idea of a north star.)
Number 3: Eight Statistically Proven Priorities for B2B Tech Marketing
Sure, Mark Twain quipped in his autobiography, “Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself…. There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Nevertheless, we love statistics. Our blog readers love them, too. Twain would be beguiled by these three statistics:
93% of B2B firms use content marketing, but only 42% of them feel that it’s effective. Not only that, but 55% say they are unclear on what content marketing success even looks like.
Find out other key stats for B2B tech companies like yours.
Number 2: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building KPIs for B2B Tech Companies
As you enter 2019, do you have your key performance indicators locked and loaded? Our President and COO, Peter Smith, created a definitive guide to building KPIs and understanding your marketing funnel with this insightful article. If you aren’t sure how to measure your success for 2019 or want to sharpen your plan, this is required reading.
Number 1: Seven Steps to Create a Strategic B2B Competitive Analysis
Our most popular article of the year dives into how to determine who your competition is. If you haven’t updated your competitive analysis in the last 12 months, do you know the landscape? Do you know where you need to distinguish yourself?
This how-to article also includes a free downloadable template (Excel) to help you gather and organize intelligence about your competitors and highlight where you need to spend the most attention.
Key Takeaway
Golden Spiral is committed to your success. If you didn’t achieve all of your goals in 2018 or have a far-reaching challenge awaiting you in 2019, we are here for you. Our integrated team of strategists, designers, developers, content creators, and PR professionals works together for our clients to help them realize their brand identity, position in the market, growth objectives, and leadership of the market. Let us serve you. Schedule a strategic consultation today. Meanwhile, keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.
