by tradesmeninsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Tools
For those of you who are trying to get your arms around Twitter and how to use it for your B-to-B marketing, here are a few thoughts on how you can engage tradesmen and supply them with useful info. The problem is where are they and what (or who) are they talking about. Use “Search Twitter.”
Search Twitter is real time window into who and what your customers and prospects are talking about. Gain insights on what their hot buttons are and then provide them answers to demonstrate your expertise.
Here’s an example: Your company sells products to professional tradesmen. You search using key words and review the posts. If there are questions pertaining to what you do, offer them a solution.
Now here’s where it gets scary. Twitter has an advanced search that’s a great tool that you could use for phrases or key words that plumbers would recognize. You can even search tweets by dates, locations, etc.
You can even write your own detailed searches. Who would have ever thought that Twitter could be used as a data mining tool. That’s the cool cool thing about compiling all that data in one place. You can slice and dice it almost any which way. It’s just another tool in the marketing tool box.
I’d like to hear how you’re using Twitter Search to help identify you targets.
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Trends
Social media allows us to engage each other and start a conversation which hopefully turns into a relationship.
I’ve been in the ad business for over 3 decades, and over the years have used the tools available to develop targeted programs to reach our intended audiences. We were so busy telling people how good our product was that we seldom took the time to ask any questions or listen to what the customers had to say. In other words, most of our communications were one way.
Today with the advent of social media, we have so many options to reach our target as does our target to get info on a particular product or service. Web 2.0, for example, allows customers to participate in dialogs, forums and surveys that let their opinions be known. We as marketers should be happy about this as it affords us valuable insight into the minds of customers (you ask questions, listen and respond).
Back in the day before the Internet was invented by Al Gore, a lot of us used to practice another form of B-to-B marketing (belly button to belly button) where we actually sat down with a customer or prospect and had a conversation with them.
Unfortunately in today’s world, people for the most part don’t have time for these kinds of encounters. Social media allows us to begin the engagement process, so hopefully as we build a relationship, we can ultimately have that face-to-face just like the good old days.
Marketers need to rethink the way they communicate to customers and prospects. Quit selling and start listening.
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Trends
Brands are no longer defined by marketers, but by the very people we hope to influence – our customers and potential customers.
B-to-B marketers have to embrace the new engagement marketing (social media) as a viable way to target and talk to both customers as well as prospects. This is about developing a two-way conversation between you and your prospect.
Think about it – it’s like dating. If on your first date all you do is talk about yourself and don’t let your date get a word in edgewise, where do you think this relationship is going?
Instead, if you talk less and ask questions about her and her interests, you’ll engage her in a conversation which might lead to other things based on what is learned by both sides.
Engagement marketing works the same way. You need to ask questions, listen and respond. Customers know they have choices and want to be treated as partners, not prospects.
As a B-to-B marketer, it is increasingly important to establish customer loyalty because without it, it becomes an issue all about price and that’s a road no one likes to go down.
Engagement marketing is about a process that invites, engages, nurtures and then consummates into a sale. Once you do get the sale, you must continue the dialog and turn that customer into an advocate.
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Trends
B-to-B marketers looking for ways to reach the professional tradesmen on the go have a new tool to consider – mobile advertising.
Emarketer forecasts that advertisers will spend 3.3 BILLION on mobile ads by 2013 up from 648 million in ’08.
As consumers (both B-to-C and B-to-B) embrace mobile technologies at an ever-increasing rate, emarketer predicts that 2009 may actually be the point where advertisers start shifting attention to mobile.
The industry’s turning point started with the introduction of the Smartphone, then the iPhone. 3G led to faster connection speed and the rise of Internet browsing and WI-FI connectivity kept the ball rolling. 4G is due out this summer and who knows what the next advancement will be. The only thing we know for sure is that it’s coming.
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Tips
I’m convinced that a blog is a very effective marketing tool for B-to-B marketers. It provides a genuine opportunity to build your company’s brand. But don’t think that if you just create a B-to-B blog you are assured of traffic.
Three things you will need to have a successful B-to-B blog:
- Focus on a niche/market. You can’t be all things to all people as no one would read it. Pick a specialty (or several) and give the audience relevant and meaningful content. Talk to them about ways you can help them solve problems. Keep the marketing copy out of it.
- Make a commitment. If you’re not going to work at this, then don’t bother starting one. The costs of doing a blog comes in the form of time. I’d say you would have to put in anywhere from an hour to two a day to do your blog justice. You need to have at least 3-4 posts a week and they have to be meaningful. That includes researching, writing and responding. You don’t have to be the writer of all posts, but you must be the quarterback.
- Use the social tools available. Use things like Google Reader to help you organize what you’re reading. Twitter and other social media platforms will also build awareness, allow you to repurpose content and generate additional traffic. Integrate social and traditional strategies to make more of an impact.
To have a successful B-to-B blog, you need to pick a niche or target audience and write to them. An example of this is my blog. We’re a B-to-B marketing firm (bet you there aren’t a lot of them around). Why would someone want to read my blog when they can pick up a current issue of BtoB Marketing magazine?
The folks that our agency is best suited to help are the manufacturers who want to sell something to those professional tradesmen. That’s why our blog is specifically targeted to them as a resource for how best to reach this particular target audience.
We may have a narrow niche, but that hasn’t narrowed our opportunities. The Tradesmen Insights blog has enhanced our new business opportunities, allowed us to build awareness, interest and appeal to a specific target audience. We don’t appeal to everyone, but those with who we do, it is a strong appeal.
