Build a Talent Pipeline for Skilled and Technical Positions Using the Internet

February 16, 2012Joanne CostinLeave a comment

Despite 17.7% unemployment in the construction industry, companies who rely on skilled workers should be worried about attracting talent. The Associated General Contractors recently reported that more than 600,000 workers had left the industry over the past two years. They may have landed jobs in other industries, gone back to school, retired or dropped out of the workforce. The bottom line is that even a modest upturn in activity could make it make it more difficult for your business to recruit the talent you need. Construction equipment dealers as well as contractors, already face a shortage of heavy equipment technicians.

So what does this have to do with your online presence? Think of your website and social media sites as 24/7 recruitment tools. These are the places where interested candidates will come first to find out more about your company.

Does your website copy or visuals say anything about what it is like to work at your company? Are there employee events? Is there a sense of camaraderie?

Are you offering a job or a career? Does your website copy say how important technical positions are to the success of your operation? What benefits do you offer? What makes working at your company different?

Construction is among the most dangerous professions. Workers want to be safe. Does your website demonstrate your commitment to employee safety?

Employers need to attract a new generation of workers – Gen Y – born between 1981 and 2000. In a 2010 OXYGENZ research project from Johnson Controls, 96% of Gen Y respondents wanted an “environmentally aware or friendly workplace” and 57% said they want their employers to perform well above regulatory compliance. Does your workplace address these needs?

Waste Management makes itself appealing to future employees. Its Careers page sends a strong message that the company is all about being green. Messages are targeted to specific audiences to ensure all feel welcome and appreciated. Website copy calls operational workers “the backbone of our daily operations.” Technology, professionalism and safety are emphasized.

On Facebook, a special tab for WM Careers features videos about working at Waste Management, links to jobs, recruitment fairs and an online application.

Is your workplace social? Use social media sites to let prospective employees know what it will be like to work for you. Showcase your involvement with employees and the community.

You can ensure a talent pipeline by talking to grade school, high school students and college students about careers in construction. In person and online, you need to send the right message to future industry professionals. Work with a content writer to find the perfect message for your business.

B2B Copywriter or B2B Content Writer: Who Will Do a Better Job Writing Your Website Copy?

February 9, 2012Joanne Costin3 Comments

To answer this question you really need to understand the difference between a B2B copywriter and a B2B content writer. Most people accurately describe a B2B copywriter as someone who writes advertising or promotional copy for a business marketing to another business, but a b2b content writer’s job description is a little more fuzzy. A basic definition is someone who specializes in producing online content (for B2B). But what does that mean? Does a content writer do search engine optimization? Does a content writer do keyword research? Can a content writer produce a video? These are some of the questions you should ask before hiring a B2B content writer or SEO copywriter, because not every content writer has the same understanding of the job .

Here’s my take on what a content writer should provide:

1. A focus on results

What will be the measure of success: web traffic, email newsletter sign-ups, requests for quotes? A content writer should be accountable for writing content that puts the business in the best position to achieve their online objectives. If a writer says they specialize in writing copy to help a business show up in search engine results, they should be accountable for doing that. Depending on the level of competition for your keywords, it is quite possible that just optimizing your website copy is not going to be enough to get the results you are looking for. A competent content writer will be able to explain why.

2. Keyword and competitive analysis

Some writers are happy to take what the client thinks are their keywords and write content around them. But many business owners don’t understand how difficult it is to rank for those keywords. A good content writer will let a client know the best strategy for ranking based on a competitive analysis and a comprehensive keyword analysis. As a client you need to understand the importance of the time spent doing this.

At the same time, there are still companies who don’t believe anyone would ever search for their business online. They just want to have a professional site they can direct customers and prospects to. They don’t care about keywords or search engine results. For those clients, a good copywriter is probably all they need.

3. Useful content

One thing you don’t want on your website is overly promotional copy. For the most part people visit B2B websites for information, so you should look for a writer whose style is clear and direct. Does the writer have a good sense of what questions a visitor would ask? If the writer isn’t asking the right questions, you won’t have the right answers on your site.

4. Social media savvy

A content writer understands that it’s not just about writing content for a website but also for various social media channels. Is your writer well connected on Linked-In, Twitter and Facebook? Do they know how to use these tools to build an audience for your content? Are they willing to teach you how? Social media is one of the biggest drivers of website traffic. If your B2B content writer doesn’t want to tackle this, you will need to know how to handle this important task.

As a B2B copywriter turned B2B content writer, I thought I knew a lot about writing for the web. But with each project, and especially through work on own site at www.contentforbiz.com, I realized there was a lot more to it than I first thought. Content writing is much more difficult than I ever imagined. Only after hours and days spent researching keywords, and competition and digesting google analytics, did I realize how to not only write for the web, but to write for results.

I think there are probably many writers who want to put their copy online and call it content writing. I don’t think they will be successful in getting results. There are a lot of people involved in Internet marketing that offer one piece of the puzzle: the copy, the video, the SEO, or the web design. The problem is, as a B2B marketer, you need it all. At Content for Biz we do our best to pull it all together for you, with strategic partners to help in areas that aren’t in our expertise.

Writing in short sentences, using bullet points and throwing in some keywords might help someone when they get to your home page, but your customers and prospects need to get there first. And that’s the key value a content writer provides.

Five Ways Content Can Boost Referrals

February 3, 2012Joanne CostinLeave a comment

Among B2B marketers, referrals are often the lifeblood of a business. Yet too often, we don’t take the time to educate referral sources about our business. For example a property manager may know about your tuckpointing service, but they may not know you also clean brick. Remember that customers aren’t the only audience for content. Content marketing can educate referral sources about your business and keep your brand top of mind. Here are five tips for boosting referrals with content:

1) Make it clear what you do and for whom.

If you are a builder, it is probably easy to figure out that out from your website, but do you communicate the types and scale of projects you work on. Are they single family homes or commercial buildings? Do you specialize in starter homes or high-end custom homes? Will you remodel a space, or do you only construct new buildings? These are all important questions for anyone who is thinking of recommending you.

2) Play up your affiliations and third party credentials.

Use photos, logos and text to make it clear what industries you are involved in. List any special credentials your firm might hold. Are staff members LEED certified or is your business a member of a professional organization? This is all important information to include on your website.

3. Keep top of mind with referral sources.

Use email marketing to reach out to referral sources with relevant information and details of your referral program. Create content that appeals to a broader audience and make your content easy to share through social media. Make incentives memorable and relevant to your audience. Follow your referral sources on Twitter and connect with them on LinkedIn. Keep track of them through job changes.

4. Let your referral sources brand your content.

Would it make sense to share content with your referral sources’ customers? Offer the opportunity to co-brand your material. Who wouldn’t be happy to get good quality content for free.

5. Give recommendations on social media sites.

Still, the best way to get recommendations is to give them. Use sites like Linked-In and Yelp to spread the word about the people you enjoy doing business with. Consider adding a list of businesses you recommend to your website.

Let content help you build your referral network.

How to Write Potent Headlines: A Lesson from David Ogilvy

January 25, 2012Joanne Costin4 Comments

I think advertising man David Ogilvy would have enjoyed online marketing for the instantaneous feedback it provides. His rules about advertising weren’t based on opinion, but years of research.

Ogilvy’s advice on headlines is as relevant today as in 1963, the year he published his book, “Confessions of an Advertising Man.” Ogilvy stresses the importance of the headline in a chapter on writing potent copy. “Five times as many people read the headline as the body copy. If you haven’t done some selling in your headline, you will have wasted 80 cents out of your client’s dollar.” For every ad he never wrote fewer than 16 headlines.

Rule No. 1: “The headline is the ticket on the meat.”

Ogilvy promoted the use of keywords in the headline, before keywords were keywords. “If you are selling a remedy for bladder weakness, display BLADDER WEAKNESS in the headline. If you want mothers to read your advertisement, display MOTHERS in your headline.”

Rule No. 2: “Every headline should appeal to the reader’s self-interest.”

Ogilvy insisted headlines provide a benefit to the reader. If your headlines aren’t offering a benefit, scrap them. A reader may not care that your machine has new engine (feature), what he cares about is five percent greater fuel efficiency (benefit).

Rule No. 3: Always try to inject news into your headlines.

“The two most powerful words you can use in headlines are FREE and NEW. You can seldom use FREE, but you can almost always use NEW – if you try hard enough.” With new technologies being developed faster than ever before in our markets, Ogilvy’s message stands the test of time. B2B buyers need to know about new products and services, so don’t leave it out of your headline.

Rule No. 4: Other words that work

“HOW TO, SUDDENLY, NOW, ANNOUNCING, INTRODUCING, IT’S HERE, JUST ARRIVED, IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT, IMPROVEMENT, AMAZING, SENSATIONAL, REMARKABLE, REVOLUTIONARY, STARTLING, MIRACLE, MAGIC, OFFER, EASY, WANTED, CHALLENGE, ADVICE TO , THE TRUTH ABOUT, COMPARE, BARGAIN, HURRY, LAST CHANCE.”

Look at your best read posts and pages. Do the headlines include any of these words? Ogilvy told writers,”They may be shipworn, but they work.”

Rule No. 5: Include the brand in the headline.

If they only read the headline, you want them to at least know the brand name.

Rule No. 6: Include the selling promise in your headline.

Ogilvy didn’t strive away from a longer headline if it included the selling promise. Over time I think headlines have gotten shorter, and perhaps less effective. According to Ogilvy his best headline was 18 words. At Sixty Miles an Hour the Loudest Noise in the Rolls Royce Comes from the Electric Clock.

Rule No. 7: Headlines should arouse curiosity.

Successful headlines lure a prospect to read on.

Rule No. 8: Avoid tricky headlines.

Ogilvy wasn’t a fan of puns, literary illusions or other obscurities. “This is a sin,” he said.

Rule No. 9: Avoid negatives in headlines.

Ogilvy felt it was too easy for readers to miss the negative and come away with a different meaning from the headline.

Rule No. 10: Avoid blind headlines.

Ogilvy didn’t like what he called “blind headlines.” These were headlines that required further reading to figure them out. “Most people don’t (read on),” said Ogilvy. With website visitors spending less than 20 seconds reading an average web page, this is probably good advice.

Traditional advertising may not be as effective as it once was, but Ogilvy’s headline rules have a lot of relevance for writers of blog posts, website pages, B2B articles and even social media posts. What types of headlines work best for your business? With website analytics you have more information than ever before to see what headlines engage readers. Use it to your advantage. I think Ogilvy would have.

Credible Content: Walmart Enlists Customers to Help Fellow Shoppers

January 20, 2012Joanne CostinLeave a comment

I don’t know about you, but when I shop online, I gravitate toward reviews. They contain sweet bits of information that manufacturers sometimes forget, or would rather not disclose: like how many hours will it take me to put that stereo cabinet together, and what is the size of that center opening, because I need to fit a big fat stereo receiver in it.

Reviews are a reality for B2C marketers and the smart ones have embraced the opinions of the online public. They know they can give consumers the confidence to click on the “purchase” button or send them running to another product. Walmart takes reviews to the next level with its Customer Q&A Exchange. Who better to answer questions about its products than customers who have already purchased them? Credibility is powerful content.

I don’t want to know how long it takes a Walmart employee to put together this stereo cabinet. I want to know how long it will take someone like me. “About an hour,” said one of the reviewers. I can only hope.

B2B marketers need to recognize that reviews and customer-generated content are coming to websites near you. Bring your own credible content to your website.

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