by tradesmeninsights | Jun 18, 2009 | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
Many manufacturers are still leery about social media in a B-to-B arena. Since we deal with the professional trades, we know most of the editors very well and recently asked many of them to participate in a survey on social media. The majority of them are responsible for end user books that serve the likes of plumbers, electricians, HVACR contractors and mechanical contractors.
Here are some highlights:
Editors are using the social tools, and if for no other reason, you should be using them to communicate about your brand.
While some editors are currently writing blogs, more are anticipating doing them in the future.
Editors are looking for success stories involving social media.
Although most editors believe their audience isn’t that social savvy today (35.2%), they think that will improve dramatically in the next year (64.7%).
Here are the results:
1. Are You Using Any of the New Social Media Tools?
LinkedIn – 88.2%
Facebook – 64.7%
Twitter – 35.2%
Blogs – 29.4%
Online Forums – 23.5%
2. Do You or Another Editor on Your Staff Write a Blog for Your Publication?
Yes – 35.2%
No – 64.7%
3. If no to Question #2, are you planning on Doing a Blog for Your Publication?
Yes – 52.9%
No – 41.1%
4. Is Social Media and its Impact on Business on Your Editorial Radar Screen?
Yes – 76.4%
N0 – 23.5%
5. Have you Written Articles on Social Media and its Impact or Future Impact on Your Readers?
Yes – 35.2%
No – 64.7%
6. Do you Think Your Readers are Aware of Social Media as it Relates to the Business Aspects of Their Lives?
Ye s- 35.2%
No – 64.7%
7. Do you Think Your Readers will Become More Involved in Social Media in the next Year?
Yes – 64.7%
No – 41.1%
8. Do You Think Your Readers are Using any of the following Social Media Tools?
LinkedIn – 47.0%
Facebook – 41.1%
Twitter – 11.7%
Blogs – 35.2%
Online Forums – 52.9%
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 20, 2009 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing
E-mails have been around and we’ve used it to asked tradesmen to forward on valuable information to their peers about our products or programs. It’s not easy and isn’t reliable because you’re asking the customer to do a lot of work on your behalf. E-mail is also a one-way street in that you don’t make it easy to respond back to the original source.
Joint research by Ball State University,Exact Target and e-mail networking association reveals that more than 46% of e-mail marketing campaigns this year will use social media and e-mail in tandem compared to just 13% in 2008.
E-mail combined with social media offerings like Linked-in, Facebook and Twitter allow you to get your message out quicker to more people and give them an easy way to reply. In other words you’re engaging them and that’s why social media is so important. By clicking a link, you are sharing content with influencers that you might not have had reached.
I read a post recently from Karen Bannan, Combining e-mail with social media,where she shared thoughts from Ryan Duetsch from StrongMail Systems on ways to get the most out of your efforts.
- Use ESPs. Most major ESPs (like StrongMail and Sliverpop) and e-mail providers are making it easy to send e-mails directly to your Facebook page for example.
- Create your own social network. Create your own community. If you’re targeting professional plumbers for example, the discussions that go on provide great resources for e-newsletters. You know what the hot topics are and can address them as an expert.
- Add opt-in links to all your marketing collateral. For example, if you post a new video on Facebook, make sure it contains a link at the end so viewers can opt-in. Once it’s shared, you’ll be reaching thousands of prospects making sure you give them a way to ask for more information.
- Use your status to publicize your e-mail newsletter. Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter give users the option to publish information. Take advantage of this and even send out a reminder before you actually send out the e-mail that it’s coming.
- Change your layout. If you’re sending people from a social media site to your web site, make sure your opt-in links are very visible.
- Use search functions. Follow your company and brand names on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter to gain market knowledge. Twitter search lets you follow everything that’s mentioned about your company.
- Be a Joiner. You need to get involved. You want to become a trusted source, and in order to do that, you need to join Linkedin groups, respond to questions and get involved in discussions.
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 17, 2009 | Marketing Trends
An overwhelming majority (88%) of marketers say they are using some form of social media to market their business, though 72% of those using it say they have only been at it a few months or less, according to a social media study by Michael Stelzner, sponsored by the upcoming Social Media Success Summit 2009.
Mediabuyerplanner just released a post that outlines details of new research that should make B-to-B marketers sit up and take notice. Highlights include:
- The #1 benefit of social media marketing is gaining more attention for their business.
- Improving traffic and growing marketing lists is second.
- More than 50% said a major benefit was a rise in search engine rankings.
- 88% of marketers are employing some form of social media.
- 90% of business owners are most likely to use social media.
- 72% say they just started using social media
What does all of this mean for the B-to-B marketer? It means if you aren’t already on the bus, you’d better get on soon!
