the biggest challenge of the emergency business:
When marketing for a single industry there are certain challenges and obstacles that are often specific to that field. As marketers we see these no matter what industry we are marketing for. The emergency goods and services industry is no exception.
The nature of the emergency goods and services industry is behind the specific marketing challenges that pertain to it. Generally speaking, planning for emergencies is not always a norm in the United States. This leads to business and communities often finding themselves woefully unprepared for emergencies.
However, this is not only a problem for the communities and businesses that are unprepared for an emergency but also a problem for the companies that provide those goods and services. When an emergency happens business is good; in between emergencies, business is not so good. We had the privilege to talk to an industry expert that has sold emergency generators for decades and discuss the various challenges and possible solutions.
So how could Inbound Marketing be used to help address these challenges? In this post we talk about how Inbound Marketing could help address the issues with emergency goods and services.
1. roller coaster marketing
As I mentioned briefly in the introduction above, we had the privilege of speaking to a Caterpillar representative that has been selling emergency generators for many years. It really helped us identify the biggest challenges of his business and was very helpful in identifying how inbound marketing could help emergency companies.
One challenges that he identified, and probably the largest challenge that emergency goods and services companies face is selling during times between emergencies. No matter how many emergencies take place, it always seems that after the clean up, society (companies, municipalities, communities, etc.) never seems to plan for the next one. This means a sharp drop in sales for oh say... generators!
The CAT representative we spoke to said that they have success building lead lists during emergencies by capturing info during times of emergency, but have a hard time with lead list generation during off times. So how can inbound marketing help these companies during the down times? By using the same processes that inbound uses, except with a larger emphasis on lead nurturing. The hope being that by nurturing these leads captured during emergency we can convert more leads into contract sales (retainer model) during down times.
I don't know if I'm the first person to use this term, and I'm sure I'm not - but I like to refer to this as roller coaster marketing. Roller coaster marketing to me is inbound marketing with a specific strategy modification to emphasize lead nurturing at certain times in an attempt bridge the lows in the sales cycle. This is especially relevant in the emergency goods and services industry in between emergency events.
2. making hay while the sun is shining
When it comes to using inbound to help address the specific challenges of the emergency industry, sometimes you just need to go with the flow. When we were talking to the CAT representative, he mentioned that they get a ton of phone calls, emails and clicks during times of emergency. In between emergencies, they hardly get any. So what can you do?
While this isn't an ideal situation you can't force potential customers to contact you between emergency events. So in this situation, you just have to go with the flow. So how does Inbound marketing fit into this equation? Lead capturing. It's all about conversion. If you get a ton of traffic on your website during times of emergency it's more important than ever to have your website set up in a way that makes it easy for visitors to convert.
That's where Inbound comes in big time. Setting your website up with forms that are easy to find as well as pieces of content that are appealing to visitors during emergency times. Then having landing pages/thank you pages that correspond to your content is critical to capturing the most amount of traffic you can. Focus on being helpful, educational, and make it as easy and quick as possible for people to convert. Look to get any information you can from any visitor because chances are they are shopping for options seriously as they are in a bind (they don't call it an emergency for nothing!).
They may not become a customer during the current emergency event, but if they're searching for emergency goods and services chances are they'll be in need of those same goods and services at another time and that gives you opportunities between now and the next emergency event as well as during. This is something that the CAT representative we spoke to pointed out specifically. He said that many times they'll get phone calls during an emergency but won't end up working with the potential client. The reasons for this were various, however, he mentioned that simply by having that phone call, setting them up with a POC (point of contact) they often turn those phone calls into customers during the next emergency event.
This stresses the importance of "making hay while the sun is shining". If times of emergency create the highest volume of traffic to your website, then having your website ready to build that lead list is critical. With that list, you can now use the nurturing aspect of the inbound process to move those leads along the buyers journey. This sets you up for maximum success during the next emergency event or possibly getting a retainer contract between emergency events.
Ideally in Inbound, we'd like to be constantly building that lead list and that is always the goal with inbound. However, taking advantage of the emergency events is the smart play that will help your efforts as you get further into the Inbound process.
3. BRIDGING THE LOWS WITH INBOUND
As discussed, the biggest challenge with Inbound when it comes to marketing for emergency goods and services companies is addressing the lull in sales between emergency events. Thus the ultimate goal of providing inbound services for these companies is bridging the gap between these emergency events. Bridging the gap with a continued stream of leads and nurturing those leads during the down times is crucial to not only bridging that gap, but proving the value of paying for inbound services.
I think the biggest challenge within the overarching goal that is keeping the inbound leads coming in and I think that was outlined well in our conversation with CAT. To do this you're going to have to sell on prevention, preparation, and scarcity. Something that our CAT representative covered was the lack of supply when an emergency event takes place. Everyone is suddenly in need of emergency supplies are there are simply not enough to go around. This is a great selling point (a terrible real life circumstance...) for the between times.
If you're trying to build a retainer model that gives supply preference to subscription based clients scarcity is very effective message. We call it selling on FUD - Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, and while it can often comes with the negative connotation of 'misinformation', emergency companies have the advantage of selling truth. Emergencies do happen, and they can be devastating. It is important to be prepared!
Let's face it, no one wants to be the last one to the generator store in an emergency because chances are that person/company/community is going home empty handed. So during times between emergency events focus content and email marketing on the message of prevention and preparation. "Be Prepared", "Supplies are limited, reserve your generator now!" - these are powerful selling messages to include in content, especially during nurturing.
Focus your blogging efforts on emergency preparation tips. Show people the value of being prepared for the next emergency event instead of dealing with the impact after the fact. Content like "Your Company's Emergency Supply List" and "Small Business Guide to a Hurricane Emergency" are just some examples of potentially effective educational content. This will help you keep leads coming in even when people aren't searching for 'emergency supplies' on Google.
Nurturing leads during the lull is a must. Leads collected during the previous emergency events, regardless of whether they purchased or not, are huge opportunties. It's hard to sell retainers, but the emergency industry has a powerful selling message discussed above. Moving those leads or previous customers into preventative retainers - guaranteeing their spot in line during the next emergency event - can be very effective. You can almost look at it like insurance. No matter what happens, you'll be covered. Focusing on lead nurturing efforts during the lulls can not only help you bridge the gap between events, but build a retainer base of recurring revenue further preparing you for the next lull.
inbound marketing, a good fit
OK, so emergency goods and services aren't the most glamorous of products, but that doesn't mean that online marketing can't work. Of course there are specific industry challenges that one must overcome to be successful marketing in the industry. However, with the right game plan it's not only possible, it's effective. Inbound has the processes built that make it uniquely equipped to handling the specific challenges of the emergency goods and services industry.
