Top 10 Posts For Marketing to the Professional Tradesmen

It’s always interesting to see which articles pull the best each month. Enclosed are the top ones from August ranked in the order of the amount of traffic each generated. Enjoy.

  1. 10 Engagement Tactics That Will Help B-to-B Marketers
  2. Social Media: Who Uses It and Why?
  3. Industrial and B-to-B Marketers Can’t Ignore Social Media Anymore
  4. 5 Tips for B-to-B Marketers to Get the Most out of Twitter
  5. 2009 Trends and Spending Strategies for B-to-B Marketers
  6. Social Media: 4 Signs Your Tradesman Wants to Hear From You
  7. 5 Tips For B-to-B Marketing Thought Leaders on How to Increase Your ROI.
  8. Forrester Report: Why Most B-to-B Blogs Fail
  9. 5 Quick Tips to Promote Your Post
  10. 5 Ways to Find Prospects on Twitter
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Manufacturers Shifting Marketing Dollars

Everyone is trying to get the most out of what they’re spending this year and the manufacturing sector is no exception. With B-to-B leads from traditional sources slowing down, marketers are looking for other avenues. Many are shifting dollars to online options as they are less expensive and easily measurable.

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According to a recent report from Global Spec, Trends in Industrial Marketing 2009: How Manufacturers are Marketing Today, the number-one focus of marketers is to keep the customers they have and generate new high quality leads. Marketers are under pressure to choose programs that are measurable. So where is the money coming from? Many industrial marketers are reducing trade shows and print ads. 29% of respondents said they already are spending more than half of their budget online. 48% said online will account for a bigger proportion of their budgets for the balance of ’09.

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The top 3 online marketing channels for companies are:

  • online directories/web sites
  • e-marketing using in-house lists
  • SEO

It looks like online and digital are going to become an ever-increasing portion of marketing budgets moving forward. Forrester Research predicts that by 2014,  interactive spending will hit 55 billion ( pproximately 21% of total marketing spends). The Forrester study also indicated that much of the interactive dollars will come out of traditional spends.

What’s your feeling on this subject? Are you doing more online? I’d like to hear your thoughts.

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Industrial Marketers Focus on Social Media

industrialmarketingI’ve been saying for some time now that B-to-B marketers, and especially those in the industrial section, need to start embracing social media. Recently BtoB magazine hosted a Netmarketing breakfast in New York. Among the panel members were: Paul Dunay – Avaya Inc., Robert DeRobertis – GP DSP division of Analog devices, Rick Short – Indium Corp. and Gary Spangler – Dupont Electronic and Communications Technologies. Here are some nuggets from the meeting for you to ponder on:

  • Paul Dunay said, “You must bring valuable content that adds to the discussion. We’re using Twitter as a teaser channel, Facebook as a hub of information, Forums as a type of help desk and Blogs as our corporate voice.”
  • Robert DeRobertis said, “You have to link your social marketing to financial results, noting that internal transparency helps guide both strategic and budgetary direction.” DeRobertis’ program is driven by an understanding of his customers’ buying process which means staying up on important influencers and offering “test drives” which are special offers to see how their audience reacts.
  • Gary Spangler cautioned the audience to go slow and have a plan for social media. “The social train is coming, but you don’t have to get on all the cars at once.”
  • Rick Short uses real employees in his outbound programs, making his company more human and approachable. “Turn your company inside out. Customers want transparency, they want the real deal.”

They all agreed that your strategy should include listening, supporting customers, embracing product ideas and energizing the communities that you serve.

See videos of the speakers

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2009 – The Year Social Media Becomes Universal, Even for Industrial Marketers

social-mediaBlake Cahill, VisInsights blog, posted a review of a report from Forrester Research by Jeremiah Owyang, Josh Bernoff, Sean Corcoran, and Steven Noble: Bold Predictions on Social Computing in 2009 from Forrester Research.

Three of the most important highlights from this report that are of interest to Industrial Marketers:

  1. Social Technology becomes universal. “By end of 2009, more than 85% of US online consumers will be reading or interacting with social content.”
  2. New technologies will arise that allow platforms including email, the Web, and mobile devices to connect with communities and brands will begin to integrate social applications with traditional marketing campaigns and revise campaigns based on social feedback.
  3. Static advertising gives way to the flexible marketing campaigns.

Read the report: Bold Predictions on Social Computing in 2009 from Forrester Research

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Industrial Marketers: Key Tactics to Maximize SEO Results

seoIndustrial marketers are often more concerned with how their web site looks than how it will be found.  So you did a new site two years ago, included some key words and then put it on auto pilot. SEO is an important component to generate traffic to your site and shouldn’t be neglected, especially in this economy.

Search engines are continually changing and upgrading the ways spiders do their job. I read an article recently by Stephen Riegel. These are his four quick tips to increase your web site’s traffic:

  1. Eliminate navigation barriers. Spiders prefer easy-to-navigate sites.
  2. Create an XML sitemap that allows spiders to see what pages exist and how often you update them.
  3. Check your code. If spiders can’t understand it, they might miss important information.
  4. Check your title tags as they are among the most important elements of search engine algorithms.

Taking the time to review your sites for SEO is one of the most efficient investments of your time and budget that you can make.

To read Stephen Riegel’s article: Key tactics to maximize your SEO efforts

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