Manufacturing marketing – the act of promoting, selling, and distributing products to customers – plays a pivotal role in the success of any manufacturing business.
However, despite its importance, the field faces many obstacles that must be overcome to thrive.
The manufacturing industry in the US has grown 3.7% per year on average over the five years between 2018 - 2023.
However, their marketing approach demands improvement from market research and analysis to product development and promotion.
So, let's explore the seven leading roadblocks and challenges to improve your manufacturing marketing strategies.
Let's get started!
In the age of digital marketing, control over the buying journey is paramount, which most marketing approaches lack.
It requires a solid demand generation strategy that provides buyers with the resources they need throughout the buying process.
For example: During the "need" phase, you should promote your solutions through smart and targeted PPC Pay Per Click (PPC) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
And when it's time to research and compare, you should have better content marketing, including:
Here’s how you can optimize your target buyer’s journey:
You need to identify buyer intent signals for your target manufacturing industry audience.
For that, you must put yourself in front of all the right buyers. As a result, you'll be able to reach the right people and focus on your revenue.
As a seasoned industrial marketer, it's vital to maintain a flexible mindset and stay attuned to the latest marketing innovations, tactics, and opportunities.
Manufacturing marketing is a multifaceted field comprising several elements like:
So, by disregarding any of these components, you risk missing out on potential growth opportunities and the ability to connect with new customers.
Consequently, connecting with a single marketing tool is not essential, even if it appears to yield positive results. Instead, try to explore different relevant tools to drive better results.
Staying up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques is important to drive growth through marketing efforts.
However, it can be challenging for businesses to keep pace with the rapidly-evolving digital landscape.
This is where partnering with a specialized industrial marketing firm can be beneficial to generate qualified leads.
Such a firm can provide the expertise and resources needed to execute effective online marketing campaigns to drive sales leads and growth for your business.
Your chosen marketing agency can collaborate with you to discover methods of elevating your brand visibility. It can also focus on positioning your company as a reputable authority and a dependable supplier within your industry to generate qualified manufacturing leads.
To maximize their outreach, manufacturing marketing agencies should prioritize outbound efforts such as:
Furthermore, you can also leverage inbound marketing efforts, including:
In the current business landscape, consumers tend to favor self-directed research and selection processes, opting to gather information.
They also try to identify suppliers on their own terms through their devices. They often prefer to avoid direct interactions with sales representatives and try to access the information they need independently.
Thus, a well-designed, informative website must attract new leads and continuously foster customer engagement.
However, many manufacturing marketing challenges regarding resource allocation or time management can be seen while optimizing your website as a lead generation tool.
In some cases, marketers may also lack the expertise or clarity on what specific updates are needed to achieve this goal.
In that case, as a sophisticated industrial marketer, do not rely on intuition alone to make strategic decisions.
Instead, leverage data-driven insights to inform their choices. Here’s how you can do it:
An experienced industrial marketer knows that not all leads are created equal. Thus, marketers should use the right tactics for the right lead.
For example, when someone fills out a form on your website to download an eBook. This means they have shown some interest in your product or service. These people may be considered marketing-qualified leads (MQLs).
At the same time, when someone fills out a form to request a consultation with your company, they may be considered sales-qualified leads (SQL). This means they have demonstrated a strong intent to purchase.
MQLs and SQLs are two important categories of leads in the sales and marketing process:
These leads are usually in the early stages of the buying process. It requires further nurturing and education before they can be converted into a customer.
SQLs are usually identified through a combination of a lead scoring system and lead qualification methods. It includes phone calls, demos, or appointment meetings.
Acting prematurely and directing your sales team to connect with leads that are merely perusing data can be detrimental to your success.
Thus, focus on recognizing the difference between MQLs and SQLs and identify sales opportunities better and the prospect’s real-time pipeline stage.
Read more about Sales Leads Vs Opportunities: Top 4 Key Differences
Utilizing a marketing automation platform like HubSpot can assist in keeping tabs on all the actions taken by your leads. Thus, it enables you to strategize on which leads to pursue and when.
Manufacturing companies don't always have lots of extra staff. And when it comes to manufacturing marketing, it's really not something you can fit in around your other tasks.
If you've only just dipped your toe in the marketing pool, you're likely to experience a bit of a ripple effect in your results.
For example, if you only half-heartedly approach maintenance, customer service, or product quality, your business will have negative consequences.
So, you can solve this problem by creating a single repository of all marketing and brand assets. You can do this by:
If your budget allows, hiring a marketing agency like Revnew can be a great way to get the most out of your marketing efforts. It's the quickest way to establish an online presence and keep those high-quality leads coming in.
Unfortunately, the web is seemingly flooded with content primarily focused on sales. It’s because most businesses focus on luring in clients and increasing their revenue. So, there is a lack of real information that can help professionals make informed decisions. Additionally, many manufacturing companies have tight budgets and limited time to develop content.
However, valuable and consistent content that resonates with customers drives engagement and moves them through the sales funnel. If you have the budget and other resources, you must invest in creating high-quality content. Here are some tips to follow:
Manufacturing industries have long embraced automation solutions, like robotics, IoT, AI, and machine learning – to streamline operations and increase efficiency.
Similarly, marketing leverages automation platforms to automate tedious tasks and free up time for more strategic pursuits.
However, implementing marketing automation can come with its own set of challenges.
Some of these challenges include the incompatibility of marketing automation tools with an existing business system, lack of needed resources for smooth implementation, etc.
To ensure a smooth transition, it is crucial to:
Finally, it is important to remember that automation should not compromise the authenticity and personality of your brand, as it can harm your reputation.
Manufacturing companies face many marketing hurdles, such as rival brands, globalization, and tech advancements. To get around these issues, manufacturers need to concentrate on constructing a powerful brand and making their products stand out.
They must also find the right channels to effectively reach their target audiences. With these fundamentals in check, manufacturers can continue to grow, prosper and flourish in a business world that's always evolving.
Furthermore, you must check out Revnew’s marketing services to smoothen out your manufacturing marketing challenges. We are B2B lead generation service providers, ready to help you get over any obstacle and bring the best outcome for your marketing efforts.
Learn how Revnew helped its client reach over 100 leads and track over 19000 potential contacts within a short period. To learn more, contact us now.