The core underlying vision for B2Bbloggers is to be an online magazine for B2B marketers by B2B marketers. One of the ways we are delivering on that vision is through interviews with B2B marketers.
We started with an interview of CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett of Kodak. In the interview, he shared his thoughts on the importance the role of social media plays for Kodak in connecting with their customers in a personal way. This time around I had the opportunity to interview Stacey Hollaran, Corporate Marketing & Communications Executive at SMC³.
In our interview, Stacey talks about SMC³’s investment in Information Architecture as they re-engineer their web site, the role print advertising is playing for SMC³, and there very practical entry into social media with LinkedIn. Enjoy!
Jeremy: Tell me a little about yourself and your role at SMC³.
Stacey: I am a B2B technology marketer by profession, meaning that I do not associate myself with a specific industry; instead, I’m focused on creating buzz about technologies that work within any given industry. That being said, I have been with SMC³ for 8 ½ years now, and the industry our technology serves is transportation and supply chain. My role here has changed and morphed over the years as I’ve built a team of outstanding professionals who support all aspects of marketing communications for the company. Currently my role largely involves overall strategic planning, content marketing and brand awareness.
Jeremy: Give me a brief description of your company and number of people in the marketing department.
Stacey: SMC³ is a leading provider of data, technology and education as an integrated solution to the freight transportation community. Our solutions are mostly niche to the less-than-truckload (LTL) space, even more specifically the pricing component. So, when someone ships something from point A to point B by truck, our pricing technology—which determines how much it will cost and how long it will take to get there—is often involved.
Our marketing team is 6 people strong. We have two creative professionals who are focused on layout and design (print and online) and we are currently looking to hire one more in this area. We have a person who specializes in our seminar and conference event campaigns and we have a person who is dedicated to marketing research, database marketing and vertical marketing campaigns. Finally, we have a content writer and myself.
Jeremy: Read any good business books lately?
Stacey: I’m currently reading “All Business is show Business: Strategies for Earning Standing Ovations from your Customers and Employees.” (McKain). I’m always looking for books and blogs related to best practices in the art and science of marketing. This book is a good refresher on keeping your eye on your KSPs and engaging employees, customers and prospects with your message.
Jeremy: Is 2010 optimistic or pessimistic relative the economy and recession for SMC³?
Stacey: 2010 has gotten off to a great start! We just held our 2010 Winter conference (January 19-20 in Atlanta) and the attendance was back to above pre-recession levels. The overall economic mood at the conference—which brought together professionals in all aspects of supply chain to discuss industry trends, economic forecasts and legislative issues—was positive, at the very least “cautiously optimistic.”
Jeremy: Start with the basics, what are your primary objectives of your marketing in 2010?
Stacey: Our big goal for 2010 is a complete overhaul of our company Web site, www.smc3.com. I believe that Web sites should be overhauled (navigation, layout & design) every 3-5 years. Our site is due as it was last overhauled in 2004. By completing this overhaul we will bring our site visitors a more robust interaction with us through enhanced informational content delivery and sharing capabilities. We will also have more comprehensive measurement and tracking capabilities.
Jeremy: Are you doing anything new to achieve that goal?
Stacey: We have invested in an Information Architect (IA) to help us reconstitute our site and incorporate the latest in Web 2.0 (and Web 3.0 in some cases). The site will be rich in content, which of course has to be generated and marketed (via all the appropriate channels) on a regular basis.
Jeremy: Now your marketing mix, what’s it look like for 2010?
Stacey: First let me say that I believe today good marketing is a mix of traditional and new media. That being said the SMC³ marketing mix is definitely increasing in the online arena. We are a small company so we don’t throw big money at SEO campaigns or anything of the like, but we do work to keep our site optimized under the hood. Also, we’ve found that online video is quite a good selling tool for us, so we will be spending more money there in the coming year.
Jeremy: Are your customers still reading trade publications? Where does print fall into your marketing mix?
Stacey: Yes, our customers still read trade publications. We’ve found that some have migrated to reading the “digital editions” while others still prefer holding a print publication in their hands. (They like to take it on the plane with them, pass it along at the office, etc.)
Jeremy: So that is why you continue advertising in print?
Stacey: Yes, you got it, we still advertise in print because: 1) a portion of our customer demographic still prefers it, and 2) it promotes “cross-pollination” and recall. Additionally, most of the publications we deal with duplicate their print and digital editions, so we’re getting a “2 for 1” deal, in effect.
Jeremy: Are you using any marketing automation software?
Stacey: We have tools that automate certain processes, for example mass emails. But we do not currently have a comprehensive “marketing automation” system in place.
Jeremy: What’s the “social” status at SMC³? Are you trying social media marketing or becoming a social business?
Stacey: Organizationally we have begun at the level of LinkedIn. The Groups feature of LinkedIn enables our subject matter experts (SMEs) to join in on conversations and lend their thoughts. We market our company through the company feature and we also rely on the site heavily for employee recruitment. We made use of LinkedIn DirectAds for our last conference campaign and it was quite successful. We utilized the free Events feature as well to virally promote the event.
Jeremy: What initiatives (if any) are underway? If not, why not?
Stacey: I am pitching an initiative that involves extending our Press Room to Twitter. There is a large supply chain contingent on Twitter, although it is mostly fellow thought leaders and technology alliances. Therefore, we felt the best place to start there was to reach out to the industry pundits and media with a branded page that releases news bytes.
Jeremy: Do you have a formal social media policy?
Stacey: No; however, certain social sites are simply “blocked” in our workplace network.
So there it is, an interview with a B2B marketer whose dealing with and experiencing all the issues and challenges of our times. Quite interesting was it to learn, trade pubs matter (in this industry), some social sites are blocked at the office, and good old marketing comes down to “a mix of traditional and new media.”
To connect with Stacey you can find her on LinkedIn and on Twitter at @mktb2b. B2Bbloggers thanks you Stacey and we wish you continued success.
