Looking for additional insight? Check out our guide: Smart Marketing for Engineers

Want to create professional-looking recordings of product demos or customer testimonials, but don’t have a high-end budget to produce them? Start by creating a company account on YouTube – a search-friendly social media channel for sharing user-created videos. Then follow these simple do-it-yourself (DIY) guidelines to produce an effective and cost-efficient video for spreading company awareness and communicating with your audience.

Figure 1. This video of customer testimonials was shot at a tradeshow and edited with Apple iMovie.

Video Objectives and Content

Before you get started, establish the goals of the film to determine if the video is worth the time and effort of producing.

• What is the point of the video? Are you selling or training?
  • Note: A sales pitch video should be much shorter (only 1 to 2 minutes) and have less detail than a tutorial video in order to keep the viewer’s attention.
• Who is the audience?
• What is your goal and how will you know if the video is successful?

Using these objectives, create a rough outline of the video’s content. For example, if the video is a product demo, the story may unfold as such:

• Act 1: a short introduction that gives a hook of why the viewer should care
• Act 2: the meat of the presentation that shows why the product is impressive via a short demo
• Act 3: an explanation of the wonderful benefits of using this product and the next steps to take

To make the recording session as productive as possible, use the outline to map out a storyboard of the necessary shots, as well as a matching script for the narrator. Choose a dynamic and exciting speaker, and consider adding a little humor if appropriate.

Equipment List

Next, you will need to have the following tools at your disposal:

• Digital video-recording device, such as a Kodak minicamcorder or smartphone
• Tripod
• External microphone
• Video-editing software, such as the free Window Movie Maker or Apple iMovie
• Screen recording software for software demos (optional)
• Audio recording and editing software, such as the free Audacity software (optional)

Nowadays, smartphones are a lot more accessible than handheld camcorders. However, to produce higher quality videos on a budget, it may be worthwhile to invest in a dedicated recording device with extra capabilities. Key features to look for include an external microphone jack, ability to mount on a tripod, and high definition (HD) quality video output.

Recording Setup

On the day of the recording, set aside extra time beforehand to prepare the environment.

• For good sound quality, choose a conference room or other quiet setting. Using an external microphone is highly recommended. For wired microphones, snake the device up through the bottom of the speaker’s shirt and pin it on the collar. If you only have an internal microphone, make sure the speaker is close enough to the video recorder and do some sound checks beforehand.
• For lighting, make sure the subject is well lit and properly color balanced (so that white actually looks like white on the video). This can be accomplished by choosing a location with good natural lighting, bringing in additional lamps for artificial lighting, or adjusting digital settings on your camera or video-editing software.
• Practice the rule of thirds. Position the main subject of your video on the intersecting thirds lines, instead of centered in the middle of the screen.

Figure 2. This Microsoft technology video uses the rule of thirds to create an interesting and well-balanced shot.

Best Practices for Recording

Keep in mind these tips and tricks when creating the storyboard and on the day of recording.

• When using amateur recording equipment, avoid moving, panning, zooming, or even touching the camera during takes to prevent shaky camera syndrome. Instead, get static shots from varying angles, as well as a mix of wide and close shots, which can be smoothly connected during the editing process.
• Get at least 5 seconds of extra video before and after each shot for editing purposes.
• Record supplemental B-roll footage to cut away from the main shot, keep things interesting, and hide any problem areas. For example, you can insert close-ups of the demo while the narrator is speaking, instead of just showing the speaker the whole time.
• Rather than fitting everything into one shot, record multiple takes if needed so you’ll have many options to choose from during the editing process.

Post-Production

Once you have obtained the necessary footage, upload the files onto the computer with the editing software and follow these guidelines. Once completed, embed the video on your website and upload it on the company’s YouTube account with the appropriate description and search tags.

• Shorten the film as much as possible to maintain the audience’s attention. Do not use any fancy transitions between shots; cut and fade are sufficient for most videos.
• Keep the visuals interesting by using shots from different angles, inserting unexpected images or B-roll footage, and moving static pictures.
• Do not use any music or graphics unless they are royalty-free or you have the explicit permission from the creator.
• The audio quality must be clear enough to understand, so re-record the audio or add subtitles as necessary.
• Insert a title page that can include the video title and speaker’s name and title. Insert an end page that can include the company logo and next steps, such as a website address or contact information.

Figure 3. Create an end page to provide viewers with concrete next steps to take.

Looking for additional insight? Check out our guide: Smart Marketing for Engineers

Related Links:
5 Fast, Compelling Videos to Create Now
A How-To Guide for Creating Webcasts

Theory x Practice is the motto of the University of Texas AdGrad program. I should know, as I’ve lived it everyday for the last year as a full-time Masters student in Advertising and intern for TREW Marketing. Over the course of 2011, I’ve been a student of all sorts, learning things like Social Cognitive Theory, media calculations – CDI and BDI, social media applications, and the process of developing marketing plans. I’ve been fortunate to have a hands-on education through the AdGrad program and with TREW Marketing.

So what have I learned this past year? Summing it up in 5 lessons, here it is:

1. Master the message. One of the first things Rebecca and Wendy taught me was the importance of being able to write like a marketer. This was a refreshing crash course on how to be brief and be smart with all writing projects – from emails, blogs, presentations, case studies, and everything in between. Concise and compelling writing is important, because you can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can’t communicate your ideas, it doesn’t matter.

2. Revise…revise….revise. This goes in tote with lesson #1, but it’s so important, I figured it deserves it’s own lesson number. TREW Marketing has taught me patience and to embrace the process of revising and editing. Many times, I’ll submit work that will undergo two to three rounds of revisions. This process is long and tedious, but also smart and collaborative, producing the best messaging results.

3. Go all in. There hasn’t been a dull moment over the past year as an intern. Rebecca, Wendy and all the project managers have consistently come up with new and exciting projects for me to work on. It would be impossible to write out every project on this blog, so I’ve wrapped up a year in review of internship projects with TREW Marketing in the Slideshare presentation below. (Use full screen mode to read)

4. Be resourceful. Being part of a virtual team requires a unique set of skills. Specifically, being resourceful to educate yourself and the team on latest trends, virtual tools, and interesting articles. The virtual aspect of the job requires a balance of independence and collaboration. For me, it was an acquired skill, but it’s been such a blessing to gain more independence and a work-life balance from it.

5. “Listening is 51% of communication.” This motto, borrowed from Rebecca, describes the TREW approach to marketing planning. Careful listening entails precise note-taking, and consideration of the tone of voice, personality, and dialogue. Over the last two months, I’ve been honing in on this skill, listening to clients explain their pain points and marketing goals, then taking this information to develop marketing plans that best fit their goals and needs.

As I graduate this early December, and begin a new chapter, I reflect on the last year with TREW and year and half as a Masters student. The decision to go back to school was very tough, but I did it to be prepared for opportunity. Graduate school and TREW have prepared me with the right marketing knowledge for a career in this fast-changing digital industry. Then at the beginning of this semester, TREW also came with a great opportunity, to stay on board as a full-time Marketing Specialist. So at the beginning of next year, I will be returning and re-iterating all five of these lessons I learned during my time as an intern at TREW Marketing.

Did you know that for the first time, social media has surpassed company websites for consumers’ research on product information.

If you are one of those business leaders who thinks social media is only for big companies, it’s not relevant to your industry, or you’re thinking about social media but not sure where to start and how to measure its success, this blog series is for you. In Part 1, we’ll outline the five key benefits and 3 myths about social media. We’ll dispel these myths with real-world examples that illustrate why social media not only cannot be ignored, but with a clear strategy and plan, can truly enhance your company and marketing program. In Part 2, we’ll cover social media planning, how-to’s and tools and measurement tips.

So what are the key benefits of social media? Here are our top 5:

1. Gain deeper insights into your target audience and industry trends more affordably
2. Push relevant content around the clock through third-party endorsements and ease of sharing
3. Reach and engage new audiences that your traditional communication channels may not be touching
4. Increase credibility by being a valued member of and contributor to your community
5. Improve your search ranking through deeper links with social integration

Myth #1: “My customers are highly technical scientists and engineers. They don’t post on Facebook or have time to tweet.”

Reality: Don’t make the assumption that because you aren’t on social media, other engineers or prospects aren’t either. You might not be looking in the right channels for your highly technical interests. For instance, LinkedIn is a treasure trove of key decision makers across various industries. The largest population are ages 35-44 years, followed closely by 45-54 year olds.

Below is a screen shot of a LinkedIn group discussion, answering the question “What do you feel is the #1 challenge or threat to IT today?” The topic was posted in the CIO Network Group, which garnered 422 comments, many of which reveal deep insights and thorough analysis of the IT industry and provide on-the-fly market research. For more information about LinkedIn’s demographics and useful business practices, see blog post, “Social Ad Showdown: 5 Ways LinkedIn Takes Care of Business.”

Another example is Twitter. This can be an overwhelming channel if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Although Twitter has fewer members compared to other social sites (Pew Research estimates put it at approximately 10% of the global population), the channel’s users are very active spreading messages to new audiences you wouldn’t normally reach. For example, let’s look at trade shows. With tighter travel budgets, people are not attending like they used to, but through online forums, those who stay home can still follow the events of the conference and discuss. The image below shows the Twitter discussion and promotion at IP Expo, a conference serving the IP converged network community. In addition to people talking about the show off site, IP Expo uses Twitter to create a community, so people can continue the conversation after it’s over.

Myth #2: “Only outrageous or edgy products get social media attention”

Reality: While much online buzz is focused on the entertainment and fashion industries, social media also influences less consumer-focused industries such as the agricultural, electronics, and medical fields. In fact, the most unlikely products can generate tremendous online buzz. This doesn’t magically happen for B2B companies; typically it’s a result of careful marketing tactics, integrating online advertising, PR, shareable content, and offline activities to get these results. Here’s an example where one B2B engineering firm reached nearly 44 times more people through social media.

In August of this year, engineering firm Wineman Technologies and European-based applied research lab,  Tecnalia Research, announced their release of Dynacar, a fully validated, real-time vehicle model simulator for developing and testing passenger and light commercial vehicles. TREW Marketing executed the product launch around trade show NIWeek and results included coverage in print, in video, across the web, and in social media.

The graphic below illustrates the relevant impact of social media around Dynarcar’s launch. Wineman made their announcement on their website distributing to their 125 Twitter followers,which was amplified by 8 key influencers in the engineering field, who retweeted the message one or more times, reaching a total of 5,845 people on Twitter.

Myth #3: “I’m a small business and can’t afford the resources necessary to manage social media”

Reality: Social media is not free. Although it doesn’t cost you anything to create a Facebook or LinkedIn site for your company, it does take time to learn the landscape, keep up with the latest tools and trends, and maintain a consistent presence. And as we have said before and outlined in our guidebook, Smart Marketing for Engineers, we strongly encourage you to invest in social media only after you have developed a marketing plan, website, strong content, and an email marketing program.

When you are ready to begin a social media program, keep in mind some powerful statistics that may alter your future marketing allocations:

• 8 out of 10 companies of all sizes are using social media. The relatively inexpensive nature of this channel is the cause for rapid and widespread adoption of it, helping smaller businesses compete with their larger competitors (Omniture, page 3).
• Approximately 50% of companies plan to increase their social media and email marketing budgets for 2012 or in the near future (Omniture, Page 4).
• 70% of consumers reported turning to social media for objective information about a product, and 68% rely on the company website to obtain further specifications of the product. As mentioned above, for the first time, social media has surpassed company sites for consumers’ research on product information. Consumers are increasingly relying on social media for objective information about your product, then going to your website to purchase (Omniture, page 5).

Your brand is your company’s control center, or what we like at TREW to call “the brain”. It is the collective set of experiences over many years that shape who your company is and its unique value proposition. In marketing terms, your brand is personified both visually – through your company logo and branding styleguide – and contextually – through words, such as your mission, vision, and positioning statements; core company and product-level messaging; and company and campaign taglines.

With a smart, creative approach, TREW Marketing brings years of experience helping companies shape their brand and identity with a service we call the Branding Brain. Below are elements illustrating our approach and Branding Brain success with three client examples – The Hogg Foundation, Starmount Systems, and Alfamation.

To Develop the Brain, First Know the Heart

To position a company, both visually and contextually, it’s important to first know about the company’s heart. What is the company and its team uniquely passionate about and capable of delivering that no other company can? This requires a lot of listening – in person, via research, and persistent studying.

For The Hogg Foundation, TREW conducted an in-depth market research project, focused on internal leadership and staff, as well as external groups of stakeholders and consumers.

Market research included:

• 21 hours of qualitative in-person interviews with all staff
• Over 800 external quantitative online surveys
• Research analysis and findings

Following this market research, TREW Marketing gained honest stakeholder insights that led to recommendations for branding, messaging, and communications.

Starmount, a retail software solutions provider was undergoing an entire brand redesign, and partnered with TREW to develop core branding elements, including mission, vision and positioning statements; tagline concepts; and company and product-level core messaging. The TREW team worked closely with company business, technical and marketing leadership and conducted qualitative competitive analysis over several months to understand Starmount’s unique value proposition in a highly competitive retail software marketplace.

Alfamation, a test and measurement solutions provider, selected TREW to manage their rebranding efforts by crafting their “brain,” including company logo and brand guidelines; product logo creation; creative guidance for software, hardware packaging; core company and product level positioning and messaging; and mission statement and tagline. TREW began this process by interviewing company business and sales leaders and key partners as well as studying the competitive landscape and market opportunities.

Listen Actively and Patiently

Choosing words in branding statements is a slow, methodical, creative and patient process. For the Hogg Foundation, through our deliberate process, a key vision crystallized – to move from speaking about mental illness or recovery, to the more progressive, all-encompassing term, mental wellness. It was also important to emphasize their mission’s focus in the state of Texas, while being mindful of their strong awareness and influence nationally.

Through much research and group discussions, TREW developed the following mission and vision statements for the foundation:

Mission: The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health advances mental wellness of the people of Texas as an impactful grantmaker and catalyst for change

Vision: The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health will invest our knowledge and resources to move Texas forward in achieving mental wellness

Although Starmount serves a completely different market place of retail Chief Information Officers (CIO) and Chief Marketing Officers (CMO) at large retailers such as Urban Outfitters or Home Depot, getting to their unique value proposition and company positioning followed a similar process: rolling up our sleeves, listening and asking many, many questions, to ultimately get to the Starmount heart.

Out of this process and a collective understanding of Starmount’s unique software products and services and very talented and experienced team of retail software developers, we were then able to develop the brain, including the following mission and vision statements:

Mission: “Starmount software brings the power of online retail to create relevant, engaging in-store shopping experiences”

Vision: “To transform the in-person shopping experience and make retail stores relevant”

For Alfamation, the TREW team sought to capture their passion and scientific knowledge for creating out-of-the-box products and services for design, test, and manufacturing engineers and managers in the automotive, consumer electronics, telecom, and medical industries. It was important for the mission, tagline, and logo to convey their innovative culture and present the company’s broad family of software and hardware products to customers globally. Through our same deliberative process, we developed their brain, including these elements:

Mission: “We leverage our scientific passion and knowledge to imagine and create new ways to engineer functional test systems”

Tagline: “Imagine a better test solution”

Live Your Brand – Everyday. Everyway.

Building off the core ”brain” elements, The Hogg Foundation and TREW created and prioritized organizational goals, core values, and made their branding elements visible at all touch points in the organization through activities that included:

• 4 organizational goals and detailed recommendations
• Re-designed website with robust content management system and clear navigation
• E-newsletter template extending the web design brand experience
• Established core values embraced by The Hogg Foundation’s internal and external audiences

Starmount’s “brain” came to life with a custom, integrated 12 –month marketing strategy and activity plan, resulting in:

• Communications Brain used as messaging guide for primary company and product communication
• Consistency and efficiency gains by using Brain vs. reinventing messaging with each new activity
• Scalable and integrated mix of low- and high-cost media investments to generate demand

Once Alfamation’s core elements of the “brain” were developed, TREW integrated their branding across all marketing disciplines with a 12-month marketing plan, including:

• Website re-design which resulted in 100% increase of pages viewed from previous site

• Leveraging the company and product level positioning and messaging “brain” with the design and production of Alfamation’s booth at NI Week; developing their promotional strategy; and creating technical product brochures

• Compelling email marketing campaign that extended their trade show success, and generated a response rate 2.6 times greater than the industry average

At TREW Marketing, each of our Crew members bring professional experience, areas of expertise, and plenty of character. Here we spotlight two Crewers – Irene Bearly, Technical Marketing Manager; and Morgan Norris, Senior Communications Specialist – in an interview about their background, passions, and professional knowledge. They were both also featured in local Austin business publications – ABJ and the Statesman.

Irene Bearly, Technical Marketing Manager

Where are you from originally?

I’m from Houston, TX. My grandparents are from China, and parents are from Taiwan

What university did you go to?

Georgia Institute of Technology – I learned to not procrastinate, never give up, and enjoy sweet tea. GO Yellow Jackets!

What are your passions?

Jesus Christ, my family, reading, trying out new hobbies, which so far include video games, knitting, crocheting, photography, blogging, drawing, kayaking, and training my cat to perform dog tricks

What is your proudest achievement you’ve accomplished thus far?

Supporting my husband through thick and thin

What strengths do you bring to TREW Marketing?

I bring strong project management and multi-tasking skills, and the ability to research and pick up almost any technical topic and create marketable content out of it

In your opinion, what was the most successful marketing campaign you have worked on and why?

I suppose with would have to be the EtherCAT product launch I did with National Instruments because of several reasons:

1. The sheer scale of the launch. It was a global launch – where web content and press releases had to be created way in advance and translated into multiple languages simultaneously – and it involved many press meetings and customer meetings. Plus, it was featured in the keynote of NIWeek in a flashy demo that played the Superman theme with chimes and an accompanying LED light show.
2. Brand new technology: all the content and landing pages were brand new. I had to start from the ground up and actually explain what the technology was and how it worked. And I had to ensure we positioned NI as a leading technical expert in EtherCAT technology.
3. Delicate messaging: the NI EtherCAT product could potentially be seen as a red ocean product with a direct, entrenched competitor. So it was essential to get across its major differentiators and clearly communicate the NI value proposition compared with other EtherCAT products (like comparing apples and oranges)

What advice do you have for future marketers?

My best advice is to always know your client and your client’s audience.

Describe yourself in three words…

Adaptable, Organized, Joyful

Morgan Norris, Senior Communications Specialist

Where are you from originally?

I grew up in Houston, TX and London, England. Consequently, if you and I were to watch a film full of the usually-enigmatic British humor, I could explain the jokes to you. I consider this one of my strengths.

What university did you go to?

I attended the University of Texas with a BS in Public Relations, a BA in Spanish Language, and a Business minor

What are your passions?

I enjoy running and baking/eating baked goods – in which the former allows for the latter in my own life – and I love being able to cook and provide meals for families who need them

What is your proudest achievement you’ve accomplished thus far?

Professionally, in 2009, I managed the logistics and planning for a public relations press room at a large trade show. My team had upwards of 50 journalists flying in for the event and I had the privilege of informing, serving, and assisting those journalists along with our corporate executives for four days. In the end, the event resulted in record coverage and rave reviews from the press.

Personally, in 2010 I became the mother of a beautiful baby girl. She keeps my husband and me on our toes and I am honored to strive to raise her well. Each day is sort of an ongoing achievement.

What strengths do you bring to TREW Marketing?

Besides decoding British humor? I have an eye for copy editing and actually a love for consistency and creating corporate style guides that provide companies the opportunity for cohesive content. I have worked for many years with journalists in the science and engineering industries, and I’ve also continued to climb the steep and seemingly eternal learning curve of social media.

In your opinion, what was the most successful marketing campaign you have worked on and why?

The most successful campaign I have worked on was for Cyth Systems. The campaign was around their Circaflex product, and we were able to humanize the story by pitching to journalists the idea of how real lives and jobs had been changed by Cyth’s product. Taking a step back from technical specs and starting with the big-picture story of human life-change, we were able to secure press meetings at a large 2010 trade show.

What advice do you have for future marketers?

Seek to understand your audience. If you know who you’re talking to, it’s much easier to craft messages that can make an impact.

Also, the rules have changed – only one space should go after each period in your copy. Use two spaces and you’ll immediately date yourself!

Describe yourself in three words…

Learner, Catalyzer, Achiever

You can learn more about the TREW Crew, by visiting the About Us Section

E-mail marketing has grown to become the third largest type of direct marketing activity that businesses use to connect with their prospects and customers. The benefits are numerous:

• Efficient – the digital format allows you to change, tweak until you hit send
• Cost effective – no expensive postage, printing required
• Easy to measure – collect data to your heart’s desire
• Learn and tweak – with data, it’s easy to make tweaks and improvements for future campaigns

And yet, while email marketing has many benefits, it is a noisy channel. A report produced by technology market research firm The Radicati Group found that some 247 billion e-mails were sent each day in 2009. So you have to be smart, specific and succinct in your planning and execution.

This blog post will go through 6 easy steps to improve the performance of your next email marketing campaign. Part 1 will cover key metrics and steps 1-3, and Part 2 will cover – you guessed it – steps 4-6. We will reference a recent email campaign we did for our client following a August 2010 trade show where we followed these steps and saw a 43% open rate – far exceeding the industry average.

Key Metrics

When measuring the overall success of your e-mail campaign, two numbers among many to track are of particular importance:

• Open rate =  total number of opened e-mails divided by number of e-mails delivered (not including bounced e-mails)
• Click-through rate =  number of contacts who clicked on a link in the e-mail message divided by number of contacts who opened the e-mail

According to Marketing Sherpa, among business-to-business marketing efforts, the average open rate ranges between 15 and 18%, while the average click-through rate ranges between 10 and 13%. Looking more specifically, here are some benchmarks to consider by type of businesss:

Email marketing metrics by segment (Constant Contact, August 2010)

Recently TREW Marketing developed and executed an e-mail campaign for a products and services customer as a primary follow-up to leads from a trade show. As mentioned, the client and TREW were very pleased with the results, including an open rate of 43% and a 28% click-through rate.

So how did we do it? Following are the first three of 6 easy steps to improve your email campaigns, generate leads and ultimately drive revenue.

Step #1: Choose Your Target Audience Wisely

Your target audience directly impacts how you shape your message.  Whether you are mining your existing database or working off of a list of new contacts, make sure your message is compelling for your audience.  The more you know about the audience – their title, location, job level and responsibilities, application details, purchasing cycle, etc – the more compelling and relevant your message can be.

In the case of our client’s e-mail campaign, the audience was a specific group of contacts who had recently visited their trade show booth. We knew what products they were interested in during the booth qualification, and we knew they would recognize our client’s name in the e-mail “from” field.

Step #2: Actionable, Compelling Subject Line

What is the carrot you can dangle in front of your audience so they’ll bite? A driving factor in the success of your e-mail campaign is the subject line, and it’s many times the hardest part because it must be short. A rule of thumb is to keep your subject line as close to 35 characters as possible (and yes, that includes spaces). Studies have shown open rates fall off after 35 characters.

It also must be specific, compelling and actionable, using action verbs to start. For example, “Download an ERP software demo” is better than “Learn about our software.” The latter is too general and doesn’t tell a recipient specifically what they will get when they open, resulting in a lower open rate.

With our email, the subject line announced the winner of an iPad from the trade show booth raffle, “Announcing the NIWeek iPad Winner”. It’s short – 33 characters. And by using the drawing to drive interest, 43% of those emailed opened, in part to find out if they won.

Step #3: Offer Compelling Content

From step #1, you now know your audience and what they care about. Now you can craft your e-mail campaign to more effectively drive them to take action. What do you have to offer your audience?  Interesting web content,  downloadable demos, a webcast, or a technical white paper? Providing a few key calls-to-action that appeal to a varying degree of interest (ready to buy vs. still learning) improves the chances of them taking action.

Congratulations! You’ve made it through the first half of your steps to a 43% email open rate – choosing your audience carefully, crafting a short, compelling subject line, and identifying relevant calls-to-action.  Visit TREW Marketing Spotlight next week to learn steps 4-6, or contact TREW Marketing immediately to begin your next email marketing campaign.

Which event attracts over 3,000 of the world’s brightest engineers, educators, and scientists from around the world each year? Answer: NIWeek – a premier event on graphical system design organized by National Instruments.

TREW clients Alfamation and Cyth Systems participated throughout NIWeek, from the keynotes to technical sessions and the exhibit floor. TREW Marketing put our events and PR hats on to help with the wide breadth of marketing planning and execution at the show.

Alfamation

A key event of Alfamation’s 12–month marketing plan, developed by TREW Marketing, was planning and executing participation at NIWeek and showcasing three new product launches:

• SuperNova – a Test Development Software for NI TestStand
• FlexMedia VA-01 – a PXI-based high-speed LVDS HD Video BER Analysis module
• FlexMedia AM-01 – a PXI-based  automotive infotainment test module

Alfamation logo designed by TREW Marketing

TREW created technical product brochures and flyers for Alfamation’s products – SuperNova, FlexMedia VA-01, VG-01 and FlexMedia AM-01.

With years of trade show experience, we planned and executed the trade show marketing, from designing and producing Alfamation’s booth to developing the promotion strategy for driving traffic to the booth – one of them being iPad give aways for the NI sales force and NIWeek participants. Members of the TREW Crew helped staff the booth and bring energy and excitement to encourage attendees to stop in.

Alfamation and the TREW Crew also enjoyed showcasing the new products during in-person meetings with editors from some leading trade magazines -ECN Magazine, Photonics Spectra, Electronic Products, Desktop Engineering, and Evaluation Engineering.

Alfamation engineers leading product demonstrations in the booth at NIWeek

The Alfamation and TREW team effort paid off, with total leads exceeding set goals, new sales opportunities identified, and productive meetings with top-tier press throughout the week.

Cyth Systems

Cyth Systems had some very big news to share at NIWeek, and hired TREW Marketing to help. With a short time to build and execute the strategy, TREW worked with Cyth to position and launch their new product Circaflex – a low-cost, ready-to-use embedded control system for Life Sciences applications, such as bioprocess, biomedical, and biotech. The product was strategically launched around NIWeek so that Circaflex could be positioned at NIWeek and presented to key partners and customers.

TREW Marketing created various collateral elements for the product launch:

• 1-Pager for parnter sales force on how Cyth’s domain expertise can be leveraged in product marketing
• One page flyer detailing product features, key applications, and benefits
• Presentation slides to succinctly introduce Circaflex for to customers, partners, and press

Cyth Systems Circaflex Product Flyer

TREW also implemented various PR activities for Cyth such as improving web visibility and SEO, and pitching targeted in-person press meetings.

Leading trade magazines Cyth Systems’ met with during NIWeek to share more about their new Circaflex embedded controller.

Some other marketing activities that TREW executed for Cyth were:

• Developed a compelling customer testimonial for use in booth, online, and in parnter sales and marketing meetings
• Wrote and distributed Circaflex product launch press release
• Worked with NI to add Circaflex to 3^rd party partner website

Cyth and Alfamation Announcements Featured on ni.com

In addition to developing and executing the marketing plans for its customers, TREW was directly represented at NIWeek by co-founders Rebecca Geier and Wendy Covey, who presented the 5 Most Important Marketing Investments to an audience comprising small to medium-sized engineering product and service companies globally. The 5 investments highlighted during the presentation were – Website, Content and Collateral, Search Engine Marketing, Co-Partnering, and e-newsletters.  Read more about this presentation at the Building Stronger Partners blog, published by Jack Barber, NI Alliance Program Manager.

As the fall trade show season approaches, contact TREW Marketing to discuss how we might help your organization develop and execute a targeted product launch and trade show strategy.

In technical B2B markets, oftentimes through manufacturer and industry conferences, there are associated technical paper contests that recognize outstanding applications in a variety of categories. Participating in these technical contests are great opportunities with potential to bring strong awareness to your company and solution, including onsite and web promotion, opportunities to present your work, and visibility with technical trade editors, who are always looking for new and interesting applications to share with their readers.

In addition to all these benefits, another is the very low-cost. Many paper contests are free to participate in. Your only costs really are your and/or your staff’s time to work with your customer to write and edit drafts, and any costs associated with related images. These may be screen shots that cost nothing other than time for touch-up; in some cases, it may require a professional photographer to capture photos of the system or application area, which does raise your costs. However, this is a good investment because you can re-use these application shots throughout the rest of your marketing, including on the web, in sales presentations, at events, and with the press.

In addition to paper contests, there are also many opportunities to present technical presentations at industry trade shows and company user conferences. Examples include company events such as SolidWorks World or industry-wide conferences such as Embedded Systems Conference, with events held around the world throughout the year. One that was just held just last week in Austin, Texas, the Graphical System Design Achievement Awards at NIWeek, included categories such as Mechatronics, Robotics and Control; Embedded Design; and Communications and Wireless.

A big congratulations goes out to TREW customer Cal-Bay Systems of San Rafael, California, for taking first place in the Production Automated Test Equipment (ATE) category. Their paper, Building a Reconfigurable Motor Life Test System for Medical Device Test Powered by FPGA, details their work for a leading medical device manufacturer to test  “the heart of an insulin pump product – the motor.”

Next time you introduce a new product or secure a customer win, leverage that hard work by turning that success into an educational (non-salesy) presentation, with sufficient technical facts, technology trends, and helpful hints. And be sure to plan ahead – often the call for papers closes months in advance of the event.

Need help creating a paper contest entry?  Call on TREW Marketing to project manage, edit, and promote your outstanding technical application.

With one of the most popular trade show and conferences in the science and engineering space, NIWeek, coming up next week here in Austin, we at TREW Marketing put together a list of five proven methods for marketing to a technical audience. With all those leads you’re going to get from the show, you now have to make sure you are set up to work them.

This is by no means an end-all, be-all list, but in our view, the “must-haves” in any technical marketing program.

1. Engineers + Google = Love

2. Webcasts – a win-win for all

3. Timely, accurate technical content

4. Engineers like pictures too

5. Your customers say it all

After you read the post, be sure to VOTE on the type of marketing you’ve found most effective to reaching engineers and scientists.

1. Engineers + Google = Love. Numerous studies from trade journals and engineering-centric companies how shown time and again that they primary way engineers find information and seek answers to problems is through search engines. Engineers rely heavily upon search engines because they are the fastest and most convenient ways to seek specific information. From learning about a new standard affecting their design to seeking possible system-level component solutions, engineers are using search engines throughout the development process to find the information and products they need. So, what can you do to ensure your products and services are easily and precisely found on search engines?

• Create a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plan.  Set goals for your presence on search engines and identify keywords you want to own.
• Optimize your website for search.  This includes organizing your site around the desired search terms, programmatic changes such as page titles and metatagging, and “look at me” submissions to major search engines.
• Purchase targeted, uncrowded search terms (e.g., Google Adwords). Start with Google, which owns a commanding 65% of search market share, and Yahoo, which is strong in areas such as local search, but pay attention to the active search engine industry battles, such as Microsoft’s new Bing engine that is taking Google head-on.
• Monitor your results frequently — your competition might be quick to respond and before you know it, your rank or ad placement may have weakened.

If done thoughtfully and monitored regularly, natural search engine optimization and paid advertising can be a powerful, efficient lead generator for your business.

2. Webcasts – a win-win.  It is no wonder that webcasts have exploded in popularity among the engineering community over the past decade – companies, trade magazines, and event trade show organizers now offer them as another venue for engineers to gather information.  And it’s obvious why – they are win-win for the end-user and the organizations. For users, webcasts are convenient – engineers can “attend” right from their desk or as a team in a conference room.  They are accessible – engineers just log in and are immediately listening, and void of the burdensome in-person social encounter or phone call with sales departments that some engineers would rather avoid.  And they can be interactive – webcast hosts often offer Q&A opportunities during the event.

For you, the webcast host, the benefits are also many: online events are highly cost effective when compared to physical events, the reach is broader, and while the live webcast is interactive, the session can be archived on your website and used as a lead generator for months to come.  Software demonstrations and videos of hardware/systems (even remote control of systems) can be achieved on any of the major webcast tools available today, reducing the need for costly demo equipment and shipping. Webcasts work best when part of an integrated marketing campaign.  For example, they can be a strong follow up action for people who attended your booth at NIWeek or another trade show, or a dynamic way to “demo” a feature of your product to prospects who’ve shown interest from a previous activity.

3. Timely, accurate technical content. Earlier, we talked about engineers’ preference to seek out their own information, and that search engines are hands-down the primary means they use to find this content. But what are they seeking? Most of the time, engineers and scientists are researching specific product or service types, product features, specifications, how-to articles, etc. (they are also seeking examples from  others who have done their application before, which we talk about in #5 below).

Therefore, it is critical that you provide timely, accurate information about your products and services, including tested and reliable specifications, comparison charts, and visual graphs showing a variety of performance results. Technical content can also focus on trends in certain industries or applications, or can detail tips and techniques for solving certain technical challenges. Here are some nice examples to review and get ideas. By providing this kind of content, you can become a technical resource for your customers and prospects, increasing customer loyalty as well as your chances of converting prospects when they are ready to buy.

As a sidenote, because technical content is very high-quality and of high value to engineers, you can turn this type of content into a lead-generating area of your website as well and have on-hand at your show booth. So you not only provide quality information, but you also help your SEO and generate leads.

4. Engineers like pictures too. I know this comes as a surprise, but engineers and scientists are human too…they like to look at pictures just like the rest of the us. As Dan Roam explains in his book, “Back of the Napkin“, pictures are the best way to communicate and therefore the best for solving problems. As a result, you can greatly improve the readability and comprehension of your technical content by having interesting images accompany your technical content. This can come in the form of photos of application shots, product shots up close or in action, graphs or charts showing performance levels or time-based results, flow charts explaining a system or process (such as the one below showing the process that is followed to wake up in the morning), tables, or even a video.

As I have said before in this blog, and will continue to say, interesting, relevant and high quality images, such as those listed above, can turn everyday content into great content by adding dynamic imagery to help education and explain your topic.

5. Your customers say it all. As with any type of purchase, the opinions and experiences of our friends and colleagues weigh heavily on our own purchase decisions. Except for a small few who want to be first to try the newest thing (the left side of the bell curve image below), most people, and especially engineers and scientists working in critical application areas with very little room for error, prefer products and services that are tried and proven. As Geoffrey Moore outlined in his book, Crossing the Chasm, for the early majority who represent the beginning of the mainstream market, “good references are critical to their buying decisions.”

A good reference can be a simple quote from a well-known company or a detailed case study covering the technical challenges of the application, how it was solved, and the qualitative and quantitative benefits that the new system or service delivered.

By focusing on these five methods of marketing consistently and over the long-term, you will be on your way to building a robust marketing program that engineers and scientists will find valuable, and ultimately, will respond to.