by tradesmeninsights | Jun 2, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
There are over 152 million blogs – how do you identify and communicate with the right ones to get in front of the professional tradesman? The first question to answer is are your products or services applicable to your end users using social media? If the answer is “yes,” then your goal should be to identify the right communities, monitor them and jump in and get involved!
If social is to be a part of your media relations strategy, you must remember that different rules apply to social:
- Your Brand can be affected positively or negatively. Remember you don’t control the message.
- Your Brand depends on the “loyalists” who are passionate about you.
- Key Blogs or social sites are authored by thought leaders from your industry.
You need to develop the right strategies based on the importance of social media in your overall communications plan. Cision has issued a white paper, Staying Afloat in a Sea of Social Media, that gives a good overall view of how to manage and monitor social media.
All blogs are not created equal. Do comprehensive research as to the communities you might want to get involved in and then monitor them. If they seem to be talking about relevant topics, jump into the conversation. Social media demands transparency, so be honest in your engagement. Here are a few sites that may be of interest to those going after the professional tradesman:
Blog references:
http://contructionmarketingblog.org
http://darrenslaughter.com
http://constuctionmarketingideas.com
http://tradeshub.mikeroweworks.com
http:/dirtpail.com
http://www.plantengineering.com/blogs.html
http://www.myplumbingportal.com/blog.html
http://facilityexecutive.com/facilityblog/
http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/
http://myfacilitiesnet.com/
Remember that just because you’re using social media, the basic rules of marketing still apply. You must identify your universe, communicate to them clearly, engage in conversations, monitor comments, evaluate and respond.
I’d like to hear from you. What interesting communities have you come across that reach the professional tradesman?
by tradesmeninsights | May 31, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
Twitter still remains a mystery to most B-to-B marketers. There are so many tools out there that it often overwhelms a prospective user.
I ran across a great article recently by Gabrielle Conde called, The Ultimate Guide to Twitter Marketing that pretty much sums it up in a very organized manner.
She covers everything from the basics of what Twitter is, how to set up an account, the Twitter mindset, getting followers and building a marketing strategy.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
5 Twitter Tools to Help Manufacturers Generate New Business
How to use Twitter to Find New Business
by tradesmeninsights | May 26, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
We have used webinars successfully for several years now to promote new services and to share industry information and trends. They are a great tool to get the message out to many people at one time, and then you have the ability to archive them for people to come and view at their leisure.
Webinars are effective, and to get the most bang for your buck, you really need to cross the T’s and dot the I’s. There’s a lot that goes into a successful webinar starting with the topic itself. You need to give the professional tradesmen something they can take and make their own.
Andrew Spoeth from Marketo recently had an interesting post, How to Manage Successful Webinars: A Checklist that has several good points that you may want to look at.
I’m going to outline my top 10 tips on ways to improve your webinars:
- Build a great landing page – Clearly state your value proposition up front so the reader can see what’s in it for him.
- Set the time for the webinar outside of normal business hours – Let’s face it, these contractors have to make a living and they have crews to supervise. Consider doing a webinar later in the day, say around 4 PM. That way a contractor may have some of his tradesmen also sit in on the session. It’s better to inconvenience you than your customer.
- Registration form – Make it easy and don’t ask 20 questions in order for them to sign up.
- Give them an option of getting a copy of the slides without attending the actual webinar – In the world of contractors, shit happens and they may not be able to attend. This will get you their contact info for further follow-up.
- Use Social media – Both in the actual sign-up form so they can invite their friends, but also use it to promote the event.
- Promote – You need to build a schedule and build a good series of reasons why these tradesmen need to attend.
- Get your sales force and distributors involved – Have them pass out postcard size flyers when making calls and talk it up. If a distributor does a monthly newsletter or has a site, have him put it on there as a co-sponsor. You do all the work and he shares in the credit.
- Practice, practice, practice – Try to keep the presentation 20-30 minutes long and allow time for questions even though they may be via e-mail.
- Design a follow-up e-mail– Have yourself graded on the topic, how it was presented and what they might like as future topics.
- Get those names out to your sales force and distribution network for follow-up – Everyone should have at least had a phone message within a week.
Those are my thoughts. The key to a successful webinar is good planning.
If you like this post, you may want to read:
Webinars: Tips on How to Promote using E-mail.
Why Webinars are a Good Marketing Tool to Reach the Tradesman
by tradesmeninsights | May 24, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
One of the biggest challenges marketers face, especially in the B-to-B market, is trying to sell something to their bosses who don’t really understand. Social media falls into that category more times than not. It’s hard for management to allocate resources to something they don’t have their arms around.
So you need a plan, and I recently read Social Marketing to the Business Customer by Eric Schwartzman and Paul Gillin that outlines some tips on helping you get both a budget and resources to get the job done. Here are some highlights:
- Identify your target buyers keywords – Identify and track words that would identify a potential sale. For example, if you were in the material handling business and the key words “new lift trucks” came up, there might be an opportunity for you to start a conversation.
- Evaluate your customers, suppliers and most importantly, your competitors – If you can show your bosses that other folks in your market are utilizing social media, it will help in making your case. We usually offer to do, for clients or potentials, a quick audit of their competitors, key words and phrases in their space to see what kind of activity there is.
- Position social media as an extension of your current marketing efforts – Social is just another tool in the marketing tool box so make sure you integrate it into current efforts.
- Support the existing culture – If your management gets social media it will be easier to sell and monitor activities. If they are less familiar they will want more control as well as metrics. Fortunately, it’s the most measurable media out there.
Bottom line is, do your homework to show that social is being used by your customers and competitors. Show them who’s on Twitter or is blogging. Pull up a mobile app or show them a relevant group on LinkedIn or a forum they should be participating in with your customers. The more tangible example, the better.
by tradesmeninsights | May 17, 2011 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
The professional tradesmen don’t go anywhere without their cell phones, and there’s a good chance that those phones are smartphones (50% of Americans will own a smartphone by the end of 2011). They depend on them everyday on the jobsite. So are you missing an opportunity?
I recently read a post by Heidi Cohen, 6 Must-Do Mobile Marketing Tactics that outlined some things for you to consider if you’re contemplating getting into mobile apps. Here are some highlights as they would apply to the professional tradesmen:
- Understand your goals – You need to determine your strategy and how it fits into your existing marketing plan.
- Know your market – Beyond identifying your audience, you need to figure out what kinds of things would be most useful for a contractor of a jobsite.
- Mobile websites – Make sure your existing website is formatted for mobile. Make sure the content you do have there is applicable to the contractor’s “on the go” needs. Make fields larger, make sure you have your logo and encourage action.
- Mobile search – Beyond your normal optimization, combine with mobile CTR. Don’t forget to to include local content like where the closest distributor of your products are.
- Mobile e-mails – Since e-mails are the most used application, why not develop an e-mail plan specifically for mobile? If your sales guys are demoing a new product at a local Depot, let them know about it and offer them a discount coupon for stopping by.
These are just some ideas on how to capitalize on mobile. If you’ve got an existing mobile program going on, I’d like to hear what you’re doing.
If you like this post you might like:
Mobile Marketing for B-to-B: Change in the Air(waves)
56 Mobile Marketing Facts
by tradesmeninsights | May 12, 2011 | Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Thought leadership starts with establishing a point of view.
I would imagine that most of us would like to be considered a thought leader in our respective business categories. A thought leader gains credibility with the market and over time becomes a trusted source.
The key word is over time as this is a long-term commitment on your part. If you’re going to make that kind of commitment, you need to have a plan. GlobalSpec has a good white paper, How to Become a Thought Leader in the Online Era, that’s worth reading.
Here are some highlights:
- What is your company’s position on how the industry you’re in is changing?
- What kind of challenges will your customers be facing?
- How are you addressing these issues that will affect the industry?
- What kinds of innovations are coming down the road that might impact the industry?
- What differentiates your company from the pack?
You need to draw a line in the sand and make a statement. If you start by answering the questions above, it will get you going down the right path. Once you have a point of view, it’s important to communicate that through your existing marketing and PR efforts, both traditional as well as social.
I’d like to hear what you’re doing to become a thought leader in your industry.
