Industrial Marketing Today

OCTOBER 25, 2011

B2B and industrial marketers are usually tasked with two main responsibilities: Fill the top of the sales funnel (ToFU) with high quality leads. Maximize the middle of the funnel (MoFU) for converting more leads into sales opportunities. Achieving those two objectives are difficult enough, now add to that the constant pressure of having to lower the cost per lead at the same time.

Top of Funnel 88

Top of Funnel Marketing Funnels Content Marketing High Quality Lead 88

Industrial Marketing Today

OCTOBER 20, 2011

Blogging and mainstream social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube get all the attention these days. What about good ol’ community forums? Community forums have been around a lot longer than the newer social media channels. Some even consider it the original crowdsourcing platform for content. Traditionally used as customer support tools by manufacturers and industrial distributors, the discussion threads were primarily text-based.

Communities 87

Communities Paid Search Agency Peer-to-peer Companies 87

Industrial Marketing Today

OCTOBER 14, 2011

Confused about Inbound Marketing? Never heard of it? View this hilarious and entertaining video from HubSpot and it will tell you everything you ought to know about inbound marketing. Click here to view the embedded video. In the past I’ve written about manufacturers such as Indium Corporation and Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. and their success stories of inbound marketing with content.

Inbound Marketing 85

Inbound Marketing Top of Funnel Marketing Automation Services Allocation 85

Industrial Marketing Today

OCTOBER 1, 2011

In my conversations with industrial companies about inbound marketing, I find my audience agreeing with me up to a certain point and then there is a big disconnect. I see heads nodding in face-to-face meetings or hear plenty of “Uh-huhs” on the phone when I talk about the benefits of inbound marketing. They agree it helps them get found in search engines early and often, drives hordes of traffic to their site and fills the top of their funnel with qualified leads at a lower cost per lead.

Top of Funnel 88

Top of Funnel Inbound Marketing Bulldog Solutions Lead Scoring 88

Industrial Marketing Today

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Remember the old US Army commercial – “Be All You Can Be?” It was one of the most popular and successful recruiting slogans and the army used it for over twenty years. It was created in 1981 by E. N. J. Carter (he was awarded the Outstanding Civilian Service Award for his efforts) when he was with N. W. Ayer & Son, the first advertising agency in the United States.

Marketing Websites 86

Marketing Websites Sales Qualified Leads Lead Scoring Lead Ranking 86