Digital Disruption inTrade and Industrial marketing

7/30/2019 Digital Disruption inTrade and Industrial marketing

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1swordfshgroup.com.au

New Research: Digital Disruption arrives in theTrade and Industrial sectors. Now you must adapt.

By Swordfsh Advertising & Marketing

July 2013

Digital Disruption has well and truly taken hold in the

industrial sector; a newly published US study* shows

the extent to which industrial proessionals are using

digital resources more than ever beore to perorm

work-related tasks throughout the buy cycle.

The implications or industrial marketers couldnt

be clearer: i you havent adjusted your marketing

to include an eective digital component, you aremissing out on business.

This just-published survey delivers a clear mandate or

industrial marketers: to more eectively engage your

target audience, you must be highly visible across

multiple online channels. Single-channel marketing is

a tactic o the past, and traditional marketing barely

reaches industrial professionals.

Highlights rom the report:

84% use the internet to nd equipment,

74% to compare products

61% use it to request a quote

86% use search engines to seek information

44% use EDM as an information source

31% use printed trade publications

44% do all their product research online

(ie no dealer involved) and 19% of the market

dont contact the vendor until their mind is made

up on which product to buy,

Trade shows have lost favour, 51% attended

none

They subscribe to three times as many digital

publications vs printed trade magazines

29% read work related content on social media,

46% use youtube

DIGITAL MARKETING IN THE TRADE & INDUSTRIAL SECTORS

51% use online forums to nd technical information, 49% to search for product information

Todays research and decision-making tools are overwhelmingly digital and or many the essential part o the buy cycle is oten completed

BEFORE prospects speak to you or your dealer. If you dont take this into account when planning your marketing you could simply be

missed by your prospective customers:

According to another IHS GlobalSpec research report, in 2012 over half of industrial marketers spent 36 percent or less of their marketing

budget online. This allocation o marketing dollars seems poorly aligned with the behaviour o the industrial proessional audience.

Its time to adjust your budget and plans. This reports tells you how and why.

Source: * HIS Global Spec: 2013 Digital Media Use in the Industrial Sector. Survey among 1,828 industrialproessionals in North America. Ninety-three percent are involved in the purchase o components and services.


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As a manager o technical products and

services, you need to choose the right

mix o channels that meet your marketing

objectivesproducing qualied sales and

marketing opportunities, and increasing the

visibility o your company, brand and products.

What results are current marketing channels

delivering?

This chart provides an index o the eectiveness

vs difculty to execute o various lead

generation activities. Its based on quantieddata rom almost 2,000 organisations. Its

hard to imagine a more pragmatic approach

to resource allocation planning or this all-

important component o marketing activity.

As you see, email marketing and PPC

(Adwords) score most eective/easiest and,

although easy, print scores least eective in

generating leads.

Low hanging ruit

Of course whats missing is a third dimension cost. Applying that would push trade shows and print

advertising urther back (theyre very expensive), and email marketing urther ahead.

Not sure you believe it? You should! Heres another study which broadly aligns:

Source: *Marketing Sherpa 2013


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Email Marketing cheap and powerfulOne of the most cost-effective programs you can run is establishing regular email contact with a

customer or prospect base. Heres what the average business is using email marketing for:

There are some golden rules o email marketing which most users ignore!

You need to provide genuinely value-adding content thats a relevant to the recipient as possible, in

other words your email should be as tailored and personal as possible.

Include clear call-to-actions in your email, preferably incentivise click through to your site, probably to

landing pages. And once there, again include clear call-to-actions.

Commit to a regular ongoing program. The elements are: database development (segmented to allow

personalisation); content development; selecting a good email program and creating ormatted html

templates; publishing strong landing pages in your website.


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Both SEO and SEM continue to prove themselves in driving trafc to your site, and both deservedly receive

signifcant budget allocation.

SEO and SEM are intsinically linked, and can readily integrate into your social media marketing tests

SEO and SEM: mainstays of your digital activity

Social time to start the journey


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B2B are not big users of Facebook but that doesnt mean they dont use social! Trade and industrialocused online orums are huge in other markets compared to Australia,

And that means there are great opportunities here or early adopters.

The use o video is also booming, and why wouldnt it be? Its perect to explain and emo complex

products and these days it can be produced cheaply. In this case you dont need to go urther than

youtube:


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10 key action points or right now

And 11 Mistakes to avoid

It costs 62% less to generate a lead using the inbound marketing techniques weve been discussing here

compared to traditional outbound technique like press advertising and read shows (Hubspot 2011).

1. Create a digital strategy and move most of your marketing budget into it, committing to ongoing

investment in creating content and opening digital distribution channels

2. Prioritise your website as your digital base camp and hang everything around it. Invest as necessary

3. Ensure your sales team understands the new digital realities at play

4. Ensure your brand is being delivered into the digital channels intact and with values unaltered

5. More active SEO and SEM (PPC)

6. Analytics to optimise and refne all the above

7. Content generation probably including thought leadership and video. Possibly a blog.

8. Participation in or hosting o orums, webinars, and other community building activities

9. Collation of a structured email database and commitments to a regular EDM program

10. Experimentation with a social media presence

Many o these activities are readily executed, and not necessarily at great cost, particularly in relation to

their eectiveness and compared to what you may be doing now.

1. Failing to continually monitor your marketing programs.The phrase you can only manage

what you measure is true. Online marketing offers you the ability to measure your marketingprograms. This allows you to know what components o your marketing program are working, and

what you should consider rening. So with far more quantiable data available to you, make sure you

use it. Online marketing campaigns provide a wealth of data making it very easy for you to determine

the success o your campaign.

2. Staying on the same path. Sometimes the only constant is change. Objectives shift to align with

business goals, new marketing channels enter the mix, and prospects begin using dierent resources

to obtain relevant business inormation. Thereore, unless youve proven your current program is

optimized or todays marketing environment, your plan needs to evolve accordingly. Stay across

new marketing techniques, consumer trends and customer needs and alter your marketing activity

accordingly.

3. Forgetting to fsh where the fsh are.Virtually all engineering, technical, industrial and

manuacturing proessionals now use the Internet throughout their work processes. Are you reachingthis target audience where they can be ound looking or products and services like yours?

4. Ignoring requencyFishing where the sh are is only one component of a successful marketing

campaign. Equally as important is how often you are reaching your target audience. Are you pushing

your message out to the market on a regular basis, or are your eorts sporadic at best? Are you

attracting your target audience where they are looking and when they are looking or what you have

to oer?

5. Working in a bubbleAre the results you are seeing rom your marketing campaign in line with

what your sales team is looking or? Its vital or marketing and sales to work together to ensure that

your campaigns are delivering relevant sales leads.

6. Focusing on quantity versus quality.Leads that provide intelligence to begin a relationship and

gain a customer are more valuable than piles o nameless, aceless clicks. Be sure to capture relevantinormation.


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7. Treating all potential customers the same. Your customers, genuine leads, and general inquiriesare three very dierent groups with three very dierent areas o interest in your company and oerings.

The same content cannot (and should not) serve all three. Not everyone will read an email while an

e-newsletter can eel like a one-way mass communication. I you are trying to start a relationship with

a new inquiry, you need to do more than just send an email.

8. Following Up Leads Days Later. Congratulations you have just successfully generated a signicant

number o leads via a campaign. Did you know that the longer that you take to ollow up those leads,

the less success you will have? Particularly with online campaigns.

9. Overlooking timing.Are your marketing initiatives in sync with company-wide events such as

product or service launches or trade show appearances? Neglecting to keep timing in mind can

mean missed opportunities.

10. Big booths at Tradeshows (year ater year).Tradeshows takes up considerable time and

resources and oten dont attract key decision makers or new business. Try instead holding an

intimate breakast series with a drawcard speaker as a separate event and time.

11. Abandoning branding and exposure.An increased emphasis on leads has resulted in some

businesses shifting their focus away from branding and exposure. However, continuous exposure to

your target audience will ultimately result in qualied sales and marketing opportunities. Do you have

a clear brand strategy? Are you distinctive?

Where is all this headed? What will trade and industrial marketers be busy with next year and the year

after. Well, the answer is, much the same as the most sophisticated BtoC marketers are starting to be

busy with today! That is:

Websites (and content management systems behind them) that recognise you and automatically

serve personalised content relevant to you (including suggested purchases) based on your past

behaviour (Amazon have made billions by perecting this)

responsive sites (that detect what size screen you are using and optimise the layout accordingly)

omni-channel, multi-screen content delivery which allow you to start your web interaction on

one screen (eg a using tablet during TV commercials) and complete it seamlessly on another (eg

making a detailed transaction on a desktop)

better data collection and analysis providing more optimisation (eg testing different content and

layouts on your site to see what provides the best response) and better attiribution (ie knowing

where your leads have come rom and then becoming more active in those places

automated marketing systems which identify market opportunity and by modelling RoI on directing

spend there, continually adjust your marketing mix and budget allocation

continued growth of reliance on digital publications (at the expense of paper publications)

more professionally-focussed online communities forming (Linked In is the biggest example), the

continued growth in importance o customer reviews and greater eorts to be present in social

conversations

continued growth in app use

And fnally: know the uture.

(Because its already here!)

Mistakes to avoid (continued)


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Talk to us! Were experienced marketers of B2B (and B2C) products and

services both online and o. We can help you rom brand strategy, market

planning, digital strategy and execution and campaign management.

Our model is to create virtual partnerships built around the needs of any given

business. It keep overheads (and charges) low, ensures only properly qualied

people are deployed and allows us to reallocate resources as your marketing

activities evolve and change.

Contact Mark Schroeder at [email protected]

or 0417 371 071

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Digital Disruption inTrade and Industrial marketing