by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Trends
An overwhelming majority (88%) of marketers say they are using some form of social media to market their business, though 72% of those using it say they have only been at it a few months or less, according to a social media study by Michael Stelzner, sponsored by the upcoming Social Media Success Summit 2009.
Mediabuyerplanner just released a post that outlines details of new research that should make B-to-B marketers sit up and take notice. Highlights include:
- The #1 benefit of social media marketing is gaining more attention for their business.
- Improving traffic and growing marketing lists is second.
- More than 50% said a major benefit was a rise in search engine rankings.
- 88% of marketers are employing some form of social media.
- 90% of business owners are most likely to use social media.
- 72% say they just started using social media
What does all of this mean for the B-to-B marketer? It means if you aren’t already on the bus, you’d better get on soon!
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Tools
In the world of social media, it’s almost impossible to stay on top of everything and still do your day job. As a blogger, writing is probably the least time-consuming activity on a daily basis. I spend more time reading, researching what’s happening in the industries we serve, and monitoring the social network to see what they’re saying about us. These are all very much of the “blogging process.”
Darren Rowse recently posted Set up alerts to monitor what’s happening in your niche, and offered some tips we could all use to help us manage our time better. These tools help you keep on top of your competition, your company and industries you serve.
Here are 5 reasons why alert tools are so important to keep you ahead of the game:
- Generate ideas for content. We all are looking for ways to keep those blogs coming. By using alerts, you can monitor the industry and events as well as other bloggers you respect that might spur an idea or opinion for a post.
- Breaking news. Alerts let you stay on top of when your competitor launches a new product for the professional tradesman. Or how about a major industry shake up? Wouldn’t you like to be one of the first to know breaking news?
- Becoming an expert. Hopefully one of your objectives is to be known in your market as an expert. Alerts help you stay up on the latest info and you then become a “go to” source for industry info. I can’t think of a better way to build your profile.
- Networking. Alerts allow you see what others are saying and you can make connections and build relationships with other bloggers that share the same common interest.
- Watching your back. Alerts let you find out quickly what they are saying about you, your products, your competition. Blogs help you monitor both the good and bad comments sooner than later.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 16, 2009 | Marketing Tools
Social media is not going away and a good number of B-to-B marketers haven’t figured this out yet.
Engagement marketing is developing a two-way conversation with a customer or prospect.
Engagement happens when people look forward to hearing from you and find your communications meaningful and helpful.
Engagement marketing creates a common purpose between a manufacturer and its customers. It’s not a “Push” or “Pull” strategy, rather a collaborative one.
Someone is currently engaging your customer. Is it you or your competition?
Econsultancy found that fewer than 50% of companies actually have a defined customer engagement strategy.
I read an interesting white paper recently from Silverpop titled, B-to-B engagement , that outlines 10 tactics that benefit you from the engagement process. Here are the highlights:
- Web2.0. Allows customers to easily communicate with other users as well as the company.
- Spread the load over multiple channels. You need more than a strong pay-for-click strategy. You need prospects to stay for awhile and one of the best ways is to offer them an e-newsletter.
- Monitor the marketplace. You’d better because your customers are. Read blogs relevant to your industry. Find out what the industry is buzzing about and then comment on it. Use your blog research to capture posts about you and your competitors.
- Work the Web. You need to set yourself apart which means in most cases reworking your site to be customer centric instead of marketing centric. An engaged site talks to individuals.
- Leverage your sales team. I don’t know of a successful marketing program that didn’t include the sales force. They are in the trenches every day and know what’s on customers minds. Ask them as they will be the least expensive and most reliable source of market information.
- Incorporate customer conversations. Issues they bring up will resonate with prospects. Customer testimonials are a good way to start conversations with prospects.
- Uniform messaging. This is marketing 101. When you do an e-mail or banner ad program and send the potential to a micro site, make sure the messaging stays constant.
- Build a community. Customers and potentials alike need somewhere where they can discuss issues that are common to both. Foster this by offering them a place to do it, like a forum on your web site. If they’re talking, wouldn’t you think it best to have access to what they’re saying?
- Encourage input. Continually seek info from both customers and prospects. Send surveys, polls, make calls, talk to them at trade shows or conventions and ask for their feedback.
- Drive relationships through data. A richly nuanced database of both customers’ and prospects’ interactions are fuel that drives engagement marketing.
Conclusion: The more engaged a company is with its marketplace, the better the chances of generating sales. The new demand – generations and management technologies provide unique opportunities to touch customers and prospects.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 16, 2009 | Marketing Tips
Once someone goes to your web site, what reason do they have to go back?
I think most of you will agree that once a tradesman has been to your site and got the product info or downloaded some basic info, they normally don’t come back because you haven’t given them a reason to.
Want to scare upper senior management? Go to them with this idea: Make your blog the center piece of your online marketing.
You might initially think that this is a bold concept and many people haven’t considered the possibility of giving up their web site (or their job). I’d imagine for most bigger companies, that would be a hard sell upstairs.
Social media quarterbacked by your blog will bring you more readership and that translates into more opportunities. Think about it. Most everything you have on the web would work on a blog.
Here’s an idea on how to test it without scaring the powers to be. If you have a microsite targeted to a specific trade, niche, product or service, you can check the metrics of how many and how often users go that site, and when they are there, where they go. So you have benchmark data already set up. Now start a blog to that same group of tradesmen, add the same content from your current web site and check the numbers in 3 months.
I’d be willing to bet a good steak dinner that when you look at the metrics for the blog, it will far outperform the web site. Two main reasons for this are that you’re drawing more people because of the content and you’re interacting with them.
Something important to remember is that content is written differently for blogs than the web. Successful blogs write from the benefit angle instead of the capabilities angle which engages the users quicker.
Conclusion: Don’t just make your blog a journal you keep on a daily basis, make it one of the most powerful tools in you marketing tool box.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 14, 2009 | Marketing Tools
Twitter isn’t just for the 20-somethings to follow or be followed. It’s fast becoming a business tool and B-to-B companies need to understand its benefits and start using it.
A friend of mine reminded me that contractors of all kinds have been using the pre-cursor of Twitter for many years – It’s called Nextel, their way of instantly staying connected. Professional tradesmen have had the need to stay connected for years and Twitter is just one more way they can accomplish that.
Here are some highlights of 5 that would have direct applications to manufacturers who want to reach the professional tradesmen:
- Foster customer loyalty. Companies can search tweets from their customers to see what questions or critiques they may have.
- Launch viral marketing campaigns. Encourage users to join you on Twitter in order to receive exclusive updates and new product news first.
- Enhance impact at trade shows. Offer exclusive content and insights from the trade show floor.
- Network with customers. Companies that tweet on a consistent basis tend to generate a larger audience on Twitter.
- Promote product and services. By simply writing a short message, they get the point across.
by tradespeopleinsights | Apr 13, 2009 | Marketing Tools
Reaching tradesmen through social media is very different from your traditional methods.
A recent Forrester research report highlighted the fact that a majority of B-to-B decision makers were going online to find information, and only 25-30% of the marketers were using social media.
Here’s a simple question: Are your customers online? If so, you should be considering social media strategies.
The business world is continuously moving online. Businesses are made up of people who make business decisions and look online for information. Shouldn’t you find those people who are important to you and make sure your company info is found in all the relevant places? Will they find you online, other than your web site?
The top 3 highlights of social media:
1. Social media is easy to use and even easier to manage and measure. You’re usually dealing with a defined audience with common interests especially in a B-to-B situation. Social media’s ability to engage niche audiences should be an essential strategy in your marketing plan.
2. Social media is cost effective. There are minimal outside costs for set-ups, with most being free. The most expensive thing will be someone’s time to write and monitor it. It is a way of very quickly and inexpensively doing some primary research and establishing metrics.
3. Social media is engaging. It’s not a one-way street rather a two-way conversation. Conversations build into relationships, relationships build trust, and who would you rather buy from, someone you know and trust, or an online shopping cart?
B-to-B marketers need to remember:
The voice and manner you approach social media is different from what you’re used to. You’re not doing a hard sell with features and benefits.
Instead you’re giving out info on applications, quick tips to solve problems and asking the reader questions to engage a conversation. No trade ad or web site does that.
