Last week, I attended the Digital Energy Summit in Houston, TX. It appears this event was “just in time” for many of the attendees. Though it looks like marketers in the energy industries are embracing the fact that digital media can help them with marketing objectives, I heard a resounding theme that little support is provided by their leaders. For this reason, I encourage my fellow marketers to get started by reading Selling Inbound Marketing to the C-Suite. When making your case to the powers that be, sell them with these takeaways:
Top 3 Platforms for Social Media in the Pump Industry
The consensus was that the top platforms for this industry are LinkedIn (the largest professional online network used to interact with pump industry professionals), Twitter (the most popular online forum used to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers), and Facebook (the most well-known social networking service used to engage end users). Of these, LinkedIn and Twitter are the most prominent for sharing news and industry knowledge. There was an engaging conversation about how our subject matter experts can use these platforms to document their discoveries. Because so much of our workforce will be retiring soon, we need to be thinking of ways to help build a body of industry knowledge. There are so many amazing men and women in the industry who have uncovered the best practices that truly work. It is exciting that we now have sophisticated tools to help preserve and share their knowledge.
Know Your Marketing Strategy and Goals
During #EDSHouston, I attended a first-rate presentation on “Selecting the Best Media to Reach Your Target Market” by Diane Giannini, VP, Corporate Strategy, PennWell Publishing, a well-known brand in the pump industry. During her presentation, I felt an immense sense of relevancy for Empowering Pumps and was happy to hear her research about print and digital media. There is a specific place for both and they both have very important roles to play at different stages within the buying process. Print is very important in the research stage where as digital media is very helpful in the evaluating stage.
Know Your Company Culture
When developing a social media strategy, make sure you consider your company culture. This will help you understand what type of social voice you will have on each social media channel. Also, talk to your subject matter experts to learn what you should be talking about. I heard it best from Kelley Brown, Director of Social Media, US BP America. She said you should know what is going on “inside your walls” before you try to go outside. Basically, involve your team and consider listening to their guidance when creating marketing objectives and initiatives.
SO! Where do I start in social media?
Just as you would need to know your expectations for a specific banner ad program or direct mail campaign, you need to have a plan with social media.
To get started, ask yourself these questions:
- What do we want to accomplish from our social media strategy?
- Will this be an in-house project or do we need to outsource the work?
- How will we measure the success?
For the last three years, I have studied social media in the pump industry. It is clear that our industry is now ready to receive information from our manufacturers and suppliers. It is our job to give them the information on their preferred network in a user-friendly way. It is my job to help my customers learn the best practices in order to do just that! EmpoweringPumps.com is leading the way in digital media for the pump industry, and I would be happy to help you with this transition. Contact me through your preferred social network – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email – or a good old-fashioned phone call would be great too! My cell is 205-391-8422. Whether you are a marketer looking for support on how to sell your executives on the importance of implementing a social media program, or a company looking to take action with their social media program, I am here to connect, inform, and educate the pump industry through social media.
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