Marketing For the Integration Firm: It Ain’t What it Used To Be

Integration firm marketing has become complex thanks to audience analytics, social media strategies and content distribution.

Tom LeBlanc

For AVI that means blogs, articles, case studies, white papers and increasingly video. Creating short, compelling, informative videos that help prospective customers quickly understand integrated solutions available to them is a clear focus for many integration firm marketers.

“Video has never been as important as it is now,” says Gale, adding that having those videos to put in front of targets and for prospective customers to find via Google searches is at least as important as a company home page. Meanwhile, social media plays a big role in how integration firms not only push out that content but in nurturing a long-term conversation that reinforces their value.

“Social media is not supposed to be just a push platform,” Osowski says. “We’re supposed to be creating a dialogue. That will enable us to be more of a partner and less of a lecturer, if you will.”

There are plenty of folks in the integration industry that scoff at company resources being spent on social media, but that point of view is poised for extinction.

“Social media is very important,” Civitillo says. “It’s difficult for people like me because I have to depend on the new generation and understand that and leverage that. It’s a great tool to build thought leadership and trust [and] a great way to build a following so we can support our marketing programs.”

Meade, who taught social media classes for integrators at InfoComm 2013 and InfoComm 2014 and hosts the AV Social podcast for AV Nation, agrees that social media can make an impact in tying marketing objectives together.

“I’m a big believer in ‘quality will win out in the end,'” she says. “At the end of the day people are looking for quality. Customers that recognize that are the ones we want. So establishing yourself as an expert on social media is a way to do that.”

Related: To Chase New Clients or Tap Into Existing Ones?

Of course, social media communication can backfire, too. “It’s also a very dangerous mechanism, so you have to be very aware of managing the message, not just what you’re putting out but what others are putting out about you,” Civitillo advises.

For Greene, a 35-year veteran of the integration industry, what he puts out on social media is an extension of his “free but formal” personality as he describes it. “This is a business. You’re going to tell your capabilities and strengths and you’re going to keep it formal and straightforward,” he says. “The other side where I show my personality and snarkiness is good too. Social media is really about engagement with the customer. There is no difference between me tweeting something in 140 characters and telling a joke on a golf course while I also talk business.”

The next step in the evolution of integration business social media ought to be finding a way to link it to a sales lead, says Gale, speculating that it will be easier to do so within a couple of years. “Companies that don’t have social media presence now will be behind when we figure that out.”

Where You Know

Even while embracing social media, gravitating to video communication and focusing on strategic content distribution, most integration firm marketers haven’t given up on all traditional platforms. Net-AV embraces advertising by targeting mar-ket-specific publications that serve its target audiences.

Many firms, including Net-AV and Alpha Video & Audio, value face-to-face communication with clients at market-specific tradeshows. An increasing number of firms, including AVI-SPL, Whitlock, AVI Systems and countless others, have launched their own customer-focused open house-type events.

As for what platforms work best in 2015, who knows?

For one thing, “It depends on where they are in the buying cycle,” Civitillo says. “When you build your marketing plan you have to understand what the buying process is [for the client] and who is involved, so it’s timing and customized content for the particular person at the right place. When we market, we market across that cycle and process.”

That includes distributing content through targeted media sites, leveraging social media and direct phone or email communication, she adds.

“But really the best platform for anybody is face to face,” Civitillo adds, “so we’re active in tradeshows and run our own open-house events. If we can touch some-body before meeting them face to face, that’s where we’re going to be successful and make the seller’s job that much easier.”

Simple as that. Yet not the least bit simple.

Next: Will Social and Business Video Intersect in the Future?

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