Between evolving consumer expectations and an increase in online research and shopping, marketing has become more challenging than ever. Maximize your potential and attract the right buyers with industrial marketing.
There are currently 638,583 manufacturing companies in the United States. A well-rounded, omnichannel industrial marketing strategy is crucial in helping you stand out from the competition and driving website traffic for manufacturing companies. From understanding why content marketing works for manufacturing companies to identifying website must-haves for manufacturing companies, consider this the ultimate guide to digital marketing for manufacturing companies.
Keep reading to learn how to create an effective industrial marketing plan and why it’s important for your business.
Key Takeaways
- Industrial marketing generates awareness, educates, and converts your prospects in a highly niche market through an omnichannel approach.
- Brand marketing, content marketing, SEO basics, and website must-haves are all part of a successful industrial marketing strategy.
- From setting goals to tracking metrics, you can create an effective industrial marketing strategy in five simple steps.
What Exactly Is Industrial Marketing?
Manufacturing and industrial businesses serve an extremely niche market. From engineering and construction to shipping and maintenance, industrial services transform raw materials into goods. People in this industry look for highly specialized, extremely specific products and services. For that reason, your prospective clients will likely conduct in-depth online research to find the solutions to their unique problems. Industrial marketing helps to build awareness, educate, and convert prospects into qualified leads.
Marketing to industrial and manufacturing companies is different from marketing to other industries. The person who typically discovers your business online isn’t the one with purchase power. Their job is to conduct research and report their findings to a decision-maker or team of decision-makers. So it’s important that you connect with these people and earn their trust so that they’ll recommend you to their C-level authority.
In manufacturing, the sales cycle can take months or even years. You must nurture your leads to stay front-of-mind as they continue to qualify your business. Continue to develop that trust and foster that relationship because once they buy from you and have a positive experience, they’ll become loyal customers. Industrial marketing is key to standing out from competitors and driving customers to your business.
Important Aspects of an Industrial Marketing Strategy
Industrial marketing is a way to build your online presence, so decision-makers become familiar with your business and your solutions. Digital marketing covers an array of channels, tactics, and strategies.
To create a digital marketing plan that casts the widest net, you should create an omnichannel approach that includes the following aspects.
1. Brand Marketing for Manufacturing Companies
Brand marketing is how you set yourself apart from other companies in your industry. It’s the way you promote your company’s special attributes and traits that make you unique. Your vision, mission statement, and image are part of your brand marketing. Corporate colors, logo, and tone of voice also help tell your story and enable you to build relationships with your audience. Consistent brand marketing is what eventually builds brand recognition.
2. Content Marketing for Manufacturing Companies
Today’s consumers value personalized content that addresses their specific needs. Creating custom material using the same keywords they’re using to search for your solutions will help align with their needs more closely and earn their trust and loyalty as you supply useful resources. Keywords will also earn you higher SERPs and more visibility, driving more traffic to your site for higher conversions. The following video goes into more detail about content marketing and why it’s important:
Source: Ahrefs on YouTube
3. SEO Basics for Manufacturing and Industrial Companies
Optimizing your website will also help you earn higher search engine ranking placement. That’s important because 75% of online users don’t scroll past the first page of Google search results. SEO basics include using relevant keywords, linking to credible sources, and ensuring all site information is current and accurate.
4. Website Must-Haves for Manufacturing Companies
Customers expect a positive experience, and that includes interacting with your website. Make sure your site is intuitive and simple to navigate. Label information clearly so visitors can find what they want to know quickly. Break text blocks into shorter paragraphs, so they’re easy to digest. Call-to-action buttons guide visitors to their next steps, so place them prominently and in contrasting colors. Website layout and design are part of the customer experience, and it’s critical in leading people to convert, so it’s important to design your site with your customer in mind.
How to Create an Effective Industrial Marketing Strategy
You can create an effective and well-planned industrial marketing strategy in five simple steps.
Step 1: Set Your Goals
Decide what you’re trying to accomplish with your marketing plan. You may want to:
- Increase engagement
- Drive more traffic
- Gain more conversions
The objective you’re trying to meet will help shape the rest of your campaign. Once you have a general idea of what you want to achieve, set SMART goals that are:
- Specific: clearly defined deadlines and benchmarks help focus your efforts.
- Measurable: checkpoints help you assess whether your approach is working.
- Achievable: realistic, attainable goals are encouraging and motivating.
- Relevant: short-term plans should align with long-term vision.
- Timely: a deadline provides something to work toward.
Goals not only help keep you on target, but they also provide a way to assess whether your industrial marketing is effective and successful
Step 2: Know Your Audience
To deliver the right message to the right people, you need to know who you’re trying to reach with your marketing efforts. Conduct audience research to learn demographics, buyer behavior, and other invaluable information about your target market. Create buyer personas to identify your ideal customer. Monitor social media chat threads and forums to see what people say about you and your competitors. Learn their needs and identify the value you can provide that others can’t.
Step 3: Develop Meaningful Content
Use the details you gathered in audience research to create customized content that addresses concerns, alleviates pain points, and provides specific solutions to a niche group. Your marketing campaign will more likely resonate and deliver value to the people who need the solutions you provide. You’ll know which channels are most effective for your market, so you can reach people where they spend their time online. All of this helps you connect with your audience and build deeper relationships that last.
Step 4: Prepare Your Team
Once you know your industrial marketing strategy, you’ll need to prepare your team to help execute the plan. Train employees in product features and functionality. Everyone should know what makes your company stand out from the competition and why people should buy from you. It’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure the success of your marketing campaign. Ensure information isn’t in a silo, and all team members understand what to do as leads come in. With a concerted effort, you’re more likely to provide a positive customer experience that can lead to conversions.
Step 5: Track Metrics
Once you’ve launched your industrial marketing campaign, you must continually track your progress to assess the efficacy of your efforts. Metrics can tell you what aspects of your strategy are working and what needs improvement. You’ll see which channels are performing well and compare them to other areas that aren’t succeeding to determine why. Sometimes a simple change like wording, keywords, or time of day for email delivery can make all the difference in a successful industrial marketing strategy.
Create an Effective Industrial Marketing Strategy
Shanahan Strategy understands marketing trends for manufacturing companies and can help build effective digital marketing strategies that lead to sales and revenue growth. Our team of experts can work with you to create industrial marketing for manufacturers that can help you reach your goals.
Contact Shanahan Strategy today to learn how we can help you create an effective industrial marketing strategy.
