7 Best Tactics Digital Marketing For Manufacturers

adminFebruary 17, 2024

0 50 7 minutes read

digital marketing strategy for manufacturing company

Digital marketing for manufacturers presents significant opportunities to expand their reach, strengthen brand visibility, and drive business growth. By leveraging effective strategies such as website optimization, content marketing, SEO, PPC advertising, social media marketing, email campaigns, and data analysis, manufacturers can position themselves as industry leaders and gain a competitive edge in the digital landscape. Embracing digital marketing is crucial for manufacturers looking to thrive in today’s interconnected world.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this post:

Do manufacturers need digital marketing?
The best digital marketing strategies for manufacturers
How to get started with digital marketing for manufacturing

Digital Marketing for Manufacturers

Digital marketing for manufacturing companies has traditionally relied on conventional marketing methods like trade shows, exhibitions, cold calling, and print media. Digital marketing adoption in the manufacturing industry has been relatively slower compared to other sectors.

To maintain a steady client base, digital marketing is crucial for all manufacturing companies. It offers the most effective means of reaching and engaging with customers in today’s digital landscape.

With the right approach, digital marketing for manufacturers can enhance their brand presence, engage with their target audience, and drive business growth. This post explores key digital marketing tactics and considerations tailored specifically for manufacturers, helping them navigate the digital landscape and maximize their online impact.

Why Should Manufacturers Use Digital Marketing?

In today’s Internet-driven business environment, digital marketing for manufacturers is essential for manufacturing companies.

Digital manufacturing uses computer systems to enhance machines, processes, and productivity in the manufacturing industry.

Why, because:

Your buyers have changed.
Traditional methods are no longer the best or only way to reach new customers.

Digital marketing offers solutions for pain points faced by manufacturers, engineering firms, and construction companies, enhancing their business growth, such as:

Digital marketing helps educate customers about complex products or services, simplifying technical information and showcasing their value.
Effective digital marketing strategies can improve brand reputation and establish a positive industry perception.
Through targeted campaigns, digital marketing can attract and convert high-quality leads, increasing the likelihood of sales conversions.
By streamlining the sales process and leveraging digital tools, marketing efforts can help shorten the time from lead to conversion.
Digital marketing can be used to attract and engage talented professionals in the manufacturing, engineering, and construction industries.

Manufacturers express uncertainty regarding specific challenges they face.

Budget allocation: Determining the appropriate marketing spend for the company’s size and goals.
Hiring decisions: Choosing between building an internal marketing team or working with an external agency.
Starting point: Deciding whether to focus on marketing tactics or develop comprehensive marketing strategies.
Relevance of trends/practices: Assessing if current marketing trends and best practices align with their specific business needs.

Why Should Manufacturers Invest in Digital Marketing?

In the modern customer journey, relying solely on outbound marketing to reach industrial buyers is no longer effective. With buyers now empowered, 68% of purchases start with a search engine, enabling them to find information easily. Failing to provide relevant answers means losing customers to competitors who do. Adapting to this shift by prioritizing digital marketing for manufacturers and providing valuable content is crucial for success in reaching industrial buyers.

Problem-solving: Providing proven solutions to common customer challenges.
Education: Educating buyers about products and services.
Reputation building: Enhancing brand reputation within the industry.
Lead generation: Generating high-quality leads actively seeking similar companies.
Sales pipeline growth: Expanding the number of potential sales opportunities.
Brand humanization: Bringing the brand to life through storytelling, creating a more relatable and engaging experience.

Tips for Digital Marketing for Manufacturers Getting Started

Let’s look at some of the top digital marketing tips for manufacturers:

1. Strategy Should Always Come Before Tactics

In a business context, the implementation of marketing initiatives involves specific actions taken by teams.

Marketing Audit: To guide these actions, a marketing audit is conducted to thoroughly assess the current situation and competition. This evaluation helps determine the optimal areas for investment, ensuring both short-term and long-term gains for the company.

Marketing Roadmap: To begin, conduct a comprehensive analysis of your business and create a detailed Marketing Roadmap. This roadmap will serve as a strategic plan to guide your marketing efforts, enabling you to achieve your goals and drive sales growth.

In situations where companies lack in-house expertise, they often find it more cost-effective, efficient, and focused to engage an external marketing agency for execution, leveraging the agency’s expertise and resources.

2. Create Accurate Buyer Personas

By identifying commonalities among various accounts, you can create a primary persona that represents your target audience.

Persona Profile:

Job Title: Manufacturing Operations Manager
Location: Mid-sized industrial city
Interests: Process optimization, supply chain management, automation
Mannerisms: Detail-oriented, data-driven, proactive problem solver

Research Insights:

Motivations: Increase operational efficiency, reduce costs, improve product quality
Goals: Streamline production processes, implement new technologies, enhance productivity
Challenges: Limited budget, resistance to change, complex regulatory requirements

Sales Enablement:

Provide training and materials to equip sales teams with product knowledge and industry insights for effective prospect interactions.

Key Messaging:

Develop consistent messaging for all organizational communications, emphasizing product benefits, cost savings, and competitive advantages.

3. Take Advantage of Automation and Technology

Technology enables process automation, simplifying tasks and freeing up time to concentrate on strategic initiatives and broader objectives.

Digital marketing for manufacturers tools provide valuable capabilities for manufacturers:

Website and Social Media Analytics: Monitor website behavior, and engagement, and track SEO growth over time.
Content Management System (CMS): Easily edit, schedule, and manage website content.
Customer Relationship Manager (CRM): Efficiently manage and track interactions with prospects and customers.
Marketing Automation: Deliver timely communications across multiple channels like email and social media.
Live Chat/Chatbots: Offer real-time customer support and assistance when they encounter issues.
Data Visualization: Utilize tools like Google Data Studio to visualize and share data through widgets, graphs, charts, and maps, aiding informed decision-making.

Digital Marketing Strategy for Manufacturing Company

digital marketing for manufacturing

Digital marketing for manufacturers involves incorporating trending promotional strategies while complementing traditional channels to strengthen customer relationships and drive business growth.

Here are five of the best digital marketing strategies for manufacturing companies that can help your business succeed:

1. Establishing a Strong Online Presence:

Develop a professional website that showcases your manufacturing capabilities, product range, and company values.
Optimize your website to improve search engine visibility (SEO) and drive organic traffic.
Leverage responsive design to ensure optimal user experience across various devices.
Incorporate compelling visuals, including product images, videos, and interactive content, to engage visitors.

2. Content Marketing:

Create informative and valuable content, such as blog posts, whitepapers, and case studies, to establish thought leadership and build credibility in your industry.
Address common pain points and challenges faced by potential customers through educational content.
Share success stories and testimonials to demonstrate your expertise and showcase the impact of your products.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

Identify relevant keywords and optimize your website content accordingly to improve search engine rankings.
Develop a comprehensive backlink strategy to enhance domain authority and increase visibility.
Optimize meta tags, headers, and descriptions to improve click-through rates from search engine results pages (SERPs).

4. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising:

Set up targeted PPC campaigns on platforms like Google Ads to reach a specific audience and promote your manufacturing capabilities.
Create compelling ad copy that highlights unique selling propositions (USPs) and resonates with potential customers.
Monitor and optimize campaigns regularly to maximize ROI and minimize ad spend.

5. Social Media Marketing:

Identify relevant social media platforms where your target audience is active (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram) and create engaging profiles.
Share industry news, product updates, and company updates to foster brand awareness and engage with your audience.
Utilize social media advertising to amplify your reach and target specific demographics.

6. Email Marketing:

Build an email list of prospects, customers, and industry contacts.
Develop targeted email campaigns to nurture leads, share valuable content, and promote new products or special offers.
Personalize email communication to enhance engagement and build stronger relationships.

7. Data Analytics and Measurement:

Implement web analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics) to track website performance, user behavior, and conversion rates.
Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, lead generation, and customer acquisition to measure the effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts.
Continuously analyze and refine your strategies based on data insights.

Best Tactics Digital Marketing For Manufacturers

Digital Marketing For Manufacturers

When planning your marketing program, consider your budget, goals, and target audience. Incorporate various disciplines like traditional advertising, digital marketing, PR, and events. After setting goals, develop a digital marketing strategy aligned with them, utilizing tactics such as blogging or social media advertising. Prioritize tactics that directly contribute to your business goals instead of chasing trends. Focus on achieving desired outcomes rather than adopting tactics simply for their novelty.

Goal setting
Marketing strategy to reach the goal
Tactics to support strategy
Persona-specific content to attract the right people
Measure results
Refine your content
Repeat

What are the different types of digital marketing that matter most for manufacturers?

Digital marketing for Manufacturers involves ensuring that your company appears in relevant search results when potential customers are seeking answers, information, and solutions, effectively positioning your brand as a valuable resource to meet their needs.

Marketing, in general, can be divided into two big buckets: inbound and outbound.

Outbound marketing aims to proactively deliver marketing messages to individuals who align with your target customer profile, seeking to initiate customer engagement and drive interest in your offerings.

Digital marketing for Manufacturers:

Cold email campaigns
Digital display ad campaigns
Account-based marketing (ABM)
Radio / TV / Broadcast
Print ads
Direct mail
Telemarketing / Cold calling
Outdoor advertising / Billboards
Event & sponsorships
Other awareness campaigns & activities

Inbound marketing primarily revolves around being present and accessible to individuals actively searching for the products or services you provide, ensuring that your brand appears when they are seeking relevant solutions.

Website content & articles
Educational and/or gated content
Search engine optimization
Video content
Webinars
Social media content & campaigns
Search / PPC ads
Email nurture campaigns

Inbound vs. outbound digital marketing for manufacturers

In the B2B manufacturing industry, inbound marketing plays a significant role in digital marketing efforts. By creating tailored content addressing the needs and pain points of potential customers, inbound marketing attracts them to your website while they are actively searching for solutions. It does the heavy lifting by drawing in qualified leads.

While inbound marketing is crucial, outbound activities can complement it effectively. Sponsorships, trade show booths, and other awareness-generating initiatives raise brand visibility among potential future customers. This peripheral exposure can increase the likelihood of recognition when they encounter your website in search results, making them more inclined to click through. The combination of inbound and outbound marketing maximizes your reach and strengthens your brand’s presence throughout the customer journey.

digital marketing for manufacturing industry