by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 20, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Today we have a guest blog post from Stacy Combest, Marketing Team Leader at WTWH Media.
It’s no secret that social media has become the major player in marketing, but with all the hype, there are still companies not ready to step up to the plate. In the beginning, business-to-consumer companies were reaping all the benefits of social media. Consumers were attracted to the informality of engaging with their favorite brands one on one. However, recently business-to-business companies have started to pay attention to the benefits of using social media.
With that, the distinguished line between B2C and B2B has begun to fade. What we are discovering is that even though we’re interacting with other brands, we know there is a person or team of people behind the name, changing how we interact with them. Rather than targeting the brand alone, B2B social media targets individual influencers either directly related to the brand, the industry or in some cases both.
The goal in targeting the influencers is to shift them into brand ambassadors: people who will share your content, give your company positive reviews and ultimately spread the word about you. The key is to know who your top influencers are, what platforms they use, how to capture their attention and when they are online.
Top influencers typically have a strong social media presence and are industry experts in their own right. They may already be engaging with you often, increasing your success because the relationship has already been established.
Tip 1: Lists are key for success
Make a list of these users (broken down by industry if you’re company is involved in more than one) so you can target them for future campaigns.
It’s important to push your business across many channels; however if you are using Facebook because it’s popular—but your audience isn’t there—it’s a waste of time. LinkedIn is currently the best social platform for B2B companies. Starting out as more or less an online resume, LinkedIn has grown into the place to be for B2B companies because those on it are there for business reasons. You are not going to see pictures of what someone ate last night for dinner or the umpteenth smiling baby. Rather, LinkedIn is a social platform for the professional.
Twitter is another platform growing in popularity within the B2B community. Aside from live tweeting; tools like CoveritLive and Storify give customers real-time updates not only from the company but everyone using a specific hashtag or handle. The number of things you can do with Twitter grows everyday.
Tip 2: Broaden the search and ask for love
Search for top influencers on all the platforms you’re on—you may even find the same influencers on more than one. Invite them to like your page, follow your Storify or share your post. (Chances are…they will!)
The way in which you compose your post is also very important. Each social platform is designed to attract in different ways. Twitter allows 140 characters in a tweet but most successful tweets are fewer than 60. Where Facebook has an unlimited amount of characters, it recommends a character count of around 100. Learn what will attract your influencers based on the industry you’re in. For example, engineers use social media to learn or seek information, so posts that work best are composed in the form of questions.
Tip 3: Learn the lingo
Test the headline of your article on by tweeting multiple titles and seeing which one performs the best.
Finally, timing is everything. You created an amazing social post; it has a beautiful eye-catching image and the perfect call-to-action. You post it on all your platforms at the same time but the next day your impressions are less than 2% of your total following with zero clicks. What did you do wrong? The answer is timing. Everyone uses social media at different times, and diving even deeper, each platform’s traffic is different. The key is to know what times of the day are the most active and post then. You may find that users are on LinkedIn in the mornings but more active on Facebook in the evenings. So the same post will need to be scheduled at different times.
Tip 4: Don’t let your post die in vain
Each platform has an average life for its posts. Facebook is 2-5 hours, Twitter is about 45 seconds (yikes!), Pinterest never dies, and so on. Learn when your customers are online and target your posts during those times, otherwise your hard work will never pay off because no one will ever see it.
All in all, social media is constantly shifting and changing. What worked for you today may not work next year or next month. By continually checking your reports and what’s working, you’ll be able to stay on top of your social media success.
Stacy Combest is the Marketing Team Leader for WTWH Media and has been with the company for three years. After her service with the 350th Psychological Operations Company, she shifted her focus from the military’s version of marketing to winning hearts and minds in the civilian world. Stacy enjoys life in Ohio with her husband and daughter.
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 19, 2015 | Events/Trade Shows
Right now we’re in the middle of our annual Tool Drive supporting the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity. Since our efforts started in 2010, we’ve found amazing support from our clients, partners, friends and community members.
We talked with Kevin Kelly with the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity’s new ReStore location to find out more about him, Habitat for Humanity and their Restores.
Here’s the conversation:
Q. What is your position at Habitat for Humanity?
A. Store Manager at our new Eastside location (4601 Northfield Rd, North Randall).
Q. What is the Habitat for Humanity Restore?
A. Habitat for Humanity Restores are non-profit home improvement stores and donation centers that sell new and gently used appliances, furniture, building materials and house ware items. We sell to the public at a lower cost than retail.
Q. How long have you been with Habitat for Humanity?
A. More than three years. I first started as a volunteer for Habitat.
Q. What are your responsibilities at the Eastside Restore?
A. I manage all aspects of the store including personnel, donations, pricing and sales.
Q. Most memorable moment working for Habitat for Humanity?
A. The most memorable moment was a home dedication. Actually seeing a family get their home for the first time that I helped build. Also working with the many volunteers and companies.
Q. What’s the most unusual donation you’ve receives?
A. The most unusual donation was an X-ray of someone’s broken leg.
Q. Most common donations?
A. The most common donations are household items, appliances, furniture, knickknacks and building materials.
Q. What’s on the Restore donation wish list?
A. Anything and everything.
Q. What’s best about working for Habitat for Humanity?
A. Being able to affect the community in a positive manner.
Q. The Sonnhalter tagline is “Not Afraid to Get Our Hands Dirty.” What is your favorite way to get your hands dirty at Habitat for Humanity?
A. We recently opened the new store and I helped put the store together. This was very rewarding and dirty.
Q. What’s your favorite way to get your hands dirty outside of work?
A. I like working on homes. My son recently purchased a foreclosed home and we fixed many aspects of the home. It was a lot of fun working with him on the project and purchasing many of the items from the Habitat ReStore.
Q. Anything else to add?
A. We are grateful to Sonnhalter for the annual collection and donation of tools. We truly understand the work involved and appreciate their time and generosity toward the Habitat mission.
If you’re interested in participating in the Sonnhalter Tool Drive, visit sonnhalter.com/tooldrive or contact us to find out more.
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 18, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman at Sonnhalter
Video is a powerful tool. Consumers view more than 8 billion videos a day on YouTube and Facebook. That alone should tell you something – that people like videos. Why should you use short videos to attract the professional tradesman? Show how to solve a problem or demo a new tool or application.
Although there’s no specific research for the B-to-B sector, and more specifically to the professional tradesman, I think it would be safe to assume that these folks like to watch them as well. Here are 12 tips for effective tradesman videos. By using testimonials and showing how a product is used, videos also help move prospects through the sales process.
A recent study was done by Animoto of 1,000 consumers on how they interact with and feel about companies who use videos. Here are some highlights:
- 25% of consumers lose interest in a company if they don’t use video.
- Email open rates can increase by up to 50% if video is included.
- 75% believe a video describing a service is important.
- 80% believe a demo video is helpful.
How are you using video to help you sell?
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 13, 2015 | Events/Trade Shows
Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect at Sonnhalter
National Manufacturing Day, or MFG Day, is October 2nd, which may feel like a long way off from right now, but you should start planning today.
If you’re a manufacturer, you should plan an event. Not sure what type of an event to plan? There are a variety of options for hosting an event, ranging from full day tours and sessions to half day learning seminars, or even 1-hour presentations.
If you’re not a manufacturer, you should attend an event. You can find Manufacturing Day events in your area using this interactive map.
If you’re planning to host an event for MFG Day in October, here are a few tips to make it successful:
- Set goals for your event. Do you want to improve your company’s image in the community? Do you need to recruit new talent? Do you want to contribute to changing the image of manufacturing? Figure out what you want to accomplish with your event and then create your plan.
- Identify your target audience(s). Based on the needs of your organization, some potential audiences to invite include local technical school and high school administration, faculty and students; local and regional politicians; local and trade media; family and friends of your employees and/or the local community as a whole.
- Put together a simple agenda. Include time to introduce your company and tailor your event to the audience that you’re inviting.
- Plan informative and interactive activities. Facility tours, brief presentations on different roles and Q&A sessions are easy to arrange and are effective.
- Promote your event. Be sure to list your event with mfgday.com, use your network to promote, and personally invite your target audience and promote your event through your existing channels including on your website and social media.
Not available on October 2nd? No problem! Pick a day that works for you and invite the people you want to reach to an event.
The manufacturing sector still faces a myriad of misconceptions. Initiatives like MFG Day provide a great opportunity to dispel myths and shed some light on what the industry is really like.
Will you be hosting or attending an event for MFG Day?
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 12, 2015 | Marketing Trends
Today, we have a guest blog from Jessica Kane of Federal Steel Supply, Inc., discussing some of the new innovations expected to shape the future of the construction industry.
New angles are being used for the advancement of construction design that will most likely be widespread within the next 50 years. Designers and architects are implementing new trends that could very well be profitable in building spaces for new offices and living establishments. Here are just a few:
One Stop Design
One trend that is already in play is the single design model. A common practice in planning is having an architect create construction documents. They are then handed over to the contractors to be edited and executed. This entire process is now shifting to be done all in one place to save time and money. So, all the outlining, engineering and construction plans are set and submitted to be built directly afterward.
Sustainable and Efficient Solutions
Being energy efficient is a constant concern in construction. So when new buildings are going up, construction around the world has established new ideas on how to conserve. New facades have been used to produce energy through a solar collection and to provide a natural cooling system. For instance, a designer in Melbourne, Australia, has developed a system which includes an outer layer of a side of a building that contains solar panels that shift to collect energy from the sun and provides optimal shading. Another useful technique that has become a sustainable solution in providing energy is the innovation of utilizing the shade of building faces, as seen in Hamburg, Germany. A residential establishment has microalgae installed within glass panels that collects solar energy and creates heat through the process of photosynthesis. The panels can also be shifted in order to provide natural cooling to the building.
Large 3D Printed Structures
Constructing large structures using a 3D printer has been on the minds of the industry since its initial success in quickly building smaller housing units. Large structures are being composed by 3D printers, but only in part. The MIT Media Lab is finding that results from printing a large building are often rugged and contorted. The product is sanded down and filled with concrete to stabilize the structure. Through these new and innovative projects, engineers are adapting to new technologies for quick and economical production.
Drone Assistance
Building firms are using drones more frequently to help with inspections and material delivery. Drones can provide high accuracy inspections in hard-to-reach areas that can prove dangerous and costly if performed by a human. Drones help in collecting data, executing sophisticated design strategies and accurate data transmission needed by engineers. The construction of complex drones would become crucial in downtime reduction, because it would cause fewer accidents and enhance workflow speed at construction sites.
Adding on with Permanent Modular Construction
Permanent modular construction is the process of constructing buildings offsite (60-90 percent of the building) in a factory-controlled environment which is then moved to its final building site. While this exists now, more of this type of construction will become prominent as it becomes more sustainable and leaves less material waste, less site disturbance and provides more flexibility and reuse of materials. In addition, modular construction has an accelerated construction process due to its ability to have site work conducted simultaneously. Because modular construction is built offsite and needs to be transported to its final location, the quality of the building is higher than that of an on-site building, because it has to withstand transportation and installation requirements. Modular construction allows for add-ons later in the process. For example, instead of constructing a 100,000-square-foot building, you can build a 25,000-square-foot building and later make additions to increase the size. It’s this flexibility that makes it prime for a bright future in the construction industry.
by tradespeopleinsights | Aug 11, 2015 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Architect at Sonnhalter
Periscope, Meerkat, Hangouts, YouTube Live, etc. are all names that are appearing more and more in social media marketing news. Many in the B2T (and B2B) space may not even be familiar with those names, or have heard them and wonder what they are.
At the end of the day all of these apps and services do basically the same thing: Live video streaming.
The concept of livestream is by no means new, we’ve been doing live webinar and video conferences for years. The transition of livestreaming from desktop to mobile for more than just FaceTime and Skype is what’s making these services newsworthy.
Here are a few applications where live video streaming can be beneficial to your business:
1. Webinars
2. Meetings (for shareholders, employees, partners, etc.)
3. Large public announcements (product launches and large announcements)
4. Presentations
5. Virtual press conferences
6. Conferences
7. Live Q&A sessions
8. Focus groups
Obviously many of these applications are cross-functional. Livestreaming can be an effective way to get everyone in one place in a business or industry that can be geographically scattered.
The service you select for livestreaming depends on your needs and capabilities, including:
- Your audience size
- Equipment
- Mobile device capabilities
- Public vs. closed audience
- Interactivity needs
- Recording needs
I personally recommend recording anything you stream live, even if it’s a closed meeting. Keep a library of your videos for your own records, to share with anyone who missed the event, for later promotion on YouTube or Vimeo, to provide as a resource and for reference for various content development needs.
If you’re hosting webinars, services such as GoTo Webinar, WebEx and others are probably still the best option as they are primarily for screen sharing of presentations. For live Q&A events or virtual press conferences, Hangouts and YouTube live may be best, but apps like Meerkat and Periscope also work. Meerkat and Periscope can be great options for streaming presentations via mobile devices at an offsite location.
Regardless of the service you use to live stream, here are a few tips for an improved experience for your audience:
- Make sure audio is clear
- Keep the video device stable
- Start streaming before the event officially starts and end after the event ends
- Incorporate your livestream into your social media promotion
- Make sure users can easily access the stream
- Record for future use
Do you have experience with livestreaming? What tips would you share?
