Is industrial marketing necessary? It is a fact that marketing is an indispensable element in any manufacturer’s business strategy. However, many people don’t understand the relevance of marketing in a manufacturing context.
In this article, we will answer the question ‘Is industrial marketing necessary?’, and then look at some ideas for an effective industrial marketing strategy.
As the name suggests, industrial marketing is simply the marketing of industrial products or services. It’s a form of business-to-business (B2B) marketing where companies sell products or services to other organizations or businesses.
Unlike business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing that targets the challenges, interests and needs of individual consumers, B2B marketing targets the challenges, interests and needs of individuals making purchases on behalf of their companies.
Industrial marketing is a very unique and distinct field, characterized by long buying cycles and a very specialized audience of B2B buyers
Consider the following B2B statistics:
All these statistics point to the fact that there has been a significant shift from traditional marketing strategies to digital marketing strategies. Manufacturing companies cannot solely rely on traditional marketing techniques like radio/TV ads, face-to-face meetings, phone calls, direct mail or print ads. To connect with customers and prospects more effectively, you need to embrace new strategies like social media, paid online advertising, webinars, content marketing, SEO and video marketing.
Whether you hire an internal team or outsource to a professional agency, you must have a solid digital marketing strategy in order to remain competitive.
There has been a shift from traditional marketing strategies to digital marketing strategies
Here are the steps to an effective industrial marketing campaign:
Industrial buyers don’t just wake up and make a purchasing decision. The buyer’s journey describes the process which buyer’s go through before making a purchase. Your prospective customers could fall anywhere in the journey and it’s your responsibility to meet them where they are and provide the necessary information.
The buyer’s journey is broken down in three main stages or steps; awareness, consideration and decision.
The buyer’s journey is broken down in three main stages or steps; awareness, consideration and decision
Who exactly are your potential buyers? What are their challenges, goals and habits? What is their role in the organization? To understand your buyers and their motivations, you need to build a buyer persona.
According to HubSpot, a persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers.
Some of the personas manufacturers are trying to reach include the following:
A persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers
Buyer persona example:
To succeed with industrial marketing, you need to set SMART goals:
RELATED: Why Is Goal Setting Important to Inbound Marketing?
Content is an indispensable element of any successful marketing strategy. Here are some of the benefits of creating educational content:
When creating educational content, keep in mind the buyer’s journey. For an effective marketing campaign, you need to provide relevant content for each stage of the buyer’s journey. Here are some content ideas to consider:
90% of buyers say online content has a significant effect on their purchasing decisions
Market automation is about using software and tools to automate marketing activities. There are numerous tools in the market that you can use to organize contact lists, schedule email campaigns, create content and publish to your website. This includes HubSpot market automation, Moosend, SendinBlue, Omnisend, Autopilot, Marketo and InfusionSoft.
When evaluating different automation tools, here are some things to consider:
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it
When it comes to industrial marketing, your website is very important. It is often the first place where a potential buyer will make contact with your business. If they have a bad experience, they might leave and never come back. Therefore, to capture leads, you must ensure that your website is always well-designed and up-to-date.
Here are some things you might need to look at:
RELATED: How a Website Redesign Affects SEO
Is industrial marketing necessary? The answer is a resounding yes. If you don’t have the resources or time to build a marketing strategy, partnering with an industrial marketing agency would be a great idea. An established agency has years or even decades of experience in marketing. They are also up-to-date on the latest technologies, tools and digital trends. With their team of specialists, you will get quality results much faster.
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