by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 28, 2009 | Marketing Tips
Blake Cahill, VisInsights blog, posted a review of a report from Forrester Research by Jeremiah Owyang, Josh Bernoff, Sean Corcoran, and Steven Noble: Bold Predictions on Social Computing in 2009 from Forrester Research.
Three of the most important highlights from this report that are of interest to Industrial Marketers:
- Social Technology becomes universal. “By end of 2009, more than 85% of US online consumers will be reading or interacting with social content.”
- New technologies will arise that allow platforms including email, the Web, and mobile devices to connect with communities and brands will begin to integrate social applications with traditional marketing campaigns and revise campaigns based on social feedback.
- Static advertising gives way to the flexible marketing campaigns.
Read the report: Bold Predictions on Social Computing in 2009 from Forrester Research
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 28, 2009 | Marketing Tools
How many times have you heard the sales department say sales leads are no good. What they are really saying is they may not be ready to buy now and therefore they aren’t a good lead (as defined by helping me make my numbers for the month).
Ironically, over 50% of all inquiries do have an interest level in what you’re selling, but aren’t ready to buy. What’s aggravating, according to research, is that 80% of not-sales-ready leads are being ignored!
Think about that for a second. If you could convert 10% of these down the road into sales, what would that mean for the company, not to mention the marketing department.
If you’re a manufacturer that makes left-handed widgets for a plumbing application, who in their right mind would inquire about that product unless they thought it would have some application in what they do. Just because they aren’t ready to buy on the spot doesn’t mean they aren’t a qualified lead. The prospect might want more info to see if the application is right for him. If it is, he might want a demo or want to read about how other professionals have used the product.
Angela Hribar, who is the CMO of GlobalSpec, a specialized vertical search information services and e-pubishing company, said in a recent article:
“Senior management can play a vital role in ensuring that a sales team understands the importance of prompt lead follow-up and what it means to business, more so now than ever. Responding to leads in a timely manner can result in increased sales, while delayed follow up can lead to lost opportunities and resources.”
Angela provides 4 tips for effective lead management:
- Assign responsibility. Make lead management a priority and assign someone who has authority and influence with both sales and marketing to be responsible and accountable for it.
- Respond appropriately. Create a central repository for leads, responding to leads in a timely manner, and distributing leads appropriately for follow-up.
- Distribute leads for proper follow-up. Define who is responsible for updating the status of a lead so that at any given time you can determine what’s working and what’s not in terms of lead generation and lead management.
- Monitor leads throughout the sales cycle. Marketing should take control of these (not ready) leads and “nurture” them by sending relevant information and offers: keep them interested with white papers, articles, product announcements, Webinar invitations and other useful information.
B-to-B clients spend billions on advertising activities to generate leads. You can’t afford to allow those leads to slip through the cracks if they are not yet ready to buy, especially in a down economy.
Read Angela’s article: Optimizing Sales Lead Management In The Industrial Marketplace
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 28, 2009 | Marketing Tips
Industrial marketers are often more concerned with how their web site looks than how it will be found. So you did a new site two years ago, included some key words and then put it on auto pilot. SEO is an important component to generate traffic to your site and shouldn’t be neglected, especially in this economy.
Search engines are continually changing and upgrading the ways spiders do their job. I read an article recently by Stephen Riegel. These are his four quick tips to increase your web site’s traffic:
- Eliminate navigation barriers. Spiders prefer easy-to-navigate sites.
- Create an XML sitemap that allows spiders to see what pages exist and how often you update them.
- Check your code. If spiders can’t understand it, they might miss important information.
- Check your title tags as they are among the most important elements of search engine algorithms.
Taking the time to review your sites for SEO is one of the most efficient investments of your time and budget that you can make.
To read Stephen Riegel’s article: Key tactics to maximize your SEO efforts
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 28, 2009 | Marketing Tips
We need to realize that social media is not a fad. The faster B-to-B manufacturers realize that social media isn’t just for “consumers,” the better off they will be.
Social media allows manufacturers to engage customers in more creative ways, build relationships and stay ahead of their competitors.
According to the “The ROI on Social Media Marketing” report from the Aberdeen Group, that Visible Technologies sponsored, 63% of the companies in their survey planned to increase their social media marketing budgets this year. eMarketer estimated that social network advertising alone will rise over 17% this year to $2.35 billion, up from $2 billion in 2008.
“Things are finally starting to change. Companies are learning how to leverage social media and tap into the rising tide of consumers participating in social network sites, blogs, wikis and Twitter.
Marketers have developed the tools and methodologies to drive
marketing ROI by listening to and learning from customers and
prospects. As so, the dollars are following this rising tide,” says Blake Cahill, Visible Technologies.
Five Compelling Facts from the Research, Providing Actionable Benefits for Readers:
- 58% of companies have dedicated resources devoted to social media marketing.
- 61% of companies have online community platforms (e.g., discussion forums, ratings and reviews, etc.).
- 68% of companies increased their investments in social media marketing, while 34% are keeping their investment level the same as last year.
- 84% of companies aim to track and measure the ROI of their social media marketing activities.
by tradespeopleinsights | Mar 28, 2009 | Marketing Tips
When marketing to tradesmen, don’t outspend your competition, outmarket them. Target marketing is more cost-effective and provides better leads.
Most B-to-B marketers have a very finite market, and even within those markets, they have many different audiences and messages to deliver. Sometimes even a targeted trade publication or web site targeted at a specific industry may be too broad a reach.
Today’s technology allows you to specifically target industries, job function, buying influence, geographic and the list goes on and on.
To maximize your budget and generate solid leads, think outside the box from the traditional tactics you’ve used in the past. Here are a couple of examples to kick-start your thinking:
Print Advertising
Instead of taking an ad out in a vertical publication with a circulation of 100,000 design engineers when your product only has applications to a small percentage of the total circulation, why not consider doing an insert targeted at those specific NAICS codes in the magazine, or a targeted e-mail campaign where you can be very specific about the features and benefits and how they could meet their needs.
If your product is technical in nature, again using these targeted techniques, get them to a webinar where you can demo the product with some of the experts back at corporate that know the product inside and out, but don’t have an opportunity to interface with customers very often.
Engineers like to talk to other engineers. They feel more comfortable. Let them set the hook and then let your salesmen begin reeling them in.
Outdoor Advertising
Most B-to-B manufacturers wouldn’t think about using outdoor. But outdoor could be pinpointed so that your message would be seen several times a day. Here’s an example: Suppose a manufacturer of a building material wanted to increase its share in a certain market to union electricians in a certain city. Outdoor could be used outside their union halls or nearby major new building sites where your message could be seen several times a day for an extended number of days.
You get the idea, don’t do the same old thing. To outmarket your competition, you don’t have to outspend them.
Have other examples? Share them in the comments section below.
by tradespeopleinsights | Feb 17, 2009 | Marketing Tools
As the economy softens, all of us are looking for opportunities to expand or protect our position in the marketplace. Researchers and analysts all indicate that digital spending will increase or at least remain the same for 2009.
Marketers are still spending advertising and marketing dollars online because this channel is extremely measurable and can be tied directly to return on investment. To maximize your investments, here are the top 5 ways to invest in your digital channel for 2009:
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Outside of your own primary web site, Google is the next important to most companies. Making sure you rank high for the kind of content your target audience is searching for is critical to generating leads. Every search engine optimization (SEO) strategy begins with the basics: search engine-friendly site design and architecture, and the fundamentals of key word research and content development. Take your SEO strategy to the next level by implementing best practices and staying on top of emerging optimization tactics.
2. Paid Search (Search Engine Marketing)
Targeting key words and phrases for your marketing campaigns can pay off in both the short and long term and is a great complement to SEO. Search advertising with Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Live Search and other providers can be an efficient and effective way to advertise online. Starting with the fundamentals and advancing to expert tactics, you’ll learn how to build and optimize successful pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns. Engaging with a partner in your paid search campaigns can yield 40% or greater ROI.
3. Landing Page Optimization
A landing page is the page that appears when a potential customer clicks on an advertisement or a search-engine result link. The page will usually display content that is a logical extension of the advertisement or link, and that is optimized to feature specific key words or phrases for indexing by search engines. By optimizing your landing pages for SEO, paid search, and e-mail marketing, you can significantly increase conversion and lead capture rates.
4. Don’t Waste Leads
Stop wasting leads that aren’t sales-ready and start using lead nurturing to build relationships so that when they are ready to buy, you’re positioned to win. In a recession, new prospects are less likely to be looking to purchase right away — which means they are less likely to want to talk to a sales rep. Lead nurturing is even more critical in a recession to ensure you convert the precious dollars you spend acquiring prospects into revenue.
5. Engage Your Customers in a Relevant Dialogue
People are looking online for relevant content to their current problems. Start thinking of your web site in terms of what is and what is not relevant to your end-customers and identify and extract thought leadership in your organization. Thought leadership is found in people, not departments and roles. Most organizations have certain employees that always have ideas or are a step ahead of the organization. Incent those employees to come forward and start providing content through your web site to provide value for your customers.
