by tradesmeninsights | Jun 27, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
It should come as no surprise to anyone that smartphones and tablets are changing the way we all communicate and do business. This couldn’t be more true, especially for small businesses like contractors. These guys are “time starved” and are not sitting behind a computer all day. They are out taking care of business.
A recent survey by Cargo and Inc. Magazine in emarketer.com showed the vast majority (915) of U.S. small companies place importance on wireless communications and smartphones for their businesses. Tablets were not far behind at (64%). You can certainly bet that contractors of all kinds are on the top of this list.
So, if you’re not considering mobile as a key way to communicate with those professional tradesman, you should be.
Here’s a simple tip to get started: Adapt your mobile web presence for Apple OS-based devices (iPads make up 79% followed by Android devices at 39%).
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 26, 2012 | Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
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 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.
- By directing them to a specific page with an offer and the appropriate form to fill out, it makes it more likely that they will complete the form and convert to a lead.
- If your visitors decide to download your offer, why not invite them to share your content?
- Lead nurturing is a very important part of the process. 50% of those who respond aren’t ready to buy just yet.
- 78% of sales that start with a web inquiry get won by the first company that responds.
- By sending a follow-up thank you to those that downloaded material, you have the opportunity to offer them additional info and downloads, as well as asking them to share this with others via social media.
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 tradesmeninsights | Jun 5, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
Manufacturers should get on the bandwagon and start using social media. You can be afraid of it and then you’re missing lots of opportunities to tell your story and generate interest in your company and what you do.
This guest post was provided by Dean Vella who writes about social media training and Internet marketing for University Alliance, a division of Bisk Education Inc. and talks about ways you can get started. Enjoy.
Social media campaigns have grown in staggering numbers over the past few years, with business-to-business (B2B) manufacturers among the companies now using this relatively new method of marketing to develop their businesses.
A recent survey by Forrester Research found that B2B marketing budgets are expected to increase an average of 6.8% in 2012. Manufacturing firms projected a 7% increase, up from 4% in 2011.
Social media offers companies the opportunity to distribute their brand message far and wide at faster-than-ever speed. There are pitfalls, however. The viral nature of social media means that companies can quickly lose control of their message. Once that control is relinquished, it can be extremely difficult to regain.
B2B Manufacturers and Social Media
Whether it’s through Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, B2B manufacturers are using social media networks to notify recipients about developments in the industry, offer advice on how best to use their products and answer customer questions. As a result, manufacturers are discovering that they now can connect directly with end users in addition to their business partners.
This can create a myriad of benefits. B2B manufacturing companies can acquire information first-hand from their users and business contacts. That provides them with tangible information from a variety of sources that can be leveraged into product development and innovations.
Social media campaigns also can help B2B manufacturers give a “face” to their organization. For example, with an estimated 800 million users, Facebook offers access to a massive, and potentially untapped, consumer base.
An Effective Strategy
Among the first steps in developing a social media campaign is to understand how the platform is different from traditional marketing methods. As previously mentioned, the spontaneous nature of social media makes it tricky – if not impossible – to control the message, the recipients or the timing of the dissemination of information.
Manufacturing companies can consider these factors before implementing a social media initiative:
- Where are the customers?
Knowing which social network your users or customers prefer – whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or Google+ – is the first step in entering the social media fray.
- Monitor carefully
As much as it is critical to spread information about your organization, it’s just as imperative to carefully and consistently monitor the feedback from users and customers. As such, social media is more about the conversation than it is about the message. It’s important to identify those employees who have the social media training, knowledge and savvy to monitor feedback and post answers to questions and comments.
- Use tools
One of the major benefits of social media is the array of technology and tools it puts at a company’s disposal. Videos, links, blogs, podcasts and photo sharing – firms can use each of these components to share more information about their company with their customers. The interactive nature of the technology makes this a two-way relationship.There certainly are challenges with social media campaigns in terms of controlling the message. Despite those potential stumbling blocks, there is immense potential for B2B manufacturers and other companies to build new partnerships and attract new clients and customers through social media.
by tradesmeninsights | May 15, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
The reality is you can’t be all things to all people. Pick a side, draw a line in the sand. Your company will be better for it.
Content marketing over the last few years has become the big buzz word and is often associated with social media. While it can be used to foster social media relationships, content marketing goes way beyond that. As a matter of a fact, it defines who you are and what you stand for.
Years ago you had limited ways to communicate your value proposition, not so today. Today specialists not generalists (no matter what field) are the preferred choice when folks are looking for something and they have a multitude of ways to get information about your company. And people like to be associated with leaders.
Let me ask you a question. If you think this assumption is correct, what do you or your company stand for? Have you chosen a niche? Are you considered the leading expert in it? If not, you’d better do it soon or you may not be around in 10 years. So how are you going to define and get the word out about your specialty? Content marketing.
By creating good content and sharing it, you can establish yourself as the thought leader in your niche. You can attract and retain customers by creating and curating valuable and compelling content on a consistent basis.
Ten years ago before anyone heard of social media, companies still stood for something. I believe you’ve heard of IBM or Apple? You knew one was known for main frames and the other for PCs. Today when you think of either brand, what do you think of…computers or other things? IBM may still make main frames, but they got their butt kicked in PCs and are known more now for their consulting services. Apple was defined by the PC, but not today. When you think of Apple, you think phone, tablet and soon TV.
The point is, both of these companies reinvented themselves and used content marketing to help spread the word in different ways. IBM took advantage of both traditional and social media methods to communicate their position. Apple, on the other hand, didn’t rely on social media directly, but worked the social media system by getting great content out to bloggers and others on the social network to create the buzz for them.
What are you doing to spread the word? Are you using content marketing?
I’d like to hear your thoughts.
Here’s a few other posts you might find interesting:
How Are You Managing Your Content Marketing?
Four B-to-B Marketing Efforts That Can Improve Your Results
by tradesmeninsights | May 9, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
I’ve been around this crazy business for over 35 years, and one of the biggest issues still today is handing off leads from marketing to sales. You would think that with all the technology today it would be easy, right? Not the case!
Several years ago, marketing would generate leads for various sources and pass them onto sales for follow-up. Then one day someone from the C suite asked how much new business are we getting from our promotional efforts? Marketing said we developed X amount of leads and Sales would say they were all crap. Obviously the finger-pointing wasn’t going to solve the question of how much new business are we getting.
Thus started the process of lead management, qualification, nurturing and at some point turning it over to sales with a little more history behind the leads than there were several years ago. Russ Hill from Ultimate Leads calls it the “Transition Zone.” It is the place in time where marketing hands off the lead they so carefully nurtured to sales to close the loop. But in order to do it successfully, you must have a process that everyone is in tune with, and sales needs to make sure to keep info on that lead current in your lead database so we know when a new customer has arrived, from where and what they bought.
A good follow-up marketing system should have three attributes:
1. It should be systematic.
2. It should generate consistent, predictable results.
3. It should require minimal physical interaction to make it run.
What are you doing to ensure you’re getting the most out of your leads?
If you like this post, you might want to read:
Where Are Your New Business Prospects in the Selling Cycle?
How Many Calls Does it Take to Make a Sale?
by tradesmeninsights | May 8, 2012 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
Do you know where your customers and prospects are spending their time online? Wouldn’t that be an important part of an overall social media strategy to find and engage them?
If trends continue, social networks will soon surpass internet portals like AOL and Yahoo!
I recently read an article by Phil Mershon in Social Media Examiner that highlighted five ways to use market research intelligence on how consumers behave on social media networks. Although the article is focused more on the consumer side of things, he brings out some points that us in the B-to-B world should take notice of.
Here are some highlights:
- Know where your customers spend their time – Over 21% of internet users spent their time on social networking sites. Do you know where your customers and prospects are spending their time? One way is to ask your current customer base where they find meaningful content.
- Develop content that is relevant to your reader – Content is king and if you want to stand out in the crowd, you need to become a good source for not only product info, but for industry issues. Remember, content isn’t about you but how you can help your customer or prospect.
- Take video seriously – Next to Google, YouTube is the most searched site. Video views have increased 43% and currently over 100 million videos are viewed daily. What are you doing to tell your story and points of differentiation?
- Consider the role of Mobile – 8% of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Make sure your website is mobile friendly and that content is easy to consume and respond to.
Using key words and investigating sources on the internet, you can find places where your customers and prospects are spending time. Get there and start engaging them.
If you like this post you may like:
Why a Mobile Strategy is so Important in Reaching the Professional Tradesmen
2012 Trends of Smartphones and Tablets
