Survey probes industrial marketing trends

The 2012 market survey for industrial marketers indicates widespread uptake of online channels but notes a dissatisfaction with social media efforts.

Trends in Industrial Marketing 2012: How Manufacturers are Marketing Today published by GlobalSpec surveys marketing managers in industrial companies to discover their marketing goals, priorities and how marketing budgets are allocated. "Only 17% of companies are satisfied or very satisfied with their social media efforts and just 7% have a full-time employee dedicated solely to social media." "Incorporating social media into their marketing efforts" is also cited as one of the top challenges in their profession along with generating leads for sales and measuring marketing ROI. The most used social media are LinkedIn (73%), Facebook (55%) and Twitter (40%).

With 47% of companies spending more than a third of their marketing budget online, one perhaps surprising finding is that when asked, " Which of these marketing channels do you plan to use in 2012?" the top answer at 67% was 'Tradeshows'. The list of most commonly cited (by 30% or more) comprise a mixture of online and offline channels ranked:

• Tradeshows
• email marketing using in-house lists
• online directories and web sites
• SEO
• Social media
• Trade magazine advertising
• Video
• Public relations
• Direct mail using in-house lists
• Online newsletter sponsorship/ads
• Search engines - paid traffic
• Internet banner advertising on individual site
• Blogs
• Printed directories 

The survey tends to support the argument for using an appropriate mix of traditional and online channels but it is the established routes of email and web sites that remain most popular of the online marketing tools.

What next - will chirping take off?

Is the Chirp app the next big thing?


As social media has evolved and insinuated its presence into the b-2-b marketing space there cannot help but be a sneaky suspicion that there is a measure of uncertainty about the value to a business and therefore how much resource to invest. Behind this concern is the ephemeral nature of some of the delivery tools and how much they are dependent on the continued enthusiasm of the users. Remember the initial excitement that greeted Friends Reunited and discovering what old school chums were up to? In the main it was pretty mundane stuff they were doing and it reminded you of why you had not kept in touch with them after leaving school. Then there was MySpace and now the hot property is Facebook. Both Friends Reunited and MySpace soldier on and you wonder if the shine might also go off Facebook too. So what next? A flurry of exchanges on my local marketing network responded to the news that one agency's client was investing resource in Chirp.


According to News Scientist - "Chirp,launched today, is a new service that allows people to share digital content – web pages, pictures, video or pretty much anything that can be stored on an online server – by playing short tunes to each other." The BBC mentions potential marketing applications saying,"It can also work over public address systems or radio transmissions - potentially allowing broadcasters a way to send up-to-date pictures or links to background information: or an advertiser to send coupons or snippets of a song or promotional video." One big question is will people be bothered? Last year it was QR codes that were suddenly everywhere in a checkerboard black and white rash over display advertisements and posters. But what seemed like a great system for linking the printed page to the Internet requires the user to make an effort and that won't happen if the experience disappoints. 


b-2-b marketers need to be aware of the technical possibilities and allow some modest resource to test and evaluate but not lose sight of a crucial question - is this a place that your target audiences actually visit?




  

Marketing is more than getting leads

catalogue collectors surprisingly include vicars 

Historically leads generated by marketing activities have then been passed straight on to the sales team. And what happened next is anyones guess.

Sometimes they sat in a pile on the sales manager's desk or in the back of his car. Sales people may also have been sceptical about the value of the leads, particularly if they hadn't been qualified in any way. The salesman is usually looking for immediate prospects that can quickly be converted into orders to meet  targets. The reality is there will probably be few 'hot' leads, most will be at different stages in the sales process from initial research into what might be available and onwards to being close to buying. When sales leads arrived in paper format - often response cards - there was usually a fair sprinkling of catalogue collectors with a surprising number of school children, students and more surprisingly - vicars. To discourage the amateur librarians response cards or forms asked more and more questions to provide information that would help weed out the 'time wasters'. And of course the forms in due course moved on to the web site. Some research indicates that the intervention of a form to qualify for information loses a high percentage of visitors. This matters, because the old weeding out process is as totally outmoded as much as the salesmen jealously guarding product information that would only get released to the most eager prospects once they had jumped through a series of hoops.

The web site brutally exposes all the product details that past generations of salesmen would drip feed to prospective customers. But it doesn't mean that having this information online makes it understandable to web site visitors and it helps to provide paths through the web site that are appropriate to prospects at different stages in the process that not only leads up to closing a sale, but continues after as they become users of the product or service. Many b-2-b enterprises do not sell online   to customers buying on impulse, but are more likely once on board have an extended relationship with the vendor. So when  a visitor reaches your web site make available the type of useful information in the form of white papers and video the type of information that sets the scene, explains the technology, provides examples of how your product benefits users. Instead of hiding this behind the old style form, offer the option to sign up for a monthly newsletter with the promise of useful and current information. By nurturing the prospect the relationship is being built and valued. When the time arrives for a purchase your company will have created a good impression and time for the sales call. It is just as important to maintain the relationship after purchase with follow up contacts, maybe even a 'users' club if relevant and of course introducing accessory products to build the value of the customer's account.

Talking about planning

In this blog we have often talked about planning and more specifically the importance of a marketing plan. But what about individual campaigns?

Simply writing a marketing plan annually when reviewing the budget, then forgetting it for a year is a pretty pointless exercise. And when it comes to campaigns that are part of that marketing plan, then it is important to give these the same attention to planning. Whether it is a major event such as a new product launch, a trade show or a special price promotion, setting objectives, strategy and targets as well as ensuring all the marketing tools are in place calls for some careful planning and at the end of the campaign evaluating the results. Was the outcome successful? Were targets achieved? What worked and what didn't?

In today's time short environment it is all too easy to respond to an imperious directive from on high within the company to do some marketing initiative without understanding the rationale, having the right tools in place, agreeing benchmarks and reviewing results. Then rush on to the next half executed scheme. As the chairman of a company I worked for some time ago when observing such frenzied activity was fond of asking, "are we merely being busy fools?"

Thinking about content marketing

Content marketing. Is that a new buzz word to tempt unsuspecting clients?

However exciting the new web site looks or a glossy new brochure appeals, the real test is does the content  interest the prospect and contribute to moving that person towards a commitment to purchase. The previous two blogs have discussed the changing role of PR from the traditional press release to the ability  the Internet affords of now being your own publisher. But unless the content published is compelling and valuable it won't do the job. So we talk about content marketing.

At different stages in the buying process, or perhaps in the stages that lead to an actual purchase, a prospect may need to be guided through a sequence of events. There will be prospects who may have identified a problem with something within their area of expertise, but at this stage are unaware of the existence of products or services that can deal with their problems. To give an example a company specialising in instrumentation may already have a solution for people who are experts in other fields such as geology or structural engineering, but are unaware of the products and how to use them and the companies that can supply the tools they don't yet know they need. This can also be the case in new markets where content is required to educate people. This can be a two edged sword, as in educating people you also help open the door to a market they didn't know existed and in turn to your competitors. The well written educational piece will not just explain the technology and applications but in doing so position your company as experts, build credibility and trust. Typical examples of useful content at an initial research stage are White Papers, Guides and 'How To' tips.

Creating awareness is often an essential early step for introducing new customers to the products you have and lead to an interest to learn more and to become more specific in their research to discover what particular products from your range are what they need. At the early interest stage offering telephone support can be very helpful in identifying product options that best meet their application needs. Some prospects might be alarmed at actually talking to a vendor so early in the process, particularly if they have only recently discovered the benefits this class of product appears to offer them. So online selection tools can seem less intimidating and anonymous than getting engaged with a sales person before they have researched other options. At any time that help option needs to be accessible. Not everyone wants to take the time to figure it all out first. Having read a white paper and realised where to go, others may prefer to short circuit the rest of the process and press the help button right away. Others need to be nurtured along the route and directed to content appropriate for that stage. At some time products,  price and availability become important in the decision process. How this information is presented will depend on the nature of the product as to whether it is off-the-shelf for next day delivery, or subject to design and proposal. Content should have made sure prospects know what to expect here.

Writing for totally newcomers to the market as well as repeat customers and regular specifiers who need to get straight to the detail and expect it to be up to date and accurate, will call for different styles and different paths through the web site. And what with multiple communications channels, content marketing has an important role to play.