by tradesmeninsights | Sep 4, 2013 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
The professional trades are no different from normal consumers when it comes to using mobile. There have been a few articles in eMarketing.com about both time spent on mobile devices and what’s being used to open and read emails. Both are significant when it comes to reaching contractors with your messages.
Email remains one of the most critical marketing channels—if not the most exciting. And as more consumers access on mobile, there is a growing imperative to make sure emails are smartphone- and tablet-optimized. However, that doesn’t mean marketers can forget about the desktop just yet according to a recent article in emarketer.com. That coupled with the fact that the US now spends more time on mobile devices than desktop should send up a red flag for those of us who haven’t addressed the mobile market.
The shift includes watching video, checking social media and reading emails. So what does this mean to the B-to-B market? It means if we want to effectively communicate with our audiences, we need to be doing it in a format that is easily read.
Matt Sonnhalter, in another post on mobile, indicated that by 2015, mobile will be the first screen that people will use. That’s not that far away!
A recent survey by Equipment World Magazine on those contractors that had smartphones:
- 85% view emails
- 81% use it to text
- 71% connect to the internet
- 52% use apps
- 24% visit social sites
- 20% watch videos
- 4% don’t use it for any of the above
Bottom line is, if you don’t have your website optimized for mobile, you’re going to miss lots of opportunities.
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 3, 2013 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
When planning events, you must not lose sight that your brand needs to shine brightly. This is especially true when you’re doing an annual event. We all have our checklists of what was done last year and you repeat it again this year. While details and checklists are important, the how, when and where can make a difference on how the event is perceived. The unexpected can work too in your favor. You don’t have to reinvent the event, just add an unexpected sizzle to it.
Events give us a unique opportunity to be face-to-face with the targeted audience, and in today’s world, it’s becoming a rare thing. Whether you’re doing a major press event, hosting a distributor round table or doing a key customer appreciation event, you have the opportunity to really shine and make an impression. Don’t miss the opportunity.
Here are some things to consider:
- Don’t be predictable – Do something different to make the event memorable. It doesn’t have to be something crazy. It could be something as simple as a nice gift for them to remember the event by.
- Treat people like you were hosting them at your home – Great hosts make sure that their guests are well taken care of. One-on-one time from your key executives are crucial to the experience. Leave your smartphone someplace else and focus on building relationships face-to-face. Think about when the last time was you were able to spend quality time with these key individuals. More importantly, when will you have the opportunity to do it again?
- Personal follow-up – When was the last time you went to an event and after got a personal note from your host thanking them for participating?
Events are not to be wasted and should be considered a rare opportunity for a face-to-face with key people. Make your brand shine!
by tradesmeninsights | Aug 27, 2013 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
In my mind, not much. I think they both work together to move prospects through the sales funnel. Using a nurturing system, you can start to identify their needs. The key is to do follow-up in some manner.
Nurturing keeps you top of mind, builds credibility, solves prospect’s problems and positions you as an expert. Quality lead nurturing can lead to more sales.
Not all leads are ready to buy, and it’s important to have a process in place to sort them out. According to Russ Hill from Ultimate Lead Systems:
- 67% of all leads are legitimate prospects.
- 34% have a need that must be satisfied in the next 6 months.
- 70% of those prospects didn’t know you made that product.
- It takes on average 5-6 sales calls to close a sale.
- 80% give up after the first call and 90% plus give up after the second call.
It’s important to get the lead the information they requested. A CRM system would help in organizing and communicating with them. It’s also important to find out where they are in the buying cycle. Some cycles are longer than others, and it would be important to know where they are so you can get them the relevant info to get them to the next stage. Lots of this can be done via email or even snail mail depending on the preference of the prospect.
The key in my mind is not to call until they request. Once they do, then periodic calls are appropriate. Depending on your company, it might go to an outbound sales person or into the field for follow-up.
When do you take someone off your list? Unless you determine they will never buy the kinds of things you make, I’d say never. Start a database if you already haven’t. If you publish a newsletter, put them on the list. When introducing a new product, make sure they are copied on the promotion. The key is, even if they bought the competitor this time, it doesn’t mean they will the next time.
Whatever you do, have a process in place and use both lead nurturing and sales call follow-up together.
What are you doing to follow-up leads?
If you like this post, you might like:
What’s your Lead Nurturing Strategy?
Why Email Marketing is so Important in Lead Nurturing to the Professional Tradesman.
What’s Your Plan for Lead Nurturing?
by tradesmeninsights | Aug 20, 2013 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
I have this running conversation with clients about which is better, a traditional direct mail program or an e-blast. It’s a tough question to answer and I’m not too sure there is only one answer.
There are challenges for using both methods and we have seen it become more and more difficult to get emails delivered even if we use opt-in lists from trade publications and have them send it out under their name.
I think that when reaching out to our target market, the professional tradesman, you have just as good if not better of a chance of reaching them with the traditional snail mail.
We recently did a sampling program for a client who wanted to focus more on the electronic side of things and wanted to use more, if not most, in this media. They assumed that direct mail was a thing of the past and was too costly (neither of which are true). We convinced them to give both a try and the results were surprising.
The DM portion of the program outperformed on average 3 to 1 over the e-blasts. We used the same criteria for both lists and did both within 2 weeks of each other. We’re doing a second test using the same message and list parameters and it will be interesting to see if it still holds true.
We’ve all used both of these marketing tools. My question to you is have you found one better than the other in reaching contractors or the professional tradesman?
by tradesmeninsights | Aug 14, 2013 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
B-to-B marketers are always trying to identify more/better qualified leads. Does it surprise anyone that social media ranked very low in this category? The traditional methods of telemarketing, event marketing, webinars, trade shows, email marketing and yes, even direct mail pull better results according to a Survey in MarketingProfs from InsideSales.com
They surveyed 423 B-to-B Sales and Marketing professionals that cited that generating and improving leads was their biggest challenge.
I think sometimes we’re all so focused on the new tools available to us to generate leads that we forget about some of the old standbys.
I have found that we usually have more success using traditional marketing tools when it comes to actually generating good qualified leads.
What are you finding out that works best for you in a B-to-B environment?
by tradesmeninsights | Aug 7, 2013 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
As marketers, we have two challenges: one to create great content and two to deliver it. Recent studies have indicated that email still ranked among the top outreach channels to reach buyers no matter what stage they are in the buying cycle. Studies also show that emails should be integrated into other marketing tactics as well.
So knowing the emails are a viable way to deliver the message, we should probably spend some time on the other deliverable – relevant content!
Relevant content addresses the needs of a potential customer. It gives them options to solve a problem or gives them resources for them to investigate. Relevant content draws in potential customers.
According to an article in eMarketer, content creation was still the #1 challenge for them.
So our challenge is to give the reader WOW info every time, which is no small task. You should enlist the help of others within your company that have specific expertise to help develop relevant content.
Sales, engineering and customer service are certainly three places to start. They all are talking to either existing or potential customers and can readily identify issues that need to be addressed. By addressing them, you’re becoming that thought leader which should be one of your objectives.
The key to successful engagement comes in a variety of types of content.
A golden rule is, don’t put content out for the sake of having something out there. You should be looking for relevant stuff, not quantity.
