Fast forward to today, people consult Google for everything, be it to find solutions to their problems, read product reviews, or even get advice on what, when, and where to buy a product. According to business.com, around 77% of people take to reading reviews online before buying a product.
Mammoth of a number, right?
Source: Giphy
This makes it even a greater priority to market your products/services on the Google network, for your business to be visible in front of your potential customers.
Marketing for manufacturing companies has always been a conventional journey of trade shows, exhibitions, cold calling, print media, etc. Compared to other industries, digital marketing for manufacturers has been a slow-going movie.
However, with the revolution of social media, manufacturing companies have taken notice of this major paradigm shift and are trying to break away from the conundrum of traditional marketing to woo customers. With such tremendous visibility in the digital world, different marketing channels have been increasingly used by manufacturing companies to reach their prospective customers.
Are you a manufacturing company and you have been told digital marketing channels are not for you? My dear friend, unlike what you have heard, you need to stop relying on your traditional marketing approach and focus more on digital strategies to drive traffic to your website, create brand awareness, and generate leads.
And in that case, this blog is absolutely for you, to understand the digital marketing strategies to grow your business. Read on!
Before you start showing your potential customers what you have to offer, it is first important to show them how your product will address their needs. Because, if a prospect has landed on your website, it means he is just doing his research and is far from making a purchase.
Jump into the opportunity and provide your prospects with the information he needs. So, if you have a product, instead of shoving it down their throat, it is better, you engage with them through some expertise-related content. Involve your subject matter experts in the content creation process, to guide and connect with your potential customers through their buying journey.
Source: Webstrategiesinc
Additionally, if you haven’t considered adding video as part of your content marketing strategy, it is high time you did. As per Forbes, the average user spends 88% more time on a website with videos. And the prospect/target customer who watches your product videos are more likely to buy the product.
You can make use of Youtube videos to showcase your product and align it with your content to help your customers to understand your product better. This would ultimately aid in performing digital marketing for manufacturers, in an effective and fruitful way.
Email marketing is still a preferred choice for connecting with your customer as it is quick and direct. Your content must have the power to attract your prospects, nurture the relationship, and close the business deal. Also, make sure it is mobile-friendly.
Moreover, email is apparently the first thing people check in the morning. To drive home the point, how many times did you check your email throughout the day? There, you get it!
Your prospect has landed on your website but you realize that they are not yet ready to buy your product. What do you do next? Entice them with offers and updates. But how? Email marketing, of course! In order to showcase your product to your prospective customer, you need to reach out to them.
Source: Digitalagencynetwork
What better way than sending emails? However, most businesses get it all wrong when they send bulk emails to every user on their list. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to email marketing. So, before you start shooting emails to your prospective customers, you need to fine-tune all your emails and maybe even personalize it.
Email marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, and now Account-based marketing. What on earth is account-based marketing, you must be wondering!
Source: Business2community
Well, it is a relatively new concept in the marketing world that targets potential customer accounts, more so, a company through highly customized marketing campaigns. Basically, you are not selling to an individual but to a business or a specific entity within that business, say a purchasing team of a manufacturing company.
The purchasing team in itself will have different members, so there has to be an agreement among the team members to match the wavelength. If implemented well, it can be the key to your B2B success.
For your account-based marketing to have a favourable outcome, as an integral part of digital marketing for manufacturers, you need to have a communication strategy that is personalized and persistent and also drives traffic to your website. If you see closely, account-based marketing and email marketing are usually done in tandem; you track down a prospect and you reach out to them via email newsletters.
The accelerating change of pace in technology, especially mobile technology, has played a major role in the impact of social media. With social media marketing, manufacturing companies can make use of social media websites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc., to promote their product and services.
It allows you to make a meaningful connection with your audience, and to increase brand awareness. You can even make use of social media to engage with your customers during the product development phase to gain insights and feedback.
LinkedIn is one of the major influences in the buying cycle of B2B customers. It is like attending a mega trade show to connect, find, and quickly gain access. Use it to share your product’s photos, and videos to educate your potential customers.
Another concept to pay heed to, as a part of your strategy for digital marketing for manufacturers, there comes marketing automation. But what is marketing automation? It is a tool used to automate repetitive tasks such as sending emails, posting content on social media, etc., to your prospective customers or leads.
When your company is at a nascent stage, maintaining one-on-one relationships with your prospects is easier, but as your company starts to grow, this becomes literally impossible. That is where automation tools come to the rescue.
According to business.com, 47% of nurtured leads make larger purchases compared to those who buy immediately. Since most of your prospective leads are not ready to buy your product yet, the follow-up process can be automated to move them to the next stage of their purchase cycle.
98% of manufacturing companies pay to promote their website. In the manufacturing industry, content marketing and paid advertising have to co-exist, both cannot replace each other. In PPC marketing, you pay a certain amount for each click on your advertisement.
You can generate predictable and targeted traffic to your website with Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing. When your advertisement goes live, it shows up throughout the web like Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. You can choose to target your ad to a prospective customer by their location, age, and gender.
Retargeting ads are another method used by marketers these days to bring target customers back to their websites. As retargeting ads keep your brand on top of the mind of your customers, it can be incredibly effective in increasing conversion rates.
Another major aspect of doing digital marketing for manufacturers is paying attention to Search Engine Optimization. This ensures that your business gets organic reach and views.
What’s attractive is that through SEO, there is no need for you to spend money on paid advertising or boosting a post for promoting your business. Plus, brand credibility is better when you have organic views and reach.
Having your website well optimized for trending and most-searched and relevant keywords, among other things key to SEO, ensures that your business gets noticed by potential buyers.
Source: Avalanchegr
And if you make it to the very first page of the Search Engine Results Page, my dear friend, you have hit the bull’s eye!
The Digital era has transformed the way companies have been marketing their products. The manufacturing industry has had a laid-back trend to emerging marketing strategies but has now slowly adapted to the new technologies and the potential of digital marketing. Digital marketing for manufacturers now means paying due heed to the trending promotional strategies, while working in tandem with traditional channels to enhance relationships.
Fractional CMO helped one of India's largest Confectionary Manufacturing Companies to increase their International Sales Qualified leads by 3X in just the first 30 days.
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