by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Tools
For those of you who are trying to get your arms around Twitter and how to use it for your B-to-B marketing, here are a few thoughts on how you can engage tradesmen and supply them with useful info. The problem is where are they and what (or who) are they talking about. Use “Search Twitter.”
Search Twitter is real time window into who and what your customers and prospects are talking about. Gain insights on what their hot buttons are and then provide them answers to demonstrate your expertise.
Here’s an example: Your company sells products to professional tradesmen. You search using key words and review the posts. If there are questions pertaining to what you do, offer them a solution.
Now here’s where it gets scary. Twitter has an advanced search that’s a great tool that you could use for phrases or key words that plumbers would recognize. You can even search tweets by dates, locations, etc.
You can even write your own detailed searches. Who would have ever thought that Twitter could be used as a data mining tool. That’s the cool cool thing about compiling all that data in one place. You can slice and dice it almost any which way. It’s just another tool in the marketing tool box.
I’d like to hear how you’re using Twitter Search to help identify you targets.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Tips
I can’t tell you how many corporate blogs I’ve been on that are treated as just another venue to sell product or try to pump up stock prices. They just don’t get it and wonder why blogs aren’t working.
Companies need to learn it’s not about them anymore, it’s about your customers. They call it social media for a reason – because it’s about people.
If companies want to have a successful blog they need to deliver relevant content that talks about ways to solve your customers’ problems. They need to deliver it in a conversational (human) way using terms that their customers are familiar with.
It’s all about people and that’s why it’s called social media, not marketing media.
A recent post by Chris Baggott, How to make the most out of your corporate blog, highlights ways for companies to be successful:
- Research the key words that drive your business.
- Create titled, individual blogs for different market segment and target those key words.
- Encourage employees to create content.
- Solicit feedback from your customers.
In other words, do your homework and think strategically. Business blogging is a way to make your customers/searchers happy they found you because you have answered a need.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Trends
They are the hard-working men and women of America. They drive the products to market. They build the towers of business. They dig the foundations of dreams. They serve America in every capacity.
They are the blue collar tradesmen, working class heroes we sometimes overlook.
They have been all over this social media stuff long before the rest of us jumped on board. They have been building relationships with friends and business associates from around the world, across the country and around town for decades. They adopted these amazing communication technologies not as a narcissistic plaything but as serious tools of industry.
They are the ham radio operators, the CB truckers and the Nextel two-way cell users. They go by names like Gladys and Night Rider and Bubba and they are the real pioneers in social media.
What makes any of us think this group of users will avoid this brave new world? They are logging on in record numbers. According to one survey, while the universe of blue-collar social media users is less than 10%, they are the fastest-growing segment.
As their jobs dwindle, they are learning new trades and finding new jobs through the use of SM.
Blue-collar men and women are a critical part of the conversation.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Trends
Social media allows us to engage each other and start a conversation which hopefully turns into a relationship.
I’ve been in the ad business for over 3 decades, and over the years have used the tools available to develop targeted programs to reach our intended audiences. We were so busy telling people how good our product was that we seldom took the time to ask any questions or listen to what the customers had to say. In other words, most of our communications were one way.
Today with the advent of social media, we have so many options to reach our target as does our target to get info on a particular product or service. Web 2.0, for example, allows customers to participate in dialogs, forums and surveys that let their opinions be known. We as marketers should be happy about this as it affords us valuable insight into the minds of customers (you ask questions, listen and respond).
Back in the day before the Internet was invented by Al Gore, a lot of us used to practice another form of B-to-B marketing (belly button to belly button) where we actually sat down with a customer or prospect and had a conversation with them.
Unfortunately in today’s world, people for the most part don’t have time for these kinds of encounters. Social media allows us to begin the engagement process, so hopefully as we build a relationship, we can ultimately have that face-to-face just like the good old days.
Marketers need to rethink the way they communicate to customers and prospects. Quit selling and start listening.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Trends
I guess there is no surprise in this Nielsen/NetRatings study:
“Low-income tradesmen spend more time online from their home computers than do high-paid professionals.“
Makes sense, right? After all, white collar surfs the net while at work, whereas those who work in factories or at construction sites probably don’t have a chance to use the Web while on the job.
Nielsen’s Peggy O’Neill says: “They’re more likely to come home and spend time checking email, chatting online, playing games, and visiting stores than someone who has been online all day long.”
For her research, O’Neill used Claritas Prizm clusters based on ZIP codes and neighborhoods where people live. She looked at the home-based Web surfing habits of all 62 clusters and found that …
the top five Net users were low-income, blue collar workers who burned about 12 hours online per month.
Chatting on instant messenger, clicking through Wal-Mart online and visiting entertainment sites such as Emazing.com were the most popular activities for the top five clusters.
Those who spent the least amount of time online — about seven hours per month — were high-paid professionals.
O’Neill said, “When these people get home, they don’t have a great need to surf the Web.”
What an opportunity! Reaching blue collar consumers at home through the Internet, social and viral media may be the next big idea for emotionally connecting with this broad and loyal audience.
Read more about the study blue collar workers favor home Net use.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Tips
Social media allows B-to-B marketers to “really” talk to professional tradesmen in a way that builds a relationship of trust.
In a one-way conversation, like in a trade ad or a TV ad, the viewer gets information about a product or service delivered in a well-crafted, beautifully produced manner. The presenter has his 30 seconds to make an impact and then it’s all up to the listener to act upon the presentation.
In a two-way conversation, like in any social media space, the reader gets information about a product or service delivered in a simple, approachable manner. The reader seeks what he’s interested in and starts a dialog. With that door open, the reader can ask a question and start a dialog with a presenter he sought. Once the presenter responds, a conversation ensues … and a trusted friendship is often formed.
And wouldn’t you most likely trust the advice of a friend rather than a presenter you don’t know? And by virtue of the fact that YOU sought out this presenter, the bond of trust is even stronger.
—————
