In this episode of The Kula Ring, we delve into the challenges and opportunities surrounding trade show marketing for manufacturers. Joined by Jim Beretta, founder of Customer Attraction Inc., they explore the importance of developing effective trade show strategies and measuring ROI. Jim shares insights from his own experiences, highlighting the need for a data-driven approach while balancing the often emotional responses to trade show outcomes. The discussion emphasizes how manufacturers can create long-term value through strategic planning and understanding the broader, non-transactional benefits of trade events.

In this episode, we sit down with John Koehler of KK Tool to discuss the unique challenges of managing a family-run manufacturing business. From the pressure of modernizing marketing efforts to the critical role of recruiting and retaining top talent, John shares his insights on navigating industry consolidation and keeping small businesses competitive. Tune in to hear how family enterprises can adapt and thrive in an ever-evolving industrial landscape, and why communication and a sense of purpose are key to long-term success.

Defining an ideal customer and sourcing a target account list to match should be easy, but it isn’t. On this episode of The Kula Ring, Jeff and Carman discuss how to craft an ideal customer profile (ICP), identify tools that can help, and warn about pitfalls along the way.

In a showcase of the Kula Partners team, Floyd Blaikie, VP of Strategy, explains how manufacturing marketers can benefit from developing a strategy with multi-year goals before getting started with ABM. Then with this roadmap, they can better align with sales to gain early wins. Floyd also provides tips on avoiding common ABM missteps.

In this week’s episode, co-hosts and Kula Partners principals, Jeff White and Carman Pirie, talk about niche orientation marketing. They talk about the Niche Navigator, a model and exercise they created to assess and understand where businesses fall ranging from low to high niche market orientation. Listeners can look forward to learning examples of niche market orientation, learn pitfalls that could impact their marketing strategies and tips to enhance their marketing efforts.