How To Create a Blog and Social Media

Introduction

Blogs are small items of information presented in a scrolling sheet that fits on one screen. The difference between a blog and an article is the format in which it is presented. Articles are part of a website or news service; blogs are a form of a website.

Articles are more informative and formal in tone, while blogs can be a bit more casual and can have more personality behind it. When sharing any article or blog post with someone who might be a paying customer, you should always have a formal tone, however, with blog posts you can relax that tone a bit and make it more conversational.

Blogs are also more conversational in general, while articles are geared more towards providing information.

For companies seeking to enhance and expand their company’s presence, it is important to maintain two blogs. The first one would be an in-site blog feature on their corporate website; the second would be a separate blog page, either on a social media site or in a blog site such as WordPress.

By having two blogs, you’ll be able to first connect with customers and potential customers on your website’s blog, and then you’ll be able to give them more helpful information and connect with them on the other blog.

Wording and Frequency

Since blogs are small descriptive articles, they tend to be no more than 1,000 words. They are usually SEO worded as well as containing at least one graphic to attract the reader's attention. Blog updates should be at least once a day to maintain a following. Blogs can be about anything that is relevant to the company; they can include updates about the executive board, changes in personnel, technological updates, changes in products, and informative articles about the science the company is involved in.

Wording is key to a successful blog. For engineering and manufacturing sites, a successful blog must be concise and informative. I must provide a structured approach so that the information is understood quickly. There must be a title, a brief introduction or summary, and content. All blogs must link the reader to the company’s product sales pages, since the purpose of the blog is to help make sales.

Social Media

Blogs are useful only when they are noticed. Since most corporate sites are not frequently visited, it is imperative to get as many visitors as possible that are interested in the company’s products and services. A blog platform is a great tool when integrated with social media platforms. Below is an indication of social media reach:

While we are proponents of focused marketing, it’s important that you get as much free coverage as possible, and this can only be reached through intelligent social media usage. By setting up social media pages and through automated blog sharing, where you post the blog in one place, and when the bot then shares it all over the web, will you reach a large audience?

Social media pages are important to increase traffic, as well as awareness. We do not expect a billion visitors to land at a chrome plating companies web site, but we do expect individuals that work for companies that need and use chrome plating services to find your blog articles through social media and search engine results.

Wording in Social Media

There is a difference between the wording of a website, and wording in social media. Social media is aimed at everyone, and when you post an article about aerodynamic constraints and factors for the use of Magnesium Alloys in Aerospace Wing Manufacturing, then you are limited by choice of topic on how you word the blog posting. In general, you wouldn’t use blog and social media sites to post such an article. You would however, post the negative, which would be something like: “Amazing disasters due to bad airplane wing faults”. This is the public way to post the professional version titled “Review of structural errors and crystallized metallic fractures in aircraft wing constructs”. Social media requires social wording; professional media requires professional wording. Both must be used appropriately.

Wording in Professional Blogs

A professional blog can also appear in some social media sites. LinkedIn is a social media site designed for professionals and job seekers. If a technically worded article in WordPress was automatically shared in a Linkedin profile, that would be constructive. In fact, making daily professional blogs worded for professionals will drive a higher visitor to customer conversion rate, than a public social media posting. However, both must be produced to create an overall successful marketing arena.

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing is about releasing an unusual video on social media that is meant to instigate a massive viewing response. Most viral instances are not pre-organized. For instance, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” success is the first 1 billion viewed video was not expected by him or anyone else. (It is now over 3 billion views) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

Against this you get organized marketing successes such as Evian’s inner child, where they produced a video that went viral promoting Evian’s product way beyond expectations. It now has nearly 17 million views. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-p0CxW87pg

Viral marketing is extremely helpful to get a branded image that will automatically give your company an advantage over your competition. However, branding can also backfire since the more famous you are, the more careful potential customers might be when considering your services. The larger your web presence can also define how potential customers think of your services and fees, as well as forcing companies into a supply chain issue, where expansion can also backfire when the company’s inability to supply products or services due to massive and immediate demands.

Having stated this, if you do decide to go viral, make sure you are prepared for the results. Viral marketing is a great solution for end-product manufacturers; it is not such a good solution for electrical engineering companies. If you are an electrical engineer and you want to make a statement without the intent to be famous, (well actually yes) but for instance to educate people about water and electricity by matching the marketing product with your vision is an important step in reaching a successful campaign.

How to Create a Successful Logo and Brand

What is a Logo?

A logo is your graphic identity online as well as in the real world. Well before the internet, and well before marketing, logos were a major part of human life. All throughout history, we have logos representing everything from traders to armies. The famous Golden Eagle of the Roman Legion was the ultimate logo of its time.

Logos help us identify a person, group, or concept. The more famous or popular the logo, the more recognized it becomes, and the greater the brand. Coca-Cola is a great example of a company that has a famous logo as well as its brand.

There is one major difference between a logo and a brand. A logo is a representation of a brand; a brand is a recognized leader or group of products in a market. Branding is not just a logo; it is a complete set of activities that enable a logo to become popular. There are millions of logos all around us, but only a few brands for each one. Caterpillar is a construction equipment brand, with a standard brand color, and CAT logo. The same goes for Bosch, Samsung, Makita, etc. These are all brands that have a logo to make them immediately and easily identifiable.

Colors and History

Creating your logo requires skill. It is not just about image; it is about color, it is about matching the logo to your corporate culture and vision. Colors have a great impact on how people translate the image, so too does the actual logo itself. For instance, the Swastika is, ironically, the Hindu sign for Peace; the Nazi party corrupted a thousand years of “peace” into a sign of evil and death. By using black white and red, three definitive colors when mixed together remind us of the harsh Nazi regime. The use of red white and black has become restricted since the second world war due to the psychological connotations. Other examples are: the Star of David, the Cross, the Crescent and all logos of religions.

When thinking about creating a logo, remember that colors emit different feelings for people. For example, red is typically associated with love, yellow is associated with happiness, etc. Also, depending on your customers, you should also look at what colors mean in different cultures.

Successful Colors and Trends

Colors tend to trend with fashion, so one decade might see the onset of vibrant colors and other decades will associate themselves with pastels or variations of grey tones. Companies must also factor in their target audience as well as their image. Are you selling to local buyers only or are you planning on being global? Do you know what white means in Asia? What does the color green relate to in the country you are trying to market to? All these questions arise when designing a logo and how you intend to brand it.

Branding

Branding is a major science and art form. It can be instantaneous, and it can take decades. Coca-Cola took decades to become a global brand, while iPhone took only six years to become a global legend. When Steve Jobs presented the first iPod in 2001 and then in 2007 came out with the first iPhone, Apple had become a household name. Within 6 years Jobs had created a new world. The small i and large letter following it were the logo for all Apple products from that day one, iPod, iPhone, iPad, iOS, etc. The colors were white and black. Two tones, simple, and supplemented the vision that Jobs created.

Branding is not just about logos; it is about creating a whole line of products that can support the logo as well as a whole set of campaigns that push the products into the public awareness. Branding includes five steps that are all quantifiable and have milestones and KPI’s (Key Performance Indicator).

Stage I: Development

A product is considered in the developmental stage when it has not yet been introduced to the market. The product has to be developed and tested before it is released. This is the developmental stage in the cycle of a brand. One of the main factors that must be included in the product costs are marketing costs. When combining the two, you receive the initial product cost before adding additional overheads and profit which will determine the price to the consumer.

Stage II: Introduction

The product brand begins its life cycle when introduced to the public. Advertising and online marketing can commence before a product is ready for the market. We have seen this done by iPhone and competitors that introduced the next model a few months ahead of the actual release date. A successful brand will hit the market with little or no competition. Sometimes a product is the same with different packaging, this is found in the hygiene and cosmetics industry. The introduction stage is usually prepared for a massive immediate release sale that will refund most of the developmental stage and set the stage for brand growth, this is seen with new Film opening days, where the opening days pay for the whole film, sometimes generating enough of a profit that leads the product into a growth cycle that includes by-products.

Stage III: Growth

A product brand will enter the growth stage once it starts to sell exponentially. SAP is an IT company that provides ERP solutions. Through smart partnerships, it created global growth and introduced new updates and products on a yearly basis. This fuels its continuous growth, since customers will prefer to upgrade their systems than replace them with something new. Successful growth generates more competition; for instance, with smartphones. Once iPhone hit the market, Samsung followed closely, and this opened the door to a massive influx of competing technologies. Usually, saturation leads to price wars, and in some instances, companies will maintain their prices by keeping their products unique and basing their pricing on returning satisfied clients. This explains why iPhone maintains a market leader with high-cost phones when compared to cheaper Android versions.

Stage IV: Maturity

Maturity means a particular model in a brand will become “old,” and a newer version with better features must replace it. This happens a lot in the electronic-based technologies niche, as well as in the entertainment industry. Films, books and songs mature very quickly, sometimes within weeks. Smartphones mature within half a year, vehicles mature on a yearly basis where models will remain, but new features will populate the newer models being released. Prices tend to stay the same for every new release and depreciate for older models. Following the competition and following trends is important in maintaining an edge in every competitive market.

Stage V: Decline

This is the point where the company stops manufacturing the old brand and concentrates on the new one. Prices drop dramatically and only spare parts are produced for service agreements. The decline can be alleviated by finding other market niches for the same product. For instance, rather than competing against a local supplier for a market share of an older product, you might introduce a new one into the local market and sell the old one in a less volatile market such as third world countries. Once a brand has declined completely, it is then time to remove it and concentrate on the new. Nokia is a prime example of a company that didn’t prepare a new technology to replace the old, and it killed itself when it refused to measure up to smartphones.

How To Create Content for a Website

Introduction

Web sites are the first line of presence for a modern company. Just as with body language, when a person looks at you and your company for the first time, they make a decision within .03 seconds, and that image influences how they envision you in the future. So too with websites, the look and feel of a website will either pull a visitor in, or will make them close the site and move on. This is where weaving graphics and words become an artform, and not just science.

Psychology is a major factor in creating a “near to perfect” site; in fact, some companies create a number of sites each giving a different image for different markets, this is usually found with international e-shops that deal with different cultures such as Chinese and American, French and Indian. Each culture has different colors and outlines that attract them, so what might seem wonderfully appealing to one group could be a cacophony of images that will detract from another group.

Global sites, such as Google, use a focused simplistic approach, where the site opens at their core feature, directing users to start from that point. Behind their one feature search page sits a myriad of options that users can access.

The design of your site depends on the market you are trying to reach. If you are supplying products and services to a technical customer, then you must concentrate on technical issues, and provide as much information that will attract the customer to your service or product. If you are selling a product to the general public, then you must include a lot of graphics and catchy phrases to “market” your product

Smarketing Defined

So what is “smarketing”?

“Smarketing is the process of integrating the sales and marketing processes of the business. The objective is for the sales and marketing functions to have a common integrated approach. This can lead to annual revenue growth of up to 20%, according to a study in 2010.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarketing

“The term "smarketing" refers to alignment between your sales and marketing teams created through frequent and direct communication between the two. The goal is to have measurable goals that each team agrees to hit, so there's mutual accountability. For instance, Marketing might have a mutually agreed upon leads SLA (service level agreement) to hit, and Sales must agree to follow up with a certain amount of those leads. Smarketing goals should be made together, and re-evaluated every month to identify opportunities for improvement on both teams.” https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/definition-smarketing-under-100-words

Website Smarketing

Before you can convert visitors to customers, where a customer is a visitor that buys a service or product online, you first have to attract them to the site. This is the job of a website developer and marketing expert. The design of the site must be such that it directs the visitor to the “purchase” page, and this is where the sales team get involved. Even the best of sites cannot force anyone to buy a product; they can only suggest purchasing the product. When dealing with a competitive product market and selling consumer goods, it gets easier since the consumer tends to fall for standard online marketing techniques such as coupons, sales, and other psychological tools that persuade the customer the product is cheaper, better and delivered faster with good CRM.

With manufacturing and engineering sites, it is harder, since the price is only one factor in a number of procurement factors. In fact, the difference between the two types of sites is vast. Providing a successful site, engineering and manufacturing companies must incorporate Porter’s Five Forces Model to define how their site will approach visitors that are potential customers.

Porter's Five Forces Model

In 1979, Michael Porter of Harvard University devised a model to evaluate the market factors that can be analyzed to make a strategic assessment of the competitive position of a given supplier in a given market.

This model was a key model for decision making in complex purchasing environments.

Basically: You would not use it for nuts and bolts, but would definitely deploy it for purchasing expensive equipment, special resources, special processes, and BPO.

Porter’s Five Forces Model is a tool for preparing a negotiation. It aims to give the negotiator information as to their strengths and the strength of the other side.

The five forces are:

1. Existing competitive rivalry between suppliers

2. Threat of new market entrants

3. Bargaining power of buyers

4. Power of suppliers

5. Threat of substitute products (including technology change)

Why is this model important when designing a website? The reason is due to the nature of the visitor, an engineering and manufacturing site visitor will most probably be a professional seeking a professional solution. They do not just look at the price; they look at the number of alternatives they have for a particular, and sometimes long-term solution. They seek quality, sustainability, and logistics competence.

Let’s take a look at the five forces in regard to your site:

1. Existing competitive rivalry between suppliers

Who is your competition and what do they offer that is identical to you? What are their prices in comparison to yours, how fast can they deliver, and do they offer more? For most industries, the intensity of competitive rivalry is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry.

Potential factors:

• Sustainable competitive advantage through innovation

• Competition between online and offline companies

• Level of advertising expense

• Powerful competitive strategy

• Firm concentration ratio

• Degree of transparency

When developing a website, you have to look at your competitors and beat them. Create a better website. Address all the missing issues that would help form a decision.

1. Threat of new market entrants

2. Bargaining power of buyers

3. Power of suppliers

4. Threat of substitute products (including technology change)

Profitable industries that yield high returns will attract new firms. New entrants eventually will decrease profitability for other firms in the industry. Unless the entry of new firms can be made more difficult by incumbents, abnormal profitability will fall towards zero (perfect competition), which is the minimum level of profitability required to keep an industry in business.

Your website has to evolve constantly; you need to maintain a market check to monitor emerging competition and meet them head-on with an online upgrade.

The bargaining power of buyers is also described as the market of outputs: the ability of buyers to put the firms under pressure, which also affects the buyer’s sensitivity to price changes. Firms can take measures to reduce buyer power, such as implementing a loyalty program. Buyers' power is high if buyers have many alternatives. It is low if they have few choices.

You have to provide an in-depth FAQ and technical page as well as provide an immediate reverse contact feature, where the sales team will contact a visitor that has viewed more than one page in the FAQ or technical specs of a product.

The bargaining power of suppliers is also described as the market of inputs. Suppliers of raw materials, components, labor, and services (such as expertise) to the supplier can be a source of power over the buyer when there are few substitutes. If you are making biscuits and there is only one person who sells flour, you have no alternative but to buy it from them. Suppliers may refuse to work with the firm or charge excessively high prices for unique resources.

No matter what the market saturation, you must maintain a leveled approach to potential online customers. This means that you have to expound on your advantages even if you are a local monopoly since a website is global and you can detract sales when being over-confident.

A substitute product uses a different technology to try to solve the same economic need.

• Buyer propensity to substitute: Can you substitute? Is it allowed?

• Relative price performance of substitute: What are the incentives?

• Buyer's switching costs: Will changing supplier increase or decrease costs?

• Perceived level of product differentiation: How much better is this?

• A number of substitute products available in the market: What else is around?

• Ease of substitution: Is the change easy for production?

• Availability of close substitute: How close is it to what was originally needed?

The introduction of alternatives is always an issue with technology-based products. Especially with materials. The development of a new material or process can change an entire industry as well as the way the world works. For instance, an extreme example, the smartphone. Nokia went out of business since it would not evolve with the smartphone industry, what was once a giant with great products became a paragraph in the history books. Your site must reflect alternatives to alternatives!

All these factors are considered when developing an engineering and manufacturing website, so you can see the level of expertise required to design a successful website is not just how pretty it might look, but how much information it creates and updates, as well as the words it uses to defeat the competition.