by tradesmeninsights | Nov 3, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
“The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
I don’t know who said it but it’s a timeless truth. With the soft economy over the past few years and downsizing of staffs, the overall business climate has changed. Marketing departments are being asked to do more with less. In the B2B field where we operate, social media wasn’t even on the radar screen a few years ago, but now it’s at the forefront. While social media doesn’t have much outside costs, it does take its toll on inside time and talent.
A recent study by Marketing Sherpa, the 2012 B2B marketing benchmark report, brought up some disturbing facts. The biggest was that 62% of marketers biggest challenge was lack of resources!
How are marketing departments supposed to be putting out class A stuff when there isn’t enough time in the day? Companies need to recognize that a good sales plan starts with a good marketing plan. Find help for your department whether it’s freelance or competent agencies that know your market. As business gets better, if you don’t speak out, they will try to put even more things on your plate.
Those are my thoughts; any comments?
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 2, 2011 | Uncategorized
From time to time I try to address issues other than marketing as it relates to manufacturing and distribution. With the soft economy the last few years, inventory and its management is an issue for both sides.
So I decided to ask a friend, Howard Coleman from MCA Associates who is an expert in this field, to shed some light on the new “pull ” inventory management system. Here are Howard’s thoughts on the issue:
A Breakthrough in Inventory & Supply Chain Planning & Execution
For the first time in years, inventory and supply chain planning for the wholesale-distributor and their suppliers is undergoing a most fundamental change! A major development is finally moving from “talk” to practice. If you have any involvement in supply chain management, and with your Enterprise ERP system, you would be wise to catch up with this. Yes, there is something in it for manufacturers/suppliers too!
Many years ago our ERP systems evolved beyond utilizing manually set fixed reorder points and reorder quantities. The big conceptual breakthrough was the advent of methodologies exactly like, or similar to, what was described in “Distribution Inventory Management (for the 1990s)” by Gordon Graham and the MRP (materials requirements planning) systems used by manufacturers. Software developers latched on to it as the primary “engine” contained in several popular ERP inventory and purchasing modules. Yes, it was an improvement – but has remained essentially unchanged.
In practice, it relied heavily on demand forecasts to drive inventory planning and reordering, and used safety stock inventory to mitigate variability in demand forecasts (forecast error) and lead-times. The results were better, but I believe at the expense of “more inventory than you need immediately,” and sacrificing a focus on – “where inventory should be” as opposed to “how much inventory we have” – particularly in terms of distribution center and branch warehouse inventory replenishment, how wholesale distributors go about ordering product from suppliers, and how suppliers react.
Along the way, “other passes on improvement” have been attempted, at least in part as a desire to obtain some better outcomes. Often, oversimplified versions of Just-In-Time (JIT) appeared, taking its cue from the quality management and lean movement in Japan in the 1980s. JIT relied on simple “demand signals” from customers – to suppliers up and down the supply chain, often with little or no computer support. JIT looked at inventory as “waste,” as opposed to an asset, and sought to minimize it by minimizing the variation in demand and supply, as well as reducing reorder quantities. But its emphasis on inventory reduction, a lack of a systems-wide view of inventory, and an incomplete planning equation often created an inflexible supply chain subject to disruptions.
Embracing “Pull” Inventory & Supply Chain Management
But something did emerge from all of this. If not completely new, it built upon and extended some of the best features of JIT as well as from the lean movement. Called “Pull Inventory & Supply Chain Management,” it sought to align efforts and resources as close as possible to actual customer demand, while at the same time providing more visibility to the total inventory requirements and status across the entire supply chain. It didn’t necessarily view inventory as waste nor did it seek to establish safety stock levels in some static way. Rather it sought:
- to hold the right amount of inventory, at the right place in the supply chain, to promote inventory flow (pulling inventory, not pushing inventory), while minimizing working capital
- to size and dynamically adjust stock positions based on focusing heavily on the “inventory drivers”
- to reduce the emphasis on that elusive goal of forecast accuracy in driving supply plans; instead demand was driven almost entirely by actual customer demand – often called the “buy signal”
- a “new collaboration” approach with manufacturers/suppliers in sharing “buy signals;” in other words fostering the opportunity to share data?
These are just a few of the key concepts. Now, are you thinking, “Pull Inventory & Supply Chain Management” is just a nice theory? Not so. The benefits have been amply demonstrated in several industries. The problem is that many wholesale distributors and their suppliers think they are a lot different – as opposed to thinking, “supply chain is supply chain – no matter who you are.” As a result, they have settled for incremental improvement – rather than more radical change – not learning from the “new chapters” in supply chain management and accelerating the time-line for adoption.
What’s Coming?
If there is any obstacle to the adoption of this new inventory and supply chain methodology, it will be “the change in thinking” and the general level of supply chain skills required of purchasing, inventory and supply chain managers to execute. Conceptual education will surely be one of the keys – not just some eventual software training. Understanding the impact for both wholesale-distributors and their suppliers will be another; finally an attempt at a win-win relationship through flexibility in their supply chain delivery approach and a true alignment of interests.
Inventory and supply chain management at all channel levels is going to be an even more critical function. Of course it has always been important, but will become more critical, competitively, as some companies adapt…and others don’t. This is no longer just a back-office function consideration. It’s about competitiveness and your company’s resource management; its impact on profits, cash flow and customer service levels.
Enterprise software vendors are going to move pretty quickly, I believe, to begin to incorporate these concepts into their systems. But, even before they do, there are several steps you can take right now, with little or no software support.
Email me for our “white paper” which describes “Pull” in more detail, along with more of “the how to;” what you can do right now!
MCA Associates, a management consulting firm since 1986, works with wholesale distribution and manufacturing companies that are seeking and committed to operational excellence. Our staff of Senior Consultants provides operational excellence – thought leadership – and implements continuous improvement solutions focused on business process re-engineering, inventory and supply chain management, sales development and revenue generation, information systems and technology, organizational assessment and development, and family business succession planning. MCA Associates may be contacted at 203-732-0603, or by email at [email protected]. Visit our website at http://www.mcaassociates.com/.
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 1, 2011 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
As CMOs struggle, there is a window of opportunity for ad agency new business.
A new IBM study of more than 1,700 chief marketing officers reveals that most CMOs are well aware of the changing marketing landscape and the need to make fundamental changes to traditional marketing methods of brand and product marketing. But they are struggling to respond.
I recently read a great summary of these findings from one of my mentors, Michael Gass. Here are the highlights:
The study’s findings point to four key challenges that CMOs everywhere are confronting:
- The explosion of data – 90% of the world’s data today has been created in the last two years alone.
- The rise of social media – 56% of CMOs view social media as a key engagement channel.
- Channel and device choices – The growing number of new marketing channels and devices, from smartphones to tablets, is quickly becoming a priority for CMOs.
- Shifting demographics – New global markets and the influx of younger generations with different patterns of information access and consumption are changing the face of the marketplace.
The Importance of Social Media
This study reiterates the importance of social media and the need for agencies to be better positioned as leaders in this evolving consumer engagement channel. Carolyn Heller Baird, CRM research lead for the IBM Institute for Business Value and the global director of the study likens marketers who underestimate the impact of social media to those who were slow to view the Internet as a new and powerful platform for commerce.
“The inflection point created by social media represents a permanent change in the nature of customer relationships… Like the rise of e-business more than a decade ago, the radical embrace of social media by all customer demographic categories represents an opportunity for marketers to drive increased revenue, brand value and to reinvent the nature of the relationship between enterprises and the buyers of their offerings.”
CMOs identify customer relationships as one of their top priorities, and recognize the impact of real-time data and social media supplementing traditional methods of marketing and gathering market feedback, but they remain stuck in traditional approaches.
“Marketers who are receptive to social media and the insight it provides will be far better prepared to anticipate future shifts in markets and technology.”
Additional insights from this study:
- 78% of CMOs expect more complexity over the next five years, but only 48% are prepared to deal with more complexity.
- 82% of CMOs say they plan to increase their use of social media over the next three to five years, only 26% are currently tracking blogs, 42% are tracking third-party reviews and 48% are tracking consumer reviews to help shape their marketing strategies.
- 63% of CMOs believe return on investment (ROI) on marketing spend will be the most important measure of their success by 2015. However, only 44% feel fully prepared to be held accountable for marketing ROI.
- Less than half of the CMOs surveyed have much sway over key parts of the pricing process, and less than half have much impact on new product development or channel selection.
- 56% of CMOs viewing social media as a key engagement channel – but they still struggle with capturing valuable customer insight from the unstructured data that customers and potential customers produce.
- CMOs still focus primarily on traditional sources of information such as market research and competitive benchmarking, and 68% rely on sales campaign analysis to make strategic decisions.
- Four-fifths of respondents plan to use customer analytics, customer relationship management (CRM), social media and mobile applications more extensively over the next three to five years.
- Nearly two-thirds of CMOs think return on marketing investment will be the primary measure of the marketing function’s effectiveness by 2015. But only half of all CMOs feel insufficiently prepared to provide hard numbers for ROI.
- 75% of CMOs believe marketing must manage brand reputation within and beyond the enterprise.
Click here for the IBM 2011 CMO Study Video News Release.
To access the full 2011 IBM Global CMO Study, visit http://ibm.com/cmostudy
by tradesmeninsights | Oct 27, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
In today’s market, everyone seems to be focusing on social media as the thing to do. Both social and traditional tactics have a place in your marketing plan. Inbound and outbound marketing must work together to get the most bang for your buck today. Social media or email can’t be isolated tactics, but should be used together.
I recently read an article by Kipp Bodnar in Social Media B2B, 7 Awesome Email and B2B Social Media Integrations that I thought hit the nail right on the head. Here are some highlights:
- Use social media links in your emails – pretty simple but you’d be surprised how many folks miss this opportunity.
- Use social media to grow your email list – you have a better chance of getting a lead if you can convince them to sign up, for example, for your monthly newsletter.
- Test email efforts on social – before sending out a communication to your list, test it on social to see what kind of reaction you’ll get.
- Use social media for future email content – follow and listen to what the hot issues are on social and craft future messages around those issues.
- Source leads correctly – use tracking URLs to better understand where your interest is coming from.
Those are some highlights; what are you doing to integrate social into your traditional marketing efforts?
by tradesmeninsights | Oct 26, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
For those of us who are doing blogs, we sometimes get so focused on the social media side of things that we forget to use traditional methods of promotion to promote it.
I recently read a post by Heidi Cohen, 34 Ways to Raise Blog Readership Without Using Social Media. Although all her suggestions aren’t relevant to the manufacturing segment that’s trying to reach the professional tradesman, I’ve highlighted some of the points that hit home to me.
- SEO – using keywords maximizes your reach.
- Promote on your website – we even have the three most current posts on our home page to draw attention to the blog.
- Do an email – to the appropriate audience with link.
- Packaging – promote on outside of box.
- Press release – not for every post, but certainly for important ones that have to do with industry research.
- Include your blog on your business card and on your email signature.
If you’re doing a blog, what ways are you promoting it other than by social?
by tradesmeninsights | Oct 25, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Product landing pages have distinct advantages — they help focus the user on the offer by directing them to a page that has relevant info, presented in a compelling way that hopefully will get them to engage and interact with your brand.
To that point, we need to make sure that the user stays on the page, gets what they want and hopefully converts to whatever your call-to-action is.
I recently read a good article in Mashable where they interviewed Zach Morrison, VP of Strategy, from Elite SEM on his thoughts on how to improve your landing pages. Here are some highlights:
- Optimize pages for web reading – from layout to look and feel. Also make sure you have a mobile friendly version.
- Write copy with search in mind – while it’s important to write for the user and answer the question of “what’s in it for me,” the more copy related to key words, the better as it helps in search.
- Use images carefully – while it’s important to use photos or videos, make sure that you’re just not putting them in for the sake of it. You want a clean, well-thought-out page that’s not too cluttered.
- Highlight a call-to-action – tell the customer what they need to know, what they need to do and where they need to go. Make it clear and obvious. If you use a call-to-action button, explain to them what you want them to do.
The key to any activity is to keep things simple, focused on a message and have a clear call-to-action.
