The purchasing process has changed. It doesn’t matter if you are a B2C or B2B manufacturer; your potential buyers are going to spend significant time in their purchase decision process researching you online before considering contacting you. The reality is that 88 percent of consumers begin their purchase process online. A significant portion of B2B buyers’ purchase-related activity (27 percent) involves doing their own research online.
The use of digital marketing has multiple benefits in promoting your B2B business: return on investment is easier to measure with digital campaigns, a good online experience can radically differentiate your company from the competition, and effective digital marketing campaigns can quickly boost the generation of new leads.
Below, we show you some digital marketing formulas manufacturers can use to stand out in such a competitive market.
Table of Contents
Optimize Your B2B Website To Be SEO-Friendly.
Your website is the equivalent of an always-on store, where visitors can view your products and learn more about your business anytime. Not optimizing your website for search engines like Google or Bing is like opening a physical store in an empty city: no one knows it exists, so no one can benefit from your products or services, no matter how good they are.
Getting your website optimized for SEO is like giving your store a privileged location on the Internet, allowing it to give the best of itself.
Some tips to help the SEO of your website:
- Identify the keywords your ideal customers/buyers are using, and then make sure those keywords are strategically placed on your web page, including page titles, H1 titles, meta descriptions, and even image alt text.
- Ensure your page loads quickly ( you can do a speed test here ), and remove or adjust any components that slow down page load time. Site speed is an important factor in the ranking and positioning of web pages. More importantly, a slow-loading site can negatively affect your conversion rate.
- Avoid duplicate content on your pages. It isn’t good for search engines but for the user to read the same thing on multiple pages. Tailor your content to your audience and provide value through your website.
Create Content For Customers And Prospects In Your Industry or B2B Company.
Content creation is a great way to position your industry company as a thought leader. With regular content posting, your current and potential customers can interact with your website regularly and consider your team as thought leaders in the industry.
Here are some tips for creating great content for manufacturers in the industrial sector :
Content ideas include creating a blog, publishing online guides, developing infographics, or producing short videos. Find out what topics are important to your customers by consulting your sales and customer service team or speaking with your most important customers.
Remember those SEO-friendly keywords I mentioned earlier? Be sure to incorporate them into your content.
Interact On Social Networks.
Social media platforms are, for many companies, very valuable places to make valuable contacts, including for companies in the industrial sector. An effective social media strategy requires dedication to posting the right content on the right channels. You can also use social media to connect directly with your customers and answer their questions.
Some tips for managing your social media accounts:
- If you will use social media as a support or customer service option, make sure you have one person (or more) on your team dedicated to monitoring social media. Customer expectations for response time are high: most people expect a response within the first 24 hours. Slow response times or, worse, no response at all can drive customers away from your business.
- Just like your website must be optimized for search engines, social media posts must be optimized for distribution. Use appropriate (but not too many!) hashtags related to your business.
Launch Personalized Email Campaigns.
Email marketing is a valuable tool in any digital marketing strategy: it can convert subscribers to the company’s content into satisfied customers. It is one of the digital marketing tools with which you will obtain the best ROI.
You must be careful with the recipients you are addressing, the subject lines, and the content you are writing, even when you launch the campaigns.
Some tips for writing successful email marketing campaigns :
- Try to match the content of the email with your Buyer Persona. What type of content are your buyers interested in? Product promotions? Advice on the use of the product? Videos? Email personalization isn’t just about including the recipient’s name in the body. Incorporate the type of content they want to see, and they will be more likely to open emails.
- Don’t forget to include a call to action or the next step you’d like the recipient to take. Whether that means clicking through to your web page, purchasing a product, or subscribing to your blog, you must ensure you provide value on the other side of the click.
Explore Paid Media Campaigns.
Digital advertising opportunities can also add value to your business, helping you reach potential customers where they already are: on search engines or social media. In a competitive industry, you can use Google Search Ads to get ahead of your competition so that your product or business appears at the top of search results. Or you can advertise on social networks to reach customers who spend part of their time on them.
Tips to get started with your Paid Media campaigns
- More money doesn’t automatically mean more leads or sales for search ads. You will need to carefully select the keywords to bid on to target the right audiences. Don’t forget negative keywords; They can help exclude you from appearing in searches that don’t match your services.
- Regarding Social ads, you have to know your buyers well. The finer the targeting of your ads, the better conversions you will get with them. These filters can include your customer demographics, interests, and behaviors.
Take Advantage of Existing Tools To Optimize Your Company’s Digital Marketing In The Industrial Sector.
The right marketing technology often backs a strong digital industry marketing strategy. You don’t need all the tools in the world, but you will need some tools to help you create, launch, and track your campaigns. Evaluate the needs and objectives of your campaigns and combine them with the tools that best suit your team.
Tips for finding the right marketing tools:
- The tools can help you manage customer relationships and data, automate marketing activities, send emails, post on social media, and much more.
- Sometimes you need a platform that can combine multiple tools into one, whether you need to collect contact information, nurture customers after a purchase, or track your sales pipeline. HubSpot, for example, offers CRM, marketing, sales, and customer service capabilities. Mailchimp can serve as your CRM tool and email marketing platform.
- If you are a manufacturer looking to stand out in your industry, digital marketing can be the tool to differentiate yourself from your competitors. These tactics can help you reach potential buyers, make them aware of your services, and convert them into satisfied customers.
