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INDUSTRIALMARKETINGTALK
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A monthly newsletter for industrial marketing managers, from Pro-Talk,
publishers of:
Buildingtalk - Electronicstalk - Engineeringtalk
Laboratorytalk - Marketingservicestalk
Manufacturingtalk - Printingtalk - Processingtalk
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Pro-Talk - converting web visitors into leads
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Published from the UK
Issue 26: 29 February 2008
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Visit the Industrialmarketingtalk blog:
http://industrialmarketingtalk.blogspot.com/
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Jackie's message
[1] Pro-Talk gets a 'wash and brush up'
[2] The Long view: media planning...how to get it right
[3] Attention-grabbing headlines: can we learn from consumer media?
[4] Track your visitors...
[5] How many Pro-Talk readers influence or make purchasing decisions?
[6] Blogging: information on the internet never dies...
[7] B2B marketing in 2008: trends in strategies and spending
[8] A guide from the monkeys...
[9] Job search links
[10] Competition: win something useful?
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Hello!
A very belated Happy New Year to you all! Belated because gremlins and
technical difficulties halted the distribution of the January issue of
the newsletter. However, the good news is that we're back on track and
here with, what I hope, is a packed newsletter with plenty of
information for you to digest, and hopefully find useful in your every
day marketing challenges...
First of all, to catch up here's an overview of what's been
happening here at Pro-Talk Towers:
* 2008 Media pack is available for downloading at
http://www.pro-talk.com/advertising - however, I would strongly advise
you to talk to one of the team before allocating your budget. We've
always got special offers available and I know we'll ensure that your
budget works effectively for you, and well as going just that bit
further. Tell them I told you to call...
* Engineeringtalk: Dave Wilson took over in January as the editor of
Engineeringtalk. Dave has an impressive CV that includes a decade
working in the US as editor of titles such as Electronic Systems
Design and The OEM Integrator. He has also been the editor of Design
Engineering and e4engineering in the UK.
Don't panic, we've not 'lost' our much-loved colleague (and resident
nerd) Chris Rand - Chris is still going to be very much involved in
Engineeringtalk, working primarily on developing the website, plus
other technical wizardry. And, of course, contributing from
time-to-time to this newsletter (see item 3).
* Printingtalk: after recording more than one million visitors and
achieving 1.6 million banner advertisement views, together with more
than 6,800 click-throughs to company websites from advertisements,
Printingtalk completed a very strong 2007.
* Buildingtalk: an excellent start to the year with 252,949 visits to
the website during January, with February set to exceed this figure.
Editor Howard Chapman will be focusing on sustainability together with
the hot topic of energy efficiency during the coming months. Contact
Howard if your company is involved in these sectors - special reports
exclusive to Buildingtalk will be highlighted both on the site and in
the weekly newsletter.
* Processingtalk: editor Nick Denbow continues to grow this site and
newsletter by expanding the content to include the latest technologies
in this important field and will be attending a number of
exhibitions in the next few months - if you'd like Nick to visit you
during any of the shows listed below please contact him direct at
mailto:news@processingtalk.com
March: MAINTEC and Solids Exhibition, NEC
March: ICS ltd seminar, Aberdeen (alarm management)
May: IWEX part of Sustainability Live, NEC
* Laboratorytalk: Andrew Long is now planning his schedule for Pittcon
in New Orleans. If you'd like to meet Andrew during this time please
email him direct - he tells me he's offering to buy the coffee and
demonstrate how you can effectively reach our 220,000 visitors per
month and the 18,000 100%-requested readers of the weekly
newsletters. Don't miss this opportunity (for the coffee alone!).
* Marketingservicestalk: the baby in our portfolio, edited by Richenda
Wilson with almost 12 months under its belt has grown considerably
during 2007. Monthly newsletters are distributed to
circulation of more than 14,000 marketing professionals, and
the site enjoys a Google page rank of 6/10, with more than 265,000
hits during January. If you've not yet sent in your contribution
including your company profile - do it today! Richenda guarantees
publication (providing it's relevant, of course).
* Manufacturingtalk: with more than 41,000 100%-requested readers, the
Manufacturingtalk editorial and EXTRA newsletters give contributors
and advertisers an effective route to market. The website continues to
hit the spot with visitors, which, during January totalled over
367,844 page views. Mike Page, like our other Editors, will be
visiting exhibitions during the coming months. Do let him know about
new products/technologies you'll be launching during this time -
invite him to your stand!
* Electronicstalk: editor Laurence Marchini continues to work hard
with contributors to the site. His new initiative, introducing an
editorial advisory board with key industry figures, is progressing
well. If you'd like to participate, or would like more information how
you could contribute, contact Laurence at
mailto:news@electronicstalk.com
Phew! I think that just about covers everything - although there'll be
more next month.
A site that seems to be bringing in interest for ad buyers and
advertising agencies is Myadbase at http://www.myadbase.com They have
a section where ad agencies based in the UK and Ireland can add their
own profile page with an image, description and even creative designs.
They already have 75 agencies on board and they are now enjoying very
targeted traffic. Check it out at
http://www.myadbase.com/cgi-bin/agencies.cgi
They also have more than 500 listings from media sellers across every
possible format, including online and new media, and there is even a
forum where the advertising and marketing community can ask questions
and share ideas with other users.
Finally, my thanks to Andy Marken for continuing to provide such
interesting and thought-provoking articles for this newsletter -
you'll be reading more from Andy in the months to come. Don't forget,
if you'd like to contribute to this newsletter (and blog) you'll be
most welcome, just email me.
I hope you all have a good month!
With kind regards from the team at Pro-Talk,
Jackie
mailto:jackie.west@pro-talk.com
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[1] Pro-Talk gets a 'wash and brush up'
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From the desk of Pro-Talk's managing editor, Lyndon White:
Pro-Talk's network of sites is well overdue for a 'wash and brush up',
so in December 2007 we began to put plans in place for a redesign to
take effect in 2008.
When we began the process of thinking about the redesign we resisted
the temptation to go down a path of drawing up a batch of funky,
clever applications that had no use for the reader whatsoever. If we
had done this we risked detracting from our core strength: offering
easy access to product and service news.
So, this led us down a different route of making the redesign follow
these aims (of equal importance): to allow readers swift access to
products and services news; to maximise sales leads and ad clicks; and
to increase our readership.
This should lead to an effective redesign that well serves our readers
and advertisers while also ensuring that sites benefit from a fresh
look and feel. I'm sure you won't be disappointed with the results.
In terms of the newsletter, we will be offering an enhancement to the
plain-text style that you all know and love. A consistent theme of
replies to our reader surveys in 2007 was "why don't you use colours
and graphics?", so we have decided to follow this advice. Again, a
major aim of designing the newsletter is to enhance its readability
and usefulness to our readers and advertisers.
However, those of you who really can't do without a plainer text style
newsletter will have the option not to receive pictures and graphics.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Contact Lyndon at:
mailto:lyndon.white@pro-talk.com
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[2] The Long view: media planning... how to get it right
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If we are honest, we'd rather forget about media planning and just run
adverts. However, planning is vital in all major business decisions
and advertising is certainly no exception...
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> Continue reading Andrew Long's article at:
http://tinyurl.com/2fdjly
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[3] Attention-grabbing headlines: can we learn from consumer media?
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Chris Rand writes:
One of the conventions in business-to-business marketing seems to be
that sales messages should be understated. But if you want to make a
splash, sometimes you need to question convention. If you need to grab
someone's attention, there's a lot that can be learned from how
consumer media gets its messages over fast, and one great example is
the magazine cover line. Not all of these are appropriate to B2B, but
there are quite a few that might get you thinking: "I wonder if I
could use that?"
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> Courtesy of SEO Black Hat - take a look at:
http://tinyurl.com/25wlvc
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[4] Track your visitors...
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If you don't have a tool for tracking and counting visitors to your
website do take a look at Site Meter. The free version is pretty
impressive, but if you want more in-depth stats for a small charge
you'll receive lots more. They say: "Site Meter's comprehensive
real-time website tracking and counter tools give you instant access to
vital information and data about your sites audience. With our
detailed reporting you'll have a clear picture of who is visiting your
site, how they found you, where they came from, what interests them
and much more..."
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> http://www.sitemeter.com
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[5] How many Pro-Talk readers influence or make purchasing decisions?
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No, it's not one of those trick questions - although it would be
interesting to know how many readers it takes to change a light
bulb!
Seriously, though, I thought you'd be interested to know what we found
when we asked our readers how many of them influence or make
purchasing decisions, here's the results:
Buildingtalk: 80%
Electronicstalk: 83%
Engineeringtalk: 88%
Laboratorytalk: 85%
Manufacturingtalk: 85%
Printingtalk: 78%
Processingtalk: 83%
So it begs the question; if you're not using any of our EXTRA
newsletters to push your messages and pull in those sales leads - why
not? You're definitely missing an opportunity...
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> Find out how you can reach these people, and not blow
the budget, call 020 7970 4941.
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[6] Blogging: information on the internet never dies...
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Take a look at the raw numbers and blogs are impressive. Imagine
being able to reach, inform and influence millions of people around
the globe. It looks like the ultimate in one-to-one corporate and
marketing communications opportunity. A public tool tailor-made for
your organisation...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Continue reading this article at: http://tinyurl.com/2zq4xl
From the desk of G. A. "Andy" Marken, President
Marken Communications
Mailto:andy@markencom.com
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[7] B2B Marketing in 2008: trends in strategies and spending
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Courtesy of MarketingProfs - who recently surveyed marketing and other
management professionals to study changes in business-to-business
marketing strategies and budget allocation.
A few of the study's findings:
* 40% of respondents claim to have a marketing budget of less than
USD1 million
* Nearly half of respondents plan to increase their marketing budget
in 2008, with an average increase of 26%
* 51% of respondents intend to increase spending on Webinars
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> To download the report, go to: http://tinyurl.com/2w67tr
See what else Marketingprofs have to offer:
http://www.marketingprofs.com
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[8] A guide from the monkeys...
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Those monkeys at SurveyMonkey have put together a guide providing
information on writing successful and effective survey questions,
creating survey flow and layout, calculating response rates, tips for
increasing response rates, and the pros and cons of online surveys.
And jolly good it is too!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Download the document at:
http://tinyurl.com/2l7juo
Or find out more about SurveyMonkey at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com
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[9] Job search links
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Marketing Week:
http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/cgi-bin/jobsearch.cgi
Mad.co.uk:
http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/Jobs/Default.html
Precision Marketing:
http://www.precisionmarketing.co.uk/Jobs/Search.aspx
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[10] COMPETITION - win something useful?
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November competition winner: congratulations to Neil Maughan-Smith of
Rohmann (UK) Ltd who correctly answered the question "How many
'things' are on the list recently created by the editor and readers of
Engineeringtalk?" (Answer: 20). Neil wins a copy of 'Internet
Marketing' by Dave Chaffey.
Thanks to everyone who entered the competition - don't give up, have
another go - this month you've a chance to win 'SEO: Search Engine
Optimisation Bible' by Jerri L. Ledford.
"This in-depth Bible delivers the holy grail of online marketing: how
to influence search engine results to drive online shoppers to
specific websites; the process is called search engine optimisation
(SEO) and it is a hot topic."
And the question:
"Who now edits Engineeringtalk?"
Answers via email, by the 15 March, please.
Winner to be announced next issue.
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Email competition entries to mailto:jackie.west@pro-talk.com
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Next issue of Industrialmarketingtalk: 28 March 2008
Want to contribute? mailto:jackie.west@pro-talk.com
Deadlines for contributions: 15 March 2008
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Have you seen our other newsletters?
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Industrialmarketingtalk is one of a number of free email newsletters
for technical professionals. See what else we have to offer, and sign
up today, at http://www.pro-talk.com
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Blogging: information on the internet never dies…it lives on forever!
Take a look at the raw numbers and blogs are impressive. Imagine being able to reach, inform and influence millions of people around the globe. It looks like the ultimate in one-to-one corporate and marketing communications opportunity. A public tool tailor-made for your organisation.
* 7% of the 120 million
* 27% of the internet users read blogs
* the top 400 blogs reach 50 million people
Now extend those numbers and the current growth projections of blog readership increases by 58% annually across the total global internet, and it this reason that companies are adding this valuable tool to their internal and external stakeholder efforts.
Service providers (especially PR people) are quick to point out that it is important that the company become involved because employees are already there. For example, HP has more than 2,500. Microsoft has more than 3,000. IBM has more than 4,500. Proctor & Gamble…Coca-Cola…Pfizer…Dell…firms large and small have blogs being written by employees.
Taken at face value, all of this is true. But blogging didn’t grow to its current position for business to consumer or business to business communications. And it isn’t its primary application. Blogging has some potential and it has some pitfalls. It shouldn’t be jumped into just because it is the new communications/marketing tool in town.
A Little Background
Blogging really isn’t new. One of the blog pioneers is Justin Hall who started his personal blog in 1994 before it even had a name. In December 1997 John Barger coined the name weblog. Peter Merholz in early 1999 shortened the phrase to today’s term blog.
Few of the blogs are business/product oriented. In fact, the blogs that get the most attention and traffic are daily news and politics oriented.
The majority of blogs though are personal, more like an online diary of your day-to-day experiences. Personal blogs are extremely popular with teenagers and college students. Increasingly these individuals also use their blogs to discuss their opinions on global affairs, daily news as well as friends, enemies and experiences.
Why Blog
Pew Internet has done an outstanding job of researching, documenting and reporting on all aspects of the growing internet world.
Recent studies by Technorati and AOL’s digital marketing services highlighted the primary reasons people blog:
* establish themselves as authorities
* therapy
* creating a record of one’s thoughts
* keeping in touch with friends, family
A growing number of bloggers are even struggling to establish themselves as “legitimate” media outlets and as true journalists. A few bloggers have been recognised as members of the White House press corps. Increasingly events and trade shows are trying to evaluate blogs, which bloggers should receive press credentials and which are simply…well bloggers. Some do seriously cover industries and product categories. Other individuals simply want to be recognised as an authority, want to improve their writing skills or hope to generate an income in the blogosphere.
The Silent Club
While we personally disagree with the position that many bloggers take, especially the casual blogger, that they are true citizen journalists, the truth is that blogging has gone mainstream. It has developed a strong following and a growing list of “victories.”
Political blogs are credited with the fall of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott on his laudatory remarks at a party for Senator Strom Thurmond. Blogs noted that Thurmond was a supporter of white supremacy and Lott had a long history of racist remarks. In the end the blog furore was instrumental in Lott’s resignation as Senate Majority Leader.
Blogs were instrumental in soiling the otherwise outstanding 30-year journalism career of CBS newsman Dan Rather. Conservative bloggers built a case around what they asserted were forged memos used in a 60 Minutes segment. The “evidence” was so overwhelming that CBS was forced to deal with the issue and issue an apology regarding the poor research and reporting. Two months later Rather announced he was stepping down as CBS anchor.
As we noted earlier, a growing number of corporate employees are posting official, semi-official and unofficial blogs about their work, their work environment and their company. Some of these efforts have been far from appreciated by management and have lead to reprimands and dismissals.
While most organisations agonise over providing employees the tools to blog about business activities without monitoring, it can be a cause for concern. Conversely it can be an opportunity for management to look at the situation more closely to see if there is in fact substance behind the blogger’s statements and position.
To help bloggers protect themselves from personal and professional action, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has established an excellent set of guidelines to help bloggers produce their expressions freely.
Bloggers should study the recommendations http://www.eff.org/bloggers before they begin their blogging activities. At the same time, corporate management should study the guidelines to gain a better understanding of the pros and cons as well as strengths and weaknesses of employee and management blogs.
Blog Monitoring
While only a few corporate executives have their own blogs, most have said they would probably initiate one in the next two-three years. They noted it was a quick way of communicating ideas and news to corporate stakeholders as well as a more open means of communicating with all interested parties.
One executive at a recent online communications conference noted that management’s hesitation about blog-equipping employees was much like the early discussions of whether or not to equip employees with email accounts. He noted that in today’s Internet environment management can no longer control and “manage” the message because everyone was a spokesperson.
If it exists and can’t be managed then it is vital that management monitor and understand blogs and the blogging activities that are going on today. As you would expect, there are a growing number of analytical services being introduced that have been developed specifically to monitor the blogosphere.
Next Step
While marketing people are eager to step into the next new thing of communications, it is interesting that bloggers rarely hear from corporate management or public relations representatives.
Perhaps this is because they haven’t spent time studying the growth and influence of the blogosphere. Or could it be that as long as the reporting is favourable, they feel it is better to leave the individual blogger alone. Or perhaps when there are negative comments it is best to ignore or play down the importance/influence of the statements.
None of these positions are correct.
If the blogger is supportive of the company, its positions and its products; management should nurture the relationship and feed the blogger releasable news, information and insights.
If the blog is negative about the company, its policies or its procedures the information should be brought to management’s attention. If the facts support the position then corrective actions need to be taken. If they are erroneous then facts should be presented to the blogger offline to at least nullify the situation or at best turn the blog positive.
Remember the statement of Mobutu, a ruler of Zaire\the Congo; "keep your friends close but your enemies closer." Unlike his approach, he reportedly lived next to a cemetery, once you identify the negative or anti-company/product bloggers you can do something about it.
While it may be uncomfortable, it is best to address the situation head-on and correct the situation to management’s/ the blogger’s satisfaction if at all possible. Keep in mind that the blogger is more credible with blog readers than your barrage of news releases, your corporate blog or your web site.
Information on the Internet never dies…it lives on forever. In many instances hoaxes, legends, scurrilous rumours and negative campaigns go through dormant and hyperactive cycles.
The first step in the process is to know the activity is going on. Then determine if it is in your best interest to directly and aggressively confront the situation, seek out friendly third parties to attack the position or if necessary take legal action.
Each instance requires thorough research, careful analysis and then an action plan. There is no pat answer. No one right way.
Look Before You Leap
The Blogosphere shows tremendous opportunities for organisations of all sizes to reach out and inform, educate and persuade business partners and consumers. But it is not for the faint of heart. It is not something that can be tried for a few months and abandon.
There is nothing worse than going to a web site that hasn’t been refreshed with some type of news, information, product or service in the past 2-3 weeks. Worse are the sites that have been neglected for months and years. It is a wasted opportunity and tool.
Blogs that haven’t had an input to them in the past week are just as bad, perhaps worse. Management should look at their blogging activities as a long term communications effort with their stakeholders not something that should be tried for a few months and then abandon when the newness and “fun” wears off.
Corporate blogs internal and external represent an excellent way for management to directly and immediately explain the company’s direction, plans and position on subjects to thousands of individuals on a one-to-one basis.
But this doesn’t mean that you should immediately initiate one or more blogs. Before embarrassing yourself with a lacklustre blog, you should sit on the sideline and monitor blogs for a few weeks and months. Management has to be professional enough and confident enough in his/her company/products to be open to both positive and negative responses. They have to be able to honestly address issues.
Corporate blogs can give management unfiltered feedback on the company’s performance based on the customer’s view, not middle managers interpretation. It also provides management with a very inexpensive opportunity to explore new product, new service concepts.
Corporate blogs represent a tremendous opportunity for companies to build and reinforce the close relationship with customers that management and marketing experts have been talking about for years. But in every relationship the key to long term success is dependent upon continual measurement and management against established objectives.
G. A. “Andy” Marken, President
Marken Communications
(408) 986-0100
Mailto:andy@markencom.com
February 2008
The Long View: Media planning advice for all types of media - how to get it right
If we are honest, we'd rather forget about all media planning and just run adverts.
However, planning is vital in all major business decisions and advertising is certainly no exception.
The media planning exercise should involve conducting some targeted brand or specific research to assess recall and the viewership and readership of a particular campaign. There is a lot more to it than buying and designing ads, you know.
That said, a good media plan does not have to take an age to prepare and implement. Once you have done some initial research, all you have to do is think logically about the four main points:
1. How much money do I have to spend?
2. Which media will reach my target audience?
3. What is the main focus and objective of this campaign?
4. What kind of message do I want to give out?
How much do you have to spend?
If your budget is small, you should consider online, newspapers, magazines and some outdoor advertising.
If your budget is quite large, you can also include TV and Radio into the mix, although the latter can be achieved on a fairly modest budget.
Which media should you use?
A lot depends on the budget, but mostly on the desired target audience. If you want to target consumers you should possibly look at the lower end of the cost scale with online and pay per click advertising and some newspaper adverts. The coverage you'll achieve with TV and radio will be on a much higher level but there are also the extra costs associated with these media. Another alternative is Outdoor advertising and there are many new formats in ambient, transport and billboards than ever before.
What is the main objective of this campaign?
If you want leads or clicks to your website, then online and pay per click is probably the way to go. However, the web is an amazingly diverse medium, so a successful online media planning campaign needs great attention to detail.
If you need some brand awareness and name up in lights advertising then magazines and Outdoor can give your message terrific impact and presence.
Some media will do very different jobs for you and a lot of the response will depend on the type of media and format you use, as well as the design and message in your advertisements.
What kind of message do you want to give out?
A lot of adverts are catchy, clever and visually appealing - but do they do anything to create real results and sales?
If your message has a specific call to action then potential customers will know there is something for them to do or receive when they enquire and reply to the advert. If your message is about building a brand, then a long-term plan is in order and you should not expect huge results quickly. However, building awareness can also be built into a call to action response plan as well, so you can display different messages on many different media for great results.
If you would rather take on the services of a professional there are many Advertising Agencies and other companies out there that can help. A lot of these organisations will provide market plan development, media planning and buying, event marketing, public relations, and even creative services.
If you find the right people for the job, they will certainly help to simplify this time-consuming process through an efficient, automated, media planning system.
Remember, Media Planning is not something that has to be put on the back burner, or should be done in a spasmodic way. All of the work you put in now will make a huge difference to the overall effectiveness of your campaign.
also offers advertising advice to clients around the world at
http://www.selling-advertising.com
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