2012 Marketing Must Have’s

2012 Equipment Marketing Must Have’s

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged but we’re back to it. It was high time to focus on some big projects that I hope help our industry long term.

2011 was a great year for me, and I worked on some great projects that included online equipment inventory management and helping several companies improve their equipment marketing. Sometimes we did a lot, sometimes we did a little, but we always progressed toward a common goal: How to create and manage new customers.

Control What We Can

Our industry faced a ton of challenges in 2011. It’s hard to know what to believe sometimes. First we’ve got good news, then we’ve got bad news. Then we stop hiring and spending. Most that I talk to are pretty optimistic fortunately. But, I am always reminded that in equipment marketing, we can and should control our future. There are small, practical and cost effective steps we can take to control how we create and manage relationships.

Whether you do your marketing yourself, or hire an agency, marketing has fundamentally changed from “Outbound” to “Inbound”. Knowing the difference quite literally could be the difference between success or failure. It respects the relationship building aspect of normal sales processes, but dramatically accelerates your ability to spread your message and capture leads. It measures the key activity that drives performance.

11 Core Competencies Your Agency Must Have

1) Offers the Right Services: Be clear about what you need, and what they offer

2) Presents a Clearly Defined Delivery Process: How will this Agency deliver on their promise?

3) Uses a Goal Oriented Sales Process: Equipment marketing should HELP sales, and have specific goals to do this

4) Maintains a Website Optimized for Inbound: They should be familiar with the term “inbound” and know the key tools and technologies

5) Presents Compelling Case Studies: They should have the “proof” of leads, leads to sales and/or results to back up their claim

6) Cites Specific Areas of Focus: No one can do EVERYTHING, unless they have a big, and well oiled team

7) Teaches & Trains Your People: They should be committed to helping your equipment marketing and equipment marketing team

8) In House Capabilities or Trusted Partners: Most firms do both, but it helps to understand upfront

9) Possesses Strong Project Management Skills: This is not an activity to be taken lightly and the equipment marketing company should understand the detail to pull the project together

10) Places an Emphasis on Measurement: Good equipment marketing is about measuring… everything!

11) Value Transparency: Everything should be visible, measurable and easy communication should be par for the course

I hope that helps. There is soooo much our industry stands to gain from good fundamentals. Whether we like it or not, equipment marketing has fundamentally changed but we CAN control our destiny with a good plan. If you’d like a formal checklist of all of the key questions, look for upcoming posts or email me at steve@equipmentfx.com for a complete list.

To Your Success…