Industrial MarCom Blog

A tribute to Billy Mays - an extraordinarily gifted pitch-man

I read a really good article by Jeff Sexton on grokdot.com.  Yeah, Billy could get on your nerves with his booming voice but there's no denying the man's ability to pitch a product and convince a lot of people to buy it.

I think Jeff sums it up nicely when he wrote, "What Billy knew that so many of us forget, is that a conclusion that the audience comes to on their own is a conclusion they’ll believe and act on. No normal advertising claim can achieve that, no matter how much evidence you throw behind it."

You can read the rest of his post at http://bit.ly/60TN9.

Industrial manufacturers are cautiously optimistic

According to the first quarter edition of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ “Manufacturing Barometer,” U.S. industrial manufacturers are cautiously optimistic about the economy.

You can download a copy of Q1 2009 Manufacturing Barometer and special issues from here.

Some of the findings are:

• 16% of those polled are optimistic about the U.S. economy in the next 12 months. That’s up by 11 points from the previous quarter.
• 55% were pessimistic about the economy as compared to 70% last quarter.
• 60% reported a decline in international sales from the Q4 2008 and only 18% of those who took the survey are planning to expand abroad over the next year.
• Only 24% are planning any new investments over the next 12 months, down from 52% reported last year.
• 53% are increasing operational spending to stabilize their current business and 29% plan to focus on new product introductions.

Source: BtoB Special Vertical Insight issue.

Strategy Activation - The secret to successful execution

Secret To Successful Execution Share

View more OpenOffice presentations from Aquent Webmaster.

What is Lead Nurturing?

We know that lead nurturing is an important component of any successful lead or demand generation program. What exactly is lead nurturing? I’ve read different descriptions but the one that made most sense to me was by Jon Miller, VP-marketing at Marketo.

Jon defines it as, “Lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with qualified prospects, regardless of their timing to buy, with the goal of earning their business when they are ready.”

In the same article, he goes on to define the four types of lead nurturing campaigns. They are:

1. Incoming lead processing
2. Stay in touch
3. Accelerators
4. Lead life cycle

You can read Jon’s complete article in BtoBonline’s special Lead Generation issue.

The Zen of Social Media Marketing

The Zen of Social Media Marketing book RELEASED! from shama hyder on Vimeo.

How To Gain Media-Exposure To Build Your Business

You know that old saying, there’s no such thing as bad press? Well you don’t have to resort to bad press to get some media exposure. Here are a few great ways to gain media exposure for your business and keep everyone happy.

• Publish Content - Whether it is a case study, a special report or any kind of "How-to" guide or course, it is a great way to gain exposure for your business. You can publish press releases online and for your local media to promote the content.

• Publish notable company news - If your business undergoes significant changes or achieves a notable accomplishment, by all means issue a press release.

• Interview or be interviewed - Interviewing an expert, or being interviewed, is a great way to garner more attention for your business and put the focus on your expertise. If you’re interviewing an expert in your industry, issue a press release and send out announcements so people know how to access the interview.

• Host an event - Workshops, seminars, and other events generate interest. Issue a press release announcing the event and issue a press release once it’s completed. Let reader’s know what they have to gain from attending and give journalists the vital statistics like how many attended and the topic of the seminar or purpose for the event.

• Capitalize on current trends - For example, if you’re a professional coach, you could capitalize on the current unemployment trend and talk about "how to polish your resume", "stay focused on the positive," or even "how to reinvent yourself." All of these can use the help of a professional coach and highlight a current trend.

• Support a local cause - Ideally, you’ll choose a cause that relates to your business. Sponsoring events will get tremendous local media exposure for you and your business.

• Make friends with the media - Connections go a long way toward getting you the media exposure your business needs. Local media can be a huge stepping-stone to state and national media because the big media companies often get their leads from the smaller news organizations. Media sites like Google News are a great way to generate a buzz and get your company the attention you need.

Gaining media exposure requires a plan, setting goals, and then following through on the steps necessary to let the world know who you are and what you’re about. It may not happen overnight, however, through diligence you can gain the media exposure you desire.

Seva Cafe: Love All, Serve All

Seva Cafe in Ahmedabad, India is redefining the idea of a fine dining experience. Operated on the principle of a "gift economy," this restaurant serves food at no charge. Diners enjoy meals that have been paid for by those who came before them. And what patrons contribute is a matter entirely up to them. "You pay from your heart," explains one of the many volunteers who cook, clean and serve at the restaurant. "The idea is to promote the idea of giving."

Top 5 Tools for Streamlining Twitter

Now that twitter has taken flight, there are dozens of tools available to streamline the process and make you more productive. If you are an avid Twitter user, these five tools will help you manage your Twitter accounts without tying up your entire day.

1. TweetDeck – This application works on your desktop. It allows you to manage your Twitter account without having to visit the site each time. You can create groups for friends, business associates or anyone else you like with this application. Best of all, TweetDeck works in the background and can be used offline at your leisure. Some cool things about TweetDeck to point out include: 
   • The ability to post your Facebook status and keep up with your friends within your TweetDeck window.
   • You can group certain users together in one window so you don’t miss any tweets from them.
   • You have a separate window for your @ replies, direct messages and your main stream.
     
   • No need to refresh the page as it updates automatically for you and you can change the amount of time in between updates.
2. Twhirl – This handy tool also works on the PC desktop. Instead of spending most of your day checking and rechecking your accounts, this application notifies you when you have new messages. In addition, it shrinks long URLs to more manageable shorter ones for links in your tweets. You can search tweets for interesting new subjects and there is a spell checker included.
3. TweetLater – Just like the name says it allows you to schedule your Twitter messages much like an email system. If you are using Twitter for business, it is helpful to schedule tweet delivery, create draft tweets to be used at a later date, set up alerts such as notification when certain users send tweets and tracking users you want to follow.
   
4. TweeTake – It is always important to backup files that you might need later. Computers can crash at any time. With this tool, you can backup your Twitter information. Us it to backup files, documents and photos. You can save a copy of Twitter account information as well as your tweets and group lists just in case your computer decides to give up the ghost.
5. Twitterment – Well, Twitter has its own search engine as well. Use Twitterment to search for tweets using keywords or phrases. It’s also a buzz tracker to see what’s hot and what’s not in the Twitter universe.