by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 20, 2014 | Uncategorized
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.
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 19, 2014 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
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:
- Increasing conversion rates
- Improving brand awareness
- Collecting, measuring and using behavior-based data
Other points of interests:
- Acquiring and developing strong relationships with new potentials.
- Email is not dead, on the contrary, it will be a core driver in ’14.
- Responsive websites will be the norm moving forward.
- Mobile is big – there are now more mobile devices connected than there are people in the world.
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.
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 18, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
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:
- Build your brand – this should be true in any type of promotion, but building good content helps set you apart and builds your reputation.
- Attract new customers – Give customers what they want pre- and post-information that will help them through the sales cycle. Good content will sell itself.
- Support existing customers – with updated product/installation information, handy apps or other tools that will make doing their job easier. Remember, existing clients are your best repeat customers, so continue to engage them.
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?
Content Marketing: Have a Strategy and Be Relevant.
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 12, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends
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:
- Almost half of the industrial professionals visit 10 or more work-related websites each week.
- Top four resources for these professionals are search engines, online catalogs, supplier websites and GlobalSpec.
- 56% of buyers don’t contact a vendor until the research phase is done, and 19% wait until they are ready to buy.
What does that mean to us who don’t want to miss these opportunities?
- It means that we need to identify the channels that our customers use to gather info. The best way to do that is ask them.
- Once you identify the channels, you need to develop content for the different stages in the buying process for your product.
- Implement and monitor a program. The beauty of digital is we can immediately get feedback on what’s working and what’s not.
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.
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 11, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
When was the last time you reviewed your blog’s progress? What, you don’t have anything to review it against you say? If you’re going to take the time to blog, then let’s make sure your time and talents are being put to the best use. Well, let’s put a list of things together for you to evaluate:
- Goals – what were yours… thought leadership, lead generation, social media support?
- What content drew the most attention – look at your top posts for the year and write more around those topics.
- Are you maximizing your reach – is the content being utilized in all your marketing efforts including social media? Are you participating in forums and doing guest posts?
- Metrics – have you compared this year’s results to last year’s? Is one time of the year better or a day of the week pulling more hits?
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 6, 2014 | Events/Trade Shows
By Matt Sonnhalter, Vision Architect, Sonnhalter
I attended the 66th International Air Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration Exposition in New York City (January 21-23, 2014). For those not familiar with this trade show, it is the largest HVACR show in the United States, endorsed by 33 leading HVACR industry associations and co-sponsored by ASHRAE and AHRI. This year’s attendance was once again very strong, with more than 61,000 people attending and more than 1,800 exhibitor booths.
Here are five of my observations from the show:
- Strong 2014 Outlook – in addition to the positive sentiment of almost everyone I spoke with at the show, the recent ASHRAE/AHR Expo survey forecasts a pretty good year for the HVACR business. Of the 1,000 HVACR manufacturers worldwide surveyed, 79% of the respondents said their prospects for business were either “excellent” (19%) or “good” (60%) for the coming year, 90% of the HVACR manufacturers believe sales will increase and hospitals/healthcare, light commercial and data/telecom centers were the top three market segments identified to be the most promising for 2014.
- Trade Publications Are Not Dead – 35+ publications had a presence at the this year’s show, each with their army of sales people combing the aisles for new and potential advertisers; there also seemed to be an increase of international publications covering both Latin/South America as well as Asia.
- Technology Continues To Play Strong Role – it seems every year at this show more and more technology is introduced to the products and services showcased, whether it is the software driving these products or the tablets used to control and monitor them. Again this year, there was a dedicated AHR Expo app for the show which not only helped you find your favorite booth, but also had valuable information about the speakers, educational sessions, transportation and local NYC attractions.
- Growing International Attendance – exhibitors from more than 30 countries attended the show. Asian manufacturers have been coming to this show for a number of years and 2014 was no different; however I did notice an uptick of Latin/South American as well as European exhibitors and attendees this year.
- “Efficiency” Is Still The Buzzword – with the way the economy has been over the last few years I think we have all gotten used to “doing more with less.” In the HVAC market that is nothing new, no matter which aisle you walked down during the show “efficiency” rang out in booth messaging, product benefits and sales pitches.
These are just a few of my observations, but if you attended, I would love to hear any key takeaways you had from the show.
