The Marketing Maven: Industrial Marketing Blog & B2B Marketing Tips

How to Create a Stronger e-Newsletter Ad

Many suppliers use e-newsletter advertisements to better reach target customers, penetrate new markets, connect with hard-to-reach-prospects and launch products. E-newsletters are popular with your customers and prospects – as they look to them as a reliable source of information about products, services and suppliers.

According to the GlobalSpec 2009 Economic Outlook Survey, 56% of engineering, technical, manufacturing and industrial professionals subscribe to three or more e-newsletters, and 46% read e-newsletters either daily or several times a week. In this age, that’s a captive audience.

To be effective, your e-newsletter ad needs to grab the attention of busy readers who look for information of interest. And once you have their attention, you need a compelling offer that will entice readers to click through.

E-newsletter advertisements have four components: headline, copy, links and images. Let’s consider each component individually to learn how to create the most effective ad possible.

Six Reasons to Rethink Traditional Marketing Methods

It can be difficult to rethink your approach to marketing. It may require a leap out of your comfort zone into the unfamiliar; it may require extra effort. But in the case of marketing to the industrial sector, rethinking traditional marketing methods not only makes sense, it’s a requirement for success.

Gone are the days when your entire marketing portfolio can consist of direct mail, print ads, tradeshows and other traditional marketing vehicles. Today’s industrial marketer must integrate online marketing programs to reach their target audience and gain customers. Here are six reasons why you must rethink your traditional marketing ways.

Twitter: A "Powerful Form of Communication"

The June 15 issue of Time magazine featured the cover story, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live" by Steven Johnson.  In it, he discusses how Twitter has a depth that goes beyond the 140-character messages that it allows users to publish - resulting in user-to-user engagement and conversation, and the sharing of links to articles, videos, Web sites and anything else of interest to an audience. 

Johnson also explains how Twitter will ultimately help shape news, search and advertising, stating, "In fact, every major channel of information will be Twitterfied in one way or another in the coming years..."  Of particular interest to companies, the article provides a glimpse into how the future of Twitter may result in a greater level of interaction and engagement between businesses and their customers.

Definitely a worthwhile read for anyone interested in learning more about Twitter, its roots and its future.  Check it out here.

SEO Tips for Industrial Marketers

And a new white paper available for download

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can help your company’s Web pages rise higher in the search engine results for specific keyword searches. Done correctly, SEO can help you attract motivated prospects to your Web site in real time as they search online for products and services like those you offer.

Engaging in some level of SEO will be of benefit to most companies. Your level of involvement depends on your goals, expertise and resources. Some simple yet effective SEO techniques can be performed with limited expertise and resources, while other, more complex techniques require SEO experts and technical skills.

Here are 10 SEO tips that most industrial marketers should be able to execute without too much strain on their resources. 

Takeaways on Lead Generation & Measurement from MarketingProfs B2B Forum

This is part two of my key takeaways from the MarketingProfs B2B Forum.  I attended a few sessions around the topic of demand generation and measurement.

Karin McEwen from MathWorks and Jim Lenskold from Lenskold Group spoke about Putting Measurement into Action to Improve Leads, Conversions & ROI.  A potential group that is not getting enough attention today is stalled leads.  Go back to the leads that sales has rejected and put them in a nurturing program.  Lenskold suggests five areas to review to improve conversion effectiveness of your leads:

• Target high value potential prospects
• Improve conversion later in the funnel
• Reduce leakage with better integration
• Accelerate leakage of low potential prospects
• Reduce over spending beyond progression rate

From Silverpop's Scott Voight and Brainshark's Joan Babinski I was reminded (and you can't be reminded enough about this) that Sales is Marketing's customer.  Also be a lead developer vs. a lead generator.  For anyone that has implemented lead scoring you should be monitoring and adjusting as you learn.  Models aren't static. 

Brainshark is having success with sending email in what I like to call "plain jane" format on behalf of its sales team.  These emails are html but look like text and are more conversational in nature vs corporate marketing speak. 

Russell Kern led us in an interactive workshop to raise response rates in a down economy.  Kern brought his energy and wisdom to get our creative ideas flowing.  My favorite idea of the day was focusing on content/offers that can be passed up the decision tree and help make the sale upstream.  Very important today when decision making is being pushed up the chain.

Social Media Tips & Resources from MarketingProfs B2B Forum

I attended MarketingProfs B2B Forum earlier this week in Boston.  Conferences are great for giving you  the opportunity to expand your vision while taking a break from the day to day grind.  Social media was the subject of many of the sessions and all the buzz.  Here are my key takeaways and impressions:

Katie Paine, CEO of KD Paine & Partners spoke on how organizations are measuring value in social media.  Excellent speaker who knows her stuff.  You'll find free resources on her website.  Social media like everything else we do in marketing should have a return.  Its not about collecting followers but rather about measuring the impact to your business.  Define your goals first.  Are you using social media to generate leads and sales and/or to further your relationships with customers and develop your reputation?  Paine's bottom line message - you can measure social media and should.

Integrating Social Media into Your Marketing Mix was the focus of IBM's Sandy Carter's talk.  Social media is another tactic in your marketing tool box that should be integrated into your overall plans.  IBM has effectively used Linkedin and twitter to help with product development and launch and to build webinar attendance to name a few. 

From panel discussion on Developing Robust Online Content to Keep Prospects and Customers Engaged, I walked away with this point about social media:  You can't control the message but you can guide the narrative.  A good strategy for figuring out what content in social media will resonate with your audience is to search for relevant terms on twitter and follow the discussions, look for your top customers on facebook, Linkedin and twitter.  What are they saying?  Survey your customers and find out what topics are top of mind.  Create your blue print to guide your content strategy. 

Social media is all the rage.  Don't lose sight that it is another marketing tool that requires business objectives.  Social media should be measured by its contribution to business goals and that means more than just collecting friends and followers. 

Marketing Synergy: How to make it happen

Synergizing your marketing tactics isn't always organic. It may seem irrelevant in today's market - with intense focus on what will help grow 'the bottom line' - but it's actually a best practice with proven results. Increasing your frequency and reach, synergizing your marketing efforts keeps each tactic working for each other - helping to solidify your messaging in the minds of your target audience.

Rethink how you can repurpose and cross-promote your marketing materials and activities. If your mind isn't coming up with immediate ways to do this - fear not.

• Tradeshow season is here - Make sure you promote your company online webinars and upcoming tradeshow appearances. Engage in a conversation about them and sign them up for your webinar or an appointment at your next tradeshow.
• Company e-Newsletters - an obvious opportunity to promote your products and services, but what about white papers, technical articles and webinars? Positioning yourself as an expert in your field of focus makes you credible to your target audience.
• Webinars - Record them and post them to your website. It's a great way to keep relevant content alive.

For more marketing ideas, subscribe to the Marketing Maven e-Newsletter. Learn what's working in industrial marketing today and how to take advantage of online marketing.