Following is a guest post from our friends over at Long & Short of It, masters of ideation, customer insights and market research. They like to say they “dig and find lots of data and then turn it into actionable insights.” Following is their guest post.
While customer feedback is valuable and should be considered, you can’t solely rely on customer input to guide your marketing, process, or development. Best captured by the quote from Steve Jobs, “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them.” Who knew we needed or wanted an iPhone until we saw it?
Customers may not always have a clear vision of what they want or need until they are presented with it. Their understanding or ability to articulate what they want is limited by their existing experiences and familiarity with available solutions. Therefore, solely relying on customer feedback may result in incremental improvements or iterations of existing products, rather than breakthrough innovations.
To create products or solutions that truly meet customers’ needs, it’s important to balance customer input with innovative thinking and a deep understanding of your target market. This requires going beyond surface-level feedback and uncovering the underlying pain points, desires, and unmet needs of customers. By understanding their motivations, challenges, and aspirations, you can identify opportunities for disruptive innovation and develop solutions that surpass customers’ expectations
One way of doing this is by using a variety of research methods. For example, a survey can help you understand what they want when given a choice. And, by adding in-depth qualitative interviews, it can provide you with the why or the reasoning behind what they want. Another example is when a typical brainstorming session is held. The same people get in the same room in front of the same whiteboard and are expected to come up with new ideas – which is not likely to happen. Bring in new people who think differently or know little about the problem you are solving for. Hold the session in a different environment and introduce a variety of different visual or data inputs to help spark new thinking.
Go beyond relying solely on customer feedback, using the same research methods, or generating ideas in the same way. Take a balanced and multi-disciplinary approach by combining customer input with innovative thinking and a deep understanding of your target market. This approach can empower you to drive innovation, anticipate future requirements, and find solutions you may have never thought of – and possibly create something that your customers love and never knew they needed.
This summer I had the opportunity to intern with Sonnhalter as their public relations intern. To say the knowledge and experience I have gained over the course of this internship is invaluable would be an understatement. As a communications and professional writing double major at Miami University, I have spent countless hours studying the craft of writing, public relations and marketing, but being able to apply these skills in the real-world has taken my abilities to a new level.
My first assignment as the PR intern was to write a blog about myself, this I would come to find out was the first of many, many different writing pieces I would be assigned. Whether it be narrative pieces such as covering social media marketing trends for Sonnhalter or the manufacturing process of bronze for NIBCO, I learned how to focus on a brands narrative and voice when writing. Alongside blogs, I also gained experience in writing press releases, news releases, feature pieces, personnel releases and more. Being able to hone my professional writing skills along with my knowledge of AP style will without-a-doubt benefit me as I make my way into the communications industry.
An aspect of this internship that I had not had much experience with prior to this summer was the use of media lists in public relations. Using programs such as Muck Rack, I truly learned the importance of creating and maintaining relationships with media professionals and media outlets. I also gained insight into the depth of research that public relations, marketing and advertising professionals need to do in order to most effectively represent their client.
Aside from the public relations skills I have gained from this internship, I also gained valuable experience from working remotely. Since 2020, the workforce has seen a significant increase in hybrid and remote work environments which require self-discipline, adaptability and comfort with technology, all of which I have been able to exercise over the length of this internship.
To wrap up, the skills and experiences I have gained from this internship will be beneficial both inside and outside of the workforce. While working with an amazing team at Sonnhalter, I have been given an inside look at the public relations, marketing and communications world, specifically that of the trades industry. This is an experience I will truly be forever grateful for.
Following is a guest post from our friends over at Long & Short of It, masters of ideation, customer insights and market research. They like to say they “dig and find lots of data and then turn it into actionable insights.” Following is their guest post.
Why we embrace the unknown in marketing
Every new marketing project begins as an exploration into the unknown. We start with a process, a plan, and a clear objective, but here’s the catch: We don’t know where it will lead. That’s the thrill! The magic lies in the journey, not just the destination.
It’s the Process
The process we’ve developed is like a compass—guiding us even when the destination isn’t completely visible. By following this path, we ensure that even the unknown leads to valuable insights and actionable strategies.
Objectives Always First
It all starts with defining an objective. No matter the task, before we set sail on the journey, we must all agree on what the destination is. What is it we are trying to achieve? Without that North Star objective, it’s easy to get sidetracked down unproductive rabbit holes with no clear measure of whether we’re even getting closer to the target.
Insights Are the Fuel
Next, we get as smart as possible about what we need to study and explore through research. Insights are the foundation and fuel for charting the path forward. Often there will be quite a bit of existing knowledge to begin with from your internal experts and resources. Once we know precisely what information gaps we need to fill, only then can we prescribe the right type of marketing research to conduct.
Think & Create
Armed with insights, the real magic happens when we pull all the pieces together, see the full picture and develop the plan or strategies. That is essentially why, until we immerse ourselves in this process, we really won’t know with certainty what the outcome will be at the end. It’s a journey of curiosity, learning, and analysis from different perspectives, often challenging preconceived notions. That’s what allows us to create solutions that aren’t just effective, but uniquely suited to your needs.
Trust the Process & Enjoy the Journey
While we may start in the fog of the unknown, trust in our process as your guide. It is a voyage of discovery, but one undertaken with a defined destination, careful preparation, and the analytics and strategic skills to chart the best possible course to get you there. The thrill and real magic is in the journey itself and where it takes us together.
Social media marketing focuses on using social media platforms to promote a brand, product, service or idea. In current times, social media coincides directly with a person’s everyday life, making it one of the best places for a brand to reach its target audience. Therefore, even more traditional industries such as the trades can benefit from incorporating modern social media marketing. From sharing and creating content to engaging with users, creating marketing campaigns and more, the goal of social media marketing is to drive engagement, increase sales and to connect with the target audience.
Below are some of the key roles that social media marketing plays in 2025:
Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is crucial for creating trust between a brand and its customers. Social media is often where customers are first introduced to a brand, so it is important to form a strong and positive brand presence.
Some brand awareness tactics that are used in social media marketing include video ads, memes and viral trends. Posting short-form ads on high-engagement platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are effective for brand storytelling. Engagement can also be increased by a brand participating in a social media trend, effectively increasing brand awareness.
Brands in the trades industry such as plumbing, HVAC, construction and more can participate in these social media trends while simultaneously showcasing their expertise. For example, a plumbing company can put their own twist on a social media trend to align it more with their brand and target audience.
Customer Engagement
Once a brand has strong awareness, it is important for them to implement customer engagement to build relationships and increase loyalty with their target audience. Engagement algorithms on social media platforms prioritize content with interactions, rewarding a brands content with heavier circulation.
Brands can engage with customers on social media by responding to comments and reactions, hosting real-time Q&As on livestream or posting polls and questionnaires for customer feedback. This can be especially useful for trades companies, specifically in terms of customer loyalty and brand competitors.
Sales
Social media marketing provides a simple way for brands to increase their sales. Brands can create shoppable posts on platforms such as TikTok, Pinterest and Instagram where users can buy directly from the post. Brands can also team up with ambassadors and influencers who can post tracked links within posts and bios. These tracked links allow for the influencer to earn commission while increasing the brands exposure.
For brands whose sales are obtained mainly through distribution, social media marketing is still useful. Equipping distributors with social media content that can be shared and then reshared can help with sales efforts. Brands can also create targeted posts and social media campaigns that highlight their distributors.
Social Media Monitoring
To understand trends, track engagement, conduct social listening and more, brands can use social media marketing tools such as social listening tools, polls and platform specific social media analytics tools. Social listening tools can track brand mentions, hashtags, keywords and more while social media analytics tools can track key metrics like reach, engagement and follower growth. In the trades industry, being able to monitor brand mentions is important because people often ask for recommendations on social platforms, brands can then quickly respond with help and answers.
In using these tools, brands can receive real-time consumer insights to help them with their future social media marketing strategies.
As Sonnhalter’s Summer 2025 PR intern, I am experiencing this internship in a different way than every intern before me. This past year, Sonnhalter closed the doors to their office space in Cleveland and went fully remote, therefore the internship experience was bound to be unique. Instead of working alongside my Sonnhalter coworkers and supervisors in one shared building, we meet virtually on Microsoft Teams or Zoom from the comfort of our at-home offices.
Anyone in the communications and public relations field knows that not a single day at work looks the same as another, one day could focus on writing blogs, while the next is heavy on influencer research. Due to the ever-changing responsibilities of a communications and public relations professional, my “day in the life” is always a new experience, an aspect of this internship that I have come to love.
To roughly outline my day as the Sonnhalter PR Intern, I’ll give you a breakdown of some potential to-do’s I cross off my list:
A virtual meeting with the public relations team
Drafting and editing blogs
Drafting and editing press releases
Influencer research
Media outlet research
Creating editorial audits
And much, much more
Above are just some of the types of projects that I tackle in a day while interning at Sonnhalter. The new experiences and skills that I have gained from my internship at Sonnhalter will, without a doubt, aid me as I make my way into the professional field!
In the latest episode of Appetite for Construction, John Mesenbrink and Tim Ward welcome back Matt Sonnhalter, president of Sonnhalter to talk about its Annual Tool Drive
Matt dives into the origin story of the Sonnhalter Tool Drive, now celebrating its sixteenth year. What started as a simple idea to support the trades has grown into a massive annual event benefiting the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity.
Since its launch, the Tool Drive has collected and donated nearly $570,000 worth of tools and materials to the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. Matt talks about the overwhelming support it’s received from manufacturers and partners, and what the pickup day looks like.
