Before there was an online there was print, billboard, and broadcast television. Advertisers have benefitted from the positive results of display ads for years. Now the results have moved to online. But the critical point made by Batten, in my view, is the relationship between the elements of your marketing mix. Batten reminds us to consider the role played by each medium: “…display is primarily for driving awareness and “filling the funnel” whereas search is better for driving immediate consideration and direct response.”

When developing your marketing strategy it is imperative to design and implement initiatives that work together to deliver the results you desire. For example, your display ad works to promote your brand in the consciousness of your target respondents. They may appear as part of your search marketing mix, industrial directory online, targeted third-party websites, and print. Your print ads have a double duty to promote your brand and get respondents to take action. If you have the budget for television or radio, these work primarily for branding but can also be effective at getting respondents to take action. Your website, one of your most important strategic considerations in your overall marketing mix, greets respondents with highly focused information that aids in their research process as well as providing them with an easy way to reach out to you. Your social media and blog posts reinforce your brand and demonstrate your broad knowledge regarding what you offer. Your text ads work to get respondents to take immediate action to buy something or at least start the buying cycle by contacting you. All direct marketing campaigns, including email and direct mail, should coordinate with the message delivered in your other initiatives and be designed to get respondents to take action.

So you can see how each element of your marketing mix plays a specific role that works collectively with the other elements to:

• Establish awareness
• Nurture the relationship
• Get the desired response

Through understanding and careful planning, your marketing initiatives can work effectively together to ensure you keep leads in the pipeline and make the sales you need to increase your profits and grow your business. Consider the ‘zero multiplication factor:’ anything multiplied by zero equals zero. Don’t let a careless decision eat away at your budget or your profits. The next stages after careful planning are timely implementation, close management, and consistent tracking and reporting. Eliminating elements that are not working is not necessarily the way to go to fix a broken strategy. Using verifiable data, you will benefit from fixing the broken elements so they begin to work effectively within your overall mix.

For help with your marketing strategy, call Industrial Web Solutions at 1-800-399-9859.

Although 14 manufacturing industries reported growth in February, including Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Transportation Equipment; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Machinery; Chemical Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Textile Mills; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Paper Products; Wood Products; and Miscellaneous Manufacturing, the continued weak dollar is being blamed for the high cost of components and raw materials, particularly those obtained overseas. Representatives from Transportation Equipment stated “It is going to force us to increase our selling prices to our customers.” A similar statement was made by representatives from Chemical Products: “We continue to see significant inflation across nearly every type of chemical raw material we purchase.”  Nonmetallic Mineral Products, which is one of the 4 industries to experience contraction last month, along with Plastics & Rubber Products; Primary Metals; and Furniture & Related Products, stated, “Prices continue to rise, while business limps along at last year’s pace.” Plastics and Rubber reported, “Overall demand is off 10 percent.”

While the weak dollar has adversely affected the purchase of components and raw materials overseas it has had a positive impact on exports, which experienced a growth percentage point change of +0.5% with a PMI of 62.5%. Right alongside that of the overall economy, exports have experienced continued month-over-month growth at a faster rate of change for the past twenty months. Both Production and New Orders are up as well. Production experienced an increase of 2.8 percentage points from the January reading of 63.5%, registering a Production Index of 66.3% and continued growth for the 21^st consecutive month. Demonstrating a 20 month growth trend at a faster rate of change, New Orders were up 0.2 percentage points from January.  Thirteen industries reported growth in New Orders, including Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Wood Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Machinery; Transportation Equipment; Chemical Products; Paper Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Computer & Electronic Products; and Miscellaneous Manufacturing, while Primary Metals; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Furniture & Related Products; and Plastics & Rubber Products reported decreases.

Despite a +0.5 percentage point rise in Prices, and increases for the past 20 months at a faster rate of change, manufacturing and the overall economy continue to expand. And that is good news. Companies are challenged to find cost saving ways to attract new business to offset any decreases in orders from existing customers that may occur as a result of rising Prices. To manage marketing budgets set aside for new business development, industrial marketers must consider the changing landscape of search, social media, and lead/sales generation that occurs online and offline. Content presented on blogs, websites, text ads, emails, industrial directories, map sites, search engines, relevant 3^rd party sites, Twitter, Facebook and other social media websites, as well as all direct mail letters and brochures, must be current and highly focused on the specific interests of your target audience groups. Market research may need to be done to understand those interests and to uncover the specific language used by your target audiences to search for what you offer. Through careful research, planning, and implementation budgets can be intelligently and carefully managed to nurture leads, sales, and overall business growth, particularly as you strategize to offset the impact of increased prices.

For help with your marketing research, planning, creation and implementation speak with an Industrial Web Solutions marketing expert. Call (800) 399-9859.

• Recruit Members and Supporters
• Market your Educational or Artistic Programs
• Promote your Events
• Sell your Literature or Merchandise
• Attract Advertisers
• Manage your Fundraising and Capital Campaigns
• Manage Membership
• Manage Subscriptions
• Manage Events and Sales
• Manage Communications
• and more.

Although marketing your industrial professional organization is different from marketing your business, many of the tools are the same. Websites, direct marketing both online and offline, events, public relations and media, and social media are chief among the tools used in a professional organization’s marketing kit. Often a daunting undertaking, the careful planning and management of budgets and tasks is critical to the success of the organization. You must consider how to effectively:

• Develop and Utilize Online Assets and Resources
• Coordinate Online and Offline Initiatives
• Use Social Networking Websites
• Perform Administrative and Management Tasks

Regardless of the size of your professional organization, it is always a good idea to work with a trusted marketing team that brings good ideas to the table, particularly if you are making any major investments such as a new website or media and business management application. A marketing firm experienced with helping professional organizations can steer you away from pitfalls, help you to evaluate costs and benefits, and work with you to identify and develop successful ways to fulfill your mission statement, communicate value and generate interest among your target supporters.

For more information about getting help for your industrial professional organization, call Industrial Web Solutions (800) 399-9859.

1. Announce company news.
2. Discuss sensitive topics.
3. Set the record straight.
4. Readdress old messages from media.
5. Gain back some credibility.
6. Show a personal side.
7. Talk about the competition.
8. Reach new audiences with a trusted media source.

All great items to consider, it helps to understand the elements as they relate specifically to industrial public relations. Since you may not all be as famous as Mark Zuckerberg, you may need to pitch a story to the media in order to get the media attention you desire. A few things you will need to consider when developing your offline PR strategy are:

Media Source:

1. Who is your intended audience?
2. Is the journal/television or radio program/journalist or reporter you are pitching known for covering topics like yours that are of interest to the audience you want to target?
3. Does the media outlet offer additional coverage opportunities online, such as a website, podcast, or YouTube channel (a great bonus)?

 Your Story:

1. How is it important and of interest to your intended audience and the media source you are pitching?
2. Is it compelling?

You can understand how compelling your story is by answering the question: What will be different once my story has been told? The more your story will impact the way your targeted audience does something or thinks about something, the more compelling it will be to both the journalist/interviewer and your audience. Whether you are making an announcement, discussing sensitive topics, or setting the record straight, your message has to affect the people to whom you are delivering it in order for it to be of interest to them.

Follow Up:

Follow up is a critical element of your PR strategy and often the one that is most ignored. You worked hard to achieve that news coverage so make sure you have systems in place to continue to reap the benefits of it once the coverage is over. The best thing to do is to provide your audience with a place to go online to learn more and to access the original story (whether a magazine article, television or radio interview, or whatever).

Part of your overall strategy must include your specified conversion goals. Clearly outline what you expect your target audience to do next (learn about your company or buy a particular product or service, for example) and then guide them seamlessly through the steps that will help them to do it easily and successfully. Make it as easy as possible for them to access the story and share it with their colleagues via email or social media like Twitter, Facebook, Digg, YouTube, or StumbleUpon, for example. And by all means, reference it in other online and offline media that you create.

Measure Impact:

Understand the impact of your story by following audience response. Track the following:

1. Tweets and Re-Tweets on Twitter
2. Visits to the online web pages you created for this campaign
3. How many journals/websites/radio stations talked about or posted the story and what are those media outlets
4. Who and how many blogged about it
5. How many calls or sales it generated
6. Any other effects that it may have had, such as an effect on the stock market 

In a nutshell, for the best results you have to clearly establish your goals, deliver a compelling story to the right media, provide an effective way to for the story to live on, and track your results. And if you need help, call us at (800) 399.9859 or visit www.IndustrialWebSolutions.com.

Demonstrating value to customers is always a good idea. Even those with deep pockets are cautious about what they commit to. It is not enough to present marketing materials and information that merely let buyers know you sell certain products or services. From your website to your collateral print and broadcast materials, you are challenged with illustrating to your diverse audience groups the ways in which what your offer helps them to meet their specific goals.

This is where a little market research can go a long way. Whether it’s a simple questionnaire, an examination of your recent sales or inquiries, or some serious analysis of your website performance reports, it is particularly important to understand the needs, wants, concerns, and both long and short term objectives of those to whom you wish to sell.

Case studies, white papers, and even just some straight forward, well-written website copy will go a long way now and in the coming months to help you demonstrate the value you offer. Spell it out! Keep on point and make it compelling. Appease concerns and motivate buyers by showing them that you understand how to help them accomplish what they are after.