I am on a mission to find Manufacturers in the B2B space and create good case study for future presentation. Here is one in Canada, Williams and White. This is heavy duty manufacturing.
Can I write about you and how your company uses social media in my presentations? I speak at least once per month all over the midwest to groups of 50 - 200 people. Let me share your stories with social media.
B.C. manufacturer and custom machine shop Williams and White is stepping outside traditional marketing boundaries and entering the online world of social media
In the boardroom at Williams and White, Burnaby B.C., more is discussed than just business trends, the value of the dollar, and how the shop is running. This is a manufacturing company that has added social media to its marketing program, a move that is not exactly revolutionary, but is uncommon in most manufacturing businesses today.
No stranger to tradeshows and traditional marketing techniques, a few years ago the company took a step into social media through the use of a Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Twitter account.
“We would rather be a little ahead of the curve than a little behind the curve,” explained Williams and White CEO Justin Williams.
These three Web sites can be used to drive traffic to a company’s own corporate Web site and also augment traditional marketing methods.
YouTube allows people from all over the world to upload and store videos. While mainly known for its entertainment value, there are definitely business applications as well. Manufacturing businesses can use this Web site to store videos of their equipment in action and take viewers on virtual tours of their facilities to drive sales.
A component for the oil and gas sector is machined on Williams and White's vertical machining center, which is equipped with a 20-in. fourth axis.
Just yesterday I had a friend request an introduction to Kevin Bacon through me. I didn't even know that I was connected by any "Six Pixels of Separation" from Kevin B. So of course I thought she might be getting spammed and sent her an email and a voice mail asking if she really sent this and then suggesting she change her password in case she didn't. Personally I have seen a big rise in the number of strange invite requests from outside the US. The invites are often from people who have done nothing on their profile - just joined a huge number of groups and provide no info. My reply to these people is to complete their profile and then reinvite me when I know a little more about them.
This just makes the case - you wouldn't go to a business dinner in your swim suit - don't start networking without completing a solid professional profile. If you are on LinkedIn for business purposes, take the time to learn how to do it right.
In the meantime beware of invites that show up in your personal inbox and NOT on Linkedin. Check people out by reviewing their profiles first.
Cyber crooks out for LinkedIn members' bank accounts
SAN FRANCISCO — Cisco on Monday warned that crooks have inundated LinkedIn with emails crafted to trick members of the career-oriented social networking service into downloading software that loots bank accounts.
The email is a phony contact request and contains a booby-trapped link that, if clicked on, infects computers with malicious software known as "ZeuS."
Exciting news about the upcoming Foursquare Pub Crawl sponsored by the Social Media Club of Madison.
Have you wondered how you can use the mobile foursquare website to checkin to places you frequent?
Are you a business owner who is innovative and wants to drive foot traffic to your retail location?
Time to stop in at the Foursquare Pub Crawl on September 29th.
Social Media Club of Madison foursquare Pub Crawl
Wednesday, September 29th from 5:30 - 9:30 PM
Logan's Madtown - 322 W. Johnson Street: 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
State Street Brats - 603 State Street: 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Ian's Pizza - 115 State Street: 7:30 - 8:30 PM
Barriques - 127 West Washington: 8:30 - 9:30 PM
We'll provide updates on the Social Media Club of Madison website as we get more details on this event. But you'd better save the date - there WILL be a commemorative item given away to all participants. Oh yes. Commemorative. (That's the best kind of Swag there is...)
New to foursquare? Learn more here.
See you there Social Media Club members - hope you can join us! Bring your friends
AJ of MFG.com has a nice take on the original article from Fabricator magazine.
My key take away to pass on is thumbs up on the assessment of the social space to make sure you engage in the right place. AJ points out considerations such as whether the industry or the customer blocks certain media access of employees. Not everyone is an IBM who has given all 400,000 employees full access to the Internet.
I liked the Peter Drucker quote on innovation and marketing especially as it might apply to my Product Development and Management Association group I belong too.
Hey Manufacturers – Get Strategic About Your Marketing
“Integrate With Various Media Platforms”
“Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business has two and only two functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results. All the rest are costs.”
It’s critical to market these days, but it’s even more critical to do it right. The Fabricator article does a great job to get small manufacturers on the right paths. But where it really shines is in its closing quote from Peter Drucker. So don’t just take it from MOJO or Amy. Pete says it all:
Foursquare is up and coming for restaurants and retail locations to drive business in their doors and reward frequent visitors. This article talks about Milwaukee's own AJ Bombers and how they are using foursquare for rewards and recognition. Katie Felten mentioned them in a recent Social Media Breakfast Madison presentation. If you are interested in learning more about foursquare and how to use - come to the foursquare Pub Crawl sponsored by Social Media Club of Madison on September 29 at 5:30 pm http://4sqpc.eventbrite.com to RSVP for this event in Madison WI
Having been on both sides of the fence between sales and marketing in my career the survey I ran across just proved what I have seen. B2B marketing is incredible slow in adopting and engaging the client. Much of the perception seems to be - they think they know what the client needs or wants but don't ask. They also have a high aversion to sharing anything that looks like real conversation as compared to prepared marketing fluff. What is your take?
Survey Reveals that B2B Marketers Struggle with an Evolving Role
Today we unveiled the results of the first annual B2B Marketer Skills Survey, a study that examines the challenges facing marketers and how their position is evolving in the enterprise. This report highlights the evolving role of the B2B marketer; showing greater revenue focus but continued lack of alignment with sales in B2B marketing profession.
Today we unveiled the results of the first annual B2B Marketer Skills Survey, a study that examines the challenges facing marketers and how their position is evolving in the enterprise. This report highlights the evolving role of the B2B marketer; showing greater revenue focus but continued lack of alignment with sales in B2B marketing profession.
The survey validated some long-held beliefs− marketers are challenged to do more with less− and challenged conventional wisdom and hype− are B2B marketers getting on board the social media bandwagon?
I hope you find the overview an interesting and provocative read. For an overview of the results click here.
I wish we had this idea when I was in college to show case Engineering week. This event at Washington University in St. Louis was sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers is part of Engineering Week (EnWeek) and the larger efforts of engineering student groups to promote their field and show the entire student body that engineers really do know how to have a good time. I think Mr Wright got robbed of a title.
Male engineers showcase talent and beauty in EnPageant
To the unknowing passerby, the rowdy scene in McMillan Café on Wednesday evening might have resembled an unrehearsed, B-rated drag show.
But the seven young men strutting around in dresses were no drag queens—they were contestants in the Mr. Engineering Pageant (EnPageant).
“I think [EnPageant] represents the spirit of engineering and that our students will get out there and have fun,” said Melanie Osborn, assistant dean in the engineering school and one of the pageant’s five judges.
Mr. Computer Science was crowned with a tiara lined with pink fuzz, and handed a bouquet of plastic flowers. The runner-up was Wright, Mr. Mechanical Engineering.
I found this post and it really hit home. I have struggled for a while about how to incorporate my stories from spending 30 years calling on various industries in the manufacturing and technical service areas. I guess this post is telling me to go ahead and start telling them. So maybe I will start with the one about shutting Harley Davidson manufacturing down when I was 9 months pregnant....
If connections are the “how” we are present in social media, our stories are the “why” our connections listen to us. Making connections and telling stories is something I can relate to.
Everyone wants to tell stories about what they do. Some are better at it than others, some speak more freely than others, but pretty much everyone wants to make a connection and tell stories about themselves and what they do. It’s the nature of humans as social creatures and the fundamental basis for establishing a relationship, work and non-work-related.
Which brings me back to social media, from an industrial perspective.
Those of us engaged in the industrial world have stories to tell, too. I do. I’ll shamelessly plug that I’m working to bring about an industrial renaissance in America, and see that telling those stories through the social web might be just the way to get things started. I’m an engineer, here in the social media world, learning to make connections, tell my stories, and make things happen. Hopefully, there will be people (maybe even you?) who will gradually hear about my ideas, become interested, connect with me and start a journey together.
Led by Samson Lee, this is a broad view of how to look at social media applied across your organization and addressing both internal and external customers. It was a fun project to work on and the contributors are very global.
This document "Social Media under One Roof: Integrate Social Media with the TCE Model" is composed of nine sections. Three sections are written by me, and experts in each specific domain contributed the other six sections: Wendy Soucie from Wendy Soucie Consulting; Karl Havard from pownum; Jim Sterne from Web Analytics Association; Axel Schultze from Xeesm; Rick Mans from Capgemini; and Guy Stephens from Foviance."
If your primary objective is to learn how to ride the wave of social media to enhance the customer experience within a specific touch-point or departmental function, there are already numerous blogs, articles, and publications which serve this purpose well. There is no need for you to spend time reading this document. If, however, our core messages are aligned with your most pressing concerns, it is worth investing your time in reading this paper.
Here is what we'll be covering:
How to integrate social media into the Total Customer Experience across the entire customer lifecycle;
How to optimize resource allocation among various social media by aligning with business objectives; and
How to manage your brand and social media with one integrated and quantifiable management system.
I wondered about the PPC spend for large brands recently after working with Disney Institute and getting a feel for the management of a trusted and well controlled brand. It would seem that little guys might actually be listened to at Google if we account for the other 95% of the PPC revenue. The question is how little is little. Original article at AdAge.
While big brand advertisers like AT&T will shell out for search keywords, for the most part Google doesn't rely on their business. The top ten advertisers account for less than 5% of Google's total revenue for the month. (Be sure to read the whole story at Ad Age.)
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