CRM
email, are you breathing?
For some this will be hard to recall, but email was once THE shiny-new-time-saving-solution for businesses, used to support or replace everything from follow-up phone calls to expensive direct mail. For consumers, it set up a welcome wall of privacy. Suddenly they didn’t have to deal with a live person. That they did hear from you (fast) created the feeling of instant attention … but that conversation was conducted on their time. No pressure sales. What a breakthrough.
Fast forward to 2009, and email is about as new as Axel Foley’s crappy blue chevy nova. Sure, it may get you from A to B, but you’d better ask first if someone wants a ride. And with the influx of not one model, but infinite shinier-newer communication tools on the road (read: new social media channels), consumers have the opportunity to be much more selective about the company they keep.
But does that mean email is dead? Many have been—and still are—eager to craft email’s epitaph. And they’ll get right on that, after sifting through their inbox. If you want to see where (if) email fits into your long-term marketing plans, we’re at a point where we have to use email more wisely and effectively. Spending a little time analyzing its strengths and weaknesses is a good place to start.
Online Shopping Taking Over Industrial Sector?
A native Chicagoan from a family of engineers, it’s my love and study of engineering coupled with my Purdue background that launched my interest in this arena. I’m not an engineer, but a smart marketer with a history working with globally successful manufacturers in the automotive, food, agriculture and technology industries. No spin here, I tell it like it is. And ask the scary questions. Like this one:
Is online shopping taking over Manufacturing’s Industrial sector?
This is one sector where despite economic instability – online shopping steadily continues to rise, with forecasts pointing towards steady growth. And this has nothing to do with Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas trees.
The tables have turned on a onetime very 1-1 relationship-oriented sales process. Industrial buyers are shopping online in growing numbers. Most purchasers are conducting the majority of their research online rather than talking to suppliers. Suppliers are now contacted at the very end of the process when buyers have practically finalized their decision and are reaching out to live people at the point of transaction.
Not all manufacturing companies have marketing professionals and there is a strong need for assistance in successful interactive engagement – simply because manufacturing business has moved online and overseas – with many marketing manufacturers struggling to keep in pace. This shift makes easy accessibility to in-depth product information crucial.
A fully loaded, intelligent, and logical website is much needed as well as a truly integrated marketing plan of attack with consistent brand messaging.
With an explosion of media options making it increasingly difficult for Manufacturers to reach their very specific audiences, Manufacturers are finding difficulty in closing the loop and seeking marketers help with an increasing amount of CRM measurement tools and establishing a continuous cycle of improvement.
How are you closing the loop and sealing the deal?
More in my next installment…
