Is Marketing Worthwhile
in Manufacturing?
Historically, marketing has not been a priority for manufacturers. But this has started to change.
In recent years, both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) manufacturing companies have begun to embrace marketing — particularly digital marketing. There are many benefits, including attracting more customers. In this guide, we’ll discuss this advantage and more, the differences between B2B and B2C approaches, and how manufacturers can utilise marketing.
Trends in Manufacturing
Benefits of marketing for manufacturing companies.
Manufacturing customers and buyers are more connected than ever — demanding new, engaging ways to interact. To remain competitive, manufacturers must adjust how they market.
Customers’ and buyers’ expectations are evolving. Marketing is crucial for manufacturers to communicate that they are keeping up with change.
There is a wide range of benefits of marketing for manufacturers, including:
Increasing customer base and revenue
Marketing aims to increase the customer base and, therefore, revenue in any industry — and manufacturing is no exception.
Previously, customers have actively sought out manufacturers. But the landscape has changed. It’s now up to manufacturers to reach out to potential customers to win more business. Marketing is a crucial part of this.
For more information on how manufacturers can adopt a customer-centric mindset, visit our blog on high-value customer experiences in the moments that matter.
Keeping up with the competition
As other manufacturing companies move towards digital marketing, embracing it becomes critical to keep up with competitors.
The industry’s customers are becoming digital-first and want manufacturers to show that they are too. Those who fail to market themselves may lose customers to competitors who better communicate their values.
Break into new markets
Marketing allows companies to advertise new products and even gauge demand in new markets or landscapes.
With marketing analytics, manufacturers can understand whether opportunities are worth exploring further.
Pardot tracks all campaigns in Salesforce, and manufacturers can use its real-time insights on return on investment (ROI) and engagement to identify which campaigns are the most effective and the tactics that work best in specific markets.
Is marketing as important in B2B manufacturing as B2C?
The exact tactics B2B manufacturers and B2C businesses use will vary, but marketing remains equally important for both.
The B2B space is becoming increasingly digital and manufacturers who deal directly with businesses will still need to embrace new marketing strategies to thrive.
Ways manufacturers can start with digital marketing
Most manufacturers will be familiar with traditional tactics, such as print advertising and trade shows. But to truly benefit from marketing, manufacturers need to adopt digital tactics.
Some of the things manufacturers can do include:
Move towards a solutions-oriented strategy — Manufacturers can often focus too heavily on their products. But customers care about the solution more than the product. Creating a narrative focused on how a product will solve a problem (rather than a list of product features) is extremely valuable. It’s also important to understand the industry buying cycle; this begins with the buyer recognising the need for a product and progresses to them researching and evaluating suppliers before making a purchase. You need to create moments that matter along this journey and consider this in your strategy.
Build your audience personas — You need to understand who your customers are before you can effectively market to them. This is particularly important when understanding the differences between your B2B customers and your B2C audience. Creating personas can help you identify the needs of each group.
Create relevant content for your audience — Blogs, whitepapers, eBooks, and videos are also useful marketing tools. Each content type has a different purpose within the marketing funnel. You may want to use top-level YouTube videos to entice those with an initial interest in manufacturing. In contrast, you can use a more niche piece of written content to answer a particular persona's questions. If you’re producing in-depth content such as a downloadable report or a webinar, make sure your content is gated. This means that users have to enter details, such as an email address, before accessing the content. You can use these details for lead generation purposes and direct marketing. And when it does come to gated content, make sure that your lead forms are as simple as possible for users to fill in.
Communicate what you do — Potential customers want to make sure they can trust you before they work with you, and many want to establish this before they will even get in touch. Explaining your manufacturing process is an excellent way to help people understand your ways of working. It’s wise also to showcase (and actively seek) security badges and certifications. Consumers are becoming more concerned about sustainability, so being clear about your environmental policies is essential.
Utilise your internal experts — You don’t have to create all your marketing content yourself; you can also passively market through your employees. Encouraging your staff to be vocal about their job on LinkedIn can help spread awareness of your company within the industry. You can also look out for speaking opportunities for your employees, such as panel discussions and webinars hosted by other organisations. Getting your internal experts involved in external events will help boost your profile to a broader audience.
Invest in a new website — A user-friendly, clean website design with clear navigation that works well on all devices (including smartphones) will be beneficial for marketing to customers online.
Using technology and automation
Manufacturers are constantly seeking ways to improve automation and utilise technology to maximise efficiency. But the potential for automation in marketing is often overlooked.
Manufacturers should view marketing similarly to other business processes and seek to streamline.
Some of the ways that marketing can be automated include:
Email personalisation — When you collect people’s email details, it’s essential to record their names and segment them into appropriate audiences (possibly by interest or whether they’re existing or new customers). This allows you to send out emails en masse that appear tailored to individuals. For example, you can include customers’ names in communication and ensure they only receive relevant messages. Dynamic emails allow you to create various combinations of emails that will suit different recipients.
Scheduling tools — You don’t need to log in to social media to stay active on these platforms. There are various third-party tools available that allow you to pre-plan and plot your content for the future. Creating social media posts like this is far more efficient than having a team member post each time.
Monitoring alerts — You can set up alerts to automatically email you if your manufacturing business is mentioned in the news or elsewhere online. There are free tools for this and more advanced press monitoring services that will notify you if your business is named in smaller publications, such as trade press. This means you no longer have to trawl through media to see if your brand is mentioned. It also enables you to react quickly to any PR opportunities and address any negative stories.
An integral aspect to successfully automating your marketing strategy is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Customer 360 is the #1 CRM platform. With Customer 360, you can unite sales, service, marketing, commerce, IT, and analytics for every phase of your customer’s journey, from lead to loyalty. Having a single view of every customer will help your data-driven marketing hit the mark every time.
Should B2B manufacturers approach this differently?
One of the reasons industrial manufacturers may have shied away from marketing is the false belief that it is not as necessary in B2B spaces. But although how you approach your direct to consumer marketing will differ from how you reach out to other businesses, marketing remains relevant to the B2B space.
So even if you exclusively operate as a B2B manufacturer, there are still changes that can — and should — be made.
For example, digital journeys are just as important for businesses as direct consumers. Consumers are used to buying online, and those people expect to do the same when they go to work and purchase as a business. Enabling your corporate customers to perform B2B commerce online and access order, status, and tracking information will help you keep up with the competition.
When it comes to industrial B2B marketing, remember that many businesses will want a digital experience from start to finish. You need to think beyond giving a phone number at a trade show. Marketing in digital spaces and encouraging online interactions are essential in an increasingly virtual world.
That’s a lot of info!
Here’s what you should take away from this article:
- What are the benefits of marketing for manufacturing companies? There is a wide range of benefits, including increased customer base and revenue, keeping up with (and getting ahead of) the competition, and breaking into new markets.
- Why do manufacturers need to carry out marketing? The industry is evolving, and manufacturing buyers and customers (both B2B and B2C) expect more. To survive in this competitive space, manufacturers need to use marketing to communicate what they offer.
- How can manufacturers start with digital marketing? There are various digital tactics manufacturers can use. These include a user-friendly website, communicating a solutions-orientated strategy, using visuals in more powerful ways, producing relevant content, and utilising internal experts and brand ambassadors.
- How can manufacturers use technology and automation for marketing? Manufacturers can use email personalisation, brand monitoring tools, and social media scheduling software. Above all, it’s crucial to have a CRM platform in place — like Customer 360.
