Small Businesses Have Social Media Marketing Advantage
I’ve always said that I believe small businesses have the advantage in social media. Two of the most important reasons are that small business owners are passionate about what they do and can react quicker than larger corporations when responding to something online. That’s the beauty of social media–its success is based on building relationships.
How Can We Promote Blue Collar Careers?
My target audience is manufacturers who want to sell stuff to contractors and professional tradesmen. Any of us who have been around this industry (no matter what field) know that the biggest challenge facing contractors is lack of qualified people. So long term if the professional tradesman goes away or certainly doesn’t keep up the current need, who are we going to sell our stuff to?
B-to-B Marketers Outpace B-to-C Among Leading Social Media Initiatives
Kudos to the B-to-B marketers who have embraced social media. I recently read an article in eMarketer.com that I thought I’d share some highlights. Even though we are outnumbered and less experienced than our counterparts in B-to-C, we appear to be more active according to research from a 2009 benchmarking study from business.com.
5 Things An E-Mail Marketer Should Avoid when Targeting the Professional Tradesman
Sometimes we take things for granted and can tend to become complacent when using tools like e-mail marketing. We think we know it all since we’ve been doing it for so long, but we may have lost sight of what made e-mail so successful in the past.
2009: A Retrospective from Contractors and An Early Outlook For 2010
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the economy in 2009 wasn’t good to most contractors, especially those whose primary market was new construction. To that end, we did phone interviews the last quarter of 2009 with 22 contractors across the country, primarily in the HVAC and Plumbing markets to get a better sense of how they are surviving and what’s on their minds.
Search Marketing Must Be Working For Small Businesses
Small businesses must have been listening when it came to PSEO. According to data from WebVisible, search advertising has sharply increased in Q3 0f 09. According to a recent post on eMarketer.com, small business search spending by smaller companies was up 91% year over year.
B-to-B Marketers: Put The “Why” Before The “How” In Social Media
When it comes to social media, many marketers first concern is on “How” are we going to use social before the “Why.” They should really first consider the “who” are we trying to connect with and “What” do we bring to the party.
Dynamics Have Changed Over The Years and B-to-B Marketers Need To Adapt
For those of us who I will call “Seasoned Veterans” (been in the B-to-B world for more than 15 years), we’ve seen major changes in they way people get info and go through a buying process.Those who are successful today are the ones who have adapted and embraced the changes as they have come along.
Trust Agents: A Must-Read
For those of you who want to get a great overview of ways to build relationships, both off line as well as on line, I’d suggest you read Trust Agents, by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. What you learn are common sense ways to let people get to know, like, and trust you, and hopefully do business with you.
Where Are Your Prospects In The B to B Sales Cycle?
In an ideal world, every lead from every source would be waiting to hear from you so they can place an order. Please pinch yourself and wake up, this only happens in dreams!