Over my twenty years as a business owner, I have had to change business practices a number of times to stay current. Most recently, this included a new approach to our website, learning to use social media and now – digital marketing.
Digital Serendipity
As we were looking at the investment and effectiveness in our marketing efforts around our new mobilePLUS solution, it felt like something missing. While getting some visibility and interest, it felt like we were pulling teeth for marginal gains. Then, through a couple random activities, we got to experience and understand firsthand the power of digital marketing.
Part of our education in social media and digital marketing came to us from a variety of seminars (& nice lunches) that were hosted by Evolve Digital Labs. Evolve is part of the select group of Premier Plus Google Partner Agencies – and is actually located here in St. Louis. Last November, they hosted another seminar that focused on B2B business practices and exposed us to a number of new ideas in this market. Many of the issues and data discussed were in line with our new product launch challenges.
The end of November also brought us the launch of a joint marketing effort with Honeywell Safety & Productivity Solutions and BlueStar Appware Solutions. That program was our first exposure to this approach. While the target market of that digital campaign was relatively small, it has produced remarkable results – over 60 leads in the first six weeks!
Having both of these events show up concurrently – when there was a need – reminds me of a quote my partner often said:
“Good luck is when hard work meets opportunity!”
Taking Action
So as we start 2019, we have engaged Evolve to guide us through our first major digital marketing initiative. I’m a firm believer in leveraging experts when dealing with business needs outside of your core business (after all, we’re an ISV – not a marketing agency). What Evolve brings will be faster program development and better utilization of our time & money. Not a bad combination, huh?
On top of the better results we think this approach gives us, I think it will also have a good impact on my team’s travel and time requirements. Most of us that have been in the IT business over the years have worn out our enthusiasm for hotel / airline perks and meals out.
This approach to market messaging also makes us re-think how we develop those interested in our solution into happy customers. That offers its own nuances and challenges. But that is another topic for another post.
Even though I’m in the early stages of learning about digital marketing and how it works- it is an adventure & I’m looking forward to experiencing more. There are some overwhelming things (like how specific Google & LinkedIn ad engines work) – but it is definitely the right direction for us and one that I believe will have a tremendous contribution to our 2019 success.
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Wes Haubein is the President of HL Group, Inc., a premier provider of mobile asset inventory management, RFID and supply chain solutions. He writes regularly about management, solution integration and technology.
