The Thomas Blog

5 Ways for Industrial SMB Owners to Make Time for Marketing

“Really work morning to night. Think about it in your sleep. Seven days a week. No breaks.” Those are Elon Musk’s (Tesla CEO and real-life Iron Man) words of advice to budding entrepreneurs — but, as you probably know, they apply to just about every small business owner, regardless of your company’s age.

With the day-to-day grind of making sales, fulfilling orders, and generally keeping the lights on, who has time for sleep, let alone marketing?

What Are Your 2014 Marketing Resolutions?

It’s that time of year again: holidays are over, and it’s time to focus on what’s ahead. In all honesty, we’re not huge fans of resolutions here — we think any time is a good time to change for the better.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common (and quickly-forgotten) resolutions — and how you can use them to prime your marketing plan for success throughout the whole year.

Social Media Marketing: A Look Back, and A Look Ahead

It may sound a little strange, but social media is reaching a mature stage in its development.

Its importance as a communication tool is no longer in question, and its legitimacy as a marketing platform is clear: 77% of the Fortune Global 100 use Twitter, and 70% of Fortune 500 companies are on Facebook (including 9 of the top 10).

The social networks are vastly different places now than they were even just a few years ago — and the best ways to use them have evolved as well.

Marketing and Sales for Today’s Buyers: Three Tips to Get the Most Out of the Relationship

It’s always been a tough relationship to nail down, but today’s landscape of buyer behavior has thrown yet another money wrench into the workings of your sales and marketing unit.

On the marketing side, the challenge is to address the diverse needs of prospects who get as far as 70% of the way to a purchase before contacting a salesperson.

When Marketing Gets Scary: Three Tales of Terror

Who doesn’t love a good, fun scare?

With Halloween now come and gone, that season may be winding down, but unfortunately the potential for a frightening marketing situation stays with us year-round. Fortunately, like the hero left standing at the end of our favorite scary movie, we have ways to fight back against the horror of marketing gone wrong.

Something you can stand behind: Cause Branding

A brand can be defined as the impression, both conscious and subconscious, that people have of your company. While a good brand helps you stand out from your competition, great brands connect with customers and prospects at an emotional level. One way that many leading companies are making that emotional connection is through “cause branding.”

Quite simply, cause branding is when you make your community — or an issue in your industry — part of your brand’s story.

First Steps: Getting Started With Industrial Marketing

Attention spans are short, and getting shorter. If you’ve read this far, hopefully we’ve got yours for a bit. And if you’re here, it’s probably thanks to the headline.

6 Reasons B2B Marketing is Easier Than Ever Today

Just last week, we talked about all the time, effort, and patience required to implement an effective marketing plan. Yes, it's still true. In many ways, though, B2B companies have it easier than ever — from planning through execution of a program and beyond.

The tools and tactics available today offer an unprecedented opportunity to power your business growth — let's look at some. 

Driving the Industrial Marketing Conversation

Marketing, at its best, has a lot in common with everyday conversation. There should be a flow. You should have a voice. And, just as if you were talking face-to-face with someone, you need to know your conversation partner — so you can communicate most effectively. 

When shaping your marketing strategy, the first, most obvious audience is prospective customers. Why direct your budget anywhere besides growing your business? But prospects are just the start.