by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 26, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I’m very high on LinkedIn as one of the best social media tools for B-to-B businesses, and it is one of the tools that is most overlooked. In March of 2011, LinkedIn passed its 100 million member. It’s currently averaging about 1 million new members a month (more than one new member per second).
I recently read an article by Heidi Cohen that outlined ways businesses can successfully use LinkedIn.
Here are some highlights:
- Position your company – Let people know you exist and what kinds of thing you do.
- Offers credibility – Position your company as a thought leader.
- Expands your contact base – of friends, business associates and prospects.
- Expands company network – The more members of your team that are on LinkedIn, the greater the exposure is for your company.
- Source for new employees – LinkedIn was originally a HR network and still is.
The key is to have a plan for your company and get as many people involved. Make sure the description of your company and what it does is the same on everyone’s pages as this helps in being found on search engines.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 21, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
By now most of you have seen these strange little boxes somewhere in your life. You may have seen them in one of your favorite consumer magazines. They’re even showing up in some trade books.
For those who don’t know what a QR code is, it’s a 2D bar code that allows you to connect to additional info using your smart phone that has a camera. Since there are more smart phones being sold now than PCs, maybe it’s time you consider doing something that will take advantage of this technology. One of the nice things about QR codes is that they are contextually relevant. In other words, you can target info based on where you place them and each can be individually tracked.
Here are six real world practical ways manufacturers can utilize QR codes in their marketing activities:
- Trade advertising – Put a QR code in that will take the reader to a testimonial video or a product demo.
- Trade shows – Pre-show and at-show promotions. Add a code with show specials or other reasons to visit your booth, like a new product introduction.
- In-store signage – Other than the big boxes where they control most of the “look and feel,” use signage to drive them somewhere like a video that shows them why your product is better than the competition.
- Product packaging – Again, you can make a case for your product over the competitors, or you can give assistance to those who aren’t sure which hole saw or drill bit to use.
- Product literature – From sell sheet to direct mail, use to connect to reasons why they should buy, i.e. videos or other important features/benefits to help them prefer your product.
- Premiums – For your next distributor open house or counter day, have your guys wear tee shirts with a clever saying and a QR code. It’s a great way to stand out in a crowd.
These are easy to use, free, each are trackable and they are a good way to set yourself apart.
If you’d like to learn more about QR codes, these additional posts may be of interest:
QR Codes: Are Manufacturers Missing an Opportunity?
What’s Augmented Reality?
White Paper: Trends in Mobile Media
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 20, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
Customer service in most companies can make or break you. How you are treated can define whether you will continue to do business with that company. You can spend millions on brand building and still fall short if customer service is the weak link in the chain.
I was at a trade association meeting listening to one of the speakers talking on this subject, and he kept referring to this company called Zappos in Las Vegas and what kind of brand they built around customer service. I had never heard of them (a billion dollar company that was recently purchased by Amazon), but my wife had. She sang the praises of this online company that sold shoes. Not their own branded ones, but everybody elses.
I wondered how they could make money selling “me too”-type things, but soon found out that it’s the way they sell them that makes the difference. They offered free shipping both ways so if you didn’t like them or they didn’t fit, it wouldn’t cost you anything. My wife has a narrow foot and has a hard time finding shoes. Zappos carries a better selection on not only the standard, but the hard-to-find narrow and wide sizes.
So what I did was get Tony Hsieh’s book, Delivering Happiness, that told his story of the Zappos adventure over the last 10 years. It was a good read of the ups and downs of trying to grow a company. What do selling shoes have to do with selling stuff to the professional tradesmen? I’d say plenty if you follow Zappos ‘ 10 core values. Here they are:
- Deliver WOW through service
- Embrace and drive change
- Create fun and a little weirdness
- Be adventurous, creative and open-minded
- Pursue growth and learning
- Build open and honest relationships with communication
- Build a positive team and family spirit
- Do more with less
- Be passionate and determined
- Be humble
Many companies have core values but fail to follow them. Maybe it’s time for all of us to relook at our core values and see if we’re actually working towards them. Next time you’re in Vegas, give them a call and take the tour. They’ll come and pick you up at your hotel. My youngest son who is a business coach took the tour the last time he was out there and said it was worth seeing the culture at a billion-dollar company. All you have to do is call and set up an appointment.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 19, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Mike is pretty well-known from “Dirty Jobs.” You likely see him quite a bit on commercials these days, but lots of folks still don’t know about MikeRoweWorks.
Basically, Mike’s mission is to not make work the enemy. Our country seems to forget the value of hard work: we are ignoring infrastructure, we are getting rid of shop classes, etc. Mike explains what he’s trying to do here.
Mike started the Trades Hub. The way this site works is that it organizes the content in a way that makes it easier to go through and find things. It only shows snippets of any content and does a good job of pushing traffic out to participating bloggers.
It uses social signals, what people view and save, to help determine what the best content is. And it generally aims to attract an audience that may not otherwise find each individual blogger. It is going to be a fantastic resource.
You’ll find a link on my side bar to the right and I was asked to be a regular contributor to the site which I was very happy to do. So check it out and let’s keep America working with the professional tradesman.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 14, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
One of the challenges of social media is to get people engaged. Many are what I call lurkers who read what you post, have some opinion on it, but for some reason are afraid to jump in and give their two cents.
I don’t know what they are afraid of as we are here because we want to engage in discussions, so please jump in! I recently read a great article by Heidi Cohen from Riverside Marketing Strategies called 10 Tips for Social Media Introverts that outlined 10 tips for those on the sidelines to jump in. Here are some highlights:
- Decide how you want to position yourself on the platforms you decide to participate in.
- Stake out your name on those platforms and determine how you will set yourself apart.
- Participate in activities like Twitter-Chats and on LinkenIn groups.
- Share your knowledge, after all that’s why folks are on these sites in the first place.
- Look at the big picture. You certainly don’t have all the answers, so when you read a good post from someone else, pay it forward by Tweeting about it or linking to it in one of your posts.
Social media isn’t going away, so you’re better off accepting that fact and jumping in. I promise we won’t bite.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 13, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Content is king as I’ve learned from mentor Michael Gass. He says it doesn’t matter how great a writer you are, if people don’t read it, then there’s no benefit to anyone. I’m sharing his 10 tips which I try to live by when writing for social media. I’m a living testament that if you follow the rules, your writing will be read and shared.
According to a social media study by King Fish Media, HubSpot and Junta42, original content, both branded and expert, is by far the most employed tactic for social media.
And … “businesses that blog get 55% more website traffic than those that don’t.”
Creating valuable content increases website traffic that will equate into new business leads. But writing for the web can be daunting, even for experienced copywriters. They are often the ones that struggle the most with making the transition from print to web.
“Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.” – Jon Buscall
You need to think carefully about structuring and formatting your online content to ensure your readers find it and read it. Here are my 10 tips to help you write better for the Web:
- Provide a Reader’s Digest or Executive Summary version. Readers love bullet pointed and numbered lists. That’s why so many readers are attracted to post titles that offer 10 tips or 25 ideas, etc. The work you do on behalf of your readers to simplify will be greatly appreciated and keep them coming back for more.
- Key words in every post titles. Write for SEO. It doesn’t matter how great your article is if no one can find it. A simple tip to help boost your rankings in Google search is to identify and use certain key words in every post title. 90% of my posts will contain ‘ad agency new business’ in the title. It helps not only for search but will also help drive ‘targeted traffic’ as your posts are repurposed through Twitter. With only 140 characters that you can use for Twitter, that’s not much more than your title and a shortened URL.
- Lead with the conclusion. I advise that you begin each post by starting with the conclusion, a take-away or benefits statement. Just answer this question, ‘what is my benefit if I commit to read this post?’
- Break up long paragraphs. A reader’s attention span online is much less than for print. Readers tend to scan instead of reading word-for-word. Keep paragraphs concise and short.
- Be sure and provide hyper links to your sources. Don’t be afraid that you will lose your audience if they go to another source. Your blog should become a repository of helpful resources for your readers.
- Make your content scannable to the eye. Use bold, italics, quotation marks, indentation, etc. to make copy pop. A person should be able to quickly scan through your article and get the most important parts.
- Write in an Inverted Pyramid style. Similar to the way a newspaper reported would write, the most important copy should be at the top of your post.
- Use common language. This is an opportunity to do away with industry jargon and agency speak and write content that resonates with your intended audience.
- Get to the point, quickly. Online readers are extremely impatient. If you wade into a story and it takes 3 or 4 paragraphs to show how it relates, you will have lost your audience before you’ve made your point.
- Make your post visually pleasing. I always include a nice photo or graphic to further drive home the main purpose of a post. Using them will create interest and help draw in a reader.
Follow these 10 tips and it will help get your message delivered.
