Structural Engineers Association of Idaho Marketing Presentation
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Hats, Pens, Water Bottles and Fishing Trips. A presentation on marketing by Stoltz Marketing Group to the Structural Engineers Association of Idaho.
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Structural Engineers Association of Idaho Marketing Presentation
- 1. Marketing: Hats, pens, water bottles and fishing trips Ken Stoltz
- 3. We have coffee cups and black fleece jackets
- 7. Social media is not the answer
- 8. You’ve all heard about “ Guerilla” marketing
- 9. It’s all this and more
- 14. Here’s another way to look at it
- 24. “ Times are slow, and business sucks and nobody’s building anything”
- 25. Shattered housing industry, huge write-downs, lingering high unemployment, massive de-leveraging
- 26. But you can survive, even thrive by paying attention to some marketing basics
- 27. Ask your customers, your mother, your associates, the prospects you’d like to have as customers
- 51. A Benefit of Social Media Search and Search Engine Optimization
- 52. Set Goals, Establish Direction Clearly identify the purpose of your firm’s social media efforts Company Website
- 53. Examples Pb elemental architecture: CTA Architects Engineers: A Place of Sense:
Editor's Notes
- Hi I’m Ken Stoltz from Stoltz Marketing Group and I’m here today with Brian Harrison and Tony Harrison to talk about marketing. I’m going to give a fairly broad perspective on what this is, then Brian is going to do the same covering aspects of social media and how it’s being used today. Tony will give you some thoughts on his area of expertise of PR and how it fits with professional firms such as yours. Then we’d like to open this up to a panel discussion for your questions. About the title…A few years ago we were asked to do a company-wide audit for one of our clients in the construction materials and services sector for management to get a handle on what the regions were doing in their marketing and how their money was being spent and what kinds of accountability were in place. Turned out they were spending a few million each year--most of their budget--on trash and trinkets and trips for customers. Nothing wrong with this, but it did little to cement customer loyalty to the company when the sales rep left to go to work for the competition. The rep owned the customer--the company did not. The point is that many companies spend an inordinate amount of money on a single tactic, ignoring what should be a strategic mix.
- How many of you are involved in marketing your own organizations? Raise your hands if you do logo apparel, etcetera
- We’re guilty too.
- About SMG An integrated marketing communications company-from strategy and planning consulting to execution of communication programs covering all parts of the marketing mix--today much of our work is in the interactive area--web development, SEO, e-commerce applications and so forth We help good organizations get the credit they deserve for the good things they do or provide. That’s our positioning--something we’ll talk more about in a minute B2B Simplot Food Group Idahoan Foods RedBuilt Engineered Wood Products (commercial div of Trus Joist) BMC Select (BMC West) U.S. Gypsum Pangborn Group Olympic Panel Products B2C Shore Lodge AIRE Rafts Lucky Bums Outdoor Gear for Kids Nonprofit Susan G. Komen Race Idaho Rivers United Big Brother Big Sisters Festival of Trees United Way of Treasure Valley We used to do huge volume in the real estate development sector--shoot we even turned business away. At the time we used to dream about having more clients in other industries to balance our portfolio. But the economy took care of that for us.
- In every company there are three critical management areas: finance, operations and marketing. Companies tend to be known for excellence or prowess in one or two of these areas. Great companies do a great job in all three. Marketing can be boiled down to essentially the 4 P’s: place, price, product and promotion. Most important is how they work in concert.
- Marketing is not advertising--it’s a small, albeit important part of the discipline
- This is the latest rage--legions of companies, highly paid consultants, adoring media and gurus are shoving this down everyone’s throats. It can be useful, but it’s not the only thing
- It’s not “guerilla” tactics.
- Marketing is looking at the whole picture--a disciplined, integrated process--remember the 4 P’s
- We start by creating a marketing plan--something that is an annual cycle--each year builds on the previous one. This is marketing 101--the class you avoided in college because you were passionate on creating structures of lasting value to mankind
- Here’s what a marketing plan looks like visually. The large type represents the end game--the quantifiable sales objectives, The smaller red type states the marketing objectives. All the blue type represents the strategies and tactics we use to get there.
- Started by creating a new identity and brand How’d we do in a year? 50% increase in room nights in 2009 23% increase in revenue
- A PR effort
- New web presence
- Let’s not forget social media--yes there is a place for it
- A compelling message and story that played to emotion and memory
- PR begets more PR--once you become news, the media think you are news so you get more news.
- The message carries across all media--this is integrated marketing communications. The picture on the right came to us via e-mail from a lady who happened to walk by the airport display ad and noticed the girl in the picture was her 50 years ago. She loves Shore Lodge--she is now what we call a brand evangelist--what’s the worth of having people like that out there talking about your company?
- One sight, one sound, one sell. We could have simply had the door hanger say, “go away, I’m sleeping.” Even the room key cards have the same look and feel.
- So to shift gears, here we are today
- In this economic environment we simply cannot “market” our way our of it.
- What I mean here is the difference between waiting for things to improve in the hopes business will come to you eventually versus doing something about it. And it’s not about having to spend a lot of money.
- Do some research…Easy and cheap--find out why customers engage you, why they don’t, attributes you bring to the table. As part of our marketing plan development, we will often conduct one on one video-taped interviews with customers, non-customers, employees and others to understand the buyer DNA--cars they drive, beer they drink, why they buy, why they do not--very revealing. A person once described marketing as: “find out what they want and don’t keep it from them.”
- Establish your positioning--essentially “what you do” Self-explanatory, Specific, Core, Relevant, Long-lasting. Make sure everyone in you organization walks the walk and talks the talk.
- Clear, memorable, simple. These are the first experiences prospects will have with your company--make it good. This is the stuff that should come out of your positioning exercise--and your research
- Most of you are already doing this--kind of like why we’re here today. May be more fruitful if you’re attending industry shows vertical markets--Brian’s example of log home shows.
- The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. But you might be surprised.
- Especially useful when you want to enter a new category--for instance, we are trying to gain traction in the outdoor consumer products arena--discounts, provide services at a net labor cost to build your portfolio and the leverage into real clients
- Meaning: assistants have power--decision makers listen to them so it’s important you culture them
- This can’t be understated--lots of opportunity here
- This question has been asked over and over – what is social media? At the core, it’s a shift in the say people discover, read and share news, information and other content. It’s a change in how we communicate online – we’ve moved from a one-way monologue to a two-way dialogue.
- But what does that mean for business? In short, social media offers businesses new channels of communication to connect with, and communicate with customers. It also provides opportunities for increased exposure for a business through wider distribution of information. And, it offers the ability to share a businesses collective knowledge and position the business as an expert in their field.
- Here are some practical examples social media sites and services for professional service firms – Blogs, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Slideshare, Flickr and Architizer. We’ll touch on how to use each of these in the next few examples.
- So now you’ve got an idea of what social media is, how it can be used in a business and professional service setting. The next question is – why? There are several answers to that question – you can use it to increase awareness for the firm by highlighting noteworthy projects on your company’s blog. You can post progress photos and videos on your Flickr account and YouTube channel. And, you can send out updates to those you’re connected with on Facebook or Architizer.
- You can also use social media to demonstrate what you know. Put another way – you’re an expert in your field. Social media gives you another way to show it. You can demonstrate that expertise by regularly writing and updating content on your company blog. Read, comment on or contribute to other industry-related blogs – with links back to your firm. Find and follow industry experts, colleagues, reporters and others on Twitter. Share your knowledge by answering questions on LinkedIn.
- Social media can also be a great recruiting tool. You can search LinkedIn to find and connect with potential employees. Also, by regularly reading other industry blogs you’ll be able to find those who have the skills and experience you’re looking for. Or, you can find and follow people on Twitter who are in the industry, and reach out to them first when you have an opening, or be top of mind for them if and when they’re ready to make a change.
- Social media also makes it easy for you to conduct informal customer research or create focus groups. This could take the form of customer surveys, online polls and voting, or creating a feedback loop where customers and clients can easily provide feedback to your firm.
- Search and Search Engine Optimization. A potential customer or client who is considering hiring you will likely do some research on your firm. When they do, what are they going to find? Maintaining your presence in the social media space allows you to distribute information in areas other than just your company’s website.
- Don’t just ‘do social media’ because you’ve heard that you should be doing it, or because it’s been in the news. Have a purpose for your social media efforts – whether that is to increase awareness for your firm, improve your firm’s presence in search results, or find and recruit new employees. Social media does not exist in its own silo – it is a part of the larger marketing mix, has an impact on public relations and more. Social media is constantly changing and evolving – the only way to keep up is to pick a place to start, establish a direction, set realistic goals and go out there and do it.
- Pb elemental design: company website’s contact page invites visitors to connect on Facebook and Twitter CTA Architects Engineers: Well-developed LinkedIn company profile and well-maintained Facebook Page A Place of Sense: Structural Engineering blog, authored by Graeme Sharpe, Professional Engineer at Silver Creek Engineering in Indianapolis, Indiana
- Perkins+Will: 75-year old architecture and design firm founded in Chicago, Illinois Now has 23 offices worldwide and more than 1500 employees.