by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 7, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
It’s a new year, and before we start doing the same old thing, we should take a minute to make sure what we’re doing is getting us the results we want. Makes sense, doesn’t it? We do it in our personal lives this time of year.
I recently read a post by Heidi Cohen that did just that. Here are some highlights:
- Document your content marketing strategy – only 35% have a written plan that they can share with their team.
- Know who you’re talking to – create personas to reach each of your targeted audiences.
- Get other employees involved – both in creating and distributing content.
- Expand your visual content – people like pictures and there are several options to help you deliver them.
- Incorporate video into the mix – next to Google, YouTube is the most searched. Show your prospects why your product is better.
- Get your audiences involved – ask them to share images or rate your product.
Heidi has others, but the point is, take a few minutes to evaluate what you did last year and improve on it this year. Make 2015 a good one.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 6, 2015 | Uncategorized
Looking back on 2014, I thought I’d share the 10 most popular posts. Enjoy.
5 Ways to Improve Construction Productivity
Trends in Distribution and What it Means to the Distributor/Supplier Relationship
Tradesmen Take Note: Earnings by College Major Compared to Precision Machining
How will Professional Tradesmen Jobs of the Future be Filled?
Trade Shows and ROI Measurement: 5 Key Metrics
Customer Loyalty: Does it Exist Anymore?
Manufacturers: 6 Tips on How to Hire Independent Reps
B-to-B Marketers: How Many Calls Does it Take to Make a Sale?
by tradespeopleinsights | Dec 18, 2014 | Events/Trade Shows, Uncategorized
The Sonnhalter team will be taking some time off over the holidays. We hope that you enjoy this holiday season and time with your family and friends!
We’ll see you in January!
by tradespeopleinsights | Dec 17, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
I had the chance to hear Jeffrey Rohrs speak at a WTWH Media event recently and subsequently read his new book, Audience.
Jeff’s take on social media and content marketing revolves around one thing – THE AUDIENCE.
Companies need audiences to survive – before they are customers they first have to be part of an audience. As we all are focusing on creating content, it won’t mean much if you don’t have someone to read and react to it.
And that’s his point, to build what he calls the “Proprietary Audience.” He defines it as ” a comprehensive, collaborative and cross-channel effort to build audiences that your company alone can access.”
He shows you how to build your database using paid, owned and earned media to identify your audience. He also shows you how to identify and communicate with Seekers (those that are looking for info), Amplifiers (those who have audiences that can share your info) and Joiners (those that are buyers).
The book is an easy read and I would recommend your marketing teams look at Audience as a new marketing discipline.
by tradespeopleinsights | Dec 16, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing, Uncategorized
Today more than ever, customers are expecting, and in some cases demanding, a better customer experience. These types of experiences have to start in the C suite and trickle down. The customer service department may be on the front line, but they can only mirror what management has in mind.
Do your top-level folks really understand the needs of your customers? If not, they certainly can’t help formulate or lead an initiative for a great customer experience if they don’t know what that is! I was surprised from a recent article in eMarketer that showed over 33% of senior managers weren’t aligned with the customer experience.
I think we can all agree that everyone needs to be on board to truly make the customer experience meaningful and real. For any of you who have flown Southwest or shopped in an Apple store, you know what I mean about customer service. The culture starts at the top and both of those brands know that other choices exist for their product and services.
The two takeaways I’d like to leave you with are:
- Listen to your customers – Find out what they want and how they want to get it.
- Under promise and over deliver – give them more than they ask for and make the mundane a memorable experience.
If you liked this post, you might want to read:
Customer service: What are you doing to retain customers?
Customer service: Is your company obsessed with it?
by tradespeopleinsights | Dec 11, 2014 | Social Marketing
Each month we be feature a blog post from our friends at MAGNET (Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network). MAGNET’s mission is to support, educate and champion manufacturing in Ohio with the goal of transforming the region’s economy into a powerful, global player. You can visit MAGNET online at manufacturingsuccess.org.
How to Use LinkedIn to Promote Your Innovative Company
If you haven’t adopted LinkedIn as a means for promoting your company, now is definitely the time to do it. As of this week, LinkedIn has modified the format of company pages and this may prove to be especially beneficial for manufacturing companies. The change LinkedIn unveiled is the removal of the “Products & Services” tab of your company page in order to make way for showcase pages.
Showcase pages allow you to extend your company page presence by creating a dedicated page for your most innovative products and services. On these pages, you can share content just as you would with company page status updates. The new format helps your company build long-term relationships with LinkedIn members who want to follow specific areas of your business that interest them most. In addition, it can help you attract the hard-to-reach younger workforce by presenting your company as an innovative and lively company. As many manufacturing companies have a complex and vast array of products and services, each with different audiences, showcase pages allow you to address different markets with customized content. Whether on purpose or not, LinkedIn’s showcase pages provide the ability to segment your audience and these people can choose to subscribe to any of your pages in order to receive content that’s tailored to what they’re interested in.
Keys to Showcase Page Success
Showcase pages have a lot of potential and provide an opportunity to highlight what makes your company stand out. The key to getting the most out of this feature is to regularly post relevant and interesting information to each showcase page. There are many different types of content or information you can post, and here are just a few options:
- Updates or revisions to products or services
- Little known facts about each area of your business
- Answers to some of the most common questions asked
- Awards or recognition
- Interesting applications of products
- Industry news from authoritative sources
- Trade show appearances, including where you’ll be and what you’ll be presenting
Part of being an innovative, leading-edge company is embracing change. And the most recent change to LinkedIn offers you an opportunity to deliver relevant content to prospective customers, partners or employees about the areas of your business that interest them most. Take advantage of this marketing tool to develop deeper relationships with your audience and “showcase” what makes your company innovative.
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