The remnants of Ike that left us without power also left me with some time to catch up on reading. One of my favorites was a short blurb from a Marketing Sherpa article that’s been collecting dust on my desk for a few months. If engineers are your audience (in our space that’s most often the case), here are some tips on how to effectively win their admiration and, ultimately, their recommendation or purchase.

The Basics

1. Optimize for search engines. I’ll add that you should not ignore pay-per-click entirely as this still accounts for roughly 20% of the search crowd. But definitely focus your efforts and resources on a prominent listing (page 1 best case, page 2 worst case) in the organic results. I know – obvious, Eifert, but trust me, there are many who still don’t feel this merits their attention.
2. Don’t forget Specialist Search Engines. I’ll debate MarketingSherpa on this one. I don’t have the research, but I have the clients who are disappointed in results from any search engine other than Google or Yahoo! I won’t name the names, but I’d only look at these options if your looking for a good quantity of leads, not good quality leads.
3. Offer a free sample. I couldn’t agree more. If you’re confident it works and it’s economically feasible to get your product in the prospects’ hands, then by all means, get it out there. Just be careful to make sure your list is highly relevant and targeted to ensure the best possible results.
4. Don’t forget traditional advertising. The trade publications will tell you this still works and, in many cases, research says it does. Machine Design runs plenty of reports that show your audience is still reading their ads. My only advice would be to use an integrated approach that takes advantage of the PR aspects of trade media. Get those case studies, white papers and feature stories published. If you want an engineer’s trust or recommendation, show them it already worked for one of their peers.
5. Make sure your Web site is information rich. Give them specifications, drawings and anything else that makes it simple to specify and procure your product or solution.

The Not-so-basics

1. Consider a referral strategy that utilizes your engineer customers as your advocates. These can take on many shapes and sizes and that’s a whole other posting. I’d be interested in any great case studies of which others are aware.
2. Start looking at blogs and forums. These media are increasingly important for engineers to find recommendations and complaints about products. Monitor and participate in industry forums and start a blog strategy to make sure your voice is heard.
3. Reduce the hype. Don’t let your ad agency over-pitch your product if engineers are the audience. I’m an engineer. Trust me – it’s a turn-off. Show them your solution works by credibly making your claim and make it easy for them to try it or specify it.