by tradesmeninsights | Nov 12, 2013 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
B2B prospects tend to be well on their way through the buying process before they even identify a company. Don’t you want to be one of those they contact?
In the 3 years that I’ve been doing a blog, I’ve seen more and more interest and yes, business that has originated because of what folks read on my blog. In many cases, by the time they identified themselves, we’re already talking strategy and have won the business. It’s a nice position to be in.
I recently read a post by Heidi Cohen, How to Make Your B2B Blog Your Content Marketing Tool that outlines 10 steps that will help you get there.
Here are some key takeaways:
- Understand your audience.
- Do an editorial calendar that ties in with your other promotional activities/events.
- Optimize content for findability via search engines.
- Distribute content by building regular readership either by RSS or e-newsletters.
- Use other social platforms to promote your content.
Blogs are time-consuming to do,but if you’re going to do it, then do it right. It’s a great way to stay in front of prospects on an ongoing basis, builds your credibility in the space you’re in and ultimately generates new business.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
Blogs that Reach the Professional Tradesman
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 6, 2013 | Events/Trade Shows
For those of you that are going to Las Vegas this weekend for the STAFDA 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.
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 5, 2013 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
As we start planning for 2014, ask yourself this question:
When was the last time you took a hard look at where your marketing budget is going?
B-to-B budgets, while on the mend from the last few years, are not growing at the same rate as the tasks we are being asked to do. We all are creatures of habit and tend to go and support things that we’ve used in the past and have been successful.
Do this simple exercise. Pull out a spread sheet from 3 years ago where you have all your line items. I’ll bet you didn’t have things like lead nurturing, responsive websites, mobile apps, mobile marketing or content marketing as part of your radar a few years ago.
Yes, over the past few years you may have dabbled in a new tactic, but have you done enough to see if there has been any impact on your brand? I’m not saying you should abandon your current tactics, just make sure you’re not missing any opportunities that might help you sell more. You go to the doctor for your annual visit, don’t you? Why not put your marketing budget through the same type of process?
You may even want to get someone outside your organization who is familiar with your markets to review line items and make suggestions as to what you might want to try or include moving forward.
By using an outsider, you’re not worrying about someone trying to sell you something, and for some reason, outside consultants somehow get the ear of the C suite easier than you or I would.
Good luck in your planning process and at least set aside a portion of your budget to try new things.
by tradesmeninsights | Oct 31, 2013 | Public Relations
Today Rosemarie and Rachel from our PR department are sharing some of the aspects of public relations that can be the scariest to clients.
We find the realm of public relations to be fun, exciting and consistently fresh, but some areas of our field can be scary to our clients.
Here are the top five fears people have about public relations, and why you shouldn’t be spooked by them.
1. You can’t control what the media does with a story once you’ve given it to them.
“Earned media” is highly credible because readers know that you didn’t purchase the space to promote your company. Public relations and media relations professionals cultivate positive relationships with media, we work with these folks on behalf of multiple clients most of the time so we’ve built the foundation for positive coverage before they even get your story. In B2T public relations, we’re working with trade publications primarily and their goal is to be a source of helpful information for their readers.
It can be scary not to see the actual article before it’s published, but with long lead times of trade media, it can be a sweet surprise to see your words in print.
2. Negative comments on blogs and social media.
Your responses to negative comments offer an excellent opportunity to show off your wonderful customer service. Negative comments happen, and if they happen on your social media, you can control the outcome with your response and the community response from your other fans. It’s actually scarier to hide your head in the sand or cover your ears when it comes to social media.
3. Giving interviews is intimidating.
When we set up interviews with trade publications, they often send some sample questions ahead of time to help you prepare. Knowing how you would answer those questions provides a foundation of confidence. Media people are not out to get you, and by providing an interview you’re helping them educate their readers and they’re helping you get your name and expertise out there.
Think of interviews as a conversation rather than an interrogation. Sometimes our clients are even given the opportunity to review and approve their quotes! And they’re often surprised by how articulate their quotes sound.
4. Am I missing out on all of the new things that pop up overnight?
There is actually a name for this condition, it’s a condition called FOMO, Fear of Missing Out. Your company can’t, and shouldn’t, join every new platform or use every new tool that is introduced. If you’re suffering from a severe case of FOMO, work with your public relations people to set your goals and evaluate which platforms and tools are the best for us to get our hands dirty with and which ones would be a waste of time and resources.
5. I want to use the excellent testimonial from my customers, but I’m afraid to share customer information that my competitors will find.
When you’re confident with a customer relationship and know that you’re giving that customer the best quality and service, there’s no need to be afraid of telling their story. Testimonials are an excellent tool for building your credibility, when others read about what your company made possible for that customer, they’ll wonder what your company can do for them too.
When you feature a customer in a testimonial, you’re also helping them get their name out there and gain more visibility. And they’ll love you for that!
by tradesmeninsights | Oct 30, 2013 | Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
Recently, Christopher Hosford, the East Coast Bureau Chief for BtoB Magazine, held a virtual roundtable discussion with some industry leaders about the future of email and where it’s heading. Here are some highlights from my perspective:
- Gmail – has moved to a tabbed format that is raising issues about open and read rates.
- Dynamic content – the wave of the future is to segment communications around real-time, behavioral-based messages.
- Mobile has an incredible impact on how people read their emails. 43% of all emails are opened on a smart phone.
- Automation tools are not a silver bullet – it’s the size and frequency that counts.
- Triggered email around events, time or a behavior-based activity.
- For B-to-B marketers, site visits or time spent on a site is more important, so you need good content to keep them coming back, especially for those in long selling cycles.
Their conclusion is that the future of email is bright because it builds on all these new ways of engagement and marketing perspectives.
You can read the entire interview here.
by tradesmeninsights | Oct 29, 2013 | Marketing Trends
Beyond doing a great job in advertising, PR, messaging and engagement, have you ever thought of the other side of the equation – the customer experience?
Sometimes we can be our own worst enemies by focusing on getting the message out, and the means by which we’re doing it makes sense to us, but have we asked our customers what they think?
Forrester claims that Adaptive Marketing Confederation is the trend of the future. They define as:
“A flexible structure and culture of working with marketing staff, partners and systems that enables brands to respond quickly to their environments to align customer and brand goals.”
My take on what this means is pretty straightforward. Talk with the customer service people and sales folks to get a better sense of what the customers’ wants and needs are. I challenge marketers to get out of the office and into the field for some “Street Smarts” by calling on end users.
Forrester refers to customer intelligence teams. This goes beyond spread sheets as you need to uncover customers affinities and needs. All this is driven by data and sometimes it can become overwhelming. But you need to sort through it and along with contributions from other team members, outside marketing (sales and customer service), you can improve the customer experience.
I know this is a moving target, but if you’re not trying to improve it, your competitors will be.
