How to Use Digital Marketing to Promote Your Manufacturing Company.
If you have small children, you are probably familiar with Alice and her Adventures in Wonderland. Remember the episode where Alice keeps running faster and faster but ends up staying in the same place? There's no doubt that this was not Lewis Carroll's intention, but this image serves as an excellent metaphor for modern marketing. Even ten to fifteen years ago, you could easily achieve your growth objectives through trade shows and referrals. You'd be lucky to get the same ROI today. It is exactly what it is in 2022 — the Red Queen's race.
Don't get me wrong here. I'm not dismissing or criticizing traditional marketing. It is still relevant in some industries and is especially effective when used as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. However, in today's competitive environment, traditional marketing is simply insufficient. Manufacturers are no longer exempt from digital liability. Manufacturers today require new ideas to help them serve markets like never before. Otherwise, they risk missing out on significant business opportunities in what has become a highly competitive market.
For decades, industrial companies have relied on traditional marketing. It's been working well, but it's time to make a change. To keep growing, you must establish a strong online presence for your manufacturing company — and you must do so using a tried-and-true marketing strategy.
Manufacturing Digital Marketing Strategies.
It's a simple rule: you must both acquire and retain customers. Acquisition and retention are two halves of the same coin. If either one is missing, there will be no growth. Both acquisition and retention must become a focus of your marketing and sales strategy, and success in this journey is impossible without embracing digital. The following are a few ideas that worked well for our clients.
Consider marketing to be an investment rather than an expense. It's difficult to calculate direct ROI from a video that explains some manufacturing processes, but it will undoubtedly influence someone at some point. By consistently providing useful information, you increase the value of your company and build brand equity. Long-term growth will inevitably result from this.
Assist your target audience in their buyer's journey. Gartner reports that 77% of B2B buyers describe their most recent purchase as complex or difficult. With content marketing, you can make it easier for them. By creating content that will resonate with your audience, you educate and inspire them to do business with you — albeit not immediately.
Don't be afraid to be open and honest. As you get started with content marketing, you'll need to share some behind-the-scenes information. It may feel uneasy, but I wouldn't be concerned. If your competitive advantage is that simple to steal and replicate, it isn't a competitive advantage. After all, Elon Musk has been open about everything he does, yet no one has been able to replicate SpaceX.
There is no need to choose between digital and traditional. You probably don't want to abandon all of your traditional outbound marketing strategies, no matter how effective digital inbound marketing can be. After all, you gained traction by purchasing print advertisements, attending trade shows, and providing free consultations and on-site inspections. You are not required to abandon those strategies.
Consider this. What are the chances that someone will save an ad in an industry magazine and respond to it a few months later if they see it but are not yet in the market to buy? Almost none. The last thing you want to do is experiment with a variety of different things — both online and offline — without having them all work together in an integrated system.
According to the same Gartner study mentioned above, B2B buyers spend only 17% of their time meeting with potential suppliers when considering a purchase. This means that before they contact you, your prospects are researching and evaluating you. They go through a lengthy and complex purchasing process, so a mention in the print media or a single digital ad may help, but it is far from sufficient.
The World Is Changing
Manufacturers can use digital marketing to increase ROI, gain a competitive advantage, and adapt to changing consumer behavior. When combined with traditional tools, it will produce predictable and scalable growth. Remember that many of your competitors haven't yet adopted this strategy. You will gain the upper hand if you act now.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete