wendy covey

 Learn which major projects and areas of investments are leading to the best results for TREW Marketing clients. 

Most of us are deep into marketing planning for 2023, and to help, we’ve been running a trend series to provide you with helpful information as you decide where to investment and make those important budgetary tradeoffs. (If you missed the previous trend blogs and podcast epiosde, you can find those through the links below).

On this episode I share 5 major areas of investment for TREW Marketing’s clients. You’ll hear specific tactics being used and most importantly what is producing the best results. These areas include:

• Persona-based content marketing campaigns
• Corporate brand refresh
• Shifting from owned community to external industry communities
• Return of "big splash" product launches
• Helping sales overcome objections with a strong value proposition

Two cybersecurity experts having an authentic conversation leads to business growth and chart-topping podcast listenership.

When you fire up a Zoom call for a conversation with NuHarbor CEO Justin Fimlaid and VP of Product and Engineering Jack Danahay, you soon discover that these two have distinct chemistry and philosophical alignment on most things in the cybersecurity world. Given this, it was not very surprising to me to learn that their podcast, PWNED (that's pronounced "poh-nd" to us non-cybersecurity people) has a massive following, breaking the top 100 in both the U.S. and UK. 

During the episode, Justin and Jack share their story, from how they met and discovered their aligned views, NuHarbor's "respectfully edgy" brand personality, and how at the heart of it all is walking the walk with their audience. They fully understand the needs and frustrations of their buyers, including piecemeal solutions and oversimplified value propositions that overpromise. 

Through NuHarbor's content marketing, with PWNED playing a key role, they've discovered that adopting an authentic voice and helpful, specific advice has attracted the professionals they most want to work with, those that look at the cybersecurity world through a similar lens and are aligned with NuHarbor's approach.

For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog

 https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast 

Learn more about TREW Marketing

 https://www.trewmarketing.com 

Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

 https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

During the episode, Garrett walks us through SI Labs approach to industry events in 2022-2023, their user conference WorksWith, and innovative approaches to webinars and workshops. You'll hear the outcome of his recent trip to Embedded World in Germany, and how SI Labs is bringing live and interactive elements to their virtual developer conference. We also debate event success metrics, how to extract more value from event content, and basically geek out on all things events -- one of my favorite marketing topics. 

For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog

 https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast 

Learn more about TREW Marketing

 https://www.trewmarketing.com 

Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

 https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

 Learn how a machine tools company uses video and podcasting paired with co-marketing and an action-oriented agile process to grow awareness. 

Eddie Saunders Jr., Head of Demand Generation for Flex Machine Tools, is a highly energetic and action-oriented marketer. He and a team of five colleagues collaborate closely to quickly assess marketing ideas and get them accomplished. This agile process has led them to be early to market with new platforms such as LinkedIn live, and they are not afraid to take risks with fun, humorous educational content that many larger manufacturing companies tend to shy away from.

One of the biggest game-changers in their marketing program was what Eddie coined "buddy marketing" where Flex Machine Tools pairs with complementary manufacturers and distributors to expand their reach by tapping each other's networks and defray costs. Some examples include advertising and tailored videos.

Where Eddie seemed most passionate was when talking about the Flex and Friends video podcast, which he hosts. He is thrilled to give others in the industry a platform to tell their stories and learns something new from every interview. Each interview is repurposed in numerous ways to extend the content investment.

For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog

 https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast 

Learn more about TREW Marketing

 https://www.trewmarketing.com 

Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

 https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

 Coming up through the technical ranks to leading a business, how do executives ramp up and keep up with inbound marketing? 

Matt Eurich, COO of Genuen and former President of WTI, is an engineer with a business mind. As he moved up the ranks from engineering to business leadership, he knew that the company's approach to marketing had some gaps.He thought that perhaps those gaps would be addressed by a once-every-three-year website project. He laughs now at the old him who just didn't know what he didn't know, and credits his trusted partnership with TREW for bringing him and the organization along to where they are today.

During the episode you'll hear how, over a decade, WTI went from a trade show and brochure website approach to a holistic inbound marketing model where content investment made the greatest impact. He describes some of his a-ha moments and tools that were most helpful to keep things on track, such as a marketing scorecard and content editorial calendar. 

You'll also learn that WTI's high-performing marketing program helped raised its valuation when seeking to be acquired and what happened next to the WTI brand and other entities that were acquired. 

His advice to other technical leaders? Find a strategic marketing partner and trust them and their process. Even if some of what they bring to the table sounds odd at first (you'll hear him poke fun at persona development), trust in your marketing partner and their proven experience. (Spoiler alert: he now thinks personas are one of the best things that has ever come out of marketing planning). 

For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog

 https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast 

Learn more about TREW Marketing

 https://www.trewmarketing.com 

Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

 https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

In the Content Marketing, Engineered Media Miniseries, we’re learning from media experts about how working with external news outlets and trade publications fits into your content marketing strategy. Today, we're exploring advertising -- how to think about it, what goals are reasonable, and where to focus your spend. 

Content marketing typically involves writing and publishing content on your own site, and attracting visitors to that content. But -- external channels can still be extremely helpful to broaden your potential audience. By paying for advertising in trade publications, you can capture your audience in another channel and direct them back to your site.

The printed trade publications of the 80s and 90s were full of advertising content (if you were around then, I'm sure you remember seeing who secured that back cover ad each month). With the rise of digital content, those print ads gave way to clunky banner ads in the early oughts and for many of us, the advertising knowledge stops there. 

But, advertising has evolved a ton. In today's episode, Lee Douglas, an Account Director from Aspencore which owns publications like EE Times, EDN, embedded.com, and Planet Analog, will talk us through all of the available advertising options and how to find advertising opportunities that help you meet your marketing goals. The opportunities range from optimized banners to sponsored podcasts to even retargeted ads that your prospects can engage with when they're on a site other than yours or a publication's.

For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog

 https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast 

Learn more about TREW Marketing

 https://www.trewmarketing.com 

Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

 https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

 In the Content Marketing, Engineered Media Miniseries, where we’re learning from media experts about how working with external news outlets and trade publications fits into your content marketing strategy. In today’s episode, we cover working with technical B2B trade publications from an editorial perspective.  

Content marketing typically involves writing and publishing content on your own site, and attracting visitors to that content. But -- external channels can still be extremely helpful to broaden your potential audience. By securing content in trade publications, companies can catch the attention of new prospects and draw them back to the company's website.

There are dozens of reputable B2C technical publications but a few rise to the top. Microwave Journal is one of those few. Today, Microwave Journal editor Gary Lerude will talk to us about how you can use trade publications to share your news, grow your audience, and build your brand. This content is particularly relevant with the recent advancements in 5G mmwave -- Gary notes that while there are a handful of significant test and measurement providers who have relationships with editors, industries like communications and medical are full of smaller companies and startups with niche technologies who can benefit from the brand awareness that comes with editorial coverage.

On this episode you'll hear details of exactly how and when to engage with technical editors as well as what editors are looking for, what's helpful to them, and what to expect to have prepared when you reach out. 

 For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog

 https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast 

Learn more about TREW Marketing

 https://www.trewmarketing.com 

Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

 https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

 Learn where to invest and pitfalls to avoid when crafting your 2022 marketing plan. 

Jennifer Dawkins, TREW Marketing VP of Account Services, has spent two decades crafting marketing plans for technical companies. In that time she's seen companies fall into some common traps when approaching planning, which leads to wasted budget, poor results, and a negative reflection on marketing as a whole. Being tactically driven, planning in a silo, and focusing on vanity metrics rather than business impact are among those typical mistakes marketers make.

During the episode, Jennifer walks through key elements of her marketing planning approach. She advises on what and how to analyze your current performance, the competitive landscape, and how to set meaningful goals. Persona development, a messaging audit, and campaign plans are all part of the marketing plan. Jennifer describes how she measures success and the importance of quarterly evaluation and plan update meetings with your core marketing committee.  

We then shift gears to touch on trends for 2022, including tried-and-true tactics that are waning in effectiveness in addition to new areas of investment. 

For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog

 https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast 

Learn more about TREW Marketing

 https://www.trewmarketing.com 

Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

 https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

Analysis and testing are key on-page SEO tactics that can significantly lift search engine rankings. 

Kyle Roof, SEO consultant, patent-holder, product developer and trainer, is here to dispel a myth. People may believe that high-ranking pages in Google equate to the best content, but in reality, the Google algorithm boils down to math -- without human intervention. So it isn't necessarily the best content that wins, it's the most optimized-for-Google content that wins. (Case in point - check out the presentation link below in which Kyle presents how he boosted a site to a page one ranking using mostly lorem ipsum text). 

This of course doesn't mean that fresh, quality content isn't important to converting prospects to customers. But it is clearly a call-to-action for marketers to spend time analyzing and testing SEO tactics on key pages. 

Kyle points to four key areas within a page that Google scans to determine ranking for a keyword or phrase. By just focusing here, companies may see a significant boost. Throughout the episode, he also provides pointers on how to research competitors and use SEO analysis software tools for more insight and direction. 

When looking to supplement some of the popular SEO tools with specifics for page optimization, Kyle and his team developed their own algorithm which has evolved into the software tool PageOptimizer Pro. They also offer SEO training through a program called Internet Marketing Gold.


For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog 

https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast



Learn more about TREW Marketing

https://www.trewmarketing.com



Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

If you are considering what CRM to adopt, seeking marketing and sales technology, or a new website CMS platform then this episode is for you. We also walk through how the HubSpot platform has evolved over time.

Andre Leonard, Inbound Marketing Specialist for TREW Marketing, spends much of his time helping clients onboard and be successful with the HubSpot platform. He and I field many questions about HubSpot, running the gambit from what the platform is to which features have the biggest bang for the buck.

In this episode, Andre and I walk through the basics of what HubSpot is, how it's structured, and ways in which the platform has evolved over time. Andre then dives into each Hub, providing highlights of our favorite features. We also talk pricing -- everyone's favorite topic!

The Hubs include:

• CRM - the central connector for all hubs, where contact information is stored
• Marketing - tools include email, social media management, landing pages, blogs, and workflows
• Sales - tools include opportunity management, tasks, and tracking
• Web CMS - drag-and-drop functionality with an inline editor, responsive rendering, and security
• Services - tools include ticket management, surveys, and knowledgebase creation
• Operations - easily integrate 3rd party applications

For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog 

https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast



Learn more about TREW Marketing

https://www.trewmarketing.com



Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

"I'm just a technical guy adapting to the new reality of content marketing." 

Chad Pasho, Business Development Director for Mechanical Solutions, has always had one foot in engineering and one foot in business. It was logical then that he joined a vibration testing and monitoring company to help grow revenue and delight customers. 

In this role, Chad quickly grasped the importance of telling their story in a way that appealed to buyers. Persona exercises helped get this started, but ultimately deeper understanding over time and empathy provided a different frame of reference and led to more impactful messaging. 

For example, MSI engineers create diagnostic videos in their work with customers, which makes for excellent marketing content when woven into a broader story connecting the customer pain and business impact, not just details of the technical problem/solution. These explainer videos have high video retention on LinkedIn and the MSI website.

In this episode, you'll learn about MSI's highest performing types of content and how Chad ramped up and stays current on all things content marketing. 

For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog 

https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast

Learn more about TREW Marketing

https://www.trewmarketing.com

Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

About TREW Marketing

For more than a decade, we’ve helped engineering and technical companies elevate their brand, engage with their audiences, and generate new opportunities. We base our work on insightful research, unrivaled industry expertise, and detail-oriented execution. We understand that highly technical audiences look past standard marketing tactics, so we take a strategic, nuanced approach to meet the technical buyer exactly where they are and help guide them to your solution.

About Wendy Covey

Wendy Covey is a CEO, technical marketing leader, author of Content Marketing, Engineered, one of The Wall Street Journal’s 10 Most Innovative Entrepreneurs in America...and she holds a Texas fishing record. Over the last 20 years, Wendy and her team at TREW Marketing have helped hundreds of engineering and technology companies build trust and fill their pipelines using compelling technical content.

Imagine you are a worker on an offshore oil rig and your machine goes down. You notice a part has fallen off and is broken. You need to figure out who manufactured the machine (20 years ago!), describe the part to customer service, and hopefully find a replacement. And to make matters more complicated, you don't speak the same language as the manufacturer's service department. Meanwhile, the drilling has stopped, and which has a significant monetary impact on the company. Now envision an alternate scenario where you can snap a picture of the part with your iPhone, upload it to the manufacturer's website, and within seconds identify the part and place a replacement order. This is one of many examples shared during the episode to illustrate the power of visual search for manufacturers and distributors. 

Matt Judge, VP of Sales at Vizseek, has found himself in the middle of several intersecting trends in the industrial space. Buyers have moved online for a significant portion of the buyer's journey, applying pressure on manufacturing companies to invest in their websites and digital technology across the enterprise. Artificial intelligence is more accessible and becoming the driving force behind new approaches to work smarter and more efficiently. Then you have consumer-oriented companies such as Amazon and Pinterest training all of us on the power of visual search to find solutions. 

In this episode, you'll learn more about what visual search is, where it can be applied, and how manufacturers and distributors can leverage this technology as a competitive differentiator. 

Visit TREW Marketing for more industrial marketing resources:

https://www.trewmarketing.com

 Take an inside peek into the rebranding process used to give life and focus to a multi-company acquisition. Mergers and acquisitions are an effective way to quickly achieve economies of scale, improve operational efficiency and expand into new market segments. They are a fast-track to diversification through organic group that helps mitigate risk. But from a marketing perspective, there are several key considerations to evaluate before moving forward with a full-scale rebranding launch.

On this episode you'll hear details of a business rebrand initiative which was triggered by a business acquisition from three unique perspectives: Genuen CEO Jeff Gray, Genuen SVP of Business Development Todd VanGilder, and TREW Marketing President Lee Chapman. 

We cover everything from internal alignment, company naming and brand messaging development, and the external brand launch. You'll hear what the Genuen team enjoyed most about the process, and what surprised them along the way. If you are considering a rebranding effort or have one underway, there is a ton of insightful information on this episode to help with your own plans. 

For show links and more, visit the Content Marketing, Engineered podcast blog 

https://bit.ly/CMEPodcast

Learn more about TREW Marketing

https://www.trewmarketing.com

Order the book! Content Marketing, Engineered

https://bit.ly/contentmktgeng

About TREW Marketing

For more than a decade, we’ve helped engineering and technical companies elevate their brand, engage with their audiences, and generate new opportunities. We base our work on insightful research, unrivaled industry expertise, and detail-oriented execution. We understand that highly technical audiences look past standard marketing tactics, so we take a strategic, nuanced approach to meet the technical buyer exactly where they are and help guide them to your solution.

About Wendy Covey

Wendy Covey is a CEO, technical marketing leader, author of Content Marketing, Engineered, one of The Wall Street Journal’s 10 Most Innovative Entrepreneurs in America...and she holds a Texas fishing record. Over the last 20 years, Wendy and her team at TREW Marketing have helped hundreds of engineering and technology companies build trust and fill their pipelines using compelling technical content.

 With a helpful mindset, EECO uses content marketing to educate and highlight the achievements of their "heroes" who build things and keep them running. Chris Grainger, Engineering and Services Manager for industrial automation and power supply distribution company EECO, has an unusual job. In addition to the many typical responsibilities you'd expect in his role, he is also deeply passionate about helping customers through content marketing. 

On this episode, learn why EECO calls customers "heroes" and how thoughtful messaging, blogging, video, and the EECO Asks Why podcast have helped them serve those heroes and grow revenue in a scalable way.

Chris shares a ton of content marketing tips and success stories, and one that stands out is the tight-knit relationship between marketing and the engineering and services team, resulting in a shared commitment to publishing quality content that converts. We have a chuckle over the buyer's journey mindset when crafting a content marketing strategy, which has led him to look at other websites through a very different lens.

You'll also hear a touching story about Chris' personal ministry to help young (and not-so-young) people take control of their personal finances.

 Tie your brand to a current event to boost brand recognition and reinforce corporate values. 
Lance Looper, TREW Marketing Brand and Content Strategy Director, has watched newsjacking evolve from a PR best practice to a well-honed content marketing strategy since his early days in the business. In that time, he's seen many successes but some BIG crash-and-burn attempts as well. 

In this episode, Lance and I debate the benefits and risks of newsjacking, and he shares four questions every marketer should consider before jumping in:

1. Is there a tie between this event and my brand?

2. Did someone get hurt?

3. Is the timing right?

4. Is this funny or offensive?

 Review key takeaways from the March LinkedIn Madness Miniseries and get the scoop on recent marketing features offered on the LinkedIn platform. Julia Fellows, TREW Inbound Marketing Specialist, set a personal goal this quarter for improving her knowledge of all things LinkedIn and this LinkedIn Miniseries was timed perfectly to help as a resources. Through listening to each episode, combined with Julia's own independent research and experience, she has distilled key themes and takeaways every marketer should know. 

During the episode, Julia also shares some of LinkedIn's new marketing features, such as stories, articles and newsletters. 

Whether you've listened to all the previous miniseries episodes prior to now, or are looking for some cliff note takeaways first, you'll gain helpful new tips to improve your LinkedIn engagement and performance for your personal and professional brand.

 LinkedIn provides a powerful, pricy platform for reaching technical buyers and it pays to take the time to plan your ad and measure performance early to maximize ROI.  AJ Wilcox, Founder of B2Linked and Host of the LinkedIn Ads Show podcast, has managed some of the world's largest LinkedIn Ads accounts. He's seen the triumphs and the terrible, and shares advice on how to improve ad performance.

During the episode, we contrast budget spend and how it relates to measurement. You'll hear us discuss which types of ads perform the best, and how ad copy and calls-to-action targeted to your persona are key. You'll also learn where the LinkedIn Ads platform is headed and how best to keep abreast of changes.  

 What are best-in-breed sales and marketing people doing to engage and grow their LinkedIn networks? It all starts with understanding a simple, meaningful metric.  Scott Ingram is a busy guy. He hosts three marketing and sales-focused podcasts, has authored three books, and holds down a quota-carrying day job as a Relationship One Account Director. Lately though, he's gotten a lot of attention due to his LinkedIn Sales Stars list and companion ebook, Finding Sales Success on LinkedIn. As you might imagine, this episode is full of LinkedIn tips. That being said, the way Scott went about tapping top performers for their knowledge and networks in order to create value for himself, the participants, and the consumers of that content is nothing short of content marketing star performance.

 Expand your reach, make human connections, and positioning yourself as a trusted sales advisor using LinkedIn as your engine. Nick Capozzi, CEO of Sales Pitching helps companies improve their conversion sales rate, and on this episode I get into his head about the importance of flexible scripts, making human connections, becoming a trusted advisor, and how LinkedIn can be a powerful engine for accomplishing those goals. 

After twenty years in high pressure marketing and sales in the cruise industry, Nick has turned his expertise towards helping B2B companies improve their sales pitches. He does this by sitting in on tons of sales conversations, and in that time, he's seen some common mistakes and missed opportunities, including:

• Too much pitching and not enough listening
• Focus on solution specs versus customer benefits
• Missing the opportunity to make a human connection
• Sales scripts are rigid, not taking into account variations for persona, application
• Lack of teamwork with marketing
• LinkedIn is not fully utilized

Nick goes on to talk about the antidotes to each of these issues, with a deep-dive into how salespeople can more fully leverage LinkedIn. Using his own consulting business as an example, Nick walks through how he uses the platform to grow awareness into new audience groups through strategic relationship building with complementary partners. He posts videos weekly, always with the same format and background, to build up his reputation as a trusted advisor. Prospect research is also quick and fruitful - he was once short-listed for an opportunity because of a mutual connection. 

Adopting a content marketing model can be a daunting undertaking. What are the most important activities in the first year, how do you measure success?