by tradesmeninsights | Dec 21, 2022 | Tradesmen Insights
Season’s greetings, from the Sonnhalter team! We are grateful for another successful year, and we couldn’t have done it without our wonderful clients, business partners and friends like you. The Sonnhalter team will be taking some time off over the holidays from December 24th to January 2nd. We hope that you enjoy this holiday season and time with your family and friends! We’ll see you in 2023! Sonnhalter, your B2T partner – let’s build something together.
by tradesmeninsights | Dec 13, 2022 | Trades, Tradesmen Insights
By: Kylie Stanley, PR Technician
Certainly, you are aware that we are in the midst of a manufacturing skills gap. Currently within the industry, manufacturing jobs remain empty and companies are unable to find workers who have the knowledge.
Not to mention, the pandemic also contributed to manufacturing jobs vanishing, and now the manufacturing field will be set back decades from the loss.
Propel developed an article and a resource tool to give some insight into the issue and how we can solve it.
The top four causes of the manufacturing gap include:
- The false job perception
- Lack of technology skill sets
- Retiring baby boomers
- Blue collar work avoidance
When it comes to manufacturing, many people have varying perceptions of what it entails. With these perceptions, people have an idea of what a manufacturing job looks like, but it’s not always accurate. Perceptions of the job can lead to young people not wanting to work in the manufacturing field.
After the perception comes the lack of technology skills. In today’s job market, companies are wanting workers who have several skills to bring to the table. In most cases, workers who are already in the manufacturing field can’t afford to learn additional skills.
A lot of baby boomers are starting to retire, which leads to jobs being empty, and it doesn’t help that younger people don’t want to work in blue collar jobs. Today, there is a stigma surrounding blue collar jobs and most people view it as people who are less educated, however, that’s far from the truth.
Check out the complete article from Propel to learn more about the manufacturing gap and tools to help.
Want to read more about the skills gap?
by tradesmeninsights | Dec 6, 2022 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Tradesmen Insights
By Stella Russel, guest blogger
Does the industry affect SEO? This is a fundamental question to answer because it may seem like SEO is universal, no matter what your website is about. While that is correct to some extent, there are also substantial SEO differences from one industry to another. This is mainly because the essential ranking component of SEO is content. Since content will depend on the nature of your business, it becomes clear that industry does play an important role. With that in mind, we want to talk about SEO tips for industrial companies in 2022 and how they can help you reshape your business!
Define Your Targeted Audience
As a B2B company, your targeted audience is not the same as for B2C businesses. The entire business model is entirely different, and you need to consider that when doing SEO.
One of the best ways to approach this process is to try to imagine your perfect customer. Ask yourself, what would you like to see in a client?
This is a good starting point, but it is not the only step. Once you have outlined your ideal client, try to look at your business from a client’s perspective. What would you, as a client, want from an industrial company? Many businesses fail to present their offers properly, which is one of the top deal killers for B2B buyers.
Once you understand the needs of the business and the needs of the customer, you can develop a specific customer profile that you need to target with SEO.
How to Define the Right Keywords
The industrial industry has its own set of important keywords. Once you define your targeted audience, determining the keywords will be much easier because you already know what the clients want.
Although, there is a word of caution here. We need to explain the definition of “knowing what the client wants”. Your client may want a few different things when it comes to a B2B industrial business. That is why you will need to define a range of their interests.
Let us say you are selling some machinery. For example, your clients might want to:
- purchase a machine;
- inquire about the use of a machine;
- differentiate various types of machines;
- learn how to maintain machines;
- find repair services;
- maybe even resale machines;
This is your range of customer needs and the base for creating keywords. Each of these points may be a different targeted group of customers.
When it comes to actual keywords, you need to create both short-tail and long-tail keywords.
Short-tail keywords are very useful but also harder to come up with. This is mainly because other companies in the industry use the same keywords.
On the other hand, long-tail keywords that usually consist of three to five words are more precise. You can specifically formulate the way clients search for a specific product.
Furthermore, long-tail keywords can also include the location and specific intent of the client.
Here are some SEO tips for industrial companies when coming up with keywords:
- An example of a short-tail keyword might be industrial machinery.
- And an example of a long-tail keyword might be industrial machinery for sale Cleveland.
In the second example, you are clearly defining the product (industrial machines), the type of service (purchase), and the location (Cleveland).
Use Videos to Boost Your SEO Efforts
Search engine optimization is just one step in creating a perfect buyer’s journey. This is how a client will discover your business. Since we all know how important first impression is, you want to ensure that it impacts the customer.
One way to do this is through the power of video. It is no secret that people watch video instructions much more than read them. Furthermore, a video does not require 100% attention, meaning the user can listen to it while doing other stuff. Another huge benefit, especially for industrial companies, is that a video perfectly explains how machines work, the maintenance process, and so on.
You can improve the buyer’s journey and boost your SEO efforts by implementing videos. Google simply loves the use of videos. Just remember to include your keywords in the video titles.
Do Not Forget About Meta Descriptions
Metadata is a crucial element of SEO. When a user does a search query, they get a link to a page and a short description of that same page. That is a meta description. It is a brief summary of what users can expect when they click the link.
A meta description should be punctual, concise, and engaging. It should directly tell the customer what to expect. The best tip is to keep it short and sweet, so you inform your clients and, at the same time, intrigue them. The meta description should help them decide to click on the link.
Make Sure That Your Website is Technical Without Errors
Even though SEO and digital marketing play a crucial role in advertising, it is equally important that your website is up and running without any issues. Slow loading speed or 404 errors are the quickest way to lose clients.
Also, websites that load fast rank much higher on Google. That is because the backend code is written correctly, and all the elements are optimized to improve the loading speed.
You Must Have a Mobile Version of Your Website
This should go without saying, but you need a mobile website version. This is the first thing that Google checks, and mobile websites rank higher than desktop versions.
Furthermore, clients use smartphones more often and need a mobile version.
SEO Tips for Industrial Companies in 2022 Made Simple
And there you have it. There are many ways to improve your SEO efforts, but these SEO tips for industrial companies in 2022 will make your life easier. Understand that SEO is a process that requires constant audits and maintenance. With that in mind, take your time to do it the right way!
Stella Russel is an experienced blogger and copywriter. For the last six years, she’s been writing articles for various clients, mostly in the field of online business development, SEO and digital marketing. In her free time, she likes to travel and experience new cultures.
by tradesmeninsights | Nov 29, 2022 | Tradesmen Insights
CLEVELAND – November 2022 – Sonnhalter, a communications firm marketing to the professional tradesman in the construction, industrial and MRO markets, received more than $40,000 worth of donations from Supply Smart to benefit the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity.
Supply Smart is a nationwide distributor of residential plumbing and HVAC products for the professional. The donation consisted of more than 25 pallets of faucets, sinks, bath, drain and plumbing supplies.
“Even though our tool drive was officially over, we received a generous donation–the largest single donation we’ve received since we started our annual tool drives–from Supply Smart that traveled from Texas all the way to Cleveland,” said Matt Sonnhalter, vision architect at Sonnhalter. “We are thankful for Supply Smart’s donation of plumbing and HVAC products, and we know that they will go to great use for Habitat for Humanity.”
“Supply Smart and Sonnhalter came together for a great cause to benefit the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity,” said Rafael De La Cruz, marketing strategy & content manager. “We were more than happy to donate more than 25 pallets of supplies and we’re already looking forward to next year.”
The items donated will benefit Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity and be used on Habitat for Humanity projects or will be sold at one of the organization’s ReStores.
For more information on Sonnhalter’s Tool Drive to support Habitat for Humanity, visit: Sonnhalter.com/tooldrive and to view the donation, visit: https://youtu.be/Tih2_C_RXcI
About Sonnhalter
Established in 1976, Sonnhalter is the leading B2T marketing communications firm to companies that target professional tradesmen in construction, industrial and MRO markets. Sonnhalter is located in the historic Brownell Building in the heart of downtown Cleveland. Sonnhalter’s brand identity highlights its expertise in marketing to the professional tradesmen. Its tagline, “Not Afraid To Get Our Hands Dirty,” promotes the employees’ willingness to roll up their sleeves and dig deep into clients’ businesses, also, it refers to the market it targets: the tradesmen who work with – and dirty – their hands every day. Sonnhalter developed the acronym “B2T,” which stands for “business-to-tradesmen” to capture the essence of its specialty. For more information, visit the company website at Sonnhalter.com.
About Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity
Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity engages people of all faiths to eliminate substandard housing. Cleveland Habitat was founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1987. Since then, Cleveland Habitat has brought together community members, volunteers and sponsor groups to help more than 300 Habitat homeowners, including more than 1,000 children, have a safe and decent place to live. For more information on Great Cleveland Habitat for Humanity, visit: https://www.clevelandhabitat.org/.
About Supply Smart
With five strategically located warehouses, Supply Smart is a nationwide distributor of residential plumbing and HVAC products for the professional. When the business was originally founded, it was their goal to deliver essential plumbing supplies to the contractor’s doorstep, as quickly as possible. Over 18 years later, its mission is still the same, visit: https://www.supplysmart.com/.
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by tradesmeninsights | Oct 25, 2022 | Marketing Trends, Tradesmen Insights
by ISURUS, guest blogger
“The best thing about doing this is that I got to have coffee with my Dad in the barn every morning until he passed. Now I have that cup of coffee with my son and will as long as he stays involved.”
This statement paints a clear and vibrant picture of a small business owner’s emotional drivers. It surfaced in a series of qualitative in-depth interviews and encapsulates an emotional theme that ran through the interviews. It speaks to one of this audience’s core values and influences even their most rational decisions. B2B marketers hunger for these types of insights as they look for ways to bring a human element to their messaging and positioning.
The resonance of the theme and its usefulness for developing customer personas and journeys stems from the methodology that uncovered it – qualitative in-depth interviews. B2B marketers and their agency partners often face resistance from internal stakeholders who doubt the value of insights that aren’t expressed as a statistical projection of the market. But in-depth interviews provide the time and format that enable an individual to make the journey from superficial reactions to overly rational answers, and finally to what it means to them personally. As a full disclosure, it’s not always as clear or powerful as connecting with a father who has passed on but relative to surveys, big data and social listening – it gets you closer to the human side of the B2B buyer.
This is not a criticism of surveys, VOC programs, and other more quantitative methodologies. We routinely use those approaches because they provide robust insights needed for branding, market sizing, pricing, and bundling strategies. But when you want to understand the human side of a B2B buyer, qualitative in-depth interviews are one of the best tools in the research tool box.
But having a tool in your tool box isn’t enough. You need to use the tool correctly. The most common mistake B2B marketers make when using qualitative in-depth interviews is to treat it like a survey and create a list of 50 specific questions. You also cannot simply ask, “How does xyz make you feel? How does it connect to you as a person?”.
So, what should you ask? (more…)
Marketing is oftentimes the first budget cut during an economic downturn, albeit counterintuitive because this is when you need to do MORE marketing. When recovery happens, everything will be ready and working for you. Did you know that it takes about six to nine months for Google to rank and index you for a search? Then, you need to maintain that, and if you don’t, your ranking dips quickly. Your marketer will be back to square one when the economy ticks back upward. The same way you don’t waste time on rework on your plant floor, don’t unnecessarily rework marketing.