by tradesmeninsights | 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 tradesmeninsights | 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 tradesmeninsights | 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 tradesmeninsights | 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 tradesmeninsights | 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 tradesmeninsights | 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.
