Marketing is focused primarily on digital marketing in today’s marketplace and there’s often an aversion to going digital in the industrial sector. However, the industrial industry has a large online market that is looking for the exact products and services that you offer. Without digital marketing, your company is missing out on potential customers you might not be able to gain through other sales tactics.
The right industrial marketing techniques can help generate new leads and have a direct impact on your business’ success.
After years of working with industrial clients to help them navigate the ins and outs of successful marketing that fits their marketing budget, we still know so many industrial companies are on the fence about marketing. We have created this guide to help break down the best marketing strategies for manufacturing companies and show how marketing can work for your manufacturing or industrial company.
Does Marketing Work For Industrial Service Companies?
Doubt that marketing works for industrial companies? Our industrial marketing case studies go to show that marketing is effective—and can help you increase your sales.
Our clients have increased sales with digital marketing, seeing as much as $700,000 in new business from digital marketing strategies. Talk about a positive return on their investment in marketing! So yes, marketing absolutely does work for industrial companies.
The days of using trade magazine advertisements as your only means of getting the word out there about your company are coming to an end. To be successful in today’s modern industrial market, you need to have a broader approach to gaining new customers as buying habits and how we do business change.
Digital marketing strategies for manufacturing companies goes beyond a basic website design to get your name out there. A long term marketing plan can help your business reach its goals and attract the attention of potential customers, creating a long lasting relationship.
If you are an industrial service, manufacturer, or OEM and you are wondering if marketing is the right step for you, strategies like search engine optimization (SEO), branding, email marketing, social media, and advertising may help you beat the competition.
A well executed marketing strategy for a manufacturing business may make the difference in your business’ growth. But how do you figure out what’s right for your industrial company? The first step is to understand what you expect your marketing to do for your business.
Set Goals For Your Industrial Marketing Plan
Industrial marketing plans aren’t for everyone and it can be difficult to determine if it’s worth it for you. Having a clear vision and set of goals to help guide your decision can help determine what the right marketing plan for your manufacturing business is and what it looks like in practice.
What do you want your industrial business to achieve? What sales goals do you want to hit? What does the future look like for your company? For most industrial companies, marketing can help them:
- Increase revenue
- Get better quality leads
- Maintain customer relationships
- Expand to new markets
- Expand to more locations
- Give back to your community
- Become the leader in your industry
- Beat the competition
Before you start marketing your manufacturing company, having clarity on how you want marketing to support your goals can help you determine what marketing to do, what marketing strategies are right for your goals, and how much you should be spending on marketing.
Most industrial companies have great practice setting sales goals and figuring out what’s required to move the needle on getting new business. You can easily translate these same goals into marketing for your industrial company as well as bigger goals like brand awareness or respect in your industry.
Types of Marketing Strategies For Manufacturing Industries
If you’re not familiar with digital marketing strategies for the manufacturing industry, it can be hard to determine what marketing ideas will work best for your business. Marketing isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach and should be tailored to your goals and budget. As a starting place, learning about different digital marketing strategies can help you determine what’s a good fit for your company.
We help our clients create a manufacturing business strategy that helps them rank well in search engines and generate new business opportunities so don’t hesitate to get in touch for a free initial consultation.
Search Engine Optimization
If you are in the industrial services industry you may assume that potential customers aren’t going online to find your services. However, Google is one of the largest search engines on the internet and many customers and clients use it to help them answer their questions. Google ranks your website by how well the content on it meets the needs of searchers. We use search engine optimization (SEO) to help your website rank higher in Google search, putting your industrial company in front of people who are already searching for your products and services.
Getting to the top of Google search results today requires a more than just a website with flashy images and videos, however. Website design and user experience plays a role in how your site ranks in search engine results pages. If users don’t like your website or find it difficult to use, they will more than likely leave quickly. Not only does the way your site is designed make customers stay on your site for longer periods of time but Google tends to favor websites that are user friendly.
Google also looks at the keywords that are on your website to determine if it meets the needs of searchers, which also impacts your rankings in search results. For example, if potential customers are searching “tube bending applications,” your website should include keywords that match the searchers intent. In return, your website may be the first that turns up when they’re searching for the services you offer.
We help our clients use high ranking keywords across their website to increase rankings and to generate more traffic to their site. If it’s been a while since you’ve updated your site, it’s probably time to consider a website redesign to better capitalize on search engines.
Content Marketing
Optimizing your website doesn't just stop on the page content. A good B2B manufacturing marketing strategy will include content marketing that impacts rankings as well as makes the sales cycle shorter and easier. There’s no point in having a manufacturing blog if it’s not doing the work for you.
Keyword optimization is a great way to get customers to read your blog, making you a credible source for information. You can also use your blog to showcase your expertise, help customers better understand your capabilities, and answer common questions to make sales conversations easier and close faster.
Google looks for longer content that helps answer questions and solves users problems. Some long form keywords may feel too awkward or complex to put on the main industrial website pages. Maintaining a blog is a great way to include long form content and keywords in order to stay relevant to your target audience and boost your SEO rankings as well.
We offer marketing packages that include content marketing so you don’t have to worry about cranking out a new blog post every few weeks. Our industrial marketing team does market research to figure out what users are searching for and applies the keywords to your content while showcasing your expertise in a way that helps increase sales.
PPC & Google Ads
It may come as no surprise that with marketing comes advertising. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisement is a different path to getting to the top of search results that allows you to use optimized keywords in paid advertisements. In return it helps you get paid traffic to your website to turn them into leads. The best part? You only pay per click to your website instead of per impression or view, like most traditional advertising.
While both SEO and PPC can get you results, PPC advertisement may be a great option for industrial companies that are looking for quick wins with digital marketing or that are looking for spend advertising more effectively.
As well, you can use remarketing ads to stay top of mind with people who have already been to your website, keeping your company in front of your sales leads throughout the process to close sales faster. Remarketing ads follow your website visitors around the web, showing up on websites they’re browsing and increasing your company’s visibility.
We help our clients run Google advertisements, remarketing ads, and more so you can close more leads faster. Our marketing for manufacturers includes the combination of great SEO and PPC to generate high quality conversions.
Email Marketing
Email marketing has been a mainstay for manufacturing companies for years but it’s one of the most underutilized tools in your digital marketing arsenal. And if your manufacturing or industrial company is hesitant to use email as a marketing tool, you may think again.
Email marketing is a great way to create and maintain relationships with customers without being spammy and can integrate into your CRM system easily to make sales easier through automation. You can also re-engage with customers to sell new products, increase customer loyalty, and stay connected to your best customers.
An email marketing list is a great way to create helpful information that peaks your customer’s interest or answers questions they may have during the initial sales conversations as well as throughout their relationship with your company. Best part? It can be all automated to reduce the amount of time your sales reps spend cultivating leads.
Your email marketing campaign keeps your company at the top of mind when they’re ready for your business. We help industrial businesses create quality emails that build relationships and generate business for our clients through automation setup and optimization.
Online Branding
The truth is, most industrial companies don’t care very much about branding. But the ones that do? They tend to succeed more than those that don’t. Think about the companies you compete with that you wish you could be like—we’re willing to bet they have great branding.
If you’re in the manufacturing or industrial services you probably spend most of your time making great products for your customers and don’t give a lot of thought to branding your company. One of the best ways to increase your business and create awareness is through your company’s brand.
A brand far surpasses a creative logo design or a pretty website. Today, a brand is about the entire experience you create for your customers, from the first time they hear about you through their client lifecycle with your company.
Brands make a huge impression on your audience and often influence the perception of your company in a buyer’s mind. It’s also one of the tangible assets that can help you sell better by building a positive reputation and recognizable brand for your industrial company and also adds long-term value to your company.
We help our clients with their online branding across all of their mediums and social platforms for consistency and we help build a brand experience along the way that lasts for generations.
Social Media
If you’re a manufacturer looking to invest in marketing, you may be wondering if you have to use social media and if it works for industrial companies. If your company has a website design, marketing campaign, and advertising, there’s no reason to not take advantage of a social media marketing campaign as well. We’ve used it with great success for our clients to target, engage with, and sell to their target customers
Social media is a large part of a company’s digital marketing and is part of how your potential customers will vet your company before making a purchase decision. Not only do your social profiles provide a great way to engage with your customers online, but it also may act as a funnel, bringing in new leads. It’s a great way to become more “human” and real to your audience.
Social media is also a great way to promote your brand authority as well. You can use it as a means to spread awareness about your business. Your company may also be able to promote articles, trade shows, and behind the scenes features of your company through your social platforms and build up the reputations and personal networks of your sales reps to make sales more productive for them.
You are also able to use your social media platforms as a way to create advertising campaigns that can target customers you’re already pursuing or want to sell to. Our company utilizes Facebook Ads and LinkedIn Ads as a part of our marketing campaigns for clients. We can help you create targeted ads to reach your ideal customer and we know they work really well to create business for industrial companies.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is another way for industrial companies to connect with their customers. More B2B companies are starting to realize the benefits of using video content to show off products and capabilities in a way that words just don’t convey. Many manufacturers and industrial services companies are using videos to demonstrate the way their products and services work and explain concepts you just have to see to understand or believe.
Videos help customers connect with you on a more personal level, making them more able to see who you are and what your business is like, eventually establishing trust. You may be able to explain technical processes in a video that may be difficult to explain in an article. We help our clients create professional videos and photography that can be used on their website and on their social media platforms.
Ready to Get Started on Your Marketing?
If you are interested in learning more about an effective industrial marketing strategy for your business, we may be able to help.
We have a proven track record of helping industrial companies and manufacturers dominate their competition with digital marketing and are happy to help you discover how marketing can work to help your company succeed.
Kim Herrington is Creative Director of Orsanna where she leads the production and strategy for clients' marketing and advertising. She founded Orsanna over seven years ago to bring quality marketing services to business owners.