Recognizing Marketing’s Finest
Here we present all of this year’s winning submissions, highlighting a different category each week.
WEBSITE /
Distributor $101M to $400M
Parrish-Hare Electrical Supply
Website Redesign
After realizing the challenges of finding a reliable partner to help it develop a well-designed website for e-commerce, Parrish-Hare decided to redesign its existing site to take advantage of the positives and fix the negatives.
In 10 months of development, many features were added to its site, including mobile responsiveness, creating a seamless experience from desktop to mobile; SEO keywords on key pages (500/1,000 words per page); ACH payments; SEO meta-data (titles and descriptions for 100,000 products); rich product data including a description, features, benefits, specifications, resources, packaging information, substitute items, downloads, and Q&As; and the ability to view, manage, and pay invoices online.
Also integrated into the site is a marketing CRM system, Docusign credit application forms for digital signature, a live chat system, and Google Analytics 3 tracking (now GA4).
FROM THE JUDGES: “Sometimes you want customers to get directly to products—but sometimes the website needs to do more,” said the judges, who added, “Almost every industry is talking about relationships, and this site is balanced for both existing customers and new ones.”
Distributor $101M to $400M
Mars Electric
marselectric.com
After several years of development, the new marselectric.com launched on Dec. 5, 2022.
The most important aspect considered during the development of the site was how it would better serve customers and replicate the same service they receive in a branch. Several features were developed to make ease of doing business better than ever—including a mobile-friendly design, the ability to view inventory and pricing 24/7, and live chat with a Mars Electric employee.
To market the new website and support the goal of getting customers signed up, the marketing team developed a comprehensive campaign that included writing and producing a series of short videos to let the management team express how excited they were for the launch of the site. Other videos in the series acted as tutorial videos that walked customers through a website overview, finding products, checking out, and viewing their account details.
The videos were sent out via email workflows in HubSpot so that customers would see them weekly in addition to being posted on the company’s social media accounts and in-store digital signage.
Mars Electric branches also displayed custom-fabricated countdown clocks equipped with key benefits of using marselectric.com as well as a call to action prompting customers to ask the sales staff about signing up for an account and/or demo. The clocks were distributed and displayed nearly two months out from launch, and they counted down the days until the new website went live.
Finally, the marketing team equipped the outside sales teams with literature focused on key benefits and features that would help customers use the new site.
FROM THE JUDGES: The judges noted the “excellent intro videos” and that they “loved the live chat option.” In regards to the new website, they said, “It’s very comprehensive. I wanted to play around in there.”
Supplier Less Than $250M
DWC—Distributor Wire & Cable
DWC—Distributor Wire & Cable Website
DWC wanted to improve its customer online buying experience but was relying on a dated WordPress design. The DWC team used cutting-edge technology to redesign the website and create a new customer portal.
The new platform was set up to be able to build upon a modern web architecture for future development needs by designing the portal to increase automation functions connecting to the company’s ERP system. The new highly intuitive DWC customer portal was simplified and streamlined, enabling customers to receive quotes within minutes.
The new lightning-fast site helps with SEO optimization and offers a “one-stop shop” where users can view orders and quotes, track shipments, and search for informational materials and electrical industry resources. The new website also allows DWC to better engage with its customers with a unique customer portal that can be expanded and easily iterated.
FROM THE JUDGES: “I love how the website connects directly to the ERP system—and that every page has a quote option,” said the judges. “I also like how it presents the company’s values and culture. Looking at this website makes me think I would do business with DWC.”
Supplier More Than $250M
Southwire
Southwire Customer Hub
Southwire’s Customer Hub was developed to be a self-service portal that helps make the company easier to do business with while also providing a host of conveniences for its distributor partners and customers. Southwire had released a self-service portal in 2017 (called MySouthwire) but knew it could do better—and wanted to create a one-stop location that would best support its partners and customers.
In late 2021 a cross-collaborative team was formed to engage in user research. Through internal and external voice-of-customer activities, key user features and ways to improve functionality and a more seamless user experience were identified. The team then developed a project plan and prioritized deliverables.
Phase one went live on Aug. 12, 2022; phase two began in January 2023. At every checkpoint, the team collected customer feedback and invited testing participation so Southwire could rapidly adjust and ensure that the Customer Hub is intuitive and convenient and replaces tedious, manual tasks.
Before going live, Southwire spent weeks comprehensively training its employees and agents so they would be prepared to answer questions and train the distributors they work with. By the Customer Hub’s launch, more than 800 Southwire reps had been trained. To continually train sales professionals and distributors, Southwire created a landing page that houses how-to
documents and videos that cover functions, features, and frequently asked questions. The page is updated with documents and videos as new features are released so users can stay current in their knowledge of how to use the portal.
FROM THE JUDGES: “This was promoted so well and supported with so many marketing materials,” said the judges. “The team did a great job not only researching and creating this new hub, but also describing it and telling their customers what it’s all about.”
Tagged with awards, Best of the Best, marketing