Tag Archives: building products

Facebook Offers New Features for Building Product Marketers

4 Dec

Building product marketers: Measure Facebook ads

Facebook Now Offers Targeted Ads, ROI Tracking Tool, and CPM Bidding Tool

Last year Elton discussed why social media ads might be something to add to your mix. With high print advertising rates and smaller marketing budgets, it’s important for building product marketers to consider the new tools Facebook has to offer. It’s worth a look at these options to see if they fit into your marketing strategy. Recently Facebook added three new features including:

  • Targeted ads
  • A ROI tracking tool
  • An optimized CPM bidding tool

New – Facebook Targeted Ads

  • Targeted ads allow advertisers to target customers by uploading their emails, phone numbers, or Facebook user IDs. Building product companies can target their advertisements to the list of customers they have along with target prospects. This allows marketers to connect with contacts and build stronger customer relationships. Building product marketers are able to target segments with a personalized message based on whether they are a customer or prospect. In addition, this provides companies a new way to gain Facebook fans from current customers and gain leads from prospects.

New – ROI Tracking Tool

  • The tracking tool allows companies to track conversions to their external pages and measure results like sales, leads, and downloads. Marketers are able to see how ads perform after clicking on the ad and being driven to the company’s landing page. With the new tracking, marketers can monitor segments that positively respond to certain messaging to gauge future ad messaging. Building product marketers can track the results by adding the code on the post-click landing page like a thank-you page.

New – CPM Bidding Tool

  • Facebook allows marketers to manage their campaigns with CPM, cost per thousand impressions, bidding tool by setting an advertising goal. By entering whether your company wants more Facebook page likes, sales, leads, etc., Facebook will adjust the CPM ads to target those who are more likely to achieve this goal. If the goal were to gain more leads, Facebook would show the ad to your target audience of prospects rather than the audience that is likely to like your company page.

With the new features Facebook offers, it is simple to measure the campaign return on investment in one platform. By not taking advantage of the latest ad technology, you could be missing the chance to build a stronger relationship with customers or gain new prospects. As Elton mentioned in a post earlier this year about utilizing social media ads in the building products industry, it is a small risk to invest in Facebook ads since people everywhere are engaging with social media.

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The 4 Commandments of SEO for Building Product Marketers

14 Nov

What Building Product Companies Need to Know about SEO

Search Engine Marketing, or SEO, gets a lot of attention these days. We all strive to make our websites as SEO-friendly as possible, to ensure our blog posts are filled with SEO-rich keywords and that we are doing everything we can to increase our organic search traffic through SEO, rather than paid ads.

To help in your quest for better SEO, I wanted to share the 4 Commandments of SEO according to Marketing Profs. While a lot more goes into SEO than these 4 things, they are valid points to consider:

  • Thou Shalt Reciprocate Link Love. One way to increase your SEO is to have links pointing back to your site. While your team can do several things to ensure your company has optimal inbounds links (like ensure links are posted on everything that leaves your office, that your blog links to your company site and encourage employees to link back to your site on social media), a big way to boost your SEO is to have other high-quality websites link back to your site. However, be sure you are paying back the favor – if another company features a link to your site, make sure you link back to their site.
  • Thou Shalt Not Beg for Links. While you don’t want to be the one asking everyone you know to create a link to your site, it’s OK to provide value to another company and then request a link. Consider having an employee spend time each week commenting on other industry blogs with valuable comments and insight and then requesting a link back to your site. Think of adding links as just another extension of business – its similar to the “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” policy.
  • Thou Shalt Find the Best Keywords. This means doing research and paying attention to what your best customers are searching for. This doesn’t mean featuring the keywords that everyone searches for, but rather the ones that will convert searchers into paying customers.
  • Thou Shalt Not Write for Search Engines. While it’s tempting to write your homepage specifically so Google will pick it up and give you a good page rank, Google is not your customer. A human being is your customer and they don’t want to be talked to the same way Google does.

SEO can be a powerful tool for your overall lead strategy and can make a big difference in your web and blog traffic. Make sure to abide by these 4 commandments to ensure you are always meeting best practices. For more information on the Commandments of SEO, check out this link.

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Pinterest: 10 Building Product Companies You Should Follow, Part II

2 Nov

5 more brands to check out for examples of successful Pinterest pages

Earlier I shared 5 building product companies you should follow on Pinterest. Here are the final 5 companies that are a great example of running a successful Pinterest account.

6. Fiberon

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/fiberondecking/

  • As a manufacturer of composite decking, deck railing, and fencing products, Fiberon utilizes Pinterest to show DIY videos and infographics for maintaining a deck, preventing stains, and installing a deck.

7. Andersen Windows

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/andersenwindows/

  • Andersen has manufactured dependable windows and doors for more than 100 years. Pinterest displays the Andersen window product line by featuring them in a variety of different homes. In addition, a pinboard is dedicated to recycling doors and how to use the doors for decorations.

8. GAF

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/gafroofing/

  • A manufacturer of commercial and residential roofing, GAF utilizes Pinterest to showcase the different product lines. Other boards have been added to show unique roofs from around the world.

9. Trex

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/trexcompany/

  • Trex manufactures wood-alternative decking and railing products, and uses Pinterest as a tool for helping inform builders, contractors, and homeowners of product uses. Pinboards also display events like Earth Day with Trex’s recycling and sustainability videos.

10. Pella Windows

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pellawindows/

  • Pella has been providing doors and windows for more than 85 years. Pinterest is an outlet for sharing tips for homeowners like saving energy, washing windows, and DIY projects.

Ready to make your company part of Pinterest? Get started today by visiting www.pinterest.com or learn how you can utilize Pinterest.

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Houzz: A New Social Media Platform for Building Product Marketers

27 Sep

Houzz.com is a new building and design platform that offers users ideas for their home

Have you heard of Houzz.com? It is a new online platform that connects architects, designers, builders, and contractors with homeowners around the world who want to build or update their home. The platform is a mash-up of Angie’s List (reviews) and Pinterest (idea inspiration) and offers consumers design ideas, project advice, reviews, and product information.

Specifically for the building product industry, Houzz.com puts products at the fingertips of consumers to search and find your products. As a former building products CMO, I think it’s important to be aware of this new tool which could change the way people build and design their homes.

How It Works

Both homeowners and building products professionals can create accounts to browse ideas, information, and photos along with create an Ideabook. Much like Pinterest, an Ideabook makes it simple to click a button and add an inspirational design, remodeling, or building photo. Building product companies like architecture firms can use the Ideabook to display how the products can be used. In addition, homeowners can ask questions about specific projects to find out how they can utilize similar products for their projects.

Who Uses It

While the platform is used mainly by homeowners, architects, designers, and builders, several building product companies are taking advantage of the new marketing tool. Check out these building product manufacturer’s Houzz profiles.

Building Product Manufacturer Examples

Coronado Stone Products

  • Houzz: http://www.houzz.com/pro/coronado-stone/coronado-stone-products
  • As a stone products manufacturer with more than 50 styles of stone veneer, brick, and concrete floor tile products, Coronado Stone Products showcases internal and external projects on Houzz. They have an Ideabook with more than 20 different photos showcasing the versatility of their products.

E.T. Moore Manufacturing, Inc.

  • Houzz: http://www.houzz.com/pro/heartpine/e-t-moore-manufacturing-inc
  • E.T. Moore Manufacturing produces reclaimed heart pine products. Ideabooks have been created to show contractors, builders, and architects how the pine can be used for trusses along with other projects. In addition, the company includes a contact name, number, and a company address for quick reference if a customer were interested in purchasing their product.

While creating a profile on Houzz.com might not be right for your organization, being aware of this growing social media platform is. It’s a great tool for your high volume customers – builders, architects and remodelers and can provide both of you a great way to reach end users. For more information, visit www.houzz.com.

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The Top 10 Facebook Building Product Pages to Check Out, Part II

20 Sep

These building product companies show what it takes to run a successful Facebook page

Earlier this week I talked about the decision to create a company Facebook page and offered 5 companies to check out – here are the final 5 companies that are doing a great job managing their Facebook pages.

CertainTeed

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CertainTeed

As a manufacturer of exterior and interior building products, CertainTeed is a prime example of how to interact with your fans and customers. They showcase their customer’s content and feature what those customers are doing with their product to promote their brand.

BlueLinx

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bluelinx

As a distributor of building products, providing service and distribution options, BlueLinx is a solid example of what distributors and dealers who work with many brands can do to showcase their business and their manufacturers. Plus, they feature fun content to get their fans engaged with their brand on a personal level.

Clopay Garage Doors

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ClopayGarageDoors

As a manufacturer of residential garage doors, entry doors and commercial garage doors, Clopay does a standout job of showcasing their social media finesse into their Facebook Page. With links to Pinterest, Twitter and their blog, plus an app that allows users to “Try on a door” – they make it fun to interact with their brand.

Ply Gem

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PlyGem

Ply Gem is a manufacturer of exterior building products for the residential construction market and their Facebook page shows why they’re one of the leaders. With over 14,000 likes and over 500 people talking about their page, they get their fans engaged while showing off their product.

Allied Building Product Corporation

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AlliedBuildingProducts

Allied Building Product Corporation is a dealer of building products and millwork. Their Facebook page does a good job of showcasing events – Facebook can be a great tool for letting customers know what is happening with your brand.

Ready to make your brand more social? Check out https://www.facebook.com/business for more information and to get started today.

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The Top 10 Facebook Building Product Pages to Check Out, Part I

18 Sep

These building product companies show what it takes to run a successful Facebook page

Many companies struggle with the decision to go social, or not. Especially in our industry, it’s hard to know whether the return is worth the investment. Are our customers and prospects on social media? And if so, are they engaging with brands they do business with? The way I see it, social is here to stay and it’s better to be on the cutting-edge than to be left behind. If you’re looking for a little inspiration, check out the first 5 in my list of 10 building product company’s Facebook pages to see what they’re doing to engage their audience.

84 Lumber

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/84lumber

84 Lumber Company is a privately held building materials and services supplier to professional contractors. Their Facebook page reflects why they’ve earned their status as a top dealer – in addition to company news, they feature interesting tips for the home to ensure their brand is always top-of-mind.

Azek Building Products

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/azekbuildingproducts

AZEK Building Products manufactures exterior building products and they use Facebook to make the most of the media coverage they receive by posting radio and magazine features – this ensures their PR efforts go the extra mile.

Royal Building Products

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RoyalBuildingProducts

Royal Building Products is a manufacturer of building materials in Canada and they do a great job showing their community involvement – from sponsorships to donations to Habitat for Humanity, they display the human side of their brand.

Firestone Building Products

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FirestoneBuildingProducts

As a source for roofing and Building Envelope systems for over 30 years, Firestone Building Products shows that featuring interesting projects can get the interaction you desire for your brand.

Wimsatt Building Materials

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wimsattdirect

Wimsatt Building Materials is a dealer of building products and millwork. As a regional dealer in Michigan, Wimsatt shows that it doesn’t take unlimited resources to have a great social presence. With regular updates, they keep their fans informed while also providing unobtrusive product info.

Check back later this week for 5 additional building product companies that manage their Facebook pages well. And if you’re curious about what it takes to create a company Facebook page, visit https://www.facebook.com/business.

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Google Fiber in KC: What it Means for Building Product Marketers

7 Aug

Click to view a video about Google Fiber in Kansas City

Google’s Ultra-Fast Internet Will Change How People Do Business

In case you haven’t heard, Google Fiber is a project to build an experimental broadband internet network infrastructure using fiber-optic communication in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. Google Fiber opened up the bid process in February of 2010 – inviting cities to apply for the project to come to their city first. Over 1,1000 communities responded – trying all types of antics to get Google’s attention (like when Topeka, Kansas, changed its name to Google, Kansas, and Google responded by re-naming itself Topeka as an April Fool’s joke), but in the end, KC won out. This means residents in Kansas City will have connectivity at around one gigabit per second – about 100 times faster access than most Americans have.

In Kansas City, we’re all excited about what Google Fiber could mean for our community, but thinking beyond that – what does Google Fiber mean for business? Specifically, what does it mean for our industry and building product CMOs?

I don’t have all the answers but here are some changes Google Fiber could bring to marketing:

  • The need for digital literacy in the building products industry:
    • The building products industry is often two steps behind with technology, which can make trying new marketing initiatives hard for building product CMOs, but with advancements in technology like Google Fiber, digital literacy is going to be more important than ever. The web provides an unlimited amount of information for and people that don’t know how to take advantage of this are going to be at a huge disadvantage.
  • New innovations and cutting-edge technologies:
    • Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. And their Google Fiber project is an extension of this. By investing in a “next generation technology infrastructure”, they are opening the door for technology that’s never been seen before. Whether it comes from KC or other cities hoping to attract Google Fiber or other private Internet providers, these technologies will change the way we do business.
  • Better, more advanced and faster videos:
    • Forget creating a video with your handheld flip video recorder. With ultra fast internet, everything can be uploaded and downloaded much faster. This includes live 3D video and cutting the download time of HD movies from hours to minutes. Video is already the wave of the future and Google Fiber will just promote that trend even further.

To read more about Google Fiber, check out their blog: http://googlefiberblog.blogspot.com/.

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Facebook Timeline Hype – Does It Matter for Building Products Industry CMOs?

17 Apr

What You Need to Know about Facebook Timeline

As you’re no doubt aware, every change Facebook makes to its features or layout, whether big or small, results in lots of chatter and hand-wringing among the core users and the social media-focused blogs, such as Mashable. The most recent one is Timeline, and it was slowly rolled out throughout Q1 2012. So what do you need to know? Glad you asked.

  1. You’ve got more space to personalize the page visually. The most immediate change you’ll notice is the Cover Photo, a large horizontal format image you’ll see at the very top of the page, in addition to your existing Profile Photo. Lots of creative ways to utilize this space have been created – see a few of them here.
  2. You’ve got a new way to tell your company’s history. Say you’ve been around for over 150 years, like The Wolf Organization. Or you’ve got a great history of innovation, like Therma-Tru with fiberglass doors. You can utilize the Milestone feature to showcase those events in chronological order with both visual and written support. In addition to Wolf (a great example), Captain Morgan USA has perhaps the most fun usage of it I’ve seen, and it supports their broadcast and other marketing tactics perfectly.
  3. You’ve got a new way to control what messages are seen first. Using the Highlight feature, the most important or valuable posts made to your page by either you or people that like your page will stay at the top if you highlight them. This could be used for great testimonials or important product or service news, for example.
  4. You’ve got a better way to communicate with those that like your page. Company pages can now exchange private messages with people, which can be a great way to take something you don’t want public into a more private arena. This can also be used to give a more personal feel to someone that likes your page.
  5. Those tabs you spent money developing are harder to find. Tabs are used for custom functionality developed by the company for their page, such as a product catalog, sweepstakes registration or other tools. They used to be shown on the left side but are now featured towards the right side, just below the cover photo. Only 3 are visible at a time, though you can still click to expand more, so you’ll need to be careful about what goes there and what doesn’t.

Of course, these new changes have immediately been embraced by the biggest consumer brands, like Coca-Cola and Ford Motor Company, as well as B2B giants like GE and Aon Hewitt. However, that doesn’t alter our belief that not every brand needs to be on Facebook. Just because your customers are on Facebook to see pictures of their grandkids or keep up with their own children, doesn’t mean they want to hear from you in that space. New research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute shows that 99.5% of people who like a page on Facebook don’t ever interact with that brand page, for a variety of reasons. That’s why it’s so important to first determine if there’s a business reason for your brand to be on there, and then determine what your expectations are…before you ever have your team spending time figuring out how to use these new features.

Further Reading

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Building Product Companies on LinkedIn

10 Apr

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for individuals and creating a company page can create the same kind of connections

Most of us are familiar with LinkedIn on an individual level – it’s a great way to connect with other professionals and organizations. It’s so popular that the network has 150 million members worldwide in over 200 countries and territories and is adding 10 new members every 5 seconds. I’ve personally found it to be a great tool to connect with old co-workers, colleagues and business partners.

But are you familiar with company pages? While company pages have been around for a while (we’ve had ours for several years), some changes late last year makes it even more relevant for building industry marketers like us.

LinkedIn Company Pages

Company pages are continuing to grow in importance and relevance for the network and for building product companies. In fact, more than 2 million businesses have a LinkedIn company page. Here are some of the reasons to consider adding a company page for your business today:

  1. Post a status update – Showcase important business information, new product news or relevant industry information
  2. Hire better employees – post about new positions on your company page and be able to directly review who’s applied for the position
  3. Set yourself up as a thought leader – utilize status updates and the page itself to set yourself up as a building products thought leader on the forefront of innovation
  4. Build followers for your company – whether it’s employees, industry peers, vendors or current or prospective customers – you can enhance your social presence
  5. Engage with people from other companies – LinkedIn is a great way to promote and refer companies you partner with or ones you would like to work with in the future

LinkedIn as Part of Your Social Media Strategy

Building product CMOs like you know the importance of having a social media strategy that supports your overall strategy and utilizing LinkedIn company pages is just another tool to do so.

-       Website: A LinkedIn widget can be added to your website to encourage followers

-       Twitter: LinkedIn can be set up to share posts on Twitter, although I’d recommend keeping these separate so you can ensure each message is targeted.

Think about getting your company page set up as one more communications channel for followers.

For more information on LinkedIn and their pages, visit:

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/4-tips-for-creating-your-linkedin-company-page/#more-16113

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Mobile Apps versus Mobile Websites—Which is More Worthwhile in the Building Product Market?

5 Apr

Smartphone users want more out of their searches.

In a previous post I mentioned a few statistics of mobile shopping and the relentless reliance on our smartphones and devices.

As smartphone owners, we are increasingly using our devices as retail outlets. From researching products and reviews, to comparing prices, finding retail locations and redeeming coupons, we are constantly deferring to our phones for immediate inquiries.

How many times have your potential customers walked into a building products store and searched for an apron-donned assistant to answer a question about a specific product? I, for one, am guilty of that. Imagine having an app where your customers can simply scan a QR code into their smartphone and instantly appears your webpage with all the information about that particular product, where it comes from and how to order. A perfect opportunity to upsell and cross-sell, and all of sudden your customer is leaving with a cart full instead of a basket full of your products!

Your website provides vital information on products, warranties and special offers. Having that information accessible online and in-hand is crucial to the comparison shopper.

Mobile shopping has reached scale and is only going to grow as smartphone penetration continues to rise. Neilsen’s metering of 5,000 US volunteers participating in Nielsen’s mobile research shows that during the 2011 holiday season, the top retail apps and websites combined—Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, Target and Walmart—reached nearly 60 percent of smartphone owners.

Smartphone owners of both genders prefer mobile websites over mobile apps when it comes to retail, with men slightly more likely to try retailers’ mobile apps than women. Research has shown that consumers who use retailer mobile apps tend to spend more time on them. Home Depot’s mobile website, for example, is efficiently organized to guide the user directly to the specific product they are needing. Target’s mobile site will even tell you the aisle in the store where the product appears! That’s the kind of tool consumers love.

As building product marketers, you (hopefully) already have an information-packed website; do you really need an app to repeat what is already provided on your website? The answer is no. Mobilizing your website to make it easy for consumers to navigate is what you really need to get ahead of the curve.

“Retailers need to think of their business as a multi-channel environment that can potentially include mobile, online and brick and mortar stores,” says John Burbank, President of Strategic Initiatives at Nielsen. “Winning with shoppers requires a consistent experience across channels that reinforces the value you represent as a retail brand, whether it be price, service, selection, style or other key attributes.”

Our industry consists of dealers, retailers, manufacturers and lumberyards; nowhere does it say we have to have a mobile app to thrive within. What is important, however, is that we stay abreast of the mobile trends and adapt as necessary. As I stated in my previous post, we have to be aware that the world we’ve lived in has changed and we need to ensure our companies and brands are ready.

Resources:
A Store In Your Pocket—NielsenWire

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