by tradesmeninsights | Mar 30, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
Webinars are a way to leverage the Internet and are becoming a more acceptable way of communicating to both existing as well as new customers. We use them to promote new products and services, as well as present industry events and overviews. Many of our clients also use them for training.
When doing webinars, make sure you capitalize on using e-mails to get your message out. Here are a few tips:
- Invitation – Make it easy for people to opt-in and link to register. Make sure you don’t forget the basics like date and time.
- KIS-Keep It Simple – Tell them what’s in it for them up front. Highlight the speaker(s) credentials.
- Testimonials – If you’ve done the webinar before, get a quote from an attendee that can be used in the invite.
- Send reminders – It usually takes several touches to get people to sign up. Change the subject line and first paragraph.
- Capture webinar – Turn it into a webcast on your site.
- Follow up – Make sure you send attendees a follow-up survey to see how you did. This is a great way to improve for the next time.
What are some things you do to make sure your webinars are a success?
by tradesmeninsights | Mar 25, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
From time to time I post some of the more popular posts to refresh the ideas for those who might have read them and for those who haven’t had a chance to look at some of the more popular ones. Enjoy.
- Many tradespeople feel they don’t really need to have anything to do with social media. Perhaps because their business comes mostly through referrals, or they don’t see immediate value in social media, or they feel it may take up too much time and they need to be out getting new business. And many tradespeople feel intimidated by social media. Read more...
- Would it surprise you to learn that the biggest gains in who’s using social media are among older users? According to a report in eMarketer, “Consumer Internet Barometer” U.S. Internet users who visited a social site in the second quarter of ‘09 rose 16% over last year. Females still lead males in usage and 70% of users were under the age of 35. The most popular sites in order were: Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter. Read more...
- Engagement marketing is developing a two-way conversation with a customer or prospect. Engagement happens when people look forward to hearing from you and find your communications meaningful and helpful. Engagement marketing creates a common purpose between a manufacturer and its customers. It’s not a “Push” or “Pull” strategy, rather a collaborative one. Read more…
- We all have limits on our time and those of us who have dived into social media have to find time in our schedules if we want these marketing tools to work. The key, like anything, is organization and setting priorities so you optimize your time spent. Read more…
- Whether you’re using traditional marketing tools or social media, one of your key objectives should be to become the thought leader in your market or category. Read more…
by tradesmeninsights | Mar 24, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
We all want to come up on page one of Google, Yahoo, Bing and all the other search engines. There’s a good reason that we need to strive for that. According to a recent article in emarketer data from an icrossing study shows only a small amount of people go beyond the first page.
Across the big three search engines, 95% of traffic came from first page results. That should make us all sit up and take notice. If you haven’t taken search seriously, maybe now would be a good time to do so. Don’t do all the hard work and have less than positive results because you’ve not taken organic search seriously.
A report from Econsultancy and ExactTarget indicated search spending would increase…nearly two-thirds of the marketers interviewed said they plan on increasing spending in this area.
by tradesmeninsights | Mar 23, 2010 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Marketers across the board are realizing that social media is here to stay and those that have jumped in have found that they are making new friends.
How does that translate though into spending out of your marketing budget? With budgets shrinking over the last 18 months, marketers have had to do more with less and find social as a viable option.
A recent article in eMarketer, Marketing Budgets Spiral Towards Social, they cite recent surveys from both Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and American Marketing Association that indicate that upwards of 20% of marketing dollars will be going to social in the next five years.
B-to-B marketers are catching up with their counterparts in B-to-C. Part of the reason B-to-B marketers are spending more on social is because it lines up with their marketing goals of brand building and CRM.
What are your goals moving forward in 2010 and beyond?
by tradesmeninsights | Mar 18, 2010 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing
I’m an Evangelist when it comes to using LinkedIn as a networking tool in the B-to-B arena, and I try to get all my clients to see the benefit. I think LinkedIn is one of the most under-utilized tools in a B-to-B marketers tool bag, but like anything else, you need to work at it.
One way I use LinkedIn is to promote my blog posts on a weekly basis. I normally do at least 3 posts a week, and on Tuesday, I put it up as a news item on all the groups that I belong to. It’s a great referral resource.
There are many other ways you can use LinkedIn. Here are just a few:
- Reach those prospective contractors and Professional Tradesmen by being active in groups
- Introduce and sell products
- Generate leads for possible demos of your product
- Become a thought leader in your market
- Get press coverage
I recently read a post by Darren Rowse on one of my favorite sites, Problogger, where he was interviewing Lewis Howe , titled Top 10 ways to drive traffic to your blog using LinkedIn. Here is a summary of some of the top ways to use LinkedIn to drive traffic to your blog:
- Complete your profile 100% – and add a nice photo.
- Increase your connections – the more the connections, the more people have access to your profile.
- Customize your web link – instead of the links saying my blog, make it relevant to what you do, i.e., blogging for plumbers.
- Join niche groups – it’s your best source for new business leads.
- Post comments on Niche groups – a great way to build your credibility and thought leadership.
- Answer questions – the more questions you answer, the better the chance that person will click over to your blog.
- Update status – it’s the first thing that pops up on the home profile of all your connections.
These are some points we all should consider to get the most out of our efforts.
What are you doing to best utilize LinkedIn? I’d love to hear from you.
by tradesmeninsights | Mar 17, 2010 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Online marketers usually focus on three key major objectives: Customer Retention, Brand Awareness and Lead Generation. Not surprising given the state of the economy, lead generation is getting more attention according to a recent study by AMR International.
AMR International interviewed 1000 marketers and here are highlights of their findings:
• Annual growth in US B2B online marketing spend is forecast at 8% in 2010 and is set to reach 14% by 2012
• B2B advertising spend on social media and lead generation sites is forecast to grow at an annualized rate of 21% and 17% respectively to 2013
• Online accounted for 7% of the B2B marketing mix in 2008. This is set to reach 12% by 2013
• Two thirds of B2B marketers believe that online must be complemented by traditional marketing activities
• Only 50% of B2B marketers formally analyze metrics to judge ROI – but those that do find online marketing more effective
What’s the focus of your online marketing program for 2010?
