Marketing communications designed to build business
Industrial Marketing Muse
Why Industrial Companies Need a Blog Calendar and a Super Easy Way to Make One
Written by Kerry O'Malley Wednesday, 11 January 2012 14:44
Blogging has been around on the Internet since 2004, but most industrial companies are just beginning to think about adding a blog to their website. Although a blog does not have to be part of a company's website, and can have its own URL, you'll get the greatest SEO benefit by having a blog incorporated into your website pages. This means industrial companies are not only faced with the decision about whether to blog, or not to blog. They also often have to factor in the cost of developing a new website, one that is "blog friendly" and SEO optimized. What that really means is a website developed with up-to-date technology. Many industrial companies stuck a website up ten years ago and haven't updated it since!
The fear factor
Beyond the financial considerations, manufacturing companies and industrial service providers are often hard pressed to envision what a blog for their company would look like. What will they write about? Who will do the writing? How often will they have to post? With so many companies operating at the utmost lean capacity, who is going to take on what seems to be a monumental task?
How to remove the fear factor
Isn't it easier to find a destination with a map? Isn't it easier to construct a building with a blueprint? Let's talk about how a blog calendar can be the map, or blueprint that will provide the answers to most of the questions you have about your company's industrial blog, and provide you with the confidence you need to move forward.
When you choose blog topics in advance, it will become clear who within your organization is best suited to write that particular post. When you have a blog calendar that covers a period of three to six months, it gives the writers a chance to think about what they will write in advance. When you develop a blog calendar based on the topics you want to cover rather than the NUMBER of posts you have to write, it becomes less overwhelming.
A framework for the blog calendar: mentorship
I think one of the best functional descriptions I've heard for a B2B blog is "mentor." Think about what a mentor does. In terms of business and in a broad sense, mentors provide guidance; solutions; and tools. These mentorship roles can be an excellent framework in which to construct your blog calendar.
A simple process for creating your calendar
- Do this by yourself, or have several of your potential blog contributors join you. You'll come up with a lot more ideas if you have a team working on this.
- Remember, you are not going to consider the number of posts you'll need.
- Create three columns that correspond with the mentorship framework above.
- Guidance - topics will cover insights based on the expertise of your company (or an individual within your company)
- Solutions - products, processes, services, or knowledge that will help your readers deal with common problems or obstacles
- Tools - these topics will be instructional in nature and provide your readers with a process to accomplish a common task or initiative
- Pre-determine the amount of time you will brainstorm, and start the clock. Whether you set aside 30 minutes or an hour, stick to the timeframe.
- Brainstorm potential topics for each category with your team members. You know how brainstorming works: there is no bad idea. At this point, just start writing out ideas and don't judge.
- After your allotted time period for brainstorming, take a short break.
- Come back to the table and review all of your topic ideas.
- Start brainstorming again for another 15-30 minutes. Just seeing the first list in front of you will set off a chain reaction in your mind of additional topics that dovetail with what you already have.
- Now, go back through all the ideas and evaluate. After all, not every idea thrown out during a brainstorming session is viable. Cross off the ideas that are too lightweight; seem too ambitious; or are not truly representative of your company's image.
- When you have your final list, start filling in your calendar. By this time, you have probably realized that with this approach, your topic ideas will somewhat dictate the number of posts for your calendar timeframe. If the calendar is for three months and you only have six solid ideas, that's only two posts per month (and you're in trouble.) If you're lucky enough to come up with 50 good ideas, but you know you won't get more than 2 posts per week out of your contributors, take the best of the 50 and save the rest for your next calendar planning session.
- Designate the writers for each post and write them in the calendar.
- Make the calendar pretty if you want to.
- Finally, distribute the calendar to all involved parties, including the people the writers report to. If you can get buy-in, making the blog writing part of each contributor's review process CAN be an incentive to follow through (but not always.)
Believe me; you will feel a huge burden lifted once you have some structure in place. You can't make people turn in their posts on time, and the blog manager will still always have to be the nudge that makes things happen when they are supposed to. Just stay the course for this first period of time, and see how it goes. If this process doesn't seem to work for your team, change direction and try something different when you create the next blog calendar. After all, we're talking about creativity, here. Creative types are allowed to change direction - it goes with the territory!
A Strategy for Industrial P/R Success
Written by Kerry O'Malley Wednesday, 04 January 2012 00:00
Many industrial companies make half-hearted efforts in the area of public relations, then wonder why they don't have more success. The truth is, when your material doesn't show up anywhere, the fault rarely lies with the editors that you've sent it to. A successful P/R campaign takes more than a half-hearted attempt. Thinking of the trade media as a "customer" whose requirements must be met will go a long way in getting your materials published. If you follow these tips you'll have a greater chance for P/R success!
Use the Internet for broader reach
There are thousands of industrial online bloggers and journalists who are looking for "news" to write about daily. To fill the need for this voracious amount of information, numerous online press release distribution services have popped up over the past few years. They range from "free of charge" to a fee of over $3,000. Web press release outlets are typically lower cost and more accessible than traditional wire-service press outlets, and carry the additional benefit of generating new inbound links for your web site in several places on the web. The benefits can carry even further if your press release is "picked up" by other sources on the web, creating even more inbound links and improving overall web exposure for your business.
Think of your press release as one entry in a competition
Editors and art directors working for trade journals have standards. They can recognize a quality piece of work - and an amateur effort. If they have to choose between several articles, it goes without saying that the best written, most engaging article, with the most visually interesting artwork will make it to the top of the pile. With only so much space available in each issue for editorial, you can't afford not to make your release and its accompanying artwork sizzle. The same rules apply with online editors and bloggers, although the space issue isn't as relevant.
Send the message that you're serious about industrial P/R
Even though most press releases are sent through email, you can still make your release more professional by putting it on a "press release masthead" for your company. Your logo at the top of the release immediately identifies it as having come from your company and will eventually become recognizable by the trade media. The masthead says to editors, "this company is serious about P/R - therefore, this piece must be newsworthy."
Hire an industrial marketing communications specialist to be your media representative. They should already be working with the trade publications or websites you're targeting with your P/R and have a network of contacts. The fact that you have a professional P/R person contacting the editors says you're committed to providing relevant news and articles. The fact that they have multiple clients bringing business to the publication or website gives them more leverage in getting your material in print.
Don't scrimp on artwork
Sometimes P/R success is often based as much on the quality of the piece's accompanying photographs or graphics, as it is on the subject content. Magazines and websites are visual mediums. Particularly publications are searching for dynamic visuals, as well as editorial. That's why we always recommend to clients that they make an investment in professional photography. After all - you can get a lot of mileage out of a great photograph. Multiple uses (P/R, advertising, flyers, web site) make the cost of one photograph a bargain. A really great picture may end up on a magazine's cover along with a caption promoting your company. Bonus!
Know the publication or website, and how your release or article relates to it
Be somewhat familiar with each source that you send your materials to. Trying to interest an editor in writing about a new product, for example, is useless if their magazine doesn't have a new products section. Similarly, sending news about personnel changes to a journal that publishes only technical articles is pointless. Don't personally approach an editor to "pitch" an article or release unless you know that it specifically relates to an issue that they're working on - most trade publications have annual editorial calendars. Each month, they focus on specific editorial themes. Pitch your articles to editors based on the best "fit" in their editorial calendar. Let the editor know you've done your homework, and really want to enhance the publication.
Keep your efforts consistent
A key to maximizing your industrial P/R potential is to consistently provide feature articles or news releases to your target publications and websites. As editors continue to see your company's name on a regular basis, they'll begin to view it as a leader or an "expert" in its field. You know you've reached the pinnacle in your P/R efforts, when trade editors or bloggers start calling YOU for news!
Don't have time for more than a half-hearted attempt at P/R? Let Marketects manage your P/R campaigns and before long you'll start reaping the rewards of a professional and consistent P/R focus!
How to Improve Your Industrial Email Marketing
Written by Kerry O'Malley Thursday, 08 December 2011 13:47
Are you finding that your industrial email marketing isn't exactly delivering the results you were expecting? You expend your best efforts, maybe even hire outside experts to help you execute - but your response rate is still pitifully low (that would be below 10% in a manufacturing company.) If you can relate, read on for some tips that can help improve your email marketing campaigns.
Follow These Steps for Effective Industrial P/R
Written by Kerry O'Malley Monday, 14 November 2011 08:53
If you're sending out an industrial press release without the assistance of a marketing communications professional, it helps to know what editors EXPECT from the professionals. If you follow these steps, your efforts will undoubtedly be more effective.
Just because we're living in the more casual Internet age doesn't mean that style and etiquette should be thrown out the window!
- Know who to send it to, not just where. Find out who the editor is for the section of the publication you want your release to appear in. Just a little digging on their web site will often provide you with the information, but you can definitely find out with one phone call.
- Only send the release to one person per publication. If you want to, you can CC the advertising sales rep responsible for your account. (They do have a vested interest in keeping you happy!) It will only create frustration (or a negative perception of you) if you send the release to three different people at the same magazine, and they find out later their efforts on your behalf have been duplicated.
- Don't just send, follow-up. Editors at trade publications sometimes receive hundreds of press releases per week. Unless you're announcing something that is going to rock their industrial world, you need to ensure they actually READ your release and make a commitment to consider it for publication. Follow-up AGAIN if they can't give you a firm date for publication.
- Know and honor your deadlines. Magazines are usually planned months in advance of publication. If there's an issue you're specifically targeting for your release because the editorial focus includes your product, make sure you send the release prior to the editorial deadline for that issue. For instance, a magazine that covers the chemical processing industry has one issue devoted to pumps / valves / compressors and you're announcing a "next generation" of the pump you manufacture. That's the issue you want to be in, so meet the deadline!
- Keep the release short and informative. In this time of cut-backs, Editors are even busier than before. Don't waste their time with releases that are unnecessarily wordy. Most press releases should be kept to one page, two is the maximum. If an editor needs more information, he'll ask.
- Write the release in a news style. Remember "press release 101": Who, what, where and when. Try to fit all of that into the first paragraph, then elaborate in the paragraphs that follow. Use short words and sentences. Make sure what you're saying is clear.
- At the top of every page, include the title of the release, the date of the release, and the name and phone number of key contact people.
- If you have a good photo, send it or includes the words "photos available upon request" with your information at the top of the page. Only send high quality photos, which usually means professionally taken, and high resolution. A good quality photo could win you a spot on the cover the magazine!
- End a press release with ### typed across the center of the page a couple lines below the end of your text. If a release is continued on another page, type " - more -" at the bottom of the page in the center.
- Even in the trade industries, most press releases are emailed these days. It's still alright to send a press release through the mail, but if you do, fold it so that the headline and date will be the first thing the editor sees when opening the envelope. (But seriously, doesn't the sense of your release being urgent news get lost when you mail it?) You might want to consider that and try a little harder to get the editor's email address!
How to Make Sure Your e-Newsletters Get Read
Written by Kerry O'Malley Tuesday, 08 November 2011 08:00
People are reading what comes into their email in-box. In a recent GlobalSpec survey, 56% of the engineering, technical, manufacturing and industrial respondents surveyed said they subscribed to three or more e-newsletters. The same survey revealed that 46% read e-newsletters either daily or several times a week. Those are some impressive statistics for industrial marketers looking for more direct ways to get their message out to prospective customers.
E-newsletters have four main components: headline, copy, links and images. Read how to maximize each component to create e-newsletters that actually get opened!
1. Headline
Headlines shouldn't be general or vague. They should persuade, intrigue, or promote specific benefits.
Here are some examples of strong headlines:
- Save Time with New Valve: Perform Maintenance In-Line (promises to make the readers' job easier and save time)
- Increase MTBF by Changing Wear Ring Material (save money and increase production by switching products)
- Complimentary Material Sample (free offers always grab attention)
- New Tower Packing Provides Higher Capacity (product offers important benefit)
- Lubricant Products on Sale this Month (save money with the urgency of a limited time offer)
2. Copy
There are three main types of copy in e-newsletters. The first is oriented toward a specific product, service, or application. The second educates, by delivering information that positions your company as an "expert" at what you do. The third simply conveys any type of update or news related to your company or employees
Follow these tips for all three:
- Be brief and benefit-oriented
- Stay away from features and detailed specs; you'll have something to give them later
- Write directly to the reader, using words like "you" and "your"
- Try asking questions that address potential problems: "Concerned about lost production when pumps are pulled from service for repairs?"
3. Links
Your ad should contain links that give the reader direction and let them know what they will find on the other side of the link. Here are some examples of links designed to capture leads from qualified prospects:
- Download the white paper
- View the product demo
- Order a sample
These links are more general in nature; they can drive more clicks:
- Visit our Web site
- Learn more
- Compare products
Notice that all of the links are action oriented; they ask the reader to do something.
4. Images
Make sure the images you choose are visually interesting and relate well to the subject matter. They should be high quality and professional looking. If you're selecting an image for another website make sure the image meets the publisher's specs for file type and size. It's also a good idea to have the image link to a page on your website. Keep in mind that the same images could also be used in printed marketing pieces such as ads, brochures, trade show graphics, etc. - and don't limit your options by purchasing the smallest (least expensive) file available. Try to think about how you can maximize the use of any artwork you purchase, and plan ahead.
What type of image should you use?
- If your article concerns a product, include a crisp, clear image of the product or a close up of a section of the product. If the article is promoting testing of the product, you may instead want to include a chart showing test data.
- When the topic is a service, include a picture of the service being performed or an image that "brings to mind" the service. For instance, an article about engineering services could include a picture of a casual business person working at a computer.
- If you're promoting a White Paper, brochure, or other printed materials, you can create an image of the cover of the piece that links to the download of the publication.
Tips for Industrial Companies to Increase Online Presence
Written by Kerry O'Malley Sunday, 30 October 2011 14:06
Survey engineering, technical and other industrial customers, and you'll quickly realize that the vast majority of them go online to search for suppliers, products, and service providers. With so many websites competing for their attention, you need to leverage other opportunities for them to find YOU.
Your competitors are doing it - it's not really an option any more. You need visibility in the same online sources your prospects and customers go to for information. Every page where your company's name appears on the Internet increases the chances that potential business finds its way to you.
Having a current, interactive, search engine optimized website is only the beginning. Here are some strategies that will help increase your online presence and drive more traffic to your website.
Read more: Tips for Industrial Companies to Increase Online Presence
5 Ways to Make Your Industrial Marketing Blog More Successful
Written by Kerry O'Malley Tuesday, 06 September 2011 18:59
If you've been trying to figure out ways to engage with customers and prospects through social media, by now you probably have a Blog (and if you don't, you need to!) In addition to being a fantastic SEO tool, a Blog is one of the keys to having a fresh supply of content to lace throughout your social media channels.
If you've been blogging and wondering why nobody ever comments on your posts, perhaps you could use some tips for creating more compelling content that provides value to your target audience.
Read more: 5 Ways to Make Your Industrial Marketing Blog More Successful
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Hi, I'm Kerry O'Malley - the Industrial Marketing Muse (and your own personal Marketect, should you so choose!) I have over 30 years of experience developing marketing communications for engineered industrial products and services sold to industry. For the past 12 years, I've done that as a consultant through my company, Marketects.
I love the idea of advertising (and good writing) being catalysts that move people to action. I'm jazzed by the challenge of creating concepts for communications campaigns that work. I'm intrigued by the possibilities that exist on the Internet for the industrial marketer, and I'm always thinking about how to translate those opportunities to my clients. I've never practiced marketing in the retail, mass consumer arena, but I see a lot of that kind of marketing that inspires me and translates over well to the industrial world. I hope I can inspire YOU!
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