by tradesmeninsights | Feb 2, 2016 | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Traditional Marketing
By John Sonnhalter, Rainmaker Journeyman, Sonnhalter
As manufacturers we all know how important keeping in contact with our customers is. Email is one of the easiest and most effective way to do that and unfortunately for those of you who sell through a distribution process it’s hard to get the ultimate end user’s name no less try to start a relationship with them.
That’s why it’s important to begin building your own database of both current and potential contractors. If you’re fortunate enough to make products that require a warranty card that certainly is a place to start. Other outbound marketing activities should include incentives for contractors to give up their contact info so you can start a dialog with them.
Give them something of value that would help them in their everyday activities, such as:
- mobile app
- some sort of calculator to help them estimate projects
- white paper
- a series of how-to videos
- industry research on new and upcoming trends
- checklists on detailed processes
- case study
- tool kit (cheat sheets, checklists, videos, e-books)
Do you know that the average office worker checks their email 30 times an hour? Can you imagine what the stats are for contractors out in the field?
The point is that emails are very acceptable ways of communicating with each other. The key is to have relevant and timely info for your prospect.
Heidi Cohen gives us several reasons why email trumps social media:
- Email provides directly measurable ROI – You know immediately how many opened and read your message.
- Email is content format agnostic – It’s user-friendly and you can use text, images, videos, audio, PDFs.
- Email can deliver both long and short content – Content can vary from a link to several pages in length.
- You can control delivery of emails – Whether it’s now or delayed.
- Emails can be read on anything – Smart phones, tablets, laptops, no apps required.
- Emails build customer relationships – Once someone allows you to communicate with them, it represents a certain level of trust.
With all the marketing trends and new things over the last several years, email still seems to be the “workhorse” for most people’s marketing efforts. Recent research from Gigaom reports that over 75% of smart phone users check their emails on their phones. What I find remarkable, if you look at the chart below, 5 years ago paid search, SEO and digital ads would have been at the top of the list. Oh, how the more things change, the more they remain the same.
So what are you doing to grow your own email list?
Here are some other posts you might find useful:
Benchmark Report on Email Marketing Sheds Light on Top Priorities for B-to-B Marketers
5 Tips on Improving Your Email Marketing to Professional Tradesmen
Email Marketing: How Are You Using it to Reach the Professional Tradesmen
by tradesmeninsights | Apr 21, 2015 | Events/Trade Shows, Traditional Marketing
Source – Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Pietro Sutera
By Matt Sonnhalter, Vision Architect
I recently attended the ISH Show, a biennial show, which took place in Frankfurt, Germany in March. This was the first time I was able to attend this show and it sure did not disappoint. I guess the one word I would use to describe this show would be overwhelming!
Here are some of the amazing statistics from the show:
- Over 850,000 square feet of exhibit space – sprawled out over 11 buildings, most with multiple levels
- Almost 2,500 exhibitors – representing over 50 countries; and this number is not nearly as impressive as the individual sizes of their booths; 61% of these exhibitors came from outside of Germany
- Nearly 200,000 visitors – from plumbing and HVAC professional tradesman (accounting for around a third of the total), architects and engineers, to distributors, service providers, public authorities and more; 37% of these visitors came from outside Germany
Source – Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Pietro Sutera
This is by far the world’s leading show for the combination of water and energy topics. Everything one could possibly imagine for these industries was covered under the following five product groups:
- The Bathroom Experience – think of KBIS on steroids…Grohe and Hans Grohe even had their own buildings
- Building and Energy Technology – everything from boiler and burners, to heat pumps and components for heating equipment
- Efficient Systems and Renewable Energies – all the alternative energies were represented from solar, rain water, biomass and geothermal, plus there was even an entire floor dedicated to stoves, pellet burners and fireplaces
- Air-Conditioning, Cooling and Ventilation Technology – this section was comparable to the entire AHR Expo in U.S.
- World of Installation Technology – covering plumbing techniques, tools and systems for surface mounting, pipes, fittings and fasteners
Source – Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH / Jens Liebchen
The overall theme for ISH 2015 was “Comfort meets Technology” where the world’s leading companies covered future-oriented issues such as resource conservation and renewable energies. Here are some of the other broad themes covered during the show:
- ISH Water: Interior + Technology – Design and Function in Harmony. Topics covered included: the multi-generational bathroom; bathroom architecture in the light of demographic change; hygiene requirements for drinking water and efficient use of water as a resource
- ISH Energy: Energy Efficiency Plus. Topics covered included: energy efficiency in the heating market; hybrid systems; using a single room fireplace to provide comfortable warmth and holistic sustainability
- Future Buildings: Topics covered included technology, comfort and energy efficiency in harmony; integrating automation of interior spaces and energy efficiency and smart living – the networked home becomes an everyday reality
Amazingly, this show is really equivalent in size to 4 or 5 of our major U.S. professional tradesman shows. The show was five days in length and you needed almost all of it to walk the entire show. And the booth traffic was tremendous, and not just on the first day of the show like most U.S. trade shows, seeming to build each and every day.
If you’ve never been to the ISH Show and you are involved in any part of the Water and Energy fields, it’s definitely worth attending. Just make sure to book your travel accommodations early and wear comfortable walking shoes!
Want to keep reading about ISH? Check out these links:
Holy cow! ISH Show continues to amaze
6 plumbing trends from ISH
The show that is del-ISH
ISH Frankfurt 2015 Recap from Eric Aune
ISH 2015 — Day 1
ISH 2015 — Day 2
ISH 2015 — Day 3
by tradesmeninsights | Sep 17, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Social Marketing
For those who follow me on a regular basis, you know I’m a big supporter of blogs. It seems that most companies now are at least considering doing a blog.
Here are a few good reasons you should consider a blog for your company:
- Websites are mostly static – Once a contractor has been to your website, why does he need to go back? He knows who you are and what you do. If you don’t get him to follow you on an RSS feed or fill out a form to be on a mailing list, you basically have lost most visitors.
- Thought leadership – One of the main objectives of a blog is to set you and your company apart. What better way to increase your brand awareness and generate new leads?
- Keep your customers/prospects coming back – When you publish new content on a regular basis, customers and prospects keep coming back. It also allows for interactions with both categories.
- Re-purpose content – You can take a current post and use it on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to gain additional exposure.
- Blogs can provide additional in-links – Once you establish yourself as a thought leader in a category, others will begin to link back to you and this will alert search engines that you must be saying something important.
Blogging is a collaborative process. You need and want to interact with your audience.
Here a few tips on writing a good post:
- You need a catchy title – Like anything else, if you can’t spark an interest, folks won’t click on to read your words of wisdom.
- Know your audience – Know what issues are affecting them on a regular basis.
- Have an opinion – People follow you because you give them a unique insight. Set yourself apart.
- Be yourself – Let your personality shine through. Write like you talk. Inject some humor when appropriate.
- Engage your readers – Ask for opinions, or if the subject matter is somewhat controversial, ask for a counter viewpoint.
Blogs are a lot of work, but if done properly, can set yourself apart in your market and ultimately get you new customers.
by tradesmeninsights | Aug 26, 2014 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tools, Traditional Marketing, Uncategorized
Let’s face it, in an ideal world we’d all want our customers to love us! We all know that’s not going to happen, but I’ll bet you might have more advocates for your brand than you think.
Why are brand advocates important? Studies show that people rely on peer recommendations and reviews before purchasing goods. Contractors are no different, especially if you’re introducing a new product or application they haven’t used or seen before. They certainly don’t want to be the first to try something.
Brand advocates are more than loyal customers. They are your ambassadors in the trades. I’ve seen contractors with tattoos of company logos. That to me is the ultimate.
Some brand advocates will surface on their own by commenting on your blog or website several times or talking you up on an online forum. Others might offer positive comments on a survey or warranty card. Don’t forget to ask your sales staff in the field who are calling on contractors, as well as your customer service department. They certainly should be able to identify a few. Hopefully a few will be high-profile folks within some associations that you are a part of.
One of our clients in the plumbing market was able to identify and nurture several advocates over the years. Once they brought the top 10 contributors into the main office and treated them like royalty for 2 days and then sent them home. They got a plant tour, a look at what was coming down the line as new products and met with customer service and technical people that they interface with on a regular basis on the phone or with emails. You wouldn’t believe the results of that effort. They became ambassadors on steroids!
Once you’ve found them, then what? You should set up a brand advocacy program that will give them ways to help you grow the brand. Here are a few ideas:
- Ask them to write testimonials or reviews on new products. Then ask them to share them.
- See if they would be willing to do a case history for you.
- If timing permits and you can meet them at an association meeting or trade show, see if they would let you interview them both for a podcast and testimonial video.
- Ask them for referrals.
- Have them test and evaluate new products before they are brought to market.
- Have them identify potential new products.
This needs to be an ongoing effort so you’re always adding new advocates to keep the message current and fresh.
Don’t miss a golden opportunity for your customers to help sell your brand.
by tradesmeninsights | Jun 19, 2013 | Marketing Tools
Sonnhalter is deeply involved with the professional tradesmen. We recently updated our overview of the HVAC market. The purpose of the document is to give the reader a quick snapshot of the industry and its players for 2013.
Highlights include association and buying group contacts, training firms/certification organizations, franchisee organizations and consolidators, online resources, trade shows/meetings and media publications.
A free copy for download is available. Click here to sign up.
