Boomm Marketing & Communications

Set your tone at the top

editor — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:27:59 +0000

This week, we joined our friends at Women’s Foodservice Forum for an interesting discussion regarding diversity hiring and promotions in the workplace. The speaker reinforced the concept that a company’s “tone at the top” does more to promote critical missions throughout the organization than any other tactic in play. In other words, up and down the corporate structure, employees are impacted when they see top leadership leading by example.

This is also true from a marketing perspective. Employees who witness their bosses acting as brand protectors and brand ambassadors are likely to follow their example. Some of the ways that management can demonstrate good brand practice:

- define a clear mission statement and message map

- create branded presentation materials — and use them

- post, blog, network and tweet from your branded perspective

Looking for more ways to promote consistent branding throughout your organization?

Check out our portfolio of case studies and read how we’ve set the tone for consistent brand messaging for some of our clients.

Boomm Marketing & Communications again recognized as a Top Agency by BtoB Magazine

editor — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:39:26 +0000

La Grange, IL – Boomm Marketing & Communications, a full service advertising, marketing services and public relations agency specializing in business-to-business integrated communications and inbound marketing technology, has once again been named to BtoB Magazine’s prestigious list of Top Agencies for 2012. This marks the third consecutive year that Boomm has made the list, which recognizes excellence in B2B marketing strategy and agency growth.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a leading agency that delivers market-changing solutions to our clients,” commented Boomm CEO, Gary Mattes. “Boomm is well positioned to grow our business serving B2B clients in a variety of industries. This past year, we’ve built upon our strong roots in the food industry by partnering with National Pasteurized Eggs and OSI Group and expanded our relationship with Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products. We’re also seeing considerable growth in our technology and manufacturing categories, having partnered with new clients including Magnetrol and Kelpac Medical.”

In addition to client growth, Boomm has been recognized for adding to its marketing capabilities. The agency has recently launched an inbound marketing platform that enables clients to drive new leads and conversions through the purchase funnel.

About Boomm Marketing & Communications
Located in LaGrange, Illinois, Boomm Marketing & Communications is a strategic integrated business-to-business marketing communications agency dedicated to building brands and boomming business. Boomm offers expertise in brand strategy, advertising, public relations, digital engagement, social media and inbound marketing and has been helping B2B marketers create relationships with their audiences for more than 15 years. Boomm’s clients include leading companies in the manufacturing, food, ingredient, materials and technology sectors. For more information, visit www.boomm.com or call 1-708-352-9700.

Learn to set actionable campaign goals and better your chances to hit the target.

editor — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:50:42 +0000

As an agency partnered with B2B marketers, Boomm is constantly working to deliver successful campaigns to our clients. We’re focused on identifying the right metrics and measuring the right outcomes to ensure success and to that end, we’re using a customizable dashboard that allows us to track engagements — from clicks and traffic to inquiries and lead nurturing.

This week, we came across an excellent article shared by the folks at MarketingProfs that explores how to define your key goals. GIve it a read, set your goals and measure your success.

Boomm measures outcomes with a customizable dashboard.

Evolve your trade show presence with simple technology features.

editor — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:22:35 +0000

In foodservice marketing, the National Restaurant Association show is the premiere event where thousands of buyers, vendors and the press descend on one of the busiest trade show floors in the business. It’s one of Boomm’s favorite annual events and it’s got us thinking of ways that our clients can evolve their trade show presence, and stand out from the pack, using simple, affordable technology features. Here are a couple of ideas you can easily put in place to enhance your trade show presence:

Pre-show outreach - before you even head to the event, reach out to your prime customers to set up appointments or announce your booth presence. Contact the show for attendee lists and upgrade your message to feature online postcards, mailable videos or interactive surveys and contests.
Post, tweet and connect - during the show, make regular announcements or even run a “special” to drive traffic to your booth. Follow Twitter hash tags for the show to find and interact with attendees.
Replace brochures - You’ll likely be bringing brochures and samples to hand out to attendees. Consider using an iPad to replace some of those materials with digital showpieces. You can also develop an app (it’s easier than you might think) that visitors to your booth can download to their own mobile devices and take with them.

Planning to attend or exhibit at the NRA show this May? Send us a note, and let’s get together to share ideas!

Generating content for inbound marketing: remove the roadblocks.

editor — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:55:50 +0000

Marketers across the board are seeing the value of inbound marketing as a way of generating quality sales leads. Are you on board? If so, great! If not, what’s preventing you?

If you’re stymied by the thought of generating good, quality content that your customers will want you’re not alone. According to #B2BChat, a weekly B2B marketing chat on Twitter, content creation is the core challenge of developing an effective inbound marketing program.

Don’t allow content creation to become a roadblock for your program. Here are three simple ideas to generate content that effectively converts prospects into leads:

Audit your resources for content that’s already on your shelves. Think of reports, case studies and research that can be repurposed into an offer.

Subscribe to niche publications and industry resources to re-post compelling offerings. Be sure to credit your sources.

Think video. Give your customers a look at the processes and people that make your sales proposition unique. Video indexes highly in search and trends show online video consumption on the rise in the workplace.

Looking for more ideas? Check out this case study from the B2B Lead Roundtable that shows how one Telecom firm successfully executed content marketing to convert leads into sales.

Boomm Marketing & Communications is making an impact for National Pasteurized Eggs.

editor — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:23:13 +0000

We’re pleased to welcome National Pasteurized Eggs to our roster of client partners.

NPE is a leader in foodservice, provider of the The Safest Choice™ pasteurized shell eggs for foodservice.

Look for our latest campaign promoting Safest Choice(TM) pasteurized shell eggs in leading foodservice publications and websites this month. It’s making quite an impact!

Boomm's "Impact" campaign for National Pasteurized Eggs

Still searching for the most effective terms to drive B2B traffic?

editor — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:48:18 +0000

Marketers know that finding the most relevant terms is key when it comes to search engine optimization and keyword advertising. For B2B marketers, it’s especially important to identify keywords that are highly resonant and effectively attract customers. Here are a few ideas that will help you zero in on the best terms.

Think like an outsider – Brainstorm for terms that are very close to your customers’ needs, not just for terms that are meaningful from your own purview. For example, words that are central to the customers’ work process are more effective than your own brand names or product titles.
Use social media to listen to industry conversations and identify the vernacular your industry pros use to conduct their searches.
Review your web analytics for referring search traffic. You may be surprised to discover niche segments. For example, do you know what percent of your site traffic is coming from mobile search? You should.
Finally, check out your competitors. Evaluate their choices and make comparisons to your own keyword set.

Searching for more? Lookhere to discover how BtoB Magazine identifies the most important aspects of Search Marketing.

Pinterest for B2B

editor — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:20:00 +0000

You’ve heard of Pinterest. It’s the social media tool that people use to “pin” interesting items to a virtual bulletin board, sharing them with friends and followers. It’s quickly gaining popularity and despite the fact that Pinterest is still invite-only, this month they surpassed Twitter as a generator of referral traffic.

With all that momentum behind it, marketers should be wondering how to harness those referrals and turn them into customer engagement. Here are some easy ways B2B marketers can get Pinterested.

- By design, Pinterest exists to connect individuals with a shared interest. Fill your pin-board with details that are too specific for broader media.

- Because posts take the form of images, Pinterest is especially appealing to visual thinkers. Catch the attention of busy executives who are knee-deep in email and written text with creative product shots, charts or graphics.

- Connect a Pinterest Campaign to all of your existing social media outposts and use its strength as a referral source to drive traffic to your website.

- Grab hold of your brand before somebody else does. In these early days of a new social medium, squatters are known to use brand names to represent themselves.

Looking for inspiration? Read this interview with Staples and learn how they are pulling together industry dialogue and building customer engagement on Pinterest.

Staples uses its Pinterest page to post photos and promote products.

Put a fresh (smart!) face on your business.

editor — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:12:42 +0000

Encourage employees to maintain current profiles and let your talent shine.

Many corporate websites today give readers a chance to “meet the team” through profile pages that blend professional background with snippets of personal information and photos. What’s the business value and how far should you take the trend?

Including profile pages on your site is your first chance to present the human face of your company. Whether you’re recruiting new employees or making a new business pitch, people will be more interested in working with a smart team that is dedicated to the company – and shows it.

Encourage your team to network and highlight their experience on LinkedIn, where every employee is a brand ambassador. With a robust Company page as the backdrop, you can amplify your thought leadership position and build your brand. In fact, a growing number of marketing departments distribute helpful tips that gently guide employees toward an effective profile page. Tips might include ways to create a compelling profile, relevant groups to join and even suggested posts that demonstrate company strengths.

Wherever you show the face of the company, remember your employees have control over how they are presented to their colleagues. Provide staff with a guideline to follow that is professional and consistent, but don’t attempt to hijack their personal information.

Oh, and don’t forget to maintain your own profile. Ready? Set? Smile!

Use cross-channel campaigns to target top executives worldwide.

editor — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:22:53 +0000

In the B2B marketplace, reaching top decision makers is often critical to making the sale, but breaking through with your message can be difficult. New research from the Financial Times and Doremus indicates that top-ranking executives in the Americas, Europe and Asia are consuming media 24/7 to stay informed and that they are using multiple formats including digital,social media and print.

The lesson here is that cross-channel brand and advertising campaigns are still the most effective way to reach global executives. Additional findings include:

Respondents who read traditional print publications do so, for the most part, in printed formats. Those under age 45 were more likely to read online.
Executives are viewing online videos for both work-related and leisure purposes.
More than two-thirds of executives use mobile devices, including tablets and smartphones, to check news and visit websites, among other activities.

Here is how the media consumption breaks down: