by tradesmeninsights | Jun 1, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
I recently interviewed Jim Lucy, the Chief Editor of Electrical Wholesaling Magazine on the state of the industry. Jim has been with Electrical Wholesaling for 28 years and has a good pulse on what’s happening in the industry. You can listen to the entire interview here.
Highlights include:
- Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
- How progressive companies weathered the storm?
- Which market niches offer the most opportunity over the next few years?
- Will M&A activity increase as the economy improves?
If you like what you listened to, pass it on to a friend.
by tradesmeninsights | May 27, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
E-mails are still a good “go to” strategy whether you’re a B-to-B or B-to-C marketer. When going after the professional tradesmen or contractor, we have found that timing is probably one of the most critical components to a successful campaign.
We have found that the time of day is usually a key factor in the open rate. We usually either have them sent at 6-7 in the morning or after 5 as these are the times contractors usually have time to spend on their e-mails.
Silverpop‘s recent poll ranked tactics that both groups thought to be important.
B-to-B marketers were highly focused on moving prospects through the sales pipeline, while B-to-C respondents were looking to increase customer loyalty.
What are some of the tactics that you find get better results?
Other posts you might find interesting:
Will E-mail Be Replaced by Social Media?
E-mail and Social Media are Tools B-to-B Marketers Plan on Using More of in 2010
E-mail Marketing for Industrial Markets: Common Mistakes to Avoid
E-mail: Still an Effective Method to Reach the Professional Tradesmen
by tradesmeninsights | May 25, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
B-to-B marketers, to be successful in the world of blogging, you must truly be focused on your target market.
A blog should be central to your company’s social media strategy for new business. What fuels the engine to this strategy is good content.
You must consistently feed your inbound marketing machine with rich content or you will see a slow-down in traffic, search engine results and prospective client leads.
Here are my 6 tips to be more effective with your blogging:
- To be successful, you need to write a lot. The more posts you add to your blog, the more traffic you’ll get. The more content can also fuel repurposing content through other social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. No content = no fuel = no traffic = no new business leads.
- Be consistent. To keep writing, I visualize someone walking to the end of their driveway to pick up the morning paper, only to discover there’s nothing there. That helps me to stay motivated to write 2 to 3 posts per week. My readers know what to expect. I want to give them a reason to consistently come back.
- Write concisely. People are busy. They need your content to be easy to digest. Provide them with the Readers Digest version. Make your content easy to scan, provide bullet points and numbered lists. People will be much more interested in what you have to say if you don’t try and fluff it up.
- Use your analytics. Know what your readers care about and what they respond to. It will help you to connect with your audience. They’re the judge and jury of whether your content is relevant or not. I know daily where my readers are coming from, what post titles and content generates the most traffic and what search terms they are using.
- Use your writing to learn. When I first started blogging, I was reminded of the old saying, “you don’t know what you know until you write it down.” It’s true. Writing strategizes and invigorates my learning. It can get me ahead of the learning curve and provide me with a system to stay there.
- Keep focused. If your blog is broad, you will not generate any significant traffic. Narrow your focus. Think narrow and deep rather than wide and shallow. Know who you are writing to, what you are writing about, know the categories you will be writing to, the key words that you want to dominate for search.
If you like this post, please pass it on.
Here are some other posts that might be of interest:
5 Quick Tips to Promote Your Posts.
How to Find Readers for Your Blog.
Forrester Report: Most B-to-B Blogs Fail.
by tradesmeninsights | May 18, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
The iPad has some great applications when it comes to calling on Contractors and Distributors alike.
Its size for one and ease of use are the first two that come to mind. I have an iPhone and I sure wouldn’t want to watch a presentation on it and it has one of the bigger screens for the smart phones.
Here are a few ways you as manufacturers can utilize this tool:
- CRM Tool – You can keep your sales leads and calls for today on it. As you make the calls, you can be writing in your newest promotion/contest, and if it requires signing up, they can do it right on the iPad.
- Meetings/Presentations – Whether you’re making a pitch at a distributor, or if you’re on a job site showing the latest video or testimonial from a contractor on the new product you’ve just rolled out. This could be an easy and convenient way to utilize the iPad.
- Note Taking – I used to use my iPhone to jot down notes or thoughts as I’m out on the road. It can be done, but it’s not the easiest thing in the world to do.
The iPads are relatively inexpensive and are a good tool to help in closing the sale.
Those are my ideas on how to use the iPad. I’d like to hear how you might be using it .
by tradesmeninsights | May 13, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Facebook fan pages are the current rage. That’s all well and good as long as you have purpose other than “everybody has one.” Just because you build it, it doesn’t mean they will come. You need to have a plan just like everything else!
I was reminded recently of that very fact when I read a post by Amy Porterfield, How to Create a Facebook Fan Page Editorial Guide, in which she outlines both defining a purpose and a guide to developing editorial.
Here are some highlights:
Defining your purpose:
- Don’t do it because everyone else is.
- How will your page be different from your web site? The more interactive, the better it will be.
- What sets you apart from your competition?
Suggestions for creating editorial guidelines:
- What’s your strategy? Is it going to be daily? Will it be in the morning?
- What’s your content? Are they all going to be original posts or will some be guest posts?
- Formatting – what will they look like?
- Engagement – what’s your plan to respond to those who come back with comments?
- Set rules – make a policy on what will and what will not be posted in regards to comments.
One of my favorite fan pages in the B-to-B space where we play is that on Snap-on Tools. They have over 44,000 fans and they do it right. They promote new products, upcoming events and even offer incentives for fans to buy their tools. Wouldn’t it be nice that every time you posted something on your fan page, all your fans were notified?
Can you share some other B-to-B pages that are doing it right?
If you like this post please pass it along.
by tradesmeninsights | May 11, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
If you want to be a serious blogger, there are some things you need to follow to be successful. It’s not as easy as it might appear, and here are some tips I’ve learned over the last year in doing my blog.
- Be Committed – Committed to write 2 or 3 posts a week no matter what. You need to read and research and plan you editorial. You need to be persistent in that you won’t become an overnight success. It takes time to build an audience, and once you do, it takes more time to develop a relationship.
- Be Focused – Choose a topic or niche and stick to it. Be consistent in your voice and approach. Also be consistent in the number of times a week you post.
- Be Concise – You’ve got between 2-5 seconds to get their attention, and once you have it, make sure you deliver content that’s on the mark.
- Be Analytical – You need you watch which posts are drawing attention. This will help when developing topics for future posts. Where are your readers coming from – other sites, search engines? What search terms are the engines picking up?
- Never Stop Learning – Stay ahead of the curve in your area of expertise. This is especially true in social media where things seem to change daily. Just think, a few months ago, mobile marketing certainly wouldn’t have been on the top of my radar screen, but today it’s a hot topic.
Those are my suggestions. I’d like to hear from you and have you add to the list.
If you like this post, please pass it on.
Here are some other posts you might find interesting:
5 Quick tips to promote your posts
Posts should be like missles:powerful and to the point
I recently interviewed Jim Lucy, the Chief Editor of Electrical Wholesaling Magazine on the state of the industry. Jim has been with Electrical Wholesaling for 28 years and has a good pulse on what’s happening in the industry. You can listen to the entire interview here.
