Industrial Marketing Muse

Manufacturers: Get social NOW

Written by Kerry O'Malley Friday, 30 April 2010 20:34

I recently read a well researched white paper on social media use in the industrial sector.  The paper's survey data supports what I already knew: people in manufacturing and industrial service companies are not exactly jumping up and down over the idea of social media marketing.  Some reasons are valid - some are not.  It's true, while there are many case studies in BtoB marketing of companies who successfully leveraged social media to increase brand recognition, improve the quality of their customer service experience, and even increase sales, there are very few of these in the industrial sector.  To many industrial marketers, social media seems like a waste of time and resources.  To those people I ask:  I wonder how many people in manufacturing companies thought they didn't need a website 15 years ago?

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Industrial Marketers: Yes, you CAN Blog!

Written by Kerry O'Malley Wednesday, 28 April 2010 13:46

I was meeting with one of my manufacturing clients recently and we were discussing whether or not he should add a blog to his company's website.  "I'm not a writer," he said.  "Plus, how will I keep coming up with ideas to write about?"  These are two of the most common objections I hear when I suggest blogging to an industrial company.

Here's the beauty of blogging:  You don't HAVE to be the greatest writer in the world.  Blogging is supposed to be a more casual style of writing.  Yes, there are bloggers who are published authors.  There are also bloggers who like my client, have never considered themselves gifted in this area.  As far as fresh ideas go, there is a literal universe of content available, even to the industrial marketer, in trade publications; in the news; on other blogs; on Twitter and LinkedIn discussion groups; in discussions with customers and vendors; and from employees in your very own company.

There are so many great reasons to blog:

• It positions you and/or your company as the "expert"
• It improves your search engine rankings
• It is always searchable and working for you
• It adds a human voice to your company or product's brand identity
• It adds value to your website and enriches your customers' and prospects' experience on the site

Blogging can be easy when you have a winning strategy.  Keep in mind the following tips for an industrial blog.

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Manufacturing Marketing: 6 Reasons to Make the Online Leap

Written by Kerry O'Malley Friday, 23 April 2010 12:07

Change is never easy for us humans.  We're comfortable with what we know we know - even if what we know we know is that what we're doing isn't quite working any more.  All the same, taking a leap outside of our comfort zone and trying methods that are unproven requires more effort, and can be a little scary.  Regardless,  industrial marketers have got to suck it up, take a deep breath, and take the leap from more traditional marketing methods to online marketing.  It doesn't have to be a wholesale change; but adding online tactics to the marketing mix is going to be a requirement for marketing success in the next few years.

The times, they are a changin'!  Nobody today goes exclusively to traditional marketing communications such as trade publications, trade shows, mailers, and filed brochures for information they need to do their jobs.  If manufacturing marketers want to connect with customers and prospects at as many points as possible, they must integrate online marketing programs into their marketing communications plans.

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The New Manufacturing Marketer: Educator and Evangelist

Written by Kerry O'Malley Sunday, 18 April 2010 13:42

There's a shift going on in the world of marketing communications.  If you're responsible for marketing in a manufacturing or industrial service company, you're probably more keenly aware of this than most.  The shift is from traditional marketing methods (print advertising in trade journals; industrial P/R through trade journals; trade shows; direct marketing through the mail; hospitality events, etc.) to Internet based marketing tactics such as strategic website optimization; social media marketing; blogging; email marketing; online article and news release marketing; webinars and podcasts; and even video marketing through sites like YouTube.

We're still living in a world where people go to both offline AND online sources for information, research, vendor sourcing, and networking.  This can make an industrial marketer's job more challenging, and not just because you have to stretch your marketing dollars across a broader range of tactics.  Convincing execs to give the thumbs up to less tried and true methods can be difficult.

If you can relate to this, it may be time to build stronger bridges with colleagues in other departments, including your bosses, if you want support for your online initiatives.  If marketing is your world, you are probably more educated than those around you about the shift from offline to online marketing tactics.  You also have a deeper understanding of the need to reach your target audience at as many "touch points" as possible in order to build brand awareness and credibility and achieve "top of mind" status.  If you want to help your company keep a foot in both marketing worlds as the shift continues, you now have two more titles added to your job description:  marketing educator and evangelist.

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