by tradespeopleinsights | May 18, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
The iPad has some great applications when it comes to calling on Contractors and Distributors alike.
Its size for one and ease of use are the first two that come to mind. I have an iPhone and I sure wouldn’t want to watch a presentation on it and it has one of the bigger screens for the smart phones.
Here are a few ways you as manufacturers can utilize this tool:
- CRM Tool – You can keep your sales leads and calls for today on it. As you make the calls, you can be writing in your newest promotion/contest, and if it requires signing up, they can do it right on the iPad.
- Meetings/Presentations – Whether you’re making a pitch at a distributor, or if you’re on a job site showing the latest video or testimonial from a contractor on the new product you’ve just rolled out. This could be an easy and convenient way to utilize the iPad.
- Note Taking – I used to use my iPhone to jot down notes or thoughts as I’m out on the road. It can be done, but it’s not the easiest thing in the world to do.
The iPads are relatively inexpensive and are a good tool to help in closing the sale.
Those are my ideas on how to use the iPad. I’d like to hear how you might be using it .
by tradespeopleinsights | May 13, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Facebook fan pages are the current rage. That’s all well and good as long as you have purpose other than “everybody has one.” Just because you build it, it doesn’t mean they will come. You need to have a plan just like everything else!
I was reminded recently of that very fact when I read a post by Amy Porterfield, How to Create a Facebook Fan Page Editorial Guide, in which she outlines both defining a purpose and a guide to developing editorial.
Here are some highlights:
Defining your purpose:
- Don’t do it because everyone else is.
- How will your page be different from your web site? The more interactive, the better it will be.
- What sets you apart from your competition?
Suggestions for creating editorial guidelines:
- What’s your strategy? Is it going to be daily? Will it be in the morning?
- What’s your content? Are they all going to be original posts or will some be guest posts?
- Formatting – what will they look like?
- Engagement – what’s your plan to respond to those who come back with comments?
- Set rules – make a policy on what will and what will not be posted in regards to comments.
One of my favorite fan pages in the B-to-B space where we play is that on Snap-on Tools. They have over 44,000 fans and they do it right. They promote new products, upcoming events and even offer incentives for fans to buy their tools. Wouldn’t it be nice that every time you posted something on your fan page, all your fans were notified?
Can you share some other B-to-B pages that are doing it right?
If you like this post please pass it along.
by tradespeopleinsights | May 12, 2010 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
I’ve been saying for some time now that the most overlooked social media tool for the B-to-B market is LinkedIn. It makes sense to join groups on LinkedIn, whether it’s buying groups like A-D or Netplus Alliance, or associations like STAFDA or AHMA. Take advantage and participate in the arenas you sell to and through.
With sales cycles getting longer, social media is a good way to start building those relationships. They are by no means the only way to nurture a prospect, but according to a recent “B-to-B Sales Pulse Survey” from OneSource, LinkedIn usage has increased significantly. Nearly 50% of the respondents said they were using LinkedIn more than a year ago.
Hubspot, in their January 2010 data report, showed that 45% of North American B-to-B companies used LinkedIn for marketing and have acquired customers through the site.
So how are you using LinkedIn to identify new prospects and build relationships?
If you like this post, please pass it on.
by tradespeopleinsights | May 11, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
If you want to be a serious blogger, there are some things you need to follow to be successful. It’s not as easy as it might appear, and here are some tips I’ve learned over the last year in doing my blog.
- Be Committed – Committed to write 2 or 3 posts a week no matter what. You need to read and research and plan you editorial. You need to be persistent in that you won’t become an overnight success. It takes time to build an audience, and once you do, it takes more time to develop a relationship.
- Be Focused – Choose a topic or niche and stick to it. Be consistent in your voice and approach. Also be consistent in the number of times a week you post.
- Be Concise – You’ve got between 2-5 seconds to get their attention, and once you have it, make sure you deliver content that’s on the mark.
- Be Analytical – You need you watch which posts are drawing attention. This will help when developing topics for future posts. Where are your readers coming from – other sites, search engines? What search terms are the engines picking up?
- Never Stop Learning – Stay ahead of the curve in your area of expertise. This is especially true in social media where things seem to change daily. Just think, a few months ago, mobile marketing certainly wouldn’t have been on the top of my radar screen, but today it’s a hot topic.
Those are my suggestions. I’d like to hear from you and have you add to the list.
If you like this post, please pass it on.
Here are some other posts you might find interesting:
5 Quick tips to promote your posts
Posts should be like missles:powerful and to the point
by tradespeopleinsights | May 6, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
For those of you who haven’t yet dove in to the social media arena, whether it’s because of fear of the unknown or the fear of it’s going to be too time-consuming, I have some friendly advice.
I can’t force you to try it, but I can tell you it won’t hurt and you can’t break anything. For those who are willing to give it a try but are worried about the amount of time it will take, I have some suggestions for you to consider.
Social media is about building relationships and becoming thought leaders in your category. So a rule of thumb would be to automate or delegate everything except the interaction portion.
Susan Baronini-Moe in a recent post on Social Media Examiner, What You Need to Know About Outsourcing Social Media, outlines her ideas on what should be done, and I think it would be a good read for you.
Here are some highlights:
What you shouldn’t outsource:
- Anything that engages the user you should be a part of. You should be the voice of the company. Any conversation should be started or answered by you. Reply to your tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn comments from the groups you belong to.
What to outsource:
- Profile Set-ups – on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. These contain some pretty basic things and doesn’t require your personal involvement.
- Listings – setting up listings on Twitter directories, groups on LinkedIn and Facebook can be handled by someone else.
- Automated Updates – on Twitter, your blog or RSS feeds.
These are some of my thoughts, what are yours?
If you like this post, please pass it on.
by tradespeopleinsights | May 5, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
All of us are getting inundated with e-mail, but studies show it’s still one of the best ways to reach out to people.
It does have its challenges with spam filters and internal firewalls. But I’ve found that by using some of the techniques for writing blog posts have come in handy in writing e-mails.
So here are some tips on how to more effectively use this tool:
- Subject line – This is probably the most important part of the message. Make sure you grab their attention.
- Preview pane – Preview panes shows a few lines of content. It’s important that you deliver on the subject line quickly. Let them know what’s in it for them if they continue reading.
- Make it scannable – I learned this from doing posts here on the blog. Use short paragraphs, highlight important parts of the message. The average time spent on an e-mail is somewhere between 2-5 seconds, so you don’t have much time to stop them.
- Go for quality not quantity – Put out fewer e-mails, but make them more impactful. If I know when I get an e-mail from you I usually get some good info, I’ll open it.
- Timing – It’s all about the timing. I’ve found that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the best for me. You need to test out what might be the best time to hit your audience. For contractors, the best time I’ve found is between 6:30 – 7 in the morning or later in the evening about that same time.
Those are some tips on how I try to make e-mails more effective.
What are some things you do?
If you like this post, please pass it on.
Other posts you might find interesting:
Will e-mail be replaced by social media?
E-mail and Social media are tools B to B marketers plan on using more of in 2010
E-mail marketing for Industrial Markets: Common mistakes to avoid
The iPad has some great applications when it comes to calling on Contractors and Distributors alike.
