By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
I know we all know “CONTENT IS KING” and we focus on putting out good stuff. But we should be just as focused on building the list to whom we’ll be sending all this valuable info. There are so many sources for gathering data from trade shows, PR and leads from advertising. We need to formulate a plan to separate them by market, industry or other criteria so specific targeted messages can be sent with a strong call to action.
Organically grown lists will give you better delivery and open rates. They will also help your conversion rates since the prospects are more likely to open email. With folks being inundated with emails this will become an even more important factor.
It’s a fact that if you have an engaged database of subscribers, you have a captive audience, not only for them to read, but to share. I read a post on problogger.net by James Penn entitled, 10 Ways to Get More Email Subscribers For Your Blog that I thought brought home some key points.
Among them are:
Use multiple opt-in forms – have 3-4 in your newsletter template. The more you have, the better the chances of them signing up.
Offer a freebie for signing up – Give them a report, industry trends or white paper for signing up.
Use your most popular posts – They will continue to bring in traffic.
Create special reports on industry issues – Use already existing content to create.
Ask readers to join your email list – What better way to get people on board.
These are some great tips. What are you doing to increase your email lists?
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
I think we’re all in agreement that Content Marketing is here to stay and is becoming a more integral part of overall marketing programs. Some of the reasons are that technology is broader, easier to use and more accessible. People are trying to do more in less time and are motivated to seek self-serve product information to reduce pre-purchase decisions.
The mistake most marketers make is not developing a content strategy, because the B-to-B objectives are going to be different from its B-to-C counterpart. That’s why you need a written plan. Make sure they include:
Join Matt Sonnhalter for a Marketing Minute and learn about the modern press release and how key elements make it a strong, effective communication tool.
To view other videos from Sonnhalter, visit our YouTube channel here and let us know if there’s a B2T marketing topic you’d like us to cover.
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
One of our biggest challenges is to make sure we have the right message for buyers as they go through the buying process. Another challenge is to deliver it in a way that they want to receive it.
I recently read an article by Jeffrey L. Cohen in Social Media B2B, The Most Effective B2B Content Types for Each Funnel Stage that I found very helpful. He summarizes a study by Regalix that asked B2B marketers to indicate which content types were most effective at each stage of the sales funnel.
Awareness – it makes sense that social media, blog posts and infographics would be used to get your attention.
Consideration – they narrow their search by looking at white papers, visiting websites and web-based events.
Purchase – when they make a purchase the website, case studies, research reports and videos top the list in helping close the deal.
Loyalty – keep in front of them using newsletters, social media, email, mobile and web-based events.
Advocacy – when someone becomes your advocate, you’ve hit the holy grail. Best way to touch them is with social media, blog posts or videos.
How do these content types shape up to what you’re seeing?
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
Short videos are ideal for social media and for you to gain reach and shares.
As a manufacturer, are you capitalizing on this powerful tool to disperse your message? You don’t need a “Hollywood” production. As a matter of a fact, the ones done on a mobile phone would do just fine. We’ve done “man on the street” interviews with contractors at will-call counters and on job sites asking their opinions on tools and other products.
Did you know – Videos convey more info per minute than any other media and 65% of the public like to learn via videos.
In my opinion, you’re better off making a series of very short videos (keep each to one thought or idea). Ideally under 2 minutes is what I tell folks to shoot at. Below is an example of one of a series of videos we have done.
Here are some thoughts on content.
Focus on a problem your customer might have from their perspective (what happened if the problem isn’t resolved?)
Provide tips to solve it.
Utilize the video medium to show examples or illustrate a solution. Here’s your chance to be creative.
Make sure they know your company has the solution to solve their problem.
Donna Moritz did a recent post in Social Media Examiner that talks about 6 ways to use short videos in social marketing. Here are some highlights:
How to video – solve a problem.
Highlight your skills – what better way to get your value proposition out there.
Showcase an event – trade show, association event or new product intro.
Go behind the scenes –give the viewer some insights of your company that they normally wouldn’t see.
She also outlines 10 tools you can use to create and edit short videos.
The bottom line is, use video in your marketing efforts.
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
We’ve had conversations here before about independent industrial distributors missing sales opportunities by not keeping up with the latest technology available.
According to Forrester Consulting, a 2014 study shows that 52% of business buyers expect at least 50% of their purchases to be made online in 3 years’ time. This should be an eye opener for distribution, but some are ignoring the facts. The big boys like Grainger (40% of their sales are from the internet) and MSC Industrial (over 50% of their sales come from online) are certainly taking advantage. Shouldn’t that set the tone for the independents? Forrester forecasts that B-to-B e-commerce will exceed $1.1 trillion and comprise 12% of all B-to-B sales by 2020.
I’ve said in the past that for smaller industrial distributors to survive, they need to use the internet. They can’t count on the business model of contractors coming in at 7 in the morning or around lunch time to pick up what they need. Time is money, especially for them.
Independent distributors are slow-moving in implementing e-commerce programs.
Technical challenges are making sites user-friendly, making it aesthetically appealing and staying ahead of the competition.
Primary reasons of not engaging online was lack of demand, technical obstacles and lack of marketing/promotional resources.
Customer satisfaction and the customer experience are the key factors in developing an online presence. Ironically, that’s how the independent distributor built their business in the first place. Now they just need to transfer that to a different platform, not only to keep existing business, but to grow additional revenue.
Source: Industrial Distribution
My worse fear is that the Amazons and the Alibabas of the world are going to make the independent extinct in a few years. I understand that the AD buying group has just instituted a new program to help members deal with some of these issues. It’s too early to tell if it’s making an impact, but at least they recognize the issue and are trying to help.
