by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 13, 2010 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
In an ideal world, every lead from every source would be waiting to hear from you so they can place an order. Please pinch yourself and wake up, this only happens in dreams! People respond for different reasons and it’s marketing’s job to sort out the wheat from the chaff in the lead generating process.
So many programs fail because the leads sent out to the sales force haven’t been qualified. The guys in the field are hunters and gatherers, and if someone isn’t ready to buy, then they are put in the dead file. Just because they aren’t ready to buy today doesn’t mean that they aren’t a prospect.
There are different stages in the selling cycle from awareness to loyalty and advocacy. Each stage requires a different message in order to move them up the development ladder. If you can identify what stage a lead is in, marketing can nurture leads along until they are ready to buy.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 12, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
We’re all used to doing surveys after the fact to make sure the customers are satisfied and to see if you could be of additional service. Not many of us, though, think of surveys as a way to identify where the prospect is in the buying cycle and what the best way to communicate with them is.
I recently read a post by Stephan Dietrich of Neolane Inc. where he outlined ways to use surveys for this purpose. He suggests that e-mails and surveys can work well together.
One example he gives is that of a user downloading a white paper from your web site. If a few days later you can send him a survey, you can not only find out what their thoughts are on the paper, but also determine where they are in the buying process and maybe give them a limited time discount offer. While most results won’t end this quickly with a sale, it does give an opportunity to continue the conversation with the prospect and nurture them through the sales process.
Social media can be used to both identify and start conversations with potential buyers.
How are you using surveys to help generate leads and sales?
by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 8, 2010 | Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
Now that 2009 is over, we’re all looking forward to a new year. To that end, I’d like to know what kinds of plans you’re doing for 2010. Please take a few moments to take this quick 8-question survey. I’d be happy to share the results. http://tinyurl.com/yc4epnb
Thanks
by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 7, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
As social media continues to grow, B-to-B marketers better be on board or the train will leave them at the station. In a recent Social Media Marketing Industry Report, it interviewed nearly 900 marketers. 88% were already using social media and 64% were using it 5 or more hours a week.
Their top 3 reasons for using social were exposure, increasing traffic and building new business relationships.
Does this sound like something you’d like to do? The professional tradesman is no different than any other consumer. Their time is limited and they choose the way they receive info both on a personal and professional level. The key for us marketers is to integrate social into our existing CRM programs. Steve Nielsen of Partner Up recently wrote a post on ways this could be accomplished. Here are some of the highlights:
- Online communities are more than networks; they’re end-to-end marketing engines that allow you to address customers’ concerns in real time.
- Online communities have the capacity to yield instant insight into brand awareness and reputation.
- Social media is a disruptive force turning traditional marketing and CRM on their heads. Those that can harness this disruption stand to gain the most ground.
According to Nielsen, companies seeking to re-energize their marketing should integrate online data into their existing CRM programs. Companies that follow this will become more relevant by transforming customer relationships and generating measurable business results.
So what are you doing to use social to reach those professional tradesmen? I’d like to hear from you.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 6, 2010 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
When it comes to online issues as they revolve around the B-to-B community, it’s mostly assumed that we are lagging behind. That may be true in some cases and we may not be using the latest widgets, but for the most part those that have embraced online activities do a pretty good job at it. Because some of the products our clients sell have a long selling cycle, means they have plenty of time to build and nurture a relationship. B-to-B marketers are utilizing the basics, Web sites, search, newsletters and now social to continue to build their brand and sell products.
Why B2B Companies Have a Distinct Advantage Online
I’m not alone in this theory. Valeria Maltoni in a recent post, Why BtoB Companies Have A Distinct Advantage Online, outlines opportunities for the B-to-B world. That includes the case for customer communities and ways to go from conversations to conversions. It’s an interesting read and gives hope to all of us in the B-to-B world that we’re doing something right.
I’d like to hear what you think on this issue.
by tradespeopleinsights | Jan 5, 2010 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Marketers in the B-to-B world and especially in the industrial or construction sectors are reluctant to try new things. One of the reasons is that in some cases their companies have been doing the same type of marketing for years, if not for decades.
Obviously over the last year or so they have been forced to think “outside the box.” Recent research from Forrester states that consumers (yes, professional tradesmen are consumers too) now nearly spend as much time online as they do watching TV.
Razorfish “Digital Brand Experience Survey” shows that even though consumers are more empowered than ever before, they still desire a relationship with a brand, and a brand has a major say in that relationship. It’s just that brands need to shift their thinking from one-way advertising to two-way consumer experiences if they want to take advantage of the attributes of the digital world.
I’m grateful to my good friend and mentor Michael Gass who passed on this Razorfish research and some key takeaways:
- Consumers are not shutting out brands – they’re interacting with them. 77% of consumers surveyed have watched a commercial or video advertisement on YouTube with some frequency; 69% have provided feedback to a brand, either through a web site or a third-party service like GetSatisfaction.com; 65% have played a branded browser-based game. Moreover, 70% have participated in a brand-sponsored contest or sweepstakes.
- Digital experiences create customers. The overwhelming majority of consumers who actively engage with a brand in digital fashion are much more inclined to purchase products and recommend the brand to others.
- Digital can make or break a brand. 65% of consumers say that a digital experience, either positive or negative, changed their opinion of a brand. Of those, 97% said that their experience influenced whether they eventually purchased from the brand.
- This is the year of the brand fan. According to this study, 40% of consumers have friended a Facebook brand page, and 26 % have followed a brand on Twitter.
Click here for a download PDF version.
In an ideal world, every lead from every source would be waiting to hear from you so they can place an order. Please pinch yourself and wake up, this only happens in dreams! People respond for different reasons and it’s marketing’s job to sort out the wheat from the chaff in the lead generating process.