Industrial Insights Newsletter: Whitman Controls 'Goes Global' Online, SEO/SEM Important for B2B Marketers, More!

Often time, nothing . . . other than experiencing a tinge of heart failure once you realized that you just unwittingly drove right through a stop sign and miraculously, you're still in one piece! But you also know all too well what could have happened had everything lined-up just right for an impending disaster.

So here's a stop sign for you: Stop Ignoring the Internet Business Channel! Most b2b manufacturers who continue to ignore this stop sign or give it 'back-burner' priority are still in one piece, today. However, what they're not seeing is an invisible and devastatingly powerful medium (the Internet) fast at work, helping competitors erode their customer base and intercept new customers before they even get to this poor company's front door. Progressive b2b marketers are quickly learning that interactive marketing must be the prime means of prospecting for new customers. In fact 93.2% of engineers, specifiers and buyers now use the Internet to find qualified vendors and their products¹.

So, what to do? I'll answer by suggesting what not to do.

Don't ignore your people who are pleading for a more effective website that will work for you independently to better support your customers and help you acquire new ones.

Don't miss the opportunity to off-load your CSR's of repetitive and time consuming tasks that an interactive website can do far better, longer (24/7) and more consistently.

Don't push-aside investment in search-engine optimization, whether you understand how it works or not. By the way, few do understand all of its behind the scenes intricacies, including me. However, done well, SEO will replace trade shows, direct mail, magazine advertising, and eMarketplace subscriptions. SEO will get you more website visitors and new prospects than all those so-called trusted and very expensive legacy marketing programs, combined.

A working, self-service website with guided product discovery or configuration and a strong SEO program will put you ahead of the pack in the race for market share growth and for a fraction of what you pay for those (now) ineffective traditional marketing and customer service programs of the past. Ignore the intersection of interactive marketing and the b2b marketplace at your own risk. This is one stop sign you can no longer risk running.

Del Merenda
President & CEO
i-MARK, Inc.

¹2/10 Marketing Today Newsletter (reprinted in this Newsletter)

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Get it Online Logo

Whitman Controls Gets Their Business Online and Surprisingly, "Goes Global".

When Whitman Controls first met with i-MARK, selling their pressure switches and gauges overseas was the farthest thing from their minds. They had their hands full just holding off their 'Goliath' competitors right here in North America. 'Could we help them take the fight to these bigger manufacturers to secure their base and gain a greater share of domestic business', asked Mike Horn, Whitman's Director of Engineering? "And can you help us look bigger and reach more prospects than a small company like Whitman, could otherwise do", he added?

Comic Relief

Dilbert Cloud Computing

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Website Tips

Is Your Web Site Designed for You or Your Customers?

This may sound like a ridiculous statement, but all too often, manufacturers and distributors do not design their Web sites for their customers. Rather, they take an egocentric approach to Web design, more interested in talking about themselves and their products instead of solving their customers' problems. If your Web site does not serve your prospects and customers, then it is not serving you either.

A customer-focused Web site:

· Speaks directly to each member of your target audience
· Offers content & features to address the needs of your customers
· Educates and builds trust
· Persuades visitors to take action
· Makes it easy for customers to do business with you

Remember, customers are not visiting your Web site to kill time. They are there to find a solution or solve a problem. Make your Web site customer-focused by offering content and interactive features that speak to the needs of your customers and provide the solution they are seeking. If your customers and prospects do not find your Web site relevant, trustworthy, and satisfying - they will leave. And your competitor's Web site is only one click away.

Source: Posted by Bob DeStefano, for the "Putting Online Marketing to Work Blog" from Industrial Distribution, 8/9/09.

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Nuggets & Stats

Manufacturing is Essential for Economic Growth And Prosperity but Faces Big Challenges, According to New Report.

As U.S. manufacturers struggle to recover from the recession, a new report finds that manufacturing fuels economic prosperity but requires pro-growth policies to create jobs and remain globally competitive.

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i-MARK, Inc.
We get websites to work
imark.com | info@imark.com

i-MARK is the leading provider of interactive guided selling and b2b ecommerce software for industrial product manufacturers. Our affordable SaaS solution - 24/7 BUSINESS™ - includes our eCatalog and eConfigurator that seamlessly integrate into your existing website to make complex product search, configuration, selection and purchase easy and intuitive.