by tradesmeninsights | Aug 15, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Traditional Marketing
I believe we all struggle with writing the kinds of emails that will make prospects take some sort of action. We’re careful not to sell too much or give away too much info, but where is the balance, that sweet spot that makes the difference?
I ran across an article by Ben Settle on Copyblogger that I thought was interesting, and I wanted to share some of his insights. He calls his writing style “infotainment.” It’s a way to present your content in a way that’s fun to consume but still delivers value at the same time.
I think those of us in the B-to-B space and especially the manufacturing sector are so focused on the features/benefits of what they are trying to sell that we don’t engage our target audience.
Here are three tips for us to consider:
- Inject your personality into every email – show customers the real you; maybe even crack a joke!
- Storytelling – stories are naturally entertaining and it’s easy to process info from them.
- Culture references pop – work something in (where possible) about the latest craze, TV or current event.
What are you doing to get people engaged in your email campaigns?
by tradesmeninsights | Aug 1, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
Guest Post
Sage Lewis is Founder and CEO of SageRock Inc., a digital marketing agency in business since 1999 and recognized as a Marketing Sherpa top ten U.S. search marketing company.
You do a search on Google for your top-selling product and there you are in spot #1. Whew. Your listing is followed by your best distributor and then after him that new startup you signed on that knows how to market online, but has a website from 1998. Then the trade publications are interspersed in there, touting your product in their article but, sure enough, your competitor’s ad is all over the landing page. The paid search is filled mostly with competitors and Ebay folk selling parts without your permission.
Face it, this is a mess.
Your brand and products are being represented by everyone with a vague interest in them online. You want to control the marketing message, but how? Ideally people would come to you and localize for the distributor, but you can’t tell partners to disengage because it’s driving revenue for everybody. You talked about cookie cutter distribution sites, but those flop in Google. You can’t fund top distributor’s marketing the same as the guy who sells every competing line indiscriminately. Besides they all talk after 3 beers and you don’t need that hassle.
So, you do your own SEO and Paid Search and keep your head down, right? Wrong. There IS a solution to this madness. Here’s what you can do to fix this:
Create a system
What’s the ideal? Step one is defining the goal. What does page one on Google realistically need to look like when you visit? Now make it happen. How? That’s the system part.
Part one of the system:
Create a portal, a first place of contact for those selling product. It should be populated with everything you wish they inherently knew and thought you didn’t have to tell them (you do).
Shareable useful content:
- Approved photos
- Press releases on product and parts
- Video tutorials on selling and running demos
- Downloadable brochures and sales PDFs
- Recommended products by industry, price and other demo targeting
Tools and Resources:
- Training in effective SEO and PPC practices
- Google Analytics basics
- Localized targeting advice for PPC
- Local Page claim instructions
- SEO phrase recommendations for product and location (help everyone understand long vs. short tail)
- Ideal Phrases for distributors vs. corporate (and why they should comply for their best interest)
- Web design consultation and improvement tips and options
- Free software for managing digital marketing
Policy:
- Link back requirements
- Duplicate content restrictions
- Spam and other deal breakers
- Blog and social media policies
Launch the System
- An onsite launch / workshop is ideal.
- Explain and build excitement about the common goal (Discuss the master plan for online dominance).
- Show everyone how working together means increased revenue for those who comply.
- Bring in experts for your event.
Give funding incentives for those who follow the system
People won’t do it. Plain and simple. Money talks. Match investment. Give marketing dollars to those who use the portal and comply with the system. The smart ones will see the benefit and jump all over it.
Monitor and follow-up
- Use the tools in the portal to do your own digital marketing work.
- Monitor who’s doing what out there and reach out to the eyesores and the high achievers.
- Combat competitors who hijack product phrases. In paid, by contacting Google about policy and inorganic by creating content strategies that smack spam landing pages down.
- Encourage those complying to share success.
- Offer additional incentives for high achievers.
Is it a lot of work? Yes. Is it free of investment? No. Is it worth it in the long run? Of course. Take back your brand.
by tradesmeninsights | Jul 3, 2012 | Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing
It’s been a few months now since Amazon announced its serious entry into the MRO market with Amazon Supply. The new service directly goes head to head with Grainger, Fastenal, McMaster Carr and MSC Direct.
If you already sell through any of these, what are your feelings about another player in the market?
More importantly, what about all those independent distributors in Hometown USA? I have to believe most of you get more sales from them (and more profits) than you do from the big boys. How do you think this will affect them?
Here are our three takeaways:
1) User Interface – which will challenge the current online transaction experience from established industrial suppliers/distributors; b-to-b commerce will be competing against a better and more established b-to-c customer experience standard
2) Price Transparency – which industry observers say will lead to reduction in pricing and margins
3) Expansion into Other Verticals – potential for Amazon Supply to expand beyond MRO into other vertical markets
What are your thoughts?
by tradesmeninsights | Jul 2, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
For those of us who write blogs, we do it with the sole purpose of sharing insights and tips that hopefully make your job easier. Our biggest challenge once the killer content is written is to make sure as many eyes as possible see it. Professional tradesmen are always on the go, and I want to make sure they get what they want in short concise bits of information.
It’s true optimization is usually associated with search, but you can insure that your content performs well on social media platforms. I recently read a post by Heidi Cohen, 11 Tactics to Optimize Your Blog that I found very interesting and wanted to share some of the points she makes:
- Focus on just a few keyword phrases – prioritize them by the words you want to cover.
- Create great headlines – you need to catch their attention so they stop and smell the roses.
- Use good photos/graphics – It’s true a picture is worth a thousand words and it attracts readers.
- Make your posts easy to read – use headings and bullet points. It also helps search engines.
- Make content spreadable – RSS feeds, emails or social media.
Those are some thoughts. Care to add to the list?
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 27, 2012 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
It should come as no surprise to anyone that smartphones and tablets are changing the way we all communicate and do business. This couldn’t be more true, especially for small businesses like contractors. These guys are “time starved” and are not sitting behind a computer all day. They are out taking care of business.
A recent survey by Cargo and Inc. Magazine in emarketer.com showed the vast majority (915) of U.S. small companies place importance on wireless communications and smartphones for their businesses. Tablets were not far behind at (64%). You can certainly bet that contractors of all kinds are on the top of this list.
So, if you’re not considering mobile as a key way to communicate with those professional tradesman, you should be.
Here’s a simple tip to get started: Adapt your mobile web presence for Apple OS-based devices (iPads make up 79% followed by Android devices at 39%).
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 26, 2012 | Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing
No matter what kind of promotion you’re doing, when going after the professional tradesmen, the bottom line is you want them to ask for more info and ultimately a sale. You can’t do that in an ad (print or digital) by itself. You need those that are interested in whatever it is you’re selling to go somewhere to get more info. Effective landing pages make it clear what visitor is going to do/get for the site.
A landing page is ideal for a next step in the lead process. A good landing page will target a particular audience using a unique page that allows visitors to download the appropriate content (you wouldn’t have the same offer for say a tradesman and for a design engineer). They also help you track and monitor activity by offers so you know what works and what doesn’t.
Landing pages help segment markets, capture leads and make it possible to monitor advertising effectiveness.
- By directing them to a specific page with an offer and the appropriate form to fill out, it makes it more likely that they will complete the form and convert to a lead.
- If your visitors decide to download your offer, why not invite them to share your content?
- Lead nurturing is a very important part of the process. 50% of those who respond aren’t ready to buy just yet.
- 78% of sales that start with a web inquiry get won by the first company that responds.
- By sending a follow-up thank you to those that downloaded material, you have the opportunity to offer them additional info and downloads, as well as asking them to share this with others via social media.
If you like this post, you might want to read:
Product Landing Pages: Tips on How to Improve their Performance
The Best Way to Reach Professional Tradesmen: Drip or Closed Loop Marketing?
