Today’s manufacturing companies have a choice. They can continue to use the same marketing tactics that generate limited results, or they can embrace digital marketing to increase brand awareness and generate high-quality leads for their sales team.
The reasoning is clear because your audience is shifting their purchasing habits to online. A recent survey found that 75% of B2B buyers prefer to make a purchasing decision online. If your company’s online presence is not healthy, you could be missing out on key customers.
For sales leaders intent on helping their business grow, the choice is clear: dive into digital marketing. Staying ahead of the curve means embracing digital marketing not just as a supporting strategy but as the cornerstone of your overall marketing efforts.
The question is: What should you be doing to ensure you’re getting the most out of your investment in digital marketing? Today, we’ll review the essentials of digital marketing for manufacturing industry purposes and highlight how this investment can drive awareness, produce leads, and enable your sales teams to achieve better results.
Redefining Your Sales and Marketing Approach
The digital landscape offers unprecedented opportunities for manufacturing companies to expand their reach and enhance their brand presence. This is because digital marketing goes beyond traditional methods by providing targeted, measurable, and interactive solutions to connect with potential customers.
Going digital is different because B2B manufacturing companies traditionally rely on direct relationships and physical sales efforts. However, with the advent of digital technologies, the approach has shifted significantly.
Companies have the ability to leverage digital channels to streamline processes, enhance customer engagement, and optimize marketing campaigns. This transformation is not just about adopting new technologies but also about changing the mindset to think digitally first.
5 Keys to Crafting a Digital Marketing Plan That Works
The foundation of effective digital marketing lies in a well-crafted plan that aligns with your business objectives and addresses the specific needs of your target audience. This gets to the heart of the question we posed today: what should you be doing to maximize your digital reach? Let’s dive into some of the most important pieces.
1. Develop Buyer Personas
You should start by developing comprehensive buyer personas. These should be detailed representations of your ideal customers based on real data and market research.
Understanding the motivations, behaviors, and pain points of target buyers will help you tailor marketing strategies effectively and ensure that your message resonates with the audience.
2. Content Marketing: Educate, Engage, Convert
Content is powerful in digital marketing. In the manufacturing industry, it’s the bridge connecting your technical expertise to your customers’ needs.
Effective content marketing involves creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and, ultimately, drive profitable customer action.
Types of Content
Depending on your audience, this might include blog posts that explain complex manufacturing processes, videos that showcase your manufacturing floor, or case studies that demonstrate past successes.
SEO Integration
To maximize your investment in developing content, you must ensure that each piece is optimized for search engines to improve visibility. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) means tapping into keywords that potential customers are likely to search for, which improves your chances of being found online.
3. Email Marketing: A Direct Line to Your Audience
Email marketing remains one of the most effective digital marketing strategies, especially when communicating with a business-oriented audience like that in the manufacturing sector. Use emails to send targeted messages – from newsletters containing industry insights to personalized offers based on the customer’s previous interactions with your brand.
- Segmentation and Personalization: Tailor your emails based on user behavior and preferences to increase engagement and conversion rates.
4. Strategic Social Media Marketing
You will want to leverage your content by promoting it on social media. Social media marketing channels like LinkedIn can be effective for engaging with professionals, sharing industry-related content, and building brand authority.
You should post regular updates highlighting new technologies, behind-the-scenes operations, and customer testimonials. Engage actively with comments and messages to foster relationships.
How Often to Post on Social Media
You may be wondering how often your company should post on LinkedIn. We have a helpful chart that captures the frequency of LinkedIn posts from peer manufacturing companies. We pulled this chart from our Marketing Metrics for B2B Manufacturing Companies benchmark group through Databox.
- Chart Explanation: The median for manufacturing companies in our group is 11 posts per month. The lower end of the chart reflects the companies posting 7 times or less, while the higher performers post at least 13 times per month.
Over the past few months, we’ve seen an uptick in manufacturers publishing on LinkedIn to take advantage of the platform’s potential. Take a look at how fellow manufacturing companies have increased their investment in LinkedIn to distribute their content and connect with their audience.
5. Make Data-Driven Decisions
As you can see, we are a data-driven digital marketing agency. That’s why we encourage our manufacturing clients to use data analytics to maximize their investment in marketing.
Manufacturers can use data analytics to gain insights into campaign performance and customer behavior. This information is crucial for refining strategies and making informed decisions about where to invest marketing resources.
Find Support with Digital Marketing for Manufacturing Industry Needs
The future of marketing in the manufacturing industry is digital. To get the most out of digital marketing to support your sales effort, you need the right approach to using modern tools.
We unpacked some of the most important steps to use the available tools, but there’s even more to the story. Our digital marketing agency can help you turn strategies and tools into actionable campaigns that support your company’s specific business goals.
Our knowledgeable team will work with you to enhance your competitive edge, reach a wider audience, and drive substantial sales growth. Getting started with digital marketing for manufacturing industry purposes is simple.
We invite you to schedule a free B2B benchmark consultation. It’s an easy way to find out how your company is performing against manufacturing industry benchmarks. Having a baseline will help you see where you can improve, grow, and generate more leads through digital marketing.
The Marketing Refresh team looks forward to supporting your manufacturing business.
FAQs
- How can manufacturing businesses ensure they target the right audience with their marketing efforts?
To ensure your marketing efforts are effectively targeted, define your target audience through buyer personas. Consider factors such as industry, job role, pain points, and what solutions your product or service offers. Using this information, tailor your marketing strategies to meet your audience’s specific needs and preferences, maximizing the relevance and impact of campaigns.
- What strategies can be employed to increase brand awareness for a new product or service in the manufacturing industry?
Increasing brand awareness for a new product or service involves a combination of strategic content marketing, targeted social media campaigns, and engaging email marketing. Highlight your product’s unique benefits and technological innovations through educational blog posts and videos. Additionally, leverage social media platforms to spread the word organically.
- What role does content marketing play in generating high-quality leads for manufacturing businesses?
Content marketing plays a pivotal role in generating high-quality leads. Digital content provides valuable information that addresses customers’ specific needs and questions. By creating high-quality, targeted content, you position your company as a thought leader and a trustworthy source of solutions, which attracts more engaged and qualified prospects.
- How can manufacturing businesses use social media platforms more effectively to engage with potential customers?
Manufacturing businesses can use social media platforms effectively by focusing on B2B-oriented platforms like LinkedIn to share industry insights, company news, and product updates. Engage with your audience by participating in discussions, answering questions, and sharing customer success stories.
- In what ways can digital marketing influence the sales process for manufacturing companies?
Digital marketing can significantly influence the sales process for manufacturing companies by providing detailed data that captures customer behaviors. This insight allows sales teams to tailor their approaches more precisely and engage potential customers more effectively.
