Commercial Integrator February 2021 - 22

BUSINESS Marketing
MARKETING
MATTERS AND
INTEGRATORS
SHOULD TAKE NOTE
How much thought have you given to your integration
firm's marketing efforts? Total Tech Summit session
highlights the importance. By Jonathan Blackwood
MARKETING MAY NOT COME EASY to integrators.
If you were to audit the marketing
efforts of different firms you'd find varying
strategies. Some marketing strategies are
bare bones, others are a major business
focus, but the majority fall somewhere in
the middle.
All integration firms could stand to put
more emphasis on their marketing efforts.
While installations can speak for themselves,
and word of mouth can help to land
deals, it falls to integration firms to ensure
that stellar installations are seen and that
it doesn't fall to customers to spread the
good word of your organization.
" Your culture and intentions eventually
become the experience of your customer, "
said Gina Sansivero, VP of marketing
and corporate communications for
AtlasIED, in a recent Total Tech Summit
session.
" What does your customer experience
look like and what do you want it to look
like? Are those two aligned? Marketing will
help you get there, " she said. " When you
have really strong culture for your organization,
that becomes the springboard for a
lot of what will end up engaging potential
clients and current clients. "
Word of mouth alone is not enough for
integration firms to significantly grow. It
takes effort on the integration firm's part to
gain visibility. Really, marketing efforts are
beneficial on two ends; good marketing
22
helps former customers remember you,
and potential customers discover you.
Engagement
Integrators need to engage with clients to
stay top of mind when that client may need
a new installation. They also need engaging
content that people want to read, watch,
or listen to.
" Things like newsletters are relatively easy
to do, " says Sansivero. " Educational and
promotional content within newsletters that
go out quarterly or monthly. Not something
that is so frequent that your customers get
sick of hearing from you, but there's definitely
a balance and this is easy content. "
What you've done lately to help clients,
promotions you're currently running,
thought leadership articles from staff members,
case studies with great photography,
video interviews, training material - these
are all great fodder for newsletters.
These pieces can inform and promote at
the same time.
That's the marketing balance integrators
should always strive to hit. It's fine to toot
your own horn but offer general education
at the same time and your clients will
appreciate it.
" This should all be part of a marketing
strategy, " said Sansivero. " Don't just have a
web presence. Don't just put out interviews
or case studies. One-offs are not that
effective.
Commercial Integrator FEBRUARY 2021
" When you incorporate a marketing plan
to get to your goals for the year, these pieces
become a lot more powerful, " she said.
Integrators aren't in this alone, either.
There are resources to help create marketing
material and distribute that to larger
communities.
Media outlets such as Commercial
Integrator and even manufacturing partners
can act as an extension to your marketing
department if you're willing to work with
them as partners.
" Where are your clients? What are they
reading? " said Sansivero. " Press and media
are always looking for new installations and
important information from subject matter
experts that are not promotional. Become
that thought leader.
" Have somebody on staff who's willing
to write or hire a ghost writer if you're short
on time. Being that thought leader is an
easy way to maintain exposure to your
customer base, " she said.
AtlasIED " loves to partner with our
integrators and distributors to be able to
highlight the level of connection that we
have, " said Sansivero.
" Lean on your manufacturers, " she said.
" They have the ability to do video production,
to write and produce case studies, to
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Commercial Integrator February 2021

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