by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 30, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Google optimization is based on the premise that the more people like your site, the more credible it is and therefore it gets a higher ranking.
Right, wrong or indifferent…that’s how the game is played. So what are you doing to make sure other sites are linking back to you?
I recently read a guest post on http://www.convinceandconvert.com/ by Nicole Sorochan that outlined 14 Easy Ways to Build Backlinks. Nicole stresses that if you’re going to go to the trouble of doing backlinks to make sure to make them complete.
The more info you give the engines, the better chances you have of getting their attention. I thought I’d share five ways that hit home with me.
- Google profiles – Create for key employeees. Add a custom link with anchor text (words that make up the link).
- LinkedIn – Build a company profile as well as individual profiles on key people.
- Digg – Great place to put articles you want to promote.
- Stumbleupon – Another popular article discovery site.
- YouTube – Create a custom YouTube channel for your company.
So what are you doing to capitalize on backlinks?
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 25, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Listening to customers is not a new strategy, but today we have more options to connect and listen, especially online. Social media and digital marketing is making it easier to monitor customers to see what they are saying about you and your competitors.
Smart companies are taking advantage of every possible opportunity and making it a part of their online strategy.
A recent article in emarketer.com highlighted results of a recent study by Forrester Consulting measuring the success of listening and engagement initiatives.
The key here is if you listen carefully, it will help you identify issues and ultimately start engaging the customer.
What are you doing to listen to your customer base?
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 24, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
For those of you who read this column regularly, you know LinkedIn is one of my best sources for links to my blog. With 100-million-plus on LinkedIn, how many potential customers are out there waiting to be connected?
In a recent post on emarketer.com there were highlights from a recent study from Lab42 that reinforces the notion that users are highly engaged. Here are some highlights:
- 35% check their site daily
- 32% check it several times a week
- 42% of users update their profiles regularly
- 81% are interacting with the site
Among the top reasons why professionals use the site… for industry networking and promoting their brand.
So if you haven’t taken LinkedIn seriously, I’d suggest you spend 15 minutes searching in the upper right hand of the site groups. Type in key words/phrases and you may be surprised on the number of existing groups that share your same interests. Wouldn’t you want to be connected with them?
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 23, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
I recently read an article by Harrison Kratz that talked about communities and how most people are missing the boat when it comes to capitalizing on them and it made me start to think.
He made the point that we’re all so wrapped up in doing the mechanics of social media that we don’t allow time for the next step, and that’s an actual conversation with another human being either on the phone or in person. Let’s face it, isn’t that why we’re doing this?
I never understood the online dating thing, but if you look at that as an example, I would hope your end goal wouldn’t be just to continue the relationship online. I would hope you would want to talk to the person and eventually meet to further discuss things you have in common.
Social media is no different if you think about it, but how many of us are guilty of keeping people at arm’s length and only communicating with them online. Seems like a waste of time to me. The opportunities are limitless and so are our excuses for not participating. I know in my case, I’ve been invited to several cocktail parties or meet and greets from several of my local LinkedIn groups and really haven’t taken advantage of them, yet I go back and forth with them with emails.
From a business standpoint, we all belong to some sort of national group that probably has a LinkedIn group or maybe you follow a work-related forum. Why not initiate a gathering at the next national meeting or trade show? Don’t wait to be invited, do the inviting and take the leadership role. You may be surprised at the response.
For those folks who want to continue to be wallflowers, we can’t change that, but I would encourage you to at least try one local event. People may not remember who they tweeted with, but most people will remember who they had coffee or a drink with.
Social media is only the first step in the process of developing relationships. Social helps you identify like-minded folks and then it’s your turn to see if you can turn some of them into actual face-to-face relationships.
So what are you waiting for?
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 18, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Let’s face it, one of the reasons you have a blog is to get your message out to as many people you can who share the same interests. Doesn’t it make sense then to use other social media tools to drive people to your site and increase engagement?
I recently read a guest post in ProBlogger by David Cowling, that outlines some great ways to capitalize on other social media outlets. Here are some highlights:
- Promote your RSS feed – increases visitors and can result in back-links to your blog which result in better search engine rankings.
- SEO your social media profiles – This is a fairly new idea, but one that intrigues me. Facebook – about box is seen by search engines so make products specific if you’re selling something. If you have several Fan pages, link them together.Twitter profile – your user name becomes the title tag on your page. LinkedIn – your name, headline, current location and industry are placed in a meta description tag.
- Use social groups to promote your topics – Create groups and discussions on both LinkedIn and Facebook. If you belong to groups, promote them there as well as create your own group.
Other questions you should be asking yourself:
- What networks send you the most traffic as a blogger?
- What percentage of your traffic comes from these networks?
- What’s been your most shared article and what can you learn form this?
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 17, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
As we all dive into the social media scene, we find that most of us have several different audiences we’re trying to engage with. That’s why it’s important to assign a community manager to each of these important market segments. Community managers are the social media voices for their brands that fulfill multiple roles and therefore you need a strategy to keep things on track.
I recently read a post by Janet Aronica in Social Media Examiner on 5 Tips for Building a Community Management Strategy that I thought was well written. Here are some of the highlights:
- Define metrics – What are the goals of the program? Make sure they are clear cut.
- Listening – Be where your targets are. Identify hashtags, blogs and forums that target your audience.
- Create a content plan – In order to draw people in, you need a plan. Identify an editorial calender, identify potential bloggers for your team and identify key words.
- Leverage email – Build a list, develop a schedule of launch dates and plan your content.
What are you doing to manage your community?
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 16, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
I just read a post by John Jantsch from Duct Tape Marketing that really hit home. He said,
“Most organizations focus their attention on growing their customer base. The real focus should be on growing your circle of trust.”
I got to thinking that the acquisition costs to start from scatch to identify and then take them through several stages of your selling cycle to get them to try your product are pretty high. He made the point to have you think about the last time you purchased something. Most likely you were influenced by the reviews online or by countless others singing the praises of that product (sort of a testimonial).
He said that basically we fail to understand that the bigger your circle of trust, the bigger your business potential. Here are some of his suggestions to build your circle:
- Tell stories – everyone loves a compelling story.
- Ratings matter – decisions are made on how other people rate your product.
- Blog comments matter – this type of engagement conversations is influential when you read all the threads.
- Social fans are important – whether it’s Google+, Facebook or recommendations on LinkedIn.
Hopefully we’ll all take pause and consider John’s thoughts.
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 11, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
If you’re a manufacturer and don’t have anything on YouTube, you’re missing a great opportunity. What better way to show a customer or prospect how to use your product, highlight features and benefits or even have a customer testimonial. Next to Google (who by the way owns YouTube), YouTube is the highest searched. The numbers are staggering:
- In May of 2011, there were 15 BILLION videos streamed.
- Internet viewing was up 35% and mobile viewing up 20%
- 35 hours of video are uploaded every minute
I recently read a post by Rich Brooks in Social Media Explorer that explored ways to maximize your YouTube presence. Here are some of the highlights:
- Create compelling content – Address the needs of your customers.
- Make it findable – both in and out of YouTube. Your Title, Description and Tags are important.
- Brand your channel – Create a custom background that goes along with your branding . Use “Player View” as your layout and select autoplay feature.
- Post a bulletin and alert your friends and subscribers – Create a link and put it on your home pages.
- Leverage other social media platforms – Blog about it, Tweet it, post it on Facebook and submit it to StumbleUpon.
What are you doing to leverage your YouTube videos?
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 10, 2011 | Social Marketing
Hopefully one of your objectives for social media is to generate new business leads. Obviously one of the ways is to be more active. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or your blog, you need to be visible and active in order to create followers.
Social Media Explorer shared some interesting stats on new research that bigger may be better. Here are some highlights:
According to Hubspot and Edison Research, the more frequent you post on your blog, the better the chances of getting leads. According to them, a blog has a shelf life of around 72 hours so it makes sense that more is better. It’s like anything else – it’s a numbers game, the more you do, the better chance of catching someone’s attention on a topic that’s relevent to them. While it may not be possible to post each day, the more frequently you do, the better your chances of generating leads. The key is consistency.
The same holds true for Twitter. According to Elijah Young, those of us who have over 1,00o followers saw 6 times as much traffic to their account.
Facebook fan pages result in better results. According to Hubspot, fan pages that have over 1,000 fans have 22 times the amount of traffic.
Additionally, the size of your Facebook fanbase will dramatically impact how many leads you receive. Businesses with 501 to 1,000 fans saw 4 times as many leads as those with 1 to 25 fans, and businesses with over 1,000 fans saw 12 times more leads. For tips on growing your Facebook fanbase, see this popular article by Mari Smith called 21 Creative Ways to Increase Your Facebook Fanbase.
So what are you waiting for. The more you do, the better the results!
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 9, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
I still am amazed that marketing executives, especially in larger companies (80% 0f companies with 100 plus employees), acknowledge that social media is a legit marketing tool, but yet fail to take the time to develop a strategy for it.
It’s like ready, fire, aim!
A recent post in eMarketer.com, Executives Fail to Focus on Social Media Marketing Strategy, quotes several sources as to the reasons.
Here are several disturbing points:
- No surprise, most of these executives feel tentative about making social strategy a priority.
- They are not overly optimistic about their current strategy.
- It looks like small and medium sized firms have the advantage over larger ones.
It’s funny that that the marketing priorities for social – customer retention, customer acquisition and branding – are not foreign words to marketers, but somehow there is a disconnect when putting an integrated plan together that includes both traditional and social in the same plan.
I don’t get it. If they put together a traditional plan they way they do social, they probably wouldn’t have a job.
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 4, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Beyond the normal marketing things you do, what are you doing to get closer to your customers and LISTEN to what their issues are?
May I suggest a tradesmen council? You all have brand advocates out there, why not get them together a few times a year and get a better sense of what’s happening in their world and what keeps them up at night. You could even pass by new product ideas before putting them into production. If you make the meetings about them and not you, the outcome will be more positive.
You know these guys talk to each other either through social media like forums or at association and trade meetings. Meetings could be planned around major trade shows or meetings, and you’d ask them to come in a day ahead of time for say a half-day meeting.
I’d also suggest that some of the meetings could be held at your location (at your expense) so they get to meet other members of your team. Keep these meetings on track with an agenda that should include issues they want to talk about as well. There also should be action items coming out of each meeting where they can see that you actually did listen and are taking some action. Note that all action items don’t have to have a positive resolution, but the council needs to know that you at least took it under consideration.
Other than the ultimate end user, do you sell through independent reps and or distributors? These should be on your radar screen to get closer to as well. Rep and Distributor councils can also reap great results.
- Reps are in the trenches daily and can give you valuable insights not only on the end user level, but also what’s happening at the distributor level.
- Distributors can give you insights on not only current avenues of business, but might be able to point out new possible areas of growth.
Bottom line is, I’ve seen firsthand what a well planned council can bring to a company. It’s a great long-term strategy that will help you set your brand apart.
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 4, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Beyond the normal marketing things you do, what are you doing to get closer to your customers and LISTEN to what their issues are?
May I suggest a tradesmen council? You all have brand advocates out there, why not get them together a few times a year and get a better sense of what’s happening in their world and what keeps them up at night. You could even pass by new product ideas before putting them into production. If you make the meetings about them and not you, the outcome will be more positive.
You know these guys talk to each other either through social media like forums or at association and trade meetings. Meetings could be planned around major trade shows or meetings, and you’d ask them to come in a day ahead of time for say a half-day meeting.
I’d also suggest that some of the meetings could be held at your location (at your expense) so they get to meet other members of your team. Keep these meetings on track with an agenda that should include issues they want to talk about as well. There also should be action items coming out of each meeting where they can see that you actually did listen and are taking some action. Note that all action items don’t have to have a positive resolution, but the council needs to know that you at least took it under consideration.
Other than the ultimate end user, do you sell through independent reps and or distributors? These should be on your radar screen to get closer to as well. Rep and Distributor councils can also reap great results.
- Reps are in the trenches daily and can give you valuable insights not only on the end user level, but also what’s happening at the distributor level.
- Distributors can give you insights on not only current avenues of business, but might be able to point out new possible areas of growth.
Bottom line is, I’ve seen firsthand what a well planned council can bring to a company. It’s a great long-term strategy that will help you set your brand apart.
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 3, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
B-to-B and manufacturing companies alike face the same challenges when it comes to developing and implementing social media programs. They’re too busy taking care of business to make adequate plans, let alone implement them.
Social media is a cost-effective addition to your marketing program and you should try to utilize it as much as possible. I recently read a post from Heidi Cohen, Social Media Strategies for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, that brought up some good points that can be applied to the manufacturing sector. Here are some highlights and thoughts:
- Give your prospects information that’s useful – how to info, troubleshooting tips, something simple that even could be tweeted.
- Solve a potential problem – people are always looking for help, and as a manufacturer, you want to build your thought leadership.
- Go where your customers are – no matter what kind of business you’re in, there are niche communities either through trade associations or industry forums that you can participate in.
- Create your own online community – start small with a group on LinkedIn ,Yahoo or Google.
- Educate and train – capitalize on your videos and other training aids already in place for your source of info.
Those are some of my suggestions. What are you doing to develop cost-effective strategies?
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 2, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Social media isn’t just about posting comments on Facebook or Twitter. It’s about not only having a plan of how to execute your message, but how to get the most out of it. Since social media is different from our normal marketing activities, your team needs to be trained with guidelines on the do’s and don’t’s .
The Construction Marketing Association recently posted 5 Social Media Training Tips that would really apply to any industry.
Here are some highlights:
- Create a social media policy – Ensure both brand and corporate objectives are met. Need to define ramifications of negative situations, unprofessional conduct and disciplinary actions.
- Recruit social media editors – Social media opens up who should contribute to the message outside the typical PR and Marketing disciplines. Recruit and leverage thought leaders within your company and take advantage of their expertise.
- Develop a plan – This is not ready, fire, aim. You need to define overall objectives and goals for each social media segment you are planning on participating in.
- Conduct social media training – After you’ve recruited your team, you need to give them some basic training in each social platform. Each are different and they need to understand the best way to use the system.
- Keep everyone in the loop – You need to keep everyone from the team doing the work, to management where you want to build support, updated on the “wins.” Sharing the successes creates enthusiasm.
It’s important not to just jump in but have a plan. What are some things you’re doing to help educate your team?
If you ike this post, you may like:
Have You Got a Social Media Policy?
You Should Know the “Why” Before the “How” if You’re Going to Jump Into Social Media
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 28, 2011 | Uncategorized
Habitat for Humanity does much for local communities to create hope by building homes and strengthening neighborhoods. They count on people like us to help whenever possible.
Sonnhalter is hosting its second annual Tool Drive to help them get the necessary tools for volunteers to use when doing projects and we need your help. Last year, through the generosity of businesses like yours, more than $16,000 worth of tools and building materials were collected. Habitat is looking for building materials and tools that can be used to help eliminate substandard housing.
Here are a few ways you can help: Donate tools or other products that are useful in building homes. We are planning to do this event in the month of August; all tools collected would need to be shipped to the Sonnhalter office at 633 West Bagley Road, Berea, Ohio 44017 by Friday, September 2nd. For more information, click here.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 27, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Sure you’ve heard it before that content is king, but what does that really mean? It’s more than a posting on Facebook or your lates blog post. It’s a long-term commitiment to your brand and what it stands for.
Everything you do should reflect your company’s core points of differentiation. I recently read a post by John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing, called 5 Types of Content That Every Business Must Employ that I thought made several good points. Among them:
- Build trust – content builds a bridge between awareness and trust.
- Educate – content creates awareness and will make the prospect want to learn more.
- Get customers involved – build loyalty and community and let’s face it, you don’t have all the answers.
- Filtering and aggregating information – you need to be recognized as a go-to source for information; it doesn’t mean it all has to be original.
- Convert prospects into buyers – this is the ultimate goal and great content will help you in this process.
How are you using content to meet your marketing goals?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 26, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
I’m amazed by people who say social media is free! Obviously they haven’t dove into it or they don’t value their time or the time that others invest. While outside costs are minimal usually compared to traditional marketing campaigns, what it lacks in outside costs, it makes up with internal costs.
I recently read a post by Heidi Cohen, How to Calculate Social Media Costs, that I thought was worth sharing. Highlights include:
- People – The most obvious and often the most overlooked because they are already in the budget. Your staff monitors, creates, manages and responds to social media.
- Content – This drives everything in social and you need to constantly create new stuff. Who’s doing it and if you’re not doing it in your own department and get sales or engineering involved, how do you calculate their time?
- Support media – What are you doing to promote and drive traffic? E-blast, landing pages, creative and paid advertising.
- Brand monitoring – Software and tracking fees to keep up to speed on what’s being said about you and your competitors.
- Technology – You need support which normally comes from your IT department or creative to support your website, blog and server capacity issues.
What are some other costs that you’ve identified?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 21, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
If you do a blog and aren’t getting the results you were hoping for, maybe you’re doing something wrong.
A recent article by Cindy King in Social Media Examiner, 21 Dangerous Blogging Mistakes (and How to Fix Them) outlines some items from industry leaders on what they see as the biggest mistakes. It’s a good read and we’re all guilty of some of these. Here are my top 5 favorites:
- Not understanding your audience – What value do you bring to the table? You need to understand the problems of your audience.
- Not having a strong niche – Smaller is better. Develop a niche following that is equally focused, passionate and valuable.
- Not committing to the process – Blogging is a commitment; that means plan on writing 2-3 posts every week using keyword rich posts with persuasive, compelling titles.
- Failing to engage the readers with a compelling headline – You need to get people to open up your post. If it’s not clever or to the point, you could be giving away a million dollars and no one would know.
- Not sharing your expertise – The fastest way to build community is by sharing info. Refer and link to other experts in your industry. Have guest bloggers and be a guest blogger on other sites.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 20, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
Although Google Plus is still in its infancy, the social media world is investigating its uses and benefits. Currently, Google is only allowing personal profiles and it’s an invitation-only party. Right now at least.
I’ve asked Rachel Kerstetter from our PR Department to give our readers a basic review of what Google Plus is and how we can start using it.
Currently, Google is working on not only ironing out the wrinkles for the 10 million users that it attracted in the first two weeks, they are crafting entity profiles that will allow brands, companies, organizations and other non-individual users to jump in and start using Google Plus. The sign up period for business profiles ended on July 15th and a small group of businesses will be using the profiles so that Google can analyze how users interact differently with them than with other individual users.
What it is
For now, individual users are exploring the newest social networking experience. Google Plus features what I call hyper-personalization, allowing you to segment your connections in any way that you choose and sharing with select groups of people.
Benefits to your business
One Google Plus user pointed out that it could become useful as a business collaboration tool because of some of its included features. I’m going to hit a few of the Google Plus features that could benefit business communication. I’m sure that as the network grows, more useful features will be added.
- Circles: Since you can personalize each circle with any way that you choose to label your group, you can share with industry-specific people easily. Imagine having circles called, “Industry Contacts” or “Business Partners” with which you control what you share, keeping personal and professional interest separated but still contained on the same network. And you can add one person to as many circles as you’d like. Once you get started on Google Plus, it is very easy to make new circles.
- Hangouts: Business groups can chat and video chat through Google Plus to keep things all in one place while members are in different physical locations. Multi-user video chat is a pay-for feature on Skype so Google Plus could cut your video conferencing costs. Hangouts allow up to 10 users to video chat. Google Translate can be integrated into the Hangouts which makes international business easier and cheaper.
- +1 Button: People can share items via the +1 button similarly to the various other social media buttons that you see elsewhere online. The Google Plus method of sharing is much more selective. The detailed method of separating people into circles could increase sharability (so to speak) of articles, posts and other information. People are much more likely to share industry-specific information on Google Plus because they can choose who sees it and not clutter their friends’ or family members’ newsfeeds with work-related postings.
- Sparks: The Sparks menu is another hyper-personalized feature that Google Plus offers. This acts as one-stop shopping for topics of interest. You can browse topics (sparks) or add them to your menu for quicker browsing. This option sorts your news for you and allows you to go as specific in your interests as, “saw blades” or specific company names and as broad as “Construction” or “Buildings.” These sparks of information help individuals to keep an eye on what is happening around a certain topic, but it also helps get messages out to those who want to read them.
To select the content that shows up in the sparks feeds, Google Plus uses a combination of +1 sharing, normal Google Plus link sharing and Google’s search engine algorithms. The aim of the sparks material is to get fresh, new things into the feeds. One major parameter of sparks selection is the visual component, leading videos to frequently rank higher. If your business sells a product, consider uploading a video of the product in use to YouTube. There are still bugs in the system, but for companies engaging in SEO, sparks could eventually help increase visibility. Also, if you set your company’s name or your product name as a spark, you can use it to monitor your coverage. It is much like a Google Alert, except it doesn’t send you an email.
Other benefits related to Google Plus are:
– Google Docs is a tool that lets you upload and share documents with anyone, anywhere. This lets you share even out of the office. This is not fully integrated with Google Plus yet, but has the potential.
– Google is overall easy and free to use. One Google Account gives you access to a ton of Google products from Gmail, Google Voice and Google Plus to Google Translate, Google Docs, Google Reader and Google Business pages. There are companies that encourage employees to open Gmail accounts so they can use Google chat to make work more efficient.
– Wider professional access. Many workplaces block social networking sites to avoid the inefficient use of time by employees. Facebook may be blocked, but chances are Google is not. This means that your business contacts might have easier access to communication through Google Plus than they would with another social network.
– Potential is the overwhelming benefit that Google Plus holds. The fact that Google Plus is new, added to Google’s financial capability and the existing Google products that are, or can be, integrated into Google Plus, gives this new social network enormous potential for growth and business usability.
Building your Google Plus
Once you’ve got a Google Account and a profile on Google Plus, you can start building your circles right away with your current Google contacts.
Since most businesses use Outlook for email organization, chances are that your business partners are not stored in your Gmail contacts so adding them to your circles would be a cumbersome process of looking for each individual process if you don’t export your contacts. (Google Plus provides a tool for you to import contacts from a Yahoo! or Hotmail.) If you have a Google Account and have set up your Google Plus, transferring your contacts from Outlook is much easier than searching for people or sending a bunch of invitations. Microsoft provides directions on how to transfer contacts here.
If you tend to conduct business communication through LinkedIn, rest assured that you can also import your LinkedIn connections in a similar method as Outlook. You can find out how here.
Once you’ve got all of your business contacts in Gmail, you can simply go to your Google Plus Circles page and click on the “Find and invite” option. From there you can drag each individual contact into your desired circle, or you can select multiple contacts at once by clicking and highlighting over the ones you want to add then drag them into your desired circle.
Prepare now
If you operate the social media for your business, I strongly recommend that you try to snag a personal invitation to join from a friend or colleague so that you can start becoming familiar with Google Plus. (If you don’t know anyone who can invite you to Google Plus, we might be able to help if you let us know in the comments.) Once you’re on, start thinking about how business can use it best when the entity profiles become available.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 19, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Why are you either doing or considering social media as part of your marketing mix? Hopefully the answer is to ultimately get new customers. If that’s the case, you first need to build your followers and start having conversations with them. It’s a process and it doesn’t happen over night. Here are 3 tips on building followers:
- Content – Without it you won’t have anything to bring to the table. Come up with topic categories that would be applicable to your target audience and then put together an editorial calendar to make sure each topic is covered on a regular basis.
- You don’t have to the have all the answers – Rely on others in the field. Comment on what they say and put your take on it. Talk about industry issues and trends.
- Engage – Not everyone who reads your posts will be motivated to either share it or comment on it. But those that do open the door for you to engage them in further conversation. Sometimes your readers see you commenting and jump into the conversation.
Those are some of my tips on getting followers. What are you doing?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 14, 2011 | Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
I can’t believe the year is already half over. Where does the time go? I thought I’d share the top read posts so for the second quarter of 2011 just in case you may have missed them. Enjoy.
- 5 Reasons Why Social Media Doesn’t Work.
- Social Media: Who Uses It and Why?
- Social Media Introverts: Here Are Ways For You to Come Out of the Closet.
- Manufacturers: Are You Taking Advantage of QR Codes?
- Content is King: 10 Tips on Effective Writing.
by Sonnhalter | Jul 13, 2011 | News, Press Release
BEREA, Ohio – July 2011 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, has recently added Nissan Forklift Corporation to its client base.
Nissan Forklift Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., designs, manufactures and supports a complete line of material handling equipment that delivers features resulting in greater dependability, higher productivity and lower operational costs. The company’s products range from industrial lift trucks, and pneumatic forklifts to pallet jacks, sit-down and stand-up counterbalanced forklifts to forklift parts and accessories. Sonnhalter will be helping Nissan Forklift with its public relations services.
“The addition of Nissan Forklift is a testament of Sonnhalter’s diversified client base in the business-to-tradesmen market. We are excited to have Nissan Forklift join us,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter.
According to Steve Cianci, director, marketing & product management, Nissan Forklift, “We are looking forward to developing a strong partnership with the Sonnhalter team to support our internal marketing communications department as we continue to experience strong growth in market share.”
Headquartered in Marengo, Ill., Nissan Forklift has a network of more than 100 authorized dealerships with over 225 locations across North, South and Latin America, as well as additional worldwide locations. For more information, visit http://unicarriersamericas.com/.
Established in 1976, Sonnhalter is the leading B2T marketing communications firm to companies that target professional tradesmen in construction, industrial and MRO markets. 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. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, Sonnhalter was named one of BtoB Magazine’s Top Agencies. For more information, visit the company website at www.Sonnhalter.com or visit the company blog at www.TradesmenInsights.com.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 13, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Social media gives all of us the opportunity to reach out to a wider circle of folks that share the same interests as we do. It’s up to us to decide how and when to pursue those contacts and hopefully turn them into relationships.
Heidi Cohen wrote an interesting post recently, 10 Social Media Lessons in Being Human that I think sums up very well some lessons we all can take to heart and hopefully make a difference in the real world we live in. Here are some highlights:
- Share your passion with people
- Each of us are our own brand
- We all have the power to change the world
- Persuade those that are already listening to you
- Don’t forget to say thank you
Powerful stuff! What would you add to the list?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 12, 2011 | Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
If you’re in charge of an event, whether it’s a presentation, seminar, webinar, virtual meeting, trade show or sales meeting, if you want to shake it up a little, try using Twitter as an interactive part of the program.
What a great way to engage people, see what people are thinking and you can even field questions. Here are some tips on how to use Twitter successfully for events:
- Create a hashtag – These will identify your specific activity. That way anyone posting or following the hashtag will see what everyone else is commenting.
- Promote the hashtag – Depending on how large the event is, there are various ways to let people know how to follow the event. If you’re putting on an association meeting or a global conference, you may be able to get someone to sponsor the promotions and signage.
- Inform the presenters that live tweeting will be going on. Most folks that do this have a screen on stage so the audience can participate.
- If there are multiple presenters, make sure that the audience knows their Twitter handles.
- Make sure wifi is available – you can’t tweet if you can’t get on the net. I know I’ve been in ballrooms listening to speakers where there is no access. This is not good.
Those are some of my suggestions. Care to share yours?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 7, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Contrary to what people might say, email marketing is still a very effective marketing tool. The key to a successful program lies in the list. If you’ve ever done any email marketing, you know you can rent lists or have publications send out a message on your behalf.
But the best lists are the home-grown ones that you nuture from within. These can come from exisiting customers, potentials for trade shows or ad campaigns, but the key in the cases other than your current customers is having them give up their email address and opt-in to all the great things you want to send them. That’s where a good opt-in page comes in.
I recently read a post in CopyBlogger, 7 Steps to an Email Opt-in Page That Works that made several good points. Here are a few highlights that may seem obvious, but aren’t always followed:
- Determine who you want – this will determine the message you create.
- What do you want from them – you want them to sign up, so get to the point – one point.
- What should it include – a headline, benefits (what’s in it for me), call-to-action and actual opt-in form.
- How much info should you ask for – the more you ask for, the less will sign up.
Don’t overcomplicate an opt-in page. Use my old standby- KISS.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 6, 2011 | Social Marketing
If you do a blog, you know what kind of time commitment you have in order to keep those posts coming out on a regular basis.
There’s no reason you have to be the originator of all the content. Beyond having other associates within your firm write about their areas of expertise, you should consider getting some outside perspectives. As long as you set the parameters and let them know your objectives and target audiences, there should be no problems. Here are some reasons why you should consider them:
- Areas of expertise – Let’s face it, we al know something about everything, but it’s impossible to be an expert in everything. So why not ask the experts to contribute their thoughts.
- Different perspective – Even if you are an expert in the field, it’s good to get another point of view for your readers.
- Attract new readers – Guest bloggers have their own audiences, and by making sure you use their names in the keyword tags, they will attract new eyes to your site. Hopefully the guest blogger will promote it to their current followers.
- Reduces your content creation – Let’s face it, we all could use a break from the daily grind, so it’s a win-win for everyone.
Those are some reasons why I ask experts on the field to contribute. What are your reasons?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jul 5, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
In the B-to-B space and especially when it comes to the more traditional manufacturing sector, lots of marketers treat social the same as their other marketing efforts and wonder why it’s not working for them.
The truth is social is a long-term tactic while many of the traditional marketing efforts are focused on a stimulus/response model.
Here are some tips on how social media can be an effective marketing tool for you:
- Make your message conversational – I’m sure you can remember possibly a family member who was a great story teller. When they spoke, you hung on every word, got excited, laughed, but more importantly, you connected with that person and interacted with them. Most importantly, you remembered the story. Socia,l to be successful, needs to follow the storytelling path as opposed to the feature/benefit bullet points from a sales sheet. Let’s face it, there’s not much emotional response in sales sheet copy. Instead, tell a story of how this new left-handed widget made my life easier on a jobsite.
- Engaging your audience – You need great content, but you don’t want a one-way conversation. Be active on Twitter or make comments on forums or Facebook pages. Social is a two-way street.
- Networking – You need to build online networks again using LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. These are all good ways to spread the message. Every connection helps you reach out to new potentials.
- Keyword Search – One of the big benefits for social is that it’s trackable and indexable using keywords. You need to make sure they are in your titles and photo captions to insure pick up.
Those are some points from my view; what elements of social are you using to maximize your B-to-B efforts?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 29, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
When generating leads from various sources, how do you qualify them to see if they’re ready to buy? Not all leads are ready to buy, and it’s important to have a process in place to sort them out. According to Russ Hill from Ultimate Lead Systems:
- 67% of all leads are legitimate prospects.
- 34% have a need that must be satisfied in the next 6 months.
- 70% of those prospects didn’t know you made that product.
- It takes on average 5-6 sales calls to close a sale.
- 80% give up after the first call and 90% plus give up after the second call.
Doesn’t it make sense to have a process in place to monitor and track?
Most capital equipment purchases, for example, have a buying team in place to make recommendations. You need to identify them through your initial contact (or at least the job functions) so you know what areas you need to cover. We’ve found that a quick survey along with what they asked for can help you find out if they are in the information-gathering stage or the PO stage and you can act accordingly. If you know what other type of information they may want to see, or if a demonstration would be in order to better show them the product, that would help you prioritize your salesmen’s efforts.
As you can see in the following chart, people at different stages in the buying cycle need different things. Once you understand where they are in the process, then you can start asking the appropriate questions about budgets, timelines, etc.
What kind of process do you have in place to qualify leads?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 28, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
As the world grows more mobile, it’s inevitable that smartphones are and will become a more intricate part of our daily routine. It’s my contention that in our world of reaching the professional tradesmen these phones are being used on a regular basis.
I don’t have the data to back that up since there have been no formalized studies done specifically on this market segment. But if you make the assumption that what we do in our everyday lives rolls over to our work day routines, then a new study out by Google that looks at the purchasing habits of smartphone users in the U.S. may be of interest to you.
Chris Crum from Webpronews.com outlines the highlights of the study. Among them are these points that I find interesting:
- 89% of smartphone owners use their device throughout the day for a variety of activities.
- 82% notice ads on their phones and half of them take action.
- 95% of users have looked for local information
- 77% have contacted a business by either calling or visiting
What kinds of trends are you seeing out there?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 23, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Some folks are still confused as to what to do to get the most out of your Facebook page. There are a few keys…one is content (targeted at your audience) and the other is a strong call-to-action. Incorporating these will help engage people and drive traffic back to your site.
I recently read a great article in Social Media B2B, by Jeffrey Cohen, 75 of the Best B2B Facebook Marketing Tips that’s a good a summary of things you need to do to be best in class. He gives you tips and sources. Here are my favorite points:
- Get people to LIKE your page
- Share lots of photos and ask your fans to also share
- Write posts that encourage sharing across the network
- Have a unique voice
- Diversify your content
- Post industry articles and blog posts fresh from your newsreader
- Make your like button easy to spot
- Encourage others to share your calls to action
If you like this post you may like:
Tips on Using Facebook as a Good Marketing Tool
Social Media for B-to-B Marketers
2011 Social Media Trends in the Industrial Sector
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 22, 2011 | Uncategorized
There’s a lot of talk about manufacturing jobs continuing to go away in this country. But when I talk to manufacturers, one of the biggest issues they talk about domestically is finding qualified help. Apprentice programs for tool and die makers are shrinking due to lack of interest. Even factory production jobs aren’t menial labor jobs anymore. It takes skill and training to run CNC or other sophisticated machines.
The same is true with professional tradesmen in the contracting field. Talk to a plumbing or electrical contractor and they say the same thing. There aren’t enough young folks getting into those trades as well.
So what’s the problem? A good plumber or electrician can make a very good living and their jobs can’t be outsourced. I used to belong to a country club and next to doctors, contractors were the next biggest category of members! NJATC, IBEW and other trade associations and unions have training programs in place. Spokespeople like Mike Rowe has a passion to get more people into the trades. He’s even testified in Washington about the challenges that face us as a nation.
The same holds true in the manufacturing sector. There are good jobs for those that are trained properly. I know Skills for America’s Future and the Manufacturing Institute are trying to work with community colleges to develop successful programs so young folks can enter the workforce with skill sets necessary to get and keep a good job. Even President Obama is endorsing a manufacturing skills credentialing system and I hope it’s going to be more than window dressing.
The problem, in my opinion, is perception by young people that those kinds of jobs aren’t cool and they are low paying. Also most guidance counselors with most high schools are pointing everyone to college. Not everyone is 4-year college material. What young people don’t realize is that a plumber or journeyman electrician makes more than 4-year college graduates and they don’t have all those student loans to pay off.
Our challenge as an industry is to somehow mount a campaign to kids at an early age to show them that these kinds of jobs are cool and just as important, if not more so, than someone sitting behind a desk. Ideally, trade and manufacturing associations should come together and mount a public service campaign. Someone has to take the first step and we need someone visible enough to carry the message and credibility to the young folks.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on how we can secure the future for our kids.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 21, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
The Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) recently released their new finding on B-to-B Marketing Trends for 2012. The study highlights the need for change from investing in the best tools available to truly understanding the needs of your customers. This means getting access to meaningful market and competitive insights and helping clients understand the power of business segmentation.
Among the top 3 quantitative study results were:
- More effectively quantify and communicate value created for customers.
- Better understand what the customer really needs.
- Identify new opportunities for organic growth.
The study breaks down each of the seven findings into key findings, examples of who’s doing it right and a resource to help you along the way. It’s an easy read and one I’d recommend any marketer take the time to review.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 16, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
The last two years for most of us in the B-to-B space hasn’t been much fun. Budgets cut, every move or project had to be justified seven different ways. When leads came in, ALL were followed. We ran a tight ship. Today, business is beginning to improve, budgets are increasing, new products are being launched, and for some of us, social media has been introduced which needs our attention.
All of these are good things, right? On the surface you’d probably say yes. But reality is your staff was probably cut when the downturn happened, but your workload wasn’t. Now with the increase in activity, new product launches and the additional responsibility, you’re probably pulling out your hair!
The sad truth is you may either be executing projects in a production style to get them out the door, or not spending the time on looking at or developing a plan to close the loop when leads do come in. I understand you may be under staffed and overworked, but management will be judging you on results and the famous ROI.
So how are you dealing with this? Some of our clients are looking outside at least temporarily to support programs (which is a good thing), and others are so busy putting out fires they don’t realize as fast as one goes out, another one is lit.
Reality is most marketing departments aren’t going to get back to staffing levels pre-2009. I’d like to hear what you’re doing to stay sane and deliver a good quality product.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 15, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Most of us spend a considerable amount of time online. Did you realize that almost half that time is spent with published content?
Over 27 million pieces of content are shared everyday according to AOL/Nielsen research. Most of the content is shared with family, friends and business associates. E-mail and social networking sites are the two most popular ways of sharing.
I recently read a post by Heidi Cohen that outlines 8 Tips to Share Content via Social Media and Email that’s worth the read. She explains that when it comes to sharing information, it’s critical to establish your organization as a trusted source so you can build relationships. Here are a few tips I like:
- Create attention-getting headlines.
- Share content your target audience wants to read.
- Integrate a call to action to engage readers and hopefully they in turn will share.
- Facilitate social sharing by giving readers options of ways to share.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to share good content that’s already been published. You can enlighten the world and build credibility at the same time.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 14, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
If you’re looking to reach the professionals who run and manage manufacturing facilities, which media would serve you best? It appears that an integrated plan is best. Gardner Publishing recently released findings from a survey, Media Usage of Manufacturing Facilities that showed high usage of the web, other e-forms of content delivery, along with traditional print advertising to be the leading sources of information.
They surveyed 1885 manufacturing executives, production managers and engineers mainly serving the durable goods industries. 80% of those surveyed indicated they had direct responsibility for the purpose of manufacturing equipment, software or tooling. Here are some key findings:
- Almost 90% use trade magazines, search engines, supplier or industry websites to locate info.
- There are few differences in preference for print versus digital media. There are generational differences though in the use of social media.
- Trade magazines continue to be the most preferred source for industry news, events and business/market data.
- Purchasing influences in this sector tend to be older, well educated and technically oriented.
- Trade shows remain a strong source of information.
- E-newletters also rank high for discovering new products and processes.
- Most used mobile device is a laptop followed by the smart phone.
The 28 page report details the findings and is available free.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 9, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
This is for those of you who are still on the fence on social media and how it might fit into your overall marketing strategy.
According to Forrester research, over 90% of B2B buyers are already using social media tools, often to research and execute purchases.
Consider these facts:
- Facebook – There are over 500 million active users.
- Twitter – 175 million and growing. In 2010, there were 25 BILLION tweets!
- YouTube – 35 hours of video are uploaded every minute.
- Flickr – 3000+ photos uploaded every minute.
Needless to say, B2B marketing needs to look at the opportunities social may bring to the table. Most B2B relationships are established through direct interfacing and building relationships. It’s amazing how many people in this arena share their knowledge and build networks. What better place to demonstrate thought leadership.
If you’re looking to buy something and you’re looking for feedback from someone who already has made the decision, social is an ideal place to get that feedback. B2Bento has a white paper, Social Media for B2B Marketing that’s worth reading. It outlines strategy and guidelines and shows examples of what others are doing.
Are you ready? Jump in the water is fine!
http://www.b2bento.com/whitepaper/SocialMediaB2B.pdf
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 8, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Some people can come up with excuses for everything. Have you heard this before? I have and after asking a few questions of prospects or clients, it comes down to this:
- No corporate goals for how social should be integrated into the overall marketing plan – You wouldn’t initiate a PR or direct mail campaign without identifying a strategy, tactics and how it would integrate into the bigger picture.
- No one minding the store – They don’t have a go-to person who is responsible for the program. It doesn’t have to be a full time position (most don’t need to be), but it should be included in someone’s job description to make them accountable.
- Recyling content – Why would you go to the time and expense only to republish existing stuff? Remember, one of the objectives of social is to become a thought leader, not a recycle king.
- Building a community – You’re looking for a specific audience right? May be engineers, electricians, whatever. You need to dig a little to see where they are hanging out (forums, LinkedIn groups, etc.) and you need to start building your community. That’s the beauty of key words and phrases so you can look for like-minded people on Twitter for example.
- Social media isn’t free – Everyone thinks social is free. While it’s true outside start-up costs are minimal, there is human capital that needs to be spent. Realize this and make sure management knows the associated costs. One nice thing about social is it is relatively easy to measure activity.
Those are my thoughts on why social media doesn’t work. Are there other issues you’d like to add?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 7, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
In the social media arena like in the real world people need to know, like and trust you in order to have a meaningful relationship. In the social media space, things are somewhat different in that you can’t choose the people following you.
Bear in mind that more people are watching than participating. According to Heidi Cohen, your typical social media audience is comprised of about 90% who are lurkers (just watching and listening but aren’t jumping into the conversation). Of the balance, about 8% are actually participating in conversations and less than 2% are highly engaged.
Here are some tips on how to be who you are (transparent):
- Let people know who you are if you plan on jumping into a conversation – Believe me, they will eventually find out and if you’re doing this as a representative of a brand, not only will you suffer but so will the brand.
- Listen before you leap – Don’t jump right into a conversation. See what others are saying and don’t just talk for talking sake. If you can’t contribute something, just continue to listen.
- Use human speak – In other words, talk like you normally do in a conversational tone. Leave the corporate speak out of this arena.
- Be responsive – If you do a post and someone responds, acknowledge and answer the question even if it’s with an I don’t know but I’ll get back to you answer. It’s just common courtesy and if you want to build a relationship, you need to have more than a one-way conversation.
- Don’t overshare – This is especially true when it comes to sensitive or confidential material from your company. Remember, you need to set limits and once it’s out there, it will be there forever!
Those are some of my thoughts on the subject. If you’d like to add to the list, please feel free to.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
Social Media: 10 Rules to Abide By
Social Media Introverts: Here are Ways for You to Come out of the Closet
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 2, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
There are over 152 million blogs – how do you identify and communicate with the right ones to get in front of the professional tradesman? The first question to answer is are your products or services applicable to your end users using social media? If the answer is “yes,” then your goal should be to identify the right communities, monitor them and jump in and get involved!
If social is to be a part of your media relations strategy, you must remember that different rules apply to social:
- Your Brand can be affected positively or negatively. Remember you don’t control the message.
- Your Brand depends on the “loyalists” who are passionate about you.
- Key Blogs or social sites are authored by thought leaders from your industry.
You need to develop the right strategies based on the importance of social media in your overall communications plan. Cision has issued a white paper, Staying Afloat in a Sea of Social Media, that gives a good overall view of how to manage and monitor social media.
All blogs are not created equal. Do comprehensive research as to the communities you might want to get involved in and then monitor them. If they seem to be talking about relevant topics, jump into the conversation. Social media demands transparency, so be honest in your engagement. Here are a few sites that may be of interest to those going after the professional tradesman:
Blog references:
http://contructionmarketingblog.org
http://darrenslaughter.com
http://constuctionmarketingideas.com
http://tradeshub.mikeroweworks.com
http:/dirtpail.com
http://www.plantengineering.com/blogs.html
http://www.myplumbingportal.com/blog.html
http://facilityexecutive.com/facilityblog/
http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/
http://myfacilitiesnet.com/
Remember that just because you’re using social media, the basic rules of marketing still apply. You must identify your universe, communicate to them clearly, engage in conversations, monitor comments, evaluate and respond.
I’d like to hear from you. What interesting communities have you come across that reach the professional tradesman?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jun 1, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
Webinar will focus on: How to Plan, Measure and Market using QR Codes and how B-to-B marketers can take advantage of them.
Marketing trends and tactics are ever changing and keeping up can be overwhelming. Mobile technologies are the next big deal in marketing and QR codes are a large part of that. QR codes can get a passive prospect to take immediate action by turning a standard ad, for example, into an interactive mobile call-to-action.
Please join us Wednesday, June 29th at 2 PM (EST) for this free webinar. Scott Chapin, head of the Circle 44 Mobile unit of DigiKnow, will provide insights and the ins-and-outs of QR Codes, how to use them, how to develop them, and how to measure a program’s success.
Don’t miss this must-attend Webinar on June 29th.
This webinar is available for viewing on our YouTube channel – click here.
Please forward this to a friend or business associate that might be interested.
by tradespeopleinsights | May 31, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
Twitter still remains a mystery to most B-to-B marketers. There are so many tools out there that it often overwhelms a prospective user.
I ran across a great article recently by Gabrielle Conde called, The Ultimate Guide to Twitter Marketing that pretty much sums it up in a very organized manner.
She covers everything from the basics of what Twitter is, how to set up an account, the Twitter mindset, getting followers and building a marketing strategy.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
5 Twitter Tools to Help Manufacturers Generate New Business
How to use Twitter to Find New Business
by tradespeopleinsights | May 26, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
We have used webinars successfully for several years now to promote new services and to share industry information and trends. They are a great tool to get the message out to many people at one time, and then you have the ability to archive them for people to come and view at their leisure.
Webinars are effective, and to get the most bang for your buck, you really need to cross the T’s and dot the I’s. There’s a lot that goes into a successful webinar starting with the topic itself. You need to give the professional tradesmen something they can take and make their own.
Andrew Spoeth from Marketo recently had an interesting post, How to Manage Successful Webinars: A Checklist that has several good points that you may want to look at.
I’m going to outline my top 10 tips on ways to improve your webinars:
- Build a great landing page – Clearly state your value proposition up front so the reader can see what’s in it for him.
- Set the time for the webinar outside of normal business hours – Let’s face it, these contractors have to make a living and they have crews to supervise. Consider doing a webinar later in the day, say around 4 PM. That way a contractor may have some of his tradesmen also sit in on the session. It’s better to inconvenience you than your customer.
- Registration form – Make it easy and don’t ask 20 questions in order for them to sign up.
- Give them an option of getting a copy of the slides without attending the actual webinar – In the world of contractors, shit happens and they may not be able to attend. This will get you their contact info for further follow-up.
- Use Social media – Both in the actual sign-up form so they can invite their friends, but also use it to promote the event.
- Promote – You need to build a schedule and build a good series of reasons why these tradesmen need to attend.
- Get your sales force and distributors involved – Have them pass out postcard size flyers when making calls and talk it up. If a distributor does a monthly newsletter or has a site, have him put it on there as a co-sponsor. You do all the work and he shares in the credit.
- Practice, practice, practice – Try to keep the presentation 20-30 minutes long and allow time for questions even though they may be via e-mail.
- Design a follow-up e-mail– Have yourself graded on the topic, how it was presented and what they might like as future topics.
- Get those names out to your sales force and distribution network for follow-up – Everyone should have at least had a phone message within a week.
Those are my thoughts. The key to a successful webinar is good planning.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
Webinars: Tips on How to Promote using E-mail.
Why Webinars are a Good Marketing Tool to Reach the Tradesman
by tradespeopleinsights | May 25, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
I believe the rule of thumb is it takes 5 times as much effort to get a new customer than it does to keep an existing one. All too often we focus so much on getting new customers that we forget about who’s supporting us now!
Have you ever calculated what a customers worth is over time? Say you have a 30-year old contractor that usually buys $5,000 worth of your stuff a year. Doesn’t sound like much, but if you keep him happy, you probably will have him for 30 years before he retires. So assuming he doesn’t grow his business or you don’t come out with anything new for him to buy over the next 30 years, he would have spent $150,000 with you. Is he worth keeping? I’d say so. So what are you doing to keep him happy? Unless you’re selling a proprietary product, your competition is knocking on his door every chance they get.
I know many of you who follow me don’t buy shoes online, but I’d bet that if you asked your wife if she’s heard of Zappos, she’d say yes. I picked them as an example and even wrote a post on their book, Does Customer Service Deliver Happiness, where they show that by even selling name branded shoes online, they could, in many cases, outsell the brand itself in the online arena. The way they did it was with customer service.
So here are some points for you to consider when evaluating your Customer Service department:
- Try to keep the personal touch (human being) as the initial touch point if you can.
- Empower your CS people to solve a problem immediately without having to go through 3 levels of supervisors.
- Reward customers with a loyalty program as a way of saying thanks.
- Customer surveys are a great way to get feedback, not only on how you’re doing, but for getting ideas for future products.
I’d also suggest if you haven’t done so in a while to call your customer service department and see what your experience is. If you aren’t impressed, what do you think your customers will feel like?
I’d also suggest reading Delivering Happiness that shows how Zappos grew to be a billion dollar company using customer service to set them apart from their competition.
by tradespeopleinsights | May 24, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
One of the biggest challenges marketers face, especially in the B-to-B market, is trying to sell something to their bosses who don’t really understand. Social media falls into that category more times than not. It’s hard for management to allocate resources to something they don’t have their arms around.
So you need a plan, and I recently read Social Marketing to the Business Customer by Eric Schwartzman and Paul Gillin that outlines some tips on helping you get both a budget and resources to get the job done. Here are some highlights:
- Identify your target buyers keywords – Identify and track words that would identify a potential sale. For example, if you were in the material handling business and the key words “new lift trucks” came up, there might be an opportunity for you to start a conversation.
- Evaluate your customers, suppliers and most importantly, your competitors – If you can show your bosses that other folks in your market are utilizing social media, it will help in making your case. We usually offer to do, for clients or potentials, a quick audit of their competitors, key words and phrases in their space to see what kind of activity there is.
- Position social media as an extension of your current marketing efforts – Social is just another tool in the marketing tool box so make sure you integrate it into current efforts.
- Support the existing culture – If your management gets social media it will be easier to sell and monitor activities. If they are less familiar they will want more control as well as metrics. Fortunately, it’s the most measurable media out there.
Bottom line is, do your homework to show that social is being used by your customers and competitors. Show them who’s on Twitter or is blogging. Pull up a mobile app or show them a relevant group on LinkedIn or a forum they should be participating in with your customers. The more tangible example, the better.
by tradespeopleinsights | May 19, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Email marketing is still a very good B-to-B business tactic. But like anything else, you’re always fighting for the attention of the professional tradesmen. Contractor’s inboxes are just as loaded as the rest of ours, so what do we need to do to get him to open ours?
Here are 5 tips to consider:
- Identify yourself – If they don’t know you, they probably won’t open it.
- Attention-getting subject line – Keep it short and benefit oriented.
- Provide relevant copy – What’s in it for me?
- Keep your copy focused and short – Get to the point; use bold headlines and give them a call to action.
- Build a good list – Use your existing customer lists but also ask your sales force for a list of its prospects and don’t be afraid to rent a reputable list.
Those are some of my tips. What’s working for you?
If you like this post, you might also like:
5 Tips to Improve Your B-to-B Direct Marketing Efforts.
by Sonnhalter | May 18, 2011 | News, Press Release
Sonnhalter Releases Market Overviews For Its Key Specialized Industries
BEREA, Ohio – May 2011 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, has released market overviews for the construction, electrical, HVAC, industrial/MRO and plumbing industries.
The market overviews give a quick snapshot of the industries, the industry players and industry trends. Driven by the agency’s existing knowledge, content was gathered and complemented by conducting one-on-one interviews with editors of top trade publications and additional research.
The market overviews highlight a vast amount of information from industry trends and issues to information on associations, unions, buying groups, distribution channels and end users. They also feature information on training firms and certification organizations to codes and standards and offer online resources, websites, trade shows and trade publications in each individual market.
“Sonnhalter utilized its expertise and relationships in the industries to compile a comprehensive overview of each market,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect, Sonnhalter. “The Sonnhalter Market Overviews are one of the many ways we have of passing on our knowledge to our clients and markets.”
To sign up to receive a copy of any of the Sonnhalter Market Overviews, visit sonnhalter.com/tradesman-insights/market-overviews/ and link to the specific market overview.
Established in 1976, Sonnhalter is the leading B2T marketing communications firm to companies that target professional tradesmen in construction, industrial and MRO markets. 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 we target: 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. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, Sonnhalter was named one of BtoB Magazine’s Top Agencies. For more information, visit the company website at www.Sonnhalter.com or visit the company blog at www.TradesmenInsights.com.
by tradespeopleinsights | May 18, 2011 | Traditional Marketing
I just got back from the ISA Show in Chicago. Most of the manufacturers that I talked to were pretty upbeat on business in general, but were somewhat disappointed with the turnout of distributors for the booth session. Sunday was slow in the morning and spotty in the afternoon. Monday it was a slow start, but traffic picked up around noon.
I left Monday, but I’d be interested in knowing how many people showed up for the closing luncheon. I liked it better last year in INDY where they closed the booth session down for the luncheon.
Is it me, or are 4 days for a meeting like this too much? I’ve got to think that a two-day affair could certainly accomplish what needs to be done. Anyone agree?
by tradespeopleinsights | May 17, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
The professional tradesmen don’t go anywhere without their cell phones, and there’s a good chance that those phones are smartphones (50% of Americans will own a smartphone by the end of 2011). They depend on them everyday on the jobsite. So are you missing an opportunity?
I recently read a post by Heidi Cohen, 6 Must-Do Mobile Marketing Tactics that outlined some things for you to consider if you’re contemplating getting into mobile apps. Here are some highlights as they would apply to the professional tradesmen:
- Understand your goals – You need to determine your strategy and how it fits into your existing marketing plan.
- Know your market – Beyond identifying your audience, you need to figure out what kinds of things would be most useful for a contractor of a jobsite.
- Mobile websites – Make sure your existing website is formatted for mobile. Make sure the content you do have there is applicable to the contractor’s “on the go” needs. Make fields larger, make sure you have your logo and encourage action.
- Mobile search – Beyond your normal optimization, combine with mobile CTR. Don’t forget to to include local content like where the closest distributor of your products are.
- Mobile e-mails – Since e-mails are the most used application, why not develop an e-mail plan specifically for mobile? If your sales guys are demoing a new product at a local Depot, let them know about it and offer them a discount coupon for stopping by.
These are just some ideas on how to capitalize on mobile. If you’ve got an existing mobile program going on, I’d like to hear what you’re doing.
If you like this post you might like:
Mobile Marketing for B-to-B: Change in the Air(waves)
56 Mobile Marketing Facts
by tradespeopleinsights | May 12, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Thought leadership starts with establishing a point of view.
I would imagine that most of us would like to be considered a thought leader in our respective business categories. A thought leader gains credibility with the market and over time becomes a trusted source.
The key word is over time as this is a long-term commitment on your part. If you’re going to make that kind of commitment, you need to have a plan. GlobalSpec has a good white paper, How to Become a Thought Leader in the Online Era, that’s worth reading.
Here are some highlights:
- What is your company’s position on how the industry you’re in is changing?
- What kind of challenges will your customers be facing?
- How are you addressing these issues that will affect the industry?
- What kinds of innovations are coming down the road that might impact the industry?
- What differentiates your company from the pack?
You need to draw a line in the sand and make a statement. If you start by answering the questions above, it will get you going down the right path. Once you have a point of view, it’s important to communicate that through your existing marketing and PR efforts, both traditional as well as social.
I’d like to hear what you’re doing to become a thought leader in your industry.
by tradespeopleinsights | May 11, 2011 | Uncategorized
I’m a contributor to a blog that focuses on the tradesman and what’s happening with their vans. They have a promotion going on that might be of interest to some of you.
Got a cool tool in your van that you find either absolutely essential or, frankly, just cool? A highly specialized, expensive piece of equipment that’s essential to your job? Or maybe a roll of duct tape in the back of your van? Now there’s an easy way to show off your coolest tool and win the world’s coolest gadget in the process!
The SmartVan’s excited to announce its “Cool Tool” contest, open to tradesmen everywhere. To enter, simply submit a photo of you with the tool and a short description of what makes your chosen tool so essential. The winner gets an iPad 2!
It’s easy to enter:
- Submit a photo and/or video of the coolest or most essential tool in your toolbox (make sure you’re in the frame, please — wrenches are a lot more interesting when accompanied by a human)
- Include your name, company and location
- Include a brief explanation of why the tool in the photo is so essential
- Email submissions to [email protected]
- The coolest submission will win a new iPad 2!
*Submissions are due Friday, May 13.
Read more details on The SmartVan
by tradespeopleinsights | May 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
For those of you going to Chicago May 14-17th for the ISA Show, we put together an Insider’s Guide by asking friends and business associates about gems in the city that you may or may not be aware of. It includes Restaurants, Nighlife and more. It’s available at www.sonnhalter.com/chicago.
Hope you have a good show
by tradespeopleinsights | May 5, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Social media has its protocol just like anything else to participate, interact and engage. I recently read a good post by Heidi Cohen, Social Media’s 10 Commandments that I thought said it pretty well. Here are some highlights:
- Be real – Be yourself. You want to make your audience feel comfortable.
- Know your audience – If you know who they are, you can better understand and know what focus to on.
- It’s not about you – Talk to the bigger picture of what’s in it for the community you’re addressing.
- Participate – If you don’t, how can you expect to engage people and build relationships?
- Share your knowledge – Support the greater good of the community.
by tradespeopleinsights | May 4, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Blogs are a good center piece for your marketing strategy, but they are time-consuming, and if not taken seriously, will fail long before they have time to succeed.
I’ve created a list of things you need to do to ensure your blog’s success:
- Establish a niche – You have to be able to blog about something specific. This helps identify your target audience and a strategy to reach them.
- Identify possible topic categories – Based on your target audience, you should come up with several different topic categories to write on.
- Establish frequency – You can’t build a following when doing few posts a month. People who have the same passion on the subject want to be touched on a more regular basis. I find that 3 posts a week work for me and my audience.
- Keep ahead of the curve – If you’re going to do several posts a week, you don’t want to wake up on those days and HAVE to write a post. What if you get writer’s block or God forbid a customer takes up your time. I try to have a least a few weeks of posts in the can and ready to go so the pressure isn’t on.
- Identify guest bloggers – Once you’ve identified your market and your niche, you’ll be able to find other bloggers who share your passion on the subject and can offer a different perspective on a subject.
- Build links – These are important in SEO. Link to relevant sites.
- Promote your blog – That’s why it needs to be an integral part of your overall marketing program where you can leverage and promote across all mediums.
- Respond to comments on your blog – One of the main reasons for the blog is to get conversations going. What a great way to start a relationship.
- Comment on other blogs – If your comments are sincere and on point, other bloggers will check you out and start a conversation with you that might end up with you reciprocating in doing guest posts.
These are my tips. I’m sure you have others you’d like to share and I’d love to hear from you.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
Increase your Visibility by Commenting on Blogs.
B-to-B Blogs Can Help Increase Marketing Efforts to the Professional Tradesmen.
2011 Trends for B-to-B Blogging.
by tradespeopleinsights | May 3, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Blogs can play an important part in your overall marketing plan. By integrating them with other marketing tools like e-newsletters, other social sites and your existing website, as well as offline activities, you can enhance your efforts and results.
I have found that we are getting more activity as far as page views on our blog than our website.What’s more important is that I have regular readers who view my posts via RSS feeds and everyday, new readers find the site through key word searches.
We have also gained insights into our readers, and by their responses, we know what they want to hear more about. We even use surveys and polls to help us get answers directly from the readers as to what is important to them. We can look at monthly results to see which topics are having more traction than others.
Our long-term plan is to gain the readers’ trust and become their go-to resource when it comes to marketing to the professional tradesmen. By being informative, creative and reliable in what we say, and the examples we give, we build trust with our readers.
Ultimately, we want to gain new business opportunities, and a blog helps you do that. We recently won a few pieces of new business from companies that were following us on our blog. Many are virtual clients who feel comfortable doing business with us even though they never met us in person because they like what we said on our blog.
These are a few things you should expect from a company blog. We use it as a marketing centerpiece that we position our other activities around.
I’d like to hear some of your success stories around your blog successes.
If you like this post, you might like:
B-to-B Blogs Can Help Increase Marketing Efforts to the Professional Tradesmen.
2011-Trends in B-to-B Blogging.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 28, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
There is no simple solution to social media. Yes, you might get a bright idea and put it out there and then what? If you can’t answer that question, then you’d better rethink what you’re doing.
Why would you think that a social media strategy would be any different from any other marketing one? Unfortunately, some folks think social is different.
Here are 5 pointers that might help in developing a social media strategy:
- Define your audience – Not all of your current or potential customers are into social. Identify who’s following you as this will dictate messaging.
- Define the message – What’s the overall message and the other components that will support it?
- Define the participants – Depending on your target audiences, you will want to involve others in the company on the team for their expertise.
- Integrate into other marketing elements – Social isn’t a stand-alone strategy. Make sure to integrate it when possible into other activities to maximize your efforts.
- Make sure all your ducks are in a row before launching – Don’t get anxious and pull the trigger too fast. Make sure all elements are locked and loaded before starting.
I’m sure you could add to the list and I’d like to hear from you on other elements that you’ve included in your programs.
If you like this post, you might like:
2010 Highlights of the State of Social Media for Business
For Social Media to be Successful Sales and Marketing Must Work Together
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 27, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
I’m sure you’ve seen these strange looking symbols and some of you (over 60% according to a recent post in eMarketing.com) know what they are.
These Quick Response codes are showing up more than in consumer applications to get people to use their smartphones to interact and get more info on the spot. They may take you to a video, coupon or an e-commerce site. The key is that once your initial communication stops them, whether it’s an ad or billboard, the QR code enables them to go to the next step on the spot using their phone.
So if you’re not using them in your marketing efforts, maybe you should try them. I’m curious how many of you are currently using QR codes and where are you sending them?
If you like this article, you may want to read:
U.S. Leads in Global Use of Mobile Barcodes
5 Practical Ways Manufacturers Can Use 2D Bar Codes
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 26, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I’m very high on LinkedIn as one of the best social media tools for B-to-B businesses, and it is one of the tools that is most overlooked. In March of 2011, LinkedIn passed its 100 million member. It’s currently averaging about 1 million new members a month (more than one new member per second).
I recently read an article by Heidi Cohen that outlined ways businesses can successfully use LinkedIn.
Here are some highlights:
- Position your company – Let people know you exist and what kinds of thing you do.
- Offers credibility – Position your company as a thought leader.
- Expands your contact base – of friends, business associates and prospects.
- Expands company network – The more members of your team that are on LinkedIn, the greater the exposure is for your company.
- Source for new employees – LinkedIn was originally a HR network and still is.
The key is to have a plan for your company and get as many people involved. Make sure the description of your company and what it does is the same on everyone’s pages as this helps in being found on search engines.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 21, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
By now most of you have seen these strange little boxes somewhere in your life. You may have seen them in one of your favorite consumer magazines. They’re even showing up in some trade books.
For those who don’t know what a QR code is, it’s a 2D bar code that allows you to connect to additional info using your smart phone that has a camera. Since there are more smart phones being sold now than PCs, maybe it’s time you consider doing something that will take advantage of this technology. One of the nice things about QR codes is that they are contextually relevant. In other words, you can target info based on where you place them and each can be individually tracked.
Here are six real world practical ways manufacturers can utilize QR codes in their marketing activities:
- Trade advertising – Put a QR code in that will take the reader to a testimonial video or a product demo.
- Trade shows – Pre-show and at-show promotions. Add a code with show specials or other reasons to visit your booth, like a new product introduction.
- In-store signage – Other than the big boxes where they control most of the “look and feel,” use signage to drive them somewhere like a video that shows them why your product is better than the competition.
- Product packaging – Again, you can make a case for your product over the competitors, or you can give assistance to those who aren’t sure which hole saw or drill bit to use.
- Product literature – From sell sheet to direct mail, use to connect to reasons why they should buy, i.e. videos or other important features/benefits to help them prefer your product.
- Premiums – For your next distributor open house or counter day, have your guys wear tee shirts with a clever saying and a QR code. It’s a great way to stand out in a crowd.
These are easy to use, free, each are trackable and they are a good way to set yourself apart.
If you’d like to learn more about QR codes, these additional posts may be of interest:
QR Codes: Are Manufacturers Missing an Opportunity?
What’s Augmented Reality?
White Paper: Trends in Mobile Media
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 20, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Customer service in most companies can make or break you. How you are treated can define whether you will continue to do business with that company. You can spend millions on brand building and still fall short if customer service is the weak link in the chain.
I was at a trade association meeting listening to one of the speakers talking on this subject, and he kept referring to this company called Zappos in Las Vegas and what kind of brand they built around customer service. I had never heard of them (a billion dollar company that was recently purchased by Amazon), but my wife had. She sang the praises of this online company that sold shoes. Not their own branded ones, but everybody elses.
I wondered how they could make money selling “me too”-type things, but soon found out that it’s the way they sell them that makes the difference. They offered free shipping both ways so if you didn’t like them or they didn’t fit, it wouldn’t cost you anything. My wife has a narrow foot and has a hard time finding shoes. Zappos carries a better selection on not only the standard, but the hard-to-find narrow and wide sizes.
So what I did was get Tony Hsieh’s book, Delivering Happiness, that told his story of the Zappos adventure over the last 10 years. It was a good read of the ups and downs of trying to grow a company. What do selling shoes have to do with selling stuff to the professional tradesmen? I’d say plenty if you follow Zappos ‘ 10 core values. Here they are:
- Deliver WOW through service
- Embrace and drive change
- Create fun and a little weirdness
- Be adventurous, creative and open-minded
- Pursue growth and learning
- Build open and honest relationships with communication
- Build a positive team and family spirit
- Do more with less
- Be passionate and determined
- Be humble
Many companies have core values but fail to follow them. Maybe it’s time for all of us to relook at our core values and see if we’re actually working towards them. Next time you’re in Vegas, give them a call and take the tour. They’ll come and pick you up at your hotel. My youngest son who is a business coach took the tour the last time he was out there and said it was worth seeing the culture at a billion-dollar company. All you have to do is call and set up an appointment.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 19, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Mike is pretty well-known from “Dirty Jobs.” You likely see him quite a bit on commercials these days, but lots of folks still don’t know about MikeRoweWorks.
Basically, Mike’s mission is to not make work the enemy. Our country seems to forget the value of hard work: we are ignoring infrastructure, we are getting rid of shop classes, etc. Mike explains what he’s trying to do here.
Mike started the Trades Hub. The way this site works is that it organizes the content in a way that makes it easier to go through and find things. It only shows snippets of any content and does a good job of pushing traffic out to participating bloggers.
It uses social signals, what people view and save, to help determine what the best content is. And it generally aims to attract an audience that may not otherwise find each individual blogger. It is going to be a fantastic resource.
You’ll find a link on my side bar to the right and I was asked to be a regular contributor to the site which I was very happy to do. So check it out and let’s keep America working with the professional tradesman.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 14, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
One of the challenges of social media is to get people engaged. Many are what I call lurkers who read what you post, have some opinion on it, but for some reason are afraid to jump in and give their two cents.
I don’t know what they are afraid of as we are here because we want to engage in discussions, so please jump in! I recently read a great article by Heidi Cohen from Riverside Marketing Strategies called 10 Tips for Social Media Introverts that outlined 10 tips for those on the sidelines to jump in. Here are some highlights:
- Decide how you want to position yourself on the platforms you decide to participate in.
- Stake out your name on those platforms and determine how you will set yourself apart.
- Participate in activities like Twitter-Chats and on LinkenIn groups.
- Share your knowledge, after all that’s why folks are on these sites in the first place.
- Look at the big picture. You certainly don’t have all the answers, so when you read a good post from someone else, pay it forward by Tweeting about it or linking to it in one of your posts.
Social media isn’t going away, so you’re better off accepting that fact and jumping in. I promise we won’t bite.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 13, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Content is king as I’ve learned from mentor Michael Gass. He says it doesn’t matter how great a writer you are, if people don’t read it, then there’s no benefit to anyone. I’m sharing his 10 tips which I try to live by when writing for social media. I’m a living testament that if you follow the rules, your writing will be read and shared.
According to a social media study by King Fish Media, HubSpot and Junta42, original content, both branded and expert, is by far the most employed tactic for social media.
And … “businesses that blog get 55% more website traffic than those that don’t.”
Creating valuable content increases website traffic that will equate into new business leads. But writing for the web can be daunting, even for experienced copywriters. They are often the ones that struggle the most with making the transition from print to web.
“Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.” – Jon Buscall
You need to think carefully about structuring and formatting your online content to ensure your readers find it and read it. Here are my 10 tips to help you write better for the Web:
- Provide a Reader’s Digest or Executive Summary version. Readers love bullet pointed and numbered lists. That’s why so many readers are attracted to post titles that offer 10 tips or 25 ideas, etc. The work you do on behalf of your readers to simplify will be greatly appreciated and keep them coming back for more.
- Key words in every post titles. Write for SEO. It doesn’t matter how great your article is if no one can find it. A simple tip to help boost your rankings in Google search is to identify and use certain key words in every post title. 90% of my posts will contain ‘ad agency new business’ in the title. It helps not only for search but will also help drive ‘targeted traffic’ as your posts are repurposed through Twitter. With only 140 characters that you can use for Twitter, that’s not much more than your title and a shortened URL.
- Lead with the conclusion. I advise that you begin each post by starting with the conclusion, a take-away or benefits statement. Just answer this question, ‘what is my benefit if I commit to read this post?’
- Break up long paragraphs. A reader’s attention span online is much less than for print. Readers tend to scan instead of reading word-for-word. Keep paragraphs concise and short.
- Be sure and provide hyper links to your sources. Don’t be afraid that you will lose your audience if they go to another source. Your blog should become a repository of helpful resources for your readers.
- Make your content scannable to the eye. Use bold, italics, quotation marks, indentation, etc. to make copy pop. A person should be able to quickly scan through your article and get the most important parts.
- Write in an Inverted Pyramid style. Similar to the way a newspaper reported would write, the most important copy should be at the top of your post.
- Use common language. This is an opportunity to do away with industry jargon and agency speak and write content that resonates with your intended audience.
- Get to the point, quickly. Online readers are extremely impatient. If you wade into a story and it takes 3 or 4 paragraphs to show how it relates, you will have lost your audience before you’ve made your point.
- Make your post visually pleasing. I always include a nice photo or graphic to further drive home the main purpose of a post. Using them will create interest and help draw in a reader.
Follow these 10 tips and it will help get your message delivered.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 12, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
I’ve alway been a big supporter and advocate of B2B companies engaging social media with LinkedIn.
According to a recent article in eMarketer.com, social media Gigya saw a 17% increase of logins using LinkedIn in a six-month period from July 2010 to Jan 2011.
This indicates a trend to keep the personal apart from the business activities. “Although LinkedIn has always had the professional social graph, they’ve really made some great moves over the past year especially to encourage more communication and collaboration among people using the service,” according to the Gigya company blog.
If you like this post, you might like to read:
LinkedIn:5 Ways to Make the Most out of Your Connections.
2010 Highlights of the State of Social Media for Business.
What’s Changing with Social Media.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 7, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Social media may be the hottest topic around the water cooler at work, but when it comes down to generating sales, direct marketing still fills a need. We all need to remember that there are many tools in the marketing tool box and we shouldn’t dismiss or forget about what’s been successful in the past.
You may have been bombarded by DM in past years to the point of oversaturation and were kind of turned off by it. Then there are e-mail campaigns that also began to bombard us and we either tuned them out or our IT department put enough filters on that nothing or next to nothing comes in.
What do you want to bet that the same will hold true of social sometime down the road? That happens when everyone hops on the newest thing. Ironically, we have had for both ourselves and for clients great success of late with DM because very few people are doing it!
I recently read a post by Chris Cottle in BtoB magazine that highlighted 5 best practices to help guide your DM efforts and I wanted to share some highlights thant might help you:
- Invest in your list – The old adage “garbage in, garbage out.” Don’t be concerned so much about the size of the list, but the quality. Your best list is an internal one that’s a combination of leads from traditional marketing efforts, as well as input from your customer service, outside sales and warranty cards. Segment the list by markets, job function and if you can, where they are in the buying cycle.
- The offer matters – “What’s in in for me” should be the first thing a prospect should see. Make offers instantly relevant and show them the benefits.
- KISS – Keep it simple. You don’t have to have an “award winning” piece, but one that gets the prospect’s attention. Simplicity implies confidence.
- Frequency matters – Depending on your audience, you’ll have to test to see how often you can touch them without getting pushback. If you’re using e-mail as part of your program, you will find out very quickly where the opt-out rate start to increase.
- Prove your business case -You only have a few seconds to get their attention and then you need to quickly convince them of the value of your proposition. In most B-to-B cases, there are multiple buying infuences and you want to get this person on your side to be your advocate with other colleagues.
I hope these have spurred some ideas for your next direct marketing program.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 6, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
Business has changed. Are you keeping up with the best practices to keep you ahead of the curve? A study by IBM stressed that we will see more changes that will impact our businesses in the next 5 years than in the last 50!
These changes aren’t about technology of social media, but about how businesses adapt to their audiences. The new era is one of open communications and real-time 
online participation.
Jay Baer and Amber Nashlund co-authors of The NOW Revolution do a great job in simplifying the steps a company needs to change its culture to deal with the current business climate.
The book introduces 7 key shifts that business leaders need to address along with laying out a plan for each.
- Strip away silos and overgrown business processes
- Hire and empower a new type of employee
- Organize internal teams for maximum external impact
- Listen at the point of need
- Travel the Humanization Highway and respond effectively to customer inquiries
- Plan for, find, and manage real-time crisis
- Redesign success metrics in a business world that’s increasingly instantaneous
If you’re serious about social media and how it’s impacting your business now and in the future, you need to read this book.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 5, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Twitter
For those that follow me, you know I talk about how Twitter is one of my best lead generators. Most people are either afraid or intimidated and there really is no reason to be.
Understanding how your prospects are using Twitter and what personal data they are willing to share can boost its use for new business.
Sysomos is the leading provider of social media monitoring and analytics technology. They have analyzed more than a billion tweets generated by over 20 million Twitter users in 2010. This included bio, website address and location information (both textual and lat / long) disclosed in their profile pages to see how many details Twitter users were divulging.
Here’s some of the highlights of Twitter usage in 2010:
- The number of Twitter users offering personal information within their bios has more than doubled to 63.3%, compared with 31% in 2009.
- 82% of Twitter users now provide a name, compared with only 33% in 2009.
- 73% provide location information compared with 44% in 2009.
- 45% of users submit a website address versus 22% a year ago.
- From January 2010 until mid-August 2010, new users accounted for nearly 44% of the total Twitter population.
- Only 0.05% have more than 10,000 friends they follow, and only 2.05% have more than 1,000. The vast majority of users – 95.8% – have less than 500 people they follow.
- Only 0.06% of Twitter users have more than 20,000 followers, and only 2.12% have more than 1,000 followers. Meanwhile, 95.9% have less than 500 followers.
- More than three-quarters of Twitter users – 80.6% – have made fewer than 500 tweets, 2.7% have made more than 5,000 tweets.
- A small hard-core group (2.2%) have accounted for 58.3% of all tweets, while 22.5% have accounted for about 90% of all activity.
Click on the following link to read Sysomos report: Twitter Statistics for 2010: An in-depth report at Twitter’s Growth 2010, compared with 2009
Some Twitter tools to help you measure and improve:
- TweeterGrader: a free tool that allows you to check the power of your Twitter profile compared to millions of other users that have been graded.
- Tweetstats: a free tool that will graph your Tweets and show how many retweets.
- Bit.ly is a universal url shortener that not only provides a handy service in shortening urls but also allows you to access analytics to see how many people are clicking on your link.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 31, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Think about it. Wouldn’t you want to model your company around the most successful company in the world? We all use Google in our everyday lives, but have we really thought about what makes them so great?
Recently my son gave me a book by Jeff Jarvis from Buzzmachine.com titled What Would Google Do? I have to tell you, it’s the most interesting business book I’ve read in some time.
Jeff gives his insights on what makes Google so successful and practical examples (from service businesses to manufacturing, government and even religion) of how we should reposition ourselves to be more like Google. He highlights the “10 things Google has found to be true.”
Here are some highlights:
- You need a new attitude – to build trust, listen and don’t try to control.
- Customers are in charge – you’re better off ceding control to them.
- The mass market is dead. Mass niches are where you need to be.
- Free is a business model.
One of the challenges he gives us all is answering the question – What business are you in? Are you in the knowledge business, data, networking? Where is your value?
This books makes you think and re-evaluate your own business model. I highly recommend it.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 30, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
We’re all seeing more and more of these strange looking square boxes (2D codes) in ads and on billboards and packaging that connect people to mobile sites for more info.
According to 3GVision, a global pioneer and leader in mobile barcode solutions and advanced image processing technologies to fast-track consumers to the mobile Internet, the USA is leading for the first time in terms of absolute numbers of scans.
Top 10 users of mobile barcodes during Q4/2010:
1. (2) United States
2. (1) Italy
3. (3) Germany
4. (10) Hong Kong
5. (7) France
6. (15) Canada
7. (5) United Kingdom
8. (6) Netherlands
9. (4) Thailand
10. (11) South Korea
( ) – Position in Q3/2010
From Quarter 4 of 2009 to Quarter 4 of 2010, there was a +400% increase in mobile barcode scans.
Bottom line is, 2D bar codes are here and they are not going away. What are you doing to capitalize on them?
If you like this post, this may be of interest to you:
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 29, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Twitter
Twitter is an under-utilized tool that businesses should be using more.
There are well over a hundred different Twitter tools that have been developed. Recently Michael Gass, my social media mentor, came up with a helpful list.
Below are his top 5 tools that he uses for new business that will help you create an online community of your best prospective clients. Each makes Twitter a more powerful marketing tool for your online new business efforts.
TweetBeep
This tool is like Google Alerts for Twitter! Put in a keyword or website, and get emails when others tweet it! Keep track of conversations that mention you, your products, your company, anything! You can even keep track of who’s tweeting your website or blog.
TweetScan
You can search public messages and user profiles with results available via email, RSS, JSON, and Twhirl. You can even download your own personal Twitter archive!
TweetLater (now called SocialOomph)
Keep your Twitter stream ticking over with new tweets even when you’re not in front of your computer. Publish tweets when your international followers are online and you’re asleep. Send automated thank you notes to new followers, and automatically follow new followers, if you choose to do so.
Splitweet
Easy management for multi Twitter accounts and brand monitor. Splitweet allows the Twitter users to compose a list of accounts and distribute their tweets, choosing their release in one or more of their accounts. You can also follow your contacts’ tweets from all of your managed accounts in Splitweet. And you can easily monitor your brand(s).
Tweeter Karma
Basically, this is a Flash application that fetches your friends and followers from Twitter when you click the “Whack!” button, then displays them for you, letting you quickly paginate through them. By default, the list contains all your friends and followers and is sorted by last update, showing those who most recently updated first. You can sort the list alphabetically either ascending or descending by Twitter ID. You can filter the list in several ways: only friends or only followers, all friends or all followers, and mutual friends.
by Sonnhalter | Mar 28, 2011 | News, Press Release
BEREA, OHIO – March 2011 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, has been selected by BtoB magazine as one of the top B2B agencies in the U.S. for the third year in a row. Sonnhalter is the only Cleveland area agency to be listed.
Sonnhalter is featured in the small agency category in the March 14, 2011 issue of BtoB magazine. Annually, BtoB magazine editors pick the top large, medium, small and interactive agencies that have orchestrated the most challenging, inventive and effective campaigns, to compose its top agencies list.
“We are pleased to have made the BtoB magazine ‘Top Agencies’ list for a third year in a row,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter. “We have started 2011 off with the addition of several new B2B clients, which reaffirms Sonnhalter’s continued focus on its core niche–the B2T (business-to-tradesmen, a term coined by Sonnhalter) realm.”
Established in 1976, Sonnhalter is the leading B2T marketing communications firm to companies that target professional tradesmen in construction, industrial and MRO markets. 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 we target: 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. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, Sonnhalter was named one of BtoB Magazine’s Top Agencies. For more information, visit the company website at www.Sonnhalter.com or visit the company blog at www.TradesmenInsights.com.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 24, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Online media is the fastest growing media platform in history. Second only to Google, YouTube has emerged as an easy-to-use search tool.
As a manufacturer, are you capitalizing on this powerful tool to disperse your message? You don’t need a “Hollywood” production. As a matter of a fact, the ones done on a mobile phone would do just fine. We’ve done “man on the street” interviews with contractors at will-call counters and on jobsites asking their opinions on tools and other products.
Did you know – Videos convey more info per minute than any other media and 65% of the public like to learn via videos.
These were only a few of the facts that I learned from a recent post by Jon Miller from Marketo. His post, How to Optimize Your B2B Marketing and Sales with Online Video outlines how to use videos to engage prospects in different stages of the buying cycle.
According to a Universal McCann study cited by Brightcove, people find product information and research most compelling when delivered in video format. MarketingSherpa claims that online video is a close second to word-of-mouth communication when it comes to influencing key decisions. No other media channel communicates a deeper, richer message or leaves a more lasting impression than video.
He also offers 10 online video strategies you may find helpful. Here are some highlights:
- Search optimize your video with a text summary – Use key words to highlight main points and make sure you include the URL.
- Integrate video into your e-mail marketing programs – Deliver relevant info pertinent to who they are and where they are in the buying process.
- Leverage social media – Promote across all marketing channels including your blog and both personal and business profiles.
- Feature on you website – Embed videos where appropriate to promote products, company news or new product promotions.
What are you doing to capitalize on your videos?
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Busy Executives Prefer Video on Web.
Make Video Part of your Direct Marketing Plans to the Professional Tradesmen.
Online Video Marketing: A Great Way to Educate the Professional Tradesman.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 23, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
If you’re active on Twitter, you probably have gotten a “thanks for the RT.” Saying “thank you” helps build brand loyalty and brings a conversational aspect to your tweets. We all struggle on what’s the correct etiquette for thanking someone on Twitter. Do you always have to say thanks? Are there other ways to show your gratitude?
Angie Schottmuller from Interactive Artisan recently did a guest post on Jay Baer’s Convince and Covert that was right on target with helpful do’s and don’ts regarding etiquette. Here are some highlights:
DO’s
- Follow the user – Review their profile and if they are a good fit, follow them.
- Reciprocate – Scan their tweets and see if one is applicable for you to RT.
- Retweet a Retweet – This is a good way to recognize the user and put quality content back into the stream.
- Conversational Mention – Reply with a conversational response about the post to get a discussion going.
DON’Ts
- Don’t put numerous RT’s back-to-back.
- Avoid peak content hours.
- Don’t put out a generic thanks. Always include a hashtag.
If you like this post, you might like:
7 Ways to Use Twitter to Generate Traffic and Leads.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 22, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
If you’re into social media, you’re doing it with a purpose in mind. You have a story to tell and you want to tell it to a certain type of person. This holds true no matter what type of marketing you’re doing (traditional or social).
But when you’re developing your content, do you ever consider at what stage your reader is at in the buying cycle? By segmenting your content to include all stages of a buying process (awareness, consideration, evaluation and purchase), you’ll be sure to hit all your potentials at their stage in the buying process.
I recently read a post from AdamHolden-Bach from Mass Transmit called Using Content Marketing to Understand Your B2B Audience that I thought was spot on.
Here are some highlights on segmenting your markets:
- Awareness – These folks have just begun the process. Provide educational content (blogs, white papers, webinars) and make it easy for them to receive it (do make them register to get it).
- Consideration – Once they know about you they want to know how you stack up against the competition. Provide them product comparisons, case studies or other material that shows why your product is better.
- Evaluation – They want to understand the solutions you provide and how they would benefit their business.
- Purchase – Use social channels to broadcast new products, upgrades, special offers to help incentivize the customer.
As you’re creating content, identify which stage it falls into. Use tracking methods over time, for instance to gauge interest and tell you at what stage most of your audience is at in the sales cycle.
What are you doing to segment your marketing?
If you liked this post, you may also like:
2011 Trends: Content Marketing is Critical for Social Media Success
2011 Trends for B-to-B Bloggers
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 17, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
2D bar codes are growing in use across the world (usage quadrupled in 2010) and the USA for the first time leading in the number of scans according to 3GVision.
Businesses that don’t understand how to use 2D codes think that they’re just a way to drive people through to a mobile landing page. But businesses that get it are using them in a variety of new and innovative ways — all of which lead to increased customer loyalty and greater revenue per customer. I recently read a post by Jamie Turner from 60 Second Marketer that outlined several ways businesses can take advantage of these 2D codes. I’d like to share some highlights from his post along with some insights from my perspective:
- Websites – Add a 2D code to the contact page so visitors can download your contact info to their smartphones.
- Business Cards – Add the code to your card for the same reason as the website.
- LinkedIn & Facebook – Add the code and position yourself as a forward innovative thinker.
- In-Store Point of Sale & Coupons – Provide instant coupons at the counter of your distributor.
- Packaging – A great way to differentiate yourself at the store level and give your customer reasons to buy. It also helps in the Big Box stores where you are restricted to their rules on merchandising and promotions.
These are some of the ways I see manufacturers using 2D codes to set themselves apart.
What are you doing to capitalize on these codes?
If you like this post, you may be interested in:
QR Codes: Are Manufacturers Missing an Opportunity?
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 16, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
You need to know, like and trust someone before you’ll recommend them, right?
That holds true not only in our day-to-day interactions (human), as well as our relationships online. Social media has put the power in the hands of the consumer and is rapidly closing the gap with word of mouth.
A recent post on eMarketer.com was highlighting a recent study by Global WebIndex “Annual Report 2011” that outlines the shift in behavior regading social media. Highlights include that usage of social sites are shifting from creating content to distributing it.
The human element remains key when it comes to trust. An example is users worldwide reported nearly a 50% increase in their trust for social network contacts.
So what does this mean for you and me? It means people who know, like and trust us, whether it’s in person or on a social site, are more likely to listen to a recommendation from you. Pretty neat if you ask me, and it reinforces what lots of people are saying about starting to build relationships on the social platform.
So what are you doing to build that trust so people are asking you for recommendations?
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 15, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Here’s an interesting interview in The Smart Van from one our own, Aylie Fifer, on how the aging workforce may put companies at risk and what they need to know about technology trends.
The interview highlights areas on how service firms are using social, how the older generation can learn from the younger ones and the role of mobile devices and what impact they will have moving forward.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 10, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
This is the second year that GlobalSpec has surveyed engineering, technical, industrial and manufacturing professionals on how they are using social media. You can download a free copy of the complete report here: http://tinyurl.com/4wcq8nf.
The survey shows that for work-related purposes, this audience is slow adopters. This audience is largely passive in that it prefers to read and watch content as opposed to creating it. They are increasing in certain areas, but aren’t progressing as fast as the rest of the world.
This is good news or bad news depending on how you look at it. I’m an optimist, so I’ll take the good news angle. This is a great opportunity for those of you who have this segment targeted. Why, because you know in most cases, engineers and manufacturing folks are meticulous when it comes to getting/evaluating info. They are slow to move and want to be sure that both the product and the company are meeting their overall objectives which takes time. Social is an additional tool that can give you more face time with potentials, help position yourself as an expert and eventually engage them to ask questions.
So the question you have to ask yourself is, how can I use social to attract potentials? Here are some suggestions:
- Blog about interesting application or trends in specific industries.
- Create a LinkedIn group, then network with users of those products to start discussions.
- Company Facebook page that shows your fans about your company’s involvement in the community.
- YouTube video that shows your product in action.
- “Customer only” forum where they can talk to each other.
- A Twitter account to send followers links of interesting products and industry news.
Think of this as a good opportunity to touch your potential customers in another way.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 9, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Some people still don’t see the advantage of Twitter as a B-to-B tool. According to ExactTarget’s “Subscribers, Fans and Followers” report, it concludes there is influence on customer loyalty between e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.
- Daily Twitter users who follow a brand were twice as likely as daily Facebook users who “likes” a product to purchase it.
- A third of Twitter followers said they were more apt to recommend a brand that they follow.
This would make Twitter followers more attractive to marketers. That’s the good news. The better news is that these Twitter followers currently represent a small base (3% in the US), so as they grow, so do your opportunities.
Are you using Twitter, and are you finding success with it?
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 8, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Although Facebook’s initial intention was to connect and share on a personal level, B-to-B companies for the most part have a hard time using Facebook as part of their overall marketing program. Here are some facts to consider:
People on Facebook
- More than 500 million active users
- 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
- Average user has 130 friends
- People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook
So what does this mean to the B2B community? It means that many of the same people who are currently on Facebook could possibly be customers or potentials for your products. The question is, why aren’t you taking advantage of them? The best way is through the fan page, and I recently read a post by Dave Folkens from Top Rank on
5 Tips on Better Facebook Marketing for B2B Companies that I thought outlined some simple things to take advantage of the fan page. Here are some highlights:
- Create a two-way conversation – You need to engage people, so don’t always talk at them and push out news. Listen and give them content and insight that will help them.
- Connect community – Give your fans a place to come together and share.
- Build relationships – People buy from folks they know, like and trust. According to a survey from Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate, customers are more likely to buy from companies they follow on social media.
- Cross promote – You can’t have all the answers nor should you. Use Facebook to share interesting articles about your industry.
- Make things sharable – Make content interesting and fun. What we really want is to have people share.
So if you currently have a blog and want to repurpose your content, this is a good way to do that and build your Facebook fan base at the same time.
What are you doing to build your fan page?
by Sonnhalter | Mar 7, 2011 | News, Press Release
BEREA, Ohio – March 2011 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, announces the addition of three new clients, Air King, Calculated Industries, and Viega.
Located in West Chester, Pa., Air King is a U.S.-based manufacturer of exhaust fans and range hoods as well as commercial and industrial grade high velocity air circulators and other residential building products. Sonnhalter will be assisting Air King with public relations and social media services.
Based in Carson City, Nev., Calculated Industries is the maker of the construction master pro construction calculator and offers specialty calculators and electronic measuring tools for professionals in the construction, industrial, measuring and estimating, real estate and financial markets, as well as specialty products and home and hobby products. Sonnhalter will be assisting Calculated Industries with social media services.
Based in Wichita, Kan., Viega is a family-owned and operated manufacturer, distributor and marketer of highly engineered and innovative plumbing systems for the residential, commercial and industrial markets. Sonnhalter will be helping Viega with a full range of marketing communications services.
“The addition of these three new clients is a great way to start off 2011. We are excited to have such a diversified client base in the business-to-tradesmen realm,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at 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’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 we target: 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. In 2009 and 2010, Sonnhalter was named one of BtoB Magazine’s Top Agencies. For more information, visit the company website at www.Sonnhalter.com or visit the company blog at www.TradesmenInsights.com.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 3, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
We’ve all heard the expression “Content is King.” Although we all know it sometimes, we may not practice it. Content drives credibility, market leadership and leads, so it’s important to follow certain steps to ensure positive results. I read a post recently from Roy Young in Marketing prof.com, 12 B2B Content-Marketing Practices to Ensure Success that I thought was right on the money. Here are some of the ones that hit home for me:
- Identify sources within your organization for content – look outside marketing to search for experts. Product development, customer service and sales are 3 areas that could be good sources for content.
- Listen to customers and prospects – what are they talking about, what issues/pain points do they need addressed?
- Develop different content for different audience segments. Owners of contracting firms might want one thing and the guy who heads up the crews might want something different.
- Vary your content for buying cycles – not everyone is ready to buy. Some are researching and gathering info. Make sure you speak to them as well.
- Vary formats – Shake it up a little. Don’t just write, throw in a short video or podcast. Even lighten it up once in a while. Most people have a sense of humor and who doesn’t need a laugh now and then?
- Use social media to build relationships and distribute your content – other than the traditional ways of getting your story out, use social to inform and engage your customers and target audiences.
These are a few hints that help me in my efforts to produce good content. What are you doing?
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 2, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
So you follow some industry gurus and their blogs, but do you take advantage of the knowledge that you receive?
Commenting on blogs will do several things, among them getting the blogger to notice you, and if you do it on a regular basis, you can start building a relationship with them. Comments with links (that aren’t self promotional) will send visits. If the link continues to gain traction, this could be an ongoing source of referrals to your site.
I recently read a post by Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOmoz on Recommendations for Blog Comments as a Marketing Strategy that had some interesting points. Rand highlights 10 recommendations for blog comments, and they include the following:
- Read at least 5 posts by an author before commenting. Get a good sense of their interests and perspectives first.
- Read at least 3 posts worth of comments. See how the rest of his followers are responding to get a better sense of community.
- Read previous posted comments on the thread. You don’t want to say something that has already been addressed.
- Write more than a tweet but less than a post. Make your point in 2 or 3 paragraphs with an appropriate link.
These are some good points and we all should take advantage of participating. If not, we’ll never get engaged with those that we want to.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 1, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Times they are a changing. Last year, the tablet category essentially didn’t exist. Today with the iPad revitalizing the category, it’s expected to reach 81.3 million units by 2012 according to eMarketer.
This and the fact that there are more smart phones being sold each month than PCs means we need to rethink mobile as a viable means to getting to those younger folks (tradesman). A recent survey from Nielsen showed that iPad users were more likely (even more than iPhone users) to click on ads, videos, multimedia and interactive offerings.
There’s an opportunity for marketers to target these tablet users who are engaged and prime to purchase. The demo for the tablet users are high income 18-34 year olds – predominantly male. So, for those of you trying to reach that elusive young tradesman, this might be a way to do it.
If you like this, you might like the following:
White Paper: Trends in Mobile Media
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 24, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Everyone by now knows that social media is not going away. I believe most companies, no matter what their size, have accepted that fact and have jumped in in some fashion. But you can’t build a social business or any other one without a plan.
I recently read a post by Michael Brito in Social Media Examiner called, The 3 Pillars of Social Media Readiness that I thought hit home on the points all of us are facing as we move through the social media maze. Here are some highlights of Michaels article where focuses on 3 key areas we need to look at:
- People – Get internal teams to communicate with each other. It’s important that the left hand knows what the right hand is doing.
- Governance – You need processes in place to manage the chaos which include guidelines and policies.
- Technology – Invest in platforms that facilitate internal collaboration.
Conversations are going on.
A study in 2009 found that 85% of Americans using social media think companies should have an active presence. Of the 85% who answered the question:
- 34% want companies to actively interact with them
- 51% want companies to interact with them as needed or by request
- 8% thinks companies should be passively involved
- 7% thinks companies shouldn’t be involved at all
So are you following these 3 easy steps, or do you have some of your own that you’d like to share?
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 23, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
For those who follow me on a regular basis, you know I’m a big supporter of blogs. It seems that most companies now are at least considering doing a blog.
Here are a few good reasons you should consider a blog for your company:
- Websites are mostly static – Once a contractor has been to your website, why does he need to go back? He knows who you are and what you do. If you don’t get him to follow you on an RSS feed or fill out a form to be on a mailing list, you basically have lost most visitors.
- Thought leadership – One of the main objectives of a blog is to set you and your company apart. What better way to increase your brand awareness and generate new leads?
- Keep your customers/prospects coming back – When you publish new content on a regular basis, customers and prospects keep coming back. It also allows for interactions with both categories.
- Re-purpose content – You can take a current post and use it on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to gain additional exposure.
- Blogs can provide additional in-links – Once you establish yourself as a thought leader in a category, others will begin to link back to you and this will alert search engines that you must be saying something important.
These are some of my reasons for blogging. I’d like to hear some of yours.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
Are you Using Blogs to Reach the Professional Tradesmen?
Have you Started a Company Blog? Maybe you Should.
5 Helpful Hints to Attract New Business Using Your Blog.
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 22, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
With the advent of social media, the way customers contact us and us them has changed dramatically. Gone are the days that our only options to talk to companies were either by snail mail, email or a customer service hot line.
Social media opens up numerous ways that people not only can talk to you, but about you, to others. This is the game changer and if you do nothing else on social, please at least listen to what people are saying about your company and your brands. One comment on Twitter can start an avalanche of other comments (good or bad). Wouldn’t you like to know what’s being said about you? I sure would!
I recently read a post by Jay Baer, 6 Parts of your Company That Should be Listening to Social Conversations that I found extremely interesting and wanted to share some highlights. Some are obvious; others we all should put on our list.
- Sales – Listening programs give you the opportunity to find prospects when the timing is perfect and when they’re actually asking for answers you have.
- Marketing and PR – Listening helps make sure that the language you’re using as a company is the same language being used by the people you’re hoping to hook.
- Customer Service – Customers are airing their concerns, questions, and grievances over social media channels, especially if traditional channels prove less than helpful.
- R&D – You can fuel your idea engine by harnessing the input, thoughts and creativity of the online audience.
- HR – The obvious potential here is talent recruiting, in both finding potential employees and examining their online social graphs.
- Executives and Management – They can understand market trends through the unfettered viewpoint of the online masses and determine whether they’re behind, ahead of, or riding the curve.
Are you missing an opportunity here? How many listeners do you have at your company?
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 17, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Content is the most important asset in using social media for new business.
I think we all agree that one of the main reasons we’re in the social media scene is to generate new business. What we need to do is put our brand out there along with original content so our thought leadership will come through no matter what business you’re in. So when you’re planning your content this year, make sure to focus on what your readers want to know.
According to a social media study by King Fish Media, HubSpot and Junta42, original content, both branded and expert, is by far the most employed tactic for social media.
“Next year [2011], marketers will need to rethink their approach to advertising and marketing and intensify their focus on creating magnetic content that will naturally attract consumers, rather than relying solely on the interruption model of advertising, which consumers are responding to less and less. Think pull vs. push.” Geoff Ramsey, CEO, Co-Founder of eMarketer
Here are some Content Marketing resources that will provide you with some best content creation practices along with unique insights, practical advice and tips:
Tips on How to Get the Most out of Social Media Marketing.
More Corporations are Blogging: Is Yours?
5 Helpful Hints to Attract New Business Using your Blog.
7 Ways to use Twitter to Generate Traffic and Leads.
5 Ways to use Content Marketing to Attract New Business.
Click on the following link for a downloadable copy of the study by King Fish Media, HubSpot and Junta42, 2010 Social Media Usage, Attitudes and Measurability: What Do Marketers Think?
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 16, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
According to a recent article in eMarketer.com, interest is high for smart phone users who are relying more on their phones when they are out and about. They use their phone to get pricing information and check their status on loyalty programs for coupons or to access their points.
Now it may be a bit premature for manufacturers who are targeting the professional tradesmen to focus all their efforts on this medium, but I think it would be a mistake not to include them in current or future loyalty programs. Consider these facts from a survey conducted in October 2010 for Hipcricket by Zoomerang:
- 35% of those surveyed would be interested in a mobile loyalty program
- Only 9% currently participate in such a program.
There was even greater interest in loyalty programs members could join via brand’s pages like Facebook. That’s the good news. The bad news is that most brands are not letting them participate in this manner.
The bottom line here is to keep this option on your radar screen because the trend is moving that way.
If you like this post, you may like:
QR Codes: Are Manufacturers Missing an Opportunity?
White Paper: Trends in Mobile Media
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 15, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Uncategorized
A recent survey of business people by Forbes in October of 2010 cited that a majority (60%) would watch a video before reading text on the same web page. 75% of executives said they watched work-related videos on business sites at least once a week with more than half doing the same on YouTube.
The study shows that video can be a highly effective tool in getting your message across.
So the question is, are you utilizing video to help you sell on the web?
If you like this post, you may like:
Make Videos Part of your Direct Marketing Plans to Professional Tradesmen.
Online Video Marketing: a Great Way to Educate Professional Tradesmen
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 10, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Social media is beginning to make an impact on businesses, and a friend of mine, Michael Gass, shared with me a recent study by SmartBrief that recently surveyed 6,000 of their readers on how they use social media in a business environment.
To effectively use social media for business development, it is important to know who is using social media, how they are using it, what social media channels are being used, what goals are being pursued and tactics deployed that are providing measurable results. The State of Social Media for Business 2010 report, released at the beginning of 2011, provides information on the biggest trends and challenges.
Here are eight select themes and data points from the survey (purchase the full brief for more in-depth details):
- Most companies surveyed have adopted social media in the past 18 months. About half of the companies in the sample have been using social media for only the past year, with nearly 20% starting in the past 13 to 18 months.
- Companies are focusing their energies on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and blogs. The concentration on “the big 5” hints at companies being able to find their customers on these sites. With lower awareness and/or usage of other sites, including platforms such as Flickr with large numbers of users, companies might be missing out on more niche groups.
- It takes time for companies to incorporate social media effectively. More than 25% of companies with two-plus years of social media activity state that those tools and platforms have been fully integrated into their companies’ business models. In addition, more than 50% have a well-developed or fully developed social- media strategy, which is further evidenced by the use of multiple platforms.
- Brand building is currently the primary purpose for business social-media usage. Despite the primary goals of increasing brand awareness and building communities for customers and fans, the majority of companies surveyed use social media to broadcast information instead of creating two-way conversations.
- Communications, advertising and marketing agencies are the leading adopters of social media. Communications and PR agencies recognized the potential behind social media earlier than most industries. Likewise, advertising and marketing firms have realized the potential of identifying and reaching target audiences relatively early as compared with other industries. Despite their early presence in social media, communications and PR firms are not the chosen source of advice or consultation on social media for companies.
- Lack of management support and confidentiality concerns are atop the list of obstacles to social-media adoption. One-third of the respondents note they are not decision makers. Combined with the 14.7% citing management resistance, this indicates an overall lack of management support. In addition, 33.1% cite confidentiality issues as a primary obstacle. Taken together with the prohibition of social-network use at work, the data show that many companies are concerned about how their staff would use these sites.
- Less than 15% of the businesses using social media are measuring return-on-investment. Connecting social media efforts to bottom-line results is a skill that escapes most businesses that are using social media. Over 33% of the businesses in the sample are not measuring return on investment at all. Among those innovators who are measuring social media, most focus on usage and incoming traffic but not traditional business metrics.
- While 60% of respondents say their companies are using social media, there is low confidence in their social-media strategies. Companies are critical of their social-media strategies, with only 14.2% describing their strategies as “very effective” and only 7.3% describing them as “very revenue generating” on average.
These are a few of the report highlights of where businesses are in their social-media usage, confidence and measurement. The full State of Social Media for Business 2010 is available for sale from SmartBrief: http://www.smartbrief.com/research/ and includes:
- 145 pages
- 213 charts and graphs
- 6 data cuts
- Key indicators of social-media integration
- Comparative data based on company size and industry focus
- Benchmarks to assess where your company is on the social-media adoption curve
- An introduction by social-media expert and SmartBrief on Social Media Advisory Board member, Olivier Blanchard
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 9, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
My blog is an integral part of our total overall marketing program. We use it as the hub of our lead activity and think most B-to-B companies should be blogging as part of their overall marketing efforts. To that point, there’s a new white paper out authored by Tony Karrer and Tom Pick that asks industry leaders (and mine) their thoughts.
Blogging is often viewed as the core component of a B2B social media marketing strategy, and other than discussion forums, it’s the most mature component of social media. Facebook, Twitter and even newer tools like Quora may be sexier and get more attention, but blogs are the workhorses essential to making social media marketing work. Research from HubSpot shows that small businesses with blogs have twice as many Twitter followers as those who don’t. Increased search engine visibility, targeted traffic and enhanced brand image are just a few of the benefits of business blogging.
So what’s next for B2B blogging? What trends are likely to emerge in the coming year? To answer those questions, the founders of the B2B Marketing Zone asked 22 of the most influential b2b marketing and PR bloggers—including Roxanne Darling, Jay Baer, Ardath Albee, Erik Qualman and Chris Abraham—for their prognostications. You can get the whole story in B2B Blogging Trends in 2011, a free (and no registration required) white paper from Aggregage (the software that powers the BMZ site). Among the findings:
- If you don’t have a blog yet, 2011 is the year to start one. As less than half of all B2B companies currently have blogs, there’s still an opportunity to stand out and establish thought leadership in your niche. If your company doesn’t have a blog, you’re not a laggard…quite yet. But time is running out to grab the best intellectual spots of turf on the B2B blogging landscape.
- Blogging helps a company demonstrate expertise, it’s ideal for search, and as Blake Landau points out, “As push marketing becomes less effective, blogs become more important.”
- Blogs are not islands; as pointed out above, they are the central point to social marketing efforts. Blogging is most effective when integrated with other communications efforts including PR and email marketing.
- Although there is still opportunity to get started with a business blog, it’s crucial to do it right. Jay Baer predicts an “explosion of bad B2B blogs” in the coming year as companies scramble to embrace the medium, but many fail to do it well. To stand out and achieve business success with a blog, it’s critical to focus narrowly on the information needs of your customers and prospects, as Kristin Zhivago and Harry Hoover both note.
There’s much more. Again, you can download the complete Aggregage white paper on B2B Blogging Trends in 2011 here.
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 8, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Uncategorized
Life as a marketing person isn’t as simple as it once was. With the arrival of social media, new expectations from your boss and new buying processes, where do you turn? Marketo recently released their new e-book, The Marketing Manifesto which outlines ways you can get quality leads and keep your ears on your entire market.
Highlights include:
- Exposing your beliefs – what’s your company’s passion?
- Value proposition – why should I believe in you?
- Think beyond digital – integrated engagements are the ones that last.
It also identifies 6 B-to-B weapons including content marketing, testing, analytics, lead nurturing, search and community.
It’s a good read.
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 3, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Most of you attend trade shows, and if you’re on the manufacturing end of things, you have booths. Trade shows are not an inexpensive proposition and you really want to get the most out of them. To that end, I’ve asked a friend of mine, Vince Tricomi from PFI Displays, to give us some hints on how to improve your ROI without spending any money.
Here are the suggestions:
With the start of trade show season, many companies find themselves examining how they can revitalize their trade show exhibit ROI without depleting their marketing budget.
1. Do Your Pre-Show Homework:
▪ Analyze last year’s “A-Level” leads, and get a list of this year’s attendees.
▪ Have your sales team start calling weeks before the show to schedule in-booth appointments.
▪ Consider other types of outreach, from social media to direct mail.
2. Strut Your Stuff:
▪ Volunteer as an expert for the educational seminars at your trade show. You won’t be “selling” your company, but you will be building your credibility with the audience.
3. Improve Your “Boothmanship:”
▪ Consider the body language of you and your staff.
▪ Avoid matching outfits that make attendees feel like they’re walking into a used car lot.
▪ Ban the use of cell phones in your booth space (that’s right, BAN them!)
▪ Practice an “elevator pitch” and make sure everyone working the trade show knows, understands and can communicate your company’s USP.
4. Social Media is Your Friend:
▪ Use it to extend the show by building interest before, during and after.
▪ Special promotions during the show are a great way to drive additional foot traffic to your exhibit.
▪ Typically, show organizers have a hashtag for the show. See who’s using the hashtag and interact to let the audience know you’re there.
5. Post-Show MEASUREMENT:
▪ This is the most important AND most overlooked way to radically increase your exhibit ROI. If you don’t know what works and what doesn’t, how can you evolve your trade show program?
▪ Within two weeks of the show’s end, gather all the company’s stake holders and discuss best and worst practices and what to target for next year.
We’ll talk in the future about setting measurable goals for each of your trade shows. Suffice to say, there are many more trade show metrics for success than just the quantity of badges scanned at your reception counter.
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 2, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
You need great content to keep your readers coming back. And you need to shake it up a bit by using things like a YouTube video or Podcast of you interviewing someone of relevance to your industry.
People like a good news story, and an interview format fits the ticket just fine. Imagine if you could interview an industry expert, the president of a major trade association, or the executive director of one of the leading buying groups in your market segment. Wouldn’t you think your customers would like to hear what they are thinking and saying? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get an industry scoop”?
I recently read an article by Ryan Malone in SocialMediaExaminer.com titled: 11 Ways to Improve Your Posts with Interviews that I thought was very interesting. The 5 top questions I got out of the article were:
- What are the 3 biggest benefits to your target audience and why?
- What are the top questions asked by your customers?
- If you had a list of best kept secrets (resources like websites, books, coaches), who would you recommend and why?
- What tips can you recommend that you’d only share with a close friend?
- Looking out 3-5 years, beyond the obvious trends, what do you think will be a game changer?
Have you had success using interviewing? If so, I’d like to hear from you.
If you like this post please pass it onto a friend.
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 1, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Sales and marketing departments usually don’t do a good job communicating with each other, and when you add in a new tool (social media), there is even a bigger disconnect. Salepeople often have little exposure and experience with social and tend to shy away from it.
The reality is social media can open up conversations with both existing customers as well as new ones, and bottom line is if the sales department would realize the potential. I recently read a post by Karlie Justus, More Ways to Connect B2B Sales Teams with Social Media that got me thinking. Here are some thoughts from me on how Karlie’s ideas would be relavant to our market in bridging the gap between Marketing and Sales.
- Create Social Media Updates – Show the salesforce what’s in it for them. Ways to engage customers and potentials.It could be just what’s needed to start a conversation. Explain to them why you’re doing a blog and what kinds of things you’re posting on Facebook and Twitter.
- Show Them How Important it is For Them to Be Involved – If they understand what marketing is trying to do for them, they can help you build customer/prospect lists from things like their weekly call reports. Who knows better what types of things a customer wants other than the sales person? They can tell you what types of products they’re looking at, what market they are in, and a host of other valuable marketing insights that we wouldn’t have otherwise. Make them more comfortable by giving them a handout with talking points on the back that they can share with customers. They can ask them to start reading your blog, go to your forum to talk to other customers. You can even get them talking about LinkedIn and get them connected with each other. Once they understand the potential power of social, they will be one of your best resources for data.
- Educate the Sales Team with Hands-On Training – Give them practical and personal examples and once they are more comfortable with it offer to help them set up their own pages. Don’t expect total buy in. You don’t normally get that with anything you introduce. But if you can get half the salesforce to embrace and understand the benefits of social, then you’ve won a battle.
- Track Leads and Give Them Monthly Updates – Hopefully you have some sort of CRM in place to track traditional leads like trade shows, PR and print ads. Add social as another line item so the salesforce can see what kind of activities social is generating. Give them monthly updates (high level) of what social is doing for the company. Ask them what they might want to see. Do they want to see blog visitors by geographic location? Would they like to know which pages on your website are getting the most hits from Social?
These are some ideas that might help you engage sales in the social media scene. I’d love to hear success stories from the field. Care to share?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 27, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
So you want to build a relationship with the professional tradesmen. In order to do that, you need to be in front of them on a consistent basis. What I like about e-newsletters is that they are relatively easy to assemble, easy to deliver and it allows your customers to read it on their time line, and hopefully if they find something of interest, they will pass the newsletter on. Besides, we’re sure he checks his e-mail every day and might miss or misplace a traditional paper one.
Realistically you don’t have the time to visit him several times a month, and truth be known, he doesn’t want to see you that often! So how do you and your brand stay in front of him on a regular basis? A newsletter would be a great vehicle to build credibility and visibility for your brand, not only to your customers, but to potentials as well.
Newsletters today aren’t like what they used to be 10 years ago. I’d suggest you consider an electronic newsletter using one of the many services like Emma and Constant Contact to maintain your lists and your newsletter programs. They have several templates to choose from if you don’t want to design your own. They also can tell you how many were opened and by whom, and if they clicked through and how much time they spent on the site. You also can embed links into your newsletter, and if people are interested in learning more, they can click.
Here are some thoughts on why I think you should consider doing an e-newsletter and what you should do to make sure they are successful:
- Make Them Educational – keep the sales pitch for when you meet them face to face. Give them info that will benefit them. How they might improve their business. What’s happening in the industry or key associations. What trends should they be watching for? Yes, you can put in a small bit of self promo, but I’d suggest to keep it to a minimum.
- Make Them Easy to Read – seems pretty evident but sometimes you can go overboard. Keep the article short and to the point, and if you have appropriate links to other articles, by all means put them in. Keep them entertaining. Remember you want to engage your reader.
- Put Them Out on a Regular Basis – I suggest monthly, but in some cases it could be more often. You want people to look forward to your newsletter. Don’t think you need to have a set amount in each newsletter. Don’t invent things or postpone sending it out if you feel you don’t have “X” amount of things to share.
- Get Both Sales and Marketing Involved in Content – your sales force is in the trenches each day and can give you plenty of issues to talk about. Get them engaged so they can talk it up (they also can help you build your lists).
For those of you who have blogs, you should be putting out monthly an e-newsletter of the top 5 posts from last month. Just another way to touch the folks that follow you regularly. Those are some of my thoughts on newsletters. I’d like to hear about your successes.
If you like this post, please pass it onto a friend.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 26, 2011 | Uncategorized
From time to time I have guest posts and today, since many of my readers are contractors, we’re going to hear from Emma Martin who writes for CB Structures, a family owned construction and engineering company. She is going to share her insights on ways to improve productivity. Enjoy.
5 Ways to Improve Construction Productivity
One of the major setbacks for any construction project is a loss of productivity that results in delays and loss of funds. And yet, this type of occurrence is largely considered par for the course on most build sites. While many would be quick to attribute holdups to lazy workers or inadequate supervision, it is far more common for bad planning or outright ignorance to muck up the works.
Here are five ways you can avoid delays, deal with problem areas, and get your construction project on track for timely completion.
- A dependable foreman. You can’t just leave a construction crew to police their own activities. Like any job, you need a manager on site to ensure that work is progressing on schedule, jump in if help is needed, report to higher-ups, and basically do whatever is necessary to promote an efficient work environment. You’ll need someone with experience (a background in skilled labor is just as useful as previous management) who is reliable and trustworthy. This is absolutely essential to the success of any construction project.
- Incentives. Employees who are paid well and have a stake in the completion of the structure may be more likely to give it their all. In short, you need to offer competitive wages for your crew (you could even consider benefits in addition to your site insurance since the risks of accident and injury in this profession are high). You may also want to consider giving a bonus upon completion or sale of the property as a way to get your workers in gear. Just be sure to keep an eye on quality.
- Training. In some cases, both quality of work and productivity can be gained by putting up the money to ensure that your crew (and supervisors) are properly trained. Let’s face it, construction is often a profession that is entered into without much formal education (anyone can swing a hammer, right?). By requiring your crew to sign up for instruction in carpentry, electrical, and plumbing (for example), you can ensure that they do the job right the first time, effectively cutting back on construction time and saving money down the road.
- Planning. The most common cause of stoppage in construction is waiting, and it is often due to improper planning. While there will be days when weather and other factors beyond your control compromise your crew’s ability to continue work. However, there is also a portion of waiting time that is directly associated with poor planning. Whether necessary equipment is unavailable, materials are in transit, or there simply aren’t enough people working to ensure that a project is completed on schedule, poor planning is likely the root of the problem.
- Security. Theft at construction sites is fairly common, especially when materials are left unguarded and out in the open. Instead of setting up a fence that anyone with four usable limbs can bypass, hire a security firm to provide a night-guard so that expensive copper pipes and lumber don’t simply get up and walk off the site, costing you both materials and labor.
Emma Martin writes for CB Structures, a family owned construction and engineering company that specializes in garage buildings and pole building design.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 25, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Sonnhalter is deeply involved with the professional tradesmen. We recently completed a market overview on the construction industry. The purpose of this document is to give the reader a quick snapshot of the industry, its players and trends. Markets covered are residential, commercial (light commercial), highway/heavy, institutional and industrial/manufacturing.
Highlights include interviews with editors of top trade publications. Also included are associations, buying groups, trade shows/meetings, industry trends and media publications.
To sign up to receive a copy of the Construction Market Overview, click here.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 20, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Businesses are getting more comfortable with social media and are continuing to integrate it into their overall marketing programs.
I recently read an article in Social Media Examiner, 8 Social Media Trends Impacting Businesses that I thought made some good points. The article highlighted a recent study done by SmartBrief and Summus Limited to over 6,000 readers across a variety of industries. Here are some brief highlights:
- Companies are still new to social media – Most companies (66%) have adopted social media within the last 18 months.
- Businesses focus on the BIG 5 – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and blogs are where people spend most of their efforts.
- 2-year confidence mark – How long it takes most companies to gain confidence in their social media activity.
- Companies are broadcasting vs. connecting – Brand building is their primary purpose. Many companies are missing opportunities to build stronger relationships by listening instead of talking.
- Businesses turn internally for sources for social media support – Not surprising. They know the company, its products/services better than anyone.
- Social media obstacles – Lack of management support and confidentiality are the two biggest stumbling blocks.
- Lack of measurement – Less than 15% are measuring ROI. They are struggling with what to measure, how to measure it and how to interpret the data.
- Companies lack confidence in their social media strategy – Less than 15% of companies surveyed describe their strategies as “very effective.”
The good news is businesses are moving forward. What are some challenges your company is facing regarding implementation of a social media program?
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by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 19, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Social media is the “new thing,” everybody is doing it, maybe I should too! Sound familiar?
Don’t do it because everyone else is doing it; do it because it makes sense as part of your overall marketing plan. If I said it once, I said it a million times, social media isn’t a silver bullet! Social media should have a plan just like any other program.
I recently read an article by Clement Yeung in Social Media Examiner, How to Get the M.O.S.T. From Your Social Media Marketing that highlights steps we all can take to get the M.O.S.T. out of social media. Here are some highlights:
M. Marketing Intelligence. Do your research. Who do you want to reach? Use tools like forums, key word searches and Google trends to see what’s out there.
O. Set your objectives. Sowhat do you want to accomplish? Become a thought leader? Improve SEO?
S. Strategy. Create a social media strategy with a plan of action.
T. Tactics. Do you want to build a branded blog site or just create an online presence?
Once you establish a plan, then identify the social tools you should use to reach your audience. Go where they are whether that will be Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube. Interact with them and start building relationships. If you have a blog, start driving them there versus your website.
If you apply the same disciplines to social as you do to other programs, you will be successful.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
Are you Using a Blog to Reach the Professional Tradesmen?
Have you Started a Company Blog? Maybe you Should.
If you like this post, please pass it on to your friends.
