Brand Management: Keep Your Creative Work Professional
by Ben Quinn
Pablo Picasso and his Cubism style of art is known throughout the world by the art illiterate and aficionados alike. His captivating work distorts reality and explores composition in ways that were not only ground breaking, but are considered by many as genius. What most people don’t know is that Pablo Picasso was a superb realist painter. It was only through years of experience, study, and practice that Picasso was able to achieve greatness by simplifying and breaking down his compositions into masterpieces. What does this have to do with buying logos, or brand management for that matter?
Picasso’s deconstructed bull.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” – Pablo Picasso
We live in a world where boards of beautiful art stream into your smartphone accompanied by 140 characters or less. It’s easy to forget that truly inspiring, thought-provoking work is usually the result of a lifetime of dedication. With so many out-of-the-box website designs and crowd-sourced logos available, it’s easy to see why companies take this approach. Unfortunately, this also sets the low bar by which most brands are measured — and managed.
There are many high-quality compositions out there, but if there is no story, no personality behind your logo, then it’s just an image. It’s not representative of the hard working people behind it.
When asked, most companies claim their product is superior to their competitors’. But think about it: it’s through the learning process, mastery and challenge of real work that superior products reveal themselves. The same is true for the brand you put forth. Anyone can buy a logo, but truly refined brands know to employ creative minds that take the time to get to know their clients. Copywriters and designers that put in sweat equity get to know the core of their client’s abilities. These are the ones that take a brand from good to great. Hard work and dedication starts in research, then flows over to the next steps of brand management, and trickles into each and every project. The ultimate result? A thoughtful, cohesive brand.
So when choosing your approach to brand management, build a relationship with a marketing team that will put in the work. Only then will you be able to break the established rules effectively and stand apart from your competition.
Continue ReadingB2B Monday Myth: Business Value Plays The Biggest Role In Influencing B2B Buyers
by MGB2B
The Myth: B2C companies need to worry about conveying personal value, while B2B customers only care about business value.
The Reality: Emotions play a bigger role in B2B buying decisions than you may think.
There is a major misconception about the influences on B2B buying. Google teamed up with CEB’s Marketing Leadership Council and marketing research firm Motista to survey 3,000 purchasers of B2B brands across various industries, and the results were surprising. They discovered that “B2B customers are significantly more emotionally connected to their vendors and service providers than consumers.”
Why is this? There is usually much more risk in B2B buying decisions than in B2C ones. Think about it: the buyer is spending a lot of money to make a major purchase, and needs to justify the decision to many people. More than 5 people are involved in the average B2B purchasing decision today. Not only is there a financial risk, but interpersonal and emotional forces are also prevalent in the workplace. Compare this to when a consumer goes to make a purchase; products that don’t meet expectations can be simply returned, and a disappointed spouse is more easily convinced than an unhappy supervisor.
The stakes are high for the B2B buyer, as their credibility is on the line. So, how do you successfully market your product or service? While logic and reason are an important key, you must also communicate personal value. Whether you are emphasizing opportunity for career advancement, respect in your workplace, or confidence in the product, follow these tips for success:
Homepage
It turns out that buyers don’t act in a linear fashion like we often assume. The decision-making process is actually very complex. We can be rather certain, however, that almost every buyer will at one point view the homepage on your website. This is the place to pull them in. Your homepage should have content that discusses both the business value and personal value of your product. Try using a call to action with some type of emotional appeal.
Make Personal Value Your Competitive Advantage
In above-mentioned study, Google also surveyed purchasers on their perceptions of different brands. It turns out, when it comes to business value, buyers don’t really see a difference between one brand to the next. What really differentiates a company is personal value. Emphasize the emotional outcomes of working with your company, and you’ll stand out amongst a sea of product characteristics.
Remember, You’re Talking to People
While it is easy to think of a corporation as a single entity, there are real human beings behind it. And that’s who makes the decisions. To keep this in mind, try creating B2B personas when investigating what type of content is relevant to your different segments. Remember, you are trying to gain attention from another person, just like you.
Utilize LinkedIn
While it may not be at the forefront of your mind when considering the buying process, 50% of B2B buyers use LinkedIn when making purchasing decisions. LinkedIn is the absolute preferred platform for creating a professional and authoritative brand. With LinkedIn, you can connect with your prospects and maintain current relationships. You’ve also got access to tools like Sales Navigator, to help target different audiences and generate leads. And by joining LinkedIn groups, you can monitor different preferences or issues with B2B buyers, and share relevant content to provide solutions.
B2C companies aren’t the only ones who need to convey personal value to their markets. While logic and reason are important, buyers emotions count just as much when trying to make sales. It’s time to get personal.
Continue Reading7 Smart Social Media Moves to Make After Your Next Trade Show
by MGB2B
If you’re on the marketing team for a manufacturing company, then you are likely smack dab in the middle of trade show season. Coming out of first quarter shows and looking ahead at spring and summer, this is a busy time of year. Besides keeping the details, materials, and deadlines straight, there’s the ongoing challenge of proving the ROI of these events. Let’s face it: between travel, fees, and the booths themselves, trades shows add up quickly. While social media is probably already in your strategy, there’s several smart trade show social media tips for manufacturers that can keep the payoffs rolling in.
Take these 7 Trade Show Social Media Tips for Manufacturers for a spin after your next event:
- Turn your booth visitors into custom audiences. Facebook and Twitter (and soon, LinkedIn) allow social media advertisers to create targeted audiences based on contact information. After your next trade show, don’t just dump your booth visitors into your email database. Use them to build a custom audience. Target your Twitter and Facebook ads at your new contacts. Then, create mirrored audiences made up of users similar to your custom-built audience, and serve social ads to them, too.
- Don’t go cold turkey on event hashtags. If your Automotive Manufacturing trade show was in January but you’re firing out tweets with #AutoMfg2017 in April, it might be time to say sayonara. But a week or more after your trade show ends is still within the unwritten “half life” of an event’s hashtag. Keep conversation circulating, especially when it comes to the products and literature that you had on display. That way, attendees or people who didn’t make it to the show can still be in the know. Which brings us to Tip #3.
- Tell your followers where they can find more information. Trade shows are hectic. It’s easy to miss specific products — even entire booths. Remind your social media followers where they can learn more about the products and services you offer in case they missed it in person. Also, be sure to share your relevant content, everything from white papers to product bulletins. Take advantage of a captive audience and use that hashtag!
- Create Twitter Moments from trade show tweets. Now that Twitter Moments are available to all users (check out more about Moments in this post), why not try your hand at creating one? Find a few tweets from attendees, customers, or other exhibitors, and collect them together in a Moment. This not only can help showcase your company’s unique experience at the show, but also recognize other exhibitors you admired, and act as a summary of interesting sessions.
- Engage with other exhibitors post-show. Like you, other trade show exhibitors are probably flying high after a (hopefully) successful event. Use this window of time to share what you enjoyed about the event with other exhibitors, what you learned, and what you hope to see next year. Remember to use the event’s hashtag, but only for as long as it’s relevant (see Tip #2).
- Upload your photos into an album. One of the key trade show social media tips for manufacturers is to post photos throughout the event. But it’s also smart to collect all of those photos, and ones you’ve didn’t get to post, and create an album. Regardless of your social channel, use the show’s hashtag in the album and photo descriptions as well as your company name wherever possible to boost SEO. An album is a nice way for both your customers and your own employees to see what goes on at trade shows. Believe it or not, showing the personal side of your event or marketing team can go a long way.
- Connect on social media. Before you fly down to the comments section (though please do, we love to hear from you), this is NOT a typo! You’re probably already doing a good job getting content up before, during, and after each event. But if you’re not following, liking, and connecting with the people and companies you engage with, you’re missing out on lots of future engagement opportunities. Social media is still reciprocal, and a follow will often earn a follow back. Take advantage of the post-trade show fervor to help grow your communities on social and you’ll have new faces to engage with all year long.
If you’re one of the 68% of B2B organizations that consider in-person events to be an important piece of your content marketing strategy, you’re not likely to give up trade shows any time soon. Putting these social media tips for manufacturers to work can help fuel your strategy all year long, not to mention generate more ROI. Need a nudge in the right direction? Drop us a line!
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