by tradesmeninsights | Nov 9, 2016 | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Tips, Traditional Marketing
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
If you’re a manufacturer and you don’t have a blog, you should. Why? Because 4 out of 5 B-to-B marketers use blogs. B-to-B blogs aren’t new, but manufacturers are finding out that they are a good way of setting themselves apart from the competition, and according to the Content Marketing Institute, over 50% of marketers expect blogs to be critical in 2017.
Challenges of B-to-B Blogs
Even though marketers expect blogs to be critical in the coming year, most B-to-B bloggers have some challenges … here are 3 of them: (more…)
by tradesmeninsights | Aug 16, 2016 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
I think we all can agree that content marketing is playing a vital role in everyone’s overall marketing plan. Everyone wants lead generation and engagement, and to get both, you have to give them good content!
In a September 2015 study by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs, 76% of B2B marketers in North America said they expect to create more content in 2016 than they did in 2015.
Contractors and professional tradesman often don’t have time to read the latest trade publication or look at the magazines’ website on a regular basis and might miss your message. Chances are, unless you only make one product, their interest at any given time may be on another product.
When they do go looking for things, the first place most go to is the internet, and the chances are that they are looking for a solution just as much as they are looking for a specific product. That’s why search is so important in the big scheme of things, and what makes you go up in search – good meaningful content!
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by tradesmeninsights | Aug 10, 2016 | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
B to B trends tend to follow retail ones and here’s one more. I’ve been a big proponent of using emails as the best way to reach the professional contractors and tradesman and here are further reasons to consider this tactic.
A recent study by email on acid reported that email marketing is going to remain a top priority for companies in 2016. Though we could have predicted this was the case, nearly three out of four companies (71.8 percent) say they are planning to spend more time on email production and more than four out of five (86.7 percent) report that they will increase email marketing budgets this year.
A great email doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have a good list to send it to. That’s why building your own list is so important. You want to have an opted-in list so you can be assured your message gets by the firewalls and junk mail boxes.
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by tradesmeninsights | Jul 13, 2016 | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
I recently read an article by Mark Buckshon from Construction Marketing Ideas where he was talking about how contractors need to identify what makes them different from all the rest. It got me to thinking about farther up the food chain (manufacturers) and how they all have a hard time differentiating themselves. How many times have you heard the following:
- Best in Class
- Industry Expert
- Leading Source
- Industry Leader
- World Class
- Award Winning
- One-of-a-Kind
- Innovative
The point is, what do these really say about your company that sets it apart from the competition? Phrases like these are marketing hype and nothing more. You need to look hard at those things that really truly set you apart from the competition. Manufacturers typically look at products as the points of difference and in some cases, that might enough. But no manufacturer can say that across their entire product line.
Maybe you should be looking at other points of differentiation such as tech/field support, customer service or distribution policies. For example, in the plumbing fixture category, there are tons of competitors. Yes, some like Kohler and Grohe go after the high-end, but what about the regular guy who needs a new faucet or shower head? If you were a contractor, who would you recommend?
Here’s a good example. Gerber Plumbing fixtures are sold only through plumbing wholesalers and plumbing contractors. Now if you’re a contractor, that would make a difference. They offer similar styles and finishes as their competitors, but they don’t have the hassle of a customer going to Home Depot and telling them they can buy that same fixture for $50 less than what you’re quoting. That’s a competitive advantage. Gerber has the contractors’ backs because that’s their target market.
Here are 3 questions you need to answer regarding your positioning:
- Is it True?
- Is it Relevant?
- Is it Provable?
So I might suggest you take a look at your positioning statement and see if it passes the test.
by tradesmeninsights | Jul 12, 2016 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
When all is said and done, we’re trying to create all this great content in order to engage the contractors, right? Then we need to ensure that what we do will be looked at, read and watched.
Interactive content will help you accomplish these goals. Contractors love to watch videos (both instructional and entertaining), they are always available to give you their opinions (polls) and they want to show you how smart they are (quizzes). Now not all your content has to be interactive, but I think you’ll find that the content that will get the best play (read and shared) will revolve around interactive content.
Not only does it give the contractors a better user experience, it also affords you better metrics to evaluate your content (shares, likes and comments). The key is to design the message with the focus on the contractor and make the subject matter very focused.
So the first step is setting your objectives:
- What do you want the content to do – create brand awareness, educate, entertain?
- Who is your target audience – owner or worker?
- Where are you going to distribute it – social channels, your own site or a third-party site?
Second step is to keep the message targeted at that specific audience. People today have short attention spans (10 second sound bite).
Third, have a strong call to action. You have to make it clear what you want them to do and you don’t have to wait until the end to make the pitch.
So don’t be afraid of using interactive content and I’m sure you’ll see better results.
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 21, 2016 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Uncategorized
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
While there are plenty of reasons to use automated technology to manage leads through the sales funnel, there comes a point when personalized content needs to be used to reach contractors and professional tradesmen.
Contractors need answers to specific questions whether it’s product or application related. They normally are looking for this relevant info and personalized content is an excellent way of delivering it.
There are benefits to using personalized content. More than half of senior marketers worldwide polled in CMO Council’s June 2015 survey said that using enriched or personalized content and digital interactions brings higher response and engagement rates.
So what are you doing to personalize content to the professional tradesmen? Are you addressing their concerns? Do you know what those concerns are?
Send your sales staffs out in the field and get a better read on what the tradesmen are looking for…don’t assume you know.
