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Engineering firm Hallam-ICS has sustained growth over the last decade, crediting honest company culture, inbound marketing in niche service areas, and evolving brand messaging as the reason for their success. We talk to the president and CEO, Keith Flaherty on the latest episode of Content Marketing, Engineered.TREW Marketing has worked with engineering firm Hallam-ICS for more than 7 years and over that time many of the marketing strategies and brand messaging have evolved to reflect the company's growth. We invited president and CEO Keith Flaherty to discuss the company's history, culture, and growth over the years. One thing that's truly special about Hallam-ICS is the company culture, it plays a huge role in recruiting and retaining employees and the messaging reflects this differentiator. Hallam-ICS is also seen rapid growth in niche expertise areas, such as toxic gas monitoring and arc flash, and Keith credits executive buy-in of inbound marketing as the reason they've grown and generated millions of dollars in leads in those areas.We also discuss how messaging changes with growth, and how to blend "small and friendly" messaging with "large and expert" messaging and how to stay consistent as more regional locations are added to the company.TakeawaysCompany culture is a key differentiator in attracting and retaining employees. Achieve rapid growth in niche expertise areas by leveraging inbound marketing to generate leads.Messaging should be evolved over time to blend an original small, friendly culture with the current larger, more capable image.Opening new offices requires careful selection of leaders who understand the company's culture and can effectively communicate its messaging.ResourcesConnect with Keith on LinkedInConnect with Morgan on LinkedInLearn more about Hallam-ICSCase Study: Hallam-ICS Uses Culture as a Key Differentiator in Technical SolutionsRelated Content: 4 Questions to Ask to Define Your Brand Differentiators Related Service: System Integrators
Christopher Penn is a co-founder and Chief Data Scientist at Trust Insights. Chris' newsletter is something the TREW Crew passes around our slack channel on a regular basis. His insights into the latest news about data analytics, automation, and generative AI, have been immensely valuable to or team, and we are thrilled he accepted our invitation to be a guest on Content Marketing, Engineered podcast.In this episode, Morgan Norris, Senior Brand Strategist at TREW Marketing, asks Chris all of our burning questions about generative AI. They discuss the challenges and opportunities that arise when using generative AI or in-platform AI tools, and he provide a unique perspective about how AI should really be used as a research tool - something technical marketers can use to increase their knowledge of highly complex industries. They discuss AI disclosures to stay compliant with recent EU regulations, copyright issues, and a framework to help you decide which tasks are truly worthy of AI. They also have a conversation about the rise of AI generated, no-click search and how marketers should update the way they approach content marketing.ResourcesConnect with Christopher on LinkedInConnect with Morgan on LinkedInLearn more about the Trust InsightsRelated Episode: Generative AI for Marketing - Maintaining Trust and Building an AI PolicyRelated Episode: Optimizing for LLMs and Google's SGE with Dale Bertrand
How will Google's Search Generative Experience change the way brands appear in Google's search results? One member of the TREW Crew has been in the SGE beta for more than a year. Let's see what she's found outIn this episode, I catch up with Jennifer Dawkins, Vice President of Account Services at TREW Marketing, Jen has been part of the Beta program for Google's new Search Generative Exoereince (SGE) for more than a year and in that year, there have plenty of updates. I ask her about her experience with the SGE program program.For some background, Google's SGE is an AI-generated search summary that appears on the Google homepage, providing quick, AI-generated answers to users' queries. Jennifer shared that SGE has been valuable for finding clear factual answers and quick information, but has been less than accurate when asking, technical or complex questions. Often pulling from sources that are not traditionally high-ranking in Google search results.We also talk about how brands can optimize their content strategy for Google SGE and other AI-assisted search tools. The bottom line? Quality content and a multi-channel digital presence are the most effective strategies. The rollout of SGE to the general public is still uncertain, and we believe that traditional Google search and quality SEO standards will continue to coexist with AI-assisted search platforms like SGE.Key TakeawaysSGE provides quick answers and summaries for factual queries, but may provide inaccurate or misleading information for more complex and technical searches.A multi-channel digital presence is crucial for optimizing for AI-assisted search, as AI algorithms consider the frequency of brand mentions across various platforms.Quality content remains essential, and creating valuable, trustworthy content is key to gaining exposure and building trust with readers.Traditional Google search will likely coexist with AI-assisted search platforms like SGE, as they serve different purposes and cater to different user needs.ResourcesConnect with Jen on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInRelated Episode: Optimizing for LLMs and Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) with Dale BertrandRelated Episode: Updating You 2024 & 2025 SEO Strategy with Kyle Roof
In this episode, I welcome back Morgan Norris, Senior Brand Strategist at TREW Marketing. We delve into the world of personal branding and specifically, how people in sales and marketing roles can utilize this strategy to become a go-to and trusted resource. Personal brand is as an individual's identity and reputation both online and in person. We talk about how personal branding fosters trust and loyalty among customers.We also discuss how to define and enhance a personal brand by identifying your strengths. The conversation also covers how personal branding should align with your company's corporate brand.Takeaways:Personal branding is essential for salespeople to establish themselves as trusted resourcesIdentify your strengths and what sets you apart from others to define your personal brandAlign your personal brand with your company's brand, but also maintain your own unique toneImagery and visual cues can enhance your personal brandUse AI tools to brainstorm ideas, but ensure that your personal brand remains authenticStart with small steps like posting on LinkedIn, commenting on posts, and creating videos
Struggling with organic traffic or how to update your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy for 2024 and beyond? Give this episode a listen. Kyle Roof returns to share how marketers should approach SEO updates like EEAT, SGE, LLMs and more. Kyle Roof is the co-founder of Internet Marketing Gold and PageOptimizer Pro and he's the Lead SEO of High Voltage SEO. Kyle is also one of our most popular guests on Content Marketing, Engineered. The last time he was on the podcast was two years ago and wow, have things changed in the SEO landscape since then.I was thrilled to have him back on to discuss all the recent updates and themes of the SEO industry, from Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE), E-E-A-T guidelines, Multimodal Search, optimizing for Large Language Models (LLMs), and Parasite SEO strategy on forum sites like Reddit, Quora, and Medium.We talk about the impact of the Helpful Content Update, if pillar pages are still relevant, author authority and how important it is to signal to Google that a real person wrote your content.We finish the episode with one truth: Successful SEO is still in large part about understanding the foundations of SEO: Semantics HTML (Htags), inbound links, entities, winning longtail keywords, etc.ResourcesConnect with Kyle on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInRelated Episode: Using a Data-Driven SEO Approach with Kyle RoofRelated Episode: The Evolving Search Landscape of 2023, From E-E-A-T to AIConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Craig Coffey is a seasoned marketing professional and champion of content marketing to improve his B2B technical company's market share and bottom line. Learn how Craig has utilized content marketing successfully throughout his career. If you look at Craig Coffey's LinkedIn profile, you'll find an impressive career in B2B marketing and you may even notice that many of his roles lean heavily on content marketing. Craig is no stranger to the power and success a content marketing strategy can bring to an organization. I brought Craig on the podcast to talk about his career and his content marketing strategies over the years - everything from research to product launches, to creating a physical magazine to place in distribution centers. During the episode we talk about ways to convince leadership that content marketing is a winning strategy to break into markets, gain market share, and build trust and leave a lasting impression with your audience.We talk about Craig's current role, and how he's using content marketing to foster trust and brand awareness while breaking into a market where you're not well known. As a true content marketing expert, I couldn't wait to get his opinion about the following topics:Content repurposingBrand and messaging developmentBuyer personasCollateral vs. contentService matter expertsSpokespeople and thought leadershipThis episode is a content marketing masterclass. Listen now to learn from a true champion of content marketing.ResourcesConnect with Craig on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInRelated Content: 10 Activities to Include in Your B2B Content Marketing StrategyRelated Content: An Engineers Guide to B2B Content MarketingTREW Services: Content Marketing for Engineering CompaniesConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Targeting engineers and technical buyers? We walk through the ways your ideal audience is researching solutions, making purchasing decisions, and spending time online. The State of Marketing to Engineers Research Report is in its 7th year! GlobalSpec and TREW Marketing have teamed up all these years to understand the behavior and strategy of the technical buyer and engineer. What are their research habits? What are their channel preferences? How are they spending their time online outside of work? On this week's episode, I'm joined with CJ Haight, Content Marketing Manager at Global Spec to go over some of the findings from our annual report. We discuss some of the most popular topics such as artificial intelligence (AI) and how technical buyers are using and feeling about AI tools. We also discuss topics that industrial marketers what to know about their ideal buyers:What social platform do technical buyers value most for work?How many trade shows will technical buyers attend this year?How many newsletters are they willing to subscribe to?Which types of content do they value most?Which types of content are they willing to fill out a form for?How much time do engineers spend researching a solution before reaching out to a sales person?Where do engineers routinely seek out information for a work related purchase?In this episode we go deep into the topics above and break down preferences and behavior by age and geography. Does an engineer in Europe use LinkedIn as much as an engineer in North America? What social platform do Engineers aged 66+ use the most for work? What about for engineers younger than 30?Watch or list to this episode fore a great breakdown of the report or download the full research report here. ResourcesConnect with CJ on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInLearn more about GlobalSpecRelated Research: 2024 State of Marketing to EngineersRelated Content: Q&A form the 2024 State of Marketing to Engineers WebinarConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Matthew Olson of Signalfire shares how to boost organic search through Google Business Profiles and how to make visual branding and brand identity a priority. Matthew Olson is the President of Signalfire, a creative marketing agency based in Wisconsin. Signalfire was a brand sponsor of 2024 Industrial Marketing Summit and after meeting him and his team at the event we knew we had to have him on the podcast. Signalfire started in 2006 and has a unique mix of clients. Today Matthew and his team are focused on helping clients in the industrial manufacturing and tourism industries. While these two industries may not appear to have a lot in common, Matthew shared the key strategies that are successful in both and what industrial marketers can learn from B2C marketing strategies.This episode of Content Marketing, Engineered covers the importance for industrial companies to optimize their Google Business Profiles, including adding geographic locations and soliciting authentic customer reviews. Matthew goes into detail about the hidden SEO benefits of Google Reviews.Matthew and I talk about the future of SEO and Google Search as well as alternative avenues to bring in audiences like Google Ads and even TV ad placement. Another great conversation topic is the importance of visual branding and creative design - something stakeholders don't often see ROI in. Matthew shares his perspective on this and teaches us how to get buy-in from executives by sharing the benefits of great creative. ResourcesConnect with Matthew on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInRelated Research: 2024 State of Marketing to EngineersConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Meaghan Ziemba shares how manufacturers can attract young talent and how to use marketing to manage their brand to sustain success for years to come.Mavens of Manufacturing were a Media Sponsor for this year's Industrial Marketing Summit. Behind the brand is the very talented and champion for Manufacturing - Meaghan Ziemba. Meaghan is the owner of Z-Ink Solutions, a technical copywriting and editing service. On this episode, Meaghan and I discuss the skill development and hiring issues the manufacturing industry is facing, what benefit marketing has to correct some branding issues in the industry, and the important role of the technical writer.We also discuss the upcoming Manufacturing Ally Rally, taking place June 20th in Cleveland, Ohio. This full day event will host panels from experts across disciplines in manufacturing to help unite manufacturers as allies to their communities.ResourcesConnect with Meaghan on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInLearn more about Z-Ink SolutionsLearn more about Mavens of ManufacturingRelated Episode: How to Turn the Knowledge of Your SMEs into Exceptional ContentRelated Content: How to Write a Technical White Paper for EngineersConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
After a whirlwind few days in Austin, Texas at the Industrial Marketing Summit, Kasey Tyring and Wendy Covey share their highlights of the event. Wow! If you didn't attend the 2024 Industrial Marketing Summit, you missed out on one of the most special, engaging, and valuable industrial marketing events of the year - and it's not just us saying that! A quick look at the #IMSummit tag on LinkedIn shows just how impactful this conference was to industrial marketers. In this episode of Content Marketing, Engineered, I talk with Kasey Tyring, Senior Inbound Marketing Specialist at TREW Marketing. Kasey played a large role in organizing the conference but also got to attend many of the sessions and mingle with attendees. We discuss what went down at the conference, from the keynote, to the back-to-back sessions, and the stacked line-up of panels. We cover our key takeaways from AI sessions, branding and messaging sessions, and more. Of course, one of the biggest highlights of the Industrial Marketing Summit was the genuine networking and connection building everyone experienced - all wrapped together by a really REALLY fun time we won't soon forget. Catch the recap of the 2024 Industrial Marketing Summit!ResourcesConnect with Kasey on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInLearn more about the Industrial Marketing SummitConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Patrick Hopper joins me to talk about the many ways marketers can partner with industry publications to grow awareness, reach new audiences and build leads. Patrick Hopper is the Publisher and President of OpenSystems Media which publishes well-known industry publications such as Embedded Computing Design and Military Embedded Systems. As the president, Patrick straddles both sides of the operation, working on the content side and client/advertising side. I've worked with Patrick for over a decade in various capacities and I invited him to join me on the podcast to share all the different ways marketers can utilize technical industry publications they might not know about including some free avenues.Patrick and I spoke about trade show strategies with their upcoming trade shows Embedded World 2024 in Europe and Embedded World North America - coming to Austin, Texas this October. Specifically how to stand out in a sea of thousands of vendors. We also dove into the FREE ways small businesses can utilize the reach of OpenSystems Media properties. Most notably, marketers can submit content for free, whether it's just one article or several in a series, this content is then distributed across daily and weekly newsletter and LinkedIn. Marketers can get connected to their content team through their submissions page. Patrick encourages everyone to use this free resource.Listen to the full episode on how to utilize technical publishing using:WebinarsTradeshowsNewslettersBlog Articles/SeriesPodcastsLinkedInFor a true, integrated marketing campaign, marketers know they need to use many different channels to get their message across, working with an established, trusted media brand is an effective strategy.ResourcesConnect with Chris on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInLearn more about OpenSystems MediaRegister for the Industrial Marketing SummitConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Building a strong personal brand can be a game changer for salespeople in technical companies. A strong personal brand establishes you as authoritative and credible and helps you stay top-of-mind with your key audience. I invited Chris Luecke, Founder and Podcast Host of Manufacturing Happy Hour on the podcast to share how he built his personal brand, how it benefited him as a salesperson, and how to get started.Chris was generous enough to share how he got started building his personal brand. It all started when he needed to reach a new audience of technical buyers in his role as an account manager selling industrial automation solutions and software. Chris needed a way to reach a new audience, including millennials who were starting to be promoted into decision making roles. He wanted to share his solutions in a simple, casual way like you would if you were out having a beer someone. The venture grew from campy videos he would store on YouTube and include in his personalized sales newsletter to popular LinkedIn videos that grew his reach and personal brand exponentially. In this episode we discuss the challenges B2B brands have with utilizing the personal brands of employees within the company including less control of brand standards and messaging, and use of standard marketing materials. Ultimately their is a strategy that includes merging company and personal brands together so everyone wins.We also discuss the fear and workarounds of getting in front of a camera and growing your audience if you're just starting out. ResourcesConnect with Chris on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInListen to Manufacturing Happy Hour Related Episode: How Industrial Marketers Approach Influencers, Storytelling, and Personal BrandsRelated Article: 5 Actionable Ways to Position Yourself as a Thought LeaderRegister for the Industrial Marketing Summit Connect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
So much has changed in the marketing landscape over the last 12 months. Erin Moore and Kara Moon share how your 2024 marketing scorecards should be adjusted to reflect those changes. There have been so many industry changes in marketing over the last 12 months from how users are searching, what platforms their using, and how the channels themselves are serving up content. As we grapple with all these changes and its effect on organic traffic, it's important make adjustments to your marketing analytics, whether you keep a weekly scorecard, monthly spreadsheet for stakeholders, and so on.I sat down with TREW Crewers Erin Moore, Account Director, and Kara Moon, Senior Inbound Marketing Specialist, to talk about how they've updated their tracking and marketing benchmarks for 2024, why those changes were necessary, and best practices for marketing analytics.We discuss the continued need for differentiated and targeted channel strategy and what tracking for each channel looks like including YouTube, LinkedIn, events, PR, Google advertising, and industry advertising. We also talk about where to get your marketing data: GA4, HubSpot, or each channel individually.For many marketers, especially those wearing multiple hats in a small or one-person department, it can be tempting to blow off metrics but it's one of the most important marketing tasks. You need to be able to measure and track what you're spending time and money on, as well as make effective behavior changes using those metrics.ResourcesConnect with Erin on LinkedInConnect with Kara on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInRelated Episode: 2023 Marketing Wrapped - AI, Search, Social, and Strategy for 2024Related Episode: Optimizing for LLMs, and Google's SGE with Dale BertrandRelated Episode: How to Increase Organic Traffic and Improve Domain Authority with a Content AuditLearn more about Looker StudioRegister for the Industrial Marketing SummitConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
January is the perfect time to audit your marketing content - and it's not just a housekeeping task! Jennifer Dawkins and Kara Moon explain how a content audit can increase organic traffic and improve domain authority. A content audit is a great exercise to complete in January when you're preparing and organizing your marketing plan for the year. A content audit gets you organized and can help you align and update your messaging. I spoke with two TREW Crew members, Jennifer Dawkins, Vice President of Account Services, and Kara Moon, Senior Inbound Marketing Specialist, on the podcast who shared how they execute successful content auditing projects for our clients. First, we talk about the reasons why you should complete a content audit, including updating outdated or irrelevant content, and ensuring all content on your site reflects your current products and services. We spoke about how a content audit can uncover the common issue of having too much or not enough content for each stage of the buyer's journey. Maybe you have too much content for the lead nurturing stage, but not enough lead generation content. You may also find that a high-traffic piece of content is not relevant or bring in the wrong type of user.In this episode, you will learn:What data you need for a content auditHow to analyze that dataWhat qualitative analysis you need to completeHow to determine what content to keep, combine, or killhow often you should be auditing your contentThe benefits of a content auditResourcesConnect with Jennifer on LinkedInConnect with Kara on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInRelated Episode: Lasso Your Content ChaosRelated Guide: An Engineer's Guide to B2B Content MarketingRegister for the Industrial Marketing SummitConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
We've all heard of Spotify Wrapped, so this year we thought it would be fun to create Industrial Marketing Wrapped! Lee Chapman and I discuss the many changes to marketing in 2023 and what we and our clients are focusing on in 2024.In 2023, TREW Marketing celebrated its 15th anniversary! While we've seen tons of changes in industrial marketing over the years, 2023 seems to be unique in its changes due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the need to update many channel strategies. In this episode Lee Chapman, TREW's President and I discuss the biggest changes and lessons learned from 2023 and how we will approach industrial marketing in 2024.We start off the episode with the year's biggest topic, AI. We, like many marketers out there, spent many hours this year researching and testing different AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Bard, Writer, Jasper, and all the built-in features of our favorite tools like HubSpot and Moz. Also with the rise of AI came its ripple effects across search behavior, how users consume data, and in turn how marketers should approach different channel strategies. As AI, LLMs and Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) start to take away opportunities for traffic to our own websites, marketers need to focus on their email strategy (newsflash, the trick is NOT to spam your database) and their social strategy. We've seen an uptick in engagement on LinkedIn as well as really interesting ways marketers are using LinkedIn whether that's the carousel posts, informal "letter" style posts or adding links in comments instead of directly in the posts.Another channel or medium to focus on in 2024 is YouTube and video in general. Our research shows YouTube is a top channel for engineers and technical buyers of all ages and experience levels. YouTube is a great place to build out your thought leadership, subject matter experts, and brand authority,In this episode we also touched on Moz's new Brand Authority measurement tool and our 2023 European and global research as well as the upcoming Industrial Marketing Summit. 2024 is shaping up to be a major year of growth for marketers to enhance their skill set and for industrial brands to reach new audiences on new channels.While planning your new year remember: successful marketers will be focusing on building a strong brand and a differentiated channel strategy and they will remain agile, curious, and creative.ResourcesConnect with Lee on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInRegister for the Industrial Marketing SummitRelated Episode: Optimizing for LLMs and Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) with Dale BertrandConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
The TREW Team is excited to have Dale Bertrand, CEO of Fire & Spark back on the podcast to discuss the changing nature of search marketing and how to optimize for the future of LLMs and Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE).Dale Bertrand is the CEO and Founder of Fire&Spark, an SEO agency. Dale is also a popular speaker, sharing his expertise at conferences like INBOUND and Content Marketing World. We invited Dale to share what he's learned in 2023 - specifically in regards to the changing nature of search marketing and how marketers should update their strategies to optimize for Large Language Models (LLMs) and Google's future Search Generative Experience (SGE).Dale and I discussed how AI has had major implications on how search engines operate and how AI has changed user search behavior. For marketers, we've moved well-beyond "gaming the system" for SEO and instead should broaden SEO strategy to focus on optimizing for each channel (LLMs, SGE, bots, YouTube, etc.) and focusing on being seen as a trusted thought leader in the eyes of Google.Dale theorized that Google is going to determine which author has the expertise to write about a topic and who Google trusts to provide the answers users are looking for. We discussed this is the perfect time to develop internal Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and leverage them for the signals Google is looking for.ResourcesConnect with Dale on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInRegister for the Industrial Marketing SummitRelated Episode: Taking a Conversion-Focused Approach to SEO with Dale Bertrand Connect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Every year, TREW hosts Content Writing, Engineered, a technical writing bootcamp for marketers who want to level-up their technical writing skills. This year, two TREW Crew members participated in the course. We talk about their experience in this episode. The Content Writing, Engineered course is designed to teach marketers, sales professionals, and engineers in technical companies how to write compelling yet technical content for their target audiences. Senior Inbound Marketing Specialists Julia Holliday and Kasey Tyring took the course this year and they discussed what they learned with the course instructor Morgan Norris, TREW's Senior Brand Strategist.Course Breakdown:6-Week Course with a mix of group lessons and one-on-one coaching calls.Week 1: Preparing to Write Week 2: Content TypesWeek 3: Research and OutlineWeek 4: WritingWeek 5: Reviewing Content Week 6: Enhancing ContentKasey and Julia discussed the key takeaways from the course including getting a better handle on the writing and storytelling process. They also discussed the value of being trained how to interview subject matter experts (SMEs), the technical experts in your company that can be the missing link to your content strategy. Overall the two agreed the course was a great chance to learn and hear from other marketers in industrial and technical companies who are trying to balance their workload while also continuing to learn and improve their marketing skills. It was also eye-opening to know that even seasoned, marketers can benefit from the course, getting a lot of best practices and actionable takeaways to use in their role.ResourcesConnect with Morgan on LinkedInConnect with Julia on LinkedInConnect with Kasey on LinkedInGet Information on the 2024 Content Writing, Engineered CourseRelated Episode: How to Turn the Knowledge of You SMEs Into Exceptions ContentRelated Article: 5 Ways to Effectively Reach Engineers and Technical AudiencesRelated Article: Why You Need a Technical Writer on Your B2B Marketing Team Connect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
A comprehensive discussion about the relationship between marketing and sales, covering topics such as storytelling in marketing, integrated marketing and the strategy behind successful sales enablement.Pam Didner has an impressive career history, which includes various roles at Intel, becoming a marketing professor, and then transitioning to becoming a sought-after marketing thought leader and keynote speaker. In this week's episode of Content Marketing, Engineered, Wendy and Pam discuss the importance of sales and marketing alignment, understanding your marketing bandwidth and boundaries, and what true, successful sales enablement actually looks like.ResourcesConnect with Pam on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInRelated Article: Top 7 Topics for Sales + Marketing Alignment SessionsConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Mary Keough shares a new way of looking at the buyer's journey and what channel strategies she's focusing on to add more high-intent leads to her pipeline. Mary Keough is a seasoned marketer both in the SaaS and industrial marketing space and shares insightful marketing tips to her more than twenty thousand followers on LinkedIn. There's a reason why she's so popular - she's authentic. You can tell the marketing strategies she shares have been hard-won by experience. One of her favorite topics? Marketing and sales alignment. I spoke with Mary on this week's episode of Content Marketing, Engineered and we discussed a wide variety of topics from navigating the technical buyer's journey, which channels to focus on, how to measure high-intent leads, and how you can turn your marketing department into an essential business function in the eyes of your leadership team.Watch or listen to this episode for some valuable marketing advice, and if you want to hear more from Mary, you can catch her session: FINALLY. A Marketing & Sales Alignment Strategy that Just Might Work at the Industrial Marketing Summit on Thursday, February 2nd in Austin, Texas. ResourcesConnect with Mary on LinkedInConnect with Wendy on LinkedInRegister for the Industrial Marketing Summit Related Article: Content Types That Guide Engineers Throughout Their Buyer's JourneyRelated Article: Top 7 Topics for Sales + Marketing Alignment Sessions Connect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Manufacturers often don't have direct relationships with the end customer, and instead use a distribution network to sell their products. However, there is a huge communication gap between what marketing thinks the end customer wants and what the distributor knows they want. This week's episode is all about learning and listening from your manufacturing distributors. This week I was joined by Tom Paul, CEO of BAM!, a mobile distributor portal. I wanted to have him on to give manufacturing marketers a different point of view on how our content can benefit or be reworked to serve our valuable network of distributors. We talked about the common miscommunications between the manufacturer and the distributor and how simply asking the right questions and listening to the people on the front lines can dramatically impact the usefulness of our enablement materials.We discuss topics like training, the best way to access distributor materials, and the difference between the needs of veteran distributors and new, entry-level salespeople. ResourcesConnect with Tom on LinkedInLearn more about BAM!Related Episode: How Manufacturing Marketers Impact Rep GrowthRelated Episode: The Power of Integrated Data Across Marketing, and Distribution Connect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Wendy Covey talked with Eddie Saunders Jr. of Speak Friend Consulting, about 2024 marketing planning, the power or comarketing, empathy in developing sales enablement, and more.2024 is looming just a few short months away! As marketers, it's time to think about updating our strategies for the new year - where to focus our efforts, which channels to invest in, and how we can level-up our craft. I had Eddie Saunders Jr. on the podcast this week to give his insights into these topics. We talked about about the underused tactic of comarketing, how TikTok can be added to your marketing channels, and how marketers can develop more empathy to reach customers where they are - plus using your sales team to get even more customer intel.Don't miss Eddie at the Industrial Marketing Summit January 31 - February 2nd in Austin, Texas. He will be joined by other panelists who are industry leaders in influencer marketing, brand voice, and thought leadership.ResourcesConnect with Eddie on LinkedinLearn more about Speak Friend ConsultingRegister for the Industrial Marketing Summit Connect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
The hosts of the 2024 Industrial Marketing Summit get together to share the impressive lineup of speakers and topics for the 3-day summit. The Industrial Marketing Summit is shaping up to be a can't-miss event on any industrial marketer's calendar. Wendy Covey, Joe Sullivan, and Adam Beck got together to talk about what to expect from the summit. The event takes place January 31 - Feb 2 at the University of Texas at Austin campus in the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center. Gorilla 76, TREW Marketing and CADENAS PARTSolutions are hosting the event after they noticed a need for an individual marketing summit geared specifically toward the needs of industrial marketers. The conference is broken into three days. Day one: Welcome dinner and reception Day two: Full-day of sessions Day three: Half day of workshops. The half-day of workshops are designed for industrial marketers to walk away with actionable insights to take back with them. The first workshop is titled "Successful Reporting: Using Data to Tell the Story About What's Working." Hosted by Gorilla 76, attendees will leave the workshop with a meaningful dashboard that will help paint a clear picture of your progress for your leadership team. The second workshop is hosted by TREW Marketing and is titled "Leveling Up Your Content Plan: A Guided Approach to Building Brand Authority." Attendees will leave this workshop with a completely build out content strategy for a campaign. The conference will cover the following topics, and more! • Product Marketing • Sales and Marketing Alignment • Increasing Right-Fit Leads • SEO and Trustworthy Content • Al Tools and Practical Al Strategies • Using Data to Redefine Marketing • The Importance of Customer Experience • Building and Measuring Brand • Influencer Marketing and Thought Leadership Resources • Register for the Industrial Marketing Summit • Follow Industrial Marketing Summit on Linkedin • Become an Industrial Marketing Summit Sponsor • Connect with Wendy on Linkedin • Connect with Joe on Linkedin • Connect with Adam on Linkedin
The hosts of the 2024 Industrial Marketing Summit get together to share the impressive lineup of speakers and topics for the 3-day summit. The Industrial Marketing Summit is shaping up to be a can't-miss event on any industrial marketer's calendar. Wendy Covey, Joe Sullivan, and Adam Beck got together to talk about what to expect from the summit. The event takes place January 31 - Feb 2 at the University of Texas at Austin campus in the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center. TREW Marketing, Gorilla 76, and CADENAS PARTSolutions are hosting the event after they noticed a need for an individual marketing summit geared specifically toward the needs of industrial marketers. The conference is broken into three days. The first day is a welcome dinner and reception, the second day is a full-day of sessions, and the third is broken into a half day of workshops. The half-day of workshops are designed for industrial marketers to walk away with actionable insights to take back with them. The first workshop is titled "Successful Reporting: Using Data to Tell the Story About What's Working." Hosted by Gorilla 76, attendees will leave the workshop with a meaningful dashboard that will help paint a clear picture of your progress for your leadership team. The second workshop is hosted by TREW Marketing and is titled "Leveling Up Your Content Plan: A Guided Approach to Building Brand Authority." Attendees will leave this workshop with a completely build out content strategy for a campaign. The conference will cover the following topics, and more!Product MarketingSales and Marketing AlignmentIncreasing Right-Fit LeadsSEO and Trustworthy Content AI Tools and Practical AI StrategiesUsing Data to Redefine MarketingThe Importance of Customer ExperienceBuilding and Measuring BrandInfluencer Marketing and Thought LeadershipResourcesRegister for the Industrial Marketing SummitFollow Industrial Marketing Summit on LinkedInBecome an Industrial Marketing Summit SponsorConnect with Wendy on LinkedinConnect with Joe on LinkedInConnect with Adam on LinkedInConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Wendy Covey talks with Sannah Vinding, Digital Marketing Director at Micro Commercial Components, about how she humanizes the brand, excels at thought leadership, and provides valuable content to her sales and distribution teams. In electronics manufacturing, theres always so much to do - especially in marketing. From setting up your sales team for success, to producing valuable and memorable content, to working with distributors. How can you get it all done? Sannah Vinding, Digital Marketing Director at Micro Commercial Components, uses "swim lanes" to keep everything organized. She breaks down her strategy in the latest episode of Content Marketing, Engineered.Sannah and Wendy discuss the importance of humanizing an electronics manufacturing brand and how to utilize and grow thought leaders within your organization. She also shares her winning video strategy across LinkedIn, your website, and YouTube.ResourcesConnect with Sinnah on LinkedInLearn more about Micro Commercial ComponentsListen to the Mind the Innovation Leadership podcast Connect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Morgan and Wendy recap their epic week at Content Marketing World 2023! Wendy Covey and Morgan Norris were in Washington D.C. last week to attend and share their own expertise at Content Marketing Institute's annual Content Marketing World conference. ResourcesConnect with Morgan on LinkedInLearn more about Content Marketing WorldLearn More about Content Marketing InstituteElizabeth Banks' American Heart Association CommercialBlog: The Power of Voice of Customer Insights for Engineering CompaniesBlog: Stop, Collaborate, and Listen: Harness Voices of CustomersPodcast: Conducting Customer Interviews with Morgan NorrisConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
The state of industrial marketing is changing fast! As the demographic of engineers and technical buyers evolves, so too should our marketing efforts. On this week's episode of Content Marketing, Engineered, I spoke with Nikki Gonzales, Head of Partnerships at QuoteBeam and host of the Automation Ladies podcast. As a millennial with a storied work history in the industrial manufacturing and software industries, Nikki brought a fresh point of view on how to market and sell to engineers and technical buyers.We discussed how ignoring your outdated internal processes can cost you young talent, whether you should gate your assets with a form, whether you should have pricing and inventory listed on your website, and the best social media strategy to reach engineers of all ages. ResourcesConnect with Nikki on LinkedInListen to the Automation Ladies podcastConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Senior Inbound Specialists Kara Moon and Kasey Tyring share the highlights of what they learned from INBOUND23, HubSpot's annual marketing conference. HubSpot's annual INBOUND conference is something we look forward to every year and this year, Senior Inbound Specialists Kara Moon and Kasey Tyring attended the conference in Boston. After an action-packed week of marketing sessions spanning all topics from analytics to social media, they join me on the podcast to share what they learned and what we can expect from the all-in-one tool for marketers. They discuss the main theme of the conference, Artificial Intelligence, and the new AI tools that HubSpot announced while also sharing the main AI tips they learned from sessions about SEO, social media, and content marketing. But this episode isn't all about AI, Kara and Kasey explain which sessions inspired them the most and what strategies they plan on using right away.ResourcesConnect with Kara on LinkedInConnect with Kasey on LinkedInTREW's HubSpot ServicesMore HubSpot Resources:The Future of AI with HubSpotWhy B2B Companies are Adopting HubSpotTREW's HubSpot TutorialsConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Our content specialist, Jamie Tokarz is the master of creating exceptional content out of your Service Matter Experts. With more than 16 years' experience, she shares how she does it. She is a star writer that produces amazing content and all her clients love her and love working with her...we were thrilled to have our very own Jamie Tokarz on the podcast this week! Jamie is a Content Strategist and has helped TREW clients produce exceptional content using their own Service Matter Experts (SMEs) for more than eight years. We invited Jamie to teach us how to get the most out of SMEs' very valuable time by hosting efficient sourcing sessions and how to take what we gathered from those sessions and turn it into content that converts.Jamie shares:How to prep for SME sourcing sessionsHow to set expectations for SMEs who aren't in marketingHow to us AI tools to prepare and supplement SME knowledgeHow to create an efficient review processResourcesConnect with Jamie on LinkedInTREW's Content Marketing ServicesAI Tools Mentioned:Google's Bardperplexity.aiConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
He's a crowd favorite at HubSpot's Inbound conference, now he's here to share his latest tips in B2B email marketing. Are you banging your head on your keyboard thinking your attempts at reaching your audience via email is fruitless? We get it, B2B email marketing can seem like you're getting lost in the inbox. That's why we had Jay Schwedelson on, the founder of SubjectLine.com and Outcome Media. Jay has presented on email marketing for years - one of our team's favorite presenters at HubSpot's annual Inbound Marketing Conference. Jay has a talent for rebuilding our confidence in email marketing by sharing his genius yet simple tactics to great email marketing. From testing subject lines, sending newsletters more than once, and adding relevance. He even shares a few proven subject line strategies that can increase your open rate by 25% or more!ResourcesConnect with Jay on LinkedInLearn more about SubjectLine.comLearn more about Outcome MediaRegister for Guru Conference Connect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Say goodbye to death-by-powerpoint! Richard Goring shares his top presentation tips.Richard Goring is a director at Bright Carbon, a content creation company producing anything where visually storytelling is useful such as presentations, explainer videos, infographics, etc.With years of experience and thousands of presentations under his belt, he is the expert on all things presentations. I talked to Richard about how to make highly technical content more engaging during presentations and some common pitfalls he sees marketers making when building PowerPoints for conferences, sales demos, and everything in between.We talked about how to brainstorm your presentation without using PowerPoint and some PowerPoint hacks that only the experts know. Richard shared some excellent free tools (listed below) and theorized how far AI can take us in making visual presentations. ResourcesConnect with Richard on LinkedInLearn more about Bright CarbonLearn more about the Presentation GuildMicrosoft CopilotTools Mentioned: Color Pallet Generationcolor.adobe.comcoolors.coPhotographyUnsplashPexelsPixaBayIconographyThe Noun ProjectMaterial.ioConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
John Joyce joins us to share how integrating data across departments, distributors, and countries can really work.John Joyce is one of those unique marketers that have worked on both sides of the business, within a marketing agency and in an internal marketing department. His career is impressive. He spent the last 8 years at Brennan as the Global Marketing Director and in that role he essentially brought the established company into the 21st century with modern marketing. In this episode we talk about his most successful moments at Brennan including branding initiatives, video, and inbound and content marketing. We also discuss some of the data challenges and lack of connectivity he faced, which led him to start Brijr.io, a managed integration platform designed to connect data between sales, marketing, distributers, inventory, and more. I had a great time talking to John as we discussed some of the hot topics in our industry from the changing landscape of SEO to the opportunity marketers have to rise above the noise of generative AI. ResourcesConnect with John on LinkedInLearn more about Brijr.ioJoin the waiting list for the Industrial Marketing SummitConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Erin Moore shares the key themes from MozCon 2023 and why going back to basics is a winning strategy.Erin More, TREW's Account Director, attended MozCon this year to bring back all the latest industry news on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you're a marketer or a practitioner of SEO specifically, you know how much things have changed in the last few years and even months in the world of SEO and search rank strategy. According to Erin, there were 4 big themes from MozCon 2023: Search is a lot more than Google searchThe way google interprets information and feeds you information has changedThe way SEOs understand search is changingGoogle has been evolving constantly with AIErin explains each of these themes and how marketers can make some key changes to their SEO strategies in order to build authority and lean into brand recognition - two key strategies SEOs are turning to for success in the future.ResourcesConnect with Erin Moore on LinkedInLearn more about MozConSEO Series Part 1: The Evolving Search Landscape of 2023SEP Series Part 2: Taking a Conversion-Focused Approach to SEOConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
In the industrial marketing space, we have a lot of catching up to do. Jordan Yates, Marketing Engineer at Knowles Precision Devices, shares how she uses modern marketing strategies to gain an edge over the competition.Jordan Yates holds a unique title as a "Marketing Engineer," combining her mechanical engineering background from Texas Tech University and her role on the technical marketing team at Knowles Precision Devices. After graduating, Jordan leveraged social media, particularly LinkedIn, to her advantage. She cultivated a personal following by sharing technical demos and documenting her journey of learning new skills like soldering. This growth has not only benefited the companies she has worked with but also sparked a discussion on the power of personal brands, influencer marketing, and thought leadership within the engineering industry. In today's episode of Content Marketing, Engineered, we delve into strategies for making technical content more accessible and engaging for audiences, as well as uncovering what kind of content engineers are really searching for. One highlight of the episode is when Jordan explains her secret to making technical content exciting – writing "love letters" as her first draft or idea generation. ResourcesConnect with Jordan Yates on LinkedInLearn More About Knowles Precision Devices TREW Marketing Content Marketing ServicesInbound Marketing Case Study: Knowles Precision DevicesConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
What a head-spinning time we had at this year's Marketing AI Conference (MAICON). We're distilling everything we learned - with practical examples of how marketers are utilizing AI - in this week's episode of Content Marketing, Engineered. At TREW Marketing, we are no strangers to the power of AI marketing tools to provide intelligence and streamline mundane tasks. However, the ever-evolving nature of AI means that there is always something new to discover. From innovative tools to ethical considerations, we knew it was crucial to attend MAICON, hosted by the Marketing AI Institute. TREW's Senior Brand Strategist, Morgan Norris and I immersed ourselves in three days of learning. Now, we're excited to share the key takeaways from the conference, including emerging tools we're eager to experiment with, and creative ways marketers are leveraging AI tools and LLMs themselves to drive business results.In this podcast episode, Morgan and I delve deep into the capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) for marketers. We explore how LLMs can streamline workflows, eliminate mundane tasks, and enhance creativity. We discuss generative AI application tools like Jasper, Writer, MarketMuse, and functional-specific tools for video, transcription and more. We also highlight the potential of AI as an aid in rapid strategy development, as demonstrated by Ethan Mollick's ability to create a host of product launch materials in 30 minutes using AI.Join us as we share our insights and discoveries from MAICON, and get ready to be inspired by the possibilities of AI in marketing.ResourcesMarketing AI InstituteMicrosoft Co-PilotEthan Mollick: Using AI to Create a Product Launch in 30 Minutes or LessAI ToolsJasperWriterMarketMusePerplexityDescriptGlossAIBright EdgeBrandOpsClaude 2An Industrial Marketer's Guide to Generative AIConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
We've hit the half-way mark of 2023! Here are a few strategies to boost demand, unify sales and marketing, and earn quick wins for your marketing efforts. As we enter the second half of the year, it's easy to get overwhelmed with all that's left to accomplish - especially this year when there's been so much uncertainty. Marketers are uneasy - there's been budget cutbacks, new AI, analytics and, social platforms to keep up with, and looming end-of-year reports to consider.So, I thought this would be a great time to talk with Lee Chapman, president of TREW Marketing, and learn from her how fellow marketers are feeling and discuss some quick wins that can get us all out of the mid-year slump to end the year strong.The discussion covers a number of quick wins marketers can achieve.Revisiting value proposition and messagingInterviewing existing customersPerforming a SWAT analysisPerforming content auditsUpdating which metrics to trackFocusing on thought leadershipUpdating social media strategyLaunching "mini campaigns" for product launches or eventsI also asked Lee about which content she is seeing perform the best for her B2B clients...no surprise...she said there is no silver bullet and that a mix of content is key (blogs, white papers, ungated assets, social graphics etc) with a heavier emphasis on video, as our research shows, younger engineers are seeking out video. LinkedIn is also one of the highest performing channels.Give this episode a listen or read the transcript below to inspire some new energy going into the last half of 2023.ResourcesLee Chapman on LinkedIn TREW Marketing "Quick Win" ServicesTREW Value Proposition and Messaging Services2023 State of Marketing to Engineers Research GuideConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Working in a marketing department with a team of one? Here's how one solo marketer approached a full website redesign. On this week's episode of Content Marketing Engineered, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Amanda Dinauer. Amanda is one impressive marketer. She is the Marketing Director for three brands: LasX Industries, MicroMed Solutions, and FlexPak Services. How does she juggle it all?We talked through her approach to content marketing, how she handles different leadership priorities, and prepares for real-time events like product launches.We also discussed one recent successful undertaking: a complete website redesign for LasX.Initial reasons for the redesignNecessity of creating a strategy firstAdding high-quality videosPrioritizing customer-focused messagingCreating a process for updating contentResourcesLasX's New Website TREW Marketing Website Services6 Crucial Steps in Preparing for a Website RedesignCase Study: Silex Technology Website RedesignConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
New AI tools and more that continues to make HubSpot the best all-in-one marketing platform. I caught up with Chris Alexis, Mid-Market Sales Manager at HubSpot on the latest episode of the podcast. Chris and I have worked together for more than a decade and have watched the HubSpot platform morph and expand to serve businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to large enterprises and expanded its capabilities for coverage throughout the customer journey.Chris walked through the evolution of HubSpot from its beginnings an inbound marketing tool to today's all-in-one marketing, CRM, operations, and customer service platform. We discussed the buyer's journey for marketers searching for the right marketing platform for their needs and Chris highlights some key considerations such as product adoption and implementation, training, connections to external tools, and productivity.I was very excited to talk about the future of HubSpot. In its history, the company has been excellent at changing with the times and scaling with the businesses it serves. In today's changing landscape, HubSpot continues to innovate adding critical tools like generative AI writing tools and ChatSpot -- the intelligent CRM sales and marketing assistant that can pull reports and answer any CRM questions with ease.ResourcesChris Alexis on LinkedInTREW Marketing HubSpot ServicesTry HubSpot's Content Assistant and ChatSpotConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
How to successfully approach networking events and what your local technology council can do for you. It was a true pleasure to have a conversation with Thom Singer. His career has taken a winding path guided by the powerful connections he's made over the years. Thom is a successful public speaker, author, and podcaster and his most recent role is the Chief Executive Officer of the Austin Technology Council where his mission is to bring Austin's technology companies together to engage the wider Austin community and ensure the future of Austin's technology business landscape.In this podcast episode we discuss Thom's background in marketing and his genius take on networking and adding value to events and to the people you meet."Networking is not a verb, it's a lifestyle. You can't just show up at an [industry event] and think 'this networking stuff doesn't work, nobody sent me tons of business'. It takes years to build a reputation in your community, in your industry.-Thom Singer CEO, Austin Technology Council We also extend the philosophy of adding value to the concept of content marketing. Many businesses are apprehensive to share their IP with the public, but ultimately, in mine and Thom's experience, sharing valuable information wins business and trust.Of course, we had to talk about Thom's plans for the Austin Technology Council. He shared why these councils are so important for their communities and how technology and related service companies can get involved.ResourcesAustin Technology CouncilThom Singer on LinkedInThom Singer's WebsiteConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Is your team using AI tools? Here's everything you need to know to maintain trust and authenticity. In this week's episode, Morgan Norris, Senior Brand Strategist at Trew Marketing, shares everything she's learned about Generative AI. Morgan has become our resident expert on all things AI tools and has sifted through dozens of tools to find out which ones are most valuable to marketers. Morgan shares the key features of the best performing tools for tasks like idea generation, editing, and content writing.We also highlight the ever-present need to stay authentic and trustworthy when developing and publishing content – something we still need human oversight for. Last, discuss what liabilities could come up if you're using AI tools incorrectly and the direction these tools could take in the future. ResourcesWebinar: Improve Your Prompting to Use Generative AI for B2B Content DevelopmentGenerative AI for Content MarketingHow to Create an AI Policy for Your Engineering CompanyMorgan Norris on LinkedInConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
In this week's episode, I sit down with Nicole Donnelly, the Founder and CEO of DMG Digital. We are both marketing agency owners in the manufacturing and engineering space, so we really dive into what we see as the main challenges manufacturers face when it comes to marketing from executive buy-in to consistency and long-term strategy. Here are the topics we covered in this episode:Executive buy-in of marketing effortsMarketing and sales silosSales enablement materialsThe value and ROI of consistencyThe difference between SME and AI sourced contentWhere to begin marketing for manufacturingThe Artificial Intelligence vs Service Matter Expert (SME) discussion was a great topic to bring up. Nicole and I agreed that there is a place for generative AI tools like ChatGPT in your content and marketing strategy, but if you want valuable, trustworthy content that converts, it's best to source your content from your experienced internal talent. Nicole also shared her advice for marketing efforts that become stagnant and when to elevate your marketing strategy into paid advertising, video, podcasting and more.Resources2023 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Guide, including previous research reportsNicole Donnelly on LinkedInGenerative AI for Content MarketingConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Learn the fundamentals of taking a conversion-focused approach to SEO content to meet your audience where they are in their buyer's journey, and drive sales and revenue for your business. Part 2 of our SEO mini-series continues with Dale Bertrand, President of SEO agency Fire&Spark. Like many SEO professionals, he didn't start his career focused on marketing, content, or search. He started as an engineer, first in manufacturing and then in computer engineering building a supercomputer for the NSA, before a stint focused on AI. He brings his rare combination of engineering, AI, and SEO expertise to our episode today, tackling the topic of conversion-focused SEO for engineering and technical companies.As search engines have evolved and user behavior has changed over time, SEO best practices have changed as well. SEO success no longer comes from keyword stuffing, or a few back-end tweaks, or aggressive link building. Instead, companies are finding success in search by building authority around key topics to gain visibility, and by focusing on conversion intent and optimization in their search strategies.Dale elaborates on taking a conversion-focused SEO approach to meet your audience where they are in their buyer's journey, delivering the content they need at that time and using content to drive them to the next step. He gives examples of how companies in the engineering space can use this approach to drive lead generation, revenue, and other key conversion activities. We also discuss the impact AI is having and will have on SEO, and how even as the technology changes, the fundamentals of marketing, SEO, and content development stay the same.ResourcesFire&Spark's websiteDale Bertrand on LinkedInGot a question? Email Dale: dale@fireandspark.comConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Learn about the biggest changes to SEO over the last year, including the EEAT update and the growth of AI search and generative AI, and hear how these changes are impacting B2B engineering companies like yours. For part one of this two-part series on SEO for technical, B2B companies, we're joined by Lily Ray, Senior Director of SEO and Head of Organic Research at Amsive Digital. Lily has spent the last 11 years in agencies, focused on SEO and organic research across many industries, and she brings a wealth of experience to our episode today.Google has been in a period of rapid evolution, with multiple core updates released over the last few years. The biggest update, E-E-A-T, has changed the search landscape, prioritizing experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness of websites and individual authors alongside other, long standing ranking factors. Lily cites how she's seeing E-E-A-T and other core updates impact client sites, as well as how businesses can find success in organic search by focusing on user experience first and foremost.If the frequent shifts in Google's algorithm weren't enough, we also have the rapid adoption of AI changing how people search for and create content. After spending months testing ChatGPT and AI search engines, Lily has takeaways on the smart, responsible ways of using these tools, and why it's dangerous to use the tools without a firm understanding of how they work and what they do and do not do. She also shares how she's using this new toolset to create efficiencies in info sourcing and content reuse, to augment rather than replace current processes.ResourcesLily Ray on TwitterLily Ray on LinkedInLily Ray's websiteAmsive Digital: SEO ArticlesConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Gain insights into where manufacturing marketers are seeing success and how they are investing their marketing budgets in 2023. For part two of my two-part research series, Lisa Beets, Research Director for the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), joins me to walk through key findings from the 2023 Manufacturing Content Marketing Research Report. The report studies where content marketers working in manufacturing invest time and budget dollars, and the outcomes they are experiencing.This year's study spans a broad range of marketing topics, from content creation and management, distribution, metrics and goals, and budget allocation.There were three particularly interesting discussions we had during the interview:Manufacturing marketers are outpacing B2B marketers in video investment in both the number of videos produced and the use of YouTube as a distribution channel.Manufacturing marketers cited web visits and social followers as the most important metrics as opposed to conversion metrics for B2B marketers; hearing this makes me ponder the final point....There were struggles cited with creating a content marketing strategy (which may be the reason for bullet #2 - relying on easy-to-grab vanity metrics over substantial conversion metrics)This report is an excellent companion to part one of my research series, where we walked through the 2023 State of Marketing to Engineers.Resources2023 CMI Manufacturing Content Marketing ReportContent Marketing InstituteLisa Beets on LinkedIn2023 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Guide, including previous research reportsConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Gain insights on how engineers and technical buyers find and consume content to make purchase decisions. Christian Haight (a.k.a. CJ), Content Marketing Manager at GlobalSpec, joins me on this episode to walk through key findings from the 6th annual research study conducted by TREW Marketing and GlobalSpec. The 2023 State of Marketing to Engineers Report includes a set of consistent questions we ask to monitor trends, such as preferred information sources and content types. We also take a deep dive into search behaviors, influencers, podcasts, and in-person events.In this episode we walk through key findings, industry feedback and our own opinions in areas such as:Search behaviorsChannel preferencesIndustry influencersSocial media preferencesValued contentSales interactionsFor more in-depth research information, check out the resources link below. Also be on the lookout for event MORE research to be released this year. In June 2023 GlobalSpec has a report coming out on engineers' work challenges and where they seek training and education. In Fall 2023 TREW Marketing and Elektor will release a European-focused report with many overlapping areas of focus as the State of Marketing to Engineers research.Resources2023 State of Marketing to Engineers Research Guide, including previous research reports2023 State of Marketing to Engineers on-demand Webinar and Webinar FAQ blog postGlobalSpecCJ on LinkedInConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Hear from TREW Marketing Co-Founders and early employees share stories about the company and how marketing has changed in the past 15 years. To celebrate TREW Marketing's 15-year "TREWversary," TREW Co-Founder Rebecca Geier, along with early employees Lee Chapman and Morgan Norris, joined me for a look-back episode. Expect to hear many stories on this episode, including:Where TREW Marketing got its nameThe most dramatic changes in marketing over the past 15 yearsCritical business decisions that shaped the agencyThe most unique technologies we learned about through client engagementsLearn more about TREW Marketing here.ResourcesSmart Marketing for Engineers: An Inbound Marketing Guide to Reach Technical Audiences, by Rebecca GeierContent Marketing, Engineered: Build Trust and Convert Buyers with Technical Content, by Wendy Covey2023 State of Marketing to Engineers Research ReportTraction: Get a Grip on Your Business, by Gino WickmanRebecca Geier on LinkedInLee Chapman on LinkedInMorgan Norris on LinkedInConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Hear the latest updates on generative AI for marketing, including tools we're kicking around, features we love, and prompting best practices for creating AI-assisted technical content. Morgan Norris, TREW Brand and Content Strategist, is on top of how AI tools can enhance our technical content writing process (not derail it). She's been researching and piloting various tools and staying abreast of the ever-evolving legal and cultural implications of generative AI.In this episode we cover:Marketing AI news, including a statement and guidance from the U.S. Copywrite OfficeGenerative AI tools we are trying out (see full list below)Generative AI functionality that benefits us most as technical marketersBest practices for prompting AI tools during ideation, research and writingHow to create a company policy on generative AIMorgan will host a webinar in May to take a deeper dive into many of these topics. If you have questions or topics you'd like her to cover, drop her a line on LinkedIn. ResourcesPast podcast episode: Generative AI for Industrial Content Development - A ChatGPT, Writer and Jasper ShowdownAn Industrial Marketers' Guide to Generative AIU.S. Copywrite Office - Generative AI Resource PageWriterJasperChatGPTDemandwellCanvaGlossAIMarketing AI InstituteMorgan on LinkedInConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Learn the differences between Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Universal Analytics and find out how to transition to GA4. If you've logged into your Google Universal Analytics (UA) account on or after March 1, 2023, you've realized that you have a new tool: Google Analytics (GA4). In this episode, Kasey Tyring, Senior Inbound Marketing Specialist at TREW Marketing, walks through the major differences between the two tools and how to get up-to-speed on GA4.A few key points you'll hear during the episode:Web visits (and a few other key metrics) are counted differently in GA4, so don't try to compare with UA dataGreater emphasis and deeper data are provided on-site engagement Bounces and clicks take on a different meaning in GA4One of the most insightful tools is events - check this out first and get excited about this new way to view the buyer's journey!After you have a handle on the changes, be sure to educate leadership about the change If you have a busy spring schedule and/or not super excited about learning a new Google Analytics tool, well, tough. In July 2023 UA will go away forever. So let's all embrace the change and give GA4 a big welcome hug. Happy measuring!ResourcesWebinar on April 12th: Measuring Marketing Success with GA4Blog Post: Preparing for GA4 -- The Next Generation of AnalyticsCME Podcast Episode from July 2022: Moving to GA4 with Keith MooringKasey Tyring on LinkedInConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Learn how a leading optics manufacturer uses daily videos and other content marketing tools to differentiate from their competitors.Cory Boone, Technical Marketing Manager at Edmund Optics, is a big believer in content marketing for engineering companies, as you'll hear in this episode. He has found that through content, the company builds trust and credibility and stays top-of-mind with prospects and customers. Edmund Optics' multi-faceted content strategy includes daily videos which range from broad and basic, such as how optics are used in the world around us, to technical challenges where optics and photonics can be applied. Videos are leveraged across multiple platforms including TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube. TikTok is not where the company expects to find and convert near-term leads, rather it supports long-term awareness and branding goals. In Cory's role as a Technical Marketing Manager, he acts as a bridge between engineering and marketing communications, which he finds helps to lend greater credibility to marketing as a whole. He also writes technical content where he draws from his optical engineering education and seeks time from deep subject-matter experts within the company. Cory oversees the Edmund Optics Knowledge Center, where visitors can search or filter by topic.Cory and his team have experimented with generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, and have found their best use to be for brainstorming and outlining. Cory advises taking great caution when using data sourced by these tools. It is important to determine and cite the source of the data to make sure it is accurate, recent, and not from your competition. This is a big challenge for niche technical subjects. ResourcesCory Boone on LinkedInEdmund Optics on TikTokEdmund Optics Knowledge CenterConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Hear the latest electronic components industry and marketing trends presented at the 2023 ERA conference. TREW Marketing Senior Brand and Content Strategist, Morgan Norris joined me for the 2023 Electronics Representatives Association (ERA) conference, held in TREW's hometown of Austin, Texas. In this episode, we share some of the trending topics we heard in keynotes and sessions as well as share highlights from our presentation, Transforming Your Brand Into a Trusted Resource.Some of our marketing takeaways include:Many of the rep firms are lacking differentiated messaging and their websites don't portray them as a knowledgeable technical resource for design engineersVideo is very popular with design engineers; sales reps can use video to share their expertise and build credibility; brands can use video to add interest to (potentially dry) electronic component content topicsDon't overthink social sharing; use content created by your marketing department, your partners or your network and add your point of viewGenerative AI and ChatGPT are great content brainstorming tools, but when it comes to creating highly technical content, they won't do the heavy lifting for youEnewsletters are still quite popular with design engineers; one sales rep firm consistently achieves a 70% open rate through hyper-personalization Sales rep firms and distributors can leverage and extend a manufacturer's marketing campaign, creating a channel win-win-win amplifierManufacturers are open to collaborative marketing campaigns and offering co-op funding, but sales reps need to first have a strategic approach to marketing and pitch thoughtful campaign ideasSome of our industry takeaways from a fascinating closing keynote by Michael Knight, President and CEO of Endries International, include:As more sensors are added to our cars (and other parts of our daily lives), the demand for data storage will be massiveLook for more household and work tasks to be automated through robotics and applied AI; examples include robots delivering food to your table at a restaurant, picking strawberries in the field on a farm, and assisting with diagnosis and surgery Renewable, unlimited energy from solar will be more attainable with battery storage technology advancesThe commercialization of space will continue, especially to mine precious minerals The demand for electronics will continue to be strong!ResourcesElectronics Representatives Association (ERA)An Industrial Marketer's Guide to Generative AIAn Engineer's Guide to B2B Content MarketingMorgan Norris on LinkedInMichael Knight on LinkedInConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.
Can AI tools help to develop content targeted to engineers and technical buyers? The landscape is exploding with generative AI tools for content marketing. But when it comes to creating B2B marketing content, especially pieces targeted to engineers and technical buyers, are these tools actually helpful? This is what TREW Marketing set out to find through research and writing experiments.The episode kicked off with Morgan Norris, TREW Sr. Brand and Content Strategist, walking us through the variety of tools that aim to help marketers across content strategy, SEO, and content development. As we honed in specifically on content development, the team narrowed their focus to two primary tools, Writer and Jasper. They also explained instances when ChatGPT might helpful, and made mention of other content tools which you'll note in the resources section below.Jamie Tokarz, TREW Sr. Content Manager, and Hannah Schulze, TREW Content Specialist, walked through their experiments using the tools and what they found most and least beneficial. On the whole, the scales weighed heavily towards the negative, but all involved saw some benefit and think there is a positive outlook for gains as the tools mature.The best experiences centered upon headline generation and branding rule enforcement. The tools also provided a nice starting point to overcome "blank page syndrome." The worst experiences were around long-form technical content and any piece of content where you'd like to reinforce your brand messaging and SEO terminology in an authentic manner. The team put together an AI for B2B Content Generation guide based on their research and experiments to date, including before/AI-generated/writer-edited live content snapshots which really drive home their lessons learned. This guide will be continuously updated as TREW learns and experiments more. ResourcesAn Industrial Marketer's Guide to Generative AIWriterJasperChatGPTCanva Magic WriteGrammarlyMarketMuseDall-EConnect with TREW Marketing Learn About TREW Marketing Order the book! Content Marketing, EngineeredConnect with WendyTREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving industrial companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in electronics, test and automation, software, and engineering services, TREW Marketing helps clients build trust and generate demand.