2024 & Beyond: Top Digital Marketing Tips for Industrial Products
- The digital age requires industrial brands to take a strategic, customer-centric approach to marketing.
- While no one-size-fits-all formula exists, success lies in tailored strategies that leverage both digital and traditional channels to engage prospects across touchpoints.
- Continual optimization based on data/feedback enables marketers to refine approaches over time and thrive in today's complex landscape.
In this Article
The digital age has dramatically transformed marketing across every sector, and industrial products are no exception: today’s business-to-business (B2B) buyers, especially tech-savvy millennials, extensively research suppliers long before engagement. For instance, a Bain & Co. survey established that up to 90% of respondents have a list of vendors in mind before they begin the search process. And 90% of these buyers will ultimately select a vendor from the initial set. The buyers draw the initial list of vendors from previous experience, recommendations from colleagues, and vendors with whom they have interacted in the digital space.
Also important, the B2B buyers prefer interacting with vendors in the digital space to the traditional offline approach. In fact, a recent Gartner survey showed that B2B buyers prefer digital commerce over sales rep interactions. The point here is that digital marketing is more appropriate today, and enterprise brands looking to sharpen their edge must embrace it wholeheartedly. In other words, industrial marketers must evolve strategies to connect with digitally empowered audiences. But the question is: how should the marketers formulate the strategies to ensure they pay off?
This article explores critical digital marketing strategies and tools industrial product marketers should consider to drive engagement and sales in today’s digital-first environment. The ideas presented aim to help brands enhance online visibility, nurture prospects, and foster connections that lead to fruitful, enduring business relationships.
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But First, What Is Industrial Marketing?
Industrial marketing involves promoting and selling products and services between businesses. Unlike retailers focusing on individual consumers, businesses-to-business (B2B) enterprises showcase their wares to other companies, who may then pass them on to individual consumers or utilize them as raw materials.
Because industrial product marketing targets customers who may not be the end users, marketers cannot rely on the usual way of developing a marketing strategy. Consumer marketing strives to showcase a product or service to as many end consumers’ eyes as possible, driving retail sales. On the contrary, industrial marketers focus on striking deals with entities that may purchase their products in bulk. As such, industrial product marketing has two crucial aspects:
Industrial marketing encompasses two essential facets that play a pivotal role in the success of businesses operating in the manufacturing sector. These aspects are:
Manufacturing Business Promotion
Firstly, manufacturers must build their brand image and improve investment appeal in the B2B space. This involves creating a compelling company image and developing its potential to thrive in a highly competitive market. This aspect of industrial product marketing has three essential facets:
- Image building begins with establishing a solid brand identity that communicates trustworthiness, reliability, and competence. Branding elements such as logos, slogans, and company culture shape this image.
- Investment attractiveness: Here, marketers develop strategies highlighting the company’s financial stability, growth potential, and innovation to attract investors and secure funding for various initiatives.
- B2B market penetration: As mentioned earlier, the industrial sector primarily operates within the B2B market. Therefore, industrial product marketing strategies must focus on enhancing the company’s presence in this market, connecting with other businesses, and fostering mutually beneficial relationships.
Product Promotion
Beyond promoting the manufacturer, industrial product marketing involves strategically promoting the products it offers. This aspect encompasses:
Strategic product development: Before promotion can begin, it’s crucial to have a well-developed product or service. This includes conducting market research to identify gaps or opportunities, designing products that meet customer needs, and ensuring they are manufactured efficiently and with high quality.
Marketing strategy: Building a marketing strategy for industrial products involves defining the target market, understanding the competitive landscape, and positioning the product effectively. This strategy encompasses pricing, distribution, and promotion tactics that align with the company’s overall goals.
Market entry and expansion: Introducing a new product or expanding into new markets requires careful planning and execution. Industrial marketing strategies should consider factors like market segmentation, localization, and distribution channels to penetrate and grow in target markets successfully.
Product promotion: This includes various marketing tactics such as advertising, content marketing, trade shows, and digital marketing to raise awareness, generate leads, and ultimately drive sales. Properly leveraging these tactics ensures the product reaches its intended audience.
It is quite clear that this strategy revolves around long-term relationships between a vendor and buyer, and purchases are often made in bulk. However, how can you approach industrial marketing practices for the best results? Let’s discuss a few helpful tips for your benefit, focusing on industrial product marketing.
Optimize Your Website for Search Engines and User Experience
Search engine optimization (SEO) should be a top priority for industrial brands looking to boost website traffic. SEO is about tweaking a website and its content so that search engines can quickly index it. You can achieve a search engine-optimized website using strategies like focusing on keywords that are both relevant and have reasonable search volume, ensuring product pages provide valuable information and are user-friendly, developing engaging, informative, and high-quality content, building a network of high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites in your industry, and sharing your valuable content on social media, industry forums, and through email marketing to increase its reach and encourage natural backlinking.
Check out our blog on product page optimization.
For example, a power tools manufacturer can create tailored landing pages optimized for buyer queries like “cordless power drills” or “job site table saws.” The manufacturer can also optimize individual product pages for long-tail keywords related to torque, battery life, etc. This way, the search engine will likely suggest the manufacturer’s store once a user types a matching keyword.
However, SEO success requires specific tactics that enable marketers to build the visibility and engagement necessary for converting traffic into sales. They include:
- Curated landing pages optimized for target buyer keywords
- Insightful, well-optimized corporate blog covering industry topics
- Helpful site elements like ROI calculators, technical guides, and comparison tools
- Chatbots and interactive features to assist visitors with questions
- Link-building with reputable industry websites to improve domain authority
- Focus on exceptional user experience and journey-based site navigation
Create Valuable and Educational Content for Your Target Audience
The truth is that most businesses create and market some type of content targeted at current and prospective buyers. According to SEMrush’s latest The State of Content Marketing report, 69% of businesses plan to increase their content marketing budgets in 2023. This suggests that many manufacturers and businesses are likely investing in creating and sharing educational content such as research, blog posts, podcasts, etc. In other words, you will not be the first one in this game, and that is why you must deploy the strategy in a way that differentiates your content.
So, how can you ensure your content is more impactful and generate leads? The following tactics are a great starting point:
Focus on Establishing Authority and Credibility
Content marketing is a powerful tool for industrial brands to establish authority and credibility in their respective industries. The problem is how to strike the right chord. To this end, you can produce and share high-quality content that addresses your target audience’s specific needs and challenges. However, the trick is to do this with unfailing consistency. This effort can pay off handsomely – it can position you as a trusted expert in the industry, which is especially important in sectors where trust and expertise are paramount.
For instance, imagine a power tools manufacturer creating a series of in-depth blog posts and videos that explain the engineering behind their tools’ durability and performance. The effort not only showcases their technical knowledge but also demonstrates their commitment to providing value to professionals in the construction industry. Over time, this content builds trust among potential customers, making them more likely to choose this brand when purchasing power tools.
Besides consistency, ensure that you create and share various content types. This way, you can engage with a diverse audience and cater to different learning preferences. Some examples include blogs, eBooks and whitepapers, case studies, webinars, and podcasts.
Create Content that Aligns with the Buyer’s Journey and Pain Points
One of the critical points that Semrush covers in the latest State of Content Marketing report is the current top six content marketing trends, and the first trend is relatable. According to the report, the best-performing content is a product of understanding your audience’s needs and values. And what better strategy exists than aligning content to the informational needs of prospects at each stage of their buyer’s journey?
Content should aim to attract, nurture, and convert targets based on their pain points. For example, a construction professional at the awareness stage might seek information on the latest trends in energy-efficient building materials. Therefore, a blog post or podcast discussing these trends can capture their attention. But as they move to the consideration stage, they may seek in-depth whitepapers or case studies demonstrating specific materials’ performance and cost-effectiveness. Finally, in the decision-making stage, they may be swayed by webinars or product-focused content highlighting how your materials stand out.C
Leverage Social Media to Increase Your Brand Awareness and Engagement
As you brainstorm on this strategy, it helps to know that you will not be the only one leveraging social media for marketing. According to Forbes, 77% of businesses use social media to reach customers. This suggests that a large proportion of marketers, including industrial marketers, leverage social media in their marketing strategies.
Social media platforms present a significant opportunity for industrial brands to boost awareness and engagement with both potential and existing customers. Brands with a strategic presence on the right social channels can connect with buyers, nurture relationships, and drive conversions. But exactly what constitutes a strategic presence on social media? This refers to using the various platforms for two primary purposes: reaching and interacting with customers. How does this approach facilitate customer interactions?
- Expanded reach – Social media platforms boast vast user bases, allowing industrial brands to reach a broader and more diverse audience. For instance, a power tool manufacturer can use the sites to target construction professionals, contractors, and DIY enthusiasts.
- Direct engagement: Social media provides a direct channel for two-way communication with customers. Brands can promptly respond to inquiries, address concerns, and gather feedback, enhancing customer satisfaction and trust.
- Demonstrating expertise: Platforms like YouTube enable companies to showcase their industry knowledge and product expertise. Consider a power tool manufacturer creating in-depth YouTube videos providing detailed analyses of their new product’s features, performance, and real-world applications. These videos not only educate potential buyers but also position the brand as a trusted industry authority.
- Humanizing the brand: Manufacturers and other B2B sellers, often regarded as sophisticated and attractive to professionals only, can use social media to make their image more relatable. They can post behind-the-scenes glimpses of manufacturing processes, introduce team members, and present the company culture, allowing them to become more relatable and trustworthy in the eyes of their audience.
However, it is critical to be strategic in choosing platforms based on your audience, content types, and goals. For example, platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter may be ideal for sharing educational materials with business decision-makers, while YouTube can host product videos to inform the buyer’s journey.
With over 90% of B2B buyers using social media to engage with industry thought leaders and 72% using social channels to research solutions, having a thoughtful presence boosts discoverability. It allows consistent B2B interaction and relationship-building pre-sale.
Maintain a High Quality of Customer and Product Data
Data, no matter the type, is more useful when accurate, complete, relevant, valid, timely, and consistent. No wonder a Forbes analysis established that better data quality leads to higher marketing ROI. It can help find the best customers by understanding their lifetime value and targeting them accordingly. Also, developing more predictable and data-driven strategies can enable better overall marketing planning. In other words, high-quality data significantly increases the likelihood of success in decision-making processes.
For industrial product marketers, customer and product data are essential ingredients for a successful campaign. However, marketers may be unable to maintain accurate and standardized customer and product data in the current digital environment characterized by fragmentation. And yet, this information is more valuable when it is high quality – it enables brands to truly understand buyers and personalize messaging to speak to their needs directly. For instance, having properly formatted customer contact data like names, titles, phone numbers, and valid emails ensures communication reaches the right decision-makers. The question, then, is: how can brands maintain high-quality data? The best solution is management platforms like product information management software (PIM) and digital asset management (DAM) platforms.
One of the most essential features of PIM and DAM systems is the capability to introduce and optimize data consistency. The platforms achieve this through a series of steps. First, they provide a central location for data storage, ensuring all stakeholders have a single source of truth for all product content and digital assets. Second, the tools allow users to create and enforce standards for data and assets. Third, the platforms enable users to syndicate product content to various channels in a few clicks.
For instance, a construction materials manufacturer may use a PIM software like Catsy to maintain consistent product data, including specifications, pricing, and availability. This ensures accurate and up-to-date information is presented on the company’s website, eCommerce platforms, and marketing materials.
The best management solution provides PIM and DAM as one product, and Catsy is the best example. So, while the PIM aspect handles product information, DAM software extends high-quality practices to digital assets. For example, the construction materials manufacturer may use DAM to standardize marketing materials for online promotions, brochures, and social media campaigns, including images, alt text, and product descriptions.
Merge Traditional Advertising With Digital Channels
Despite the onset of digital marketing, traditional approaches are still relevant in the B2B space. Studies show increasing engagement for traditional ads while too much noise in the digital realm is undermining engagement. Consequently, one can confidently argue that traditional ads are not dead.
However, it would be unwise to claim that one type of advertising is more effective than another. The success of advertising depends on various factors, such as the budget, target audience, and the information being conveyed. As a marketer or business seeking to enhance your industrial product marketing efforts, it’s crucial to consider both digital and traditional advertising and use them in conjunction.
For instance, print ads in industry trade magazines can include a QR code or shortened URL directing readers to a landing page for more information. On the other hand, billboards can incorporate a hashtag or mention a company’s social media handle to continue engagement. Furthermore, TV commercials can have a call-to-action, prompting viewers to visit the website or download an app. And radio spots can announce upcoming webinars or virtual events. In each case, traditional ads drive traffic to digital touchpoints for further nurturing. Such an integrated approach expands reach while allowing prospects to engage on their preferred channel.
Conclusion
The digital transformation has brought immense changes to industrial product marketing, requiring brands to adopt more strategic and targeted approaches. While tactics like SEO, content marketing, and social media provide valuable avenues to connect with B2B buyers, success ultimately hinges on truly understanding customers and aligning marketing efforts to their needs.
A critical component is maintaining high-quality customer and product data. With accurate and consistent information, industrial brands can gain meaningful insights to personalize messaging and experiences for each prospect. Product information management (PIM) and digital asset management (DAM) platforms are invaluable for enforcing consistency and maximizing the value of data. By centralizing information and assets, setting standards, and enabling easy syndication, these tools ensure brands always present accurate, up-to-date details across channels.
In the end, there is no one-size-fits-all marketing formula in the industrial sphere. The most effective strategies are tailored, focusing on a company’s unique value proposition, customers, and objectives. While the digital realm offers many opportunities, marketers should also leverage traditional channels and marry them with online touchpoints. Integrated campaigns that provide relevant information across mediums most effectively nurture prospects and drive conversions.
The key is to continually experiment with new ideas while staying laser-focused on target buyers. Adapting based on data and feedback allows industrial brands to refine strategies over time. With a willingness to evolve and a customer-centric approach, industrial product marketers can thrive amidst the complexity of today’s digital landscape.
Digital marketing is critical in the industrial sphere because today’s B2B buyers extensively research suppliers online before engaging. Tactics like SEO, content marketing, and social media allow brands to increase visibility, establish authority, and nurture prospects throughout their buyer’s journey. Digital platforms provide a cost-effective way to reach a broader, global audience and directly interact with potential customers.
Brand image stems from branding elements, financial stability, innovation, and overall market presence. Industrial companies should focus on developing a trusted brand identity through logos, slogans, culture, etc. They can highlight growth potential and innovation through content marketing and PR. Participating in trade shows and partnering with distributors also improves visibility. Overall, consistency across channels builds familiarity and trust in the brand.
Educational content allows brands to demonstrate expertise and establish credibility. It provides value to prospects by addressing pain points educational content allows brands to demonstrate expertise and establish credibility. It provides value to prospects by addressing pain points and knowledge gaps throughout the buyer’s journey. Content types like blogs, eBooks, case studies, and webinars nurture leads by providing relevant information at each stage. Consistent, high-quality content positions companies as trusted industry authorities.
Social media platforms expand reach to broad, diverse audiences and provide a direct engagement channel. Companies can share educational materials, videos showcasing products/expertise, behind-the-scenes content to humanize their brand, and more. Responding promptly to inquiries and feedback fosters positive customer experiences. A strategic presence improves discoverability and enables consistent relationship-building.
Accurate, complete customer and product data provides meaningful insights to better understand buyers. With this information, companies can segment audiences and personalize messaging based on needs and interests. High-quality data also enables consistent product information across channels, ensuring customers get accurate specifications. PIM and DAM platforms help centralize data and assets, set standards, and maximize quality.
