For those of you that are heading to Las Vegas for the CONEXPO-CON/AGG Show, we put together an Insider’s Guide to Las Vegas by asking friends and business associates about gems in the city that you might not be aware of. It includes Restaurants, Nightlife, Events and more. It’s available here.
We hope you have a good show. See you there.
We all get caught up with having to do more and more, especially when it comes to developing content and deploying it through various media channels. We get pressure from our bosses (clients) to be on every new thing that comes down the road. I recently read an article by Joe Pulizzi, the founder of The Content Marketing Institute, that addresses this actual issue – Do less, not more.
So here’s a novel thought, Don’t worry about quantity and start focusing more on quality. Let’s be realistic, we don’t have the time, resources or possibly content to do all things. Joe cites examples of great brands that started out by dominating one channel consistently over time. What a novel idea. Doesn’t it make sense to focus on and own the primary space you’re in? It doesn’t mean you can’t branch out into other means of getting your message out, but just take it slow.
So what does this mean for the manufacturers? It means do some homework to find out where your customers get their information. If it’s blogs, forums or LinkedIn groups, then start there. Create a blog, for example, that addresses your niche. Make sure you regularly contribute to it so you attract followers. Make sure topics are about solving customers’ questions/issues, not trying to sell them something. Engage them in a dialog of ways you can help them do your job better. Make whatever you do so good people can’t wait to read what’s coming next. In other words, over time, become the go-to resource for whatever specialty you offer.
I think you will find that by focusing on few things and doing them well will not only make you feel better, but will actually accomplish some of those marketing goals of becoming the industry expert.
What are your thoughts?
Today we have a guest post from Hal Stata of Stata Productions sharing how to make your manufacturing operations jump off of the screen by using professional photography.
There has been a recent trend of Ohio’s manufacturing companies jumping on the website bandwagon. In the last few years, I’ve seen quite a few local companies investing time and money into having an online presence. Their need to reach out and show and tell fellow businesses and the general public about what they do, what they produce and who they are has been a growing desire.
My job as a professional photographer is to show these products, people and applications in the best light. Showcasing these images to grab the attention of potential buyers is a process of troubleshooting and experience. Don’t make the mistake of trying this on your own with an iPhone. Making manufacturing locations jump off the screen takes wide angles, and lighting.
Keeping assembly lines running, people working and still getting great shots is the mark of a professional.
Typically a walk through a week in advance will make everything flow smoother the day of the photo shoot. I’ve been asked to recommend how much clutter needs to be removed to should we repaint markings and rails. The more pre-work a company wants to do the better; but if that is not possible I’ll work with the creative director to find an angle or a crop that eliminates less than desirable areas.
I typically like to work with scheduled start times and work around break times, moving equipment to the next location during these breaks.
You would be surprised how many images we can produce in one day of shooting. Sometimes we have to wait for the perfect day for exteriors. These shots are based on building direction and weather.
All and all, a photo is worth a thousand words…
Images courtesy of Hal Stata, Stata Productions.
As the year gets under way, we are all completing our plans and strategies for the upcoming year. Last fall, ExactTarget completed a survey of over 2,500 marketing executives who gave their insights on what they will be doing this year. You can download the full report.
The main takeaways are:
Other points of interests:
The key is to develop a strategy, implement it and evaluate it. If some things are doing well, try something else. Make sure you use both the traditional, as well as some of the newer digital options in your mix.
Hope you have a great 2014.
I just saw a stat this week that over 90 percent of B-to-B companies are now using content marketing. I wonder if you asked them why, what the answer would be. Hopefully it’s not because everyone else is using it! If you’re using content, you know how much time it takes you and your team to develop and place good content.
Whether it’s content marketing or any other tactic, there should be good reasons for using it and a detailed plan of action – what to say, where to use it and how to measure it. I recently read an article by Heidi Cohen, Why Use Content Marketing – 7 Reasons that I thought would help us all in not only reviewing what we’re doing, but more importantly, evaluate and possibly refocus our efforts on those activities that are working.
We all have different reasons and priorities, and from a manufacturer’s point of view, here are three things you may want to consider when using content marketing:
Why are you using Content Marketing and what tactics are working best for you?
If you like this post, you may want to read:
Manufacturers: What Are You Trying to Accomplish with Your Content Marketing?
Smaller Companies are Doing a Better Job with Content Marketing
What are you Doing to Improve your Content Marketing Performance?
As marketers in the industrial B-to-B space, I think we all recognize that our potential customers have several options beyond the traditional ones we’ve used for years. The challenge for us is to identify where they are getting their info and to make sure we’re there when they start looking. That means we need to embrace the digital world, and a recent study by IHS GlobalSpec shows that only about 35% of industrial marketers are satisfied with their online efforts.
IEEE GlobalSpec offers a white paper, Taking a Strategic Approach to Digital Media that gives you some guidelines and recommendations on developing a plan and monitoring results.
Some highlights that I found interesting were:
What does that mean to us who don’t want to miss these opportunities?
Don’t let digital scare you. It’s just another way to communicate with customers. Don’t worry about reinventing the wheel on content. Chances are you already have great stuff, you just need to identify it and maybe change the approach of features/benefits on how your products can help customers with their issues.