by tradesmeninsights | Nov 17, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
I can’t believe it’s budget time already. Now that you’ve put your foot in the water on social (hopefully), what are you going to do in 2012?
According to a recent report in eMarketer.com, companies are looking to invest more in social in 2012. According to a study completed this summer by Booz&Co and Buddy Media, social media will become a higher percentage of their total digital spend in the next three years.
Although social media made up less than 5% of their spend currently, they expect that number to double that the next 3 years. Where are they anticipating spending the increase? People, outside resources and creating content. What’s even more exciting is that they plan on integrating it into the marketing plans overall.
All this is good news. Evidently someone must be seeing some value in integrating social media.
The question is, what are your plans for 2012? Do they include social media as a line item in your marketing budget?
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 16, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
Today’s digital environment is rapidly evolving driven by the increase of devices people use to consume content. This holds true for the professional tradesman as well (remember they are consumers too).
With smartphones, tablets and other connected devices, consumers have become digital omnivores according to a new study out by comScore. Their new white paper, Digital Omnivores: How Tablets, Smartphones and Connected Devices are Changing U.S. Digital Media Consumption. Findings include:
- Consumption away from desktops and laptops is really growing.
- Smartphones are the catalyst to mobile media consumption.
- Tablet traffic is becoming notable and rising quickly.
Download a copy of the white paper.
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 10, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
For most of us in the B2B space, trade shows usually take up a fair portion of your marketing budget. Are you leveraging social media in this space?
A recent post by Jeffrey Cohen from Social Media B2B highlighted 10 ways to maximize your efforts. Here are some highlights:
- Use full URLs for social media profiles – mailers, handouts, signage. Don’t make prospects search for you.
- Include latest topics from relevant industry groups or associations – Check LinkedIn groups or forums for the latest industry topics and share them with the group working the booth as conversation starters. A good way to break the ice and start building a relationship.
- Put content on slideshare – Create a short, highly visible deck about new products or demos you’re doing at the show. Make sure you have key-word rich descriptions and to share them prior to the show on your social network.
- Live blogging – If there is a keynote speaker, take notes and post before leaving the presentation.
- Connect with show organizers – Provide them with content for their site as well as using their #hashtag during the show.
- Conduct video interviews with customers or distributors. Subject matter can be anything from industry trends to a review of your products.
Those are some idea; what are you doing to maximize your trade show efforts?
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 9, 2011 | Events/Trade Shows
For those of you that are going to San Antonio this weekend for the STAFDA Show, we put together an Insider’s Guide to San Antonio 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 8, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
I recently caught up with Lindsay Konzak, editor of Modern Distribution Management (MDM) newsletter. We talked about how things are changing, especially since the downturn in the economy.
She shared with us “Four Trends in Distribution” from the MDM’s 2011 Distributor Landscape Report and what it has meant for the supplier-distributor relationship.
Click here and enjoy.
