September 2018

Mike Stanczyk
Industrial Marketing
September 21, 2018

Industrial Marketing from the Heart

I spoke to a few company owners and managers in the manufacturing and industrial arena this past month and a few things boggled my mind. With all these tools available to get the word out about their products and services, none of them were using any. I was kind of baffled. I know it is hard to dedicate time to grow your B2B reach but when your potential client is looking for what you do and you are not out in from to of them how in the world are you going to get business from that? There will always be your current and recurring client pool but to tap into the twilight zone of untapped potential is the key to growth. If you want to grow you have to reach out and maybe do something that is uncomfortable, but it works.

Share Your Passion with People

If you manufacture monkey wrenches then make it the most sought after wrench in the industry! Make videos with it. Build a brand around the tough and feel of it and why a craftsman would want one in their hands when they are doing their job. Create a culture. The possibilities are endless, but my point is if you keep cranking out your message on social media, blogs and videos you are going to sell a hell of a lot of wrenches!

Create Excitement!

Your first thought is what is so exciting about a bent piece of metal, a circuit board, a battery, an electrostatic precipitator, a forklift, etc. Well, the answer is everything! The thought of combining all of these elements that create a consumer product or a service that helps clean the environment is completely and utterly fascinating! I hope it is not only me that feels this way but let me tell you something, the more you get pumped up about what you do or what you provide it will translate into sales. The money will follow. Obviously the goal is to make money and stay in business but if that is not your focus it will come naturally and follow. It is hard to explain the jolt and following you will get from providing relevant content and interest.

Don’t be Scared

Worried about what people will think? Why bother! You are on a different mission than they are. Put blinders on and march forward. Do what you feel is right and run with it. There is no right or wrong way to record a video except by not doing it at all. That would be a shame. If you have not made a video yet for your business you are missing the cruise ship. If you get jealous or get bummed out when you see one of your competitors videos that are all polished with a lead in and a cool graphic that is animated, great overlay music and an ending the is good enough for the Super Bowl, don’t. I am sure their first video was a bit generic but it worked. There are a ton of free (and paid) tools to make a video look cool. There are even some apps for the phone that will help you create and publish a professional looking video in minutes! If your excuses start piling up you need to knock that pile over. There will never be enough time, there will never be enough money, etc. Flip the script and just get it done. In a short time you will look back at what you were reluctant to do is now a piece of cake and slightly addictive.

Mike Stanczyk
Business Tips
September 18, 2018

What is Your Marketing Bullseye?

Like Any Good Mechanic, Use Your Tools!

We network with a lot of people and when we start talking about how business is with people we can’t help but to analyze them from a marketing perspective. Normally business owners or managers always say “business is good”! But what does that really mean? Good is not great, good is not fantastic, good is not extraordinary. Why are none of these the answers we hear? Mainly, unless you are an exception, is because they are just getting by. 9 times out of 10 it is because of lack of business or lack of efficiency. Usually lack of efficiency leads to not being able to accept new business. That is a different issue. So let’s talk about lack of business.

Lack of Business

If you are experiencing lack of business then you are probably doing little to no marketing. If this is true don’t stop reading this article. There are some straight forward steps you can take to get your market aligned with your target audience.

1. Social Media

If you do not have any social media setup or if you do and are not actively pumping out relevant content you are missing the boat! Today, this is the quickest and easiest way to get your products and services circling around the internet. Even at that, it has never been more cost effective to sponsor or boost information on facebook or the like. For pennies on the dollar you can put what you sell out in front of your ideal client for cheap. Yes, someone or something has to create and manage all of this but this is the exact opposite of purchasing some billboard space along the highway. Think of it the opposite, your billboard is only placed in front of people that are looking for your products or services, not the other way around. A billboard is permanent and depending on your audience a good portion who see your advertisement will not be interested. On the flip side, social media can target age, sex, demographic, interests, search history and more so that your content will be front and center when the time is right.

2. Videos

Videos have been slow to gain traction over the last 10 years but those who have embraced the power of them for business are reaping the benefits. They are simple to make and don’t take a lot of planning as long as you know what you are talking about. To put out a decent 1 to 5 minute video explaining your products or services or talking about what kind of clients are ideal for you these topics should be second nature. As you are pumping out these videos you can use social media to get them off the ground and over time they will attract the right type of clients to your business. The ones that are profitable if you are true to yourself and true to your potential clients.

3. Marketing Automation

One undervalued service is one that automates and cultivates business that already has an interest. These clients need to be nurtured and pulled through your sales funnel. In order to do that you have to create content that is used for drip marketing. The idea is that while your potential clients are scouring for solutions to their problems you will be constantly in their sites. By implementing a solid marketing campaign based on the things you probably do already when responding to inquiries you can bottle up the responses and turn them into sales tools. This will help automate the process and give you more time to focus on efficiency or cultivating new clients.

Focus on the Target

Here are a few examples of a tool you can use from Google called Trends. If your have a veterinary business and only focus on talking about cats because you like them you may want to shift focus on dogs. If you are focused on well being you may want to talk a bit more on yoga and exercise versus stress. The search volume of yoga is over the top compared to the other two. If you are in the engineering field you may want to talk more about mechanical than industrial or electronic. If it is around the Holidays and you sell gifts you may want to talk about kisses more than hugs. This data has been collected over time and can be very helpful in determining what your audience may be wanting. Rather than guessing just use the tool!