A Little Bit Marketing – A Little Bit Sales

 

The Right Ingredients Make A Big Difference

When we are calling on new potential customers to join the Oilfield HUB online business community, we have a bit of an uphill battle to fight and more than a few myths to break.  It doesn’t take long to realize  many, if not all of the Service Companies we are speaking with have been approached previously by another directory, magazine, or online news site encouraging them to part with their scarce advertising dollars.  This is where our marketing battle begins!

So, how do we separate the HUB from this pack and differentiate our Oilfield HUB service from the existing and new websites that seem to keep cropping up each year?  It’s tough out there when the first thing you hear from a prospective customer is, “We tried this before, and it didn’t work,” or, “Our marketing budget has already been spent for this year.” But, if we simply gave up when this occurs, we would be doing each of these companies a huge disservice.

 

How do we get these companies to see beyond their marketing budgets when making their decision to purchase the HUB?  Buyers at the end of the marketing rainbow!

A Little Bit Of Salt

To the unaware, Oilfield HUB starts out looking just like another directory.  From a marketing perspective, we have to start there too!  Each of our clients are provided with a HUB Microsite which we promote and position as a lead generation landing page and natural extension of their own website.  Linked together, the HUB becomes a searchable online directory on steroids and backed-up by an unlimited data pricing philosophy.  Seeing as we have Operators who are regularly using the HUB when they want to buy, they need to access every service, supply, and rental our clients have to offer.  Not just a couple of service types or categories scattered here and there.  We encourage each of our clients to load up their HUB Microsites with every product and service they sell, along with the contact information for their branches, service locations, and, perhaps their most valuable resource, the people their customers and potential clients need to connect with during the sales cycle and well beyond.

But, that’s just scratching the marketing surface of the HUB!  Our mission and focus is to drive more traffic to Oilfield HUB.  More traffic means more Operators!  These are the key decision makers and buyers in the industry.  Without these buyers, we have no sales.  We have a number of tools in our marketing war chest to make this happen, most notably our monthly Oilfield PULSE magazine, but nothing is more satisfying or successful than having another Operator jump onboard to use the HUB.

A Little Bit Of Sugar

Let’s face it, most oil and gas companies are looking for much more than just another directory.  That’s where marketing stops and sales begin for our Service Companies in the HUB.

For Exploration and Production companies, the HUB has nothing to do with marketing and everything to do with operations and cost efficiencies.  How can they use the service plug-ins in the HUB to run leaner, meaner, and more cost effectively?  Just what the doctor’s prescribing when considering low commodity prices these days.  Whether Operators are using the HUB to track their preferred vendor lists, manage their go-to vendors by service type, organize their field projects, record field expenses, or complete their daily operations reporting, each has a direct impact on potential sales for our Service Companies.

HUB: Tracking Preferred Vendors

HUB: Manage Go-To Vendors By Service Type

Add A Bit Of Flour – Add A Bit Of Water

Each of these services are geared for use solely by Operators but are never really experienced by our Service Companies participating in the HUB.  While they are not seen or heard by our clients, they still can be significantly influenced by their actions and level of engagement in the HUB.  On the other hand, what they do see is how our Operators are using the supply chain tools in Oilfield HUB to initiate sourcing inquiries, bid requests, and authorized orders throughout the entire lifecycle of a well.  The ability to respond and manage your incoming orders from existing customers and new prospects all because you’re already connected to or were found by a buyer in Oilfield HUB.  Now that’s sales!  Nothing could be sweeter than receiving one of these inquiries through the HUB, which ultimately leads to winning that next new piece of business!

Now Mix It All Up And Bake It In the Oven!

So, what’s up our sleeve?  A new field cost manager plug-in to help both Operators and Service Companies validate and approve expenses at end of the service and end of well.  Yet another way for us to attract new Operators and drive more traffic to Oilfield HUB, which leads to more sales for our customers!  So, if your company isn’t in the HUB, how will our Operators find you?

We’re a little bit marketing and a whole lot about sales!

April 16, 2015

Chad Carbno National Account Manager Leadstone Group Inc.

Get in touch with Chad:                                                         chad.carbno@leadstonegroup.com       (403) 910-4177