by tradesmeninsights | Jan 14, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
I have found that there’s no better way to position yourself as a credible source than by having a third party sing your praises. Most companies, if pleased with what you did or supplied, would be happy to not only give you a recommendation, but in some cases, a testimonial.
Here are some things to consider:
- Keep the requests to unique applications or markets. This helps you focus on something that sets you apart.
- Ask when the project is complete – when everything is fresh in every bodies mind.
- Get proper clearances upfront – when dealing with bigger companies or unique situations, it’s smart to get an approval upfront and let the customer know what you want to accomplish and assure them that they will have final approval before it’s used. If you have a PR department or agency, they are used to vetting out potential before you waste time and resources.
- It’s best you control the writing. Most customers are not writers, they’re contractors. Besides, they aren’t aware of the big picture of what you’re ultimately trying to accomplish. Write an outline of what you want to accomplish and then let someone interview the contractor and write the story.
- Utilize info in multiple places – try to get it featured in a leading trade magazine. Post it on your website. Have a sell sheet made up for your salesmen to use. If you’re on social media, post it there with links back to your web. Here’s a good example of Viega that uses case studies very effectively.
Don’t miss out on one of the best ways to have customers tell your story and build your credibility.
by tradesmeninsights | Jan 13, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
Hopefully, as part of your strategy to move prospects along the selling cycle, you are using landing pages in order to deliver on what you promised. It’s also a great way to track responses. It could also be a way of losing a potential customer.
Here are some tips that might help results:
- Keep it simple – Deliver on what you promised to get them there in the first place.
- It’s not about you – How can you help them with a problem that got them there in the first place.
- This is not an ad – They’re not looking for a sales pitch, but answers to specific questions.
- Powerful content – Keep it relevant. Don’t focus on key words. Instead, make what you say useful and valuable.
Copybloggers infographic gives you some great pointers.
![The ABCs of Landing Pages That Work [Infographic]](https://i0.wp.com/copyblogger.com/cdn-origin/images/650/copyblogger-infographic-abcs-of-landing-pages.png?w=650&ssl=1 "The ABCs of Landing Pages That Work [Infographic]")
Like this infographic? Get landing page advice that works from Copyblogger.
by tradesmeninsights | Jan 7, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
It’s a new year, and before we start doing the same old thing, we should take a minute to make sure what we’re doing is getting us the results we want. Makes sense, doesn’t it? We do it in our personal lives this time of year.
I recently read a post by Heidi Cohen that did just that. Here are some highlights:
- Document your content marketing strategy – only 35% have a written plan that they can share with their team.
- Know who you’re talking to – create personas to reach each of your targeted audiences.
- Get other employees involved – both in creating and distributing content.
- Expand your visual content – people like pictures and there are several options to help you deliver them.
- Incorporate video into the mix – next to Google, YouTube is the most searched. Show your prospects why your product is better.
- Get your audiences involved – ask them to share images or rate your product.
Heidi has others, but the point is, take a few minutes to evaluate what you did last year and improve on it this year. Make 2015 a good one.
by tradesmeninsights | Dec 17, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
I had the chance to hear Jeffrey Rohrs speak at a WTWH Media event recently and subsequently read his new book, Audience.
Jeff’s take on social media and content marketing revolves around one thing – THE AUDIENCE.
Companies need audiences to survive – before they are customers they first have to be part of an audience. As we all are focusing on creating content, it won’t mean much if you don’t have someone to read and react to it.
And that’s his point, to build what he calls the “Proprietary Audience.” He defines it as ” a comprehensive, collaborative and cross-channel effort to build audiences that your company alone can access.”
He shows you how to build your database using paid, owned and earned media to identify your audience. He also shows you how to identify and communicate with Seekers (those that are looking for info), Amplifiers (those who have audiences that can share your info) and Joiners (those that are buyers).
The book is an easy read and I would recommend your marketing teams look at Audience as a new marketing discipline.
by tradesmeninsights | Dec 16, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing, Uncategorized
Today more than ever, customers are expecting, and in some cases demanding, a better customer experience. These types of experiences have to start in the C suite and trickle down. The customer service department may be on the front line, but they can only mirror what management has in mind.
Do your top-level folks really understand the needs of your customers? If not, they certainly can’t help formulate or lead an initiative for a great customer experience if they don’t know what that is! I was surprised from a recent article in eMarketer that showed over 33% of senior managers weren’t aligned with the customer experience.
I think we can all agree that everyone needs to be on board to truly make the customer experience meaningful and real. For any of you who have flown Southwest or shopped in an Apple store, you know what I mean about customer service. The culture starts at the top and both of those brands know that other choices exist for their product and services.
The two takeaways I’d like to leave you with are:
- Listen to your customers – Find out what they want and how they want to get it.
- Under promise and over deliver – give them more than they ask for and make the mundane a memorable experience.
If you liked this post, you might want to read:
Customer service: What are you doing to retain customers?
Customer service: Is your company obsessed with it?
by tradesmeninsights | Dec 10, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
Let’s face it, in your world, qualified leads are or should be the holy grail of marketing. According to a report by Marketing Sherpa, 78% of B2B marketers biggest challenge is generating qualified leads.
Here are some tips on how you can improve your process:
- Create a plan – that will include message, method of delivery, when to hand lead to sales and measuring ROI.
- Define your USP – What is your unique selling proposition? What makes you or your offer different from the competition?
- Offer them something of value for free – If you want them to start an engagement, you need to show some good faith and give them a tool they can use everyday (conversation chart, smart phone button, competitive parts interchange).
- Match the offer to the audience – Not all messages are for all audiences. A concrete tool offer to a HVAC contractor probably won’t get much return.
- Capture and nurture leads – Once you get a lead, there has to be some qualifications done before sending it to sales. We’re not trying to overload the sales department with leads, rather we want to give them qualified leads that they are excited about calling on.
- Handing off the lead to sales – Depending on the criteria that you’ve developed, you need to forward the lead and what you know about it (in the sales funnel) so when sales calls on them, they know what to talk about, i.e., initial evaluation stages, engineering comparison questions or ready-to-buy type of questions.
- Close the loop on the lead – Did they buy? If not, why? This should be documented in a CRM system so we know why you’re gaining or losing sales.
- Review performance – Repeat what’s working and stop what isn’t.
