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Nowadays, strategic marketing for engineers and industrial professionals has changed dramatically. Engineers mostly use the internet for seeking information about technologies, products, or services, which is why industrial marketers increasingly turn to online and content marketing. And as GlobalSpec’s 2019 Smart Marketing for Engineers Survey demonstrates, the importance of digital marketing cannot be overstated. In this article, we take a look at the survey’s most effective strategies, show you exactly how engineers prefer to consume your marketing, and how to gain a competitive edge using this information.
Dive Deeper: The Global Growth Methodology for Industrial Companies
It is clear that engineers regularly seek to consume content, most of it in digital form. This runs the gamut from vendor websites to trade publications, newsletters and so much more. That’s why content marketing is an integral part of any successful industrial marketing strategy.
Datasheets, cast studies, product demos, and how-to videos are the most preferred content types for engineers. And it makes sense, knowing how engineers are bottom-line thinkers, always looking for informative, dense, to-the-point content.
When it comes to newsletters, the statistics are hard to argue with. Across all age groups, 86% of engineers are subscribed to 2 or more newsletters, 87% of which they browse through or fully read. So maintaining a regular newsletter and inviting engineers to subscribe, is an opportunity that is too good to pass up.
The survey shows that engineers find supplier/vendor websites the most valuable source of information, outranking even search engines and technical trade publications. This is why companies must have a website with a professional look and feel, coupled with informative and original content. These factors are important in building trust with engineers and can highly influence their decision-making.
Maintaining a uniform brand presence throughout all media is very important. For uniform visuals, invest in your brand’s logo & visual guidelines. Equally important is to invest in having a content marketing style guide, to ensure uniformity of content as well. With those two combined, you are guaranteed to keep your message consistent. This will ultimately breed brand trust and familiarity with engineers and industrial professionals, to your benefit.
Engineers are constantly dealing with challenges requiring immediate solutions. Once an engineer shows interest in your product or service, reach out to him as soon as possible. The ideal response time is immediate and up to 8 hours, although not always possible in our connected world of different time zones. However, as a rule of thumb, it’s best to reply within 24 hours.
A large portion of engineers are either decision makers themselves or influence the purchasing decisions of industrial companies, mainly influenced by online content. That’s why it’s important to regularly engage with engineers through valuable and informative content, mainly achieved through inbound marketing and publishing material such as articles, newsletters, blog posts and white papers.
Research clearly shows that targeting engineers and industrial professionals is a very effective strategic marketing method for b2b companies. However, companies are often hesitant to take a deeper dive into this area. After all, targeting highly technical audiences requires specialization and skill, which can be challenging to master.
Now is your chance to act on this information. Today more than ever, getting the attention of engineers from all over the world can be achieved easily and quickly, using customized inbound marketing methods. But at the same time, you need to act fast, while the market is still new to inbound marketing targeted to technical audiences. This will ensure you stay ahead of the competition, giving you a competitive edge.
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