This English-language global edition will also be executed in several languages. The global edition forms the backbone for regional editions that will be adapted to suit the needs of various geographical markets served by the company. Assigned regional editors will be able to add and edit content under the review of global marketing managers.

The new site was designed to be flat in its navigation; all content can be reached in three clicks or less. The organization and content was designed from the start with searchability in mind. There are tracks on the strengths of Tranter product development and manufacturing, product lines, specific applications/solutions in various markets, service and parts, literature downloads, worldwide contact information by need and news.

Home page of the new tranter.com global website.

GlobalSpec recently released a report, Seven Digital Trends Industrial Marketers Should Know, in which this online buying marketplace highlighted findings in its Market Trends Survey. The seven trends they reported:

• Online Events
• Videos
• Social Media
• Digital Content (vs. print)
• Internet Banner Advertising
• Testing And Analytics
• Online Marketing Budgets

A common thread is that digital productions and online are the major budget growth areas.

One aspect of the report deserves highlighting…videos. GlobalSpec found that “64% of industrial companies are increasing their spending on video.” The company cites several underlying reasons:

• Videos are inexpensive to produce
• High production quality is not expected
• Many people prefer to watch, not read

Concerning content, GlobalSpec suggests:

• Interviews with executives
• Conversations among product managers
• Product demonstrations
• On-site visits to customers where your products are being used

But what can videos really do to help attain industrial marketing goals? Consider that videos you place on a company YouTube channel can be powerful in driving traffic to your website. The titles and descriptions that you write to accompany videos are highly searchable in search engines and may provide prospects with their first point of introduction to your company—just like…advertising! Except, you are more in control of the process, and once on your website, interested prospects can read your carefully crafted selling and branding messages.

Watch this space for Videos Part 2, where we will discuss how you can identify the best topics for your audience, produce them efficiently and obtain maximum “bang for the buck.”

• Sixty percent of respondents intend to increase their spending on content marketing in 2012, spending a quarter of their marketing budget on content marketing.
• Over half (62% of respondents) use some outsourcing for their content marketing activities, a 16% increase over last year.
• Blogs are growing significantly in perceived effectiveness. Some B2B marketers are paying their agencies or professional copywriters to interview engineers and compile background information to crystallize core ideas that are influential, and then edit the content into compelling blog posts.
• Video production is on the rise, reflected by a 47% increase in usage of YouTube as a distribution channel. This was the highest growth rate among social media channels.
• More manufacturers are opting for DIY video footage as a strategy to produce more videos, launch and repurpose them quicker than outsourced options. They have found that the informal approach seems to work well with the target audience.
• More marketers are now applying Search Engine Optimization criteria like ranking and the number of inbound links to evaluate the effectiveness of their communications.
• In social media, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are neck and neck for content distribution. The survey showed that 74% of B2B content marketers reported using Twitter, followed closely by LinkedIn (71%), Facebook (70%) and YouTube (56%).

Most Popular Content Marketing Tactics

Measurement Criteria Used To Evaluate Content Marketing Success

Once obtaining the responses, however, what you do with it is critical. Commenting on the white paper, Ryan Deutsch of StrongMail said that with most marketers, data resides in the CRM system, in loyalty program databases, in a campaign management system and in a separate databases. Buy-in from every department is mandatory.

Another component is integration—taking the accurate, centralized data and bringing it into the communications platform. “Once your data is integrated and automated, it requires fewer resources to do a great job with your email marketing,” Deutsch said. “In many cases, you’ll spend less time on email marketing.”

Resources

“The Right-Time Email Marketing Playbook,” white paper, May 2011; StrongMail Systems.

“Top Seven CRM Marketing Processes for 2011,” April 2011; Gartner.

QR codes could change this. A QR (Quick Response) code is a kind of barcode readable by specialized barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.

Scanned off printed materials into smart phones, their encoded information routes sales prospects to fulfillment of brochures, case histories, videos, email queries…anything you think they should see. All of this response can be tracked back to the printed material bearing the QR code.

Consider the humble printed business card—everyone still distributes them, right? But what recipient keeps them long-term in Rolodexes or card sleeves anymore? The best hope has been that a contact hand-types your contact information into an address book program to recall when a need arises. And that he does this before throwing it away!

Now, with a QR code printed on the back side of your business card, your contact information goes right into his smart phone address book, ready to synch to his computer. In a flash, you are in his procurement system.

Are you a thought leader in your field? You can use a QR code on printed materials to send contacts to your blog or LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter page to extend your influence within a growing network.

What to do with these QR codes? Remember two new lines of thought:

1. Every time you kick off a new print piece, think QR code.
2. Then think, “What additional information do I want an interested recipient to see?” A blog, or a specific post within it…a video…a case history…a microsite?

Even if it’s a sales letter to be mailed, generate a QR code and place it on your letter with your contact information, a URL, an email launch or easy access to follow-up information. QR codes—they are truly bringing the digital age to an age-old communication!