Introduction
In this episode, Ernesto speaks with Alisa Watlington, Senior Marketing Communications Specialist at CBC America. Alisa shares how CBC America, through its brands GANS Security Solutions and Computar Optics, delivers cutting-edge security and optics solutions to industries like retail, education, healthcare, and transportation. She discusses the challenges of reaching B2B clients in a traditional industry, the role of AI and SEO in their revamped websites, and their focus on large trade shows for client acquisition. Tune in to learn about the strategies CBC America uses to drive B2B growth and enhance customer engagement in the security and optics sectors.
Ernesto: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98 percent of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments with relevant micro experiences, a lot of case studies, intro videos, and much more.
Stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50 percent more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. So check us on Pathmonk.com.
Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Alisa from CBC America. How are you doing today?
Alisa Watlington: I’m well, how are you doing?
Ernesto: Doing great. Good to have you on. And I’m sure listeners are curious what CBC America is all about. In your own words, let’s start it off at that. Can you tell us a little bit more?
Alisa Watlington: Sure. CBC America is a part of the CBC group, which is headquartered in Tokyo. On the American side, we are a conglomeration and a global leader in providing safer, healthier, greener solutions through innovative technologies.
I actually work for a couple of the brands. They’re called GANS Security Solutions and Computar Optics on the security side. GANS is all about future forward security solutions, from a VMS platform to AI camera. Computar is an optics company that specializes in machine vision lenses for warehouses, labs, and other applications. Both are B2B.
Ernesto: Awesome. That’s great to hear. And that way our listeners can get a good understanding of the company, what would you say is a key problem that you solve for clients?
Alisa Watlington: Sure. A key problem tends to be our reach, our SEO, and making sure that our product gets into the hands of the right user.
Since we are B2B, it can be a little harder to find clients through digital channels, especially because the security industry can be outdated in some areas. Not all of our clientele is online necessarily.
Ernesto: Awesome. And so then who would you say is your primary focus as far as clients? Is there a vertical or segment you like to go after?
Alisa Watlington: Yeah, there’s quite a few, and it differs slightly between GANS and Computar.
For GANS, we serve retail, education, healthcare, finance, government, transportation, critical infrastructure, and gaming and casino entities.
For Computar, we focus on intelligent traffic systems, machine vision, defense, security, life sciences, and OEM sectors. The problems for both differ slightly.
Ernesto: Definitely. And how does someone typically find out about you? What would you say is a top client acquisition channel?
Alisa Watlington: I’m sorry, can you say that one more time? The wind just came in.
Ernesto: Yeah, no worries. That’s why we have an editing team. So then, how does your audience typically find out about you? What are your top client acquisition channels?
Alisa Watlington: We rely heavily on large trade shows and conferences.
For GANS, that would be the International Security Conferences of West and East.
For Computar, that tends to be Photonics and Automate. Automate is focused around robotics, and Photonics is more in the optics industry.
Ernesto: Awesome. Great. Now, as far as the website, I’m here on it, cbcamerica.com. What role does a website play for your client acquisition?
Alisa Watlington: Gamesecurity.com and computar.com are the faces of our brands.
We recently underwent a major redesign for both websites to provide the best user experience possible, with modern features such as an AI chatbot for support. Customer login is available to view helpful exclusive content.
Our challenges are that we’re still training our AI chatbot, and as a marketing team, we’re still learning the backend as well.
Ernesto: Definitely. Now, is there anything you’ve learned about what makes a great converting website? You mentioned you revamped it. Any tips?
Alisa Watlington: Yes. We redid a lot of the user experience and interface.
We wanted it intuitive, putting products front and center with call-to-actions. We focused on strong SEO with keywords across multiple pages, staying on top of social media, and plugging products everywhere without being obnoxious.
Lead gen forms are important too. Just making sure we have a strong digital presence.
Ernesto: Awesome to hear that. Let’s switch gears a bit and talk about you. You’re the Senior Marketing Communication Specialist. What does your day look like?
Alisa Watlington: I do everything from website updates, managing our accounts, blog writing, event planning, ordering, logistics, budget tracking, training the AI bot, forwarding leads to support and sales, and webinar planning.
Ernesto: That sounds like a full plate. Let’s jump into our rapid fire question round. Are you ready?
Alisa Watlington: We’ll see.
Ernesto: First off, what is the last book that you read?
Alisa Watlington: Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday.
Ernesto: Interesting read. What is one single thing your company is focused on the most right now?
Alisa Watlington: Lead gen, sure.
Ernesto: Now, if there were no boundaries in technology, what’s one thing you want fixed for your role as a marketer today?
Alisa Watlington: Automatic customized content generation based on specs and documents that you can upload.
Ernesto: Definitely. If there’s one repetitive task you could automate, what would it be?
Alisa Watlington: Social media analytics reporting. Right now I’m manually plugging in numbers because every channel has its own analytics and none match up. So you have to do it all manually.
Ernesto: Oh, that’s painful admin work. And lastly, Alisa, what advice would you give yourself if you restarted your marketing journey today?
Alisa Watlington: Pay attention to details and proofread everything — email, content, design.
Ernesto: I definitely agree. Great advice. Alisa, thanks a lot for being on the show. Last word: if someone forgets everything, what should they remember about CBC America?
Alisa Watlington: We bring the best and most innovative security solutions out there.
Ernesto: Awesome. Thanks a lot to our listeners for tuning in. Alisa, thank you so much for joining us. You can always check them out at cbcamerica.com. Thanks a lot.