HVACRBusiness released a research study, “HVACR Contractors: Trends in the Adoption of Products/Systems & Management Approaches,” that highlights new trends on their involvement with manufacturers. I did a podcast interview with Terry Tanker, the publisher, to talk about the results of the research.
Listen to the podcast here.
You can sign up to get a copy of the study here.
No matter what kind of promotion you’re doing, when going after the professional tradesmen, the bottom line is you want them to ask for more info and ultimately a sale. You can’t do that in an ad (print or digital) by itself. You need those that are interested in whatever it is you’re selling to go somewhere to get more info. Effective landing pages make it clear what the visitor is going to do/get for the site.
A landing page is ideal for a next step in the lead process. A good landing page will target a particular audience using a unique page that allows visitors to download the appropriate content (you wouldn’t have the same offer for say a tradesman and for a design engineer). They also help you track and monitor activity by offers so you know what works and what doesn’t.
Landing pages help segment markets, capture leads and make it possible to monitor advertising effectiveness.
If you like this post, you might want to read:
Product Landing Pages: Tips on How to Improve their Performance
The Best Way to Reach Professional Tradesmen: Drip or Closed Loop Marketing?
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Engineer, Sonnhalter
I spend about 90% of my time in the office writing something – news releases, feature articles, testimonial stories, ad copy, social media updates, blog posts, emails, etc.
When you’re writing anything from a formal proposal to a memo or a social media posting, the best advice to keep in mind is: Choose Your Words.
When choosing your words, make sure that your message is clear and concise. Why would you write 50 words when you could write 5?
Keep it short and clear. Make your point and let your busy audience move on.
I had some time this week to reflect on almost 40 years in this crazy B-to-B marketing communications business and realized not much has changed.
Let me explain. In our business someone wants to sell something, so they ask us to help to communicate why they should be talking with them about product X as opposed to one of their competitors.
35 years ago, we didn’t have many options in the B-to-B space to get their message out. There was direct mail, trade shows, referrals (today we call it networking) and a newfangled machine called a fax that we could send messages out on. With the exception of referrals, we pretty much had control of the message, when it went and the frequency. The only thing we couldn’t control was when someone actually referred a customer to you.
Today we have so many other alternatives of getting our message out with digital offerings and social media. Some of these tactics we can still control what is said and when it goes out. Others, like social media, we have no control over messaging or when people decide to look at your info and better yet, contact you.
The point being in both cases is that we either identified a prospect or they identified us and the sales cycle started. No matter which scenario you chose, what comes next is the same. You need to talk with the prospect, listen to what they need and give them a reason to buy from you instead of your competitors. For most B-to-B items, unless they are considered a commodity, there are value-added benefits for doing business with one company over another. It could be a unique feature or a great support team after the sale.
I’ve always said an ad or blog post won’t sell anything. People and companies do, and they do it by interacting with each other in person on the phone or email. You can’t take the human element out of the equation in most cases, and I’ll guarantee you when you lose a sale that you thought you had, it could be because they liked what someone else said better.
My point is, you can use all the marketing tactics in the world, but if you don’t have good qualified sales to back it up, the sale won’t happen. That’s why it was important 40 years ago as it is today – sales and marketing need to work together as a team.
Like I said, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Most folks are familiar with mobile apps, but I think we associate them more with retail/consumer applications instead of the B-to-B world. The key to a good app is no different from any other piece of content you develop. It has to answer and be helpful to your customers. To have an app for an app’s sake doesn’t do anyone any good. You need to be customer centric.
The reasons for having an app are pretty simple:
eMarketer had a post, Mobile Apps Help Lure Customers, Spur Loyalty, that I thought had some great points that would spill over into the B-to-B world for manufacturers to consider. The survey was done by Forbes Insights to executives of companies with revenues over $250,000. Most common reasons were: customer communications, customer service and product information. No real surprises here other than the way it’s accessed and delivered.
Apps can definitely play a role well beyond branding to both support existing customers, but to help potentials through the buying cycle. Potential apps that you might consider would be:
These are only a few ideas. The point is, with mobile being the fastest growing segment, you need to have a presence there. Make sure your interfaces are user friendly and make sure they fall within the requirement of the app stores.
If you like this post, you might want to read:
Do You Have a Mobile App? Are You Promoting it?
Things to Consider When Using Mobile to Reach the Professional Tradesman.
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Engineer
Producing and using video content effectively has been a popular conversation topic around the Sonnhalter office. I had the opportunity to attend a presentation on storytelling with video by Chris Miller, director of the Akron Digital Media Center and editor of the Akronist.com.
I asked Chris if he would be willing to share some ways that video helps tell a story or some tips on using video, here’s what he said:
About Chris:
Chris Miller is the director of the Akron Digital Media Center and Akronist.com, as well as a community investment officer at Akron Community Foundation. Chris has more than a decade of digital and print journalism experience