"The research presents valuable information on what marketing and promotion strategies industry stakeholder groups are using to help differentiate their company from the competition and to gain new business." said senior director of member services, Jodi Montgomery.
Many topics are detailed in the report, including member responses regarding their top market initiatives, tracking methods, marketing infrastructure and most effective marketing tools.
Overall, the most popular way to deploy marketing plans was to exhibit or attend a trade show. More than 90 percent of manufacturers reported they had been to a trade show in 2007; nearly 83 percent plan to attend one this year. Systems integrators ranked enhancing their websites as the most important marketing initiative; consultants said it was most advantageous for them to attend or exhibit at a regional trade show. Other common marketing initiatives between the three groups included producing brochures, and advertising on the Web and in the yellow pages.
(Jim Evans)
