Next, the producer needs to tailor their introduction to prospective clients. A marketing data analyst processes facts and figures about a businesss past marketing plans and creates projections suggesting effective marketing strategies for future endeavors. The seller (the industrial marketer) should aim to be discovered by the buyer as early as possible in the buying process. Before your sales team can close a new sales-qualifiedlead as a customer, your marketing teamneeds to put that lead on the table. The focus of industrial marketing lies in generatingawareness among a qualified niche audience, educating them, validating your business in front of them, keeping them engaged and converting them from anonymous prospects into hard leads with names, phone numbers and email addresses. Now that weve established the desired results, we can build atactical plan. Once a potential client has expressed interest in working with a companys industrial marketing team, its representatives will begin to develop a relationship with an accounts manager. The focus of all materials for this specific client should shift to maintaining a good working relationship. When the sales cycle does take months, or a year or more, staying top of mind, earning trust and qualifying your business are all critical steps in the buying process. And both sources consider the term industrial marketing to be synonymous with business-to-business (B2B) marketing or the marketing of products or services to other companies, rather than to consumers. Unfortunately, when the boss doesnt buy in, its unlikely that anyone else will either. But more likely, they are looking for carbon steel pipe. Educate visitors and qualify your business in front of them after they discover you. Compel visitors who are close to making a buying decision to reach out and start a sales conversation with you. $1,000,000? Compel visitors at all stages of their buying processes (research, evaluation, purchase) to become real contacts with names, phone numbers and email addresses rather than anonymous website visitors. An industrial market involves one business dealing goods or services to another business instead of a consumer base. This advanced education lets tomorrows ambitious marketing professionals hone skills in their areas of interest so they can pursue fulfilling careers. Since weve already determined that we need to produce five qualified leads / month to reach our $3MM new revenue target, and weve made the assumption that 1 in 10 contacts we generate will be qualified, we can conclude that well need to produce 50 total new contacts / month. In 2009, the fencing company Louis E. Page decided tolaunch a blogwith tips and tricks for using iron fence material in creative ways. A legal practice specializing in contract law, for instance, could expand its scope from representing only individuals to helping businesses develop their own contracts. And most importantly, have you met your revenue goal?
Computer programs are another example, especially networks or specialized programs that aid in the production of goods and services. Your sales team closes business with 50% of their sales-qualified leads. Real data can be gathered through sources like Google AdWords Keyword Planner to validate or negate what you suspect to be true. But the audience for this piece is more specific. Informational websites with language directed at other businesses, Personalized presentations to the management staff of potential clients, Product samples to demonstrate confidence in the quality of the product, Online videos displaying products and sales staff. Whats your sales teams close rate among sales-qualified leads? When inbound marketing starts working as it should, youll get your fair share of qualified leads requesting quotes and downloading your content. The machinery would have to be sold to another business that has both the resources and need to produce large quantities of their own product, such as a mass-market toy factory that needs to create one million units of the same toy each year. A brand managers chief concern is crafting the image of the product and maintaining public enthusiasm for it in all channels of communication. No phone number. How incredible it would be if every form submission that came through your website produced a qualified lead. Remember, the reason were doing any of this in the first place is to grow your business. Mass marketing doesnt work when each buyer has such specific (and technical) needs and requirements. Even if the client isnt ready to sign a contract right away, getting to know them with professional, non-pushy contact can be of great benefit. Separate columns are created for the name of the company, the name of the customer contact(s) at that company and the revenue generated. But youll also get your fair share of form submitters that youll classify as spam, vendors trying to sell you something, students conducting research and competitors trying to figure you out. So get the right measurement tools in place now. Unfortunately, those kinds of expectations are unrealistic. Today, marketing results must be tangible to be credible. Once a potential client is interested in the product, the producer should shift focus from the general introduction of its web presence to more personalized meetings and presentations. A website with detailed but not overly specific content about the company and its products serves as a great introduction. This makes refining a product and communicating to buyers much simpler. Where can we replicate those successful strategies and tactics? Our Tactical Guide to Industrial Lead Generation will teach you how to attract, engage and convert ideal-fit prospects into real leads, move them into your sales funnel and measure results. Now we can learn how many qualified leads were generated and what marketing activities played a role. You have your job to do. Business owners seeking long-term partnerships? The end result? Help sales understand that youre in their corner and are setting out to produce a consistent stream of sales-qualified inbound leads. You need to ensure you prompt a real conversation before that anonymous visitor leavesand never comes back. Make use of existing staff members who are strong strategic thinkers and have some level of experience with marketing and business development, Hire a salaried staff member with a background in marketing, Hire an outside agency that specializes in marketing and lead generation specifically for B2B industrial sector companies, Multiple skill sets (strategy, SEO, design, writing, web development), Potential non-marketing expert filling a marketing role. And because industrial buyers behave in such a different manner, the marketing approach must absolutely follow suit. We have four theories on why this disconnect is so frequent. The coursework begins with surveys of topics and terminology in the general field of marketing, then intensifies the class work into focused studies of modern business technology and case studies of marketing plans implemented by real-world corporations. More often than not, an engineer, plant manager or procurement staff member is the one looking for answers to questions, solutions to problems, partners and vendors. Why fix whats not broken? Some of these companies focus a small portion of the business on consumer goods but generally do only business-to-business deals.
When there are marketing results to be produced, you may be tempted to jump straight to tacticsa website overhaul, an AdWords pay-per-click campaign, an email marketing push. Potential clients will always research a company before negotiating a sale of its product. Industrial sector resources like ThomasNet or GlobalSpec? Your tasks as an industrial marketer are to be sure your company is discovered by that person and to qualify your business in front of him or her first. Expensive furniture. For many, when something starts working, that by default becomes his or her way of doing it forever. How can a marketing school help you succeed? GCU's Colangelo College of Business offers leading edge degrees that address the demands of contemporary business environments. Many companies create and market products that have little to no application on the level of the individual customer, so their only clients will be other businesses. What went wrong? The industrial market focuses solely on the goods and services provided for producing a separate end product. As we looked at earlier in our comparison of consumer and industrial marketing, the latter typically involves a more in-depth process. Often a B2B purchase means that a relationship is about to form. Keyword research and on-page search engine optimization. What challenges are they trying to overcome? Next, we need to figure out how many sales-qualified leads well need to generate in order to reach $3MM in revenue growth. Often many people are involved. Setting a qualified leads target requires us to answer a few questions first: Lets say weve answered these two questions as follows: Doing the simple math, we now know that our marketing initiatives must contribute to the acquisition of 30 new customers (worth $100,000 each) over the next year to reach $3MM. $100,000? That leads into the next point. And frankly, we cant blame a successful sales professional for not seeking out new methods or embracing change. Before the product appears on the other stores shelves, the two businesses must reach a deal that will involve the manufacture, purchase, and shipping of thousands of products. The second table outlines the tactics that can help you generate the conversionrate. It is also very helpful to have a background in customer service positions in retail or food service environments, and to have worked as an assistant to an account professional. Though old-fashioned, face-to-face networking is alive and well in the business-to-business world, it is increasingly important to have a strong online presence. Industrial marketing is an intricate process that occurs at many stages. While selling candy to an individual customer might rely on salesmanship and knowledge about individual tastes and cravings, selling candy to a store takes more than attractive packaging. Our experience shows that a website that will effectively drive lead generation for manufacturers should yield a 2 3% visitor-to-lead conversion rate. Keyword-rich blogging jumped 13% in that fiscal year, with embedded video and ebook content following close behind. And as outlined above, there are pros and cons for each. Many brand managers advance from entry-level positions in creative development, especially content-writing and website design. Then listen. Then youd hope the phones started ringing. This includes art and copywriting for a product, managing the producers social media presence, and working with advertising partners to raise awareness about the product. Learn more about us, Career opportunities in industrial marketing. Industry directories and trade journals? Search engines like Google and Bing? No one takes the marketing team seriously. The earlier this discovery occurs, the more influence the seller can have on the often long buying process. Youve set your targets and your end goal. Professionals at the chocolate manufacturer might send product samples with personalized notes to develop a strong impression ahead of a business meeting. A new home. How many total new contacts do I need to generate each month to produce that many qualified leads? Long sales cycles tend to accompany big industrial B2B purchases. (See alsoCareers in Marketing), Our site does not feature every educational option available on the market. How many sales-qualified leads do I need to generate for my sales team each monthto reach that revenue target? Using that percentage range as a benchmark, youll need to produce 1600 2500 visits / month to generate those 50 new monthly contacts. But rarely do even these biggest of consumer purchases take the good majority of a year (or multiple years). Strong data will go a long way. For the sake of an example, lets say your target is $3MM in revenue growth over the next year. Create a variety of opportunities for visitors to trade their contact information for something of value to them in their buying process (Examples: white papers, case studies, buyers guides, webinar registrations, email subscriptions). The point? This creates a foundation and focus for the rest of the marketing plan. This guide to marketing for manufacturers is broken up into eight sections, as follows. It has components of advertising, sales, number-crunching, and cutting edge telecommunications. Marketing school provides in-depth training in everything from the principles of corporate management, to data analytics software and the composition of top-quality advertising collateral. Industrial engineers are professionals trained to design the machines needed for industry. A brand manager should have at least a bachelors degree in marketing, business, or communications, though an advanced degree like a Master of Business Administration (MBA) can both improve job prospects and increase potential salaries. Who is involved in the buying process within your target audiences company?
Industrial marketing requires a complex skill set that pulls from multiple disciplines of business. A Google search for industrial marketing will first show you pages from Wikipedia and Marketing-Schools.org. The sales team should use this meeting as an opportunity to provide feedback to marketing on which new leads and customers were most ideal and why. Also known as the business-to-business market, this market encompasses three distinct variations, including businesses selling goods, businesses selling raw materials and businesses selling services. This lead generation report spreadsheet is provided to sales, who marks each lead as unqualified, maybe qualified or sales qualified. The table below outlines a few of our favorite tools and what they help you measure. It also can be more data-based, such as providing business accounting for companies. Review a report from the marketing team. $25,000 benefits, payroll taxes, equipment, etc. Partner with an industrial marketing agency. Lots of money is involved. Your buyer might be looking for steel pipe. A company that makes large-scale manufacturing machinery, for example, is either unlikely or unable to sell that machinery to private individuals because those customers are unlikely to be able to afford it or wont need equipment of such size. By service? Help Google understand that your business is a strong source of information for the topics related to the keywords youre targeting. As in many B2B verticals, the industrial buying process consists of phases. Salary cost, plus payroll taxes, benefits, equipment, training, etc. (See alsoWeb Marketing). Todays marketing and business development ecosystems are data-driven and entirely measurable. And with a clear understanding of what the marketing team has set out to accomplish, the sales team will be much more inclined to play a role in assisting the marketing team. Having worked with many industrial sector companies, our agency has observed one challenge that stands above all others: The integration of marketing and sales. Will likely require outside help to fill these skill sets, Multiple marketing skills sets are rarely present in one person (strategy, SEO, design, writing, web development). The example weve talked through here is illustrated in the table below: NOW, its finally time to get tactical. From automobiles to food, clothes and more, consumer industrial products would not be available without the industrial market first being utilized. Getting any of these systems in place can require significant time investments themselves, but are critical in gathering the information that must be shared between marketing and sales. The manufacturer will market the quality, cost, and customer appeal of its chocolate bars to convince the candy store it will have an easy time selling them. A successful industrial marketing strategy requires a much more targeted, niche-specific approach. It can involve a wide variety of marketing strategies, such as: Many consumer product companies develop special marketing divisions specifically for B2B clients. Engineers seeking specs? The chocolate manufacturer should have a solid plan with its accounts managers for how to compose emails and conduct phone conversations with representatives of the candy store, as well as how to inform them about new products. Accounts managers are not just salespeople; they are the face of the company. Once the client is ready to discuss the details of a contract, the marketing phase is nearly over. And even more likely, they are looking for A 106 carbon steel pipe. Establish the credibility of your website in the eyes of the search engines. Translation educational, qualifying website content will be critical. Theres no better place than your own website to answer common questions and provide the beginnings of solutions to those problems through written, visual or watchable content. What does sales want to accomplish? More often than not, no one enforces the necessary marketing sales integration that will produce growth for the company. Your buyer may have to work closely with you for months or even years to come. These groups do not provide any physical goods but supply manpower and expertise in particular areas. A thorough marketing program provides aspiring industrial marketing professionals with an incredible starting advantage in a booming field of commerce. The tools above are designed to help you do just that. Because the store is no longer a new client, all communications should be customized to their specific experience with the producer. As a marketing agency, weve had the opportunity to look in from the outside of many manufacturing and industrial sector organizations. Each of these three happen in a variety of individual businesses. Drive traffic quickly through paid advertising in search engines. In short, industrial marketing exists to feed the sales engine, where real conversations with leads begin and sales are eventually closed. Utilize real data to learn what keywords your audience is using to search for solutions. This typically happens when the manufacturers business grows to a large enough scale to accommodate larger orders. The firsttable belowoutlinesthe tactics that canhelp you generatethetraffic. Because every company is different from business growth goals to marketing budgets to staff skill sets the route you chose depends on your particular situation. Communication with potential clients through email, phone conversations, and in-person presentations helps nurture the business relationship. Lead magnets (valuable resources gated behind forms). The smartest marketers deploy their strategy, collect data, interpret the results and refine on a consistent basis. What solutions do they actually need?
$1,000? Optimize the individual pages on your website so theyll be discovered when your audience searches throughGoogle and other search engines. Between 2011 and 2012, industry marketing in the United States continued to put more effort and funding into information-based marketing strategies. (See alsoRelationship Marketing). Marketing must be responsible for understanding who sales needs to attract. No email address. Amazon Doesn't Want You to Know About This Plugin. This requires strong math skills, good communication skills, and high computer literacy. How many sales-qualified leads will they need on the table to close that many deals? Gating educational content behind a form allows you to trade something of value for your prospects contact information. And with a 50% close rate, doing so will require 60 sales-qualified leads (an average of five sales-qualified leads / month). Comprehensive measurement of website performance, Comprehensive measurement of website performance, lead intelligence on individual website visitors, Website visitor behavior, conversion of visitors into leads, You lack awareness among your niche audience, Youre wasting time pursuing unqualified leads, Youre fighting a long sales cycle and struggling to close business, Your marketing and sales efforts are disjointed, You dont know how to measure marketing ROI. Will likely require outside help to fill these skill sets, Existing B2B and/or industrial-specific marketing experience may be limited or nonexistent, Investment of time required to learn your business (and your customers businesses), Taking a leap of faith by investing in a partnership with a third party company, often requiring a 12-month+ commitment. Whats the value of a new customer? But we need start at the other end of the equation. Data collection and analysis mustultimately be used tohold your marketer accountable and enable positive change. What types of people are involved in the buying process? For the sake of a round number, lets say 1 in 10 contacts you generate through your website is a truly qualified lead. Below, we look at five reasons industrial marketing needs to be approached differently than consumer marketing. The head of the marketing team compiles a separate lead generation report spreadsheet, documenting all leads generated that month. Many listings are from partners who compensate us, which may influence which programs we write about. Following a buyers realization that he or she has a need that must be filled, three distinct phases of the buying process ensue, as outlined in the following table. What solutions do they think they need? Inbound link building: guest authorship, content syndication, directory listings. On-page visitor-to-lead conversion paths: calls-to-action, lead-capture landing pages, forms. What revenue do I need to generate from my inbound marketing initiative over the next year?
The most readily-available and comprehensive measurement tool available, Measure your traffic growth, how visitors are finding you, their geography, what content on your website theyre consuming, what content is generating leads and much more, Measure your entire inbound marketing funnel from discovery to lead generation to closing of customers, Collect intelligence on the behavior of specific individuals that enter your sales funnel, Track your performance ranking for these keywords, Document click and scroll behavior of website visitors through visual heat maps and video recordings, Identify where on your site visitors drop off before converting into leads, Collect real search volume data on keywords related to the products, services and solutions you offer and the problems your prospects are trying to solve, Determine monthly search volume by location. By problem? This report should document how many qualified leads were generated over the past quarter and who they were. Service providers also occasionally expand to industrial clients to take advantage of more lucrative contracts. Furniture manufacturers often do this, opening up their tables, chairs, and couches to businesses that may want them for their corporate offices. The buyer develops a short list of products or service providers and begins evaluating each in depth. Because industrial marketing often involves large orders and long-term relationships between the producer and client, the process from first pitch to close of sale is often more complex than the process between a business and a private customer. How many deals will they need to close to achieve those targets? Size is the one great advantage that the industrial market has over the consumer market. It should be no secret to you that the buying process of business-to-business industrial sector buyers is very different than that of consumers. And it should also document which marketing-generated leads closed as customers, how much revenue can be attributed to that pool of customers, how they originated and what marketing activities played a role in closing them. Marketing should have done its job at this point and duties fall into the hands of sales to close the deal. In many instances, an industrial machine is unique to a specific industry or product, or even to one particular business. Below we break down three routes to executing your industrial marketing strategy: The table below outlines the pros and cons of each, as well as associated costs. This can be a physical act, such as cleaning up hazardous materials that are produced by industrial machinery. At the end of the month, the head of the sales team compiles a sales report spreadsheet documenting all business that closed that month. An accounts manager should have a bachelors or masters degree in marketing, business, or finance. This is an organizational market with its own advertising, distribution and sales. And that means we need to focus on driving revenue before anything else. And the lack of accountability from those overseeing marketing and sales is often very apparent. A marketing data analyst should have a bachelors degree in marketing, business, or math. Their trust must be earned before they recommend you up the chain to their C-level decision maker. Both structure and consistency will be key in aligning marketing and sales.
Successfully catering to these steps is what we call lead nurturing. The industrial buyer needs to feel confident in you and know that they are being taken care of. In our previous example of the chocolate bar manufacturer, they might create an aesthetically pleasing, well-written website talking about their companys history and the candy they produce. Because of the prevalence of online components in industrial marketing, a brand manager needs to have excellent computer literacy with everything from design software to social media platforms. Links from other credible, industry-centric sites to your site are seen by Google as votes of confidence for your site, and directly impact your search engine rankings. Finally, we can ask the question: How much website traffic do we need to generate in order to produce those 50 new contacts each month? A car. So if thats you, and if at least a few of the following challenges keep you up at night, we encourage you to read on. The industrial market equally benefits from groups that sell raw materials to other companies that use them to create end products. Begin by asking the right questions: With a clear understanding of your sales teams target prospect, the marketing team can execute more effective and targeted lead generation work. Now were getting somewhere tangible. What keywords do you suspect theyre using in their searches? Tools that help you collect and interpret data make it easy for us to say, Awesome, this worked or Dang, this didnt work. But thats not enough. The person who discovers you is not always the person writing the check. Engineering is an important component of the industrial market. When the pressure is on to produce results, the last thing you need to worry about is how theyre spending their time. The tough news for most marketing professionals in this digital era is that they can no longer hide behind subjective results. A company producing an industrial loom for creating garments would be one example of a company utilizing this market. Unlike consumer products that must be marketed to fit many lifestyles and preferences, these products and services are aimed a a handful of specific business models.