I bet you did too. But times have changed. The Internet transformed
the way consumers and sellers, buyers and suppliers connect.
And today, the buyer's in
the driver's seat.
Do your sales reps complain
that decision makers won't take their calls? In the old days,
(yes, just five short years ago), you met at a trade show, enjoyed
lunch together, maybe played a round of golf, and the next time your
good pal (the buyer) was ready to send out an RFQ or RFP, he sent it
to you, his friend.
Well, today's buyers prefer
to remain anonymous. (Yes, it's true.) And you know what that
means? It reduces personal
selling opportunities for suppliers and shifts the
emphasis to providing information online.
The Internet, with all its
hype and promise, convinced you that reaching the industrial
buyer would be faster and easier than ever. Forget warm and fuzzy
relationship-building. The World Wide Web
is more like a wildebeest!
You thought you'd kept pace.
I mean, you paid good money for a professional, attractive Web
design, didn't you?
"Five Years Ago, There Were 30,000 Domain Names Registered Per
Year. Today, There Are Over 30,000 Domain Names Registered Per Day!
If you leapt headlong into
an online marketing endeavor without a solid and practical
understanding of
-
Buyer behavior and expectations
-
Web site usability and best
practices
-
Search engines and site
optimization
-
Tracking and measurement
Establishing a prime
position on the Internet has become the "Holy Grail." The
Internet Revolution drove our company to a series of
wide-ranging initiatives
to ensure our customers are being found on the World Wide Web.
Specifically by providing
The Internet continues to emerge as a potent tool in the B2B buying
process. Starting with
thorough keyword research and competitor analysis, we make
sure your information stands out from your competitors and
make sure your buyers can
find YOU when they need product specific information.
"Did You Know That There's a Disconnect Between Information
Buyers Want and What Suppliers Offer?"
Sometimes the hard truth
hurts, but statistics don't lie. From Google's mouth to your
ears…
"Industrial Buyers
Shopping on the Web, But Suppliers May Be Missing the Sale," reads a
ThomasNet-Google sponsored survey headline.
While an increasing number of industrial buyers are turning to the
Internet and bypassing traditional offline sources such as
distributors' catalogues and sales reps (Yikes! I was right about
that.), these buyers are
likely to find the information lacking. According to the
study:
-
70% of buyers expect
to find detailed information on product applications and uses,
but only half of all
sellers' sites (53%) provide it.
-
74% expect to find
product prices, but only
23% of company Web sites offer them.
-
67% want to see
shipping information and costs, but
fewer than 17% of
suppliers provide this with their sites.
“Are You Losing Customers to Your Competitors and
Don’t Know Why?”
These facts could help guide you toward success,
if you ACT on it.
While 55% of industrial
suppliers say they devote a major portion of their marketing
budgets to their companies' Web sites,
they pay far less attention
to building buyer awareness and driving online traffic to them.
Even though you may not be in the group who are sitting on their
hands, don't breathe a sigh of relief just yet...
Among major disconnects…
-
Only 32% of sellers say
they advertise their sites on search engines or
industrial destination sites to help potential customers find
them, even though more than 80% of industrial buyers consider
them their most important tools for researching and comparing
products and services.
-
68% of industrial
sellers plan to increase spending on their Web sites and 78% plan
to redesign their sites in the next year.
But only 45% anticipate
spending more to promote and drive traffic to their new and
improved sites.
"Industrial buyers -
like customers everywhere - increasingly rely on the Internet to
research and purchase products and services. This study confirms the
tremendous opportunity that still exists for industrial suppliers to
find and engage customers online."
Patrick Keane
Product Marketing Director
Google
"That's The Good News Because Together We Can Get You Found on
Google."
Whether you're an industrial company selling carbide cutting tools or a
"bricks and mortar" store selling chocolate chip cookies online, we can help.
If you act today, we will
provide a no-cost,
no-obligation Web site Analysis (other companies charge
hundreds of dollars) and show you specific, time-tested ways to drive, measure and convert
more traffic to your Web site.
I believe that the Internet can be tamed, once you learn the nature
of the beast. I'm ready to crack the whip, whenever you are. So when
you call, I promise I won't bite!
Sincerely,
Nicolette Beard
Owner &
President
Searchlight Marketing, Inc.
P.S. B2B strategic marketing, guaranteed! In 30 minutes you can determine for
yourself if it makes sense to establish a mutually beneficial
relationship. If it doesn't, all that happens is you received an
introduction about new Internet marketing strategies from a
specialist. Remember, this
is a no-cost consultation.
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