CLEVELAND –September 2023 – 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 14th year during its annual Sonnhalter Tool Drive, which ran the entire month of August and collected over $100,000 worth of donations of tools and building materials. Since Sonnhalter began its efforts in 2010, it has collected $517,000 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.
“Every year we are amazed at the amount of donations we receive from our clients and community to support Habitat for Humanity,” said Matt Sonnhalter, Vision Architect at Sonnhalter. “This year, we collected more than $100,000, making it our biggest donation since we started our tool drive initiative.”
“Helping our community is extremely important to us and with the Sonnhalter Tool Drive it allows us to provide tools to work on our houses, in our tool shop and be sold to the general public,” said John Litten, president/CEO of the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity.
Community participants in the 14th Annual Sonnhalter Tool Drive included Berea Recreation Center, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Berea Branch, Frangos Group, Rising Star Coffee Roasters, Skidmark Garage, St. Mary of the Falls, The Wine Spot and many individuals living in the community.
Trade industry participants in the 14th Annual Sonnhalter Tool Drive included Babcox Media, Buyers Products, General Pipe Cleaners, Jergens, Inc., Kapro, Lakeside Supply, NIBCO, Samsel Supply, Shop Supply & Tool Company, Sutton Industrial, Woodhill Supply and Wright.
All donations that Sonnhalter collected benefited Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. The donated items will be used for Habitat for Humanity projects or will be sold at one of the organization’s ReStores, recycled building materials and home furnishings stores. Proceeds from the ReStore sales are used to help Habitat build and rehabilitate homes for those in need.
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 Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity engages people of all backgrounds to eliminate substandard housing. Cleveland Habitat was founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1987. Since then, Cleveland Habitat has brought together community members, volunteers and sponsor groups to help more than 300 Habitat homeowners, including more than 1,000 children, have a safe and decent place to live. For more information on Great Cleveland Habitat for Humanity, visit: https://www.clevelandhabitat.org/.
My days as an intern at Sonnhalter are not what I expected them to be. For one, there’s way less grabbing coffee for everyone than popular media would lead you to believe. For another, they gave me a huge desk with a window view. The view is a cemetery, but beggars can’t be choosers.
I help ghostwrite blog posts for the Sonnhalter website than I can add to my portfolio, draft up press releases for tools I now know more about than I ever thought I would, conduct research and create social media content. I also sit in on meetings with clients and go to in-person open houses to get a better sense of what I am writing about.
One thing I enjoy about interning at Sonnhalter is that no two days are the same. Some days are more writing intensive, while others are more research focused, and I can switch between projects if I want to write more than research.
I have been learning a lot during my time at Sonnhalter and I am excited to take it with me into my future career.
User-generated content (UGC) is content that was created through images, videos and podcasts. Types of user-generated content could be product reviews, testimonials and educational material. User-generated content can come from your customers, influencers or your employees, and can be an added benefit to your brand.
Why is it important?
UGC can be beneficial in the buyer’s journey to add credibility as well as increase social media engagement and overall conversions.
Consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic compared to content created by brands, so utilizing this strategy is important.
UGC can help build brand loyalty and can help grow a tight knit community for your brand. Often, businesses will create influencer programs so they can send out their products for influencers to post about. This allows the company to gain content that they can post across their social media channels.
Sharing audience content also works to develop and deepen audience and business relationships, driving more brand loyalty.
Cost-Effective
Instead of creating a campaign around one of your least popular items and having to spend money on a photoshoot, you can save money by sprinkling in UGC. When starting to use UGC, check your analytics across other posts. You should find that the UGC receives higher engagement and obviously didn’t cost an arm and a leg to create. UGC is a cost-effective way to introduce an innovative marketing strategy to the mix.
Conclusion
Utilizing UGC content can help benefit your brand, but understanding how using UGC can align with your goals is important. Sit down and review your marketing strategy and see how UGC can fit into your marketing mix, so you can use it to your full potential.
It’s probably not surprising that 4 of the Top 5 channels are online/digital according to a recent report from Wunderman Thompson Intelligence, but I bet you the #2 channel is: In-store/at a vendor’s warehouse.
However, while US B2B buyers are searching on Amazon Business and the site commands an estimated 15% of their buying budgets, it’s not necessarily where buyers are starting their purchasing journey.
The largest share of US respondents say they most often start their journey in-store or at a vendor’s warehouse (26%), while fewer start on Amazon Business (16%).
The pandemic played a role in people purchasing online more but spending online is likely to decrease post-pandemic.
Here are some additional nuggets from the report:
Nearly all US respondents have switched suppliers for all (55%) or some (41%) business purchases during the pandemic
Almost half (49%) of all B2B purchases are made online
62% of buyers would like to have dedicated smartphone apps through which they can make B2B purchases
89% of B2B buyers in the UK and US find buying online more complicated than offline
Promotions and marketing are the #1 influencing factor in B2B purchasing
With a high percentage of B2B buying happening online, it’s important to have your suppliers get their online portals right. Online portals can change a customer’s shopping experience and leave them with a positive attitude.
Sonnhalter announced the recent appointment of Kaylee Lauriel to public relations intern. In this role she will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience including writing press releases and blog posts, conducting research and creating social media content.
Lauriel attends Pennwest Edinboro University, where she majors in Strategic Communications and plays on the women’s soccer team. Along with being a student athlete, Lauriel is a member of multiple on-campus groups such as the Honors College and the Applied Communicators of Edinboro.
During her time at Pennwest Edinboro, Lauriel has taken introduction to PR classes, as well as courses on event planning and organizational business that have prepared her for taking on this internship. By the end of her internship, Lauriel hopes to have a greater understanding of her future career path, along with gaining some real-world portfolio content.
When she isn’t working or on the soccer field, Lauriel enjoys spending time with her dog or reading books.
