Signals from the Field

Originally posted on September 4, 2020, this post was refreshed in April of 2022.

Industrial companies like manufacturers are becoming more invested in digital advertising and content marketing to drive traffic to their website. Along with that focus on generating website traffic should come strategies for connecting with qualified traffic—capturing visitors' information so that you can start to build a relationship with them.

By collecting details like your visitor’s name, email address, and the company they work for, you can input this information into your CRM, monitor their interactions, and follow up much more effectively.

Are you a B2B manufacturer who thinks your target audience is too narrow or niche for online ads? Although the number of people searching for your product may be small, you only are charged when they click your ad. So a campaign that targets the specific keyword phrases (and is well-researched to prevent wasting money on search terms that are intended for a commercial product or different purpose) will be inexpensive. But you'll want to closely track the metrics that are tied to revenue and aren't simply "vanity metrics".

Listening to potential customers and tracking their inquiries is beneficial to manufacturing marketing for many reasons. A primary benefit of documenting questions (by phone, form submission, email, and chatbot) is to gain ideas for future content but it also shows how the content that marketers created attracts new prospects or reveals opportunities to enhance (or pivot) the approach.

The internet has the farthest reach of any advertising medium so if you want to get to the farthest corners of your market, generate good content about your products so those potential buyers can find you. We often hear that a manufacturers’ products are so niched that the best way to reach a target market is through networking and at tradeshows. Networking with current and prospective customers in-person will never be wrong, but remember that your prospects and customers ARE on the internet, searching for solutions to their daily manufacturing problems. Nearly 70% of engineers say they use supplier websites to research products and services (Trew Marketing & Global Spec 2022 Survey).

Just like you, they read emails and social posts from leaders in their industry to learn about the latest innovations and market trends. They are searching for ways to improve production, reduce costs and impress their boss with the newest industry information. In addition to your networking efforts, your website is a 24/7 research tool; that if set up well, with robust content, will provide answers that put you in the spotlight as the subject matter expert. However, if your site does not answer product questions, or worse, is not ranked for the key search words and phrases, then your competition could snag your leads.

In our 2021 survey of equipment manufacturers, content marketing ranked by far the digital marketing tactic that they were having the most success with.

For many different reasons, people start applications online and don’t finish the process. This is especially true with more people starting applications on mobile devices. Form abandonment is a hurdle that all credit unions (and all businesses, really) face. But there’s actually a way to curb this common application “leak” and to learn who is starting applications. First, we have to address the heart of the issue.

In the latest episode of WebStrategies Live, we discussed those pesky things that probably drive many of you crazy.

When an alarm company in Southern Illinois approached us about generating leads via the internet, we immediately knew the project was going to be a fun step outside our comfort zone. We’re just a bunch of East Coast city dwellers. How does one reach a rural and largely agricultural community? Are they even online?

Let's face it. Website pop-ups are one of today’s most loathed website tactics.

You hate them. And so do many others.

And yet, they're everywhere. What gives?