by tradesmeninsights | Oct 10, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
I recently attended Content Marketing World in Columbus where I got a glimpse of the 2012 Channel Preference Study by Exact Target. The study gives insights to different channels – direct mail, email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Mobile Twitter and SMS.
What surprised me in this world of “Post PC Era” where mobile seems to be taking over the world, that the old standbys of direct mail and emails are still alive and well.
Email is by far the most acceptable due in part to the channel’s familiarity, flexibility and universality with 91% using it on a daily basis. The key to success today is audience segmentation, data-driven insights and relevant content.
Direct mail – in an online world, the fact that 65% of consumers have made purchases as a result of a direct mail piece validates the channel. Interestingly, direct mail is the only unsolicited message that isn’t viewed as inappropriate by consumers.
So from a B-to-B point of view, what are you doing to capitalize on these two channels?
Here are some tips:
- Keep your message targeted and to the point.
- Give them a solution to a problem and don’t necessarily try to sell them something.
- Use a list that is focused. More is not necessarily better.
- Make an offer clear.
- Give them an easy way to respond.
Those are some suggestions from me. What are you doing to capitalize on these two channels?
by tradesmeninsights | Oct 9, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
We’re so focused sometimes on our traditional ways of promoting our products that we sometime overlook the obvious. Today we have a guest post from Jeff Drust, VP Marketing at CDS (Catalog Data Solutions). CDS is a leading provider of software for product search, configuration and online CAD solutions. Enjoy.
Marketing organizations need to continually come up with new ways to get in front of the ever evolving selection and buying process. Industrial part and component suppliers can now do this in a more efficient way; realign their selling processes with the new buying process and turn it to their advantage with a new content type – CAD downloads like Brennan Industries.
CAD downloads as a type of marketing content, are both highly relevant and valuable to both parties. Industrial suppliers offering CAD downloads of their components (e.g. bearings) or engineered products (e.g. motors) create multiple benefits:
- Adapt and exploit the new online world. Today, industrial suppliers’ websites are frontline sales tools that must help customers quickly find the ‘right’ product and conveniently save designers’ time when they spec your parts into their new designs ahead of the traditional buying process.
- Increase sales. CAD models are the only type of online marketing content (e.g. white papers, case studies, brochures, videos, demos, recorded webinars, reviews, etc.) I’ve heard of leading to a sale nearly 50% of the time they’re downloaded!
- Reach the real decision maker – influence the purchase process. Get selected at design time by the design engineer – the true decision maker. The more complex your parts are to draw (even a caster is complex to draw in 3D), the more design time you save customers and the more valuable your models are.
- Reach new customers. Research into design engineers’ opinions shows that 97% rate CAD models important when selecting a supplier.
- Decrease errors. Using the manufacturers’ CAD models should help eliminate potential CAD errors.
- Generate low-cost, high-quality sales leads. Obtain sales leads in return for CAD model downloads – for one national distributor these leads cost ~90% less, convert faster and convert in higher proportion than traditional marketing generated sales leads!
- Increase existing customer satisfaction and loyalty. By saving customers time and accelerating their time to market.
- Obtain a competitive advantage. So far less than 10% of manufacturers offer downloadable CAD models.
- Lower costs. Replace technical sales requests for CAD models with automated self-help downloads.
- Enhance your distribution channel. Enable all these benefits within your distribution and OEM channel partners and make sure your CAD models are found online at sites like the CAD model search engine, 3DModelSpace.com.
If you’re interested in case studies and testimonials on the use of this type of content, search for “online cad downloads case studies” or see some at https://www.catalogdatasolutions.com/.
by tradesmeninsights | Oct 2, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
From a B-to-B perspective, I believe LinkedIn is probably one of the best and most under-used tools in social media.
Think about it. You normally link with people who have similar business interests. Why not let them know your thoughts on subjects using your blog content as one of those sources? I have over 800 connections and through those, I have the potential of reaching over 10 million folks that are connected to my connections. Chances are if someone likes what I have to say, they will share it with others not only on LinkedIn, but on other social platforms.
- Your profile views also drive traffic to your blog – if you put a link to your blog homepage.
- Make a conscious effort to add 2-3 new contacts each week – people you meet at networking events or business functions. LinkedIn even prompts you to invite people who are linked to others you’re already linked to.
- Join Groups – there is a search box where you can look for people, companies or groups. Type in some key words and phrases and see what kinds of groups already exist that you should join.
- Start a group – if no group exists, start one. What better way to establishing credibility in a specific market segment.
Most importantly, you need to become active! LinkedIn is one of my best sources for traffic to this blog.
You need to update your profile, post status updates, post links to blog posts, participate in group discussions and answer questions.
Don’t waste an opportunity.
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 26, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
As you get more involved in social media, you need ways to manage all your activities. Social media can and is time-consuming, and you really need a plan to help you manage your time and resources.
I recently read a post by Heidi Cohen, How to Develop a Social Media Editorial Calendar, that brought up some good points on how to organize and manage your time.
Here are some highlights:
- Set goals – Be realistic and start small, but if you don’t set goals, what do you measure it against?
- Know your target audience(s) – You need to talk to each of them in their persona.
- Build an editorial calendar – Coordinate it around other marketing activities like trade shows, association meetings or new product launches.
- Integrate with other marketing promotions – Social can stand alone and by integrating it into your other marketing activities, you get more bang for your buck.
- Determine appropriate content categories – Identify and regularly write on these topics. Some examples would be new products, industry news, training, installation tips, etc.
- Allocate appropriate resources – Remember, if you’re the quarterback of this, you don’t or shouldn’t have to do all the heavy lifting. Lean on internal experts from engineering and product management to help out in their areas of expertise.
Those are some tips that I use. What are you doing to help manage your social media?
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 19, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
In the manufacturing arena where competition is fierce, some companies have turned to blogs as a way to increase brand awareness, become a thought leader in their space, increase their web traffic and generate leads. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know I keep preaching the importance of a blog in your overall marketing plan, but I also stress the commitment needed to do it right and accomplish all your objectives.
I recently read a post from ThomasNet, 6 Ways to Ensure No One Reads Your Blog, and I thought I’d share them with you(tongue in cheek), so if you are considering blogging, these are the things you don’t want to do.
THINGS NOT TO DO
- Post only things about you, your company and products – People do want to know about what you do, but they are also looking for help/guidance in their field of work. We have a rule of thumb that 1/3 of posts should be about you, 1/3 about the industry you serve and 1/3 about what other people have said about the industry.
- Offer nothing original, helpful or insightful – That will surely keep them coming back. You need to answer the question, “What’s in it for me?” from the reader’s perspective. They should be looking at you as an expert in the field.
- Ignore issues that customers want to hear about – What keeps them up at night? What are some controversial issues going on in the industry or associations you belong to?
- Don’t have a keyword strategy – One of the big benefits of social is that by using keywords and phrases will help you get picked up by the search engines.
- Post irregularly – You want people to follow you and it’s hard for them to do that if you post once a month. You need to publish content on a regular basis, even if it’s only once a month.
- Write poorly – You don’t have to be a professional writer, but you need to be able to write and organize your thoughts. Well-written posts have a topic, your take on the topic and a conclusion for folks to think about and hopefully respond with their thoughts.
While I hope you’ve enjoyed my sense of entertaining you, on a serious note, blogs are great marketing tools. But like all tools, you need to know how to use them.
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 12, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
We’re all overworked and underpaid. Time for most of us is a resource we don’t seem to have enough of, and for those of us who write a blog, it sometimes seems even more scarce.
Time, or the lack thereof, can influence the quality of not only content, but also continuity of your post. We need to remember the reason why we’re doing a blog in the first place – generating exposure, thought leadership and potential customers.
I recently read an article by Brian Milne in ProBlogger that gives you some suggestions on finding time to write. Here are some highlights:
- Get up early – I find this is a great way to start the day. It’s quiet and your mind is clear.
- Write at lunch – Brown bag it and get away from the office (and all the distractions) and write a post on a nearby park bench.
- Stay up late – This one doesn’t work for me as I’m not a night owl, but I know plenty of people who do their best work in the dark (no pun intended).
- Utilize apps and shortcuts – use your mobile device to snap a photo and upload images. Take advantage of WordPress features to streamline posting.
- Get some help – find others within the organization to write or go out and hire outside writers.
- Accept guest posts – I’m sure there are like-minded people out there that you admire and respect that can give a different perspective on issues that are near and dear to you.
What are you doing to find time?
I recently attended Content Marketing World in Columbus where I got a glimpse of the 2012 Channel Preference Study by Exact Target. The study gives insights to different channels – direct mail, email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Mobile Twitter and SMS.
