The Ultimate Guide to Manufacturing Marketing
Last updated on November 29th, 2023 at 03:40 pm
When you market in any business, the topmost priority is the consumer. However, many manufacturing businesses struggle to convert this idea into marketing strategies. Over half of all manufacturing marketers (55%) state that their major defy is overcoming the conventional marketing-and-sales perception.
They’re stuck advertising like they did one decade ago – and that will not offer them the outcomes they need in this age. Hence, manufacturers must embrace the option to hire manufacturing marketing agencies.
The reason is that marketing agencies for manufacturing will develop your marketing strategies to help meet the requirements and expectations of modern customers. Let’s know more about them.
Why You Need a Manufacturing Marketing Agency
Learning to advertise and reach out to consumers appropriately will result in more qualified leads, augmented returns, and many business opportunities. Now, the big question is, how do you achieve this? The answer is through a manufacturing marketing agency.
Interestingly with the help of a manufacturing marketing agency, you can navigate 2023 without any barriers as a manufacturer. A manufacturing marketing agency will help you develop your brand online, which is the top way to meet clients’ needs in this era.
Also, a manufacturer marketing agency will help you to increase sales and outrank your competition online, which will ultimately be a win-win situation for you in 2023.
Inbound Marketing and Your Manufacturing Business
Inbound marketing is about meeting your client’s needs online. You shouldn’t just depend on word-of-mouth recommendations, and pricey trade shows to expand your manufacturing business. You can use inbound marketing to create enlightening content that pulls the audience to your website, where they can know more about what you do at their own pace and at their own time.
This is done by employing a manufacturing marketing agency to create good social media messages, blogs, eBooks, and other content, which will assist you in reaching the right audience at the right time in your purchase process.
Also, a manufacturer marketing agency can help move your target consumers through their drive from strangers to highly-engaged customers.
Features of Manufacturing Marketing
Manufacturing marketing is B2B marketing. It can be more intricate, and the sales process is longer compared to B2C. Let’s look at the features and processes of manufacturing marketing:
- Target Audience: You should know the audience you’re targeting, the type and size of organizations that need or want your services, and those that can make purchasing decisions in the establishments. Some examples of audiences in manufacturing marketing are other industries, like downline supply chain manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, or business end-users.
- Consumer Needs: Business clients need quality services that are within their processes and budget range. Your manufacturing business should be able to supply and serve your customers with satisfaction while also earning an income.
- Acquisition Process: Business acquisition can be complex. The process contains discovery and price comparisons, demos, quotes, and end acquisition decisions. You may have to prove your value beyond one level of decision-makers. In general, the more you purchase, the more levels you have to impress.
- People Involved With The Purchase: This includes; managers, procurement agents, finance or accounting teams, executive decision-makers, and other required experts.
Difficulties in Manufacturer Marketing
Here are some of the challenges manufacturers might face in manufacturing marketing.
1. Higher-Consideration Purchases
Consumer marketing is trying to influence the acquisition of something quite small and fairly cheap. Manufacturing purchase decisions, on the other hand, are more of a big deal. It could be a million-dollar purchase order or a long-term relationship you cannot afford to mess up. Individuals’ lives usually depend on their decisions in the B2B world.
2. Long Sales Cycles
Manufacturing usually entails long sales processes. A pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaign isn’t going to yield the same outcome it gives in B2C marketing when it comes to B2B marketing, where several individuals see almost instant change.
Instead, your marketing strategy might be more about product awareness and lead generation. Then, the sales department starts nurturing these leads over weeks, months, or years before deals are closed.
3. Complex Products
Manufacturing companies that sell multipart products might not see great success in marketing digital sales directly to B2B consumers’. If your product costs $10,000 and has various features to adapt, someone is not likely to click the “buy now” button and enter business credit card information.
Determine how consumers engage with your brands and what they want from you in the early phases of the purchasing journey. This is why manufacturing marketing agencies should be employed. No matter how complex your product is, they are well equipped.
Advantages of Using Marketing for Manufacturers
Marketing for manufacturers is more complex than that for retailers. However, when your manufacturing marketing agency does good marketing for your business, here are things you will benefit from.
1. Brand Awareness
Digital marketing is a proven technique to create brand awareness. This enhances customer loyalty and convinces many shareholders that you’re the right business to work with. Fortunately, industrial marketing agencies know how crucial this is. That’s why they constantly make it a top priority in surveys.
2. More Lead Conversions
To capture the customer’s attention and make them more informed of your business, online marketing focuses on giving handy, engaging content to potential customers. This ultimately transfers them from one phase of the sales funnel to the next. That is, converting them from a visitor to a lead and then to buying or paying clients.
Overall, for any business, more qualified leads equal more opportunities to convert to profit. With excellent manufacturing marketing, your company has a chance to convert more leads into paying clients.
3. Enhance Customer Loyalty
The right kind of marketing can improve customer loyalty. First, the above advantages work toward establishing a culture of trust with your product. If customers trust your brand, so can companies. If mid-management can believe your brand, executives are more likely to trust it too. Brand awareness assists in establishing that trust.
Though, the marketing job isn’t completed when you get and convert a lead. These are all means you can improve the odds that clients will come back for a future acquisition
- Interacting with customers on social media
- Sending organized and scheduled email newsletters
- And advertisements through digital marketing.
Another advantage is that marketing agencies for manufacturing help position your company as a thought leader.
Manufacturing Marketing Strategies
Now that you know the reason manufacturing marketing is essential, how do you achieve it? Begin with these common marketing strategies for industrial manufacturing marketing.
1. Integrate Social Media
Social media is one of the channels where you can augment brand awareness and client loyalty. It also allows you to interact with prospective customers in an organic approach — often where the prospect is already situated online.
While Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook can be effective platforms for B2B marketing, manufacturers may want to begin with LinkedIn and maintain an effective presence there.
2. Employ SEO
A common element is that most people start buying with an online search. Close to 90% of procurement begins online, and most marketers believe SEO is among the top five traffic drivers.
So, don’t underestimate the power of SEO because If you’re not using the search engines, you’re missing out on multiple potential leads.
3. Video Marketing
Purchasers spend thousands of hours on videos daily, and this is said to boost engagement, clicks, and organic contact. Try adding it in blogs, emails, social media posts — or even marketing one as an ad on YouTube.
4. Email Marketing
As seen above, manufacturing marketing is usually a long game. Your message can easily get lost when potential customers check or evaluate options, reconsider needs, and get stalled in managing daily operations.
Email Marketing newsletters allow you to get interesting leads so you can display them in their email inboxes once in a while. It keeps you new in their brains. Also, Email is a great tool for marketing computerization. You can make drip promotions to send various messages to potential customers anytime they take a particular action.
5. Trade Shows
Not every B2B marketing effort should be digitized. Manufacturers may attend trade shows and other industry activities. Doing so enhances brand awareness and shows that you care about others in the field.
Meeting prospects at a trade show is also good generally. Because you’re meeting many potential customers while also participating in networking and education activities, the rate per meeting can be as high as $100 less than when meeting prospects separately in their offices.
6. Factor to Consider: Manufacturing Marketing
Not all the strategies above will work for your business. To know what options that might be right for you, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you producing a commodity product or a customized service or product?
- Are your consumers a single person or a group of business process influencers?
- How huge is the competition in your manufacturing sector niche?
Conclusion
For the manufacturing industry, marketing is an integral part of the business that includes products, prices, and sales. So, it’s crucial to know how to use marketing for your benefit if you want to get more clients and generate more high-quality leads.
So, if you are ready to increase income and expand your business into new markets take the bold step by getting an expert manufacturing marketing agency today to help you out.
