Streamlined

Does your company have a YouTube page?  Odds are, probably. But do you or anybody at your company actually know the PURPOSE behind that page? Behind creating videos?  Are you making videos because someone told you that video was in? Or that “all the millennials” are using video?  Until you get a video marketing mission statement on paper, you’ll wander aimlessly.  Thankfully, Jessie Ariss was a guest on the Streamlined podcast recently and talked about  The 4 things to consider when implementing a video strategy.  What a video marketing mission statement is, and why you MUST have one.  The 3 questions to ask yourself when developing a video marketing mission statement. 

Video is everywhere.  There’s a reason apps like Instagram and TikTok are lighting up the digital world right now.  Because people love video. It’s personal, it’s customizable, it’s quick, and it’s impactful.  But if you’re not careful, you can get video all wrong. You can overthink it, over-analyze it, and overdo it.  Which is why having Tony Gnau on the Streamlined podcast recently was such an incredible moment.  As someone who makes his career helping people tell stories, and tell them with video, Tony had a lot to say about Mistakes people make when moving to video What makes a great video Why you should treat video differently than the rest of your content.

Ray Kondracki is the President of the Kondracki Group a marketing and advertising company that specializes in helping companies in the packaging industry with their marketing and trade show materials. Ray started out as a marketing manager in Chicago for several years before moving to Wisconsin which would eventually become the future home of the Kondracki Group.  Small to mid size manufacturers don’t have the resources internally to deal with a full-fledged marketing team so they outsource that work to Ray’s company. They help them with several areas of marketing, PR, content, and tradeshow readiness. They help them plan their show from top-to-bottom and even go so far as to set up the physical booth at the tradeshow. Q4 (right now) is all about generating a plan and nurturing leads for 2020. Some clients slow down within a few months of tradeshows such as Packexpo (the predominant tradeshow for Ray’s clients. Other clients need print and banner ads to generate awareness, first. Whereas, other companies dive straight in to marketing and lead generation activities. Some clients need a brand awareness in a market, while others need as many leads and names as they can. Everything is customized to their individual client to help them excel during their trade shows.  Whether it’s PR, content, a tradeshow booth or a whitepaper the Kondracki Group believes in playing the long game to give clients what they want. 

If your selling cycle is 18 months long, you won’t be able to measure success in a month or even a quarter. How do you know what to measure and how to interpret data then? On this episode, I talked to Courtney Korselt, Global Marketing Manager, and Jack Hughes, Global Digital Marketing Specialist — both of Bostik: What we talked about: The 2 buckets that your data needs to go into How to communicate your data to leadership in a way they’ll understand Marketing strategies that add value, not volume, to the inbox Strategies and challenges to implementing digital marketing in a niche space You can find this interview and many more like it, by subscribing to Streamlined Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Manufacturing is the largest industry in the country. Yet it has the least amount of digitization of any major industry in the world, leading to massive inefficiencies.  The industry is ripe for digitization. And, by shifting to make data driven decisions, you can optimize performance and productivity, which means more business for your business.  On this episode of the Streamlined podcast, Graham Immerman, Director of Marketing at MachineMetrics, came on the show to talk about the digitization of manufacturing.  What we talked about: Challenges companies are facing on the shop floor How these issues could be resolved with data driven decision making The benefits of digitization for manufacturers Resources we talked about: Graham’s LinkedIn MachineMetrics You can check out our podcast on our website or on Apple Podcasts.  

You’ve probably heard of account based marketing. It’s a hot topic right now among B2B marketers. So, on this episode of the Streamlined podcast, Steve Robinson, Founder and CEO at Brilliant Metrics, came on the show to break it down for us, to help you determine if an ABM program might be right for your business. What we talked about: What exactly is ABM? When should you start considering ABM? What are the keys to a successful ABM program? What tools do you need to execute your program? What are some challenges organizations often face when it comes to ABM?   Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast: Steve’s LinkedIn Brilliant Metrics

You’ve got a product that’s been around for generations. Demand is a no-brainer, so why even bother marketing it? (Especially when all the new stuff is clamoring for your attention.) At first it can seem like an easy choice to rely on a product to sell itself versus taking time away from newer products to promote an oldie but goodie. But... providing a base level of support across all products and markets is necessary if a company is going to grow steadily. I got to talk to Steve Thielke, Senior Digital Marketing Specialist at Bradley Corporation, about why video is the biggest driver and why overengineering video isn’t a good idea.

You don’t see many video ads in manufacturing. But here are two numbers proving that needs to change: 15 and 20. Add a percent sign behind those two numbers and you have the range of the return you’ll get by doing YouTube advertising. For the visual people, that’s 15-20%. It works. Jonathan Alonso has A/B tested it. Listen in to hear Jonathan’s thoughts on video ads, KPIs, and why he’s excited for the future of marketing in the manufacturing space.

Paid advertising is so effective, it’s downright creepy. But don’t worry—it’s not illegal, I swear. There are so many ways to reach your exact right target audience with paid ads that it doesn’t make sense to ignore them. Yes, doing content marketing organically works . . . it just takes time. Digital ads, on the other hand, are a shot in the arm. On today’s episode, Steve and Jeff talk about four different ways to break down digital advertising.

On today’s episode of Streamlined, our guest is Keith Moehring, VP of Strategic Growth at PR 20/20.  Keith came on the show to talk about how to maximize the effectiveness of your marketing program. Specifically, how to set SMART goals, collect good data, and create great reports that people will actually read.  

Open communication and clear expectations. Both are foundational for any relationship… including between your sales and marketing teams. Seth Lieberman is the CEO at SnapApp where they focus on solving sales & marketing misalignment. In the current climate, the vast majority of the buyer journey is completed before a potential customer even speaks to your sales rep. Buyers self-educate. That’s why it’s more crucial than ever for marketing & sales to be aligned.

You‘ve got a problem. There are a lot of fantastic, important marketing books out there, but you don’t know which ones you should read next. You need to hear our next guest. Douglas Burdett is the host of The Marketing Book Podcast. (Forbes called it one of 11 podcasts that will keep you in the know.) We asked Burdett which books he’s recommending to marketing and business leaders right now and why. Buyer Personas by Adele Revella. “There are just five insights you need to understand your customer well,” said Burdett. “You don't have to do it perfectly. You just have to do it a little bit better than your competition.” They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan. This is the story of a failing Florida pool company that saved their business by answering every pool question on their website. From Impossible to Inevitable by Aaron Ross. There are three types of lead generation activities that every fast-growing company should be doing. Ross calls them seeds, spears, and nets. The Convenience Revolution by Shep Hyken. The more you can do to reduce friction for your customers, the more successful you'll be.

If you want sales growth, you’ll need a CRM solution. The good news is that one of the best ones out there is 100% free, forever‎. That includes unlimited users and contacts. We recently interviewed John-Erik Pszenny, Principal Channel Consultant at Hubspot, which offers a suite of sales and marketing tools which range from free to enterprise-level pricing for the most advanced functions. He outlined some questions you need to ask yourself before you deploy any CRM.

If you REALLY want to be above average with your inbound marketing then you should check out the insights from our interview with Todd Hockenberry, founder of Top Line Results and co-author of the book Inbound Organization. “Every single person in your organization has to consider how their role influences the customer journey and whether either enhances it or takes away from it because it's going to do one or the other,” says Hockenberry. To learn more, listen to the podcast link.

Seventy percent of B2B buyers’ purchase journeys are accomplished before they contact the manufacturer. They’re exploring the website, looking at chat boards, and collecting information to decide whether or not they're even going to get in touch. You have to put your best foot forward digitally. Pick two or three examples and concentrate on them initially. Fine-tune the information that's available to potential prospects in the existing customer community portals. Give strong feedback and citizen support in all of the places that prospects are likely to go. Offer information that makes that initial engagement or research more relevant.

There’s no denying that LinkedIn is a fantastic tool. So then why are so many people so seemingly clueless on how to use it effectively? What are you doing wrong? Wayne Breitbarth is a LinkedIn trainer and was a guest on the Streamlined podcast recently. He thinks that really there are 3 things you need to remember:   Utilize the Advanced Search Feature Send a PERSONAL Connection Request Have A Follow Up Plan    

We’re all familiar with the revenue funnel method. Marketing drums up all these amazing leads, which the sales team takes and converts into customers, which the customer success & support teams nurture through their lifecycle. But what if revenue isn’t a funnel, but a flywheel? What if marketing and sales and customer support empower one another? What if they’re not enemies? How would you ensure that that flywheel stayed spinning? Sunny Manivannan says it’s all about alignment, and he and his team at Guru are doing 3 things to ensure that alignment

How intentional are you when it comes to learning from other business professionals in your industry? In the world of marketing, where technology and processes change (and improve) everyday, we need one another to stay on top of our game.  Because we just don’t have all the answers, and we never will. There’s too much to learn. But that’s why we’re launching the Streamlined podcast. Podcast hosts, Jeff Coon and Steve James, partners at Stream Creative, hope to help today’s manufacturing business leaders achieve growth through sales, marketing, technology & process improvements.  And what better way to do that than a podcast where you provide a lot of value through an easy-to-access medium and build a personal connection with your audience. By tuning into the podcast, you’ll hear from a diverse group of subject matter experts who will provide actionable takeaways you can implement right away in every episode. Practices that will help you become more effective and efficient ranging from topics like sales and marketing process improvement and implement emerging technology to grow your business. If your company is lacking a streamlined work culture, this is the podcast for you.   If you have suggestions for show guests or topics, email the podcast team at podcast@streamcreative.com