Direct Marketing

The New Marketing Communications Rules

Written by Kerry O'Malley Saturday, 24 July 2010 19:06

computer_man The Internet has and continues to affect just about every facet of business communications. Although the industrial sector is behind in terms of embracing all the Internet has to offer, especially in the area of social media, they are beginning to take notice. Websites for industrial companies are being redesigned with more strategic content that is search engine optimized. Manufacturers who scoffed at all the fuss about Twitter a year ago are suddenly appearing in the Twitterverse and taking their first tentative steps at social media marketing. Engineers at industrial firms are joining groups on LinkedIn for industrial marketers where discussions take place about how best to harness the potential of social media networking.

Industrial marketing and sales paradigms are beginning to shift. The days of "the hard sell" and "marketing in your face" are over. Customers and clients are looking for relationships with vendors - not just their products and services. In the service industries, the benefit of someone's expertise is often expected for free before it is paid for. The world is getting smaller and competition is getting stiffer. Customers expect vendors to be available in "Internet time" (24/7) rather than the traditional 8 to 5 business day timeframe. Social media has created an environment in which the companies who get noticed are the companies who are more . . . well, social.

As all of these changes and new ways of communicating are evolving, it's good to understand the new rules of engagement for networking. I read a blog post by Brad Shorr of Straight North, a web content development company, with a short but appropriate list of best practices for communication on the social web. I couldn't say it better myself, so following is Brad's list straight from his post.

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Industrial Marketers: Yes, you CAN Blog!

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

create-new-blog-commoncraft-0 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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How to Get Your Website to #1 on Google

Written by Kerry O'Malley Monday, 12 April 2010 12:33

Improve your search engine ranking with industrial news releases and articles

One of the questions I get asked most often about industrial websites is, "how do we get our site to the top of the search engine results?" There's not just one answer to the question, but something that can make a huge difference is creating high quality backlinks. A backlink is an inbound link to your website from any other website. Search engines often use the number of backlinks that a website has as one of the most important factors for determining that website's search engine ranking. Google's description of their PageRank system, for instance, notes that Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. More votes - higher ranking!

There are a number of ways to create a large number of backlinks to your website, but today I'm focusing on the use of news releases and articles. Regularly submitting releases and articles to article directories or free news release distribution sites is one of the most effective methods of not only creating backlinks but also generating more traffic to your website.

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Does Your Web Site Need a SEO Redesign?

Written by Kerry O'Malley Wednesday, 24 February 2010 17:36

man.computer.frustrated.0210 A new web site may look fantastic, but if the designer hasn't taken into account the principles of Search Engine Optimization (SEO,) it's not going to be effective. If you have an older web site, it may do the job of telling people about your company, but if the pages load slowly and the content hasn't been updated in years, it's ineffective as well. In either case, you definitely need to consider a redesign. Both web sites will receive a much lower volume of traffic than they COULD receive.

The newer site may get traffic for those looking specifically for that site, but anyone using a keyword search for your product or services won't find you. The older site with out of date content loses out because the search engines think the site is dormant or dead, due to the lack of fresh content. The only way to increase traffic to your web site (which translates to potential new business) is to build SEO into the web site. For a newer design, this can be done more simply, through a conversion process. For an older site, a complete redesign is probably in order. For most industrial companies who are not selling product through their web site, this is a relatively painless and affordable process that can really pay off in new business inquiries.

Here are some web site issues that should signal it's time for a redesign.

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Achieve Greater Success with E-mail Marketing

Written by Kerry O'Malley Friday, 22 January 2010 21:22

email-marketing2 E-mail ads and e-newsletters are becoming a more reliable source of information to many of your potential industrial customers. They're the next evolution in "convenience" supplier sourcing and information gathering. When information is delivered directly to someone's Inbox, how much more convenient can it get?

According to a recent Industrial Economic Outlook Survey, 56% of engineering, technical, manufacturing and industrial professionals subscribe to four or more e-newsletters, and 46% read e-newsletters either daily or several times a week. With a captive audience like that, more industrial companies should take advantage of cost-effective e-mail marketing opportunities.

Of course, to be read, the e-mail ad or newsletter needs to grab the reader's attention instantly. People are busy; if they don't see something of interest pretty quick, they'll probably hit the delete button. To be most effective, thoughtfully consider each of the four components of any e-mail ad or e-newsletter: headline, copy, links and images. If you take the time to make each of these components the best they can be, your efforts will be more successful.

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