by Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent
Inspiring the next generation of manufacturers.
We were going to do a big wrap-up of all the Manufacturing Day 2018 events our clients, partners and friends hosted, but this video from the National Association of Manufacturers does a better job than we could.
Please make sure you share. And start prepping now for Manufacturing Day 2019!
by Matt Sonnhalter, Vision Architect
I’ve always been a big believer in relationship selling. After all, we usually buy stuff from people we know, like and trust. Agree? So why not take that to another step in the selling process by using the same principles to your marketing efforts?
This is especially true now that content and content marketing is such a big part of everyone’s overall strategy.
We all have heard the saying that “Content is King and Community is its Kingdom,” but what brings them together? It’s building solid relationships with contractors and tradesmen using relationship marketing. 
I read a post by Wade Harman, Why relationship marketing is the key to your content, where he outlines a strong case for using this type of tactic.
He points out that we need to know and understand what our target wants and needs. Contractors want solutions, not necessarily a sales pitch. You need to make yourself available in conversations with them…
He also points out that we should collaborate with others that share the same passion. For an example, say your target is professional plumbers. You want to focus on products that will help them do their install better. You’re not interested (nor capable) in helping them market their plumbing business locally.
Why not team up with someone who’s focus is just that, like Plumbers SEO.net or Darren Slaughter who specializes in contractor marketing.
This blog focuses on helping manufacturers better communicate with contractors and professional tradesmen. We have three challenges: 1) identify our audience, 2) give them meaningful content, and 3) keep them coming back. One of the most important things I try to communicate is that to be successful, you must be able to engage and have a genuine relationship with your reader.
Here are some steps to build those relationships:
by Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent
Lowbrow Customs is a Cleveland-based maker of custom motorcycles and parts. They’ve made some innovative accessories and amazing builds, garnering a reputation that’s worldwide.
But it’s what they’re doing in our hometown of Cleveland that has us stoked.
On their website and YouTube channel, they’ve recently announced a scholarship program through the Tri-C Advanced Technology Training Center (which Sonnhalter is also proud to support). The two $2,500 scholarships will help at-need students pursue careers in manufacturing. The goal? To show people that there’s more to higher education than a four-year degree. That they can find an exciting and rewarding career, and that they can join a long tradition of high-quality, American manufacturing. And that by doing this, as my Grandfather always said, “A rising tide will lift all boats.”
We couldn’t agree more.
CLEVELAND – September 2018 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, partnered with Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity for a ninth year during its annual Sonnhalter Tool Drive, which ran the entire month of August and collected $31,000 worth of tools and building materials. Since Sonnhalter began its efforts in 2010, it has collected more than $250,000 in donations.
Organizations, businesses and residents were encouraged to donate new and gently used tools, as well as building materials, furniture and appliances, to Sonnhalter to help benefit Habitat for Humanity’s cause of eliminating substandard housing and homelessness.
“Cleveland Habitat for Humanity eagerly awaits Sonnhalter’s annual Tool Drive,” said John Habat, executive director of the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. “It replenishes our inventory and generates revenues to support our affordable homeownership program. Sonnhalter has been doing this for several years, demonstrating again and again its commitment to affordable housing in Cleveland. Sonnhalter is a treasured partner.” (more…)
Where would we be without them? The unsung heroes of American Industry.
At Sonnhalter, we know tradesmen well. They are the customers of the clients we serve. They’re construction workers and maintenance professionals. Electricians and plumbers.
Please join us by thanking the men and women in the trades. It’s truly a day to celebrate.
by Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent
As anyone concerned with problem-solving can attest, sometimes a different perspective can make a world of difference. That’s what makes this project from David Bohrer so amazing. A former White House photographer, he set out from Washington to Milwaukee on behalf of National Association of Manufacturers to document the state of manufacturing in advance of Manufacturing Day.
What he found was opportunity, innovation and dedication. Read more, and see some great photography in his post.
Are you in Chicago attending this month’s IMTS trade show? If so, check out our exclusive Insider’s Guide to Chicago and use this guide to help you get around town during your free time.
– Want to know where the locals like to eat and drink? We have the insider information from our friends in Chicago.
– Need tips on nightlife and sightseeing? We made a list of shouldn’t-miss recommendations.
– Have you ever driven in Chicago? We have you covered with taxi and limo services.
See you at McCormick Place…or at one of the great places in the guide!
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman
I don’t know if it’s getting easier, but it sure is different from years ago. Twenty to 30 years ago, salesmen needed to make cold calls, and the only way to communicate was through land lines, faxes, letters and direct mail. The selling cycle certainly took longer back then!
Now, with the internet, cell phones, email and social media, much of the upfront work is already done for sales. YouTube videos, application data sheets and competitive comparisons are just a few of the resources available.
The key is not to try to sell something; instead, your main objective is to help solve a problem or issue. Here are a few key takeaways when selling to professional tradesmen:
– If possible, actually show you have a solution by demoing your product on an actual job site.
– Sell your value proposition on why using your product will be the reason to choose you over the competition.
– Give them names of other contractors who have similar problems/issues that you helped solve.
– Respect their time; show them your solution and ask when you should follow up.
Here are some tips:
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent
There are still some hot days to get through, but Labor Day is fast approaching and most schools are back in session. So make sure you stop for busses, keep an eye out for kids and stop worrying about chasing the latest marketing craze.
Wait, what?
This is the perfect time of year to reassess what school your marketing efforts are going to. Are you “Old School,” still utilizing print, convinced social media is just a craze and missing printed catalogs? Or are you “New School,” only marketing to mobile, boiling your message down to 140 characters and laughing at the dinosaurs amongst you?
Guess what: it doesn’t matter.
Because in the end, what will make any and all of those marketing tactics succeed or fail is what you bring to it – a personal touch.
Old School Personal Touches
Print Ads – Make sure your advertising isn’t just a product catalog and includes a call to action, such as a dedicated phone number or website. This will be your best way to gauge ROI and allow you to make a personal connection with people who respond to your ad.
Catalogs – Be smart with distribution. Don’t just dump them in a distributor’s office or on a table at a trade show. Offer them on your website and free upon request. Just make sure you have a plan to follow up and utilize the customer info you get in return.
The Precision Machined Products Association has a growing membership of machine shops, technical members and others involved in the precision manufacturing sector. One of the more innovative ways they communicate with current and potential members is through a regular insert in the trade publication Production Machining.
The insert is a win-win for both the PMPA and the magazine. PMPA gains an additional way to communicate to their membership, and Production Machining gets valuable content.
A perfect example? This recent article on the upcoming IMTS show in Chicago. If you’re heading to this show, or any trade show in the near future, this is a great read.
The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2018 is set to take over Chicago’s McCormick Place from Sept. 10-15. The pure numbers of the show are pretty staggering, with more than 115,000 people expected to attend from more than 110 countries and more than 2,000 exhibitors with 1.37 million square feet of exhibit space divided into 10 pavilions, four co-located shows and more than 60 conference sessions.
So, like any big task, the secret to success at IMTS, or at any trade show, is to create a number of smaller goals and plan, plan, plan, all while leaving enough wiggle room for last-minute opportunities or challenges.
Here are some basic guidelines for planning to make the most of any trade show visit.
Pre-Show
Think customer service isn’t an integral part of your marketing? Ask yourself the following questions:
If the answer to both is yes, you’ve just seen how an effective customer service program is also your best marketing strategy.
Need more proof? In our latest Tip Sheet, we’ve laid out eight tips for making customer service a priority in your marketing efforts, and as always, it’s geared toward manufacturers, distributors and others in the B2T marketplace. You can sign up to download it for free here.
Let us know what challenges you’ve had with customer service and check out our other tip sheets here.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Remember about 10 years ago? The Lord of the Ring movies had raked in awards (and millions of dollars), San Diego ComicCon became something you heard about, E3 became the trade show you wished you got to go to and The Big Bang Theory debuted, soon to become TV’s #1 show.
Suddenly “nerd culture” was all the rage. Writers were penning think pieces about how this was the ultimate victory for the kid that got picked on in high school. TV commentators discussed at length how this was a “cultural shift” and heralded a new age. 
Add to that the continued dominance of the Marvel superhero movies, and the last decade has definitely belonged to the kid that read comic books at lunch.
Well, I predict that the next decade will be the “Age of the Maker and Manufacturer.”
At Sonnhalter we pride ourselves on working only in the B2T, or Business-to-Tradesmen industry. And that means not only being up to date on what our clients are doing, but with their industries as well.
To that end, we have developed comprehensive Market Overviews for relevant industries, and continually update them. Our latest update is for the Electrical Market. Please feel free to download, review and share, and if you have any questions, contact us. 
Sign up for our updated Sonnhalter Electrical Market Overview here:
http://www.sonnhalter.com/tradesman-insights/market-overviews/electrical/
Help eliminate substandard housing during the month of August by donating extra inventory, demo models, tools and building materials that are no longer needed.
CLEVELAND – July 2018 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, is partnering with Habitat for Humanity again for the ninth annual Sonnhalter Tool Drive, during the entire month of August.
Organizations, businesses and manufacturers are encouraged to donate new and gently used tools, as well as cabinets, sinks, building materials and appliances, to the Sonnhalter Tool Drive between Wednesday, August 1 and Friday, August 31, to benefit Habitat for Humanity’s cause of eliminating substandard housing.
CLEVELAND – June 2018 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, recently announced Rosemarie Ascherl-Lenhard is rejoining the firm as public relations foreman.
In the role of public relations foreman, Ascherl-Lenhard will oversee developing clients’ public relations strategies, as well as planning and implementing B2T (business-to-tradesmen) public relations programs and initiatives for the Sonnhalter client base.
Prior to rejoining Sonnhalter, Ascherl-Lenhard was senior communications strategist at NMV Strategies. Ascherl-Lenhard previously held the position of public relations foreman from 1998 to 2015 at Sonnhalter. In the past she also held public relations positions at Magic American Corporation and Saifman Richards Communications. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio.
“We are excited to have Rosemarie rejoin our team. Her background and experience in our niche of marketing to the professional tradesmen will be an asset to our clients,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter.
“I am extremely thrilled to be back at Sonnhalter, serving clients in an industry segment I’m especially passionate and knowledgeable about,” added Ascherl-Lenhard.
About Sonnhalter
Established in 1976, Sonnhalter is the leading B2T marketing communications firm to companies that target professional tradesmen in construction, industrial and MRO markets. Sonnhalter is located in the historic Brownell Building in the heart of downtown Cleveland. Sonnhalter’s brand identity highlights its expertise in marketing to the professional tradesmen. Its tagline, “Not Afraid To Get Our Hands Dirty,” promotes the employees’ willingness to roll up their sleeves and dig deep into clients’ businesses, also, it refers to the market it targets: the tradesmen who work with – and dirty – their hands every day. Sonnhalter developed the acronym “B2T,” which stands for “business-to-tradesmen” to capture the essence of its specialty. For more information, visit the company website at Sonnhalter.com.
# # #
Connect with Sonnhalter:
Facebook ▪ Twitter ▪ LinkedIn ▪ YouTube ▪ Instagram
By Andrew Poulsen, PR Technician
In less than 10 years, social media has evolved from a fun distraction to keep in touch with college friends and distant relatives, to an essential tool needed by any brand looking to engage with its customers or maintain relevance amongst its competitors. Regardless of how millennials feel about the Baconator® or Moons Over My Hammy®, brands like Wendy’s and Denny’s are winning over young people more and more every day with their funny and relatable social media presence. While not every company needs to adopt to the latest meme or pop culture phenomenon to have a healthy online presence, social media has opened the door for brands to be transparent and relatable in new and exciting ways.
By now, companies from international brands to local muffler shops are utilizing Facebook and Twitter to engage and share company news, updates, sales, etc. But over the past few years, we’ve seen more brands incorporating Instagram into their social media plan. What was once considered a platform exclusive to tech-savvy young people with smartphones, Instagram is now just ubiquitous across all demographics as Facebook and Twitter. And businesses across all industries are starting to take notice. That’s because, if used correctly, the app’s photo and video features allow a new way for brands to give their audience a peek behind the curtain. Here are five ways your company can take advantage of the unique features Instagram has to offer.
Give Your Audience Something Different
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all bring something different to table, otherwise we wouldn’t need to be on so many different social media platforms. While this seems obvious, companies often make the mistake of letting their social media content be too similar across all platforms. Instead, companies should reward their audience for following all their pages by giving them content exclusive from the other platforms. For Instagram, this can be a fun look behind the scenes of your office, documenting a company picnic, making a short how-to video or hosting some sort of fan-generated photo contest. Just make sure it is unique to the platform in some way.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent
YouTube has become the prime research tool on the web. With a staggering breadth of content and connected communities for almost every niche, it’s definitely earned a place in your marketing efforts. If you don’t have a video program yet, check out articles here, here and here on how to incorporate video. In the meantime, if video is already a part of your efforts, here are a few simple guidelines to making the most of the content you post:
No Channel is an Island
Engage Frequently
Forget Who You Are
The precision machining industry is facing one of the largest skills gap with large numbers of experienced workers retiring, and few younger workers even knowing that the careers exist. The trade organization, Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA), is facing this crisis for its members head on with outreach, online certification curriculum and a Next Gen group dedicated to peer-to-peer outreach.
Watch, like and share the video below to help their mission.
Multimedia can seem like another of those “marketing buzzwords.” But when it comes right down to it, the key is to effectively use images to tell your product’s or brand’s story, and it can be incredibly successful and easy.
In our latest Tip Sheet, we’ve laid out 6 tips for integrating multimedia into your marketing efforts, and as always, it’s geared toward manufacturers, distributors and others in the B2T marketplace. You can sign up to download it for free here.
Let us know what challenges you’ve had with integrating multimedia and check out our other tip sheets here.
As the focus on the skills gap has grown, so have efforts to draw women into these well-paying, career-path jobs. Along with technology and training advancements, so are the opportunities and accessibility to these previously “men only” careers.
It’s taken root in elementary schools, where “Girls in STEM” efforts have seen expanded class offerings. No longer is it “Girls in Home Ec, Boys in Shop” as even local media have noted. (https://www.wkyc.com/article/tech/science/girls-in-stem/girls-in-stem-betsy-kling-explores-welding-so-much-more-than-heat-and-metal/95-550149660 ).
Manufacturers have taken note too, with Lincoln Electric launching a line of women’s welding gear with Jessie Combs.
Increasingly, training centers themselves are targeting women, as this recently developed infographic called “Breaking the Status Quo,” from RSI, The Refrigeration School shows:
https://www.refrigerationschool.com/wp-content/uploads/women-in-hvac-career-guide.jpg (click image to enlarge)
At Sonnhalter we pride ourselves on working only in the B2T, or Business-to-Tradesmen industry. And that means not only being up to date on what our clients are doing, but with their industries as well.
To that end, we have developed comprehensive Market Overviews for relevant industries, and continually update them. Our latest update is for the HVAC Market. Please feel free to download, review and share, and if you have any questions, contact us.
Sign up for our updated Sonnhalter HVAC Market Overview here:
http://www.sonnhalter.com/tradesman-insights/market-overviews/hvac/
By Andrew Poulsen, PR Technician, Sonnhalter
You can have the most beautiful website to ever exist, or have a smooth e-commerce system that buyers will love, but if they don’t find you, is it worth it?
First and foremost, make sure you’ve got your site setup with SEO in mind. Create the appropriate tags and optimize your other settings… especially make sure your site is turned ON for search engine indexing.
After that, strengthen your SEO with content and PR. At Sonnhalter, PR encompasses traditional public relations and media relations, as well as social media and content strategy and development. Generally speaking, PR elevates your brand. When your brand is elevated, your search engine rankings benefit.
Here are just three ways that PR can contribute to your SEO strategy: (more…)
Public relations should be a part of any size company’s marketing plan. Effective communication with your current and prospective customers, industry trade publications, electronic media and the general public is not only essential to your company’s success, but a cost effective way to get your brand and products exposure.
In our latest Tip Sheet, we’ve laid out 9 strategies for making sure you’re integrating PR into your marketing efforts and how to re-use the content you produce. You can sign up to download it here.
Interested in setting up a PR program? Give us a call or email. And check out our other Tip Sheets here.
At Sonnhalter we pride ourselves on working only in the B2T, or Business-to-Tradesmen industry. And that means not only being up to date on what our clients are doing, but with their industries as well.
To that end, we have developed comprehensive Market Overviews for relevant industries, and continually update them. Our latest update is for the Plumbing Market. Please feel free to download, review and share, and if you have any questions, contact us.
Sign up for our updated Sonnhalter Plumbing Market Overview here:
http://www.sonnhalter.com/tradesman-insights/market-overviews/plumbing/
Today’s guest blog post comes from Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA). More and more industry trade groups are organizing to address the skills gap, and PMPA has certainly been in the lead of that effort. Just last year they launched MFG, an online one-year certification and job training course for its members that allows companies big and small to have a consistent, accredited training program.
Here is the post, which also appeared in Production Machining.
Professional development and staff training are important to the success of every shop. Professional development ensures employees maintain appropriate certifications, knowledge, safety and ethics in the professional environment. The goal of professional development is to have a qualified staff. Qualified employees have the skills needed to deliver the highest quality of service to our customers. This can be accomplished by establishing training programs, workshops and ongoing educational opportunities. This benefits the company as a whole by improving productivity, culture and customer loyalty while helping employees achieve their highest and best performance.
Establish a training program that identifies the necessary requirements to be fulfilled. Safety training, technical competency and performance techniques are all possible deliverables. By providing this kind of training, the company can feel comfortable knowing they have improved staff knowledge leading to improved performance from their employees. Better performance means improved safety, quality and customer satisfaction. Training improves competency, so it improves performance and trust. Improved trust improves teamwork. Everybody wins. Why would you choose not to establish a training program?
Identifying training needs is the first step. Administering a program to provide the training, testing that it has been effectively learned, and tracking training accomplishments are the next steps. Any course materials should be accredited to recognized national standards such as National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS), of which PMPA is a founding member, or the Department of Labor Apprenticeship. Implement the training through your people, or rely on a provider of training that can assure the accreditation of the material and also monitor the completion of each training course by each learner. Training can be provided by a face-to-face demonstration of skills on the job by mentors in the shop, while other materials can be provided via an online forum. The online materials and the students’ progress are tracked through the online portal.
In order to ensure that the training is helping the trainees and the organizations reach their goals, a means to evaluate its effectiveness needs to take place. This can be done by managers or by a professional development committee. Feedback from trainees, their team leads and data from the online portal can help the team further refine their training offerings and methodology. Assessing trainee performance is just as important as identifying passing scores on quizzes and tests. Most employees will pass the coursework, but feedback will help the company refine the training to clarify materials that seem unclear or difficult to master, as well as develop a plan to ensure that each employee has multiple opportunities to meet the requirements of the standard.
It is not enough to evaluate the training. It is just as important to evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness and impact that the training provided had on the employees and its impact on the company’s overall performance. Less downtime? Shorter setup times? More independent decision making on the shop floor? Better team-work as trained employees become more trusted employees? What do these mean in terms of uptime, operational fulfillment and bottom line profitability?
Better yet, what is the cost of not training? What is the benefit of having qualified personnel, a qualified program and a qualified and aligned team? What is the value of having a standard work of best practices in your shop? How can you get to standard work and best practices without some training means to create that knowledge throughout your shop? Which of your performers could not benefit from some additional training?
How important is funding? Funding is what it takes to bridge the gap between your company’s current performance and your aspiration to be the highest performing shop serving your customers. Appropriate funding is necessary to ensure that training is effective, authoritative and appropriate. Without funding, inappropriate training or lack of training may result in misinformation, some staff remaining uninformed and possibly working dangerously because they have not been trained to recognize unsafe practices.
The challenges we share revolve around the ability to remain consistent in the approach to training and developing personnel. They can be overcome by establishing, administering and evaluating the training that we provide, as well as our program that provides it. Planning, persistence and teamwork are keys to getting this done. When an individual is trained, they feel comfortable with information and guidelines, and thus, become successful as they positively impact those with whom they work.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Hi Sports Blog Fans, time for the annual Sonnhalter Super Bowl, er I mean “Big Game” ad review. As with past years, it’s not on time or really about the ads, but rather the marketing lessons manufacturers can take from all the hoopla.
This year, let’s look at the three main types of ads, and the pros and cons of each.
This is the type of ad campaign where there’s a buildup, or teasers dropped across different channels that all build up to a big “event” ad during the game. This year’s best example is the Crocodile Dundee movie campaign that wasn’t. Instead it was all just a build up to a new campaign for Australian Tourism.
Pros – Gives your entire message a framework and direction. Sets the tone and content for everything to come for a good long while.
Cons – It works if you’re a country or a well-defined brand. If you don’t have a clear, concise message (or lots of beaches that aren’t going anywhere) and the intestinal fortitude to stick with it past the fourth quarter, you’re throwing away money.
This is the type of ad that seeks to surprise, jar your expectations, or thumb its nose at traditions. It also only typically works during the game. It’s there to cause a splash and get attention right then and there.
For this example, let’s look at what I think was the worst example. For me that would be the Chris Pratt Michelob Ultra commercial. Sure, the setup is kind of funny, the famous actor thinks he’s landed the role of a lifetime in a beer commercial, only to find out he’s an extra. That part is fine, but the second set of ads, with him in the background, only works then and there. It’s a waste of time and money, kind of like telling the same joke twice.
Pros – If done right (like just about any movie ad, but especially The Cloverfield Paradox), it not only works to create buzz, but builds a cascade effect with retweets, shares and mentions.
Cons – If done wrong (I’m looking at you PuppyBabyMonkey), it just leaves people scratching their heads, and makes you look like you were trying too hard.
Similar to #2, this ad type sets a new direction for a brand. This is a big giant “reset” button that seeks to make a splash, redefine who you are as a company and set the stage moving forward. In my opinion, the best example of this was the “It’s a Tide Ad” series. It’s funny, it’s interruptive, it’s designed to make people laugh. But it also serves to show the brand’s strength. By pointing out that in every other iconic commercial, the actors all wear spotlessly clean clothes, they show the importance of their product.
For a bad example, the less said about the tone-deaf Ram Truck commercial, the better. One other ad I found to be a lesson in not what to do was the Kia campaign. Bad CGI, poor use of a celebrity, and overreaching your brand identity don’t make for an effective ad, and now they’re stuck with an expensive launch that was largely overshadowed, if not outright ridiculed.
Pros – Sets up your brand message for years to come. Serves as a flag in the ground (or hammer in the screen).
Cons – Sets up your brand message for years to come. Serves as a flag in the ground (or a Platinum stake in the heart).
Think of the Super Bowl as your biggest industry tradeshow. Each of these campaign styles is also an effective (or ineffective) trade show strategy.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Everyone (and especially marketing communications firms) creates an aura that content marketing is some huge, time consuming mystery. But the real secret is that it’s all about having a clear, consistent message and then placing the right part of that message into the right format. To demonstrate that, we’ve created the following infographic that shows how we repurposed the content from a single, 45-minute interview with our client’s product engineer, into numerous pieces of content across multiple platforms, where the messaging received thousands of views.
Check out our infographic, “A White Paper Life Cycle.”
How are you repurposing content?
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Source: Viega LLC
A decade ago, you couldn’t change the channel without finding a new motorcycle build show. Five years ago, it was extreme eating challenges and local legendary greasy spoons.
And today it seems like you can’t touch the remote without seeing a show about tiny houses. It seems millennials are rejecting “more is more” McMansions and opting for small, portable and innovative living spaces that reflect their personality.
Believe it or not, this could be the best thing that ever happened to the Skills Gap. (more…)
The Sonnhalter team will be taking some time off over the holidays. We hope that you enjoy this holiday season and time with your family and friends!
We’ll see you in the New Year!
Guest post from Lisa Murton Beets, Research Director, Content Marketing Institute
Are you delivering valuable, relevant, consistent content to your audience? If not, prepare to be ignored. There is just too much information available today, and only so much time in a day for your target audience to consume it. This is especially true for tradesmen, who spend most of their time in the field.
That said, you should be delivering valuable content consistently (hopefully, to a subscribed audience via vehicles such as email newsletters), so when your prospect does need a product or service, your company is top of mind.
The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) defines content marketing as a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action. (more…)
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
LinkedIn gets a bad rap. Some describe it as “Facebook for Job Hunters” or worse. And part of that problem is real. Since its purchase by Microsoft, the platform has struggled with its identity and purpose. Is it a Professional Social meeting place? A job-hunter’s paradise? A tally of how “connected” you are?
Yes, No, Maybe and… All Of The Above
The simple truth is that like any other tool, it’s exactly what you use it for. And with some different thinking, it can probably be a whole lot more than you’re using it for: (more…)
Today we have a guest post from Russ Hill, Founder of Ultimate Lead Systems.
I recently lunched with some long-time friends and sales and marketing professionals. The topic turned to the importance of Customer Service in the face of the plethora of CRM and Marketing Automation software available today. The conversation raised more questions than it answered.
Customer Service – The interaction with a customer or prospect that traditionally revolves around resolving a problem and producing a positive outcome. This could be in person or via phone or email.
CRM – It’s not software but a strategic process designed to cultivate and enhance the relationship with customers. The goal is to maximize retention rates and capitalize on the life-time value of the customer.
Something else we agreed upon was that companies seem to be racing to dramatically reduce their costs of engaging customers. Those costs are typically associated with people on payroll, and management too often views automated systems as a means of delivering customer engagement AND customer service at reduced cost. We also agreed that Customer Service is all about NOW and all other engagements are about future opportunities.
We’ve all experienced agonizingly long waits in Customer Service phone queues that assure us our “call is important” only to get transferred to a voicemail box that is full and not taking messages. Programs like Hubspot, Marketo, Eloqua and Exact Target can help deliver content that may be of value to customers they already know. What about new customer and prospects? Websites without phone numbers that force the customer to do all of the work to find solutions to their own needs do not make it easy for customers to buy or remain customers. How many take their business elsewhere because Customer Service is self-serve or non-existent…and the vendor neither knows nor cares?
Dimensional Research found that Customer Service was the #1 factor impacting vendor trust, and:
Customer Service clearly can be the difference between winning, keeping and losing business, and that can mean significant lifetime value won or lost. As for me, we experienced business service from AT&T that has been nothing but a nightmare. I’ll spare you the details, but we will never do business with them again. Does AT&T care? They don’t appear to.We have other vendors who do stellar jobs that we couldn’t live without. I’ll bet you do too.
In the end, we were all able to agree that people have relationships with people, that customers have “experiences” with companies, and that people do business with people they know, like and trust. It begged the question, do your customers have a relationship with you, or just have an “experience” with your company? It makes a difference.
This post originally appeared on the Ultimate Lead blog and is reposted with permission.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
The mainstream media continues to wake up to the skills gap in the trades, as this recent report from CBS Sunday Morning proves. The report was spurred by the lack of skilled tradespeople specifically surrounding hurricane clean up, however it continued to shed light on the issue. A large part of increased recognition is the result of two people featured in the piece: Norm Abram of This Old House and Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs.
Both, as individuals and as part of their shows, these two have been “fighting the good fight” on the skills gap. Fighting against media bias, educational neglect and pop culture stereotypes of the trades.
Make sure to check out the last part of the video though, as the progress Lehigh Career & Technical Institute has made acts as an inspiring end to the continuing story.
Want to get involved? Keep reading.
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
It’s that time of year again… the 2017 calendar is looking thin and we’ve turned our attention to next year. If you haven’t already started planning your marketing communications for 2018, now is the time.
To have a successful year, it’s important to do more than just set goals. You don’t just jump in the car to go to a new location for the first time, you look at how to get there, how long the trip will take or at least put the destination into your GPS. That’s planning.
Planning is crucial no matter the size of the organization or depth of the project. Whether you’re initiating a rebranding campaign or creating a 30-second video, you have to plan.
To map out your journey, you need to determine: (more…)
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
Last year, I wrote a blog about Generation Z being the true digital native generation and urged organizations to look ahead. Perhaps you heeded that urging and have been looking forward, perhaps you’re still trying to figure out the whole Millennial thing. By this point in time, the oldest Millennials are approaching 40. We’ve been working for/with you, buying from you or avoiding you for years now. Most of the business world seems to have made the jump into adapting to Millennial behaviors… even if some were pushed.
It’s time to move on. There’s a whole generation approaching adulthood – Generation Z. Generation Z is the next group that needs to be reached, specifically for attracting them to the trades. They will be your next audience, so it’s a good idea to start considering them in your communication efforts. You might be more prepared to handle GenZ than you think you are… (more…)
Today we have a guest post from Russ Hill, Founder of Ultimate Lead Systems.
There is something “fishy” going on with my email and I’ll bet you are having the same problem. It’s call “phishing” and every day is phishing season. It spells BIG trouble for email marketers.
I receive nearly a hundred emails each day. Hundreds of other emails get flagged as “spam” going into my “Junk” mail folder. More and more I receive official looking emails (with corporate logos) claiming to be from Facebook, LinkedIn, the USPS, UPS, FedEx, my bank and even the IRS. The problem is they are all fakes and attempts to game access to my computer or obtain personal information from me and from you. (more…)
Sonnhalter team members after loading donations for the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity
CLEVELAND – September 2017 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, partnered with Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity for an eighth year during its annual Sonnhalter Tool Drive, which ran the entire month of August and collected $30,000 worth of tools and building materials. Since Sonnhalter began its efforts in 2010, it has collected more than $220,000 in donations.
Organizations, businesses and residents were encouraged to donate new and gently used tools, as well as building materials, furniture and appliances, to Sonnhalter to help benefit Habitat for Humanity’s cause of eliminating substandard housing and homelessness.
“Cleveland Habitat for Humanity eagerly awaits Sonnhalter’s annual Tool Drive,” said John Habat, executive director of the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. (more…)
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Last weekend was my high school reunion. Lots of fun and a great time (we even used it as an excuse to raise money for a local charity). And then I read this excellent article on what consumers want from email marketing.
And it occurred to me that the two are pretty similar. Here’s how:
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
For some reason there’s always been a disconnect between sales and marketing, and for the life of me I can’t understand why they can’t play nice. After all isn’t the objective of both is to increase sales?
I recently read an article in Duct Tape Marketing, Counseling the Marriage Between Marketing and Sales to Generate Revenue that got me thinking of why they should work together towards the same goal.
Most of the journey your contractors take is already over by the time they speak with a salesperson. That’s a tremendous opportunity for marketing to influence the sales process and dovetail together in creating a seamless experience.
Here’s an interesting statistic: 57% of the buyer’s journey is completed before the buyer talks to sales, according to Gartner. Prospects know more about you than you know about them.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
My grandfather always said the best way to learn is to put it into terms you already know. With that being the case, think of your Digital Marketing Assets as products. Now think about how you would warehouse them:
I’m guessing the answer to every one of those questions is a giant NO. (more…)
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
Content marketing should be a vital part of your strategy to reach and engage contractors and professional tradesmen and move them through the sales funnel. Manufacturers are always focused on leads and will use things like traditional e-books and white papers. Not all activity will result in conversions. We should consider building brand awareness.
Here are five tactics to consider:
Today we have a guest blog from Carl Babb of Relectric on the important topic of diversity.
Electrical engineering is at the core of industrial growth and energy sustainability in the USA. With the innovative products, designs and concepts, electrical engineers and contractors must keep pace with changes in the profession.
Diversity in disciplines like engineering is necessary to address the current and future needs of our nation’s economy. Engaging people from all segments of our society in the electrical engineering profession is essential to this fast-paced and growing field.
Access to opportunities must be enhanced to help meet industry needs and find solutions to society’s energy challenges.
While there has been an increase in the involvement of women, African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans in engineering in recent decades, there is still room for improvement.
There are several initiatives by engineering schools and universities, engineering groups and societies, and even many large industries, to increase the diversity in electrical engineering. Like most businesses and companies everywhere, organizations associated with electrical engineering are becoming directly involved in actions targeting bias against underrepresented groups. (more…)
By Matt Sonnhalter, Vision Architect, Sonnhalter
I don’t know about you, but it seems like every time I get back from a trade show I’m exhausted and ready for a vacation. Unfortunately there is still work to do after the trade show. In this Part 3 of our 3-part series on successful trade shows we’ll look at the 3 post- show activities you should be doing after every trade show to make sure it is a success.
“How many leads did we get?” This seems to be the number one question everyone asks after every trade show. And while this is an important question, I think the better question to ask is “What’s the plan for handling these leads?” (more…)
By Matt Sonnhalter, Vision Architect, Sonnhalter
Denso drew people into their Automate booth with a cookie making robot
So, you’ve planned for the show, booked the space, developed the booth graphics and made the travel arrangements. Now it’s show time…how do you ensure the actual trade show days are a success? In this Part 2 of a 3-part series on successful trade shows, we’ll look at the 5 during-show activities you should be doing to make your next trade show a success.
By Matt Sonnhalter, Vision Architect, Sonnhalter
Submit for speaking opportunities well in advance
For most companies trade shows are still a key component to the marketing mix. But these shows can be a significant investment, between the booth space, the booth itself, graphics, collateral, travel costs and the personnel to man the actual booth. So it’s critical to maximize the return and success of your trade show. In this Part 1 of a 3-part series on trade shows we’ll look at the 5 pre-show activities you should be doing to make your next trade show a success.
Today we have a post from Andrea Olsen. Andrea started her career in the tech start-up world, and has brought much of that innovative thinking to her work as the CEO of Prag’madik, an operational strategy consultancy, specializing in the industrial and manufacturing markets.
There has been an ongoing national conversation about bringing manufacturing back to the United States. The government, states, educators, and organizations have been pushing a resurgence through, addressing many of the roadblocks facing these organizations, including: lack of skilled labor, decreased sales, advancing lean manufacturing, integrating additive manufacturing, robotics, IoT and Big Data.
The middle-market manufacturers – primarily in the Midwest, in the range of $50-$500m in revenues, employing 10-800 people – face a unique set of challenges. While the advancement of things like 3D printing and robotics will undoubtedly change the manufacturing landscape, these manufacturers face much more basic challenges to compete – and more accurately – survive the next 3-5 years.
This isn’t about the “skills gap,” or “robots taking jobs,” or “offshoring” or even “regulation burdens.” Those challenges are further downstream for these manufacturers. Today’s issues are much more fundamental. The advancements in digital technologies, communications platforms, and simply the Internet, have dramatically impacted business operations and overall competitiveness. The “blocking-and-tackling” of things like: embracing change, utilizing technology platforms, digitizing information and fostering an innovative culture, are the true essentials for US middle-manufacturing growth. Here’s a short list of those essentials: (more…)
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
Today is August 1st, at Sonnhalter it’s basically a holiday because it’s the start of our annual tool drive to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
Habitat for Humanity does fantastic work building and rehabbing homes for those who need them in an effort to eliminate homelessness and substandard housing. I’m amazed year after year at the work this fantastic organization does and the support that we receive for this tool drive from our clients, vendors, partners, community and even strangers!
Our Tool Drive was born in 2010 (more…)
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Brian Solis is an interesting person. Digital analyst, anthropologist, and self-described futurist. One of his key areas of focus is the effect of disruptive technology on business and society. In 2008 as a part of that research he decided to map the social media landscape in what he called the “Conversation Prism,” coming up with a few categories that neatly classified the landscape as it was when Iron Man, The Dark Night and Twilight were in theaters.
Times sure have changed…
2008
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
It feels good to win an award. But beyond being able to bask in the glow of recognition, can awards help you reach your marketing goals?
Entering for awards is one tactic we work into the public relations mix for our clients. Winning an award, or even being nominated for one, can go a long way to boosting brand recognition and can act as an endorsement for your product/service/organization.
Today we have a post from Andrea Olsen. Andrea started her career in the tech start-up world, and brought much of that innovative thinking to her work as the CEO of Prag’madik, an operational strategy consultancy, specializing in the industrial and manufacturing markets.
“I want you to find a bold and innovative way to do everything exactly the same way it’s been done for 25 years.”
Organizational culture is an amorphous thing. It is incredibly hard to define, and virtually impossible to measure. Leaders try to influence and shape organizational culture through a variety of tactics, from incentives and perks, to team building activities. Yet, more often than not, the “culture” seems to remain the same. The most frequently asked questions are “why” and “how do we fix it”?
The traditional definition of organizational culture is “a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs, which governs how people behave in organizations”. These assumptions, values, and beliefs don’t arise simply because they are outlined in a mission statement, or reiterated ad nauseum during company meetings. Culture is shaped by behaviors – particularly of organizational leaders – which don’t singularly exist within one’s title.
Manufacturers have voiced their concerns with organizational culture. Many we have surveyed have complained about lack of employee drive, proactive innovation, problem-solving abilities, and communication. (more…)
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
If you can’t communicate internally to get everyone on the same page, you can’t effectively communicate with anyone else.
When reviewing your audience segments, do you include your employees as a segment? Your employees are arguably the most important audience, and advocates, that your company has.
Think about communication from their perspectives. Would you want to hear news about your company from an outside source? Probably not.
Internal communication is often overlooked because it’s incredibly simple and many leaders assume that people within the organization already talk to each other. Sure, people talk to each other regularly, but not always in the way you expect.
Clue your employees in and let them know what your organization is doing. (more…)
Help eliminate substandard housing during the month of August by donating extra inventory, demo models, tools and building materials that are no longer needed.
CLEVELAND – July 2017 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, is partnering with Habitat for Humanity again for the eighth annual Sonnhalter Tool Drive, during the entire month of August.
Organizations, businesses and manufacturers are encouraged to donate new and gently used tools, as well as cabinets, sinks, building materials and appliances, to the Sonnhalter Tool Drive between Tuesday, August 1 and Thursday, August 31, to benefit Habitat for Humanity’s cause of eliminating substandard housing.
Affiliates of Habitat for Humanity individually work with participants to sponsor fundraising activities such as tool drives. The Sonnhalter Tool Drive strives to engage businesses and organizations to look through warehouses for extra inventory and overstocked tools or items, as well as the community to look through their workbenches, storage lockers, basements and garages for duplicated or no-longer-needed tools and items to donate.
“At last year’s Tool Drive, we were very excited by the community’s response in donating more than $20,000 worth of tools, building materials, appliances and other items, bringing the total to $196,000 donated since our efforts began in 2010,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter. “This year, with the help of our generous community, we’re looking forward to increasing that total, and we encourage businesses to clean out their extra inventory, overstocked materials and demo models, and donate to this very worthy cause.”
Sonnhalter partners with the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity for its annual Tool Drive. The Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity has completed more than 200 homes since 1988 and today, engages 2,000 volunteers, who provide more than 71,000 hours of service per year to Cleveland’s most distressed neighborhoods. The donated items will be used for Habitat for Humanity projects or will be sold at one of the organization’s ReStore, a recycled building materials store. Proceeds from ReStore sales are used to help Habitat build and rehabilitate homes for those in need.
Tools and materials can be shipped to Attn: Tool Drive, Sonnhalter, 1320 Sumner Ave., Suite 200, Cleveland, Ohio 44115. For information on how you can participate in the Sonnhalter Tool Drive, please contact Rachel Kerstetter from Sonnhalter at 216.242.0420 x130 or rkerstetter@sonnhalter.com. To make a monetary donation, please make checks payable to “Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity” and mail to Sonnhalter, 1320 Sumner Ave., Suite 200, Cleveland, Ohio 44115.
For more information on the Tool Drive, visit: www.Sonnhalter.com/tooldrive.
About Sonnhalter
Established in 1976, Sonnhalter is the leading B2T marketing communications firm to companies that target professional tradesmen in construction, industrial and MRO markets. Sonnhalter is located in the historic Brownell Building in the heart of downtown Cleveland. Sonnhalter’s brand identity highlights its expertise in marketing to the professional tradesmen. Its tagline, “Not Afraid To Get Our Hands Dirty,” promotes the employees’ willingness to roll up their sleeves and dig deep into clients’ businesses, also, it refers to the market it targets: the tradesmen who work with – and dirty – their hands every day. Sonnhalter developed the acronym “B2T,” which stands for “business-to-tradesmen” to capture the essence of its specialty. For more information, visit the company website at Sonnhalter.com.
About Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian ministry that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 800,000 homes worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 6.8 million people. For more information, visit Habitat.org.
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect
Our team, like many others, is taking today off. The Fourth of July is more than fireworks, parades, cookouts and a day off. It’s a day that we celebrate our country’s independence.
All of the red, white and blue that comes out for Independence Day brings U.S. manufacturing to mind.
Did you know…
These stats came from NAM (the National Association of Manufacturers). You can find these and other facts about U.S. manufacturing on their website.
Have a safe and happy Independence Day!
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
A recent Industry Week article by Becky Morgan showcases how a changing industry can adapt and thrive or fixate and die, and has some great advice for being on the right side of that divide.
Her first point is to draw parallels between the state of manufacturing today and that of agriculture at the turn of the last century. Rocked by disruptive innovations, a changing marketplace and demographic shifts. And yet agriculture is still around. It’s fundamentally changed, but in a way that’s of benefit to consumers: more productive, larger scale, but with a core of, to use an overused term, “artisanal” craftspeople ready to cater to niche markets.
She sees manufacturing developing in much the same way. (more…)
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
How many email accounts do you have?I have three. I’m not unlike others in my generation (the Millennial Generation) who maintain multiple email accounts. Each email address has a specific purpose and is used strategically.
I was reading an article from Media Post titled “Millennials Love Email, But on Their Dual Inbox Terms,” (more…)
Today we have a guest post by Colin Cieloha of Skilled.co.
Content marketing is changing the way that businesses promote their products and brands. More and more companies are choosing this option due to both its affordability and effectiveness combined. The problem that these businesses are having however, is how to choose which method of content marketing is best for them as a company. Some of the most common types are listed below:
Today we have a post contributed by M.Pierce, Founder of MyBootprint and ShoeMatters – two websites that strive to help people choose the right footwear for their job.
As with nearly any profession around the world, more building contractors are turning to the internet to do their research and interact with their distributors, purchase materials and find and contact new clients. Research found that a third of the building product distributors asked claimed that 50% of their sales were online.
Another survey from 2015 found that more than half of contractors use the internet for their research for work.
So with the increasing digitalization, if you want to attract contractors online, you must make sure that your brand is well established digitally and take up a more proactive approach on the various digital channels preferred by the contractors. A good balance of high-quality and efficient SEO, effective social media marketing and digital advertising should help grab the interest of potential customers for your products.
With the advancement of technology and the websites, mobile apps and other hardware and software, it is no surprise that people are becoming more demanding and their expectations for the services and products provided is growing. The same goes for building contractors. There are certain tips which you can follow in order to do that more successfully. Here are the four main ones which will help you reach to and win over more building contractors: (more…)
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
Most manufacturers finally got on board with social media back in 2010. They created their company blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram accounts and jumped in.
70% of marketers reported that social media marketing delivers poor or average return on investment.
Many manufacturers thought that by merely having a social media presence, it would give them social media credibility. But they’re learning it takes more than a social media presence to produce new business opportunities.
I recently saw a post from my mentor on the social media scene, Michael Gass. Here are some things you need to review and possibly revisit your social media strategy and implementation:
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Image via Scott Cresswell
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, gets it. None of the gadgets his company is built on (and none of the other multi-billion dollar companies that seem built on ideas more than products) can survive without one key element in the economy:
Advanced Manufacturing
And to show it, he announced the creation of a 1 billion-dollar fund to create or bring back those jobs to the U.S. (more…)
Marketing communications firm wins award for integrated campaign highlighting unique moisture management solution in masonry walls.
CLEVELAND – May 2017 – Sonnhalter, the leading B2T (business-to-tradesmen) marketing communications firm, received a Silver Davey Award in the 12th Annual International Davey Awards competition. Sonnhalter accepted the award in the integrated campaign category for the “H2Oh!” print ad, landing page and e-blast it developed with Mortar Net Solutions.
The Davey Awards honor the finest creative work from small firms, agencies and companies worldwide. The Davey Awards are named after King David who defeated the giant Goliath with a big idea and a little rock. The story resembles what small firms do each year by deriving strength from big ideas instead of big budgets.
For more than two decades, Mortar Net Solutions has provided a full line of trusted moisture management solutions that are field proven and help deliver structural integrity for years to come. The H2Oh! campaign was developed to convey the message that Mortar Net Solutions’ moisture management solutions stop moisture damage before it starts, so customers avoid the unpleasant discovery of finding cracks, corrosion and mold from water damage in their walls.
“We’re excited to receive this award for a campaign that brought attention to Mortar Net Solutions’ dedication and leadership in preventing masonry wall moisture damage,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter. “We really wanted to emphasize how no other company is this focused on correct moisture management for masonry and provides a solution that brings customers peace of mind in ways unique to any of its competitors.” (more…)
Join Matt Sonnhalter for a Marketing Minute and learn about how the current skills gap affects the future of manufacturing and how Sonnhalter and other organizations are getting involved to help.
To view other videos from Sonnhalter, visit our YouTube channel here and let us know if there’s a B2T marketing topic you’d like us to cover.
Today we have a guest post from Vincent Hill on email marketing.
Marketing is business activities that are highly associated with the buying and selling of a product or service. This includes activities that help acquire customers and maintain a good relationship with them. To achieve the goal, use several marketing tools. The marketing tools should be effective to easily communicate with potential customers and existing supporters.
With the fast pacing technological innovations, digital marketing was introduced to further enhance the advertising, selling and delivering the products and services to people. One of the best and easiest approaches to digital marketing is the use of emails. Email marketing greatly helps in expanding and building the network. This approach allows one to share stories and start blogging to be able to enhance promotions and increase product awareness. Using this kind of approach may be challenging at first. But with proper guidance and correct knowledge on the things involve in email marketing, this marketing tool is a whole lot easier and exciting.
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
The terms “case study” and “testimonial” are sometimes used interchangeably, however case studies are not exactly testimonials. Although one piece of content can pull double duty, a simple testimonial can’t provide the value for your organization that a case study can.
In marketing, a testimonial is essentially a statement by a customer providing an endorsement of a product or service. A case study is a more in-depth, valuable piece of content. Spinach content if you will. Case studies explore a user’s journey, not just with your organization, but through their entire problem and solution. Ideally, (more…)
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
It may seem like Manufacturing Day (first Friday of October) is still far off on the horizon, but the time to plan is now. With schools getting ready to take their summer breaks, you should contact them now in order to make sure your company is ready to highlight the great careers available in modern manufacturing and the trades.
And while the official Manufacturing Day site has great tools to help you plan and promote your event, a panicked phone call I got on Friday gave me another idea to share.
Image via RCB Flickr
Fortunately the panicked call wasn’t from a client, and wasn’t an actual “emergency.” Nope, it was my introduction to the latest craze sweeping schools across the country: Fidget Spinners (more…)
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Brand/Content Marketing and all the other buzzwords are irrelevant.
I just finished reading a great article from the Virgin website.
But first an apology on behalf of the entire marketing industry…
We’re sorry for all the buzzwords. Really.
For years you’ve heard “content marketing” and “be your brand” and many other latest fads bandied about in meetings. In fact, at one previous employer, we had bingo sheets we’d take into the conference room to see how quickly we could achieve “product/end user integration,” “ROI” or anything else “at the end of the day.”
But really, all those words boil down to what the article highlights: Be a Storyteller (more…)
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Pepsi recently had a severe digital flogging for a tone-deaf ad featuring Kendall Jenner and the evidently crisis-averting powers of their soda. From late night hosts and live shows in New York to TV pundits and seemingly everyone with a social media account, the multi-national corporation has been the punchline of many a joke.
Obviously there are a lot of lessons to be learned and cautionary tales aplenty. But for me, the main lesson in all of this comes down to:
Don’t try to be your brand. Have your brand be who you are.
What’s that mean? (more…)
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
You probably set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account a few years ago when social media was the new shiny object for marketers. But now, your social media is anything but new and exciting … and it doesn’t help you reach contractors. You might be wondering if you’re wasting your time on these channels or if you’re better served by switching to the newest social trend.
As a longtime leader in Business-to-Tradesman marketing, we’ve developed 12 helpful tips that will help you use social media to effectively reach contractors.
In “12 Tips for Reaching Contractors with Social Media,” you’ll learn how to evaluate the social media you’re already using and pick the right avenues for connecting with contractors. The tip sheet shares best practices for social media in this niche space using content and integrating it into your overall marketing programs.
Download 12 Tips for Reaching Contractors with Social Media by signing up here.
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
Did you know that today is Hug a Plumber Day? (Sometimes called Plumber’s Day.) Often plumbers don’t receive the credit and fame that they deserve, unless they’re Mario and Luigi and trying to save a princess. The Super Mario Brothers are the most famous plumbers, and they live in a Nintendo game.
The reality is that without plumbers, our world would be far from sanitary or pleasant. As part of our team’s commitment to getting our hands dirty in our clients’ work, we’ve had the opportunity to see plumbers at work, we’ve used their tools and we’ve heard their stories; we know that they deserve to be honored, not just hugged, today.
Plumbers do so much more than unclog drains and fix leaky faucets. It’s plumbers who install the miles of piping that make hot, cold and process water and gas utilities possible.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
One of the things that always struck me about manufacturers is they generally don’t realize how cool their jobs really are. And I get why. You’ve been doing this your whole life, it pays the bills and it has its disappointments, headaches and setbacks.
But manufacturing made the modern world we live in possible. And the stuff you see as routine, through anyone else’s eyes is really, really cool.
Don’t believe me? Ask a bunch of middle school kids in Pennsylvania. (more…)
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
I think we all can agree that content marketing is playing a vital role in everyone’s overall marketing plans. Everyone wants lead generation and engagement, and to get both, you have to provide good content!
Many manufacturers focus more on their brand than trying to help solve their customers’ problems. Don’t focus on selling. Focus on solving. And more is not better. Give them good content not a lot of content.
According to recent article in Content marketing institute: (more…)
Sonnhalter joins the ranks as one of the country’s top business-to-business marketing agencies.
CLEVELAND – April 2017 – Sonnhalter, the leading B2T (business-to-tradesmen) marketing communications firm, was selected as one of Chief Marketer’s 2017 B2B Top Shops, a listing of the top B2B marketing agencies in the United States.
The agencies in B2B Top Shops are chosen by the editors of Chief Marketer, a leading publication focused on measurable marketing tactics published by Access Intelligence. In choosing agencies for inclusion, editors consider each shop’s depth of client work, creative acumen, analytical expertise and numerous other factors.
“It is an honor for Sonnhalter to be recognized by Chief Marketer for our work in leveraging some of the top brands within our business-to-trade niche,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter. ”As an agency, we strive to remain steadfast in our efforts serving companies that target the professional tradesmen while incorporating new and creative tactics to be on the industry’s cutting edge.”
B2B Top Shops is an online searchable directory highlighting each agency’s core services and contact information, offering users a behind-the-scenes look at each shop’s culture and client work. B2B brands, vendors and marketers viewed this easy-to-use resource on ChiefMarketer.com almost 73,000 times in 2016.
Chief Marketer, published by Access Intelligence, charts the customer journey from acquisition and engagement through conversion and retention. Via ChiefMarketer.com, print products, live events, awards programs and more, Chief Marketer offers data-driven intelligence, actionable insights, inspiring case studies and the latest technology trends to help marketers improve their campaigns and increase return on investment.
Established in 1976, Sonnhalter is the leading B2T marketing communications firm to companies that target professional tradesmen in construction, industrial and MRO markets. Sonnhalter is located in the historic Brownell Building in the heart of downtown Cleveland. Sonnhalter’s brand identity highlights its expertise in marketing to the professional tradesmen. Its tagline, “Not Afraid To Get Our Hands Dirty,” promotes the employees’ willingness to roll up their sleeves and dig deep into clients’ businesses, also, it refers to the market it targets: the tradesmen who work with – and dirty – their hands every day. Sonnhalter developed the acronym “B2T,” which stands for “business-to-tradesmen” to capture the essence of its specialty. For more information, visit the company website at Sonnhalter.com.
All carrot no stick
I’ve worked with many companies over the years that made lead follow-up an imperative with their sales forces. In every case where it was required it yielded significant and profitable results reporting hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars in sales.
There is much discussion in internet groups about “aligning marketing and sales” and lead follow-up is a critical part of this discussion. (more…)
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
Contractors (HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical) have some serious challenges moving forward.
The Average contractor is 50+, most aren’t tech savvy, and they’ve been doing things the same way forever (chasing paper work orders). As Boomers leave the workforce at a rate of 1 every 8 seconds, a shortage of middle management will become apparent. Boomers dominate technical jobs, with the exception of IT.
I learned a long time ago if you got into business, among your priorities were: grow your business, make a profit and have an exit strategy.
To grow your business, you need to hire and train good people. And who’s going to train the millennials? The boomers! The boomers have the intellectual capital (work experience) that needs to be transferred to the younger generations. Your pool of talent will come from the 18-34 age group and they look at things a bit differently than their older counterparts.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Wait, Did You Feel That?
The needle began to move on the skilled trades gap.
Don’t look now, but the problem you’ve known about for a generation, the lack of people coming into the skilled trades, is finally going mainstream.
Source: This Old House
First there are the local advocates, who have been talking about the problem for years. You know them, they’re in your local Union Hall, Welding School, or in the rapidly dwindling number of High School Vo-Tech programs. Or they’re part of the increasingly aging workforce itself, all too aware that there are more of them retiring than entering the workforce, and hanging around looking for someone to step up.
And there are now countless local efforts. Here in Northeast Ohio, the Cuyahoga Community College launched a mobile workforce training center. Tri-C customizes it with virtual welders, CNC machines or other demos as the employer or school needs. Also in the Cleveland area, Lincoln Electric, whose Carl Peters is an advocate for training program development, recently capped off the framing of their new, $30 million welding technology center project.
Nationally the news is just as encouraging. Mike Rowe, who has capitalized on his TV fame to promote the trades through his foundation, is getting ready to take applications for 2017 scholarships. He’s also a great social media follow, and recently testified before congress.
Even more promising, This Old House, the venerable PBS show, launched Generation Next a partnership with MikeRoweWORKS designed to highlight the jobs available in the skilled trades and destigmatize these jobs for today’s youth.
NPR’s excellent Marketplace program recently had several in-depth features on training skilled workers, produced by senior education correspondent Amy Scott.
Plus, there are the national groups dedicated to the trades, Skills USA, Manufacturing Day and more.
So what are you doing? What plan does your company have, and how effectively is it implemented? A few places to get started/re-energized:
There have never been more resources and creative thinking addressing this looming crisis. Is it enough? Probably not, but the needle has moved, and it’s in your company’s best interest to do what you can to help build momentum.
By John Sonnhalter, Vision Architect, Sonnhalter
B-to-B marketers are always facing the challenges from the C suite and CFO to measure ROI. According to an article by Debbie Pierce, B2B marketing ROI calculations your CFO will love, 93% of CMOs are under more pressure to deliver measurable results, and only 5% feel they are doing a good job.
Ironically, the C suite and CFOs use the same measuring tools that the marketing departments are using. They’re not concerned about follows or leads, what they want to know is for dollars spent what are the incremental sales resulting from each marketing activity. They are obviously looking for the best bang for the buck(a novel approach).
Ideally they want to come up with some formula like this one from Nitromojo.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
As any salesman, engineer or manufacturer will tell you: marketing has it rough.
Done laughing? Well, here at Sonnhalter, we added a new twist to our vacation plan. Our team members now get one extra day of vacation, no matter their time with the company.
The catch? You have to take it on a B2T (Business-to-Trade) holiday. What’s that? As you’ve probably noticed from your social media feed, almost every day has some “official” holiday designation. National Left-Hander’s Day (August 13), National Look Up at the Sky Day (April 14), Cookie Cutter Week (December 1-7).
But what you might not know is there are an abundance of days dedicated to the skilled trades, like: (more…)
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
No matter what you’re selling, it’s a relatively simple process. You have something that I want, we get together and make a deal. I’ve been in business for over 40 years and the selling process/cycle has apparently changed, or has it?
We used to call on contractors, see what they needed, and hopefully was able to help them out by selling them something. All of this was done on a Human Level. We interacted with them, got to know their families and what they liked to do when they weren’t working. Instead of trying to sell them something, we listened. I called it belly button to belly button selling.
As part of my (Rachel) own training, I spent the day riding along with a MAC jobber. It was an interesting and eye-opening experience, and I learned more about sales in that one day than ever before. Mobile jobbers are a unique distribution channel that marketers in the B2T space need to better understand.
Today we have a guest post from Alan Sipe that provides insight into the world of Mobile Jobbers. Alan is President of Toolbox Sales and Consulting and has more than 40 years of experience including Sr. VP of Sales and Marketing for Klein Tools and President of KNIPEX Tools. His insights in selling through various distribution channels and professional contractors are invaluable.
via MAC Tools
Every Tuesday at about 10 a.m. or Wednesday at 3 p.m. here comes the Cornwell, MAC, Matco, Snap-on or independent mobile jobber representative into your shop.
If they are good at their job, with each visit he or she will be demonstrating the latest and greatest tools for you to purchase. They will also be taking care of your broken tools and delivering your previous orders.
But, how much do you really know about this visitor? What’s their business story? It sure looks easy, walking around showing a bunch of tool nuts (mechanics) cool tools, doesn’t it?
Well, good mobile jobbers make it look easy. But, not surprisingly, there’s more to it than meets the eye.
So, what’s a typical mobile jobber’s day like? (more…)
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
According to a recent survey from The Content Marketing Institute 89% of B2B Marketers use LinkedIn as a way to distribute content.
But if a potential customer isn’t already following you, all you’re doing by posting it to your company page is having a closed conversation with friends. While that’s good for strengthening relationships, it’s not an effective strategy for growing business, brand or thought leadership in your industry.
So, short of requiring all employees to share everything you post, what’s a marketer to do?
Join Groups.
If you’re not familiar with them, LinkedIn Groups are smaller “communities within the larger LinkedIn community where people and companies can connect by shared interest rather than work or personal connections.”
The advantage here is that instead of waiting for people to find you or your company, you can use your industry, process or other qualities to go out and find them.
How do you find the right group, and what do you do once you’ve found them? A lot of things you’re already doing. (more…)
Cleveland – March 2017 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, announces Airmaster as one of its newest clients.
Located in Clarklake, Mich., Airmaster is a leading manufacturer of air circulation, ventilation and heating solutions since 1886. Airmaster exports throughout the world and offers the largest line of air moving equipment in North America. Airmaster services the end user markets in the industrial, electrical and HVAC segments. Previously referred to as Airmaster Fan, the company has a full fabrication and tool and die facility, which offers a complete engineering and technical staff.
“Airmaster began its relationship with Sonnhalter during a crucial time in which the company was in the midst of creating a new brand structure, as well as relocating to a new headquarters,” said Benjamin Braitsch, president and CEO of Airmaster. “Sonnhalter helped us develop a new brand that was fresh, streamlined and communicated that we are more than just fans.”
In 2016, with the help of Sonnhalter, Airmaster unveiled a new brand identity with the introduction of a new logo. Sonnhalter provides a full range of marketing communications services for Airmaster that will span across multiple departments which will guide Airmaster creative messaging on both print and electronic platforms, as well as managing its public relations and media relations.
“Sonnhalter is excited to have the opportunity to be a part of rebranding this new era in Airmaster’s long history,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter. “As Airmaster continues to improve and streamline their processes for delivering air circulation and ventilation solutions, we look forward to building a brand that reflects their commitment to being on the industry’s cutting edge.”
About Airmaster:
Airmaster, based in Clarklake, Mich., manufactures heaters, air circulation and ventilation fan solutions for industrial and commercial use. Founded in 1886 as the Diehl Fan Company, today Airmaster manufactures the industry’s largest selection of air circulation and ventilation products to keep people, plants and processes cool. In 2013, Airmaster was purchased by the Maico group, a family business from Germany. The Maico group is a globally recognized leader in ventilation products and is known for product quality and reliability. Airmaster also maintains stocking warehouses across the U.S. For more information, visit airmasterfan.com.
About Sonnhalter
Established in 1976, Sonnhalter is the leading B2T marketing communications firm to companies that target professional tradesmen in construction, industrial and MRO markets. Sonnhalter is located in the historic Brownell Building in the heart of downtown Cleveland. Sonnhalter’s brand identity highlights its expertise in marketing to the professional tradesmen. Its tagline, “Not Afraid To Get Our Hands Dirty,” promotes the employees’ willingness to roll up their sleeves and dig deep into clients’ businesses, also, it refers to the market it targets: the tradesmen who work with – and dirty – their hands every day. Sonnhalter developed the acronym “B2T,” which stands for “business-to-tradesmen” to capture the essence of its specialty. For more information, visit the company website at Sonnhalter.com.
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
Buyers have taken more control over the sales process. According to Hubspot, 57% of salesmen acknowledge a shift in buyer behavior in becoming less dependent on sales from a year ago. This is true when speaking to contractors and tradesmen.
Today we have a guest post from Andrea Olson.
Industrial organizations rely heavily on a direct, distribution or dealer sales force for growth. Many of these companies have built themselves from the ground-up through street smarts, sweat, and hustle. With many sales build upon long-term relationships, why does a manufacturer need marketing? Aside from creating the brochures, maintaining the website and coordinating trade shows, how can marketing help grow the business? It’s a frequent misconception that many manufacturing leaders have a hard time getting their minds around.
The function of marketing has degraded in recent years, with the advent of “do-it-yourself” tools, allowing the tactical nuts-and-bolts of marketing implementation to be done by more junior staff. In addition, many mid-market manufacturers really never had the need to utilize marketing 50, 60 or 70 years ago – having built the business on a unique invention (at the time), penetrating an under-served market, or establishing a contract with a few large OEMs.
The problem today is that things have changed. Most notably: (more…)
Agency’s third annual scholarship donation toward construction program adds to its longstanding relationship with trade professionals.
CLEVELAND –March 2017 – Sonnhalter, a marketing communications firm to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, continued its support of Cuyahoga Community College’s (Tri-C) “Construction Program Scholarship” with a $2,500 donation. This is the third year in a row Sonnhalter donated to the program.
With more than 5,000 students enrolled, the construction apprenticeship program at Tri-C is one of the largest of its kind and helps students learn a valuable trade within the construction industry through quality assurance, drawings, project management, scheduling, problem solving and communication.
“On behalf of Cuyahoga Community College, we are very grateful for Sonnhalter’s generous support,” said Megan O’Bryan, vice president, development and Tri-C Foundation. “This gift helps students realize a dream that otherwise may not have been possible by providing scholarships which are an essential tool in ensuring access to the education and training our students will need to work in the construction industry. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of Tri-C students.”
Students receive up to 250 hours of classroom instruction, as well as up to 8,000 hours of on-the-job training. During their apprenticeship, students have the opportunity to earn wages and learn from experienced union workers and vocational instructors. Students who complete certification in the program will have the skills to take on careers that include cost/quantity estimating, project scheduling and CAD technician work.
“Each year, Sonnhalter is pleased to further extend our support for this program and all the work it does to shape the minds of future hardworking professionals in the construction industry,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter. ”It is also a unique and exciting opportunity to support a program that educates individuals in our own community who will hopefully make great strides in the Cleveland workforce.”
Last year, Sonnhalter released an extensive database of vocational education and technical programs in the United States similar to Tri-C’s construction apprenticeship program. The database, which includes more than 20,000 programs, contains useful and easy-to-read information about each program, including addresses, phone numbers, websites and more. To download Sonnhalter’s updated, comprehensive list of vocational programs in the U.S., visit sonnhalter.com/vocational.
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
More than a year ago, we released an extensive database of thousands of vocational education programs across the country. We recently updated that list, adding about 1,000 new programs, separating them out by state tabs and standardizing the descriptions to make it even easier to search, sort and use.
Why would a marketing communications firm make such a resource? We hope the tool will bridge the gap between manufacturers and educational programs. The database serves as a helpful tool for companies looking to implement more grassroots campaigns to recruit the next generation of professional tradesmen.
There are a myriad of ways to take advantage of a tool like our database. I’d love to name a thousand ways to use it (given enough time and coffee I probably could too!) but I’ll leave you with a few suggestions of how to make our work, work for you.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Use images on your website to de-clutter, increase SEO and tell a better story.
One of the biggest pitfalls in manufacturers’ websites (and trade shows, and product literature and more) is the overriding desire to SAY TOO MUCH.
And it’s easy to see why. Most manufacturing companies are led by Engineering or Sales. Both of these disciplines are highly verbal. You want to talk about how great a new process or product is in order to show the leap you’ve made in innovation. You want to make sure the customer has all the information in order to close the deal.
The problem becomes that marketing, and effective electronic communications, are becoming increasingly visual. Part of it is screen size. More than half of all internet use is by devices other than computers, the vast majority of which have screens smaller than a laptop. And some of it is just the pace and speed at which web browsers now expect information to be presented to them in the instant search era we live in.
So, it’s imperative to get your value proposition across in less time than it will take someone to hit the back button and open the next search result. (more…)
By Rachel Kerstetter, Public Relations Architect, Sonnhalter
If your content marketing program includes a blog, you’ve felt the pressure to produce a lot of content. Blogs are hungry little monsters that need a steady stream of new information to be effective.
But never fear! It is possible to feed the content beast and not lose a finger in the process.
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
I’ve talked a lot about customer service and how important it is to resolve issues. But we’ve also addressed the issue that customer service is everyone’s responsibility, from sales through tech support. Customer service is really all about your customers’ total experience.
This is true in our relationships with distributors as well as contractors. Manufacturers need to be careful, especially when business is on the uptick and attention to detail may come in second to short-term sales increase.
Don’t take your distributor and tradesman for granted. There’s always someone out there that can identify the contractor’s needs and deliver and it won’t necessarily be based on price or delivery but the total customer experience. (more…)
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
For their January/February issue, Industrial Supply Magazine asked Spencer Maheu, Director at Osborn Industries what advice he had for industrial distributors in the New Year. His answer? Streamline your product selection to reward end users, your organization and your bottom line. Here’s the article:
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
We’re in the thick of trade show season, and that brings up the age-old argument: Are they worth going to?
The ROI of a trade show can be the trickiest equation to manage. Very few feature direct sales, and how do you prove that a sale 6 months from now had anything to do with a 10 by 20 booth?
The short answer? You can’t. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go, just that you should make the most of your customer’s experience.
I just finished reading a great article from Greg Zehe, from GES. It’s his review of a couple of standout booths at this year’s CES and how they succeeded through “hands-on marketing.” And it reminded me of some of the other key strategies to ensure your booth is a stand-out: (more…)
Agency adds nearly 1,000 programs and other new features to list of more than 20,000 technical programs across the country.
CLEVELAND – February 2017 – Sonnhalter, a marketing communications firm to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, updated its extensive database of vocational education and technical programs in the United States with new features, including the addition of nearly 1,000 programs.
The database, which includes more than 20,000 programs, contains useful and easy-to-read information about each program, including addresses, phone numbers, websites and more. In addition to its new programs, each state in the database is now listed separately, and there is also an updated page for national programs and resources. Other features include more concise and easier to sort course titles.
The database serves as a tool for companies looking to implement more grassroots campaigns to recruit the next generation of professional tradesmen. The convenient and easy-to-use database is available for download and is designed to be sortable and searchable for a variety of fields, including program type, location, degree type and other important information.
“When Sonnhalter launched the database of vocational and technical programs, we wanted to provide a simple resource that would make it easy for companies to reach out to students interested in becoming professional tradesmen,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter. “As we grow and improve our database, we continue to do our part in narrowing the gap between manufacturers and educational programs.”
To download Sonnhalter’s updated, comprehensive list of vocational programs in the U.S., visit sonnhalter.com/vocational.
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
Recently the sale of Craftsman Tools went through to a conglomerate, Stanley Black and Decker, for two billion dollars and I asked myself: Does the smaller manufacturer have a fighting chance against them? In the case of reaching the professional tradesman, indeed they do, and here’s why… (more…)
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
Another Super Bowl, er, I mean Big Game is in the books, and like last year, we want to take a look at the ads through the lens of B2T. Are there any lessons? Probably, let’s go to the tape!
You Can Protect Your Brand Too Much
The NFL is notorious for protecting the brand name “Super Bowl.” In fact, I should probably trademark that last sentence, add a disclaimer about how it’s the property of the NFL and let you know that any rebroadcast without the express written consent of the NFL will have lawyers flying at you like DB’s at the QB.
By Scott Bessell, Idea Builder, Sonnhalter
There have been a couple of subtle changes (again) in the world of company/corporate identifiers—their logos.
One of the attempts at winning us over is the elimination of the company name from the logo itself. So, companies like Nike—the swoosh, McDonalds—the golden arches, Starbucks—that mermaid, Shell petroleum—a shell and a growing number of others are simplifying their logos. Those corporations have of course earned through time and billions of advertising this recognition. Joe’s Plumbing, with that flushing toilet logo will probably never obtain that same synchronicity (that immediate connection between you and the icon) the others have earned. (more…)
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
By now, if you have a presence on social media, and are involved in sales or marketing, you’ve seen this:
Well, bad news.
There’s a great blog here that goes in to more detail. But I’d rather focus on something else:
Why do we want this to be real?
Marketing to contractors is different than general marketing. Instead of pitching products, talk about solving problems. Contractors are busy and looking for solutions on how they can do their jobs better and make more money.
Our new tip sheet gives you 11 ways to help you get in front of contractors, promote your value proposition and become a trusted authority in the contractor’s mind.
Sign up to receive 11 Tips on How to Market to Contractors here.
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
The AHR Expo, the preeminent trade show for the HVAC industry is right around the corner. The show runs from January 30th to February 1st at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
AHR just released an optimistic 2017 forecast, based on interviews with more than 1,400 HVACR manufacturers. Because of that, this year’s show promises to be an exciting and educational affair.
Of course Las Vegas has no end of off-the-show-floor options. If you need help finding best in dining, nightlife and sightseeing, check out the recently updated Sonnhalter Insider’s Guide to Las Vegas.
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect, Sonnhalter
“It seems like a lot of companies are doing _________. Should we be doing it too?”
Fill in the blank with any new digital tool: Virtual Reality, Facebook Live, Snapchat, Augmented Reality, etc.
Marketers are asked to consult on new communication mediums and trends on a daily basis. When they aren’t asked to consult, they’re being directed to jump in.
Once upon a time marketers were asked about email, then social media and apps. We’ve come a long way in technology trends. But the basic question is: Should we jump on the bandwagon? (more…)
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
Sales are always trying to short circuit the system and take the low hanging fruit. Trouble is, there’s only so much low hanging fruit. This graphic from Anna Vital should be a constant reminder to all of us that sales are a long term commitment.
Interesting infographic compliments of Brendan P. Farell, Executive VP of FIS .
By Chris Ilcin, Account Superintendent, Sonnhalter
“Free advertising,” who doesn’t want that? One of the best side effects of the boom in content marketing is the growth of brand-neutral trade magazine articles. Pay-for-play has been relegated to the back burner as more and more publications see the benefit of offering knowledge-based problem solving articles.
That’s also an offshoot of the lack of skilled workers, as more and more knowledge retires, there’s an increased need to transfer that knowledge. With less opportunity for direct, apprentice-based, transfer, white papers, problem solving articles and general knowledge pieces gain added importance.
So, how can your company benefit? Create thought leaders. A bragging title most people would reject, it can still help you promote your business and create a knowledge warehouse.
How to Create Thought Leaders (more…)
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
Now that the election is over and Donald Trump will become our new leader, I’m curious to see if you’re as optimistic as I am on where the country is headed, or could be headed, if the world crosses don’t get in the way.
Trump’s business-friendly attitude and the mantra of “there will be no business as usual” is somewhat refreshing. The rollback of regulations alone should be a game changer for manufacturing. The cutting of corporate taxes wouldn’t hurt either.
