It’s time to get your manufacturing marketing strategy ready for 2018!
Gone are the days when manufacturing enterprises were content to let their schedule revolve around a handful of major industry events. Now, they are out there making things happen all year around.
This is true of businesses across all size categories, but especially smaller firms.
The Web gives smaller companies an amazing toolkit to level the playing field and get exposure with their target audience. By working for online mindshare, you can go head-to-head with even entrenched “big names” that have lots of other major advantages.
Of course, you don’t have to be a manufacturing startup to have marketing hustle!
With the right manufacturing marketing strategy and know-how, any brand can shine. In the long run, that’s best for customers – who will have more opportunities to find a customized solution that really meets their needs.
So, where should you start when building your strategy?
Let’s look at the must-haves:
B2B decision-makers are eating up video content as an interesting and convenient way to get more information on products and services. The launch of LinkedIn’s video platform shows that short-form videos aren’t just for B2C businesses and funny animals anymore.
Video content is ideal for demonstrating physical products, though software may be too complex for the 3-minute treatment most people respond best to. For long-form videos, podcasts on the latest industry trends or interviews with your executives are ideal for thought leadership.
Let’s face it: If you’re a B2B manufacturer, your target audience isn’t on Facebook or Twitter.
(Okay, they’re there – but finding them is often counterintuitive and expensive.)
LinkedIn is the obvious choice for a manufacturer’s social presence, especially if you want to use a LinkedIn group to share content and answer prospect questions. Facebook can be a solid option once you’ve identified your audience: It’s a natural way to provide a personalized customer care experience, for example, or introduce expert content to your power users.
That, in turn, can transform them into internal advocates for your brand.
When it comes to communicating directly with your following, email marketing is still the king.
Email marketing works because it’s platform-neutral. With email, you don’t have to count on Twitter, Facebook, and the rest to give your message organic reach – they’re not motivated to do that, since you could be buying advertising instead.
(That’s not to say paid traffic can’t be part of your manufacturing marketing strategy. It’s just not a must-have for most brands.)
When you try to get the word out to your social media followers, you’re at the mercy of that day’s profit-maximizing algorithm. When you send out an email, some messages might get lost and other users simply won’t read, but a well-timed email “blast” can produce incredible ROI.
No matter how you plan your strategy, it’s still just a collection of tactics until you introduce data analytics. Analytics can give you insight into how people reach your Web properties and what they do there, which lets you make inferences about what content they’ll respond to.
If you don’t have analytics across all your Web platforms, it’s easy to get started in 2018.
Social media platforms are on the boat and most of them now offer detailed analytics for marketers. With your YouTube-based video content, you’ll even be able to see exactly when users click away from your content – down to the second – which has amazing applications.
As a ridiculously powerful, versatile, free solution, Google Analytics is still the leader here.
Progressive profiling is the art and science of getting a little more qualifying information from your prospects every time they interact with you. Not only does this help you set up sales teams to focus on best-fit prospects, but it also leads to more accessible, personalized Web journeys.
Basic information like geographical location and referring link is a start, but manufacturers who want to truly stand out on the marketing front should go a step further – building custom content for each industry and use case, then using Web interactivity to deploy them at the right moment.
Sure, there is a limit – ask for the wrong information, or too much information, and prospects might feel like you’re stalking them across the ‘net. Do it right, however, and you’ll be helping decision-makers cut through the clutter and make their tough buying decisions more easily.
It almost goes without saying – almost – but it’s worth pointing out once more in 2017:
Mobile’s share of total Web views, not to mention buys, is increasing.
(And there’s still room to grow!)
A modern mobile-friendly site is the foundation all your digital marketing efforts need to be built on for success in 2018 and beyond. Google has now gone “mobile first,” meaning the mobile version of a page is far more likely to get indexed before the desktop version – specifically so these hordes of mobile users can find the great content they’re looking for with minimum fuss.
Digital marketing for manufacturers has been evolving fast. More brands are starting to see the writing on the wall and consider proactive digital marketing a “must have.” When you dive into digital marketing with gusto, you can unlock its potential – delivering laser-targeted, helpful, and informative experiences to your audience without compromising one whit on your brand values.
If that sounds good to you, get out there and implement these manufacturing marketing strategy pillars for 2018!