by tradesmeninsights | Jun 22, 2010 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Sonnhalter is deeply involved with the professional tradesmen. We recently completed an page overview of the HVAC market. The purpose of the document is to give the reader a quick snapshot of the industry, its players and trends for 2010.
Highlights include interviews with editors of the top two trade publications. Also included are association and buying group contacts, trade shows/meetings, industry trends and media publications.
A free copy for download is available. Click here to sign up.
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 17, 2010 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Social media continues to grow to no one’s surprise, and both B-to-B and B-to-C are utilizing this medium at a higher rate than ever before.
Different industries are adopting social at different rates and many haven’t positioned it as one of their top priorities to reach their customers.
I recently read a post by Amy Porterfield from Social Media Examiner, 3 New Studies Prove Social Media Marketing Growth that has some interesting information, a lot of which can relate to those of us trying to reach the professional tradesmen.
Here are some highlights:
Small business doubles social media adoption – from 12 to 24%, and 20% are actively using social media as part of their business strategy.
- 75% have a company page on a social networking site
- 69% post status updates or articles of interest on social media sites
- 57% build a network through a site such as LinkedIn
- 54% monitor feedback about the business
- 39% maintain a blog
- 26% tweet about areas of expertise
- 16% use Twitter as a service channel
Nearly 20% of marketing dollars will go to social over the next 5 years.
- Currently businesses allocate approximately 6% to social
- Next year, they expect to increase it to 10%
- And 18% over the next 5 years
A top goal of marketers: Master social media.
- Top challenge is to identify ROI
- 72% of companies are planning social initiatives in 2010
- Most initiatives will be done internally
- When selecting a vendor for social media, they look for those who influence over a target market and have networks already established
So what are your thoughts? Does your company fit any of these profiles? What are you doing new in social for 2010?
If you like this post, please share with a friend.
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 16, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
I believe LinkedIn is one of the most under-utilized social media tools, and I’d like to share with you my thoughts on how you can make the most of it.
- It’s a way to stay in front of your connections on a regular basis.
- It’s a way to build thought leadership and credibility.
- It’s a way to talk to people who share the same interests that are not in your network.
The LinkedIn webinar shows the ins and outs of LinkedIn for businesses. The webinar shows manufacturers and marketers how to harness the power of this social media tool by teaching how to grow contacts, join groups and use it to promote your thought leadership and ultimately generate leads. If you are in sales, customer service or general management, LinkedIn knowledge is a must in the toolbox of business tools
The webinar will be Tuesday, July 13 at 2 PM EST. Registration is closed.
Please pass this on to business associates.
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 10, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Twitter
I don’t know why people are afraid of Twitter. Most of the world suffers from ADD anyway and wants something short and to the point. Politicians use the 10 second sound bit all the time to grab our attention. Do you know why? Because it works! 10 seconds isn’t a lot of time, so they give us one idea to think about.
Twitter is the ideal platform to state your case and engage your reader. I recently read a post by Cindy King on Social Media Examiner, 12 Tips to Engage People on Twitter, and wanted to share her thoughts. Here are 6 of my favorites:
- Publish Something Useful – Sounds trite but true. Give a fresh perspective to the conversation and see what happens.
- Retweet to Acknowledge Others – This gives them reach and starts the viral effect we all want.
- Answer Other People’s Tweets – You can’t get engaged until someone starts a conversation.
- Ask for Help – Tell people what you’re looking for and you might be surprised as to what comes back.
- Introduce Yourself to New Followers – Make it personal, after all, that’s what social is all about.
- Say Thank You – If someone acknowledges you or retweets your message, say thanks. Beyond being a common courtesy, it starts to build a relationship.
Those are some of the ways I try to engage my followers.
What are some of the ways you use Twitter?
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 8, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Twitter
Contractors are busy people, and the 140-character message is just enough to peak their curiosity and have them click through to your message.
Twitter is one of the social media tools that can be used as a tool for your company’s social media marketing strategy to generate online traffic and a pipeline for new business leads. Over the past year, the leading traffic generator to my blog has been Twitter.
Twitter Usage In America: 2010 is a new report derived from the Edison Research/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Series. This report is derived from three years of tracking data on Twitter usage in the United States. It is filled with rich information that can help guide the use of Twitter for your agency and its clients.
Twitter is more of a broadcast channel than many realize. The majority of users never post anything…but they are definitely reading and clicking.
Here are some highlights from this comprehensive study and its untapped potential for marketing, advertising and your agency’s new business:
- Awareness of Twitter has exploded over the past twelve months. The percentage of Americans who are familiar with Twitter has surged from 5% in 2008 to 87% in 2010. Twitter is a natural “companion medium” to other media channels – in particular, as an accompaniment to live TV.
- Despite equal awareness, Twitter trails Facebook significantly in usage: 7% of Americans (17 million persons) actively use Twitter, while 41% maintain a profile page on Facebook.
- Nearly two-thirds of active Twitter users access social networking sites using a mobile phone.
- Twitter users split between habitual “Tweeters” and those who access occasionally. The majority of Twitter users are “lurkers,” passively following and reading the updates of others without contributing updates of their own but they are listening, reading and clicking.
- Twitter users are far more likely to follow Brands/Companies than social networkers in general. Twitter users frequently exchange information about products and services.
- 51% of active Twitter users follow companies, brands or products on social networks.
- Most (70%) regular Twitter users do post status updates to some social networking service (likely Facebook). Twitter appears to be functioning as more of a broadcast medium compared to Facebook and many other social networking sites and services.
- Marketing and business use cases for Twitter far exceed similar usage for social networking websites in general.
The full 49-page study, full of interesting graphs and data, is available for download: Twitter Usage in America: 2010 – Complete Report
If you like this post, you might find these interesting:
B-to-B Marketers: Tips on How to Optimize Twitter
What Kind of Twitterer Are You?
Twitter: How Useful is This Tool for B-to-B Marketers?
If you like this post, please pass it on.
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 2, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
If you’re reading this blog, then it would be safe to say that you aren’t asking the “why” or “should” we be using social media. What you’re looking for are ways to answer the “where” and “how.”
Companies should follow, not lead their customers in the social media arena. I read a post recently from Jay Baer, one of social media’s thought leaders, Four Ways to Find Out if Your Customers are Active With Social Media, and I thought I’d share some of the highlights:
- Hire a Spy – There are companies out there that track down your customers and see what they are on and to what level (scary thought). Flowtown and Rapleaf are two of the leaders.
- Ask – It’s too obvious, isn’t it? In your regular business conversations, ask if they are active. If you have an online lead generation form, add data fields for LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
- E-mail Behavior – Add links to your social outposts in your e-mails.
- Gmail Stalking – Twitter, Facebook and other outposts have incorporated a function that allows you to see if they are using their services and invite them to connect with you.
If you like this post, you might like:
How B-to-B Marketers Can Make Good Use Out of Facebook Fan Pages.
Follow Companies on Twitter: Keep Tabs on Your Competition or Customers.
Sonnhalter is deeply involved with the professional tradesmen. We recently completed an page overview of the HVAC market. The purpose of the document is to give the reader a quick snapshot of the industry, its players and trends for 2010.