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. 

Resources

• Connect with Tom on LinkedIn
• Learn more about BAM!
• Related Episode: How Manufacturing Marketers Impact Rep Growth
• Related Episode: The Power of Integrated Data Across Marketing, and Distribution 

Connect with TREW Marketing

•  Learn About TREW Marketing 
• Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered
• Connect with Wendy

TREW 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.

Resources

• Connect with Eddie on Linkedin
• Learn more about Speak Friend Consulting
• Register for the Industrial Marketing Summit 

Connect with TREW Marketing

•  Learn About TREW Marketing 
• Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered
• Connect with Wendy

TREW 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. 

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 Marketing
• Sales and Marketing Alignment
• Increasing Right-Fit Leads
• SEO and Trustworthy Content 
• AI Tools and Practical AI 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

Connect with TREW Marketing

•  Learn About TREW Marketing 
• Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered
• Connect with Wendy

TREW 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.

Resources

• Connect with Sinnah on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Micro Commercial Components
• Listen to the Mind the Innovation Leadership podcast 

Connect with TREW Marketing

•  Learn About TREW Marketing 
• Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered
• Connect with Wendy

TREW 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. 

Resources

• Connect with Morgan on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Content Marketing World
• Learn More about Content Marketing Institute
• Elizabeth Banks' American Heart Association Commercial
• Blog: The Power of Voice of Customer Insights for Engineering Companies
• Blog: Stop, Collaborate, and Listen: Harness Voices of Customers
• Podcast: Conducting Customer Interviews with Morgan Norris

Connect with TREW Marketing

•  Learn About TREW Marketing 
• Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered
• Connect with Wendy

TREW 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. 

Resources

• Connect with Nikki on LinkedIn
• Listen to the Automation Ladies podcast

Connect with TREW Marketing

•  Learn About TREW Marketing 
• Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered
• Connect with Wendy

TREW 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.

Resources

• Connect with Kara on LinkedIn
• Connect with Kasey on LinkedIn
• TREW's HubSpot Services
• More HubSpot Resources:
  • The Future of AI with HubSpot
  • Why B2B Companies are Adopting HubSpot
  • TREW's HubSpot Tutorials

Connect with TREW Marketing

•  Learn About TREW Marketing 
• Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered
• Connect with Wendy

TREW 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 sessions
• How to set expectations for SMEs who aren't in marketing
• How to us AI tools to prepare and supplement SME knowledge
• How to create an efficient review process

Resources

• Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn
• TREW's Content Marketing Services
• AI Tools Mentioned:
  
  
  • Google's Bard
  • perplexity.ai

Connect with TREW Marketing

•  Learn About TREW Marketing 
• Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered
• Connect with Wendy

TREW 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!

Resources

• Connect with Jay on LinkedIn
• Learn more about SubjectLine.com
  
  
• Learn more about Outcome Media
• Register for Guru Conference 

Connect with TREW Marketing

•  Learn About TREW Marketing 
• Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered
• Connect with Wendy

TREW 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. 

Resources

• Connect with Richard on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Bright Carbon
• Learn more about the Presentation Guild
• Microsoft Copilot
• Tools Mentioned: 
  • Color Pallet Generation
    • color.adobe.com
    • coolors.co
  • Photography
    • Unsplash
    • Pexels
    • PixaBay
  • Iconography
    • The Noun Project
    • Material.io

Connect with TREW Marketing

•  Learn About TREW Marketing 
• Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered
• Connect with Wendy

TREW 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.