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Month: January 2019

Best Practices of Digital Marketing for Manufacturers: Build Authority and Attract Qualified Leads

Posted on by teamsstepup

Today’s industrial sector is well aware that digital marketing is an integral part of reaching and interacting with their target audience, prospects, and customers. And even though they are tasked with engaging in online and content marketing, the majority of manufacturers still fall short of demonstrating a positive return from their digital marketing activities.

In this article, we present the challenges that manufacturers face when it comes to digital marketing. We’ll also share our Industrial Marketing Methodology, a digital marketing strategy geared toward the needs of manufacturers.

The Challenges of Digital Marketing for Manufacturers

Even though manufacturers and B2B industrial companies recognize the value of engaging in digital marketing, they face several challenges in doing so:manufacturers marketing challenges

  • Many manufacturers lack a clear plan on how to implement online and content marketing activities. A clear, actionable plan is the basis of all marketing activities.
  • Manufacturers rarely take advantage of tracking and measuring tools and therefore can’t demonstrate their digital marketing activities ROI (or lack thereof). As the saying goes, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure.”
  • In some cases, manufacturers don’t have the necessary experience on how to target, reach, and appeal to technical audiences. This results in inadequate planning and budgeting, as well as slow corrective or pivoting actions when it comes to optimizing their online marketing.

Dive Deeper: The Global Growth Methodology for Industrial Companies [read more >>>]

Marketing Transformation for Manufacturers

GlobalSpec’s 2019 survey on manufacturing content marketing demonstrates how engineers and technical professionals primarily use the internet to research products and services, before reaching out to a company’s sales team. This points to a meaningful shift in marketing that manufacturers have to make.

customer_journeyDigital marketing has become vital in the technical customer’s journey. Where taking part in trade shows and running trade magazine ads used to suffice, manufacturers must now shift towards digital marketing to achieve results.

 

The StepUp Growth Wheel

StepUp Global Growth MethodologyWe at StepUp specialize in digital marketing for businesses, industries, and manufacturers that target highly technical audiences. In the last 4 years, our team has created a comprehensive Industrial Marketing Methodology, that guarantees company growth, generation of qualified leads, and building authority in the company’s corresponding industrial sector.

Here are the 7 steps of The StepUp Growth Wheel, chosen to help manufacturers dominate their market using digital marketing:

  1. Brand Positioning: A determining first step is to set the brand positioning strategy & statement, market research, and annual marketing plan.
  2. Infrastructure: Creation of clear visual and content guidelines, to maintain consistent messaging in all future marketing materials.
  3. Content Strategy: Defining a comprehensive content plan based on target audience characteristics, such as the buyer personas and mapping of the buyer’s journey.
  4. Media Distribution: Deciding on the most effective places and methods to publish and distribute content, in a way that resonates with your target audience.
  5. Lead Automation: Employing lead qualification and nurturing techniques, together with marketing automation tools, to ultimately convert leads into satisfied customers.
  6. Sales Enablement: The creation of seamless sales processes that guide prospects through your sales funnel and convert them into customers with minimal effort.
  7. ROI Tracking and Reporting: Setting up the necessary infrastructure to properly track and measure all marketing activities, in order to continuously optimize and achieve the best ROI.

While some manufacturers are having difficulties implementing digital marketing tactics, others are seeing exponential growth, building authority in their sector, and dominating their market. Contact us today to arrange a free 30-minute custom digital marketing session to find out how you can utilize automated digital marketing systems that will guarantee your success for years to come.

Read more about our “Global Growth Methodology” here >>>

 

 

5 Ways to Successfully Generate Industrial Sales Leads

Posted on by teamsstepup

Wouldn’t it be great if generating industrial sales leads was as simple as emailing or cold calling? However generating industrial sales leads successfully takes a lot of time, requires more specialization, and let’s face it – know how – than regular leads.

Industrial buyers aren’t your standard run-of-the-mill prospects. They are qualified professionals, highly informed on a subject before reaching a buying decision. Read on to see how this transforms the process of generating and converting industrial sales leads.

Learn more about our Inbound Marketing Methodology for B2B Industrial companies >>>

How To Generate Industrial Sales Leads?

1. Trade Shows

Trade shows are an excellent source of generating qualified industrial prospects. The best way to get the most out of the trade show is to plan ahead with Before, During, and After activities. Beforehand, you want to try to bring a team of people with sales skills and technical know-how. Also, you can prepare equipment and marketing materials fit for the trade show, as well as a set of qualifying questions to help with prospect identification.

During the show, avoid seeming pre-scripted or ‘salesy’ by building rapport and connecting with people before moving on to business. Present products & solutions fitting to their needs and seek a follow-up commitment for a call, appointment, or email, before saying goodbye.

After the show, establish trust and continued communication by promptly following up on leads and sending a thank you note along with any personalized materials discussed.

2. Website SEO & Organic Traffic

The importance of driving organic traffic to your website cannot be overstated. Practices like alternative image names and proper hierarchy structure are just a few items from a long list of SEO techniques required. Equally important is the content, requiring both keywords mastery and a well-written blog. The former means using suitable keywords, in the right places and in a strategic way. Regarding the latter, a blog with solid writing instills confidence and builds trust with your visitors, making them more prone to following a call to action and convert to sales leads.

3. Trade Magazines & PR

Trade magazines offer the option of both advertising and writing specialized pieces. When advertising, aim for a clean design that invites the reader to go through your ad. Increase ad engagement by prompting the reader to a call to action, such as contacting you. Publishing specialized pieces containing useful and original information is also effective. This way you come off as genuinely helpful, making your piece more credible and less like a sales pitch, gaining the reader’s trust.

4. Partner Newsletters

Effective partner newsletters employ professionally designed, aesthetically pleasing format with clear information hierarchy, that’s simple to browse through. Try framing the content based on your partner’s needs, while highlighting any promotional activities or calls to action. To optimize and focus on what works best, measure a newsletter’s performance in terms of audience reach and adapt accordingly.

5. Social Media (LinkedIn)

Social media platforms like LinkedIn are also a place where you may find and reach professionals. A paid strategy is direct advertising, which allows reaching prospective professionals in your industrial sector. An organic approach is posting updates regularly, which will be visible in all of your contacts feed. Similarly joining specialized groups allows you to share insights, demonstrate know-how, and expand your network. A key factor is keeping a steady rate of activity, appearing to your network’s feed regularly and building trust with your audience.

Converting Leads to Opportunities

You can benefit from the industrial sales leads generated, by converting them to sales opportunities through various techniques:

  • Lead Nurturing Emails: Customized email campaigns that deliver targeted messages and help prospects move forward with the buying process.
  • Social Media Branding by Remarketing: Remarketing is the practice of following your leads around the web with targeted ads, based on their history and browsing behavior. Combined with social media, it creates a strong brand presence, increasing brand credibility and awareness in the reader.
  • Content Strategy: Keep your audience educated, updating them on the newest trends and technologies. This way you develop a trustworthy company image, instill faith and make prospects more likely to convert to opportunities.
  • Direct Calling: Direct calling adds a personal touch in your communication. Especially for industrial leads, it can be beneficial as it can result in better understand your prospect’s needs.
  • CRM Platform: CRMs help make the whole sales process easy to record and access, resulting in increased conversions.

Now, What are You Going to Do?

Generating industrial sales leads is only a small part of company growth. At StepUp we specialize in inbound marketing for B2B companies for more than 10 years. Visit our methodology page to see how we can help you establish and maintain a clear marketing and sales strategy, producing predictable growth for your company.

 

 

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