Rafael Encarnacion is a digital marketing manager who specializes in content strategy, information architecture, search engine optimization, and standing over graphic designers' workstations (they love when you do that).
If you came here looking for a rule-of-thumb recommendation for setting a B2B marketing budget based on revenue, that’s easy — you should budget between two to seven percent of your previous years’ sales. Feels a little arbitrary, right? That’s because it is. Alternatively, you could base your figure on what others are allocating for their B2B marketing budgets…. Read more »
Bed Bath & Beyond has been emailing me 20%-off coupons for the past two years. These emails are typically ignored; I hadn’t visited a Bed Bath & Beyond in at least eight years. Well, last month, their efforts finally paid off. A certain someone convinced me higher-thread-count sheets were a necessity so my first instinct… Read more »
About ten years ago, we (Industrial Strength Marketing) launched a website for a company that manufactures tube sheets used in balance-of-plant heat exchangers. At the time, we didn’t realize that the company’s URL was just one keystroke away from that of a popular adult-entertainment website. (No, we’re not going to say which one.) Within days,… Read more »
In an earlier post, we explored how e-commerce and online catalog search engine rankings are affected by offsite duplicate content, which is content that is taken from one source and repeated on other domains. This article, in turn, focuses on correcting a content challenge you have more control over — onsite e-commerce duplicate content. Onsite duplicate content… Read more »
You’ve created an online catalog with the intention of being discoverable online. The manufacturers you represent have all provided you with product descriptions and product data. Your content management system was designed for e-commerce. You did everything right, but yet you’re not getting customers. What’s happening? Duplicate content is happening. Duplicate content can wreak havoc on… Read more »
Imagine if grocery stores didn’t display pricing. You’d be outraged if Kroger forced you to request a quote on bread and milk. Likewise, it would leave a bad taste in your mouth if an electrician didn’t give you an estimate for rewiring your kitchen. You’d never hire him or her to do the work. That’s… Read more »
A manufacturer and a distributor walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and says, “Do your customers have email addresses?” They both respond, “Of course! Everyone has email!” Then the bartender says, “When was the last time you emailed your customers?” The manufacturer and the distributor both laugh and say, “Ha, yeah. We’ve been… Read more »
You’ve put off creating a marketing plan for years. Now you’re noticing competitors becoming more discoverable online. You’re noticing your peers generating leads via LinkedIn. You’re noticing trade show ROI isn’t what it used to be. It’s time to make a plan. But how do you build one? The following 8 components will get you… Read more »
