Content Marketing, Engineered Podcast | TREW Marketing

Have you ever wondered how we decide which questions make it into our annual State of Marketing to Engineers report—and why those questions matter? In this episode, we pull back the curtain on the research process, revealing the strategy and collaboration that shape the insights industrial marketers rely on year after year.

Whether you're a longtime reader of the report or new to marketing to technical audiences, this behind-the-scenes look offers valuable context for understanding the data and how it reflects the evolving behavior of engineers and technical buyers.

In this episode, Wendy Covey is...

Feeling a little uncertain in today’s economic climate? As the macroeconomic landscape continues to shift, marketers are being asked to do more with less. By focusing on efficiency and honing in on what truly drives results, marketing teams can continue to make a meaningful impact, even amid tightening budgets and evolving business priorities. 

In this episode Wendy Covey interviews Karla Gregory, Digital Marketing Manager at Sumitomo Drive Technologies. They discuss Karla's career journey, the importance of strategic marketing planning, and the challenges faced in the current economic climate. Karla shares insights on leveraging AI for marketing eff...

When your sales territory spans thousands of square miles, and your customers are highly technical decision-makers, you need more than a few cold calls and sales brochures to break through. For Wes Murray, Regional Sales Manager at Hayward Flow Control, that “more” has been LinkedIn and video content. 

Like many of us, Wes saw a shift in how engineers and specifiers engaged during the pandemic. With travel and in-person meetings on pause, he ramped up his use of LinkedIn—not just to create awareness but to educate.

And it worked. When presenting at lunch-and-learns or industr...

 When your sales territory spans thousands of square miles, and your customers are highly technical decision-makers, you need more than a few cold calls and sales brochures to break through. For Wes Murray, Regional Sales Manager at Hayward Flow Control, that “more” has been LinkedIn and video content. 

Like many of us, Wes saw a shift in how engineers and specifiers engaged during the pandemic. With travel and in-person meetings on pause, he ramped up his use of LinkedIn—not just to create awareness but to educate.

And it worked. When presenting at lunch-and-learns or industry...

This week, we dive into how industrial marketers should be leveraging first-party data, Google Ads, and contextual targeting to drive smarter, more effective, privacy-conscious digital campaigns. 

In this episode, Wendy Covey speaks with Devin Webb, Performance and Innovation Manager at EETech about the evolving landscape of digital marketing, particularly focusing on the transition from third-party cookies to first-party data. They discuss the implications of this shift for marketers, the importance of utilizing Google Ads for targeted campaigns, and the necessity of measuring success through tools like Google Analytics. Devin shares insights on contextual targeting and emphasizes the n...

In this episode, Wendy Covey, Morgan Norris, and Kasey Tyring discuss their experiences at the recent Industrial Marketing Summit. They share insights on key themes such as the impact of AI on marketing, the importance of customer voice, and the shift towards video-first content. The conversation highlights the community aspect of the event, emphasizing networking opportunities and the value of personal branding. They also touch on how to access recording of the Industrial Marketing Summit sessions via the Digital Pass. Plus, the team talked about future plans for the summit and the release of new research on marketing to...

Could Amazon really be the industrial sales channel you're missing? I talk to an Amazon account management firm that works with manufacturers to get their products on the Amazon platform and meet the buying preferences of a new generation of buyers. 

In this episode of Content Marketing Engineered, Wendy Covey interviews Will Tjernlund, co-founder of Goat Consulting, about the significance of Amazon for B2B businesses. They discuss Will's background, the journey of transitioning to Amazon selling, the advantages of using Amazon over traditional e-commerce, and how to navigate distributor relationships. The conversation also covers identifying suitable B...

If you're familiar with AI and want to take your knowledge one step further, this is the episode for you! We discuss advanced strategies to train your AI for tone of voice, how to utilize custom GPTs, and more. 

This week we're learning from Melissa Reeve, the cofounder of MarketingFrontier.AI. We discuss the integration of AI in marketing, focusing on how to effectively use AI for writing and maintaining a brand's tone of voice. We explore the challenges marketers face when adopting AI, the importance of defining brand voice, and the creation of custom GPTs to e...

Do you know which website page is your "money page"? This week, I talk to Mark Manual who shares how marketers can and should optimize the content that's bringing in the most revenue.  

In this episode, Mark Manuel, co-founder of SightSonar, discusses the critical intersection of sales, marketing, and technology. He emphasizes the importance of understanding customer intent, optimizing websites for conversions, and the role of AI in modern marketing strategies. Mark shares insights on building effective bottom-of-funnel strategies, managing expectations in marketing, and the significance of trust and relationships in business. He also highlights the evolving l...

 Are you finalizing your 2025 marketing plans? This episode will help you take a look at which of your initiatives could be disruptive to your team if not introduced thoughtfully. Today we're talking about change prioritization and how to implement change.
 
In this episode we talk to Jenny Magic, a change management expert and author of the book "Change Fatigue: Flip Teams From Burnout to Buy‑In." We discuss the evolution of change management, the challenges organizations face with change fatigue, the importance of psychological safety, and how to effectively integrate AI into workflows. Jenny shares insights from her...

Haven't figured out what your New Year's Resolution is yet? Consider leaning into AI adoption in 2025. Steve Cunningham shares how you can become the Hero of AI adoption at your company. 

In this episode, David Schneer, a body language expert and CEO of Merrill Research, discusses the significance of qualitative research in today's changing landscape. He emphasizes the importance of understanding body language in research, the shift to virtual methodologies post-pandemic, and the intersection of AI with qualitative insights. David also shares personal stories from his journey of writing his book, 'Backbone: Surviving the Road Less Quantified...

 Haven't figured out what your New Year's Resolution will be? Consider leaning in to AI adoption in 2025. Stave Cunningham shares how you can become the Hero of AI adoption at your company. 

n this episode, Wendy Covey interviews Steve Cunningham, co-founder of Simple Academy, discussing the evolving landscape of AI adoption in businesses. They explore the changing attitudes of business leaders and employees towards AI, the stages of AI transformation, and the importance of creativity in marketing roles. Steve shares insights on implementing AI in organizations, the future of AI with agents, and how individuals can adapt an...

Can you believe it's already time to plan for 2025? Lee Chapman and I reflect on everything that changed in the world of marketing in 2024 and how we're updating our marketing strategy in 2025.  

In this episode, Wendy Covey and Lee Chapman discuss the evolving landscape of marketing as they prepare for 2025. They reflect on the significant changes in inbound marketing, the importance of having a solid strategy, and the role of AI in enhancing marketing efficiency. The conversation also delves into the necessity of strong branding and the need for companies to focus on high-quality content that resonates w...

 Scroll through Rob Brunson's LinkedIn profile and you'll see a variety of personal and professional posts - from memes to personal and emotional essays. His online presence inspires trust which ultimately makes his sales strategy a success. 

In this episode of Content Marketing Engineered, Rob Brunson, Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Wallace Electronic Sales, shares insights on the importance of authenticity in social media, particularly on LinkedIn. He discusses his approach to personal branding versus company branding, the strategies he employs for content creation, and the significance of building genuine relationships in sales. Rob also re...

 As industrial marketers, we are obsessed with the technical buyer - how they're researching new solutions, how they're creating their shortlist of suppliers, and when they're ready to talk to sales. Gardner Business Media recently published their Industrial Buying Influence Report to help us answer these questions.

Dave Necessary, Executive Vice President of Product Development at Gardner Business Media stopped by the show this week to reveal the findings of Gardner's Industrial Buying Influence Report.  Dave's findings emphasized the importance of understanding the industrial buying process, and the role of trust in information sources. Dave shares the ne...

 The TREW Crew is fresh back from sunny San Diego, and we're diving deep into their experience at Content Marketing World. Hear our lessons learned and what we'll be applying to our own marketing practice.  

Join me as Lee Chapman and Morgan Norris share their insights from the mentorship program, the manufacturing master class, and the countless inspiring sessions they attended. We'll discuss the latest AI innovations, the power of personal branding, and the evolving landscape of video marketing.

They also share their honest thoughts on the conference party, and we'll look ahead to future in...

Calling all industrial marketers! The Industrial Marketing Summit is BACK!

On this week's episode, we're sharing all the details on what to expect from the second annual Industrial Marketing Summit, the go-to event tailored specifically to the challenges of marketers in the B2B manufacturing, engineering, and technical industries.

Joe Sullivan, co-founder of Gorilla76, is my partner in crime! Together, our agencies are hosting the Industrial Marketing Summit, which will take place Wednesday, February 26 through Friday, February 28, 2025 in the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center at the University of Texas Austin campus.

I...

If you're a well-established industrial brand in a specific vertical, it can be tempting to launch your products in a completely different sector. But there is a lot that goes into making the decision to launch into a new market and even when you do make the decision, it can take years and many trial and errors to gain market share. That's why I had John Schober, founder of Sorian, on the podcast this week. John has decades of experience consulting for businesses who are interested in launching into new markets. He shares insights on entering new markets, emphasizing...

 Successful email marketing always starts with a clean email database. Hear tips on how to organically grow your email list, how often you should review your email list, when to delete inactive recipients, and how AI plays a role. 

In this episode of Content Marketing Engineered, I talk to Shelly Alvarez, the Vice President of Marketing Services at Ragnarok. We discuss the evolution of email marketing, the impact of AI, and the importance of maintaining a clean database. Shelly shares insights on building a database from scratch, effective email marketing strategies for startups, and the significance of me...

How can we navigate the "family feud" between sales and marketing so we all succeed? Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter, is on the show to talk about the common misunderstandings between teams and how to work together.

Mark Hunter is a best selling author, professional speaker, and founder of The Sales Hunter, an organization that trains companies and salespeople to achieve better sales and retain customers.

This episode is all about the age-old battle (or more, "misunderstanding") between sales and marketing departments and how to work through tension that often occurs. We explore the customer...

Chris Peer, the author of The Great 8 Pillars: ROI-Driven Marketing for Manufacturing Companies joins us on the podcast this week to walk through all eight pillars and share what he thinks the most important are for industrial marketers. We talk about how to structure marketing operations for success and how to get in front of leadership with the right data that is meaningful to grow your influence within the organization and demonstrate the impact marketing can have.

We also talk about the need for frameworks and processes so that you can have a repeatable model when you...

In this episode, VP of Account Service, Jennifer Dawkins, talks about her experiences at MAICON, the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference. Jennifer shares the high-level timeline of how AI is expect to evolve over the next decade and how marketers can keep up. They discuss the rapid advancements in AI, the importance of AI literacy for organizations, and the evolving landscape of content marketing in the age of AI, including the broader copyright implications. 

As AI chat continues to answer user questions accurately, we discussed the importance of moving away from "what is" content, and work towards creating c...

Curious about the fast-paced world of B2B tech startups? In this episode, fractional CMO Mary Anne Gunn shares her experiences navigating the challenges and opportunities of startup marketing. From building strong customer relationships to balancing sales and marketing, Mary Anne provides actionable insights to help marketers thrive in an ever-evolving environment.

Drawing from her 25+ years of experience, Mary Anne highlights the importance of adaptability in startup environments, understanding what your customers care about, and aligning marketing with high-level business goals. She discusses how to handle the pressure to deliver leads quickly while still laying a strong...

If you're like most industrial companies, attracting and retaining talent is one of your biggest challenges. In this episode we discuss how marketing can play a critical role in recruitment initiatives and community engagement.

Batesville Products Inc., an aluminum casting manufacturer, was facing a problem that plagues many modern manufacturers - they couldn't find or retain talent to fill their vacant production roles. Even when they did fill these positions, there was a high turnover. Mary Jutzi, Digital Marketing Associate at Batesville Products,  teamed up with Batesville's human resources team to address this issue. In this week's e...

Fellow marketers, have you started your AI journey yet? No matter what stage of the journey you're on, The Marketing AI Institute is a resource you can use to accelerate your use of AI. 

We are lucky to have Cathy McPhillips, Chief Growth Officer for the Marketing AI Institute,  join us on the podcast to discuss her seasoned marketing career and all Marketing AI Institute including their upcoming Marketing AI Conference (MAICON).

Cathy shared the institute's mission to to make AI approachable, accessible, and actionable for marketers, focusing on AI literacy for all.  They institute pro...

Writers from the TREW team share how they're using AI chat technology in the writing process. They also give tips on when to use tools like ChatGPT Teams and how to construct prompts and chat threads to get a better result.

Jamie Tokarz, Senior Content Strategist, and Julia Holliday, Senior Inbound Marketing Specialist, both use AI chat tools to take their projects up a notch. We discuss how they're using AI tools for research, ideation, content mapping, and editing as well as how these tools have changed since they were first introduced. Has their output improved in...

Worried about Google's generative AI changes? Don't panic! Learn actionable strategies to pivot to mid-funnel content and use AI tools to navigate this new SEO environment successfully.

As we continue our SEO series, Wendy and Dale Bertrand delve into the evolving landscape of Google’s search results due to changing algorithms and the integration of generative AI. Dale emphasizes the need to plan proactively for upcoming uncertainties. He advises marketers to pivot their focus towards middle-of-the-funnel content, targeting customers who have identified their problems and are actively seeking solutions. Their conversation underscore the importance of adapting marketing st...

Have you recently found yourself saying, What the heck, Google?! Google search results have been experiencing significant changes, with an increase in discussion sites like Reddit and Quora appearing in search results. This is due to Google's emphasis on first-person experience (EEAT) and combating misinformation. However, the results often include outdated information and unreliable advice.

Additionally, Google's AI overviews, formerly known as Search Generative Experience (SGE), have been quietly rolled out, providing automatic answers to queries but sometimes pulling in inaccurate information from sources like forums. The leaked Google algorithms reveal that clicks, click-through rates, and length...

Industrial manufacturing and engineering companies may go decades without considering a Public Relations strategy. Our guest this week shares why PR shouldn't be overlooked in your overall marketing strategy.

Michelle Garrett is the author of B2B PR That Gets Results, a new public relations book that helps companies understand the importance of PR while providing tactical PR tips. On this episode, Michelle and I discuss how PR can help companies tell their stories and gain credibility. We talk about the misconceptions about PR, the difference between paid, earned, shared, and owned media, and the the integration...

Has your growth stalled as a system integrator? Then this episode is for you! I talk with a senior consultant who works with system integrators to avoid common sales and marketing pitfalls that hinder growth.

This week, I'm joined by Jack Barber, Senior Business Consultant for Exotek, a boutique consultancy firm focused on system integration companies in industrial automation. Jack has more than 25 years of experience in the system integrator (SI) space, and was kind enough to share his wisdom about what he sees are the most common mistakes SIs make and how he educated them to...

Sam Heimbach is a professor of Public Relations and she talks to us about how modern PR really works. Gone are the days of solely pitching traditional journalists for coverage.

In this episode, Morgan Norris, Senior Brand Strategist, interviews Sam Heimbach, a public relations professor at Texas State University. They discuss the evolution of PR, the impact of social media, and the role of employee voices in PR. 

They also touch on the use of generative AI and the changing landscape of journalism and PR. The conversation covers social listening tools, influencer research, and the i...

Engineering firm Hallam-ICS has sustained growth over the last decade, crediting honest company culture, inbound marketing in niche service areas, and evolving brand messaging as the reason for their success. We talk to the president and CEO, Keith Flaherty on the latest episode of Content Marketing, Engineered.

TREW Marketing has worked with engineering firm Hallam-ICS for more than 7 years and over that time many of the marketing strategies and brand messaging have evolved to reflect the company's growth. We invited president and CEO Keith Flaherty to discuss the company's history, culture, and growth over the years. 

Christopher Penn is a co-founder and Chief Data Scientist at Trust Insights. Chris' newsletter is something the TREW Crew passes around our slack channel on a regular basis. His insights into the latest news about data analytics, automation, and generative AI, have been immensely valuable to or team, and we are thrilled he accepted our invitation to be a guest on Content Marketing, Engineered podcast.

In this episode, Morgan Norris, Senior Brand Strategist at TREW Marketing, asks Chris all of our burning questions about generative AI. They discuss the challenges and opportunities that arise when using generative...

I was lucky enough to schedule this podcast recording on the very rare weeks when Jake Hall was not on the road. This conversation focuses on Jake's years of experience at manufacturing and engineering trade shows. He shares valuable strategies for companies who want to maximize their event spend, Including the most important strategies to take while planning, attending and following up with attendees post-show. We talk about the opportunity to capture video content with partners, clients, and your internal subject matter experts and how networking events can be just as important as the trade show itself. 

K...

Ever wondered how to truly optimize your email campaigns?  Join us as we chat with Jeanne Jennings, founder of the Email Optimization Shop, about innovative strategies, myth-busting, and the latest best practices for email marketing. Discover how business metrics are your ultimate KPI, why straightforward subject lines work best, and the pitfalls of third-party email lists. Jeanne also explores the power of valuable content in newsletters over promotional material and discusses the evolving role of AI in enhancing email marketing effectiveness.

Key Takeaways

It's a question marketers all over the world face - "Are trade shows worth it?" We get this question time and again and are often asked which industry trade shows are best to attend and exhibit at. After all,  89% of technical buyers said they plan to attend at least one in-person industry event this year. Last week, TREW Crewers Lee Chapman, Kara Moon, and Kasey Tyring attended the Automate trade show in Chicago to uncover the value of trade shows and what marketing and sales strategy can make your company stand out in a sea of other exhibitors on t...

Kristin Graybill is the Vice President of Commercial Strategy at the Manufacturers Alliance and in her role, she speaks to hundreds of manufacturers all across the country. In this episode, we talk about the work of the Manufacturers Alliance whose mission is to drive economic growth and foster collaboration within the manufacturing sector. They do this by hosting peer programs, conducting research initiatives, and providing resources to leaders across departments in mid to large manufacturing companies.

I ask her what trends trends she's seeing in manufacturing marketing, and we focused on the increasing risk and use of...

Melissa Geertz is the Director of Marketing at Gray Solutions and over her year and a half tenure at the company has overseen a complete rebrand of the system integrator. I had her on the podcast to discuss the scale of the rebranding project, including how to get executive and cross-company buy-in, what steps to take during the rebrand, and how to measure qualitative and quantitative ROI of a rebrand. 

We talk about the importance of authenticity to stand out in a crowded market and Melissa shares insights on how Gray Solutions used the culture of the c...

According to our research, 97% of engineers and technical buyers watch work related videos during the work week. I talk with a video expert to learn the best types of videos to add to your content marketing mix.

Jeff Long is the owner of True Focus Media, a video and web development agency for industrial manufacturers. Jeff has more than 20 years experience in creating video content for industrial companies. Over the years, Jeff has seen the role of video evolve in marketing and today, it's more important than ever to include video in your content marketing strategy.

How will Google's Search Generative Experience change the way brands appear in Google's search results? One member of the TREW Crew has been in the SGE beta for more than a year. Let's see what she's found out

In this episode, I catch up with Jennifer Dawkins, Vice President of Account Services at TREW Marketing, Jen has been part of the Beta program for Google's new Search Generative Exoereince (SGE) for more than a year and in that year, there have plenty of updates. I ask her about her experience with the SGE program program.

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