by tradesmeninsights | Apr 16, 2009 | Marketing Tips
Once someone goes to your web site, what reason do they have to go back?
I think most of you will agree that once a tradesman has been to your site and got the product info or downloaded some basic info, they normally don’t come back because you haven’t given them a reason to.
Want to scare upper senior management? Go to them with this idea: Make your blog the center piece of your online marketing.
You might initially think that this is a bold concept and many people haven’t considered the possibility of giving up their web site (or their job). I’d imagine for most bigger companies, that would be a hard sell upstairs.
Social media quarterbacked by your blog will bring you more readership and that translates into more opportunities. Think about it. Most everything you have on the web would work on a blog.
Here’s an idea on how to test it without scaring the powers to be. If you have a microsite targeted to a specific trade, niche, product or service, you can check the metrics of how many and how often users go that site, and when they are there, where they go. So you have benchmark data already set up. Now start a blog to that same group of tradesmen, add the same content from your current web site and check the numbers in 3 months.
I’d be willing to bet a good steak dinner that when you look at the metrics for the blog, it will far outperform the web site. Two main reasons for this are that you’re drawing more people because of the content and you’re interacting with them.
Something important to remember is that content is written differently for blogs than the web. Successful blogs write from the benefit angle instead of the capabilities angle which engages the users quicker.
Conclusion: Don’t just make your blog a journal you keep on a daily basis, make it one of the most powerful tools in you marketing tool box.
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 10, 2009 | Marketing Tips
Invite the reader to become a “FAN” so you can share more information with them
For those of us who have just recently set up a Facebook account for business purposes, we are all looking for ways to maximize our exposure and get the most out of what’s available. In my search for ways to increase my use of Facebook, I ran across a post by Steve Coulson, “5 Tips for Optimizing your Brands for Facebook” on ways to optimize your brand. His tips ranged from the right way to create a profile to developing different content to fans and non-fans.
Here are 3 takeaways I got from his post that would be very applicable for industrial and B-to-B users:
1. Optimize your web site share preview. One of Facebook’s strengths is the viral spread of shared links into new feeds using the links application. This gives you the option of presenting a number of images that can accompany the link.
2. Display different content for “fans” and “non-fans.” For a B-to-B user, this is a great way to invite the reader to become a fan by incentivizing visitors to see exclusive content. This content could be the latest new product or a special promotion.
3. Defining a publishing schedule for your content. If you manage and spread out updates, it allows you to carry on an ongoing dialog with your fans. Facebook offers different types of updates, e.g., links, notes, videos, and Steve suggests you mix them up which would help create more interaction within the first 24 hours. This is important since updates drop out of the newsfeeds after that time period. Also by using a schedule, you can monitor and track which content gets you more traction/conversations.
B-to-B marketers, by using these types of tips, can help set themselves apart and get more conversations going with fans on Facebook.
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 9, 2009 | Marketing Trends
Perception vs. Reality. Perception is Twitter is for people under 30. The reality is it’s the fastest growing segment for folks 45-54. Another reason B-to-B marketers should be using it.
Twitter continues to have incredible growth, but may surprise you where the growth is coming from. Alexei Oreskovic shared these great nuggets of information regarding Twitter in a recent post for Reuter’s MediaFile blog:
Twitter has seen its popularity explode in recent months with a number of unique visitors to its site increasing by more than 1000 percent year-over-year in February, according to comScore.
Twitter is a rare example of the older people embracing a new web technology at such an early stage, says Andrew Lipman, director of industry analysis at comScore.
Twitter may even be catching on among people who have reached a post-business phase of their lives: of the 4 million U.S twitter users in February, 5.2 percent were over 65 years old.
That shouldn’t surprise me. I’ll be 61 this year and this new technolgy stuff is interesting and not that challenging to learn. I not only use it for business, but as my grandchilden grow, I’m going to be a hip Papa.
by tradesmeninsights | Feb 17, 2009 | Marketing Tools
As the economy softens, all of us are looking for opportunities to expand or protect our position in the marketplace. Researchers and analysts all indicate that digital spending will increase or at least remain the same for 2009.
Marketers are still spending advertising and marketing dollars online because this channel is extremely measurable and can be tied directly to return on investment. To maximize your investments, here are the top 5 ways to invest in your digital channel for 2009:
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Outside of your own primary web site, Google is the next important to most companies. Making sure you rank high for the kind of content your target audience is searching for is critical to generating leads. Every search engine optimization (SEO) strategy begins with the basics: search engine-friendly site design and architecture, and the fundamentals of key word research and content development. Take your SEO strategy to the next level by implementing best practices and staying on top of emerging optimization tactics.
2. Paid Search (Search Engine Marketing)
Targeting key words and phrases for your marketing campaigns can pay off in both the short and long term and is a great complement to SEO. Search advertising with Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Live Search and other providers can be an efficient and effective way to advertise online. Starting with the fundamentals and advancing to expert tactics, you’ll learn how to build and optimize successful pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns. Engaging with a partner in your paid search campaigns can yield 40% or greater ROI.
3. Landing Page Optimization
A landing page is the page that appears when a potential customer clicks on an advertisement or a search-engine result link. The page will usually display content that is a logical extension of the advertisement or link, and that is optimized to feature specific key words or phrases for indexing by search engines. By optimizing your landing pages for SEO, paid search, and e-mail marketing, you can significantly increase conversion and lead capture rates.
4. Don’t Waste Leads
Stop wasting leads that aren’t sales-ready and start using lead nurturing to build relationships so that when they are ready to buy, you’re positioned to win. In a recession, new prospects are less likely to be looking to purchase right away — which means they are less likely to want to talk to a sales rep. Lead nurturing is even more critical in a recession to ensure you convert the precious dollars you spend acquiring prospects into revenue.
5. Engage Your Customers in a Relevant Dialogue
People are looking online for relevant content to their current problems. Start thinking of your web site in terms of what is and what is not relevant to your end-customers and identify and extract thought leadership in your organization. Thought leadership is found in people, not departments and roles. Most organizations have certain employees that always have ideas or are a step ahead of the organization. Incent those employees to come forward and start providing content through your web site to provide value for your customers.
