by tradesmeninsights | Nov 4, 2022 | Manufacturing, Marketing Tools, Tradesmen Insights
by MAGNET (Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network)
MAGNET’s mission is to support, educate and champion manufacturing in Ohio with the goal of transforming the region’s economy into a powerful, global player. You can visit MAGNET online at manufacturingsuccess.org.
Maybe you already have and execute a marketing plan for your brand and products. Maybe you want to improve it. Maybe you have no marketing at all.
However mature your company’s marketing plan is, successful efforts will always stem from a strong foundation. Refresh your knowledge or kickstart your marketing with these helpful tips.
- Realize the importance of marketing and create a dedicated budget for it.
The same way you invest in people, capital equipment, new technology and building improvements, you need to invest in your brand. A good rule of thumb is to dedicate six percent of annual revenue to your marketing plan. Not only will your campaigns maintain a connection with current contacts, it will build new ones–generate leads.
If you aren’t sure how people can or are finding you, how your site ranks in a Google search or if you’re staying top of your customers’ minds with relevant, useful information (or doing any of these things intentionally), you’re likely falling behind to businesses that are. To the inverse, coordinated campaigns that focus on these goals are also ones you can measure and grow.
Marketing is oftentimes the first budget cut during an economic downturn, albeit counterintuitive because this is when you need to do MORE marketing. When recovery happens, everything will be ready and working for you. Did you know that it takes about six to nine months for Google to rank and index you for a search? Then, you need to maintain that, and if you don’t, your ranking dips quickly. Your marketer will be back to square one when the economy ticks back upward. The same way you don’t waste time on rework on your plant floor, don’t unnecessarily rework marketing. (more…)
by tradesmeninsights | Mar 26, 2021 | Marketing Tools, Tradesmen Insights
by Rosemarie Ascherl-Lenhard, PR Foreman
By now most everyone knows that video is where it’s at. If you want to grab attention on social media, in your e-newsletter or in a press release–make sure it contains a video!
Video is a powerful communication tool that provides a more personal feel to your message. You will be far more likely to connect on an emotional level with your audience if you use video versus another content type. And, when it comes to social media marketing, video is a great way to engage with your audience.
But there are different types of video, some more appropriate and effective than others depending on what your marketing goals are. Joe Forte recently broke down the types of video in his recent post for Content Marketing Institute, “5 Types of Video to Add to Your Social Media Marketing.”
Live Video – Best for when your brand has a significant following, Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and other streaming services make it easy to connect with your audience. Livestreaming allows you to talk with your followers and are most effective for announcements, behind-the-scenes looks, and product information videos.
Tutorial Videos – Among the most frequently shared on social media, tutorial videos have mass appeal by relating to your products and services. Or, they can be broader topics that relate to your audience and industry. Tutorial videos need to be clear, educational and entertaining. They need to be long enough to show every step and short enough to be engaging.
Informational Videos – Informational videos can cover any topic. Build your content archive with videos on a variety of relevant topics. Make them unique, clever or insightful. When adding video to your social media, concentrate on content likely to be shared, something valuable to make it worth the viewer’s time.
Behind-the-Scenes Video – Behind-the-scenes videos are a great way to make your company and your team more personable by highlighting day-to-day operations, your offices, your manufacturing processes, and more. Designed to build trust and brand identity, this type of video really gives the opportunity to dig down into what makes a brand exceptional.
User-Generated Video – UGC is quickly becoming a fantastic and easier way to engage an audience. You can encourage your followers to create videos and ask them to incorporate your hashtags into the upload. User-generated content is a brilliant way to grow an audience because users are more inclined to share content they create. Viewing the user-generated content also is an excellent way to get a feel for your audience’s personalities and what they’re interested in.
Which type works the best for your brand? It’s a great idea to experiment with these and see which generates the most interest and engagement. Read the complete post for more information, examples and tips on producing each of these valuable types of video content.
Read more on the importance of video in marketing:
B2B Video is on the Rise: Are You Taking Advantage?
Are You Using Videos to Connect with the Professional Tradesman?
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 26, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Public Relations
By Rachel Kerstetter, PR Engineer
Pictures are incredibly powerful marketing, PR and social media tools. Every single project that I work on for Sonnhalter’s clients involves some form of visual element… which is also one of my biggest challenges as a public relations professional.
Trying to wrangle high-resolution images for a project is tough because sometimes the photo well is just not deep. In our digital age, it doesn’t make sense to not have photographs of basically everything. There is no concern regarding wasted film because everything is digital.
Here are my tips on making sure you have an ample supply of good photos to accompany your marketing communications programs:
1. Think that everything your company does is photo-worthy.
If you host or attend an event, you should take pictures. That includes: Trade shows, customer events, employee events, seminars, etc. [Tweet This]
2. Take a lot of photos.
Not all pictures will turn out great, some will be blurry, someone will have their eyes closed or being making a horrible face. Take several pictures to make sure that you have useable ones. For example, for last year’s Sonnhalter Tool Drive, we took 50 photos and a couple of videos and only used 13 of them in our Facebook album from the event.
For events and trade shows, don’t limit your photos to just the pre-event set up. Capture some action, get people in your photos, both candid and posed. After events, people love to go back and see if they were caught on camera.
3. Assign someone to take photos.
Chances are there is someone in your organization who is pretty good at taking photos. Find that person and leverage their abilities. If you aren’t sure, ask for a volunteer to run around and capture photos. They don’t have to be a professional or even use a DLSR camera (although those will yield higher quality photos). It’s also okay to duplicate photos, so having more than one person taking pictures is fine.
4. Equipment doesn’t have to be complex.
For any photo or video needs, you don’t need professional-grade equipment to capture events. (If you’re putting together something like a commercial or instructional video, that’s a different story, and you should definitely engage a professional). For catching your company picnic three-legged race, an iPhone will do fine. Want some candids from a trade show? These days, most smartphones can yield high-resolution images or bring along a “point-and-shoot” digital camera.
5. Get high-resolution.
When I’m writing something for a print publication, high resolution images are often the biggest challenge. The standard for an image being “hi-res” is 300dpi (dots-per-inch) or greater. That means when supplying photos to your marketing team, agency or an editor, do not just click download from Facebook. Send them the original(s), even if you have to use a file transfer or sharing service such as DropBox or HighTail (formerly You Send It).
6. Use the photos you take.
Upload photos to your company’s social media accounts, provide them to your agency or editors for stories, share them with your staff on your intranet, etc.
Here are some general tips for getting good photos and videos:
- Keep your finger off the lens (also remove smudges)
- Don’t use the front-facing camera on a mobile device, these cameras typically take lower quality photos
- Take at least three photos for one group or individual pose
- Avoid shooting photo/video through windows or screens if possible
- Hold smartphones horizontally or in “landscape” to video instead of vertically, it provides a much better viewing experience later
- Be courteous to those around you when photographing for example, turn off flash for performances and speeches, and be extremely mindful if you must take pictures using an iPad or tablet as most who photograph with them block others’ views and are more disruptive (I highly recommend that you use a smartphone or camera and not a tablet)
- Try to avoid photographing/videoing people at an upward angle (it is unflattering to the subject) or with light behind them (try to have the main light source behind you and not the subject)
