Print or Digital - Recent Findings

August 2015 Modern Machine Shop Readership Study

 Primary reasons how Modern Machine Shop serves readers:  86.3% report that it keeps them informed of new thinking and emerging concepts; 84.9% report that it introduces to new products and processes they didn’t know about; 62.2% say it provides supplier/product information to help make purchasing decisions.

 Modern Machine Shop readers use the magazine for discovery and introduction.  79.2% visited a supplier website; 52.3% contacted a supplier for more information; and 41.7% made a purchase as a result of reading something in Modern Machine Shop.

 What makes reading a magazine like Modern Machine Shop more valuable than getting information in other ways?  Actual comments from readers:

“It’s easier to flip through a magazine and stumble on things I wasn’t looking for.”

“Exposure to new processes and products….”

“Sparks alternative ideas….”

“Stays on top of growing technology, new ideas and new processes…”

“Presents information that I would never be able to gather myself.”

“It’s laying on my desk where I can pick it up at any time or take home with me to read.”

“It’s something I can bring home and read at night and not feel bad about taking up work time.”

“Take it with you, no power needed, quick to browse items of interest.”

“Paper is nicer for break room or to bring home to read.”

2015 Media Usage Survey, Gardner Research

 Manufacturers are significantly more likely to select search returns featuring brands they recognize (93%) to brands they are not familiar with (31%).  Brand impression is the single most important factor impacting the

Manufacturing buying cycle.

Early in the buying cycle, push media such as magazines introduce prospects to information and products they do not know they need. 

What type of trade magazine delivery do you prefer: print magazine (55%); digital magazine (22%);

e-newsletter (15%); website (8%).

 

5 Words You Should Include In Your Next Subject Line

 

Subject Line Gold analyzed these subject lines based on the results of 21 billion marketing emails sent by 2,500 brands spanning from sectors like B2B, Financial Services, Consumer Services, Telecom & Tech, and more.

In conducting their survey, they determined that the five words that most increase open rates (on average) are:
 

       Upgrade - open rate + 65.7%

Just – open rate = 64.8%

Content – open rate = 59.1%

Go – open rate = 55.8%

Wonderful – open rate = 55.1%
 

The most detrimental words to your open rate are:

Miss – open rate = -4.6%

Deals! - open rate = -4.4%

Groovy – open rate = -4.3%

Conditions – open rate = -4%

Friday! - open rate = -4%

So if you think your email marketing is pretty groovy and you want to tell the world, you might want to think again.

 

Another insightful part of this study was the consideration of symbols for marketing emails. A lot of marketers might not even be using them, but the industry data suggests that they do have an impact—regardless of mixed consumer reactions. As it turns out, the snowman symbol is the best for subject lines, while the sun symbol is the third worst. So maybe sunshine doesn’t always beat the cold after all.
 

 Source: Ranae Gonner, ER Marketing

 

 

Techniques For Lead Management Success - Part 5

Just like dating, as you build a relationship with your prospects, you should be learning more about their needs.  Remember, every campaign that a prospect responds to tells you about his or her interests. Every link they click, and every piece of information they fill out on a form tells you more about them. And you can really be clever with your forms.

 

Don't ask your prospects to enter information you already know.  Use progressive profiling and use the opportunity to find out something new.  You an also use this information to target what sort of content may appeal to them in an email or lead nurturing campaign.

Techniques For Lead Management Success - Part 4

Simple code on your web pages help you track prospects both anonymous and known. This helps tell you who is interested in your products. As anonymous prospects complete forms on your website or landing pages, any previous website visits can be automatically attributed to the new lead.

This is important to determine sales readiness of new leads since you'll know the entire history of the relationship with the prospect -- including which campaign helped them find you in the first place.

Techniques For Lead Management Success - Part 3

Since your prospect is in control of the buying process, you need to make sure you are monitoring their online activities to know when they are ready to move to the next stage.  Lead scoring determines where your buyer is in the funnel. Lead scoring should consider the prospects' interest level defined by their actions.

 

For example, track email clicks, ebook downloads, web page visits, etc., and update scores accordingly. Also, be sure to score assets differently depending on where they are in the funnel. You might score a pricing page much more than an entry level ebook.

Techniques For Lead Management Success - Part 2

Even when you've worked with sales  to determine when a lead is ready to be contacted, there will be instances where sales has concluded that certain leads are not quite ready to engage, or sales has not followed up with these leads. 

 

To avoid these leads from falling into a black hole, you can implement lead recycling practices to make sure that you have a follow-up plan in place.  You should create a process based on two scenarios:

 

     Leads will be automatically recycled based on a set of predetermined criteria.

 

     Leads will be manually recycled by sales if they are not deemed ready.

 

Once leads get sent back to marketing, you can base sales re-engagement on a business rule, such as a lead scoring change, or sales can use its knowledge of the leads' buying interest to indicate a time-frame in which the lead should be re-engaged.

 

Next blog: Tip #3 - Score leads using implicit behavioral data.

 

 

Techniques For Lead Management Success - Part 1

Lead management is the ability to capture, respond and manage incoming leads.  Unfortunately, many marketers don't employ clearly defined lead management practices.  And when they don't have processes in place, they risk decreased ROI, a leaky sales funnel, and poor relationships with leads and customers. 

 

But done right, lead management creates more educated prospects to help you better understand their

needs, and ultimately means more revenue.  So how do you do it?

 

Tip #1 - Work Directly With Sales To Determine When A Lead Is Ready

 

In order to properly create a solid lead scoring framework, work with your sales team to build criteria that determines the steps prospects should take before they are ready for a sales call.  Remember, that this needs to be agreed upon by both sales and marketing to be effective.  All leads do NOT fit into the same timeframe with the buying cycle.

 

Criteria should include:

 

     DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: Geographic location. company size, etc.

 

     LEAD SOURCE INFORMATION: Print ad, search engine, social, offer, trade show, etc.

 

     BEHAVORIAL INFORMATION: Web page visits, ebook download, webinar attendance, etc.

Next blog: Tip #2 - Make Sure To Implement Lead Recycling Practices

 

 

     

Start The Presses

 

What should you focus on with your marketing program?  Digital or print?

 

The popularity of digital advertising and digital venues such as social media have grown and with it, marketing dollars allocated to digital. With the worldwide increase in web usage it has increased the internet's role in education and informing B2B customers prior to making intelligent buying decisions.

 

Of course, there are many benefits to digital advertising.  It's less costly per impression, and response is readily measured. When you live in such a digitally driven world, it's hard to avoid thinking "print is dead."

 

However, according to the 2015 Media Usage Survey just published by Gardner Business Media, Inc., 86 percent of manufacturing technology buyers prefer reading magazines to get new product and process information.  Furthermore, 93 percent of industrial buyers report that they are more likely to select search results from companies and sources they already know or recognize. 

 

So, as B2B marketers hurtle into the digital marketing space, there's only one thing they leave

behind -- their customers.

 

In the race to out-innovate fellow competitors, B2B companies can sometimes go too far, too fast.  With so much hype around the exciting things happening in the digital ad space, it's easy to forget that B2B magazines haven't  lost their power.  Yet, some advantages of print follow:

 

• Print has staying power. Influential trade magazines have a following.  Digital messages disappear in the blink of an eye.
• You can't catch a virus form print.  Enough said.
• Print is powerful for branding.  Because it's static, a print ad can boost your brand by featuring bold graphics and unique brand imagery that stays in the mind of the reader.
• Print is engaging.  Customers and prospects are more engaged when reading print material, unlike websites, which are often skimmed in as little as a 15 second visit.  In addition, print gives you room to communicate.  A print ad is able to better communicate the complexities of a technical product or more involved sales message

If you dismiss print as a dying medium, when so many of your customers and prospects still value it, you will likely leave a host of opportunities for  competitors who invest where most are looking.