I recently caught up with Tom Hammel from Contractor Supply magazine, and he was able to share some insights as to what STAFDA distributors were doing to get them through the 2009 downturn. Tom shares his thoughts here.
Podcast: What are STAFDA Distributors Doing to Weather This Downturn?
July 27, 2010
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Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing | Tagged: contractors supply magazine, STAFDA, tom hammel | 
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B-to-B Marketers Are Slow Adopters of Social Media
July 15, 2010This should not be news to anyone in the Industrial or B-to-B space. We have always been lagging when it comes to new technology. When the web started in the early 90s, we were some of the last to jump on board. So it should be understandable that we lag our B-to-C counterparts according to a recent article in eMarketer.com on a survey by White Horse.
Here are some interesting observations:
- 33% of B-to-B marketers said there was low executive interest/buy in.
- 25% said they have to learn more about social media to justify an investment.
- 46% of B-to-B marketers said social media was perceived as irrelevant to their company.
What does this mean to folks like us that have realized that social can play an important part in our long-term strategy to become the thought leaders in our category? It means we’re winning! Our competitors will finally “get it” and jump in. But if you’ve done your job correctly, you will have already established relationships and will be well ahead of them.
Let’s hope your competitors are real slow adapters!
Here are some related posts that might help you get ahead of your competitors:
10 Engagement Tactics That Will Help B-to-B Marketers
Social Media: Here’s a Manufacturer That’s Getting it Right
Social Media: 4 Signs Your Tradesmen Want to Hear From You.
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Mobile Apps to Reach Tradesmen: Are You Ready?
July 13, 2010What’s one of the most important tools a contractor has with him? If you said his phone, you win the prize!
With the advent of smart phones like the iPhone and now the Android, there are opportunities to reach your customer on a job site. Are you planning that far ahead?
According to the Yankee Group, US mobile application revenues will jump from 1.6 billion this year to 11 billion by 2014. Nearly 1/3 of these apps are purchased.
Now I’m not suggesting that you charge for an app or even try to sell something through the phone, but what I am suggesting is you might want to have an app that contractors can have on their phone where you can tell them about the newest widget and give them instant access to you.
What are your thoughts on mobile apps?
Leave a Comment » | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing | Tagged: mobile apps to reach the tradesmen, yankee group, iphone, android, mobile apps | Permalink
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Social Media: How Can Manufacturers Get the Most Out of It?
July 8, 2010In our day-to-day marketing for manufacturers, we focus on selling the products or services they offer. We talk about the features and benefits and how we can solve their problems. A good and sometimes a one-way conversation centered around us.
Then we jump into social media and expect the same tactics to apply. Unfortunately, they don’t. Social is about building relationships and thought leadership, not trying to sell the features and benefits of a certain product.
According to an article in eMarketer.com, a recent study by LeadForce1 suggests that visitors to B-to-B websites directed from social media are generally uninterested in product or contact pages.
They go there to find out more about us, read our blogs (thought leadership) or check out our management team.
Similar results are found when being referred by Twitter.
The study suggests that social network users are willing to follow the company to check out content, but unlikely to make the jump to the product or sales side of the site.
What are your thoughts on this?
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2 Comments | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing, Twitter | Tagged: social media, thought leadership, emarketer.com, manfacturers, building relationships, leadforce1 | Permalink
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Social Media Catching On In The B-to-B Markets
June 29, 2010B-to-B marketers are slowly catching up with the rest of the world regarding social media. They are finally seeing that there are opportunities to generate leads and position themselves as thought leaders according to a new report from eMarketer.com, B2B Social Media Marketing Heats Up.
Most B-to-B companies have longer selling cycles and more complicated messages to convey and that’s why they are spending more time and money on podcasts and blogs. 2010 activities also include creating a branded profile page, managing promotion and PR outreach within the social networks.
Marketing on social networking sites are estimated to grow 43% in 2010. Forrester Research predicts that B-to-B firms will spend 54 million on social media marketing by 2014.
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2 Comments | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing | Tagged: Forrester Research, social media, emarketer.com, b to b markets | Permalink
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Hispanic Contractors: What Are You Doing to Reach Them Online?
June 24, 2010Although this market segment is rated low, currently the projections for the next five years shows exceptional growth. According to a study by eMarketer 70% of Hispanic population will be online by 2014.
This online population is young and thriving according to a new report, Hispanics Online: Demographics and Media Usage, and are very active online.
What does this mean for those of us who want to sell them stuff? It means there is a great opportunity for us to communicate to these contractors online. The majority of online Hispanics are native born and speak English proficiently, but they take notice when marketers’ Spanish-language efforts are lacking.
According to a survey from Opinion Research Corporation in March 2010, Hispanics were more likely to respond to e-mail or banner ads than their White or African-American counterparts.
To be successful in this space, marketers must move beyond the perceived language barrier and make a commitment to reach them. There are trade magazines that reach out to the Hispanic contractors, but they are given out primarily at distribution points and manufacturers don’t know who they are. Social media lets them identify themselves to you.
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Leave a Comment » | Marketing Tools, Marketing Trends, Social Marketing | Tagged: social media, online, emarketer, hispanic contractors, opinion research corporation | Permalink
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White Paper: Overview of the HVAC Market
June 22, 2010
Sonnhalter is deeply involved with the professional tradesmen. We recently completed an page overview of the HVAC market. The purpose of the document is to give the reader a quick snapshot of the industry, its players and trends for 2010.
Highlights include interviews with editors of the top two trade publications. Also included are association and buying group contacts, trade shows/meetings, industry trends and media publications.
A free copy for download is available. Click here to sign up.
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Social Media Marketing Continues to Grow: Great Way to Reach the Professional Tradesmen
June 17, 2010Social media continues to grow to no one’s surprise, and both B-to-B and B-to-C are utilizing this medium at a higher rate than ever before.
Different industries are adopting social at different rates and many haven’t positioned it as one of their top priorities to reach their customers.
I recently read a post by Amy Porterfield from Social Media Examiner, 3 New Studies Prove Social Media Marketing Growth that has some interesting information, a lot of which can relate to those of us trying to reach the professional tradesmen.
Here are some highlights:
Small business doubles social media adoption – from 12 to 24%, and 20% are actively using social media as part of their business strategy.
- 75% have a company page on a social networking site
- 69% post status updates or articles of interest on social media sites
- 57% build a network through a site such as LinkedIn
- 54% monitor feedback about the business
- 39% maintain a blog
- 26% tweet about areas of expertise
- 16% use Twitter as a service channel
Nearly 20% of marketing dollars will go to social over the next 5 years.
- Currently businesses allocate approximately 6% to social
- Next year, they expect to increase it to 10%
- And 18% over the next 5 years
A top goal of marketers: Master social media.
- Top challenge is to identify ROI
- 72% of companies are planning social initiatives in 2010
- Most initiatives will be done internally
- When selecting a vendor for social media, they look for those who influence over a target market and have networks already established
So what are your thoughts? Does your company fit any of these profiles? What are you doing new in social for 2010?
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5 Comments | Marketing Trends, Social Marketing | Tagged: amy porterfield, professional tradesmen, social media, Social media examiner | Permalink
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Podcast: Industry Interview with Jack Keough-Industrial Distribution Market
June 9, 2010I recently interviewed Jack Keough, former editor and associate publisher of Industrial Distribution magazine and currently with Keough Business Communications.
Highlights include:
- 2010 Industrial distribution outlook
- Effects of economic stimulus on Manufacturers
- shortage of a skilled work force
He’s given us some insight into the challenges both Distribution and Manufacturing face moving ahead in 2010.
Enjoy his insights. Listen to the interview here.
Leave a Comment » | Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing | Tagged: 2010 industrial distribution outlook, effects of economic stimulus on manufacturers, industrial distribution, industrial distribution magazine, jack keough, Keough business communications, shortage of skilled work force | Permalink
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White Paper: Overview of the Electrical Market
June 3, 2010
Sonnhalter is deeply involved with the professional tradesmen. We recently completed an overview of the Electrical market. The purpose of the document is to give the reader a quick snapshot of the industry, its players and trends for 2010.
Highlights include interviews with editors of the top two trade publications. Also included are association and buying group contacts, trade shows/meetings, industry trends and media publications. A free copy for download is available. Click here to sign up.
Leave a Comment » | Marketing Trends, Traditional Marketing | Tagged: overview of Electrical Market, sonnhalter | Permalink
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John Sonnhalter
Welcome to my blog, Tradesmen Insights. I'm the master of one trade, founder of a B-to-B marketing communications firm to companies that target tradesmen in construction, industrial and MRO markets.
