Effective Communications In a Digital Age: A Manufacturer's Eye-View

In the following companion piece to the article on page 20, marketing executives from several IMARK manufacturers share how their marketing efforts have changed over time and offer some of their best practices for effective marketing and communications in today’s digital age.

IMARK Now: Within our mature industry, how would you assess the changes in communications methods preferred by your customers? Are you marketing to and communicating with customers/prospects differently today than 3-5 years ago?

Meghan Davis, marketing manager, Southwire: While traditional marketing is still prevalent in our mature industry, digital marketing has certainly expanded our communications opportunities in the past 3-5 years. We actively target customers through email campaigns that provide information on current promotions, new product releases and topics trending in our industry. By overlaying our campaign results with our digital strategy, we ensure that our approach is effectively reaching our audience. We’re also actively communicating ways that our customers can come into personal contact with our product and customer service experts. In a growing digital world, customers still appreciate the opportunity to speak directly with an expert for the information they need.

Jim Decker, vice president and general manager of residential lighting, Progress Lighting: Over the past several years, marketing departments have been challenged to keep up with leaps in technology while also working to understand how different online channels and platforms help support the brand. Progress Lighting recognizes that, with these advances in technology, we have an amazing opportunity to communicate and reach audiences through a variety of different touchpoints. Everyone has a personal preference for how they’d like to learn information, and at Progress Lighting we try to understand these preferences and tailor communication based on how they prefer to receive news from our brand. However, when implementing marketing initiatives—whether through email, social channels, an intranet portal or through traditional mail services—we’re careful not to use newer methods as an alternative to face-to-face meetings. Special events like trade shows, conferences and sales meetings are still some of the best ways to communicate, share ideas and support business goals with customers and prospects.

Heather Milcarek, head of professional channel marketing, Philips Lighting: Our communication strategy has evolved to a more targeted approach, in which we tailor our message based on the type of customer and the specific information they want to receive. We accomplish this by allowing customers to self-select different categories of information via an online opt-in communication system. In addition to direct customer communication, we’ve become far more active in social media forums, both to promote exciting wins and industry trends as well as to engage in social listening, which helps us gather valuable insights.

Susan Phillips, vice president of marketing, Universal Lighting Technologies (ULT): Five years ago, most customers simply expected an email update and then accessed the website for updated product literature. Today, customers are more educated and informed than ever and prefer a more nurturing communication style. Distributor counter promotions have given way to multi-touchpoint content delivery to inform contractors. Today’s contractors want to know all of their options and will proactively seek out the products that work best. In order to influence decision-making, marketing must understand how they prefer to access content (e.g., mobile vs. desktop viewing) and which tools they use for their jobs (e.g., installation videos vs. product brochures vs. traditional sales sheets). Knowing that they’re up-to-speed on technologies and industry challenges, we’re particularly focused on keeping our target audiences informed about future growth opportunities. A great example of how we’ve done this successfully is within the emerging LED driver replacement market, where our strategically-integrated communication plan now includes many more touchpoints, such as training webinars, links to product literature, e-blasts, media ads and case studies to help inspire users and generate business success. We’re also focusing on the marketing preferences of the next generation of industry professionals—millennials—who value transparency. Mobility also plays a part in effective communication. Working remotely has become easier and doesn’t limit communication but rather provides new tools to connect us faster than ever before. Even as communication methods change, however, relationships are still critical. Don’t underestimate the value of face-to-face time for relationship-building. Be sure your sales team knows the local contractors in your area and that you support the sales pipeline with proactive content and messaging to reinforce your brand and product solutions.

IMARK Now: If you hypothetically owned a small to medium-sized distribution firm and were launching a marketing/ communications function for your company that would be effective over the next 3-5 years, what essential skill sets would be required for your team members?

Decker (Progress Lighting): Candidates need the ability to develop a creative strategy, which includes an ongoing discovery process of electrical distributors’ pain points so that we can address ways of making their lives easier, more productive and more profitable. Candidates would also need a basic understanding of social media channels (including how they’re used and who they reach), the ability to produce clear copy and effective, concise and visually appealing messaging and the capacity to analyze communication analytics and utilize them to improve future communications.

Milcarek (Philips Lighting): I would look for someone who’s customer-focused and proactive in taking calculated risks. Understanding the customer’s point of view is critical, but a flexible and creative approach to taking advantage of new opportunities that will inevitably continue to emerge in the marketing profession will help to truly differentiate us and win in the future.

Phillips (ULT): Key requirements would include proactivity and the ability to take ownership of a project or initiative as well as strong project management skills and the ability to work with many departments to pull marketing programs together. Today’s marketers also need expert digital skills in social media, email, e-blast, website, Word- Press, online training courses, chat, mobile web, phone web apps, search engine optimization, embedding widgets/ cookies, videos, YouTube libraries, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and pay-per-click advertising. Understanding metrics and how to test and improve programs is critical.

Davis (Southwire): Among key traits, candidates need to work hand-in-hand with manufacturers and their reps to develop marketing programs that help benefit both companies and must have the ability to challenge our mature industry with new marketing tactics and ideas. They need to have a passion for learning and understanding the ever-changing social and digital landscape to reach existing and potential customers. They also require communication skills that align with the contractor audience and analytical skills that drive research and results that are obtained from growing digital channels.

IMARK Now: We now live in a world where customers have direct access to tremendous amounts of information at their fingertips. Are you seeing a change in the way that customers engage with your company as a result of that development?

Milcarek (Philips Lighting): For some types of information, customers are moving toward self-service. Online portal traffic is increasing and requests for printed literature are declining. As we become more accustomed to these methods in our personal lives, it’s only natural that these behaviors will become standard at work. Social media has clearly become an important source of information, especially with regard to new technology and sharing of best practices. Forums like LinkedIn can essentially be considered a digital form of sharing information via the personal networks and relationships that have always driven the industry, although the effect is more immediate and amplified.

Phillips (ULT): Many of our customers have a thirst for educational information to help them perform better in their work. We provide data to help them look like heroes by demonstrating how to save money, submit rebates and improve efficiency in the workplace. Whether the news is good or bad, the industry knows about it and customers aren’t afraid to speak their minds. As a result, it’s critical to incorporate influencers’ feedback into the products and solutions you offer so that you’re providing something that truly speaks to their needs and communicating with honesty and integrity. Because we’re more connected, there’s more word-of-mouth communication, customer engagement and customer feedback than ever.

Davis (Southwire): Customers are increasingly looking to have instant access to our information. In response, we’re launching an online self-service customer portal this year that will enable our customers to find what they need easily through a desktop or mobile device. Social media, including our Southwire blog, has also been a place for relevant information and communication around our products, community and sustainability.

Decker (Progress Lighting): We all have more access to information regarding trends and technology than ever before. Our customers are looking to us to provide consistent, relevant and valuable content that offers a unique approach to solving challenges in the field.

IMARK Now: We’re all constantly bombarded with information, some relevant and valuable and much of it not. In your opinion, what are some of the hallmarks of effective communication that help cut through clutter and are deemed useful by your customers and prospects?

Phillips (ULT): It’s important to have a strategic plan of attack for your communication strategy, which begins by defining target audiences, key messages, appropriate timing and assets such as links and images. Take time to lay it all out and revisit your plan every three months to determine if it needs adjustment based on new targets or strategies. Our customers respond to information that’s simple but not dumbeddown. They’re seeking expert advice and suggestions for how to improve sales, service and overall business efficiency. A primary role of our marketing department is to determine exactly what information our audiences are truly seeking and provide relevant messages to educate and encourage engagement. Because technology in our industry has become more complex, companies and contractors are interacting more than they were three years ago. Keeping our solutions simple for the contractor requires a collaborative effort between product management and marketing to simplify complex processes into appealing messages that resonate with our customers. It’s also not just about educating the contractor, but about inspiring with your solutions. Social media is great for inspiring application ideas, creative events or even training opportunities. To that end, always include a call to action that inspires your audience to capitalize on a free success story, a free lighting audit, a rebate search tool, an energy-saving calculation or a training event in your area.

Davis (Southwire): Developing customer profiles has enhanced the way we engage with customers and has resulted in an increased conversion rate with marketing campaigns and communications. By also leveraging Google AdWords campaigns, we can target specific topics online and direct customers to specific information in our digital landscape. This, paired with online forms that capture customers’ product interests, has allowed us to be more targeted in our communications and engage in a more relevant conversation with our customers.

Decker (Progress Lighting): Effective communication must be targeted to ensure that it’s addressing the right customer or prospect at the right time. Before creating a marketing plan, it’s important to identify the decision-makers in our line of business and the best ways to reach them. Once this is defined, all marketing materials must be consistent and bring a focused message to the decision-maker, speaking to the customer’s specific needs and communicating how your solution can solve a challenge, streamline activities or make a process easier, more efficient or more cost-effective. The content must also be relevant and valuable to the audience and the marketing message must reach the audience at a time when they’re ready—or getting ready—to make a decision.

Milcarek (Philips Lighting): Sending interesting and relevant information to a specific target audience is far more important than sending a message simply to follow a pre-defined cadence. Ask yourself whether each message contains information that your customer will truly care about. Clear and compelling headlines allow customers to quickly understand whether they want to read further. Quick videos have also become a popular method of conveying information. Frequency of communication should also be considered.

IMARK Now: What are some of the best ways for marketers to measure the effectiveness of their digital outreach and engagement activities?

Davis (Southwire): With so many tools and services to choose from, it can be difficult to pull together all types of information that we base our marketing decisions on. We often measure success through click and open rates that are tied to our lead engagement platform. By investing in technology, our marketing team actively pursues ways to convert and provide digital leads to our sales teams.

Decker (Progress Lighting): I recommend setting clear goals and objectives at the onset of a campaign and creating interactive communications with trackable multimedia components. It’s great to take advantage of free analytics tools (or upgrade to paid platforms) that online channels offer (e.g., Facebook Insights, WordPress statistics, email open rates) and to view analytics frequently to determine what’s working and what’s not. Once you evaluate this, repeat what works for your business and audience.

Milcarek (Philips Lighting): One of the great benefits of digital marketing tactics is that they’re highly measurable. The ability to immediately understand whether a specific email message had a high open rate, a newsletter has a high unsubscribe rate or a digital ad campaign led to a high click-through rate allows us to quickly adjust our approach and optimize our efforts. We can run A/B tests using different messaging to find which is most effective and then quickly optimize on the better-performing content. We even have the ability to see engagement rates of individuals during a webinar to understand which information was of the most interest.

Phillips (ULT): Not everything in marketing will work, so effective measurement of tactics allows you to tweak, improve, adjust and validate your overall marketing strategy to increase efficiency. When looking at metrics, don’t overload yourself; pick the most important metrics to follow and don’t pull data just for its own sake. Among my top tips, websites that aren’t mobile-enhanced will struggle with search engine optimization. In addition, Google Analytics offers a plethora of key measurements, but I like to see if specific pages are being visited by the type of visitors to whom the page is marketed and then determine if they clicked the product page links that are relevant to them. Finally, e-blasts are easy to measure using contact management tools providing such information as click rates, open rates and bounce rates.