Firearms and Hunting

 

Some of the best forward-thinking companies in the outdoor, hunting and shooting sports industry are diligently building their digital footprint online that in the long run, will return immense dividends. 

According to the latest Google algorithm, brands that:

• Create consistent, helpful content;
• Generate strong social signals;
• Have fast loading and mobile-friendly websites;
• and acquire good inbound links from authoritative websites;

…will outrank, outperform and outsell their competitors in the digital era. 

What is a digital footprint?

Specifically listed with the outdoor, hunting and firearms in mind—a digital footprint is the combination of seven digital assets that build website traffic, website authority, and a viable audience that: 

• Builds your brand
• Increases revenue
• Creates an indomitable digital barrier to your competitors

Ever notice how some brands just seem to be everywhere? They’re number one on Google. You see their banner advertisement on Guns & Ammo. You find a link to their product review. You may also see a piece of content in your Instagram, Facebook or Twitter feed. And after a while you begin to notice your friends and family are talking about them as well.

If you’re serious about building your brand for the future, you must begin to consider how digital will play a role.

In this post, I’ve identified ten elements (up from seven in 2016) that are widely used from the top outdoor, hunting and firearm companies in the industry and how you can begin to build each into expanding your brand’s digital footprint.  

1. 10x content
10x content can be a video that demonstrates your product, a blog, infographic or downloadable offer that informs or answers your buyer persona’s (target audience) questions in context with one small catch… It’s got to be ten times better than your competition. It’s not enough to create mediocre content anymore. If you’re looking to get into content marketing by banging out a blog post here and there, it isn’t going to work. A high level of quality must be established based around the buyers journey to cut through the millions (or billions) of other pieces of content to be effective.

According to Moz, the criteria for 10 times better content consists of the following:

• It has to have great UI and UX on any device.
• That content is generally a combination of high quality, trustworthy, it’s useful, interesting, and remarkable. It doesn’t have to be all of those but some combination of them.
• It’s got to be considerably different in scope and in detail from other works that are serving the same visitor or user intent.
• It’s got to create an emotional response. I want to feel awe. I want to feel surprise. I want to feel joy, anticipation, or admiration for that piece of content in order for it to be considered 10x.
• It has to solve a problem or answer a question by providing comprehensive, accurate, exceptional information or resources.
• It’s got to deliver content in a unique, remarkable, typically unexpectedly pleasurable style or medium.

The more your content aligns with the above criteria the more opportunities will be created to rank higher on search engines, garner more inbound links, social media shares, views and customer trust.

2. Video
Video has become the leading form of content in recent years. All social media platforms now have a video option and for good reason. 91% of consumers want to see more online video content from brands. 86% of marketing professionals use video as a marketing tool. 66% of consumers find short-form videos to be the most engaging type of content on social media. 92% of video marketers say they’ve gotten a good ROI from video marketing. Should video be included in your marketing? It’s now a necessity to creating a robust digital footprint. 

3. Display (or banner) advertising
I’m not a big proponent of display advertising in the form of web banners, but I don’t see them going away anytime soon. The average click-through rate is less than 0.06% (Source: Hubspot). You’re more likely to complete Navy SEAL training than click on a web banner. SHOT Show sponsors this year only received between 0.1% and 0.08% CTR. I only suggest using banner advertising in conjunction with retargeting, sponsored content, events and middle of funnel offers. With the rise of ad blockers and repeated market research data that shows user’s intolerance to ad banners, banners can be a risky marketing investment as a standalone strategy. The upside to banners is that they are a viable way to keep your brand image top of mind. This however is difficult to track and like its print advertising equivalent—should be directed to landing pages that are designed to convert visitors into customers.

 

4. Email
One of the highest returns on investment in marketing comes from email. You’ve probably already heard that email marketing will return $48 for every dollar spent. We’ve had campaigns that cost $3K provide a 1000x for specific products for a certain price. When set up correctly, automation generates revenue for your online store while you sleep. We love email as it’s the number one way to generate income as a digital marketing agency in the regulated hunting and firearms space.

5. Search engines
Search engine optimization ties in directly with point number one. With good SEO ingrained in your 10x content—your efforts will help you obtain top rankings. The hunting category and self-defense segments thus far are the most saturated—so if you’re in this class, you have your work cut out. However, opportunities still abound for brands who do it right among other categories (safes, hunting/tactical knives, night vision and ammunition to name a few) where there is still digital gold to be mined. Also work on creating back links from popular websites. 

6. Influencers
Many hunting and firearms brands are unable to advertise on social media platforms due to restrictions. However, there is an alternative approach that can be effective. By collaborating with influencers in the industry, you can showcase your products to a targeted audience. According to a study by Hubspot, 50% of Millennials trust product recommendations from influencers, compared to only 38% for recommendations from celebrities. This highlights the potential impact of influencer marketing. Utilizing influencers allows you to generate authentic content and build trust with your client’s customers. This strategy has been successful for the past six years, providing a proven return on investment. Overall, working with influencers can be a great way to reach your target audience and achieve positive results.

7. Social media
Facebook, Instagram. YouTube and other social channels continue to give the firearm and hunting industry grief. As long as you’re not blatantly trying to sell firearms directly or posting your latest trophy, you’re supposedly safe—but how long is this going to last? Can you imagine reporting to your CEO that you just lost your Facebook account of sixty thousand followers because of an inadvertent post? This has already happened several times. Regardless, these roadblocks can be overcome with 10x content that can still produce desirable results when adding in alluring photography and videos. We’ve all figured out that engaging photography with creative lighting and filters of MSRs and 1911s as well as beautiful hunting scenery amass likes and shares. The average Instagram post lasts 48 hours, while the average half-life of a Twitter post lasts 24 minutes. Invest in these aspects of your branding to continue expanding your digital footprint on a consistent basis by posting on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter three times a day and to Twitter at least ten times a day. For YouTube, invest in short form and long form video.

8. Product reviews
Manufacturers have a love/hate relationship with product reviews. Some are good and can help move the sales needle, and others paint the brand and product in a less than ideal light. However, having your product reviewed can create a good amount of web traffic and sales. 61% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase decision, and they are now essential for firearm and hunting e-commerce sites (Source: eConsultantcy). Manufacturers will always be under the eye of vocal hobbyists, so make sure to always enlist the right reviewers and thank them whether they get it right or wrong while directing that traffic to your website. 

9. Community
One way to think of community is by building your own private deer reserve. By creating a flourishing and self-sustaining habitat, you’ll have deer to hunt and eat for a very long time. The same analogy applies here.

Ever had to pay to hunt on private land? Right now, there exists opportunities to build your community before your competitors do. Access to the audiences you seek will become harder to find, and will become price prohibitive—especially for start-ups. Where I live, access to good hunting grounds are vanishing as more and more hunters are forced to pay to access private land where the opportunities to bag a big one still exist. 

Marcus Sheridan describes these brands as being part of the “Digital Land Rush.” He calls them “Digital Sooners” and they’re depicted as Innovators and Early Adopters below. Warrior Poet Society has built their community through their app.  Another group, Greyhive is working to also create a group of firearm tactical trainers.

10. Website
Last but not least is your website. It should be prioritized and considered the first step in your strategy. The messaging on your website needs to be clear and concise, conveying what your business does, the problem it solves, and the steps taken to solve that problem. The navigation should be streamlined, with no more than 5 links. Additionally, your website should include at least five clear calls to action, social proof in the form of testimonials, reviews, and images of satisfied customers. Think of your website as a safety net – it needs to be solid and free of any issues before moving on to other marketing efforts. 

Add a CRM and a tracking and you’ve got all the pieces in place.

In conclusion, many outdoor, hunting and firearm brands lag behind their competitors and other industries concerning digital marketing. Many marketers and business owners in niche segments of the industry are missing out on lucrative revenue streams and community-building opportunities. By building a solid digital marketing footprint now, your business will be ready for what inevitably lies ahead when everything is plugged into AI. 

Article originally published April 30, 2016.

 

SHOT Show kicks off in a few weeks in Las Vegas, and gun aficionados, dealers, media, shooting enthusiasts, and other industry professionals worldwide will be in attendance. Product launches are always a highlight of any SHOT Show, and this year is no exception.

Unfortunately, most brands will manage their launches without adhering to a few proven methods that lead to a successful product launch. In my research and experience, there tend to be three key factors that determine the success of any product launch in the outdoor, hunting and shooting sports industry.

Although it may be too late for you to make any changes now for SHOT 2023, the following post will delve deeper into these three factors and how to apply them when planning your product launch later this year or for SHOT 2024.

Note: Before you get to any of the below, it is vitally important for brands to have done their due diligence before launching a new product. Researching the market, understanding consumer needs, and anticipating buying trends are essential to ensure you’re not wasting time and money on a product no one wants. 

 

1. Add Value and Activate Your Buyers

The first factor to consider in a product launch is to add value and activate your buyers (or email list). Begin by engaging with your target audience through various marketing channels and tactics by cultivating curiosity and piquing their interest in the product idea before the launch.

Utilize a a pre-launch campaign that builds excitement before the reveal and gives customers a chance to share input and what they can expect. It also allows companies to build relationships with potential customers or partners during the development process, which adds another layer of value to your launch efforts. People buy into what they invest in. This premise is the same reason crowd funding sites like Kick Starter are so popular.

Here are four ways how to add value before your launching

1. Survey your email list on what they want
2. Tease your new product idea through email and social media
3. Get influencers to survey and ask their networks about certain aspects of your product: color, shape, function, benefits etc. 
4. Write a series of articles stating the current problem and the solution you are considering solving

Track engagement and feedback and make adjustments early before investing heavily in your launch.

 

2. Create Hype and Desire Before Availability

Top Gun opened early this year and grossed huge box office numbers due to the high levels of hype and desire created before its release. The same principle applies for product launches. Companies must create the hype and generate desire for their product with consumers before revealing it; otherwise, interest may be low and short-lived.

Top Gun Trailer

A few ways to create hype and desire before the reveal include:

1. Develop a story around the product that is compelling and interesting
2. Leverage content marketing to create interest and discussion
3. Use influencers or celebrity endorsements to generate buzz
4. Use social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter to share sneak peeks of the product

Most companies just add their product to their website and send a press release to media outlets, but it’s important to think outside the box and try to create desire before launch.

SilencerCo’s 2015 Product Teaser

 

3. Law of Limited Supply or Scarcity

The law of limited supply or scarcity is the third factor to consider when launching a product. Companies must create a sense that the product is in high demand and low supply to drive pre-launch interest. Scarcity can be accomplished by limiting access to certain product versions or making it available for a limited time only. Here are a few ideas: 

1. Price increase
2. Limited runs
3. Exclusive availability
4. Early access/pre-order incentives
5. Social media pre-launch contests with exclusive gifts, discounts, and prizes

These all create a sense that the product is highly sought after, creating high anticipation for the launch. It also encourages customers to take action sooner rather than later to get their hands on your new product. People want what they can’t have. 

Springfield Hellcat Release Video

In conclusion, when planning a successful product launch, brands must remember the three key factors that influence success:

• Adding value and activate your buyers
• Creating hype and desire before availability
• Leveraging the law of limited supply or scarcity

With these in mind, industry brands can ensure that their products get off to a great start in 2023 and have ample time to prepare for SHOT Show in 2024 and beyond! 

Most product launches are uncoordinated, fall flat and do not reflect the investment, time and effort you put into developing your product. 

 

Sources:

1. Launch, by Jeff Walker, 2021
2. Photography by Chris Dorsey 

 

Business owners and marketers must always try to stay out in front of market trends. Like you, I’ve been unable to understand the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our industry. I have only been able to guess what seven months from now will look like. We’ve all witnessed the cancellation of major conferences (NRA) and are watching—in amazement—gun and ammo sales break records. Not to mention a record number of NICS checks, spiking website traffic and search trends.

 

Hornady spokesman Neal Emery described the demand spike “as the most significant and most rapid the company has ever seen,” saying that it is beyond the scope of what anyone could plan for. (Source: Shooting Illustrated) 

So with this in mind, I want to ask the question to you (that I have also asked myself): What are you doing to make the most of the flood of new gun owners into our industry? People who’ve never owned a gun or who have sided with the anti-gun crowd are crossing lines. Thanks to the NSSF, the government has designated gun shops as essential businesses. And according to Trevor Burrus of the Washington Examiner, COVID-19 could change the gun control debate for a generation. 

In the following are three action items that will help you make the most of this unique time in our industry’s history. 

1. Clarify Your Message for Beginners

When new gun owners land on your website—can you say that your message is simple to understand? For a long time, the industry has been talking in an echo chamber. If you’ve been around guns for a long time, you know the difference between a slide and muzzle—but for new owners, they most likely do not. Nor will they understand how your particular brand of firearm will help them feel secure, safe, and prepared over your competition. 

Smith and Wesson’s website is a perfect example. Don’t use industry jargon or jumbled home pages that confuse new owners.

Mossberg has the right idea. They have a video that pops up on load that shows how their MC2 Compact helps you feel protected. 

Action Item:  Create a clear welcoming website header like:  

• • Compact 9MM Pistol for Self Defense.
  • The Best AR15 to Defend your Home.
  • Dependable Mags for your Glock 43
  • Elite Performance Ammo in Stock.

Yes, these are not creative, brilliant or clever—and for a reason. When you have people panic buying, simple, clear language will help you increase sales. The brain is attracted to clarity, especially when it is distracted with other things like buying toilet paper. 

And don’t forget to follow up with a call to action like BUY NOW!

2. Create Educational Content and a Sales Funnel

Most brands have bypassed creating content over the years for other forms of advertising—but those who’ve been creating helpful content in the way of videos and blogs will have a significant advantage over brands who haven’t in the months (and perhaps years) to come. I’ll point out Mossberg again, who has been conducting content marketing since 2014. They are using their content to educate new consumers. In the process, they are on boarding a whole new generation of Mossberg owners because Mossberg is guiding them. People have a whole lot of time on their hands right now to learn about guns.

“As we are a privately-owned company, we don’t release sales numbers, but I can state that we cannot build enough guns currently to fulfill those orders,” Mossberg spokesperson Linda Powell said. “This rush feels similar to past responses to crisis, though it has ramped up at a more rapid pace.”

She said tactical and personal defense firearms are most in demand, notably the 590 Shockwave, 590M Mag-Fed and standard 590/590A1 shotguns. (Source: Shooting Illustrated) 

Sig is also addressing new owners with this blog post. 

 

Action Item: Create helpful content in the form of a video or blog to help new gu owners learn about firearms and how to use them safely. Then utilize email automation to stay top-of-mind to onboard them to your brand—and when your products are back in stock. Your email should move your prospective buyer through a sales funnel to instigate purchase.  

3. Demo Your Products over Zoom?

With so many people getting familiar with Zoom—why not present your products virtually? This is your chance to introduce new customers and gun owners to your brand, products, features, how to be safe, how to store, and where to buy. 

By putting a human face to your brand, you can knock down some stigmas and present your brand and our industry in a positive light. 

Action Item: Launch live product demos on Zoom to new gun owners. 

In conclusion, the time is now to think creatively and get busy. When you look back at this time, will you be able to say you made the most of it, or will you allow it to pass you by? 

If you are looking for guidance on how to get started, please contact us for a free website and marketing assessment. 

 

 

What does the next year hold for outdoor, hunting, and shooting sports marketing?

Last year was a rollercoaster of boom and bust, the proliferation of eCommerce, social media restrictions, the “big” arrival of influencer marketing, NRA shenanigans, virtue signaling, anti-gun democrat presidential come and gos, distributor bankruptcies, CEO shakeups, and big box retail changes.

In this post, I consider a few trends that I think will change the trajectories for marketers and business owners in the outdoor, hunting, shooting sports and defense industries. Here’s what to expect:

• Millennials Are Now
• Field to Fork Movement Continues to Grow
• Retailers Have to Play Marketing Catch Up
• Going International
• The Industry’s Answer to Facebook?
• Have More Fun with Your Marketing
• Instagram Influencer Restrictions?

1. Millennials Are Now

For years, economists and marketers have been getting everyone in a tizzy about the Millenials. “The Millenials are coming!” – well, they’re here. Millennials now represent (People born between 1982 and 2000 or 18-34-year-olds) 30% of retail sales in the U.S., which amount to 1.4 trillion in spending and half the workforce. (Source: Adobe CMO).

Despite the headlines that speak doom and gloom about declining hunting numbers—mostly due to millennial behaviors—I believe there is a silver lining. As marketers and business owners, the focus needs to change to a more explicit message about the value propositions of our sport to engage this generation and their underlying natural love for experiencing the outdoors.

To make my point, here are a few stats

• 78% percent of Millennials would choose to spend money on a desirable experience over buying something desirable
• They incredibly engaged with content and over 38% consider themselves content creators
• Millennials spend more time outside and money than the average outdoor consumer (Source: oi.org)

The hunting and shooting industry is the epitome of experience and one that is very enjoyable. The trick is attracting and getting these people to experience what it feels like to hear the forest come alive at sunrise, the joy of seeing wildlife in their natural environment, the adrenaline rush of putting a buck in your sights, and the health benefits of fresh organic meat.

“We need to be recruiting in a different way than we have for the last 40 years,” said Brian Lynn, vice president of marketing and communications for the Sportsmen’s Alliance, a national hunting advocacy group. “The overall trend is down from 15 million to 11 million or so. There’s a whole bunch of little things going on. Millennials, it’s not that they’re not hunting or don’t have an interest. We actually see a lot of interest, especially in the locavore movements, field-to-table, field-to-fork-type movements — people wanting to know where their food comes from. The bigger issue is urbanization — people living in big cities, disconnected from their food.” (Source: Denver Post) 

I am optimistic that hunting will make a come back through the efforts of R3 (Recruit, Reengage and Reactivation), private landowner participation and brands focusing their content on beginners and people outside of the general hunting stereotype. Below is a graph of search engine trends on searches for “how to hunt deer,” “deer license” and “hunt deer” that point to an increased interest on Google since 2004.  

I think (as we all know), once you get someone into hunting or fishing it gets in their blood and they become hooked for life (pun intended). I think there is something intrinsically wired in us for it—more people need to feel it.

“Earthy crunchy aligns very well with deer hunting,” Charles Evans, 29, who works in hunter recruitment for the Georgia Wildlife Federation, told The Wall Street Journal.

I took a new friend who’s a Millennial to shoot sporting clays last week, and he loved it. We’re making plans for a second shoot next week. R3 efforts work. 

 

2. Field-to-Fork Movement Continues to Grow

I was talking to Kevin Orthman, president of POMA the other day who shared with me (and on LinkedIn) that the media group Chernin Group invested another 50 million (Source: Axios) in Netflix’s MeatEater series. This is interesting on several fronts because any significance in Field-to-Fork paid programming is significant to our efforts.

 

The question is, can the hunting and outdoor companies bridge the gap between the left-leaning half of the outdoor industry with the more conservative hunting side of the industry. Does this even matter? “The Meat Eater brand and content rally cuts across the whole country,” says  Mike Kerns, President of Digital at The Chernin Group. “The podcast performance for the brand is actually strongest in big DMAs like the Bay Area, Southern California, the Northwest as well as MidWest.”

Be on the lookout for more nature-oriented modern outdoor/hunting brands to emerge. I pointed this trend out in 2018, and it looks like it’s continuing to gain steam.

 

3. Retailers Have to Play Marketing Catchup

Retail environments (in and out of the industry) continue to struggle while eCommerce continues to grow. A few brands have adopted eCommerce over the last year, one in particular, Daniel Defense, who now sells direct with funding options. This trend will affect dealers and with more disruption to distributors on the horizon (see new Dealer Pro Kelly Brand App), things are definitely changing at the retail level.

NSSF continues to encourage retailers to add ranges, training classes and create a buying experience. Retailers have forgotten how to market effectively due to the boom years of Obama and are having to play catch up.

Customer Experience
Customer experience at the retail (and manufacturer level) needs to be placed under marketing. Customer service can no longer be a silo that just takes support calls, it must be integrated within sales and marketing. HubSpot calls this the flywheel. Retailers and brands must get better at instigating referrals (word of mouth) not only within our personal networks but also activating and incentivizing our customers. Retailers must also begin taking a closer look at their web presence to remain competitive in their local markets. See Centennial Gun Club for a good example on how to accomplish this.

 

4. Going International

President Donald Trump’s administration successfully completed the long-promised modernization of the export control regulations that began more than eight years ago under the prior administration, but which was never completed due to domestic gun control reasons. (Source: NSSF) What this means is that it will be easier for manufacturers to export products.

For starters,

• The new rules eliminate the $2,256 registration fee.
• The new rules transfer the licensing responsibilities to the Commerce Department, which means an optic, magazine or stock won’t be under the same scrutiny as a nuclear weapon or surface to air missile.
• It also means foreign buyers can get their U.S. made products faster
• Manufacturers don’t have to register with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls per ITAR. This will help smaller manufacturers
• You don’t need Congress’ approval to sell 1 Million dollars in contracts

Source: Ryan Cleckner 

Overall, this lessens the burdens on manufacturers to compete in the global marketplace. This can add significant top line revenue to your company’s bottom line.

Hint: Look for an announcement next week (3/2/2020) on how you can take advantage of this immense global opportunity! 

 

5. GoWild! – The Industry’s Answer to Facebook?

When GoWild started two years ago the vision was to create a place for outdoor enthusiasts to share their adventures and hunts without being banned or shamed by Facebook. Several other companies have attempted to create a platform and failed, but now GoWild is emerging as a company who is making great gains in giving the outdoor community a place on the internet to call home. This is exciting for marketers on several fronts.

• Engaged audience
• Social commerce
• Data and tracking for ROI

If you follow the burgeoning ROI stats of Facebook, like you, I am itching—sometimes screaming—to get a piece of this for our clients. GoWild continues to grow by attracting investment dollars along with integrations from the likes of Garmin. I’m excited to see how this platform evolves over the coming year and am looking forward to how GoWild can be used to gain awareness for companies that create quality products.

 

6. Have More Fun in Your Marketing!

There were several great campaigns launched this past year that I think deserve mentioning.

Walther’s “Try Before You Buy” was a great way to differentiate and shakeup the gun buying process that tried to mimic popular subscription models.

Leupold’s “Find a Pair” was also a fresh marketing idea. Leupold tied their new sunglasses launch to social media and partnered with their influencers to create a game of hide and seek to raise awareness.

I hope to see more (and do) campaigns like this.

 

7. Instagram Influencer Restrictions

In December, Facebook launched Brand Collabs for Instagram — their attempt to tap the burgeoning billion-dollar influencer marketing industry. If the tool takes off, Instagram could become the go-to for all things influencer marketing. They will use their new product to enforce their “no weapons” advertising policy. According to their announcement last month:

“Our advertising policies have long prohibited the advertisement of these products (firearms), and we will begin enforcement on this in the coming weeks.” 

Speaking with training instructor and influencer Ian Strimbeck of Runennation, “As someone that’s been in the industry for almost 10 years I can tell you it wasn’t a matter of if they’d start restricting firearm branded content, but when.”

In my opinion, brands should continue their influencer campaigns for as long as possible. Announcements like this create more confusion than clarity. Instagram nor the Federal Trade Commission requires influencers to tag the companies they’re working with—only to state a declaration that the influencer is a paid spokesperson.

The FTC works to stop deceptive ads, and its Endorsement Guidelines go into detail about how advertisers and endorsers can stay on the right side of the law.

“If you endorse a product through social media, your endorsement message should make it obvious when you have a relationship (“material connection”) with the brand. A “material connection” to the brand includes a personal, family, or employment relationship or a financial relationship – such as the brand paying you or giving you free or discounted products or services.”

Make certain your influencers know about these rules and disclosures and check with an attorney who knows the firearm industry.

Looking forward, the next year looks interesting as more and more solutions to problems of advertising, community, and lifestyle are getting answered. With Trump’s reelection guaranteed in the Fall, the industry can continue to focus on innovation, getting back to normal (whatever that is), and growing our industry. 

What about you? What trends do you think will affect outdoor marketing in our industry this year? Please comment below.

 

SHOT Show is right around the corner. If you’ve done an adequate job of promoting your SHOT Show presence and built a booth that rivals the Taj Mahal (or not)—the next and sometimes most difficult step is how to organize all those booth visitors you are going to attract into qualified leads. After all, that’s why you’re at SHOT right?

Before you hand over that koozie, T-shirt or iPad—have you determined the right questions to ask that qualifies your booths’ visitors—with the goal of turning them into promoters, leads or customers?

Trade shows, for the most part, are huge lead generators. According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), exhibitors identify lead generation at 80-85% as the reason that companies exhibit at trade shows. This is closely followed by branding and customer engagement.

If you’re a wholesaler, distributor or manufacturer in the hunting, outdoor or firearms industry, here are 6 points from my B2B strategy for SHOT Show that you can steal to make the most of your leads and build better relationships with buyers and dealers. 

 

1. Set Goals

It’s crazy how many companies go to SHOT without some sense of what they hope to accomplish. If it’s a certain number of handshakes, booth visits, clicks, leads, sales, contacts, P.O.s—whatever, set a goal and make a plan to achieve it. It will give you some sense of measurement of how successful your show was. 

Steal my strategy: Take your overall  SMART goals for the year and decide what a good show ROI looks like. Begin setting up meetings two-three weeks out via email and personal messaging via LinkedIn and then broadcast your attendance on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Make sure to use the shows hashtags: #shotshow or #shotshow2024 so your posts show up in the SHOT Show App.  Track engagement through a good analytics tool. 

 

2. Identify the difference between a prospect and a lead

With over 65,000 attendees and 1,600 exhibitors do you know what your ideal customer/buyer looks like? It’s amazing how many marketers and salespeople don’t understand what the difference is between a prospect and a lead—let alone how to qualify them. A whopping 68% of B2B organizations have not identified their sales funnel. (Source: MarketingSherpa)  When someone strolls up to your booth without an appointment, they most likely are in the awareness/information gathering stage. They found you online, heard about your product/service or saw what you offer as they were walking by. 

Make sure that you have a list of questions to initiate a conversation that helps you identify where they are in the buying process and how you can best help them. I want to emphasize the word HELP. How can you help their business? 70% of people make purchasing decisions to solve problems. 30% make decisions to gain something. (Source: Impact Communications) Focus on that aspect and not pitching your product/services first. In the back of your mind, you need to be always thinking about uncovering what their problem is and how your product or service helps. 

Here’re a few examples:

1. What brings you to SHOT Show? (identifies their intent)
2. How did you hear about us? (identifies understanding)
3. What kind of business are you in? (identifies who the prospect is)
4. What are you looking for in this type of_____?
   (identifies if they are serious or are just browsing)
5. What are your goals/challenges for the show/or 2017?
6. What are some things you’ve been working on lately?

For more questions, see this post: 16 Sales Qualification Questions to Identify Prospects Worth Pursuing

By taking the time to focus and talk about their business—not yours—you are saying “you are important to me” which builds trust with the prospect. This brings down the hard-sell barrier and allows for a more engaging conversation.

Steal my strategy: If you’ve been executing an inbound marketing strategy throughout the past year, meetings at SHOT Show may be just a formality at this point. The sales cycle is 95% complete, and a face-to-face meeting is just icing on the cake on what will be a long and successful business relationship. The meetings I have at SHOT, are with qualified leads I’ve nurtured over the past 5-6 months. 

 

3. Take advantage of the “Lookie Lous”

While no definite industry statistics are available on this, likely only 10-20% of booth visitors are potentially qualified leads, if that many. So the question becomes how to sort out the best potential leads from the rest before initiating an expensive and time-consuming lead qualification process? (Source: Biznology)

If you’ve come to the realization that the person you’re talking to is not a qualified lead or what I like to call a “lookie lou,” (someone who is strictly there out of curiosity and who may just want to grab some schwag)—what can you do to make the most out of this touch point while not wasting valuable time? For example, you may pass him/her off to your booths’ official “lookie lou” ambassador. Someone who is solely responsible for handling unqualified leads that free up your front-line sales person. That person might ask them to tweet about your brand with your company’s #hashtag in exchange for a booth chachkie. Most people will be willing to do this in exchange for some schwag.

The more activity you can create over social media the better. You may want to add a label or sticker to your giveaways instructing them what to post. When you see the person’s post, thank them and follow them back to close the loop.

Steal my strategy: Don’t let any touch point go to waste. You never know who the person you are talking to may be; they may be an influencer with thousands of followers or someone looking to place a big order. Make sure to gather their info and connect on social media and remain in contact with them to build your network.  

 

4. Enter leads into your CRM and follow-up fast!

Whether you’re scanning badges or entering leads into a CRM—send them a follow-up email within 24 hours or less. Thank them for stopping by and mention what you talked about to jog their memory. Depending on your conversation, make sure you find them and connect with them via LinkedIn if possible. Most prospects will be impressed on how fast you followed up. If you’re getting hundreds of leads per day—it will become difficult to follow up the night after the show because you’ll be exhausted. This is were using a CRM can come in handy.

Steal my strategy: Create your follow up email in advance with MailChimp, Constant Contact or your marketing automation tool and then import their names and email addresses, a note on the nature of the conversation and next steps. Send and track for engagement within 24 hours. Make sure to let them know that you will follow up by phone next week to discuss your sales conversation further or appointment details.

 

5. Qualify prospects through an automated workflow

Depending on how many contacts you gather over the week of SHOT Show, you may not have had time to qualify every single person you talked to. Or you may have experienced some push-back. Using your contact list, begin to nurture your leads through a series of emails based around a workflow that addresses the specific problems that your product or service solves. Link to your company’s blog and downloadable offers to educate your leads. Get your emails sent within 5 days. 

Steal my strategy: Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads. (The Annuitas Group) By educating your leads through automation, you speed up the sales process, save time, build trust, brand awareness and rapport. 

 

6. Standout through social media

Do you have a social media strategy? How are you going to use social media to draw and attract leads to your SHOT Show booth? A simple strategy starts first with automation. Using HubSpot’s social inbox, you can schedule all your promotional tweets and posts (Facebook and Instagram) in advance. Start with a schedule then create eye-catching graphics based on your promotions, product releases or giveaways. Make sure to include the hashtag #shotshow2107 and #shotshow along with your own specialty hashtag.  Then create a mobile-friendly designated landing page that specifically showcases your promotions and a meeting signup form. Make sure to use your hashtag in your printed materials like an ad or sponsorship. 

Steal my strategy: I was amazed on how few brands utilized social media. This gives savvy companies an opportunity to stand out and attract leads. Schedule anywhere from 6-10 tweets, and 3-10 Instagram posts/stories per day.

So to sum up, identify the difference of what a prospect and lead look like, make the most of every touch point, follow up within 24 hours, utilize automated workflows to nurture leads along your sales funnel and get busy on social media. 

Have a great show! 

 

If you’ve ever launched a new website that didn’t attract visitors or sales, poured time and money into a search engine optimization plan that failed to improve your position in Google, or watched in vain as your social media posts fell flat, then you probably ask yourself a common question: what are my successful competitors doing that I am not?

In my experience, the answers tend to be surprisingly simple. Although a lot of business owners imagine it must come down to differences in budgets, we have learned that most successful firearm digital marketers simply share a few common traits and habits. If you’re seeing another company do better than you are, here are a few of the likely reasons why…

They know who their buyer personas are

While a lot of average marketers take a random approach to their messaging, the best know exactly who they are trying to reach and what kind of message they want to convey. If you aren’t sure what your best prospects look like, and where they hang out on the web, you’re going to have a hard time reaching them in a cost-effective way.

They have a distinct brand message

With so many me-too products, taglines, slogans and imagery in the firearm industry—successful digital marketers also have a firm understanding of what their brand purpose, positioning and value proposition is in their respective segments. They then beat key messaging into every piece of communication through text, imagery, tone, and style.

They invest in growth-driven web design

Unsuccessful business owners tend to see web design and digital marketing as a one-time cost. The best, on the other hand, devote a monthly or quarterly budget with the goal of improving and optimizing website performance over time. That’s important because consumer behavior, technology, and competitor tactics change roughly every six months. Conversely, it’s hard to do well when you take a “one-and-done” approach and try to accomplish everything at once.

They keep adding new blog posts and social content

Experienced marketers know that customer interest, search engine traffic, and a strong social following are all the byproduct of regular content updates and engagement. So, they work hard to release new content on a regular schedule. If you simply let your website and social profiles set without any new updates or additions, customers and search engines alike are going to perceive your business as having gone stale.

They check their web analytics regularly

The longer you spend in digital marketing, the more you learn that the devil – along with the opportunities – is always in the details. By paying attention to web analytics, you can see trends developing in real-time and remove bottlenecks from your website or sales funnel. But, if you aren’t keeping a close eye on the numbers—or you don’t even know what your numbers are—it’s difficult to make sense of the seemingly random results you get from your website from one week to the next.

They are getting experienced creative help

Web design and digital marketing are highly complex topics. Even if most business owners and executives could manage to stay on top of all that’s going on in our industry, they wouldn’t have time to execute most of their best plans and ideas. That’s why they turn to experienced creative teams that have a proven track record of success. Without a bit of outside help, they just wouldn’t have the time and focus needed to get everything done.

Digital marketing can be incredibly complicated, but it’s based on simple principles. If you aren’t getting the help you need, or the right kinds of results, now is the perfect time to call us and see how we can help!